INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — I’ve interviewed a lot of people for my “UnPhilTered” segment on “News 8 at 11 p.m. with Phil Sanchez,” but Monday’s was a little bit different.

That’s because my guest and I had a lot in common; more on that in moment.

Joey Graziano is the new executive vice president of strategy and new business ventures for Pacers Sports & Entertainment and will be in charge of extending their brands domestically and globally, as well as building on Indianapolis’ rise as a sports epicenter.

“I think one of the most exciting things that I learned here was how much trust has been built over decades with the Simon family leadership, Rick Fuson and now transitioning to Mel Raines, these are people that everybody trusts, and because of that trust, you now have opportunity that springs from that. And so what we’re excited is to be able to deliver more opportunities for our fans to be able to engage with our brands, both inside Gainbridge Field House, but more importantly, outside of that. And as we think about the opportunities to bring that phrase Hoosier hospitality, a phrase I learned from my first day here, I want to be able to introduce that to the world. And so we’re going to think about some of the net new businesses that we can do.”

Graziano, a former Georgetown University baseball player and attorney, took the job after spending six years with the NBA and fell in love with Indianapolis while spending time here for this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend.

“My dad was a NYC fireman. There’s probably nothing I’m more proud of than being the son of a New York City firefighter, and my first day here when I came to move here ahead of all-star, there was a note from a firehouse in Indianapolis welcoming me to city and wanting to make sure I was going to be ok, my first day here, ended up walking by and seeing ladder 13 in downtown Indy, that was my dad’s firehouse number, I felt like this was home and those were the kind of people I wanted to invest in.”

Hoosier hospitality at its finest. It’s a feeling, I know all too well. Turns out, Joey and I are from the same neighborhood in Queens, played in the same Little League, know some of the same people and are both, sadly, die-hard Mets fans.

From New Yorker to New Yorker, welcome to Indy, Joey! You’re gonna love it here.