It's time for Coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine
day. Now here's Nick Coffee. I guess you would consider this to be
breaking news, certainly not surprising news, but Rob Dillingham has entered the NBA
draft and it's one of those entries that is not a He's not leaving any
opportunity open to return, which is understandable. Rob Dillingham is a guy that
will probably be a I don't know, certainly a lottery pick, maybe a
top ten pick. Heck, maybe a top five. The mock draft that
has pulled up here is has him going at let's see here number nine,
with Reed Shepherd at number five, and yeah, in the I mean this
draft, I mean, I I believe those who cover the NBA when they
say that it's like super weak, but I mean Dalton connect. I feel
like it's believed to be some really high end prospect, but maybe it's more
so about just like, you know, he's the best of this bunch,
but probably wouldn't be a top lottery pick or something if it was another draft.
Shannon Terren Shannon number six, which just kind of surprises me. It's
just rare. You see a fifth year guy end up being a top ten
pick. But maybe it's just because they realize how uh, you know,
how weak the draft is. But yeah, Rob Dillingham off to the NBA,
and I imagine you'll see I mean, the thought of those guys returning
to Kentucky, I mean just seems unusual. But I guess this is probably
going to be the move. Like, for example, Aaron Bradshaw did not
enter the draft and he's in the portal. Maybe he follows Cali Perry.
I don't know, but I guess I'm just trying to think of a scenario
where these guys would wait to see who the coach is hired, and then
you know, move on and try to leave after that. But the portal
closes at some point, doesn't it. Do you know what day that is?
John, I don't know, off the top, but we talked about
it. Obviously, I think it's May first, off the top. Okay,
that gives him more time than I anticipated, because I believe it opened.
So I remember reading something that said it closes forty five days after it
opens at the end of the regular season, which that was a few weeks
ago. Yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. All right,
welcome into hour number two. Here is Coffee and Company, and we are
fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety The Big News Today, John Caliperry,
about an hour before the show started, did let everybody know he's leaving.
Posted about a four minute video on his Twitter account that confirms that he's
leaving, but he did not confirm where he's going. But he did essentially
say goodbye, and it was a classy video. I mean it was he
I think seemed genuine, which he also looked sad just from the visual component,
And I'm sure he is sad, but I don't know if he's sad
because he realizes he just like walked away from a job that will that is
the best job he could possibly have, or if it's because, like you
know, he's just sad that it's over. Only he could answer that,
and I don't think we'd ever get a direct answer. But yeah, he
let everybody know that he's done. It's time for a new voice, I
think is what he said. But we think it's time for us to step
away and step away completely from the program. The last few weeks, we've
come to realize that this program probably needs to hear another voice, that the
university as a whole has to have another voice giving guidance about this program that
they hear and the fans need to hear another voice. So the voice is
I mean, I know what he means. It's not like a you know,
but that that the first thing. He mentioned voice multiple times throughout his
four minute video, and that I just don't really I don't know if I
can think of another coach walking away or even like in a statement mentioning the
voice thing. The voice thing was just weird. I mean, why why
don't you just say they could be looking for another you know, it's time
for another coach or some but another leader or something like that. But anyways,
he did let everybody know that he's he's done, and now Kentucky Search
officially starts, and we'll get into some of the candidates that obviously have already
been talked about quite a bit in the last couple of days. But apparently
one of the delays here as far as cal because there's now been I guess
three different times where Arkansas wanted to do a press conference and they've not been
able to do it. And I think one of the reasons is because I
believe that there's some truth to him having cold feet, I really do.
I think that I think he probably realized, yeah, it might have been
better for me to just kind of ride it out and do one more year
rather than going to a place that, yeah, they're gonna pay me a
lot of money, but it is in Kentucky, and I don't really want
to be in favor with Arkansas. But too late now, and it sounds
like it is for sure happening. But one of the reasons that maybe there
was a delay outside of what I just mentioned, is that apparently he wants
to talk to the Kentucky players the team, And I don't know if this
is true or not, but I could understand that being sort of a thing
that the university would want to monitor. But apparently he's not been allowed to.
And I say apparently, I mean it's coming from Trullia Donovan, which
is somebody that you know does have some sources that clearly he's proven that throughout
the last few months, and I believe on Sunday he was one of the
first people that gave this whole rumor can't be true. Somebody's got to be
trolling. He kind of gave it some life by stating, now I'm hearing
the same thing that they're like, they're talking. Don't know if it's going
to happen, but there's interest on both sides. And sure enough, here
we are. But if you are, do you think that's fair or foul
for Kentucky the university? I guess Mitch Barnhardt not allowing cal to talk to
the current team, I think it's fair because I mean, I don't know
if this would be considered tampering. But you can sit there and tell your
guys, hey, come up with me to Arkansas. We can do this
the same thing down in Fayetteville. Yeah, I mean, yeah, you
can still talk to him if they jump in the portal, regardless after you're
already at Arkansas. But maybe there's something a little different about doing it privately
in the locker room and stuff before it. And you could also text him,
you know what I mean, Like, yeah, I do, I
get what he's I'm sure that's what Mitch Barnhardt is thinking. Why he shouldn't
be able to do that though, it would be my guess. Yeah,
And I think they're despite Cali Perry really being you know, classy and respectful
on his way out in that video. We all know it was far from
an ideal situation between the administration and cal I mean, it was a mess.
And you know, matt On Ksr. Has mentioned some things that may
come out eventually that kind of really tell you just how dysfunctional it was between
Calipari and really everybody that works at the university. But you know, I
don't know if we'll ever end up getting those full details or not. But
I mean, this is this all played out from Sunday on and there was
no word from Calipari to anybody at the University of Kentucky that this was either
real or not real. He didn't talk to anybody. He was kind of
silent. So I think it might have been after he walked the dog,
or maybe it was before he walked the dog. Which again, now that
twenty four hours have passed, that him walking his dog on Richmond Road while
it's being discussed not only locally but all over the country. Maybe they did
it beforehand, and he's trying to like see if there'd be a parade of
people begging him to stay, and then like there would be evidence of that
and then maybe the university would think, like, man, we can't let
this guy walk away, even though he flirted with Arkansas and clearly has already
been talking to them and breached his contract. The fans are going to crush
us if he walks away. Let him walk And none of that happened.
So maybe he wanted to be wanted, and maybe that's why he's so sad,
or maybe that's why he looked so sad. Yeah, all these videos,
I think everybody to an extent wants to be wanted, and that's fair.
I think this is just this dynamic. There's not a fire I mean,
I don't believe there's one fireable instance here that has led to this this
ending. I mean, Kentucky would have fired him if he didn't have a
thirty three million dollars bio. I make no mistake about it. They would
have, and I know they could have when it comes to you know,
the money needed, Like it sounds like it was possible, but it's far
from ideal and it's just unheard of to do that. And I think you're
setting the future up for not failure. But I mean, knowing you paid
thirty three and here's the thing, like it's not your money as a fan,
right, I mean, I guess if you're taking booster money to do
it, then they would maybe feel some entitlement to something because again, they
are helping you out in a way that like they've never had to help you
out before. But I think making a change and knowing that Caliperi started to
choke in the tournament, didn't seem to really like anybody, and was not
kind to people, and just was just so bitter and he held a grudge
like he's bitter against Mitch and I mean, regardless of what he said in
the video, I think he's clearly bitter against fans who he feels have betrayed
him. It's like, all that's an issue and a huge factor in why
it needs to end. But it's not as if you know they've been god
off of for many years. They had a three seed this year, they
had a six seed. Last year, they were a two seed the year
they lost to Saint Peter's. So knowing you would pay thirty three million dollars
to walk away from something that in the grand scheme of things, albeit not
the standard of Kentucky, it's not that bad. Some embarrassing upsets and yeat
college basketball. Unfortunately, that's just how it works. You're gonna be remembered
for that, not the things you did to get a two and a three
seed. But making that kind of a financial commitment to just do something different
when which you had was not terrible is just a big risk. Like it
could work, it could be disastrous. Let's say you pay thirty three million
and you go get somebody and that next coach comes in sucks, and you
know, I don't think you'd ever seen anything to the level of Kenny payinn
bab. But let's just say they ended up hiring somebody and he was terrible.
In two years, there'd be so much heat on mitche about huh yeah,
you pay thirty three million to get rid of a guy who had us
in great shape and won a title. Here, you loser. I mean,
he just wasn't realistic to do it that way. So, you know,
I think cal he has to understand that despite fans wanting a change,
it's not like they're I mean, I don't know, only time will tell
as far as what the emotions will be like for Kentucky fans, But that's
what I was telling Matt before the show started earlier today, this thing lasting
as long as it did, and they're being some really good moments along the
way. And even when they you know, started to struggle in the postseason
in recent years, they still had good enough seasons, right, So you
know, with all that said, like I just, I mean, it's
sad because it's over. I don't think they're sad because they, you know,
want him to stay. I mean, I'm sure you could find plenty
of fans that would say, yeah, we should keep this guy. He's
cal he's a legend. But I can just sense that there's a lot of
excitement from the Kentucky fan base that is mostly just rooted to something new,
something fresh, because that thing had becomes stale. There's no doubt about it.
But as far as what he does at Arkansas, I mean, the
fact that he's already potentially having cold feet, which is that I think that's
what That's what played out right in front of us in the last couple of
days. It has me less confident that he's actually going to have much success
there. I mean, the thought of him having a roster next year that
looks, you know, anything close to the rosters that he's had recently Kentucky.
They just seems unrealistic. And I know the portal exists, and I
know that you can build a team, and louisll' was gonna hopefully do the
same thing. He Kentucky's gonna do the same thing, but he's at Arkansas,
and I don't think that, you know, I just don't think that
that's going to like, for example, instead of getting five players in the
top thirty or four players in the top twenty, and he could probably you
know, if he still continues to go the young route and get high school
players, he'll probably get I don't know, four players in the top fifty,
which is still a pretty good class. But it's you know, it's
not what he's used to. So it is over. He is let everybody
know that he's leaving. The expectation is that tomorrow morning he will be officially
introduced in Fayetteville as the new Arkansas coach. But man, what if he
backed out, Like what if he just knows like this, I'm not built
for this, Like this isn't you know, this isn't me. I can't
I can't call the hogs, I tell you it. Be very self aware
of him, Yeah, to know that. It'd be kind of a shame
that that's the route that he ends up taking, but he would have been
it would have been an all time fumble of the bag because I mean,
we would have never expected that type of basket. Well because he walked away.
I mean, I feel like he'll take the job now just because of
the money. And I'm sure if he doesn't coach and doesn't collect a salary,
I have a hard time thinking that he will be out of money.
But the Arkansas stuff has me a little like I think by now there should
be some level of like an announcement, like there should be some level of
a statement from Arkansas that he's the guy. And apparently they were talking over
the contract earlier, but I guess every university has different protocols to those kind
of things. But Pat Kelsey was essentially named the head coach before they had
the rubber stamp meeting of the board doing this and that right, like it
was a done deal before he actually, you know, showed up to Louisville
and walked up on stage and talked to us. So I don't know,
I uh, I don't really have any preference as to what happened next for
the Calipari side of it again, I hope that. In fact, I
hope they bring by Billy Gillespie Kentucky. That's what I would hope for.
Not realistic. What is he doing right now. He's a coach, He's
a D one coach. He coaches at Tarleton State. There, so he
was at a Ranger junior college where I think he might have started his coaching
career killing it at the juco level. And from there he ended up getting
the job at Tarleton State and they hired him because they were going from D
two to D one and they felt like he was somebody that, you know,
did have you know, they could take a chance on because you know,
they're Charleton State and they want somebody who is a coach that is,
you know, has has had some success. I mean he's had some failure
too, but you know, yeah, Tarleton State, they are in Stephenville,
Texas, and I feel like they're kind of good for who they are,
unless I'm just completely dreaming that. I mean, it would be like
a blackout, drunk dream considering we're talking about Billy Gillespie here. But yeah,
he's he's still coaching the name that's been put out there by like,
you know, people who are maybe not in the know specifically about who mix
Barnheart wants, but people who cover college basketball that are putting their list together.
Right in a lot of times people check these lists and don't really know
are they saying this is who they know is involved, or they're saying who
they should target, like it's such a vague thing. But Mark Pope,
who's at BYU, That's what I want them to hire, because I have
much less fear of Mark Pope kind of you know, being at the top
of college basketball than I do Dan Hurley or Jay Wright or who else NATO's
Nato, Yeah, I mean Scott Drew even And we'll get into this promise
you. I'm buying a little bit of time here because it's in about us.
You know, a minute or two, we're going to go live to
the ACC Network where they've got Pat Kelsey coming up for an interview, which
look forward to to let you guys hear that. But you know, when
it comes to the names that were talked about initially, I mean Natos has
put out a statement that he's committed to Alabama. Jay Wright said no,
Hurley said no, and I looked there was somebody else that's kind of already
Donovan. There's NBA folks that claim there's no chance, but you know,
maybe they're wrong. All right, let's go live here to the ACC network.
Oh yeah, across twelve seasons as a head coach, including three of
the College of Charleston and then NADA winthrough. Of course, he might recognize
him because he had led the College of Charleston to the NCLU Tournament this year.
He lost to Alabama, who made it to the final four. But
that's old news. He's now in the ACC hometown Cincinnati, Ohio. Two
times Big South Conference Coach of the Year. Let's welcome in coach Kelsey into
the program, making his debut on the same day I'm making my debut.
What is up with that? Man? Look at baptism under fire for both
of you guys. Coach, First of all, congratulations on the new gig.
I know you're excited. Thank you, I really am, and it's
an honor to be on the show. I appreciate it. I didn't mean
to interrupt you, but you know I saw the video of the first time
you saw that office you're sitting in and you're like, oh my goodness,
I get to have this. I mean, it was like a kid on
Christmas for crying out love. Yeah. I walked in and looked around and
I just commented on, this is an unbelievably cool room. I thought it
was this like really tricked out lounge and huge glass wall overlooking the practice facility.
And I said, it's really nice. But where do I work?
Where's my office? And they said, you're standing in it. Okay,
that's pretty cool. I can get used to this. It's a pretty sweet
setup. Coach. I would love to know your thoughts on this, because
I've seen you showered with praise by so many respected voices, whether it be
Chris Paul, Jay Billis, Jay Wright as well as Nick Nurse. What
does it mean to you to have so many respected voices shower you with praise
and let you know, like, hey, Louisville made the right hire.
Well, you know, gosh, it's very nice of those people to say.
All I've tried to focus on throughout the course of my career is just
as the late great Skip pross or the late acc great Skip Prosser used to
say, you know, just crush it where you're at, Whether that was
when I was director of BASKETBLL operations at Wake Forest in the early two thousands,
or as an assistant coach, or I was a head coach. It's
just keeping your nose down and trying to be excellent where you're at, and
everything else kind of takes care of itself. But a lot of those names
you mentioned, you know, just blessed beyond belief to have coached a guy
like Chris Paul, who's maybe one of the top three point guards in the
history of this game. You mentioned, you know, Nick Nurse, who's
become a basketball mentor to me. Gosh, Jay Wright, GQJ are you
kidding me? I wish I dressed half as good as he did. But
yeah, I'm just honored to be here. Blessed. This is one of
the most storied, tradition rich programs in the history of collegiate basketball, and
to be at the Helm and to be sitting in the seat is a special
moment, and I'm so excited to get going and can't wait for basketball season.
If you close your eyes late at night, you listen real closely,
you can hear that ball starting to bounce already, even though the confetti came
down last night at about ten thirty. Basketball season is upon us soon.
Yeah, it's gotten to the point now that there is no day off.
You know, you had a great gig at Charleston, a great place for
a family and everything else. It had to be a special place for you
to leave. Charleston wasn't Because I'm listening, I've got buds down there in
Charleston. Man, they don't want to leave, and so you got to
figure that when this opportunity popped up, You're like, hey, this is
too good to be true. We gotta go, right, gotta go.
Yeah, very appreciative for the time that I had at Charleston, the support
that we received the city at Charleston really took my family in. One of
my good friends, not only in the profession but in the world, is
Matt Roberts, who's the athletic director there. And this will give you a
good indication. You know, he came in and just hugged me, and
he goes, you gotta go, And trust me, I didn't blink an
eye, you kidd me? Louisville. I mean I grew up in Cincinnati,
ninety miles from here, and I remember they took the floor at the
Cincinnati Riverfront Coliseum against Xavier in the eighties at some point when those Red jerseys
came out with Louisville on the chest. Man, that is something special,
Coach crumb Rick Patino. Amazing. You walk into this practice facility, you
walk into the Young Center, you look up and you see national championship banners.
It's one of the in my opinion, one of the blue blood.
It's one of the great programs in the history of this sport. Coach,
you're not coming empty handed, though. What does it mean to you that
a few of your players from Charleston are going to be joined you here to
lay down a new foundation and establish an identity. Yeah, you're trying to
get me in uh n CUA a compliance jail by having me comment on people
that I'm not allowed to comment on it. So it's official. I've seen
a few people thank you for Is that a setup you're trying to pick on?
No, we wouldn't do that. Now you're trying to tell me you're
trying to sell me a pool pass down the hall like they do with the
freshmen when they come in. So now we're excited about the roster, we're
building and just ripping and running right now. You know they say all the
time in situations like this, you're like drinking out of a fire hose with
a straw. But the new way that I describe it is the way we're
going about it. We're just trying to eat the hose. Right. So
it's fun. Staff's going an unbelievable job, and it's an exciting time to
be a card And I can pay that. Pat, You've got the reputation
being a high energy guy. Your teams play that way, aggressive up and
down the floor. And I would think tying it into a fan base that
is rabid and is really basketball knowledge educated as Louisville basketball fans the whole state
the common and was unbelievable. It would seem like it's a perfect match.
And you mentioned seeing that Louisville jersey the first go around four decades ago.
There is something special about Louisville basketball. And I've said this a thousand times
on this show. Louisville needs to be good for the ACC. I mean,
when we started about a SEC basketball, we know about the Shades of
Blue and what Virginia's done, but Tony Bennett and Syracuse has got a great
reputation and so forth. But Louisville's got to be one of those teams that,
guess what, being in the top twenty is kind of like the norm.
Let's get to work and go try to win a championship. I'm sure
all of that was part of what influenced you to go, Hey, listen,
let's go. But what would you tell Louisville basketball fans today about what
you can expect to see coming up this fall? Yeah, you mentioned the
passion right that people have for this program. I think it's kind of one
hand. The type of fan bases that have the type of passion that they
do at the Universe have Louisville. And You're right, this is a knowledgeable
fan base. Heck, there's probably a state or two that would argue,
but I would win the argument that this is the greatest basketball state in the
United States. You know, Louisville is a city of over a million people
and there's a million assistant coaches in the metropolitan Louisville area. And that's what
you signed up for. These people are extremely knowledgeable, and man are they
passionate about Cardinal basketball. I say all the time, I'm just Joe Bagga
Donuts from the West side of Cincinnati, and then all of a sudden,
I get out of my car and I walk down the street into a restaurant
and like, people know who the heck I am? They start busting out
into the go karts chat the other day. It was crazy, but it's
awesome. You want to be somewhere where it matters. You don't want to
be somewhere where there's apathy, and you've got to try to draw blood out
of a rock like basketball matters here and it's a big, big deal.
And man, I'm blessed to be the head coach. Coach, you've had
success at the two previous stops. We're rattling off how you've won seventy percent
of your college basketball games. I'm very curious to know that. Have you
reached out to any mentors to ask them the biggest adjustment if there is one
going from a mid major as you mentioned, an elite program when and the
best in the country and what have they told you? Could you peel back
that curtain for us? Yeah, you know, we all have, you
know, people that we look up to pour into ask questions about you know,
being at this level I was blessed for ten years to be at the
Power five level, eight years in the ACC during my time with the late
great Skip Prosser, as I mentioned, and helped, I was a part
of building that right and I think it was an unbelievable era and period in
the history of Wake Forest basketball, and there was tons of pros and things
like that. We coach. But you know, going from my high school
coach, you know, all the way through my mentors in college, all
product of our upbringing. We're all product of our experiences and iron sharpens iron.
So I have a lot of friends in the business and it's hard to
just point out one or two, but people that pour into me. And
I look up to his mentors as far as we know. You talked about
the confetti following last night and the job Hurley's done at Yukon. Did you
gather anything from watching what Yukon has done with this crazy run that you go,
I guess what, that's something that we can incorporate right now at Little
well Man. I have the utmost respect for coach Hurley, what he's done
throughout his career, what he's built there at Yukon. You know, I
don't know him all that well, other than what I will say is we
both know that we are both two of the most passionate Cincinnati Bengals fans on
the face of your crazy. That's our only connection. And I don't know
why he's a Bengals fan because he's not from there. But every time I
see him, he looks at me, and I look at him, and
he's like T Higgins. You know, we got to get him, right,
Joe Burrow, here we go again. I mean that cat, That
cat knows like the waiver wire pickups. He knows like the practice squad dudes
like that's I'm telling you, it's crazy. But you know, following their
run and you know they're they're so well chronicled right now because media attention obviously
when you go to a final four and you win the National Championship, and
I feel like a lot of our principles and our ideals and our culture parallels
in a lot of ways with them. You know, they talk about,
in my words, the way they describe it is they're an earn it program.
There are no promises made. Yeah, we we we compete, compete,
and everything we do. Coach Hurley coaches his guys hard holds him accountable
at a really high level. And to me, there's only one way to
do it, and that's the way. All right. So that was that
was enough, I suppose, because we're way out of time for our next
break. And I'm gonna say I'm gonna not comment on that interview other than
Pat Kelsey continues to say all the right things, because I mean, that
was on live TV on the ACC Network, and I mean, no comment.
If you don't have any nice to say, I don't say anything at
all, right, And again it's nothing to do with Pat. It's just
I mean, like not knowing he can't talk about players that haven't signed,
just kind of like feeling like somebody just told you you were having him on
as the interview started, I'll shut up. That's right. Coffee and Company
rolling along here on a Tuesday afternoon. We are fueled by Thornton's Nick Coffee.
That's me the company man, mister John Alden alongside today as we are
officially in today one of the college basketball off season, which is not like
exciting. I'm sad that it's over, but the excitement levels I think are
still pretty high for Louisville just because it's new. Pat Kelsey has set all
the right things. And maybe I'm not going to lay this out in a
way that makes a lot of sense, but hopefully I can. I can
convey what I mean by this, But adding thirteen scholarship players is a task.
Now. It's great that you have the ability to do it in the
portal and you're not having to go out and get walk ons and stuff like
you would have to do in a previous world. But like that alone is
exciting, like it's going to be all brand new, and that also,
I guess this is the best way to put it. That really makes it
such a clean sweep slate, if that makes sense. There's gonna be no
remnants of the previous regime, and that's good. I would have loved to
have kept a couple of players, but I get why they want to leave,
and I get why Pat Kelsey's not going to beg them to stay or
prioritize, you know, them, whenever there's a ton of guys in the
portal that they're going to go after. How's Indiana looking in the portal.
I don't know that they picked up anybody yet, but there's a few that
are expected to make visits and potentially commit here. So what are you taking
his time? He's he's doing what he does. He's keeping the suspense up
as he usually does. Makes Indiana fans impatient. Well he's still I mean,
you know, like he still has a chance to put together. Here's
what I think is gonna be weird, John, They're gonna be a tournament
team next year. I believe it totally. I agree with you, But
will that be good enough? I just get the sense that Indiana fans like
they don't like. Here's the thing when you say make the tournament. Obviously
that's a good thing regardless, but you have the factor on what kind of
siege agets who beats you if you don't make a deep run. Because if
you lose to a team like they lost to a couple of years ago in
Miami, who made a final four run, that's not the worst thing in
the world. You would have liked. Miami team played Yukon closer than anybody
last two years in the tournament exactly, and a lot of Indiana fans just
saw it as, oh wow, Mike Woodson got beat down by a team
that they had no business losing to, Like that, which who's who's to
really say? What really is the I guess like the yeah, like that's
you know, you didn't think Miami was going to go to the final four.
And after if I remember correctly, at that time, I mean the
ACC going into both tournaments last year's the ACC has been discussed as like,
wow, what the hell happened to this league? So look, any I
think also in a weird way, it being the last game for TJD was
just like another like again, like no matter winning lost, it was going
to be his last game. But I think there's like some there's some emotion
connected to that Miami game without the realization that you know, you lost to
a really good team that ended up going to the final four. And again
this probably don't mean a whole lot to many people, but it's the truth.
That team that beat you played Dan Hurley's Yukon teams the last two years
closer than anybody in the tournament. So anyways, on the Kentucky side,
they're going to be looking for a bunch of new players too, I would
assume. I guess there's a chance that some guys could stick around for the
new coach. But I also wouldn't shock me if they're doing a complete overhaul.
And we now know that Caliperry is leaving, and what we didn't know
is like, well, I think we knew, but there was no official
word from Arkansas or Cal as far as that being where he's going to go.
He did mention there was some offers and that he's got you know,
he wants to keep coaching, and look, we know it's Arkansas. But
I do think at this point in the process for there's still not to be
any official thing from anybody on either side Cal or Arkansas. I shouldn't say
it's suspicious, but it just I would have expected there to be something by
last night. But I think he did actually have some cold feet. But
did you see the picture I just retweeted. Check out my Twitter account if
you haven't, because there is a picture of the basketball office on campus there
in Fayetteville and they got our man Cal. I mean, oh man,
how weird does that look? Those AI generated photos where they can take the
old clothes that he had on and make them look like the new ones are
really creepy but cool at the same time. Yeah, I mean that looks
real. It does, and he's I mean, I guess he's back to
maybe the color that he wore whenever he was at UMass and that was more
of a crimson though, wasn't it. Yeah, I guess so, yeah,
far from the blue he wore in the last two jobs at Memphis and
in Kentucky. But I guess again, I wouldn't be shocked if we get
to the end of the show today and there's some level of like a press
release just claim, you know, just just sharing the news officially that he
is the next head coach. Uh. And then tomorrow I would imagine they
will have the formal presser in the morning to announce him. And I'm going
to listen to it. I'm not gonna like seek it out, like if
I'm doing something, I'm not gonna, like, you know, completely abandon
whatever I've got going on to go listen to it. But I am curious
to hear what he says, because you know, he's Cali Perry. They
believe that he is, in fact someone that like is a legendary coach.
Therefore, like they're just I mean, they feel like they won big by
getting him, and they may have, but also like Eric Musselman was better
than John Caliperi in the last four years, he just was I mean this
year they weren't you know, they weren't a good team, but you know,
four years ago Kentucky won non games. So is he gonna sell right?
Is he there to? I don't think anybody could could match Pat Kelsey
in his energy and all that, just because you know, I mean,
my man's always on and he brings the juice, enthusiasm, high energy.
I mean that's his brand. Cal not so much, but cal is he
Because think about the press conference situations you heard from Caliperi in the last two
years, talking down to fans, snot comments here and there about people not
knowing basketball. Just I mean, you don't even have to listen to it
to them closely to know that that's just kind of been the It's just kind
of in the theme with him or you know, abandoning press conferences and not
doing them after losses. But like he's gonna have to sell himself to a
new fan base. But then again, like they're already happy that he's there.
This is such a you don't have to win the press conference situation,
correct, would you agree? John? Like he's not going in having to
like win the fans over. I don't think just in the press, he
can still go in and say the wrong thing. Yes, he can go
in and act like that they need to be thankful that he's there, kind
of Mick Cronin might have done if he got the Louisville job. Yeah,
And that's kind of that's that's the intrigue for me, is that is he
going to gas them up? Because he didn't even gass Kentucky up in recent
years. I mean, is he going to take a shot at Kentucky?
I kind of feel like he will. But then again, his sad video
that he posted earlier today that officially confirmed that he is out, that made
me kind of think that he wouldn't do that. It could be a total
one to eighty though, and I wouldn't be surprised one bit, Like if
he's totally different tomorrow, is completely energized, and maybe that was all a
facade that he did for the camera, and you never know. I think
has checked out as he has seemingly been, and you know, those who
are close to him, Seth Greenberg, who by the way, embarrasses himself
anytime he goes on ESPN to talk about Caliperry because he's clearly in love with
a man or something. I mean, like it's insane, and it was
awesome to see Shannon Sharp and Stephen A. Smith just completely body bag Seth
Greenberg for just saying nonsensical things about Cali Perry yesterday on ESPN. He's not
he's not leaving Kentucky. He's moving forward to Arkansas, and that he didn't
there's no way he underachieved when you know quite you know, quite literally,
everybody who doesn't follow college basketball closely knows how many great players they watch night
in and night out on ESPN, and they didn't accomplish a whole lot some
of those players. So anyways, I mean, I think he needs to
be energized and like vengeful in a way. Not he didn't need to say
anything nasty and he didn't need to fake it, but I feel like for
him to really give this his all and thrive at Arkansas in a way where
he can look back and say, you know, they should have they should
have been nicer to me because we had it great and now I'm here and
it's at their expense because I'm running the SEC. I think for him to
truly get that done. He needs to be energized, and I think the
move alone is going to be energizing for him, a fresh start, wanting
to prove people wrong. But I think the guy also knows he didn't have
a whole lot to prove and he's just been kind of checked out at Kentucky
that. I mean, there'll be more details I believe to come out,
as far as just things that like he didn't really do that would would would
you would think that any coach would do. I don't think it's to the
level of Kenny Payne. But anyways, before we get to uh, before
we get to our next break here, uh, let's let's squeeze in a
phone call five two five hundred as the number. Don't have a whole lot
of time here, but we will go to Will Will welcome into Sports Talk
seven ninety. How were doing? Hey, man, I think you're on
You're on plane. He's gonna cale's gonna be rejuvenile. I mean, I'm
not a cal fan, I'm a Louisville fan. But everything that Kentucky wanted
him to do, he's going to do it now. Yep, like all
the changes and stuff, because he's got something to prove, and it won't
and it won't be intermitting that he was wrong and they were right. It'll
just be you know, he'll be able to do it and say, you
know it exists. He's a lot like a politician no name. Uh,
that's about retribution. And he played those guys. He had his money.
He has his in a row lined up, and he made Kentucky wade.
Anybody spends this that Kentucky got. Now, he did get him off the
chain with that thirty three mel give him that. So they kind of broke
even. But you know, the typing guy just googled a guy the air,
not the corporation. The air is worth three billion dollars. You got
the richest family in the world down the road from him. He is gonna
have every dollar he wants. He's gonna be the poor guy when it comes
to hanging out with those people, isn't he dude? The woman Walton daughter,
she's worth more than forty percent of Americans. Wow, he is,
dude. He got he saw the right on the wall. He was sitting
back. He couldn't get his mojo. He said, you know what,
I'm gonna flip the whole script. He was planning this, probably a couple
of months. He knew he was getting out of there. The typing guy
is his buddy. Can you imagine having a guy that worth three hundred million
three bills? I tell you what, Kentucky, it's gonna be interesting.
I bet you're gonna have some massive security when he comes in rupt. That's
gonna be very interesting because he's gonna shatter those recruits even. Isn't then the
Kentucky boy thinking about reconsidering, I don't know. But the other kid,
the other one, Oh Perry, isn't he thinking about reconsidering? Oh I'm
sure, Yeah, I'm sure he may consider decommitting and opening up his recruitment.
I don't know if he'd follow cal or not, but yeah, I
mean, look, I think look, not only does and I appreciate the
call. Well, I think anybody that's in this recruiting class for him,
anybody that's on this roster that doesn't have the ability to go to the NBA
yet or doesn't want to, I don't wouldn't rule out anything as far as
those guys following him there, I wouldn't. All right, quick break,
we'll come back on the other side. Wrap up. A four o'clock hour,
keep it rolling along again. We'll let you hear what Jay Wright had
to say, what Dan Hurley had to say, because obviously they were asked
about the Kentucky job. And although I do believe them and I don't think
those two would go and I believe NATO's statement, but you have to keep
in mind at that point, maybe they felt like, well, hey,
they haven't really reached out to me yet, so therefore I'm going to put
it out there now that I'm not interested, so it doesn't look like I
got turned down. Well, maybe things change when now the job is actually
open and they're going to pick up the phone and be making some calls here,
don't go anywhere. It's coffee and company. Feel about Thorton' right here
on Sports Talk seven ninety Very good song choice, John, Did you have
this one in mind? You have to dig it up. Are you're looking
for something along? Now? This is a deep cut of Toby Keith's that
I really enjoy called Ain't It just Like You? And it does fit the
oh if it's perfectly fits perfectly? All right? Speaking of perfect I think
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or give him a call. Babs who four four four four thousand? All
right? So has there an? Has there been a name that you've seen?
And and I don't know if you have as many Kentucky fans that you
interact with or whatever, uh, whatever it may be, But have you
seen any Kentucky fans mentioning a name for the job that you just think is
like, what, like you know, how like how would that make sense?
Fan wise? No? But I've I hate to talk about a dude
that I appreciate it, which is mister Mike de Coursey. But he was
talking about Sean Miller earlier on a different show today, and I'm just like
that seems like it would be a very odd fit for Kentucky somebody like him.
So de Coursey I saw his list. He put out a list at
Sporting News, and look, he's you know, I'm not the biggest fan
of his, but he's somebody that's done this a long time and is very
much connected in the world of college basketball and his opinion, you know,
although I don't agree with it much, I know many people probably do,
but he had a list that I just think was insanely bad for this job.
And I mean I've started to think, Okay, maybe Mike is right,
and maybe I want Mike to be right because he just thinks that it's
a waste of time for Kentucky to go after Well maybe I'm not gonna speak
for him, and I'm sure he didn't think it's wasting time because again,
it's Kentucky. There really isn't anybody they could pursue that would that would be
like why you call them? And the reason is because, well, we
have probably the best job, and I mean that's what Mitch Barnard is part
of the thing. We have the best job in this sport in our opinion,
and we want to We don't think there's anybody that's like out of our
league essentially, but NATO, it's Jay Wright, Billy Donovan Hurley. I
mean, those are names that he just kind of quickly in his article at
Sporting News just kind of moved on from him. Was like, you know,
those guys aren't going to say yes, So here's who you should prioritize.
And he has the number one being Mark Pope, number two being Sean
Miller, Rick Bettino number three, Lamont Paris number four, Emir abdu Raheem
at USF number five, Fred Hoiberg at Nebraska number six, and TJ Alzilberger
at number seven. Like, here's the thing. There's a handful of those
coaches in there that I have no doubt would win at Kentucky because Kentucky's got
resources and there's some good coaches there. But like that can not be a
more you know, incompatible list when it comes to the BBN preferences, right,
Like there's no way they're they're throwing out names and there they're saying Pope
Miller, I mean, And the only reason Mark mont Paris, the only
reason Mark Pope is even really in the discussion is because of his alumni is
Steatus, No doubt about it. Not that he's not a bad coach,
but he just doesn't. He has not done anything to where he would even
sniff that job if he didn't play for Kentucky, no doubt about it.
So we'll get more into the names as far as the latest. But I
said this as we went to the last break, and we're a little bit
crunched for time here. But the the statement from nato Oates and the answer
from Hurley last night. I believe that neither of those guys are going to
be the coach at Kentucky. But I also understand that, like you can't
really take a whole lot of what Hurley said last night specifically for you don't
think you could. You could really put a lot into it, just because
again, what he said is exactly what you would expect you when you say
you just won his second national championship, while he's celebrating with the university,
with the players, family, all that stuff, and with Natoates. I
have a theory about Natoates, but we'll get to that on the other side.
One more hour to go. It's coffee and company. We are field
about Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety