Speaker 1: But they'll have pre game coverage around four to forty five,
Speaker 1: so about forty well, I guess about forty minutes left
Speaker 1: here before we wrap it up, and we're going to
Speaker 1: use our time wisely and check in with the one
Speaker 1: and only mister Ken Spencer from WHAS eleven who joins
Speaker 1: us here on Sports Talk seven ninety Kent.
Speaker 3: How are we doing, brother Jego? Thanksgiving?
Speaker 2: Man, I had a great had a great Thanksgiving. Did
Speaker 2: the smoke the turkey for the first time?
Speaker 3: Nice?
Speaker 2: And uh man, just really really pleased with how that
Speaker 2: came out.
Speaker 3: Were you going into it like worry you were going
Speaker 3: to mess it up?
Speaker 1: Because I feel like there's a lot of pressure, a
Speaker 1: lot of lot especially if it's the first time it's Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1: I mean I feel like I would just I wouldn't
Speaker 1: even have the courage to try it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, look like nobody ever says for the most part
Speaker 2: at Thanksgiving, nobody ever says, you know what, the bird
Speaker 2: is my favorite part of the meal. Very true, but
Speaker 2: the bird is still the centerpiece of the meal, and
Speaker 2: so that needs to be it needs to be right, yep.
Speaker 3: And it just can't be back.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it just can't. Just can't be bad. So I
Speaker 2: went into it. Yeah, I felt a little a little
Speaker 2: bit of pressure, but I was excited. I didn't want
Speaker 2: a Christmas vacation situation that'll be bad where the thing
Speaker 2: basically blows up. But no, it ended up turned out good. Uh.
Speaker 2: My dad, who is over the age of seventy, he
Speaker 2: sat at the table and he said, and and and
Speaker 2: by the way, and I've said this to somebody, it's
Speaker 2: he's the most honest person that I know. He has
Speaker 2: looked at He looked at my mother and I one
Speaker 2: time after Christmas and he goes, be honest, was this
Speaker 2: year all's best effort?
Speaker 3: So he wasn't joking that's great. No, that's actually really good.
Speaker 3: That that's that's straight out of the movie is But
Speaker 3: that is.
Speaker 2: One hundred percent. He's the guy. He's the dad that
Speaker 2: after like a sporting event or an athletic event that
Speaker 2: I was in, even like it when I did really,
Speaker 2: really well, he was the guy waiting on, so why
Speaker 2: didn't you do this? What happened? What happened there? So
Speaker 2: he looked at me after he had it and he said, son,
Speaker 2: he goes, that's the best turkey I've ever had.
Speaker 1: Oh, that's something you'll remember forever, not only the pressure
Speaker 1: of delivering on Thanksgiving, but making the old man proud.
Speaker 1: It doesn't get much better than that. I'm getting getting
Speaker 1: emotional here. That's awesome. And I'm also if my wife's
Speaker 1: not listening, which I don't think she is, she's not
Speaker 1: off work yet, I'm going to steal that line for
Speaker 1: Christmas morning because that is I mean, that is well done.
Speaker 1: I'll have to tell her I'm joking pretty quickly before
Speaker 1: she hits me. But that's good stuff.
Speaker 2: By the way, it wasn't our best effort that.
Speaker 1: Year, and you got better from it. That's just somebody
Speaker 1: just trying to you know, continuous improvement, just letting you know, hey,
Speaker 1: you could do better. And you know when your dad
Speaker 1: challenges you and your mother too, then you know, hey,
Speaker 1: he's being honest and.
Speaker 3: We can do better. So good stuff.
Speaker 1: Glad to hear you guys had a good Thanksgiving. I'll
Speaker 1: just jump right in here with Louisville basketball. What do
Speaker 1: you think makes the most sense for Pat Kelsey moving forward?
Speaker 1: I don't know if there is a simple, something something
Speaker 1: simple that you can implement to try to, you know,
Speaker 1: disguise and make up for what you're losing without having
Speaker 1: case in pryor you haven't had Corn Johnson for a while,
Speaker 1: but still knowing he's not coming.
Speaker 3: Back at all. Trey Ouray's out as well.
Speaker 1: I mean, the injuries have really started to pile up
Speaker 1: for Pat Kelsey to wear. I think what he wants
Speaker 1: to do makes sense as far as how the roster
Speaker 1: was built, but I think it's gonna be really tough
Speaker 1: to do it more than anything, just because you don't
Speaker 1: have the depth, and depth was going to be a
Speaker 1: big piece to how you can get into what you
Speaker 1: wanted to do. After watching what happened on Tuesday night
Speaker 1: against a really good Old Miss team and they couldn't
Speaker 1: buy a bucket, I wouldn't be shocked if he's trying
Speaker 1: to maybe not reinvent himself and become a totally different team,
Speaker 1: but maybe trying to find something they can do to
Speaker 1: generate better looks than what they're getting right now. Just
Speaker 1: I guess your thoughts on Louisville hoops moving forward. I
Speaker 1: still think they could be competitive, but man, it's hard
Speaker 1: to not notice just how thin they are.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the one thing that maybe stands out
Speaker 2: to me and you saw it predominantly maybe in the
Speaker 2: second half against Old Miss, and you know, it's like
Speaker 2: what buttons can you push? You know, especially without a
Speaker 2: case in prior, it's not like you can change up
Speaker 2: and say like, Okay, we're just gonna go and we're
Speaker 2: gonna live in the paint, We're gonna live in the post,
Speaker 2: because you don't have anybody really like that, and so
Speaker 2: you you almost got to continue with the same playing style.
Speaker 2: But I would almost like try and And the bad
Speaker 2: part about it is is you have Duke coming up,
Speaker 2: you have Kentucky coming up, like you have tough games
Speaker 2: coming up. But I would almost try to unlock Canai Rus.
Speaker 2: I'm with you. I think he's a I think he's
Speaker 2: a freshman and he I think he has tons of
Speaker 2: upside what I like about him and I and I
Speaker 2: think I've seen it and you know, really like the
Speaker 2: last couple of games, he's got some grit to him,
Speaker 2: or it appears that he's got some grit to me.
Speaker 1: He's got some energy about him that's a little different.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's not casing with the energy, but he
Speaker 1: could be somebody that if he's playing well, he could
Speaker 1: bring some some juice. That is clearly not there with
Speaker 1: casin out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and and so like I like, I like him
Speaker 2: and that, and I think you have to just try
Speaker 2: to you know, what these injuries have done, in my
Speaker 2: mind is it's just forced you to hit the fast
Speaker 2: forward button on his development.
Speaker 3: Yep.
Speaker 2: And so I think for them, that's what they that's
Speaker 2: what they have to do, because even when Cason Pryor
Speaker 2: was was in there, and obviously he wasn't in there
Speaker 2: against Old Miss. The thing that has really bothered this team.
Speaker 2: And like it's not like it's just this team. I
Speaker 2: mean we've seen it against you know, with other teams
Speaker 2: as well, but those teams that are really physical and
Speaker 2: get in your face. I think it's really bothered this offense.
Speaker 3: And that was.
Speaker 2: Tennessee to a t. That was Oklahoma in the Battle
Speaker 2: for Atlantis Championship game, and obviously that's a that's a
Speaker 2: team like Old Miss, and so you know they're not
Speaker 2: they're just not getting those open shots and when they're
Speaker 2: and when they're uncomfortable. I just don't like the way
Speaker 2: that it's flowing right now. And that's the biggest thing
Speaker 2: I think that they have.
Speaker 3: To correct, no doubt about it.
Speaker 1: Two really good coaches Rick Barnes and Chris Beard, but
Speaker 1: also the way they coach in their style sort of
Speaker 1: their DNA. It may be the worst possible matchup for
Speaker 1: what Pat Kelsey wants to do, especially when you're short
Speaker 1: handed like they were the other night. So you're right,
Speaker 1: no flow, I mean, the flow is just not really there.
Speaker 1: And it was nice to see against West Virginia whenever
Speaker 1: it wasn't played at such a fast pace like the
Speaker 1: Indiana game, they were able to kind of settle in.
Speaker 1: And you know, Caseon Pryor is a guy in the
Speaker 1: half court where he takes a lot of threes and
Speaker 1: he doesn't make him a lot, but he's also just
Speaker 1: a he's a tough matchups. He's a long, athletic guy.
Speaker 1: They can you know, I don't know if he's great
Speaker 1: at one thing, but he's pretty good at a lot
Speaker 1: of things.
Speaker 3: And I was really surprised. I should have been a little.
Speaker 1: Bit more aware of him bringing more than what is
Speaker 1: just on the stat sheet. He's a guy that they
Speaker 1: clearly rely on a lot for energy, leadership. He's got
Speaker 1: a lot of confidence about him, and I'm with you,
Speaker 1: I think can I rus despite being a freshman, if
Speaker 1: he could get going, he could get some confidence, he
Speaker 1: could he could help a little bit, maybe maybe more
Speaker 1: than just a little bit when it comes to those
Speaker 1: kind of things. What do you make of Terrence Edwards.
Speaker 1: I think he he's a good player and that has
Speaker 1: been proven it at James Madison, despite that not being
Speaker 1: this level of basketball. But I think he could have
Speaker 1: been a nice complimentary piece to your system. But I
Speaker 1: feel like now that you're short handed, you're not getting
Speaker 1: Cora and Johnson back. I don't know if you're gonna,
Speaker 1: you know, make a whole lot of changes to what
Speaker 1: you're doing. But I feel like he's the He's one
Speaker 1: of the guys that you could look at and say, Okay,
Speaker 1: we we could get something out of this if we
Speaker 1: make some adjustments, if we have a very age you know,
Speaker 1: we've if we deviate a little bit from what we
Speaker 1: typically want to do. But he's just really has not
Speaker 1: got it going. There's some games where his numbers are
Speaker 1: are decent, but you know, you mentioned comfortable. I just
Speaker 1: feel like he's the one guy that I don't really know,
Speaker 1: of any point this year in the regular season, he's
Speaker 1: been comfortable at all.
Speaker 2: I think sometimes when you get especially in this in
Speaker 2: this transfer portal world, and Pat Kelsey's really big about
Speaker 2: trying to point out like the back of somebody's bubblecup cards. Right. Yeah,
Speaker 2: Terrence Edwards obviously produced you know, really really nice numbers
Speaker 2: at James Madison, but that was in a different style
Speaker 2: than what they're playing now, So I think it there
Speaker 2: has to be a little give and take. So I
Speaker 2: think early in the season it's it's Terrence Edwards trying
Speaker 2: to fit into Pat Kelsey's style, and I don't think
Speaker 2: that's necessarily really worked for Terrence Edwards. I don't think
Speaker 2: he you know, you just mentioned it, like he just
Speaker 2: doesn't look comfortable in that there at all. I think
Speaker 2: it may be time, especially with these injuries, it may
Speaker 2: be time to like try to meld those two things
Speaker 2: together to try to maximize what Terrence Edwards Junior is.
Speaker 2: And so it's not just Edwards just trying to fit
Speaker 2: into this style. It's like, Okay, what do we need
Speaker 2: to do to make sure you're comfortable and that you
Speaker 2: can get we can get you in some into some
Speaker 2: of your spots ye that you really like, instead of
Speaker 2: you just trying to force the issue because that's not
Speaker 2: working and I think that there has to be maybe
Speaker 2: a little bit of give and take there going forward
Speaker 2: for for Louiselle to have the kind of success that
Speaker 2: would like to help.
Speaker 1: I don't think you could have said it better as
Speaker 1: far as realizing, Okay, we can't be so much dependent
Speaker 1: upon Hey, this is what we're doing, and everybody just
Speaker 1: play the role. Now, I think you have to look
Speaker 1: at guys individually and realize you're so shorthanded. If there's
Speaker 1: something there that maybe wouldn't come out in what we
Speaker 1: want to do. As far as our style, we could
Speaker 1: make some adjustments to where just try to because I
Speaker 1: still think you're you know, you're thin, and I don't
Speaker 1: know what the ceiling is for this team. It's certainly
Speaker 1: not as high as it was before case In Pryor
Speaker 1: got hurt. But I still think there's some some good players.
Speaker 1: You just got to you know, Pat Kelsey's learning about
Speaker 1: these guys. He hasn't coached them until this season, and
Speaker 1: now he's probably gonna have to do things in a
Speaker 1: way he wasn't planning on because the injuries, and of
Speaker 1: course that's not something you can you can prepare for.
Speaker 1: Now on the Kentucky side, sticking with hoops, Mark Pope
Speaker 1: suffers his first loss on the road at Clemson, a
Speaker 1: close game I saw some similarities with with Clemson as
Speaker 1: far as you know, trying to slow it down, not
Speaker 1: give Pope in Kentucky as many possessions as they want,
Speaker 1: really just be physical. And you know, it worked out.
Speaker 1: Kentucky could have easily won that game. But just I
Speaker 1: guess your observations after seeing for the first time this team,
Speaker 1: you know, play well in stretches, but really not you know,
Speaker 1: just not not not going to win for the first time.
Speaker 2: You know, I think that game, honestly, Nick, comes down
Speaker 2: to the first half. You know, they go into the
Speaker 2: locker room. I think, if I remember correctly, I believe
Speaker 2: Clemson was up seven going into the locker room in
Speaker 2: that but they were I think they were out rebounding
Speaker 2: Kentucky by like twenty year or something, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean, Like the number was like unbelievable, just how
Speaker 2: much Clemson was dominating the glass in that game. But
Speaker 2: Mark Pope as a head coach has never been in
Speaker 2: that situation before, and outside of Kerkkrisa, there's nobody on
Speaker 2: that roster that's been in that situation. Before you're ranked
Speaker 2: fourth in the country. You're going into another Power five
Speaker 2: opponent's house with a good record, made a good run
Speaker 2: in the NCAA Tournament last year, obviously a lot a
Speaker 2: lot of new pieces. None of those guys on that
Speaker 2: roster has ever been in that situation before, where you
Speaker 2: are even in a Power five house, you are massively hunted.
Speaker 2: And I don't think that anybody on that roster other
Speaker 2: than Kirkkriesa when he was at Arizona, has had that
Speaker 2: kind of a target on their back. Now, Mark Pope
Speaker 2: did when he was a player, but not as a
Speaker 2: head coach. Like, I just feel like they had to
Speaker 2: like learn in that moment, and they did and they
Speaker 2: took an ol.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like, look and that'll be good for him.
Speaker 1: Honestly different Now, Yeah, I mean I think that's in
Speaker 1: a way. I mean, you don't want to lose, but
Speaker 1: I think not only knowing that, you know, you were
Speaker 1: the hunted and they stormed the court. I mean, that
Speaker 1: has nothing to do with the game. But I feel
Speaker 1: like these that's part of the experience for these players
Speaker 1: to where they you know, I'm sure they realize they're
Speaker 1: at Kentucky. It's one of the best programs in the
Speaker 1: history of the sport. It's much different than anywhere these
Speaker 1: guys have been. But I feel like the court storming
Speaker 1: is a small element to where they have to realize, Okay,
Speaker 1: there's a responsibility here, like we were a big deal
Speaker 1: if they beat us. So let's I mean not to
Speaker 1: say that they'll get better from it, but I feel
Speaker 1: like that is an added layer to them kind of
Speaker 1: realize sing where they are.
Speaker 3: That makes sense, Yeah.
Speaker 2: It's all part of the process. It's all part of
Speaker 2: that learning process. Like, look, you know, you're not at
Speaker 2: certain places anymore, you know, like you're you are at
Speaker 2: Kentucky when you go into the gym, they do look
Speaker 2: at that differently. And it's not just being at Kentucky.
Speaker 2: You know, like the number four to the left of
Speaker 2: their name going into that game, like for Clemson or
Speaker 2: for anybody else in that spot, like that's a big deal,
Speaker 2: like you want to get that win, and so you
Speaker 2: know they're they're they're coming at you a little bit different.
Speaker 2: And you know when Jackson Robinson, you know, yeah he
Speaker 2: had a number next to his name, but it was
Speaker 2: never that high, you know what I mean, Like at
Speaker 2: BYU last year. So none of those guys have had
Speaker 2: to try to experience that, you know, and so Amari
Speaker 2: Williams he's never had to experience that. You know, he
Speaker 2: has he has now and you got to know, hey,
Speaker 2: whatever the mind was, because in that first half, you know,
Speaker 2: for for a large part of that, I think Clemson
Speaker 2: just kind of out worked them, beat them in all
Speaker 2: the fifty fifth balls and on the glass and stuff
Speaker 2: like that. And like you know, on a night when
Speaker 2: your shots aren't going down, which they really weren't, you've
Speaker 2: got to do all the little things and Clemson was
Speaker 2: doing the little things better than Kentucky was, which is
Speaker 2: the reason why Clems had got to win that night.
Speaker 1: Kids Been Sir of WHS eleven is our guest joining
Speaker 1: us here on Sports Talk seven ninety. We'll switch gears
Speaker 1: here to football and keep it on the Kentucky side
Speaker 1: just because of the developing news in the portal.
Speaker 3: Not a big shock to see guys.
Speaker 1: Wanting to move on really under any circumstance, because that's
Speaker 1: just where we are.
Speaker 3: But dan Keye a local product.
Speaker 1: His father played at Kentucky and he's been a very
Speaker 1: good receiver for them, but he's decided to leave that
Speaker 1: was announced yesterday. Now Barry and Brown and obviously some
Speaker 1: of these guys that are transferring. It sounds like maybe
Speaker 1: not only was not a shock to the staff, but
Speaker 1: maybe they weren't bummed to see them leave.
Speaker 3: But still, when you were.
Speaker 1: Coming off such a tough season and it ended as
Speaker 1: badly as it did, you know, it's expected for fans
Speaker 1: to kind of see this is just another sign that
Speaker 1: the sky is falling. What's the best case scenario here
Speaker 1: for Mark Stupid heading into next year? Because I really
Speaker 1: you know, maybe he does go out on the portal
Speaker 1: and they kill it. He claimed that they have resources
Speaker 1: in a good spot, maybe better than they ever have.
Speaker 1: But I feel like the momentum for Mark stoops to
Speaker 1: Kentucky is at a low that I really didn't know possible.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and when it comes to when they say they
Speaker 2: have way better resources and they're better served now than
Speaker 2: what they were in the past, proof will be in
Speaker 2: the pudding on that because remember was it a year ago?
Speaker 2: Was it a year and a half ago with a
Speaker 2: pony up comment that he made?
Speaker 3: Yeah, last season like that didn't work out well for him.
Speaker 3: It haunts him, know it went that went.
Speaker 2: Horrible so you know that he's not going to say
Speaker 2: that again, and so like, what was he going to say,
Speaker 2: you know, when he was asked about that. Of course
Speaker 2: he's going to say, yeah, no, it's it's everything's great,
Speaker 2: you know. It's like, so I would imagine that here's
Speaker 2: what I would say about this, you know, And this
Speaker 2: is more of like an indicator of, in my opinion,
Speaker 2: what this really looked like within that program in the
Speaker 2: last couple weeks of the season generally at this point,
Speaker 2: and you've seen it at Louisville, right, Like, the players
Speaker 2: that are in the portal or announcing their portal are
Speaker 2: players that were seldom used during the season, and when
Speaker 2: you're seldom used, then you can really think about your future.
Speaker 2: The Kentucky players that are in the portal are there
Speaker 2: two starting wide receivers and a few other guys. But
Speaker 2: let's just circle into the wide receivers. They just played
Speaker 2: a game on Saturday. They're already making decisions on the
Speaker 2: portal this week. Now, Man, you know that these things
Speaker 2: were already in the in the works way before that,
Speaker 2: which lets me know that it's the same thing I
Speaker 2: think everybody kind of thought, like these kids in that
Speaker 2: UK locker room. Were just ready for this season to
Speaker 2: be over.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean that's I think they've played.
Speaker 1: I think they came out against Louisville, and Louisville again
Speaker 1: deserves credit for, you know, coming ready to play and
Speaker 1: taking advantage of mistakes. But I don't think it's crazy
Speaker 1: to say that the Kentucky played their worst game of
Speaker 1: the season and it might not have been closed And
Speaker 1: I'm not clearly I'm not taking anything away from Louisville,
Speaker 1: but I don't mean they were so checked out in
Speaker 1: a game that usually, even if they aren't great or good,
Speaker 1: even they typically come ready to play. It just seems
Speaker 1: as if things are in a bad way, and You're right,
Speaker 1: the timing of that makes it seem as if these
Speaker 1: guys have probably been ready for the season to be
Speaker 1: over for a long time.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: What did you make of the Vince Marrow to Louisville stuff.
Speaker 1: I mean, I have no inside information at all. I
Speaker 1: just have a hard time seeing that there was ever
Speaker 1: really any legitimacy to him, you know, pondering should I
Speaker 1: stay at Kentucky or should I.
Speaker 3: Go to Louisville.
Speaker 1: Louisville wouldn't be able to and would be foolish to
Speaker 1: pay him one point three million dollars like he makes
Speaker 1: a Kentucky clearly a really good recruiter. But I just
Speaker 1: I don't know if that was all made up. I
Speaker 1: don't know if that was some kind of an attempt
Speaker 1: to make people appreciate him.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 1: I just it became a big deal on Sunday, and
Speaker 1: so much so that he, you know, did come on
Speaker 1: our airwaves here on on on seven ninety with KSR
Speaker 1: and and and said that it's not happening. But like,
Speaker 1: I just I didn't look at that as a oh,
Speaker 1: at least we're not losing the big dog.
Speaker 3: I looked at that as like, what, this is just weird.
Speaker 3: This is another sign that things are just off.
Speaker 2: Yeah, here's here's what I think you said.
Speaker 1: You said like you knew something of it. You're going
Speaker 1: to be careful what you say. That's what you said,
Speaker 1: Ken that that's just how I'm reading it.
Speaker 2: Well, let me just say this, I don't I don't
Speaker 2: think any part of that was real.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean either and because it doesn't make any
Speaker 1: sense on either side.
Speaker 2: I mean just from what I know, Like, I don't
Speaker 2: think any anything there was real.
Speaker 1: I mean that that would be the most likely scenario
Speaker 1: as far as I saw it. But you know, the
Speaker 1: Internet can make people believe anything. You're right about that, brother, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, I just I never I could. I mean,
Speaker 1: I was trying to think, okay, like if he's a
Speaker 1: really good recruiter and he's trying to find a landing spot,
Speaker 1: but you know he's loyal to Stoops, he has been,
Speaker 1: he makes a lot of money.
Speaker 3: I just I don't.
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it's one of the many times
Speaker 1: where his name has been floated out there and it
Speaker 1: became something out and there probably was really you know,
Speaker 1: nothing there all right, last question for you when it
Speaker 1: comes to the Louisville side of things. They finished the
Speaker 1: season getting the Governor's cut back and Jeff Bram is
Speaker 1: losing some players in the portal. But I still feel
Speaker 1: like so far, most of the guys that there's been
Speaker 1: guys last year and even maybe this year, that they
Speaker 1: probably aren't thinking, okay, we hope they leave.
Speaker 3: But I think so far.
Speaker 1: Most of the guys who've left the program for Louisville
Speaker 1: and in the portal last year or as of now,
Speaker 1: within the last few days, it's been guys that you know,
Speaker 1: like Kewan Brown. I think he's a solid running back,
Speaker 1: but it makes total sense for him to leave. Same
Speaker 1: thing for Maurice Turner, same thing for some of these
Speaker 1: receivers that hit the Portol yesterday. So you know, I
Speaker 1: feel like when it comes to roster management, you know,
Speaker 1: the goal is to try to keep the guys that
Speaker 1: you know are going to have options elsewhere. Try to
Speaker 1: keep those guys happy, Go get players that are available,
Speaker 1: bring in some young freshmen that you think could eventually
Speaker 1: be really good. I don't know if you're ever going
Speaker 1: to get as lucky as you did with Isaac Brown
Speaker 1: and Duke Watson. But I just feel like Jeff Brown
Speaker 1: right now as it stands, and he hasn't put a
Speaker 1: class together yet, so we shall see, But I feel
Speaker 1: like he's a good example of a coach that has
Speaker 1: done a pretty decent job at adjusting to sort of
Speaker 1: what this new world.
Speaker 2: Is well about, first off, outside of outside of honestly,
Speaker 2: and this is my opinion, and who knows, you know,
Speaker 2: what his status is moving forward, Like I think, I
Speaker 2: think deep down, like Mason Rieger hurts.
Speaker 1: Yes, that's you're no, You're absolutely right about that. When
Speaker 1: I forgot about that. He's you know, he didn't play
Speaker 1: this year, so it's out a sight out of mind.
Speaker 3: But no, you are absolutely right. He was good last year.
Speaker 2: And and by the way, like let's let's be honest,
Speaker 2: like I think Ashton Jealotti's numbers were down this year
Speaker 2: because he was hurt, like not not Jelattie hurt, I mean,
Speaker 2: but but Reger on the other side, I.
Speaker 1: Know they benefited both from being out there and at times,
Speaker 1: you if you didn't know the press clippings, as they
Speaker 1: say at Tom's last year, you have thought Mason Riger
Speaker 1: was the guy that everybody was talking about through the NFL.
Speaker 3: That's not a shot at Ashton, but Breag was he
Speaker 3: walk on initially.
Speaker 2: I don't know if he was a walk on, but
Speaker 2: I know this, like he popped off the page and
Speaker 2: he popped off the screen last year when he finally
Speaker 2: got healthy. You know, he when he really started playing,
Speaker 2: like you could just tell a massive difference in that
Speaker 2: defense like he made. He was a he was a
Speaker 2: difference maker. Now, everybody else that we've seen to go
Speaker 2: in the portal so far are little to seldom use guys.
Speaker 2: So it makes total sense for those guys to go
Speaker 2: in the to go in the portal. You know, Lowell's
Speaker 2: class yesterday it ends up being fifteen deep, which you know,
Speaker 2: I said this on the news last night. I said,
Speaker 2: you know, ten years ago, that's a small class, and
Speaker 2: you're almost asking, like what's wrong. But with the portal
Speaker 2: now and the things that you have to navigate, it's
Speaker 2: smart to go that because it then it gives you
Speaker 2: plenty of room to be able to navigate because and
Speaker 2: you know, there's a lot of people that won't, but
Speaker 2: like a quarter to a half of the class that
Speaker 2: Louisville just signed, at some point in their career will
Speaker 2: end up in the portal. Yep.
Speaker 3: Just that's just a fact. And it won't be anybody's fault.
Speaker 3: That's just that's just the new world.
Speaker 2: Just just a new world and what it is. Yeah,
Speaker 2: it has nothing against it has nothing against Jeff Brohmer
Speaker 2: or Louisville or anything like that. I mean, And that's
Speaker 2: and that's all of the classes that we've that we've
Speaker 2: talked about, and so this is this is his plan
Speaker 2: on how to navigate the new world of college athletics.
Speaker 2: And so, but like even the guys that have stayed.
Speaker 2: I mean, I you know, Brown was asked after the
Speaker 2: game on Saturday about, you know, his comfort level of
Speaker 2: being able to keep Isaac Brown. Well, you know, Brown
Speaker 2: was like, I think he really wants to stay this
Speaker 2: and this like what are you what are you going
Speaker 2: to say at that point? Right? Like, you don't And
Speaker 2: and one one of the things that we've kind of
Speaker 2: found out is like there there's no guarantees on your
Speaker 2: roster until May. So obviously, you know, Louisville wants to
Speaker 2: desperately the guys like Isaac Brown and Duke Watson that
Speaker 2: you know, a list could go on and on and
Speaker 2: Callin Lacy who announced that that he's coming back. But man,
Speaker 2: you don't. I don't think you truly feel comfortable until
Speaker 2: until May, and you don't know who's gonna come call him.
Speaker 1: Yep, it's uh, it's it's a lot different than it
Speaker 1: was just four or five years ago.
Speaker 3: And uh, you're right.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm happy to see Colin Lacey has decided
Speaker 1: to come back and put it out there. And there's
Speaker 1: been nothing that that that indicates that that Watson or
Speaker 1: Brown are are are on their way out.
Speaker 3: But you know, in any moment.
Speaker 1: It can change, and losing guys who are really talented
Speaker 1: would be a big bummer. But I don't I don't
Speaker 1: know if we're ever gonna have a guy that leaves
Speaker 1: to where you can deep down and say, man, I
Speaker 1: just this is you know, maybe there are some certain circumstances,
Speaker 1: but to be honest with you, the uh, the one
Speaker 1: guy would be Dane Key, right, Like that's the connections
Speaker 1: there and his success. I mean, he guess Kentucky being
Speaker 1: bad makes it to where he would want to have,
Speaker 1: you know, a good finish to his career elsewhere.
Speaker 3: But yeah, the portal has has changed everything.
Speaker 2: Think about Dane Key, Like, I think he caught forty
Speaker 2: seven ball this year for seven hundred and fifteen yards
Speaker 2: if I remember correctly, in a couple of touchdowns. I've
Speaker 2: read it on the news. That's that's why I know.
Speaker 2: But like you can go to another spot and be
Speaker 2: more highlighted, like let's you know, and put up maybe
Speaker 2: similar numbers, maybe a little better numbers. Maybe your touchdowns
Speaker 2: are better and be highlighted to give you a chance
Speaker 2: for the NFL. Or maybe if he doesn't think like
Speaker 2: deep down, he's an NFL wide receiver, which you know,
Speaker 2: at this at this level, all those kids think they're
Speaker 2: NFL wide receivers that this is your opportunity to go
Speaker 2: and really get paid. But either way, you've got to
Speaker 2: go to a spot that you feel really, really good about.
Speaker 2: And in that case, like I don't blame them all
Speaker 2: the people that they've had jump in the portal for
Speaker 2: them in the last couple of days. Like in my opinion,
Speaker 2: he's the only one that hurts them.
Speaker 1: Yep, And it would be you know, him deciding to
Speaker 1: stay would really just be a gift. It would be
Speaker 1: a very selfless thing to do. And I don't blame
Speaker 1: the kid at all for trying to maximize me. You've
Speaker 1: got to look out for yourself. That's that's life. But
Speaker 1: can't we are We are, I got a run. I
Speaker 1: appreciate you making time for us. You are the best.
Speaker 1: We missed you last week with the holidays, so we'll
Speaker 1: do it again next week. And I'm proud of you
Speaker 1: for that. Turkey brother, Okay, just know that can't wait.
Speaker 1: Take care of it. It's kid, Spencer whas eleven?
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 1: I love that we timed it out this way because
Speaker 1: right now what we can do is we can just
Speaker 1: take our I mean, we can say goodbye to you
Speaker 1: coming up in about about a minute, right Austin, and
Speaker 1: then from there we'll hand it off to the crew
Speaker 1: that is calling this this basketball game. But yeah, I
Speaker 1: will say this before we wrap it up, and I
Speaker 1: know we got to run. Bill Belichick has interviewed for
Speaker 1: the North Carolina head coaching job. Not the Panthers because
Speaker 1: they have a coach. I'm talking about North Carolina where
Speaker 1: they just got rid of Mac Brown. Going from Mac
Speaker 1: Brown to Bill. I mean, I don't know if he's
Speaker 1: gonna take the job or if he wants it or whatever,
Speaker 1: but Carolina going from Mac Brown to Bill Belichick, why
Speaker 1: don't you just play your games at a nursing home.
Speaker 1: I mean, come on, now, is that.
Speaker 3: A bad joke. Well, he's been around I did listen.
Speaker 3: I know he's been dating younger women. Yeah, you want
Speaker 3: to go check out that God's Country. Yeah that could be.
Speaker 3: Maybe that's why he's interesting.
Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe he's interested in the college game because he
Speaker 1: you know, he's been hanging with the young folks and
Speaker 1: you know that that could be.
Speaker 3: That could make it make sense. But we got to
Speaker 3: run good stuff.
Speaker 1: We'll be back at it tomorrow for a feel good
Speaker 1: Friday right here on Sports Talk seven ninety Yes, Sir,