It's time for Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine
day. Now here's Nick Coffee. All right, here we go hour number
two. Coffee and Company. We are fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk
seven ninety. My name is Nick Coffee, the company man John Alongside.
Today a big Monday, a lot to react to, not just the fact
that we've got a national championship game this evening, and of course you know
Final Four to recap. As you know, we now just have two teams
left. The women's Final Four was phenomenal. I can't think of. I
mean, there's no scenario there's ever been more eyeballs on women's college basketball than
really this year and especially the postseason. And I think there's a lot of
men like myself that was never against women's college basketball. I just I don't
seek it out, you know what I mean. It's not something that is
in any way appointment viewing unless I've got some invested interest, like you know,
Louisville playing, because obviously I want Jeff Wall's team to do well and
I'm a louis A fan. But even that, I'm not gonna lie to
you and fake it like I'm watching every game, you know what I mean,
I keep up with it, but it's not you know, it's not
appointment viewing in most instances. I have no problem admitting that the women's postseason,
once you got to like the Elite Eight, it was I mean I
didn't watch every second of it, but on Friday I watched both Final four
games. They were phenomenal. Obviously the Monday Elite Eight game with I mean,
both those games were great, but of course the Iowa L Shue game
and in the championship yesterday. I mean, there's never been this much attention
on the women's game, and I love it. It's good, it's great.
But despite all that, something happened last night that led to kind of
all of that stuff I just mentioned. You know, we love college basketball
around around you know, around the clock, right, It's something we do
every I mean, there's no market that loves college basketball more than we do.
I'll be a liar to say we talk about it every single day on
this show in great detail, but I bet we talk about it more than
you hear other places. So you know this is where it all ends,
right, Like we put the finishing touches on another season of college hoops tonight.
But the most talked about thing is not that. It's that John Calipari
is leaving Lexington to go to Fayetteville, Arkansas after a fifteen year run.
I believe it was fourteen year run at Kentucky. He's walking away in Arkansas.
They have saved Kentucky and John Calipery. It was playing out very publicly
how just stale the marriage had become. A divorce was needed, but divorce
is expensive. Divorce is far from an easy thing to go through, especially
if you've been together a long time in life without one another would be weird,
and you got kids involved, which I guess the kids are like the
fans. So there was really no easy exit strategy. And I know money
could have been there, like it would have been possible to fire John Caliperry
and pay thirty three million, but it was far from like practical, I
mean, And that would also make it to where when you fire a guy
and you pay that much money for him to not do the job, people
can bring up, well, hey, we can get anybody to come in
and beat Oakland. We can get anybody to come in and beat Saint Peter's.
Well, you're right, but you know, CALLI Perry as much as
we want to make fun of him, and I'm sure you guys will make
fun of him now too, because he's going to be really an enemy and
I think he's going to jab you by the way. I don't think there's
a scenario he gets to the press conference without some little dig at Kentucky.
When I say the press conference, I mean when he's introduced in Fayetteville,
So I mean he still is a huge name in sports, not just college
basketball, and that you know that holds weight. It's a two way street,
though, because you know Cala Perry's also at a place that everybody when
you think of Kentucky, you think of college basketball. So moving on from
him and paying him to go away and paying him not to coach whoever comes
in and takes over. If they are like an n I T team in
year one or maybe in the year two, they're a you know, sweet
sixteen team at best, that that would that would be disastrous for Kentucky in
the PR world because they paid it got thirty three million not to be there,
and who knows, maybe they'd keep losing to Saint Peter's in Oakland caliber
teams. But they'd still be relevant, they'd still be good, they'd still
bring in the number one class like every single year. So I get why
they didn't make a move as much as it just seemed like, what are
we doing here? This just is so like, this is so played out.
It was it was just unpracticed. It just was you needed something like
this to happen. And I thought Texas last year when they fired Chris Beard
and Rodney Terry was the interim and at that point, you know, you
know Caliperry, I mean at the time that job was open. I mean
I think he'd lost to South Carolina about like twenty or something at home,
who was terrible. They got murdered by Alabama last year on the road,
like they hit a stretch where like the noise was as loud as it's ever
been about Cali Perry just completely being lost and not, you know, not
needing to be the guy anymore. And then he ended up rallying getting a
decent seedy what were they six seed last year or something like that, I
think five or six. Yeah, and then they lost to Kansas State in
the second round. But that wasn't, you know, like an embarrassing loss.
I mean, it's never going to be looked at as a good season
for Kentucky to lose in that round. But he did just enough to kind
of like rally from the lowest of low last year. And then also Texas
decided to hire Rodney Terry full time, and Texas was a job he would
have taken. I mean, Travis Brandam of twenty four seven Sports, I
remember this report specifically because I felik it kind of just got lost in the
shuffle. The report was that if Texas was interested, he would go,
and Texas is the kind of school that can pay a lot of money to
where he would walk away from his contract at Kentucky because he'd be paid very
handsomely at Texas. Well. Now, Arkansas surprisingly ended up being the lifeline
because Cali Perry is not going to go to a place that has no level
of success. He's not going to go somewhere on the cheap. So he's
making or at least he's gonna make eight to nine million a year. He's
gonna have a whole lot of money for nil and apparently he's going to have
some incentives that aren't on the salary, but if he wins big, he
will be rewarded big with you know, you know bonuses essentially, So Arkansas
being the school to save Kentucky was not what anybody would have expected. But
in a week's time Mus leaves, Jerome Tang turns down Arkansas, Chris Beard
turns down Arkansas, and then I guess this relationship with Cali Perry and who
is it the yeah, the the guy who is make sure I get this,
the guy who owns Tyson Chicken. Apparently his name is let's see here,
Well, never mind, I love barstool sports genuinely, like I'm a
stooling and I want to talk I never talk about it a whole lot on
here because I know a lot of people aren't whatever. I'm not trying to
influence anybody, and their articles are like far from like well crafted capital J
columns, right, but sometimes they just throw stuff in an article that like
there's you can't like dissect it. So anyways, there's some relationship that Calipari
has with I guess the CEO of Tyson Chicken, and that led to I
guess this whole thing getting a little bit of a spark and then it sure
enough rather quickly actually ended up happening. So for those who's not joining us,
apparently there was a meeting schedule. This is from This is from KSR.
There was a meeting that Calipari was set to happen, set to h
to have with his team that is now no longer happening for reasons I don't
I don't know. I don't know if they they were gonna have a team
meeting this afternoon with Caliperry, but now it's not happening. That is what
KSR reported a couple of hours ago. And if you missed the video that
we played earlier, it's I mean, you can't see the video. This
is radio. But Caliperry on Richmond Road, which, by the way,
everybody's jumping all over the text line to tell me, yes, Richmond Road
is a very very highly trafficked road in Lexington with a lot of his ability,
Caliperry walking his dog down Richmond Road on a Wednesday or I'm sorry,
Monday afternoon, right before he's set to probably get on a plane and fly
to Fayettville, Arkansas, to call the hogs woo pig suiye like that's intentional,
that's personal, and it's silly that it that it got to this.
But he feels betrayed by Kentucky because they stopped worshiping him, you know,
whenever he wasn't giving them great results. Which that's just man, that's that's
the game, man, and that's what this is. But he I think
he's going to be so energized at Arkansas to win, but it won't be
because you know, he just is happy to have another opportunity somewhere. He'll
want to win to rub it in Kentucky's face. That's just how this guy
appears to be wired. But here is the sound as a w k Y
T asked him if he had any comment as he's walking his dog. Hey,
coach, you guys thinking right now, you will saying I'm good,
come on, Paul, come on, my dog, my dog is walking
me. Come on. I mean that's one of those things that you kind
of sit back and think, like, is that is that really happening?
He won wanted that to happen, of course, Like there's no other way.
I mean, there's no scenario. He interrupted him the moment he said
something to him, and he's like the dog's name? What Paul? Love?
How that's the dog's name? Paul? What? Did never met a
dog named Paul? Did he say? Paul? Come on, Paul,
Hey, coach, you right now you will say I'm good? Come on?
It does sound like Paul, doesn't it. It's very close. Even
if whether whether that's his name or not, it sounds like it. I
feel like it could be. There's no way he named his dog Paul,
right. Maybe it's Palmer, but he's saying, paum, let's see,
hey, coach, you got things right now? You will saying I'm good.
Come on. I feel like there's an amend you be right. I
think you're on. Let's see. I just googled what are John Caliperry's dogs
named? And I got an article here from Tyler Thompson at k s R.
Who I think I may have. I think, yeah, Palmer,
look yeah, which which makes more sense? Yeah? Paul. Paul would
be a very odd dog name. There's some like human names that I hear
of an animal having, and I'm like, you know what, that's kind
of perfect. Paul would not be one. No, not for a dog
had a buddy? Who who had who's a big cat guy, not a
UK guy, but like you know, he had cats, cat dude,
and he had his oldest cat. His name was Walter, and I thought
that was amazing. That is a great cat name. Walter is a phenomenal
cat name. So shout out to my buddy Daniel who had a cat named
Walter. Not sure if he's still with us, but you know, hopefully
he is. It was a long time ago, all right, So we'll
get back into the I guess, you know, the specific the search because
again, this doesn't really feel like a search because there's mean they're not searching
to figure out who might be a good fit. That's what Louisville did.
That's what they had to do this time around. They weren't gonna go after
a big name. They didn't offer a big name. I mean, I
know they I guess touched base with Scott Drew, but I feel comfortable in
saying they never really I mean, it never got to the point where they
were courting him in a way like I don't even know if he and let's
be honest, like the levels to the to this as far as back and
forth, the communication, especially during the season. I mean, it's not
as if anybody probably had an all like a piece of paper in front of
him to sign to say that they were going to take the job. But
of everybody they talked to, Dusty May, Josh Shirts, Pat Kelsey.
You know, clearly the stages were much the level of it was much higher
than than Drew. And it's because Drew was coaching still, and you know
Drew wasn't interested. So you know, Josh Hurt had to go search,
literally and find somebody that he felt like could really check the boxes that really
need to be checked to get this thing turned around. But also, you
know a guy that can coach a little ball and win, and Pat Kelsey
has And I heard a little bit of his interview with Jim Rome earlier today,
and I think it's the it's it's the I'm a huge Jim Roan fan
myself. It's what really got me interested in sports radio and still love ROMI
And I could hear Pat Kelsey in the interview like he you know, he
listens. He listened to Rome too, probably growing up or maybe not growing
up, but you know, like it wasn't just like he was on a
random radio interview with somebody. He clearly knows the Jim Rome show, which
most people do. Jim Rome is one of the more notable people that have
ever done sports radio. But you know, he's he's a guy that I
think is more so what we needed than we ever realized, and we're kind
of seeing it. Which, hey, that's a tip of the cap to
Josh Heard. As far as I guess really knowing this guy was going to
check again those boxes that maybe you don't think about, but they are really
important. What's most important is winning and we all know that, so you
know, that was a little different. With Mitch Barnhardt. He's probably like
the guys who he is going to be considering for this job and potentially offering
the job, he's really familiar with, I would say, And this isn't
a shot at Josh Heard. He's new to this world, right, He's
been an athletic director full time for what two years now. Mitch Barnhart's been
doing this a long time, so he knows Jay Wright, he knows probably
knows Billy Donovan because he's offered in the job twice already. He knows Nat
Oates, I'm sure to some extent, and he's really good friends and I
mean it like not just like Hey, they're casual acquaintances. Scott Drew Mitch
Barnhardt are personal friends. The other name is who you say, Hurley?
Yeah, Hurley. I don't know if they have a relationship at all.
And with Hurley, he's a wild card to me because I don't he's you
know, he's still relatively new at Yukon, and you know, he seems
to be in a perfect spot. But maybe he could use this to elevate
to an even bigger job. But again, Yukon, I mean, I
know, Kentucky, you know, is historically one of the best programs ever
with the amount of championships they have, and they have a huge fan base
all that stuff, But like Yukon, doing what they've done since nineteen ninety
nine, they're not going to ever move the needle nationally, least they haven't.
But like if they win a title tonight, there's no debate about who's
been the best program overall in the last twenty five years. It's not even
close. So obviously Kentucky probably has more money. In fact, they do,
and they're probably looking to spend more than they ever thought they would because
any coaching change prior to two days ago that they thought about having to make
was going to be a very costly one at their expense to get rid of
Cow. Well they didn't. They didn't do They don't have to do that
now. So here in you know, the ten million dollar buyof for nat
Oh, it's like that probably didn't scare them off because they're looking at that
as a big discount compared to the overall you know, cost of doing business
to make a change. Because Arkansas saved him, So it's a win win
for everybody. But I would say if there's one maybe not this is one
person, but I guess one layer to this that is like bitch Barnhardt has
to be relieved to be done with cal and has to feel as if Arkansas
saved his ass, but he also has to be pissed that he did the
whole TV thing with Cali Perry made it look like they liked each other,
really kind of stuck his neck out there and defended Cal And. I think
a lot of us view that as well. That's just an athletic director doing
his job, doing some damage control, right. The coach works for him,
and the coach is being criticized. So if there's one person that's going
to talk, you know, positively about the coach, to try to get
everybody to rally around him. It would be the ad Well, this has
been such a noted thing that the two or not friends, they don't have
a relationship together, that like it was gonna be hard to a lot of
people. But I can, at least, I guess appreciate the effort that
he tried to do that. Well, he did it and then he got
completely burned because cali Peri wanted out. So I'm sure Barnhardt is relieved in
a way, but he's probably feeling not only every thought he had about cali
Peri is accurate, but probably thinking even less about him as a person than
he did before. Because this, again, it's business right, and again
it's a good thing overall. But if Mitch knew that cali Peri was trying
to get out, I guess he wouldn't, right, You wouldn't tell your
boss that unless you knew for sure you were gone. But to know that
Ohio State was interested in him, and he was interested in them, but
he wanted to wait until after the season because he felt like he was going
to have a deep tournament run. I mean That makes it even more clear
that this dude wanted to win big because he wants to add to his legacy.
And he could have won a lot of games in the postseason this year,
could have been in the final four, I think, but he didn't
want to do it to try to win you guys back as a fan base
so you all would love him again. He wanted to win big, rub
it in your face, and then leave town. That's exactly what he wanted
to do. And that speaks to just how he's just. He hates Kentucky
and hates a strong word. And I shouldn't say that because I don't mean
I don't. It's be impossible for him to look back on his time there
and feel like he was all bad. Clearly he had. He won a
national championship there. He didn't do that anywhere else. He put a ton
of guys in the NBA like they were you know, they were in the
limelight in a major way. He was in the limelight. And it's because
Kentucky. But overall, he's so bitter about everything right now that I'm sure
the good stuff is not gonna you know, the good stuff's probably not gonna
be in his mind until later in life for him. So I'm sure Kentucky
fans are sad to know that he feels that way and he didn't just want
to like walk away and say, hey, you know, this was a
great run. You know I'm gonna do something different, but it's still a
good thing for everybody. All right, quick break, we'll come back on
the other side. Keep this thing rolling along, and we'll give you the
latest on the transfer portal for Pat Kelsey, because obviously with a lot of
scholarships to fill, they're active. There's a lot of guys that they're pursuing,
and they've already got another visits set up with one of the guys we've
talked about quite a bit. So we'll get to that on the other side,
and a lot more it is Coffee and Company we are feel about Thorton's
right here on Sports Talk seven ninety all right, before we dive back in
and you know, resume where the show has been up to this point,
which is a lot of talk about the big change. Kentucky gonna have a
new coach, just like Louisville Calipari head to Arkansas, and then of course
I want to get into the national championship matchups not as well. But let
me once again tell you about my friends at the Louisville Men's Clinic because they've
been around for over ten years and I know it's something they're really proud of
because again, there were others that tried to do the same thing, copy
what they're doing, and they didn't do it very well. Because they're not
around anymore. And Louisvillman's Clinic there's not a whole lot of gimmicky, flashy
stuff about their marketing. They're quite clear on what they do and that has
helped men with a variety of services. If it's a rectiled as function,
low testosteron, prone's disease, weight loss therapy, hair restoration are just you
know, four or five of them, many things they can do to help
you. So I think help is something that at times men are afraid to
seek. Right, it makes you feel weak, you're not a man if
you need help with you know ed or low testosterone, and it's nothing,
it's probably nothing anybody would ever want to have, but it's life. Doesn't
mean you're weak, didn't mean you're less of a man, and you should
do something about it because you'll be happier and healthier. In fact, I
would imagine, you know, if it's a rectiledis function, your partner will
be a lot happier. You know, it'll be It'll be a good thing
for everybody involved. And I can tell you somebody, I can tell you
as somebody that had low testosterone without even really knowing what that meant. The
biggest boost for me is just you know, energized mental clarity and of course,
you know, feeling better after my workouts and that kind of stuff.
So you know, I can you know, for those who who still kind
of think that this is like just something I'm paid to say, I mean,
it's it's not just that it's something I use and it's really helped me.
But if you are somebody that feels like you've just added some flab around
your midsection and you don't really know why, right, your diet has not
changed much, you still are active when you can be, and you just
you know, can't really understand why you're not getting results from the gym.
It could be low testosterone and man, boobs, it happens, right,
and low testosterone is a huge factor in that. And that you know that
could you you know that heck, there could be somebody listening that just wants
to get rid of that specific issue. Well you can. I mean,
there's I guess there's no proof that that's going to completely eliminate it. But
I can tell you firsthand, I'm doing the same kind of stuff I've been
doing for a long time as far as the amount of exercise I want to
do each week. I don't follow a strict diet, but I am mindful
of what I eat, and I'm now, you know, buying new clothes
again because the others are just you know, they're too big, like my
pants and stuff. So I can't tell you enough how much they've helped me,
and let them they should let you, should let him help you.
FABO two four four four four thousand is the number again. FABO two four
four four four thousand. Louis Men's Clinic dot com is the website, all
right. So, uh, Pat Kelsey, as you could expect, Uh,
he's got a lot of a lot of spots to fill on this roster.
And so far, I mean, bringing the two players he's bringing away
them from Charleston. I think both those guys as I've mentioned, will fit
nicely here. I don't know what their role is going to be specifically,
but they've got the young big who had a really good freshman season was actually
a pretty good recruit for the level of Charleston uh and then Rain Smith is
the shooter, so you know, I think James Scott and Rain Smith were
two good additions from Charleston to come to Louisville with Kelsey. And then obviously
the big git thus far was landing James Madison transfer who happens to be the
Sun Belt Player of the Year, Terrence Edwards Junior who goes by FATS,
and there are I shouldn't say countless because I don't think Louisville's literally been in
contact with every player that's in the portal, but they've been in contact with
a lot of them, which is not surprising because again, they've got spots
to fill. They've got a good sales pitch. I would imagine with NIL
we all know how how the NIL is. The inn ile world is super
important and Louisville, I mean, I think one of the best things we've
seen since Pat Kelsey's been on the job is just the fact that he was
able to energize people and motivate them, and it didn't take a whole lot.
I mean, I mean, I think he was being very genuine,
But it wasn't as if he did some crazy thing you've never seen a coach
do before. As far as trying to get people to understand the value of
nil and helping out in that department, you know, sure enough they were
they were. I mean, within a week's time they've raised over half of
a million dollars just from fans donating money to the FABO two circle. And
once they get to a million, which they'll be there at some point,
it's gonna be matched by Rick Kiever, who is, of course part of
the He owns Glow Brands, which for those who aren't familiar, that's Planet
Fitness, Suntan City, and I think Buff's Buff City Soap. I think
it's the name of the other company that's that's in that that's partnered in some
way. So having that nil money when you are trying to fill your roster
is a good thing to have. And you know, Kelsey can't can't sell
these guys that he's been to the Final four a bunch of times and won
a title. But I think when you don't have that resume, you can
still sell it. You've been successful for where you've been and that you're gonna
you know, you're gonna win here. We're gonna win. That's what we
do. That's that's the culture that I have put together and and and and
you know instilled since I was at Winthrop and Charleston and all that. So
I'm I just can't. I'm not going to be able to. I mean,
it's it's damn near impossible to know. I mean, first of all,
you can follow it, you can track it. Jody Dimlinks does a
great job on his site, Cardinaluthorty dot com. But I'm just going to
keep you updated on things that look to be I guess developing into where you
could get a commitment. Because just mentioning a dude who's got twenty schools that
he's hearing from in Louisville being one of them, I mean not to say
that's information that nobody would care about, but like, I just don't think
that's good for radio. So the guy we have talked about quite a bit
as Dante Maddox, the Toledo transfer. Pat Kelsey went and saw him in
Toledo last week and now he is going to take an official visit to Louisville
this weekend, so that's a good sign. And again, this is somebody
that has some big time suitors. Creighton, Michigan, Xavier, Illinois,
Kansas, TCU, and Oklahoma. Those are the other schools he's considering.
And you know, again, Louisville is going to get a visit, and
I believe it'll be the first visit he's taken since hitting the portal, so
i'd say they look to be in good shape. Illinois Xavier, I think,
are also expected to get a visit from him after he visits Louisville.
But it would be awesome if he could maybe not take those trips because he's
so impressed with what he sees at Louisville. So fingers crossed. But yeah,
I mean there'll be other names too, Like, for example, there's
an Ohio State transfer that is in the portal, Roddy Gale Junior. He's
heard from a lot of schools, including Louisville. Averaged about thirteen and a
half points a game last year, So it's exciting that you're gonna have all
new players and it's gonna be such a you know, it's one thing to
have a new era with a new coach. But everything is going to be
brand new, and that alone can be exciting. But until we get the
actual roster man, it's going to be a lot of names. There's gonna
be a lot of names thrown out there and discussed and it you know,
there's a good you know, there's a good chance that it doesn't turn into
anything, not because again they can't recruit. But I mean, the portal
is is insane. I mean, have you seen the number of players that
are in the portal right now? John, I haven't seen the number,
but I'm sure now that the tournament is basically over outside of the championship,
I'm sure it's massive. Listen to this. The numbers is from Front Office
Sports. The number of Division one men's basketball players in the transfer portal is
expected to top two thousand, which is nearly half of the country. Do
we remember how many I know there was a bunch in the portal last year,
but do we remember how many of those stayed with their original school.
I mean after they hit the portal and they went back. I going in
the portal doesn't mean that you have to leave. I feel like that was
rare for someone to then rejoin their program. I mean, it happens,
but you know, sometimes it's testing the market, right, Yeah, Like
it's almost it's kind of like whether you go into the draft, you can
test the wars and take your name on saving exact portal. Yeah, so
in the portal you want to see who'd be interested in what they could potentially
provide. And what that does is it leaves you in a really tough spot
as a coach because you can't technically control the money that is available to these
players, because you know you can't pay them, and you can't really be
involved, although I'm sure coaches are involved to an extent as far as who's
helping in that department, because you're gonna want to make sure you tell them
thank you because it's money you need to go get these players. But it
leaves you in a standstill, Right, this guy's testing the market. Do
I go try to recruit to replace him? Or do I like what do
I do? Here? Like, it's the players have all the power right
now, which is crazy because of how different it was just five years ago,
where players had no power at all, couldn't do anything, couldn't go
get a job, and make money, couldn't transfer without sitting out. I
mean, they could be ruled ineligible just because somebody refused to talk to the
in c doublea that no longer is a part of college basketball. Like it's
just they went from having no power to where now they can they run the
sport. And I'm not saying that act like that's a bad thing. I
mean, I'm sure it's not a good thing in the eyes of a lot
of people. But that is the biggest difference in the sport is that players
have all the power now. So I'll give you an example of somebody that
came back. Ugo remember him, Yes, So he hit the portal last
year for Kentucky and Yukon wanted him, and he's from up there at least
he played some of his prep ball up there, and he would have other
offers. But here's here's what he learned. This other school could probably give
me a bigger role and they can give me an al money, but they
ain't got the money that Kentucky has. So he went back, you know
what I mean, Like he tested the market to see what you know,
and he realized, if my decision is based you know, heavily on the
financial situation. I'm probably not going to get a better situation unless I kind
of prove it as a college player, And at that point he didn't proven
anything, and he kind of still has him, to be honest with you,
But yeah, the portal is you know, I don't see it as
a Actually I'm not even really considered is it a net positive or is it
a is it hurting the sport? Because I'm somebody that loves college basketball so
much, there's not much they could do to make me not love it,
you know what I mean. Like, so it's different. But what am
I gonna do? Not be obsessed with the support with the sport. I've
been obsessed with my whole life. It feels like if it's a net negative
for anybody or any programs, it's the smaller program that lose all their I
mean, I'm not speaking for him by any means. Maybe he doesn't see
it that way. He's such a positive guy that is always seeing things glass
half full and such a motivator. But no, there's no doubt about it.
I mean, you're you could have a good player at Bellerman and they
may leave. They may leave to not go to the highest level. But
they may leave to go to I don't know, Charleston or something like that,
right, And the level of transfer that you can bring in, I
mean, you're bringing up the best D two players and that's not a bad
way to do it, honestly, Like, that's actually I think what you're
gonna and you're seeing it now. And I'm a nerd for this stuff.
But again, verbalcommits dot Com is the website that I think if you're somebody
that wants to nerd out the way I do about looking at everybody that in
the portal, you know what level they're coming from, that kind of stuff.
Verbal commits dot Com is the best resource for it because they have a
database that shows you every day everybody that hit the portal, what school they
came from, their stats and all that kind of stuff. So if you
go to verbal commits dot Com you click on transfers they've got They've got an
entire database where you can look it up, and there's a lot of D
one schools like, for example, this is this is probably not a great
example, but IUPUI. They are historically traditionally one of the worst Division one
teams in college basketball, so they lose guys to the portal. But they're
not losing dudes who averaged you know, thirteen to fourteen a game. They're
losing dudes who averaged you know, four points a game and are going down.
Well, I just looked at the additions made to IUPUI, which again
they think, but they're now like because of the ever changing roster flux,
they're now going and getting a bunch of dudes from the D two level.
And when you're that low of a D one level, getting a dude who
was an All American that was a D two, make no mistake about it,
that's a big get for you. That's a big get like you should.
I mean, heck, there's there's examples, and I can't think of
any off the top of my head right now, but I mean there are
guys who have ended up climbing the ladder in college. Like for example,
that's a really good example because this is a guy who is local Someway.
He's from the state of Kentucky, Darren Boyd. So Darren Boyd is from
Caldwell County High School in Kentucky, and he was a good high school player,
put up a ton of points. But it's a small school out in
the state of Kentucky. He went to Georgetown College for one year and he
red shirted that year. I don't know if it was grades or what it
was. So this is a guy who was an NAI player who red shirted
and did not play college basketball. After he just left high school. Well,
you know, he transferred to Lipscomb and he ended up being a phenomenal
player for three years there. I mean he just finished up his junior season
was all a Sun averaged eighteen points a game. I mean, he was
really good. When lips Can beat Louisville two years ago and Kenny's first year,
this kid was on that team and I think he had big, big
numbers in that game. Well, now he's in the portal and he's being
pursued by like a lot of high mid major schools. In fact, he's
going to visit Chris mac and Charleston on Thursday, and I think they got
a good chance of landing. I mean, again, that's a this is
somebody that started his career at the NAI level. So it's not ideal,
but like you can go get good players from there that could really fit.
Well, it's just harder to really know if that you know, if they're
going to make that make that jump or not. And we've already had some
people on the text line kind of asking like, Hey, a lot of
these guys that that Pat Kelsey's in on from the portal, why is he
only going after mid major transfers? Well, would you want to go after
a dude who put up eighteen at a place like Toledo or you know,
seventeen at a place like James Madison, Or do you want to go get
a guy who averaged eight at Ohio State or something, or you know eleven
in a you know, in a in a a minorish role at Georgetown.
So I mean, I don't I think if you look at I mean,
heck, tonight, who's Yukon's best guard? You can think of his name?
Her? What's his name? He's gonna drive me crazy because he's easily
their best player. As far as why can't we think of his name?
Have I thrown you off and put you on the spot because I know you
know who this guy is. No, Stephencastle is the best drop draft prospect.
He's a freshman. Newton is their best player. He started his career
at I think East Carolina and he was good at East Carolina, but you
know, he wasn't great. But here he is playing at a higher level,
playing with better talent around him, and he's great. He's been a
great player for Yukon. Yeah, let me just make sure I've got these
numbers. Great. Yeah, So he played his first three seasons at East
Carolina and he did breakthrough in his last year. They're averaging about seventeen.
But you know, now he's averaging fifteen points a game for a team that's
about to win their second consecutive national championship. So don't be afraid to embrace
somebody that is a lower level if they've been productive or if they fit with
what a coach really values. All right, quick break, we'll come back
and wrap at the four o'clock hour. It's coffee and company. Feel about
Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety All right, welcome back, Coffee
and Company. Final segment here in the four o'clock hour. Appreciate you hanging
out with us as we continue to, you know, talk about the big
news news that I think the way it kind of came out of nowhere is
it's kind of led to it being I don't know the thought of Kentucky's basketball
coach leaving kind of randomly to go to a school that is in the same
conference. I mean, it's like, wait a second, what, no
way really, But then maybe within like a second of considering the entire situation
from every angle, it's a good thing for everybody involved, it really is.
But Arkansas fans it looks like a lot of them are having to,
you know, scrub some stuff off of their social media accounts because Kyl was
like a villain in the sec right, Like he was a guy that you
know, probably every opposing team hated him and hates a strong word obviously,
but there was an Arkansas which, by the way, this whole last forty
eight hours or so, I guess twenty four hours roughly, has has really
introduced me to the world that is Arkansas fans on Twitter, And uh,
there there's this guy who says, conversation with my wife me, we just
hired the best basketball coach in the country. And then the wife says,
this guy, I thought you hated him. His response, don't you ever
talk about my coach like that again? And that's how it works, right,
he's he's if he's not your guy, you probably hate him. And
if he's you know, if he's your guy, you're gonna embrace him.
And that's what really means the connection with Kentucky and Cal just a perfect fit
early on, because he's arrogant, he's in your face, he's cocky,
he's smug. You know, he says things that a lot of coaches wouldn't
say, even though it's kind of true, right, like, you know,
it's Kentucky, we eat first, it's Kentucky the gold standard. You
know, at one point he he and this is whenever he could say this
stuff and it didn't catch your attention, like, wow, I can't believe
he said it because it was just Cal being you know, the arrogant Cal.
I mean he said, look, we'll come to your town, will
beat your team, We'll take your players. Like those are things he would
say publicly, like in interviews and in press conferences. And it was just
because at the time, like I think all that was true. He was
getting any player he wanted, and you know, he could he could tell
everybody that it's the super Bowl when they show up, but when they do
win, you know, he was very very he was very much a good
fit until you know, things weren't as good anymore. And I think the
the I mean, I hate calling it betrayal because that's silly, but I
think that's the way he felt. He felt betrayed by Matt Jones and a
lot of the fans who were critical. For the first time, the level
of criticism was louder than it had ever been because you know, they had
that drought, right. I mean, they went from first year rock Star
team they got, you know, fell short in the Elite eight, to
West Virginia with John wall Cousins, next year final four team with Brandon Knight,
Terrence Jones, those guys. They had some rocky stretches during that season,
but still I think they were like a four seat and they beat some
really good teams along the way to get to the Final four before losing to
Kimba Walker in the Yukon team. Next year, they won a national championship.
In the year after that, they weren't good n I T but they
probably make the tournament if Neurlans domeel doesn't get hurt. And clearly they weren't
good, but they weren't like god awful, And even if it's true or
not, you could at least give a legitimate excuse as their best player,
best you know, best recruit guy to get hurt. And then the year
after that things got a little rough. In fourteen, they were not that
good. They were an eight seed, but you know what, they made
it all the way to the National Championship Game. Fifteen. Best team I
can think of, I think I think I've ever watched in college basketball is
that twenty fifteen Kentucky team. So in that run, in that era,
he was top, Like he could say those things and like nobody could say
he was wrong, and maybe other coaches wouldn't say it and just be that
be that arrogant, and there'd be a little more of a humble approach to
it. But then again, like that's not col Nobody would ever claim that's
how he's gone about anything. And then I guess in sixteen they lost Indian
team. That team should have been better, but they lost in to Indiana
in the round of thirty two. And then eighteen and nineteen was it back
to back Elite eights or seventeen and eighteen, Yeah, seventeen and eighteen they
were seventeen was the year they lost to Carolina on the buzzer beater. Good
team Monk and Fox eighteen lost in the sweet sixteen to Kansas State, a
team they shouldn't have lost to. Nineteen was when they lost to Auburn in
the Elite eight, another game they shouldn't have lost. And then twenty they
were actually playing really good basketball at the end and nobody had a tournament,
so there's no result. And then from then on, I mean, they
were awful in twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two, major bounce back,
but they lose to Saint Peter's. Twenty twenty three kind of a down year
overall because they brought back the national Player of the Year but got a six
seed, lost in the round of thirty two. And then this year,
you know, they were good enough to get a three seed. At times
they looked like a team that could really win the national championship, but they
lost to Oakland. So like a vast, vast difference in his first five
six years compared to the last five six years. And I guess he because
he did win a title, and because of all the great success they had
early on, I think he failed. You know, I'm not doctor Phil
here, I'm not a psychiatrist. But I think he felt a level of
betrayal because of how good the early years were. I don't think he ever
felt like there would be deserved criticism towards him, and he you know,
and when I say betrayal, it's just because how loyalty is such a thing
to him. It's you know, not to say he's like a mobster or
anything like that, but like loyalty is is everything. And I guess because
the fans were critical and some started questioning if he was the right guy,
it's it's something that he never dealt with the right way, and like it
consumed him. And now I think he's fueled to go win at a high
level at Arkansas. I don't know if it's going to happen or not.
But what's kind of sad is that I truly believe his motivation at Arkansas is
to win. But it's because he wants to stick it and can Lucky's face.
It's just that dynamic to me, is it's unhealthy to be honest with
you. All Right, we got another hour to go. We'll finish strong
National Championship game tonight. Bittersweet for me because you know, should be a
great game, But it means college troops is gonna be over all right,
don't go anywhere, keep it locked right here on Sports Talk seven ninety