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It's time for Coffee and Company,
fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine

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day. Now here's Nick Coffee.
It didn't lead the show today given the

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two day circus that was John Calipari's
departure in Lexington, but Yukon, I

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mean, what a dominant run.
The amount of domination and two straight tournaments

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not only resulting in two national championships, but only one. I mean only

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let's see here, the closest anybody
got to him this year was fourteen,

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and that was Bama in the tournament. That is, of course, this

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year thirteen for Miami. I mean, they were just dominant. And I

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think what makes this so rare?
It's rare enough to see a team go

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back to back and win consecutive national
championships. In fact, it's rare for

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the number one overall seed even win
it all. I mean, this is

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one of those things that I couldn't
believe, but sure enough, you know,

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you look into it. It's true. This is the first time the

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number one overall seeds won the national
tournament, the NCAA Tournament since Lowell did

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it in twenty thirteen. So hard
to give a team of credit for,

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you know, doing I guess what
you are expected to do when you are

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the top dog, but it doesn't
happen often. And I think what's scary

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for the rest of college basketball when
it comes to Dan Hurley is that I

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don't see anything that he's doing from
a basketball standpoint, from a personnel standpoint

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that can't be recreated every year.
They've got some guys on this team that

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are going to be drafted, Stefan
Castle, and they're big guy who again

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don't remember his name, cling,
Yeah, Clinging. So I mean,

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those guys are good players, but
you know, it's not as if they're

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once in a lifetime kind of talent. And I'm not here to tell you

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that their roster next year is going
to be just as good. But Dan

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Hurley's a hell of a coach,
and he took a few years to really

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kind of get it rolling. They
had that lost to New Mexico State two

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years ago in the first round,
and you know, Jeff Goodman, who

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was close to Hurley, said he
firmly believed that he thought he might lose

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his job with that loss because they
hadn't really broke through yet. Well then

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they hit their stride last year after
a little bit of a slump in January

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and then they've been rolling ever since. Just absolutely I mean just absolutely dominant.

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And I don't think it's slowing down
anytime soon. And there were other

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National Championship caliber teams where you would
say they're going to always be good.

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But man, you can't go get
another Anthony Davis, you know, or

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man Kimba Walker. Yeah, I
mean he's nobody's going to have a run

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like Kimba did well. Again,
these players are talented and they'd be good

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for any team, but I think
the formula he has as far as guys

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that fit the culture, fit what
they want to do. Tough, physical

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players, I mean, guys who
will buy in and really thrive under any

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role you ask of them. I
mean, I don't see that slowing down.

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And I'm not saying they're going to
win their third consecutive championship next year,

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because you really never know. It's
rare enough to see them do this.

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But I think Yukon winning six titles
in a matter of three years,

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I'm sorry, six titles in a
matter of twenty five years. And wha

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I said three years, I guess
just because I was thinking about them actually

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doing three in a row. But
since ninety nine and nine, they won

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six national championships. They're only two
behind Kentucky. They are the most dominant

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college basketball program in the last twenty
five years. And it's not close as

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far as just what they've accomplished.
And I don't see it. I don't

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see it slowing down. Maybe they
don't get win next year, maybe they

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don't get in next year, but
they're Elite eight, Final Four, and

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then they go back to back again. Like I think that's what Dan Hurley

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could do. He's that good of
a coach. But they only had one

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one loss in the calendar year of
twenty twenty four, and they only lost

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one. They only lost one game
when they were when they were at full

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strength. When they lost to Kansas. They didn't have Castle, they didn't

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have Klingon during their Seaton Hall loss, and then the other loss I believe

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was Creighton got him towards the end
of the year. But other than that,

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I mean that they they they're there. It's a special team, no

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doubt about it. And this is
something I wanted to show. I hope,

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let me see I hope this.
Yeah. So last uh, the

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heck where the heck is it.
There's a video clip I wanted to share

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because this is from two years ago. Might have been right after they lost

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to uh, might have been right
after they lost to Here here's Dan Hurley.

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This is actually four years ago.
I'm sorry, not two years ago.

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This was early on and his tenure
there where they weren't very good.

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And it's one thing to say this
because I think a lot of coaches would

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say something like this, and in
real time four years ago this probably wouldn't

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have really moved the needle much or
been a big surprise. But to hear

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him say this then and see what
he's doing now, it's it's I think

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a testament to how good of a
coach he is. We got some exciting

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young players that are going to help
lead us back. We're going to continue

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to recruit and develop and bring in
a type of players that will bring you

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come back. You know, people
better get us now, that's all.

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You better get us now because it's
common. He was right. He was

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right. Now, you know,
will he will he end up being,

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you know, a guy that people
look back and say, you know,

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is one of the best coaches of
all time. I mean, that's way

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too early to know. But I
mean, he's already won two titles in

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a matter of two years, and
that's rare. I mean that alone is

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rare, right, I mean,
keep in mind, like Cali Perry has

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won. An'm only bringing him up
because he's a guy that is viewed I

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think is one of the better coaches
and you know in college basketball now,

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and you know he's on his way
out of the uh you know, on

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his way out of Kentucky to go
to be so like, I just I

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don't know, just I think Dan
Hurley could really really thrive for the next

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ten years at Yukon if that's where
he stays, which I don't think he's

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gonna leave. But with Cali Perry
now officially letting everybody know that he's leaving,

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Mitch Barnhard and Kentucky can now formally
reach out to coaches, and they're

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gonna reach out to Dan Hurley,
right, Like, I don't think they

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just listen to what he said last
night and think, Okay, well,

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you know, I guess we'll not
guess, we won't waste a phone call.

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I mean, they're gonna ask him, and I don't believe he would

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go. But I also am not
somebody that thinks, you know, like

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what he said last night is just
you know, automatically means there's no point

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in even discussing it. That's the
way I say it. And here's what

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he Here's what he was asked last
night after the game. As far as

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the rumors about the Kentucky job,
Yeah, Dan, I hope I don't

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misquote you. But you said out
on the court something about Yukon giving you

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all the resources you need? Can
we interpret that to me? And you

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intend to be back at Yukon next
year? You're not going to entertain any

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conversations with anybody else that might have
a job coming open, and youmorrow,

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Yeah, yeah, yeah, I
don't think that's a concern. You know,

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my wife, you should have her
answer that. Yeah, we can

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maybe arrange at press conference for miss
early in the morning. Congratulations coach,

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Yeah, thank you. Yeah,
she'll she'll answer that question better than I

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can. So that's like a weird
like that, that's a laugh like that,

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what a silly question, But it's
more so about you know, it

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would be his wife having the issue, like what do you make have you

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heard? That's first time you've heard
that, John, I think I saw

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the quote. I didn't hear him
say it. Yeah, that was the

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first time. Ah. That doesn't
make me feel like he's lying, But

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it also is not a direct like
no, like you know what I mean.

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Yeah, I think he really said
it in the best way that he

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could. Yeah. I mean,
he's just like Pat Kelsey talking about the

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wife and getting a little humor out
of it. And you would think that

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Yukon would know that regardless of what
the hell any what happens with any job,

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they got to give this man more
money. Yes, there's no doubt

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about it. So you know,
maybe he wants to use some leverage here,

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although I think from a leverage standpoint, I mean I don't think he

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even needs it, Like they're gonna
need to keep if they like just you

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know, if Kentucky doesn't go in
that direction and they've already got Scott Drew

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lined up to be the guy,
then I mean, maybe Yukon doesn't try

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to get him a new deal,
but that would be foolish, right,

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But then again, Ukon doesn't have
the money that a lot of schools have.

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They just don't. So with that
said, I still believe that it

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got if it got down to where
he was offered money that he simply can't

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refuse. Yukon would maybe not even
have it right away, but they would

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basically say, okay, we'll match
whatever. We will make it work.

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We'll you know, we'll We'll have
the entire fan base donate, plasma and

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donate and take the money from that
to to make sure we can pay for

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this coach who you know has been
phenomenal for us. But I don't think

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he's going to go there. I
don't believe Jay Wright wants to get back

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in at all. And the Billy
Donovan name continues to be discussed as if,

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like, you know, he might
want to do it. He's not

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killing it in the NBA. Maybe
he misses college. There's a connection to

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Kentucky because of Rick Patino, and
I I'm not saying that that's an ascent

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on thing to come up with,
But what nobody else seems to be discussing

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is that he left college basketball because
he was tired of all the recruiting that

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he had to do every year.
This was before it became an entirely different

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world where you have to re recruit
your players like on a daily basis.

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It seems you got to make sure
that people outside of the program are putting

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up a bunch of money, Like
you got a campaign to get people to

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raise money so you can have so
there's money available to pay players. Like

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it's a totally different world than it
was ten years ago when he walked away.

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So I just have a hard time
thinking at this stage in his career

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he'd have any interest now Natoates comment
last night, I mean, I Natoates

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is one of those guys that,
like I don't he's still relatively new to

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the college basketball world. I have
no no, I have no way to

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know if he's being one thousand percent
sincere about what he said about wanting to

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be at Alabama and bring them their
first national championship in basketball. But I

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actually think if Natoates might have thought
that Kentucky was already looking for a new

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coach and they hadn't reached out to
him, so he didn't want it to

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be out there because he was up
there as a list, a listed candidate

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by just about everybody. He had
decent odds to become their next head coach

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compared to some others, So maybe
he just wanted to get it out there,

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kind of like what's his name,
Norvelle did when Alabama was open.

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No, it's chance in hell they
were going to offer that job to norvel

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but he wanted to make it look
as if he turned him down. And

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I don't know if that was the
message here from Nat Oates And maybe he's

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being fully sincere. But now that
the job is open and they're reaching out,

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like maybe he would pick up the
phone and maybe he would be a

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guy they would go after. I
mean, Bama they got a lot of

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resources too, they're in the SEC, they got a big fan base.

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But Bama could lose their basketball coach. I think without all, if he

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didn't have that huge buy out,
I think there's a lot of schools they

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could probably get him. Maybe not
a lot, but I mean, as

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much as there are some coaches that
don't mind being a little bit, you

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know, in the background, compared
to the major sport of football, if

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Bama you can win six straight national
championships, you are going to be a

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distant, distant, distant secondary option
for entertainment and interest and there's nothing you

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can do about it. But he
said, bamination fully committed to this team

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in this university. We've already accomplished
some great things here, and there is

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nothing I want more than the University
of Alabama to win it's first national championship

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men's basketball. Despite any rumors to
the contrary, rest assured that I will

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continue to pursue. I will continue
that pursuit as our head coach role Tide.

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So maybe he's telling the truth and
what I don't know because I've never

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been a college coach. I've never
been a you know, never been in

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that world. I know some of
them, but how scary is the UK

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job? Right? People want the
money, they want the fame, they

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want the notoriety, they want to
be a big deal. But maybe they've

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also, you know, seen other
coaches kind of crash and burn when the

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spotlights on it, and you know
there's pressure because of how important it is,

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and they just think, yeah,
you know what, I'm actually pretty

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comfortable here. I don't I don't
want to risk that, right. I

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think it all just depends on personal
preference, personality, kind of how you're

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wired as a human being. Like
I think it's quite clear Pat Kelsey is

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somebody that absolutely is energized and loves
every bit of how crazy we can be

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as a fan base and how much
we care. Now will he deliver and

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give us the results? That remains
to be seen. We'll have to wait

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and see. There's no way to
know that right now. But I think

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to give Hurd some credit despite this
being his fourth choice at least third,

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this is somebody that checked a box
that is really important. Now, if

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he doesn't win, none of this
matters. But somebody who will really just

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be fueled by the fact that we
that this is that big of a deal

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to us. You could hear it
any time you hear you can hear that

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from I think I think you can
sense that anytime you hear Pat Kelsey talk

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or right, five two, five
seventy nine hundred is the number if you

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guys want to jump in and give
us a call. We'll also get to

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the text line coming in just a
moment. But let's let's go to Jerry.

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Jerry, you're on Sports Talk seven
ninety. What was happening? Man?

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What's up? Nick? Hey?
Ben Man? Not too bad about

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yourself. I'm hanging in there,
man, I've been I'm excited about Pat

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Kelsey first of all, though I'm
on top of little Danny Hurley. All

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right, I'm a big basketball jokie. And so when I watched yukon this

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year on Fox, they do those
big East games with the live look ins.

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Yeah, and uh, early on, I said to myself, and

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I told a bunch of my buddies, I said, he's the closest thing

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to Rick Patino in his prime that
I've seen. I'm pretty sure you me

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and said that at one point too. Yeah, his huddles are unbelievable.

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I've really I've done a little bit
of a deep dive into him. I

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watched a lot of his videos on
YouTube and and and you know, he's

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only fifty one years old. I
said a while back. I might have

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said it on this show before he
won his title. Last night, his

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second I said he's got one to
four left inning. So I think he's

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got one to three left inning.
I don't think he's done. I think

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he's Hall of Fame coach, as
long as he doesn't burn out quick.

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You know, hopefully he stays up
there. Don't want him down here,

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that's right. I think his father
may be his greatest asset. I think

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he's a sounding board for him.
Wealth and knowledge probably keeps him grounded when

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he when he should. You know
when he gets out of hand. I

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encourage anybody that wants to really learn
more about him. I watched the practice

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of his the other day, not
a full one, you know, just

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clips of it, and he was
soaking wet. That guy is intense.

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You think he's intense on the sideline
watch one of his practices. Okay,

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I'm hopeful and I envision that Pat
Kelsey's practices will be the same. I'm

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fired up about him. Uh he's
still got it yet to prove to me.

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Sure. Uh, he's got to
get the players and then he's got

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to win. And that's the bottom
line. They remind me of each other

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a lot, though, But I
will give Pat Kelsey. You know how

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he said in his interview today.
I think it was that there's a million

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assistant coaches in Louisville. Well there
are, and I'm one of them.

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And uh, and this, as
you go around the interview circuit, mix

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it up a little bit, because
we've heard a lot of these stories already,

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and we want new stuff, you
know, we want new material and

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and and we don't want repetition necessarily. And he and he's tending to repeat

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himself a little bit, which is
fine. But mix it up a little

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bit, pat you know. That's
all I can say. And like I

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said, I'm real hopeful they do
remind me of each other. Their energy.

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Yeah, the way they command a
huddle. I think that is spot

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on, Jerry, because I think
that there's just something about you can just

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sense the huddle the players, like
there's a level of you know, maybe

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not matching his energy, because who
could. But I know exactly what you

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mean as far as just kind of
commanding, you know, having a presence

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that can really command all the attention
and people may not match your intensity,

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but they'll match you know, your
your attention to detail those kind of things.

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One thing that Hurley said in one
of the videos I watched was this.

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He said, of course, you've
heard a lot of coaches say this.

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He said, our practices are tough, so the games are easy.

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And I've heard that a million times. But the one thing I like about

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Hurley is this. He says,
on game day, I'm their cheerleader.

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I'm I switch rolls a little bit. And if you watch him, he's

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really not in there, in there, in there, He's not digging on

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him too much. You know,
he's encouraging mostly he might be on the

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refs, he might be on the
opposite players like Edie last night, but

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he's really he really is a cheerleader. Hurley is on the sideline. I

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think he's I think he's off the
charts. Good man. I tell you

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what, I'm I'm super impressed with
the guy. Like I said, I'm

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calling one to three more titles for
the guy, and I hope they're all

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at Yukon, not down here.
I got man. Thanks Jerry, appreciate

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your brother. Yeah, that is
a good line. There's a there's a

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thousand assistant coaches in Louisville, and
he's I mean, that's the one thing

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that stood out on day one,
and it's all, it's all, it's

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it's such a when you're meeting the
like a lot of people had never heard

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him talk before before he showed up
to become the coacher, because again,

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he wasn't somebody that was really high
on the radar. Always believed he was

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involved. And you know, I
remember hearing that he was the first coach

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that that Josh talked to, and
I felt like, okay, well,

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you know that that's deserved. He's
a guy that a lot of people respect

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and like, but I just never
thought he would actually end up being the

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guy, and sure enough he is. But you know, I think the

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balance that he discussed there, Jerry, as far as like he's more of

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a cheerleader on game day, like, I think that could work really well.

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I think it could be a good
balance to where your practices are super

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intense and just super crazy, and
yet you know, whenever you get out

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there there's a relaxed level, not
to where you're like casual and not playing

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hard. But I had not heard
that. But I'm glad you share there

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with this, Jerry, because I
like that. But again, the one

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thing among many that stood out the
day he was introduced as the coach here

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was that the the he was very
well aware of the situation and very I

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guess more than anything, it was
just him being self deprecating, right,

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but he was well aware of the
situation and embraced it. And that that's

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a little thing that'll nothing, that'll
have nothing to do with actual results that

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are really going to be what's needed
to determine if this is if this is

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working, or if it's not.
But this guy is I mean, can

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I say it, like he's just
one billion percent different than what we just

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had in every way. And I'm
not even talking about results on the court.

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I'm talking about the way in which
he approaches this role, this job

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that is the Louisville basketball coach.
He's been doing it for less than two

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weeks, and I can't tell you
just on the show. Since we started

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the show at three o'clock, I've
got two different text messages of people who

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have either seen him out and about
and he was, you know, same

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energy guy, or he came and
talked to like their company, or he

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met you know, so like this
guy. Maybe you know, maybe we

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will burn him out. I hope
not, but that's just that's look the

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first step, right, just knowing
what this is and what is asked of

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you. That's half the battle.
And we can be nuts as a fan

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base, and I wouldn't have it
any other way. All Right, we

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got a little bit of time left
here before we say goodbye. We'll take

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a time out and talk a little
more about the Scott Drew situation. Because

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when I say situation, I mean
like he's going to be a candidate,

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and the more I think about it, on that's gonna be their coach isn't

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it. It seems like now it
would be more underwhelming. But maybe it's

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because it's so obvious. But I
think I and it's safe for Mitch.

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And Mitch is a safe guy.
I mean, he just now started letting

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fans drink alcoholic game. He's safe
as can be. All right, quick

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break, we'll come back on the
other side. Keep it rolling along right

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00:20:18.720 --> 00:20:21.920
here. Coffee and Company. Feel
about Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety.

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00:20:22.920 --> 00:20:29.079
Good jams today, John, good
stuff. I like whatever you surprise me

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00:20:29.240 --> 00:20:33.839
with tunes that you know I hadn't
thought about it in forever. This is

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00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:37.039
one of them. How old is
this one? Do you know? Two

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00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:40.960
thousand and three? Say you're playing
the high school hits? You're playing these

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00:20:41.160 --> 00:20:44.799
fun for me. These are the
in the car with my parents as a

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00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:48.119
seven year old hits. Yeah,
thanks for making me feel old, Thanks

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00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:49.559
for making me feel like an old
man. All right. It is Coffee

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00:20:49.559 --> 00:20:52.440
and Company, and we are fueled
by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety.

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00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:56.079
Appreciates you hanging out with us,
and we also appreciate, appreciate,

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I appreciate you guys being a part
of the show. Loaded text on which

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I'm going to get you here in
just a second, and I really mean

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it this time. In fact,
I went through and you know, picked

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out some texts that have come in
that I think are certainly worth reading.

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So we'll do that in just a
second. But let's go back to the

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phone lines now and bring in Nino. Nino, how are we doing?

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Brother? Hey man? How you
doing? My good sir, I hain't

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heard talk to you in a while, but I've been listening. Appreciate that.

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00:21:19.799 --> 00:21:22.799
Uh, no problem, man,
I just got one question. How

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00:21:22.839 --> 00:21:27.599
come Brad Stevens. I might be
late to the party. Maybe his name

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has came up with a lot.
I don't understand why nobody has maybe got

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called him, like even with Loisville. I mean, you know, I

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think he's a hot coaching candidate if
he wants to even coaching. Yeah,

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so that's that's what it comes down
to. Nino is I think I don't

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think he would have Nothing tells me
he would have any interest in coming back

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to college because he's already in Boston
and he actually has I mean not to

335
00:21:56.200 --> 00:21:57.839
say his job is like easy,
but he's in the front office kind of

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00:21:57.839 --> 00:22:00.920
in like a GM role, and
he still makes a whole lot of money.

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00:22:00.920 --> 00:22:06.279
He signed a big contract with Boston, so I just feel like him

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00:22:06.279 --> 00:22:08.200
turning. So he turned down Indiana. It was it five six years ago

339
00:22:08.319 --> 00:22:11.839
something like that, and they offered
him ten million dollars a year at that

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time, which would make him the
highest paid coach. And he is from

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Indiana, that's his roots. And
when he turned that down, that kind

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00:22:18.119 --> 00:22:22.000
of told me that, like he's
telling everybody, he has no interest in

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coming back to the college game,
makes sense, Yeah, tell of a

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00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:30.720
coach. Yeah, I like you, man, he's young and from Indiana,

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so he wouldn't be far from home, you know. But yeah,

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I could understand. It's got to
be a lot of pressure with these college

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jobs and now the portal. You
don't even have time to develop the kid.

348
00:22:41.880 --> 00:22:47.240
And its changed, man, Yeah
it has so man, I don't

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00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:49.759
know what Kentucky's gonna do. Man, I think I think they're in a

350
00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:56.200
pickle because I don't think Billy Donovan's
gonna come and Scott Drew now, I

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don't think none of those guys are
gonna come. So it's ooh, yeah,

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00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:02.880
I end up buying. I hate
to be a Kentucky fan right now,

353
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but great, I'll be listening,
appreciate you, you know. Yeah,

354
00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:10.759
So let's let's just specifically talk about
those names, because I I I've

355
00:23:10.799 --> 00:23:12.960
mentioned throughout that I just don't see
Billy Donovan having any interest in the job.

356
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And apparently there are some NBA folks, and I'll get the specifics as

357
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far as who these people are if
it is if it's you know, just

358
00:23:21.839 --> 00:23:25.160
sources from somebody, or if it's
actually a reporter that's putting his name on

359
00:23:25.200 --> 00:23:29.200
it, you know, saying,
hey, Billy Donovan is is you know,

360
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is not the guy yet. Let's
see here, this is from Let's

361
00:23:33.559 --> 00:23:41.440
see I'm reading it from KSR,
mister Jack Pilgrim, our buddy. It

362
00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:45.599
says here national reporters do not expect
Billy Donova to be Kentucky's next head coach,

363
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So I guess that's family. Goodman
and Norlander have all expressed that they

364
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just don't see him wanting to return
to the college game, which again,

365
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that's to me that seems like a
pretty obvious thing. But there's really no

366
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harm in in like seeing because again, he has been a really good coach,

367
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but he's also never done it in
this new world, and that's a

368
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huge part of it that I don't
think people like Donovan and Right great coaches.

369
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You'd be foolish to not take them
if they want the job. But

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you also have to understand the job
has changed since they've done it, and

371
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I think they would have the ability
to adjust and adapt. But that's what

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made Jay Wright walk away from it. Why would he be energized to come

373
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back whenever he walked away from what
was already becoming again a bigger ask of

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him, And he essentially said last
night, he has no interest. And

375
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I don't, you know, I
get why those names come up for jobs

376
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like this, But again, when
people walk away from a job, they're

377
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not like available because they've been laid
off and they're looking for work. They

378
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didn't want to work anymore and they
wanted to do something different. And yes,

379
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Kentucky is a big opportunity, but
again it's also a big responsibility that

380
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would just make you miss having to
you know, think about this. If

381
00:24:55.759 --> 00:25:00.559
you're Jay Wright and like next year
you put together roster and obviously it's podge

382
00:25:00.960 --> 00:25:03.480
mixture of guys and it doesn't work
out you're five hundred or something, you

383
00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:07.200
would be thinking about man, I
was already making millions. I was already

384
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proven as a legend, and I
could do TV and again make millions and

385
00:25:11.759 --> 00:25:14.240
still be a part of the game. Like what did I sign myself up

386
00:25:14.279 --> 00:25:17.319
for? That's not an insult or
a knock on Kentucky. It's just looking

387
00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:22.119
at this position, this opportunity for
somebody and putting a human element to it

388
00:25:22.160 --> 00:25:29.440
as far as just like like right
now, those dudes aren't wired to put

389
00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:33.160
in I think the work that's needed
to really thrive and succeed at Kentucky.

390
00:25:33.680 --> 00:25:36.039
That's why I do think you need
a younger coach. Now, you're not

391
00:25:36.079 --> 00:25:40.240
going to go get a young guy
that's never proven anything, but Donovan and

392
00:25:40.319 --> 00:25:42.359
Riot are not. I mean,
how old is Billy Donovan. I'm gonna

393
00:25:42.400 --> 00:25:45.200
look it up. Take a guest, John, I don't have. Wouldn't

394
00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:48.759
shock me if you told me he's
sixty, which I don't think he is.

395
00:25:48.799 --> 00:25:52.160
But it also wouldn't shock me if
he's like way younger than I expect

396
00:25:52.319 --> 00:25:56.400
I think he's I'm gonna say fifty
five. He's fifty eight, Okay,

397
00:25:56.480 --> 00:26:00.880
so that's that's not that's not young, not old. He could coach for

398
00:26:00.920 --> 00:26:03.319
a long time. But like I
just don't know if that's the direction you

399
00:26:03.359 --> 00:26:04.359
want to go. Now again,
it's safe, you could win. They're

400
00:26:04.400 --> 00:26:07.359
really good coaches. I'm not saying
these guys aren't worthy of the gig.

401
00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:14.759
It's just what it takes to be
really successful at Kentucky. You think these

402
00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:17.079
guys have been around the game long
enough to where they know what it is,

403
00:26:18.400 --> 00:26:21.880
and I just I think it's it'd
be real shocked to see that they

404
00:26:21.880 --> 00:26:26.720
would pursue this level of a responsibility. And yeah, money is clearly a

405
00:26:26.759 --> 00:26:32.680
motivator for every human being, but
these guys got a lot of money already,

406
00:26:32.759 --> 00:26:37.799
right, I mean, all right, So Donovan, right, we

407
00:26:37.839 --> 00:26:44.119
talked about NATO's comment. Dan Hurley, I'm looking to see if Yukon is

408
00:26:44.119 --> 00:26:45.440
going to sign him to an extension
in the next two days or so.

409
00:26:45.480 --> 00:26:49.440
I'm surprised it actually hasn't happened just
yet. And then from there, I

410
00:26:49.480 --> 00:26:56.400
feel like I keep missing one name
Hurley, you say, Drew Donovan,

411
00:26:56.920 --> 00:27:00.720
Yeah, but I feel like there's
one outside of Drew, because Drew Drew

412
00:27:00.759 --> 00:27:02.519
is the guy that I just assume
is going to get the job. But

413
00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:11.480
then again, Jay Wright McKeith right
oates Drew Hurley, I'm Donovan. Yeah,

414
00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:15.440
And I really feel like those five
like have collectively been the names talked

415
00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:18.480
about more than anybody else, right, Like, the next guy on the

416
00:27:18.519 --> 00:27:23.079
list would be probably Bruce Pearl or
Miller, Yeah, Sean Miller, which,

417
00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:29.000
yeah, Mark Pope. So as
much as I would love to know

418
00:27:29.039 --> 00:27:33.880
that Kentucky would have a dork as
a coach in Scott Drew, a guy

419
00:27:33.880 --> 00:27:37.400
who has like, you know,
he's I'm not gonna say what a postgame

420
00:27:37.680 --> 00:27:41.000
show caller had said at one point
because it'd being a it would be you

421
00:27:41.079 --> 00:27:44.839
know, inappropriate to do that for
the second consecutive day, but like it's

422
00:27:44.880 --> 00:27:47.119
also something I just totally think,
like, yeah, you know, I

423
00:27:47.119 --> 00:27:48.680
get it. He's very vanilla,
and if he wins at a high level

424
00:27:48.720 --> 00:27:53.680
and brings an elite talent, nobody's
gonna care because that's what matters. But

425
00:27:55.599 --> 00:28:04.000
Patino and Cal gave Kentucky a level
of coolness. Cal it with Cal,

426
00:28:04.039 --> 00:28:07.599
it wore off and with Cal like
we hated it as Louisville fans, but

427
00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:14.200
he was arrogant. He you know, he took all the passion and craziness

428
00:28:14.279 --> 00:28:18.160
that the fan base had and he
you know, basically put him on his

429
00:28:18.240 --> 00:28:21.279
back and said let's ride like,
Look, I'm gonna be the are,

430
00:28:21.799 --> 00:28:23.640
I'm gonna be arrogant, and I'm
gonna talk about how we're gonna eat first.

431
00:28:23.640 --> 00:28:26.720
We're gonna come to your town and
beat your team, and we'll take

432
00:28:26.759 --> 00:28:29.319
your players if you want them.
Like those kind of things that he would

433
00:28:29.359 --> 00:28:33.400
say, and that I think gave
that fan base life like they they liked

434
00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:37.319
that now they also probably don't like
it whenever he talks down to him like

435
00:28:37.359 --> 00:28:40.799
he did recently. But I'm just
saying those were guys that it points in

436
00:28:40.839 --> 00:28:45.640
their career at Kentucky, but Tino
and Cal were larger than life. That

437
00:28:45.680 --> 00:28:48.640
ain't happening with Skytdrew. That's just
not who he is. He could be

438
00:28:48.680 --> 00:28:52.079
a guy that wins to in a
row like Dan Hurley just did, but

439
00:28:52.160 --> 00:28:57.079
he's just not that guy. And
the media obligations that he has had at

440
00:28:57.119 --> 00:29:03.160
Baylor five percent of what he would
deal with in a year at Kentucky always

441
00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:10.000
having to be on Like, I
think it makes perfect sense for Mitch Barnhart

442
00:29:10.039 --> 00:29:12.079
to go after a guy that has
won a national championship, recruits at a

443
00:29:12.119 --> 00:29:18.440
really high level, is a really
good coach that alone would make it a

444
00:29:18.480 --> 00:29:21.839
no brainer to go after him,
right, maybe not have him number one,

445
00:29:21.839 --> 00:29:23.880
but clearly he's going to be in
the Knicks because everything I just mentioned,

446
00:29:23.880 --> 00:29:29.279
But also they have a close personal
relationship, they're friends, so like,

447
00:29:29.319 --> 00:29:30.160
I just think he's going to be
the guy. But then again,

448
00:29:32.480 --> 00:29:34.079
would he want to deal with everything
that comes there? Would he want to

449
00:29:34.119 --> 00:29:37.759
come and work for a guy that
he considers a friend. That would be

450
00:29:37.759 --> 00:29:40.279
weird, wouldn't it, right?
Like, I don't know how close these

451
00:29:40.279 --> 00:29:45.279
guys actually are, but I don't
think it's just that they occasionally see each

452
00:29:45.279 --> 00:29:49.279
other like NCAA events or something like. I think they genuinely have a friendship.

453
00:29:49.920 --> 00:29:53.759
And if I'm close friends with somebody, I could make it work.

454
00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:56.119
But I wouldn't want to work for
him, you know what I mean.

455
00:29:56.680 --> 00:30:00.920
So it'll probably be him, that's
my guess. But I'm also going to

456
00:30:00.960 --> 00:30:03.920
put it out there that if he
does in fact decide to say no,

457
00:30:04.400 --> 00:30:07.559
or maybe they don't even really full
on pursue him, it may just be

458
00:30:07.559 --> 00:30:12.599
because both sides realize what this job
is. It's just not a good personality

459
00:30:12.640 --> 00:30:15.599
fit. And if it's not him, then I don't really know who else

460
00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:18.960
it would be I really don't what
are the odds. I don't know if

461
00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:22.640
we've talked about this, but what
are the odds that Rick Patino actually I

462
00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:26.000
mean, maybe he does want it, but what are the odds that he

463
00:30:26.039 --> 00:30:30.799
would actually get this. I don't
see a scenario where Barnhart would hire him.

464
00:30:30.839 --> 00:30:34.559
But I mean, if if those
guys turn, Like if you're a

465
00:30:34.640 --> 00:30:40.240
Kentucky fan, and those five guys
that we've discussed and everybody seemingly has discussed

466
00:30:40.440 --> 00:30:42.680
among the fan base, if they're
done and they're out, like, there's

467
00:30:42.680 --> 00:30:45.319
just no scenario and you got to
move on. If you could have Sean

468
00:30:45.359 --> 00:30:49.519
Miller or Mark Pope, you're freaking
wanting Rick Patino, right, it'd be

469
00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:53.119
hard for Barnhart to not just give
it to Mark Pope though, Yeah,

470
00:30:53.160 --> 00:30:59.200
I feel like at that point,
but man, and he may be really

471
00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:04.880
good there, But I just I
think outside of those outside of the you

472
00:31:04.920 --> 00:31:15.559
know, outside of Hurley, Wright, Donovan, Oates and Drew and that's

473
00:31:15.599 --> 00:31:18.279
it, right, those are the
files with the fire, I think anybody

474
00:31:18.359 --> 00:31:21.880
else is probably going to be initially
a little underwhelming for their fan base.

475
00:31:22.559 --> 00:31:25.359
But that doesn't mean it's a bad
hire. In fact that's normal. I

476
00:31:25.400 --> 00:31:30.079
mean, I think the fact that
you are talking about two programs that care

477
00:31:30.160 --> 00:31:34.400
so much about college basketball as far
as their fans, it's damn near impossible

478
00:31:36.200 --> 00:31:38.880
to have a hire that is not
going to be viewed as a real concern

479
00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:41.599
because people are that worried about it. Like it's just, you know,

480
00:31:42.079 --> 00:31:45.799
it's part of it, all right. This text came in earlier that I

481
00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:48.279
wanted to get to. It says, Nick, is there anybody happier than

482
00:31:48.279 --> 00:31:52.640
your boy Matt Jones? Cali Perry
hating him couldn't have been a good thing

483
00:31:52.759 --> 00:31:56.119
for any of his business ventures.
I don't know if Cal Perry hated him,

484
00:31:56.119 --> 00:31:59.559
but I do know that there was
not a relationship there anymore. And

485
00:31:59.599 --> 00:32:05.039
I'm sure Matt is probably, like
any fan, excited because there's a new

486
00:32:05.079 --> 00:32:08.279
era and that alone was I mean, that was needed. And I'm sure

487
00:32:08.319 --> 00:32:12.759
he's probably relieved to know that the
next coach that comes in, whoever,

488
00:32:12.759 --> 00:32:15.480
it may be, like, I
don't know what the relationship would be,

489
00:32:15.559 --> 00:32:19.279
but like it won't be what it
was with Cal because Cal. You know,

490
00:32:20.079 --> 00:32:22.960
people can think I'm you know,
saying this because I'm friends with Matt.

491
00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:27.519
But the level of obsession that Cal
had for Matt because he felt betrayed

492
00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:32.720
by him, like it it's it's
insane. So I'm sure he's happy like

493
00:32:32.759 --> 00:32:37.440
any fan, that there's gonna be
a fresh start and they're going to have

494
00:32:37.480 --> 00:32:43.599
a new era, and that again, that alone is exciting and at times

495
00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:46.880
I feel like saying this, but
it just seems like a stupid thing to

496
00:32:46.920 --> 00:32:51.599
say, because it seems like something
that doesn't need to be said. On

497
00:32:51.720 --> 00:32:54.640
what planet is it beneficial for me
in any way? If Louisville is not

498
00:32:54.720 --> 00:33:00.200
really good. Same thing with Matt, like I would assume anything that he

499
00:33:00.240 --> 00:33:05.200
has any business interest in or any
like, you know, his his radio

500
00:33:05.319 --> 00:33:10.119
show, his you know anything like
there's never a positive when things suck.

501
00:33:12.200 --> 00:33:16.039
I mean, so I'm sure he'll
he's happy like any but any fan.

502
00:33:16.160 --> 00:33:20.240
And I hope it's not, you
know, because of a personal thing with

503
00:33:20.359 --> 00:33:22.440
Cal, but I wouldn't know.
All right, let's get to our last

504
00:33:22.440 --> 00:33:23.880
break. We'll come back on the
other side. Squeeze in a few more

505
00:33:23.880 --> 00:33:28.240
texts that have come in, one
about Pat Kelsey, another one about Cal.

506
00:33:28.440 --> 00:33:30.839
So we'll finish strong here it is
Coffee and Company Field. But Thornton's

507
00:33:30.839 --> 00:33:37.279
on sports Talk seven ninety six,
says Nick as an as An n k

508
00:33:37.599 --> 00:33:39.920
U in Northern Kentucky. Alum,
I remember, I remember when Pat Kelsey

509
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:43.279
was going to be hired when I
was a student there. It was a

510
00:33:43.319 --> 00:33:45.400
done deal, I believe, but
didn't happen. Do you know why?

511
00:33:45.200 --> 00:33:49.319
In fact, I do know what
led to that not And you know,

512
00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:51.960
I don't know if it was a
done deal, but he was at Winthrop

513
00:33:52.200 --> 00:33:54.240
Is before he got the job at
Charleston. He's from obviously the Cincinnati area,

514
00:33:54.720 --> 00:34:00.200
and n KUH was apparently able to
pay him more than win Through could.

515
00:34:00.200 --> 00:34:04.119
I don't know the financial situation at
either university, but I think where

516
00:34:04.119 --> 00:34:07.799
it fell apart is that they could
not come to an agreement on a buyout

517
00:34:07.799 --> 00:34:14.119
if he was to leave NKU,
meaning obviously I think anybody taking that job,

518
00:34:14.920 --> 00:34:17.679
especially a young rising coach like Kelsey, I mean, I don't think

519
00:34:19.119 --> 00:34:22.480
NKU could be surprised that he would
want to have a specific buyout in place

520
00:34:22.480 --> 00:34:25.559
to where if he did elevate from
there to a higher gig, it would

521
00:34:25.599 --> 00:34:30.079
be financially doable. So I don't
know if that's exactly what ended up happening,

522
00:34:30.079 --> 00:34:31.119
but I do know that was at
least some part of it, and

523
00:34:31.119 --> 00:34:34.480
he would have done well there and
we'd probably would have been more familiar with

524
00:34:34.559 --> 00:34:37.679
him, just because it's closer than
you know, Winthrope and College to Charleston.

525
00:34:38.159 --> 00:34:40.880
This says, Nick, put your
bias aside. What grade would you

526
00:34:40.920 --> 00:34:45.280
give Cali Perry for his tenure in
Lexington? When you say put my bias

527
00:34:45.320 --> 00:34:49.239
to side, I mean, I
think I can be fair. I mean,

528
00:34:49.280 --> 00:34:52.320
heck, I get I assume this
is coming from a Kentucky fan.

529
00:34:52.360 --> 00:34:57.119
I mean there are Louisville fans that
have disowned me just because that I've said

530
00:34:57.159 --> 00:34:59.199
that he's a good coach. I
mean he's not great. I don't think

531
00:34:59.199 --> 00:35:00.920
he's a great end game coach as
far as adjustments and that kind of stuff.

532
00:35:00.920 --> 00:35:04.679
But I mean he had a formula
that worked really well, and you

533
00:35:04.719 --> 00:35:07.679
can claim it's, you know,
all related to talent and he rolls the

534
00:35:07.679 --> 00:35:13.880
balls out, but I mean results
do speak for themselves, and even if

535
00:35:13.880 --> 00:35:16.079
it's because he loaded up with talent, like that's part of the job.

536
00:35:16.320 --> 00:35:20.199
So I don't think he's a great
coach, but he's a good coach and

537
00:35:20.239 --> 00:35:22.559
he's in the Hall of Fame,
and I think that's a really tough answer

538
00:35:22.599 --> 00:35:27.000
to give as far as the great
and I know, sounding like I'm copping

539
00:35:27.000 --> 00:35:30.000
out and give you an answer,
but I think it's it's almost impossible because

540
00:35:30.000 --> 00:35:32.920
here's there's so many different ways to
look at it. If you're just going

541
00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:37.039
to look at John Calipari's existence in
Lexington and what he accomplished in a fourteen

542
00:35:37.119 --> 00:35:44.800
year period, four final fours,
a national championship, six SEC titles siccess

543
00:35:44.840 --> 00:35:50.039
if SEC. I think conference titles. I believe it was. I mean

544
00:35:51.199 --> 00:35:53.920
that is good for anybody to accomplish
those things in a fourteen year window.

545
00:35:54.800 --> 00:35:59.800
So I think you would say,
you know, despite really only missing the

546
00:35:59.800 --> 00:36:05.840
turnurnament what twice, only miss the
tournament twice? I mean, it's the

547
00:36:05.880 --> 00:36:07.400
worst seed he got in the tournament, an eight seed. That same year

548
00:36:07.440 --> 00:36:12.440
they went to the National championship game. So I think it's an a.

549
00:36:13.559 --> 00:36:16.000
But I understand why others would say, how the hell is it an a?

550
00:36:16.199 --> 00:36:19.480
Look at all the NBA players he
had. Well, again, that's

551
00:36:19.480 --> 00:36:22.760
a different way to look at it. Did he underachieve? Absolutely underachieved,

552
00:36:23.719 --> 00:36:28.880
But I think you can underachieve based
off of what people expect of you from

553
00:36:28.960 --> 00:36:30.840
the level of talent you bring in
and what you did in your first five

554
00:36:30.880 --> 00:36:34.760
to six years. But it still
wouldn't mean that you can look at an

555
00:36:34.800 --> 00:36:38.840
overall fourteen year run and say that
it's not anything but a big success.

556
00:36:39.159 --> 00:36:42.840
But makes sense here, Yeah,
I mean I think you can throw like

557
00:36:42.880 --> 00:36:45.360
the A minus in there if you
want, and two if you're doing minuses

558
00:36:45.360 --> 00:36:49.199
and pluses. Yeah, I think
the A minus would be certainly, certainly

559
00:36:49.199 --> 00:36:52.480
worthy given the fact that he had
I mean, let's be real, the

560
00:36:52.480 --> 00:36:55.239
two exits in the tournament are why
we're having a conversation today about him no

561
00:36:55.280 --> 00:36:58.840
longer being the coach there. That
led to like, those are things you

562
00:36:58.880 --> 00:37:00.480
just can't do, no matter who
you are, what you've done. And

563
00:37:01.400 --> 00:37:05.880
you know, this was the breakthrough
year where he needed to really get it

564
00:37:05.960 --> 00:37:08.199
rolling and make a deep run,
have a fun and team that was exciting

565
00:37:08.599 --> 00:37:12.199
and that the fans couldn't get.
You know that the fans could get it,

566
00:37:12.199 --> 00:37:15.159
you know, really behind. And
they had that team and they did

567
00:37:15.159 --> 00:37:19.280
the one thing you could not do, which is lose to to Oakland in

568
00:37:19.320 --> 00:37:22.760
the first round. And you know, I think they make a Sweet sixteen,

569
00:37:23.960 --> 00:37:28.239
maybe even around to thirty two.
Fans will be hot, they'd be

570
00:37:28.280 --> 00:37:31.079
bothered. But I don't know if
you would have had this play out the

571
00:37:31.119 --> 00:37:36.000
way that it did. All right, that's it for us. We're out

572
00:37:36.000 --> 00:37:37.840
of time. Thank you all for
hanging out. John. Let that voice

573
00:37:37.840 --> 00:37:40.559
get some rest, all right,
I hope so, I hope you feel

574
00:37:40.559 --> 00:37:44.159
better. I don't know if you're
feeling ill, but you know I need

575
00:37:44.159 --> 00:37:46.119
you back at a hundred percent.
I mean, the show cannot roll on

576
00:37:46.199 --> 00:37:51.159
without you at underrepresent you do,
you do? You do? You do?

577
00:37:51.239 --> 00:37:53.559
Trust me, but you know,
just knowing that my partner in crime

578
00:37:53.599 --> 00:37:58.280
here is you know, got some
voice issues going on. It's it's you

579
00:37:58.280 --> 00:38:00.119
know, I don't like it.
We'll rest up, so rest up,

580
00:38:00.119 --> 00:38:05.320
all right. We'll back at it
tomorrow right here on Sports Fox seven ninety