It's time for Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think we are.
Get off our show, idiot. The kids are crying or Trail of the
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Now? Here's Nick Coffee? All right, let's get it started. Ladies
and gentlemen, welcome in to a Tuesday edition Coffee and Company, fueled by
Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety Nick Coffee. That is me the company
man, mister John Alden, alongside today my co pilot riding Shotgun. John.
Would you say you are a spontaneous person? Not really, I don't.
I wouldn't think that from what I know of you, I would not
say that you are. But then again, you know, you may live
a life that I don't don't know about you. I feel like in college
I was a lot more spontaneous than I am now as an adult who's married
and has a house. Yeah, I look I think that's I think a
lot of folks will probably say that maybe their college years were when they were
doing you know, just trying more things right, doing it at a you
know, spontaneous things to try to learn about themselves as they become you know,
an adult, that kind of stuff. But I'm I'm not really spontaneous.
But I like spontaneous things, and I'm gonna explain it to you.
I'm not I don't you know, I don't take a lot of risks,
you know what I'm saying. I'm not somebody that's you know, just gonna
on a whim make a big decision right, a big purchase or a big
trip or you know, really anything like that. I typically, you know,
I'm very much about structure and routine, which leads to me to kind
of stick to that and not do anything spontaneous. But spontaneous things can be
exciting. It's just I guess I don't have the stones to you know,
make those decisions. So the reason I bring this up today is because my
wife and I are total opposites in a lot of things, and I think
that actually makes us work well together, which is I mean, I don't
know if you and your wife are the same way. But you know,
there's things we have common interest in, which of course is a big part
of it. But you know, certain parts of our personality are the exact
opposite, but it works well together. I wouldn't say that my wife and
I are polar opposites by any stretch, but there's definitely a lot of things
about us that are different. I bet she's more spontaneous than you. She
is. I think what's funny too, since we've been married, I almost
feel like her spontaneity has made me less spontaneous, which is weird, maybe
because you're getting enough of that of that in your life just from from you
know, from her, it's made you you're chilling. You'll let her,
you know, do the spontaneous things and you tag along and you know,
you have a good life together. So my wife has always been someone that
makes quick and sometimes scary to me decisions. But you know, so far
we've you know, we're doing okay. Two times we purchased home. It
was not in any way a plan. We didn't expect to move. She
found a house when looked at it. Within a couple of days we bought
a new house. It's not like I have a bunch of them. By
the way, I have one house. We you know, we just we
move. We didn't like I'm around, not like I'm running around town buying
up homes. But you know, I'm someone that would probably still have us
in our first home, which would be problematic. We wouldn't. I guess
we'd have a room, but it'd be a little tighter now that we have
two children. So that that's me, Like I procrastinate. I just I
don't want to rock the boat, which is not something I'm proud of.
But I'm also self aware, like I know who I am. You know
my wife, you know, she's the opposite, and it you know,
it's it works well. So I'm pretty sure by the end of the show
today, I'm going to know of a vacation that I'm going to that I
had no you know, it's not it wasn't we had no plans. So
in the last couple of days, she's just been on this travel kick,
which typically we go on one family vacation where it's just you know, me,
her and the two kicks, and then occasionally, over the years we've
we've mixed in some trips where it's rarely a full week, but you know
a few days here and there, a long weekend where we travel and you
know, just try to enjoy ourselves. Uh. And and now I've gotten
to I mean, it's it's almost May, and I have I'm pretty sure
like five weeks of vacation that I need to use or I'm gonna lase it.
So you know, she knows that. But I you know, here,
I am no plans in place other than our yearly trip to DestinE,
which takes place in late July. So you know, I thought she was
just you know, looking a rund, you know, just just you know,
getting a little bit of an itch to travel. And now she's texting
me like every you know, five minutes, asking does this date work?
Do you want to go here? Do you want to go here? And
just knowing her as soon as the show started, I you know realized she
texted me once again, and you know it just uh, I'm pretty sure
I'm gonna find out a trip we're going on next month within you know,
the next three hours, and that get that that makes me excited. I'm
sure I'm gonna have fun. We'll have a great time. But I just
know that it would never happen if if it was just me running the show,
right, I mean that's true for me too, Like the Disney trip
that I went on a couple weeks ago, that's that's all my wife's doing.
Would have not have been something on my radar? Is it just dudes,
though, Cause, like I think there's certain things that men and I
don't want to act like every man is the same, every woman is the
same, but like we're not. I mean, I'm not all. I'm
not just all the time sitting around thinking, Hey, what could you know?
I just I don't know. That's I don't think we are the only
two like that. No, but I've had a lot of great experiences in
life that you know, I could have done without her thinking to do it,
but like I would have never thought about it. So this is the
first five to six minutes of the show. You know, probably things you
guys don't care about. But I'll wrap it up by saying, you know,
it's in a reminder that I'm a lucky guy. So I think we're
gonna go somewhere in Florida. But it's a place I've never heard of.
I'll get the name of it, and we can you know, we can
figure out if it's you know, if it's gonna be, if it's if
it's a cool spot or not. So anyways, let's let's jump right in,
because right as soon as the show is getting started, there is some
some developing news here that I think we should discuss, and I don't really
know where to start. I guess we'll start with, uh, Louisville football
and the transfer portal, because the guys that are leaving post spring are dudes,
once again who just got here a few months ago. And I think
we all can agree it's not a good look. But what I don't understand
is why people look at this as a like a problem with Louisville. And
I suppose we can just chalk it up to people still getting used to sort
of what college football is now, and that is that it's going to be
a revolving door of players coming in and and and leaving. And you know,
I think to hear the little and I'll get you, you know,
the specifics here, because first of all, Penny Boone, we now know
he he's you know, the return to Louisville's not is not under consideration anymore.
And I would be highly surprised if that was because of Penny Boon,
I would say that there's a good chance that U of l Jeff Brohm specifically.
You know, I'm not I don't want to say this is what happened,
but wouldn't shock me if they told this young man to, you know,
go kick rocks. But the other two names, these are names that
were discussed quite a bit around the time that they committed, because you know,
they were they were big additions. Tyler Barron, the transfer from Tennessee,
who was really productive in the SEC he committed to Louisville. I think
he was one of the last guys to make it to commit to Louisville right
before you know, the the January semester started, and he was a big
addition. I mean, I'm pretty sure he was one of the guys that
really helped Louisville, you know, maintain a really good ranking in the portal
rankings. And he's now leaving h and his step brother. Let me see
if I can you know, just double check the Uh yeah, his stepbrother
is is a guy who also transferred from Tennessee, and I think, yeah,
and this is where's it at here? Come on, scrolling through here.
Either way, this is a guy who you know played in the spring
and was not I mean, was not a starter. I mean he's not
looked at as a guy who was going to be getting first team reps.
And I mean, I know what you say, Well, they're leaving because
they couldn't climb up the depth chart. They're leaving because of playing time,
they're not good enough to play here. It's such a sour grapes kind of
thing. But I also think it actually ends up being the most likely scenario
here. So you know, it's not good to see these guys leave.
I'm not acting like you know it's a blessing in disguise. I mean,
if there is a silver lining, you now have scholarships available and there's going
to be even more players entering the portal. But you know, depth is
important. I would say that year in a year out, the best teams
that have the best chance of winning at a high level have good depth.
I'm sure they have star players, but they know that if they go to
their reserve, it's not as if they're going to fall off the cliff.
But I think in a lot of positions in the portal this past you know,
once the season ended, they were recruiting depth. Transfers don't want to
be depth. They want to play. And when they get there and they
go through spring, and you know, it looks like they're probably gonna get
reps and going to get to play, but not be a starter, may
not even be in your too deep. They're gonna leave because they were looking
to have a key role at And you have to look at you know,
these two, these two young men that are transferring out, Tyler barn Penny
Boone. Pitty Boon's a little bit different. And by the way, if
I didn't mention it, Georgia and Kentucky are the schools that that that he
is considering. So Wesley Walker is the other, the other the other name
that I forgot to me. And by the way, Wesley Walker and Tyler
Baron I believe are stepbrothers. So both of them transferred from Tennessee. They
initially committed Ole miss and then came to Louisville. And now they're leaving.
And you know, it's not I'm not gonna act like it's it's it's nothing
to see here, not a big deal. Who needs them? They suck,
But at some point I believe in Really, I hope that we just
understand that there's really nobody to be mad at, because these guys came here
looking for a situation where they could make money and play at a high level.
And Tyler Barron may have been able to do that, but he didn't
play in the spring. I think he's got injury issues. I don't know
what those issues are, but he didn't play. So he went through spring
and did not play at all. And his stepbrother, defensive back Wesley Walker,
you know, he went through spring and was not a starter. You
know m J. Griffin if you guys remember that name, he was the
guy last year that was believed to be probably the best defensive player on this
team. He got hurt before the season started, missed the whole year,
and he's healthy now, and that's a guy that I think is going to
make a big impact this next season for Jeff Brohms defense. So, you
know, I just don't know how we react to this kind of news because
it's, you know, usually if you lose a guy in the portal,
it's you know, what happened? This is this everything's fallen upon And yet
some people still act like that's the case. But it's but it's like these
guys don't want to be a part of depth. They want to have a
key role, and there's only a certain amount of spots where you can,
I mean, you can't give everybody a key role. And honestly, some
of it's on these guys who aren't willing to stick it out and compete in
fall and earn a spot. So it still just seems of all the chaos
that we have here the wild wild West as they call it. With the
Portal, there's something about dudes showing up in January leaving in April. That's
just like, like how can this happen? Right? Like that just seems
insane that that's even like allowed, and to know they they got paid money.
It's just it's it's crazy. So look, you may see more guys
into the portal and losing two guys, one guy specifically in Tyler Barron that
I think was not the main factor, but a but a you know,
sizable factor in why you're recruiting class from the portal ranked as highly as it
did. He's bouncing, so like that's not good. But he never got
on the field from an understand in spring because he was injured. So with
Penny Boone, you know, I just think that's a guy that you know.
Also, you know, he came from he was the man at Toledo
and wanted to be the man here, and you know Cheney, the transfer
from Miami was better. And I think a lot of folks don't realize this
about Penny Boone. He started his career Maryland and he wasn't very good there.
It's a big ten program, and he was he was decent. So
he transferred down and had an explosive year in the MAC and now he's back
at a higher level and he's you know, he's good, but he's not
like he's not going to come here and just own the top spot over Maurice
Turner, Cheney. I mean, even Kewan Brown, I think, could
you know, make an impact this year the red shirt freshman. So you
know, I just wanted to get that out of the way. I'm sure
throughout the show we'll reset that and share that information for those who can't be
glued to their phone on the internet all day. But yeah, that's that's
the not positive update. But again, like I don't like who, I
don't think there's anybody to point a finger at and blame here on the Louisville
side. Also, Mike James, who spent three years at Louisville, has
decided to go play for Kevin Keats at NC State. He's going to follow
Brandon Hunty Hatfield. I think that just became public a couple of hours ago,
maybe, And I'm not sure if anybody really cares about this, but
Hayley van Lyth, she continues to you know, be you know, being
in the in the news wire because a week after it was reported that she
was committing to TCUs, she now claims that that's not the case and she's
still weighing her options. So, I mean, is it fair to say
there's drama that surrounds her. I don't know, but you know, she
was a part of the circus at LSU, and I mean there's no way
to say that without sounding like it's an insult. But I mean everything that
Kim Maulkie brings with her, you know, very strong personality, you know,
Angel Angel Reese, who you know, I don't have a problem with,
but obviously she's a big personality as well. There was some tension.
I mean, you know, we all know that La so maybe that maybe
that's why I just attached Haley with it because she was a part of it
last year. But who knows where she's she's gonna end up, all right,
So before we get to our first break, here's an update that I
think will be a good one for both Louisville and Kentucky fans listening, and
that is that five star recruit Jaden Quaintance, a guy we've talked about a
lot in the last week. Somebody said this to me last night when I
was leaving my son's baseball game, that he feels like this is the long
this is the most I've talked about a single high school recruit on my show
in many, many years. And I'm like, guy, you're probably right,
because I can't really think of one specifically that led to you know,
I mean, when Louisville, I don't care who was coaching here, Mac
Pattino getting a top ten player, five star, unanimous five star prospect to
visit when he just decommitted and reopened his recruitment like that would be a big
deal that fans would get excited about regardless, But given Louisville's lack of real
momentum in basketball, it has been something that people have been really, really
interested in. So here's the update that I got. To be honest with
you, if I thought if I knew, you know, if you told
me yesterday, Nick, you're going to start the show and you're gonna have
a Jaden Quaintance update for everybody, I probably would have guessed that it was
that he was going to Arkansas? What would have been your guest? John?
Like, if if somebody told us, hey, we're going to have
some Jalen or I'm sorry, some Jaden Quaintance updates to start the show twenty
four hours ago, they said it, what would have been your what would
have been your guest? Honestly, and I'm not trying to cater to U
of l fans, but for some reason, I feel like he's going to
end up with Louisville. I hope you're right. One place we know he's
not going, John, Okay, Arkansas. Well there you go. Eric
Bassey twenty four seven Sports just put this out I think about twenty minutes before
the show started today that Quaintans will not follow John Caliperi to Arkansas, Which
that really surprises me because he'd already committed to Cal. Cal's now at a
new school, and this new school apparently has more money, and they're willing
to throw more money than anybody would at a sixteen year old freshman. So
I didn't see this coming at all. But you know, here's the exact
right up here at twenty four seven Sports. After signing with Kentucky in the
fall and requesting release from his letter of intent, when Cala Perry left for
Arkansas earlier this month, many figured that the gifted forward would follow Cal to
Fayideville. However, that's not the case. Sources close to the six'
nine senior from Raleigh confirmed to twenty four to seven Sports that Quaintance has eliminated
the Razorbacks and will be looking to forego a new path and his reopened recruitment.
So they mentioned that he did take his official visit to Louisville and he
is scheduled to begin an official visit to Memphis on Friday. Also, Kentucky
is in consideration Mark Pope will be conducting an in home visit today, might
be happening right now with Quaintance. So you know, this is this is
not the update. I would know two things here. I did not expect
Arkansas to get whacked. They got whacked, And I didn't think Kentucky would
even pursue somebody that Cali Perry seemingly wanted, because you know, you got
to make business decisions here. It didn't smart for anybody to just go ahead
to head with Calip Perry for recruits. Never has been because you're gonna lose
a lot and you're rarely gonna win. But Mark Pope doing it, I
think seems even more crazy, just because you know, you've got to calculate
the the risk here right the aftermath, because you know what people comparing you
to cal Ever, and if you start going after the same players and you
keep losing, which would be the likely outcome, that just wouldn't be smart.
But now he's going after one of these guys, and I don't know
how it transpired, but now there's the Kentucky's not involved. So this is
here's here's a question that I have because I got a chance to listen to
a little bit of KSR earlier today, and I believe Matt had mentioned that
somebody has confirmed what was in the Trilly Donovan discord about they're being money put
up to double whatever Kentucky would pay for anil for players. So if that's
the case, it just mean to me, it seems odd that that,
you know, when that's that whole report slash rumor. I mean, you
know, I believe what Trilly Donovan says, but it's just hard for me
to say reports from Trilly Donovan's you know, super secret discord, like you
know, it's just it's it's not it's not how you typically set up you
know, it's not typically who cite a reputable source when it comes to things
like that. But I guess the best way to describe it is that that
seemed to be believable, and now there's others claiming, oh that's true,
like they're going to try to make sure they get any player that Kentucky wants.
So you know what happened here, Like maybe it wasn't as much about
the freshman, Maybe it was more about any transfers because if you know Caliperry
a little bit mean, like his personality, his stubbornness, his ego.
I mean, he's probably got somebody looking to see any transfer that gets contacted
by Mark Pope and then he's reaching out because that's just how that's Cal that's
how he operates. Say he's wired. Now, some of it is that
both teams need players and both teams want talent. But also let's not act
like there's not that component there where Kyl is just clearly wanting to stick it
to Kentucky. But my guess would be, and I think this is how
it worked in Lexington when he was there. Nil was always in place for
these guys. But I think Kyle could sell them, Look, you're going
to the NBA. You're gonna be fine here, You're gonna make money.
But like you know, your your bag essentially is gonna be when you get
drafted, and by coming here you have a better chance of getting drafted.
So with with transfers, I think Cal has also, you know, has
has kind of learned he can't say that to them because they're transferring because they
can't go to the NBA. You know, they don't have that uh you
know, lottery pick contract coming their way. So maybe Jaden and Quainton's wanted
a lot of money, and the Cows system is, you know, hey,
you can you know, you come here, you're gonna be paid,
but like we're not investing a ton of money because you'll get that when you
get drafted. But hey, like that's pretty arrogant of Cal because you know
what, like, yeah, but I'll I'm gonna be drafted regardless of where
I play. Dude, Like I get just to see a sixteen year old
kid saying like, uh yeah, but you know, Cal, Like let's
be honest here, Like I know you put a lot of guys in the
NBA, but like I'm gonna get the I'm gonna go to the NBA if
I if I go anywhere, I'm gonna go to the NBA and be drafting
lottery, even if I don't go to college and play and I go,
you know, practice in the G League for a couple of years or a
year or two whatever may be. Because that's like that's a very logical like
response. But like Col's you know it just he doesn't see it that way,
right. I think he truly believes these guys would only go to the
NBA if they come and play for him. But anyways, Louisville and Kentucky
alive for Jaden quaint as it seems. But men, this in Penny Hardaway
involved here, and I have no way of looking up any specific you know,
like database to determine this, and I'm sure you guys can correct me
if I'm wrong. In Kentucky fans, you actually may be the best to
correct me at this because you you would have more familiarity with this than than
I would as a loivel fan. I feel like anytime Penny Hardaway goes all
in on a recruit, he does miss like it didn't win a lot.
He's had a very underwhelming career at Memphis as far as wins and wins and
losses and tournament runs that kind of stuff. But when it comes to like
really wanting a kid out of the high school ranks, I feel like he
is pretty damn good at that. And also we can get to this at
some point throughout the show because this is you know this, this is stuff
that may not be interesting. I actually find it interesting. Maybe I'm a
nerd. But FedEx, which of course is you know, headquartered in Memphis.
I mean they're putting up five million per year for nil resources for Memphis
basketball, Memphis football, and I think women's basketball, and you know that
could that that's huge, Like that's a big deal. So we are loaded
the rest of the way here coming up at four thirty, we are expected
to chat with future Louisville Cardinal Terrence Edwards Junior the James Madison transfer. He's
going to join us UH in a little over an hour. We'll get to
know him a little bit. I'm eager to hear what his first impression of
Pat Kelsey was and what role he was he was pitched to come and help
get this thing turned around. I do I think people know he's a really
good player. I mean, in fact, as far as accomplishment's resume,
he's the top guy they've added up to this point. But he committed pretty
early and there's just been a flurry of new guys on the radar. I
hope people don't like forget that this dude is. I mean, he's a
really, really good player that should make a big impact next year. All
right, quick break, we'll come back on the other side. Keep it
rolling along here, it's coffee and Company. Filbeth Thornton's on Sports Talk seven
ninety all right, five two five seven seventy nine hundred is the number if
you would like to give us a call. You can also text in on
the ln N Federal Credit Union tex line five OO two six five to three
zero seven ninety. We'd love to hear from you. So we've had some
folks asking about Chucky Hepburn, which is a great I mean, he's a
perfect example of just how hectic things have been to where he kind of just
you know for me, and it's, you know, it's my fault.
I'm not, you know, excusing it. I didn't mention him. I
don't think any yesterday. I mean, John would know because his ears would
perk up, because he's our big ten correspondent. But Chucky Hepburn of Washington
is in the portal, and again, like I don't know the connection.
I don't. There's not like any there's not any like reports out there from
you know, anybody, even like I'm behind a paywall. But as soon
as this guy hit the portal to me, it almost seemed as if like
everybody just knew he was going to Louisville. So he'd be a great addition.
He's a really good defensive player, six or two guard who had a
successful couple of years at at at what at Wisconsin averaged non points four assists
to a little over two steals a game. So you know, and actually
I believe let me see here. I'm sorry. He played there three years
and he was actually a little more productive as a scorer in his sophomore year.
So you know, everybody who you know reports on portal stuff has indicated
Louisville looks to be the likely school. But I wish I could cite more
reasons why you know that he that he's talked to Pat Kelsey, he's got
a visit visit scheduled, so unaware of the connection, but he would be
a great addition, no doubt. And then TRAI or the transfer from Long
Beach State wouldn't shock me if in the next couple of days he's he's the
latest to make it, you know, to to you know, have his
day, if you know what I mean. I think there's probably some strategic
planning here as far as these guys announcing their commitments just so they you know,
they get a couple of days to kind of be the new guy that
everybody's excited about. But we shall see, and there's gonna be more guys
added that are you know, worth monitoring because players are still entering the portal.
So this is something that I assume a lot of people are aware of.
But then again that's me. It's just the saying, you know,
you make an ass out of yourself, assuming? Is that? And have
you heard that before? Did I make that out and make an ass out
of you and me? Yeah? Because that's how that's gotcha, the letters
assume. So I would say most people don't know this because I'm just at
times getting caught up in my own bubble thinking that you know, everybody's following
this stuff this much, and you know, you will probably have productive lives
and do things with your time that are more valuable than you know scouring the
internet way too often to see if there's a new player that could come help
your team out. But the portal closes on May first, So what does
that give us? Roughly a week or so? Yeah, we've got a
week, yeah, right, So next Wednesday is when the portal closes.
And what I don't know is it at midnight Tuesday night Wednesday morning, or
is it you know, mid night you know, I would imagine it's actually
probably like I think, I think, when we get to midnight this evening,
eleven fifty nine, that'll be the actual week where we the week we
have left, So that is how much longer we have for guys to put
their name in, but they don't have to make a commitment until probably when
school starts. So I think the last this was an update from yesterday that
there were there were one thousand and seven one thousand, seven hundred and fifty
Division one players in the portal, and only four hundred of them roughly have
committed. So there's a ton of guys available. And again there's a ton
of guys that are in the portal and they wouldn't be somebody you'd want to
go after because you know, they're transferring because they didn't like where they were
as far as role and whatnot. So there's still a week before guys,
you know, doing fact, you know that that's the deadline. And I
don't think we're going to see, you know, some of the best returning
players in college basketball hit the portal, you know, in mass right.
I think they'll be maybe be a couple of them. But I just the
way this thing is gone, with the chaos and the you know, just
it's a circus. I think like next Monday, in next Tuesday, we
could be in for like a few big, big names that nobody would have
ever expected. And around here Louisville and Kentucky fans specifically. I mean they
these are two teams or two programs that should say that are building teams from
scratch. And here's what's odd is that if you see a lot of the
players that are listing Louisville, Kentucky and Arkansas, you know, I think
our minds are instantly in and go to some level of like, oh,
yeah, these guys. You know, Pat Kelsey wants to stick it to
Mark Pope for a second time after getting Ali Khalifa Cali Perry. You know,
he wants to you know, bully Mark Pope, or maybe Mark Pope
wants to get a win over Pat Kelsey to get things started. But you
know, the common denominator there's is this, They're all three are starting with
nothing. They're all building a roster from scratch. So there's a desperation level
there that you are like, is there are there other I mean, I'm
sure there are other programs that are having to do a lot of a lot
of adding to the from the portal to really fill out their roster, but
there can't be many, at least of the power level programs that are in
the situation that Louisville, Arkansas, and Kentucky were in. The only school
that comes to mind, and it's not a power school is Indiana State because
they lost everybody. Yeah, so you know, I see that a lot,
and I'm like, wow, there's something something going on here. No,
actually, they just they're they're reaching out to everybody because they I don't
and desperate it's not the right word to use. But and Louisville, honestly
is has has made really good progress at a good rate here. I mean
they now have six players added. One will probably red shirt and that's Khalifa.
But you know, you could get a couple more, maybe by the
end of the week, Like if you get Trey Orra and Hepburn and I'm
not saying you will, but if you did, by the end of the
week, you've not finalized your roster, but you're in a pretty good spot.
And then another update that that I saw right before the show started that
I've got to mention Ugo. I think it was a week ago he decided
to declare for the NBA Draft and there was a quote or maybe just a
statement, you know, in his tweet that you know, whoever whoever shared
the news that he was going pro shared the quote that he I guess informed
them of him, which was that he's fully focused on becoming a professional basketball
like it's his only focus. And yes I'm paraphrasing here. I don't have
it in front of me, but it made it seem as if he was
all in on trying to you know, not play college basketball and just fully
focus on the pros. Well, now he has entered the portal and it
I think it looks like college basketball is going to be his likely option,
which makes total sense. I mean, he would benefit from college. He
could make money and he's not. I don't he wouldn't get drafted, so
you know this, this makes sense, and I don't you know, he
wasn't super productive at Kentucky. He had one like really good game I think
it was against Florida where he put up crazy numbers, and then I don't
think he had another game throughout his two years there that was anywhere close to
that. So he's available in the portal and Jamie Shaw on three Sports say
that Louisville was the first school to get involved. So you know, another
big guy that can you know, rent protect, not much of an offensive
threat, really at all, but you know, throw it up there,
maybe he'll dunk it. But I think he's got the ability to be a
really, really good shot blocker. So I'm just curious when we'll see because
when you get to ten, and that's not counting Khalific, because I'm going
to assume that he will in fact, you know, red Shirt, and
that's you know, and I know that's the plan. I don't want to
act like I'm saying anybody's lying, but I think if he's in good shape,
not only from you know, losing weight, but also he's rehabbed,
then he's one hundred percent. I don't think they would want it, red
Shirt. I mean, I think there's a there's a realistic scenario where that
that that could happen. So but when they get to ten, I feel
like that will be, you know, that'll be really the core of your
roster. But I guess that's not even really fair to say, because the
core, you know, you'll have most of the work done. But who
knows, maybe the eleventh guy you add or the twelfth guy you add ends
up being somebody you never thought would be available. But I kind of like
that it's a gradual thing. Because what it's done for me is that each
time somebody pops for Louisville, you know, you get excited and you get
and you learn about them, and you know, you probably learn a lot
you learn about them before they commit because you realize that Louisville's you know,
in contention for them. But you know, I can't imagine we'll be in
this exact spot again, meaning like where you got to build an entire new
team in one off season. But it's going to be the new norm as
far as just you know, you know, at least a third of your
roster most likely will be guys that are coming in from the portal. And
Venetti asked me something yesterday and then I went on his show earlier today and
we end up just talking mostly football. But it is like, if you're
somebody that you know, like if you're somebody that never really wanted to keep
up with this stuff really at all, like how can you get into knowing
your team? And I don't really know the answer for that, because there's
probably gonna be just from a from a numbers perspective, I would say the
in five years, if nothing changes, the average amount of players that return
to their team from you know, high profile college programs like the ones we
care about around here, just you know, think Louisville, Kentucky, Indiana.
And obviously I'm not you know, ranking them in that tier or anything
like that. I'm just saying, like, you know, we not only
do we have a lot of success historically as programs, but like we have
huge fan bases that care a lot about this, that would like to get
to know players over the years and really get a connection and like some you
know, some continuity. I would be willing to bet that if you've got
an eight man rotation that every year, four of those guys at minimum are
going to be guys that transferred in I think the other the other three could
be returners that you really like, and then maybe one freshman that is,
you know, good enough to play. Like I think that's where this is
headed. And it's you know, it's different than what it was for decades.
A lot of you listening that really grew up and loved college basketball.
I mean, it's this is going to be different, but I would assume
over time we'll get used to it. But I don't know, maybe not,
because it's drastically different than anything you know we've ever we've ever had.
All right, let me tell you guys about my friends at the Louisville Men's
Clinic. And I was just talking to my buddy Brady Driscoll, my pal
here at iHeart and the loive of Men's Clinic is his account and I was
just telling him, man like, hey, I'm not just saying this because
you know it's our it's our client, and we work together, and you
know it's a great arrangement for everybody involved. Like it may be one of
the most genuine things I've ever endorsed because it's really helped me, and I
know that there are others in my exact situation that could benefit from it as
well. So again, it's a louis of Men's Clinic. They can help
you with a variety of things, a rectile dysfunction, joint pain, hair
restoration, weight loss therapy. But low testosterone, that's where they helped me.
I gotta be honest with you, I didn't really know what low testosterone
meant, Like, I know what testosterone is, but when you hear people
say low t I'll admit I'm an idiot. I just assumed that it was
kind of the same thing as ED, Like I thought, like low T
led to ED and it's all the same thing, and you're just treated for
having that because I'm a dumbass. But they're totally different. They have nothing
to do with one another. Like low testosterone is something that keeps you from
being you know, productive and energized. And I'm sure there's not you know,
scientific things that can back I mean, maybe there is, but I
don't have them in front of me. But all I know is this just
by getting my levels where they needed to be for somebody around my age and
keeping the same regular routine when it comes to exercise, and not a diet,
but just you know, kind of watching what I eat, it has
helped me, you know, transform or my body to an extent, not
with a bunch of you know changes on the scale. In fact, I've
gained weight, but it's because I've added muscle. But yet like my you
know, my clothes are like my waist, like my pants. I've had
to get like all new genes and slacks because you know, just by adding
testosterone to get me where I need to be as far as my levels,
you know, it's it's kind of shrunk my waist like belly fat, like
man boobs, like those kind of things that pop up when you're in your
thirties. And maybe it doesn't happen with everybody, but I know it does
to some. It did to me. I just assumed that was getting older,
and that's just, you know, chalk it up as you know,
an l for being in your thirties. But you know it's it doesn't have
to be that way. And not everybody may have low T, but it's
way more common than anybody realizes. And if I was you, I would
do something about it. Because I'm somebody that did do something about it.
Then it's changed everything. So give them a call if I would. Two
four four four four thousand is the number. It's the Louisville Men's Clinic.
Louisville Men's Clinic dot com is the website. And you know, I can't
stress enough. All it takes is is a phone call, make an appointment,
go see them at no cost, and just tell them you know you
have some symptoms that you think could be related to that, and they'll check
your levels and boom, you're in business. And I guarantee you. I
mean, I can't prove this, but I'll put it this way, I'd
be highly shocked if you don't end up realizing, Man, I should have
done it a long time ago, like Nick said, But it's okay,
you know, better late than never. All right, quick break, We'll
come back on the other side. A lot more to get into today,
A busy, busy Tuesday. Something that I think has kind of slipped through
the through the cracks here as far as you know, college football news because
everybody's so focused on the portal in the NFL Draft. But there's some rule
changes coming this year to college football that will be very noticeable. So we'll
get to that in a lot more. An interesting text line already is developing
today, so stick with us right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. So
I got a Instagram DM from somebody, and I don't even the Instagram messaging,
Like there's like three different folders, like there's one that's you know people,
I guess that you follow, one is I don't know. So it
had been sitting there for a week or two, uh, and it was
somebody very upset that I is a podcast listener, is upset when I talk
about music, like when we come out of break because obviously, like they
can't hear it, like they don't know what we're listening to, and they
were like bothered by it. So if you're listening right now, please excuse
me for just a second. The song was just Lucky Man by Montgomery Gentry
and uh Montgomery Gentry. They're in a weird spot in country music because,
like, nobody would say that they're not good. I'm sure there's people that
don't care for that style of music, but like, you know, they're
not like a one hit wonder by any means. But like you know,
I don't really know where they stand. I feel like they were a regional
success. That may be the best way. They're more regionally known just because
they are Kentucky. Yeah, but you know, they had big hits.
I mean that were you know, I'm pretty sure. I mean, let
me look at this up here, because again, this could this is this
could be a good experience here, because you know, I may think of
these hits that they had that were big time that you know, I'm thinking
top ten US airplay or top ten country charts, and yet maybe it's like
not even close to that. It's just me kind of just being a little
blinded by the fact that they're you know, they're from here, but yeah,
they're they're singles that had the most success. Uh Lonely and Gone was
a top five hit. She Couldn't Change Me, but yeah, I mean
they had no they had a bunch of top hits, something to be proud
of. Was great. If you ever stopped loving me back when I knew
it all, Yeah, so they had a great run. I love Montgomery
Gentry, but they're one of the many musical acts or groups that I just
I don't seek them out, but when they're on, I love it.
And I know we can't claim them where we're from because they are. I
mean, I mean, Eddie Montgomery, he's he's Danville. He's not you
know, he's not Bullet County. But Montgomery Gentry reminds me of Bullet County
when I hear it. I don't know why. It's interesting it. Yeah,
like you know, I could just see something like when I'm when I'm
when I'm you know, this is just act like you know, we are.
We're a part of their h you know, their album and they're putting
it together and we're trying to envision who they're targeting with some of their music.
I'm like, you know, a dude in his fifties from Bulla County,
Like that's that's it fits the demographic. So I love George Entry absolutely
and Eddie Montgomery, you know, I got it. I got to meet
him once a few years ago, and you know, you'd never know that
he was, you know, a part of a duo that had, you
know, a pretty awesome run in country music. So I got to see
them live once before before Troy Gentry passed away, and it was one of
the better country concerts I've ever seen. Yeah, because they're clearly country,
but like there's some level of like I don't know, like a southern rock.
It's good stuff, And honestly, I could be wrong, but I
don't feel like what the music that they that they put together that led to
them having like the ultimate success, Like I don't I don't know. I
don't know where you found that now, Like is anybody else doing that?
Because that was like its own style of country, you know what I mean.
Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah, it's good stuff, all
right. So coming up at four thirty, we're going to talk to Terry
S Edwards Junior and get his you know, we'll get to know a little
bit. I'm gonna ask him about his first impression of Pat Kelsey, talk
hopefully about, you know what, what the pitch was to get him to
come to Louisville and hopefully get this thing turned around. But also, uh,
I'm gonna ask him how you got the nickname Fats. That's an I
mean, that's an interesting nickname for a guy who is in no way fat.
You can't have that nickname and not have a story. Yeah, so
there's gotta be a story there, and I'm gonna put him on the spot.
You know, let's just say hypothetical situation here. You're called upon by
your your new head coach, Pat Kelsey too, you know, to help
sell Louisville for transfer, Like what tell me how you're doing? And what
are you telling him? Like, how are you convincing others to come join
you? Probably not a fair question because you know, that's something he probably
has never thought about, because you know, it's gonna be coming out of
nowhere. But I'm sure he'll he'll he'll give us a good answer, So
looking forward to that. And uh, let's go to the text line before
we get to the top of the hour. Here, not much time left
here in in hour number one. But uh this Texas, Nick, do
you think Pope stops going after recruits the Kentucky once at Arkansas? As a
Kentucky fan, I'd say it would be a wise move. I think you
got to be strategic, And I know some people think that that's weak minded,
and you know, the terrible thing to do. If you want to
go get a player, you do it you're at Kentucky. But this is
just a different situation. This is Cali Perry. This is Cali Parry at
Arkansas where he has you know, he can't sell Arkansas like he could sell
Kentucky. We all know that Arkansas fans may not know that, but it's
the truth. But now we're hearing that he's got the bag, like the
ultimate bag to like make up for that. And let's be honest, Arkansas
is not a bad school. And he's a guy who still puts, you
know, dudes in the NBA at a very high rate, and that still
matters. That's still a very important factor when guys are deciding where they want
to go to school. But it's different when it's transferred. So I would
say this if I am if I'm Mark Pope, Mark Poop. I would
not go head to head for freshmen. I would go ahead to head and
probably still lose a lot of them with cal for a transfer that I really
wanted. So it's not like you're just gonna decide never do it because you'll
always lose, and you you know the optics will be terrible, and you
want to be able to kind of control the narrative. But also, you
know, I think if you were just to clearly not pursued dudes that like
everybody knew you could get and wanted, but you're backing out because he's involved,
Like that wouldn't be a good look. But like if he did it
uncertain, you know, case by case situation, I would kind of understand.
Because Kentucky fans love Mark Pope right now, and I mean love him
in a year, Like who knows how good he's gonna be. But you
can love Mark Pope and think he's gonna be great, but also look in
the mirror and understand he's gonna lose battles and recruiting like a lot of good
coaches do. But he's certainly gonna lose him to Calipari. Not because of
him, but just because I would say nine out of ten times when Cal's
going after a recruit, he's gonna win. That's just what he does.
He's really good at that. And you know, in your case as a
Kentucky fan, the benefit of winning those battles, the payoff is nowhere near
what it used to be, and you saw it play out with your program.
So I just think you gotta be you know, you gotta be careful
about that. You know, Rick Fittino, he did not go head to
head with Cali Peri for recruits once he lost Trey Lyles, and you know,
worked out well. I think in the end. I didn't know this
at the time, but some of the guys that Rick wanted that Cal ended
up getting and Rick kind of just you know, moved on from or maybe
didn't get, probably wouldn't have fit with Rick just because of how he coaches.
It's not say he didn't want him, but like it probably worked out
best for both sides. All right, we got two more hours to go.
Stick with us right here Coffee and Company with myself, Nick Coffee,
the company man, John Alden right here on Sports Talk seven to ninety