Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think when we are get
off our show, idiots. The kids are playing or tail off. The
countries are screwing it up. Gold play Inner Murals, Brother, gold Play
Inner Murals. They're supposed to be mature adults, but they're really not.
Who's the kid here? Who's the kid here? Are you kidding me?
Now? Here's nick coffee. I tell you what it is excited. It's
exciting to be excited once again. And that's how I feel. I'm excited
when it comes to Louisville basketball. We're gonna get to that in just a
second, because we've got our first addition to the roster right the debut season
of the Pat Kelsey era. We've got a couple of players already in the
mix that we're following Pat Kelsey from Charleston. But now Terrence Edwards Junior,
the James Madison Transfer Sun Belt Player of the Year, just within the last
thirty minutes or so, commits to Louisville. And that it's exciting, and
I missed this feeling of knowing like Wow, that's a big addition. That's
a guy that could really help. This is a good sign for next year's
team. But now you know, like, hey, this could really mean
something, this could really be you know, I think it's one guy.
They still got to fill out the roster and we'll see. But man,
again, it is exciting to be excited again. And I'm excited to be
here because you know, I always am. It's Coffee and Company. That's
us on a hump day, Nick Coffee, that's me, Austin Montgomery back
in the saddle. Are you excited to be excited? Oh? Yes,
you said some. I mean you said commiting someone like wanting to come to
Louisville. Yeah, what's that? Yeah? And last year, let's just
be real, I mean they did add some guys that were big pieces,
right, I mean, let's be honest. The freshman class, it was
impressive as far as on paper, right, and we all know how it
played out. And even though two guys, the biggest recruits in that class
didn't up really, I mean, one guy bailed before the season started,
another guy barely played at all. And then you had guys like Trey White,
Skyt Clark who were big additions in the portal and the grand scheme of
things. But it was just hard to really feel as if that was going
to matter much when you're coming off of a four win season. I mean
I can just say, hey, we'll see, But like, I didn't
believe that that team was going to be remotely good because again I watched the
first year and we have no clue what's going to happen with Pat Kelsey.
But what I do know is that he's not coming off a four win season,
right, and by all accounts, he's proven to be a pretty good
coach and he's now utilizing what he has to sell here at Louisville and he's
got a lot of spots to fill moving forward. But I'm excited, man,
And I missed this feeling in a major way. I mean, for
him to just do it right off the visit too, do we know of
did it? He committed while he's here. He's here right now. He
might be listening to us, So welcome Terrence Edwards. His nickname is Fats
by the way, Fats, Yeah, Fats Edwards. I'm a fan.
I mean, people just call me that for fun. Yeah, so I
was gonna ask that, Like, you know, I feel like Fats is
a nickname. I mean, I if we ever get a chance to chat
with him. I gotta I gotta understand how where that name, Like,
how do you get that nickname? Because somebody calling you fats is your nickname?
I mean, that's an insult, let's be honest with you. But
maybe it means something, you know, in a world that we don't even
you know, know about, Like maybe either's like it's you know, maybe
it's slang for something. I'm not sure. Yeah, but maybe it's one
of those ironic jokes. He's one of the most athletic dudes ever not and
ounce of fat on them, so they just call him. That could be.
Yeah, maybe that's why they call me skinny all the time. Yeah,
no, no comment, because you're not. I mean, you're not
a fat guy. No, no, you know, growing up I was
always a chid. Yeah, well so that's so, you know, I'm
sure as a child, maybe you did, you know, feel as if
people when they were calling you skinny it was you know, to be you
know, slim. That that's that's something oftentimes you you hear like with some
slim it's usually you know, a big guy, right, Like, it's
not usually somebody that is in fact slim. I would rather just be called
fat don't patronize man. I hear you, I hear you, all right,
So again, before we dive in, let me remind you folks,
we are fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Appreciate our friends
over there. Make sure you sign up to become a member of the Refreshing
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you can certainly do that. Five oh two five seven seventy nine hundred
is the number if you want to give us a call text line, it's
the L and N Federal Credit Union text line five O two six five three
zero seven ninety. Will certainly be interactive with you guys today. One guest
schedule to join us about four h five. We're going to bring in Kent
Spencer from WHAS eleven. Been a couple of weeks since we chatted with Kent,
and obviously I want to get his thoughts on a lot of things how
the season ended for Kentucky, as well as the obvious coaching change for Louisville,
and uh, looking forward to chatting with kent And I feel like there's
something else I wanted to give We got some time. There was one other
thing I feel like I wanted to get his thoughts on. But again,
we'll talk to him in about an hour and hopefully by then I will remember.
All right, so the the let's see here, just some numbers for
you guys, because obviously we've talked about Terrence Edwards Junior as far as you
know him, being you know, the first transfer. We knew that they
were in on and they had him lined up for a visit. I think
he got here yesterday, late last night or maybe on't. At some point
yesterday he arrived. I think his visit's going on today and he just recently
committed. So for those unfamiliar with Fats, he was, I mean,
he was a hell of a player for James Madison Sun Belt Player of the
Year. He averaged let's see here, seventeen points, four and a half
rebounds, three and a half assists, shot forty two percent from the field
thirty five percent from three eighty one percent from the free throw line. And
yes, this James Madison team, they were good this year, thirty two
and four, most wins in school history. If you remember, they started
the season with a big win at Michigan State against Izzoh and in that game
he put up some big, big numbers twenty four points in that win.
So this is a big addition, there's no doubt about it. And I'm
hopeful that this is one of many in regards to new additions, because we
know they're gonna need them. And I want to get into that in just
a second, just because I don't know what I just I get a sense
that in the last I don't know, I mean the new world here with
the portal. Nil I say new because it is still relatively new, but
I kind of feel like as we speak, it's really starting to shift where
you can just sense that this has completely changed the sport. I mean,
not just basketball, I guess all of college sports. Maybe it's because Louisville
situation makes maybe maybe Louisville situation makes me think that given the fact that they
are literally going to have to use the portal to go completely put an entire
team together, and I say have to. I mean, it's a blessing
that they can, right, I mean, make no mistake about it.
I mean, there'd be well, I think with Kenny Paine, it was
so bad that a move would have been justified regardless of any portal or NIL
or anything like that, because again, results matter, and his results were,
you know, so bad that you really just can't believe it as far
as just the lack of success, lack of wins, all that kind of
stuff. But you know, it did at least make it quite clear because
Kenny kind of told on himself, right, he was able to go put
a new team together and they still weren't any good. And if you weren't
able to do that, maybe there would be some belief that, you know
what, it's gonna take time, it's gonna take time four or five years.
Well, no, not anymore. With NIL and the portal, you
can flip things quickly, and that's exactly what Louisville's gonna do. But I
just I don't Maybe again, I'm just caught up in the recency of this
new era here for Louisville and knowing how much they're going to utilize the portal
and knowing they don't have a single freshman coming in this year. I just
kind of feel like freshmen, like are they how valuable are they going to
be moving forward? Obviously you're still going to see high level programs try to
bring in the best freshmen in the country, and you can still get good
players that can help you in a major way. I mean, let's be
honest, Rob Dillingham read Shepard. I'm not just mentioning those guys because they're
local. I mean they were two of the better freshmen in the country and
they Without those guys, imagine where Kentucky would have been this year. So
it's not as if you're no longer going to ever have any freshmen on any
team. But look, if you've got a bunch of nil money and you
got a lot of spots to go fill, I mean your best investment is
to go buy a transfer. I mean, buying a freshman. What is
it really going to get you in? You know, as far as immediate
results, and I guess it'll it will depend on the class, right,
Like you know, the twenty twenty three class that just finished their freshman season,
that class was believed to be one of the weakest in the country or
what. I'm sorry, one of the weakest ever in the history of you
know, since they've covering recruiting classes and whatnot. So maybe there'll be certain
guys. You know, obviously, Cooper flag at Duke is believed to be
a guy that could come in next year and be a star. And you
know, there's always going to be a handful of guys that will make an
immediate impact. But when it comes to really prioritizing new pieces right building your
roster, I just feel like the Portal's going to be the way to go
for just about everybody because you know, for example, we'll get into the
specifics of this because I want to make sure I have all my information correct.
But there's a there's a McDonald's All American that is I believe was I
believe committed to USC, but he's now available because Andy Infield's leaving USC to
go to SMU, and apparently Louisville Pat Kelsey has has reached out. I
don't know if Louisville's you know, actually going to be in the running or
anything like that, but you know, this can may be great. I'm
not saying don't go after him, but I'm not cann even tell you his
name, because that's how much I've not paid attention to the McDonald's All American
class. But what I'm getting at is, if you're just thinking about,
you know, let's just say there's a two hundred and fifty thousand dollars price
tag on this McDonald's All American. And there's a two hundred and fifty thousand
dollars price tag on a guy that's played two years of college basketball at the
power six level and he's not been a star. But you know, we're
talking twelve thirteen points a game competed against some of the best competition you'll find
in college basketball. I mean, to me, the no brainer is the
guy that may not ever be a star, but he's a proven, productive
player that will help you right away. You don't have to worry about growth
and development. I mean, obviously, guys like that can still get better
and improve their game, but that's more of a sure thing. You still
have to worry about the fit and maybe, you know, maybe there's a
transition when it comes to different styles of play, Like you never truly know
how somebody's going to do when they go from one program to another. But
I just to me, like, I don't the value in you know,
trying to load up your roster with freshmen. I mean, Cali Perry recruits
it a way that nobody else can. I mean, I guess you could
say Duke and Shy or they've kind of I mean, honestly, they've kind
of become the new Kentucky as far as just every year they seem to get
any recruit they wanted. Look, Kentucky still does really well, even though
even though Caliperry is clearly, you know, not having near the success he
used to have. They've become a team that people now consider a bunch of
choke artists. As far as just bouncing out on the tournament to teams that
nobody's ever heard of. It's happened twice in the last three years, and
that that happens from time to time. For it to happen twice in three
years at a program like Kentucky, it's crazy. But with all that said,
it has not impacted his ability to go get to go get players.
So as good as you know, put it this way, as good as
Duke's freshman class in Kentucky's freshman class was this last year, I mean,
Canentucky again without Antonio Reeves, They're not a tournament team. I don't think.
I mean that may sound like a hot take, but let's be honest
with you. Like Reeves was their best player. I mean, he's not
the guy with the most upside, he's not the best NBA prospect, but
Reeves was their best player. There's really no I don't think there's even a
debate. As good as those other guys were at times, I mean,
Reeves was the guy. So you know, with all that said, you
know they were good this year, got a three seed. They didn't have
anything to show for it when it came down to it. But you know,
when you look at you know, when you look at Kentucky, they
are continuously bringing in one of the best freshman classes every year. And lately,
Man, when the game is changed where you can have a bunch of
veterans and you can really build your roster. Let's say, man, you
got hit hard by the draft, or by graduation, or by the portal.
You know, if you go fill those spots with transfers, more often
than not, your roster is going to be filled probably with dudes that are
older, that have played for a while I mean, look at Duke.
You know, Duke's a team and I bring I mentioned Duke again because they're
still recruiting at a really high level. They're bringing in four to five transfers
every year. I'm sorry, FORTI five freshmen every year, and more often
than not they're McDonald's All Americans five star players. But last year, let's
be honest, Duke, I mean, Kyle Filipowski was that guy. You
know, they brought back dudes that were that were not freshmen, right,
I mean you look at I mean, heck, Philipowski clearly was I think
their best player all year. But if you look at their guards, I
mean it was guys like Proctor, who's now been in college for three years.
Right. So everybody's gonna have their their own way of going about it.
But this situation for Louisville has kind of made me just realize, like,
you know, do you really need freshmen? I think it'd be a
bad look to just make it to where, hey, this is how we
run our program. We are not interested in recruiting any freshmen. I mean
that just that nobody would do that and they shouldn't do that. But I
think you know, the emphasis on roster management on a year to year basis
is just going to be the portal. And I know it's still relatively new
and it's weird to some fans. They just haven't gotten used to it,
the thought of it. They just don't like it. I don't mean if
you don't, if you are bothered by having to get used to a new
team every year, and you really miss the days of watching a guy come
in and grow and play there three four years and you learn about him and
you feel like there's the ultimate connection, Like I understand that. I mean,
let's be honest. That team that won the twenty thirteen national championship team
that was a team that you'd watched play for, you know, honestly,
every big contributor on that team, I feel like, outside of Montrez Harrel
was a guy that you had at least watched for two full seasons. Really,
and that's a group that I think fans have a connection with, like
we probably will never see again, unfortunately, because I just think that way
of doing it it could still be done. It's just not it's just not
I think the way people are going to go about it anymore. And just
I mean, I literally thought of just that twenty thirteen National championship when we
have brand and call yesterday and mentioned about the transferporter and transfer portal n nil
and how we just it's new names every year. And just imagine that the
transfer portal existed back then, we probably wouldn't have Russ Smith, who Rick
Patino told that you shouldn't be here and that was the essential and who knows
what the luke I mean, here's the thing. Russ would have had to
trans Russ would have had to sit out, and I think there's no doubt
about it. One of the reasons why he probably didn't end up transferring.
One of those factors was because nobody wants to sit out. If he could
have just gone anywhere without sitting out, Russ Smith would have never finished his
career. And I think he would tell you that. So you know,
that's just and look, that is sad to not be able to have those
kind of stories. And I guess it's still possible that you could. There's
still, like believe it or not, there's still going to be guys that
play four or five years at the same school, you know, But I
just think, honestly, you know, it's it's better for the sport overall,
because again, what free agency does here the portal, because that's exactly
what it is in college basketball. The sport is going to be talked about
around the you know, the calendar year more than it ever has because there's
so much movement going on, right There's gonna be a lot of off season
chatter about where certain players end up in the portal. You know what it
does for the overall look for the follow it for the next season, right,
like, oh wow, this team I didn't think they were going to
be good heading into the year, but damn they killed it in the portal
and that just you know, I just think it's it's it's hard for me
to really. I mean again, the negatives are what we just discussed,
right, that old school way of you know, getting the team together and
watching them grow and really accomplish something special, and that is cool as hell,
right, but you know overall that I mean, I think right now
the portal has made it to where Louisville fans can have so much genuine excitement
going into year one because who knows, maybe the team isn't great. I
mean, we have no clue truly what level of success Louisville's gonna have in
year one with Pat Kelce. But we you know, it's the intrigue of
the unknown as far as who who's going to end up on the roster and
you know how it all comes together. And I just I don't know what
it is. This is not brand new, right, the portal's been around
for at least a few years now, and in IL, I guess roughly
around the same time, and it was this I guess it was the summer
of twenty twenty one. I think that was the time when it just kind
of really it was here we go. And I remember being on the air.
That was when I was on in the mornings. I remember thinking to
myself, you know what, like this this is human, this is gonna
change everything. And you know, sure enough it has. And for some
reason here recently, it just kind of seems as if, you know what,
like, yeah, this game is not what it once was now when
I'm watching the action, right when you're watching college basketball or even college football
on your TV, or even at the game, I mean to me,
the product is still I mean, I don't even I never think about guys
making money in INIL. I never think about I never think about guys,
you know, being transfers or anything like that, so you know, but
maybe others have, maybe others see it differently. All right, Five O
two, five seven, one seventy nine is the number. If you guys
want to jump in and give us a call. We will get to your
phone calls coming up here in just a few minutes. And some of the
things I want to get into today, I've yet to talk about it,
but Chris Mack ended up at Charleston, and that is not something I've been
like avoiding talking about. But you know, it is wild that it's been
out there since last Friday, I guess, and it's yet to come,
but I don't know. And look, I know a lot of people don't
give a damn about Chris Mack at Charleston, and I get it. But
just the you know, the overall dynamic of that that movement there where Pat
Kelsey comes from Charleston to Louisville and then Mac is now taking his job,
it is kind of you know, it is kind of odd. But anyways,
we are loaded the rest of the way. I want to go ahead
and get this first break out of the way so we can come back get
to your phone calls, keep this thing on track. My clock management,
as you likely know, is not great. However, I'm gonna try my
best to do better, and that means we get out of here right around
this time. So again, if you want to join us, you can
five two five, seven nine hundred. Big news today if you are just
now joining us. We started the show with it. Terrence Fats Edwards Junior,
the transfer from James Madison Sun Belt Player of the Year, becomes the
first player to commit to this new era of Louisville basketball, other than,
of course, the other guys that followed Pat Kelsey from Charleston. So,
as I said to start the show, it maybe a really it may sound
really stupid, but what the hell I sound stupid for three hours every day,
it's exciting to be excited again, and I'm excited for the rest of
the show. So stick with us. Right here, it's Coffee and Company
Fuiel Beth Thorton's on Sports Talk seven ninety to Coffee and Company, fueled by
Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day. That's right, coffee and Company rolling
along here on a Wednesday afternoon, fuel by Thornton's don't forget you could take
us with you, REEV. You go listen live on the hour radio app
listen live at seven ninety Louisville dot Com. A crazy day yesterday with storms.
Thankfully I didn't I don't know, you know, sounds like for the
most part everybody was safe. But man, as soon as the show ended,
there were reports that vehicles were had basically like a semi had blown over
on the on the interstate I think right in southern Indiana just because of wind,
which is crazy. And I guess springtime, you know, And that's
what we're getting closer to. It is where you get crazy weather and you
go from you know, balancing back and forth with hot and cold. I
mean, that's what we've gone through recently. But I'm telling you just the
optics here, I mean it's scary. I mean it's like one day you
have, you know, one minute you have sunshine. In the next minute
you have skies that look as if the world's coming to an end. I
mean, it was nearly eighty degrees two days ago. Now I think it's
like forty and maybe this has just been normal around here in the Ohio Valley
for many years. And I'm just you know, too dumb to remember,
but I just feel like each this just this just doesn't feel normal. But
I think we're actually supposed to have some more potential storms coming in later tonight.
So stay safe, everybody, all right, if you are just now
joining us, we did discuss the big news, and I don't want to
make it as if this guy you know is the best player in the country,
but you know, certainly a good player. Terrence Edwards, junior of
James Madison, who has transferred to Louisville, giving Chris Mack, not Chris
Mack. We'll talk about Chris Mack in just a second. That's the previous
coach, but giving Pat Kelsey his first commitment as the Louisville head coach.
Outside of the two guys who you know, we're always committed to him,
right, They were committed to him at Charleston and then just followed him here.
So good news, no doubt. But if you guys want to join
us on the show today, we'd love to hear from you. Five ox
two, five seven nine hundred. That's the number if you want to give
us a call. Text line. The Ellen N Federal Credit Union text line
is five oh two six five three zero seven ninety. Let's bring in David.
David, how you doing, sir? Fantastic Nick always loved the show.
Great, thank you brother. I may I've been opposed maybe the dumbest
question, but I but I you know, I'm gonna go to the top.
I'm going to you, I'm going to the man. And this is
and I am and I am serious when I asked this question. Okay,
with the inception of and I do you think these kids are going to actually
the kids that are being paid to come to Louisville to play? And I
mean, hey, we're playing the hand, We're dell, and I'm glad
we have this five h two circle and we've got people in place ready to
subsidize these kids and make sure that they're taken care of while they're here.
Here's the question. Do they have to maintain any level of academic status at
the university to play? And I think it's a fair question because anymore,
I mean, when kids are being paid to play, the amateur status is
thrown away, and to me kind of the student status is thrown away.
And I may be a complete moron for asking the question, but just want
to see what your thoughts were, thanks, David, I appreciate it.
Yeah, I don't know if the nil component because here's the thing. This
is where it just gets weird, and I mean it it's weird, but
it's the way it has to be done. These guys aren't technical being paid
to be to be student athletes at said school. They're essentially just paid to
exist. I mean, that's that's what it is. They're paid. You
know, they're paying them for their name, image and likeness, which you
know when you have a collective and the collectives involved here and they're the ones
that are helping raise I mean, the collectives exist to raise money and you
know, fundraise to give to make sure that you can compete in this space
of college athletics when it comes to you know nil. So you know,
what return are they going to get on their investment? Right, Like,
if you've got a big brand that is giving a bunch of money to a
player to do like a you know, put up on a billboard or do
a car commercial or something like that. I mean, at that point,
I think it's still tough to really expect to get a return on set investment.
But if anything, it's just brand awareness that kind of stuff. But
when you're getting paid through the collective, I mean, I don't see a
scenario where there's a return on investment from like the contract. Now again,
we all know what it is. It's to make sure these guys do come
here and play and they're good players and then they'll you know, they'll help
you have success. But so I would doubt that there's any academic component to
it because I don't think the look technically, because what's because of how this
is dressed up, They're probably there's nothing in a contract that likes For example,
let me give an example, the trend Flower situation. You know,
he showed up to Louisville and he was here in il was a factor in
his decision. He was making money through the collective. He didn't get from
an I understand, a huge chunk of money, like some big lump sum.
He was getting payments over time before he ever played here, and when
he left, he didn't have to pay any money back because technically he's not
paid to play. He's paid to just you know, be here, I
guess, or just you know exist. And the more I discuss, the
more I just think about it and talk about it on this show. It's
really stupid, but that's that's the way it's done, because when it comes
down to you know what, the NCAA, I mean, we're in this
situation because of this. The NSAA just never budged at any point on their
overall amateurism model. So then Congress got involved and said, look, you
are not allowed to keep these players from making money while they're student athletes.
So it is really stupid. But again, we're never going back from this.
In fact, we're only moving forward. I would say, And if
you are anti Nil as a as a fan, then whatever, that's your
choice and you can do whatever you want. But if you're anti Nil as
a coach, as a program, as a university, good luck, because
I don't see a level. I don't see a scenario where you would have
high levels of success. Yeah, answer your question, David, I don't.
I mean, like, for example, I would be willing to bet
that, like on the visit Terrence Edwards Junior, who just committed to Louisville,
I would imagine NIL as a factor in this decision. I'm not even
sure. I mean, I don't think anybody even knows what's allowed and what's
not allowed. Like, let's be honest, the Florida State situation where they
got hit by the NC DOUBLEA with you know, some violation because of what
a what an assistant coach did, which if I remember correctly, he essentially
said, Hey, I can't talk directly to you about NIL, but let
me let me guide you over here to our collective. They got hit by
the NC DOUABLEA for doing that, and I'm pretty sure just about everybody within
college athletics, coaches, administrators they're probably thinking, like, wait a second,
that's what everybody's doing. I thought that's what we had to do now,
so nobody really even knows what's allowed and what's not allowed. It's I
mean, it's as they say, the wild wild West, and the NC
DOUABLEA has never had less ability to really enforce anything now. I mean they
can, they can, you know, act as if they're policing things and
they're going to hold people accountable. But the new trend is this, the
NC DOUAA hits you with something like this in regards to NIL and whatnot,
and transfers just hire a lawyer fight him in court, and the NCAA loses
in court every single time. So again it's really stupid, but hey,
it's helping Louisville right now, because if you haven't seen the amount of money
that's been raised in just the last I don't know, a few days,
I mean, it is crazy. So Dan Furman, who's the president of
the five h two Circle, he shared this earlier this afternoon that they had
an anonymous individual who threw in one hundred thousand dollars towards the campaign they've got
going on right now to raise money for Louisville men's basketball. So right now
they're over five hundred thousand dollars and their goal is to raise a million and
it'll be matched by Rick Keeber of Glow Brands, Planet Fitness, Suntense City.
There's another company that's involved in that as well. So I mean that's
a lot of money. I mean, and I've got a breakdown that kind
of tells you who's believed to have the most resources for an IL and then
like in the Horizon League or the MAC like what the number is there as
far as the amount of money they have to use for an IL Because you
know, just to me, that's that's fascinating stuff. But anyways, all
right, let's go back to the phone on SABO two five is the number
if you want to jump in and join us here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Let's go to Kirk Kirk. How we doing, brother? Hey,
Hey, you doing today, mister Nick. Good to hear from you,
my man, good to good to talk to you. Man. First of
all, Austin is not fat. He's fluffy, and I don't think there's
a twinkie out there that he's never that, he's never meant that he didn't
like you know, you're absolutely right, fair enough. Yeah he doesn't deny
it, God love him. But uh but yeah, I just uh,
I was just talking to Austin the other day. You know all the uh,
all the you know, Hall of Fame coaches that we've grown up and
you know, no one love is you know, I'll moved on. Rick
Bettino's, the Royal Williams, the you know, the you know, the
big names. We're all gone. So what's next the new era of Hall
of Fame coaches? So what about Pat Kelsey? Maybe he's the next Hall
of Famer. So man, we're we're psyched, We're pumped. We're ready
to get this one rolling, baby, no doubt about it. No doubt
about it, Kirk. I appreciate the call, and look, I think
that's what you hope exactly. I mean, obviously, if he becomes a
Hall of Famer, Kirk, then we're going to be in great shape.
But when it comes to the new era, right, the new and I
don't mean Louisville Basketball's new era, I mean, you know, the new
what do you call it? I mean, the Ogs are are moving out
right. A lot of those guys have already moved on, and the ones
that are left, I mean they're not necessarily at the top of their game.
I mean, let's be honest. The Final Four features Dan Hurley,
who was a mid major guy until he got an opportunity at Yukon, and
now he looks like he's going to be in the Hall of Fame one day.
Nate Oates same situation, mid major guy Buffalo got a chance at Alabama,
has been good since he got there. This is the year they broke
through and made a Final Four, which, by the way, I'll plead
ignorance on this. I had no clue that Bama essentially has a brand new
team. I mean, everybody kind of does, right, A bunch of
new players and the portal, this and that. But like, I didn't
realize that Natoates essentially is working with almost a brand new team. And if
it's not a guy that's brand new this year, it's a guy that eventually
transferred to him in the previously transferred to in the last couple of years.
So on the other side, Kevin keats a little bit of a different path
for him. But technically, you know, and they're the team nobody thought
would be here, So I'm not even really sure we throw him in.
But although I think he Kevin's a great coach and I'm glad that he's in
the final four, but you know, he got his shot at Wilmington,
that got the NC State gig, and you know, hasn't had a lot
of success, but man, he's rolling now and then perdue Matt Painter,
I would throw him in there with the old I mean again, that's a
guy that nobody would tell you that he's a bad coach. But he's not
one of the OG's right, He's not somebody that you would put in that
tier with the roy K Patino self. You know, is oh even and
this year he finally broke through and made the final four. So I hope
Pat Kelsey can follow the same path that we're seeing with Dan Hurley and and
Nate Oates. I mean, maybe maybe that happens, you know, in
a few years. Maybe it happens in five years. I don't know,
and I don't want to get ahead of myself. But yes, this is
a guy who seems to check all the boxes. He wins, he really
can sell, he's got good energy, he's likable, and again most importantly,
he wins. He did it at Winthrop. He did it. And
keep in mind this, this may not actually be a compliment. This may
not be something that you hear and you think that I'm giving him a lot
of praise, but hear me out and and you know it's just to me.
Actually, it's another reason why I believe this guy could really hit it
out of the park here, because you know, Pat Kelsey won at Winthrop
and he won at Charleston. Those are places. This is that, to
be honest with you, they've had winners before him, right, It's not
like you know, the Dusty May situation. People acted as if you know,
Fau was allowed to play with eight players instead of five because they were
so terrible before Dusty May. I mean, yeah, but again, if
Dusty May's biggest, I guess selling point on his resume outside the final four
is that Fau sucked and now they don't like I don't think that's a whole
lot. But that's a guy who went into two different places and he utilized
resources there. Now again, Charleston Winthrop. Those resources aren't what's here at
Louisville, but he was able to come into a program and know where they've
had success before, know some things that work, and utilize it and win.
So again, maybe you maybe you hear that and think I'm actually not
as impressed because again I'm saying that, Hey, other coaches have won there
before, so what he's doing is not that special. That's not all what
I mean. It's the fact that you know, he's in a situation now
where again, coaches have won here. Right, there's two Hall of famers,
legendary coaches that have coached here. Know, by the way, Chris
Mack in his first couple of years, he was a pretty damn good coach
too, until you know, things kind of fell apart. So and yes,
look, if you're a Kentucky fan listening right now, I'm sure,
you're thinking, like Jesus Christ, the guy hadn't even been on the job
a week, hadn't coached a game, and they're talking, you know,
as if he's about to be Phil Jackson. But just you know, and
I get it, you probably are thinking, man, these guys are hilarious.
They serious. He wasn't even a guy they wanted. Like, I
understand what you're saying, but like, we haven't had any life in a
long time in regards to basketball. We haven't even had any reason to really
believe genuinely that things were going to get better in a long time. And
my man Pat Kelsey has come in and he's given us some major life and
some major excitement, and I love it, love it all right. So
we are just a few days away from the final four. Certainly excited.
I am certainly excited about that. But what I want to get to coming
up on the other side is just some some stories, some quotes, I
guess, I guess better way to describe it would be quotes from coaches around
the around the country. John Fant did a good job of putting this together
at Fox sports dot Com that just you know what some coaches anonymous coaches are
saying about this Shoe Con team as far as just how good they are.
And you know Dan Hurley, obviously he's playing the I wouldn't say the underdog
role, but maybe playing like the disrespect card, and in a weird way,
I kind of feel like he can do it. And it's not as
crazy as you know Georgia winning the national championship and telling us that everybody thought
they were going to be seven and five, when there's not a person on
planet Earth that thought that. So anyways, we're loaded the rest of the
way. Appreciate you guys hanging out with us. We'll get back to your
phone calls, hit the text line as well, keeping this thing rolling.
Also, don't forget it. Four oh five, we're gonna chat with our
man Kent Spencer from WHS eleven. So keep a lock right here on Sports
Talk seven ninety company fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day. That's
right, Coffee and Company wrapping up the three o'clock hour, and don't forget
we got two more hours left and a lot more to get into, so
stick around, all right. So listen up, fellas if if you are
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four four four thousand is the number louisvill Men's Clinic dot Com. That is,
that is the website. All right. So Friday, the news broke
late at night, I think like eleven thirty. Jeff Goodman broke the news
that Chris Mack was going to be leaving, well, not leaving, I
guess, leaving Florida where he was living, and moving to Charleston to take
over for Pat Kelsey at College for Charleston and I was surprised, you know,
I knew that he'd been in the mix for the Vanderbilt job and felt
good about it, meaning he felt good about it. And I believe what
ended up happening is that they the search firm that Vandy was was leaning on,
they just I think advised that with the game changing so much in the
last couple of years, I think that they urged Vandy to go in a
direction with somebody that has been active in recent years, that has, you
know, experienced this new world of college athletics, that is the portal and
nil. And you know, I was real surprised, and I think he
was too, that he did not get that job. And I was surprised
also to hear that he'd be interested in college at Charleston. But you know,
I think he knows that getting back out there, getting back in the
game is you know, first of all, it's gonna be good for him,
gonna be good for his family. I know he misses basketball. I
think he's one of the reasons why I think Chris Mack, you know,
just ended up wanting to leave here. And again, there was a lot
of circumstances at play that that just made it difficult for him. And but
that's not to say that, you know, everything was perfect and it was
all everybody else's fault. I mean, at the end, they didn't have
success in the last couple of years, but then again that those struggles were
nothing compared to what we had recently. But overall, you know, he
wanted out, he walked away, and I think he was too normal of
a guy for this job at this at this place. But even I hesitate
to say that, because you know, when things were rolling, everybody loved
him, right, I mean, his first year, his second year,
I mean, there was a lot of success along the way, and his
resume prior to coming to Louisville was really really impressive. Me. He's a
former National Coach of the Year, Xavier's only been to one Elite eight.
Chris Mack was the guy coaching at that time. So I think he'll win
there, and I wouldn't be shocked if he's there a couple of years and
is able to kind of level up and get, you know, a better
gig. But here's the thing, you know, he he didn't pursue jobs
that he probably could have had. I mean, I know, last year,
when there were jobs opened, there was strong interest from certain schools that
really really wanted him to be the guy. But you know, he just
told him, hey, I'm not interested, not because of the job,
because he just didn't want to coach last year. He wanted to make he
wanted another year off to I think determine if he really wanted to get back
in. And then I think he realized, you know he did. But
you know, Western's job opened up recently and it's already been filled by the
way, Steve is it Steve Lutz. The thing is his name. He's
now left after one year there to go to Oklahoma State and they promoted an
assistant coach to take over. But they wanted Chris Mack and they wanted to
start the process of hiring him, and you know, he wasn't interested.
So he's not just gonna take any job. And I can tell you this,
he was in pretty good shape of Ohio State from and I understand I
mean sound crazy to some people, but you know, uh, they they
knew Dusty May was was not will you know, he wanted to wait and
see if he got Michigan and did like Vandy, So you know it guess
it depends on who you talked to. They talked to Dusty May. They
were interested. But I don't think he turned down that job like some will
tell you. And I think Mac had two different interviews with with Ohio State
and felt pretty good about it. In the end, their their interim coach
won enough games to where they just elevated him. So West Virginia was interested,
he didn't. He didn't pursue that opportunity. Wichita State last year really
really was interested and he just again at the time, wasn't wanting to coach.
So he's pretty selective. That's not to say he could have had any
job he won it, trust me, I'm aware of that. But I
think him wanting to go to Charleston is pretty telling because I think he knows
he can win there. Great place to live, by the way, and
who knows, maybe he sticks around there for a long time, right,
maybe he ends up having success and falls in love with the with the with
the community and whatnot, and maybe he stays put. But wouldn't shot.
I mean, I'll put it this way. His former assistant coach, a
guy he has you know, worked with or you know worked with for many
years when they were assistants, at wake Forest. Obviously, Pat worked under
Chris Mack for a few years at Xavier, him being the Louisville coach.
You saw how Mac handled it with his statement and just really you know,
talking up Pat and mentioning that he's a great guy and Louisville's going to be
in great hands. I mean, I know he means that, I mean
sincerely. So I think that you know, if you guy saw. But
when they announce Chris Mack as the coach of Charleston, they included some quotes
from Pat Kelsey about Chris Mack, So you know, I think clearly they
have a long relationship and friendship together. But with that said, I mean,
I'm sure knowing that Pat Kelsey's now in the position that he once had,
it's motivation. It's motivation to him not to you know, like build
Charleston up to where they're a better program than Louisville. But I just think,
you know, as a competitor, because I don't think you could ever
be at the level any of these coaches have been Mac Kelsey, I mean,
high level college basketball coaches. You're probably not in that position without being
somebody that is a super competitor that wants to be, you know, wants
to be at the top. So I'm happy for him. I know he'll
do well there and again could be. And here's what I believe. And
I told Chris mack this last week when I talked to him, I said,
look, you haven't coached in a few years. There's a lot of
things that have changed within college basketball. I don't think there are many people
that sit around thinking about, oh, Chris mack Man, he's no longer
in the game. He sucks as a coach, But like you know,
you're just not in the game. You're not out there. But if you
go to Charleston or somewhere like that. And I didn't know for sure if
he was going to go to Charleston at the time. But all he needs
is to get back in and to start winning. And what it'll do is
it'll remind people, oh, yeah, that Chris mack guy. He's a
pretty damn good coach. Things were kind of weird at Louisville, kind of
fell apart really quickly and he walked away. But when he first got there,
man, they were really good. He beat I think it was seven
top twenty teams in his first two years you know, had a number one
team in the country, brought in a top ten class at the time.
I mean, you know, and not to mention what he did at Xavier
really impressive. So I think him having some success at Charleston, maybe they
end up being a team that could potentially get in without winning their league.
I don't mean that's happened before at that level, but that'll be a reminder.
Oh yeah, Chris Mack I forgot about him. Pretty damn good coach,
and he's now at Charleston. We better hope we can avoid them.
We hope we can avoid them on the bracket things like that. So I
hope that he has success there. And you know, I know he's already
you know, doing what every coach in the country is doing, and that's
you know, figuring out his roster for the next season. But anyways,
congrats to him, and who knows, you know, wouldn't it be something
I mean it sounds crazy, but like the NAA would do this, like
maybe next year or two years from now, like it's Louisville, Charleston and
the n SAA tournament, you know what's happening. Yeah, I mean,
like they would do that for sure. All right, we got two more
hours to go. Stick with us on the other side, we are gonna
welcome in our man. He's our man man, he's my man, he's
your man. The means he's our man. He's kid Spencer from WHS eleven.
He joins us next right here on Sports Talk seven ninety