It's time for coffee and company fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day.
Now here's Nick Coffee all right, hour number two here on a Thursday
afternoon coffee and company fueled but Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety. You
make sure you give the hot honey chicken items at Thornton's a try before they're
gone. I don't know for sure if they're like going to disappear and never
come back, but I do know they've given us some great items here and
there over the years, and they don't last forever, so delicious stuff,
and we appreciate our friends over at Thornton's, all right. So for those
that are, you know, maybe just jumping in the car starting their day
today because you know they have work, they've got other things, priorities.
They can't keep up with it as much as you know others. Kentucky has
now been turned down by Scott Drew. That happened earlier today, and I
think it's just exactly what he stated that he's his faith, his family and
it's just he can't leave Baylor. And then here is the latest with Danny
Hurley, who again I guess Kentucky fans just feel like it's always going to
be alive unless he gives them some formal rejection of no, I don't want
to come to Kentucky, leave me alone. Matt Norlander about two thirty this
afternoon reports that a source tells him that there is zero percent chance Dan Hurley
will leave you Kon for Kentucky. Says it's not happening. Hurley is going
to stay in stores with a deserved big pay bump coming for him plus his
staff. So that's also another rejection. I guess that really is not a
bad look on Kentucky. The guy just went back to back titles and he's
not leaving. I mean, he's in a very good spot on top of
the world, is gonna get a lot of money, but he's this timing's
not there for him to move on from Yukon right now. And when Louisville
was rejected by Dusty May and Louisville was rejected by Josh Shirts, which they
kind of weren't because he couldn't really take the job. And obviously Scott Drew
wasn't gonna leave for Louisville, and clearly he didn't leave over Kentucky. So
getting rejected it sucks, especially if you've really got your sites as a fan
set on one guy that you want to be the coach. But it happens,
and Kentucky fans, you know, throw in shade at Louisville for being
rejected by Scott Drew or you know, getting the taste of their own medicine.
I suppose because I feel one thousand percent certain that until maybe last night,
maybe not even until it happened today, Kentucky fans did not think there
was a chance that Scott Drew would not take the job. And here's what's
silly. The he wasn't really offer the job. Nobody's been off with the
job. That is just a desperate attempt to try to make it as if
you were never rejected. When you like, we're even if you have very
little intelligence like me, you're insulting what little intelligence I have to act as
if Scott Drew did not have the job to say that he was asked to
consider it and then let them know that is an offer. That is him
deciding if he wants to take the job or not. Like it's so am
I wrong? John, Like it's so silly they just don't want to feel
like they've been rejected. Yeah, and I get it, and ads do
that because again, I think there's some there's some legitimacy to the brand taking
a hit if you keep swinging and missing, especially for a place like Kentucky.
I felt the way I felt that way about Louisville. However, if
you got turned down, you got turned down. I mean back to the
Norlander tweet here, I didn't even see the second part of it. It
says one source close to Hurley on Kentucky, they could offer twenty million a
year and he wouldn't go. Says here that Hurley, the National Coach of
the Year, has the perfect job for him, has this top staff in
the country and running the best program in the sport always seems so far fetch
as is so yeah, that's that's that's you know. And earlier today,
whenever it was official that Scott Drew was staying at Baylor and not coming to
Kentucky, and the initial pivot was to, okay, well, now you
now you got to make Danny Hurley say no. Well, how can he
say no if you're not offering in the job, right, Like, which
is it? If you're gonna ask him to consider it, and then he
says he considered it and doesn't want it. Does that mean he told you
no? Like you got to make him say no? To me? It's
entering the list of things we say in sports that are just really stupid,
like a win is a win? What are some other ones? I feel
like there's some college basketball ones. I'm just I'm just blanking on. Either
way, the god to make him say no is something that really is.
Nobody has to say no. They can ignore you. Actually, in the
comparison I made earlier, if Mark Robbie, let's just say, you know,
in a different world, I was single and Margot Robbie that was that
was who I was setting my sights on, you know, along with the
other millions and millions of men on this planet. And I have no access
to her, right like I don't have a I don't have any way of
reaching out to her, contacting her. But you know what that means.
She hadn't told me no yet, had told me no. So it's still
alive. It's not dead yet. I mean, like to think about how
ridiculous that is. So I'm convinced that no matter what Danny Hurley says,
there'll be some from the Kentucky side that simply say, yeah, you know,
he hadn't said no yet. It's just it's just wild. To me.
It's wild. So now they shift their attention to Billy Donovan, and
maybe he does want to get back in the game at a place like Kentucky.
When I say the game, I mean the college game. However,
you know, I've always felt like it would be it would be a surprise
to see him want to walk away from the Maybe that's changed. But even
if he does want to come to Kentucky, he's not going to bail in
the Bulls. And if they end up surviving the play in round next week
and end up getting to the first round in a seven game series, you're
talking about waiting till the end of April potentially for him to take over.
And I actually think the more success that he would have with the Bulls would
make him more inclined to stay in Chicago and be their coach. So anyways,
real quick, I want update you guys on some Pat Kelsey news.
I mean it's not really Pat Kelsey news, but it's news about his staff.
And I love this because I advocated for this, not to pack Kelsey
or anything like that, but there's nobody more deserving to represent the Louisville basketball
program, in my opinion, in some former fashion on the staff in some
role than Peyton Siva. And Peyton Siva has accepted the alumni relations slash player
development position that was reported by Tas Spaulding at cardinalsports dot Com. And I'm
so happy for Peyton because if there's anybody that can sell the true experience of
being a Louisville basketball player, the highs the lows, it's Peyton Siva.
I mean, he was here for four years and won a national championship.
He understands why we're this crazy, and he's felt the love that you get
when you are a part of something special here at Louisville and it makes him
probably and I'm not going to speak for him, but it makes him understand
why that he was you know, he's beloved here. So very happy for
Peyton. He'll be perfect for that role. And it's not just about selling
like you know, recruits who are visiting on a you know who recruits aren
on campus for a visit. Wich. I'm not even sure he'd be allowed
to do that with the NSAA rules and whatnot. But you know, when
there's guys with the team that are really struggling after a few games, or
maybe let's just say after a year, you know they felt, you know,
the heat that comes with being a player at a place like this when
things aren't going well. But Peyton is the one guy that can tell you,
hey, if you stick with it, it'll all work out. I
mean, you never know if you're gonna win anctional championship like he did.
But Peyton accomplished the ultimate goal here at Louisville, and you know he's a
legend for that. But also he's a great human being. I don't say
that about many people because honestly, I don't know a lot of these people
that well. I know Peyton. He's a great man. He's made Louisville
his home. He's raising his family here, he's opened up his own business
here. His wife patients, she's a Louisville native, and Louisville the last
couple of years, I mean, think about how bad it was, right,
I mean just awful. He was still always around the program, always
encouraging those players, and nobody better for that role. And I'm happy,
happy for him. Also, we'll get into some of these visitors that are
going to be not only at Louisville this weekend, but more visits in line
for Pat Kelsey, and we'll see what happens. Right I know they've only
got three additions to the roster right now, and they got a lot more
to fill, but man, they're in the mix with so many good players.
I have a feeling that he could put together on paper pretty damn good
roster in year one, which I mean that was always the goal. How
realistic it was and I don't know, but I just I feel like they're
in a really good spot here, which is great because that's how you were
going to have to build this team given the circumstances, and the bar is
so low for success when it comes to year one, at least I think.
But when I say the bar is low, I don't mean he can
win. He can win ten games and you know, surpass Kenny, or
you can win fifteen games and he will have won more games than Kenny in
one year. But I think if he puts together a roster that features good
players from the mid major level that have you know, produced good, good
stat lines, you know, good averages, I should say good numbers,
very productive, and they were for good teams. Maybe not great teams,
but good teams at that level. I mean, I think that's a good
recipe. You never really know, right, It's a crapshoot when you have
this many transfers to ad you really know, you never really know how it's
all going to work out. But I mean, I haven't no problem in
saying that if the roster ends up being what we hope it is. And
that's not to say they're gonna go out there and get the best players in
the country, but if they add high caliber transfers, and again your view
of high caliber transfers may be different than mine, I don't mean going and
getting you know, the best player in the portal, which, by the
way, who is the best player in the portal? That's why ask Kevin
Sweeney that earlier, because I get the sense that like the portal right now
is a little underwhelming as far as like big names. But maybe that's just
because I don't know. Let me pull it up here the athletic Here is
their current rankings in the portal. Tucker Derees is going to West Virginia with
his father, Drake, who took the job. John L. Davis,
Robbie Avila, Great Ozebor, Utah State, PJ. Haggerty. So yeah,
I mean it's not to say these players aren't aren't, you know,
great, But I think here's what I think is happening. Because this is
still relatively new. I want to see what you think about this, John,
because the portal is relatively a new thing when it comes to college basketball.
Just like Nil, there's still some adjustments, and I think a big
adjustment that has been made is understanding that now you don't just need innile money
to go get players, you need good in ile money to keep players.
And I think there's probably been some adjustments made, some resources available to make
it to where guys will stay and not into the portal. I mean that
makes sense, right, Yeah, that's fair. And one thing that's been
interesting to see, especially from I guess the national perspective, is the amount
of guys from the Purdue roster that have jumped in transfer portal Mason Gillis.
But these guys played Mason Gillis did. Ethan Morton I think played a little
bit, But Mason Gillis got a decent amount of playing time. I can't
think if he started or if he was there six min off the bench,
But maybe that's the case. Maybe he just wants to find a place where
you can get a starting role. Yeah, be the same for Ethan Morton
or Inil money. Yeah, I just I think I don't think Purdue,
even though they are a Big ten school, I don't think they bring in
a ton of Anisle money. And really they're so unique they don't. I
mean, I don't want to say weird, because clearly what they're doing is
working, but yeah, I mean it could just be also the I mean,
I could see Matt Paynter being a straight shooter and telling those guys,
look, I'm probably going to try to go get somebody at your position and
it will probably mean an even lesser role for you, you know what I
mean. Yeah, did they have a good freshman class coming into You know,
they have a few good guys from the state of Indiana. Come.
I think Miles Colvin, unless he's already on the roster. They have so
many guys from in state try to keep up with the amount that are current.
That doesn't surprise me. But I didn't really think about that a whole
lot until the tournament or I guess the championship game earlier this week, whenever
they mentioned just how many on that roster, like everybody who had a big
role on that team other than Eady was from Indiana. It was from Indiana,
all right. So a new name to monitor here in the portal is
one that is a big addition. Whoever gets him, and pun is intended,
So Arizona trans for omar Ballow is going to be taking visits to Indiana,
Louisville, and Kansas State. He's also apparently going to visit North Carolina.
In Florida, he averaged thirteen points, ten boards, and a block
and a half essentially last season, one of the top players in the portal.
You know, that's some stiff competition there for Louisville, and I guess
really for Indiana too, if you consider you know, Jerome Tang, I
mean, he's I don't know what resources they have for nil, but I
could see him being a really good guy on the recruiting trail because I'd want
to play for him. And then Florida, you know Todd Golden, He's
he's got some momentum right now, no doubt, and yeah, I mean
those are That's one of those gets that like if Louisville doesn't get him,
I'm not going to say, damn pat Kelsey, You're already swinging and missing,
because again, like you know, sometimes you're going to lose players in
a recruiting battle, and it doesn't mean you did anything wrong, right like
if you if when Rick Patino was here, and even Mac to an extent,
you know, Mack had a chance to get a really good class the
year I guess prior to maybe it's the year after his twenty twenty class or
twenty nineteen class, which featured you know, Sam Williamson, and on paper
that class was top ten. Didn't really play out that way, but David
Johnson up being a pro. But nonetheless, what I'm getting at is,
I think the next year he was in on a handful of guys and you
know, one of them went to Kentucky, one of them went to Kansas,
one of them went to Duke, one of them went to North Carolina.
These are all guys that they felt really good about. And if that's
who you're swimming in the waters with, that's who you are competing with,
you're gonna lose a lot more you're gonna win. So I'd love for Louisville
to get this guy. And I have confidence in Pat Kelsey and his sales
approach and the resources that he can use to to entice this young man to
come to Louisville. And one thing Louisville can do that really nobody else can.
And I don't know if it's gonna be it could be something viewed as
a week as a negative thing for players, but they can sell minutes right
now, there's nobody, there's nobody competing, you know, doesn't mean they're
not going to get other players to you know, give you some depth.
And obviously I think Pat Kelsey is a guy that's never going to tell anybody
that they're going to automatically get this or that. But I mean, I
think that's that's some level of or you could you know, if you're a
guy that really wants to be a part of a winning team and you want
to succeed, you don't just want to get numbers and money, You want
to win. If you know you're visiting and there's only four guys on the
team, like they could make it to where you feel like, okay,
you know, I'd consider it, but man, I don't even know what
we're going to have, you know, so we'll see. But I just
it's nice to see Louisville in the mix with guys like this. And he'll
visit Indiana first, that'll be I think this weekend or early next week,
and then he will visit Louisville right after that. So or maybe that Mother
Bears Pizza will get to him just like mackenziem could be and he won't even
come down to the little it could be. I mean, that's got to
be. It's got to be what Woodson's thinking, right, because he'll visit
April fourteenth of the sixteenth at Indiana, and then he'll leave there to come
to Louisville on the sixteenth and visit until the eighteenth. So like maybe you
know, when he's right before they head out of town, they make that
stop at Mother Bear's Pizza in Bloomington and he he gets the phone out letting
everybody know Tang Kelsey, Hubert Davis, Todd Golden appreciate it. But I
can't not play in Indiana because the Mother Bear's Pizza. How about the free
pub we're giving Mother Bears? I need to sponsor them or they need sponsored
me exactly. They need to throw the bag at you, my man.
I'll guess them up. So did you listen to much of John cal Perry
last night? I saw one quote and it probably wasn't one of his better
ones, but it was. It was a quote. I guess he was
just holding court and saying things that like nobody would believe. But yet he
can say it, and it's kind of just cal be and Cal. And
there's not many that can do that, man. I mean, Rick Patino
could do it. Cal can do it. I'm sure there's others that can.
I mean Dan Hurley maybe now, but he's not really one to just
say a whole lot of things. But like, you know, Cal saying
that he didn't want it to get out because he didn't want to steal the
spotlight from the national championship game. Not a chance in hell that's true.
That happened anyway. But Cal could say it, and it's just Calby and
Cal. You know Collin Arkansas blue blood. I have absolute respect for Arkansas
as a program. I've said it many times. Eric Musselman reminded the world
of college basketball that that is a big time program with big time potential that
has had some great success. They just were kind of asleep for a long
time. But they're not a blue blood. And then one of the things
I want to get to really quickly here that I the reason I'm talking about
Arkansas here is because the guest that's going to join us next JC Hoops aka
mister Jackson Collier, who covers Arkansas for the Rivals Network. I just want
to get his thoughts on, you know, sort of the vibe in Fayetteville.
As you know, I think they have more excitement for basketball than they've
ever had. It seems like that's probably an exaggeration, but still, However,
the Arkansas athletic director, I believe was the athletic director, not the
president. I mean, I did hear this one. There were a couple
of very blatant self owns that really made me, it almost kind of made
me like cringe a little bit and feel bad for them because it's something that
you say feeling as if it is it is a big deal, but it
actually like makes you look bad. And that is the you know, he
came out whenever they whenever they I guess started the press conference and said y'all
know we're not playing Kentucky tonight, right, insinuating that Kentucky brings that kind
of a crowd and that that that would be like that's maybe that's not a
cell phone, but it's just it's Adam insult your own fan base in a
way exactly. And then another one is mentioning, you know, the the
tournament success like to elite eights sweet sixteen Kentucky. Nothing. I mean,
I don't know if that I don't know if that was exactly the wording of
it, but some level of like you know what Arkansas has done lately to
kind of gas up the fact that they have had some success lately, which
they have. But again, you know, the coach that you're claiming has
failed at Kentucky because Arkansas's better is the guy you just hired. Like what
are we doing here? You know what I mean? Like does that make
sense? Like that's that's a cell phone? Is it not? Yes?
And there was no reason to say either one of those. And to be
clear, I'm not saying cell phone like your phone. I'm saying self phone
like you own. You actually didn't realize it, but you made yourself look
foolish. There trying to rib someone else and instead it was you know,
not that way. All right, quick break again. We'll talk to mister
J. C. Hoops coming up here on the other side and keep this
thing rolling along, and who knows, maybe in the next hour and a
half we'll have some more updates with this Kentucky coaching search. Quick time out,
don't go anywhere, give it lock right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
This isn't me trolling or you know, trying to laugh at the pain,
because I get it. But I would say a lot of Kentucky fans
yesterday that was weird for them to see John Calipari. It was weird for
anybody, even if you don't care about Kentucky, because it's just was not
something you would have expected to see. I mean, the last time he
was in a color close to that shade was that U mess many many years
ago. But I also think even if you wanted Caliperi to move on and
you wanted the two sides to part ways because you are aware that Kentucky needed
a fresh start and all that stuff, still like seeing him being cal doing
col stuff and just kind of owning a room, you know, such a
commanding presence. I mean, he's a larger than live figure within the sports
world, especially college basketball, and now he's doing that somewhere else. So
like, even if you wanted a fresh start, which that's understandable, I'm
sure yesterday was at the very least weird, but also, like I get
it if it kind of made you sad and you probably thought to yourself,
like, man, did we did we do the right thing here? I
think it needed to happen. I think that was quite clear. But either
way, like he's now coaching somebody else and you're gonna have to play against
him, and I get it. That's that's weird for Kentucky fans, no
doubt. All right. Now, joining us from the Arkansas side of things
is Jackson call here, JC hoops on Twitter. How are we doing,
Welcome to the show. Appreciate your time, man, absolutely, thanks for
having me on. I'm always looking forward to you know, I keep up
with your stuff. I listen to your show. Thank you. Lee.
When we were talking Arkansas, Louisville, Eric Musselman, Louisville potentially ever since
I guess that was dating back to January. Yeah, it's been closely following
the show ever since then and really enjoyed it and really thankfully you have me
on. Well, let's start with you know, a month ago, right,
it looked like Eric Musselman wanted out, and I think you were well
aware with your sources that it was just clear he was trying to get out,
and there were some landing spots that maybe he was hopeful to land and
it didn't happen, and then sure enough SMU they fired their coach and we
all know that the dominoes then fell and Musco's to USC Arkansas has an opening.
I mean, I guess let's go back to last week. When did
you get the sense that the Calip Perry Arkansas stuff was not just internet nonsense,
that there was really an effort to get him and he had some interest.
Because I'll admit it to you, even Sunday night, I just had
a hard time thinking that it was real until you know, those that cover
the sport at the highest level were starting to say, yeah, this is
happening. So I actually had some sources reach out to me. I believe
it was early Saturday, like before noon Saturday, and to be honest with
you, I laughed them off the phone. I did not understandable, and
these are credible sources, but I you know, Arkansas was going through a
really kind of weird coaching search looking like it was straightforward after musselm left,
looking Oh, it's going to be Chris Beard for sure, and then oh,
well, if it's not Chris Beard, then it's going to be Jerome
Tang, and those didn't materialize. Arkansas fans are in panic mode, and
then I get texts from like two or three reliable sources saying, oh,
you should keep an eye out on Calipari. And I didn't think anything of
it until you know, I guess afternoon, probably around three thirty ish Eastern
time, I had a couple of really reliable people start telling me, Hey,
especially from the Kentucky side of things, They're reaching out saying, hey,
you know, there's something to keep an eye on. I think it
might be happening. And then sure enough, I think that's when all kind
of a hell brocluse, so to speak, was later that night. Yeah,
I mean, did the how far along were the I guess negotiations or
conversations with Chris Beard and Andreerom Tang because I learned about it during the Louisville
search and it is happening as we speak now to where you know, there's
a lot of just a fear of it being public that you were turned down.
Therefore, they claimed the offer was never made, Like really, it's
just it's a silly way to kind of make it look as if you really
didn't want the guy who didn't want you. But was the initial site set
on Chris Beard for sure? Yeah. So, I mean, you know,
yesterday whenever they had the Calipari introductory press conference and introduction in general,
you know, Hunter, you're a check with the comment, oh, this
job is only offered to one person and he's sitting next to me. I
think that statement is athletic director speak. I think it's up for debate.
I'm fairly certain that they did offer Chris Beard, and it was from my
understanding of the situation, Uh, they gave Chris Beard a very generous offer
to which he was very near to accepting, uh, and then all miscountered,
and that that was kind of that it was kind of the mentality where
Ole miss gave Chris Beard everything he could want, so there was no need
to necessarily move. Kind of the same thing with Jerome Tang. There's more
debate I think on whether or not Tang was actually offered the job. I
don't know for sure if he was actually offered the job, but I do
know, uh it's it seems like the language in his new deal that he's
gotten ever since or whenever he agreed to come back to Kansas State, there's
now language in his new contract with a simulation about the university president not being
able to step in on a player. That makes sense because I know that
was a big that was a big factor and why he wanted to get out
of Manhattan, Kansas. I know that was that was a big contingency for
him. So that makes sense. And here's what I think happens. I
think you've got the schools saying if they didn't have a contract in front of
them to sign and it wasn't an offer. But right now, like the
Kentucky side of things, we're hearing that, you know, Scott Drew has
been told to he was told to consider the job and then let them know
that's an offer. I mean, if he considers it and he says he
wants it, then he's taking the job. Like it's so silly, but
I get it, you know, I know big brands in the sport like
this, you know, you want to make sure you cover your ear end
as best you can in regards to you know, the you know where you
stand in the pecking order in the hierarchy of of college basketball. So let
me ask you, this is because of the Again, I think it's now
normal for schools to not get first guy. But Cali Perry is a larger
than my figure. He's a super accomplished coach. Obviously, he hasn't had
great success in the tournament lately, but still even when he had early exits,
he had some good teams along the way. Is because Cali Perry was
so random and out of nowhere? Is that? Is that? Is that
a big factor and why there seems to be more excitement in Fayetteville for basketball
than there has ever been. I think I think there's a lot of reasons.
I think that's definitely one of them. He wasn't a candidate necessarily,
like just kind of totally nowhere, like you said, so there was no
real like you know how, when there is a candidate, there will be
a lot of online discourse and trade over whether they're qualified or not. There
was none of that with Cali Perry, So there was no time for the
fan base to like have that discourse and be like, well, you know,
actually I overthink this and I don't think he's that great of a candidate,
or oh well, now that I've thought more on it, I think
Chris Jansen be a solid candidate, which you know, Chris Jans and Darryl
Walker at U ALR are two names that were floated the morning of I think
that Sunday, So the expectation setting also was kind of there to help with
the excitement. But on top of all of that, I think you just
have one of the premier names in sport, and I think that carries a
ton of weight. Oh yeah, he's a larger than life figure within college
basketball, And to be honest, man, there's not many of those left
absolutely. I mean I think, honestly, if you look at the sport
right now, uh you look at we're losing you a little bit. I
don't know if it's a connection thing the you there. Can you hear me?
Yeah, it's I don't know if we can hear you, but it's
like you're coming through a little bit uh fuzzy. I don't know what it
is is better now at all, it's much better now, much better.
Oh cool, sorry about that? Oh good? H But I think if
you look at the sport as it is right this second, there are a
handful of coaches who are larger than life figures. I think you have your
John calipiir, you have your Rick Bettina, who's still going off of his
long tenured success. I think Dan Hurley is even kind of in that conversation
right now, but really outside of that, I don't I don't know if
you have any Yeah, I'm I'm with you. I think there's a there's
a new era. I think that is kind of forming as far as guys
that are potentially going to be the next wave of that tier. You know.
Actually, I think Muslim is one of them. He's not your coach
anymore, but I think he was he was on path to do that.
Obviously. Chris Beard is someone that has had some momentum, and obviously he'd
still be at Texas if it weren't for the obvious situation that led to him
being fired. Hurley clearly has cemented himself as a guy. I mean,
not many coaches, regardless if they're active or not, have two titles uh
so, yeah, I mean Nate Oh, It's another guy that that has
went for the mid major route, and I think this year's breakthrough to get
to the Final four kind of puts him in that upper echelon of guys that
are kind of the new you know, the new elite tier of college basketball
coaches. And you know Cal He's he's still there too. He's part of
the old guard, but he's also still currently active and and and for the
most part, still sixful. What do you make of the Kentucky Arkansas fans
going back and forth, Because I'll say this, I'm all in on the
Hogs now, always have been, actually, because I've always been a low
key fan because I have family that lives in Fayetteville, and I'm somebody that
is a college basketball dork, Like I'm aware of what Arkansas basketball was in
the nineties and how Musk got hired and really reminded the college basketball world what
Arkansas can be as a basketball program. But you know, Kentucky fans and
Arkansas fans, they're both humongous fan bases. They both care about basketball in
a major way, and it's good for college basketball that this could be a
really legitimately heated rivalry and I'm ready for But what are your early impressions of
the back and forth from the Big Blue Nation, Because obviously that's something I
deal with every day here in Louisville as a Louisville fan. But man,
there's a lot of them. They're everywhere. You know. It's really interesting
because the conversation so far, it seems like Kentucky fans can't make up their
mind. There were so many of them who wanted Caliperry to leave, and
then there were so many of them who were convinced that they pushed Cali Perry
out. But now that you know he's at Arkansas and they're seeing him in
razorback red and Arkansas fans are excited. There's kind of like inconsistency in how
Kentucky fans feel, right, It's like they're going through an actual grieving process
because he was so successful for so long, even though the last few years
have not been great. You know, I still think that they are not
thrilled, especially considering it was in conference he left for a conference opponent,
a conference rival, a long time conference rival dating back to the nineties,
who and you know, Arkansas had kind of even had cal Perry's number under
Erg Musselman up until this year. Yeah, I'm looking forward to the trip
to Fayetteville for Kentucky and vice versa. When they come to Lexington, it's
going to be it's gonna be a big time, no doubt about it.
All Right, So what do you think has what do you think led to
Arkansas sort of having I think kind of a lull. I mean, obviously
they had some success here and there, but before Musselman there was what three
coaches there. Obviously Stan Heath was there for a little while, Pelfrey and
then I know that Mike Anderson was there, and you know, he had
a decent run, but really never fully broke through. You know, are
you surprised as as a guy who's follow at Arkansas probably your whole life,
Like, you know, it just surprised me that they stayed down that long.
Again, it wasn't like it was terrible, but when you know they
could they have the resources to be really, really good, and it just
surprised me. You know, honestly, I'd never I didn't really think about
him in the hierarchy of the sport for a long time. And then when
Musk got there and you could see what he was able to do. And
now Cal I don't see him doing anything different. I mean, he's gonna
get good players and probably went at a high level, and it just seemed
as if for a long stretch there they were just kind of not irrelevant,
but just kind of in a lull. Yeah, And it's one of those
things where you know, Nolan left, and it was kind of a bad
situation how Nolan left. I was very young when that happened, but I
remember hearing stories and doing my own research recently, Uh, you know,
just trying to figure out what the heck went wrong. But you know,
so that was kind of a a tash feet and then I think it boiled
down to a wrong hire to succeed Nolan Richardson. Uh. The lore around
uh Fayetteville is that there were three candidates to replace Nolan Richardson that Frank Broyle's
had and those candidates were Stan Heath, Mike Anderson, and Bill Self.
Now he chose Stan Heath coming off of a date appearance in his first his
first season ever as a head coach at Kent State, went to an Elite
eight. Bill Self wanted the job and you know, this is all kind
of hearsay, so I'm not saying this as fact, but as what I've
been told from people older than me who were involved in the situation. Essentially,
the thinking was Bill Self really wanted the job, was going to take
the job. Frank Broyle said, Okay, the job is yours. I
just need you to do a formal interview. Bill Self didn't want to do
that. Frank Broyle's past saw them. Then Frank Broyles wasn't gonna hire somebody
from Nolan in staff given how things ended with Nolan, so he hired stan
Heath. Then you know, stan Heath had a massive rebuild. They lost
Al Jefferson, they lost Andre Gudala, uh, who were most related to
come to Arkansas. Jefferson went straight prodald transfer to Arizona and uh then you
know he finally rebuilds and gets to two straight into Double A tournaments and I
don't think he ever won an NT Double A tournament game. So the next
hire is supposed to be an up and comer. Uh, well, they
were like down on their fifth or sixth option and this kind of got rehashed.
Recently, almost hired John Calipari after San Heath, he chose to say
in Memphis, Uh, there were other options in there as well, ended
up hiring Dana Altman left after a day. So there's all these like random
circumstances that led to different coaches. Like if you just interviewed beer Bill self
or you just give him the job, then he's there and we're not even
having this conversation right now because he could even still be sure at Arkansas.
Who knows how that works out. Or you know, if circumstances are different
and Kyle didn't have the returning team he had in Memphis, he's the head
coach at Arkansas, or Dana Altman already took the job, but instead it
was John Pelfrey, who did not have a strong tenure. The hire Mike
Anderson, and Mike Anderson had a difficult job because the program was in such
a mess. There are issues with eligibility, academics, all this sort of
stuff. He came in righted the ship and to his credit, you know,
he brought a level of respectability back to the program. It was consistent.
He made I think his final four years, made three NTAA tournament appearances.
Put some guys in the NBA, but ultimately just wasn't to the level
that the athletics apartment wanted or Yeah, is it safe to say that he
injected some life back in the program, and then when when Musk took over,
really he was thriving, and I guess now, I guess cal could
even take it to the next level exactly. It's one of those things where
you know it was Nolan was a historic Hall of fame coach, bad hire
bad higher, and then it's been like a stepping ever since then. Mike
Anderson carried the torch for a little bit to hire somebody like Eric Mosselman,
who carried the torch for a little bit so that Arkansas could hire another Hall
of Fame coach. It's the third Hall of Fame coach come through Arkansas.
Yeah, I mean, it's still just surprising how it all came about.
The Kentucky coach never usually walks away, but you know he is going to
a place that cares about basketball in a major way, and clearly they've got
the resources to compensate him for that. So I can't wait to see.
I know, we just ended the college basketball season, but seeing how the
roster comes together for Arkansas and just seeing what kind of momentum they have heading
into year one of the Calipery era will be will be something to see,
no doubt. But we appreciate the Tom Jackson, keep up the great work.
It's been great connecting with you, and I'll be following along my man.
Absolutely, Thank you so much for having me on. Looking forward to
keep listening to y'all on the radio, and then also keeping up with the
Louisville Cardinals moving forward. Really like the Pat Kelsey hire and looking forward to
seeing what he can do over there. Good stuff you brother. Again.
Always always good to catch up with folks who you meet along the way during
you know, whatever it is you call this sports media radio whatever, just
you know, maybe be in a loudmouth, but he does great work.
If you guys want to follow him on Twitter, he is at Jackson Collier,
JC hoops is the name, does great job. We got a quick
segment here on the other side to wrap at the four o'clock hour, and
then we're gonna keep this thing rolling along. It is Coffee and Company.
We are field by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety so we do have some
updated news on the on the Kentucky coaching search, and I you know,
there could be a scenario where they're not really going all in on. I
mean, Billy Donovan has already rejected Mitch Barnhart twice, and I mean he's
probably worth pursuing, but it's not really realistic to pursue him given the fact
that, like, you got to wait, and if you wait and then
he says no, like it's a bad look. Look, it's a wasted
time. So Dan Hurley, despite what others say, has said no,
and Scott Drew said no, Natoates has said no. And now John Rosstein
and twenty four seven Sports are reporting that Mark Pope at BYU as a candidate,
which he's a good coach. BYU is a good team this year.
They got bounced early in the tournament, but you know, he was a
good He had a good team this year and they were pretty good last year
too, I believe. So we shall see. But I mean, if
that's the case, if that's who ends up at Kentucky, I think what
it will not only do for us locally, but really in college basketball specifically,
It'll just let people know that the days of going and taking good coaches
that are in great situations, it's just not likely anymore. And that doesn't
mean that your program isn't good and it can't succeed at the highest levels that
it is, it has succeeded at before. It's just, you know,
coaches are content more so than than you know, than then. I guess
we realize, and maybe that's always been the case, but we do have
I mean, let's be honest with you, before Rick Patino, and even
after Patino with Mac, when Mack was in his first couple of years,
I mean Louisville for certain, in Kentucky clearly, I mean, other than
Billy g they've never had an unsuccessful coach. So with that said, I
think we viewed ourselves, not foolishly, but like we can we can get
anybody, because anybody who's ever coached here, you know, you know,
Louisville obviously hired Kenny Payne, that didn't work out, the end of Mac
didn't work out. But I think we had reason to feel like any coach
would want to come here for the obvious reasons, but also it's been proven
that if you can coach, you will win at a high level here.
But that's not I don't think that's that. I mean, Dan Hurley just
won two national championships. He didn't need Kentucky to do it, you know
what I mean? Like, I just think that would be a statement about
where college basketball coaching is as far as the profession and the new landscape of
that field, meaning college coaching is just totally different than what it used to
be. I'm sure it'll be looked at as Wow, these two blue bloods
really had to take it on the chin and realize they're not what they once
were. And I get that that would be the message by some, but
I just think more than anything, again, I don't think that at any
point Louisville or Kentucky at this point, like throughout the searches, Louisvill's is
over, Kentucky's is still going on. I don't think there's been a rejection
that is like damn, he couldn't get him. I know, the FAU
coach not picking Louisville is a bad look because of just that alone, it's
the FAU coach, but also he didn't want to take on what comes with
this job. So same thing with these guys that have turned out Kentucky.
Dan't Hurley doesn't need Kentucky. He's rolling. Scott Drew he didn't need Kentucky
either. Obviously his situation is a little different, just because I do think
it's more so based off of like personal preference and family and all that stuff.
But we'll see. I just have a I mean, I have a
hard time seeing that Mark Pope would be the guy. But A had a
hard time seeing Louisville hiring Josh Schertzer or Pat Kelsey, to be honest with
you, not because I think they're terrible coaches, but just because that is
not well put it this way. They've never hired a guy like that before.
So we shall see one more hour to go. Stick with us right
here, Coffee and Company, Filbuth Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety