The Program with Woj

Charlotte Hornets President of Basketball Operations Jeff Peterson joins The Program to discuss the realities of building an NBA contender in today's league.

Peterson takes Adrian Wojnarowski inside the Hornets' front office as they prepare for another pivotal offseason, sharing lessons from two years leading basketball operations in Charlotte and explaining how organizations navigate the draft, free agency, and trade market simultaneously.

Topics include:


Why some NBA trades take months or even years to complete


How front offices manage draft season, free agency, and trade talks at the same time


The impact of the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement on roster building


Why small-market teams face a different path to contention


The changing value of draft picks in today's NBA


How the Hornets evaluated Kon Knueppel throughout the scouting process


What made Knueppel stand out as both a prospect and a person


Why basketball IQ and decision-making matter more than ever


The importance of alignment between the front office and coaching staff


Jeff Peterson's partnership with Hornets head coach Charles Lee


Charlotte's long-term vision for building a sustainable winner

Subscribe to The Program with Woj for conversations with the most influential leaders, executives, coaches, and players shaping the future of sports.

A big thank you to our presenting sponsor, Novig, America’s sports exchange, where you can make picks on the NBA, NFL, and more at the best odds. Go to https://novig.com and use code WOJ to get 50 dollars worth of Novig coins when you spend your first five dollars. Must be 21+. No purchase necessary to play. Void where prohibited. See terms of use for eligibility.
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Draft Express founder Jonathan Givony joins Woj for an in-depth look at the 2026 NBA Draft and the difficult decisions facing teams at the top of the board.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why Givony would select Darryn Peterson over AJ Dybantsa and Cam Boozer with the No. 1 overall pick

• How Peterson, Boozer, and Dybantsa compare as franchise cornerstones

• Why the analytics strongly favor Cam Boozer and what makes him one of the safest prospects in recent memory

• How college basketball's financial boom is reshaping the talent pool available to NBA teams

• What teams can learn from evaluating second-generation NBA players like Boozer

• How injuries affected Peterson's freshman season and why teams remain confident in his long-term upside

• Why the San Antonio Spurs may be ahead of schedule in their pursuit of a championship

• How recent changes to the NBA Draft Lottery could permanently alter team-building strategies around the league

• Why scouting, analytics, and player evaluation may be more important than ever in the modern NBA

Subscribe for more episodes of The Program with Woj, new every Wednesday.

2:24 — How the 2026 NBA Draft Class Stacks Up
5:55 — Who Should Be the No. 1 Pick?
8:09 — The Analytics Case for Cam Boozer
11:05 — How NBA Bloodlines Impact Draft Evaluation
13:41 — Darryn Peterson's Injury and Draft Outlook
17:13 — The Spurs' Rapid Rise Around Victor Wembanyama
20:06 — How Lottery Reform Is Changing Team Building
22:12 — The NBA's Push to Spread Talent Across the League
24:01 — Building a Contender Without Top Draft Picks
25:24 — How NIL and Revenue Sharing Are Reshaping the Draft
26:52 — Why Scouting Matters More Than Ever

A big thank you to our presenting sponsor, Novig, America's sports exchange, where you can make picks on the NBA, NFL, and more at the best odds. Go to Novig.com and use code WOJ to get $50 worth of Novig coins when you spend your first $5.

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Draft Express founder Jonathan Givony joins Woj to examine the NCAA's new international eligibility guidelines and the uncertainty they're creating throughout college basketball.

In this episode, we cover:
• Why the NCAA's May guidance caught coaches and programs off guard
• How international players can lose eligibility based on the leagues they played in overseas
• Why schools that have already committed millions in NIL and roster construction are now scrambling for answers
• The growing backlog of international players waiting on eligibility rulings
• How the NCAA determines whether a player is considered a professional athlete
• Why coaches are frustrated by the lack of transparency in the eligibility process
• The role of NGB waivers and how they affect older international prospects
• Whether the NCAA is signaling a broader effort to limit older international athletes in college sports
• How these changes could reshape recruiting and roster building across the SEC, Big Ten, ACC, and beyond

Subscribe for more episodes of The Program with Woj, new every Wednesday.

1:14 — NCAA's New International Eligibility Rules Explained

2:24 — Why Coaches Were Surprised by the NCAA's May Guidance

3:28 — How Overseas Leagues Could Make Players Ineligible

5:49 — Hundreds of International Players Caught in Limbo

6:21 — The NCAA's New "League Quality" Standard

7:25 — Why Coaches, Agents, and Players Want More Transparency

8:22 — Does the NCAA Still Want International Players?

9:11 — How Many College Rosters Could Be Affected?

10:10 — What Is an NGB Waiver?

11:06 — Why Older International Players Are Being Held Up

12:14 — The Rise of Former Pros Entering College Basketball

12:58 — Why Programs Feel the Rules Changed Midstream

13:38 — Did LSU's Recruiting Class Trigger This Crackdown?

15:23 — Why the NCAA Changed Course on International Eligibility

16:17 — Is Anyone Really an Amateur Anymore?

17:19 — The Political Forces Shaping NCAA Policy

18:14 — The Impact of the Proposed "Five-for-Five" Rule

19:24 — The Protect College Sports Act Explained

20:38 — How These Changes Could Affect Other NCAA Sports

21:17 — Will the New NCAA Legislation Actually Pass?

A big thank you to our presenting sponsor, Novig, America’s sports exchange, where you can make picks on the NBA, NFL, and more at the best odds. Go to https://novig.com and use code WOJ to get 50 dollars worth of Novig coins when you spend your first five dollars. Must be 21+. No purchase necessary to play. Void where prohibited. See terms of use for eligibility.
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Pat Garrity played 10-plus years in the NBA, then spent four seasons in Detroit's front office learning how to build a winning team. Now he's back at Notre Dame, the school where he was Big East Player of the Year, running the general manager role for both the men's and women's basketball programs. 

Woj and Pat break down what it really takes to compete in the NIL and transfer portal era, why re-recruiting your own players never stops, and whether the current financial model of college basketball is actually sustainable.

In this episode, we discuss:

The NBA vs. College Gap: Why four years in Detroit's front office only partly prepares you for a world with no guaranteed roster from one season to the next.

Re-Recruiting Your Own Guys: Why the retention battle starts the day a player steps on campus, not in March, and what Notre Dame is doing to stay ahead of it.

The Notre Dame Sell: How the value of a degree holds up against a bigger check — and exactly when it stops being enough.

The Sustainability Question: Why Pat believes the current cost structure of college basketball can't hold, and what the NBA's own labor history tells us about where this is headed.

Men's vs. Women's: The key differences Pat sees operating both programs under one roof, and where the two worlds are starting to converge.

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1:37 — Why Pat Garrity Took the Notre Dame GM Job

2:37 — What the NBA Can't Teach You About College Basketball

4:00 — Building a Roster When Anyone Can Leave

5:01 — The One-Year Contract Problem

7:02 — Can Notre Dame Still Sell Academics?

9:58 — Re-Recruiting Your Own Players

11:48 — The New Reality of Player Development

14:47 — Is College Basketball's Business Model Broken?

15:46 — Why This System Can't Last

17:13 — The Salary Cap Isn't Working

18:39 — Why Schools Keep Spending Anyway

20:19 — Men's vs. Women's Basketball in the NIL Era

22:30 — What Pat Garrity Would Be Worth Today

A big thank you to our presenting sponsor, Novig, America’s sports exchange, where you can make picks on the NBA, NFL, and more at the best odds. Go to https://novig.com and use code WOJ to get 50 dollars worth of Novig coins when you spend your first five dollars. Must be 21+. No purchase necessary to play. Void where prohibited. See terms of use for eligibility.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Texas football GM Brandon Harris joins Woj to pull back the curtain on what it actually costs to build and keep a championship-level roster in the SEC.

In this episode, we cover:


Why the minimum investment to compete for a national championship in the SEC is $30 million and climbing


How Harris structures negotiations to keep Coach Sark insulated from player money conversations


The three tiers of players on every roster and why the middle tier is always the hardest deal to close


Why he'd rather negotiate with an agent than a parent every time and what he tells families who ask


What a visit to the Baltimore Ravens front office taught him about building a program the right way


How roster inflation has grown 20 to 25 percent year over year with no ceiling in sight

Subscribe for more episodes of The Program with Woj, new every Wednesday.

1:33 — Brandon Harris on Becoming Texas Football’s GM
2:45 — How the Transfer Portal Changed Roster Building
4:10 — Why College Football Is Moving Toward a 5-Year Model
5:12 — The Biggest Problem With Roster Retention
6:16 — The Academic Challenge of Modern Transfers
8:33 — How Texas Builds a Championship Roster
10:27 — Why Retaining Players Matters More Than Recruiting
11:24 — The NIL Problem With High School Recruits
12:48 — How Texas Finds NFL Talent Others Missed
13:47 — What Brandon Harris Learned From NFL Front Offices
15:08 — Why the Ravens Are the Model Organization
16:09 — What a National Championship Roster Costs Now
17:47 — How Much Time Texas Spends Raising Money
19:56 — How Texas Evaluates NIL Market Value
21:32 — Why Some GMs Are Better Negotiators Than Others
22:50 — Why Restraint Matters in Recruiting
24:27 — Why Sark Doesn’t Handle NIL Negotiations
26:22 — The Three Tiers of Players on a College Roster
27:56 — Why Agents Are Easier Than Parents
29:01 — When Relationships Become Business Decisions

A big thank you to our presenting sponsor, Novig, America’s sports exchange, where you can make picks on the NBA, NFL, and more at the best odds. Go to https://novig.com and use code WOJ to get 50 dollars worth of Novig coins when you spend your first five dollars. Must be 21+. No purchase necessary to play. Void where prohibited. See terms of use for eligibility.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices