It's time for Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety
Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think when we are get
off our show, idiot, the kids are playing or turn off. The
countries are screwing it up. Gold Play inter Murals, Brother, gold Play
inter 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? All right, let's get it started. Shall
we welcome in everyone? Coffee and Company. That's the name of the show.
My name is Nick Coffee, and you are the company you're here with.
I mean, I don't want you to feel like company. I want
you to feel like you're at home. I guess that could work because I
could just say, well, it's Coffee and Company, because again, my
name is Nick Coffee, and the company man, mister John Alden, is
alongside every day. Didn't we have that discussion not long ago where yeah,
you know, we did. I want people to feel comfortable. I want
them to feel like they are at home and they're not company, as if
they're guests. But then again, maybe that is best because when you have
guests in company, you know, if you were raised with manners, you're
you're you're you know, you should take care of your company. Right,
they're guests in your home. You want them to make You want to make
sure that they're they're being taken care of. So they walk in the door,
make sure the coffee is ready, make sure the pillows are fluffed.
Get him really nice and comfortable. The house is clean as right, it
smells good, it's welcoming. And you know, I'm not a I'm not
a big dog person, and I hate that you you can say that and
people assume you want like dogs to be harmed. And you know, because
the people who love dogs really love dogs, right, I mean, and
it's not just those who have a because I think there's different types of dog
people. There are those who just love all dogs and want to make friends
with all of them, and that's sweet. You know, dogs are fine,
dogs are great. I'm just not somebody that that natural gravitation towards them
to just want to pick them up, pet them and love on them.
But then there were some people that really loved their dog, and it's kind
of whatever about any other dog you know what I mean. Yeah, that's
me. So I just have never had any relationship with a pet, like,
not an emotional attachment, you know, even whenever the dog that was
you know, I feel like a fraud saying my dog. But I'm married
into you know, having a dog. Right. My wife had a puppy
when she was a kid, and you know, whenever we became an item
and we lived together, the dog came with her. It was a deal.
You know. I tried to negotiate, tried to get out of it,
but you know, once we had a spot to live, her dad
made sure that the dog was no longer going to be under his care.
So he was around for a while, lived a very long age, and
passed away. And I was very sad when that happened, but honestly,
I was more sad like for my wife, and you know, the dog
had a great life, lived a really long time. So I've never been
able to relate to people who really really love dogs. It's not that I
don't like them, but anytime I say that, I get I get a
look as if like, man, you must be one sick, cold hearted
son of a bitch, and it's you know, it's unfair that people look
at me that way. It's just that I don't have the sentimental connection.
It's not that I dislike dogs. I'm just not somebody that's you know,
obsessed with them. And the reason I'll bring all that up is because I
again saying this is gonna make it seem as if, oh, there you
go, you just don't like dogs. I think it's not rude. But
if you have guests in your home and they don't know your dog like,
wouldn't you want to have your dog either outside or maybe in its own area
and not have them, you know, jump up on somebody. Happens all
the time, and the non dog people dogs know that, and they either
have this desperation to make you feel more comfortable so they jump on you.
They love on you, or they know it and they do all that just
to make you uncomfortable. But anyways, if we had a dog here,
we would make sure that it was outside or in its cage or in its
own area. That way, it wouldn't jump on you. Have you ever
had that happen when you go to somebody's house and you know, they just
they they know that their dog is lovey and friendly, so they just you
know, they assume you're gonna be comfortable, comfortable with the dog just jumping
on you. So I got something to admit. So my dog is very
lovey. I'm aware that there are certain people that don't like it most of
the tame. You're that guy, aren't you. I'm I'm fairly aware of
when I know somebody's coming over that may not like the dog or may not
like all the affections. So I do take that in mind, and we'll
put the dog outside for you know, whenever the guests first arrive, Like
if you were doing that, that's what I would do. But I've been
guilty of doing that before. That's that's for sure. Yeah, And it's
it's just because it's it's it's just your nature, it's your dog, it's
in your home at all times. It's just probably doesn't even it's not even
something that comes to mind. And technically, you know the dog, that's
the dog's home too, right, Like I don't. So if I come
over and the dog jumps on me at the end of the day, like
that's his house more than in is mine. So anyways, I hope to
day find some type of a compromise with with the dog lovers, because again,
I'm just convinced that no matter how many times I've tried to plead my
case that I don't dislike dogs, I'm just telling you I don't love them
the way you do it. Some people won't say it, but I know
they're thinking deep down that I just you know, that I want all dogs
to be you know, gone from the world, which is not the case
at all. But anyways, before we dive in here, speaking of you
know, comfortable, and you know, I'm trying to think of the right
word to use here, because this studio has never been as clean as it
is right now. It's with mine, It's never been as It's not like
somebody came in here and just completely did a full on like you know,
it's not really a cleaning, it's just it's it's somebody came in here and
organized and just you know, made it look better, more presentable, which
you know, it's fine. I appreciate it, but I do I do
know that it's not because of me. It's because on Friday, this studio
that I use every day. I don't want to call it my studio because
it's not. But this is this I mean, I'm probably the person who's
used this studio more than anybody because I think I'm the only daily live show.
Well, I guess Shannon May Shannon may use it on occasion, but
you know, I'm in here three hours every day for the most part,
and it's going to be used Friday by Buck Sexton. You know who Buck
Sexton is. John He's the second half of Clay and Buck. He is
and Buck Sexton's that's a name name, what a name, buck Sexton.
Buck Sexton could be a lot of things, conservative, far right talk host,
talk show host. I think that fits, but there's other there's some
flexibility there with a buck Sexton, Like a Buck Sexton could be a lot
of things. But he will be in Louisville doing his show on Friday.
Clay will not be with him, and you know, obviously we are you
know, the Clay and Buck Show is what it's called, something like that
Clay and Buck Show, which is on has from noon to three. We're
one of the countless affiliates across the country that that air that show. And
he's gonna be here for Derby. So he needed a spot to do the
show, and sure enough, he's going to be here, and they want
to make sure that this studio is in you know, is in good shape.
And I'm curious if they've even considered you know, the uh, the
the scenario that has played out for me many times, and that is where,
you know, for no rhyme or reason, it just happens to be
eighty five degrees in here. I fingers crossed that doesn't happen. But wouldn't
that be our luck? Like what would they do? Like if they've got
everything like programmed to this studio and he comes in here and he walks in
on his show starts at noon, right, he walks in at like eleven
forty five and it's eighty degrees, that would be I mean, I mean,
he may try to get somebody fired. Yeah, that would be that
would be not good. But we actually had fingers crossed, we haven't had
that issue in a while, so hopefully we're we're in good shape. But
there've been there've been a handful of national hosts that have for whatever reason,
in Louisville for something and needed a studio and they've used ours, and uh,
all of them have been from I understand fairly fairly kind Rob Parker who
does a show with Chris Bassard on I think it's called The Odd Couple.
It's on Fox Sports Radio. In the evenings. He was here. Rob
Parker was a couple of times. I think, did you were you the
one that produced that when he was here? I'm not sure who was,
but he was here. This was I think might have been right before we
left to go to the to the new studios where we are now. And
then one time Doug Gottlieb was here and he was not nice to people.
That's the guy that like, I can't claim that like he you know,
beats somebody up or called somebody names. But you know there are some folks
here that that that are the ones tasked with assisting that entire situation, making
sure that they get everything they need they can connect, and mister gottlie was
not very kind to those people. And that's something you always remember. Right.
He was actually here, I think for the Louisville Dukee game, and
I'm just convinced that he cursed us because he was here. I'd heard he
wasn't being nice. And then later on that night he was doing the national
radio broadcast of the Louisville Duke game. When Louisville was up twenty three points
against Duke with I think like nine minutes left and lost. That was a
heartbreaker and I still blame Doug Gottlieb for that, and there's been some others.
But anyways, Buck Sexton will be here for those who care, and
hopefully he leaves the studient. I mean if he look, if he if
he trashes this place, and if it's not, if I come back Monday,
John in this studio is not the way I left it, I'm gonna
make some phone calls because this is my domain, Buck it is, this
is my turf buddy, young Buck Buck, Bucky boy. If you look
at his face, he doesn't look like a buck at all. No,
I wouldn't have known him if he walked in and I googled him just a
minute to go to make sure I had the name right. Would have never
guessed. That's not that you're right, that's not a buck face. He
looks like a Williams. That's not a buck face at all. That's more
like a I could see a william You know what he is? What is
it? Then? The first one that shows up is that great that black
and white picture you see it on Google, like the you just look buck
sext and just google buck Sexton. The first one that comes up. It's
the left. It's it's a he's got the baby face going. He looks
like a Colin. You see that. I can see a Colin. It's
a Colin or a Derek. Yeah, I could see a Derek. Anyways,
let's uh, let's get the party started. Shall we hit his Coffee
and Company? As I mentioned ten minutes ago, we are fueled by Thornton's.
I'm not sure if I said that, but I don't even need to.
In fact I do. It's part of our arrangement, but you know
it, I might as well have it for tattooed on my forehead. Thornton's
fueled by Thornton's. So make sure you sign up to become a member of
the Refreshment Awards program at Thornton's if you haven't already. And we're gonna let
you guys be a part of the show today if you'd like. And I
think we have to once again start with an update to the really always active
transfer portal, and it's gonna come to an end. I think today's the
last day, right, do we know it's okay. It is midnight tonight,
So as soon as we hit midnight tonight, it'll be May first,
and that means that we will, uh, the portal's gonna be closing,
and we actually they have some last minute additions to the portal, even within
the last you know, thirty minutes or so. Uh. The big man
from Illinois Hawkins, remember him, Colin Hawkins. I think it's his name,
Omenhawks, Coleman Hawkins. He hit the portal and he's a good player,
a good get. But here's what happens. When you end up becoming
one of the last available, and you know a lot of the really good
players have been snatched up, your value, regardless of what your production is,
becomes, you know, you become more of a commodity. So I'm
not sure if that was by design, but if I was, if I,
if I was somebody that you know, wanted to go to the portal,
I don't think it'd be a terrible idea if I decided to wait until
like the last minute, because there's gonna be you know, some desperation from
programs who missed out on some guys they wanted, and they feel like they
need one piece so we'll see I wouldn't be shocked. Actually, let's still
a little uh, not really a quiz or anything, but I'm sure let's
see how many from now until midnight. John, we'll reset this tomorrow.
I want to say, see how many end up going into the portal from
now until midnight that we would qualify as you know, a legitimately like a
not a guy that's gonna change your entire season, but somebody that's like,
oh wow, a lot of schools are gonna want him. That would be
a really nice addition. During the break, we'll think of criteria as far
as what that looks like, because I'm gonna set you know, I'm gonna
set it to two and a half because if you're not in by now,
what are you waiting on? Right? So I'm gonna say two and a
half. But again, we'll reset the criteria and get your thoughts because I
think two and a half that's what I'm gonna set it up. But anyways,
as far as the local schools Louisville, Kentucky, I mean Indiana,
we haven't talked about them lately, but they've been absolutely crushing it in the
transfer portal. I'm not sure, you can find a team that has done
better thus far in the off season than Mike Woodson in Indiana, and it's
not really getting a whole lot of attention. And I'm maybe it's because they
didn't have a good year last year to their standard. I mean, Kansas
is going to be the number one team in the portal or number one team
in the country, there's no doubt about it. They got Dickinson back,
They've done really well in the portal as well, but Indiana's been crushing it.
So you know, Louisville and Kentucky, we've talked mostly about them because
that's who most of you all care about. And they're building an entire team
here with new coaches. So the I guess the latest is the is the
addition for Mark Pope, which I'll give him credit. You know, he's
got some momentum right now. I mean, I think the way that things
have played out for him in the last five days or so is the what
their fan base wanted to see, and that is, you know, players
being added. Right I don't know if they got up to a slow start.
He was a little bit later than some other coaches as far as you
know, getting settled in and trying to build a roster. But they've added
Brandon Garrison, who was the former McDonald's All American from Oklahoma State. He
was at Okay State for I believe, just one season, a six to
eleven big man. Some decent numbers during his one season there seven and a
half points, five and a half rebounds, a block and a half per
game, shot at fifty seven percent from the floor. So again, he's
he's a guy who played one season and as a freshman he showed some real
upside. Not a guy that has a ton of production. But you know,
a lot of guys make a big jump from freshman to sophomore, and
if that's the case with this guy, that's a good addition for him.
Which, by the way, speaking of the big jump from freshman to sophomore,
I want to get to that later because there's somebody for Pat Kelsey that
I don't want to put expectations to high. I don't want to put pressure
on the young man. But I keep hearing that they're not as worried about
front court depth because they believe that James Scott, the big man who transferred
the All CAA freshman selection, who one of the two guys that came with
Pat Kelsey that he's actually going to be able to contribute this year and not
just be a guy that you can, you know, feel comfortable putting on
the floor, but he may really be a guy that could have an impact.
But anyways, back to this commitment of Brandon Garrison for Kentucky. This
happened while Osibor was on campus, which I just found that to be,
I don't know, kind of odd. So Great Osibor is the Utah State
transfer who is going to make all his visits. Everybody throughout his entire recruitment
in the portal has maintained And when I say everybody, I mean those that
cover it, you know, Jeff Goodman, Jamie shawv on three Sports.
I'm sure there's others those that have you know. I guess I think I
think what it is, it's those who cover college basketball that have some kind
of connection to his agent, the agency that represents Great Osibor. So I
think they wanted everybody to know that don't expect a commitment following any of any
visit right away. He plans to take all of his visits, which sometimes
they say that and it doesn't end up happening. But anyways, Jeff Goodman,
who I don't think has I don't think has tweeted since he put this
out there, but he put he put a lot of fans here, Louisville
and Kentucky fans. I mean, everybody seems to be running with this one
tweet where he responded to Justin Sofro on Twitter. So let's start with this
at let's see what tom. Let me give you some time stamps here.
So at ten thirty this morning, Jeff Goodman tweeted out Kentucky has landed Oklahoma
State big Man transfer Brandon Garrison. Well, then Justin Sofro, a Louisville
fan, quote tweeted it and said so with Carr and Garrison, is O
sibor out question mark? Or is U of l verse UK gonna be guards
versus Biggs in December? Well, Jeff Goodman responded directly, keep in mind,
this is not a quote tweet, This is not, you know,
just a tweet on his own on his account. This is just a response.
So unless you are looking at what you know, Jeff Goodman replies to
every single person who tweets that, in which most people aren't, you wouldn't
have even seen it. But if you're following both of these people, which
I guess a lot of Louisville fans maybe some Kentucky fans are, you would
then see the exchange and it quickly, you know. I mean, this
response from Goodman now has one hundred and sixty four thousand views, and he
just O Sibor is out, and everybody assumes that means that Kentucky's not going
to get him, which is an odd thing to report when he's actually visiting,
like he's there when you're saying that, and I don't think Jeff Goodman
would say that if he didn't believe it. But you know, he could
obviously be wrong. I mean, he could easily, you know, just
have bad info. I mean, he usually doesn't miss like this, but
I guess it's possible that, like maybe he doesn't even know that Osibor is
there on a visit. I don't know, but he's not clarified. He's
not responded to anybody. A lot of Kentucky fans in media are claiming that
he's wrong and it's not true. I'm willing to tell you I don't have
a clue, but if you've added Garrison and Amari Williams and Andrew Carr.
Those are the three guys that Kentucky has added in the front court. I
do find it kind of hard to believe that you would be in the mix
for O Sibor. Matt Norlander has acted has acted like maybe money was an
issue here to where they were able to get these three guys, I mean
Carr and Garrison, and you know they could you know, I don't.
I don't want to get into like could they afford it? Because sometimes it's
not about do you have the money, it's about will you spend it?
For example. Not sure if this is true or not, but it's out
there and it wouldn't shock me. It wouldn't be a crazy thing if it
was true that the young man from Saint Mary's who transferred to Yukon, he
left the Kentucky visit and wanted to, I guess, commit to Kentucky and
ask them if they would match what Yukon had offered via nil and Kentucky said
no, So then he went to Yukon. You know, I don't know
if that's true or not, but you know, maybe Mark Pope's somebody that
you know isn't going to pay a lot more than what he feels is owed
to some of these players for what they deserve. But if Osibor ends up
at Louisville, which again I feel like even saying that, I mean he's
look, they're going to get a visit. So I guess they're in contention.
And you have a lot more money to use than you did if you
would have landed Jaden Quaintance, So we'll see. I mean, I kind
of feel like this is turning into a roll out the red carpet. Everybody
in the city of Louisville when Osibor arrives, is going to, you know,
try to figure out where he is. You know, don't don't harass
him, don't stalk him, but you know, show him love, let
him know he's wanted here, let him know how crazy we are. But
let's show him the good crazy. Let's show him the crazy that is,
like, Wow, these people are nuts for Louisville basketball. That's the kind
of stuff we need to show. But would be a big time get no
doubt, And I think in all honesty, I think the roster as it
is right now, with the addition of o Sibor. I think what you
would have with is too, in my opinion, really good, really you
know, key pieces that you feel like could kind of be collectively the core.
And it's not to say that other like, it's not to say that
other guys wouldn't be able to do it. And maybe what I'm doing here
is falling a little bit for just conference affiliation. Although Oceibor is coming from
the Mountain West, it's not like he's coming from you know, the Big
twelve or the Big ten or something. But I feel like Chucky Hebburn and
Great Osibor would be two really good kind of key pieces that you know,
for me, and I can only speak for myself, that would give me
a level of like, Okay, we know what we're getting there, and
then you throw in, you know, I say throw in. I'm talking
about guys you already have with Terrence Edwards Junior Trader not Trader k I'm sorry,
Cater Treia, the Long Beach State guy. I mean Coran Johnson,
the smooth convo guard Hadley from Colorado, who is a guy that can kind
of do a little bit of everything. It seems, I mean, you
wouldn't be done if you just add osibor here, but I would I mean,
I feel like, you know, you would at that point just be
kind of adding some supplemental pieces, you know, unless a big name became
available. So now we wait. I mean, again, to be clear,
I'm not saying that Kentucky's out, but that's what Jeff Goodman is saying,
and he would know more than I. So what I would do want
people to realize, though, is that unless everybody's wrong, I mean,
Louisvill would have to I think, really really really wow him in order to
get him to not go through other visits, because it sounds like that was
always going to be the plan. Kentucky, Louisville, Texas Tech, and
then Washington, which is where Danny Sprinkle is his you know, his former
coach, which maybe he's gonna go to Washington. He just wants to take
in these visits for some reason I don't know, because he followed Danny Sprinkle
from Montana State to Utah State and then Danny Sprinkle's now at Washington. I
mean, I just think it would be a no brainer that he would end
up at Washington. I mean, I wouldn't. I mean, I'm almost
a little surprised that, like he's even going through all this, he wants
to see the world, wants to travel around a little bit. That's true.
Kind could be of that, well, you know, I mean,
I mean, wouldn't you say a guy who's already followed his coach once and
he actually had great Here's what's wild about Osibor. He was better at Utah
State in a good Mountain West league than he was at Monte State for Danny
Sprinkle. Like that's a rare bump, if you know what I'm saying.
Yeah, Like, but as I mentioned before, some of these guys,
it's rare, But it's not crazy for someone to actually be more productive at
a higher level because now they're playing in a different system or they're playing with
better players around them, Right, I mean, if you're playing in a
lower level league and you are the man for that team, I'm sure you're
a big time focus of the opponent every night. Well, if you're playing
for a Power five team, you know, and you're good, you're still
going to be somebody that they're aware of. But you may be able to
kind of, you know, add six seven points to your average because you
know there's other guys they got to account for, so we'll see. I
don't know when he's going to get here. I think the visit to Louisville
was supposed to start is supposed to start tomorrow maybe. I think it's tomorrow
through Friday, maybe, but I'll see if I can get some more details
on that. Also, what I want to get to on the other side,
there's a guy that Louisville's been recruiting in the portal that committed to another
school and and they're still recruiting him, and he's not actually publicly I guess
acknowledge that everybody says he's committed to a certain school. So we'll talk about
who that is. Coming up on the other side. Also, this whole
crazy, chaotic, hectic world of college athletics with NIL and the Portal,
it's been a wild ride, but it looks like it's going to be coming
to an end because changes are coming and the NCAA is aware that they like,
this is not sustainable. So we'll talk about this meeting that took place
yesterday in Dallas, where I mean they're gonna do it. They're gonna make
these college athletes employees, which will change things, but it'll also make it
much less hectic, and it's you know, I think it's for the better.
I really do, all right a lot more it is Derby. We
we haven't talked anything about that just yet, but hey, you know,
we'll let you hear more Derby profiles as we get you set for Kentucky Derby
one fifty, so stick with us again. And it's Coffee and Company.
We are feeling about Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety sort of a
there's nothing. There's a lot of goofs that happen here and there on this
show when it comes to like you know, sound and just technic tech issues
that happen from time to time. But there's nothing that annoys me more than
that stupid Windows prompt which you got to be able to disable it, right,
and you know what, you know why that pops up? Why does
it pop up? So like if I'm searching for something within a tab and
it's not there instead of just like you know, for example, if I'm
looking for a word within a Google page, like a Chrome page. You
see what I'm talking about, Like you hit control apps and you're searching for
something, Yeah, if it can't find it it doesn't just like show you
zero zero, like there's zero results for this. It gives me a dang
is if I need that? It's so stupid, And you know, I
place some stuff on this end, which you know means I need to have
the board on. But for a while, I couldn't figure out how to
if you remember this, I couldn't figure out how to disable the email ones
like any time I would get an email, it would It's so stupid.
So anyway, sorry about that, but welcome back at IS Coffee and Company.
We are fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety. If you
want to join us on the show, you can five two five to seven
and one seventy nine hundred is the number if you want to give us a
call. LL and N Federal Credit Union text line is five oh two six
five three zero seven ninety. This textays, Nick, do you know if
these transfers are paid per visit? That could be why you see some of
these guys taking a bunch of visits when they really know where they're going to
go. I don't know. I would I mean, nothing would shock me,
but I would imagine that they don't get paid for their visits. But
then again, maybe they do. The players have all the power. Now
that seems to be uh to be pretty clear. This text says it's a
good one, but I'm not gonna do it. This says Nick, considering
Mark Pope has all bigs and Pat Kelsey has mostly guards. Let's make a
trade. Who would you give me? This is a Kentucky fan. I
guess who would you give me for one of our bigs. I'm not doing
it because then that you know that already, you know, creates some kind
of a narrative that like, I'm not as I'm not as high on some
of these players. So I mean, I'm not really sure. I don't
know. I think the best player that Loluiville needs a big trust me.
They don't have any real I mean they brought in James Scott, who,
by the way, is going to be a part of this team. Like
he's going to be a part of the rotation. He's not somebody that you
know, Pat Kelsey just brought over from Charleston because he likes him. I
mean, Rain Smith is a marksman shooter. That is, that is what
he brings to the table. That's the tool he has in his box that
he uses. He's a sharpshooter. And James Scott is somebody that they think
has a ton of upside, a guy that could potentially play in the NBA.
Plays above the rim, runs the floor. I mean, he's got
to develop as far as strength, but I mean he's he's a really good
prospect that if he makes the jump that a lot of guys make from freshman
a sophomore, I think at times it's the biggest jump you see from a
player in colllege. So I'm not to say he'll be a starter playing thirty
five minutes a game and be an all acc performer, but he's going to
play. And I times, you know, kind of forget about him too,
because I'm just looking at all these guys that you know, we're learning
about that that Pat Kelsey, you know, went out and recruited that he
didn't have to bring with him. So I would say, I don't know.
I mean again, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna take debit here.
I'm gonna I appreciate the question. Maybe I'll maybe I'll text text you an
answer, all right, So Ben, let me try hem Rhuckaus Humrikas humbrick
House, humbrick House, Ben Humrickhouse. That is the uh, the former
NAI star. I guess we can call him a star, but I'm not
really sure how good he was at the NAI level, good enough to transfer
last year to the Division IE level and uh he transferred to Evansville and was
was a good player for him. You know, his first season at the
D one level, he averaged fourteen point seven points, four point seven rebounds,
shot it roughly fifty percent from the floor, forty one percent from three.
Just a good, really good player. I mean he's uh, he's
see six. They don't list his height here, but I think he's about
six' ten. And uh, he hit the portal and had a lot
of had a lot of offers, a lot of interest, and visited a
lot of places. He was the guy who was just here on a visit
where I did. I don't feel I could be wrong, trust me.
There's there's people way more plugged in than me. But I didn't see any
reports that this guy was visiting. And then he was in a picture with
one of the visitors, and everybody was able to, you know, use
the internet and realize that's that's who that was. So Ben Hamrickhouse committed to
Illinois according to everybody like who covers Illinois, and I'm not saying that that's
wrong because nobody's disputed it. But Louisville is still recruiting him, Louisville is
still talking to him, and he has not publicly acknowledged any commitment to Illinois
on any of his social media. So maybe he's committed, but it's like
the super soft verbal. I mean, what does that tell you, John,
I mean, he's not super active on social but you would think like
if he was all in, he would he would like retweet one of the
graphics somebody made of him wearing that, you know, a line eye uniform.
Yeah, maybe he's standing on business. Could be could be that he's
not giving him the green light on his end yet because you know, he
told him he's in if they stand on business. Because he's standing on business
and he's waiting for them to return the stand on business exactly. It hasn't
happened yet. You know, he's a really intriguing player because you know he's
I mean, he's just a hybrid guy, a guy that I think would
fit really well with the way Pat Kelsey wants to play. I mean,
he can stretch the floor. Not not a guy who you're going to see
a whole lot, you know, in the paint, as far as a
guy that's going to you know, post up and go to work. But
you know, at six' nine, he's he's a good enough rebounder,
it appears, and a guy who can really fill it up. And you
can never have too many shooters, especially the way Pat Kelsey wants to play.
So again, I'm not here to tell you that it's fake news that
he's going to Illinois, but Louisville is still recruiting him and he is not
at all publicly acknowledged it. And you know, I would say that Illinois
hasn't announced it, but that's like these these schools cannot announce it until I
should get clarification, and maybe I'll reach out to Zach Greenwell and get clarification
on what the process is for transfers. Because it's National Signing Day for recruits,
right, that's when you can acknowledge that these people exist and they're coming
to play for you. The NSAA still has many dumb rules that are archaic
to where you know, I mean, there's really I mean again of all
the stupid rules, like these coaches can't publicly act like somebody exists, which
I don't. Why is that a Why is that against the rules? Like
you know, they're allowed to talk to them, but they can't publicly talk
about them. I mean, it's one again, one of the many really
really dumb rules. So we'll see again. I don't want to get anybody's
hopes up, but that would be another nice edition. And I will admit
that that, uh, that that recruitment here of Humrick House was one that
I was a little late to. And I'm not saying people are wrong,
but I was a little surprised to see how many fans really really seemed to
think this guy was some you know, somebody that Pat Kelsey really had to
go get. So, you know, I don't I'll put it this way.
I think they're still alive. I don't not going to tell you they
got a good chance of landing him, but they're still they're still working.
Another name to uh to keep an eye on is a local name, kind
of. I mean, he plays at bellarmint He's not from uh, he's
not from Louisville, but he's from Georgetown, Indiana. Langdon. Hatton just
finished up his junior season playing for Scott Davenport at Bellerman. He's in the
portal. He's got a lot of schools showing interest in Louisville's one of them.
He averaged ten and a half boards, seven rebounds per game, and
shot fifty percent from the floor. So obviously not a not a not a
sexy name, not somebody that you know, the best schools in the country
are prioritizing. But you need depth. And I know we, you know,
we talk about that a lot. I hear other fans, you know,
fans that I talk to kind of saying the same thing, acknowledging it.
But I still think we lose sight of it at times when we look
at players and their stats and whatnot. You need thirteen players, not because
you're going to play thirteen players in a game, but you need you need
to fill the roster. And I think most teams, I mean, I'll
tell you something, I that I that I believe depth is a little overrated
in basketball. You need it, but like you don't have to have it
if things are going well, right, if somebody's injured, totally different story.
Foul trouble get you know, you need guys you can put in.
But like you know, some of the best teams I remember watching in college
basketball, they had a core rotation of probably about eight guys now nine or
ten would play per game, but it was in really rare you know.
It was you know, with with a with forty seconds left, you know,
before the next TV time out, Let's get this guy in the game
and give one of our starters, you know, a little bit of time
to rest. So it's it's not that you know you're going to play all
the guys, but in order to really grow and develop as a team that
is starting from scratch, you're gonna need really competitive practices. And you know,
if you if you don't have a secondary group that can give you some
what of a realistic look as far as what you're gonna see. And I'm
not saying you've got to have a backup squad that can be your reserves,
that will give you a look that will you know, reflect what you're gonna
see when you go to Cameron and playing Duke. But you need to have
competitive practices. And uh, I think you know, guys like Hatton and
who knows, maybe he would come to Louisville and be better than I would
expect. But they're gonna add some dudes that probably aren't gonna wow you.
But you have to keep in mind, they're they're building an entire roster here,
right. One name I haven't mentioned yet today on the on the Kentucky
side is Kobe Brea, which I believe is I mean, I think he's
visiting right now. I think he got to Lexington a couple of days ago,
and all signs point to Kentucky being the school that is going to get
him. I mean, you haven't heard anything else, have you, John,
I mean, he is not going to go to Connecticut because they're not.
They once they landed the kid from Saint Mary's, they no longer I
mean, I don't think they have a room for the only thing they're waiting
on is whether or not Alex Caravan or carab and however you say his name,
whether he comes back from or not? Okay, and that's Yukon right,
yes, yeah, so so, but yeah, I mean they're I
mean, they're not in that. They no longer are recruiting him. According
to Matt Norlander, so Kentucky seems to be like the only school really in
the mix here and I don't know if he's going to visit elsewhere, but
if I I mean, I would expect him to commit maybe any second now.
But if he doesn't, would you get worried if you're a Kentucky fan.
I mean, he didn't have to commit while he's there, but I
would think that if he if he leaves Lexington and a couple of days go
by, that would mean he's wanting others to get involved and he's still not
sold, which would be really surprising to me because he would fit perfectly with
my with what I mean, he would get a lot of shots, good
looks in Mark Pope's system, and he's one of the best catch and shoot
three point shooters in the country. And there's a reason why initially whenever he
hit the portal and was scheduling visits, I mean he again, this guy
was considering Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, and Yukon. Now
I think because of some you know, transfer credit stuff, he wasn't going
to be able to go to some of those schools, Duke being one of
them. But this will be a huge get for for Mark Pope, no
doubt, and it seems like it's going to happen. And I know earlier
today, and I'm not keeping up with the Kentucky portal stuff as much as
Kentucky fans and those that you know cover Kentucky, but whenever their assistant coaches
started putting out the signals like on social media, which we need to talk
about that later, John, I need to get your like, oh I
think that can you know that's that's your signal or whatever, like like the
little gift they might put out. Fans like it, but like sometimes you
know, it can be a little you know, sometimes I think coaches and
I'm not saying anybody in particular, but sometimes coaches really just seem to like
enjoy the attention they get from that, and there's really like, you know,
they jumped the gun a little bit. But whenever one of the Kentucky
assistants put out their signal earlier today, I'm pretty sure just about everybody assumed
that man it was Kobe Brea, but it ended up being the Garrison kid
who transferred from Oklahoma State. So and again right now, this is this
is according to the not the athletic I'm sorry, the field to sixty eight
the top ten transfers currently available in the portal. Osibor Is is number five
and Brea is number eight, and there some other guys will get in.
You know, there's other name you know, John L. Davis number one,
Kadari Richmond number two, or nor Chatto Mere number three, Cliff Omrie
I number four. You're a big ten guys, rugs, do you say
it? O? That's a tough one. Yeah, it's a tough one.
But jonas I do, is the Tennessee guy who committed Darkansas. So
check this out. We'll get to a break in just a second. But
actually we can get into this a little bit more later. Probably not a
great time to bring this up, but John ol' davis number one and a
due number six, the kid transferm from Tennessee. He's already committed Arkansas.
A lot of people believe John ol Davis will commit to Arkansas at an any
minute now. So that would be two really big additions for John Caliperry at
at at Arkansas. And then I don't know if this has slowed down a
little bit, but when nord Chado Mere and Kadari Richmond Richmond from Seton Hall,
North Chattomere obviously from Miami. That's those are those those guys are both
top three portal guys right now. When they initially hit the portal, all
signs pointed to those two guys going to play for Rick Patino at Saint John's
not sure if that's cooled off, but that would be humongous for Rick Patino.
So we'll see, all right, quick break, we'll come back on
the other side, talk a little bit more about Actually we haven't talked about
it much at all, but this, uh, this this change coming to
college athletics that is needed. It'll make these college athletes employees, which will,
more than anything, just make college athletics a lot less hectic with the
portal and nil and all that. The wild wild West, as they say,
will be no more, it seems. And we'll let you hear your
first Derby profile of the day, so stick with us right here on Sports
Talk seven ninety. I can tell you, as an adult, I've never
found myself looking to play Will Smith rap. It's not like it's bad,
it's just, you know, kind of corny. Is a lot of people
think it's like the unseasoned, middle aged white dudes' favorite rapper, but he
had hits. I mean they were in the nineties, you know they were.
He had a lot of big hits, but I think a lot of
his hits that became like you know, big radio hits, were all like
tied to a movie he was doing. Had this one, which was obviously
Wild Wild West in Black. Oh yeah, no doubt about it. All
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time left here, but let's go to the phone lines five O two five
seven one seventy nine hundred. That is the number if you want to give
us a call. And then once we end the hour here, we'll let
you hear your first derby horse profile of the day. Let's go to Eric
Eric here on Sports Talk seven ninety How are you, sir, Jared?
I enjoyed the show, Thank you. I had a question about the uh
you're gonna talk. I think about the student athletes becoming employees, and I
was wondering if they would then come under all the labor laws, I mean,
with their tuition be taxable, do they have to have be paid a
minimum wage? All those sorts of things. Yeah, And Eric, I
think I think that's that's the biggest question, is how that would work.
And I think that's that is what has kept them from doing this for many
many years because of that big you know, the tax situation, lay lost,
that kind of stuff. So, uh, I think the reason you're
seeing these these you know, the commissioners of these power conferences meeting to discuss
this is because they got to do something. What's going on now is not
sustainable. But as far as the actual framework, I don't know of it
just yet, but I'm sure that that's exactly what they're working on now is
figuring out because actually, I think what you brought up, Eric, is
probably actually a bigger issue for them than, you know, than the money
right, the money to pay players. They have it they make enough of
it. But I think that kind of stuff as far as minimum wage,
the tax situation, I think that's where for so many years they just thought,
well, we could never even open up that door because we couldn't do
it. Well, now it's such a mess with the chaotic NIL world that
they got to do something right. But I think everyone's thinking about basketball and
football. They're not thinking about field hockey, you know. I mean if
all of them are at all the athletes are employees, then all of them
are. So you might have to pay a minimum wage too. Oh yeah,
everybody's gonna get paid, no doubt about it. Eric. I appreciate
the phone call and appreciate you listening. Yeah, I mean, look,
you're you're gonna be an employee. You're going to make some type of wage.
Obviously there'll be a minimum wage, and they'll be a wage that is
different than that for probably the you know, higher profile sports, and you're
gonna sign a contract as an employee, there's going to be a non compete.
You could be terminated. I mean, maybe not a noncompete because now
that's apparently illegal, but yeah, it's it's gonna be. I mean,
we'll see again. What the framework looks like. I guess that's what they're
what they're looking into now. But something like this has to happen because again,
right now, it's just it's just not sustainable. And you know,
you when you sign a contract again, I don't know how this will work
when it comes to non competes, but when you sign a contract, you
know it could be a two year agreement, right so where you know,
hey, you can hit the portal, but not after two years because that's
what you signed on as or maybe you know, certain players will agree to
sign a one year, maybe some will sign a three year. So who
knows what it'll actually look like, but not a surprise to see, you
know that they're doing. They're they're putting a plan in motion to end what
is currently going on because it's just again not sustainable. All right, let's
do our first Derby profile today. Who do we have? First? John
Honor Marie, Honor Marie. Let's hear it now. Look at the Kentucky
Derby field. One by one Honor Marie Louisiana Derby runner up Honor Marie.
One of those horses that has been training well at Churchill Downs has caught the
eye of many on the back side and should be a fairly decent price in
the Kentucky Derby. Honor Marie a bay son of Honor Code, owned by
Rebel Farms Llc. Trained by Louisvillion Wit Beckman. He'll be piloted by Ben
Curtis, who would be making his first start in the Kentucky Derby after winning
more than thirty five hundred races in Europe. Honor Marie has two wins and
two second place finishes in five career starts. In both of those victories came
under the Twins Spires at Churchill Down. Honer Marie broke his maiden on his
first attempt back in late September at Churchill Downs, finished second in an optional
claiming race at Churchill just one month later, and then on November twenty fifth,
he finished up his two year old year with a victory in the Kentucky
Jockey Club. Beckman had Honor Marie at the Fairgrounds in the winter. He
finished fifth closing a little bit late in the Risen Star that was over a
sloppy track, and then was a good second place finish to Catching Freedom.
On March twenty third in the Louisiana Derby. Beckman, a two thousand graduate
of Saint Xavier High School in Louisville, went out on his own a few
years ago. After working for several different trainers, including Hall of famers Chad
Brown and Todd Pletcher. Beckman has his first career Kentucky Derby starter in Louisiana
Derby runner up Honor Marie was old clod. Yeah, it's coolness, you
know, like growing up here at the Derby is it's a holiday. It's
a big deal, you know. So to me here as a Rugul guy,
I know it makes a ton of my friends family, which everybody's so
fonder, you know, so I cheer everybody