It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven to
nine day. Now here's Nick coffee. All right, let's get it started
hour number two here on a Monday afternoon. Hopefully everybody had themselves a good
weekend, beautiful, beautiful weekend. I feel like it was like the official
kickoff of the spring season. Warm weather, a lot going on opening day
for a lot of little league baseball leagues out there, and Derby will be
here before you know it, and we will we'll discus. You know.
Somebody on the text line earlier asked me if you know we're going to get
into football with the spring game coming up on Friday. Look, no Bay
is a bigger fan of Jeff Brohm than me, And I'm excited for the
spring game, looking forward to seeing not only some of the great players they
got back from last year's ten win season, but also some of these guys
in the portal that have arrived and been here for a few months now.
Like it's exciting, but like I can't preview a spring game and make it
anything other than, you know, a waste of time. And it's not
because you know, I'm not excited and I'm not familiar with the personnel,
but like it's a scrimmage where you play your own play. I mean,
it's you know, to me, it's a big event. And I used
to be very much anti spring game, not like I wanted him to cancel
it, but before Sadderfield got here, you know, it just became you
know, in the spring usually hit a little bit of a wall. In
fact, in a previous world, you didn't have the portal and nil and
that kind of stuff that could really keep you talking college sports year round on
platforms like this for a lot more of the calendar year. So then you'd
shift just bring football, because you know, we're not a pro market,
you know, when college basketball ends. You know, I know there are
some really some people that really like the NBA, but it's it's not a
big talking point around here, so you shift to bring football. And I
remember thinking like, there's I don't know if there's any way possible to like
talk spring football through March and April and like make it entertaining and compelling conversations.
So I'm excited for it, But just to give you heads up,
like other than mentioning it's coming up on Friday, other than mentioning you know
some names in the portal which we're gonna get to here soon, because Louislle
will lose some guys to the portal tomorrow when it opens in football, and
I'm sure they're gonna have some guys in the mix that are I mean,
look, I'm not gonna accuse anybody of doing anything they're not supposed to do,
but there's a lot of guys that enter the portal that you know,
they already know where they're going. And it wouldn't shock me if Louis was
one of many schools that already has a pretty good idea of some guys that
are gonna be available that they're gonna go get. I mean, John,
you're a broadcaster like myself. How would you, I mean, you got
any advice if I wanted to make spring the spring football game like a talking
point, like I just you know, as much a it's not a game,
Yeah, it's an event. I like, I've always liked the idea.
I think you threw this out last year, and maybe you threw it
out years ago. Is play an FCS opponent in an exhibition game instead of
the spring game. Yeah, I mean that would be and you you know,
I don't know, maybe you wouldn't be able to give them the financial
compensation that they would get for coming in in September, but you know what,
that's a gift to them anyway. They shouldn't be you know, beggars
can't be choosers. And I hate to sound rude, but like literally,
that's what that game is. So anyways, like Bobby Patrino and Charlie Strong,
they had spring games and it was cool, especially whenever there was momentum,
right, but the game itself wasn't a real talking point. Well,
then Sadderfield got rid of the spring game. I don't know if you guys
remember that or not, because he does his spring football in like February,
and it just led to where they didn't have one an app state and by
the time he wanted to pla play one if they were going to play one
here, which he never wanted to. But if he if he was going
to play one here on his same timeline, it would have taken place in
like the end, like it would have taken place like when it's cold outside.
So I remember I remember initially thinking, Okay, I don't you know,
here's one thing I'll defend saturfillm on. I don't really think the spring
game is that important because it's really not about like the team's going to get
better. But you know, fans don't really get to learn anything about their
team anyway. And here's where I was totally wrong. It's a marketing event.
It is to continue to build hype and excitement and momentum for your program
when you have you know, however many months you have where you go without
a game. So it's not I mean some maybe some fans can learn about
their team during a spring game. I mean you certainly can't hear. There's
great updates that you get from spring practice from folks like Jody Demling, those
guys, uh, Matt mcgavick. So there's good info to be had.
It's just not necessarily what I would you know, consider to be suitable for,
you know, a drive time talk radio show. But it's it's an
event, like if you go out there, you have a good time,
the beer are flowing, maybe you're doing some tailgating. You know, the
weather's perfect. You know you see you see your new quarterback Tyler Shuck out
there throwing touchdowns. Uh you see, I mean I doubt that they'll let
I doubt they let Ashton Galotti get loose and tackle somebody in the backfield because
you know that could really hurt somebody because he's that good. But that's gonna
get your juices flow into where you just look at that in That was fun,
that was exciting, and you know what you tie it to is Louisville
football. So it's super important to have that just to get people, you
know, just to give them that off season event check in if whatever you
want to call it to, you know, remind them, Okay, here
we go, like we're coming off a ten win season, no reason we
can't find ourselves back in the AEC Championship game next year. So love the
spring game, looking forward to it. But I just don't, you know,
it's a me thing. I don't really know how to say. Nick,
Yeah, I made a future's bet. Okay, I picked Louisville to
win the a SEC next year, did you I did. I hope I'm
not putting some curse on them by doing so, but I did it.
Man. I hope Jeff's not listening, because if he is, you know,
he's thinking I'm not practicing hard enough. I can't let the company man
down. I got to deliver for him. I like that. I'm doing
it too. I'm gonna do too. I'm not not a futures guy,
but I'll do it. I've never done futures until I was like, we're
at the college basketball offseason. I've got a little bit left in the account,
not enough to really withdraw. Let's make a couple of futures. Best,
let's one of them. Let's do it. Love it all right.
So, as you could expect, the vast majority of our first hour was
was discussing the basketball situations for both sides of the rivalry. Started the show
by saying, we're kind of picking up where we left off on Friday,
because now we have officially started our first week here with both programs. I
guess officially, you know, in this new era, Pat Kelsey's been on
the job for the last couple of weeks. It'll be I guess three weeks
coming up later on. In fact, it'll be three weeks to the day
on Thursday, whenever he hosts a five star Top ten recruit, which there's
already a couple of people UK fans claiming, well, Nigga thought freshmen didn't
even matter anymore. I never said that. But you know, you're always
going to see college basketball staffs recruit freshmen. That's always going to happen.
Now, will they shift more priority towards players in the portal? Sure,
it's happening as we speak. Everywhere's doing that. I wouldn't be surprised if
there's some programs out there that still like to live in a world where they're
going to keep everybody and every player they bring in as a freshman's going to
develop. But that's just not the reality. But like, if you're gonna
get in with a freshman to join me, if you're going to pursue one,
I mean, just consider Louis a situation. I mean, they've got
ten scholarships to fill. Pat Kelsey's not bringing any freshmen. He was recruiting
at Winthrop with him, understandably, so Kenny Payne and his staff didn't recruit
a damn person, so they got scholarships to give. And oh, by
the way, a top ten player is now available because John Calipari left Kentucky
for Arkansas. So Jaden Acquaintance, how about that? That's right? That
time, Jaden Quaintance, he is a top ten player. He's only sixteen
years old. Five star, he's a six to non center, just a
really good athlete. I'm not going to give you some fake analysis like I've
been in the film room breaking his game down. But you know what I
did. I saw highlights and I happen to trust those that you know cover
this world of recruiting, and he is a consensus top ten player. You
never know anybody's going to work out and develop. Trust me, There's been
many examples of dudes who were superstars at the college level that didn't have the
credentials that this young man has. There's plenty of guys that have had similar
credentials and they stunk. So you just never know. But man, I
just think Pat Kelsey being able to within just days of quaintance asking to be
let out of his letter of intent. And by the way, I'm pretty
sure when he considered let me just double check here, Yeah, when he
signed with Kentucky, I mean it was all Nike school It was Kentucky,
Florida, Ohio State, in Missouri, and then at the end it came
down to Missouri and Kentucky. So those are all Nike schools. Well,
Louisville's got the bag and they've got a connection here. And that's not to
say that like if if this kid somehow ended up committing to Louisville, I
mean, he'd be huge. Talk about a first big time slam dunk for
Pat Kelsey, because not only would we be getting one of the highest rated
players to ever commit to Louisville, he would also be taking a guy that
Kentucky still wants, right, like they're gonna I don't even know what direction
Mark Pope's gonna go in when he builds his roster, right because I don't
know enough about him as far as you know how many I mean, I
don't even how many roster spots he's gonna have, Like how many players are
Kentucky on Kentucky's roster are left? I mean, they're gonna bring it.
Reed Shepherd hadn't at the portal, but read Sheperd's probably can go to the
NBA. Bradshaw's going to Ohio State, Wagner. So again, I don't
know where Mark Pope would direction he's gonna go. But like any let's put
it this way, there's not a single not a single program in the country
that would not take this kid that wouldn't want him. So if Pat Kelsey's
able to somehow get it done, that'd be amazing. I'm not even sure
if Kentucky's believed to be in the mix here. I mean, some people
think he's going to follow Caliperry to Arkansas, which wouldn't shock me at all.
I'm not predicting that Quaintance ends up at Louisville, but the first visit
he's taken after his decommitment is to the University of Louisville. And I think
this day and age with the transfers, you want to be the first visit.
Doesn't mean you're gonna, you know, get everybody who visits first,
but you get your first chance to sell now some some say you want to
get the last visit. I guess it really just depends on the type of
kid. But I think if you're a high school kid, you got years
to take visits, right, you're being recruited for no joke years. If
you're a transfer, you're not. You know, the clock's not taken to
where you have to make a decision, you know, within forty eight hours
after you hit the portal. But it's much more of a sped up process.
So with that said, like maybe this kid will reset and completely start
over and hear from everybody, which he probably will. He's a top ten
player, meaning he's going to see who's got the most money. But this
would be be huge for Pat Kelsey and we'll see what happens. He's gonna
visit on Thursday. And as far as who else is going to be in
the mix for him, I don't know. Maybe it ends up being Arkansas,
maybe he goes in place for Cal, which again that was who he's
committed to coming out of a you know, prior to Cal leaving. So
the connection here again, I'm not bringing this up to say that Pat Kelsey
wouldn't deserve credit, but I would say, you know, maybe just maybe
without this potential connection, maybe the visit doesn't even get scheduled. But that
is the assistant one of the assistant coaches that was announced last week on the
staff. He is a he was a He was at Charleston for I believe
one year. His name is Thomas carr Well. He was the coach at
Word of God Academy and the Carolinas there prior to jumping to Charleston. Well
that's where Quaintan's place. He plays for Werf Got Academy in Raleigh. So
I mean that's big news, no doubt. All right, So speaking of
portal visits all that kind of stuff. For those who don't know Omar Balle
is that? How is that? How? I think it's that a Hoosiers
are saying it. I don't I've heard it said different ways. I would
probably say Omar Ballow for now, just because he has the U in his
first name. But I can see why you would say Omar Balow or any
other name. Honestly, I'm trying to find like a video clip here of
like a highlight where the announcers, will, you know, say his name
and we can you know, who knows. Maybe they're doing it wrong too,
but let's see what we got here. You can hear the action Ballow.
We'll just call him Ballow Ballow and it's big baller Ballow. Yeah,
big baller Ballow. So he averaged thirteen points, ten rebounds, shot at
sixty something percent from the field. Really good player. He's visiting Indiana right
now. He's the number one player in the portal according to ESPN, and
his next visit is scheduled to be liewill tomorrow he will visit he's visiting Indiana
from I guess, uh, from yesterday to tomorrow. Yeah, and then
he's supposed to make the trip south to Louisville and uh. The momentum is
clearly in the in the hands of the Hoosiers. According to those that cover
recruiting. Did you see who else you guys are recruiting in the portal we
had? We have a ton of guys. Ryan Conwell, Indiana State,
Connor Hickman from Bradley. We just got we'll talk about a local name.
Who is it? Do Thierro? That was? Do you think about game?
I don't really have much thoughts on him. I mean, if he
wants to flirt with Indiana, I'd take him. Yeah, I think for
where you guys, you know, really want to I want to polish things
up at I don't think he's a good player, you know, good role
guy. And maybe he ends up being a really good player, but I
would I'd be shocked if he doesn't follow Cal to Arkansas. But yeah,
apparently Indiana is is in on him, all right, so I think that's
probably you know, we'll get into some of the other names, but this
is something I wanted to to get to before I forget about it. So
one of the players visiting Louisville later this week is a young man by the
name of Ali Khalifa from BYU. Have you followed this at all, John,
No, sir, okay. So look, I'm not one for conspiracy
theories, and I don't have any clue what's true and what's not. But
this smells. The smells like a lob demark Pope to make it look as
if he is gonna get an early w over Pat Kelsey because you know this
dude, Ali Khalifa. He's down to Kentucky Louisville in a return to BYU.
So if he's visiting and like that's real, then I guess there is
some interest. But the guy is six' eleven on the half year side,
two hundred and seventy pounds. He's from Egypt. I mean, his
his numbers are not good five point seven points, three point seven rebounds,
four point four assists per game ross, nineteen minutes per game, in fact,
less than nineteen minutes or less than twenty minutes per game. But he
I mean, I'm not kidding you. This might in fact be the insanest
stat line I've ever seen from a seven foot big man. Five points,
three rebounds, four assists in nineteen minutes a game. But he shot thirty
eight percent from the field. If you're a big guy, you're shooting thirty
eight percent from the field. I mean, can you not make a layup
if you're not dunking the ball? Apparently he doesn't shoot it well from three,
but like he made thirty percent of them as a big guy. So
just a very odd stat line for this guy. Who again, if you
only a average five and three for Pope in twenty minutes a game. I
mean, by the way, this isn't like a young guy that you're about
to see explode. He's been playing college basketball for I believe this will be
his fifth year. So I don't know why Mark Popen won him. Maybe
he just wants a role guy. But like you would think Mark Pope would
understand that at Kentucky, like you need to go get really really good players.
Everybody needs a role guy. But like you know, the fact that
he could take up a spot in the portal and maybe Nile resources just seems
odd for Kentucky. But it also seems odd for Louisville, Like Louisville needs
depth, So maybe that could be their play here. But like if we
got to really, you know, sacrifice some of the bag, why would
we go after this guy? So the scenario here where Louisville's really on him
and really wants him just doesn't make any sense to me. Now, maybe
they did, in fact talk and they set up a visit, and now
it's just positioned to where he's clearly gonna follow Pope to Kentucky. Like,
to me, it's stupid that like that would even be a thing. But
then again, the pettiness of this rivalry has us doing a lot of stupid
stuff, right, And I'll tell you what though, not that he would
choose Louisville over Kentucky, but if he did, I mean, that would
be probably infuriating to Kentucky fans. You can't even bring your own player.
It would Entucky, I think it would, but it wouldn't. Like the
optics of it would be like what the hell, But the other side of
it would be like we can live without this guy at by us five points
in three re I mean, how are you seven foot tall and you shoot
thirty eight percent from the floor. That's insane to me, Like, I
don't even understand how that happens. So you know, I'm not one for
conspiracy theories. I'm just not. But I will say this like that,
just that just smelled funny because I've not I mean, I'm looking here at
twenty four seven Sports Jody Dimmling, who is as connected as anybody when it
comes to reporting on these kind of things, transfers, recruiting, that kind
of stuff. You know, if he's got him listed at his visit,
you know, I would imagine that if like this visit is not really even
going to happen, it's just a it's just a a like a stunt to
make it look like they're in the mix so he can then go to Kentucky
and act like Louisville missed out on a player. I kind of feel like
Jody would know that. But then again, this is the wild wild West
when it comes to recruiting in the portal. Like you know, I mean,
you don't really know who's prioritizing anybody, right, Like I learned this
during Max time. You know, they were in on some players that they
just called to like talk to, and you know, kick the tires essentially,
right, and that turns into such and such player tells me he's hearing
from thirty schools. Those thirty schools are not all offering that kid, but
like there's not there's just so much gray area as far as what what which
players are or you know, I guess you know, when they list their
top four or whatever, I assume that's their top four. So I guess
you have a little bit of transparency as far as the way they're looking at
their options. But I mean, I just would be it would be a
really avoidable l that you have to take if this kid like visits Louisville and
like Loo because again, one, why would you want him not to say
he you know, because you need bodies. But I feel like there's there's
enough players in the poral right now, and Louisville is clearly involved in talking
to many many of them to where I just don't feel like this guy would
be a high priority. But could it be set up as the first easy
win for Pope? Your level headed John, you're mature like, is that
it's an easy win for Pope, But like, who even thinks to put
that in motion? Right? Like just petty people. I guess, I
guess. I mean again, I agree with you. I think you have
to have role players, and it may seem weird to make it a priority,
but you still got to fill the roles. Put it this way.
This guy hit the portal, I believe the day that Mark Pope left BYU,
and his numbers are like, are not impressive, and you probably assume
that he's going to go lower or he may follow Pope to be a role
player because he likes being a role player for Pope. Like, if you're
Kelsey, why would you even want to get involved? And here's my answer.
I don't think that they're involved with this guy. They may have called
him or something, but I just don't. Look. I know what I
would sound like if this guy averaged twenty one points a game last year,
and you know a different story. This guy's not even any good, it
appears again his numbers are insanely just they make no sense. All right,
quick break, we'll come back on the other side. Keep this thing rolling
along again at his coffee and company. We are feel but Thorias, I'm
not sure why I'm talking so fast right here. On Sports Talk seven ninety
No surprise There's been many asking if Louisville will go after DJ Wagner, who
has entered the portal. And I mean, I'm not going to say the
guy so bad at basketball, Louisville like better not even you know, pursue
him at all. But to me, I just you know, I mean,
in his one year at Kentucky, he was a fine player, but
he wasn't great elite by any means. He was pretty good. And there's
guys in the portal that have played more basketball, more experience, a little
more dynamic than DJ that I would I mean, I would rather than go
after a proven transfer that's put up some good numbers for a few years in
college than DJ Wagner. It's no disrespect to DJ, but I tried not
to sound like such a hater like during his season, because you know,
he wasn't It's not like he was terrible. He wasn't a Scalabisia, PJ.
Washington. PJ Washington was great, e J. Montgomery. So I
was thinking of a guy that played for Kentucky that was, you know,
a really highly regarded kid, but just wasn't very good when he got to
college. You know, DJ Wagner was a fine player as a freshman,
but he was probably talked about more than any recruit that has come to Louisville
or Kentucky in a long long time because of the obvious situation and because of
the Kenny Payne higher and all that. But he was I mean, he
just wasn't really a big factor for Kentucky at all. So he'll have interest.
I mean, he will still be able to probably go to an elite
school because he is still being you know, he still has that. He
had good enough numbers as a freshman, and there was so much hype surrounding
him coming out of high school and his numbers again nine points a game,
three assists per game, twenty nine percent from three to forty percent from the
field. I mean, he was a solid freshman at best, but he
was I think very much below expectations because again he was one of the number
one guards in the country. So I don't know where he's gonna end up.
If he ends up like coming to Louisville, and he wants to come
to Louisville, then you know, if pack Kelsey wants them, then cool.
But like I'm not, I don't see any real value in going to
get him, And honestly, I don't even think Kentucky fans would care if
louisvill went and got DJ Wagner like there was never really like he never really
he was not their guy this year at any point. I mean, he
was their fourth best player at best. In fact, he wasn't their fourth
best player really, he was their fourth best guard. It was Shepard,
Reeves, Dillingham all kind of collectively here throughout the season. So I don't
know where DJ Wagner's gonna end up. But I'm not somebody thinking, oh,
pack Kelsey better pick up the phone. Can we still utilize milts reallyationship?
I mean, I just I bet he ends up. And by the
way, the reports are that he's gonna he's gonna be wide open, but
I would guess that he'll probably end up following Cal at Arkansas or maybe just
winning a total fresh star because I think at times Cal played him more than
he should have because of the arrangement and just the relationship. When I say
arrangement, I just mean clearly there's guys who when you commit to Caliperry Kentucky,
I mean, I'm sure he's gonna coach you hard, but like you're
not going there to sit the bench. There's freshman who I mean even DJ,
not DJ, but justin Edwards. Like that guy. That guy was
not productive at any point this year for them on a consistent basis. I
mean, he had had a few games here and there, but like he
was still starting. And you can't convince me it's not because that was an
arrangement. So you know, maybe Cal and him will reunite in Fayetteville,
or maybe he'll just completely start over and you know, end up elsewhere.
But now that I'm thinking about it, DJ Wagner, I mean he was
one of the top players in the twenty twenty three class. I mean some
of them had him ranked I think like number one. Well he signed an
do you remember he signed an NIL deal with Nike, And can there be
a I mean, listen to the listen to these players that signed with Nike
UH during their senior year, like before getting into UH, you know,
like before they ended up while they were while they were highly regarded recruits,
some of them in fact, some of them were. Some of them are
recruits, some of them were not. But they Nike signed five student athletes
nil deals. Caitlyn Clark Hailey Jones of Stanford. Ju Ju Watkins, who
was a superstar this past year in the women's game as a freshman, ended
up going to USC. She's phenomenal. Bronnie James, I mean, Bronnie
James could not play basketball and get a Nike deal because he has billions of
followers, seemingly and he's Lebron jameson DJ wag like talk about one that sticks
out more than another as far as any real brand representation for Nike, And
I guess some will say the same with Bronnie James. But I'm not talking
about production as a player. I'm talking about like relevancy. Bronnie James could
probably do nothing and stay very much relevant because his father's Lebron and it's already
out there that Lebron wants to play in the NBA with his son. So
like it wasn't it didn't need to be talked about a whole lot because nobody
needed to be mean to DJ Wagner. But like he was a big time
bust. He didn't come anywhere near being as good as what everybody thought he
would be, and it worked out because honestly, the guards that were around
him were better and you know, we're probably more productive than anybody would have
expected, especially Dillingham and Shepard. But yeah, as far as where he
ends up, I have no clue. All right, five two, five,
seven seventy nine hundred is the number. If you guys want to jump
in and join us on the phone lines, Let's go to Josh Josh Suare
on Sports Talk seven ninety. How are you hey? How's it going,
Nick Man? I listen to y'all every day. I'm a ride home from
Mark. Thank you. I really like your show, appreciate it. I
got two things. The one is I wasn't excited when Kelsey got hired.
The man his energy, and I'm just real excited. Man. I didn't
even go to a free game last year because we suck so bad. But
I'm pretty pumped up. Then my second question is, maybe you know,
maybe you don't. How is our nil money compared to like Kentucky or Yukon?
Do you know? And y'all have a nice day. Thanks, thank
you, Josh. I appreciate the phone call, appreciate the con words.
Yeah. I as far as Kelsey, I mean, yeah, he's his
energy, his enthusiasm. I don't know if it's gonna lead to a bunch
of wins. But man, it's infectious. He can fire people up and
believe it or not, that's part of this job. Getting people excited,
engaging with your fans, and selling yourself, selling your plan, what you're
gonna do. You know, all that stuff is super important, especially you
know, when you don't have the opportunity to go win games and give people
results to where they can feel like, you know, hey, you're doing
good or you're doing bad. So by the way, FIBO two f's seven
one seventy nine hundred is the number if you guys want to jump in and
give us a call. But yeah, as far as nil, I mean
Louisville right now, I mean, perception is reality, right, and I
do believe like this is not just a perception thing. I think there's some
truth to it. Louisville has a lot of good resources within IL, but
I don't know if their resources are like elite compared to this school or that
school. I just don't know. I mean, I don't think we're ever
going to have at any point full transparency as far as you know, the
salary caps that programs have. I mean Louisville's very public match. What is
it called a campaign where the Fibo two circle is asking for donations and memberships
and when they get to when they get to one million, Rick Keeber,
if Glow Brands is going to match, and that'll give you two million dollars
from NIL for men's basketball just from that campaign. That's not counting other money
that is going to be available from the five O two circle, Like,
that's not just that's not just the money that the Fibo two circle has altogether.
That's just for this one campaign that they're doing. And also, you
know, there's six figures worth of NIL money that was set aside for men's
basketball last year that Kenny Payne did not use. So I think they're in
a really good spot. I think they've got money. But as far as
how it compares to other programs, that's what I really don't know. And
it's gonna be I mean, it's gonna I mean not to people care that
much about it, you know, because fans are always going to be chesty
and want to claim that they're the top dog and they're better than this program
in that program. But I think you're gonna hear a lot of the top
tier programs, Louisville Kentucky being two of them. The Kansas' is the heck
Arkansas. For sure, they're not an elite program to that caliber, but
you know they got money, so you'll probably hear about about it, innil
resources being great here, great there. You may see fans in acting like
nobody's nobody's topping us when it comes to the Nile money in the bag,
But I don't think we're ever gonna actually know if any of that's true.
I think, well, I mean, you'll see players going to schools,
and that'll tell us right away if in fact, you know, that'll tell
us right away in fact, there's good money there because there's certain commitments that
you just simply know if you're not coming correct with the bag as they say,
you're not going to get these players. But to answer your question,
I feel like Louisville is in a really good spot, and you know that
was their plan. You know, we'll see if it works out. But
I think Josh Hurd's plan was to go on the cheaper route with a coach
as far as salary, and you know, have a lot of folks that
typically would be giving money to help pay for a buyout of a coach that
you're gonna go higher, or maybe just help you with a donation that can
help go towards the coach's salary. That kind of stuff, I think you
know, and I don't know this for sure, but to me, it
seems as if a lot of the noise towards those high level donors and boosters
like Rick Heaver that you know want to help and want to support and they
have the means to do so. I think it's hit clearly. Look,
we're gonna go get a coach that we don't have to pay big buyout because
he's coming from a place like Charleston, and we're gonna give him the tools,
and I guess one of those tools is the bag, and we'll see
what he can do. And obviously they've landed one commitment so far. That's
not somebody that followed him. But I wouldn't be shocked if in the next
couple of days we get some commitments, or maybe by the end of the
next probably the beginning of next week, I would say there's a good chance
they have at least three more guys on the roster, which you know that'll
put him at about halfway there. All right, real quick, some breaking
news that came out just a few minutes ago. JJ Trainor, who of
course played here for four years now in the portal he has picked to Paul,
So he's gonna go play for Chris Holtman. So best of luck to
JJ. Great guy. Really really hate that his career at Louisville was the
four years that it was just because of everything. Man, his first season
as a freshman, you know, he's playing where they got the glass up
like we're at a hockey game. You remember that, right, the COVID
year, and then of course two years of actually, no, his second
year was the will JJ, I'm sorry his freshman year, Yeah, it
was the Carly Jones year. And then the next year Mac left mid season.
Just kind of a wasted year all around, with Pigeeze finishing the season.
And then you know, two years of Kenny Payne, and this past
year he got hurt and couldn't play. So JJ actually will have two years
left eligibility if he wants, and I wish him nothing with the best.
He's one of those guys that I know he loves Louisville, always will,
but anybody around the program for the last couple of years, and I mean
players, any of them wanting a fresh start is totally understandable. Speaking of
that, and we're gonna go to the phone Nunes in just a second,
I promise you. But just got me thinking. You know, the one
player that I've mentioned here and there that I think you could see come back,
although I wouldn't say it's like super likely, is Mike James, because
Mike loves Louisville and I think, you know, I could see him going
elsewhere, but like I think he you know, I mean, he feels
pretty good about Pat Kelsey clearly being able to give him a much better experience
at Louisville than you know, the previous coach did. So I'm not saying
for sure that he's going to be back, but I will say this,
You're not seeing a whole lot of reporting out there about schools that Mike James
is talking to and visits that are going to take place. So I mean,
I'll be honest, if they got Mike James back, I would consider
that a big win. I mean, it's not going to you know,
get a whole lot of attention nationally, and I know Mike played for a
team, you know, two teams that were not very good. But I
actually think Mike could really thrive and you know, he's a solid guard.
Now, would he want to come back if maybe they go get some veterans
that are probably going to have a bigger role with bigger minutes than he's played
the last two years. That's a different conversation. But I do know this
about Mike. He loves Louisville. And I don't just mean like Louisville basketball,
Like he loves living here. He loves going to school here. So
maybe you do get him back. And despite how bad the last two seasons
were, he is somebody that like, he's a great guy. I wouldn't
claim to know him like on a personal level, where were hanging out every
day, But you know, you talk to enough people to work at u
of L, especially when they're around how bad things were the last couple of
years. Apparently he always had a great attitude and really mature for his age.
So I'd love for them to get him back. But see, all
right, let's go to the phone lines. David. David, you're on
Sports Talk seven ninety. How are you good, Nick? Thanks for taking
my call. Sure, I wanted to talk about that big man from BYU.
I too looked at the list and was looking at his stats, and
I was flabbergasted when I saw you only shot thirty eight percent from the floor,
thirty one from three. It almost it almost seems like it'd be hard
to accomplish that stat line if you like went out there and set out to
put up those numbers. It's very odd. It was, and she rebounds
a few points. But his assist number at check me and correct me if
I'm wrong. I think for assists were led Loidbill. Oh, you're probably
right, Yeah, probably. I mean, I've thought about that too,
But apparently as soon as I started talking about him, everybody mentioned, you
know, they don't think he should be a priority, but apparently he's for
a big guy, he could throw some dimes like DJ Burns. Well,
the only other thing I thought about, And I'm not a conspiracy theorist guy
at all, but and you are right, by the way, he averaged
nearly two more assists per game than Louisville's leader and assists that's what I thought.
I didn't check it, but that that's that's crazy to think about.
But I it doesn't tell me like he fits Kelsey's system, So I don't
know. I can't wait. Kelsey would would make would would put him in,
have him come in if he wasn't serious, because I don't think he
has time to pool around. No, he doesn't, you know, he
he didn't have time to be playing games, so he must seriously watch this
guy. I guess. I don't know. It doesn't make sense. It
doesn't make sense. And I'm glad you, David, appreciate the call.
I'm glad you said that because he doesn't fit this the way Kelsey plays.
And and also like if you just look at his numbers and you see guys
in the portal, without knowing any context of a coach leaving, you would
assume that that's a guy with one year left that's played for three years.
It's like, yeah, I'm going to go way down to the lower levels
of college basketball because I want to play and be productive. But I don't
know, maybe he ends up here and he ends up being a star or
something. But it just you know, that's a great point that I didn't
even thought about. That actually makes it even more suspect than anything, is
the fact that this does this dude doesn't look like he plays the way that
Pat Kelsey wants to play. But we'll see. All right, quick break,
we'll come back on the other side. Wrap up the four o'clock hour.
It is coffee and company, and we are fueld by Thornton's right here
on Sports Talk seven ninety. All right, we were wrapping up the four
o'clock hour here on a Monday afternoon coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's here
on Sports Talk seven ninety. All right. So, fellas, if you
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So you know, the uh, the for the football portal is gonna
open tomorrow, and you know, I wanted to wait till five o'clock to
get into this, but there really isn't a whole lot to you know,
to add because uh, Louisville is gonna lose Jermaine Lowlay to the portal that's
already public. But I guess technically the portal doesn't open to tomorrow, so
that's whenever I guess it'll become official. But you know, he's a guy
that could never stay healthy. Uh you know when he was in the PAC
twelve. I think it was either Arizona or Arizona State. You know,
just couldn't stay healthy. And a Louisville same situation. So you know,
I don't know where he's gonna end up, and Louisville probably is gonna want
some more depth on both sides up front. But Lowlay, that is the
name that that you know, there's a lot of hype around him because at
the time Louisvill landed him in the portal, it was a big get,
uh and it still was. It just you know, he couldn't he couldn't
stay healthy. So I'm not sure where he's gonna end up, but uh,
I think that's the biggest name that we're seeing as far as you know,
who who fans are are familiar with. And let me just uh yeah.
So the other names that you're now seeing that are out there in the
portal. Victor Cutler, that is somebody that initially was reported by On three
to be in the portal as an old lineman. He's now saying that that's
not happening. And I don't know what changed, but there were four players
reportedly entering the portal, according to Pete Knachos at on three yesterday, and
I think like three of them now have kind of since come out and either
said that that's a lie and not true, or they've said that maybe they've
maybe they've changed their mind. But again, they are going to lose some
guys. And it's not because anybody you know, did anything wrong. It's
just because that's how this works, right. I mean, you're going to
see guys move on who probably looked at the Spring as an opportunity to really
solidify their spot on the depth chart, and maybe it didn't work out that
way. Maybe a portal guy came in and and it just you know,
gave them the realization that they need to go elsewhere if they're going to try
to get real reps. And maybe spring wouldn't mean you know, it is
spring ball, right, you have fall camp and all that to battle,
but if you know, you know, and I look, these kids only
have these grown men who make money now playing the game. I mean,
they only have a certain amount of years where they can do this. So
anybody that wants to move on, like I don't, I don't at them
because you know, the ability to just change it up probably doesn't help a
lot of these guys because maybe if some some adversity hits and things get tough,
they can just run away and go somewhere else. And you're certainly going
to see players hit the portal three times and everywhere they go they end up.
Yeah, the problems kind of me like, maybe I'm not as good
as I thought I was, or maybe I'm not putting in the work that
I need to put in. And that's unfortunate, right because if they stuck
it out and thought through it, maybe they'd be better people down the line.
But at the end of the day, nobody has the right to tell
them that they can't do that. Like that's why you know the portal window,
I mean it closes at the end of Is it at the end of
April when the portal closes for basketball? Think it is. I believe it
May first. I guess it's May somewhere between May one, May third,
something like that, Okay, and then again tomorrow the portal opens for football
post spring, and it'll it'll close at the end of the month. So
this is just the window of time where you have the power to go portaling
if you will, and you can, you can leave. You know,
you can wait till whenever to make a decision. But the window is just
for you to be in there and be recruited, because if you try to
enter it after those dates, they're not gonna let you. But here's the
thing. Guys are gonna be able to transfer whenever they want, however many
times they want. Window of time won't matter because here's what's happening. The
NC DOUBLEA cannot win in court. You hire a lawyer, and your lawyer
wants to go to court and challenge the NC doublea's ability to tell you that
you cannot go to school as a student athlete and play anywhere you want.
So I don't mean I think guys are going to transfer as many times as
they want, and I think they're going to hit the portal whenever they want.
And that's just the way it's going to be. It's going to be
absolutely, you know, a free for all, which again I do I
do think that the players. Here's the and this is probably I'm gonna have
enough time to really get into this, but here's the issue here. If
the players are going to be able to do that, then they should sign
contracts. But because the NCI was so archaic, in their amateurism model,
they never ever did anything to kind of avoid this. Congress had to get
in the way, and now you know, technically they're not being paid to
play basketball or play football at a school. They're just being paid to exist.
So because of this, it's ended up in the players having all the
power. So I don't really see an easy fix for it, because here's
what everybody's now aware of. You hire a lawyer, you tell the NCAA
will take it to the court. They're going to lose, and they know
that too. All right, quick break, we'll come back on the other
side. Finish up strong. Here a final hour of the day coffee and
company, fuel by Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven to ninety