Mike Francesa had Ty Jerome on WFAN to discuss Virginia’s historic run to a championship and the junior guard set the record straight.
Mike Francesa was down on Virginia and Tony Bennett in February of this year. The WFAN host wasn’t a fan of the offense or the coaching staff. As a result, he proclaimed that Virginia would never win a championship with this team.
Ty Jerome and the rest of the Cavaliers didn’t let Francesa’s skepticism slow them down. Virginia went on a miraculous run in the NCAA Tournament to secure the first championship in program history.
2/5/19 – Mike Francesa explains to a caller why Tony Bennett will NEVER win a championship with this Virginia team. Two months later, Tony Bennett wins a championship with this Virginia team. ?#NationalChampionship pic.twitter.com/1H3p5iafIw
— Ƒunhouse (@BackAftaThis) April 9, 2019
“Will never win a championship with this team though,” Francesa said. “They can’t play offense. You know what it is…There’s gonna come a game in the tournament when they need to make a shot and get a shot and they can’t get it.”
“I think they’re very defendable,” Francesa said in response to the caller bringing up Jerome and Kyle guy. “I don’t like them offensively at all.”
Francesa was quite clear. Jerome and Guy aren’t good enough offensively to lead Virginia to a championship. To the surprise of absolutely no one, Francesa refuses to admit that he said this.
Jerome, a New Rochelle native and former Iona Prep star, had the opportunity to go on with Francesa and set the record straight. He didn’t hold back on the New York radio icon.
SO….. Mike reached out to the kid and had him on the show today. And my man Ty did not disappoint. It was subtle, but he got his point across loud and clear. pic.twitter.com/KpCQwBFpgD
— Ƒunhouse (@BackAftaThis) April 11, 2019
“Great coaching staff,” Jerome said in response to a question about why he chose to go to Virginia. “I know some would disagree, but I love the coaching staff from day one.”
Later in the interview, Francesa began pontificating on Virginia’s offense. He was surprised by how well they played in the championship game. Jerome shut down any notion that Virginia was offensively-challenged this season.
“Our offensive numbers, offensive efficiency, I think we’re top five in the country,” Jerome said. “We have been all year. I’m sure a lot of people don’t do their proper research of college basketball before they speak.”
Francesa cut off Jerome to remind the junior that he actually does know what he’s talking about. To reinforce his point, he brought up earlier rounds where Virginia let teams climb back into games.
Furthermore, he intimated that Virginia’s high offensive numbers were because they beat bad teams by 40. Jerome had to remind Francesa that they play in the ACC, perhaps the best basketball conferences in the country.
It’s refreshing to see someone challenge Francesa when he’s wrong and buddy, he was dead wrong about Virginia. But what makes it even more frustrating is that he can never admit that he made a mistake. Regardless, Jerome doesn’t give him an inch.
