It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine
day. Now, here's Nick Coffee. All right, let's do it,
ladies and gentlemen, Hour number three Here on a Thursday afternoon Coffee and company
fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety Nick Coffee. That's me the
company man, mister John Alden alongside. Don't forget you could take us with
you wherever you go. Listen live on the iHeartRadio web Listen live at seven
ninety Louisville dot Com. A lot of college hoops talk today, as we've
got a handful of the college basketball talking heads putting out their early top twenty
five. In fact, Rostein put out a top forty five, which is
a very random number to pick, but we now know what the rosters look
like for Louisville and Kentucky. Indiana's still with a scholarship, right, yes,
So are they involved with any of these guys, Not that I'm aware
of. And I'm kind of getting to the point to where I think it's
just going to stay open. Yeah, some schools, maybe out of money,
maybe some schools don't have a whole lot to sell as far as role,
because there's already some good players in place at said school. So look,
there are still some guys out there that are available because they decided last
night to pull their name out of the NBA Draft. But for the most
part, I'd say we now know who's going to be playing for who and
what each roster looks like. And just to see Louisville coming off of two
years that I hope to one day have completely removed from my memory just disastrous.
But for that to happen and for them to be getting some buzz for
the top twenty five. In fact, Jeff Goodman has him at number twenty
four. Disclaimer, I know Jeff Goodman is a big fan of Pat Kelsey,
and if it was not a guy named Pat Kelsey coaching Louisville, he
may not have them right there. But I think it's just exciting one to
be excited about Louisville basketball again, genuinely, but also to know that your
coach in his first year is put together a roster that you can realistically and
I mean, I'm kind of dancing around it because I don't want to sound
like that guy that's like ready to act as if Pat Kelsey's gonna be the
next John Wooden. But I think it's an obvious takeaway when looking at the
personnel that, yeah, like you should expect to be a tournament team.
Everybody's afraid to say it. At least some people are. Heck, I
guess maybe I was, but I'm not now like, this team from a
personnel standpoint, has enough to absolutely be a tournament team. Now will they
do it? Who knows? This season. I'm not gonna brand it this
way because that wouldn't that would I mean, it just sounds like it's dampening
the excitement. But it's the ultimate unknown, brand new co coach, entirely
brand new team. The only guys that have ever played together. Well,
I guess you got Khalifa and Waterman both from BYU, and then also Rain
Smith and James Scott from Charleston. So I'm not saying that to tell you,
hey, Pump the Brakes, don't be excited. It's all new pieces.
We'll have to wait and see. I mean, that is all true,
but the perfect storm here right the bars low for us to get excited
about stuff because of how bad it's been lately, and now you have again
legitimate reason to be excited. It's not just Louisville fans realizing they're going to
be better than what Kenny Payne had Louisville at, but nationally again, you
can look around at those that cover the sport, I mean Pat Kelsey again,
nobody's acting as if they're about to go on some crazy run and you
know, win at all in year one. But it's gonna be fun unless,
of course, you know, so something unexpected happens. But I'm not
even gonna go there. But for what it's worth, the rankings that we
were talking about earlier, for those that just missed us earlier in the show.
Right now, far as far as local teams, Jeff Goodman has Indiana
at number seventeen. He has Louisville at number twenty four, and he had
Kentucky at number twenty five, and Kentucky has is you know, I don't
know if he's going to update these because Jackson Robinson didn't tell anybody, did
make it public. I truly believe no one knew what was going on other
than I guess Mark Pope and you know his staff, But didn't seem like
anybody knew what was going on. With Jackson Robinson until Jeff Borzello of ESPN
broke the story earlier today, which I think was around like eleven o'clock,
maybe closer to noon, that Robinson did, in fact last night pull his
name out of the draft and will be back in college. But he's going
to go play with Kentucky. You're gonna go play for Mark Pope at Kentucky,
reuniting with his former head coach. That's a substantial edition for Kentucky,
and Goodman later said that, you know, he probably put Kentucky closer to
a top fifteen team with that addition, which I you know, I get
it. I don't know if they're going to be that good. They're just
like Louisville, a break new team and whatnot. However, they've put together
a pretty good roster in the offseason. I think both teams have all right,
so real quick. On the portal in the Division one and Division two
level here there are three thousand and fifty one players currently in the portal.
So three thousand and fifty one players currently in the portal, two thousand and
thirty three of those are from the Division one level, and one thy and
eighteen of them are from the Division two I'm sorry, two thousand and thirty
three from the D one level, and one thy eighteen from the D two
level. And by the way, that doesn't mean they're currently available. So
I guess technically, until you've enrolled in school, I guess technically you still
are somebody in the portal, right, because it's not official until you're in
school and you've signed like paperwork. So of those three thousand and fifty one
players, forty seven point eight percent of them have not found a new school.
Only fifty two percent of those fifty two point two percent of those that
hit the portal have found the new home. That is a number that tells
me that there are a lot of guys leaving, and it's probably because they
want to go to a much lower level or they're leaving and that's probably like,
you know, they didn't get the phone calls they thought they were gonna
get, they didn't get the interest that they thought they were gonna get.
And it's true, like this is there are guys who have probably like probably
if they couldn't leave and they had to stick around me because they didn't want
to sit out, they would be better off doing that. Maturing, growing,
maybe fighting through some adversity, earning more playing time because they realize I
gotta work my ass off or I'm never gonna play well. Now they can
just decide to say, well, you know what, I'm not real happy
here with my role. I'm gonna bail and go somewhere else and transfer.
And it's probably a bad decision that they may even regret later in life,
and that's unfortunate, but it still doesn't mean that they should not have the
right as an adult who is not an employee, not under contract, like
they should be able to make that decision on their own. And yeah,
some of them probably don't know what's best for themselves, but they'll learn.
And I'm sure there will be a case study down the line, maybe not
even that long from now, because this is still all relatively new, but
there'll be a case study done as far as how many guys just left because
they could thinking that it was the school's fault, the coach's fault, the
style of play, or whatever it was, instead of just looking at the
mirror and realizing I need to get better, or just looking at the mirror
and realizing I'm not as good as I thought. I was, let me
get more comfortable here being a career backup and not a star like I was
in high school or something like. They'll be guys that really altered their career
in a negative way because they had this ability to to just up and leave,
and that's unfortunate. But to go back to what we talked about earlier,
those are really two different things, right it. What you should do
is different than like what someone like the NC DOUBLEA has the ability to tell
you what you can and can do. And that's another piece of news that
we talked about a little bit earlier, because it sounds like the one thing
that we now know is not going to change is that is that it's a
free for all. You will be able to transfer as many times as you
want, as long as you are academically eligible. And it sounds crazy because
it's gonna be hectic, it's going to be chaotic, it's going to be
you know, as they say, the wild wild West. It's going to
make more coaches probably reconsider what they're doing, like, dude, can I
should I? Is this still the right position for me? Can I?
Can I adjust and adapt to this new world? In fact, there were
three coaches, maybe even more than three. At one point it was three
that were head coaches at the mid major level or lower the low major,
and they left head coaching jobs to go be assistance at the high major because
they just realized, my best chance of winning is not going to be doing
it here, because if I am good and I have any good players,
they're going to leave. My best chance to climb the ladder in college basketball
is to go work under a head coach at a bigger school and wait for
a good job to open up. So there's no doubt this is a different
sport now that you can just up and leave. And that's unfortunate, especially
for fans who would love the idea of guys playing there for three maybe four
years. Like I understand all of that for those who are anti portal,
but you have to consider this. Why should the NCAA be able to tell
these kids they can't go play where they want to go play. The example
I used earlier was that if I was in the pet band at one school,
playing the saxophone or the trumpet, whatever it may be, and I
decided I'm going to leave this school and go be in the band elsewhere,
they'd never want me to sit out. They never think I mean, so
why would you tell an athlete who is a student just like the just like
me and the band. Again, it's not just black and white, right,
They're not just normal students because they get things that the normal student in
the band wouldn't get, right, like probably you know, privileges, and
heck I don't, I don't. I don't know if there are many or
any band members on scholarship. But they're not just like any other student.
But the NCAA has tried to make it like they are forever. So this
really got thrown in their face because they've always fought for amateurism and you know,
these are student athletes before they you know, and just trying to act
you act as if it's not what it is. So now with their own
logic, it's led to I think them being challenged in court and losing,
which is like, hey, you shouldn't be able to tell me that I
can't make money. If somebody wanted to go play, you know, if
somebody wanted to pay me, you know, if you wanted to give a
band member at a school some impermissible benefits before nil existed, they wouldn't not
be allowed to play in the pep band, right, So why can't someone
who's playing soccer or football be able to get some kind of benefit and make
money because somebody wants to give it to them. So this is all the
NAA's fault for trying to force this archaic amateurism model for so many years,
and they're just getting buried every time someone challenges them in court. So that
number the reason I wanted to mention is because it is like there are probably
guys that hit the portal and it actually ends their career because they learned the
hard way. Like, yeah, I guess my best option is to go
play at you know, Long poly Tech State and they only offer half the
scholarship because it's nai. Yeah, I guess I'll just go back home and
you know, figure something out. Like I guarantee, there are many guys
who hit the portal and just never play again. And that's not good.
That's but they you know, they should have the right and freedom the ability
to make whatever to see, like nobody should able to restrict them from making
decisions about what they want to do with their life and their career and their
future. I just you know, I think again, it's I understand everybody
who's like, this is going to be too chaotic. We're never going to
see any roster continuity over the years, And you're probably right, But again
that's a different conversation than like, what what they should be allowed to do
now if they're employees. Technically I guess they could sign non competes, but
didn't we just learn about a month ago that's no longer going to exist in
this country. So as far as what the actual arrangement's going to be,
we with how they decide if these guys are employees, these guys and girls,
I should say, or employees or not, Like that's that's going to
be the real big kicker as far as the future of college athletics, because
I mean, it will lead to schools getting rid of sports, which is
an awful thing to think about. All right again, Coffee and Company,
that's us. We are a few about Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Appreciate you hanging out with us here on a beautiful Thursday afternoon. Coleman
Hawkins, that's a name we've talked about before. Obviously, he is one
of the best players still available in the portal, probably was one of the
better players. I mean, if you just rank guys whether they're available or
not in the portal, I'd say he'd probably still be up there. Had
a really good run at Illinois. He sent out a tweet about thirty minutes
ago that he quickly deleted, but I got a screenshot of it, and
I actually tweeted it out and I have no clue what to make of it.
But he sent out. I guess he responded to the yes. So
Frank anselom Ivy, who is one of the he was actually the last guy
to commit to Louisville taking that thirteenth scholarship. They made it official earlier today
because they're, i mean, each a few players. Each day, Uel
is putting out a press release with some quotes from Pat Kelcey on these players
and really telling, you know, giving them the full bio and all that.
And today, earlier today, they did Frank Anselomibi, who is the
guy who transferred from most recently Georgia but also played two years at Syracuse.
So he shared it, meaning Frank and it says officially part of the revival.
Let's do it coordination. Well, then Coleman Hawkins quote tweeted that shared
it and said hey Frank, and he posted a picture of the two of
them playing together at Prolific Prep and he quickly deleted it, which I don't
know why he deleted it. But Louisville doesn't have a scholarship available right now.
There has been some talk about one of the guys that's injured maybe not
being on scholarship during that season when they're not playing. I don't know if
that's legit or why they would want to do that, but maybe there's a
way around it. I really don't know. But you know, Louisville meaning
Pat Kelsey and his staff, I mean, I think they've they've still kept
tabs on some of these guys, staying communication and so when I understand if
they could still go get a really good player like Coleman Hawkins, they would
find a way to make it work. Now, I don't know if they're
going to be able to because I don't know much money they have left available.
I'd say they spent a lot of money to put together a roster that
right now, again is pretty damn good from from you know, from what
I can tell, some good pieces that you know, you had to pay
for because that's you know, that's the cost to doing business now. So
it could be that Louisville still is talking to this young man and maybe seeing
if there's some mutual interest and maybe they're trying to think of a way to
where they could make it work somehow. Or it could be Coleman Hawkins just
trying to drive up a price and insinuating that Louisville is interested, because that's
how this works. I mean, Louisville is out of scholarships right now.
So maybe that's why he deleted it. Maybe he realized, hey, this
is I'm being too obvious here about you know, trying to drive up the
price because everybody knows Louisville actually doesn't have a scholarship available. But Louisvill's been
one of these schools in basketball. In fact, the Athletic article we referenced
a few weeks ago that broke down, like the biggest spenders right now so
far this during this cycle with nil and the portal, Louisville is one of
them, Louisville, Indiana, Kentucky, Baylor. It was another random one.
I can't think of who it was that was in there that kind of
surprised me. But either way, like if the narrative out there is that
Louisville has got a lot of money and they'll pay, and he's throwing it
out there that there's some mutual interest, which I guess would be what you're
trying to hint with that tweet. That could mean Okay, well, I
guess if we're gonna get involved this school or that school, we better make
sure we come correct with the bag. Because it's all about standing on business,
John, Right, That's what it's all about. It's gonna be the
term for the year a few standing on business. So I don't know why
he deleted it, but maybe it's because he felt like it was too obvious.
And I do not expect Louisville to be in the mix here to get
him. But again, I think if they thought that they could meeting like
they had money, they think he would come here. They I think they'd
find a way to make it work. Now, I don't think that would
be getting rid of anybody. I don't think that would mean like they're going
to tell somebody, oh, sorry, we no longer need you go back
to the portal. I mean, I don't think that would be. I
mean, that's not happening. They're not doing that. But I remember whenever
Kobe was his last name, I always forget his last name. No,
Kobe, the kid from Charleston that's going to going to set out because he's
got him I've hurt in the NSAA tournament. But anyways, he's the late
addition from Charleston, and again he is going to sit out because of his
injury. I don't know why he'd be a walk on, but I had
heard around the time that he had that he'd joined in, that there was
some scenario to where he could maybe be on maybe not be on scholarship for
a year. I'm not reporting that. Maybe I shouldn't just throw it out
there, considering I don't know if there's any truth to it, but I'm
just trying to think of a scenario to where they would maybe you know,
be able to make this work. But again, already getting ahead of myself,
because I highly doubt that that that that ends up that ends up happening.
All right, Uh, let's see here, Let's go ahead and get
to our first break here in the five o'clock hour. I do what to
talk some football coming up here on the other side, and we'll also get
to the text line. So keep it, keep it locked right here,
it's Coffee and Company. We are fueled. But Thornton's right here on Sports
Talk seven ninety. All right, we do have some breaking news here,
like legitimately, some breaking news here as Donald Trump becomes the first former US
president convicted of felony crimes. I'll just hand it over to you. The
floor is yours, John. I know you got some strong oh yeah,
political thoughts here to share. On forty five, I do have a question,
like does this impact his presidential campaign? You're asking the wrong guy.
I figured you didn't mean why not again political against Coffee and Company. I
can say this without like, you know, this really has nothing to like.
I'm not sharing any thoughts on him and his ability to be our president.
But you asked does this have anything to do on his We'll go back
to exactly what you said. I think I said, does this have any
impact on his presidential campaign? For this year? You know how many times
something has come up in the news about Trump where I thought the same thing,
and yet he's still He's still around, He's still fighting to do it
again. I mean King benefit of the doubt. Yeah, I mean it's
uh, yeah, I mean so, I guess there's a lot of pre
I wouldn't I don't know. I shouldn't speak for them across the hall on
has, but I would imagine that's probably something they're discussing and maybe even going
live, because there's there's live I don't. I think there's some kind of
like a presser or something like that. Yes, it's Donald Trump has been
convicted in his New York hush money trial, a landmark Jerry verdict, making
him the first former American president to be foun guilty of felony crimes in the
nation's nearly twitter and fifty year history. So a big piece of news,
no doubt. Make of that. What you will react to that however you
want. But I'm not asking for your reaction for it here. That's just
kind of not you know, it's not really what we do, all right.
So let's talk some football, shall we. So I have a buddy
who does some writing, helps out with athlon sports and sporting news and helps
out with their like preseason coverage for conferences and things like that, and he
knows that I'm you know, I'm sure there are many others that are more
connected and plugged in and knowledgeable about Louisville football than I am. But you
know, I'm dangerous enough. And this is the guy that I've known for
a while now, so he asked me, you know, to put together
who you know. He's got a little primer here that has for each side
Louisville offense, defense, and I'm sure they're doing this for every team,
not just Louisville, but breakout player, top newcomer, freshman. It says
rookie ready, which I assume means freshman that's most ready to make an impact,
and then like the MVP, So I think on offense, it's going
to be more difficult. So let's let's just do defense for today and we'll
do offense to mark because I think when it comes to breakout player, I
mean, there's a couple of options, but I feel comfortable in rolling with
stan Kwan Clark. I mean, I think he's solidified his starting spot.
I'm sure he's gonna have to still compete in fall camp and whatnot, but
at weak side linebacker, I mean, I mean Jalen Alderman is a guy
who played a lot last year, would have played this year. But I
think Jalen Alderman leaving Louisville and heading to Miami is because I think he knew
he wasn't gonna beat out stan Kwan Clark, who was a really highly rated
recruit, four star kid in the twenty twenty one class I believe. Oh,
I'm sorry, twenty twenty three class. So yeah, he was a
true freshman last year. Stan Kwan Clark he enrolled early, so maybe that's
why I felt like he'd been here longer. But yeah, I mean,
I think he'll have a breakout year if I could go with somebody like as
the backup, like you know, one A, one B, maybe,
although I do think it is going to be stan quonk Clark. But I
think Benjamin Perry. Ben Perry is another good option for a potential breakout player.
I mean, he's he's in that unique linebacker safety hybrid position and he
may not be. I mean, he'd have to have like a monster year
to be a full breakout because he's played and been impactful. But I do
think he's getting better and better and I really like him now. When it
comes to the biggest newcomer as far as somebody who will have you know,
on the defensive side of the ball the biggest impact. And I think we
can all agree now when it comes to newcomer, you're not thinking freshman.
I think that's why they have it separated here, where there's one that's like
rookie ready, the freshmen that could make an impact in year one, and
then newcomer. I mean, i'd say ninety nine percent of every team's uh,
you know, every team, every team in college nine to nine percent
of the teams in college football, especially those of like the Power five I
guess now Power four level, Like at the end of the year, once
you wrap up the twenty twenty four season, if you were to have them
give an award for biggest Newcomer of the year, I'd say, again,
ninety nine percent of them are going to be guys that transferred in. It's
just I mean, freshmen could still play make an impact, like that's still
that's gonna be rare, but I mean, you know, you'd have to
be one of the may Sometimes you're gonna have guys who are some of the
best players in the country, I mean country that are that are guys that
transferred in. So I'm gonna go with Thor Griffith, who is a nose
tackle six two three twenty. Apparently this guy's an athletic freak. He's transferring
in from is it Harvard? I believe it's one of the IVY League schools.
Yah's Harvard, And you know, he's more of a wild card,
I guess, just because he's making a big jump from the IVY League to
Power for However, this guy is apparently like an athletic specimen. He's got
the size. He was dominant in the IVY League, which again doesn't mean
that he's going to be dominant in the power level when he steps up a
notch. But he was already getting some interest from the NFL, and right
after Louisville had snagged him, I remember one of the ride ups saying,
well, this would give a lot of NFL scouts a chance to really see
what he does when he plays against better competition, because he was dominant in
the IVY League and he was a four star in the portal not you know,
coming out of high school. Imagine he probably wasn't somebody that had any
stars. But yeah, there was a lot of buzz about this guy when
he announced he was going to come to Louisville, and I'm I'm I'm gonna
believe in the hype and enroll with him as far as MVP. I mean,
I can't pick between the two. I can't do it. If forced,
I don't know which way I go. And I think you all know
exactly who I'm talking about, and that's Quincy Riley and Ashton Jealotti. I
think as much as Louisville did a good job in the portal once again bringing
in talented players and not only just doing that, but the guys you lost
are guys that were not viewed to be as big a pieces as the guys
you brought in, which again is the ultimate goal of the portal, Right,
get better, don't just go get good players. Make sure you don't
lose your really good players, and Jef Brown once again has done that.
But I think the biggest piece of news for Louisville football this offseason was getting
both those guys back, Ashton Jealotti and Quincy Riley, who are probably both
gonna be guys drafted in the first couple rounds next year. So I don't
know, I'd probably go with Riley over Jelatti, just because you know,
I think, you know, you can have games, and I think Ashton's
a super talent. He may be a first round pick, he probably will
be drafted ahead of Quincy, but I think he is someone that, like,
you're gonna have games where they're gonna meeting other teams are gonna strategize to
make him less. They're probably gonna hold him a lot and just hope they
don't call it as many times to try to keep him from getting to the
quarterback and make him plays. But Quincy Riley I feel like one of those
guys that like he's gonna make an impact more often than not. And you
could have games where Jelatti's just quiet. Doesn't mean he's not talented, don't
mean he's not you know, playing his ass off. But you really can't
go wrong with either of those guys. So if I had to pick one,
I'd probably go with Riley. But those two, specifically Riley and Jelatti,
are a big mean they bring. Louisville brings back a lot of proven
production from a good defense last year and again they got better in the portal.
Now, as far as the freshman that could make an impact, I
mean, with the experience you have coming back and the guys you added in
the portal, I'm not even sure if they're going to be looking to play
many guys that are true freshmen on on defense that she here. To be
honest with you, I mean, I just you know, I would say,
just you know, just just guessing here. I'd probably go with give
me, give me Maurice Davis. He's an edge which who is from the
Georgia area, was a three star in some a four star in others.
I'll I'll roll with him just because you know, it's six four, two
fifteen, pretty decent offers coming out of high I mean, I'm just what
I'm doing here is trying to figure out a guy that like, hey,
if you can get off the edge and make plays like that's one of those
things that hey, there, they could use that at any time, right
if you're ready to come in as an edge rusher and get and get after
the quarterback and cause havoc. You know, you don't need like a ton
of experience to be able to get out there and make some plays and do
that. So I would roll with him. But I don't think you're gonna
need to depend on many true freshmen on defense in fact with the portal.
I mean, if you're a true freshman, what's your expectation when you get
to college. I guess it really depends on what position you play. But
if you're on offense and you're a quarterback and you're a true freshman, unless
you're one of these like elite of the elite, I think you probably just
have to accept that it's going to take a little while for you to hit
the field and have a big role unless you want to start at a lower
level than what you know you're capable of playing at. I'm sure somebody will
run the numbers again, but last year in the Power five conferences and again
now there's only four what was it like sixty seven or seventy somewhere between sixty
seven and seventy percent of the starting quarterbacks last year in the Power five or
transfers, and I think that number is probably going to keep growing. I
can't wait to get these preseason magazines. That's still the only piece of print
writing I buy is the preseason athlon. Lindy's does one, and then Phil
Steele. I mean his is probably more loaded than anybody else's, but you'd
have to like order it online and I don't, you know, not no
offense to Phil Steel, but I don't. I'm not going to go to
my way to do that. But if I'm at Kroger is something and I'm
walking around and I see they got it, They've got it. The you
know the new magazine up. I mean, that's like one of the one
of the many signs that tells me that college football is you know, approaching,
not quickly approaching, because the summer really seems to drag once we get
you know, to like July, because we're just starving for football to start.
Isn't July when those magazines usually get released, or I believe so.
I think I think it's usually around usually around July, and I can't wait
for it. All right. So, for those who missed the beginning of
the show when we talked about the you know, the port we did.
You just heard to talk about the portal and the numbers and all that.
But as much as the recent conversation was about how just because you you know,
hit the point like not everybody that's in the portal is being pursued by
these big schools with a bunch of money being offered to them. There's a
lot of guys who hit the portal because they felt as if they weren't getting
a fair shot, and then they it kind of ends their career, which
is an unfortunate thing. It didn't have to end their career, but maybe
they learned the hard way. Hey, I'm not like I need to do
something else because basketball is not for me. And look, maybe that ends
up being the best thing for them. But one of the benefits to the
portal like take away the student athlete. Not to say like we don't care
about them, but this is entertainment. We are fans of college basketball and
it's something we watch for entertainment because we love we love the sport, and
we clearly love the teams around here. I don't know how you could argue
that it's not good for college basketball that we have free agency with the portal
and nil to where they can make money, to where they don't have to
go and play overseas. Because last night, after the deadline hit, and
everybody, you know, we knew who was going to be coming back to
college basketball and who was going to be staying in the NBA draft. The
ACC Player of the Year, the PAC twelve Player of the Year, one
first team All American, two second Team All Americans, and two third Team
All Americans are all coming back to college basketball, and six seven years ago
that would have never happened. And it's because they wouldn't have any incentive to
come back. They would be they would be wanting to start making money and
not playing for free in college. And I don't blame them, Like,
if you know the NBA is never in your future, but you know you
can make a living playing basketball, why are you going to stick around in
college and develop for free? You can develop, And look, if you
want to stay in college because you love the experience and you value your education,
then that's great, but you know you can, Like I always use
this example, what I do to make a living is not something that is
going to be at least I hope not like impossible for me to do when
I get much older. If you're going to make a living playing professional sports,
you have a window, and that window is you know, probably honestly,
probably six years at max. If you're really like, if you're gonna
make a lot of money, like playing overseas, you can do it longer,
but you probably as you get older, won't be as as highly sought
after and you know, probably won't get the same kind of contract unless you're
just playing it like an insanely high level. So like it seemed crazy.
People would always say they're they're going pro where better have fun in Argentina Like
you would hear people mock these guys for doing that, And if you really
think about it, it makes total sense. At that age, you know,
twenty one, twenty two, that's their chance to go and really maximize
the you know, the amount of money they can make now they can do
it in college, so they're sticking around. That's good for the sport.
And again, if you are a fan of a team who seems to always
get hit with the portal in a bad way and your coach maybe hasn't adapted
or your program doesn't have good on nil resources, I'm sure you see it
as a negative thing, no doubt about it. However, from an entertainment
standpoint, from you know, the product that is college basketball, this is
this is a good thing and the proof is there. What if Zach Edy
would have come back, Like why didn't he likes he'll be drafted, especially
since it's a weak draft and I think he actually has a chance to play
a very specific role in the NBA. But like Zach Edy could have come
back to college and hit the portal and not played at Purdue and probably broke
the record for an aisle. Right, Yeah, that could be the case.
I don't know that if. I don't think he would have left Purdue
if he came back. Yeah, some about Purdue players. Just Purdue have
a lot of money in aile. I don't know that they do. Then,
the only major player, I mean, outside of Zach Edy going to
the NBA that they lost through the transfer portal was Mason Gillis, who's going
to Duke. Everybody else is returning guys. Yeah. The only pro is
Edi, right, yes, yes, so they have one other guy transfer,
but it was somebody off the bench. I can't even think of who
it was. But they lost two major guys from their runner up rosters.
I'm sure they'll be I think most projections have them again as the bench.
Sure they they didn't. They already have another giant on their bench. Matt
Painter's always got He finds them, man, he's always and they're usually people
who aren't really sought after. Oh I know. I mean it's not as
if they're going and getting dudes you've never heard of, but and actually they
are. They probably are guys that the average fan hasn't ever heard of.
But you know, like for example, Edie was like a three star kid
who was at Adam Canada. Yeah, I mean, and he he had
options, but I don't think anybody ever thought he'd be you know, the
player that he turned in to be. Yeah, I mean, I'm looking
here. They got a guy that's six' ten, that's it. That's
that's a really short short player compared to the giants that they've got a foot
range. I'm not sure of his name. Yeah, oh yeah, they
do. Daniel Jacobson. He is, he's a freshman and he's seven foot
three and shorter than Eady. It is crazy though, because not to say
other schools don't recruit giants anymore, but like, if you are a guy
that is in that if if that's your frame, and you know you're a
little worried about how the game is changing and you don't really fit with like
the new way the modern basketball, you better hope that the phone rings and
it's Matt Painter because he'll still use you like an old school big and it'll
work. You'll have something. They got to the championship game this year,
no doubt, and he looked Edie was a really good player. I mean
he was. He was phenomenal. And to me, he's the first guy
that I you know, he'll get drafted, right like other really good big
like Hunter Dickinson. I don't think he'll ever get drafted. And I don't
know if he'll ever play in the NBA, like you know, legitimately as
a guy that's on a contract and who knows what happens with Edie, But
like Edie was so productive and big, and you know, like he really
just comes down to style with him more than anything. Like I don't think
he's he's I think he's at enough. He's strong enough, he's got good
hands. And like even if a team wants to run and run it,
run it and pull guys away from the floor, I mean mean pull guys
away from the rim, I should say, like if you put Dye in
and let him post up, like you know, that's a weapon. Now,
it's probably again a very unique role, but it could work. All
right, quick break, we'll come back on the other side. Wrap this
thing up. It's coffee and Company Fiel about Thornt's right here on Sports Talk
seven ninety Is this Zach Zach Brown? It is you, Zach Brown fan.
I can dig the vibe every once in a while, I don't listen
to it regularly. Is he still active? I think they are. I
know he used to be one of those it's Zach grum Band right correct?
Yeah, they they, I guess he and they the group used to They
had a pretty I wouldn't call it a cult following, but like people who
really liked them, really like their live shows, and would like travel to
go see him. Nothing like the parrot Heads, you know with Jimmy Buffett.
But they had a good run there for a while. Maybe they're still
maybe they're still doing it. Tell you wh's been doing it for a long
time, and that's my friends at Eveland and Eland. And what they've been
doing is helping folks with the buying and selling process when you move right real
Estate Services. They're full service real estate brokerage and they've been around since nineteen
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at Eland dot com, E D E L e N dot com or give
them a call FABO two five nine nine twenty eight hundred. All right,
so we're at a time and we'll be back at it tomorrow. Might be
a little bit of a delay. Start, could be right about three,
maybe a little bit after, kind of just depends. There's a baseball game
beforehand, so uh, you know, we'll be here when we can.
Out of our control at least I think so. Maybe John's the one who's
been demanding UK baseball stay right here. On Sports Talk seven ninety it was
you. Wasn't it first the UK baseball pregame show, now the postgame show.
Would an honor resumes getting more and more impressive, isn't it? Oh
yeah, good stuff. All right, have a good night. Everybody's see tomorrow.