KSR - 2026-03-19- KSR - Hour 1

Episode Date: March 19, 2026

Matt, Ryan, and Shannon talk NCAA Tournament, Eli Capilouto's interview, and your calls.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 IHeart 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. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the Iheart Radio app.

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of I Heart Women's Sports. I'm Michelle McPhee, and I've been unraveling the strangest criminal alliance I've ever reported on. A Mormon polygamist and an Armenian businessman. Multi-million dollar house, Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, a billion dollar fraud. But how long can this alliance last? Tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me?

Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. From YouTube and social media, comedy off Broadway and Lexington, welcomes Josh Wolfe, March 19th through the 21st. Then from Late Night TV and the Bob and Tom show catch Nick Griffin, March 26 through the 28th. And don't miss New York Comedy Superstar and podcaster Mark Norman. April 2nd through the 4th. For tickets to all comedy off Broadway shows, call 859.9. 271 joke or visit comedy off broadway.com.

This is Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now here's Matt Jones. Welcome, everyone. This is Kentucky Sports Radio Thursday, March the 19th. We are ready to go here in St. Louis. It is the best four days of sports of the year. The NCAA tournament for real kicks off or tips off tonight. Shown, the Clark's Puppet Shop, phone line 859, 280, 2287. A vision auto glass text machine is 772-745254.

In this edition, sponsored by the T.J. Smith Law Office, you call T.J. O'Makeem Pay. We are in our house in St. Louis, just down the street from the Missouri Botanical Garden. Yes, it is. Yes, just we walked past those yesterday. Supposedly the most beautiful botanical gardens in the Midwest. It is. That's what they say. Well, we are, once we cross the arch, we are in the west.

I didn't see any gardens, though. Like, we went by there. I saw no gardens. But we were here. Kentucky is playing tomorrow, obviously. And until then, it's media day for this sub-regional. As Mario will be leaving here in just a little bit, because UK begins their press conference,

I believe, right as the show ends, and then practice right after that. And Mario's going to go get all the scoop to put out there. These open practices always used to be fun to go to because all the local Kentucky fans, wherever Kentucky was playing, would come to the open practice. There's usually a lot of kids that skipped school, and it's kind of fun atmosphere to be there. I haven't been one in forever. See, it's less fun.

When we first started, it was fun, and now the coaches, it depends. Well, I haven't seen Pope do one. So Cal at the end started just treating it like as a joke. Yeah. And so he didn't really do anything. I don't know if Pope treats it for real. or not, because I don't know that I went last year. Because he just an hour of fun drills.

Yeah. So we'll see. Maybe he does. But we're going to that. Santa Clara is up first. They start here pretty soon and then Kentucky. Then, of course, the games start everywhere else today. But we arrived in St. Louis.

You know, Drew is on baby-wise. So he has not been able to come. So it's me, Drew, and Mario. Just the three of us, you know, the bachelor's rolling. rolling to St. Louis. Went to a cool area last night called the hill. We went to the hill that everybody said to go to, which is nice. Didn't seem to be on a hill.

No. That I could tell. Really not. I don't know why they call it why they call it the hill. Because I was expecting a huge hill, and it didn't really seem like it was on a hill. I shared your fun fact about the hill with Shannon this morning on the pre-show. Yeah, with Yogi Beria and Joe Garagio Gola grew up across the street from each other. And then Jack Buck with just a couple blocks down the street, I think you said.

You think there's like baseball in the water there. And we ate at a place called Mamas on the Hill, which was one of the many places we've gotten recommended. We have a great set of food options here. And we liked it. We thought it was good. Mamas was fire, as Mario was saying. Well, it was perfect for you because it was like, Shannon, all stuff, Ryan knows. So, like, their specialty was like spaghetti with a meatball.

You know, I mean, like, if you were saying, okay, what's the highest version of what Ryan likes to eat. Mamas would have it. Oh, you like Fettuccini Alfredo. I have the place for you. I do need to admit something to everybody. Matt found my driver's license. Okay, did he talk about this on the pre-show?

It was such a Rine Lemon moment. All right, we're sitting at the bar eating, and Ryan Lemon starts panicking. And you've seen this. Oh, yeah. Like he wants to act like everything's normal, but he's like a little dog that's running around in circles. And at some point you have to say, what's wrong, man? That's exactly right.

He stands up and he's patting his pockets. He's patting the top of his little head. And he's like, he's just moving around. And so finally I go, what is wrong? Because you could tell something was wrong with him. And he goes, I lost my driver's license. And I said, okay, when was last time you had it? And he was like three minutes ago.

Okay. Well, it couldn't have gone far. So we know it couldn't have gone far. He said, I pulled it out because in Missouri, to use draft kings, you have to scan your ID. Right. He's like, I pulled it out to scan my ID. And I go, what did you do? Did you just throw it in the ocean after that?

Like, you were just standing right here. And he's like, I don't know. And he's throwing. He is. He's hyperventilating. We're at the bar. He's throwing plates. He's pouring liquor out of bottles trying to see where it is.

I emptied my wallet like twice So Shannon I just had a feeling You know I just had a feeling about Ryan I go It's in your wallet And he's like

I've emptied it four times Can't be in my wallet And I said will you hand me your wallet First of all He gives me his wallet First thing I open There are seven health insurance cards Well yeah

That's important at that age How many health insurances do you have One for Josiah, one for Gavin. I got yoga girls card. Why do you have theirs? Like they're adults. Why do you have Gavin's? He's 26 years old.

Well, Casey ever gets in an accident? I need to, you know, give some information for him. He can't speak. Do you think they're going to ask for his health insurance card to you? Yeah, they might, you know. Is that what people do? Do people give their parents their health insurance cards at 26? I don't think my parents had mine.

I don't think my parents had mine either. Regardless, I pull out this stack of health insurance cards up to the ceiling. right okay not in there then I open his credit cards up not in there and then I see there's a pocket in the back of the wallet and before I even reach in there Shana go I know it's in there you know reach in first thing comes out of his eye

that he was a man had torn the restaurant up he was about to ask to go back in the kitchen because he thought he left it on his plate yes first of all who puts their driver's license on a plate yeah Ryan right I find it fenced it's a classic Ryan Lemon thing

that he loses his driver's license at his seat at dinner and it's in his wallet and he can't find it in his own wallet but i do but he obviously put it in a pocket that normally he just put in the wrong slot which would be the first thing that you should think of like if i look and my credit cards gone i'm like i bet i put it behind my driver's license accidentally nope ron didn't think about it he got it thankfully he got it into draft king so he could place his bets and thankfully you found it because i was in a full body sweat by that time by the time How many white Russians were you into at that point? Well, we could talk about, I'm not going to embarrass him what's in his wallet,

but we could talk about, I don't know, two used, like Kleenexes. Why is he saving those in his wallet? Oh, like a hanky. I apologize to the children and all the people out there. Gaddy Town credit card. Did you see that wallet? A condom from 1968. Oh, my gosh.

No. So, I mean, it was just, it was just, it was so. It's a great question. But anyway, thankfully, we got it. Thankfully, you found it because I was panicking. And we're, full panic by the time you found it. And we're ready to go. So last night, for me, the tournament got kicked off.

Yes. With that Miami of Ohio. No doubt it did. You know, listen, we're going to talk about Kentucky today, and that's ultimately. But I cannot think of the last. time, I've enjoyed cheering a game like I did Miami of Ohio. Same. We all did. All three of us. Miami of Ohio. You know, I flipped on them about three or four weeks ago. First, I was like they shouldn't

be it because they come in last place in the SEC. I'm out of that now. I changed my mind that they should be in. And now I'm going further. We need more of these teams. If they're going to expand the tournament, which they are going to do it, I don't want Auburn. in the tournament. Right? Who wants that? Nobody wants that. That was fun.

Random dudes who all, they fell down every play. You know? They fell down every play. It was a joyous sporting. That game was why we love the NCAA tournament. SMU should have won. If SMU was smart,

they had scored every play. Every time they went inside, Miami of Ohio had no chance, but they got away from it. And they'd start shooting. dumb shots. And then these dudes who all, I'm sure if I knew the Miami of Ohio players, I probably wouldn't like any of them. They all look like they're at a frat party, but they were fun to watch. And it wasn't just making threes. Backdoor cuts. Oh, yeah.

Bounce passes, whoopty-woo's. They did a pass on a break where he bounced the ball up in the air. And the other dude was not athletic enough to get it. So he just touched it, tapped it, and it went in. It was like the AN-1 tour, but for like frat guys. And I thought it was so much fun. That game last night is exactly why you put Miami, Ohio in the tournament. Would SMU and Auburn have been anything like that? No, no, no. That was much more fun.

And the three of us, you and me and Mario, we were cheering and going crazy with every three. I mean, every three. That's the most excited. I've gotten in a game that didn't involve Kentucky. We watched the whole thing. We did. We watched from Tip to, I can't remember the last time. I've sat and watched, you know, I watch college games every night, but I watch the second half or a little piece.

We watched the entire thing, and I was into it. And then they brought those swimmers down. Okay, Shannon, I usually, you know, who wants dudes walking around in speedos? But that was hilarious. It was hilarious. I don't think they were supposed to be there because they weren't there anymore. They just did it that one time. I think they did it that one time.

I think they probably snuck in there. And then got in trouble. And then got in trouble and got sent back to their seats because they came. running and they weren't there again. No. But they all came out. That one dude was painted all in red and he was like, lah!

And I loved it. That, to me, is what the NCAA tournament is about. Was that game last night? And, you know, SMU hadn't won a game in the tournament in like 30 years. So it's not like they were a powerhouse. But nevertheless, I just, I enjoyed it. And the place was packed because Miami will hire an hour away. Yeah, and the fact that it was in Dayton.

Yep. Basically a home game. Yep. It was excellent. Tell you what? I was going to say, if I'm Tennessee, I'm a little nervous. If you're a little nervous, it's hard for teams like that to do it twice in a row. I mean, you know, Florida Gulf Coast did it that year, May at Sweet 16,

but it is hard for teams to do that twice in a row. But, you know, if you're Tennessee who can struggle to score sometimes anyway, you do got to be careful. So what, Miami-O-Hahle ended up shooting, what, like 41 three-pointers last night or something? They should have shot 75. There was no reason for them to ever shoot anything. It was not a backdoor cut or a three. Because when they tried something else, it didn't work.

But one of them would go to the free throw line. We're like, look at him, he looks like an accountant. Look at him. He looks like a nerd. It was so much fun. I enjoyed it. I did. And so here's how I feel.

Okay. Because they won, I made the decision this, I'm going to be magnanimous. I'm going to let Bob and Jamestown go first today. Wow. Well, that's where he went. We should have called him last night. Yeah, I'll let you call him. If he wants to call on the show,

859-2-80-2-807 I'll do the only when no one else calls does Bob get to go first and I'm going to go ahead and let him go first today since his team won I feel like that's the thing to do Shannon don't you agree yeah I mean this would be unprecedented for the KSR show to have him on first but I mean he deserves it they won the game and I've you know the tournament all the first four games were good yeah they were now last year all the first four games were good and then the first and second round was kind of blah It got better after that. The tournament started getting good in the second weekend.

I do wonder, I mean, there's been a lot of chatter that maybe mid-majors in the transfer portal era, it's harder for them to win these upset games. And, you know, some of the best mid-major teams lost in their conference tournament, Belmont, UNC Wilmington. So it may be the case that we don't get a lot of shockers today, but I do think that was a great kickoff to the tournament. Well, the fact that they were just bombing them up from everywhere, the crowd was the local crowd. We got to know this team that went 31 and 0. Scal Jack.

Scaljack's our new favorite player. Can I tell you what I really thought, though? I think Kentucky fans, whether this is fair or not, I think Kentucky fans thought what we saw from Miami of Ohio is what Pope's offense was going to be. We talked about that last night. I do. I think that our fan base thought that that's what it was going to be. Now, Pope has never played exactly that style,

But I just think our fan base watching that, I think they were like, oh, this is what we were going to be like, but with better players. And it hasn't really been like that. Remember, they were going to shoot 33s a game. That was the goal going into the season. We're going to shoot 33s a game. Yeah. Well, that didn't really happen. Maybe in three games, we'll shoot 33s in three games.

Well, it was a lot of fun. And now you've got to hope that we, Kentucky, produce fun on that level. and you know I think they should have let the Speedo guys do anything Why not? It's March Madness You're in the... Supposed to be mad.

Supposed to be mad. Supposed to be mad. So apparently those guys, those swimmers do it every home game. Yeah. And so they snuck it into the Dayton Arena. They clearly did. And then they were like, people like, get out.

But it worked. It was funny. And that was the only free throw they missed the whole night. Was it really? SMU, I think. At that point, it was the first free throw they missed. And I'm not sure they missed another one.

whole night. They actually says SMU made a ton of free throws. So if they go play Tennessee, I think they're playing them in Philadelphia. Those guys have to go. The swimmers have to go. If you're a Miami of Ohio person, you go wherever this is. You're never going to have a chance like this again. Philly's not that far from Oxford, Mississippi, is it? Oxford, Ohio. Oxford, Ohio. Yeah. Miami of Ohio, interesting enough, in Ohio. That's right. Not in Mississippi. So it would be weird if they might name the school Shand in Miami of Ohio and put it in Mississippi. It's already weird that it's Miami in Ohio. Miami in Ohio. I saw Miami in Mississippi. I saw a

Miami was in Ohio before it was in Florida. So the people of Miami of Ohio, the townspeople, the townspeople, feel like Miami of Florida stole their name. So it should be Miami in Florida. Well, that's what they say. I don't know. But I'm just telling you. 859-280-2287. Text machine is 772-7-7-4-5-254.

We will take a break. We are here in St. Louis on the NCAA tournament. It's Kentucky Sports Radio. Last night, a blown call changed. 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. 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 controversy, 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 Sports Slice on the IHeart Radio 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, Kier 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.

Trip 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 are in possession of the thing. And we're still chasing it. And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross.

Because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth. Are you a good person because you're a good person because you're a free. Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, is we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast, Learn the Hardway. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the Hardway and listen now. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On Hurtle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in

sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going. From the WMBA standout, Kate Martin and rising hockey star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it. An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ledecki. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile. That means the world to me.

And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Heart. women's sports. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across. When Jacob met Levan this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds,

just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah!

And is that time? You came down the stairs today singing that song. I got it in my head. This is a great skin on Saturday Night Live. It's the, well, it's hard to describe why a skin is funny. But I think I find myself on big days going, blah, blah, blah, basketball, give me, give me, give me. It's great.

And I want to do it. 859-280, 2287. Text machine a little slow today. Again, that's what happens when you talk basketball. 772, 774. 5254. One person writes, Matt, is we're going to shoot 33's

Pope's equivalent of Mark Stoop saying we're going to use the tight ends more. Yes, we never use the tight ends more. That was something Mark Stoops would say every single year never happened. You could go back to Tubby Smith. We're going to speed it up and play up. Tubby never played up tempo. Never did. Although Tubby played more up tempo than people give him credit for.

I mean, that 2003 team put a loads of points. Yeah, that team did for sure. But you're right, Mark Stoops. We're going to use the tight ends. We're going to spread it out more this year. One person writes, Matt, do you ever drop scoop anymore? You haven't mentioned Vax from Providence or Quinn Ellis. Both have rumors to UK.

Okay, so we need to talk about this when it comes to the portal. First of all, the British kid, Quinn Ellis, is on my list of things to talk about. But you folks have to be very careful that you don't just see an account that says college basketball on it and assume that what it says is yes that's becoming a huge problem and maybe it's a problem for every fan base but it's definitely a problem for our fan base so i saw some random account that's called college basketball transfer portal which i'm not saying is not legitimate but does anyone know where that account is from is it is it real is it a kid in his basement is it Bobby Cremens? I don't know who it is. Bobby Cremens. It could be anybody. But they put out

yesterday that some kids transfer him from Providence, and they predicted he'd go to Kentucky. Okay, maybe he will. I have no idea. But what are, like, all of a sudden in that, and it was literally a graphic on Twitter with an account that had 1,300 followers. That became UK websites, saying Kentucky was the leader for this kid. And then all of a sudden, people retweet. Matt, when are you going to talk about, I mean, a guy at Mamas on the Hill told me that the Miami of Ohio team was transferring. That doesn't make it a story. And that's becoming, that's happening more and more.

And in this portal era where there's an infinite amount of players that could transfer, I mean, you can, again, maybe this kid ends up coming. have no idea. But like, I need to hear it from somebody that's actually covering recruiting. Now, the British kid is someone that now people are saying Kentucky that is recruiting that actually reporters are. He's 22 years old. His name is Quinn Ellis. He's a point guard.

He plays for an Italian basketball pro team. And there are people saying could be one of the best players that will end up transferring into college basketball next year. Duke is interested in him, Kentucky, and Louisville. Would you like to have a good day, T. and Crumpets, British point card next year? Absolutely, because, you know, we kind of hinted yesterday. I'm in the camp that I don't think Lowe's going to come back.

So I think they need to go out and get a top quality, elite, elite, point guard. This guy could be the guy. There is a person who's a big donor to Kentucky, who's sending it to, I think, everyone that has a text. because I got this message, but so it seems like other people did too, that they do not think Jaylen Lowe's coming back for a variety of reasons.

You know, that person might know. But, I mean, I don't know for sure. But if so, and you have to get a point card. Getting a 22-year-old professional. That's pretty good. I mean, that's, you'd feel good about it. He only average is eight points a game, but he's in the Italian league, which is a great league.

Yeah. So, yeah. So, you know, I mean, my view is if Duke wants him, then we can want him too. We learned, well, I learned my lesson last year in the transfer portal. Things can change overnight. And I think until we hear Jacob Polichick or Jack Pilgrim and one of these guys reported about somebody, then you can take it to the bank. You also, I think, I was talking about this on, I think a caller call. It is so much harder to evaluate in some ways the portal guys, because they come.

come from such different environments. So if you were to go look at the rankings last year for the portal, the top 20 players in the portal, I don't think it's anywhere close to who ended up being the top 20 players. High school recruits, it tends to be pretty close. Pretty close. But it seems like people still haven't gotten the science of the portal down yet. So it's hard to know exactly who is going to end up being.

And then when you throw in a guy's been playing in Italy, Yeah. I mean, who knows, you know? You know, who would have known that Dalton Connect from what Northern Colorado was going to be the player he was at Tennessee? And yet then there's a player like, Yaxel, okay, you think this guy's going to do it. Well, the kid that's playing at Yukon, Silas Demery, who we went after. Yeah. I think he was ranked, what, 30th in the portal, and he's ended up being awesome.

Awesome. So you just never, on some level, have to trust the coaches that they get the fit. Correct. I mean, there's a handful of guys you know will. be really good like Yaxel was. Yeah. But, you know, Donovan Dent was number one, and he struggled most of the year, although he's gotten better in the last few games.

But we'll see. My view is, if you can get a 22-year-old British players, we've only had, how many British players? We only have one, right? I think Morricino Williams. That's only what I can think of. Moranio Williams, I think, is the only British player that I can remember that we've had play, because there's not a lot of Brits that play basketball.

I mean, I can only think of a handful of British people, period, that have played basketball. John Amici. Yes. Pinsuit. Lualdang. Duke. I don't think I can think of another one. British people just aren't basketball players.

Basketball is not a thing in Britain. Like in a lot of Europe, it is. Most of Europe it is. But in Britain, people just don't play basketball. We have people players from London, Kentucky. Yeah. So, yeah, I'm excited. But as far as everyone else, I'm not going to really get into a guy coming here from the portal until Kentucky meets with him.

And even then we saw last year they met with 15 guys they didn't get. Right. So changes quickly. Just a random account saying this kid, you're going to have to give me more than that for me to believe it's going to happen. We'll take your calls. 8-9-2-8-0-203. 287's KS. I.

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. That collective groan you heard from all over the state were people losing their minds

that I forgot about Amari Williams. Which they should have. We forgot about the Wheatibix. Yeah, that was last year. That's a huge... It was 12 months ago. A lot of things have happened in 12 months. Yeah, but I mean, I should have.

Because I think 12 months ago when we got... him, I was like, we've never had a British player. Like, I think I had that exact conversation one year ago. That was my princess level right there. That was. That was close. I'd be like, we've never had a player named Lamont. And you're like, maybe.

12 months ago we did. Yeah. So Amari obviously would be. So Mark Pope's had success. Maybe we have a British pipeline coming. Well, is there an update to on Dink Pate, another point guard they were talking to? I have everything about. But this will all really speed up whenever we lose.

Yeah. I mean, officially, you can't have conversations with people in the portal to April 1st. But there are clearly conversations that are occurring. But Kentucky, you won't start to hear leaked information until we lose. And then once we lose, I think you're going to start hearing it quite a bit. First thing will be what our players do. Right. And then.

Because they'll have to enter the portal. Yes. Well, April 1st. But like, you'll start to hear, I think, before that what they're going to do. 859-280-2287. Before we go the phones, I do one of the first. to talk just a second about we listen Shannon so

we were driving here and then I remember that Eli Capiludo was doing an interview on another network and no show and I you know I'm a big believer in I try to be a big believer and don't punch down I don't always adhere to that but I try

punch up not down so I don't want to punch down I deleted a tweet I see it because you don't want to punch down the show. I don't know the two people that host the show, so, you know, it's fine. I can punch, though, a little bit. So Eli Capiluto was on.

If any of you ever thought that, like, Mitch Barnhart was too saucy and interesting, go listen to an Eli Capuluto. Okay? Nice, man. But we turned it on halfway through, and I had

to turn it off, Shannon, I was going to run off the road Paul Slickland. That boring, huh? That drag? Oh, my goodness. Nice man. I didn't hear it. But I see they're doing a filibuster in the Senate.

Just put Eli up there. You don't have to have anybody. And then the thing I found most interesting is the hosts were not allowed to do the interview. The guy who owned the station took over and did the interview. Yeah. Wow. Lynn Martin. That was the guy you may remember that 17 years ago I went to every.

station and said I'll work for free and he told me I would never be in broadcasting because I didn't have any talent. Do you remember that? Yeah. I forgot that part of the story. Yes. He met with me and he said, look, you seem like a good guy, but you don't really have a voice for radio and I just don't think you'll ever really be in broadcasting. He looked at me and said that during lunch. And I remember thinking, all right, we'll see. They dropped the ball. They have Alan Cutler on their Yeah. Alan Cutler should have done that interview. Well, I want you to think about if you're hosting a show.

And Shannon, like, that would be like the CEO of IHeart taking over KSR and interviewing someone. We'd be like Mitch come on that day. Yes, I'm going to have Mitch on and they go, all right, Matt, you're out. We're bringing in the CEO of Iheart. Right. Are you kidding me? So he interviewed him. So the guy, by the way, who said I had no talent, snooze fest of an interview.

It sounded very scripted. Yeah, I was going to say probably had pre-quested. Really no news came out of it. Really no news came out of it, except there was maybe a half piece of news, which was he did say that they would look national for the AD. But then he said, but that doesn't mean we won't hire somebody in turn. So, like, that's why I say a half piece of news. He acknowledged that they, he said he was going on his listening tour.

He didn't say what that meant, but that he was almost done with the listening tour. So a lot of listening has already occurred. But otherwise, it was 30, 40 minutes and there was no news. I'm just going to tell you, though, if I hosted a show and my boss told me to get out of the way and let me do the interview, stop it. We were all kind of anxious to hear because this was the first time Capulito had spoke since Mitch decided to leave. So it resigned. There was really like nothing. Nothing.

That's why I think it was like the agreed upon kind of a scripted interview. But what's the point of that? What's the point of saying nothing? That didn't help the situation. Did not even ask or address the contract? See, that's why you need to be like Cutler and you to ask those questions. It didn't even ask. It's so they can say that we address the media.

But they didn't even address it. So the UK did send me a statement. Okay. All right. So I do want, this is about, I asked about the contract. And I want to pull up here their statement because he, sent me a statement, and of course now I can't find it. Oh, here.

It's way too long for me to read off it. The first paragraph is about how successful Mitch is. The second paragraph is about how much he brings to university. Then this is what is said about the contract. His compensation is in line with what comparable institutions have paid for similar transitions, and the role itself is more robust, more accountable, and more critical to the university's mission. Importantly, this does not distract from the athletic. department's capacity in any way.

It says nothing. No, I mean, it says nothing. Yeah. I asked, why did he get $2 million more dollars? And that was the answer. They're trying to say other schools give similar. It basically just says other schools do. Doesn't say which schools do it. I've never heard that.

Other schools just give $2 million out of the kindness of their heart. When somebody decides to retire? When somebody decides to move to a deal. So, you know, you can make of that what you want. But I do not understand the PR strategy of a university that says, oh, all these people are upset, we're going to answer the questions by putting someone on and having them talk when no one's listening

and saying nothing. Yeah. That doesn't do anything. But that's what they decided to do. Who's up next? We asked for Bob and Jamestown. Instead, we got Rob. But by the way, Bob and James Town does not call today.

I texted him. This is the one day that I'm up and then Shannon, it's classic Bob, or he would have called and talked about the Reds or something. He's defiant. He really is defiant. I guess I kind of respect that. All right, go ahead. Rob.

Rob, go ahead. Hey, guys. So it looks like Pope missed on another recruit. They're reporting that it fell apart at the NIL table. Are we seriously looking? I know they talked about the video game coordinator at some G-League team or not video game, video coordinator. Are we seriously pursuing a GM here? Well, we don't know what they're calling that guy.

Or Pope. Yeah, we don't know what we don't know really. We know they're hiring at least two people in some sort of role, but we're not sure what responsibilities they're being given. To be quite frank with you, it's hard to know whether they are or not. He was asked, Eli was asked about that, and he goes, you'll have to ask Mitch. So he completely punted on that too. So the short answer is they're hiring somebody to help with this stuff,

but whether or not they're actually a GM, they have yet to make. clear. As long as they can close the deal at the table, because that seems to be, it's like we're number two to everybody, and it's always reported that it's about NIL. Yeah, I think you're right. Take that off of JMI because Will Stein don't seem to have a problem. But remember, I want to say this, I'm not blaming JMI, but Will Stein and football are different.

The way you build a football program through NIL is different than basketball. In football, you're taking money and you're distributing it amongst 70 guys, and you really are only negotiating with one or two stars. In basketball, all the people are stars. All the people are asking for specialized deals. So in football, Will Stein basically had maybe two big deals to negotiate. A couple of the offensive linemen and the quarterback from Notre Dame. And from what we've seen, JMI, and that has been really successful in that, world. But basketball is a different world. Basketball, you've got agents who are asking, who can,

the players are much more stars, they have their own brand deals. It's a different thing. So I'm with you. Will Stein has shown that the JMI setup for football seems to work. What the question is is basketball. It's not, it doesn't seem like it's working. But now is that JMI? Is that Mark Pope? We don't know yet. I think we'll know a lot more at the end of this portal. cycle. Could it be just relationships with agents? Could be. It could be. Very well could be. If you remember the original story, it was a two-part story. Everyone focuses on the first part, which was the JMI part. But the second part was that Mark Pope was not coming off great to these agents.

Right. And that Mark Pope was kind of not connecting to people. So, sir, I think it's a fair question. Which one of those is most important? I think as of this moment, I don't know the answer that. Okay. Thanks, guys. Appreciate the call. Do you agree with that? Yeah, that's why it's crucial.

We've said many times that he gets somebody that can handle talking to agents and handle the money, the budget side of NIL world. Football at Kentucky is different. Yes. It's different. And it seems like we're doing that pretty well. But in basketball, you got like nine guys, all of whom have nine agendas. And that's a different strategy.

It is. It's just different. They have AAU coaches and agents and everybody else kind of overseen. To put it another way, in football, we're not recruiting the top five guys. That's a problem for Alabama, Ohio State. But in basketball, we are. We do. And so that's a different process.

It's time to score big this month at Don Franklin. Choose from over 6,000 new and certified pre-owned vehicles. Go the distance with power train protection on certified pre-owned makes and models for up to 10 years. Get slam dunk deals all month long. at Don Franklin Auto. It's March. It's car time. Don Franklin. Score big online or at the 28 dealerships. There's a new one. At Don Franklin. It's Don Franklin Auto driven by family. We'll take a break and be right back. 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. We go straight to the source, the athlete 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 Sports Slice. radio 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 really really.

that we are in possession of the thing, and we're still chasing it, and we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross, because you find it important to be a good person while you hear on earth,

or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust. I want you to just really be a good person. Join me, Keer Gaines, as we have real conversations about healing, growth, fatherhood, pressure, and purpose on my new podcast,

learn the hard way. Open your free iHeartRadio app. Search Learn the hard way and listen now. Life throws hurdles big and small. The question is, how do you conquer them? On hurdle with Emily Abadi, we sit down with the most inspiring women in sports and wellness, professional athletes, coaches, and Olympic champions to talk about the challenges that shaped them and the mindset that keeps them going.

From the WMBA standout, Kate Martin, and Rising hockey. star Layla Edwards. If a boy can do it, I don't see why a girl can't. Like, I've never understood that. Like, it didn't make sense in my brain. It's hard to be in spaces that no one looks like you, but don't ever feel like you don't feel on. Don't let that be the reason you don't do it.

An Olympic champs Gabby Thomas and Katie Ladeke. The ability to show a gold medal to someone and have their face light up and smile, that means the world to me. And that's what motivates me to win more gold medals. At our level, at this scale, like being able to fail in front of the entire, higher world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Because resilience isn't just about

winning. It's about showing up, even when it's hard. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHart Women's Sports. Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect. We were God's chosen kingdom on earth. He felt destined for greatness. So when a sweat, A staggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world. He doesn't look back. Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets, meeting the president of Turkey. I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across.

When Jacob met Levant this plant to a billion dollar fraud. But with two kings from entirely different worlds, just how long can their empire survive? The largest tax investigation in American history. You need to tell me what you know. Is somebody coming after me? Jacob told Levan, you're ruining my life. Listen to Kingdom of Fraud on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Yeah, we still have no news, but that's okay.

We'll get there. Yeah, I check with some of our reporter friends in Lexington and said, did he say anything at all? Everybody totally blanket agree. No, no news came out. Well, that's the way it goes. 859, 2807. Are we going to win tomorrow? Yes.

Yeah, we're going to let ourselves get scared about Santa Clara, but just because we're gun-shy from Oakland and St. Peter's, but yes, we will win tomorrow. Objectively, we're better. Yes. People say, well, they shoot well, that's true. They rebound pretty well, that's true. They're like one of the worst defensive teams in the tournament.

They don't guard anybody. We don't want to do what SMU did and try to get in a shootout. Right. But, you know, we should be able to score on them relatively easily. Our bigs, like, this is your chance to showcase. Like, you should be able. They have two big guys, but one of them is not very good. Now, the forward that can step out and shoot threes, you've got to stay on him.

He's their best player. But our guards should be better. Yeah. So we should win. That doesn't mean we will, but we should. I think Herm Sundek is a great coach. Herb. Herb. Herb Sendek is a great coach.

But our dudes are better than their dudes. You're supposed to go out and win this game. You're supposed to go win. So go win the game. They've lost the three teams not in the tournament. They've only beaten two teams in the tournament. McNeese and St. Mary's. Yeah.

McNeese and St. Mary's. So, you know, we have only lost one game to a team not in the tournament. and it was a team that was the next team in, right? And we've beaten really good team. Yep. So go win the game and then give your shelf a chance against Iowa State. So I'm accepting no negative energy from now until tomorrow at 1215. I was kind of impressed with the way they came out and opened up playing the SEC tournament.

You know, they played pretty well in their first game, and even their second game played pretty well. Yeah. So I think, you know, there is something about turning it up, for tournament time, and this guys seem to do that. We'll learn a lot. We're going to learn a lot about sort of how this whole thing went by kind of how you play tomorrow. Now, games at 12-15.

It's early. For them, it's even earlier. Yeah. So for them it's at 915. So they're meeting with the media like any minute for the first time since the brackets came out. UK. Yeah. What do you think about Pope said that he wanted, the reason he didn't do the bracket show was he wanted to have a special moment with the team?

I think people had guessed it was because of that documentary. Apparently the documentary crew wasn't there either. So it was just, he said, you know, because the documentary crew had followed them around all year, they had never been alone. That was basically what he said. And here was our chance to be alone. What do you think of that? I think it smells like duck poop. I don't know why he wanted to isolate everybody.

But I mean, is that you, that's plausible. I mean, you could make an argument that. that why did we have this documentary crew? You know, the last time we had a documentary crew following us around all year, we made the NIT. That was when the ESPN followed us that year. The season stunk. Yeah, so, I mean, you could argue maybe we just aren't,

like the whole doing the documentary crew is not the thing for us to do. But nevertheless, let's just take it face value what he said is true, which is the crew's been around all year, so they're never alone. For whatever reason, the crew was not going to be there, so they had a chance to be alone. If this was a good idea, something that was, you know, people thought was a good idea. Did other teams do it?

Did other teams kind of be isolated? Can we want a special moment by ourselves? No. I think... I'm not as upset about this as other people are. I am. I think, though, but there are issues that I think sometimes the media complains about. Yes.

That are legitimate, that are not, like, legitimate issues. And then there are issues that sometimes the media complains about, that the media just complains because it's... It affects us. It affects us. I kind of lean towards this one being the second. So the fact that he didn't make any comment at all before the game, I think that's a mistake. That to me is a number one complaint, which is the fans want to hear what you have to say.

Yep. Say something. The fact that he didn't do the bracket watch is kind of to me more of a number two. Now, it has been a long tradition, and you could argue why do you end the tradition? But I'm more, I think number one is a legitimate complaint. Number two is just kind of. but then I never went to that. So I don't really, you know, I was always at the SEC tournament,

so I never made it. Can you make an argument about the players wanted to feel that part of getting an NCAA tournament to be a part of? I bet the players don't care. I bet the players don't care. I mean, I don't think the players care whether there's people taking pictures of them or not. They might even like it more if there's not, you know. So, but either way, his decision to not practice in that,

All that part of it just depends on how you play if you win nobody's going to care about any of this Right right no nobody will care about anything if you win and that's why winning is the great cure for all this stuff just go win Who's next Joseph Joseph? Joseph go ahead Joseph Hey man uh I think I think it's like Clara but to make it through the way it should be I want to probably six eight points and then I think uh we'll do what we usually do uh be down by half time and then I think Iowa State pulls away in the second half.

Well, way to be excited, Joseph. Appreciate the call. It's basketball. Joseph, man, nothing is going to change his, like, volume and tone, Shannon, right? Yeah, first day of the tournament. I mean, it can be anything. I'm going to get married tonight. I think it's going to go well.

We have cake. But tomorrow we're going to get into a fight. I love that, Matt Joseph. He doesn't get rattled. No. No, he's right where he's going to be. Who's next? Tim.

Tim, go ahead, Tim. Hey, Matt. Hi, Ryan. Matt, I want to comment on you kidding, Ryan, about Miami and Ohio. They have a ton of foreign athletes, and I know a college swimmer was recruited by him. And in their recruitment, they had palm trees all over the letters. Apparently a lot of these kids show up, and they're surprised that it's a middle of... Oh, really?

Oh, that's interesting. So they don't say we're in Florida, but they just let people assume that that's where they are? They have palm trees all over their stuff. I like that. I love the show. Off for the tournament, able to call in live. You guys bring me so much enjoyment in life. I love listening to you, and I love Pope, and I hope that after the end of this tournament,

we can say the guy was a genius for the things he's... done and I actually like the idea that he restricted the distractions with the media. Yeah. Well, I appreciate to call. Thank you. And thank you for listening and thank you for calling in on the thing. I like that. You know, Max Duffy told me that when he was in Australia and the guys, the punters would get

their college scholarships. Yeah. He was like, we don't have any idea where these schools are. He was like, imagine you're an American high school student and you get an offer from an Australian school and it's not in Sydney or Melbourne. You're not going to know anything about it. Nothing. He's like, in Australia, we know New York, L.A., Miami, Vegas.

So he's like deciding between Alabama and, you know, UNLV, you're like, well, I want to go to UNLV. That's right. He said, so a lot of times we get here and we don't even know where we are. That's kind of people. We don't think like that. You're right. We'll be right back.

Hour 2, KSR. Another podcast from some SNL late night comedy guy, not quite, unhumored me with Robert Smygel and friends, me and hilarious guests from Bob Odin Kirk 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 Sports Slice 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 headline. 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 Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Sliced 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. At our level, at this scale, being able to fail in front of the entire world. Like, I can do anything. I can do anything. Listen to Hurtle with Emily Abadi on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Presented by Capital One, founding partner of IHeart Women's Sports. Hey, what's good, y'all? Listening to learn the hard way with your favorite therapist and host, Kear Games. This space is about black men's experiences, having honest conversations that it's really not safe to have anywhere, but you're having them with a licensed professional who knows what he's doing. How many men carry a suit or armor. It signals to the world that you not to be played with. And just because you have the capability that does not mean that you need to. Listen to learn the hard way on the AHA radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.