Speaker 1: Welcome to the Big Blue Insider. Dick Gabriel with you
Speaker 1: on a Tuesday edition of our program. We're going to
Speaker 1: be basketball heavy tonight, and for you football fans, we
Speaker 1: have not forgotten about football, of course, but there's a
Speaker 1: lot out there right now TBT, the Basketball Tournament. We
Speaker 1: got a chance to chat with the Sean Woods, who
Speaker 1: is the head coach of tbt's entry this year, and
Speaker 1: Twany Beckham, the general manager. Of course, Shawn will join
Speaker 1: us tomorrow and we talked last week at a little
Speaker 1: bit about TBT. But they had a news conference today
Speaker 1: to unveil the tournament brackets, which probably don't mean much
Speaker 1: to you right now. To whim, we know more about
Speaker 1: the other teams in the tournament, but of course the
Speaker 1: Kentucky team La Familla is almost entirely former UK players.
Speaker 1: They talked a little bit about the roster today. They're
Speaker 1: going to add two or three more players. There was
Speaker 1: also a player they're talking to who apparently has some
Speaker 1: kind of connection to Sean but is not a UK guy,
Speaker 1: but they didn't announce who that was yet, so that's
Speaker 1: a little bit intriguing. So we'll hear about that coming
Speaker 1: up in the days to come, but anyway, we'll hear
Speaker 1: from Sean and twenty coming up here in just a minute.
Speaker 1: But we also got a chance to chat with Kenny
Speaker 1: Brooks and two of his players. They made two of
Speaker 1: the women available to us today, just as they made
Speaker 1: two of the men available yesterday. They will again next week.
Speaker 1: And we'll hear from the guys coming up in our
Speaker 1: second hour, but we'll hear from the women coming up
Speaker 1: in just a minute. But I wanted to start off
Speaker 1: with Sean and twenty talking about TBT. It's the million
Speaker 1: dollar winner take All tournament and it was such a
Speaker 1: success in lexingon last year. It's kind of grown a
Speaker 1: bit that last year was not the first year. But
Speaker 1: last year they put together a team led by twenty,
Speaker 1: the general manager, that really had a shot at winning,
Speaker 1: and Nate Cestina was a focal point, was the centerpiece,
Speaker 1: was a great addition to that team and he was
Speaker 1: literally the biggest reason they had a chance to win
Speaker 1: it all. But and they knew this going in, he
Speaker 1: had a contract with a team overseas and he had
Speaker 1: to leave before the tournament was over, which meant, yeah,
Speaker 1: they got to the final four, but when they were
Speaker 1: playing in Philly against the Ohio State based team. They
Speaker 1: didn't have their biggest, most effective guy and it really
Speaker 1: it really caught me have cost him the game, and
Speaker 1: I and laying all this on Sistina, but both Sean
Speaker 1: and twenty talked about the fact that it really hurt
Speaker 1: Kentucky's effort last year, and Beckham said, as he put
Speaker 1: this roster together, he made sure or at least sought
Speaker 1: to make sure that it wouldn't happen again.
Speaker 2: Of course, like you just mentioned, we had a guy
Speaker 2: that couldn't make it due to some stuff he had
Speaker 2: going on in his personal life, and I think it
Speaker 2: was a huge letdown to the guys. I mean, but
Speaker 2: we still went. I think we fought. You know, he
Speaker 2: was the guy that you know, the couldn't make it
Speaker 2: the Philadelphia last year was like our Google guy. He
Speaker 2: was our engine, he was our light, he was our spirit,
Speaker 2: he was our energy. I mean, he was everything to
Speaker 2: our team. So it was a huge leadown for us.
Speaker 2: But you know, when me and Coach Woods just talked
Speaker 2: about the roster construction this year, we wanted to make
Speaker 2: sure that we put together nine to ten guys that
Speaker 2: all had that spirit that so if something was to
Speaker 2: happen this year, which we don't foresee or plan on,
Speaker 2: because we let they be known early that you cannot,
Speaker 2: for whatever reason, if you commit to us, you cannot
Speaker 2: back out. And we put that in our contract with
Speaker 2: the guys as well, and.
Speaker 1: We talked to Sistina about it before he left, of course,
Speaker 1: and you know, he was not happy about the back
Speaker 1: that he had to lead, but that's just the way
Speaker 1: the situation was. And Sean talked about Beckham in the
Speaker 1: most glowing terms about the work that Beckham has done
Speaker 1: putting this team together. He said he's missed his calling
Speaker 1: and he needs to be an nbagm but putting the
Speaker 1: team together, crafting this team, finding the players, working through
Speaker 1: their schedules because a lot of them are still playing
Speaker 1: pro overseas, and making sure they understand, as they did
Speaker 1: last year, that this isn't just a fun thing to
Speaker 1: get together, break a sweat, play some ball. No, they
Speaker 1: want to get together and they want to win. But
Speaker 1: Sean also talked at length about the fact that the
Speaker 1: players so enjoyed last year and they talked about it
Speaker 1: with us both during and after the fact that they
Speaker 1: got to wear the jersey again. They got to feel
Speaker 1: the love of the BBN again, which maybe they didn't
Speaker 1: fully appreciate when they were kids, back when they were
Speaker 1: playing for the Wildcats for you know, one and done
Speaker 1: or maybe even longer than that. I'll love the Harrison
Speaker 1: Twins and Willie Cauley Stein, but they got a chance
Speaker 1: at an older age with perspective to experience that love again.
Speaker 3: The guys that we got are so looking forward to
Speaker 3: it because they saw it last year. But not only that, man,
Speaker 3: they get the be a Kentucky basketball player again, you know,
Speaker 3: And that's bigger than anything is. You get to be
Speaker 3: a Kentucky basketball player again. The only bad sad part
Speaker 3: about is they don't get to play a REP anymore,
Speaker 3: but they get to play where it all started in
Speaker 3: Memoria Colisseum and we all have blood, sweat and tears
Speaker 3: on that court in that building. So that's going to
Speaker 3: bring a little more camaraderie to the situation too.
Speaker 1: I just love that comment, And there was that pregnant
Speaker 1: pause from Sean. They get to be a Kentucky basketball
Speaker 1: player again as he was choosing his words. It was
Speaker 1: just very cool when he said that. Sean brought this
Speaker 1: up on My show last week. And he said it
Speaker 1: again today that he kind of had to have a
Speaker 1: come to Jesus meeting with some of the guys with
Speaker 1: the team last year as they were working, just to
Speaker 1: make sure they understood that this was about wearing that
Speaker 1: jersey again and about Kentucky pride, not just going for
Speaker 1: the million dollars. And he said it kind of came
Speaker 1: together over in Louisville. They beat Louisville, and you know,
Speaker 1: there was a little bit of back and forth after
Speaker 1: the game, and he said that kind of pulled the
Speaker 1: team together.
Speaker 3: It's bigger than money. This was the pride of Kentucky
Speaker 3: got involved and that Louisville situation. I'm telling you right now,
Speaker 3: I hadn't played a college basketball game was nineteen ninety two,
Speaker 3: and I hadn't I've been a coach in college for
Speaker 3: twenty five years. Besides went in a conference championship getting
Speaker 3: the opportunity to go to NCAA tournament. There was no
Speaker 3: rush that I had I have had since I've been
Speaker 3: a UK player than that UK U of L TBT
Speaker 3: game at Freedom Hall. I mean, it was unlike anything
Speaker 3: that I've gone through. And I think that's when it
Speaker 3: clicked that we had something from a pride standpoint, because
Speaker 3: it was nothing but pride from them and us. And
Speaker 3: as you see how it ended very very chippy, But
Speaker 3: that was just a competitive U of l UK situation
Speaker 3: and it was nothing like, nothing like it in all
Speaker 3: my years in twenty five thirty years since I've been gone.
Speaker 1: And no, they will not play in RUPP They'll play
Speaker 1: in the coliseum. But with the improved Memorial Coliseum, it's
Speaker 1: gonna be even more intimate, right and as Sean said,
Speaker 1: especially his teams under Patino. You know, the Calipari teams
Speaker 1: got to work in the Craft Center, but they did
Speaker 1: a little bit of work in the coliseum. It's going
Speaker 1: to be great to see a game there as well.
Speaker 1: Of course, the coliseum is home for the UK women.
Speaker 1: As I mentioned earlier. We had a chance to talk
Speaker 1: to a couple of players earlier today and Clara Strack
Speaker 1: one of them. She had a big year transferring in
Speaker 1: from Virginia Tech, second team All Conference Defensive Player of
Speaker 1: the Year, led the SEC in block shots, was eleventh
Speaker 1: in the country in block shots and thirteenth in blocks
Speaker 1: per game, a two and a half per contest, and
Speaker 1: I asked her about the fact that she had such
Speaker 1: a big year and now she's going to be front
Speaker 1: and center on everybody's scouting report and she can expect
Speaker 1: with the upcoming season how she's going to attack that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean, I think I'm just excited, Like like
Speaker 4: coachbrook said, this year is really exciting for us. We
Speaker 4: have our experience already, Like I think last year coming
Speaker 4: in like not only did I not have a ton
Speaker 4: of experience in general in like college basketball, but now
Speaker 4: I have a whole other year in the SEC. So
Speaker 4: I think I'm excited and I'm ready for like those
Speaker 4: challenges like that. But obviously I have an amazing team
Speaker 4: around me, so I think that that will help a
Speaker 4: lot with all that.
Speaker 1: As Clara Strack, who of course was such a big
Speaker 1: part of the team, as was Georgia Amore and Kenny
Speaker 1: Brooks talked about it, as she did on my show
Speaker 1: the other night, the fact that Amore's gone but of
Speaker 1: course not forgotten been a part of the culture that's
Speaker 1: in place now at Kentucky. But I've always felt like
Speaker 1: last year's team, Amore could be big, Strack could be big,
Speaker 1: but minus Tony Key, they weren't really gonna have a
Speaker 1: big shot at winning a tough game. I thought I
Speaker 1: kind of in my mind had her like you know,
Speaker 1: Magic Johnson, Kareem abdul Jabbar and more and stract. But
Speaker 1: James Worthy, I thought was the glued to those great
Speaker 1: Laker teams, and I thought Tianni Key was the glue here.
Speaker 1: I didn't bring that up to her. I don't know
Speaker 1: if she make the connection with those older Laker greats
Speaker 1: and James Worthy, but I talked to her about being
Speaker 1: a player not afraid of doing the dirty work and
Speaker 1: doing again this coming season.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think, honestly a big focus throughout the season,
Speaker 5: through the postseason, and even now. It just was just
Speaker 5: doing the little things, focusing on the little things, like
Speaker 5: coach work says a lot, it's not it's not how
Speaker 5: fast you do it, it's how you do it. So
Speaker 5: like just focusing on those little things and doing them
Speaker 5: well and just getting stronger, being like you said, doing
Speaker 5: the dirty work, doing whatever the team needs. Honestly, just
Speaker 5: being helpful and anyways what I strive to do. So
Speaker 5: I think, you know, each team in the SEC brings
Speaker 5: something a little bit different. It's very similar though, but
Speaker 5: just reading the game, honestly, just figuring out what we
Speaker 5: need and how I can help. I think that's always
Speaker 5: always my focus.
Speaker 1: Up next, the true legend, the legend of thoroughbred racing
Speaker 1: is stepping away. It looks like for good. D Wayne Lucas.
Speaker 1: Also at the bottom of the ara, Maggie Davis of
Speaker 1: BBN Tonight nearly x eighteen. She was there listening and
Speaker 1: talking basketball with all these same folks. We'll talk to
Speaker 1: her a little bit later on Chris Fisher of two
Speaker 1: four to seven Sports. You see his work on the
Speaker 1: pages of The Cat's Paws. That's next on The Big
Speaker 1: Bloom Sider six thirty WLAP. Welcome back to the Big
Speaker 1: Blue and Sider. Coming up at the bottom of the hour,
Speaker 1: Maggie Davis from BBN Tonight. We'll talk Kentucky basketball. She
Speaker 1: was there earlier today when the Lefamia ballplayers and general
Speaker 1: manager spoke with us, as well as some of the
Speaker 1: UK women. And we'll also hear more from the men
Speaker 1: coming up in hour number two, as we had a
Speaker 1: chance to chat with two of the brand new Wildcats
Speaker 1: as we mentioned earlier yesterday. So I did want to
Speaker 1: take time though to talk about d Wayne Lucas and
Speaker 1: even if you're not a horse racing officionado, you know
Speaker 1: he is. And if you're from the state of Kentucky especially,
Speaker 1: you likely are a racing fan for one weekend out
Speaker 1: of the year. And if you've been following for a
Speaker 1: little while, you know about d Wayne Lucas. Yeah, Bob
Speaker 1: Bafford's won more Kentucky derbyes. He's won more Triple Crown
Speaker 1: races by a couple but actually by three now. But
Speaker 1: d Wayne Lucas was really the first trainer to think
Speaker 1: of himself and think of racing and think of the
Speaker 1: horses as well when he came to sports marketing. And
Speaker 1: I say that because he's so personable and outgoing and
Speaker 1: was one of the first trainers to realize the value
Speaker 1: of speaking to you and me the fans through the media. Yeah,
Speaker 1: self serving, Sure, I love talking to him. We all
Speaker 1: did you know? And now, of course he is retiring
Speaker 1: because of serious illness, and I doubt that we see
Speaker 1: him again. He has admitted he is stepping away for good.
Speaker 1: But what he did for the sport was phenomenal, not
Speaker 1: just as a successful trainer, but as a guy who
Speaker 1: speaks to America and has spoken to America for some time.
Speaker 1: And this goes back to the early eighties. There was
Speaker 1: a horse named Genuine Risk of Philly. She won the
Speaker 1: Derby in nineteen eighty not a big horse, but a
Speaker 1: good horse, and pulled a huge upset in the Kentucky Derby,
Speaker 1: but did not win the Preakness because a horse named
Speaker 1: Codex won the race. Angel Cordero as they turned for
Speaker 1: home was a board Codex and kind of carried Genuine
Speaker 1: with Risk wide a little bit, and later he was
Speaker 1: accused of bullying the Philly that kind of thing. Well.
Speaker 1: Codex was trained by de Wayne Lucas. That was his
Speaker 1: first triple Crown win and he had another one in
Speaker 1: the Preakness in nineteen eighty five with Tanks Prospect. One
Speaker 1: is first Kentucky Derby in nineteen eighty eight, coincidentally enough,
Speaker 1: with the Philly winning colors. A huge gray horse. She
Speaker 1: was seventeen hands high. And I'll never forget that was
Speaker 1: a stretch where I picked a Derby winner four out
Speaker 1: of five years running and I did not pick winning colors.
Speaker 1: And the reason is when I first saw her, she
Speaker 1: was the first Derby horse I saw that week at church.
Speaker 1: I spent the used to spend the entire week on
Speaker 1: the backside of Churchill Downs in the early mornings. And
Speaker 1: I'd heard about the phillyat thought okay, and I'd seen
Speaker 1: her win in the Santa I Needa Derby, but that
Speaker 1: was TV. I'm walking past Lucas's barn and here comes
Speaker 1: winning colors out from under the shedrow the derby. Head
Speaker 1: of the derby. The jockey had to hug her neck,
Speaker 1: her withers to make sure he didn't hit his head
Speaker 1: on the beam head because the horse was so tall.
Speaker 1: And I said to myself on Monday morning handicapping, note
Speaker 1: she's not a girl, meaning most Phillies at that age
Speaker 1: are smaller than the boys, and even smaller colts are't
Speaker 1: as strong and probably aren't as likely to win. I mean,
Speaker 1: there have been many horses that have proved that wrong.
Speaker 1: But you know, the bigger the horse is stronger the horse,
Speaker 1: the faster potentially the horse. So by the time Saturday
Speaker 1: came around and I'm placed in my bets, I ruled
Speaker 1: out winning colors like a dope. And Lucas, who was
Speaker 1: an aggressive trainer when it came to entering horses and riding,
Speaker 1: you know, or racing, sent his rider to the front
Speaker 1: and she stole the race, So winning Colors was his
Speaker 1: first Derby winner. He won four thunder Gulch. I was
Speaker 1: not on in ninety five. Grindstone in ninety six won
Speaker 1: by a nose that beat Bob Baffert's first Kentucky Derby horse, Cavanier.
Speaker 1: I loved Cavanier. I was all over. Cavanier had a
Speaker 1: big ticket on. Cavanier thought I had won it. I
Speaker 1: was standing near the finish line, thought I had won it.
Speaker 1: A Grindstone nipped Cavanier and the good news there was
Speaker 1: he made a winner as an owner of WT Young,
Speaker 1: Bill Young and Wayne. Lucas after the race said his
Speaker 1: biggest joy was leading Bill Young to the winner circle.
Speaker 1: And I got to know mister Young. Later on he
Speaker 1: owned Stormcat. I went out to the farm. He granted
Speaker 1: me an interview, which was rare, and I really got
Speaker 1: to like him. But that was ninety six. Three years later,
Speaker 1: Lucas enters a fairly long shot in Charismatic. Charismatic had
Speaker 1: won the election in stakes, and it was not that
Speaker 1: unusual back in the day for Derby horses to run
Speaker 1: a week or so out like the Derby Trial. For
Speaker 1: a while, there was a week out, was four days
Speaker 1: away from the Derby and they still run into Kentucky
Speaker 1: Derby with success ran an election in stakes I think
Speaker 1: two weeks prior, so everybody thought, I horse can't win
Speaker 1: the Derby. After racing two weeks ago and with Chris Antley,
Speaker 1: Aboard won the Kentucky Derby and of course most recently,
Speaker 1: Lucas won the Preakness Stakes two years ago, was seized
Speaker 1: the Gray. During the broadcast of that coverage, NBC aired
Speaker 1: a piece with Steve Karnaki. You've seen him on election coverage.
Speaker 1: He's the guy with the white shirt, sleeves rolled up,
Speaker 1: going over the numbers, crushing the numbers. Well, they've added
Speaker 1: him to the sports coverage and he's good at it.
Speaker 1: But he was a big racing fan. He was a
Speaker 1: big Wayne Lucas fan. So he did a piece on
Speaker 1: Wayne Lucas where he stood on the track one morning nbcquy,
Speaker 1: So he got to stand on the track and he
Speaker 1: was Mike and Lucas was sitting on his horse with
Speaker 1: his stetson, the cowboy hat with his shades first thing
Speaker 1: in the morning, talking to Steve Karnaki of NBC's It
Speaker 1: was really well done. Here's part of it.
Speaker 6: At your age, to keep doing this at this level,
Speaker 6: what drives.
Speaker 7: You to do this?
Speaker 8: It's a good question. The uh, I don't need to,
Speaker 8: but I love the competition. I good friends with almost
Speaker 8: all of these trainers. Yeah, and yet I love taking
Speaker 8: them out.
Speaker 2: I mean, in just the last couple of years, you
Speaker 2: win the Kentucky Oaks, you want the Freakness.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a renaissance.
Speaker 8: It seems well. I think it validates that you're doing
Speaker 8: things right. Yet, even though you have that age, I
Speaker 8: don't think I'll retire as long as I can beat
Speaker 8: these guys as.
Speaker 1: They come to the top of the stretch, seize the grave,
Speaker 1: turning for home in front safe the gray. Let's stop
Speaker 1: break that the aldest trainer to ever win a Triple
Speaker 1: Crown race.
Speaker 9: That the Preakness win.
Speaker 6: Last year you got fifteen triple Crown race wins. Now
Speaker 6: Baffort's sitting there at seventeen.
Speaker 3: Do you think you could pass them get that record back?
Speaker 8: The answer to that is not important to me. When
Speaker 8: you're younger, all of those things are real important, you know.
Speaker 8: But I'll be ninety comfortable up here. As you can see,
Speaker 8: I got a slow horsh and.
Speaker 1: I find that it's.
Speaker 8: Probably better now than it's everything.
Speaker 1: Now that was last year prior to the Preakness. You
Speaker 1: heard that coverage of the Preakness in there. But sadly
Speaker 1: Lucas his health has taken a bad turn, so he
Speaker 1: has stepped away from racing, but remarks that Mark Cassi
Speaker 1: the Great Trainer made to Steve Kornaki, I think resonates.
Speaker 10: Yes, he'sa you know, icon, probably the greatest of all time.
Speaker 10: This is a tough game. We want to beat each other.
Speaker 10: When Wayne wins, we all enjoy it. That's called respect
Speaker 10: and he has all our respect. I mean he has
Speaker 10: one tough son of a gun too. I think we
Speaker 10: all want to be Wayne Lucas.
Speaker 1: You know, is Mark Cassie talking to Steve Kornaki And
Speaker 1: then again those are remarks courtesy of NBC Sports. Maggie
Speaker 1: Davis of BBN Tonight is next year on six thirty
Speaker 1: WLAP Welcome back to the Big Blu Insider joining us
Speaker 1: now someone I bumped into earlier today. Well, we planned
Speaker 1: to talk on tonight's show, but Maggie Davis covered the
Speaker 1: TBT presentation as well as the presentation by the UK
Speaker 1: women's basketball team earlier today. But we always talk about
Speaker 1: summertime being slow. But that's good stuff for BBN tonight,
Speaker 1: isn't it.
Speaker 5: Oh? You know it?
Speaker 7: I mean, you know as well as anybody who goes
Speaker 7: into filling some of these summer shows. And for us
Speaker 7: thirty minutes tonight only about UK five nights a week,
Speaker 7: twelve months out of the year, Like it doesn't matter
Speaker 7: what's going on. We are talking about the Kentucky Wildcats,
Speaker 7: which is a blessing. Like the fact that we get
Speaker 7: to do that is amazing and it's incredible. It's a
Speaker 7: testament to the fan base and the interest in all
Speaker 7: of these programs. But then it does require a little
Speaker 7: bit of legwork normally this time of the year to
Speaker 7: give them something to sink their teeth into, right, Like
Speaker 7: this is a fan base that's always hungry for the latest,
Speaker 7: what's coming up? What should we know? What are you
Speaker 7: excited about? And sometimes this time of the year there's
Speaker 7: not a lot to stay in regard to any of
Speaker 7: those things. But today you mentioned it, we get to
Speaker 7: talk about the basketball tournament lost and the other coming
Speaker 7: back for TVT again this year Bracket reveals got to
Speaker 7: hear from the head coach, Sean Woods, which is very cool,
Speaker 7: I think, and then obviously the women's basketball team to
Speaker 7: hear from Kenny Brooks really for the first time in
Speaker 7: any sort of like extended period of a full press
Speaker 7: conference since the end of last season, so it kind
Speaker 7: of closed the book on Chapter one starts the preview
Speaker 7: year two of the Brooks era, and then to hear
Speaker 7: from Sianna Key and Clara Strack and get excited about
Speaker 7: those two back in the blue and white this year.
Speaker 7: I think bobn is going to love this new women's
Speaker 7: basketball team, So it's exciting to start to get to
Speaker 7: talk about them and their season and what can be
Speaker 7: coming up.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no Georgia, aymore, but a new identity and we'll
Speaker 1: talk about that. Let's let's go chronologically because there's there's
Speaker 1: a lot to unpack, as you kids like to say, uh,
Speaker 1: from earlier today. And of course, Sean Woods is a
Speaker 1: weekly guest on my show. I'm sure you know that
Speaker 1: because you you listen religiously and take notes.
Speaker 7: Yes, but but I listened twice live and on podcasts.
Speaker 1: Had a girl, and so does your grandma. I know
Speaker 1: that when you're on. But I've talked to Sean about
Speaker 1: coaching this team. Tell me, I'll tell you after you
Speaker 1: tell me. What was your biggest takeaway from today's conversation,
Speaker 1: not just with Sean, but with Twny Beckham the GM.
Speaker 7: Honest, Yes, these guys are mad at Nina. Yeah, there
Speaker 7: was a lot of talk about last year's team, and
Speaker 7: obviously Nansino was a huge part of that team. I
Speaker 7: don't remember off the top of my head, but I
Speaker 7: would assume he was the leading scorer. Correct me if
Speaker 7: I'm wrong or right there. And obviously they talked today
Speaker 7: about the energy he brought, the leadership he brought, and
Speaker 7: every single facet of that team was really run in
Speaker 7: some way by Nate Pasina last year. And then he
Speaker 7: had a conflict that he had known about is the
Speaker 7: entire time he'd been committed, and unfortunately had to miss
Speaker 7: that last game, which was the game that knocked him
Speaker 7: out of the tournament. So I think there maybe are
Speaker 7: some hard feelings there based on just some of the
Speaker 7: comments we got today about the guy who left last year.
Speaker 7: I mean, I feel like we all know who they're
Speaker 7: talking about. There was only one player missing from that
Speaker 7: last game, and so that was kind of like the
Speaker 7: one off takeaway for me was like, man, that I
Speaker 7: was a little staltier than I was expecting from like
Speaker 7: two of the nicest guys around in Sean Woods and
Speaker 7: twenty Beckham. But the other big thing, I think it's
Speaker 7: just how seriously they take this tournament. And I think,
Speaker 7: just in conversations I've had with Swanny over the last
Speaker 7: couple of years, this is something he'd always taken that seriously.
Speaker 7: But a big hurdle with anything along these lines, this
Speaker 7: sort of weird if I hate to even call it that,
Speaker 7: but it's such an unusual tournament, right. You have guys
Speaker 7: from all ages, all backgrounds, all over the country playing
Speaker 7: for a million dollar prize. They have these funny team names.
Speaker 7: They're playing in sometimes random places at weird times, on
Speaker 7: funny TV networks. Like it's not what you think of
Speaker 7: as a typical high level basketball game, and yet if
Speaker 7: you give it a chance and you watch it so often,
Speaker 7: that is what it is. It's not the Harlem Globetrotters.
Speaker 7: It's guys who are playing professional basketball, many of them overseas,
Speaker 7: but a lot of them have some NBA experience, obviously
Speaker 7: very high level collegiate experience, as well, and so I
Speaker 7: think they really had to get over that hurdle last
Speaker 7: year of showing the outsiders even within BBN, who know
Speaker 7: basketball and understand basketball, but to understand basketball in this
Speaker 7: way was a little bit of a hurdle, like this
Speaker 7: will be an entertaining athletic event, this is a sport.
Speaker 7: Come watch it and you'll see. So I think now
Speaker 7: that they're past that, you see that competitiveness and that
Speaker 7: seriousness come out in other ways, Like I love hearing
Speaker 7: Sean What's Today talking about how seriously they took the
Speaker 7: scouting reports and how they really broke down tape. They
Speaker 7: went in with a plan, and he said it perfectly
Speaker 7: when he was like, nobody wants to look bad. We
Speaker 7: have a team of pro athletes. Nobody wants to go
Speaker 7: out there and get embarrassed or look unprepared. So we
Speaker 7: take practice very seriously, we take scouting reports very seriously
Speaker 7: because we want to take the games very seriously. And
Speaker 7: so for me to hear that mentality coming into another
Speaker 7: year of this tournament, which I think more people are understanding,
Speaker 7: at least here in Kentucky, it's going to be very
Speaker 7: interesting to see the fruits of all that labor in
Speaker 7: the groundwork they've been laying now for two plus years
Speaker 7: of this is a big deal and we are going
Speaker 7: to take it seriously.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, absolutely. And as far as Sistina goes, you know,
Speaker 1: they knew going in that he had to leave at
Speaker 1: a certain date. But I think that to your point, yeah,
Speaker 1: I don't know, Salty, Yes, disappointed definitely because they got
Speaker 1: to be so good. They were so close to that
Speaker 1: brass ring. And I think that the more they won
Speaker 1: and the deeper they went in the tournament, you know,
Speaker 1: their feelings became even more and more intense. It intensified
Speaker 1: their disappointment when he had to leave, and they still
Speaker 1: came close to winnings. So yeah, you're right. And twenty
Speaker 1: Beckham last year talked about the fact that he had
Speaker 1: told these guys coming in, look, this isn't just a
Speaker 1: way to break a sweat have some fun. We are
Speaker 1: taking this really really seriously. And I thought when when
Speaker 1: Shawn and of course I talked to Sean about this
Speaker 1: on my show last week, it's more than the money,
Speaker 1: he said, you know, he kind of had to come
Speaker 1: to Jesus meeting with these guys, like, look, we're Kentucky
Speaker 1: it's more, it's about more than just the money. We're
Speaker 1: taking this incredibly seriously and now they're going to feed
Speaker 1: off that this coming tournament, aren't they. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: so too, And I'm.
Speaker 7: Glad you brought up to come to Jesus meeting. That
Speaker 7: stood out to me as well along those saved lines.
Speaker 7: And another thing that a specific line that stuck out
Speaker 7: to me from Sean Woods was like, these guys get
Speaker 7: to come back here and be Kentucky basketball players again.
Speaker 7: And it's such a tight fraternity. Even used that word,
Speaker 7: and I think from an outside perspective, you imagine that's
Speaker 7: the case. But I think when you really look at
Speaker 7: the rosters, like you have a Patino guy leaving the team,
Speaker 7: you have cal players on the team, Anthony Almanor becomes
Speaker 7: the first Pope player ever joined Law Familia. So you
Speaker 7: have all these different generations of Wildcats all coming together
Speaker 7: for this one cause, and really there is just the
Speaker 7: one thing that unites them all, and that is being
Speaker 7: Kentucky basketball players. And that is such a unique set
Speaker 7: of circumstances that leads you to that. I think they
Speaker 7: even said, like, to play at Kentucky, you have to
Speaker 7: be somebody and so we get all these somebodies together,
Speaker 7: and there's a deep appreciation for what was for most
Speaker 7: of these guys, especially in the Calipieri era, maybe just
Speaker 7: an eight or nine months period of their life. And
Speaker 7: you know, we think about these teams in seasons, right,
Speaker 7: you have the twenty fourteen season, the twenty fifteen season,
Speaker 7: you know, whatever the case may be. For them, that
Speaker 7: was such a pivotal era of their life, and yet
Speaker 7: it was only maybe eight or nine months and minutes
Speaker 7: off to the next thing. So for them to get
Speaker 7: the chance to come back and relive some of that
Speaker 7: Kentucky magic, reconnect with its fan base, I think is
Speaker 7: really impactful. And I think that was part of the
Speaker 7: reason why twenty's been able to get not only some
Speaker 7: of those guys back, Willy cally Stein and the Twins,
Speaker 7: but also bring in some new guys who maybe weren't
Speaker 7: part of the team last year for whatever reason. Saw
Speaker 7: how well it went, saw how much fun they had,
Speaker 7: saw the connection with Big Blue Nation was still there
Speaker 7: even though they only spent so much time in Lexington,
Speaker 7: and that could help convince some new guys to sign
Speaker 7: on this year. So I'm excited to see a new
Speaker 7: roster come together in that way too.
Speaker 1: So many great sound bites today on Maggie and I
Speaker 1: and everybody there deal with quotes and sound bites, and
Speaker 1: I felt like that that line for Sean, I thought
Speaker 1: was the best. I used it earlier in the show
Speaker 1: about being a Kentucky basketball player again and I flashed
Speaker 1: on last year, and you talked to the player last year,
Speaker 1: who seemed even the guys like Willie and the twins
Speaker 1: who have been here more than eight months, a little
Speaker 1: surprised at the love they experienced from the fans when
Speaker 1: they came back, and they admitted they may have taken
Speaker 1: it for granted the first time they were here. I
Speaker 1: thought that kould have encapsulated everything perfectly.
Speaker 7: I think so too, And I think it's I don't
Speaker 7: want it to come across his life. Wow, they didn't
Speaker 7: appreciate it because I think they're back in hindsight, they
Speaker 7: were exactly. They came here at eighteen years old, and
Speaker 7: it was probably so fun and they got to be
Speaker 7: famous in town and walk around say it mall and
Speaker 7: people would take their picture, but like and of the day,
Speaker 7: like they were an eighteen year old at them all,
Speaker 7: Like how much were they really thinking, like, man, it's cool.
Speaker 7: All these people know who I am, they care about
Speaker 7: me and whatever else. And so I think with time
Speaker 7: obviously comes that perspective, and a lot of these guys
Speaker 7: earned that naturally organically over the past decade or so,
Speaker 7: hover longer since since they've been gone. But then to
Speaker 7: really see it back in action, the fact that you
Speaker 7: can be gone for ten years, come back play in
Speaker 7: this tournament with such a unique style, unique set of
Speaker 7: circumstances and still feel that same connection in a big donation,
Speaker 7: I think.
Speaker 6: Is really cool.
Speaker 7: And then I even think about a guy like Kareem
Speaker 7: Canter was on the team last year. He didn't even
Speaker 7: play here. His brother didn't even get the chance to
Speaker 7: play here, So obviously there's just a little bit of
Speaker 7: a different set of circumstances. They teased us a little
Speaker 7: bit today. Then there's one more guy they have committed,
Speaker 7: they haven't announced yet. He didn't play at UK, but
Speaker 7: he has connections to Sean Woods. And you know, like,
Speaker 7: I love that the core of the team is straight
Speaker 7: up dudes who played at Kentucky and the fans remember
Speaker 7: and we'll get to root for again. But I think
Speaker 7: bringing in some guys who have the ties even though
Speaker 7: they didn't necessarily get to play here at this program.
Speaker 7: It's really interesting too. It's kind of cool to see
Speaker 7: last year evolved and then hear Kareem's experience from his perspective,
Speaker 7: which was so different than the one the Twins or
Speaker 7: Willie or any of those other guys got. Having been
Speaker 7: an actual player here and having at least a certain
Speaker 7: set of expectations about Big Blue Nations. These guys who
Speaker 7: didn't actually experience it, even for that short period of
Speaker 7: time don't even know what they're in for. And the
Speaker 7: next thing you know, you're playing for thirteen thousand fans
Speaker 7: in Freedom Hall, and guys are like sitting at you
Speaker 7: and throwing ls in your face and like it is
Speaker 7: a serious situation. And for more people to experience the
Speaker 7: joy and the drama of the Kentucky Lobil rivalry, I
Speaker 7: think it's always a good thing.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, and I'm curious to hear from Khalil Whitney.
Speaker 1: It was here for like twenty minutes and when he left,
Speaker 1: he wasn't exactly happy, but he's happy to be back.
Speaker 1: We're talking with Maggie Davis BB and tonight LX eighteen,
Speaker 1: Will talk more basketball with Miss Maggie on the other
Speaker 1: side of the break here on six thirty WLAP Welcome back,
Speaker 1: We're talking with Maggie Davis of bb and Tonight LX eighteen.
Speaker 1: You sere with Keith Barmer and a host of others
Speaker 1: on the show Monday through Friday throughout this year, which
Speaker 1: is why she was so happy to be there earlier today,
Speaker 1: as was I to hear from Shawn Woods, twenty Beckham
Speaker 1: and Kenny Brooks, who was just on the show the
Speaker 1: other night. I had a great time talking to him.
Speaker 1: But we had a chance to hear from Tianni Key
Speaker 1: and Clara Strack as well, And it's going to be,
Speaker 1: I know, super weird for Kenny to put a team
Speaker 1: on the floor without a Georgia Amore. But man, with
Speaker 1: the two players coming back who were injured last year,
Speaker 1: and I kept tearing about them, from Jeffe Coral and
Speaker 1: Christy Thomas, the two SEC plus broadcasters and Darren Hedrick,
Speaker 1: how different last year's team would have been. And now
Speaker 1: with these kids, plus the recruits and the transfers, I
Speaker 1: think we may be looking at a lot of fun
Speaker 1: this year, don't you.
Speaker 5: Oh?
Speaker 7: Absolutely, I loved it. Was right there at the end,
Speaker 7: but he realized and he kind of said it out loud,
Speaker 7: like we lost someone who was six foot seven, and
Speaker 7: we are bigger this year. And I think everybody like
Speaker 7: processed that, like took a second to be like you
Speaker 7: were you had a huge team last year, Like last
Speaker 7: year's team had so much height, but not necessarily in
Speaker 7: the back court of me. Georgia Aymore was undersized, Daja
Speaker 7: Lawrence was underside, Sanaya Tyler Cassi Row were undersized. So
Speaker 7: I think with all those pieces gone and to bring
Speaker 7: in six one six foot two guards, especially the two
Speaker 7: you mentioned, the two players who were injured preseason last year,
Speaker 7: I thought Coach Brooks made an excellent point of like
Speaker 7: they are not getting talked about and it makes sense
Speaker 7: why they didn't get to play all last year. And
Speaker 7: then they're also so they're not really involved in all
Speaker 7: like the returners conversation, they're not as easily identifiable as like,
Speaker 7: oh you get a Milia half at back and Clara
Speaker 7: Strack and Johnny these players we got to know, we
Speaker 7: saw their game. You can be excited to see them
Speaker 7: running back for another year, but they're also not a
Speaker 7: part of this transfer portal class. And they're also not
Speaker 7: the five star freshmen he has committed, so they're kind
Speaker 7: of in their own little bucket. And that little bucket
Speaker 7: of like technically returners but no one has seen them
Speaker 7: play is a really interesting spot to be in. And
Speaker 7: I think last year, Coach Brooks and this whole team,
Speaker 7: they were able to kind of sneak up on the
Speaker 7: SEC a little bit, like they weren't really expected to
Speaker 7: be as good as they ended up being, even that
Speaker 7: he brought so much with them from Virginia Tech. Even
Speaker 7: though everyone knew Georgia Aymore would be sensational, you didn't
Speaker 7: know how all the other pieces were going to look.
Speaker 7: And so to see him kind of rise above and
Speaker 7: exceed expectations last year, I think that's exponentially harder to
Speaker 7: do in your kid. However, I think this other little
Speaker 7: buckets of Perova and Obi, I think that really helps
Speaker 7: you still add a little bit of a sneaky attack
Speaker 7: system here because those are two really unknown pieces that
Speaker 7: are going to be major contributors on this team.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you know, and then we jumped up at
Speaker 1: eleven and five in the league. Nobody expected that. Talking
Speaker 1: to Maggie Davis, from BBN tonight LAX eighteen. She was
Speaker 1: there earlier today when the UK women's basketball well represented
Speaker 1: by Kenny Brooks, Clara Strack, the SEC Defensive Player of
Speaker 1: the Year, Antoni Key, and I asked TIONI about doing
Speaker 1: dirty work, and you know what, I started to preface
Speaker 1: my remarks, and then I caught myself because I don't
Speaker 1: think she could relate. I'm sure she knows who Magic
Speaker 1: Johnson is and Kareem abdul Jamar, but I always felt
Speaker 1: like those Laker teams And I talked to Sam Boo,
Speaker 1: you played on some of those teams about this, and
Speaker 1: I said, you know, Magic could have a great game,
Speaker 1: Kareem could have a great game. But those best Laker
Speaker 1: teams with those guys, I felt like weren't as successful
Speaker 1: unless James Worthy had a great game. And to me
Speaker 1: watching that UK team last year, Tunic Key was James Worthy,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe different offensively, but doing the little things,
Speaker 1: doing the dirty work, sticking her nose and when they
Speaker 1: needed a rebound, inevitably it was it was Key who
Speaker 1: got the ball, you know what I mean? And now
Speaker 1: she's a and for someone, as Kenny pointed out, and
Speaker 1: he mentioned this on my show. She she didn't get
Speaker 1: to do much of anything at North Carolina and was
Speaker 1: a bona fide SEC player last year. I'm really looking
Speaker 1: forward to seeing what she can do this year.
Speaker 7: Yeah, we had a lot of conversations about Key on
Speaker 7: our show toward the back half of the season because
Speaker 7: I didn't feel like she was getting a lot of
Speaker 7: that attention because of exactly what you said, Like she
Speaker 7: had to have a good game in order for that
Speaker 7: team to be performing at its best, and yet a
Speaker 7: lot of times her best game was, like you said,
Speaker 7: being physical down low, grabbing the rebounds when they were needed,
Speaker 7: making your throws down the stretch. She struggled with being
Speaker 7: in foul trouble a little too much, especially in SEC player.
Speaker 7: I think she kind of laughed about that even today,
Speaker 7: of like, I learned a lot about myself with how
Speaker 7: physical the league was, and I needed to get stropper
Speaker 7: this year, and so I'm helpful that helps her not
Speaker 7: only just compete from a competitive standpoint, but also stay
Speaker 7: out of foul trouble, will learn her body a little
Speaker 7: bit better in terms of where can I push these limits?
Speaker 7: Where do I need to hold back? How are these
Speaker 7: call how are they calling these games in the SEC,
Speaker 7: I think managing her fouls and her minutes will be
Speaker 7: an interesting difference maybe this year compared to Las. But
Speaker 7: when you brought up North Carolina, I think this is
Speaker 7: such a testament not only to Tiani Key, but to
Speaker 7: this entire staff. Really, to look at a player who
Speaker 7: had spent two years at North Carolina averaged between nine
Speaker 7: and ten minutes a game, averaged two rebounds a night
Speaker 7: yep and shot like you know, maybe a point, maybe
Speaker 7: maybe a feel field goal per game. Like she was
Speaker 7: not a high volume player. She was not a high
Speaker 7: at this player. She wasn't blocking the shot too is blocking.
Speaker 7: And to compare her numbers year over year from year
Speaker 7: two at North Carolin, I know where in theory she's
Speaker 7: much more comfortable in the system. She understands what they're running.
Speaker 7: She's been there two full years, and yet like she
Speaker 7: still has such a limited role in such limited production.
Speaker 7: If you just look at it on paper, compared to
Speaker 7: what she was able to do in a brand new environment,
Speaker 7: in a brand new system, with a whole new team
Speaker 7: around her in year one at Kentucky, the jump is astronomical.
Speaker 7: And so to think about what she was able to
Speaker 7: do with so much change. I'm excited to see what
Speaker 7: she can do with some consistency this year.
Speaker 1: I've only got a couple of minutes left. But I
Speaker 1: also thought a great comment, and he's made this before,
Speaker 1: was when Brookes said this was this past season his
Speaker 1: favorite year. There's a great movie called My Favorite Year,
Speaker 1: but anyway, this was his favorite season, even better than
Speaker 1: the final four year that he was able to fashion
Speaker 1: at Virginia Tech, just because of the makeup the chemistry
Speaker 1: of this team. And of course you can't manufacture that,
Speaker 1: but he's very optimistic about this team. But I really
Speaker 1: thought that was fascinating as well.
Speaker 7: Yeah, me too. I love when he says that because
Speaker 7: it makes you feel good like you got to cover
Speaker 7: his favorite team, right, Like that's fine, and Big Blue
Speaker 7: Nation has to be like, yes, we were a part
Speaker 7: of that, because I think this fan base definitely played
Speaker 7: a role in that. Like he played for great crowds,
Speaker 7: he saw this fan base really like kind of slowly
Speaker 7: at the beginning of the year, and then I think
Speaker 7: that Lobill game really changed things for the program last year.
Speaker 7: To win in overtime at home, that was a huge moment,
Speaker 7: and I think we'll look back at that as the
Speaker 7: first like really truly big game of the Kenny Brooks era,
Speaker 7: and how that not only set the tonguel, that just
Speaker 7: got people engaged. And I remember talking to Kenny preseason
Speaker 7: last year in an interview for BBN Tonight, and he said,
Speaker 7: you know, like, I don't expect to sell out game one.
Speaker 7: I don't expect people to be like so pubbed up
Speaker 7: Game one, but I want them to watch one minute,
Speaker 7: and I want them to see me put the ball
Speaker 7: in the hands of our six foot five center and
Speaker 7: have her bring the ball up the court, and then
Speaker 7: I think they're going to be hooked, and I expect
Speaker 7: them to be at the next one. I love that
Speaker 7: because it's interesting to me. He's like, I do not
Speaker 7: expect you to tune in just because I tell you to,
Speaker 7: but I think if you give it a chance, you
Speaker 7: see how we play. We are so pleasing to watch.
Speaker 7: We're easy to root for. And I think that you know,
Speaker 7: who knows what your two will look like. It's just
Speaker 7: of what he changes from an offensive defensive perspective. But
Speaker 7: I do think that there will be a lot of
Speaker 7: similarity in just his approach to growing the game. That's
Speaker 7: something he's so passionate about, and a big part of
Speaker 7: that is that he plays such a fun style. It's
Speaker 7: very easy for fans to get into. And I think
Speaker 7: we'll see that again this year.
Speaker 1: Oh absolutely. And that wasn't just hyperbole. The six or
Speaker 1: five player bringing the ball up the floor. Now, now,
Speaker 1: that actually happened with Claire Strack. Maggie Davis is a
Speaker 1: co anchor, producer, chief cook and bottle washer for BBN
Speaker 1: Tonight at LAX eighteen. Follow her on ex or Twitter
Speaker 1: at Maggie Davis TV and tune in each night at
Speaker 1: seven thirty. Thank you, ma'am. We'll see you down the road.
Speaker 8: Thank you so much.
Speaker 1: Have a great one coming up in our number two.
Speaker 1: Chris Fisher of two four to seven in the Cat's Pause,
Speaker 1: and we'll hear more from the Basketball Cats on the
Speaker 1: Big New Insider Here on six thirty Warlap.
Speaker 11: In any type set station doing anything to.
Speaker 1: All right, here's Chris in three two one, Welcome back
Speaker 1: to the Big Bluin Sider. Joining us now is a
Speaker 1: longtime friend of the show, mister Chris Fisher from two
Speaker 1: four seven Sports. You see his work in the catch
Speaker 1: pause and at the two four seven sports dot Com website.
Speaker 1: I guess, Chris the latest news about the basketball Wow casts,
Speaker 1: and you've posted about this. We'll get the recruiting in
Speaker 1: a minute. But Jasper Johnson making the USA under nineteen team,
Speaker 1: that's a pretty good hit, isn't it. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: going to be something that can kind of expedite his progress,
Speaker 1: I would think, Am I right?
Speaker 6: Yeah?
Speaker 7: I think so.
Speaker 6: I think it's just invaluable experience. He'll go with the
Speaker 6: the under nineteen USA team to Switzerland to play in
Speaker 6: the World Cup. He already has one gold medal with
Speaker 6: Team USA. He'll go for two this summer. And if
Speaker 6: I recall correctly, he played pretty well with Team USA
Speaker 6: his first time around. I think that was last summer
Speaker 6: with the under eighteen team. But yeah, I think, you know,
Speaker 6: he's the guy that I think might be getting slept
Speaker 6: on more than any they're really Kentucky player this summer.
Speaker 6: As far as what he's going to contribute to next
Speaker 6: year's team, he might be the best perimeter shooter on
Speaker 6: the squad next season. I know, you know, through the portal,
Speaker 6: Kentucky was kind of looking for one of those knockdown
Speaker 6: shooters to fill Kobe Brea's spot, and you know, missed
Speaker 6: on Lamar Wilkerson. He went to Indiana and missed on
Speaker 6: some other guys, ended up with Denzel Aberdeen, who's not
Speaker 6: a poor shooter by any stretch. But I definitely think
Speaker 6: Jasper Johnson is the type of kid that he's just
Speaker 6: wired to score. He knows how to put the ball
Speaker 6: in the basket. He can do it driving to the rim.
Speaker 6: He's got the float game, he's got the mid range,
Speaker 6: and then from the perimeter. I think he might be
Speaker 6: he might end the season being Kentucky's best and most
Speaker 6: consistent three point shooter. I would be surprised if he's
Speaker 6: not a double digit scorer for Kentucky next season. Think
Speaker 6: he's that explosive, he's that crafty with the ball. You know,
Speaker 6: you look at the transfer portal guys that Kentucky has
Speaker 6: brought in and it's it's it's it gets easier to
Speaker 6: overlook a freshman. But I think he has that type
Speaker 6: of ability and I think he'll show that at Kentucky.
Speaker 1: What is his true size, do you know?
Speaker 6: I think I would put him in the six four range.
Speaker 6: He's long, he's lanky. I think he's probably a little
Speaker 6: bit more athletic than he gets credit for. Everybody kind
Speaker 6: of focuses on his scoring ability, but I think, you know,
Speaker 6: I think he can make plays in transition. I think
Speaker 6: he can finish above the rim, very crafty with the ball.
Speaker 6: I think in finishing when he gets close to the rim,
Speaker 6: And I just think he's gonna have a much bigger
Speaker 6: impact than a lot of people are projecting for him.
Speaker 1: That's interesting to hear you say that because I was
Speaker 1: talking to a guy I wondered, is he a YouTube
Speaker 1: all star? Meaning anybody can put together clips for YouTube?
Speaker 1: But you've seen him well beyond that, haven't you.
Speaker 6: Yeah, And I think he's a guy that, as we
Speaker 6: saw with the injuries last season, those secondary ball handlers
Speaker 6: that you have on your squad that can come in
Speaker 6: and you know there may be you know, not playing
Speaker 6: the primary point guard, but can come off the bench
Speaker 6: and give you some playmaking with the ball in their hands.
Speaker 6: And I think he showed a lot of that at
Speaker 6: over timmy lead. And I think those over timing lead
Speaker 6: guys tend to get overlooked kind of as a whole.
Speaker 6: I think, you know, they they go down to Atlanta
Speaker 6: and I feel like, you know, sometimes analysts kind of
Speaker 6: tend to forget about those guys. But I like his
Speaker 6: ability as a as a secondary ball handler and a playmaker,
Speaker 6: you know, operating out of pick and rolls. And you know,
Speaker 6: if you've you've heard Mark Pope talk about him this summer,
Speaker 6: he's been effusive in his praise. I think he's really
Speaker 6: high on Jasper Johnson and what he can do and
Speaker 6: come in and do from day one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you know, it's a interesting I talked with
Speaker 1: his former middle school coach last week, Dj Uberly, who
Speaker 1: was the girls coach at Frederick Douglas led them to
Speaker 1: the Final four this past year. But in just chatting
Speaker 1: with him, he said, yeah, you know I was I
Speaker 1: was Jasper's middle school coach. And even back then in
Speaker 1: sixth grade, Chris, he said he went to Dennis Johnson
Speaker 1: and said, that's a future pro. And of course Dennis
Speaker 1: at the time wanted Jasper to keep playing quarterback, but
Speaker 1: we know that's not that's not worked out. But for
Speaker 1: a middle school coach, and you know what he did,
Speaker 1: he just described Jasper's game almost word for word the
Speaker 1: way you just did. So he's developed, you know, now
Speaker 1: into a college player doing the same sort of thing.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and if you go you go back to his recruitment,
Speaker 6: you know, everybody there for a long time, everybody thought
Speaker 6: it was going to be a slam dunk for Kentucky
Speaker 6: because of his dad is right, because of his grandfather,
Speaker 6: is where he's from, all those ties that he had
Speaker 6: to the Kentucky program. But he was pretty much set
Speaker 6: on going to Alabama until Kentucky really ramped things up
Speaker 6: laid in the process. And he is the type of kid.
Speaker 6: You know, we've seen Alabama under Natoates the last four
Speaker 6: or five years and what they've produced. He would have
Speaker 6: fit in perfectly at Alabama if you're if you're looking
Speaker 6: for you know, I guess a comparison or the type
Speaker 6: of player that he is. But yeah, a kid that
Speaker 6: can get up and down the floor and excels and
Speaker 6: transition Mark Pope loves to shoot those transition frees to
Speaker 6: kind of open the game up and uh space the floor.
Speaker 6: And he's the perfect type of kid to do that.
Speaker 6: You know, NATO's at Alabama, they shoot layups and they
Speaker 6: shoot three and uh they're going to get up and
Speaker 6: down the floor and shoot a ton of both of those.
Speaker 6: And so I thought he would have been a really
Speaker 6: good fit there. But with what we saw out of
Speaker 6: Mark Pope and how he plays in his first season
Speaker 6: at Kentucky, he's going to be a tremendous fit at Kentucky.
Speaker 1: That answered that answered my next question. He'll be He'll
Speaker 1: be a here, especially if he can hit his threes.
Speaker 1: We're talking to Chris Fisher a two four seven Sports.
Speaker 1: You see his work with a cat's pause, and before
Speaker 1: we look at the incoming guys, let's look at a
Speaker 1: guy you covered some years ago. We all did Shay
Speaker 1: Gilges Alexander and you posted again about him winning the
Speaker 1: finals MVP as the Thunder win the NBA title. What
Speaker 1: did you see in him and his one year at
Speaker 1: Kentucky that lets you know that he was going to
Speaker 1: be I don't know that any of us saw this
Speaker 1: kind of potential in him as an NBA player, But
Speaker 1: I just remember him taking over the starting job, getting
Speaker 1: to the rim and finishing almost at will and making
Speaker 1: it look easy. Is that the way you remember it?
Speaker 6: Yeah? He has kind of a smooth like he kind
Speaker 6: of glide around the court. He is very very smooth.
Speaker 6: He looks he makes it look effortless, kind of like
Speaker 6: the way Tayshawn Prince did. When he was at Kentucky.
Speaker 6: It never looked like he was playing hard or running
Speaker 6: hard or breaking a sweat. But by the time he
Speaker 6: broke into the starting lineup to the end of the year,
Speaker 6: you know, when he dropped twenty nine on Tennessee in
Speaker 6: the SEC Tournament Championship, you knew he had the makings
Speaker 6: of a big time player. And I thought he was
Speaker 6: really consistent once he broke into the starting lineup. I
Speaker 6: thought he was very, very consistent for that Kentucky team,
Speaker 6: which was very inconsistent as the season went on. They
Speaker 6: had that four game losing streak in February and kind
Speaker 6: of similar to the ten eleven team where they just
Speaker 6: kept losing those close SEC games on the road. And
Speaker 6: but just you know, blossomed into a star at Kentucky,
Speaker 6: and you know, he is the perfect example of run
Speaker 6: your own race. You know, run the race that you're in.
Speaker 6: Everybody has different paths to where they're going, and you know,
Speaker 6: he was a guy that wasn't a sure one and done.
Speaker 6: He wasn't ranked as a five star by most of
Speaker 6: the recruiting services. I think we had him at number
Speaker 6: twenty below Quade Green, mind you, but you know came in,
Speaker 6: wasn't afraid of competition at Kentucky, worked hard to get
Speaker 6: better every single day. I've heard former UK assistant Joel
Speaker 6: Justice just rave about his work ethic and being in
Speaker 6: the first one in the gym in the morning and
Speaker 6: just getting better every single day. And then you saw
Speaker 6: flashes of his ability when he was a rookie with
Speaker 6: the Clippers. He gets dealt to the Thunder and again
Speaker 6: has just continued to get better and better and better.
Speaker 6: Where now you look up all of a sudden, he's
Speaker 6: the first NBA player since Lebron in twenty thirteen to
Speaker 6: win the regular season MVP and the Finals MVP in
Speaker 6: the same season. And he's the first player since Shack
Speaker 6: I believe in two thousand to win the regular season MVP,
Speaker 6: the scoring title and the finals MVP. He's had a
Speaker 6: truly historic year for the Thunder and you know, kind
Speaker 6: of seeing under the radar of the Thunder themselves have
Speaker 6: had a historic season. I think if you combine the
Speaker 6: regular season and the playoffs, they're up over eighty wins
Speaker 6: this season and to cap it off with a championship
Speaker 6: is definitely special for them and caps off the truly
Speaker 6: historic season that we've seen from SGA.
Speaker 1: And they're the youngest team to win it in decades,
Speaker 1: so we may see more of the same. He is
Speaker 1: Chris Fisher of The Cat's Pause, part of the two
Speaker 1: four to seven Sports Network. We'll come back and talk
Speaker 1: more Kentucky basketball with Chris on the other side. Welcome back.
Speaker 1: We're talking with Chris Fisher of two four to seven
Speaker 1: Sports in the Cat's Pause and covers recruiting primarily, and
Speaker 1: you've posted about a five star point guard tailor Kenney.
Speaker 1: Tell me about him and how many people are after
Speaker 1: him and one of the Ozzie becomes a Wildcat. I
Speaker 1: know it's early, but he's a native of Kentucky right.
Speaker 6: He is originally from Newport, led Newport to a Sweet
Speaker 6: six appearance before transferring to Overtime Elite last summer. Really
Speaker 6: dynamic point guard. Top fifteen prospects in the twenty twenty
Speaker 6: sixth class, top five point guard, one of several I
Speaker 6: think very very good options that Kentucky has at point
Speaker 6: guard in the twenty twenty sixth class. But I'm sure
Speaker 6: Kentucky would like to strike on another homegrown talent and
Speaker 6: I think Kentucky is near the top of his list.
Speaker 6: He's already taken an official visit to Purdue, to Louisville
Speaker 6: as well, He'll see Oregon in September, and the way
Speaker 6: he's talking, it sounds like he's a little bit further
Speaker 6: down the road than a lot of the twenty twenty
Speaker 6: six recruits are. He says he wants to cut his
Speaker 6: list down to six or seven in the near future
Speaker 6: and then have a decision before the start of the
Speaker 6: high school season, and so I would probably expect him
Speaker 6: to sign with his school in the early period in November.
Speaker 6: Like I said, I think Kentucky's right there at the top.
Speaker 6: I think Louisville is right there at the top. As
Speaker 6: I mentioned, he's already visited Perdue. If he's taking an
Speaker 6: official visit to Oregon, I'd say they're in the mix
Speaker 6: as well. And then I think Indiana and Texas are
Speaker 6: probably the other two that are working around Sean Miller
Speaker 6: was very familiar with his game, the former head coach
Speaker 6: at Xavior. Now he's a Texas and then Indiana as well.
Speaker 6: I think they will be in the mix for whenever
Speaker 6: he cuts his list down. But if I'm Kentucky. I'm
Speaker 6: not sure I'm trading spots with with anybody else. I
Speaker 6: think they're right there. You know, Mark Pope has had
Speaker 6: a lot of success in a very short period of
Speaker 6: time with the n State kids. He's a former teammate
Speaker 6: of Jasper Johnson as overtime e Leeds, so there's that
Speaker 6: familiarity there as well. And then you look at the
Speaker 6: way Mark Pope plays. They get up and down, they
Speaker 6: shoot a ton of threes, and he gives his guards
Speaker 6: a lot of offensive freedom. So I think that would
Speaker 6: be a feeling to a guy like take any.
Speaker 1: And likely will need a new point guard next year, right.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think that's the other thing. I think that's
Speaker 6: going to be an appealing set up. Kentucky will likely
Speaker 6: lose most of its roster again after next season, and
Speaker 6: we'll be in another offseason rebuild, which would would mean
Speaker 6: playing time for a young freshman like Taylor Kenning, and
Speaker 6: I think he's fully capable of coming in and playing
Speaker 6: right away.
Speaker 1: You know, it's interesting too with the high school recruits.
Speaker 1: You don't have to automatically, as you know, assume they'll
Speaker 1: be one and done's because of the nil factor, right,
Speaker 1: I mean it used to be a guy like this,
Speaker 1: and he may well be a one and done, but
Speaker 1: it's not going to be as automatic as it might
Speaker 1: have been during the Caliperia. And that's not a knock
Speaker 1: on Calipario. That's just the way they were doing business
Speaker 1: back then, right.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think in some ways, I think cal kind
Speaker 6: of became a victim of his own succeed you know,
Speaker 6: had so many guys go one and done that it
Speaker 6: kind of became well, well, if you're not a one
Speaker 6: and done, then you're you're a little bit of a failure.
Speaker 6: And then on top of that, you have another crop
Speaker 6: of you know, five star McDonald's, all Americans coming in
Speaker 6: behind you. So if you don't get it done in
Speaker 6: that one year, you you know, you might not ever
Speaker 6: get it done at Kentucky. And so we saw a
Speaker 6: lot of those guys who didn't enter the draft transfer out.
Speaker 6: We saw guys that probably made poor decisions in hindsight
Speaker 6: and entering the draft or staying in the draft. And
Speaker 6: it seems like Mark Pope is going to have a
Speaker 6: lot more success in retaining some of these guys. I think,
Speaker 6: you know, he talks so much about that the jump
Speaker 6: that guys make from year one to year two in
Speaker 6: his system, and they don't have to process the information anymore.
Speaker 6: They're just making decisions and playing basketball. And so, you know,
Speaker 6: I do think the retention rate is going to be
Speaker 6: much much higher from our pope, and NIL certainly helps
Speaker 6: with that as well. You see a lot of these
Speaker 6: fringe guys, you know, a couple of years ago. I
Speaker 6: don't think there's any way take a Oway comes back
Speaker 6: to Kentucky for another season, but NIL certainly played a
Speaker 6: big role in that. And I think it's good for
Speaker 6: the game. College basketball is is older than it's been
Speaker 6: in a really really long time, and I think we've
Speaker 6: seen that, you know, bear itself out in the product.
Speaker 6: I think it's a much better quality of games that
Speaker 6: we're seeing with these fourth year and fifth year guys
Speaker 6: and when we're seeing with the one and done.
Speaker 1: Here talking to Chris Fisher the cast pause part of
Speaker 1: the two four seven network and by the way, bouncing
Speaker 1: back to the NBA and one and Done's reed, Shepherd
Speaker 1: remains a Houston Rocket despite the Kevin Durant trade, and
Speaker 1: apparently the Rockets stood firm and said he's not available
Speaker 1: for trade, which kind of was a pleasant surprise to me.
Speaker 1: Be interesting to see Reed Shepherd playing next to Kevin Durant,
Speaker 1: won't it.
Speaker 6: Yeah, that'll be fun. I think the Rockets were able
Speaker 6: to keep most of their core intact, and you know,
Speaker 6: they're they're a really really exciting team. You know, they
Speaker 6: were the number two seed in the West this season,
Speaker 6: and we're able to keep that young core, and you know,
Speaker 6: really the only thing they were missing was a guy
Speaker 6: that could get buckets late in the shot clock, and
Speaker 6: that's certainly Kevin Durant. I think he, you know, kind
Speaker 6: of keeps them competitive right there behind the Thunder in
Speaker 6: the top of the Western Conference. And you know, I
Speaker 6: think read Shepherd if you just look, if you're a
Speaker 6: casual NBA fan and just look at his counting stats,
Speaker 6: you're going to go, oh, a number three pick. You know,
Speaker 6: probably not a great season, but they just had so
Speaker 6: many quality veteran bards in front of him that it
Speaker 6: was going to make it really, really difficult for him
Speaker 6: to see the floor as a rookie this season. But
Speaker 6: you know, he goes down to the G League and
Speaker 6: I think sets the franchise scoring record with forty nine
Speaker 6: points in his first game. And so the talent is there,
Speaker 6: the ability is there. He just needs a little bit
Speaker 6: of season and a little bit of opportunity to show
Speaker 6: what he's working.
Speaker 1: Before I let you go, I got to ask and
Speaker 1: we talked a lot about the men seeing. But Kenny
Speaker 1: Brooks has done some good work on a recruiting trail,
Speaker 1: hasn't he.
Speaker 6: Indeed, he has has two top fifteen prospects on the
Speaker 6: board for twenty twenty six at Madden Greenway top ten
Speaker 6: point guard from Minnesota. She verbal to Kentucky back in November,
Speaker 6: and then Kentucky ads Canadian prospect Savvy Swords over the weekend,
Speaker 6: another top fifteen prospect in the twenty twenty sixth class.
Speaker 6: Kentucky currently with the number one overall recruiting class for
Speaker 6: twenty twenty six. Just unbelievable recruiting chops by Kenny Brooks.
Speaker 6: If you combine the high school ranks with what he's
Speaker 6: done through the transfer portal and bringing Georgia Amore last
Speaker 6: season and what he's done in the portal this season,
Speaker 6: I think Kentucky will pick up right where they left
Speaker 6: off last season. And then you go back to twenty
Speaker 6: twenty five, brought in Kentucky's first McDonald's All American since
Speaker 6: Treasure Hunt in twenty twenty and five star forward Kail
Speaker 6: and Carroll. I would expect there to have an impact
Speaker 6: this year as well. So didn't take long for old
Speaker 6: Kenny Brooks to get it rolling stuff.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Treasure Hunt was a bit of a bust. He
Speaker 1: just wasn't happy and didn't want to work hard. I
Speaker 1: don't see that happening under Kenny Brooks.
Speaker 5: Now.
Speaker 6: I'm really really excited with the team that he's built.
Speaker 6: That was such a fun team to watch last season.
Speaker 6: It was heartbreaking the way they lost that second round
Speaker 6: tournament game to Kansas State very easily. You know, at
Speaker 6: that last shot by Georgia Amore from the faith line,
Speaker 6: a shot she's probably made a million times over the
Speaker 6: course of her basketball career, and it's able to find
Speaker 6: the bottom of the net. They're onto the sweet sixteen
Speaker 6: and you know, probably look at that season completely differently
Speaker 6: than we did. But just a really unbelievable, fun, exciting
Speaker 6: team to watch. And I just I just think he's
Speaker 6: made women's basketball must be TV for Kentucky fans and
Speaker 6: didn't take him long at all.
Speaker 1: It's so interesting that Mark Pope, Kenny Brooks and and
Speaker 1: Pat Kelsey at Louisville all come in and they basically
Speaker 1: have the same assignment to essentially totally rebuild their respective
Speaker 1: rosters with programs where the expectations, especially Kentucky men's basketball
Speaker 1: Louisville had dropped off a bit. UK women had dropped
Speaker 1: off a bit. But they've all known great success relatively speaking, uh,
Speaker 1: and they're all fast tracking back to where they need
Speaker 1: to be. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 6: Yeah, I think culture matters. Yes, you know, how how
Speaker 6: you do anything is how you do everything. And you know,
Speaker 6: those all three programs were led by by top notch
Speaker 6: of leaders in those head coaching positions, and so you know,
Speaker 6: I don't think it's a surprise that all three of
Speaker 6: those programs have have gotten on back back on track
Speaker 6: as quickly as as they did, especially in this age
Speaker 6: of the transfer portal. And you know, I heard someone
Speaker 6: recently say that Mark Pope has the ability to microwave chemistry,
Speaker 6: and I thought that was such a great way to
Speaker 6: put it because we saw so many college basketball teams
Speaker 6: Kansas State, Indiana, Arkansas spend a ton of money in
Speaker 6: the portal last season and it did not lead to
Speaker 6: great results. Kansas State missed the tournament, Indiana missed the tournament.
Speaker 6: Arkansas struggled for much of the year before they were
Speaker 6: finally able to kind of get the wheels on late
Speaker 6: in the year. But just because you bring in a
Speaker 6: top five portal class, just because you spend a ton
Speaker 6: of money, doesn't necessarily equate to great results. It takes chemistry.
Speaker 6: It takes you know, having the right fit guys that
Speaker 6: complement each other instead of just acquiring a bunch of talent.
Speaker 6: And I think all three of those programs were able
Speaker 6: to do that.
Speaker 1: You can't put them together like they're just fantasy teams.
Speaker 1: And for these coaches and Pope, by no, because we've
Speaker 1: talked to the players coming through on a Zoom call
Speaker 1: like that, you know, I'm sure and I guarantee you
Speaker 1: there's there's a face to face meeting before or maybe not.
Speaker 1: Maybe they're committing through Zoom. I don't know if they are.
Speaker 1: That's even more impressive, isn't it. But yeah, go ahead,
Speaker 1: It ain't easy, is what I was saying.
Speaker 6: No, And if you go back, if you look at
Speaker 6: Mark Pope's you know he's had two top five recruiting
Speaker 6: classes and two off seasons at Kentucky. If you look
Speaker 6: at both of them, he's done an unbelievable job of
Speaker 6: getting guys who appreciate the opportunity to play at Kentucky.
Speaker 6: And that wasn't always the case with you know, some
Speaker 6: of the one and doun's that came through, and I
Speaker 6: know a lot of fans started to feel like Kentucky
Speaker 6: was becoming more or less of a stopover for these
Speaker 6: guys on their way to the NBA as opposed to,
Speaker 6: you know, relishing the opportunity to you know, play for
Speaker 6: the greatest tradition in college basketball history. And I think
Speaker 6: Mark Pope has done an unbelievable job getting these guys
Speaker 6: to understand the mantle that they've been given, the responsibility
Speaker 6: they have as Kentucky players, not just to the program,
Speaker 6: but to the state of Kentucky. And uh, if you've
Speaker 6: got if you hear these guys during these media opportunities,
Speaker 6: they have an unbelievable attitude and unbelievable gratitude to you know,
Speaker 6: for being a Kentucky player and having that.
Speaker 1: Opportunity well put by Chris Fisher, we'll leave it there.
Speaker 1: Follow Chris, of course on the Cats Pause website two
Speaker 1: four seven Sports dot Com Backslash Kentucky and also on
Speaker 1: Twitter or x if you will at Chris Fisher two
Speaker 1: four seven. Thank you, sir, and have a great summer.
Speaker 1: We'll talk again soon, all right, Thanks Bob, Welcome back
Speaker 1: to the Big Blue and sider Dick Gabriel with you.
Speaker 1: We heard from the UK women that made available to
Speaker 1: us today UK women's basketball players. They also made some
Speaker 1: of the men available of doing that each week, which
Speaker 1: is great, and we got a chance this week to
Speaker 1: meet two of the new guys, Mohammed Diabate and Denzel Aberdeen,
Speaker 1: and of course Aberdeen transfers in from Florida, and he
Speaker 1: talked about the fact that when Kentucky called, he was
Speaker 1: quick to answer yes.
Speaker 12: Sir, it was pretty quick. When they called, I was like, man,
Speaker 12: I told my dad, Like, Dad, we can just school
Speaker 12: I want to be at just seeing all the past
Speaker 12: people that came in and out through this school, all
Speaker 12: the great players, and my main goals to make it
Speaker 12: the NBA, and just seeing how this school has transferred
Speaker 12: guys young guys to be a great man on and
Speaker 12: off the court. It's something I want to achieve. So
Speaker 12: when they called, I was like man, I gotta come
Speaker 12: here and played for coach Pope, obviously another national champion,
Speaker 12: and just the school itself and the people here at
Speaker 12: the atmosphere. It's crazy. I've been watching on TV. I
Speaker 12: played against last year here and it was crazy. So
Speaker 12: when they called it was pretty much a no brainer
Speaker 12: for me, and I was like, yeah, I gotta do it.
Speaker 3: I'm ready.
Speaker 1: And what's fascinating is he was part of, as you know,
Speaker 1: of a national championship team. He played for the Florida Gators,
Speaker 1: and he played a lot. He averaged nearly twenty minutes
Speaker 1: a game, averaged nearly eight points, couple of rebounds per contest,
Speaker 1: and they've got a lot coming back. They got a
Speaker 1: chance at repeating. Of course, I don't know that they'll
Speaker 1: be as good losing Walter Clayton Junior, but they got
Speaker 1: a lot of the parts coming back. They got some
Speaker 1: new parts at Florida, like everybody does. And he had
Speaker 1: three seasons invested in Gainesville, so I asked him, and
Speaker 1: of course he played a lot more last year than
Speaker 1: he did the first two years. So I said, well,
Speaker 1: it seemed like things were going pretty well. Why leave Gainesville?
Speaker 1: Why leave Florida?
Speaker 12: That's pretty much between me and my family. But I'm
Speaker 12: just happy for the Kentucky for reaching out and giving
Speaker 12: me a chance to play here and try to get
Speaker 12: one here. It's like I said, things happen in life,
Speaker 12: but I mean, it's all the God's plans. So just
Speaker 12: being here and being Kentucky, being at this next school
Speaker 12: I'm at. I'm just happy to be here.
Speaker 1: Kind of a cryptic response, a non answer or answer.
Speaker 1: But most guys who transfer, that's pretty much what they
Speaker 1: give you. They don't want to get two specific and
Speaker 1: that's fine, that's okay. But when he said it's between
Speaker 1: me and my family, you know, I wondered, could this
Speaker 1: be an nilsu? I mean, is he got a better
Speaker 1: opportunity at Kentucky. He certainly fills the need for Mark Pope.
Speaker 1: There's no question about that. And Pope talked about that
Speaker 1: with us a couple of weeks ago. I mean, you
Speaker 1: heard his comments. You know this is a guy. He
Speaker 1: loved his game watching him play at Florida, And if
Speaker 1: you watch Florida play, this guy is active, he's strong,
Speaker 1: he's athletic, and I think he'll fit right in to
Speaker 1: the way Pope plays. And he talked about how difficult
Speaker 1: it was to play defense against the Mark Pope system
Speaker 1: of offense and said he's learning it pretty quickly now.
Speaker 1: But he said he's glad he doesn't have to learn
Speaker 1: it and guard against it anymore. And Mohammed Diabatte said
Speaker 1: the same thing. Then he played for an Alabama team
Speaker 1: that loves to get up and down the floor, as
Speaker 1: does Mark Pope's team. That was one of the things
Speaker 1: that attracted him to Kentucky. But Diabatte also talked about
Speaker 1: the fact that even now with the Kentucky team that
Speaker 1: was slow getting off the ground under pub last year, defensively,
Speaker 1: he believes right now that with the players who came
Speaker 1: back and with the new guys on the roster, Diabate
Speaker 1: thinks defense could be right out of the box one
Speaker 1: of the strong suits of this team.
Speaker 9: Man, I think it's probably gonna be one of the
Speaker 9: best defensive teams Kentucky scene in a while. Like we
Speaker 9: got guys like like JQ. He hasn't even played yet,
Speaker 9: Like I just just knowing what he could do. He's
Speaker 9: not even practice yet, Like like that's scary. Like guys
Speaker 9: like me or take a jel, we take private defense,
Speaker 9: So I feel like that's something that the team needs
Speaker 9: and stuff like that, and I feel like it's gonna
Speaker 9: be a real good year defensively for us. I don't
Speaker 9: think that's gonna be one of the liability we have.
Speaker 1: And this is another guy that Mark Pope said, I
Speaker 1: am glad he's on our team now because it was
Speaker 1: tough to play against him and Diabate when they played Alabama,
Speaker 1: which took three games from the Wildcats last year, including
Speaker 1: the SEC Tournament. Kentucky of course, won its only matchup
Speaker 1: with the Florida Gators and what might have been the
Speaker 1: most entertaining game of the entire season, not just for
Speaker 1: your k but in all of college basketball. That was
Speaker 1: a hell of a game anyhow, Diabaate is such a
Speaker 1: key for Alabama, and Pope talked about the physicality of
Speaker 1: his game, and Diabat talked about the element of physicality
Speaker 1: he brings to the Wildcats.
Speaker 9: It's something I always had called the physicality. I played
Speaker 9: soccer as a kid. That was my first sport, So
Speaker 9: just just playing with like my brothers and stuff. For
Speaker 9: in the community, that was even physical to even start with.
Speaker 9: People people don't understand how physical soccer could really get
Speaker 9: but it's just the environment that I grew up in,
Speaker 9: Like you know, it just it just made me just
Speaker 9: play physical. But yeah, and I think it's gonna help
Speaker 9: us a lot this year, the physicality not only for
Speaker 9: me from Otaga Brandon Denzel, I feel like we could
Speaker 9: do something special with that.
Speaker 1: We talked with the about to a little bit and
Speaker 1: heard from him about his upbringing in New York where
Speaker 1: he played, of course, on the playgrounds. He's from Queen's originally,
Speaker 1: and he talked about what it's like to play, you know,
Speaker 1: where nobody really calls fouls and on the playground games,
Speaker 1: you know, you keep playing or you sit and if
Speaker 1: you get beat he might not play for another hour
Speaker 1: or two. And of course Aberdeen is an Orlando native,
Speaker 1: and we asked him about moving from Gainesville, moving from
Speaker 1: Florida up to Kentucky, and he talked when he the
Speaker 1: first thing out of his mouth was the weather. Of course,
Speaker 1: it's hot and human. He's used to that, but we
Speaker 1: were reminded him, hey gets a little cold up here.
Speaker 1: He said, he's already bought winter clothes. He's trying to
Speaker 1: get ready for it now. But it's going to be
Speaker 1: a shock to him. I can't wait to speak to
Speaker 1: him in the middle of winter, middle of December and
Speaker 1: see how he's getting along again. Part of a strong
Speaker 1: transfer class for the Wildcats. How strong well, according to
Speaker 1: one writer Jeff Borzello of ESPN dot com, who is
Speaker 1: filling some time and some space on the internet ranking
Speaker 1: the basketball transfer classes, and he is one of several
Speaker 1: who have Rick Pattinos Saint John's Red Storm ranked number one.
Speaker 1: And Patino has made and did make throughout the year,
Speaker 1: no effort to hide the fact that he was going
Speaker 1: to go heavily into the portal and all but ignore
Speaker 1: the high school ranks. I think he signed one high
Speaker 1: school kid, but true to his word, he went hard
Speaker 1: at the portal and signed Bryce Hopkins. The former Wildcat.
Speaker 1: Signed kids from Stanford, Arizona State, North Carolina, Cincinnati, a
Speaker 1: kid from Idaho State, but all he did was average
Speaker 1: nearly twenty points a game. Dylan Darling remember that name,
Speaker 1: and to me the most fascinating, Well, he signed a
Speaker 1: kid out of an Nai school Milligan named han J.
Speaker 1: Tomba who averaged ten and a half points per game.
Speaker 1: But Patino thought enough of him to reach out bring
Speaker 1: him to New York City, making part of the class
Speaker 1: underwridden by Mike Ropoli, and he averaged fifteen a game
Speaker 1: eleven rebounds a game last year. That's all I know
Speaker 1: about him, but he'll be apparently a big part of
Speaker 1: Saint John's. Number two class according to Borsello, is Kentucky
Speaker 1: with Jaden Quainton's with Jalen Loade and zelabortein you Deterern
Speaker 1: from him and Diabate Cam Williams rhys Potter number two
Speaker 1: overall and of course Pope with a top five recruiting class,
Speaker 1: so mix it all together. Number three according to Borsello.
Speaker 1: Among the transfer classes, Michigan, which brought in four, Louisville
Speaker 1: is ranked fourth. They only brought in three, but all
Speaker 1: three guys our top thirty five picks and they can
Speaker 1: all shoot from the perimeter. Florida Gators only three, but
Speaker 1: they're the fifth ranked team, thanks in large part to
Speaker 1: Boogie Flann coming in from Arkansas. I just think it's
Speaker 1: fascinating the other two transfer kids from Florida, one from
Speaker 1: Princeton and the other from Ohio University. How about that?
Speaker 1: Filling in out Washington sixth, Indiana seventh, Oklahoma eighth usc
Speaker 1: the Trojans bringing in nine new players. They went per volume.
Speaker 1: Their ranked ninth. The corn Into Borsello and Iowa is
Speaker 1: tenth another school that brought in nine. That's according to
Speaker 1: Jeff Borsello of ESPN dot Com. Back was more of
Speaker 1: the Big Blue Insider and just a few here on
Speaker 1: six point thirty WLAP. Welcome back to the Big Blue
Speaker 1: and Sider, final segment of our program. We've talked a
Speaker 1: lot of Kentucky basketball. Of course, they are making players
Speaker 1: available to us, so why not we talk with them
Speaker 1: and share it with you. But also the information out
Speaker 1: there pouring in about recruiting quite naturally, all kinds of
Speaker 1: information on all kinds of websites. But of late we
Speaker 1: know that Bryson Howard has received an offer from Mark
Speaker 1: Pope and the staff. He is a shooting forward six'
Speaker 1: five weighs two hundred. Pounds he is From, Frisco texas
Speaker 1: that is in The dallas, area and a four star.
Speaker 1: Guy according to two four. Seven he has rated twenty
Speaker 1: eighth nationally among shooting. Forwards he is eleventh in the
Speaker 1: country and in The Great state Of. Texas is ranked
Speaker 1: as the number two player overall and it's so interesting to.
Speaker 1: Me people are interested in basketball now In, texas not
Speaker 1: just women's, basketball which was great back in the early
Speaker 1: eighties and. Beyond but for the longest, time people just
Speaker 1: kind of shrugged about basketball in that. State WHEN i
Speaker 1: was down there in the early, EIGHTIES i just couldn't
Speaker 1: believe that it wasn't more. Popular but THEN i learned,
Speaker 1: that AND i was asking, around why isn't there more
Speaker 1: interest in high school and college? Basketball and somebody told,
Speaker 1: me quite, frankly there was a rule believe it or,
Speaker 1: not AND i could believe it against basketball camps summer
Speaker 1: camps in the state Of. Texas you could go to
Speaker 1: all the football camps you want or you want. It back,
Speaker 1: then there were no basketball. Camps and what turn things
Speaker 1: around from BEST i could tell it was a huge
Speaker 1: factor Was Michigan's Fab. Five remember those guys in early nine.
Speaker 1: Nineties two of them were from the state Of. Texas
Speaker 1: so people down there were looking At michigan making all these,
Speaker 1: headlines making a run at the national, title and there's
Speaker 1: this it's almost an, arrogance but a pride In. Texas
Speaker 1: why isn't that happening? Here and so things began to
Speaker 1: really turn around for basketball in that, state and so
Speaker 1: now you See Julius randall Led kentucky to the, championship
Speaker 1: was minutes away from a national. Championship he was From,
Speaker 1: dallas so, yeah things have changed in the state Of
Speaker 1: texas when it comes to. Basketball kentucky also has offered
Speaker 1: a shooting forward by the name Of Cadence samuels sixty
Speaker 1: five two hundred From Maryland District, heights ranked eighteenth, nationally
Speaker 1: was the number five shooting forward and In maryland the
Speaker 1: number one, Prospect so a couple of offers going. Out
Speaker 1: he's also looking At alabama And georgia from within THE.
Speaker 1: Sec the other kid also looking At texas and. Others so,
Speaker 1: yeah a lot Of skoley offers out there for The
Speaker 1: wildcats and both basketball and. Football it's that time of,
Speaker 1: year isn't. It kentucky football commitments list per rivals with nine,
Speaker 1: players Including Lincoln, watkins the four star tight end And Port, Huron,
Speaker 1: michigan and four three star. Kids they just picked up
Speaker 1: a commitment as well from a cornerback In, Katie texas Outside,
Speaker 1: houston a d back Named isaiah. McMillan they did lose
Speaker 1: the only commitment they had from the state Of. Kentucky
Speaker 1: the lineman From. Tillman we still don't know where he's
Speaker 1: gonna end, up but don't be surprised if It's, louisville
Speaker 1: because he was recruited here by of, Course Vince. Merrill
Speaker 1: shifting over to baseball. BRIEFLY d One baseball's final rankings are,
Speaker 1: out of, course LSU's number, One Coastal carolina, Two arkansas,
Speaker 1: Three louisville is number, six And kentucky played ten teams
Speaker 1: in THE d One Baseball Final top twenty. Five louisville
Speaker 1: ended up being the highest, ranked AND i am amazed
Speaker 1: at a tip of the cap To dan McDonald and
Speaker 1: his ball club or turning things. Around they were struggling
Speaker 1: at one point earlier this, year as you probably know
Speaker 1: if you follow, baseball and in, Fact wildcats blew a
Speaker 1: late lead one of several Games kentucky blew late At.
Speaker 1: Louisville it was on a frigid. Night it was early
Speaker 1: in the year when things are gonna get, cold but that,
Speaker 1: night in, particular it was. Brutal it was, windy it was,
Speaker 1: cold and The wildcats lost when in Extras louisville walked it,
Speaker 1: off but they returned the game as they always do
Speaker 1: two weeks. Later it's a home and home each, year
Speaker 1: which is. Great Ugg flynn AND i worked that game
Speaker 1: and we went on early Because kentucky blew them. Out
Speaker 1: it was a run rule. Thing wildcats beat him what was,
Speaker 1: it seventeen to, seven AND i remember thinking what is
Speaker 1: wrong With, louisville particularly the. Bullpen but, man they turned it,
Speaker 1: around wound up ranked six in the. Country but the
Speaker 1: other Teams kentucky played from the top twenty Five Murray,
Speaker 1: state which beat The Wildcats, Auburn. Tennessee kentucky took that
Speaker 1: series down In, Knoxville West. Virginia the two losses in
Speaker 1: the Regional Sadly Texas wildcats took a. Game at the,
Speaker 1: TIME i Think texas was top Ranked, Vanderbilt, Georgia Ole,
Speaker 1: miss And clemson ranked twenty, third And wildcats Beat clemson
Speaker 1: in the. Regional so you talk about strength to. Schedule
Speaker 1: wildcats with ten matchups against THE d one baseball top
Speaker 1: twenty five saw this note. Online THE pac twelve has
Speaker 1: a new five year extension WITH Cbs. Sports right, now
Speaker 1: THE pac twelve is two, Teams Oregon state And Washington,
Speaker 1: state BUT cbs of, course with denial on the. Future
Speaker 1: twenty twenty Six, july a year from next, month THE
Speaker 1: pac twelve will grow With Boise, State Colorado, State San Diego,
Speaker 1: State Fresno, state And Utah. State they're all in the
Speaker 1: final year of The Mountain West. Conference Pluskins, zaga which
Speaker 1: has been in The West Coast conference, forever will join
Speaker 1: the NEW pac. Twelve And zaga does not have, football
Speaker 1: as you, know so that means the league has to
Speaker 1: add one more full time member with football to qualify
Speaker 1: as A Football Bowl subdivision, team AN fbs, team A
Speaker 1: Division one football. Team king in a lot of other.
Speaker 1: Schools Texas state in The Sun belt is they're, saying is.
Speaker 1: Likely that's a big school and it's got a good athletic.
Speaker 1: Program now they would have to pay The Sun belt
Speaker 1: a bunch of money to. Leave they're also looking At Sacramento,
Speaker 1: state but, man you, know so, anyway THE pac twelve it's.
Speaker 1: ALIVE i can't say it's, well but it will be
Speaker 1: by a year from that's going to do. It thanks
Speaker 1: to my Guest Chris fisher And Maggie. Davis that's a
Speaker 1: good night from the garage In.
Speaker 11: Lexington number Two chicken sal sand all the, butter the,
Speaker 11: lettuce the, mayonnaise and a cup of coffee anything.
Speaker 6: Else, Yeah, now all you have to do is hold the,
Speaker 6: chicken bring me the, toast give me a check for
Speaker 6: the chicken salad, sandwich and you haven't broken any.
Speaker 8: Rules you want me to hold the, chicken?
Speaker 6: HUH i want you to hold it between your.
Speaker 1: Knees.
Speaker 11: Tact, taping can, anything then tap tops, it don't don't
Speaker 11: tos