Leslie McDonald Joins The Pod | TarHeel247 - A UNC Basketball Podcast: Ep. 5

Update: 2025-09-10

Description

In this episode, John is joined by one of his former teammates at North Carolina, Memphis native Leslie McDonald, as they take a trip down memory lane and look back at their time at North Carolina and a look at the current state of college basketball.

00:00 - Intro
00:15 - Welcome Leslie McDonald
00:51 - Leslie's early life growing up in Memphis
01:46 - How Leslie was introduced to basketball
04:02 - How UNC got involved in his recruitment
05:36 - Why going to Memphis wasn't appealing
06:46 - UNC's recruiting pitch to him
08:52 - Leslie's official visit to Chapel Hill
09:47 - What happened on Leslie's visit to Duke
10:58 - Leslie on what school he would've went to if not for UNC
12:03 - Being a part of such a heralded recruiting class
13:23 - Leslie on "optional" not being optional at UNC
15:02 - Leslie's welcome to Carolina moment playing pickup
17:00 - How Leslie knew Coach Williams was always watching
18:26 - Recalling how hard conditioning was at Carolina
20:35 - The part of his game Leslie developed the most at Carolina
22:03 - Leslie's expectations for this year's team
23:42 - How Leslie would've navigated NIL and the portal while he was at UNC
24:59 - Leslie details his involvement with Iceberg Guards
27:05 - John's story about there being no such thing as a free lunch
29:14 - The collest experience Leslie had in his life due to the game of basketball
30:46 - Leslie's advice to his younger self
32:24 - The one thing Leslie wishes that the media would've asked him about his career