Speaker 1: Welcome to the Big Blue Insider. Dick Gabriel with you
Speaker 1: on a Tuesday edition of our show. It's going to
Speaker 1: be abbreviated for UK Baseball. Kentucky back to playing on
Speaker 1: Tuesday night. Although it's not a six to thirty start
Speaker 1: at Kentucky Proud Park. It's going to be on the
Speaker 1: SEC network, so it starts at seven o'clock, not the
Speaker 1: usual six thirty. You'll hear it right here on six
Speaker 1: thirty WLAP with Darren Hedricks pregame at six forty five.
Speaker 1: The Wildcats playing Miami of Ohio, trying to kind of
Speaker 1: pick themselves back up after a tough weekend. Three really
Speaker 1: really good competitive games with the Texas Longhorns, but at
Speaker 1: the end of the weekend the Wildcats has lost two
Speaker 1: out of three and they've really got to start turning
Speaker 1: things around now because in tournament time is not too
Speaker 1: far away and you cannot leave things in the hands
Speaker 1: of the selections committee. We have learned that through the years.
Speaker 1: Fortunately for the Wildcats, they have not had to deal
Speaker 1: with that kind of, I don't know, miss that kind
Speaker 1: of uncertainty going into the last couple of weekends because
Speaker 1: they've done so well. You know, they've hosted regional tournaments
Speaker 1: and won them and won a Super last year went
Speaker 1: to Omahall. It's going to be tough to match that
Speaker 1: this season, but they can still get into the postseason.
Speaker 1: Got to get into the SEC tournament and then get
Speaker 1: to the NCAA. So you got to start protecting the
Speaker 1: home turf by winning series at home, by winning midweek
Speaker 1: games at home. And they've lost what their last three,
Speaker 1: They've lost to Louisville, to Xavier and the Murray State.
Speaker 1: So it's a good one tonight and Kentucky needs to
Speaker 1: bounce back. We'll have it for you right here. Talk
Speaker 1: of the town right now is personnel. Obviously, we'll talk
Speaker 1: about Georgia Aymoor in just a minute. She had a
Speaker 1: great night last night, went higher than most people thought
Speaker 1: she would go. The predictions were she would go ninth
Speaker 1: or tenth, and she ended up going sixth to the
Speaker 1: Washington Mystics, who actually had three draft picks in the
Speaker 1: first ten. So she is going to play in Washington,
Speaker 1: not and I think one of the mock drafts, the
Speaker 1: most popular, had her in either La or Sacramento. So
Speaker 1: Georgia aymore playing on the East coast and a lot
Speaker 1: of Kentucky fans will have it a little bit easier
Speaker 1: to follow her career page. Bucker's naturally going number one
Speaker 1: to the Dallas Gems, but Kentucky fans now will also
Speaker 1: be rooting for the Washington Mystics, So we'll come back
Speaker 1: to that in just a moment. However, you've got to
Speaker 1: take a look at what Mark Pope did and his
Speaker 1: staff amazingly landing another big all the while Brandon Garrison
Speaker 1: is saying he's coming back. But the lenn Andrea Jeleovich,
Speaker 1: a Croatian who of course brings that European style to
Speaker 1: Kentucky basketball. And when you think about the way the
Speaker 1: Wildcats play with the offense that Mark Pope runs, it's
Speaker 1: going to be really fascinating to see how things play
Speaker 1: out with the depth they have built on that staff
Speaker 1: and the new faces, not rebuilding the roster. They got
Speaker 1: five coming back. But that is really the talk right
Speaker 1: now as to who's coming back and who's leaving. And
Speaker 1: there's about a week there's one week from today is
Speaker 1: the portal deadline, and so far all but kerk Kriesa
Speaker 1: are coming back. And as I said, you knew about
Speaker 1: Yellovich before today, but Brandon Garrison saying he's coming back
Speaker 1: is big and then no point intended. They're all bigs.
Speaker 1: But Pope rebuilding a roster that a year ago yesterday
Speaker 1: was a mystery. A year ago yesterday was today Pope
Speaker 1: was introduced. Well know what happened on that day as
Speaker 1: the Big Blue Nation filled rupp Arena to welcome Mark Pope.
Speaker 1: And you know that day has just taken on a
Speaker 1: personality and a reputation of its own, which is good.
Speaker 1: It's important because you know, Kentucky fans like to look
Speaker 1: at the way the BBN back to its basketball program.
Speaker 1: It is in many cases unparalleled in terms of college basketball.
Speaker 1: There are a lot of football programs that can rival
Speaker 1: UK basketball when it comes to fans support different animals.
Speaker 1: I realize that stadiums are bigger. Fan bases become more
Speaker 1: passionate about football because there's only one game a week
Speaker 1: for what twelve weeks plus postseason, so the passion builds
Speaker 1: over time. Well, Kentucky fans, they build that passion in
Speaker 1: basketball and sustain it from day to day, week to week,
Speaker 1: season to season. And that day, the Kentucky fans showed
Speaker 1: up and showed out for Mark Pope takes its place
Speaker 1: right up there with NCAA tournaments with final fours. The
Speaker 1: way Kentucky fans showed up and got in, Blue gets
Speaker 1: in and that day wasn't obviously as challenging when it
Speaker 1: comes to getting in at first, because the doors were
Speaker 1: open and it was free. But as the building filled quickly,
Speaker 1: it became an insurmountable challenge for literally thousands of people
Speaker 1: who couldn't get in to Rapperena. They had to close
Speaker 1: the gates. They had to close the doors just so
Speaker 1: people could come in and say hello to Mark Pope,
Speaker 1: the new head coach. And nobody saw that coming, just
Speaker 1: as I don't think anybody saw this season coming completely.
Speaker 1: I think people thought there would be success, but I
Speaker 1: didn't see anybody predict the number of quad one wins
Speaker 1: and the way this team played and captured the imagination
Speaker 1: of the fan base. Nobody predicted that they hope for it,
Speaker 1: but nobody stood in and said, let me tell you
Speaker 1: what's going to happen. But now now that's the floor,
Speaker 1: isn't it. What Pope and his staff and his players
Speaker 1: accomplished this year is what's going to be expected at
Speaker 1: least from here on. And you know he's good with that.
Speaker 1: That's what he wanted to do. That's Kentucky basketball, high
Speaker 1: expectations and delivering at a high level. As he said,
Speaker 1: we understand the assignment. So the best news right now
Speaker 1: is the players they brought in and the players they've retained.
Speaker 1: And I know a lot of people are concerned on
Speaker 1: the one hand about the local guys, Travis, Perry, Trent Noah,
Speaker 1: but they're sticking around. Will they play They'll probably play
Speaker 1: a little bit more. Depends on injuries, depends on situations,
Speaker 1: and depends on how much more they improve their game.
Speaker 1: Perry's got to learn to guard well, that they all do.
Speaker 1: Noah guarded a little bit better, but he's a little stronger,
Speaker 1: has a little more size. They just need to elevate
Speaker 1: their respective games, and I believe they will. Speaking of
Speaker 1: elevating your game, Georgia Amore elevated the Kentucky program under
Speaker 1: Kenny Brooks, and she is the first UK player ever
Speaker 1: to come in for women's basketball and do the one
Speaker 1: and done thing to the level that she did it,
Speaker 1: and she will not be forgotten. I mean, she had
Speaker 1: a phenomenal season. I know it ended in disappointment, but
Speaker 1: overall incredible and was taken last night, not just in
Speaker 1: the first round, but way up there. In the first
Speaker 1: round we pick number six by the Washington Mystics, and
Speaker 1: right after she was drafted, she talked to ESPN's Holly
Speaker 1: row about the fact that she's not the biggest player
Speaker 1: out there. It certainly plays big.
Speaker 2: You are an athlete. I think people get caught up
Speaker 2: in size instead of your skill. You played cricket, netball, taekwondo,
Speaker 2: Australian rules football. You are a competitor at the highest level.
Speaker 2: How can you bring that to the league.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think just for as long as people have
Speaker 3: called me too short, I've been working on how to
Speaker 3: conteract that.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 3: It's not a shock to me. I know that I
Speaker 3: have to work in different ways, use my brain a
Speaker 3: little bit more. But with my competitive background, I think
Speaker 3: I have a little bit of dog in me that's
Speaker 3: going to keep me fighting.
Speaker 2: Best step back, ever, how did you develop that move?
Speaker 2: Like literally you gain space?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 3: These quads and Coach Brooks.
Speaker 2: All right, thanks for showing them off, Russell westbook, good
Speaker 2: job showing off the quad.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Holly, And of course the Russell Westbrook. Reference
Speaker 1: was the fact that the NBA player outfitted would they say,
Speaker 1: styled Georgia Aymore. He created he designed her outfit last night,
Speaker 1: and there's all kinds of coverage of that. In fact,
Speaker 1: there's a big article its own line. Vogue magazine covered
Speaker 1: the process from start to finish. So good on Russell
Speaker 1: Westbrook for branching out. You know, he's wanted to be
Speaker 1: a clothing designer. And Georgia Amore they got together, they
Speaker 1: talked about it via zoom, and Amore was, she said,
Speaker 1: delighted with what he came up with. When it comes
Speaker 1: to the actual game, Washington got someone who could be
Speaker 1: a real difference maker on day one, and Amoor after
Speaker 1: the draft, talking to the media, described how she believes
Speaker 1: she'll be able to improve her game at the next level.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean iron shopping's iron right. When you get
Speaker 3: thrown into a situation like that, you eat the Adapto drown, right,
Speaker 3: Zumo drown. So I'm excited to go and be challenged
Speaker 3: and mentally grow my game, Like I know I have
Speaker 3: the capabilities, I know I have the confidence to do so,
Speaker 3: and so I'm so excited to do that in a
Speaker 3: game A part about me that my surprise people, I
Speaker 3: haven't feel like I've shown the ability to be that
Speaker 3: PESTI knowing defendo, I think, you know, just being a
Speaker 3: little bit conservative, knowing I had to be on the
Speaker 3: court during my time at Kentucky and Virginia Tech. I'm
Speaker 3: excited to kind of be able to go ahead and do.
Speaker 1: That before we hit the brake as we record. Nothing
Speaker 1: new on Nico. I am Alieva. There is a parody
Speaker 1: account on Twitter, and whoever built it did a really
Speaker 1: nice job. It looks just like an on three post,
Speaker 1: but it says No. Three and it had Nico going
Speaker 1: to North Carolina and Bill Belichick. North Carolina has basically
Speaker 1: said we're out where. We're not going to be in
Speaker 1: a Nico business. So it's gonna be really really interesting
Speaker 1: to see if the kid does land at UCLA, what
Speaker 1: the money's going to look like. Supposedly, from all the
Speaker 1: experts I've listened to, he won't get what he will
Speaker 1: trying to get at Tennessee. In terms of the money.
Speaker 1: He might get what he was making at Tennessee. What
Speaker 1: he very likely will not get either is the opportunity
Speaker 1: to lead a powerful team potentially in a powerful conference
Speaker 1: or five, depending how you look at it, through the playoffs,
Speaker 1: and then a great slot, the best slide he could
Speaker 1: get in the NFL draft. I don't know if this's
Speaker 1: going to hurt him. It ain't gonna help him. So
Speaker 1: this could all backfire on he blow up in his face.
Speaker 1: And again a lot of athletes, pro and otherwise have
Speaker 1: come to his defense trying to justify what he did.
Speaker 1: But what he did was try to hold his program,
Speaker 1: his coaches, and his teammates hostage. He was not negotiating
Speaker 1: for a new contract the way coaches do. People want
Speaker 1: to liken it to coaches leaving going to better deal.
Speaker 1: Surely do, but not like this, not trying to play
Speaker 1: the timing angle they do to a certain degree. Of course,
Speaker 1: you got to strike while the iron's hot. But show
Speaker 1: me a coach you said, all right, we got a
Speaker 1: big tournament coming up. We've got a big game coming up.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to work for this team unless you
Speaker 1: cut me a new deal right now. That doesn't happen. So,
Speaker 1: like I said, this could blow up in his face.
Speaker 1: I'm not rooting for him or against him. I'm rooting
Speaker 1: for college athletics in general. Up next, we're gonna talk
Speaker 1: to UK volleyball coach Keith Up next, we're gonna talk
Speaker 1: to UK volleyball coach Craig Skinner. His team already hard
Speaker 1: at work, they've had scrimmages, they've had public workouts and
Speaker 1: from some accounts, this could be one of his best teams.
Speaker 1: The bottom of the hour, we'll hear from Nick Minji
Speaker 1: own just out of UK Baseball here on six thirty
Speaker 1: WLAP Welcome back to the Big Blue and Sider coming
Speaker 1: on Friday night. It's the Cats and the Cards in
Speaker 1: volleyball exhibition game and Craig Skinner, the UK coach who
Speaker 1: has led this team to umpty SEC championships, going to
Speaker 1: take aim in another one this year. But coach, thanks
Speaker 1: for joining us and tell me a little bit about
Speaker 1: these exhibitions and what you have gotten out of the
Speaker 1: ones you've already played, what you're hoping to get out
Speaker 1: of this one Friday.
Speaker 4: That's I mean, it's a really cool chance to just
Speaker 4: kind of gauge where you are currently. And you know,
Speaker 4: since we do have all of our incoming freshmen came
Speaker 4: in January or three transfers that came in in January also,
Speaker 4: so we have basically our whole team for the fall.
Speaker 4: I don't I don't anticipate, you know, any changes in
Speaker 4: the May transfer portal window. But we get to see everybody,
Speaker 4: We get to train together, we get to compete, we
Speaker 4: get to try different lineups, different systems, and you know,
Speaker 4: obviously you're competing to win each and every point. But
Speaker 4: you know, victory isn't necessarily the goal in the spring.
Speaker 4: It's really to get better and then figure out, you know,
Speaker 4: how you're going to play in the fall.
Speaker 1: That is kind of new to the too valuable, isn't
Speaker 1: it a d one volleyball? Y'all haven't done this for
Speaker 1: you know, all the time you've been at uk.
Speaker 4: Uh we we have, we haven't. They haven't been as
Speaker 4: big a deal. I mean, the you know, because the
Speaker 4: sport is you know, growing and busting at the seams.
Speaker 4: I mean, there's so much demand for viewers and people
Speaker 4: and tickets and and you know, we just did an
Speaker 4: exhibition at a club facility in Indianapolis and there was
Speaker 4: so many people there on the sideline watching. It was crazy,
Speaker 4: you know, And so you know, it's it's a chance
Speaker 4: to continue to market our game and and get people
Speaker 4: connected to the sport and you know, it's it's just
Speaker 4: a fascinating time. And we have an incredibly exciting team
Speaker 4: to watch, yeah, this year, And and I certainly encourage
Speaker 4: our fans to get their tickets because they're going to
Speaker 4: want to see this group play.
Speaker 1: I was going to say that there was a kind
Speaker 1: of a surprisingly great crowd up in Indy, wasn't there.
Speaker 4: Yeah? Yeah, No, it was great and and uh you
Speaker 4: know there there wasn't a seat to be found, And
Speaker 4: you know it's again, I think this team has the
Speaker 4: ability to make plays. It gets people to jump out
Speaker 4: of their seats, and the athleticism and the competitive juice
Speaker 4: that this team has think is going to be exciting
Speaker 4: brands that people are going to want to witness.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm going to ask you about the new kids
Speaker 1: when we talk first about who you've got coming back,
Speaker 1: starting with Brooklyn Delay, the best player in the conference
Speaker 1: and one of the best in the country, of course.
Speaker 1: And when you can build around somebody like that, you
Speaker 1: know you're you're way ahead of the game, aren't you. Yeah.
Speaker 4: I mean she had the ability to carry a lot
Speaker 4: of weight on our shoulders last year and helped lead
Speaker 4: us through tough situations. You know, one of four finalists
Speaker 4: for National Player of the Year last year as a sophomore.
Speaker 4: You know, and and you know, but now you know,
Speaker 4: I think we you know, the younger players have gotten better.
Speaker 4: Are are transfers and incomers can help alleviate, you know,
Speaker 4: some of the load that she has to take. And
Speaker 4: if you want to compete, you know, for a national championship,
Speaker 4: you can't be one dimensional or two dimensional. You have
Speaker 4: to have multi facet offense going at teams. And you know,
Speaker 4: I think we're going to be better at that this year.
Speaker 4: We've got to get the freshman season and new players,
Speaker 4: you know, ingrained in our system, but we have a
Speaker 4: chance to do some things differently at a higher level.
Speaker 1: Your national title team was able to attack opponents from
Speaker 1: more than one or two spots on that front line
Speaker 1: and the back row as well. How optimistic are you
Speaker 1: about getting an attack put in place this season just
Speaker 1: like maybe not just like that, but similar.
Speaker 4: Yeah. I mean it's I think we have the chance.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's going to take some time, you know,
Speaker 4: to evolve and get the efficiency where it needs to be.
Speaker 4: I think defensively, this team has a chance to be special,
Speaker 4: just because the physicality we have at the net and
Speaker 4: the size that we have at the net. You know,
Speaker 4: so if we don't quite reach that efficiency that we
Speaker 4: had in two thousand, we can make up for potentially defensively,
Speaker 4: but we'll have the weapons to attack from the front row,
Speaker 4: back row, left side of that middle portion and the
Speaker 4: right side. And you know, that's the important piece in
Speaker 4: our sport. You have to occupy all the zones along
Speaker 4: the net against the best team, right or they're just
Speaker 4: going to shut you down. And so I think that's
Speaker 4: something that this team has a chance to do, and
Speaker 4: we're certainly trying to iron that out right now this
Speaker 4: spring and hopefully get closer to this weekend. But you know,
Speaker 4: we got a few months to get that sorted out
Speaker 4: and get them together in the summer and train together
Speaker 4: to work on some of those pieces.
Speaker 1: You also have Molly Tusso coming back, and she took
Speaker 1: a major step forward last year as Libra won the
Speaker 1: starting job early in the season, which surprised some of us,
Speaker 1: but not the way she played. How great a plus.
Speaker 4: Getting her back, Well, she's she's just an elite special
Speaker 4: athlete in the libero position. I mean, when you have
Speaker 4: your libero that can she jump touches nine to eleven,
Speaker 4: which is basically just below the rim. I mean it's crazy.
Speaker 4: And so that type of range and that position gets
Speaker 4: people's attention. And you know, she had a phenomenal year.
Speaker 4: You know, her and Eleanor e Bevan and the backcourt together,
Speaker 4: we're one of our biggest strengths. And USA Volleyballs taken oaths.
Speaker 4: They invited her to go train with the U twenty
Speaker 4: one team this summer, you know, so she'll get a
Speaker 4: chance to compete with them and show what she's capable of.
Speaker 4: But you know, special talent for sure, and someone that
Speaker 4: has this an incredible enthusiasm for the game more would UK.
Speaker 1: Volleyball coach Craig Skinner on the other side of the
Speaker 1: break here on six thirty WLAP Welcome back to the
Speaker 1: Big Blueing Sider. We're talking with UK Volleyball coach Craig
Speaker 1: Skinner and we were talking in the first segment about
Speaker 1: the established players who are coming back, but you got
Speaker 1: new faces coming in.
Speaker 4: As you said, I mean the two ones that jump
Speaker 4: out are the transfer from Purdue. You know, you know,
Speaker 4: Eva Hudson led the big Tenant Kills last year. She's
Speaker 4: she's the stud. And Lizzie Carr, Andrew Carr's sister is
Speaker 4: six seven, and I think we're going to reap the
Speaker 4: benefits for just really coming into her abilities. I mean,
Speaker 4: she you know, it's a huge presence of the net,
Speaker 4: can attack in a lot of different places, and that
Speaker 4: a height above the net that most people need a
Speaker 4: ladder to get to know. So two special players and
Speaker 4: great people too that really kind of bought into Kentucky volleyball.
Speaker 4: And Molly Breswitz, who was starting Leberro at Marquette which
Speaker 4: is a sweet sixteen team last year, and great defender
Speaker 4: and great you know volleyball family, and and you know
Speaker 4: we had our older sister, Mattie was a player on
Speaker 4: her team, and so it's you know, it's a it's
Speaker 4: a hell of a group. And then three freshmen that
Speaker 4: elite athletes and Cassie O'Brien et cetera, and Georgia Watson
Speaker 4: as a right tide player in the Trinity ward of
Speaker 4: Leberro from Kiva, you know club program that's you know,
Speaker 4: have a long history and tradition of putting out great
Speaker 4: players in that position. So a lot of competition for
Speaker 4: spots a lot of great kids. And you know, it's again,
Speaker 4: I cannot encourage our fans and quickly enough to get
Speaker 4: their tickets because they're going to want to see this
Speaker 4: team play.
Speaker 1: What about they want to see the team play Friday
Speaker 1: over in Louisville.
Speaker 4: Yeah, exhibition against the Birds on at six o'clock on
Speaker 4: Friday night and the Allen n Center on campus. I
Speaker 4: do think there's a major track meet going on there
Speaker 4: as well. There's going to be a lot of chaos
Speaker 4: with people roaming around the buildings. So if you're going
Speaker 4: to go, get there early, find a parking spot maybe
Speaker 4: at the football stadium, and get a shuttle over. But
Speaker 4: I have no doubt that place will be packed.
Speaker 1: I's going to say traffic in that area can be
Speaker 1: kind of nuts. We haven't talked about Asia thing Penn either.
Speaker 1: She's back, right, she is.
Speaker 4: She's back and you know, blazing guns and blazing as
Speaker 4: usual with Asia and certainly brings the heat and the
Speaker 4: fire to our group. And you know she's having a
Speaker 4: great spring as well. It's it's you know, it's just
Speaker 4: such a fun team to coach and work with, and
Speaker 4: our staff is really looking forward each and every day
Speaker 4: and sometimes this time of year, it's the dog days
Speaker 4: of spring and get attire looking forward to the spring
Speaker 4: and finals and getting home for you know, the summer
Speaker 4: for or at least the May term, you know, with
Speaker 4: our kids. But this group is really, even in our
Speaker 4: last week, you know, playing with a lot of enthusiasms.
Speaker 4: So it's it's fun.
Speaker 1: Kind of of an obvious question, but when you're grinding
Speaker 1: through these tough days, how great is it to have
Speaker 1: these exhibitions that you can build up to it not
Speaker 1: just another day in the gym. But it's hey, even
Speaker 1: if you have to get on the bus and go,
Speaker 1: it's it's different, and it's it's a different jersey you're
Speaker 1: staring at across the net.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it'shoe. It's huge. I mean, you know, if we
Speaker 4: didn't have this mass to look forward to this week,
Speaker 4: that the feel and vibe and practice might be a
Speaker 4: little bit different. So, you know, having having a match
Speaker 4: against the arrival and a great team obviously with the
Speaker 4: history of their successes, you know, easy for our players
Speaker 4: to get jacked up and motivate to play, and you know,
Speaker 4: I think they'll be pumped to kind of you know,
Speaker 4: see what they're capable of. This week before they shut
Speaker 4: it down for a few weeks, you know, the finals
Speaker 4: in the May and and uh you know, so you know,
Speaker 4: for those who get a chance to watch and play,
Speaker 4: I can't wait to hear what you think.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, people, I know we've already seen you play.
Speaker 1: Can't get over the the explosiveness that this team, at
Speaker 1: least the potential that it has. Before I let you go,
Speaker 1: I got to ask you had more staff turnover. I
Speaker 1: guess that's that's a good thing. When other programs want
Speaker 1: to poach your assistance, they've been doing that. But you've
Speaker 1: got a new associate head coach, don't you.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Kyle Lulongos who played at Pepperdine for a legendary
Speaker 4: coach named Mark Dumpy and coached at Pepperdine for a
Speaker 4: few years, and it's been at TCU the last six
Speaker 4: is you know, wealth and knowledge and great coach already
Speaker 4: fit in really well with our team and staff, and
Speaker 4: it's been awesome transition with him. And then, you know,
Speaker 4: speaking of poaching, Nate sstinat poaching Madison Lily over to
Speaker 4: Spain while he's playing professional they're engaged to be married
Speaker 4: this summer, and so I got to give him something
Speaker 4: about taking no. But you know, we're all happy for
Speaker 4: for Mads. But Amia Tillman, you know, play at Louisville
Speaker 4: and the Final four team and All American player at
Speaker 4: Louisville wanted to get into coaching. So we stole her
Speaker 4: away from the NCAA and do an internship there and
Speaker 4: she's fitting great and players love her and you know,
Speaker 4: so it's it's been a really cool transition the last
Speaker 4: last month or so.
Speaker 1: I know you've been on the Pepperdine campus. I visited once.
Speaker 1: Can you imagine going to school there, you know, and
Speaker 1: you turn around and there's a Pacific ocean right there. Yeah,
Speaker 1: Lexion is a little different, but but yeah, he wanted
Speaker 1: to play. He wanted to be a part of a
Speaker 1: big time program. Wrap it up with this. Georgia Amore
Speaker 1: drafted last night, and I know that it's the kind
Speaker 1: of the rising tide that lifts all ships. I know
Speaker 1: you were happy because anything that puts the UK out
Speaker 1: their front and center helps everybody, doesn't it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I mean, obviously it's cool to see their
Speaker 4: successes first year and Georgia, you know, getting to know her,
Speaker 4: what a what a special kid. And just someone that
Speaker 4: has a ton of enthusiasm not only for you know,
Speaker 4: her team, but just the university. And she was in
Speaker 4: the stands watching our games and vice versa for them.
Speaker 4: And you know, so when you see great people get
Speaker 4: great opportunities, you can't help but feel, you know, some
Speaker 4: pride for you know, our school and department and the
Speaker 4: people here that really make this thing. So can't be
Speaker 4: more excited for her. And and uh, you know the
Speaker 4: pro situation for women and women and basketball and now
Speaker 4: volleyball is you know another thing that's booming. So it's
Speaker 4: you know, it's cool. I've had a match in Atlanta
Speaker 4: to see Leah Edmunds play and and there was you know,
Speaker 4: five hundred people wait in line to get tickets on
Speaker 4: the you know campus to see that match. So it's
Speaker 4: it's it's a pretty cool deal.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm happy for Leah as well one of my
Speaker 1: broadcast partners. But that's so much, so much fun to
Speaker 1: watch here. And that league is taken off. Uh do
Speaker 1: you know when your complete schedule is going to be released?
Speaker 4: We're getting closer. Just out of a match yesterday. Well
Speaker 4: it's not contracted yet, but the team in the Pacific
Speaker 4: Northwest is potentially coming to Lexington the last match of
Speaker 4: pre conference, so we're getting closer and but we certainly
Speaker 4: won't disappoint the fans. With some high level matches, I'll
Speaker 4: get a chance to see us playing it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you never do you disappoint coach. Thank you so much,
Speaker 1: good luck Friday.
Speaker 4: Night, appreciate it, Thanks so much.
Speaker 1: That's great. And before we step away for pregame covers
Speaker 1: of UK baseball after the game on Sunday, the one
Speaker 1: that Kentucky lost five to four against Texas, second ranked
Speaker 1: team in the country. Wildcats had beaten them the day before,
Speaker 1: but the Longhorns win the rubber game. In the match
Speaker 1: five to four, Kentucky had the tying run on base
Speaker 1: in the bottom of the ninth inning, but just couldn't
Speaker 1: push it across. Same deal on Friday, just couldn't quite
Speaker 1: make things happen. Minjeon was talked about what it's going
Speaker 1: to take for this ball club, which has been so
Speaker 1: close in so many games, to really get over the hump,
Speaker 1: and he talked about better situational hitting, like just as to.
Speaker 3: Lay down a couple more like well executed months, you know,
Speaker 3: but man, they're right there they're right there, man, I
Speaker 3: want it for these guys so bad.
Speaker 1: And that's what he said about his last couple of teams,
Speaker 1: the teams that won the regional titles, and they stayed
Speaker 1: together for a couple of years. But keep in mind
Speaker 1: that Kentucky this time last year, of course, had the
Speaker 1: great middle infielders and Petray and and they've got really
Speaker 1: good middle infielders right now. That's not the problem. Luke
Speaker 1: Lawrence and Tyler Bell. They're doing really well both offensively
Speaker 1: and defensively. But keep in mind, and I'm not pointing
Speaker 1: fingers at anybody, but at this time last year, Ryan Waltschmid,
Speaker 1: who had been good the year before, was becoming great,
Speaker 1: you know. I mean first round draft pick great, playing
Speaker 1: left field defensively and offensively. And Cole Hage has been
Speaker 1: solid transferring in from Columbia the IVY League. Struggling with
Speaker 1: breaking pitches, but everybody does when they first get to
Speaker 1: the SEC. But he's an outstanding defender. He's really fast,
Speaker 1: he's got the only real pop in his bad the
Speaker 1: only power in the Kentucky lineup right now. But he's
Speaker 1: not Ryan Walshmid good. And wals Schmidt was so good
Speaker 1: and of course made everybody in the lineup around him better.
Speaker 1: Devin Burks is having a better year offensively this year
Speaker 1: than he had last year. But Nola McCarthy's gone from center.
Speaker 1: Griffin Cameron's doing a really good job. They lose their
Speaker 1: starting center fielder early in the season and Cameron steps
Speaker 1: in and is doing well. But they just lack something.
Speaker 1: And it's the little things that MinJe Ow talked about there,
Speaker 1: especially getting bunched down or just moving runners period. You know,
Speaker 1: on Friday night twice actually it was Saturday, the game
Speaker 1: they won, they had runners at first and second and
Speaker 1: nobody out twice and didn't move them. So good teams
Speaker 1: are able to do that, great teams do it consistently. Well.
Speaker 1: This team's kind of knocking on the door. Their pitching's
Speaker 1: coming around, their bullpen was outstanding the last three weekends.
Speaker 1: But they just got to put it all together and
Speaker 1: they got to get this one tonight. I know it's
Speaker 1: Miami of Ohio against an SEC team, but again, Kentucky
Speaker 1: has lost midweek games this year that it cannot afford
Speaker 1: to lose with the postseason coming up fast. It always does.
Speaker 1: Stay tuned out for Kentucky Baseball Darren Hedwicks that pre
Speaker 1: game next on six point thirty WLA.
Speaker 5: Ta Ta Ta, then the tact that slack, then Donn