It's time for coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine
day. Now here's Nick Coffee. So for those of you just now joining
the party. We finished up the three o'clock hour mentioning this tweet from Mayor
Greenberg about how the city of Louisville ranks number three in the United States for
visitor return and a couple of people have kind of said the same thing on
the text line, which is a really good point. You go to any
city Louisville size or larger, you're gonna run into homeless areas, crime like
it's not We're not unique, but it's just so politically driven at this point,
as far as you know, I'm not even gonna go down that path.
But my only point was to say, I think downtown Louisville is a
really cool place. Not saying you've got to live here or come here every
day, but everything is going to be better for this city in every aspect
if our downtown is a thriving area of the city. So just just my
thoughts. But anyways, let's get it started here our number two Coffee and
Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety Nick, Coffee with you
the company man, mister John Alden riding shotgun today and we've been we've been
busy so far today been a very busy show. We're going to keep that
rolling along. And I've yet to run through these names of players in the
portal that if you're interested, right, if you're somebody that you know is
invested even a little bit in trying to figure out what these rosters are going
to look like for both teams Louisville and Kentucky, then I'll give you you
know what's who's out there, and you know the interest level I guess from
from both sides, right, Louisville a handful of transfers and at least two
on the Kentucky side as well. But let me give you the the quick
update here that that I think is worth sharing on great oh sibor so he
is right now, I believe the number four ranked player in the portal as
far as guys that are available. He may even be higher than that.
But Louisville I still believe is in good shape. But that doesn't mean I
think that like they're going to get him. But here, here's here's what
Trilly Donovan is running with and uh, I'm telling you each week that goes
by, I mean, I mean I think he is, like his discord.
I think it's it's the most informative thing. I mean, it's you
kind of really got to get. You got to really dig at times because
there's so many people just I mean, it's a HUMONGOUSH chat room, like
that's that's what it looks like to me. It reminds me of a HUMONGOUSH
chat room and you don't really know, and there's different rooms for each school,
and Trilly kind of bounces around to give updates as best he can on
on what's going on. So you know, I'm not on there very often,
but I'll check it out, you know, every now and then.
And that leads to me having to kind of dig to figure out, Okay,
you know, here are no joke, one hundred and fifty responses that
don't tell me anything. They're responding to something that was said two hours ago,
so you kind of got to dig. What I would recommend this discord
platform do is like highlight Trillie Donovan within this forum slash chat room. So
like his would he write stands out more than anybody else's. And if that's
like a setting and I can turn it on, you know, maybe I
should reach out to tech support because anyways, he's to me, he's been
as informed as anybody on any of this transfer portal stuff. And it sounds
like the Texas Tech visit for Great osibor who's that visit I guess ended yesterday?
It ended similarly to the visit to Kentucky. Where as it was concluding,
it just seemed as if it wasn't going to work out. I don't
know if it's money or what it is, but apparently there's already another player
that Texas Tech is prioritizing and trying to bring in for a visit. And
we'll tell you who that is in a second, because it's somebody louis is
going to try to get as well. So Kentucky got a visit, they're
not in the mix. Louisville got a visit. Sounds like it went,
you know, it was maybe uneventful, but it doesn't. Here's what I
think is happening. I think every bit of this process for this young man
is all about business and the transaction that's going to get him where he's going
to go doesn't mean he's not taken in the sites at these campuses, doesn't
mean he's not maybe enjoying Churchill Downs, which I know he did go to.
But I think it's all about money, which I don't say that to
be critical. I get it. He is an a To me, he's
the absolute example of the kind of player that is going to be super mindful
of money, and all of them are. But he will make more money
playing college basketball this year and maybe does he have another year, like is
he going to get a COVID year? I don't know, but he will
benefit. He will make more money doing doing that in college basketball than he
will in professional leagues because he's just not I mean, he's not an NBA
guy. And you can go make good money over in Europe and other countries
and or you know, you're not a country, but you know what I
mean, you can make money playing professional basketball abroad and make a good living.
And to me, if you're making money playing the game you love that
You've you know, given countless hours for free your whole life, Like you
are a very blessed individual. And I always get very defensive for people who
like make fun of have fun playing in Argentina. Like, yeah, they're
they're play they're they're literally living out a dream of doing something that's not worked
to them, something they love. But anyways, he will make more money
in college and that's why apparently he's got a big price tag and it's even
getting bigger. It sounds like, so I'm gonna I'm going to assume Texas
Tech has has has fallen out of the race here because they're not willing to
pay what he what he wants. So now Washington, that's who he's visiting.
I think it starts today. That's where his coach from Utah State is.
That's where he's coaching, Danny Sprinkle. And I'm not gonna count them
out because it just I mean, I feel like if he knew, he
was, like if if Washington wasn't really gonna be the school, then he
wouldn't toy with his old coach and like still take the visit. But they've
added some other big guys in the last week or two, actually I think
less than that. Like I think like in the last week they've added like
one of the one of the big guys for Oakland that you know, beat
Kentucky and NCAA tournament. You guys remember that that was awesome that that happened.
Love that night. I'm not sure what was better that night or the
night that uh they realized Mark Pope was going to be the coach and like
he was, Oh, it's the Mark Pope night. I think it is,
too, Yeah, I think it is. It was such a euphoric
feeling, like it was because the fans went from and I guess Louisville kind
of the same thing, but it felt like it was a grander scale.
With Kentucky, the anguish realizing you were getting a big name coach and you
were settling for an alumni who had yet to prove himself on a big stage,
and then twenty four hours later, maybe forty eight hours like, oh,
it's fine, We're gonna rally around this dude. Well, it was
similar that there were many that were unimpressed and worried, but I think Louisville
was more able to realize, Yeah, I mean, this route doesn't totally
surprise me, because you know, we're coming off of a couple of terrible
years, and you know, with Kentucky they were so cocky about you know,
how you all sit back and watch how a real blue blood conducts a
coaching search. We're gonna wait for Billy Dunn and make him say no.
He might leave the Bulls in the midst of a playoff run because it's Kentucky.
Anyways, Washington added a big guy from Oakland, and they also added
another big guy in the portal that I'm not sure where from. But that
doesn't mean that you know, they're out of the mix. But it has
led to people assuming that maybe they aren't gonna be able to pay what he
wants, which the rumor is now now that he wants one point five million
dollars. And I've said this many times, why not say it once more.
I don't believe that he would get that from anybody. I don't.
I believe that no school is going to deny that they're paying a big amount
of money to somebody, which technically the school's not doing it. The collective
is right or a big donor. So if the perception is they've got money
to go pay players, that is going to get more players interested in playing
for them. If the player it's got this big price tag and somebody is
willing to pay it, allegedly, it's a beneficial thing for both sides.
That player looks like, damn, he must be really good. They're going
to pay that much money. And the schools, you know, whoever's in
the program, I guess you should say the collective that's associated. They look
like they got money to throw around, So you know, that's that's what
I You know that that's that's the way I see it. So maybe one
and a half to me, one point five million dollars, like that's an
insane amount of money. But then again, there are people who you know,
that's probably not that much money to them. So maybe I'm just a
poor that sees that and thinks no way. But Louisville I believe would pay
him more than others would because they would just not be able to justify it.
Louisville, again, I don't think it'd be one point five million,
but they were apparently willing and ready to pay for the young man who went
to Arizona State Jaden Quaintans. I don't believe it was two million, but
like, let's just say, you know, you take sixty percent off of
two million for Quaintans and sixty percent off of you know, the one point
five Like you know, you could, you could still do that, and
you do really need a player like him. So I believe Louisville Will will
have a good chance of landing him because I think Texas Tech and I know
Kentucky's not not at it anymore in Texas Tech. I think, you know,
it's not been like officially reported like it was with Goodman in the and
the way he reported on osbor os bor and Kentucky. But let me put
it this way. I'm trying to get my hopes up, but I think
louis was in a pretty good spot. However, I just can't count out
Danny Sprinkle because again, he like he may take if he was going to
take less money, who would he take less money for? Probably Danny Sprinkle,
who who he's followed from Montana State to Utah State and now maybe Washington.
And there are some that like are turned off by a guy wanting that
much money. But look, we got to just get through that because money's
gonna matter to every one of these players. It just is some it'll matter
more than it will to others. But it's not your money, right,
I mean, even if you're given a monthly contribution to the to the fiboh
two circle. I mean it's not like you're on the you're on the hook
for the one point five million or whatever. It is like you're you're on
the younger side, John. Would you I mean, would you think less
Maybe not think less of them as a person, but would you not be
as juiced for a Hoosier commit if you knew that, like it's only about
money? Or would you just not care? I don't care. I just
wanted to win at this point. And maybe that's comes in being so far
moved from success that you just at least I mean, maybe it's not that.
Maybe it's more of a general college basketball fan thing. You got to
be careful, so far moved from success, like I mean Louisville, Like,
don't don't patronize me. Oh, I'm talking like real success, like
you have a Final four in two thousand and two success. Yeah, so
you're you're more so saying that, like, you know, their love for
Indiana wouldn't be that strong because in their young life, Indiana hasn't had like
a marquee moment. Correct that makes sense? I mean, I'll be corny.
I loved the idea of Louisville in a previous World Now landing players because
people loved Louisville or and they knew of Louisville right and honestly be real.
Rick Patino was a huge part of that. Like Rick Patino, even though
he didn't recruit quite as good as Cali Perry, he is still one of
those coaches that when he would walk into an event, an AAU event,
everybody knew he was there, and you know that matters. Now, that
matters a little bit. But you gotta have money, right, and I'm
not. You know, I've been able to adjust and understand that. Like,
hey, because here's the thing, Like, if these guys want to
make this a long term thing where they're playing here for a few years and
they're continuing to make good money, they're going to be high character guys that
I think. I mean, you're you're a fool if you're somebody that's here
making nil and you're and you know you want to keep doing that and you're
not, you know, being marketed, like using your social media to appear
to be I don't even say marketable because I don't believe that anybody's given these
guys money because they think it's going to benefit their brand right, Like,
it's not like nobody's selling cars because of these billboards that have UK and UL
football players on it. They're not we know that. But if you seem
like relatable, kind of down to earth, appreciative of the fans, that
kind of stuff, it's only gonna benefit you, so you know. I
I was a little surprised because I know that. I think late last night
it might have been when truly Donovan mentioned that one point five million is what
apparently it's going to cost to get oh Sibor, and I was surprised that,
Like some people were like, all the hell with him. I'm thinking,
okay, well, if somebody can pay it, like, let's do
it, because we need a guy like this. He's pretty good, he
is, all right, excuse me. I think I just burped on the
air there. I didn't feel that one coming. I didn't hear okay,
good, yeah, clear, I just admitted it that maybe you know,
something happened, but I thought it might have come through the headphones here,
but it didn't. I avoided a crisis usually like I can if I've got
something like that going on, like I but I literally just went to transition
to talk about something else and you know, let out a belch. All
right, let's before we get to our next break. Here's what I want
to do. So well, we're gonna do it after the break, but
I want to let you know what we're gonna do, so just to try
to, you know, liven it up a little bit here, right.
I talked about it at the beginning of the show. When it comes to
players in the portal, I know there are people that really really are interested
in every in every name that appears in the portal that is in somehow connected
to Louisville or Kentucky because we care about these college basketball programs like nobody else.
We are college basketball crazy and very unique situation here where you've got two
new coaches that are building teams from scratch and they're needing the portal to do
that. So, I mean, I don't believe that like it's boring,
nobody cares, but it's I just don't think it's good for radio. So
let's go back in time to eighties nineties where you had like these dating shows
where you know, these these hosts would have these women that we were there
and they're you know, they're they're available, and they're looking for a man,
and they introduce these these eligible bachelors, and they really, you know,
they almost it's almost like they're calling them in the starting lineup at a
game, right like he Al's, you know, just that kind of of
stuff. I'm not going to do that in like the corny TV guy voice,
but you know, I'll do a couple here in the in the four
o'clock, do a couple more in the five o'clock to kind of just give
you a little bit of a quick elevator pitch as they say on who these
who this player is, where he's from, what schools he's considering, that
kind of stuff, And look, a lot of radios trial and error,
So this may be awful, this may bomb, This may make you say,
I am never listening to this idiot again, But look, you got
to take risks sometimes. And I again, I would get up and walk
to the restroom after spending a whole segment talking about a player from BYU whose
name I probably weren't wasn't pronouncing correctly, you know, a guy who I'd
never heard of until the previous segment. That now Louisville is apparently getting like
and I'm just thinking, like this, like, who would like this?
This can't be good radio, not that I'm ever doing great radio, but
you know, I'm going to try to mix it up a little bit here,
all right. Something else I'm gonna get to that came in on the
text line we'll do this before the five hour. The comment from Rajon Rondo
on the Jeff Teague podcast about why he did not come to Louisville. I
think that's getting completely you know, I don't want to say blown out of
proportion, but like I I'm surprised how many people are like upset about that.
But we'll let you hear it and discuss because I think my man,
Larry O'Bannon, if you don't know what it is, Larry said something I
guess to Rajon Rondo at the time he committed to Kentucky that now people assume
that that Larry was, you know, trying to not get players to come
and play for Louisville, which to me would be silly. But anyways,
we'll get We've had a few people ask about that over the last few days,
last couple of days, so we'll get to it before too long.
But stick with us. It is Coffee and Company. We are fueled by
Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety so. Somebody sent me a good
list here from primetimer dot com that is a cultural history of TV dating shows
in Man. This goes back. I mean, there's some of these shows
that I remember hearing about, but like I was too, I was,
you know, very young or not even born when some of them were on
TV. But there used to be a you know, it wasn't just Jerry
Springer and Maury Povich. There were these corny, hokey like tea like dating
shows, and they were there were different, I guess different, Like some
of them were like they were trying to set people up. Sometimes it was
unmarried couples who maybe couldn't agree to get married, and then they would hook
them up with somebody that was a single person and they'd have to decide,
you know, do they want to stick it out with the relationship they are
already in or maybe you know, it's I mean, the Internet changed everything
as far as I think people's interest in that kind of stuff. But I
guess now, like you know, what is that what's that stupid show on
Netflix that my wife has made me watch? Is it the time yeah,
we're like they all like they're like little pods and they can't see each other.
That is like perfect trash TV. My wife loves it, yeah,
because I would never want to watch that, and you know, when she
wants to watch it, I always say, no, let's watch a game
or something. But like when it's on, you know, if I'm doing
something and she's got some downtime and she rarely ever watches TV, but if
she is watching that, like and I'm like, I'll get hooked on it
knowing that it's awful, but you know, it's you know, good trash
TV. Which there's a lot of that kind of stuff. I mean,
like Judge Judy, Love Judge Judy. That's trash TV. You know what
I'm saying. Like that's a main state too. It's been around for a
long time. Well so they they what they show now on like our local
TV stations is all reruns. Her current show that she makes that is a
spin off essentially of Judge Judy is Judy Justice and it's only available on Amazon
Prime and I tried to get into it. It's just not the same.
It's just different. But you know, Judge Judy's been on like as you
said, mainstay for so long that I'm sure there's episodes that I could watch
today that I saw ten years ago that I don't remember, you know what
I mean, And I'm look, I'm not kidding you, like I'm The
last time I really made it a point to watch a show that was on
every day was Judge Judy. I was obsessed with not obsessed with her,
although I think she's awesome. She's such a badass and she's funny, but
like you know, that show was like such a it was it was an
addiction for me. I was very sad to see that she went digital and
just did the streaming stuff. Hired a bunch of family members too, Like
she's got a granddaughter that's like somebody. She chops it up after each case,
and I'm like, nobody wants to hear what nobody wants to hear what
this twenty four year old has to say. Not the twenty four year olds
don't have good opinions. But like you're Judge Judy, I know you don't
care what she thinks about the case. So anyways, Yeah, maybe I've
made it a little weird, and some of you have acknowledged that, like
We're not trying to date these transfers, right, but I'm just trying to
get you know, not even creative. I'm just trying to add some life
to this as I ramble on about dudes who you probably will never hear of
again, if you know, if they don't end up coming to Louisville.
So we had a wave of transfers that were targeted, right, a lot
of guys that visited for two straight weekends. And that's how the rosters kind
of turned out. Right. You had the two guys that followed Pat Kelsey
and that's Rain Smith and James Scott, and then you had Terrence Edwards Junior,
and then after that it was everybody else that it was added were part
of those two visits and you know worked out and you've got to you know,
even Chuck, you Hebburn a little bit different. He was kind of
a guy that it sounds like he was already a done deal before he did
make a visit. But either way, you know, we had a really
quick wave there of guys that were we were that were on the radar,
and I can't think of many that you really really wanted that they didn't get.
So not to say you've landed everybody. Obviously would have been great to
get Jaden Quainton's and whatnot, but it got a little quieter, whereas last
week it just turned into the only guy we knew on campus was going to
be Osabor And I'm not even sure if any of these guys are visiting.
But here's the you know, here's a couple, here's a couple of names
to uh to keep an eye on here for the Louisville because they they clearly
still need players. There are players available, good ones that you know,
I think would be nice additions, but you know, as far as getting
them on campus for a visit, I guess that would be the next step.
But we'll start with a man who is named a core A core AChR
AChR. He's a Samford transfer, Samford, not Stanford, and they were
pretty good last year and he was a breakout player for them. So originally
from Australia, had very little production in his first couple seasons at Samford,
and then last year really broke out. Averaged sixteen point six and a half
boards, two blocks per game, I'm sorry, one point nine blocks per
game, shot fifty eight percent from the floor, and forty three percent from
three. Again, he's six' nine, really really talented player. And
if you're familiar with Samford, they are a team that plays what's called Bucky
Ball because their head coach's name is Bucky something and think of what it's now,
I got to look it up, but yeah, Bucky McMillan, who
became like a big name, you know, last year because he got that
job right out of the high school ranks. And they were good last year.
And they play really really fast, which Pat Kelsey likes to play that
way as well. So there's a compatibility there between Kelsey and again we're not
trying to hook him up to be you know, we're not going to go
on a date, but you know what I mean, like it could be
a compatible match, as they say. So, he has visited Auburn,
and I think what's happening here is that there's a lot of others, other
schools coaches I should say that maybe weren't as familiar with him, or maybe
didn't prioritize him. And now that's that's changed a little bit because again after
visiting Texas Tech, I'm sorry, Auburn, it sounds like now Texas Tech
is trying to get him on campus for a visit, and you know,
Louisville is involved. That was Trillie Donovan's report this morning. Is that Louisville
again. I think that, I think word for word is what he said
is that Louisville is in the mix. But you know, that could mean
a lot of things. I'm sorry, he's visiting Auburn this week and the
other potential visits are Texas Tech and I guess Louisville again. I don't think
anybody has you know, has said that that's gonna happen, but I would
imagine if they are involved in their talking, I guess the next step for
pat Kelsey would be to get to get him on campus for a visit and
you know, try to try to close the deal. Also, Saint John's
apparently I'm seeing here could be could be involved as well, which we got
to worry about Patino. He just landed Kadari Richmond from Seaton Hall. So
Daveon Smith and Kadari Richmond both off the board and are going to be playing
for Rick Patino at Seaton Hall, giving them a really good backcourt. All
right, let's move on to the next available player in the portal. Here,
let's go with a Let's go with a guy that Kentucky's in on here,
shall we? In fact, it's get a little hot and heavy between
Mark Pope and Chaz Lanier because according to uh Trillie Donovan, uh, Mark
Pope and Chas Laneer had a two and a half hour zoom call. Man,
what got a little personal? Could? I mean, that's a that's
a long zoom call. He better had their batteries charged. I mean,
anyways, this is a guy from North Florida going through the NBA draft process,
not going to be drafted. I don't think he got an invite to
any of the combine like the G League Combat or anything. But he averaged
twenty points a game last year, four four point eight rebounds, shot fifty
one percent from the floor. You know, it sounds like Kentucky is is
really coming after this guy. As far as the other schools, you know,
I don't even really know what the other the other competitors are. I
mean, I guess, yeah, it looks like he's I mean, any
anything you look up about this guy as far as him in the portal,
it all it all ties to Kentucky. So again, I think they're that's
the I don't want to I don't want to say they're putting all their eggs
in that basket, but it's probably a good sign for them if he's going
through the draft process and the only school that appears to be linked to him
is is Kentucky. You want to do one More's do one more here,
because this is a guy I really really like. His name is Casein Pryor.
He is a South Florida transfer South Florida. If you remember last year,
this past season, I should say, uh, they had the most
unexpected, really good season in a long time, right abdu Raheem the head
coach that left Kennesau State. He took over at South Florida, and I'm
pretty sure they won the regular season in the American Athletic Conference with the likes
of FAU and some other decent programs. So he was one of their better
players. He averaged let's see here, he average, he says, six
y ten kind of vert. You know, he fits with a lot of
the other guys already on this roster, which is versatility six nine six ten,
but average thirteen points eight boards and shot at about thirty five percent from
three sounds like he's become someone that is a a name that you know,
a name that's getting more and more attention, because that's what's gonna happen once
you get down to a smaller group of players being available than you know,
programs like Louisville, Kentucky and others that really need to add somebody you know
like this, they're gonna they're gonna ramp it up. So it sounds like
Arkansas, Louisville, and Villanova are the schools that this guy's considering. And
uh, you know, I worry a little bit about Arkansas because Caliperry and
the money he has. But you know, Pat Kelsey's done a good job
so far of being able to sell transfers. And again, I don't want
to act as if I'm saying he's landed every player he's wonted, because he
hasn't. But he's got a pretty good success rate. I feel like and
I like this guy's story prior. He's somebody that developed late. Started his
career at Boise State, was there for two years and did not play much
at all, then went the Juco route at Northwest Florida, which same school
that produced the former Louisville player Chris Jones is actually where Steve Forbes used to
coach. But anyways, he was a really good juco player and that landed
him at South Florida for one year and he really really had a great year.
So you know, I would say, I mean, if in a
perfect world, if you could, if you're Louisville, if you could land
O, Sibor and prior, I mean, that would be again, that
would be a dream scenario. Not to say that, you know, because
again I should probably just have a disclaimer that never ends that like, we
don't have a clue how this is the ultimate unknown for both of these teams
locally, just because new coach, all new players that have never played together
before. So you just don't know. But as far as like personnel and
knowing you were going to have to use the portal to go get players,
I mean, if you could, if you could add oh Sibor and really
any of the other guys I've mentioned, that would be it'd be huge.
Would you think, John, did that make it like less boring or was
it just as they had some flavor to it? You know, just try
to do something because I'm curious how many people tuned in in the middle of
it and were like, what the hell what is he doing? Yeah?
What is is this? You know? Is this? You know? Is
this? I mean we've already had two people mentioned that the music sounded like
something you'd see in like an old school porn So you know, I don't
you would you all would know that, not me, but you know that
wasn't what we were going for. You are the ones who made that weird
by saying that. So anyways, and for the record, there's no other
there's no other players, Like no, there're no you can't go, like
the portal is closed, like so there's nobody else that's going to be added,
which I think what that has done is led to fans, probably not
just those locally, but there's fans that are thinking of themselves like, uh
oh, we're gonna be these are the only guys left. We better go
get them. Because for a while you could think, Okay, well,
you know what, here's five six guys that you know, i'd really be
I'd love to see Louisville or Kentucky Land, and then two days ago by
and there's another group of twenty that hit the portal. But now it is
officially closed. All right, Uh, let's see here. Where do we
want to go next? There? The the numbers that Jeff Goodbin put out
is something I wanted to share with you guys because I just found it to
be interesting when it comes to low major and mid major programs and like how
the portal is impacting them, you know, in a negative way. So,
there were twenty two players of the year in these leagues that are considered
mid major leagues or you know, low which is you know, the lowest,
I mean, leagues you've probably never heard of. So of those twenty
two players, ten exhausted eligibility, they're no longer playing college basketball, three
went pro with eligibility left, one returned to his school, and eight have
transferred elsewhere. So you know, you only got one guy back. And
I would be willing to bet that ten that exhausted their eligibility after winning player
of the year in their league probably would have left. Like we can say
that right, Well, I mean that's not something that's like it used to
be. A if you would talk about he's probably gonna transfer years ago,
would be like why would you say that? Well, because they can and
they could make money, like you if you are at a low level D
one school and you win you know, player of the Year in the a
Sun for Scotty Davenport at Bellerman. I mean you decided to stay at Bellermine.
Good on you, man, because that's you know, you could go
elsewhere and probably make more money. You could play a play for a program
that would probably end up being on television more that kind of stuff. So
I still at times feel like it's wrong to just say, well, they'll
probably transfer. But like, even though we're still pretty early in this new
world, I mean, that's what happens. And the one guy who returned
it's kind of an outlier because it's Caden Pierce who plays for Princeton. Right
if you're in the Ivy League, I mean in the Ivy League, by
the way, has lost a lot of players. But also, like if
somebody wanted to stay at a place like Princeton to get their degree, and
then we can kind of understand why, right, Like that's because that's a
kind of degree that would probably be very beneficial for you throughout the rest of
your life. All right, there is another let's see here. Yeah,
so there were one hundred and seventeen first team All League players in those leagues.
You know what I'm saying, Johnson not just the player of the years,
but first team All Conference in the a SUN, in the MEAC.
So of those forty seven twenty of those one hundred and seventeen sorry, excuse
me, there were one hundred and seventeen first team All League players from those
lips. From that level, only twenty six of those guys returned to those
schools. Now forty two of them exhausted their eligibility, but the biggest number
of those because four went pro with eligibility left, but forty five of them
transferred elsewhere. So that's just like I think you're going to see that probably
every year, and that's just going to be the new world of college basketball.
And you know, the coaches at the low and mid major level,
like it sucks for them because they literally are in a really, really tough
situation, but they'll adjust, and you know they'll adjust or they will probably
you know, get left behind. When I say adjust, you just have
to know, like, hey, like I'm going to have a new team
maybe every year, and that look, that's not going to be unique to
the lower level. I mean, look at Louisville and Kentucky. I mean,
I mean, the reason for that is a very rare situation that will
probably never happen again. But like if you are in fact, I've there
have been some I can't think of the of the two schools right at the
top of my head, but right around the time where the coaching carousel was
rolling, there were dudes leaving head coaching jobs at the mid major or low
major level to be assistants because like, they are probably better off sticking it
out as an assistant on a high staff and then going and getting a decent
job rather than trying to grind up from the bottom of the Division one level.
Because again, if you have really good players and you're really successful,
you're probably going to lose a lot of those guys, which you know,
it does suck, but I don't really know what you can do about it,
and I can't like who I'm That's one of those things that although it
is a tough break for those fans of those schools and those coaches, but
like who's at fault? Like who are you mad at? Who are you
blaming? Because it's that and that's like whenever people get mad about guys who
want to transfer in the portal even from the higher level, or you know,
guys who leave and it's because of money. Like there's an emotional tach.
There's emotional connection to you and your team as a fan, clearly there.
I mean, there's a connection between player coach, that kind of stuff.
But at the end of the day, most of these guys are just
trying to do what's best for them and if they have the ability to play
at a higher level and it in return actually has them a chance, you
know, to make some decent money. It's a bummer, but like who's
I mean, who you mad at? You know what I mean? Like,
it's not a marriage, and you know, unfortunately marriages sometimes don't last.
All right, take another time out here. We'll come back on the
other side. Get to the text on some good stuff coming in and we'll
tell you where Louisville came in and a couple of these post spring rankings for
college football. So stick with us right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
That's right, Coffee and company rolling along here on a Tuesday afternoon. Apparently
we're going to get some crazy storms tonight. I know the mayor had said
something earlier on social media about telling everybody to be you know, be aware,
be safe, all that kind of stuff. So you know, I'm
to the point now where I kind of just I kind of just assume that
we're not going to get anything crazy. But I think the risk is higher
tomorrow as well, all compared to tonight. Okay, I don't know what,
like hours they're expected to be the worst. But and this is you
know, I to me, this is the time of year where like the
we seem to get like this in the fall, I feel like you can
get a thunderstorm that turns into okay, some tornadoes hit the ground. But
again, I feel like in the last year or so, like we've had
the deadly stuff has been happening in like December and February and March and things,
things happening, and it's at times make you think, okay, maybe
the world is coming to an end. Like you know, I'm telling you.
Something spooks me out about temperature just drastically changing like in an insane you
know, insane level within a day or so, and just that eerie,
you know, quietness. You know, that's spooks me out a little bit.
But usually I just sleep through it, like, I don't. I
can't tell you last time I woke up because there was a big storm that
you know that caught you know, that caused a power outage or loud thunder.
But my wife, she she gets worried, can't fall asleep, stays
up, you know, waking us up every five minutes to go downstairs.
And you know, it's it's it's something I got to deal with because you
know, it'd be a real a hole. I'm like, why are you
waking me up because you want me to not die in a storm? Like
she's being nice, she cares, but I'm like, you know, we
could probably sleep through this, honey. But anyways, everybody be safe because
as much as you know, at times, don't think it's going to be
as severe as maybe they tell us, you know, better safe than sorry.
When's the last time we had like really really bad I mean I remember
last spring, and it was early spring. I mentioned February and March earlier
from last year. Remember the winds and I don't know if this was a
bad storm, but during the day and into the evening, the winds were
so bad that there were trees falling over I remember there were planes that were
struggling to land on the runway. There was a semi completely turned over in
southern Indiana not far from here. That wasn't that long ago, right,
just over a year ago, I remember at one point. And I don't
know if it's just getting older or the pandemic kind of really making it seem
difficult to know. Okay, was that ten years ago or was it last
week? But there was a time where Glenn Mary the area over there near
Fern Creek that got that. I think it was like one of the areas
that, you know, one of the only areas that really kind of had
like five five six houses that were kind of destroyed. Ye. So,
uh, you know, better better safe than sorry, all right. So
I didn't mention this yet, but DJ Wagner we talked yesterday about where he
could end up. Usc was was rumored to be UH in play and uh,
I still I still would have thought that if he was going to go
to Arkansas, it would have like already happened. But I was wrong,
because now he's visiting this weekend. John Rostein reports, So DJ Wagner could
be following John Caliperi to UH to Arkansas, and you know, he'd be
a nice addition, But I just is, you know, I've said many
times, I just I don't know what he does really well. He's probably
not terrible at anything, but he's not great at anything. And you can
get by in college with that if you are an insanely good athlete that defends,
and you can just at times out athlete people because you've got the ability
to play above the rim. That ain't DJ Wagner. So you know,
I do find it interesting and it's genuinely a good question. But Kentucky and
Arkansas, you know, like who's gonna be better in year one? Like
Louisvell is not gonna compare themselves to many people, right, because it's we
know it's not Kenny, which is great, but also you know, it's
I just think the newness of this and the fact that the nightmare is over.
I think it's gonna be quite a honeymoon for Pat Kelsey, unless,
of course, you know, the team sucks and he loses a bunch of
games, which I hope is in the case, but you know, you
never know. I mean, louisll and Kentucky are obviously gonna compare themselves to
each other because more often than not they usually do. But the Kentucky Arkansas
dynamic is just gonna be fascinating for me to watch from afar because, like,
if you're Kentucky and you end up seeing Cali Perry slowly but surely as
symbol a team that's like way better than yours, like that wouldn't be ideal.
But like, there's not gonna be any of them, in my opinion.
I'm sure you'll find some, but there's not going to be many that
are out there thinking, well, this proves we should have not like let
Cal walk away, and we should have done everything to keep him because that
thing had just run its course. It was so obvious that you know,
even if in five years Cali Perry is rolling at Arkansas and he's got you
know, a couple of final fours or something, and Mark Pope hadn't made
the Elite eight, you know, that wouldn't be a good look and you'd
probably be bummed. But I think a lot of their fans, and I
can't speak for them, but they would understand that like that wouldn't what was
happening at Arkansas in that five years probably wasn't going to be happening in Lexton
because it just was like it was a toxic situation, to be honest with
you. So right now, I mean Arkansas fans they are they're they're thrilled
to see that, like a dou Thiero ends up there, and Big Z
followed Cal and now maybe DJ Wagner and obviously all the freshmen or most of
the freshmen followed him other than Jaden Quaintan's and one of the other fresh one
of them went to Georgia, who actually ended up being not highly ranked when
it was all said and done. So, you know, Cala Perry,
you know this is this is the back and forth that I've seen that I
just find to be interesting. It's you know, Kentucky fans are kind of
like, wow, Cala Perry is going to have the same team as last
year, Lol, like you know, expecting them to be terrible, and
Arkansas fans are like, well, last Dodd checked John L. Davis didn't
play for Kentucky last year, and last Dodd checked whatever that guy's name who's
a transfer from Tennessee. Do you ever figured how to say his name?
Audio? Or It's goundn't get real confusing because they've gotten to do do Thierro
and then I think the last name of the dow maybe the guy who transferred
from Tennessee who was a big time edition. So yeah, that guy didn't
play for But here here's the thing, like cal can have the same team
essentially, and he can replace Rob Dillingham and Reed Shepherd as well as Antonio
Reeves with John L. Davis, the kid from Tennessee. And then maybe
let's say they get another transfer that's available, that Arkansas team is not going
to be as good as the Kentucky team was as far as potential. I
mean, Cali Perry had three of Kentucky's best three point shooters of all time
on the same team, and that's Sheppard, Dillingham and Reeves. And he
lost Oakland in the first round. So I don't know. Maybe he makes
it to the Sweet sixteen next year something like that. But I think Kentucky,
you know, once they see Mark Pope coaching their team and you know
they're into it, and he you know, he's gonna do something super corny
at Big Blue Madness, right like it's gonna be It's gonna be something,
and they're gonna love it. They're gonna eat it. Up and once they
start playing, I don't think they're gonna think about Cal as much, but
I guess it really just depends on It depends on how successful both sides are.
Right, Like if if Pope's struggling early on just because you know it's
new and he put a brand new team together and at this point there's not
like a star on that team and Arkansas is even worse, Like they're not
gonna care, right, I mean, I feel like I'm trying to play
psychiatrist here, but like, I think it would be unusual for you to
just not pay attention to what Cal's doing at Arkansas. You're you're probably not
going to obsess over it, but they'll obsess if he's good. Yeah,
and actually he's like they'll obsess if he's good in Kentucky, but what was
underwhelming? But I feel like they're gonna what are they gonna say though,
because it's not that they'll they've turned on him already so much because they got
their new man. That like, if he's great in your one and they
stink, they'll be upset, But like, what's going to be their counterpoint?
Because at that point they would completely be Like if they're if they're gonna
start saying that they wish he was still there and that Barnhart would have got
it worked out, like they would have flip flopped. It's not that they
want Cal back, they'll just be super upset, like, why couldn't he
just get this done while he was here. Look, the embarrassing losses in
the tournament, like those are painful, and those last. And what I
mean by that is you'll remember that forever that you lost to Oakland with that
team, and you know, you lost to Saint Peter's with Oscar sheebway like,
you'll remember that forever and I will too, by the way. But
outside of those Cal always made you relevant, even if you lost your luster
a little bit. You always felt like you were gonna have one of the
most talented teams and that you were gonna move the needle, not just because
you're Kentucky, but because what Cal brings to the table. And I think
that gave him a level of comfort and that's why he won the off season
every year. Well now they don't, they don't have that. So I'm
just you know, I I really am the dynamic between Kentucky fans and Cal
and you know now that they have moved on, and you know, he's
got a new booth thing, and you know they've they're you know, they're
into Mark Pope as much as you can be. And you know, I
mean, like it's it's a really bad, you know, BYU Mormon joke,
but hopefully some of that got get it. But and by the way,
like I want Mark Pope to be like super corny, because I gotta
be honest, I think he's a pretty likable guy. I mean, I'm
gonna wan him to lose every game, but like, I think he's genuine
and you know, I hope he sucks as a coach, but you know,
I'd be a liar if I told you I think he's terrible. But
no program has standards as high as Kentucky. And that's a dangerous situation for
anybody to be in, especially when it's one of your own. All Right,
we got the five o'clock hour coming up next right here on Sports Talk seven ninety