When March hits our calendars, our minds turn to March Madness and seeing who will take it all for Men’s and Women’s basketball in the NCAA. It means that we have a month of basketball, colleges that we root for and those that we are not as familiar with. There are so many stories, and don’t even get us started on our brackets as we attempt to guess the journey. Whether it’s backed by stats, favorite colors, or teams, it’s a great time had by all. We made our way to Reese’s Bracket Summit to hear from NY Liberty’s Breanna Stewart and analysts Andraya Carter and Richard Jefferson on how we can make them and how Reese’s rewards or losses as well!

ATHLEISURE MAG: We’ve enjoyed hearing your commentary on various games. What made you want to be an analyst?

ANDRAYA CARTER: Oh wow! I think that the opportunity came before my interests came and I remember when we were in the tournament and this is when I was a player. I don’t remember what analyst was talking about me, but I was a role player at Tennessee. I was a defensive player and I didn’t score that many points. Whoever the analyst was saw some value in what I brought and they were running some of my defensive highlights, and this was in the Selection show, and there is a picture of my teammate, Meighan Simmons and she’s shaking my shoulders because I was so shocked that they were talking about me!

I think about that a lot when I first started my career. I remember that moment being so cool and I remember thinking I could be an analyst that points out the things that makes this game hard and contributes to the success. I love the game of basketball so much and being able to break it down and so I think that once I had the opportunity to be an analyst and that it is something that you can get better at, it almost became my new sport. How much better can I get at being an analyst? I watch film on it, I practiced it, I broke it down, it was almost like even though my career as a player ended, I had something that I was able to work towards. It was something that I could improve on and it was something that I could chase, and once those 2 things clicked for me, I knew I could do this. It was a long journey for me from the time of realizing that it clicked up to now – but that’s a story!

AM: It’s always enjoyable to hear from you because you played the game and you know first hand everything that is involved in that.

What do you love about the game?

AC: Ugh, I love how so many little things work together to make it happen. There are so many ways to run a play, so many ways to defend a play, and so many roles that a player can have. When you look at different teams from season to season and even looking at a team during the season, there are so many ways to look at this puzzle and to see how all the pieces fit together! That’s within a season, that’s within a team, that’s within the players, and that’s even to the game. There are so many things to break down as these teams chase championships. It’s different every year and it is different game to game! Sometimes there are those 2 teams that play and when they do it again, there are other things to evaluate.

To me, the way that the game just builds and the way there are games within a game, I love it so much! Being able to grow up playing it and also I think that the way it brings people together and how sport is a universal language, you get to meet so many people along the way. Basketball changed my life and I love being able to watch how the game changes the lives of others – it’s really special to me.

AM: We really love this time of year, March Madness and everything that is involved in that! What do you love about this time of year?

AC: I just love the intensity of it and being win or go home! Obviously, it’s heartbreaking when a team loses, and to watch teams have success and to continue to be able to play and to keep their season alive, for me the intensity of win or go home is everything! Everything just levels up in March for basketball and I think that also watching players rise to the occasion and having a player put their team on their back and step up, you see something click for them – that is amazing to see!

AM: You were giving tips earlier about how one can set up their brackets. But for first timers that may not know about checking for stats or other things. How can they go about putting their brackets together?

AC: For anyone that is setting up their brackets for the first time this season, the Every Bracket Busts For A Reese’s Sweepstakes is perfect for them! You’re bracket busts, you win some Reese’s and the chance to go to the Men’s and Women’s Final Four and Championships. Being at the Final Four as well as the Championship game in that environment is so special! Shout out to anybody that is doing their brackets for the first time! Thanks to Reece’s you could get a chance to go!

I do think that filling out your bracket is hard. How much research do you want to do? How much time do you have? I am just thinking about this off the top of my head, if you don’t know much about a team and you pull up their stats and see their leading scorer and watch some highlights of them or see what their game is like, and what they are capable of. Watch the other teams and see their leading scorer. See which team gets you the most excited and that is who you pick. I think that whatever method you have, use that for your whole bracket, trust it, and go with it. Sometimes when I fill out my bracket, I like because teams that have good defense because when the lights are the brightest and the emotion is really big, sometimes your shots don’t go in. There is so much excitement and energy but defense travels and I think as a player, you can control that a little bit more. I could shoot my same shot and it may not go in, but I can control my defensive energy. Teams that are good defensively, if I can’t pick between the 2 teams, then I look at who has the better defense because defense travels.

AM: That’s a great tip!

Who are 3 teams that you are looking at this year, that we should be focused on?

AC: That’s tough! Men’s or Women’s?

AM: You choose!

AC: Well, Tennessee Women’s is interesting given everything that they have been through. Obviously, it’s a really rough end of the season. I’m particularly as a former Lady Vols and as an analyst, I’m interested in if any team had a rough end to their season like that – how does that kick them forward? Does it kick them forward, does it give them a fresh start? Are they able to use everything that they went through as motivation to turn it around? Or on the opposite side as a former Lady Vols, it wouldn’t be something that I would enjoy – but is it too little too late to try and correct things?

AM: Yeah!

AC: This is the time where you want to be peaking and playing your best basketball going into March. Is it too late this time around? So Tennessee is a very interesting team on the Women’s side.

I’m very interested in UConn obviously, the opportunity to go back-to-back it’s something special and not something that many teams get the opportunity to do. I am a very big fan of a few of the players on the team as well as the system that they play. Obviously here with Reece’s, Breanna Stewart was hanging out with us. She spoke to what Geno Auriemma puts his players through in terms of testing them throughout the year! They don’t have the strongest strength of schedule, but their biggest battle is their head coach! So, UConn – will they repeat as Champions?

I’m also interested in UCLA! That’s a team that added new pieces, it’s a team that lost to UConn last season in a way that I know that they are not proud of, and in a way that taught them a lot for Cori Close and her players. They could have another opportunity to make a deep run.

So those are teams that I have my eye on of course there is South Carolina with Dawn Staley – they are always a good team to have my eye on as well!

AM: This is so great to hear!

Who do you think will win it all?

AC: I have UConn winning it all for the women!

AM: Same!

AC: I think that on top of what I said, I think Sarah Strong is a really hard player to game plan against. You can put her on so many places on the court and use her in so many different actions on the floor that I think that they are just a tough game plan. We talk a lot about UConn’s offense – Azzi Fudd is such a sharp shooter and Sarah Strong is just so versatile, and UConn is a very difficult team to score against. None of their opponents in the tournament scored 65 points last season. I just talked about defense, but as good as their offense is, their defense and their ability to make teams go east to west instead of north to south, is something that I find very tough among other things for Connecticut.

IG @andraya_carter

After speaking with Andraya, we sat down with NBA Champion Richard Jefferson to talk about his love of the game, why he enjoys being an analyst and also how he feels about Arizona!

ATHLEISURE MAG: We have been fans of yours since you played in the NBA and it’s very cool to be hanging out with you right now.

Why did you want to be an analyst once you retired from the game?

RICHARD JEFFERSON: The reason why I wanted to be an analyst is because I love the game of basketball very deeply! You look at how you can continue to express your love to the game that has given so much to me. So there is coaching, there is player development, there are levels of coaching from high school and college. For me, I just loved talking about the game of basketball. I started a podcast 10 years ago because I love hearing the stories about basketball and also everybody has strengths and areas of improvement. For me, talking about the game of basketball and giving knowledge because I was a nerdy kid at 12 and 13 years old reading basketball cards and sitting and watching NBC and Marv Albert in the Jordan era! I just studied it and loved it as a kid! Then I grew into it as a basketball player and then I played in the NBA so I got to live it, and I always felt that I was the lucky little kid that got to live his dream! Now, I get to sit here and talk about it, but I feel fortunate because I have reference points all the way back to the mid 80’s because I grew up loving the game and being able to study it!

AM: Same!

What do you love about basketball and what personally draws you to it?

RJ: What draws me to it is that it is such a beautiful game. You have to be a complete player for the most part. You have to be able to play offense and you have to be able to play defense! You look at football, I love it, it’s awesome, but you have guys on one side of the ball and one side on the other. In baseball, there is a similarity to it. In basketball, it is – if you are in a weak spot on offense, you will be exposed! If you are on a weak spot on defense, you will be exposed! Just like in life, your goal is to be a complete person and a well rounded person, it doesn’t mean that you are great at everything, but you are well rounded. That is what the game of basketball is. In order to be a good or great basketball player, in a prideful way, you have to be a well rounded individual and I think that there is something beautiful about that in life in general.

AM: I love this time of year! When Selection Sunday hits, you know you have some great weeks of basketball that are taking place – not my team this year, IU –

RJ: Congratulations on the football win!

AM: Thank you! That is like 5 Super Bowls!

RJ: Congratulations!

AM: What do you love about March Madness, The Final Four, the Championship game?

RJ: What I love about it – both sides men’s and women’s is that I think that the Summer Olympics is something that here in America, everybody roots for and it is every 4 years. I don’t think that there is a single thing in America that everyone comes together – it’s university pride, it’s college pride, it’s where your family is associated, it’s rivalries - it’s all of these things. You can be 60 years old and you’re a North Carolina fan and you still fucking hate Duke! Now, all of a sudden, all of these old things that you had gets turned up for 1 month. Grandma knows it, your 5 year old son knows it, people that don’t basketball are like, “I’m just going to pick my favorite colors!” That’s what sports does and I don’t think that there is a single greater event than the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Tournament that brings together everybody in our country like that!

AM: Couldn’t agree more!

For 1st timers that are filling out those brackets, what should they do?

RJ: Oh man, for 1st timers, let me show you how to do it! Shout out Reese’s, that’s why we’re here. If you are a 1st Timer, this is what I would do. I start with Arizona because they are going to win the National Championship and I do this every single year, because Arizona is going to win. So I have them in the winning spot and then I go backwards. It’s a little unorthodox.

AM: Yeah it is.

RJ: That’s fine! This is where I think that Reese’s has really cracked the code! I have Duke losing in the 1st Round. People are like, that’s a little crazy!

AM + RJ: Is it though?

RJ: If Siena wins, I look like a genius! If Siena loses, I turn in my bracket and I win free Reese’s Cups! I still look like a genius! So, I just don’t see that there is a lose/lose situation. Why would I root for a team that I cannot stand? Why because I want a perfect bracket? I’d rather them lose and look like a genius, then have them win and I get some cups! If they win, I’m pissed off anyway so give me my prize.

AM: Love this and you are very proud of this bracket!

RJ: I’m very, very proud and I have the Women’s one also! I am very proud of it and I will say this, across the board, I have South Carolina - Dawn Staley was my favorite Women’s player growing up and she is my favorite coach. Across the board, we had Stewie here, there was no shade given to UConn – such respect and I have nothing but positivity for them. They are probably of all the schools Men and Women aside, when we started talking about them, they had the ultimate level of respect, but we’re not talking about them right now, we’re talking about the University of Arizona and how we won the Big 12, we won the Big 12 Tournament, we have the Big 12 Player of the Year, and we have done all of the things that are needed for us to win a Championship – so this bracket is going to be perfect! There is on thing that I have put out and I don’t mind that you have Duke blue hair – it’s fine!

AM: Wait a minute, I am IU through and through!

RJ: So right, we get through there as well – Siena that’s who I am rooting for, they are my sleeper pick mainly because I want Reese’s Cups!

AM: So what are 3 teams that you’re looking at that we should be thinking about?

RJ: You should be thinking about Siena because they have a really good match up in the 1st Round, but I think that they are going to win against Duke.

Arizona, I talk about Arizona, but I think with Arkansas, there is a big battle there by the kid Darius Acuff Jr. who is very, very good. I’m actually glad that we could potentially play them in the Sweet 16. What does that mean? It means that you get your first 2 games in and then you have a couple of days to prepare before you go to the next game. Those preparation days are the days where you say, “ok, we could be going up agaunst an amazing player” and you want some more prep against that, because we do have an amazing team.

AM: Ok, so my last question was going to be who do you think will win, but we know that clearly you feel that Arizona will win it all!

RJ: You’re damn right!

AM: So what does gameday look like for you?

RJ: Ok, I am pretty much immune to any sport or any sport team. Arizona is one that I am emotionally connected to. I turn on the game. When they are winning, I watch. They start losing, I turn it off. That is a real thing because again, it is the emotional connection. Oftentimes, I will tune in and out. I can’t sit and turn on an Arizona game and just relax. That’s not possible so I avoid the anxiety.

IG @richardajefferson

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT | Hershey’s