Speaker 1: Welcome to the Big Blue and Sider Dick Gabriel with
Speaker 1: you Friday edition of our program as we wrap up
Speaker 1: the week and look ahead to tomorrow's contest with South Carolina.
Speaker 1: The Wildcats opening conference play, and this one is crucial.
Speaker 1: We've talked about it all week. It's so weird to
Speaker 1: see Kentucky open the conference this early in the season,
Speaker 1: but it's vital for actually both teams as they try
Speaker 1: to get to another bowl game, to try to stay
Speaker 1: relevant in the SEC. So much tougher now to get
Speaker 1: to Atlanta. You gotta have this one, in my opinion,
Speaker 1: if you're going to get there, the Wildcats with those
Speaker 1: hopes and dreams. So we'll have the ballgame for you
Speaker 1: right here on six thirty WLAP tomorrow one thirty airtime
Speaker 1: with Christy and Jeremy and Logan Stenberg, Tom Leech, jeffcol
Speaker 1: and I will have the call. Should be a great day,
Speaker 1: Kentucky fans. You deserve great weather for tomorrow and from
Speaker 1: all the counts you're going to get it, so we
Speaker 1: hope you get a good game to go along with
Speaker 1: as well. Kentucky for the longest time couldn't beat South Carolina.
Speaker 1: There was a Tennessee streak, there was the Florida streak,
Speaker 1: but ten straight years the Wildcats lost to s See.
Speaker 1: But Mark Stoops turned that around and Jojo Kemp had
Speaker 1: a great game back in twenty fourteen at one hundred
Speaker 1: and thirty yards plus three touchdowns through the Wildcat formation
Speaker 1: as the Wildcats up ended South Carolina here in Lexington
Speaker 1: then the next year, and Jojo talked about this on
Speaker 1: the show earlier this week, they went down and won
Speaker 1: at South Carolina.
Speaker 2: Which was a huge win.
Speaker 1: It was an upset and as I told Jojo this week,
Speaker 1: when I walked in that locker room to do postgame interviews,
Speaker 1: the wall of sound was deafening. It was amazing how
Speaker 1: loud that room was. I could barely hear myself think
Speaker 1: I could barely hear the players I was interviewing. Tom
Speaker 1: Leech came down by then it had calmed down a
Speaker 1: little bit to talk to Mark Stoops. But it was
Speaker 1: quite the performance by the Wildcats and quite the experience,
Speaker 1: and it was just so much fun watching Kentucky turned
Speaker 1: that thing around against South Carolina, especially in fourteen when
Speaker 1: Neil Brown was the OC and people hadn't quite turned
Speaker 1: on the Wildcat. Yet they just don't really like it
Speaker 1: that much. But I think that goes back to when
Speaker 1: Benny Snell had a rough time with it early in
Speaker 1: his sophomore year and it just didn't work very well
Speaker 1: because Benny didn't have the timing down. Once he mastered
Speaker 1: at or remastered it because he had it as a freshman,
Speaker 1: then the Wildcat really took off again. But that night
Speaker 1: with Jojo Kemp and Patrick Toles.
Speaker 2: It worked beautifully.
Speaker 1: And there was one play where Jojo lines up in
Speaker 1: the Wildcat, but it turns into a flea flicker I
Speaker 1: had almost forgotten about. This play turned into a long
Speaker 1: touchdown bomb to Ryan Timmins, wide receiver. Kentucky signed out
Speaker 1: of Frankfurt, and this was probably Timmins' best play as
Speaker 1: a Wildcat, and certainly a great call by Neil Brown.
Speaker 3: Set Eye Tolls goes in motion to the near side,
Speaker 3: so Kemp will go from the Wildcat. But they did
Speaker 3: it out of a different look this time, and now
Speaker 3: he brings Blue in motion and they handed to Blue
Speaker 3: sweeping laugh and out. He gets it back to cols
Speaker 3: Hey throwing deep Timmith wide open.
Speaker 1: He got it five touch down Kentucky huge play, especially
Speaker 1: for what was happening at the time. Kentucky twice fell
Speaker 1: behind by fourteen points, and Jojo pointed this out earlier
Speaker 1: this week that what a call by Neil Brown. What
Speaker 1: a decision to stay with the Wildcat. Of course Jojo
Speaker 1: loved it and had a great game, but to be
Speaker 1: down fourteen and stay with it, But he said, Jojo said,
Speaker 1: they knew it would work, but I don't think they
Speaker 1: expected South Carolina to be so slow or incapable of
Speaker 1: making adjustments.
Speaker 2: There are ways to beat it.
Speaker 1: If you sell out to beat the Wildcat, you can
Speaker 1: stop it. That opens you up to be damaged by
Speaker 1: other offensive attack. But South Carolina never made the adjustment.
Speaker 1: And I've always said, or for the longest time, the
Speaker 1: word adjustment sometimes overblown, because Steve Brown, the former decordinator Kentucky,
Speaker 1: once said it us. You know, people talk so much
Speaker 1: about adjustments at halftime, and as often as not, it's
Speaker 1: simply reminding kids to carry out the assignments they worked
Speaker 1: on all week long. Not changing everything, not throwing the
Speaker 1: game plan out the window. Just hey, do what you're
Speaker 1: supposed to do, properly, do your job, and everything's going
Speaker 1: to be okay. We're gonna get back to that in
Speaker 1: just a minute, because that's the theme this week. It
Speaker 1: should it really is every week, but especially this week
Speaker 1: for the wildcast. But anyhow, South Carolina never made the change.
Speaker 1: And there was also this huge play by Jojo. And
Speaker 1: remember if you were there you or saw the game,
Speaker 1: you thought he's going to score and he didn't.
Speaker 2: But it was his biggest carry of the game.
Speaker 3: So take the direct snap to himself this time, has
Speaker 3: it takes that explodes the head across the forty five breaks,
Speaker 3: the tackle gets outside of the forty for the thirty five,
Speaker 3: I cuts left at the thirties.
Speaker 2: He's gotten run to the far side.
Speaker 4: He's a blunder twenty.
Speaker 3: Five twenty ten knock.
Speaker 5: Kind of Thus I had the seven yard line.
Speaker 2: It'll be personal goal to go.
Speaker 1: Tom was kind of chuckling there because, well, Jojo, after
Speaker 1: that play was over, he just lay on the ground.
Speaker 1: They tried to help him up and he shrugged off
Speaker 1: the help.
Speaker 2: He was like, no, I just want to lie here
Speaker 2: for a minute and rest.
Speaker 1: But then he went right back in with just an
Speaker 1: amazing performance that night by Camp and by the old
Speaker 1: line and Neil Brown, the offensive coordinator.
Speaker 2: So don't think we'll.
Speaker 1: See much wildcat this week, but we're going to see
Speaker 1: quarterback run game from both teams. They've got a really good,
Speaker 1: young running quarterback with a strong arm. South Carolina does,
Speaker 1: and that's why we heard so much this week about
Speaker 1: being gap, discipline, gap sound. There was a lot of
Speaker 1: talk from the players and Mark Stoops about as Trevon
Speaker 1: Ripket pointed out to us this week, it all starts
Speaker 1: with the eyes. Your eyes have to be in the
Speaker 1: right place. Your eyes have to be on what you're doing.
Speaker 2: Do your job.
Speaker 1: Don't be looking off somewhere else to see maybe what
Speaker 1: you can do to help somebody else. Know, keep your
Speaker 1: eyes where they belong. And if you don't, they call
Speaker 1: that dirty eyes. We've heard that a little bit this week,
Speaker 1: especially from Stoops, but it is absolutely vital with a
Speaker 1: guy like Norris the QB who can run and hurt you.
Speaker 6: For South Carolina, we need to be clean, you know,
Speaker 6: clean with our vision and you know, guys, as I
Speaker 6: told you last week, ause I told the team many
Speaker 6: times going in the game when everybody wants.
Speaker 5: To do too much, everybody you know worked hard, they've
Speaker 5: left it, they've run, they want to go. You know,
Speaker 5: make every play, and you have to take care of
Speaker 5: your business.
Speaker 2: You know, you got to do your.
Speaker 5: Primary responsibility first. And I think, you know, we're talking
Speaker 5: about just dirty eyes and guys getting a little over anxious.
Speaker 5: They just got to do, you know, do what we're
Speaker 5: asking them to do and then and then play football.
Speaker 1: Do your job, be gap sound, and all things will
Speaker 1: come to pass. Usually good things.
Speaker 2: Stop said, it's been a good week for practice. That's
Speaker 2: a good sign.
Speaker 5: The week's gone well. I feel like their preparation has
Speaker 5: been on point. You know, we still have a work
Speaker 5: to do, a lot of mental work to do between
Speaker 5: now and game time, but it's been a great start.
Speaker 5: So we got to just carry that over to the field.
Speaker 5: As I just told the team, you know, there's it's
Speaker 5: it's going to come down to executing, you know, that's
Speaker 5: that's the bottom line. We need focused discipline, execution. There's
Speaker 5: going to be motion, there always is, but that's gonna
Speaker 5: go out the window and it's going to come down
Speaker 5: to who executes and who makes plays when the game's
Speaker 5: on the line.
Speaker 2: It always does who executes.
Speaker 1: And in fact, Chris collins Worth made an interesting point
Speaker 1: last night on the NFL broadcast. He was talking about
Speaker 1: a decoordinator who said that it did. He told his
Speaker 1: team in one particular game, big, big game, doesn't matter
Speaker 1: what I call good or bad as long as you execute.
Speaker 1: And that's right in every instance of it. Every football game,
Speaker 1: you don't execute, you usually aren't gonna win. Sometimes you're
Speaker 1: good enough to get away with mistakes, but you're usually
Speaker 1: gonna win.
Speaker 2: Great game.
Speaker 1: By the way, last night, the Ravens appear to have
Speaker 1: had a shot at tier winning the game of a
Speaker 1: two point conversion at the very end on a touchdown
Speaker 1: pass apparent touchdown pass from Lamar Jackson, but didn't work
Speaker 1: because the receiver had his toes on the line. It
Speaker 1: was clear through the replay that it wasn't a touchdown.
Speaker 1: What a great game the rematch at the conference championship
Speaker 1: game with the Chiefs and the Ravens. So the NFL
Speaker 1: season off to a great start. My Packers tonight in
Speaker 1: Brazil playing those Eagles, and I hope everybody gets in
Speaker 1: and out of there safely. But yeah, it's here, and
Speaker 1: the NFL underway, Kentucky football well underway, and you'll hear
Speaker 1: it right here on six thirty WLAP. But we'll shift
Speaker 1: to basketball when we come back. You heard it yesterday,
Speaker 1: Jasper Johnson is a Wildcat. Chris Fisher of two four
Speaker 1: to seven Sports will chop that up with us when
Speaker 1: we come back here in the Big Bloon Sider six
Speaker 1: thirty w Welcome back to the Big Blue Sider. Joining
Speaker 1: us now in our celebrity hotline, mister Chris Fisher of
Speaker 1: two four seven and the Cat's pause and Chris, you
Speaker 1: looked on as Jasper Johnson made his announcement, it had
Speaker 1: kind of oozed out that it was going to be Kentucky.
Speaker 1: Worke got out he was going to be at the
Speaker 1: game with the team that with the basketball team tomorrow,
Speaker 1: so he ain't going.
Speaker 2: Anywhere but UK.
Speaker 1: But for quite a while the Alabama was legit wasn't it.
Speaker 1: I don't not sand he locked him down, But that
Speaker 1: was that was serious, wasn't it.
Speaker 7: Yeah. I fear that when the dust kind of settles
Speaker 7: on this whole thing, fans will look back and say, oh,
Speaker 7: he was never going anywhere but Kentucky. And he's a
Speaker 7: Lexington kid and his family is all you know, true blue,
Speaker 7: and you know has the various connections to UK. But
Speaker 7: that is not how this thing played out at all.
Speaker 7: Kentucky was playing catch up before the coaching change with
Speaker 7: North Carolina, were playing ketchup after the coaching change with Alabama,
Speaker 7: and this thing really only turned in the last couple
Speaker 7: of weeks. I think it got to a point where,
Speaker 7: you know, it's a lot easier to say yes to
Speaker 7: other schools. No, it's it's a lot harder at the
Speaker 7: end of the day for him to say no to Kentucky.
Speaker 4: There's so much pressure.
Speaker 7: On him with those family ties at the end of
Speaker 7: the day to say no to Kentucky. And I think
Speaker 7: that's what I think, That's honestly what it came down to. Now,
Speaker 7: obviously you could tell by the announcement that and I
Speaker 7: certainly played its part, which it plays a part in
Speaker 7: every recruitment nowadays. But at the end of the day,
Speaker 7: he was a seventeen year old kid, and I think
Speaker 7: as the deadline got closer and closer, it got that
Speaker 7: much harder to say no to Kentucky, you know.
Speaker 2: And this was all playing out.
Speaker 1: I flashed on the recruitment of his dad, who I
Speaker 1: think yesterday I said, went to Woodford Kennedy coaches at
Speaker 1: Woodford County played at Harrisburg. But and I reported this
Speaker 1: the day before Dennis Johnson signed with Kentucky. I reported
Speaker 1: that the way the winds were blowing, I kept hearing
Speaker 1: Notre Dame. But he you know, But but then he
Speaker 1: goes to Kentucky and people killed me on your All's
Speaker 1: message boards, on the cats Balls message boards. But he
Speaker 1: later said he was heading for Notre Dame. But the
Speaker 1: next day woke up and decided I want to be
Speaker 1: a wildcat. Of course, they hired his dad to be
Speaker 1: an assistant coach. So it's never quite the locked people
Speaker 1: think it is. But now it's even tougher, isn't it, Chris,
Speaker 1: with all this nil money floating around.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And I think that's the other thing.
Speaker 7: I think once Kentucky kind of stepped up with the
Speaker 7: nil and you know, kind of leveled the playing field,
Speaker 7: and I think it made it that much harder to
Speaker 7: say no to Kentucky. And the other thing is this
Speaker 7: Mark Pope put in the time to recruit Jasper Johnson.
Speaker 7: He was not heavily recruited by the previous staff. But
Speaker 7: since Mark Pope took the Kentucky job back in April.
Speaker 4: He saw Jasper Johnson and.
Speaker 7: Indianapolis, he flew to Colorado Springs, he went. He flew
Speaker 7: to Argentina, flew to saw him play in Shelbyville. Didn't
Speaker 7: fly there, it drove there, but then flew to Atlanta
Speaker 7: at overtime elite to meet with him the day before
Speaker 7: his decision. So Mark Pope deserves a lot of credit
Speaker 7: for putting in the time and effort to make Jasper
Speaker 7: Johnson feel like a priority. There was a lot of
Speaker 7: ground to make up. Nate Oates had been recruiting him
Speaker 7: since the eighth grade, so there was a lot of
Speaker 7: ground to make up there and a lot of relationships
Speaker 7: to establish. And Jasper Johnson said as much. Said Mark
Speaker 7: Pope was very, very consistent in his pitch, made him
Speaker 7: feel wanted, made him feel like a priority, and that
Speaker 7: certainly played a part in this recruitment. Rick Patino called
Speaker 7: Mark Pope the hardest working player he's ever coached, and
Speaker 7: it definitely feels like that's translated over to his coaching
Speaker 7: career as well.
Speaker 2: Well. You mentioned Alabama.
Speaker 1: Johnson said yesterday that what made it so tough, But
Speaker 1: he said Alabama was one of the first Power five
Speaker 1: schools to trust and offer me, not just offer but
Speaker 1: trust him and through the years, Chris, and you've done
Speaker 1: this for a long time as well. The first school
Speaker 1: provided it's it's a legit, not like you know, East
Speaker 1: Nowhere State, but you know, if it's a powerful school
Speaker 1: that gets in really early, that matters a lot that kids, doesn't.
Speaker 7: It, It definitely does.
Speaker 8: And I think when you combine that with the fact
Speaker 8: that you know they've been on him for a long time,
Speaker 8: you combine that with the fact that they finally broke
Speaker 8: through and made their first ever ever Final Four last.
Speaker 7: Season and have also developed a guy into high level
Speaker 7: NBA draft picks. I think Natos was kind of selling
Speaker 7: Jasher Johnson on being the next Brandon Miller. You know,
Speaker 7: a guy that goes there and has an outstanding freshman
Speaker 7: season and goes on to be a lottery pick. And
Speaker 7: so I think he saw a lot of similarities there.
Speaker 7: But again, I think Mark Pope really put in the
Speaker 7: time and effort, and then when you combine that with
Speaker 7: the nil offerings that Kentucky came in with late, I
Speaker 7: just think it was it was too good to pass up,
Speaker 7: especially when you think about the long, illustrious history that
Speaker 7: his family has with the.
Speaker 1: University Pope inherited Travis Perry. I think Cali Perry grudgingly
Speaker 1: signed him. No disrespect to Travis, it just was just
Speaker 1: the way Kentucky was playing and recruiting. But he goes
Speaker 1: out and gets Trentono, flips him, gets Malachi Marino. So
Speaker 1: now you've got this core, Chris of Kentucky kids and
Speaker 1: we'll find out how vital that is to Kentucky's attempt
Speaker 1: to get back to relevance. But to the fans, this
Speaker 1: is just huge, isn't it to have a core of Kentuckians.
Speaker 7: Oh, it's absolutely a dream come true and it's something
Speaker 7: that fans have been have always thirsted four, but have
Speaker 7: thirsted four even more after the last fifteen years or
Speaker 7: so where you didn't see an abundance of Kentucky kids
Speaker 7: on the roster, and especially guys that could contribute to
Speaker 7: the program. And I think that's exactly what Kentucky has
Speaker 7: right now. And whether Terravis Perry and Trent Know are
Speaker 7: immediate impact guys from day one, I don't know, but
Speaker 7: I would be absolutely shocked if those guys aren't really
Speaker 7: really good college players by the end of their time
Speaker 7: in Lexington. And obviously Jasper Johnson is a different level
Speaker 7: of talent. He's a consensus five star guy. He's ranked
Speaker 7: in the Inside the top ten and the twenty four
Speaker 7: to seven Sports Composite, and a guy that just knows
Speaker 7: how to score and he can score from every level shooting.
Speaker 7: He's a tough shot taker and a tough shot maker.
Speaker 7: And when you put him in a perimeter oriented offense
Speaker 7: like Mark Pope's, who gives his guys the green light
Speaker 7: to shoot it from deep, I think it's a really
Speaker 7: really good fit.
Speaker 1: That was gonna be my next question. How does he
Speaker 1: fit with what Pope wants to do? And like the
Speaker 1: rest of us, you've seen video of Pope's teams but
Speaker 1: yet to see him in person, but we know that
Speaker 1: he's recruiting guys who need to be able to shoot
Speaker 1: from the perimeter. Does Jasper Johnson fit that bill?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 7: Again, I think he takes a lot of tough shots,
Speaker 7: but he makes a lot of tough shots. He has
Speaker 7: really good size at six foot four, I think he
Speaker 7: has a six foot eight wings fan, so he's very long.
Speaker 7: Not in a freak athlete, but I think he's athletic
Speaker 7: enough to get the job done at the rim. But
Speaker 7: as far as perimeter shooting, I think he's a really
Speaker 7: good fit from Mark Pope's offense. Didn't quite shoot it
Speaker 7: as well in the Nike E YBL travel season. I
Speaker 7: think a lot of that had to do with some
Speaker 7: of his shot selection, But is considered one of the
Speaker 7: best perimeter shooters in the twenty twenty five class, and
Speaker 7: when he gets hot, there's no stopping him. I mean,
Speaker 7: he can absolutely start to fill it up when he
Speaker 7: gets going, and I think pound for pound, is probably
Speaker 7: one of the best scorers in the twenty twenty five
Speaker 7: class and one of the best shooters as well.
Speaker 1: And of course when he gets to the rim, he's
Speaker 1: a little bit of a highlight reel.
Speaker 2: Isn't he.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 7: Like I said, he's sixty four six to eight wings fan,
Speaker 7: solid athlete. I mean, he's Dennis Johnson's son at the
Speaker 7: end of the day, and one of the best athletes
Speaker 7: to ever play for Kentucky football, the USA USA Today
Speaker 7: National High School Player of the Year, and so I
Speaker 7: think he's going to be one of those immediate impact guys.
Speaker 7: Malachai Maraino, as we've talked about, thinks the big guys
Speaker 7: a little bit longer to develop and so I don't
Speaker 7: think we'll see male Camarano hit the ground running quite
Speaker 7: like Jasper Johnson will, but both of those guys can
Speaker 7: come in and contribute right away.
Speaker 1: I'm glad you brought up Dennis because people forget not
Speaker 1: just the Gatorade defensive player of the Year at Class
Speaker 1: A level in the state of Kentucky, but part of
Speaker 1: his legacy at Harrisburg was he started playing varsity football.
Speaker 1: Of course his dad was the coach, but started playing
Speaker 1: with the varsity in the third grade, started as an
Speaker 1: eighth grader, but also was a terrific basketball player and
Speaker 1: a great track and field athlete.
Speaker 2: So yeah, Jasper comes by those jeans. Honestly.
Speaker 1: Forgive me, I can't speak to mom's athletic ability, but yeah,
Speaker 1: Jasper comes by it, honestly. We're talking to Chris Fisher
Speaker 1: of the Cats Paws and two four to seven Sports.
Speaker 2: More to come here on the Big.
Speaker 1: Blue Siders six thirty WLAP. Well come back, We're talking
Speaker 1: with Chris Fisher on her celebrity hotline. Chris, of course
Speaker 1: as a recruiting specialist for two four to seven Sports.
Speaker 1: You see his work on the pages and online with
Speaker 1: the Cats Paws and two four to seven sports dot
Speaker 1: Com and of course we're talking about Jasper Johnson's decision
Speaker 1: to stay home and play for Kentucky and one of
Speaker 1: the quotes he gave your Alls, Travis Branham Chris was
Speaker 1: that it's good to be the hometown hero. I'm paraphrasing,
Speaker 1: but living close to Rup, he said, watching all the
Speaker 1: games growing up to follow him his dad's footsteps. Great
Speaker 1: thing to do in a great feeling. But it's it's unfortunate,
Speaker 1: but it's just the way things are. That Jasper left
Speaker 1: the state to play his last year or two of
Speaker 1: high school basketball. And when you look at Caliperi and
Speaker 1: your colleague Aaron Gershan pointed out that Travis Perry was
Speaker 1: just the sixth in state player who ever signed with
Speaker 1: Caliperry in those fifteen years, and immediately you're like, what
Speaker 1: the heck? But then you realize, kids like Jasper Johnson,
Speaker 1: Rajon Rondo, I'm sure you can rap off a lot
Speaker 1: of names leave the state for prep schools, you know.
Speaker 2: So, yeah, you'd love.
Speaker 1: To see more Kentucky kids on the roster, but how
Speaker 1: many can I'm sure calaf Pray would have said, how
Speaker 1: many Kentucky kids can help us win a national title,
Speaker 1: and that's that's legit.
Speaker 2: Isn't it.
Speaker 8: Yeah.
Speaker 7: I think going back to Reed Shepherd last year, I
Speaker 7: believe he was the first McDonald's All American to finish
Speaker 7: his high school career in Kentucky to play for UK
Speaker 7: since Rex Chapman in eighty eight. So that's going back
Speaker 7: a really, really long way. And like you said, it's
Speaker 7: a trend that we've seen where these kids, you know,
Speaker 7: transfer out of state and go to these prep schools
Speaker 7: where they play a national schedule and they have you know,
Speaker 7: top notch coaching staffs and facilities and what have you.
Speaker 7: And it's becoming more and more rare that we see
Speaker 7: guys stick around like Travis Berry, like Malachi Mareno, like
Speaker 7: Reed Shepherd, who you know, out their high school careers
Speaker 7: in the state of Kentucky. But you know, I think
Speaker 7: it's going to be an ongoing process to rewire our
Speaker 7: brains to fully understand Mark Stoop's recruiting philosophy. It's not
Speaker 7: going to be one and done national talent. Now, that
Speaker 7: will be a component of it, right, but you're going
Speaker 7: to get some of those guys, but you're going to
Speaker 7: get you know, three or four guys in the transfer portal.
Speaker 7: But I think the biggest thing is is you're going
Speaker 7: to see retention year over year. You're going to have
Speaker 7: guys that stick around for more than one season.
Speaker 4: I think in some ways, John.
Speaker 7: Califerry had become a victim of his home success. He
Speaker 7: had had so many guys go to the NBA after
Speaker 7: one year that it almost became baked into the culture,
Speaker 7: like if I don't leave after one year, that I
Speaker 7: feel like a failure. And so I think it'll be
Speaker 7: refreshing to kind of get away from that and have
Speaker 7: a more of a mix of guys in state. Guys
Speaker 7: certainly be a part of that, But again I think,
Speaker 7: you know, will these Kentucky guys be able to compete
Speaker 7: at the highest level on the college campus from day one?
Speaker 7: Maybe maybe not, But by the time they're playing days
Speaker 7: are over at Kentucky, they're going to be really, really
Speaker 7: solid college players. And you know, I think for the
Speaker 7: fans it's unfair. You know a lot of people want
Speaker 7: to say, well, he should have gotten malacam Raino and
Speaker 7: Jasser Johnson. You know, those guys are our local guys, so.
Speaker 4: But it's unfair to not give.
Speaker 7: Him any credit for landing those guys, but then those
Speaker 7: would have been the same people criticizing him if he didn't,
Speaker 7: And so, you know, I just think it's a really,
Speaker 7: really awesome start for Mark Pope. The big question for
Speaker 7: him coming in was whether he would be able to
Speaker 7: successfully recruit the high end talent. And now Kentucky is
Speaker 7: the only school with two top twenty five commitments for
Speaker 7: twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2: That's amazing, you know.
Speaker 1: And I was kind of hoping Willie all these stey
Speaker 1: might help people rewire their brains, because, as you know,
Speaker 1: he stuck around not just for a second year, but
Speaker 1: a third year, and he wasn't the only guy who
Speaker 1: stayed beyond one year. But I remember really telling us
Speaker 1: he is, I'm not done being a kid. I don't
Speaker 1: want to worry about paying taxes and buying a house
Speaker 1: and all that stuff. And I thought, man, good for you,
Speaker 1: but that's not going to happen. What I wonder, Chris,
Speaker 1: and you already know the answer to this is will
Speaker 1: fans be able to have their brains rewired when they
Speaker 1: see the recruiting rankings and polls you know that do
Speaker 1: not list Kentucky first or second. Well, I remember when
Speaker 1: Kentucky was second behind Duke, there was a faction of
Speaker 1: fans that were losing their mind. What's wrong? You know,
Speaker 1: nothing's wrong. You got to get the kids that you
Speaker 1: can get and that help you. But I think you're right.
Speaker 1: I think Pope is going to have solid classes. But
Speaker 1: what's going to come first is how can a kid
Speaker 1: help me and what I want to do? And that's
Speaker 1: got to be good.
Speaker 2: Enough of it.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 7: I think if you look back at the recruiting rankings
Speaker 7: over the last ten years, Kentucky under John Keller, Perry
Speaker 7: and Duke were in a class of their own. How
Speaker 7: many number one classes has Kansas had? How many number
Speaker 7: one classes has Villanova had? How many number one classes
Speaker 7: has North Carolina had? Those schools had a completely different
Speaker 7: philosophy that you know, we'll recruit the five star one
Speaker 7: and dons, and if we get a couple, that even better.
Speaker 7: But we're going to focus on the guys that are
Speaker 7: ranked in the top twenty five to top fifty, and
Speaker 7: not only are they really talented players, they're going to
Speaker 7: be in school for two or three years, and so
Speaker 7: when you mix that high end talent with experience, that
Speaker 7: makes really really good college players, and so when you
Speaker 7: have really talented, experienced players on your team, that's going
Speaker 7: to lead to a lot of wins. And we saw
Speaker 7: that at Kansas, at North Carolina, at Villanova for the
Speaker 7: last ten years, and I think that's what we're going
Speaker 7: to see under Marco.
Speaker 2: Couldn't agree more.
Speaker 1: And Tom Brady, I think, actually said it best in
Speaker 1: a recent interview when he talked about portal quarterbacks who
Speaker 1: jump in and play a year maybe two at a program,
Speaker 1: but he said they learned the playbook, but they don't
Speaker 1: learn the program or the culture of that of that school.
Speaker 1: And that's good enough for some guys, but not for
Speaker 1: a lot of the others. So I think I think
Speaker 1: you can apply that to what you were just talking
Speaker 1: about a couple of minutes up with Chris Fisher two
Speaker 1: four to seven Sports and the cast Bolls. Of course
Speaker 1: we're talking about Jasper Johnson. What do you think of
Speaker 1: the pizza box?
Speaker 7: A little over the top. He had the Morgan and
Speaker 7: Morgan shirt, he had the Donatos pizza box, he had
Speaker 7: the Paul Miller Ford backdrop. But you know, I think
Speaker 7: like we're adjusting to Mark Polk's recruiting philosophy. I think
Speaker 7: we're also in the process of adjusting to the current
Speaker 7: landscape with Nil. That's a kind of the way things are.
Speaker 4: I mean, I will give him points.
Speaker 7: For creativity with the jersey being delivered in the in
Speaker 7: the pizza box. That's that's something that we've never seen
Speaker 7: and that might be something that we never see again.
Speaker 7: So but yeah, I mean you got to give you know.
Speaker 7: And again, I think there were some people down the
Speaker 7: stretch of that recruitment that stepped up in terms of Nil.
Speaker 7: And if you watch his announcement, it's not hard to
Speaker 7: figure out who those people were.
Speaker 1: No, and when you walked into Jim and I again,
Speaker 1: I watched it on your website two four seven Sports. Uh,
Speaker 1: he's got the Morgan and Morgan backdrop as well. There's
Speaker 1: two backdrops, Paul Millerford Morgan Mark. So you know, he's
Speaker 1: not going to stand up and say Alabama in front
Speaker 1: of those backdrops. So, like I said that the mystery
Speaker 1: was was fairly well gone. But uh, yeah, to pick
Speaker 1: up the phone. He needs to work on his acting
Speaker 1: skills just a little bit. But that's not why he's here,
Speaker 1: you know, to be an actor. But but that was
Speaker 1: a great gift for you guys too. To have Travis
Speaker 1: Brandham there kind of him seeing and I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: That asked some pretty good questions.
Speaker 1: But I don't know about you, man, I can't wait
Speaker 1: to see this style of Mark Pope basketball here at Kentucky.
Speaker 1: I know, I know how he played as a player,
Speaker 1: but I want to see what his teams do with
Speaker 1: him coaching.
Speaker 7: You know, yeah, it's going to be a blast. I think,
Speaker 7: you know, a team shooting thirty three pointers a game.
Speaker 7: You know, we saw a Kentucky team last season that
Speaker 7: shot the ball really, really well. I mean you're talking
Speaker 7: about Reed Shepherd, Rob Dillingham and Antonio Reeves, three of
Speaker 7: the best perimeter shooters percentage wise that Kentucky's ever had
Speaker 7: on the same team. But it never felt like shooting
Speaker 7: threes was a big priority in the offense. It's kind
Speaker 7: of just, you know, whatever the individual players produced. And
Speaker 7: I think under John Caliperry, his you know, he wanted
Speaker 7: his talent to produce open shots, go one on one
Speaker 7: and get your shot. I think under Mark Pope he's
Speaker 7: going to let his scheme create open shots.
Speaker 4: And I think you know, you if.
Speaker 7: You followed the candid co coaches series on CBS where
Speaker 7: they pulled anonymous coaches. Everybody talked about what a genius
Speaker 7: offensive mind Mark Pope is. Cody Sieger is another guy
Speaker 7: that gets rave reviews in terms of his offensive acumen,
Speaker 7: and I just think it's going to be really, really
Speaker 7: fun to watch. I remember watching BYU last season and
Speaker 7: I think that I think it was then they were
Speaker 7: playing at Kansas, which they won in Lawrence, and thinking, Wow,
Speaker 7: they run some really really nice stuff, some some European
Speaker 7: influence offensive sets. I was like, man, that's going to
Speaker 7: be fun. If Mark Pope is able to have some
Speaker 7: success at BYU, it wouldn't surprise me if he's Kentucky's
Speaker 7: coach at some point down the line. Now, little did
Speaker 7: I know he would be Kentucky's coach the next season.
Speaker 7: But I remember thinking that they run some really really
Speaker 7: fun offensive stuff and they're a fun team to watch.
Speaker 2: He is Chris Fisher. He's a fun guy to read
Speaker 2: on the pages of the Cats.
Speaker 1: And Balls on the two four seven sports website, and
Speaker 1: you can also obviously follow him on X or Twitter at.
Speaker 2: Chris Fisher two four seven. Chris, thank you so much.
Speaker 2: We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 7: All right.
Speaker 2: You bet always fun.
Speaker 1: Talking to Chris about recruiting, but especially a big story
Speaker 1: like this, so Jasper Johnson in the fold. Now we
Speaker 1: can turn our attention back to Kentucky football coming up.
Speaker 1: In our next segment, which will be our last because
Speaker 1: volleyball comes up at seven, we will relive the highlights
Speaker 1: of Kentucky's win over Southern Myss. Speaking of highlights, the
Speaker 1: UK women beat Murray State last night too, won nothing
Speaker 1: and run their record to six and oh they're perfect
Speaker 1: through the first half dozen games for the first time
Speaker 1: in thirteen seasons.
Speaker 2: How about that.
Speaker 1: Anna Sikorski, a freshman, got the big goal in the
Speaker 1: sixty sixth minute to protect that perfect record for the
Speaker 1: UK women. Over to Bell Complex and tonight it's the
Speaker 1: UK men taking on number ten Wisconsin.
Speaker 2: The the men are one to zero to one.
Speaker 1: In Wisconsin's rank tenth and like I said, in the
Speaker 1: country to Kentucky sixteenth. That's a seven to thirty start
Speaker 1: over at the Bell So if you're not going to volleyball,
Speaker 1: maybe you go to soccer. It's always a lot of
Speaker 1: fun at the Bell Complex for UK soccer men's and women's.
Speaker 1: The Wildcats drew against Virginia Tech two to two. As
Speaker 1: we said earlier this week on Monday, Kentucky has twice
Speaker 1: played Virginia Tech in his history and twice has drawn
Speaker 1: with the Hokies. So tonight it's a tough one. Wisconsin
Speaker 1: in town seven to thirty. Start at the bell. I've
Speaker 1: failed to mention a couple of things involving Georgetown College.
Speaker 1: I haven't talked much Georgetown lately, but we were going
Speaker 1: over some of the Wildcats who made it to the NFL. Well,
Speaker 1: how about Brian Hudson, offensive lineman from Georgetown College. He
Speaker 1: is on the practice squad with the New England Patriots.
Speaker 1: He started his career at Virginia Tech. He went to
Speaker 1: Scott County High School. I'm a Virginia Tech transfer to
Speaker 1: u OFL and then moved on to Georgetown College, and
Speaker 1: at one point played for the Detroit Lions and can't
Speaker 1: went to camp with him and played quite a bit
Speaker 1: in the preseason, but they released him. He signed on
Speaker 1: with the Patriots, so anybody can sign him off the
Speaker 1: Patriots practice squad, but he is gainfully employed. And other
Speaker 1: news on the Georgetown campus. Georgetown College got a huge
Speaker 1: grant from the James and Martha Brown Foundation, the Austin
Speaker 1: Knowlton Foundation, and they are going to make renovations to
Speaker 1: Davis Red Alumni Gym and update the campus fitness center.
Speaker 1: Three million dollars in grants to renovate Davis Reid. It
Speaker 1: is just a great traditional place, been a lot of
Speaker 1: wins there, but they definitely need an upgrade when it
Speaker 1: comes to that facility. So congrats to Georgetown College for
Speaker 1: getting the money it needs to make improvements. All right,
Speaker 1: Coming up next, it's the highlights of Kentucky and South
Speaker 1: Carolina as we look ahead right at Kentucky Southern miss
Speaker 1: as we look ahead to South Carolina. The game that
Speaker 1: will kick off at three point thirty one thirty broadcast
Speaker 1: time right here. But coming up at the top of
Speaker 1: the hour is Kentucky Volleyball with the Wildcats playing host
Speaker 1: to Penn State. To stay with us, more to come
Speaker 1: on the Big Boon Sider six thirty WLAP.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the Big Boon Sider final segment.
Speaker 1: We're going to wrap this up a little early this
Speaker 1: week because we're going to make.
Speaker 2: Way for UK Volleyball.
Speaker 1: Andrew Capus has to call Kentucky Penn State coming up
Speaker 1: in just a few minutes at Memorial Coliseum. Thought we
Speaker 1: would take you into the weekend with a look back
Speaker 1: at last Saturday. That's right, we've got the highlight melt
Speaker 1: from this past Kentucky opener with Southern Miss And here's
Speaker 1: full transparency. I usually put these together myself, but and
Speaker 1: I work with Billy rutlajo on getting all the audio
Speaker 1: from our broadcast sent over to me. But because of
Speaker 1: the rain delays, the audio file and this is just
Speaker 1: a little technical stuff some of you care about, most
Speaker 1: of you don't, but just to let you know, because
Speaker 1: of the rain delays, the audio file is more than
Speaker 1: eight hours long. So we were just having trouble really
Speaker 1: storing that thing and moving it around because it's one
Speaker 1: long five We stayed on the air for eight hours.
Speaker 1: It's none of this back to your local affiliates stuff.
Speaker 1: So not that we don't love our affiliates. We were
Speaker 1: trying to help them with programming. Sonyhow start to finish
Speaker 1: from the moment Christy Thomas signs on till the moment
Speaker 1: Tom Leach signs off eight hours long.
Speaker 2: So, to be honest with you, it was.
Speaker 1: Just easier for me to grab the video audio that
Speaker 1: was melted down by Greg Gorum's people over at Sports
Speaker 1: Video with help from our UK Sports Network people.
Speaker 2: So I hope to be.
Speaker 1: Back this coming week with the highlights melt of Kentucky
Speaker 1: South Carolina victory. I usually don't melt the losses, but if.
Speaker 2: You didn't hear the highlights.
Speaker 1: Tom Leach, Jeff Piicorol calling to win over the Golden Eagles,
Speaker 1: such as it was two quarters plus five minutes, here
Speaker 1: they are.
Speaker 2: It only lasts about three and a half.
Speaker 1: Usually these things go eight or nine minutes, but hey,
Speaker 1: the game just wasn't that long. So here it is
Speaker 1: a look back at Kentucky Southern miss from last week.
Speaker 3: They're Miss right back of the line and ready to
Speaker 3: go from its own forty four first and ten. They
Speaker 3: throw it into the middle.
Speaker 2: It's batted up.
Speaker 3: They're Miss right back of the line and ready to
Speaker 3: go from its own forty four first and ten. They
Speaker 3: threw it into the middle. It's batted up into the
Speaker 3: air and picked off. Come on Toomus Johnson and Georgia
Speaker 3: Transfer didn't take long to make an impact. Jeff Foo,
Speaker 3: Carl Brown split back to the near side, Vandergrifs right
Speaker 3: and a Griff retreats looking left, padding the football. Now
Speaker 3: scrambling back to the right, throws for the end zone
Speaker 3: and it again touchdown.
Speaker 9: They have too much speed outside Kentucky does a receiver,
Speaker 9: but he can sta much time. He rolls out of
Speaker 9: the pocket. That gave Brown time to slide to the
Speaker 9: sideline and he put it right down there where only
Speaker 9: he could catch it.
Speaker 3: Pistol formation and rode Baker's in trouble and he's hit
Speaker 3: the backfield sack JJ Weaver. Let's see it off the
Speaker 3: right side, got him in the backfield. Back at the
Speaker 3: ted gives some trips left open side of the formation.
Speaker 3: Now Clark in motion out of the backfield left. Kentucky
Speaker 3: bringing the heat pass over the middle. Deflected here step
Speaker 3: there shot Dearick Jackson deflicted it and it's picked off
Speaker 3: on the deflection in the end zone by Jake Q Hardaway.
Speaker 2: This is off the right.
Speaker 3: Hash mark a right footed kicker to try to extend
Speaker 3: Kentucky's lead by three plenty of leg It's good. Rode
Speaker 3: Baker has a set back to his left. He's got
Speaker 3: two receivers left and two receivers right. One of them
Speaker 3: he shifts in closer to the line of scrimmage, roder
Speaker 3: Baker getting pressure and sacks.
Speaker 2: Here we go.
Speaker 3: Ripka deep back is Patterson. They fake it to him
Speaker 3: the andergrit setting Deep guns it.
Speaker 2: Over the middle.
Speaker 3: It's caught by Key, breaks the tackle into Southern miss territory.
Speaker 3: Down the farest sideline written out of bounds inside the
Speaker 3: forty in Southern Mississippi. One of them to the right
Speaker 3: is the tight end Anderson had off. Patterson running right,
Speaker 3: breaks one tackle, bounces it outside twenty five farse sideline,
Speaker 3: drops his shoulder and runs over a Southern miss defender.
Speaker 3: Kentucky with a ten to nothing lead, first and goal
Speaker 3: at the one and of Sumo Carnbay touchdown Kentucky. He
Speaker 3: goes in up the middle, standing up often is help
Speaker 3: they're faking it, or then they're faking it. And it's
Speaker 3: across the twenty five to the thirty and they didn't
Speaker 3: get it stop back of the twenty nine yard line
Speaker 3: or loss. They tried a fake with They give you
Speaker 3: the ball to Crawford and Kentucky was ready. Tough catch,
Speaker 3: great throw. Here's the pitch ahead to Brown sweeping right
Speaker 3: across the ten, breaks the tackle headed to the far.
Speaker 2: Side, touchdown.
Speaker 3: Kentucky throwk a tackle to the five and varying brown
Speaker 3: stuck in just in front of the right front pylon.
Speaker 3: Black Cats twelve yard touchdown run or Passesandi Griff, whether
Speaker 3: play fake throwing down the far sideline. It's another streak
Speaker 3: pattern and it's caught inside the ten. It'll be first
Speaker 3: in gold and go the bomb to Macklan. Three receivers
Speaker 3: in a triangle outside the right tackle, tight end left
Speaker 3: and a Griff with a fake tralling right man wide
Speaker 3: open touchdown Kentucky to HiT's dingle big boy just inside
Speaker 3: the right front pylon.
Speaker 9: Viz Barrow is happy.
Speaker 3: Tight end's gonna.
Speaker 2: Touchdown thirty one nothing, where's your final?
Speaker 1: That rain de a nightmare for Kentucky fans, but they
Speaker 1: hung in there and they were rewarded with that win
Speaker 1: by the Wildcats. And tomorrow it's the Cats in South Carolina.
Speaker 1: Three point thirty Star. We're on the air at one thirty,
Speaker 1: Christy and Jeremy and Logan. Stenberger did a great job
Speaker 1: on his opening week last week as well, and Jojo
Speaker 1: Kemp you heard him on the show earlier this week,
Speaker 1: had a tremendous game ten years ago against Southern or
Speaker 1: against South Carolina. He will open our broadcast tomorrow. You're
Speaker 1: not gonna want to miss that, so stay tuned now
Speaker 1: for Kentucky volleyball. Next that said, good night from the
Speaker 1: garage in Lexington.
Speaker 2: Charlie, here comes the deuce.
Speaker 3: And when you speak of me, you speak well.
Speaker 2: Totally.
Speaker 1: I was gonna throw a noose right yep, manootball, get
Speaker 1: out of here in a hurry.
Speaker 2: You know, anything travels that far to have a damn
Speaker 2: stewardess on it.
Speaker 8: Do you think a man
Speaker 3: Stagger bas