It's time for Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine
day. Now here's Nick Coffee. I don't know why, it's it's kind
of, you know, consuming my mental capacity right now, which there's not
a whole lot of capacity there in general. But twenty point one million people
watching the Derby is crazy to me, just you know, for comparison,
here super Bowl one hundred and twenty three million, no surprise, I mean
other you know, the other list here of the most watched sports championships in
the United States. I mean again, the Super Bowl will never have a
competitor because it had one hundred and twenty three million. In second place was
the College Football National Championship, which had twenty five million. I mean,
does anything dominate like the Super Bowl? I mean the NFL dominates in general,
which it's it is wild because you can go look at, you know,
some really good numbers for college basketball or college football or really anything.
But I think everybody's now just programmed to know that, Like, we can't
look at the NFL number and compare to that because that's not possible. But
the Derby twenty point one comes in at number three here and it's really not
even close, because the national Championship in men's basketball has fourteen point eight,
so a good, a sizable lead there for the Kentucky Derby. And I
don't know, whenever we're so locked into March madness and the NAA tournament,
especially around here. You know, if I just you know, if I'm
just shooting the you know what with somebody at a bar having a beer watch
in the second round or something, and you know, they were to ask
me, do you think more people watch, you know, the championship game
in basketball or the derby? I would say kidney horse racing nobody cares that
much. It's a niche sport. So yeah, the a lot of people
watch the derby. It's the big event for horse racing. But no college
basketball is national championship game. I mean the NBA Finals, it's got to
dominate the derby. Well, no, not even close. And blows my
mind because I just I don't know. If I'm in let's say I'm in
Texas and John's in you know, Utah, I just have a hard time
thinking that there are that many people that whatever they're doing in Provo, Utah
or wherever, Texas on Saturday. They're making it a point to have a
television in front of them to watch it. But clearly there are people that
do that across the world. It'd be interesting to see like a chart that
shows like where the most watched cities and like regions, and so it usually
is it's always Louisville, then Cincinnati, and then I believe typically in the
third market is I believe in Florida. So, you know, I think
because I've been in Louisville my whole life, born and raised here, and
it's like our thing. I guess that's why I just have the inability to
kind of see it for anything anything other than the way I've seen in my
whole life around here. Again, that's why for years when I would go
where, I would even before I would go to the derby and work the
event, and I would just you know, go to a derby party or
watch on TV, because you know, that's what a lot of people do
around here. I would just have in my mind that ninety percent of the
people there are from here, and it couldn't be. It's actually the exact
opposite. So anyways, hopefully you guys had yourself. It's a good Derby
weekend. I am happy to be back here on the air. I had
a long weekend myself and did enjoy a lot of time out there at the
track. But the one sad thing that has that's happened is that my son,
who I've discussed in the last few weeks, is obsessed with horse racing,
but he's now old enough to where you know, he's He used to
just watch them race and just think it was the coolest thing ever that those
wild horses are out there running around on a track. And then the first
time he saw turf race, he was like, they can run on the
grass. Can we bring them over here and they can run in our grass?
And I'm like, I don't think it works that way, son,
So you know, it's it's it's the you know, it's the young innocence,
right. He just doesn't. But now he like knows, you know,
you pick a horse, you bet on it, and if it doesn't
win, he's really bummed, you know, like he even had the you
know, the self awareness, and I guess he was just being humble.
You know. He picked three and none of them won, so it wasn't
just one horse. He had all three of them. And they you know,
they didn't win, but they were you know, they think one of
them came in like fifth or something in fifth, and you know he was
bummed. But I did tell him that, you know, whenever it happens
when you pick a Derby winner, it'll the feeling you get, which I've
never experienced this feeling myself. So I'm kind of lying to my son here.
Maybe I'm being a bad father. I'm just it'll it'll trump the sad
feeling you get now, because man, maybe it's not next year, maybe
it's not next year, but the year after, when you pick the winner
and you're jumping up and down that joy you get, it's gonna be worth
it, man. And I hope that's true, and hopefully he does end
up picking the winner. But I mean, there are probably probably people who
love the Derby, that are into it every year that have never picked the
winner, unless you just decided to ride that wave that happened recently here where
a lot of the favorites were winning. But I mean there's twenty horses.
It's not easy to pick the winner. Especially, you know, when you've
got a race that is you know, tabbed, is one that it could
be a variety of a variety of horses that end up winning the whole thing.
So anyways, hopefully you guys had yourself. It's a good Derby weekend.
Let's shift gears here talk a little football, shall we? Some college
football? We are. I used to hear it all the time before I
had a chance to have, you know, the platform here that I have
and just you know, yap my trap here on the radio talking sports.
I would hear you know, other people, probably even somebody like Venetti or
something, they would say, well, you know this, college football is
just around the corner. College football season will be here for you know it.
And it used to piss me off. You know why, John,
because once we get past Derby, I mean, for me, there's no
sport going on now that I really care about. I'll lightly get into the
NBA in the playoffs. This is the kind of unofficial of this, Yes,
and this I mean again, I think honestly, college football to Derby
is kind of when we're on around here right, like it slows down a
little bit between college basketball ending and Derby. But really it didn't feel like
it this year because obviously it's been very hectic and you know, both programs
around here, change the coach, and now you have free agency season.
So you know, I really think that's gonna be the window where you consider
it being you know, off season and you know in season. At least
that's the way that I see it. But these months usually go by super
slow. So like when people tell me, oh, it'll be here before
you know it, right around the corner. No, we still have three
four months. Damn it. Don't tease me, don't lie to me,
don't patronize me. We're gonna be sitting here in the humid summer with nothing
but baseball on what I mean a line, am I lying? I love
the baseball jokes because here's the thing baseball fans, and I hate to say
this, if you are a baseball fans, a lot of baseball fans are
very elitist. They love it absolutely. They love to tell you that they
know more than you and that's just the way it is. Yeah, And
what's funny about that is that the baseball snobs, you know, they they
actually do need us because if your sport continues to just you know, I
mean, they're always going to going to exist. I'm not saying Baseball's about
to die in the sport in the league's gonna fold. But like they don't
have anybody that goes to their games. They don't have anybody that watches their
games. I mean they do, but like it's blows my mind that they
that that. You know, like that's a very lucrative business because again,
where's all the money coming from, probably TV contracts and all that. But
like they don't market their stars. So there's like, for example, there's
certain sports that I'm not like, for example, golf, we got a
big pgav't coming to town next week. Golf doesn't need me, right like,
and clearly, no, no, nobody needs me. But like I
am a casual fan. Actually I'm not even a casual fan of golf,
I'll lied. But they can survive and thrive with the core that they have
because there's enough people who are really into golf and they're big events. Right,
Baseball, I think their elitist attitude at times, like they've they've not
really done much to cater to the younger crowd that like would never sit and
watch an entire baseball game. So there's certain sports that they can they can
they can go along just fine without doing a whole lot to bring in new
eyeballs, right, a new audience. And let me give let me give
you an example. I think I think the soccer community, especially in louisll
does a great job of this. They know they're gonna get their supporters at
every game, right, they know that because the people who are really into
soccer are really into it. And if they're big supporters of Racing louisvill or
Louisville City FC those clubs, then like they're going to be they're the diehards,
right. But you know, they want to have more than just those
people. They want to be more welcoming to others. And I think they
do a really good job at that to where you know, they're not going
to be a snob and a you know, an elitist. They're going to
understand that. You know, maybe I can dumb it down for you a
little, explain it to you and just you know, to you as someone
who doesn't know a whole lot about the sport. You know, I don't
know if baseball needs to do that, but let's just be real here when
it comes to just you know, popularity and overall interest, especially with the
younger generation, baseball's dying in that regard. Now, kids still play it
and they love it. But I wouldn't be shocked if there are kids who
are really into baseball to where they play on a travel team. They're like
it's a big part of their life and every weekend they're traveling with their team,
and they plan to play in high school and they want to pursue it
as a career. I mean, obviously, you know, you need a
lot of talent and some for you know, some good luck on your side
to do that. But I would be willing to bet there's some athletes like
that. Kids I should say that really aren't that tied into like the stars
of baseball because they don't market their stars that well. I mean I always
used to say this, like Mike Trout at one point was the most Maybe
he still is, I don't know. At one point, Mike Trout was
one of the most successful baseball players in the league. But he could walk
into a lot of places in this country and nobody would know who he is.
And that's just rare. I mean, I know kids that are close
my close friends children, they're big into baseball. But when they talk about
stars like athletes that are celebrities. They talk about NBA players and they don't
mean some of these kids don't even play basketball. So anyways, when I
interviewed to to uh to not get this job that I currently have, But
when I interviewed to join the team here at iHeart Kelly Carl's legendary program director
here and was he he he oversaw not only seven ninety but also h as
and had a phenomenal career before retiring. He hired me, and I believe
I was the last person he hired before he retired. And it was a
plan thing like he didn't hire me and say, well, I guess I've
lost my you know, my ability to you know, to to to put
together a good radio program. I'm gonna call it quits. But anyways,
he asked me, you know, will you talk baseball? And I kind
of probably looked like, you know, deer in the headlights. And I
was thought about like maybe lying, and I said, well, probably not.
You know, I you know, I can probably brush it up,
you know a little bit, to be dangerous enough to maybe you know,
go back and forth. But I said, you know, that's not something
I really know a whole lot about. And I said, to be honest
with you, I've not really heard it be a big radio topic before in
my years listening to sports radio. And he's looked at me, you know,
almost like you know, I didn't know if he was going to tell
me to get the hell out of here or I didn't know what he was
going to say, but he told me, good, never talk baseball ever.
And I was like, all right, you know, at that point,
I didn't even have the job yet, but he was like, don't
never talk baseball. And ever since then, it's always stood out to me
that even in markets where they have a pro team, they'll mention how the
team's doing right, They'll they'll they'll discuss it to an extent, but it's
just, you know, it's you. I'll move on because I'm sure there
are people who love baseball that think this guy needs to shut the hell up.
With the hell he's talking about. Baseball is the best, it's America's
past time. Keep telling yourself that. Anyways, let's talk college football,
because although it's not, you know, right around the corner, it is,
you know, I guess the next sport that'll start that I really care
about. So DraftKings has now given us some early lines here on a handful
of Louisville's games, and I'll start with the one you know that'll be the
last game they play, and that is the Governor's Cup game. And it
is really silly to see a spread for a game that is the last game
of the season. I mean, like it's just it's I don't know how
anybody would even, like know what kind of a line to put out there,
but it is there on DraftKings, and you can bet on it if
you'd like. And once again Louisville is favored. And I'd say once again
because they've now lost. I believe it is five consecutive games to Kentucky and
the Governor's Cup series. But I'm pretty sure Louisville has been favored in like
three of those five. I could be wrong. So this one, of
course, will be in Lexington and on the road. The cards I guess
have opened here as as slight favorites, which you know objectively, what do
you think is that a surprise to you, John? I mean not that
you're as plugged in as you know everybody else, because you're not a Kentucky
fan or a Louisville fan. But I don't know. Part of me says
that that's a little surprising with the game, a little surprise, and it's
mainly because it's being played in Lexington and Kentucky is coming off a big victory
from it. Now, I guess they're probably basing it off of the roster,
you know, differences in the turnover from that kind of thing. So
I really wouldn't know where to set the line at. I'm just surprised to
say it's a Louisville favorite. Yeah, I mean I I would think that
this would be a game they would just say, first of all, because
it's the last game of the year, I would just assume that, like
of the games they're going to give you early lines on, this wouldn't be
one. But yeah, I mean Louisville last year was a seven and a
half or an eight point favorite, depending on where you were looking right before
they played Kentucky, which I said it before it happened, and I sat
it after it happened. That's that's that was an ald timer. I mean,
like that's the one game like that you you just shouldn't have lost.
I mean they were done with their coach. He told them the pony up.
Their season seemingly fell apart. They hadn't be they I'd never heard Kentucky
fans less confident in their team against Louisville. And it wasn't really because they
thought Louisville was scary, but like they hated their team, you heard it,
John, They hated them like they thought you know, I mean,
they were very critical of Stoops at a point where I really never thought we'd
see because he's a made man. I don't think they wanted him fired,
but you know, they were finally holding him to a higher standard, and
and they were supposed to be you know, in their mind, they thought
they'd be really good, and they were very underwhelming disappointed they got they you
know, they end up losing to Tennessee and they end up losing to South
Carolina, who stunk last year. Missouri ended up being really good, but
you know, the time before the season started, nobody expected that to happen.
So they were lifeless. They hated their team, seemed like they hated
their coach. And then Louisville comes in with with having you know, having
ten wins, already being favored Brom's first year, they'd already clinched the ACC
championship game and then they they they lost, which is still as painful to
even think about. But I bet there's nobody that's felt more pain from that
loss than Jeff Bram himself. So maybe that maybe that's a factor here in
this, in this uh, this this early spread because I I mean,
I think Jeff brom uh will have his team ready when they play at the
end of November, when you know when this matchup happens. But it's just
so crazy. I mean, you could have a key player injured for both
teams or something. You just don't know. It's impossible to know that far
down. But uh yeah, Louisville favored by just a point here according to
uh to DraftKings some other games that have an early line here for Louisville.
When they do travel south to South Bend to take on Notre Dame, that'll
be September twenty eighth, they opened up as a ten point dog. That
surprises me. I would have not expected him to be that big of an
underdog at Notre Dame. Notre Dame, I mean, they're coming off a
fine season, but I mean Louisville beat them last year and really I mean
they kind of dominated that game. And yes it was at home, and
it was one of those games where it just felt like the perfect scenario for
Louisville, right, you know, broms unbeaten up to that point, Notre
Dame's coming to town, a top ten team, it's a sellout. I
mean, there was a lot. I mean, that was a perfect way
for Louisville. Really felt almost like the Florida State game when when the Lamar
Jackson, you know, seemingly won the Heisman in Week three. But yeah,
I would have expected it to see close. I would have if I
had to guess what the line would be for Louisville Notre Dame, I would
have said Notre Dame minus six and a half. But it is right now
ten points. And then the other game that they have an early line for
is when the Cards go to take on Clemson. They play them on November
two. This is the first time they've played Clemson in a few years,
a couple of years, i should say, and they are nine and a
half point underdogs in that one. So you know that that's some surprise to
see them, that they're this big of underdogs. In those two games,
Notre dameing Clemson. But I'm also a little surprised to see that they're favored
in the Kentucky matchup. But then again, you know, Louisville, like
last year, clearly Kentucky beat them, and like that was there. I
mean, that's Mark Stoop's biggest win of his career. Like that's not me
claiming we're your super Bowl. Like he's never beat a top ten team on
the road before, so I don't think he's ever beat a road team on
I don't think he's ever beat a ranked team on the road ever. So
it was huge. But like by all objective measures, everybody would say Louisville
was a better team last year, But you know, I know it doesn't
matter when you line up and play, and you know, so I get
it, like they lost, Kentucky deserves to be chesty and arrogant because like
that's the one loss that's a Louisville fan you don't want to have that.
I mean, you never want to lose to your rival, but to have
it set up the way that it did and then come up short, it
was the ultimate punch to the gut. But I think most people would say,
hey, they played ten times last year, Louisvill probably wins a lot
more than five. And therefore, and I'm not saying that's for sure true,
but I'm just trying to, I guess, figure out how they would
would have Louisville favored here. But again, it's just it's so far away,
like it's I mean, it's a year away. Yeah, all right,
quick break, we'll come back on the other side. Talk some more
about the transfer portal here as is Indiana done, they have any spots left
if they get hatt and they'll have one spot left. I think Louisville and
Kentucky each have like fourish five spots left, and you know, there's players
available, but I would be willing to bet that the majority of the of
the of the last five guys that end up on these two teams, I'd
say the majority of them, you know, which would mean three essentially are
going to be names that you really weren't that familiar with, which, hey,
that doesn't mean that you know you're not gonna have a good team.
But I think when you see the best players available and you still have that
many spots available, I think both fans Louisville and Kentucky fans are you know,
hoping and praying that you know, their coaches can land some of these
guys that you know would be big additions. This laid into the cycle.
All right, quick break, we'll come back on the other side. Keep
it rolling along. It is coffee and Company, and we are fueled about
Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. That's right, Coffee and Company
rolling along here on a Monday afternoon. I said this at the beginning of
the show. I do feel like locally, it would be understandable if in
fact, everybody just decided, you know, local businesses and I don't know,
there are some places that can never close, but you know, the
day off after derby weekend would be something I think a lot of locals would
would appreciate just that extra day or really to get recharged and ready to go.
But you know, if it was a day that was given to a
lot of a lot of employ a lot of people in the area, we
probably still be asked to work, wouldn't we. Yeah, this would be
something we get a comp day for. Just like if the Super Bowl ever
became a national holiday, meeting the day after it would be a comp day
for us. But again, I can't explain it. Comp days always just
feel like I'm getting a freebe I love it. I do too, And
you know, it actually just adds up to everybody getting the same dates,
Like you know, they took that day off for that holiday, and we
get it on the back end because we worked, Like if you know,
Columbus Day, whatever other day is it actually are comp days. But I
guess because we get to kind of choose. Yeah, that's that's why I
guess it feels as if we're like we're getting over on the man. You're
taking the holiday and putting it where you're Yeah, exactly. I mean,
heck, I've used I think if we don't ever take them, meaning like
we choose to work whenever we have the option to either take the day off
for the holiday or work. Is it three that we usually end up getting
four four? I think it's four two because what that ends up giving me
is like it gives me I think five weeks vacation minus one day because and
that's I mean, it's I mean, I guess I've been here long on
to where you know, maybe I'm very lucky to have this job in general.
I mean it's crazy that we get paid to do this, but the
amount of vacation I have, would you say that I'm asking somebody that's younger,
that you know, has not is experienced in the professional workforce, but
to have roughly four, you know, take away the comp days four weeks
for working somewhere for eight years. I feel like, I mean, I
feel like that's good. It seems good. I don't know what the standard
is, Yeah, I mean that seems good. I love it, you
know. And I was gonna think of another way to suck up and kiss
ass, but you know, we've kind of already done that enough. So
thank you for our vacation, our comp days and everything. We we are
forever grateful for you. iHeartMedia. All right, let's switch gears here and
talk some basketball because right now, according to ESPN's top one hundred players in
the transfer portal, twenty two of those one hundred are available and have yet
to decide on a newsal. And some of them are names that you're familiar
with. Some of them are names that I think either school would would feel
like. You know, when I say either school, I mean Louislle,
Kentucky. Because again, if you think about it, It is rare that
that that we really are having the exact offseason. You know, it's the
same exact offseason, are we not? Like Louisville fans and Kentucky fans are
going through literally the exact same thing. The only difference is is that,
you know, Louisville's coming off of a disastrous two year run with Kenny Payne,
and Kentucky, you know, was underwhelmed with Calip Perry and that thing
had run its course in Arkansas saved him, but starting from scratch building a
team with I mean, I think Kentucky has one has one player that that
is that is entering college right now. That's a freshman. That's the kid
from I can't think of his name, kid who played out in Line County,
Travis Perry. But everybody else that's on their team as a transfer,
I think Mark Pope is he bringing any transfers. He's bringing the kid the
Colin Cowherd kid of the Mormon Mission, Colin wool, Colin Chandler. But
he he's he's coming over with Pope, but he didn't play because of his
two year mission trip. So you know, both schools in similar situations,
and you know, I think both schools feel pretty good about where their roster
is right now, all things considered, but neither of them are getting much
loved nationally. I don't mean I'm not totally surprised by that, but you
know, despite both teams now having eight guys or maybe nine guys, I
think Louisville might have nine now Kentucky mayava. But either way, these early
preseason rankings and even the early bracketology like neither team is mentioned, which again
that's not that doesn't blow my mind, but I think both fan bases actually
feel like, you know, what they have is better than the way it's
better than then most people see it as. But I mean this is the
ultimate unknown, I mean the ultimate unknown a coach that let's be real,
if you're a Kentucky fan, you were watching a lot of BYU I mean,
where would you where would you watch BYU games? I mean, I
know they were in the the Big Twelve this past year, so they have
some games that were on ESPN, But let's be honest, b YU had
a lot of games on ESPN plus because of the Big Twelve and their relationship
with ESPN. I'd be a liar if I said I watched a bunch of
college at Charleston games. I didn't. I mean they were on I saw
him a couple of times this year. But you know, I think both
coaches have done a really good job of getting the fan base. Fan base
is excited about, you know, this fresh start, but we're going to
be learning a lot about these guys as actual basketball coaches right out of the
gate. Because again, it's not as if you've watched Mark Pope or Pat
Kelcey like you know, year in and year out, because he's coaching in
the same conference as you, or he's coaching a program that you see on
national TV every other night or something like that. So throw in that with
a bunch of new players that are all transferring from across the country. I
mean, this is the ultimate unknown. I think there's plenty of reasons to
be optimistic on both sides. You know, I've talked about it. I
think Louisville's current roster, yes, there's pieces to add, and one big
piece that would be a phenomenal edition is is great Osibor. But I think
right now they've got a core roster that I feel pretty good about. But
I'm not going to be that guy that act as if I'm saying, Okay,
this is probably like a second weekend team, have no clue. I
mean maybe when we get closer to actually, you know, seeing this team
in action, maybe when the roster is in fact completely finished, I'll feel
a little more comfortable, or maybe the better way to describe it is,
I'll probably feel a little less foolish acting as if I can tell you in
any way, if this team is going to be really good, kind of
good, kind of bad. I mean, no, nobody's gonna know.
But because it's new, there is a new era here, and some of
these guys, like you know, they've transferred in. For example, CHUCKI,
heburn like he's a good player. He made He was a very impactful
player for a team that you know, they weren't elite. But Wisconsin's been
better than Louis in the last couple of years, that's for sure. So
anyways, here are the big names still out there. We talked about great
Osibor, who is visiting Texas Tech I believe today, and then he'll have
his last visit to Washington. He visited Kentucky, but we know Kentucky's not
going to be in the mix here because they've already take they've already added other
front court players. And while he was finishing his visit in Lexington, it
became I guess official that they're not even like the two sides are going in
different directions. So then he visits Louisville. I didn't hear anything good or
bad about the visit. I didn't even see. I mean, I think
the one picture that surfaced on social media from his visit was him and his
family walking into Churchill Downs with Pat Kelsey. But it's a picture from like
twenty yards behind. So he he doesn't post a lot on social media.
Therefore, it's not as if you can screenshot all of his Instagram stories,
like, I don't think he does that stuff, and if you know,
and if he does, I haven't seen any of it. So the silence,
I think is has people a little bit worried. Maybe there's reason to
worry, but I also think that this is someone that you're not really going
to hear anything about until he makes a decision. And I'd say Louisville is
in play here, But your guess is as good as mine, as far
as you know, if their view, if they're believed to be the favorite
here or I mean, will they offer more money than Washington? I mean,
will it come down to that. I don't know. Again, there's
not a whole lot of transparency with some of these guys in the portal and
their recruitment. But I mean, if you go back to the beginning,
I mean, Osibor was I believe as soon as I don't even know how
it had happened, but because I don't know what the connection was. But
as soon as he hit the portal, all the noise was that he was
going to go to Kentucky like they felt like they already had him. Again,
I don't even know what the connection was. Well, then you find
out that, you know, he is considering Kentucky, but then he's going
to visit Louisville. And I don't think at that point anybody even knew that
Louisville was involved there. So just because it's been quiet, I don't think
that means that you should be worried. But i'd also, you know,
be a liar if I said, you know, I have a great feeling
that this is going to mean, I have no clue. Again, your
guess is as good as mine. But he would be a huge addition,
no doubt. All Right, some other players Kadari Richmond, he is the
transfer from Seaton Hall, and I know Louisville. I'm not sorry, not
Louisville, Kentucky was linked to him at some point. I mean, this
is a guy who I guess it depends on where you look, because as
we've discussed, all these rankings are like way different. Some people have a
guy, you know, one of the top five players in the portal overall,
and then you'll look at another outlet that says he's like the fiftieth best
player, Like I mean, that's probably a little bit of an exaggeration,
but Kadari Richmond is is viewed to be I mean, I've watched him play
enough at Seaton Hall to know that, like, whoever gets him is getting
a really really good player. But I guess, kind of like Osibor,
there's there's not a whole lot of transparency here as far as what he you
know, what's going on, what he's doing. And maybe this is just
me being you know, cynical, but I feel like when that happens,
it's because agents are just seeing who's gonna pay the most money. Like there's
not a whole lot of traction because they want to see who's gonna who's gonna
stand on business? Right John, That's what they want to see. That
that's what the recruit, That's what these guys want to know, who's gonna
stand on business. So Saint John's Rick Patino has been believed to be,
you know involved here. In fact, I think as soon as he hit
the portal, everybody said that's where Richmond was going to end up. But
that hasn't happened yet, which makes me think maybe they're not. Maybe they're
not standing on business the way that that that Richmond and his agent would want.
And you never know, davey on Smith going to Saint John's, maybe
that impacts where Richmond would want to go. But of the other players that
again are still available, uh, DJ Wagner he's listed here is one of
the top guys that's still available, and I haven't heard anything about him other
than it's either going to be Arkansas or USC. So apparently his girlfriend plays
for USC. And the Nike connection there is is still strong, which man
of all that we talked about it and this is not to pick on the
kid, but like of all the other athletes, they got a Nike deal,
like an nil deal. I mean, DJ Wagner was like the least
impactful player of those five by like a billion and yet apparently he's still as
strongly connected in Ike and that could be why he ends up at USC or
maybe because it's his girlfriend. But I just feel like if he was gonna
go would you say, if if Wagner was going to follow cald Arkansas,
like he already would have done it, right, Yeah, I don't know
what the hold up would be at this point. By the way, speaking
of following cald Arkansas, a do Theierro, which I feel like all I'd
heard was that the last place he would go is anywhere that Cali Perry was.
Like I'd always I thought that things had soured with the dou Thierro to
where he was gonna If cal was back in Lexing, then he wouldn't be
there. Well, now he's going to follow him to Arkansas, which is
kind of a surprise considering the fact that you know Hubert Davis in North Carolina,
they were all in on him. Hubert Davis, I think, made
two trips to Lexington in the last week just to meet with Thierro trying to
convince him to come to Carolina. Pittsburgh was involved, Indiana was recruiting him
at some point, but he is reunited with Caliperi, Colemenhawkins, the Illinois
transfer, He's still available. But all I mean it sounds as if that's
like he's somebody that would not come back to college, unless I guess the
NBA told him that he has no business in the league, which maybe they
do tell him that, I'm not sure. And then another name that maybe
you start to hear more about Louisville being involved is Agana Yensu. I'm saying
that right Ugo, Yes, Kentucky fans would call him he hit the portal,
and Louisville was, I believe, one of the first schools to reach
out to him, according to On three Sports, And then it sounds like
Alabama became the leader. And then they just added another big guy yesterday.
So now people think that Ugo will not end up at Alabama. So maybe
Louisville gets back involved there because they clearly need some front court players. There's
no doubt about that. But I will continue to say this again disclaimer,
they need somebody like Osibor or even Ugo, just to give them more depth
in the front court. But I will say this, James Scott, the
guy one of the two that followed Kelsey from Charleston, I think no matter
who you bring in, he is going to be somebody that has a not
a monster role, but has a vital like he's going to play a lot
of minutes, probably off the bench guy. If you were to land somebody
like Osibor, but I don't know, maybe you play those two guys together,
but I'm not as worried like if they end up getting a couple of
bigs, but it's not it's not Osibor, and it's not somebody who has
had a lot of production where they're coming from. I mean, yeah,
that wouldn't be ideal. But I really think that James Scott is going to
be regardless who you bring in. I think he will have a role where
he's playing twenty twenty two minutes a game. And you know the way that
Kelsey likes to play a lot, you know, four out one end,
sometimes they do five out like I think, you know, if they're running
and they love to run. I mean, he's a guy that is above
the rim really good athlete runs the floor. I mean hard to really know
what to make of it when he was coming off the bench in the in
the CIA. But I think he's gonna be I think he's got a chance
to be a pretty good player here. But with that said, they still
need to add some other guys. I mean, he can't be the only
big guy you have out there. All right, quick break, we'll come
back on the other side. Keep this thing rolling along. I do want
to get back into the Tom Brady roast that was on Netflix last night,
so I've not finished it yet. I watched about I don't know an hour
of it. It's three hours long, but it's all I continue to see
people talking about on social media. Dan Patrick talked about it a lot today
on his show, and it so far, I mean, it's hilarious.
I'm somebody that gets a little uncomfortable when you know somebody's getting roasted, because
you know, even though it's funny, I'm like, damn, that's really
mean. I hope he doesn't go home and himself to sleep. But other
celebrity, other other athletes, like I don't That's what That's what Dan Patrick
was talking about, Like which athlete is gonna be next. I don't think
they would do it. I give Tom Brady a lot of credit, like
I don't know if it was worth it, but anyways, quick break will
come back on the other side. Keep this thing rolling along. Coffee and
Company taking you up till six o'clock right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
So I didn't mention this at any point today. I guess, to be
honest with you, I kind of forgot about it. But Lowell did add
another player kind of in the last four days or so this pee. I
think this news came out on Thursday. But they've added another player from Charleston
who was not expected to play this year. Is going a red shirt,
so it's another guard. So it doesn't address the uh, the real need
they have for front court depth. But Kobe Rogers averaged just under ten ten
a game nine point seven points last year for Pat Kelsey at Charleston, but
he's expected to set out the entire year because I don't know if it was
an acl but he got a hurt. Terrible luck for this young man.
He got hurt in the Alabama game when they played in the NSTAA tournament and
is going to come to Louisville, will be on scholarship, but we'll rehab
his injury in red shirt. So this is now the second player that is
expected to red shirt this this upcoming season. Which look, I know you
need guys to play, and you know they still need to add guys as
we speak right now, but I have no problem with using scholarships for guys
that are red shirting injuries that you know, like, I'd rather you do
that then go bring like then give a scholarship to a walk on, because
this is somebody that again won't be able to play this year because of an
injury, but they're going to be with your team, you know. I
mean with Ali Khalifa from BYU, that's somebody that is going to be new
to the system and just like most of the other guys, but with with
you know, with Kobe Rogers here, this is a guy who played for
Pat Kelsey last year, so he's not new to Pat Kelsey so and looks
like he could be a pretty good play a player for him. This is
somebody from Cincinnati, which of course that's where Kelsey's from. Two. I
don't know if that's the connection, but he started his career as a Division
two player at a school called Nova Southeastern. Well, they ended up winning
the Division two national championship two years ago and went undefeated. They did not
lose a game, so he was a national champion on that team, averaged
averaged about let's see here, looks like when he was at Nova Southeastern he
averaged about twelve points I'm sorry, thirteen points, four rebounds to assist,
two steals. Really effective. And then this past year, you know,
averaged just under double figures for Pat Kelsey at Charleston. So you know,
getting a guy that can help you right now because of his injury situation.
But I said, since day one, as soon as it started to really
look as if Louisville was going to be building an entirely new team, it's
just knowing you can you can, you know, use the portal to do
that. I just think when you get to spot ten, eleven, twelve,
third team, and I hate to call it that because if you let's
say, like let's say, great Osibor ends up being a guy who commits
to you in a month, I mean technically he'd be the last guy in
the fold, but we all know he'd be somebody that you probably paid more
money for than anybody on your team. So you know, the way in
which they come in as far as commitments, the order is not you know
how they're actually going to be, you know, ranked, which they're not
going to be ranked. But my point is this, I just think when
you've already got a team that it looks as if, you know, it's
maybe a little crowded at certain positions, I think it's gonna be really hard
to sell somebody who knows they could go elsewhere and probably walk into a starting
spot. Not to say they couldn't do that here, but you know,
I just think those last few spots were always going to be tough to sell.
So I think it's a perfect scenario to bring in guys that you know
they're fine with not having. I mean, they can't play this year,
so they're not as worried about it being crowded. They'll they'll rehab and you
know, in year two of the pack, hell's here, that's where they
can they can they can come in and help you. So that's a good
question that came in on the text line earlier that I hadn't given any any
thought to, uh, And I don't I don't know the answer to it.
But Emanuel A Corra four, this is somebody who, like everybody else,
transferred and he's the one player for Kenny Payne that I will say,
Like I hed he joined the team mid season, if you remember during his
during Kenny's first year, and just brought life to the floor, like he
played with energy, effort, enthusiasm, which you know, those are all
corny things that you usually really talk about when somebody doesn't have a whole lot
of talent, but like, he brought energy, right, he was tough,
physical, and then I don't I mean, I'm not saying he's a
great player, but the fact he did not get minutes last year for Kenny
blew my mind because I mean, at times, man, it was so
bad. You just want anybody out there that's gonna try, and he seemed
to be. I mean, this is this is how bad things were,
John, Like, let's put this guy in the game. We know he
will at least try. Like that's how bad it was at times for Louisville.
So somebody's asked if he would consider coming back, Like where is he
gonna end up? I have no clue, but you know, if he
would want to come back, and Pat Kelsey would like to add him as
somebody do again give you more depth in the front court. I think that
would be I mean, they'd be fine by me. But I would say
if there was any realistic chance of that happening, I would say that we
would probably already know that, like it would be, it'd be known.
But yeah, there's two guys that I have not heard anything about when it
comes to where they're going to end up, and that is Tyler Johnson and
Emanuelo Corrifor haven't heard a single thing. Everybody else I believe is already landed
elsewhere. So and Tyler Johnson was I mean, at times he was your
best player. The fact that he is not, I don't know what's going
on with him. And again, as we've discussed with some of these transfers
that we're desperate to get an update on, just because there's not a whole
lot out there doesn't mean that you know they're not talking to schools. Heck,
they could be taking visits and it's just not getting reported because they're keeping
it quiet. But I thought Tyler or would have a lot of options,
and maybe he does, but it's just been completely silent. I mean,
I thought, if you watched Louisville during the mess that was the last two
years, and you're a coach, even if you played against him, and
you're a coach like I think you would know, Okay, Louisville is stunk.
But I would I'd be interested in adding this guy, Tyler Johnson because
he's a playmaker, man. And you know, I don't. I don't
think there's a scenario he ends up back at Louisville. But him and Okora
four of the two that I haven't heard anything about, and I believe every
other player has since landed at a school. All right, let's let's get
a quick break out of the way. We've got another hour to go.
We'll finish strong here. Keep it locked. It is coffee and Company.
Phil but Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety