Speaker 1: Hell, Everyboddy to the facilities of the iHeartMedia Megaplex. It's
Speaker 1: Dick Gabriel. This is the state wide edition of The
Speaker 1: Big Bloon Side. I've heard comments from Vince Merriw and
Speaker 1: Craig Skinner and Cameron Mills, and now's your chance to
Speaker 1: hear Billy Rutledge. Yours truly and Jeff piicorl will be
Speaker 1: with us for the entire show. We've given Aaron Gersha
Speaker 1: on the night off. He is already in Atlanta preparing
Speaker 1: for Kentucky and Duke stick around for the state wide
Speaker 1: BBI Border to Border. It is the Big bloon Sider.
Speaker 1: Dick Gabriel, Billy rutleds here in the studio and on
Speaker 1: the Celebrity Hotline, mister Jeff Pecorrol, former Wildcat who is
Speaker 1: of course color analyst on the UK Radio network, Jeff
Speaker 1: Row coming off of bye week, going into a game
Speaker 1: you should win by well a lot. What is it
Speaker 1: like for the players right now? Do you think is it?
Speaker 1: I mean, you know, you worry about people being over confident,
Speaker 1: but you being the former player, they're humans, they're young.
Speaker 1: I got to think that they're looking at this game
Speaker 1: like just a chance to get well and nothing more. Right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well I liked it because I knew I was
Speaker 2: probably gonna play in a game like this, so I
Speaker 2: was excited about it. So yeah, I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: I'm like the Bob Yuker. You can't played. I was
Speaker 2: a thirty to thirty guy.
Speaker 1: You know, gotta be up by thirty or down by thirty.
Speaker 2: You got it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then you got to play for thirty seconds.
Speaker 2: There.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I understand. Uh, look, let's face it, Murray
Speaker 1: State's having its trouble this year, as Stoops put it
Speaker 1: earlier today, not the kind of year their first year
Speaker 1: coach anticipated. And did I have this right? They've lost
Speaker 1: to both of the all four of the Dakota's North
Speaker 1: and South Dakota and Dakota and State. But you know what,
Speaker 1: those are really good, really good FCS teams. They really
Speaker 1: are some of the best, if not the best. But
Speaker 1: we saw you Tea Chattanooga come in here a few
Speaker 1: years ago in Scare Kentucky, didn't we Sure?
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Monks dead and there's there's been several teams. Look,
Speaker 2: you can't overlook anybody. And then Mark said it today
Speaker 2: in his press conference. You know you can't just walk
Speaker 2: out there expecting to win. You've got to try. I mean,
Speaker 2: you've got to play hard. He wouldn't talk about injuries,
Speaker 2: and that was interesting, but I've got to believe that
Speaker 2: a game like this, we're gonna see cutter bowlie because
Speaker 2: we saw in the Florida game and now they have
Speaker 2: tape and they can show him. You can't make that
Speaker 2: pass from the HASH all over the opposite hash all
Speaker 2: the way to the sideline on a twelve yard out
Speaker 2: that you can't do that. That's why. So this is
Speaker 2: a team that's more and look, they're not sec speed, Okay,
Speaker 2: so it's it's it'll be a little easier for him
Speaker 2: to read the defense get the ball out of his hand.
Speaker 2: So I would expect to see him, especially with Brock
Speaker 2: banged up and he's hurting. Now the coach wouldn't tell
Speaker 2: us how much, but I expect to see him early
Speaker 2: and often in that game. Saturday.
Speaker 1: By the way, we're gonna talk to Jeff about basketball.
Speaker 1: I know we're on the eve of a huge game.
Speaker 1: But you know he saw those stoops press conference today
Speaker 1: as well. Yeah, you know, it's interesting. I remember Mike
Speaker 1: Archer after a game like this that the Kentucky should
Speaker 1: have won by a bunch and got up big and
Speaker 1: then had to fight off the team and was playing
Speaker 1: I don't remember which. Mike Archer told me the following week,
Speaker 1: he said, middle of the second quarter, I had second
Speaker 1: and third teamers coming up to me saying I'm ready
Speaker 1: to go in coach, which I guess is normal. But
Speaker 1: you got to take care of business, don't you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And that's just it. Look, you've got to either
Speaker 2: take the ball and score or if they get it,
Speaker 2: it's a three and out. And then because what happens
Speaker 2: to them, especially when you're in the type of season
Speaker 2: that they're in, and really Kentucky for that matter, when
Speaker 2: you've only won one or two or three games and
Speaker 2: you're at this point, the snowball really rolls a lot faster,
Speaker 2: and so once one bad thing happens, it just kind
Speaker 2: of multiplies on top of itself.
Speaker 1: Bye week came out a good time.
Speaker 3: There's a lot of injuries on this team, but you know,
Speaker 3: as of late, stoops in Kentucky haven't been great out
Speaker 3: of bye weeks. I know it's Murray State, but would
Speaker 3: you do anything differently to try to get the guys
Speaker 3: locked in in the first half for this one, or
Speaker 3: do you just hope that they're ready.
Speaker 2: I think really, in this type of game, you shouldn't
Speaker 2: have to do that. I mean, look, I hope to
Speaker 2: see a lot of the younger guys play. They're gonna
Speaker 2: have a lot of fire, but the veterans have to
Speaker 2: get out there and put a couple series in and
Speaker 2: get a league. This is kind of like that that
Speaker 2: third preseason NFL game when the Ones play maybe a
Speaker 2: full quarter because they want to get you know, they
Speaker 2: want to get their timing down for next week, and
Speaker 2: that's what they have to do. This is the team,
Speaker 2: as you said, is really banged up. So all those
Speaker 2: guys that are hurting, hopefully you don't have to play them.
Speaker 2: The one guy would like to see who might be
Speaker 2: able to play, as Maxwell Harriston. He's been practicing, he's
Speaker 2: been getting reps. He's you know, I'd like to see
Speaker 2: him because you can't just throw him into the fire.
Speaker 2: I don't care how good you aren't here for your
Speaker 2: Dion Sanders at quarterback. You cannot miss six, seven, eight weeks,
Speaker 2: whatever it's been and then expect to just walk right
Speaker 2: out there and be your all American self, So I'd
Speaker 2: love to see him get a couple series in to
Speaker 2: get used to the tempo of the game.
Speaker 1: Well, Vince Merrill mentioned him specifically tonight sitting in for Stoops,
Speaker 1: and he said, Harriston looked really good in practice, but
Speaker 1: again that's practice, you know, controlled environment.
Speaker 2: Well, but he should yeah, exactly kept fresh legs.
Speaker 1: Yeah that's true. You know, I was going to say
Speaker 1: we buried the lead, but really this has been out
Speaker 1: there for eight hours and Tom talked to Vince about
Speaker 1: it as well. Somebody put the question to Stoops about
Speaker 1: the rumors that he was gonna just hang it up
Speaker 1: because he's just you know, doesn't like or college football,
Speaker 1: I mean, the first coach to do that, and he
Speaker 1: emphatically put it down. Jeff, but one word, zero zero chance.
Speaker 1: What was your reaction to that.
Speaker 2: I kind of thought that's where that he has to
Speaker 2: say that. I mean, even if even if he's already
Speaker 2: written a resignation letter and handed it off, he's got
Speaker 2: to talk that way because you can't lose your team completely,
Speaker 2: you know, I mean that's you know, you've already heard
Speaker 2: the cracks or the scenes and people are starting to
Speaker 2: talk about it and so he had to say that,
Speaker 2: so I thought he shot it down nicely, said no
Speaker 2: zero next question, Yeah, you know well in the university
Speaker 2: looked ahead.
Speaker 1: No, he's say he was talking to recruits too. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yes, well see that's the biggest thing. You can't you
Speaker 2: can't announce something or quit now because this is the
Speaker 2: biggest period as teams are in playoffs and lose and
Speaker 2: things like that. Now more kids are wanting to come out. Uh,
Speaker 2: this is a very important next three games for recruiting.
Speaker 2: It could be a make or break type time because
Speaker 2: these guys are making their last official visits to schools.
Speaker 2: So it's huge for him to be in at one
Speaker 2: hundred percent. And then what I was going to say
Speaker 2: is simply as the buyout for him is whatever it
Speaker 2: is forty four and change. But he also you have
Speaker 2: to include the assistants that have guaranteed the contracts and
Speaker 2: that puts over fifty million. This school can't afford a
Speaker 2: fifty plus million dollars bios, it's not going to happen.
Speaker 1: You're there's a buy not a buy out in place.
Speaker 1: If he retires. It's only if they fired.
Speaker 2: Correct. But again, but again, why would you leave? And
Speaker 2: I don't care how much you make. He's not selling
Speaker 2: pathy Van weekl all right, I don't care how much
Speaker 2: bourbon these You're not leaving any man in his right
Speaker 2: Mind's like going to leave forty five million dollars on
Speaker 2: a take.
Speaker 3: That's right, that's right, Yeah, it's it's not a bad
Speaker 3: salary if your Mark stoops. But can you relate to
Speaker 3: him a little bit With how the sports changed, YEF,
Speaker 3: with these guys wanting money all the time or playing times,
Speaker 3: it's hard not to look at the job, put the
Speaker 3: money aside for a second and think that it's gotten
Speaker 3: a lot harder.
Speaker 2: Billy. I think what you're going to see in college football,
Speaker 2: it's already happening at some schools, especially the bigger ones,
Speaker 2: is you're going to have, for lack of a better word,
Speaker 2: a general manager. And that person is good. The coach
Speaker 2: is because he wants to coach. Nick Saban wanted to coach.
Speaker 2: Nick Saban doesn't want to deal with the money issues
Speaker 2: and treasurer Let the GM do that. Mark wants to coach.
Speaker 2: He's a coach. It's all he's done ever since he
Speaker 2: quit playing. His father was his coaches. Brothers are all
Speaker 2: coaches all he wants to do is get out there
Speaker 2: on the field with the guys. What's bothering him the
Speaker 2: most is And he told us this, Dick, remember two
Speaker 2: years ago, he said, I got eighty five free agents
Speaker 2: every year, you know, And it's just I'm not coaching anymore.
Speaker 2: It's not fun anymore. Now. Your paycheck is fun, you know,
Speaker 2: and winning at places like Ole Miss is fun. But
Speaker 2: the rest of the off the field stuff isn't fun.
Speaker 2: And that's why you've seen some great coaches national champions
Speaker 2: in basketball and in football say enough, I've had it,
Speaker 2: I'm out.
Speaker 1: I gotta think that. And again people want to gripe
Speaker 1: about the NCAA, which is the collection of schools. It's
Speaker 1: the schools that make up the rules and the road
Speaker 1: maps if they can somehow get there. And I cannot imagine, Jeff,
Speaker 1: why schools would not want to do this unless there
Speaker 1: were legal roadblocks put in place, a salary cap of
Speaker 1: some sort. They want guard rails, and it's guardrails they
Speaker 1: talk about, like how you can do things so you're
Speaker 1: not breaking rules. I'm talking about a salary cap, a
Speaker 1: salary structure. Yeah, you could have some schools they can
Speaker 1: afford more than others. But cap it. You know you
Speaker 1: see that in the pros. Now, you know you got
Speaker 1: the Yankees, you got the Oakland A's right. I think
Speaker 1: that's the only way to really pull all this stuff
Speaker 1: back in in college athletics and keep guys like say
Speaker 1: and Jay Wright and all these other you know whoever
Speaker 1: these coaches are Tony Bennett, Yeah, who decided, no, this
Speaker 1: is not what I signed up for.
Speaker 2: Well, Dick, that is that is the wish of every
Speaker 2: coach and probably every chancellor, dean, whatever you want to
Speaker 2: call them, at every university. But here's the sticking point.
Speaker 2: There's no Marvin Mitchell out there for these guys. They're
Speaker 2: not unionized, and as long as they are quote unquote
Speaker 2: free agents, you can't cap that every league that you're
Speaker 2: talking about, because it's illegal. It's called free trade. Once
Speaker 2: these guys become an employee of the university, which they
Speaker 2: look but they're not happen. But if I'm there, but
Speaker 2: if I'm their attorney, I'm saying we do not want
Speaker 2: to do this. Because there are some teams that the
Speaker 2: teams have become employees of the school, then they can
Speaker 2: cap you. But the NCAA has to figure out some
Speaker 2: way that maybe you make it. If you're a student,
Speaker 2: you are a I don't know what word you want
Speaker 2: to use to say it, you're an employee of the school.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that.
Speaker 2: Therefore, but then that's going to have to go to
Speaker 2: the courts. And because yeah, right now they've opened Pandora's box. Sure, Look,
Speaker 2: I got no problem. Everybody at the ballpark is wearing
Speaker 2: a number two jersey with passing the back right. You
Speaker 2: never got a penny for that, That's right, And that's
Speaker 2: that's what it all boils down to, or we should
Speaker 2: have got something. Had Ed O'Banion got something, he wouldn't
Speaker 2: assuit EA Sports and the NCAA for using his name
Speaker 2: on whatever the basketball game was called ten years or
Speaker 2: whatever it was.
Speaker 1: Ago, and we wouldn't be having this conversation. That's what's
Speaker 1: crazy about it exactly.
Speaker 3: To expand on that point, I can also see why
Speaker 3: players want to get as much as they can when
Speaker 3: they can because of the reason of healthcare. Jeff, if
Speaker 3: I were to get hurt playing Division I college sports,
Speaker 3: a serious injury, am I covered it all after my
Speaker 3: time at the university, Because I feel like there's there's
Speaker 3: quite the opportunity to ruin your life in that regard.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, that's something you have to look at.
Speaker 2: It wasn't too long ago they said you could insure yourself.
Speaker 2: People who were thinking of being a first round draft
Speaker 2: pick ensured themsel they got insured in case they got
Speaker 2: some type of catastrophic engineer. George Adams is a great
Speaker 2: example of that. Remember George was a first round draft
Speaker 2: pick of the Giants. He got hurt playing for the
Speaker 2: Giants in his rookie year and that was it. He
Speaker 2: was done. And he had a hit. Pointer had the
Speaker 2: same thing Bo Jackson had, and you know his career
Speaker 2: was cut short after one year. So I see where
Speaker 2: you're going with that billion. And yeah, here's the other
Speaker 2: side to that too. How many of these kids who
Speaker 2: are getting one hundred thousand dollars, fifty thousand dollars, two hundred,
Speaker 2: three hundred thousand dollars know anything about this three letter
Speaker 2: company called the I R. And what happens on April
Speaker 2: What happens on April Fifteen's right? You know, I thought
Speaker 2: I made one hundred thousand dollars. I already bought two
Speaker 2: cars in a house. Well, no, you actually make what
Speaker 2: sixty one thousand dollars. Yeah, right, that's called tax son.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, but if they're making that kind of money,
Speaker 1: you'd think there's somebody in place that can help them
Speaker 1: with that, someone beyond mom and dad. We're talking to
Speaker 1: Jefpicor of course, well UK never yeah, you hope.
Speaker 3: So that's not taking money from me in the entire
Speaker 3: right too.
Speaker 1: Right, And we're going to talk, as I said, about
Speaker 1: basketball a little bit later. But we're here. We picked
Speaker 1: up on the conversation with Mark Shops. Let's let us
Speaker 1: pull it back to the quarterbacks, which you brought up. Jeff,
Speaker 1: what do you think about the notion of with all
Speaker 1: due respect to Murray State, why not start Gavin Whimsy
Speaker 1: and then bring in cut her bully and just let
Speaker 1: Idergraff have another week off.
Speaker 2: Yeah. If I was him, I would say, look, just
Speaker 2: let me sit in the tub. I'll even watch the
Speaker 2: game from the tub. I want you, I want to
Speaker 2: be healthy to play Texas because look, we have to
Speaker 2: get down to the brass tax here with him. Is
Speaker 2: he going to be a Wildcat next year or is
Speaker 2: he going to go somewhere else? And if he's going
Speaker 2: somewhere else, the book on him right now is if
Speaker 2: you're another really good school. He hasn't really proven much
Speaker 2: to me. He's he's shown some flashes of having an
Speaker 2: arm and and and having but again, how much of
Speaker 2: it's the offensive line? How much of it is is
Speaker 2: him playing at a small high school and not really
Speaker 2: getting the reps uh that that that big time quarterbacks
Speaker 2: get it at at you know, when you're playing at
Speaker 2: may or d and places like that where you know
Speaker 2: these factories for for football players, AMG academies and stuff
Speaker 2: like that. Well he didn't do that. You know, he
Speaker 2: played at a single a school in Georgia. So it's
Speaker 2: gonna be really interesting to see how he progresses in
Speaker 2: those finals. Look, whoever the quarterback is after Saturday has
Speaker 2: got two monumental games in front of them. Texas is
Speaker 2: going to be the SEC game of the week at
Speaker 2: Texas three point thirty in Texas Stadium, and then the
Speaker 2: next week you're going to have a Louisville team that'll
Speaker 2: be on the cusp of making if they beat they
Speaker 2: have Pitt and Syracuse. Yea, they should probably win both
Speaker 2: of those. If they do, they're on the precipice of
Speaker 2: playing in the Bowl championship.
Speaker 1: That's right, so true.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, it's some big, big games in
Speaker 2: the very near.
Speaker 1: Future, and likely you need both if you're Kentucky to
Speaker 1: get to a ball game. So college football has taken
Speaker 1: some interesting turns over the last couple of weeks. We'll
Speaker 1: talk more about that with Jeppecorral at the bottom of
Speaker 1: the hour, we'll shift to basketball. Dick Gabriel, Billy Rutledge
Speaker 1: more to come on the state wide BBI from Pikeville
Speaker 1: to Paduca. It is a statewide edition of the Big
Speaker 1: Woe Sider Dick Gabriel, Billy rutleds here in the studio,
Speaker 1: Jeppecorrel on the celebrity hotline eron Girl Sewn already in
Speaker 1: Atlanta to cover Duke Kentucky coming up tomorrow night. You'll
Speaker 1: hear it on most of these same stations, and we
Speaker 1: will shift to basketball chatter at to bobom of the hour.
Speaker 1: We're talking football, of course, with Jeff and Billy and
Speaker 1: the way the SEC is settling in now. Jeff, I
Speaker 1: just read somebody today said they think somebody on one
Speaker 1: of the talking heads they could see Ole miss plan
Speaker 1: for a national title. I mean, you and I worked
Speaker 1: that game down there. Billy watched it and listen to it,
Speaker 1: and of course Kentucky played its best game.
Speaker 2: In the year.
Speaker 1: Hearing myself, but you got to give Old Miss credit.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's one games when it's had to it,
Speaker 1: it looked good over the weekend. I think that might
Speaker 1: be to me, the biggest surprise in the league right now.
Speaker 1: What do you think.
Speaker 2: The Old Miss slacking of Georgia. Did you see that coming? Yeah?
Speaker 2: I never didn't. That is uh. To me, that was
Speaker 2: the most surprising outcome I think of the weekend Miami losing.
Speaker 2: I mean, they're a one man show. I think cam
Speaker 2: wore you really, really good, and obviously he's probably the
Speaker 2: he's the number one guy for the Heisman right now.
Speaker 2: But man, I mean Georgia they had this is this
Speaker 2: is the thing that's shocking. Are you ready for this stat?
Speaker 2: Georgia has not been out of the top ten since
Speaker 2: December of twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: How about that?
Speaker 2: That that is crazy? Uh?
Speaker 3: You mentioned cam Ward as a Heisman contender. I want
Speaker 3: to talk about another one, Travis Hunter. How rare and
Speaker 3: unique is it for a guy to play both ways
Speaker 3: like that?
Speaker 2: Jeff, Well, you know it's Uh, he's just a book
Speaker 2: a phenomenal athlete, I guess the last one to do.
Speaker 2: I mean at that level, I can't even remember. I
Speaker 2: know Dion played a couple of times, you know, he
Speaker 2: was punt returns and sometimes they put him in a receiver,
Speaker 2: I think, just for the heck of it. But to
Speaker 2: actually play a game on both sides, do you know, Dick,
Speaker 2: I can't even think of that. There was a kid.
Speaker 1: There was a kid who played for one of the
Speaker 1: mid majors, and I can't recall and even got to
Speaker 1: look him from the NFL, but not at a high profile,
Speaker 1: you know, top twenty five program like that. And I'm
Speaker 1: trying to remember, Jeff, is this a.
Speaker 2: Guy that ranged?
Speaker 1: Is this a guy who came with Dion? Was he
Speaker 1: at Jackson State or did he inherit him or okay,
Speaker 1: see that, To me, he was he was used out
Speaker 1: of necessity at Jackson State, although I think Dion probably
Speaker 1: saw his ability and saw himself in that kid's ability
Speaker 1: and thought he can handle it. But to me, Jeff,
Speaker 1: and you can speak to this having done this, having
Speaker 1: at least, you know, been on the sidelines and seeing
Speaker 1: guys out there taking the punishment the number of plays
Speaker 1: this kid racks up every game. That's what gets me.
Speaker 1: He's not a sometime player. He's out there every play.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's amazing. And when remember he was the
Speaker 2: first five star recruit top I think he was top
Speaker 2: ten actually recruit in the country and he and he
Speaker 2: went to Jackson's and people were like what yeah, And
Speaker 2: I mean that was the biggest splash ever for a
Speaker 2: school of that size, and it, you know, put him
Speaker 2: on TV. Uh. You know, it helps to have Dian
Speaker 2: as a coach, but to get somebody like that, you know,
Speaker 2: to come to your school was just amazing. So he
Speaker 2: has pedigree behind him. He's a sensational player. And the
Speaker 2: thing that does is crazy. It's just what you said,
Speaker 2: The pounding that that guy takes every single play and
Speaker 2: is just simply remarkable that he's able to hang in
Speaker 2: there and play on both sides of the ball as
Speaker 2: good as he does. I mean, he could be who's
Speaker 2: almost like all American on both sides. You know.
Speaker 3: Well, speaking of a freak of nature like that, who
Speaker 3: would you say when you played at Kentucky was a
Speaker 3: freak of nature?
Speaker 1: Give me a name.
Speaker 2: Well, the guy that was a freak because he he
Speaker 2: didn't he played around in the weight room instead of lifting,
Speaker 2: and he just went and then he never he never.
Speaker 2: We used to have to run when you came back.
Speaker 2: You had to run sixteen forties within three tenths of
Speaker 2: a second of your So if you were a four
Speaker 2: or five forty, which I was, you had to run
Speaker 2: sixteen forties under four eight or under man okay, and
Speaker 2: you were un him. In sets of four. You ran four,
Speaker 2: then you got like a thirty second break you ran
Speaker 2: for then you got a minute break, then you got four,
Speaker 2: and then you had to run a four to forty,
Speaker 2: you know, one time around the track and for each
Speaker 2: position it was a different time. You had to run
Speaker 2: that under and the guy and then you you know,
Speaker 2: to twenty five. How many times could you bench press it?
Speaker 2: And he did right, you know, count twelve times. Paul Calhoun, No,
Speaker 2: he was ridiculous. He ever looked out. He was unbelievable.
Speaker 2: And punt well, he was, first off, he was an
Speaker 2: ll SEC defensive back, all SC punter right YEPU had
Speaker 2: a couple of touchdowns as a punter running. But the
Speaker 2: guy that was just the freak that you're like, come on,
Speaker 2: was was DERMANI, Oh yeah, I mean he was. He
Speaker 2: could bench press four hundred without a problem, squat six
Speaker 2: hundred clean three. But you're like, he's just unhuman. Him
Speaker 2: and a guy named William Burris, they were both I remember, ridiculous.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and DERMANI. The greatest story is as we go
Speaker 1: to the break and you know this, Jeff DERMANI didn't
Speaker 1: want to play football. He's walking the halls at Bryan
Speaker 1: Station High School, this big, good looking kid and was
Speaker 1: a track and field guy. And in fact he did. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but then I did say he did participate in field
Speaker 1: events at UK. But yeah, Steve Parker walk in the halls,
Speaker 1: said sun report to practice this afternoon. Didn't give him
Speaker 1: have a choice, and he did. And and Billy, when
Speaker 1: DERMANI went into the Hall of Fame, who unveiled his bust?
Speaker 1: That can Steve Parker? Yeah, that was so good.
Speaker 2: And let me tell you, Billy, three guys, three guys.
Speaker 2: It was Mark Logan, Cornell, Burbiche and Germany on the
Speaker 2: same same.
Speaker 1: Same high school. About that brother basketball chatters. Next here
Speaker 1: on the state Wide BBI, it is the state wide
Speaker 1: edition of The Big Blue Insider. Dick Gabriel, Billy Retolans
Speaker 1: here in the studio, Jeff Pikoro the UK Network is
Speaker 1: on our Celebrity Hotline. Part of Jeff's resume now includes,
Speaker 1: of course sports director WEDTVQ here in Lexington, so he
Speaker 1: covers all sports now just you, not just UK football.
Speaker 1: And Jeff, you grew up for the most party all
Speaker 1: over the country. You kind of hopscotched around. I still
Speaker 1: think that your dad was a spy. You tell me
Speaker 1: he was in academics, but you moved around so much. Anyway.
Speaker 1: You've covered this Kentucky basketball team so far. I don't
Speaker 1: know about you, but I really, I mean, you care
Speaker 1: because you want the home team to win. Is better
Speaker 1: for business, better for ratings. Everybody's happy, But I just
Speaker 1: want to see what they do. You know what I
Speaker 1: mean against the Duke team that it's got great talent
Speaker 1: but really young. And this is a Kentucky team for
Speaker 1: the gray beards. If I may use an a dated expression,
Speaker 1: but I'm just I have not been so curious about
Speaker 1: a game, Jeff in years.
Speaker 2: I kind of agree with you. You know, out of the
Speaker 2: deal they have the Superstar and Cooper flag right, and
Speaker 2: how does how is that is? That Cooper flag. Is
Speaker 2: that his name?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 2: Yeah. How does how does Kentucky control him? How does
Speaker 2: he respond playing in a game like this, the first
Speaker 2: you know, huge game since uh, you know the youngster
Speaker 2: got to Duke and there's gonna be real interesting to see. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I'm just looking forward to playing finally against some elite athletes.
Speaker 2: How does that offense that Pope runs transfer to that
Speaker 2: to the to those you know, guys that can run
Speaker 2: and jump just like your guys can.
Speaker 3: Uh, Jeff, do you think part of the fun about
Speaker 3: this team is that they don't have the crushing expectations
Speaker 3: that I feel like every Caliperi team had after twenty fifteen.
Speaker 2: That and the fact that it doesn't look like they
Speaker 2: have the enormous egos of the players or the co
Speaker 2: coach for that matter, and that, you know, the difference building.
Speaker 2: And I talk about this all the time with Dick
Speaker 2: and with in other sports that I do. They play
Speaker 2: with a smile on their face. They're enjoying the process,
Speaker 2: they enjoyed the game, they enjoyed their teammates. Too many
Speaker 2: times when you go out there, you gotta remember this
Speaker 2: is college football, college basketball, college baseball and Dick, you know,
Speaker 2: doing the baseball games. How many games do you go to?
Speaker 2: And it's the false the falseness of the guys on
Speaker 2: the bench trying to pick each other up. It wasn't
Speaker 2: this year in baseball, wasn't like these guys played with
Speaker 2: a smile on our face, took them to the World Series. Right,
Speaker 2: you've got to enjoy it. You're still a kid. That's
Speaker 2: it's quasi amateur sport and you should be having fun
Speaker 2: out there, and this basketball team does.
Speaker 1: Jeff was one of several media members from here in
Speaker 1: town who made it out to om Ah uncovered the
Speaker 1: World Series. You were like me, you weren't going to
Speaker 1: miss that? I know? And no, and you and I
Speaker 1: hung out and how many times did we look at
Speaker 1: each other? How cool is this? So for us a
Speaker 1: couple of old guys, Imagine what that was like for
Speaker 1: the players. And I remember the day after they won
Speaker 1: the SEC championship. Of course they lost the next game
Speaker 1: to Bandy, but the morning of the game, we're in
Speaker 1: the dugout and we were talking about going to Omaha
Speaker 1: and Grant Smith hurt us and he said, I need
Speaker 1: that more than I can breathe so you know, watching
Speaker 1: that team and again sans Egos got you know, great chemistry,
Speaker 1: and again credit Nick Benjeone for putting that team together
Speaker 1: using recruiting and the portal and now getting back to basketball.
Speaker 1: It's early, but the job that Mark Pope has done,
Speaker 1: Jeff and cobbling this team together like a puzzle, you know,
Speaker 1: finding the right pieces. They're still figuring things out. But
Speaker 1: it's fun to watch, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah? And I think he just made a great point
Speaker 2: here cobbling the team together. He didn't go out and
Speaker 2: get just ten, eleven, twelve, five star guys. He got
Speaker 2: guys that fit what he was trying to do, right.
Speaker 2: He's first first couple of guys he got were defense,
Speaker 2: and we're all going, what is this? Remember the first
Speaker 2: three guys, he finds a really good defensive players, one
Speaker 2: of them a three time defensive player of the year
Speaker 2: in a conference, and we're like wow. And then it
Speaker 2: was a piece here, a piece there. A six to
Speaker 2: seven shooting guard, right, you know, Kobe Brea and he's
Speaker 2: becoming a dagger man. I knew this kid was just
Speaker 2: a awesome player at Dayton, but he put together a
Speaker 2: team that he saw this guy can play with this guy,
Speaker 2: these three guys, this two guys here, and now you
Speaker 2: look at him and he's he's enjoying the fruits of
Speaker 2: his labor. And this team, you know, we're gonna see,
Speaker 2: like I said, tomorrow night is going to be a
Speaker 2: huge step for these guys. And but the thing is
Speaker 2: they're all veterans. They've all been most of them have
Speaker 2: been to the NCAA tournament. They've all played in post games,
Speaker 2: and they play in huge games. So it's not gonna
Speaker 2: be that that overwhelming to them.
Speaker 3: Is Jeff acorro for or against neutral site games like
Speaker 3: the Champions Classic, you know what.
Speaker 2: Really, it's it's interesting you ask that because I feel
Speaker 2: for the the season ticket holder who says, well, why
Speaker 2: can't we get Duke here? You know? And the simple
Speaker 2: question is Duke doesn't want to play here and Kentucky
Speaker 2: doesn't want to play at Cameron, you know, so it's
Speaker 2: probably not going to happen. Now, they made it happen
Speaker 2: with Gonzaga, and that's been a really cool thing. It's
Speaker 2: been pretty one sided, but it's been a lot of fun,
Speaker 2: you know, to see to see that. But you just
Speaker 2: see more and more again it's money. How much do
Speaker 2: they get paid to go to Atlanta? That's you know.
Speaker 2: I don't I don't know what that answer is, but
Speaker 2: I've got to believe it's a ton of money for
Speaker 2: those four teams.
Speaker 1: Well, Jeff, let me, let me toss this out at you.
Speaker 1: And people don't realize, but when Jeff was working up
Speaker 1: in Northern Kentucky working with the Reds and and things
Speaker 1: like that, he was involved with University of Cincinnati, did
Speaker 1: Bob Huggins coaches show, and did ball games up there
Speaker 1: and all. So he had a great relationship with Huggins.
Speaker 1: I don't know about all the other college coaches you knew,
Speaker 1: but I truly believe that home and homes do not
Speaker 1: happen because coaches hate the prospect of losing a game.
Speaker 1: You put a home and home with a Duke or
Speaker 1: in North Carolina or a Kansas on your schedule, and
Speaker 1: you look at that game and you say, man, I
Speaker 1: don't know we're going to get that one. Coaches hate
Speaker 1: the loves and fans pretend like they love them, but
Speaker 1: then they expect you to win every game. You know,
Speaker 1: and coaches feel that. I mean part of that I
Speaker 1: think is is because coaches won't do it. Part of
Speaker 1: that is because they know how the fans are going
Speaker 1: to react. And that's unfortunate because when you grew up,
Speaker 1: the Kentucky Indiana game was big. Yeah, and you know,
Speaker 1: obviously Louisville game is I hope sticks around. You know,
Speaker 1: I don't know about football, but does that make sense?
Speaker 1: You know about about home and homes because uh, every
Speaker 1: every network in America would line up for Duke and
Speaker 1: Rupp Arena or Kentucky and Cameron.
Speaker 2: Well. For the longest time, Ohio State would not play
Speaker 2: Cincinnati football because they said, we have everything to lose
Speaker 2: and nothing to gain. And it's kind of like Kentucky Louisville.
Speaker 2: If you're if you're the coaches, you're like, we got
Speaker 2: to have this game. And then as soon as the
Speaker 2: camera's off, they go, I can't stand this game. We
Speaker 2: cannot you know what I mean. Because then the other
Speaker 2: thing was they never played the teams in the state
Speaker 2: because they didn't if somehow, yeah, if somehow Eastern or
Speaker 2: Morehead beat Kentucky Western, did you imagine Western Kentucky did? So?
Speaker 2: You know, those they're tough games, man.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Jeff. Over the weekend we heard about the Auburn
Speaker 3: basketball team and a little horse play in the airplane
Speaker 3: causing the plane to turn around. They left the guys
Speaker 3: at in Auburn and then went and still beat Houston
Speaker 3: the next day. My question is, did you ever have
Speaker 3: any scuffles with teammates in the travel to and from games?
Speaker 2: Never traveling? No, that's that's crazy. No. I mean guys
Speaker 2: fought all the time in the dorm and stuff. I
Speaker 2: mean you get all those athletes and back when when
Speaker 2: I would say, we had to live in Kerwin one,
Speaker 2: So we lived in you know, everybody, all the players,
Speaker 2: didn't matter if you were Bill Ranstell or Joker Phillips
Speaker 2: or me or or.
Speaker 1: If your freshman June. Yeah, I mean freshman through SI
Speaker 1: you all had to live in the dorm.
Speaker 2: Right, wow, Billy, you ready for this?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: We there were no female visitation in our They couldn't
Speaker 2: go upstairs to that they could come in and go
Speaker 2: down series which was the wreck. You know, they had
Speaker 2: TVs and stuff like that. Our girlfriend, my mother couldn't
Speaker 2: go to my room even in the off season.
Speaker 1: Huh.
Speaker 2: How about that. That's how strict Clavern was. We couldn't
Speaker 2: have a girl. You know, a girlfriend, wife, whatever, No,
Speaker 2: not happening.
Speaker 1: What was the Cursey rule? Where? What were the Cursey rules?
Speaker 2: Beyond time? Yeah, there was three beyond time, don't get
Speaker 2: your butt in trouble and uh like past your classes?
Speaker 2: That is it?
Speaker 1: Yeah? But could freshmen live off campus?
Speaker 2: Freshmen had to live at Hagen Hall, That's what I thought,
Speaker 2: which was the freshman dorm, and then you moved into
Speaker 2: Most of us lived in Kerwin one. Now you know,
Speaker 2: we got to remember we didn't have any money. Nobody
Speaker 2: had any money. So you're staying in the dorm because
Speaker 2: they paid for that.
Speaker 1: One of the great stories that Jeff told me, and
Speaker 1: I don't think we can repeated on the air, was
Speaker 1: the day in Hagen Hall cafeteria player X attack player
Speaker 1: why with a Christmas tree? But we'll tell you that
Speaker 1: story off the Christmas tree. We'll tell you that story
Speaker 1: off the air belly because it's a family radio station.
Speaker 1: Back to Basketball.
Speaker 2: Tree.
Speaker 1: He'll he'll pull it all together for you. Trust me.
Speaker 1: We've talked on this show and others about the Popovich
Speaker 1: drill that the Wildcats running practice, and fans have heard
Speaker 1: a lot about it already. Where it's three on two
Speaker 1: in both directions. Sometimes a third player come in, but
Speaker 1: the ball is in your hands for less than half
Speaker 1: a second and by the time when you get it,
Speaker 1: you've got to already know where you're going with it.
Speaker 1: And it's really fun now, Jeff, to see this team
Speaker 1: when it is able to fast break. And that's why
Speaker 1: the ball movement. I heard Cameron talking to Darren Hendrick
Speaker 1: about it. The ball movement on this team. That's one
Speaker 1: of the reasons it's so good because if you recall
Speaker 1: under previous management with young players freshmen, he would say,
Speaker 1: what would he say, Billy, the ball would get stuck.
Speaker 2: Yeah, don't don't stop the ball.
Speaker 1: No, but he would That was a term he used, right,
Speaker 1: the ball get it would get stuck and you'd see
Speaker 1: somebody because he didn't know either he didn't know where
Speaker 1: to go with the ball or the targets he was
Speaker 1: looking for were in the wrong place. And in all fairness,
Speaker 1: that ain't gonna happen with a team full of seniors, right.
Speaker 2: Right. You know, it's interesting because both coaches men's and
Speaker 2: women's run those drills and it pays off of the
Speaker 2: games you've set it. You know, at the score is
Speaker 2: table with me in the women's game so far. Their
Speaker 2: ball movement is fantastic. And they run those drills too,
Speaker 2: the three on twos and two and then two on
Speaker 2: threes and yeah, and they do it where you're not
Speaker 2: allowed to dribble, where you've got to move down the
Speaker 2: court and you have to pass without dribbling and make
Speaker 2: a basket. So how hard is that?
Speaker 1: Yeah? That is great?
Speaker 3: Uh, Jeff Kobe Brya was rated the best shooter in
Speaker 3: college basketball coming out of the portal this last year
Speaker 3: and he is not starting for Kentucky. Do we have
Speaker 3: another read and Rob situation with Kerr and Kobe or
Speaker 3: do you think this will work in the self out
Speaker 3: much more than it did last year?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't think. I think that you have to
Speaker 2: have guys that understand their role and understand and are
Speaker 2: not bigger than the team. And I don't think this
Speaker 2: is anything against him. I think that they are going
Speaker 2: to be games they'll probably start, But it doesn't bother him.
Speaker 2: He was he came off the beds, I want to say,
Speaker 2: his first two years at Dayton he was like six
Speaker 2: Man of the Year, that's right, So he's used to
Speaker 2: doing that. So I don't think it bothers him as
Speaker 2: much as it will. And again he's I don't say
Speaker 2: this to knock him because he's a you know, so fantastic,
Speaker 2: but he's not. And I'm not knocking to get I
Speaker 2: am knocking the guys before. He's not a five star
Speaker 2: guy who expects to be. I need to start. I
Speaker 2: need to put this many minutes. Then I need to
Speaker 2: get this many touches. That's one thing that Mark steered
Speaker 2: away from. And all these guys are high character and
Speaker 2: guys that that did along. And again, know you're you know,
Speaker 2: if you want to just say it, know your role
Speaker 2: within that offense.
Speaker 1: A couple of minutes left, But Jeff Picoro, we're talking
Speaker 1: Kentucky basketball, of course, and Jeff just referred to the
Speaker 1: UK women Jeff calls Kentucky women's basketball and sec. Plus
Speaker 1: you and Christy, you've already had a couple of games
Speaker 1: and you mentioned ball Megan.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Uh, well, let's face it, the first couple of opponents
Speaker 1: weren't exactly uh, you know, the kind of team that
Speaker 1: expected top Teck Kentucky. But what I thought was interesting,
Speaker 1: Jeff was that after both games, both players and Kenny
Speaker 1: Brooks talk about it. Well, they still have so much
Speaker 1: work to do with on court communication and you've gone
Speaker 1: to more shoot arounds and practices than I have. But
Speaker 1: that kind of surprised me because it sure looks like
Speaker 1: they know what they're doing in terms of communicating with
Speaker 1: one another. Does that surprise you to hear that?
Speaker 2: No? I think it's because this you got to remember.
Speaker 2: And he even said this he forgot the day before.
Speaker 2: He's like, okay, well we so the game day, we're
Speaker 2: gonna do this, this and this, and the girls there
Speaker 2: were two girls that knew what he was talking about.
Speaker 2: He went, okay, back up, here's what we do. You know,
Speaker 2: because they just didn't know that they have done it before.
Speaker 2: And and he said, Georgia was good enough to say, coach,
Speaker 2: we got to do this, and then we do this
Speaker 2: and they're like, oh yeah, because you know the same
Speaker 2: with the guys. These are these are players who haven't
Speaker 2: played together ever before. Now he brought two girls with him,
Speaker 2: but look at the team that Mark Pope has. None
Speaker 2: of those guys played together before this year. So it's
Speaker 2: a learning process for them. It's going to take time. Uh,
Speaker 2: they're still getting to know each other on both teams
Speaker 2: on tendencies, things like that, where's your hot spot? Uh,
Speaker 2: you know, where do you like to be? Where? How
Speaker 2: do you like to receive the ball? Those are all
Speaker 2: very important. You know, do you like a bounce pass?
Speaker 2: Do you like a truspass? Right? You know? And how
Speaker 2: do you where do you want? You want to be
Speaker 2: stepping forward when you get that pass? Do you want
Speaker 2: to come off the screen? They're all learning there, they're
Speaker 2: still learning all. That's pretty cool actually to see the growth.
Speaker 3: Uh, Kentucky's expectations really want to notch up. When Georgia
Speaker 3: Amore announced she was joining Kentucky, do you have do
Speaker 3: you have a player comp for her?
Speaker 2: Jeff? Wow? Wow, you don't know who this is. But PJ.
Speaker 2: Hedges will remember her. She was on some of the
Speaker 2: great teams that knocked off. They beat an undefeated Old
Speaker 2: Dominion team. They She played with Valerie Still and Lisa Collins. Yeah,
Speaker 2: they were fantastic, but Patty Joe just directed everything. She
Speaker 2: She was the one of the greatest point guard.
Speaker 1: I've ever And how about Stacey.
Speaker 2: Reid, Yeah, another one that comes to mind. But the
Speaker 2: thing that kills me about is Amore is she's like
Speaker 2: literally because some people they give him an answer to
Speaker 2: or you know, she's literally five four or five five.
Speaker 2: She's she is, she's vertically challenged. But it doesn't but
Speaker 2: not on the court. It's amazing.
Speaker 1: I talked to PJ the othernight. She really likes George.
Speaker 1: I saw her at one of the games and you know,
Speaker 1: but Stacey was not a towering figure either. But you
Speaker 1: can play big. If you play smart, you're playing big,
Speaker 1: So that works. Yepkora. Listen for him as a Ucats
Speaker 1: take on Murray State. He'll be alongside Tom Leech up
Speaker 1: in the press box. I'll be down on the field
Speaker 1: as the Wildcats take on the Racers and Watford Jeff
Speaker 1: on WTVQ each night.
Speaker 2: Thank you sir, Thanks guys talking next.
Speaker 1: Thanks Jeff, and by the way, don't miss the Wildcat
Speaker 1: Whip every Thursday on social media on UK Sports Network's
Speaker 1: Twitter feed, in my Facebook page. We're back in just
Speaker 1: a minute to wrap this up here on the State
Speaker 1: ye BBI. Thanks again to Jefpichoor for joining us and
Speaker 1: filling in for a couple of extra segments with Aaron
Speaker 1: Gershan on the road. He'll be covering those Duke Blue levels.
Speaker 1: You'll hear it, right here on most of these stations.
Speaker 1: Will you be disappointed? Will you be angry? Will you
Speaker 1: be calling for Mark Pope's head? If Duke beats Kentucky,
Speaker 1: will you be calling for the coach to be punished? No,
Speaker 1: not yet.
Speaker 3: We're We're still on our honeymoon, all right. But the answer,
Speaker 3: is there a reason why Kentucky is always the second
Speaker 3: game in the Champions Class? Things I'd love to be
Speaker 3: done by, you know, nine o'clock.
Speaker 1: Sadly they've not started scheduling around your personal life.
Speaker 3: So Kentucky's the show, that's what you're telling, Yes, sir,
Speaker 3: Yeah makes sense.
Speaker 1: Well you think about it because on the West coast
Speaker 1: and working your way east, you've got better ratings opportunities. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean they're the bigger names, you know it is.
Speaker 1: I can't even I can't even remember what the first
Speaker 1: game is. I've heard it on the radio.
Speaker 3: Michigan State and somebody who you don't even know were
Speaker 3: I'll just wait for that game to end to see
Speaker 3: I'm excited to see Cooper flag Dick. I. You know,
Speaker 3: he's kind of been a very hyped prospect already, maybe.
Speaker 1: A couple of years ago.
Speaker 3: In the social media age. He is just he blows
Speaker 3: people away. So I'm looking forward to seeing how Kentucky
Speaker 3: guards him. Maybe if that's a Mari Williams early on,
Speaker 3: maybe if that's somebody else, but uh.
Speaker 1: Zion Williamson used to play in the NBA. He used
Speaker 1: to can't stay healthy. But that big body man throwing
Speaker 1: it around like that. Yeah, man. Anyway, I just think
Speaker 1: that Kentucky's going to have an obvious advantage in that
Speaker 1: none of these guys on the Kentucky team has ever
Speaker 1: been through an event like this. I mean, they've played
Speaker 1: in NCAA tournaments, but this is the marquee matchup this,
Speaker 1: I mean, it's you know what they're in for to
Speaker 1: be on exactly literally and figuratively. But I do believe
Speaker 1: they have the advantage of all those years. You know,
Speaker 1: once they maybe the first TV timeout is how long
Speaker 1: it takes them to settle in. Maybe not. That's that's
Speaker 1: what we don't know about this team, But I do
Speaker 1: think that's a big advantage Billy, in that they know
Speaker 1: each other and coach. Both teams know each other, but
Speaker 1: they know their own games so much better I think
Speaker 1: than Duke does.
Speaker 3: Instead of trying to figure it out for the first
Speaker 3: few months of the season to get your best play
Speaker 3: in February or March. Maybe you're seeing them peak a
Speaker 3: little early, or they are playing getting to that point quicker.
Speaker 3: You know, I think there's a lot of truth in
Speaker 3: what you're saying. I do also think of a guy
Speaker 3: like Tyrese Maxey, who just stole the show at the
Speaker 3: Champions Classic a couple of years ago. Who's going to
Speaker 3: be the player for that this year? Is kerk krisa
Speaker 3: who's already talking trash to Cooper flag uh and you know,
Speaker 3: wearing seventy seven with his first name on the back
Speaker 3: of his jersey. I mean, he's over under zero point
Speaker 3: five technicals in this game dig because I think if
Speaker 3: that was a bet on DraftKings, I would take the over.
Speaker 1: Is he a guy known for drawing technical Oh? Come on,
Speaker 1: that's that's gotta be. That's gotta be. I'm I know
Speaker 1: he mixed it up with Luca Donson. Yeah, but I don't.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm serious.
Speaker 3: Well, Mark Pope is has you know, added to that hype.
Speaker 3: You know, he has introduced Kerr as the guy that
Speaker 3: other teams will hate.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, he trash talk. Yeah yeah, no, but that
Speaker 1: doesn't necessarily mean technical. Oh well, I asked my question.
Speaker 1: I want to hear the hear about the trash talking,
Speaker 1: but he didn't have to get a technical foul.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's only a matter of time. Maybe
Speaker 3: he tries to set the tone early doing well.
Speaker 1: Mark Pope ever get a technical foul? No, No, I
Speaker 1: don't think so. I wonder if he had one at BYU.
Speaker 1: That's a good thing to look. We should check. We
Speaker 1: should check on that, do some research. All right, that's
Speaker 1: gonna do it for now. As I said, Kentucky duke
Speaker 1: tomorrow night. You've also got women's basketball tomorrow night, so
Speaker 1: check your local listing because it's a great night for
Speaker 1: Kentucky basketball. That's it. Good night from Lexington.