Rece Davis | ESPN College Gameday

welcome to 24 hours nothing but net on our live stream and we have one of the big time names that we're going to have on this 24hour presentation for Special Olympics and it's my buddy Rees Davis from ESPN reys thank you so much for giving us some of your time oh my pleasure Debbie glad to be with you guys listen I know you're coming off the draft we're pre-taping this before we get in the driveway knocking down free throws but I just want to ask you like just your impressions of the draft how'd it go uh it was phenomenal Debbie I've never seen anything like it I never thought I would see a crowd that matched what we had in Nashville in 2019 and while the you know the logistics around it and Nashville covering up Broad Street where you couldn't even really see that there was supposed to be a thoroughfare there um there were more people at the draft in Detroit they set a record they estimated over a quarter of a million people were there Thursday night all told I think they I think they approached or exceeded 700 th000 people over the course of three days so it was uh the NFL is brilliant in staying in the news cycle and turning things into an event and you know this this whole draft thing has now become second only to the Super Bowl in terms of cities attempting to get NFL events in their town so it was it was successful and it was great and you know saw Nick savin's debut on Thursday night and Friday night and he was he was just Sensational so it was a lot of fun so you have a whole infrastructure around putting this presentation on and when you have that many people and you have that many eyes on it now you got Nick Savin on the set how did things change uh behind the scenes if at all I think just making sure that he was comfortable with the television aspect of it now he's always been great on TV but typically when he's been on he has been guest expert slash beinging interviewed you know there have been times over the years rare occasions when Alabama hasn't been in the playoff or whatever where he has come and joined us and he has been you know not being interviewed but sort of as a guest expert now while he still maintains those expert credentials he's part of the group and making sure that he was really comfortable U you know integrating himself into that he and as you might expect Debbie he wants to know everything you know which is U you know which is just um sort of typical for him he wants to know you know how everything's going to work how we're approaching things he wants to be good after the after the first night we and actually I take that back it was after game day before we went into the draft do a two-hour game day show he was great in it we're back in the trailer and he looked at me and he goes what have you got for me meaning what do you want what do I need to do better where can I you know he wants to be good at this he's not just rolling in and saying hey I'm Nick Savin um you know I'm going to go out there and talk football he's going to do that but he wants to be really good at it and uh it's been it it's been off to a tremendous start so I'm looking forward to see what it brings ree you've known Nick for a long time so coaches you know been in the public eye for so long but you've also been behind the scenes with him and you've gotten to know him um what surprised you or didn't surprise you about his preparation for this event uh I was not surprised at all I mean he had everything he had watched so much tape he had everything um on his laptop now I'm not going to sit here and tell you that he's going to be at the uh you know at the Mac wizard desk or the Apple desk or whatever you know if you have to have your laptop straightened out and all I'm not going to sit here and tell you that but in terms of the things that he had in there result of his preparation knew if he knew if a guy had stiff ankles he knew if a guy you know didn't get in and out of breaks he knew what coaches and general managers thought of a large number of players and you know like even even Little Things guys I'm pretty sure Max Melton from Ruckers goes in the second round okay when he goes second or third round at any rate when he goes you know he's a good athlete I mean college football fans may you know were aware if if people were hardcore like us you knew who he was but on the periphery fans Not might not have been as aware of a guy like that he gets drafted and Nick immediately goes this is my sleeper Corner in the draft this guy and he he'd watch tape of him he knew guys inside out so that um that part didn't surprise me the one thing that I was pleasantly surprised I knew it would happen I didn't know it would happen immediately he's got a wicked sharp sense of humor and he I wondered how long it would take him to really display that and he he's he jumped right in seamlessly and I'm glad I think that's going to endear him to people who have just seen him as you know this High achieving hard driving coach in the past when they see you know that he's got a really good sense of humor I think they're they're going to enjoy that even more so ree people see you and and watch you work and it's Flawless right I mean it there's so much that goes know about that so much you you've covered you've covered up for me a lot over the years you know it's not Flawless so no no I have been it's been an honor to serve as your analyst in college basketball for a few years I'm I'm grateful every time I get a chance to work with you but I know that there's so much that goes into it and it it does appear Flawless when you can transition from the set of college basketball to the set of college football to the set of the NFL Draft when you do all those things how do you keep it organized and uh maybe um separate in your mind but seamlessly transitioning all the different personalities uh the all the conversation that takes place you got to be witty and sharp like you are with uh Reese because you're always on top of it that's why it seems so Flawless to me I think you you really want to try to be as comfortable as you can and the Comfort usually comes from the preparation um before I go on the air I always repeat to myself that I want Poise I want presence I want personality and the preparation and the Poise I have described over the years Debbie is if a light falls on the set in front of me I want to just sort of push it to the side and say we'll get that cleaned up for you you know meanwhile the Packers are on the clock or you know you know meanwhile you know North Carolina State trying to go the final four or whatever and I'd always spoken figuratively in that way and Saturday on day three of the draft a big gust of wind came down and knocked something knocked a light um I guess maybe it was a light or some type of uh mechanism that was holding up some of the black curtains to control the light and the pole came down and hit Lewis rck glanced Lewis rck in the head and so I I sort of told that story on the air I said I always I didn't give the whole four Ps but I said I've always said the light falls I want to clean it away and keep things going I said but I was always speaking figuratively I didn't mean literally that a light would come and hit one of my analysts you know while we're talking um but you know I think that's the thing is you want to be if you're prepared and if you love the subject matter which I do for both football and basketball then you can be you can be comfortable I think the other thing too and you're you're great at this is you have to be unselfish and what I mean by that is we all have things that we want to get into the broadcast and that are worthy of getting into the broadcast but over the years you realize that there there are times when a lot of it's just going to wind up on The Cutting Room floor you're not going to get to say everything that you wanted to say or everything you had prepared you got to be judicious and what to leave behind you know something comes to mind you want to bring it up somebody else jumps in you know and then you weigh should I say this or not because we had a guy you might remember of Debbie there was an older gentleman by the name of Bud Morgan who for a while was Consulting onair people at ESPN it's been a number of years ago and he would sometimes show tap of um either host or analyst emptying the barrel and he called it smartest kid in the class syndrome he said you don't want that he said it's offputting to the people at home said you want to be knowledgeable you want to deliver things that you've prepared but you don't have to empty the barrel you know so I I try to you I'm sure I'm sure I mess up on in that regard sometimes but you try to be judicious know when to uh see the territory know when to push back know when to argue sometimes there are times when you can't let things stand and you know you it's for the good of the show and sometimes for the good of the analyst to be honest I mean sometimes they say something and you go I can't let you stand on that because whether you know it or not in this moment that's not good for you you know it's not going to be good for you if I don't challenge that so it's it's a lot of it comes with experience but most of it just comes with knowing the people you're working with and being comfortable enough in your preparation to uh push them when they need pushing and to give ground when you know it's the right thing re I just find myself just leaning in with every word that you're saying I love what you're saying this is a great leadership communication teamwork lesson as well I was just trying to get a little conversation with you and this has been outstanding that's why I love working with you because you you always you always bring something that makes you think and that's what we're trying to do here around Special Olympics is make people think you know can you help can you get involved how would you get involved could you donate 24 hours nothing but net is in its sixth year we're coming up on a million dollar uh it the money goes directly to help the athletes train and compete and organize and socialize you know my family you know my son Frankie you know how important this um this mission is for us to be able to raise money for other families if somebody out there was thinking about getting involved or if you have an experience or story around Special Olympics or any philanthropic work that you've done because I know you have uh a a huge heart and I don't know if people know how giving and how supportive you are of of all of your teammates around ESPN but I I just wanted to give you a chance to share whatever you'd like to share well I think it's really it's really a special thing that you do and you know Frank is's such a a great young man I've enjoyed meeting him a couple times over the years we you know were trying to get him on the set of college game day to we were at Clemson a few years ago so you know I think the thing is is that we try to be generous I I know from a special Olympic standpoint per se when my son Christopher uh played at Princeton play baseball at Princeton that was one of their big Endeavors and one of the things that he found most rewarding over the years and it has you know probably this is to my discredit but it has been a while since I've done anything directly with Special Olympics but back in the days in the past I remember going to um going to track and field events like when uh when I was in television different places and to be able to see the joy in competition and the joy in camaraderie and the achievement uh that these that these people have these young people have primarily young people no it's not all young people but primarily the young people have it's it's very rewarding and it's worthwhile and you know I think that's the whole thing Debbie whatever the causes are that that we care about and however you feel that you know you can contribute whether that's financially or with time or moral support or even making individual connections I mean there are there are worthwhile things that people do on an individual basis that that others never know about and that's uh you know to my way of thinking the way I strive not only successfully but strive to live my life that's biblical sometimes you know the right hand doesn't need to know what the left hand's doing but there are also other times to step out to the front and U and try to encourage others to join you in the mission and that's why I applaud what you what you do with this it's phenomenal uh I do have a question though what what's the free throw percentage there for you as you're as you're shooting how do how how are we looking right in that regard well um my this is our sixth year so my first five years um we've raised over 88 $60,000 and the free throw percentage average over five years is 94 so you know for someone who gets a ARP mail like I say and I'm training in the fitness that comes with it ree you know it's incredible you know focus and I'm highly motivated to do it at a high level because people tune in they don't want to see some old lady in the driveway shooting a bunch of bricks right and maybe if I shoot it at a high level they'll go you know what maybe I could do a little more I mean she the sacrifice at that comes with the behind the scenes uh effort that a lot of people don't see or don't know you can't just walk out on the driveway and make a 100 free throws every hour for 24 straight hours it is not an easy task and I'm not saying that to boast about what I'm doing I'm very humble about the the number as a matter of fact you know I may have said this to you or not on the air but when free throw shooting over at college basketball has been so poor lately I do you know nudge my partner and say please don't say my percentage on the air I don't want to embarrass the kids you I know I know this I'm not I'm not fouling you at the end of the game I I'll just I'll just let you dribble out the clock we just gonna lose unless I'm trying to trade three for two that's my only shot then I guess well you know I joke about the only time I got to the free throw line in college is if the other team got a technical so uh I'm I'm you know that was my game back then but I'm so grateful for your time this is supposed to be your off season right off the draft and and I'm so grateful that you uh you got your busy life trying to you know decompress uh what do you do when you have some time off ree you know what we're just uh we're hanging out at home right now but we're going to um next what I've got to get my date straight I guess the end of next week uh my wife and I are going to take a a trip through the Midwest uh following my son's baseball team my son's playing pro ball in the Frontier League with the Evansville otter so we're going to be going to such exotic Outpost as Juliet Illinois to to watch baseball so we do a good bit of that and uh and that's what we'll be doing I know you love that I've had a chance to meet Christopher and so I know how much you love baseball it's funny that you're such a baseball guy and you work in college basketball and football isn't that kind of ironic you know the funny thing is Debbie is it my two favorite sports two favorite sports and the sports I played poorly but Sports I played in high school were football and basketball I didn't play baseball in high school um you know I played growing up and had reporter did a story on Christopher a couple years ago and he said that he thought one of the reasons and this sort of speaks to involvement I guess and he played all three to you know until his junior year of high school before he started concentrating fully on baseball but baseball was always his first love and he told he told the reporter he said I think it was because it because my dad was around coach you know he was you know in his offseason from football basketball so he was around to go to the field with me he was around to you know throw batting practice and which I well actually I feed the machine now uh because throwing throwing batting practice is and also I I'll confess this to you I don't want to I'm scared now when I throw batting even if I have the L screen because if I don't get behind that L screen it is not going to go well for me you know uh so I still do that you know even he was before he had to report we were out there we were out there doing it last week and it you know it's um it's something that I've Loved but he said that was one of the reasons he thinks that he gravitated the baseball over over the others so um you know it's been it's been great it's been great that is so cool to hear and and I know Christopher hey if I got to spend time with you it didn't matter where it was I would take advantage of it too and I'm sure that's pretty cool re I'm so grateful for your time thank you so much for spending some time with us on 24 hours is nothing but net we're grateful for for you being such a wonderful teammate likewise debb anything for you good luck with it knock them all down