God Shammgod on Old Big East

So I signed with Providence on like a Tuesday

And then Steph signed with Georgia Tech like on a Thursday. And Jim Mayhide was so hot

And I'll never forget, my first Big East game was against Syracuse

And I had 20 points to 12 assists. And I was yelling at Mayhide, I told you

I told you you should have took me. I told you you should have took me. he was one of the great guards during a generation of unbelievable guard play in the big east the

apex of the big east back in the mid to late 90s god sham god helped lead providence to the elite

eight in 1997 let's go down memory lane new york city recruited by syracuse and why he didn't go

and who was the toughest matchup during his big east days god how you doing buddy i'm great i'm

great i'm great man just out here enjoying this orlando weather and you know enjoying this marco

you know new york style pizza dollar pizza so you know it's just a great event and the pizza is

amazing and it reminds me of new york so much right now eating this pizza i want to go back

to your roots and then we'll get into the pizza but back in the roots you're a harlem guy you're

a new york city guy you played high school ball in manhattan and you played the rucker so i want

a story from the Rucker. Who was the toughest matchup you had of the Rucker, and what was

that experience like being a native New Yorker? For me, playing against Kareem Reid, the best kept secret, was the biggest matchup for me

in playground basketball. But the origin of it, like you said, to go back to the beginning

I was born in Brooklyn. I moved to Harlem when I was like 8, 9. Then I started playing

basketball late compared to what people say at 11 years old and as you know because you're from

that era uh a lot of people might know mace that was the rapper with bad boy he's one of my closest

friends and he's the first person to take me to play basketball and he had took me to rucker park

in the day that he took me it was an all-star game so this is the first time i'm really being

introduced to basketball and i'm seeing all these fancy cars pull up like this is the middle of

Harlem, 150th Street. Like, people come in with a whole bunch of jewelry

And people got all these names. The Future, Master Rock, Dan St. Doogie, all these people

And we're hanging on the gate, watching the game. It's at least, like, 3,000, 4,000 people in the park

And we're, like, hanging on the gate. There's people hanging on trees. And I never forget, because this person, like, became, like, one of my idols growing up

His name was Future Malloy Naysmith. and there was a guy named Mike Boogie

and he was like dancing on half court and he opened his legs and Mike Boogie got on one knee

and dribbled through his legs. And the crowd went crazy and that was like my first introduction to basketball

So can you imagine like being a young kid like, oh, this brings so much joy

to the people. This is what I want to do. Man, that's theater

That's showmanship. That is amazing. I didn't know you were boys with Mace growing up

So we're talking about probably early 90s you're talking about right now, maybe late 80s

So you knew him well before he became a rapper. Yeah, me and Mace. Me, Mace, Cameron

Jay-Z, Big Al, DMX. I knew all of them since I was like

13 years old. That's hip-hop royalty right there. Yeah, so it's like

that's why people wonder why like so much happened for me and how I was so known because, you know

it wasn't just basketball. Like my best friends were famous rappers that other people think is famous

And so that's how it came to fruition with the basketball stuff and culture

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Make sure you're locked right here. And then post-game recap of every football game right here on this YouTube channel

Make sure you're subscribed. That's incredible. So look I an orange an orange man from back in the day So why didn you go to Syracuse This is a true story So Kenny Anderson as you know

Kenny Anderson was like the best point guard in the country when I was in high school. And me and Stephon Marbury was like close friends

like real, like almost like best friends growing up in high school. And we both played with the same AAU team

And of course, you know, Pearl Washington that went to Syracuse was like basketball royalty

So we both looked up to Kenny Anderson and Pearl Washington. And I went to Syracuse for a visit, and I was with Bayhan

And Wayne Morton was the recruiter. And they was like, man, you could come to Syracuse

I was like, man, I'm ready to sign right now at Syracuse. And they was like, well, we want you to sign

but we've been recruiting Steph since the sixth grade. Oh, no. But they was like, y'all both can play together like y'all do in AAU

and I was like, nah, AAU is different from college. And I was like, if I sign right now, then, you know

if y'all don't recruit Steph, I'll sign right now. And they was like, nah, we still want to get them

We got to wait. So Georgia Tech said the same thing, right

So I had Maryland, Providence, Michigan. So then Providence, they wanted me

How Syracuse wanted Steph, Providence wanted me, right? So like in the sixth grade, Providence was recruiting me, right

and so I said you sure I was like you know I want to come here

me and Pearl Washington plays similar styles we both dribblers and you know

a lot of showmanship and they was like yeah but we got to wait for Steph

and I'll never forget because we laugh about this to this day

me and Steph used to hang out every day so I'm like man where are you going

and at this point I mean I understood what they wanted Steph was the number one player in the country

he was the number one point guard in the country I was number two

Chauncey Billups was number three Wayne Turner was number four so I was like I understood it so it wasn't like any animosity

I understood it but I was just like man I'm ready to commit right now and they was like yeah we don't even step

and I'll never forget because I always tell him he did this on purpose so

I was like well I'm about to sign next week because I don't want to I want to go into my senior year without worrying about college

so I signed with Providence on like a Tuesday and then Steph signed with Georgia Tech like on a Thursday

And Jim Bayhide was so hot. And I'll never forget, my first Big East game was against Syracuse

And I had 20 points and 12 assists. And I was yelling at Bayhide, I told you

I told you you should have took me. I told you you should have took me. So that's my Syracuse problem

Oh, man. That's too good. Wow. Yeah, Bayheim was so upset he missed on both of you guys because of that

Yeah, he was so mad. He was so mad. So check this out

The NBA draft in 96, okay, this was your first year of Providence

Iverson goes number one. Ray Allen goes five. Kittles goes eight. John Wallace goes 18

So that is three of the top eight and four of the top 18 are all in the Big East

You don't even have to say it. what people understand, when I played in the Big East

the Big East was the closest thing to the NBA, playing-wise and physical-wise

Like, everybody know the Big East was so physical. You had the best rivalry in sports

where it was St. John's, Georgetown, you know, Connecticut, Georgetown, Connecticut, St. John's, Syracuse

You know, you had the great coaches that was creating legacies, not just like you see today where coaches just go and leave

You had coaches that wanted to be there for 20 years. And, you know, and they were part of the legacy of the game, right

As much as Allen Iverson was at Georgia Tech, much as I was at Providence

much as, you know, if he was St. John's, you had the character of the coaches

what made the culture, like from Jim Bayhan, John Thompson, Luke Connorsica

you know, Coach Calhoun. Like, they was the fabric of the Big East

and that what made it so amazing to play in that era The next year Tim Thomas out of Villanova went seven Your teammate Austin Crozier went number 12

So this is just – there's lottery picks in every school, every year in the Big East

So I want to know, out of those two years in the Big East, who was the toughest guy you had to go against

The toughest guy I had to go against in those two years was Allen Iverson and Victor Page

Al Iverson was the first year, of course, Victor Page stayed. And Victor Page was, for people that don't know who Victor Page is

he was a bucket. He was a bucket. He had the bionic leg, the bionic one leg

Because he was 6'2", but he jumped out the gym and you thought he was 6'8"

And him and Al Iverson was in the backcourt, and they was putting on the show in the Big East

And the Big East tournament was just ferocious in those days. That must have been such a thrill to play in that coming from New York City

Yeah, it's just like you see when you see, like, it's almost like how you see now in the Garden in the playoffs

That's how it was for the Big East tournament. I mean, if you sold, because, like, the Big East tournament

they would give, like, coaches booklets of tickets. It was coaches selling tickets for, like, $4,000

The booklets of tickets. So they could come to the Big East tournament for the next three days

Like, like that was, that was some of the coaches hustles back there. Like, cause like you said, the biggies were so good and it was so much

And to be in Madison Square Garden, the best arena in the world, it was like, it's still to this day amazing

No matter what, no matter how you look at it. Like playing in the Madison Square Garden

And then for you, for me being from New York to play in Madison Square Garden

on the biggest stage and, and, and, and one of the biggest programs in the country at that time, like, man

you couldn't, you couldn't fabric. you know before I get to your the pizza situation the wonderful promotion I just wanted to ask you

about that experience and then taking it into the NBA how it probably was a great test lab

for you to play like you said the most thing to the NBA was the Big East back then how did it help

you in your in your transition to the league it helped me in so many ways because the Big East

was so physical. It was more half court. It wasn't like the Pac-10 and all that

where you just ran up and down. And if you remember the NBA in the 90s and stuff

it was more slowed down, more physical. It was a great big man, you know

whether it's Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Shaquille O'Neal. So it wasn't like the game you would have today

but you still had the amazing guards of like me, Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury, and stuff like that

but it was way more – it wasn't positionless basketball, if that's what I can say

And I think that's why a lot of people resonate with that brand of basketball

because I don't think – when James Naysmith made basketball, he made it for it to be positionless, right

So that's why you have so many guards turn the ball over different things

because you have power forwards being point guards. and you have centers being shooting guards, shooting threes

So it's like, so when you look at that style of basketball, it just all made sense, right

The point guards was there to take care of the ball, get assists and things like that. Shooting guards was there to play defense and score

Big men was rebounding the ball at a high level, right? So then basketball just made sense, right

You know, we got great athletes now. We got amazing players now

but basketball just made sense that way, right? And percentage was good, different things was good

because it was kind of like if you look at football now, right? If you look at football now

what's the amazing thing about football, a running back is not trying to be a wide receiver

A wide receiver is not trying to be a running back, right? So that's why football stayed the same

and that's why football is like an amazing sport. You know, when you get to basketball

you have most, sometimes you have one person that think they can do everything

You got Wemby at 6'7", 6' who's able to handle the ball on the perimeter and shoot threes

Yeah so then when so then when it all amazing when he making them then when he not making them people are like man why he not at the rim Why he not this You know different things like that

So that would be always the give and take of the sport

And when I was in the Big East, the good thing about the Big East was you was the point guard that ran the show, you was physical

you had a lot of athletic ability, and you taught the game

So if you look at a lot of people from the Big East back then, they are coaches now, including myself

That's what the Big E's meant to me, and that's what it will always mean to me

and it will be the closest thing to the NBA ever. That's really well said

Orlando Magic assistant coach God Shamgod joins us here on the show, and he's got a really cool promotion going on in Orlando

There's a lot of New York City transplants down there. He's one of them, and they want their dollar slice

They want their good pizza. They're getting it today. A Marco's Pizza, one day only, dollar slice, which is so cool because they are making it just like they make it in New York City

This sounds like a great event. Yeah, it's an amazing event for amazing cause and to represent New York City and show Florida what New York City is about

And their dollar slices are amazing. You know, me growing up, the good thing about the dollar slices, it saved so many families in my neighborhood, right

For sure. You could get a dollar slice in. You know, I grew up in a house where I had five sisters and one brother

so you can imagine what a dollar slice did for my family, you know. We ate good, you know what I'm saying

Or if you go play an AAU tournament and you come back and you're hungry

and you're like, man, I need to get something to eat, something that's going to be fulfilling at the same time, right

And, you know, what they're doing in Florida right now, Marco's Pizza, bringing the dollar slices down here

I remember when I first moved down here to Orlando, I was trying to find a pizza so bad

And all I kept saying was, man, they don't make them like New York pizzas, New York pizzas

Then it was like extremely high for like a small pizza, like a box pizza

And if you know the New York pizza, you know, they'd be triangles. They're big. And, you know, actually, I have one right here

And, man, this pizza is so good. This is so good. You can see the crushed tomatoes

The crust is real Been cooked a little extra long So you get that bite

You get that sound when you bite into it So like I said, Marco's Pizza is doing an amazing thing in Orlando

And I'm just happy to be a part of it Because like I said It saved me so much money growing up

And it saved my family so much money And we always was full

And it helped me be Believe it or not It helped me be athletic

And it helped me be fast Because I used to eat this pizza so fast

and go right back to the court and practice. It's a man that knows his slice right there

God, Sham God. He is a native New Yorker. Marco's Pizzeria in Orlando

Dollar Slice Day over there. They're making it just like they do in the Big Apple. Yes

So please get out here because they're going fast. I know he made enough for it to keep going, but they're going fast

All right. Get out there right now. They're doing it. God, Sham God, joining us from the Orlando Magic

Man, thanks so much. This is such a thrill, buddy. Appreciate it, man

What an unbelievable conversation with God, Sham God. That was so much fun

I could talk old school Big East with guys every single day

and not get sick of it. Hey, make sure you're subscribed to the channel. If you're a Syracuse fan, I'm going to be doing post-game reaction videos

throughout the entire football season and off-season prep videos for both football and basketball

Highly anticipated seasons for Fran Brown and Jerry McNamara. So make sure you're subscribed to this YouTube channel because if you're not, the videos might scoot by

You might never see them. Make sure you're subscribed for the best Syracuse coverage. And go read my website daily, Orange Fizz

Go to theorangefizz.com, and every single day we've got new news, new stories, new coverage on the Orange

I appreciate you, Orange Nation. I appreciate God, Shan God, for joining me here on the program

That was amazing. I'll see you next time, everybody. I'm DA. Also catch me on Mad Dog Sports Radio, channel 82, weekday morning, 6 until 9 Eastern time

Mad Dog Sports Radio, channel 82, weekday mornings. All right. Appreciate you watching

We'll see you next time