Volleying with Coppin fun and sports into the new year

It’s always fun to welcome our Coppin State sports marketing pal Ruffin Bell back on the Maryland Crab Cake Tour, especially when there are MEAC championships on the court and a big visit from Dawn Staley and South Carolina Gamecocks coming to West Baltimore on January 18th. Hey Coppin!

Nestor Aparicio and Ruffin Bell discussed the growth and modernization of Coppin State University, highlighting its diverse student body and innovative programs. Bell emphasized the university’s family atmosphere and the success of its sports teams, including the volleyball team’s recent MEAC championship and the upcoming addition of a men’s and women’s golf program. They also touched on the impact of the NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) policy on college sports, noting financial incentives for athletes. Additionally, they discussed the integration of AI in organizing sports statistics, enhancing efficiency and knowledge. The conversation concluded with plans for upcoming sports events and community engagement.

• [ ] @Nestor Aparicio – Coordinate with President Jenkins to have him visit the show and discuss the latest developments at Coppin State.
• [ ] Invite Ms. Peaches, a prominent figure at Coppin State, to appear on the host’s show.

Coppin State’s Growth and Modern Life on Campus

• Nestor Aparicio introduces the show, mentioning various sponsors and upcoming events, including a giveaway of Raven scratch-off tickets.
• Nestor shares a personal anecdote about caroling with his middle school teacher and emphasizes the importance of health check-ups.
• Ruffin Bell, a key figure in Coppin State’s sports marketing, joins the conversation, and Nestor expresses his admiration for Coppin State.
• Nestor highlights the achievements of a 4.0 student majoring in quantum physics, showcasing the diverse academic offerings at Coppin State.

Student Diversity and Campus Atmosphere

• Ruffin Bell discusses the phenomenal growth of Coppin State, with students coming from around the world.
• Nestor and Ruffin credit the admissions department for attracting students who enjoy the campus atmosphere and family-like environment.
• Nestor shares his long-standing relationship with Coppin State, having been involved in broadcasting games for over 15 years.
• Ruffin emphasizes the family atmosphere on campus, where teachers actively support students to succeed.

Sports Programs and Achievements

• Nestor and Ruffin discuss the various sports programs at Coppin State, including basketball, volleyball, and the new addition of golf.
• Ruffin mentions the upcoming announcements of the first signees for the men and women’s golf program.
• Nestor and Ruffin talk about the impact of the NIL (Name, Image, Likeness) policy on college athletics, with Ruffin noting the financial incentives for athletes.
• Ruffin shares an example of a mid-major school paying six women volleyball players $15,000 each, highlighting the financial changes in college sports.

Challenges and Opportunities in College Sports

• Nestor and Ruffin discuss the challenges posed by the NIL policy, including the potential for athletes to transfer frequently.
• Ruffin notes the changes in recruiting strategies, with financial incentives becoming a significant factor.
• Nestor expresses concerns about the long-term impact of the NIL policy on the loyalty and brand-building of college sports programs.
• Ruffin mentions the positive reception of senior days at Coppin State, despite the potential for athletes to transfer after a year.

Upcoming Events and Community Engagement

• Nestor and Ruffin discuss the upcoming basketball season, including key games against UMBC and the University of South Carolina.
• Ruffin highlights the importance of community engagement and the family atmosphere at Coppin State.
• Nestor shares his excitement about the Maryland Crab Cake Tour and the various food sponsors he has visited.
• Ruffin and Nestor talk about the importance of supporting local businesses and the positive impact on the community.

AI and Its Impact on Sports Marketing

• Nestor and Ruffin discuss the role of AI in organizing sports statistics and improving efficiency in sports marketing.
• Ruffin shares how AI tools like ChatGPT and GPT-3 help him manage data and make informed decisions.
• Nestor emphasizes the importance of AI in saving time and adding knowledge to the sports marketing process.
• Ruffin and Nestor agree on the potential of AI to revolutionize various aspects of sports management and analytics.

Final Thoughts and Future Plans

• Nestor and Ruffin wrap up the conversation, expressing their excitement about the future of Coppin State sports.
• Ruffin mentions the upcoming announcements and events at Coppin State, including the start of the basketball season.
• Nestor shares his plans to continue supporting Coppin State and promoting its achievements on his show.
• Both Nestor and Ruffin express their gratitude for the opportunity to discuss the growth and success of Coppin State.

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Coppin State, sports marketing, AI integration, student success, family atmosphere, volleyball team, golf program, NIL impact, conference games, community engagement, Maryland lottery, holiday cheer, health awareness, academic achievements, campus transformation.

SPEAKERS

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Nestor Aparicio, Ruffin Bell

Nestor Aparicio  00:00

Welcome home. We are W, N, S, T am 1570 tacit, Baltimore. We are Baltimore, positive. We are here in beautiful Hale Thorpe. We’re at honeys, Bar and Grill. I’m I smell, I smell food. Something’s coming out here. It’s all brought to you by the Maryland lottery. I have Raven scratch offs to give away. I am gonna be smelling those candy cane tickets next week. Roz is going to get those to me. We’ll have those at Costas next Thursday with Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Gina shot, John Allen, I’m going to be dragging all friends of Ed Lauer out. There’s a rumor Calvin stadium is going to be coming out doing some gospel tunes with us next week. Joy to the world. I did caroling last night in Edgemere with my seventh grade middle school teachers. 85 years old. Church was packed. We all laughed, we all cried. Our friends at GBMC have kept me healthy and kept me alive through this crazy colonoscopy I had where I had precancerous polyps. Major, major thing for the holidays. If you’re out, you’re with loved ones, talk to them about your health a little bit, and our friends at GBMC can help that out. Now. Ruffin Bell is here, as you can see, Coppin State, cotton state. I should have worn my Eagles belt buckle, but I wore my Steve Miller belt buckle, and I wore this when Sumi comes out, her place is called honeys. And I was trying to think, honey, honey, sweet mountain. Honey is a Steve Miller song. So I wore my Steve Miller belt, but I should wear my eagles. But how are you?

Ruffin Bell  01:22

Man, I’m doing well, hanging in there. You know the drill. Happy holidays. Oh, Happy Holidays

Nestor Aparicio  01:26

to you as well, and some Yuletide cheer. So I invite you at everybody knows that cop and does business with me. Everybody knows I brag about coping. But I got to say this, I had a young lady on name praise last week who is a 4.0 student, she is a quantum physics major, a math major. That’s not going to be what you and I are doing today, right? Quantum physics,

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Nestor Aparicio  01:50

right? Nope, nope, nope. But the fact that that goes

Nestor Aparicio  01:53

on on that campus, and I had her on last week, and she and I went over the ledge about AI and the uses of AI, and how 2021, year old people are seeing AI. And you’ve been on this campus since you were student, since you’re a baseball player, right? Yep, in the coaching space, you run marketing at COP and sports, the young people this AI thing in the last 18 months,

Ruffin Bell  02:22

just phenomenal on your campus, right? Phenomenal. Phenomenal. Our students are phenomenal. We get, you know, we’re getting kids from literally around the world, not just Baltimore.

Nestor Aparicio  02:33

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I saw that on the volleyball roster. Where are you getting these people?

Ruffin Bell  02:36

We have and credit, Dr Jenkins, credit the admissions department. They’re finding kids that want to learn. They enjoy the atmosphere at Coppin. They enjoy just meeting the fact that family, everyone’s family, on campus. You know,

Nestor Aparicio  02:59

Kurt Schmoke says, What happened to you? Jenka just brought you in over there. You’re an eagle. I’m like, Hey, Coppin, you know? Well, I’ve been, I’ve been at this you were my entryway. And I don’t even know when I tell Dr Jenkins, I’m like, I think I’ve been doing copping games for like, 15 years, maybe like, oh 809, 10, somewhere in there. Ruffin called me and said, I listen to you every day. We want to put our games on. Wnst Like, what kind of games are like? Let’s start with basketball and and it really is morphed into this, you know, I know your bowling coach. I mean, I you know, I mean, I’ve had everybody on, but this thing I’ve done with Dr Jenkins the last two years, where I’m bringing on people are teaching economy, people who are teaching history, people that are better, that are that are graduates, who are involved in your fundraising, who’ve been school teachers in this city for a generation. And you know, when I talked to Brandon Scott, he’s like, half my teachers went to copping, yeah, half of Murdoch’s staff or copping, because it was a teacher school. But it’s so much more than that now, right?

Ruffin Bell  04:00

Yeah. I mean, coffin is just like you said, from one the time that I was a student to the campus

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Nestor Aparicio  04:07

student 18, oh my goodness.

Ruffin Bell  04:10

What year 9393 All right, freshman year 93 and oh my goodness, the campus has just been transformed the but but I would say the one thing that is remain is it’s still that family atmosphere. You know, teachers are going to grab you if, if you’re falling astray. You know that we want to we want to see people do well, we’re going to pull you by the bootstraps, if we have that’s

Nestor Aparicio  04:42

what Dr Jenkins always says, make sure you succeed. Yeah. And not every they’re just not saying that at a big school, yeah.

Ruffin Bell  04:49

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And, but that’s, that’s always been the cop and way that, honestly, it’s what was back to Fanny right? There’s a teacher, right? Yeah. And honestly, that’s, that’s what’s kept me there. You. Know, I, you know, I love it. It’s home. My kids have gone to Coppin now. So now I feel old, right?

Nestor Aparicio  05:12

And I guess from the sports perspective and where we are, and I run into Stu all it the show, come on. I mean, she says, Hello family at State Fair and at the Beaumont. When I’m there, he’s usually there. The bartender is a great golf buddy is and I know Paul. Hey, Paulie, you know, so their family to me as well. We’ll be over there for a cup of Super Bowl as well in February. But so I had Stu on and then your volleyball team, and Stu got mad at me because I got a volleyball shirt, put out a basketball shirt. I have a I have a cop in volleyball. They won a couple years ago, and you sent me, sure, yeah, we got to get to me at champions, yes. And went out to Arizona, and, you know, I had coach on. It’s exciting anytime you win your conference. I mean, at this level, that’s what this is about, is these other schools get more and more fun than the NIA

Ruffin Bell  06:04

outcomes, yeah. And honestly, the ladies on the team, they’re great they’re great students, they’re great women. You want to cheer them on, and then they play a great game of volleyball. I mean, it is exciting to watch. And then they’re not just beating HBCUs

Nestor Aparicio  06:24

their schedule. They have big schools.

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Ruffin Bell  06:26

Yeah, they win, they play. They are here to play. They are here to win. They are here to graduate. They’re doing all three. Believe we just had, oh, Steve’s gonna kill me. I’m forgetting the names, but I believe it was to Kenya, Stafford and I think Koco figure war were named to all East Coast academic team. Oh, nice. I think that went out earlier this afternoon. So the students, or volleyball, they do, well, there’s

Nestor Aparicio  06:56

plenty to brag about when you win the MEAC, right? Yeah.

Ruffin Bell  06:59

I mean, you know, Dr Jenkins gonna, he’s gonna boast for us.

Nestor Aparicio  07:03

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He’s, I see it on LinkedIn all the time. I mean, he’s out in front of it.

Ruffin Bell  07:07

He loves, He loves to the teams. He’s at every game. He’s up front. You know, he’s, he’s a great leader for Coppin. He’s, he’s there. He’s, well,

Nestor Aparicio  07:17

there’s so much energy whenever I’m over and you get a big anniversary, we had a gala, just all of these things going on. But I know, you know, from the sports perspective, bragging the sports a little bit, other than just volleyball and what else is going on around there, I know baseball’s been that’s, that’s, you want to talk about Pete Alonso? I know you do.

Ruffin Bell  07:36

We’re getting there, but you know, you mentioned one thing, and you talked about golf, we’ve added golf, really. So we should be announcing the first signees, probably, if not, this week. Well, it’s already Friday, so probably next week. So we will begin a men and women’s golf program next fall.

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Nestor Aparicio  08:01

How does the N i L, affect you? I didn’t talk much to sue about it. I have definitely talked in the past to women’s coaches, women’s basketball on your side. I had Pat scary on from Towson last year, talking about it. I saw Steve eigenbrot, and I saw one of your counterparts from Morgan the ad she was on stage at an event I did about six weeks ago where Katie Griggs and Sasha brown were there. But the n, i l part of this, I can’t say I’m interested in it from I want to write a check for the kids or whatever. And I saw that was it, Mark Cuban, that was it, was it was an athlete who was it? No, it was Troy Aikman. Said a check. And he said, the kid never said thank you. And left after a year, and I saw that from UCLA. We talk about AI being sort of new, and we don’t know what it is. And the N i l thing, I’m not interested in it as a college fan. I’m interested in as a journalist, right? I’m interested in it as a human, as a citizen, as somebody that’s watched every cop in Loyola to Allison small school Stevenson try to build a sports program around student athlete. That’s where you were, right? You were student athlete. You’ll play for the Orioles. You know what I mean? You were going to have a good time. You cared about your baseball, you cared about your grades. But this n, i l thing is brought a level of professionalism to all of it that what we saw happen in Mississippi on the football side two weeks ago, and I know what a big sports fan you are. You see it more globally. What does it mean for Coppin, and what is it done to your college athletic soul, being a guy who’s spent your whole life doing this work?

Ruffin Bell  09:48

It’s, it’s definitely a change. It’s, it’s still in flux across, we don’t know what it is across the NCAA, I mean,

Nestor Aparicio  09:59

but the only 10. The consequences is that affected Coppin, oh yeah.

Ruffin Bell  10:03

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It affects everyone within the conference. Somebody’s too good, they’re gone because that’s right, right, that’s right. And just talking to one of our system volleyball coaches, he was telling me of another school mid major, they were paying six women, $15,000 on top of their scholarships to play volleyball, 90 grand, and you don’t hit you know, you don’t hear that. You hear about football, you hear about basketball, but it’s across all.

Nestor Aparicio  10:35

If I bring coach Walsh 100 grand, I don’t have to bring in a brown bag anymore, but if I bring it to him and say, I want this to make cop ins the best way he could then go out and find six girls and offer them 15 grand, that’s and that would be the way he would use his money. That’s where every coach is using their money in that way.

Ruffin Bell  10:56

Yeah, that’s now part of the equation, the recruiting equation, you know, and

Nestor Aparicio  11:03

it’s, I don’t know where it’s going. I don’t recognize don’t recognize it, and it’s not for me being an old fart or whatever. I just don’t think it’s going to be good for any part of it, the optics, my interest, loyalty, building the brand, that if Koppen had to lose a player every year that’s your best player, it would become so disappointing well, to anyone that’s not Alabama or Auburn or whatever those school Notre Dame,

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Ruffin Bell  11:30

to your point, we have had fans that smells good, stuff

Nestor Aparicio  11:35

looks great. I knew this was a good idea coming down here.

Ruffin Bell  11:37

We’ve even had fans, not only just cop and fans, but general conversation, just asking, Why are schools still doing senior days? Generally? When you do senior day, that athlete has been with you three, four years, the fans have gotten a chance to know know them, but if everyone’s

Nestor Aparicio  12:03

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one and done, what value?

Ruffin Bell  12:06

What is your relationship? Yeah, what is

Nestor Aparicio  12:09

call it? You’re the guys that are here this year day,

Nestor Aparicio  12:11

you know, literally and you see it. We’ll start with Maryland, right

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Nestor Aparicio  12:14

just from a basketball perspective right now, if you were with that team last March, and with Derek Queen and the crab five, and they had a name.

Ruffin Bell  12:23

Well, remember, we started off the season against Maryland, and the one of the big topics between both teams, there were maybe only two returning players from both teams. That’s the new NCAA

Nestor Aparicio  12:42

that’s untenable. You can’t go marketing around that. It’s hard everything before everything’s a town. What’s good at copping right now? Give everybody a little update here, because I’m smelling food. She got crab cakes. I got egg rolls. I should have requested those pot stickers, but I maybe get those together. My wife’s out of town for the holidays right now, so my refrigerator. I’ve been to Koco’s, fadleys, Cooper, I’ve been all my sponsors this week, and I’ve been pizza John’s. I got two slices. Oh man, Costa sent me soup, so I got food. Everybody keeps trying to send me out of places with

Ruffin Bell  13:21

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food and lit.

Nestor Aparicio  13:22

I was squalies Yesterday. Deep of squalies.

Nestor Aparicio  13:26

Hey, you

Nestor Aparicio  13:27

enjoy it. He’s like, What do you want? I give you whatever. I just give me one sandwich so I have half of a purshoot, mozzarella, tomato basil, olive oil.

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Nestor Aparicio  13:39

There you go. And then they’re Brandon. Oh, wow.

Nestor Aparicio  13:43

She thinks that I brought an army out here. Who’s gonna help me eat all this food up here? Tell me what’s going on, a cop, something good. I’m gonna hold some food up here.

Ruffin Bell  13:53

Oh, we’re getting ready. We’re wings couple. We’re a couple weeks away from the start toast. I believe. There you go. It’s good to be the king.

Nestor Aparicio  14:04

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It is, I feel like the king right now, yeah.

Ruffin Bell  14:07

But basketball wise, we got the me at conference about to start up in at the beginning of January. UMBC, for the men’s team, is our next home game on December 29

Nestor Aparicio  14:19

local. That’s local. That’s a beltway game, right?

Ruffin Bell  14:21

Yep, yep. So it’s always great to have the rivalries in the course January. You can’t overlook all the games, but everyone’s going to be talking about university South Carolina coach Staley and the gamecock’s coming up to Coppin State, you know, to have some fun, similar to LSU. Yeah. That is Sunday, January 18, 12pm

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Nestor Aparicio  14:49

tip off. They gonna let me in. Can I sit next to digital? You know, you already famer

Nestor Aparicio  14:57

all the famer Garrett digital Williams, yeah. Yeah, we said they put Gary Williams in a cop in Hall of Fame, like he went to Maryland. Gary Williams, digital Williams,

Ruffin Bell  15:07

Yep, he’s in the hall.

Nestor Aparicio  15:08

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That’s one of the things about your place. And I’ve been trying to get Miss peaches on. Can you work on this

Nestor Aparicio  15:13

for me? Oh, most definitely. That’s, you know, dance with

Nestor Aparicio  15:16

her at the gala. And she knew about my show and all because she watches, you know, and I told her, I want to get her on, so come on. Oh, yes,

Ruffin Bell  15:27

definitely. Oh, most definitely.

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Nestor Aparicio  15:29

That’s Dr Jenkins. He’s been so busy. I mean, I’ve talked to him since, like, September.

Ruffin Bell  15:33

You know, he’s going to roll so, you know, he’s doing

Nestor Aparicio  15:37

the crab cake with me calling Dr. J, what are you doing? Oh, you know,

Ruffin Bell  15:41

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he’ll make a way for a crap game. I will be happy to sub in his place.

Nestor Aparicio  15:47

Well, I appreciate you. Coppin State sports is the way to find everything that they do over there. We’ve been their flagship for going on a decade and a half. And even more than that, we really like talk. I loved that conversation I had about AI last week with praise. What? Because it came at the right time for me. I discovered AI a month ago. I’ve got a clone. I’ve been it’s all I’m going to do during the holidays. Is immersed, because it’s been helping me so much. I’m thinking you’re a little younger and fresher because you’re surrounded by younger and fresher people all day. So AI came to you before it

Ruffin Bell  16:18

came today. Chat. GPT Gemini, the whole nine. How’s it helping you? Helping you write? Right? For me, it’s more so organizing the stats that I pulled together. Okay, so when it comes to keeping track who’s coming in, it helps me kind of see things a little bit clearer, or

Nestor Aparicio  16:39

embarrassing, yeah, contrasting things and creating charge and saying, Look at Consumer Reports. Tell me about these three things, these five things, and tell me what I need to know. And like, there

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Ruffin Bell  16:49

you go. It’s doing it’s doing the thinking for you, in some cases. But just being able to have that info and just to pull it all together,

Nestor Aparicio  16:58

saving time and adding knowledge. Boy, that’s there. You can do that. Save time and add knowledge. Every Dad, have more time to eat this food is what I go rough. I love you. Appreciate you, cop and state sports. Hey cop and we’re out here. You can find him out on the front of Baltimore positive. Dr Jenkins owes me a visit because he hasn’t been here in a while. So I’m looking forward to having you on getting excited about everything that’s going on in the meantime, Daphne keeps sending me people that quantum physics last week.

Nestor Aparicio  17:26

You know what I mean? There you go. Hey, that’s smarter. It’s the future. It’s the future.

Nestor Aparicio  17:33

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So far so good. You know, no quantum physics involved here. I got six wings. I got I smelled the shrimp toast. And when they told me that this is that Sumi is Asian, and that they have Asian delights on the on the on the I looked at them, but I couldn’t smell them on Google Maps when they invited me over here. And Ruff and I have been talking, I’m starving right now. We’re in honeys. We’re over here in Hale Thorpe. It’s all brought to you by our friends at the Maryland lottery. Have Raven scratch offs giveaway. We love the candy cane scented tickets next week. My bag will smell like peppermint when I arrive at Costas on Friday. Will be at gertrude’s on, excuse me, CASAS Thursday, gertrudes Friday. Planet Fitness, timmonium on Monday of next week. And you got anything we say about Pete Alonso or the Orioles? I mean, you’re an Oreo guy.

Ruffin Bell  18:20

Look, that’s one piece. That’s one piece you want to pitch. Yes, you know, I’m everything’s built off of pitching, but then we got to have that offense. So you

Nestor Aparicio  18:32

believe in Rogers and Bradish.

Ruffin Bell  18:37

I think we’re, I think we’re getting there. I can’t

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Nestor Aparicio  18:42

I can hope for them. Yes, yes, I’m with

Ruffin Bell  18:45

you there. We’re getting we still need some pieces. You know, we’re gonna keep hope alive.

Nestor Aparicio  18:51

West Baltimore, guy from COP and East Baltimore guy from Dundalk, getting together, spending billionaires money is what we’re

Nestor Aparicio  18:57

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doing there. You need my money. Have fun with it, right? Buy some

Nestor Aparicio  19:02

pitching, for crying out loud. So we get down here to honeys and watch the ball game again this summer. All right, we’re signing off from here from honeys for now. We’re gonna come back in a minute. I am going to learn all about Asian cuisine and Korean cooking and the things that I’m smelling here that the minute that I hit stop on this I’m going to start eating. We’re back for more. For monies here in halethorpe, it is the Maryland crab cake tour. I’m Nestor. We’re W, N, S, D. Am 1570 Towson, Baltimore. Back for more. We’re Baltimore positive. Stay with us.