KSR - 2025-09-30- KSR - Hour 2

Episode Date: September 30, 2025

Live from KSBar & Grille with Richie Farmer and Buck Stivers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and Friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer, Streeter Seidel, help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform? We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter.

Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the I-Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories,

their reactions in the moment, and the stuff nobody gets to hear. Listen to Sports Slice on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your And for more, follow Timbo Slica Life 12 in the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Life is full of hurdles. So how do you keep going? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we're talking with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, from professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions about the challenges that shape them and the mindset that keeps them moving forward.

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resources. CDKNG.C.C.O. slash audio. Back to you, Drew. Beautiful. An update from a topic earlier in the show. I have a box score from an old game. Now, they didn't have draft kings for this game, but I can bet lots of people were probably

betting on it, but I have Richie Farmer. versus Scott Bowley. Oh. Back in the day, 1987. Yeah. Clay County won 62 to 56. Richie had 19. Scott Bowley had 12.

Tough, tough loss for Leroux. Following year, though, a rematch. A rematch. You did it to him twice, Richie. Yeah, I know. This time, 91 to 54. Bowley did have 22 points, so he was getting his buckets. I mean, Richie have.

Richie had 30. I think Richie probably had 30 a lot. But, Corey Price, with the evidence of the old farmer Bowley showdown. Scott Bowley ended up playing at Western Kentucky. He played a game in Rock. He's probably out of the game by half time, saying like that score. 30 points. Yeah, they just let him shoot at the end there.

Did Buck Stivers play in the first game? He's not credited with any. So he already graduated. In fact, they only played five people that game. Did you not like your bench? Bobby Keith didn't play a whole lot of people. Yeah, it looks like y'all. He liked his five and occasionally would have one guy

if somebody got in foul trouble. And that was every year until Richie came along. I will tell you. For real, I mean, Richie's right. Like until that group of Richies came along, there was a whole new start line up every year. And they'd win the region every year with them. Everybody knew their role, and that's what.

Well, I said this during a commercial break. Clay County and Bobby Keith always had one. large big butt post player. He's only like 6-1 or 6-2, but he could take up a lot of space down there. Always. Yeah, he was, I mean, and he knew his role was to scream and to block out.

And to rebound and kick it out. And to rebound. I mean, and he may not be able to jump over a sheet of paper, but he'd get every rebound. Yeah. You know, I mean, position, but that's what Bobby Keith was good at is being able to, you know,

take someone and develop them. into what he needed them to be. And by the time they were seniors. Show you how to body somebody and they couldn't jump. Like he would, you know, and you get you time in, I mean, there was more to, listen, he would come out and they would put that thing that goes over the room where the ball won't go in it. And you talk about people where, I mean, that was work.

I mean, you know, like that was nothing but a rebounding drill. And, you know, it was rough. Yep. While we're going back in time, Shannon, I think do we have Richie's commitment video we can listen to? Oh, wow. We got that here. Let's hear what this voice sounded like. Here's the TV report that kind of sets it up here.

Okay. Three hours later, farmer flanked by his parents, his grandparents, teammates, and the entire student body of Clay County High School made it official. It has really been a tough decision for me to make. But in the end, after discussion with my parents and coach Keith, I've decided that it is in my best interest to further my academic and athletic career at the University of Kentucky. Yeah. How about that?

Does that bring back memories, Richie? It does. It brings back a lot of memories, but can you not tell just how much more citified I am? We could hear it there, but paint us a picture of what that was like. It's so funny. I mean, I was talking about my accent, but that, the gym was full. I bet it was. Clay County High School gym was full.

Yes, sir. The student body was there. I mean, it was, a lot of the county, a lot of the people from the county. Was there a drama? Or did people, everybody knew you were going to go to Kentucky? Well, everybody pretty much knew. I mean, Coach Sutton and Coach Dickey and all those people were there. Where would you have gone if you didn't pick Kentucky?

What was number two? LSU. LSU. Yeah? Yeah. Shack and Chris. Jackson. I mean, Dale Brown flew in, landed in a helicopter in my backyard. He came in with his coaching staff, and I mean, he sat down, and he stayed for, he was there

for probably an hour or better. And, you know, he sat down, he said, listen, I'm recruiting what I feel like is the two best guards in the country. He said, one of them I've already got a guy out of Gulfport, Mississippi named Chris Jackson. And he said, you're the other. one. And he said, I've already got two pretty good big men, one out of South Carolina, Stanley Roberts, and the other one out of Louisiana. His name's Shaquille O'Neal. He said,

and he said, if I can get you two guys, he said, with what I've got returning, he said, I'm going to put you guys out there and let you shoot and put them under the go and let them rebound and, you know, put it back. That's how much you love Kentucky. That's how much I love Kentucky. Yes, absolutely. I mean, I had that offer, and I just told him, I said, you know, I really appreciate it, Coach, and I appreciate you being honest with me. And I feel like that I have to be honest with you that I want to see if Kentucky offers, and if they do, that's where I'm probably going to go. That's where I'm going to go.

And he didn't like hearing that, obviously. But when we played them, you know, we played them a game. That game erupt. Yes, the game at Rupp. Yeah, and I mean, he started fouling me on purpose at the end of the game. And, you know, he thought he was going to get in my head and that I would miss them. But I was 8 for 8. We won 100 to 95.

We beat them in Rupp. There are people who swear to this day that's the loudest Rupp Arena has ever been. That game when you guys beat LSU. And that famous picture of you and Shaq going up for a rebound. You look like you're five years old. Well, I mean, that was the largest. human being on earth. You know, people don't realize just how big Shaq is.

If you look at him around other seven footers, they look small. I mean, he's not just tall. He's, you know, he's probably 7-1. Mass. But he's just so big. And he was so athletic, you know, for a guy. Nobody ever seen a guy that moved like he did, you know, at that size. So, but just an awesome guy, you know.

It worked out for you. your jersey's hanging in Ruperina. You're an unforgettable. You're a legend. But do you ever think back about what it would have been like throwing lobs to Shaq and how different it would look? I mean, you'd have a Cajun draw now and so it's a city five. I mean, it would have been, it certainly would have been different. And I said, you know, Shaq and I, we were friends.

We got along. We used to meet at half court and, you know, give each other five and speak, you know, before the game, wish each other well. but we would have probably been friends, but, you know, I tell people that anything other than Kentucky to me would have, it just wouldn't have been, it wouldn't have been okay with me. How would that have been received in Manchester, Buck,

if he had left the state? Well, you know, everybody, I mean, the Eddie Sutton deal's sore subject with Clay County people, you know, because we kind of felt like that Richie was sitting on the bench, You know, lesser talent was in front of him. But, you know, as far as going anywhere else, Richie was born for Kentucky. I mean, that's what he, you know,

couldn't even imagine him going anywhere else. But we didn't know if we was going to get to go or not. It was very tense there for a while. I mean, you know, we was thinking, you know what it, you know. You know, had I not got 51 in the state championship game, I'm not sure. I don't know.

But I know there was a lot of pressure applied. from the fans and the people. You know, but it was... And the donors. Yes. And some pretty influential people. Imagine if Richie Farmer played in this day and age of NIL

and the T-shirts, is Richie going to play tonight? The hats is Richie going to play tonight? He would have been a millionaire. When we play the who would have thrived the most in the NIL game, you know, Anthony Davis comes up, John Wall, Richie Farmer, Rex Chapman. Those are four. Tim Couch.

Certainly would have benefited. It would have been unbelievable. Made a lot of money. Sorry. I would have made a lot of money. He wouldn't have made it if he had money. That's true. I think someone from Cal's 2012 team,

Toronto one of those guys came out and said, I'm glad I didn't have the NIL because I would not have handled it well. I mean, just very open with the fact that being 18 and having that would have been a little different. Look at how things have changed, though, right now. What's been thrown in the mix is just the last. few years. I mean, you can gamble on anything. I mean, I never thought when I was a kid, you know, that everybody would be promoting,

you know, gambling. Right. And it's, and it's everywhere. Yeah. Would you all like a Draft King's T-shirt? Yeah. I had a guy at Wheatting for me there wasn't doing so good, but it gets, you know, you can get some cheap labor. Yeah.

For more stories like these, give us a call on 859-2-80-2-8-7. We're having fun hearing about the past with Richie and his friend Buck here. Before we take a break, I have a little game I just came up with on the fly. Okay. All right. You know, we mentioned at the end of the first hour,

we're going to Shannon's house tomorrow. I've never been. I've never been. I've never been. He's very mysterious. Matt tells the story one time he went. Shannon made him stay in the doorway. Couldn't even come in so far. Yeah, remember you're in the back? Remember that story? Yeah. So,

what are we, let's all get, what are we going to see tomorrow? Let's all try to guess like one item that we will find in the Shannon the dude man cave in the man cave Yeah and then Shannon can confirm it or tell us Just wait and see Ryan give us just one thing you expect would be in a Shannon the dude man cave I can probably guarantee there's something in the Shannon dude man cave that he stole from Phoenix Hill tavern when they closed down The stole

Stole oh no no I mean calling out his character tables chairs pictures bars paraphernalia there's There's Phoenix Hill Tavern stuff in his man cave. Maybe. But I'm still... I don't know. But that is still... So not stolen property.

Yeah. No. But potentially a relic from Phoenix Hill Tavern. Yep. Richie, do you have a guess? You know, I don't know. I would like to say

a framed Richie Farmer Jersey. Oh, hey, if you'll give me one, I'll hang it up. There we go. I don't know how I get my hands on one of those. Yes, but I'm only kidding. I would think maybe something to do with wrestling

or or you know one of those draft king football hamlets that was here I mean how about one yeah

everybody took them before I could get one you were right on the first time though there's there's definitely some wrestling some wrestling yes I mean I figured I was trying to think of who you know who might be featured but

I can't come up with either I was thinking maybe the Undertaker okay Undertaker Buck you got a guess I was going to say maybe a stretch Armstrong. Not a stretch Armstrong, but I do have some of those Funko pops, if you're familiar with those, that people can

create like a little caricature of you. And I think you guys got one too, didn't it? I think all just got one. We all got one. I've got mine up in the garage. That's cool. It's two wrestling guesses. Those are good.

I'm trying to think all of Shannon's like. You know, he likes rock music. He likes the Braves. He's a farmer now. He's growing pumpkins. That's true. Like award-winning pumpkin. Send you guys home with a pumpkin to borrow. I don't know what you garden with.

You could have just a much of hose in his main cage. Yeah, I got a hose about mankate. That's exactly right. You're not going to see a bunch of hose in there for? Maybe not that early in the day. Okay. You got to let me know if that's the case. That happens after dark, yes.

I'm going to say in the corner, right on top of your kegator full of Shannon the dude brew, there's like a crock pot or some kind of warmer where you have fresh Fazoli's breadsticks for your guests while you're watching maybe even a server that walks around with the basket while you have people over. You're not far off because I've talked about my love of Fazoli's on this show and they actually sent me a care package a couple of years ago and one of the things they sent was a candle that smells when you light it, it smells like the Fazoli's breadsticks. No way.

I'll have that lit tomorrow in the main cave now that you brought that up. That's good. See, we know Shannon. We know we do. You guys are pretty much spot on. All of you. Looking forward to getting there tomorrow. It'll be live from Shannon's house.

But we got more to do here at KS Bar and Grill. It's Drew, Ryan, Richie, and Buck with Shannon in Louisville. Going to get more stories. Might do some playoff picks, but playing more KSR coming up. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending. Opinions are flying.

And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. Timbo, every episode we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines. We go straight to the source, the athletes themselves, their locker room stories, their reactions, the stuff nobody gets to hear. The laughs, the drama, the triumphs, the moments that never make the highlight real. From viral moments to historic games, from buzzer beaters to controversial calls, we break it down, give you context and ask the questions everybody wants answered. Sports slice brings you closer to the action, with stories told by the people

who live them. Listen to SportsSlic on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. And for more, follow Timbo Sliced Life 12 and the TikTok podcast network on TikTok. Welcome to my new podcast, Learn the Hardway with me, your host, and your favorite therapist, Kear Games. And in recognition of mental health awareness month, I'm bringing over a decade of my own experience in the mental health field and conversations with so many incredible guests. I'm talking, Tripp Fontaine, Ryan Clark. Sometimes when we're in the pursuit of the thing, we get so wrapped up in the chase that we don't realize that we

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Listen to Superhuman on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back to KSR. True Franklin, Ryan Lemon, Richie Farmer and Buck Stivers, happy to join us from Clay County. Ryan Lemon, who's this segment brought to us by? It is brought to us by Kentucky Skin Cancer Center. Are you missing the warning signs of skin cancer? Well, listen to this. Dr. Skaggs and the Kentucky Skin Cancer Center says he hears this all the time.

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Your trusted skin cancer expert. Back to you, Drew. Well, I'm going to go right back to you because our friends from A-Vision Glass just walked in, and I'm wondering if that's to scold you for not living up your end of the agreement with the A-Vision-Glass text machine. They buy this endorsement just to get the name recognition.

So as long as we continue calling it, the A-Vision. Glass text machine, I think we're good. The fact that it's actually sitting in my kitchen down on a charger, that's secondary. I don't know. I feel like if they just wanted the name recognition, we could say it. But the fact that they bought you a brand new iPhone got its own number and handed it to you to use during the show. I feel like they wanted that to be a big part of our operation. It was for the first couple days.

And then I started charging it and forgot to take it off the charger. All right. Consistency. But the A vision glass tech machine is my own. phone right now. Oh, so you're going to give that number out. It's punishment. No, no. But here's a question on the A-Vis and Glass text machine my real phone. Okay.

Ask Buck, who'd win a game of horseshoes, him or Richie? Probably me. Seem pretty confident there. Seem very confident. Is that true, Richie? Well, he's my corn-hound partner. You know, yeah,

we play cornhole you know with guys around there in the neighborhood we like to I'll get to get it's been a while actually since we've done that but Buck and I would always take on all

comers and you know so I would say it should be competitive but he's good yeah not to put either of you on the spot I'll start with you Buck you got another good childhood story maybe something from high school unrelated to basketball anything radio friendly

if not we can put a pin in it and come back to it Well, when he first got a car to drive, which I think he was 14 or 15, he got a firebird and we was going to church. And we was racing, Russ, and another feller. Is that big of hurry to get to church? You want to be the first one there, right? Yes, absolutely. And we were racing on the parkway.

I never forget. I guess we was running close to 150 and that thing blowed. And it blew a radiator hose off of it. I never forget we had to pack water from the creek. Greek there was broke down on the side of the rope. A hole of a radiator hose. Yeah. And, oh, it was very interesting.

Russ and the other guy there, which he's a chief of police now, so. Not in Manchester. Learn his lesson. Yeah. So you were just running late for the service, Richie, you were just wanting to make sure you're there.

I didn't want somebody taking your usual seat in the pew, or was this actually some street racing? Well, I think we were racing. It was what it came down to. You versus Russ. Well, it was the other guy that was driving. He was in a, what was it, Cutlass? Cutlass Supreme.

And I had that old firebird and, you know, Buck was in the passenger seat. And he said, hey, let's see what her to do. And so we, you know, it was. And then the next thing you know, I think we were actually going up here. Yeah, it took off something left loose in it. And I mean, it was like we was shot out of a can and we left them. And I turned and looked and you couldn't see nothing but smoke. It was good.

There might be some other firebird stories we could be off. Shannon, let's knock out some phone calls. We have anybody on the one? Yeah, let's go to Bart. Hey, Bart, go ahead. Yes, good morning. I am enjoying the heck out of this. I grew up in Lexington and Louisville area.

My family is just a huge Kentucky basketball fans. In fact, they're probably listening this morning. So I want to thank Richie. Where else in this world can these big fans like? cars just sit and listen to these old stories and get a big kick out of it i know my brother matt and i used to always emulate you in the driveway i'm 55 he's 50 and we had more fun and thanks for all these stories and all the great memories and truly appreciate it well man that means more than you know and because uh here's what people fail to realize about me is uh you know i i was fortunate

and i got to live my dream and i did play here but before that uh i was just like everybody else out there listening. You know, I was the kid that I was in my driveway or on the side of that hill. Five, four, three, two, one. Kyle Macy goes up, you know, there was no three at that time. It was just, you know, at the buzzer, boom, you know, so I did it with Rick Roby and Jack Gibbons and, you know, so, you know, everything that was Kentucky basketball, for me, growing up the coaches, the players, you know, you had your favorites.

But, you know, you knew every player on the team each year. It was so fun. And I said, you know, in Eastern Kentucky growing up, when the cats played, they rolled the streets up and turned, you know, it was all about the cats. And if they lost, my goodness, everybody was in a bad mood until we won again. So, which, thank goodness, didn't happen very often. But it was just, I mean, it just meant so much to us. And so I was just like those guys, and so I understand what it means. And it is really the most special place in the world to play basketball.

Yeah, my wedding was held up because the U.K. game was on. Well, it's your fault for scheduling a wedding on the U.K. game. Well, that was my wife. Oh, sure. I did it, too, but it happens. Yeah, but the fellow who marries was Les Carnihan was our great school coach. Yeah. You know, and I'll never forget.

He said, well, surely you ain't going to get married during this game. I said, well, unless you're doing the service. I mean, we can wait. So we did. We wait and watch the ball game and then got married. And then got married. Yeah. We haven't talked much about the current cats, and I know it's been a while,

but I saw both of you at the magical Pope press conference two years ago. When we come back from this break, I want to hear a lot about what's thoughts of the current team. I have a picture of Buck. He's wearing a Pope's dope shirt. And then, of course, the season goes on. It goes pretty well. So we've been focusing on the past, but coming up out of this break, I want to hear what you all think of the current situation, too.

It's Drew, Ryan, Richie and Buck. We're KS.S. Bar. T.J. Smith, personal injury attorney. Call T.J. He'll make them pay. Now, more of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Here's Matt Jones. This is not Matt Jones. It's Drew Franklin, hosting KSR today with my dear friend

Ryan Lemon at KS Bar and Grill. and he convinced Richie Farmer and his friend Buck Stivers to make the trip from Clay County to join us for two hours. We're having fun talking about the past, and here in a moment, we're going to focus on their thoughts on the current wildcats and what Mark Pope's doing over there. But first, Shannon the dude, who's this segment brought to us back? Our friends at Cornbread Hemp, it's harvest season in Kentucky.

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use the promo code KSR at checkout. That's cornbread hemp.com promo code KSR. It's cornbread hemp. This is The Good Life. Back to you, Drew. Those are so good, Shannon, but I've got to admit I've switched to the blueberry breeze. I mean, salt and watermelon's still great, but it has been passed. It's my favorite.

I've been blueberry breezing lately. It just, you know, depends on the day. The peach iced tea is really good, too. I really like that one. That's what I like. They're all refreshing. One football note, before we get into the basketball news and topics, it's not even really related to the current team.

I know we haven't talked much about them. We'll have the rest of the week to do that. But, Ryan Lemon, it's Nick Raus' birthday. Today is Nick Roush's birthday. I've been working with Nick for a long time. I interviewed a young Nick Rausch at Huge Ass Burgers when he was just a college kid, when we had KSR College.com. Now you know him as Mr. UK football everything.

He does a million podcast. We did our KSR football podcast yesterday at two. Nick's probably cover and practice this afternoon. but I just want to give a happy birthday to our good friend, Nicholas. Does a good job covering Kentucky Wildcats, and the thing I like about him, he doesn't hold back punches. Like on your rapid rewind after the game of South Carolina, he was laying it out there.

You know, this he said something like this is bad. This is really bad. We are the worst team in the SEC. Make no mistake about it. I mean, he didn't sugarcoat anything. He did not, but he can sugarcoat today's birthday. He can have some sugar. Happy birthday.

He and I usually are just slamming press box coffees together in Krogerfield. That's what I'm usually doing with him. but I hope he gets to enjoy his birthday today. Can I give a shout-out? You can do whatever you want. Because I've had this on my list all week and I haven't had a chance to get to it. All right, yeah, have about it. Do you remember when Matt had the great idea, Shannon, you remember this,

of having like some people, some listeners, host KSR. Yes, yes, yes, yes. And we both thought it was going to be an epic failure. Well, the guy that won was a man by the name of Darren Smith. He was from Harlan, and he came in to do it. He was in med school at the time, if you remember. He was studying and doing his residency or med school or something. Well, he killed it.

Remember, they did a great job. They did one segment, Shannon. It was really good. Right. Yeah. Well, he is now a doctor, and the shoutout is, I got word he just got married. So congratulations, Darren Smith. There you go.

Congratulations. Yeah. That's a great buildup. So you got married. I think you're about to tell me he's like the commissioner of Major League Baseball. We could do that, too. Yeah. It's still good for him.

No, no, great. Marriage is great. I love, love. I just remember when Matt had that idea. I thought this is going to fail. This is not going to work. It's going to be awful. And Darren and two buddies came in and did a great job.

Now he's gone to bigger and better thing, the doctor and a husband. Yeah, good for him. Congratulations. There we go. Also, congratulations to Rich and Buck. They get to go to UK basketball practice today. You know, we obviously can't ask them what they saw. That's later on this afternoon.

But we have been through one season with Mark Pope. You were on the bus that rode into the Rup Arena for the big press conference last year. Let's just start there with just the excitement. I know it's a little year old, but I know you were glad to have him around for the last season. Yeah, you know, I've told the story about when he was hired and how I kind of felt about it. I was kind of like a lot of other people because there were, you know, tons of names being tossed around. And I had heard his name, but it was way, way, way down the list. And during that time, you know, they were.

When they announced it, it was kind of like a shock that they had picked him. And, you know, at first I thought, what? Mark Pope. But then, you know, the more I thought about it, the more it started to make sense. And, you know, people, the people that don't realize, of course, you know, all of us that got a chance to watch them coaches the past year saw, you know, he's one of the great young coaches. out there. I mean, he's young in his career. But the way he analyzes games and, you know,

the way he takes bits and pieces of what he's learned from different people that he's played with and played for throughout the years, I think he does an outstanding job. And his offense is something that these young kids, they want to play for him. They want to be a part of it. And that's a big part of what's happening now. You've got to have something that appeals to these young guys,

and he seems to be able to do that and to get them motivated and to get them to understand what it means to play at Kentucky. And I think that had been kind of lost over the course of several years, you know, and playing for that name on the front of the jersey. And, you know, these fans are the greatest in the world. the greatest fans of any sport, you know, in the world. And, you know, when you play here, it's magical, and it means something, and it means something to these people.

So, you know, I think he's been able to kind of make the people that wasn't like me that didn't grow up here, make them understand that, and make them buy into that. And, you know, I just really like the culture, and I like what he's doing. I love Mark Pope. And, you know, with this team that he's got this year, you know, I've told people I haven't had a chance to watch them practice in person yet, and I'm going over today to watch practice. But everything that I've been hearing, you know, we've got a lot of potential

and a lot to look forward to this year, and I'm really excited. Last season, obviously, you wanted it to work. You're very supportive from day one. But how fun was it when he passed that first test, beaten Duke, and the way he did it, made the in-game adjustments. There's the clip that came out where he literally said, Cooper Flag is going to spend, but just a weekend to his coaching area at Kentucky, to beat a team like Duke. You haven't beaten Duke much in 20 years.

How exciting was that as a guy who had a memory against Duke himself? It was fabulous. And, you know, just the fact that it was Duke just made it extra special. Yeah. But, you know, we needed a win, a marquee win like that. And, you know, with it being early in his coaching career and the fact that. that he called out what he was going to do and told, you know, and it just all worked out to perfection.

I think that was maybe a sign of things to come. So, you know, I'm really excited about this team. I think, you know, I'm always hesitant about saying, you know, we're going to go 40 and O and we're going to win the national championship. But now with this team, I really do think that they have Final Four potential. There's a lot of things that has to happen. And, you know, I think how good Jailen Lowe can be. and at the point guard.

But I see that we have, you know, a really deep team. And, you know, and I want to shout out my buddy from over in eastern Kentucky, you know, Trent, Noah. I was going there next. Yeah, I mean, I've been hearing great things about the way he's shooting the basketball. And I know he's got that, as we say, that bulldog hang on for Everestness. So, you know, he's going to be great. And I'm looking forward to seeing him get a chance to play something.

Buck, everybody's got their favorites. We love every player, but we all attached to some. And I'm sure at home, Trent Noah was a huge fan favorite last year, and y'all are looking forward to more. Absolutely. I mean, you know, it's very rare you can go from not really liking a player to loving a player. And, you know, Trent Noah is who sent Clay County home. I mean, he wore us out over there in the region.

and I think he had 40-something on us. And, I mean, he was, you know, he showed what he was made of. I mean, you know, took that team, you know, to the finals against Travis, you know. So I'm excited. I know what kind of work ethic he has. You know, his coach there, his brother, coach is Clay County now. So I'd heard a lot of Noah stories, you know, and talked about, you know, said this kid really. puts the work in.

Yeah. And that, you know, you'd like to see people do good that puts the work in. One of you guys said, yeah, he shoots 500 shots a day. He'd been doing that since he was a little. That's what he's in high school. Yeah. He's got up 500 a day regardless. And, I mean, you know, it's, you know, now Richie, it's just like shooting the

ball. He had something special, you know, and a lot of guys. But now, you know, even special people put that much effort. Oh, yeah. Yes. You know, it just comes and makes it come next. It's a rich, you know, makes a reflex out of it. The other homegrown talent on last year's team from my side of the state took a different path this year.

Travis Perry decided to go to Old Miss where he'll most likely have a large opportunity to play there for Chris Beard. He was really close to Old Miss and his original recruitment. You know, that was a big story from the summer. I don't think you've had a chance to comment on that, Richie, but you know, a similar role to you. High school legend in the state knew he wanted to go to Kentucky. Gave it, gave it one year, but stepped away to try another path. What do you think of that? Well, you know, I hated to see him leave, first of all.

I was a big Travis Perry fan, and, you know, I love to see these kids that grow up in the state and dream of playing there and have that opportunity. I hate to – I like to see it work out, and I like everything to go kind of like a storybook, but it don't always work out that way. And in this case, I think, you know, Chris Beard – I think he's – was very close to him and his recruitment from high school. He loved his game, loved the way he played, and I think that he'll have a real opportunity. And, you know, with NIL now, you know, people have to realize that, you know, this is real money people are talking about.

So when you're talking about maybe a couple hundred thousand, three or four hundred thousand dollar difference in what you could make here versus there, you know, I don't know, I don't know any of that. and it wouldn't be my position to divulge that information if he wants people to know that's their deal. But I think he had a real opportunity both financially and then I think you'll have a greater chance to play there this coming year with where we are. But I would have loved to have him today. Travis's guy I wish could have a do-over because he was forced to play point guard in the SEC when maybe he wasn't quite ready. Maybe he needed a year to kind of learn the game, get bigger, better, stronger. But he was forced into play, and his game just wasn't what he was capable of. So I wish that kid had at least had to do over here one more year.

Yeah, it would be good to see. And, you know, make no mistake about it. He's good enough to play in this league. Yeah. And, you know, there's a lot of kids when they come out of high school, when you step into SEC and, you know, it's bigger, stronger, faster. You know, so sometimes it takes kids a little bit longer. But like I said, with NIL and, you know, the clock's ticking.

You've only got so many, so much time to make, you know, your money. And so, you know, that's one of the unfortunate things about this. But I wish him nothing but success and happiness there. Of course, we don't want him to have, you know. Too much. It comes to rock this season right away. Yeah, I know. I mean, it's going to be crazy, but I hope he does well, and we beat him.

So, you know, I'm always, I always like to cheer for the Kentucky boys. I think we're all in that boat. Want them to do well, but not in the Kentucky. Not too well. We'll get more on Richie's thoughts on the current team in this final break. It's Drew, Ryan, Richie, and Buck at KS Bar and Grill. Mike get to the phone lines if we have time. If not, we have plenty more questions about the current team, what Richie thinks about it.

But we'll be right back on KSR. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind. Highlights are trending, opinions are flying, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. Every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the plays, the controversies, and the stories behind the headlines.

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Listen to Superhuman on the IHard Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome back, Kentucky Sports Radio. Drew Franklin, Ron Lemon, Richie Farmer, Buck Stover, with Shannon the dude producing the show out of Louisville. One final segment here. We're going to get more of Ritchie's basketball thoughts. I saw a clip online yesterday where Mari Williams was telling a story.

I guess somebody was late to Pope's practice last year. He didn't name the player. But it wasn't even that it was late. He was on time. But I guess Pope's one of those guys. Oh, I say. On time is late. He's five minutes early as on time.

But he ran, he made the team run 17-17s. And the 17, I guess, is where you run up and down. down the court 17 times. But you had to do 17 of them. I guess Mari was saying not even a chance anybody could do that. Right. But that's kind of the Pope philosophy made me think about maybe a little Rick Petino there, Richie. You see some similarities in how Pope's doing some conditioning there?

Absolutely. He got that directly from him. I don't know about the 17s. It would have been probably 5 a.m. at the track doing some kind of crazy something. But, you know, he caught it Wildcat times. And it was 15 minutes early. So, you know, that's what we were on Wildcat time. So if he said 9 o'clock, you were there at a quarter till.

And, you know, he could show up at any time during that time. And but if you, you know, if he showed up at 10 till and you wasn't there, you were late. You were late. And that must have been why that Richie was so, he must have, why he got to do all that extra running. That's why he's in such good shape. Yeah. Yeah, that's why he got in such good shape. It wasn't that.

It was, I hated to run. And listen, and I ran with, you know, Derek Miller. Oh, yeah. I mean, if this kid would have trained to run, he could have been a world-class athlete in running. He would stay out. Now, Derek was known, you know, he occasionally would stay out late. And, you know, he would come in early, early,

and he would lap everybody. Really? And he would be so far ahead of me that he would kind of get his breath after he crossed the line. And when I come across the third time, you know, going on my fourth lap, he would push me around the track. I mean, it was unbelievable. I mean, he ran 440 miles, you know, 435 miles. That's crazy times. I'm out of breath thinking about it.

Yes, I mean, unbelievable. Did you see any other similarities in Pope and Rick? Was there a moment last year when you're watching the team and your thing? it up that probably came for Petino well just I mean just as overall the way his attitude and you know what his the way what he demands of his players and what he expects I think a lot of those things are very similar from the way that coach went about things now sometimes people go about things a little differently but you know the same idea behind it but you certainly didn't want to be

late for practice, that's for sure. When you all go to practice today, you're still, I mean, you know a little about the team, but you admit it you haven't seen him yet. Is there anything you're looking forward to in particular? Is there a certain guy you're going to look out for? Well, I just wanted to kind of see them all out there on the floor together

and how they mash and, you know, kind of what he's doing and where some of the guys, what positions are they going to be threes, fours, you know, where's he going to, how is he going to use them? those kind of things. And just a chance to get to see what some of those guys can do because, you know, I'm excited. We got, you know, Aberdeen came here,

and he was supposedly going to be, he would have been a big part of that team this year, a team which won the national championship and is one of the favorites again this year. Florida will have a very nice team. So, you know, the SEC, I think overall will be down a little bit, but Florida will still have a very, very, very nice team.

But, you know, you had guys like him and Diabate from Alabama. I mean, you know, just to see some of the things offensively that they can do, but I know they bring toughness and, you know, they've been through the war. So it's not like you've got a bunch of guys over there. It's just going to have to figure out, you know, how to play. It's how do they mash together and how are they going to fit in, you know, to what Pope's asking them to do. I'm kind of excited about that.

Before we let you guys get over there, Buck, beating Georgia in football on Saturday? You got a prediction for... Well, I mean, I might as well predict us to win, you know. I probably won't bet on them. Yeah. Yeah, I always hope they win. I mean, you know, you keep up with the football cats pretty well, though.

Fair, like I said, you have to have 13 different subscriptions to watch them play anymore. You know, I mean, it's kind of tough to keep up with everything. But, yeah, I try to follow them a little bit, but it's been rough. It's, I told Rich, he said, what we're going to talk about. And I said, well, he's going to everybody's stoop. Seems like that. That's the common thread right now. Yeah, but I don't, you know, I like Mark Stoops.

You know, but I told Rich, if you're a defensive coach, you know, we know you're not, you know, you're not going to score. But you have to hold people if you're a defensive coach. You know, you can win if you hold people to less than, you know, you score. Like, if you hold somebody to zero and you score. and you score a point, you win. Yeah, that's some good math there, bud. It makes a lot of sense. It'll be a tall task force this weekend,

especially them coming off that home run. After what happened to them. But that's also opportunity. Yes. Good having you guys in today. We'll do a lot of football talk tomorrow. We're live from Shannon's Man Cave. We're going to snoop around in there.

For today, it was Drew, Ryan, Rich, and Bucky at KS.M. Thanks for listening. Another podcast from some SNL late-night comedy guy, not quite. Unhumor me with Robert Smygel and friends. Me and hilarious guests from Bob Odenkirk to David Letterman help make you funnier. This week, my guest, SNL's Mikey Day and head writer Streeter Seidel help an a cappella band with their between songs banter. Where does your group perform?

We do some retirement homes. Those people are starving for banter. Listen to humor me with Robert Smigel and Friends on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you. get your podcasts. Last night, a blown call changed a game. This morning, the internet lost its mind, and nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where SportsSlice comes in. I'm Timbo, and every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the headlines. And we're going straight to the source,

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