KSR - 2026-03-30- KSR - Hour 2

Episode Date: March 30, 2026

Ryan, Drew, and Shannon are joined by Jack Pilgrim talking the latest UK Basketball news and taking your calls.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Welcome to Hour 2 of Kentucky Sports Radio, presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now, here's Matt Jones. All right, welcome back, hour number two. We're going to start with breaking news as soon as we get going here. Ryan Drew. Ryan Drew Shere and Jack Pippam. Drew Franklin, with big news it just happened. I mean, an email just hit the inbox as the intro music is playing.

It's from UK Athletics saying Kentucky volleyball will play Penn State at Wrigley Field this year. That's really cool. That sounds awesome. That's awesome. September 6th, which appears to be a Sunday after the home football opener. Kind of reading this on the fly. But yeah, Kentucky Penn State at Wrigley. That's awesome.

That sounds like a KSR trip. I've never known a volleyball game to be outside or at a state. stadium. That is really cool. It's the inaugural SEC Big Ten Volleyball Challenge. Be on national TV, obviously. Cubs are officially hosting it. That makes sense. Yeah, that's all I have now.

That's crazy. We've got to go to that. Being in the windy city, you know, maybe the wind might have a lot to do with the outdoor volleyball. They're also going to the Bahamas for an inaugural event down there. The volleyball team? Yes. Wow. Craig's

Skinner getting it done. So there you go, breaking news. I do have another breaking news story, Shannon. You need another one? Yeah, I got another one, one another one. I don't think this might be the most... Wani Nana! Breaking news we've ever had in one second.

The state of Tennessee are now limiting all baseball games to just five innings. How do I turn this off, Shannon? I got it right here. There we go. FulK baseball team limits all... I mean, Tennessee baseball only to five innings. They're not going to play the sixth, seventh, eighth,

their ninth inning because nobody in Tennessee plays the final four. All right, Ryan, Drew, Shannon, and Jack goes. That was like an alternating version of it. You're getting spinoffs. Yeah. I guess that was better than the golf one. Before we get to our friend Tiger Woods, I got a couple questions here on the A-Vision class text machine.

Jack, did we do a couple deals for some guys to keep for two years because the rules were changing? Not, that is not my understanding of how these, I think it's all, because of how last year set up was with the pre-rev share, everything was just kind of blank checks to everybody now that the rev-share stuff and they're having to combine the pots with all that. I don't believe anybody is back for a re-up on what their previous year's deal was. You hear anything on that, Drew?

I've not. There was like, as Jack said, when Kentucky took advantage of the rules as things were changing, and they got to pay a little more than they will this year. I think it's partly why Jack Givens mentioned they won't have the same pot they did. It was more of just how the calendar lined up, but I don't know of any two-year deals. I wondered at the time if like a Hawthorne or somebody might be, but your big names aren't signing a two-year deal when they can go double-dip the next off-season. That's why the budget was $22 million.

Maybe they were signing a couple guys for two-year deals. That's why it inflated that number a little bit. I think it's what made us feel better about the number in real time, but maybe not the reality. Another one from the A-Vision Glass Tech Machine. Does Drew or Jack have any scoop or scuttle butt on coaches? not publicly yet. You can share with us. We're just us, just friends.

I do think some calls are happening, and I think they're, we'll see. But I do think that we should see some news pop up here the next day or two. But Pope's swinging. Pope's seeing what he can pull off with these replacements and seeing who he can, who he can hire with these replacements. The basketball aspect aside, I think you agree. Alvin Brooks seemed like a good dude. you knew him a little better than me, but I wish him well and his family.

That was a big deal for them to move here for a couple of years. Obviously, it didn't work out, but I'm wishing him the best, especially. Hart too, but Brooks really seemed like a great guy. We're probably going to hear Rondo's name come up on the next couple of years. Would he possibly join the staff? So, Cal tried. Like, that was a thing. Cal tried really hard, had conversations with him.

In fact, there was an event in Lexington. It was one of those just kind of donor events that Cal told the crowd, like, we're bringing Rondo on staff for this next year, Tyler Ulyss. I think that was when Rondo started taking classes at Uly. Tyler Ullis had just gotten the student assistant job, and he was like, well, shoot, if I could get Tyler Ullos on staff, I'm getting Rondo on staff too. But I think it was a little bit more complicated on Cal's side

than he realized with, you know, he had his own AAU program and some other things that would be a direct violation for, you know, NCAA reasons. So he, I think he was a little ambitious with his push for Rondo. but hey, I'm for it. If Rondo is interested in joining a coaching staff, I want it to be at the University of Kentucky. All right, we've got to get to Tiger Woods.

Over the weekend, gets arrested for possibly driving DUI. He passed the breathalyzer test but refused to take a P test. So I guess the implication is that maybe he was allegedly on some pills or illegal drugs. Breaks my heart. I mean, he is one of the top athletes of all time. you put Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods. I mean, those of all time. And now to see this happen again with him, Drew, it just kind of just breaks my heart a little bit.

Definitely, a big Tiger fan here. I think you were there when I cried at KS. Barr when he won the Masters years ago. He did cry. He was very unexpected. He had a little tear in my eye. I think it was during a Reed, Travis signing. Reed even stopped signing. I think Reed might have had a tear in his eye.

You know, Tiger's a legend. He was coming towards a comeback at the Masters. we're all rooting for. But this stuff he's got to get under control. There's no excusing this. I don't care how much we love his golf game. He's lucky he hadn't killed somebody at this point. This has already happened more times than it should.

He needs to go out and get help. I know a lot of people say he needs to get a full-time driver because he's rich. Whatever it takes. He's now gotten very lucky twice, twice that we know of. So Tiger, yes, I love to watch you hit a golf ball, but please get some help because this could have been much worse. Yeah, I can't say any better than that. But yeah, I looked at it.

I saw the updates unfold and I was like, I don't know if it's 2006, 2012, because it just feels like it's in every couple years major setback for him, like right when he feels right on the cusp of breaking through and kind of having his hurrah moment again, he has another setback. So yeah, I'm wishing him the best and he's got to get a stuff together. The one that happened years ago, I remember, I don't know if people were trying to spin it. They were talking about, oh, it was a dangerous part of the road. It was a blind spot. Okay, whatever. This one, he was like flying through a suburban neighborhood when someone's pulling in their driveway. Like, come on, Tiger.

we can't be doing this like figure it out whether clearly whatever he's got going on with the we assume addiction to pills that whatever but the driving if if you're going through that don't drive you can afford Uber you afford a driver like this this can't keep happening it's it's sad but it's also on him that he's doing it he can afford helicopter rides wherever he wants to go he doesn't even need to be driving like come on tiger Shannon is sad you know our heroes and you see their star get tarnished a little bit yeah and that was my takeaway the same that drew and jack were saying I mean you've got all that that money. There's no excuse for you to ever be driving in that condition. I mean, if you don't have a full-time driver, you can afford, I don't think Tiger's going to get an Uber, but if you wanted to, he could get an Uber and it'd be a lot safer than him driving around hopped up on on pain meds or whatever it was. So, yeah, he's going to kill somebody. You're right, Drew. I mean, you can't keep doing that if you're Tiger. And he has. So it is. What does he do now? Don't drive. I mean, from the golf standpoint, it was, he was saying stuff about a potential return. He was. He just did his

total golf league a few weeks ago even though he missed a three-putt and looked pretty bad. There was some excitement behind Tiger, some great PR and some people thinking, are we going to get to see Tiger giving another run? And then to have this happen, put your clubs down and go figure out your life right now, Tiger.

Because, you know, he could be that guy like Jack Nicholas would hit the first shot at the Masters and all these great golf stars. Gary player, Arnold, I know what you're saying, the ceremonial And golf needs that. Can he still be that guy? Oh, yeah, he can still be that.

But right now he needs to, you know, quit being selfish and getting on the road in that condition. Because when you're passing people in a suburb as they're pulling in their driveway, you're out of control. And it's lucky he hadn't been much work. I mean, his car flipped over. He was lucky there's no injuries. Very true. Yeah. All right, 859-28027.

I'll go back to the phone line. So we got, Shannon. Let's go to Alvin. Alvin. Go ahead, Alvin. Good to hear from you. Hey, likewise. Thank you a lot.

I think Little Charlie needs Tagger Woods. He has a great young son that's going to be a promising golfer. We don't like to see superstars having these type of incidents similar to Mike Tyson and others. Tiger Woods is a icon in certain generations, a great golfer. I do have a question for your panel. If Yukon wins guys this championship, do they move into the Blue Blood Conversation, which I really think is antiquated blue blood. If they do, who would they replace?

I think Indiana needs to be removed and maybe UCLA. So I wanted you to, you know, comment on that to see if they would change the lineup regarding blue bloods. Appreciate it, Alvin. I think they're already a blue blood. They are. I mean, they're already there. Six and 20, what, seven years, 28 years? Six, six, it's 1999.

I mean, they're sneaking up on. Kentucky. We got to be careful. We're going to get past. Sneaking up, they have six to our one since 1999. Oh, my goodness. That's gross. Imagine they get a seventh. Yeah, I mean, they deserve everything that's being said about them. Like Alvin said, I don't know how much blue blood still exists. According to Rick Petino, they're dead. But if there's still the conversation of blue bloods, you have to put Yukon in it right now. Yeah, I think that that conversation's been over. I think they've been a blue blood. I'm more concerned about their standing compared to ours in

in terms of like the trajectory and where things are going. But I mean, they were talking about Villanova being a blue blood and if they belong in the conversation when they went on their little J. Wright run. So I, you know, Yukon is absolutely deserving. And I think another one would only add to that. You know, I've said this before, Josiah is 19 years old. He doesn't remember Kentucky winning the 2012 title. But he remembers Yukon all these titles they've won.

So for the younger generation, and Yukon is the UCLA of our generation. They're the superstar team right now. Kind of are, especially they have another one. And compared to Indiana, I guess from my math's right, Indiana has one final four appearance to Yukon's six national titles since 1999. So if you're trying to put Indiana in that group, they're definitely getting kicked out.

Here's my thing. Is Hurley, if he gets three of four, does he start kind of getting his wandering eye going, and I've accomplished everything that I, because that was the speculation when he, you know, Kentucky tried for him, the Lakers tried for him. It was like,

hey, you've already won two. Like, what more could you need? Yeah. He gets three of four and is kind of established himself atop the sport. Does he kind of start going, well,

maybe I can test myself somewhere else and see if I can do it, you know, a bigger, bigger powerhouse, so to speak. Would Hurley have worked here? Ooh. Not with Barnhart.

Not with Bonhart, but, But himself as a coach, yes, because he's Dan Hurley, and he could coach anybody to a championship. So, yeah, probably. He'd work about anywhere in college. If he went to the NBA, that would not work. The way he acts doing that to a mega-millionaire. Think of someone, name a NBA superstar.

I don't know if they're going to take the Dan Hurley level of coaching. So if he stays in college, I think he'd win anywhere. If he tries to make the jump in the pros, I don't see his style working at that level. Yeah, can you see him doing it with Draymond Green? Or even yawning, anybody, up in their face like that. I mean, there was a real chance that he was going to do it with LeBron and Luca. That's true. That would not have been horrible.

I'm confident in that. I mean, LeBron won't even listen to JJ Reddick. I mean, I definitely not listen to Hurley getting his face. You see, Luca got his 16th technical already this season, 16 technicals. So I heard him say what the record was. Shannon, you know what the record is for most technicals in an NBA season, 82 game NBA season? I don't know. I'm going to say Dennis Robin has it.

Am I right or wrong? No. No. You guys got to guess who it is, who has it? Marcus Cousins. No. It's Rashid Wallace. Yes, it's Rashid Wallace.

Yeah, that's an easy one. Rashid Wallace with, you know how many he's got? No, I don't know how he has. In an 82 game season, 41 techniques. I figured. It's probably him by mile. 41 technical is in an 82 game season. Every other game he was getting teed up.

So Luca's got 16 right now with several, well, no, like what, 10 games left or something? He's got a long way to go. Yeah, he's got one. All right, well, take a break, come back. 859, 2802-2-287. Ryan, Drew, Shannon, Jack. We'll be right back.

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Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free. Have a great day. What's up, guys? This is Clever Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee. We're in the middle of a game.

This linebacker walks up to me. He goes, hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue 42. A rep. My mama want you to wave at her. What? Hey.

Miss Parker Listen to the Cliverts show on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast. This God's up to something. That's it. I'm Scott Fitzgerald. I'm Scott Fitzgerald.

And this song, if it happens every commercial break. They live in my head. They do. You know what else lives in my head, Ryan? What else? Court physical therapy. Tell me about court physical therapy.

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while also helping you prevent future injuries from happening. With over 70 locations statewide, it's easy to find a center near you. Go to court.com to experience the best in rehab. That's K-O-R-T. 859-2-2-8-7. Let's get a phone call. We got, Chan. Who we got?

Let's go to Roland. Roland. Go ahead, Roland. Hey, yeah, I'm around a lot of basketball, and I may be a minority on this, but I do not like Marino's game. I mean, to me, he doesn't roll to the rim. He doesn't attack the rim.

He's like shy on rebound, and he's shy on getting over where he needs to be. And I just, you know, I just don't like Marino's game. You know, we need somebody that's ready to attack the rim. We don't need any guys like that. All right, Roland, appreciate it. Yeah, I'm going to the rim. And, you know, recruiting, real quick, just recruiting,

all they need is 12 guys. You need four guys from 6 to 6,6, you need 4 guys from 6 to 6 9, and you need four guys to snap and over. It's that simple. Simple. We just need attackers, not these guys at all. Sounds like we need Roland on the staff. Yeah.

Roland, I appreciate it. We'll put you on a staff. What do you guys think about Roland's philosophy about Malachi and 4-4 and 4? I mean, Malachi has a lot of places that needs to improve. I feel like people are a little hard on a guy who plays the center position and was just playing against Madison Central and Frederick Douglass a year ago. and then he jumps to the SEC. You know, Jack mentioned he's a little physical,

hands need to get better. But at some point, like, I think we got it burned in our brains from the cow era, that players just are what they are for one year. Like, I think Malachi has a great chance to grow. You got a lot of growth in one season. Sure, there's a lot of things he can work on, but I don't think you throw them away right away over a freshman year,

especially for a center that has to make that big jump from high school to the SEC. Yeah, we got to remember. He 19-year-old kid, man. True. He wasn't supposed to be where he, like, it was going to be Jaden Quaint's team. And Brandon Garrison backing him up in Malachi playing eight, 12 minutes a game. Yeah. He got thrust into that position, not his fault, and he outperformed the expectation for what it was coming in.

And, like, I feel like it just put him in a really tough spot for the fans where at the end, they just leaned on him so much to be something that he's not yet. But he showed so many flashes of being that. all-American type of talent. And I think we also have the recency bias with Amari Williams being the complete perfect product as a 22, 23-year-old. So, like, he was four years advanced beyond what Malachi is right now. Just give him time where he is right now. He's already exceeded all expectations, and I think he could be a star at Kentucky. If anything, Pope failed building the front court where Malachi had to be the guys of freshmen, that was not the plan. It's just that, you know, acquaintance we didn't get to see. And then Garrison didn't make that big jump.

that everyone was assured would happen. So Malikai was already doing more than he was recruited to do, and I think he's got a lot left in him. This is from the Aviation Glass Tech Machine. I'd like to hear Jack go through the current players and give his percentage chance of each coming back. We did this with Matt the other day. You feel comfortable doing it.

We go real quick, and Drew, you can jump in if you got an update. Sure. All right. You got to read them off to me. Let's do Malachi first. Stay. Are we doing like a percentage chance? A percentage chance.

Matt loves percentage chances. Okay. 70. Yeah, I think I said 75 when we did this last week. I'll stick with that. I said 50. I jump it up to 9 like 80. I just don't think Pope can let that happen. If he sees a foot out the door, he needs to make sure he pulls him back. Shannon? Yeah, I think he's coming back. 75, I'll say. Brandon Garrison.

25%. I was 50. I'm going to go lower to 30. Yeah, I think I was about 40. And, you know, he has a child that's in Oklahoma. And maybe he wants to go back closer to the child. I can see some things in it right. And he was paid so much this year that you just can't. You can't run it back in that rent.

That's right. Shannon? I think he's gone. I think I said 10 or 15 last week. So I'll stick with that. Cameron Williams. Cam Williams? 50%. Oh.

So hoping Jack will be a little higher there. Me too. I'll say 70. Yeah, I was going on like 70. I thought he was a guy that was maybe leaning more toward Jack may know something. What about you, Shannon? You need back. Give you some three-point shooting.

I'll say 60. Colin Chandler. There's a lot of scuttlebutt about him on the socials this weekend. I'm still going to go high. I know BYU wants him. That's something we have to assume was going to happen. Yeah. Just unique circumstances there.

I still think he's got a connection to Pope and he really likes this place and then he'll see it through. But it's not as high as I want it to be. I'll say he's 70. 70. Yeah, pretty high. 70. I can go with that. Trent Noah.

That's the coin flip because I think that there's a real pull for him internally. Like he wants to play. He doesn't want to be a token kid at the end of the bench. You know, Victory Cigar Kid. Like I think he wants to play. But I think he will also make much more money here than anywhere else with the organic local

NIL. He wouldn't take up a bunch of the, you know, the rev share cap, cap dollars. So I think it's going to be a do you value wearing the jersey and making a lot of money or playing somewhere and probably dropping down a level. So I'm going to go coin flip. I'm saying 50. Same here for what he just said. I mean, he will not, he will not find better support than he has here, obviously. I mean, there are people screaming for him at the end of season. They want a more Trent Noah. He has that Kentucky fan base that would be hard to get away from. But at the same time, he's done two years of it. Maybe he wants to go somewhere where he can get up a bunch shots to the game. It'll just come down

to what's between his ears. But I'll keep it at a coin flip because it would be hard to turn down the money and the fan support in Lexington, even though it'd be likely a smaller role. Shannon? I'll see him as another Travis Perry. And maybe that's just because he's a Kentucky guy, a good three-point shooter, you know, that didn't necessarily perform like we thought he was going to.

So I think he goes somewhere else. I'll say there's a 30% chance he comes back. Brandon Hawthorne. Braden? Braden Hallthorn, sorry. 50%. Really? 50%.

Wow. That didn't go. No. They're aware, because if you want Stokes and you want Cam Williams, you can see where Hawthorne's like, well, I don't really spot for me. If they do get Stokes and Williams comes back, to be different than Jack, I'll say 55. But he's probably waiting to see what pans out if I'm guessing. Yeah, Shannon.

I think he comes back. I'll go 75. Jasper Johnson. 10. He's gone. 20%. You and I went really low last week on this. I think I said one or two.

I will raise it to 15, but I still think it's unlikely. And a reset would probably be good for him. To me, the biggest wild card, Aberdeen. He has no eligibility, so I'm going to say he's gone. Diabate, I know why I said Aberdeen. I'm going to go 0% on Aberdeen and O-A. I don't know why I said Aberdeen. I'll go 0%.

O'A, 100%. I'll go zero on Jason Hart, zero on Alvin Brooks. Let's try to get it. The Abate? 35%. I'll go 50. I heard mid-year things were optimistic about it on both sides that those conversations were going well as the season progressed.

But you get to this stage of the calendar and their phones are ringing and offers they didn't have start showing up. Shannon? He'll go 40. Go right in the middle between those two. See, I was kind of lower on him. And now I'm kind of a little bit higher on him than I was originally. So, Pope, I think once that physical, number four guy. He's another one I'd love to have back only if the team is built the right way.

We saw how it hurts the offense with him at the four and not being able to get spacing. But if you have spacing and shooters and need him to come off the bench and do what he did at the end of the year, I would love to have him back. About out of time, we've got to do Yelovitch yet. 40%. I'll say 35. Yeah, Shannon, 30. Well, this didn't go as well as we did last the other day. Are we doing Mark Fox? Mark Fox. Let's do Mark Fox. Just keep watching coaching staff moves. 40. We'll take our break.

We'll be right back. Kentucky Sports Radio. 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. All right, welcome back. Ryan, Drew, Shannon, and Jack Pilgrim here. Kentucky Sports Radio, taking your calls, 859-280-2287.

And our breakdown of the players, I did forget, Reese Potter. He said after, after the, the season ended that he was like I don't care I just want to be here I love you know being a part of this and you know Pope will have me back I'll be back and I know he wasn't making a ton of money in year one as a red shirt anyway so I think the plan is for him for him to come back but you know I think he's one of those end of bench we'll see we'll see what happened guys that you know but I expect him back I do too and since he didn't play this year you know I don't know that his phone will be ringing with huge offers because he didn't really show anything at the next level so just knowing

his connection to UK and being from here, I would expect him to run it back another season. The difference with Hawthorne as the redshirt thing is Hawthorne was a top 40 recruit, like NBA draft interest. There will be a bidding war for him, at least with the back channels of people wanting to come and steal him as a potential starpiece for their respective program. So that's part of the reason why I think Braden, like, does he get outpriced for Kentucky versus what they're willing to pay? Do you believe that Hawthorne was about to get his?

red shirt pool, but he's sprained his ankle? I don't. I mean, my understanding of the people that actually watch practice that he was awesome, showed flashes of it, but he redshirted for a reason. If he was good enough to play, he would be playing. You know, he was way too skinny, way too raw, immature. Like that was a common thing that popped up with him, just, you know, a little too physically and mentally immature to be a serious competitor right now.

But next season could be awesome for him if he does to come. I'll come back. Shannon, I got a story for you. All right. The guy named Tucker Johnson, who played for hazard basketball that looked like Kurt Rambus. Oh, yeah, yeah. Remember talking about him?

A big fan of this guy. Yeah, we all are. Yeah, he came to KS Bar, has the hair, has the glasses, looks like Kurt Rambus. As soon as the hazard got beat and as soon as the high school basketball season was over, guess what he started doing? Duck hunting. Training to be a wrestler. It's perfect.

It's perfect. The guy looks like Kurt Rambus. He's from Hazard, and he's training to be a professional wrestler. The guy that doesn't need a gimmick. Like, he is his own gimmick. He is his own gimmick. I loved it. We think that maybe he's going to end up at OVW.

OVW. It's one of the biggest training grounds for wrestling in the country. Him and Cash Daniel, future tag team partners. I mean, from the mountains, it's perfect, both those guys. So he's now my new favorite. Well, Cash is my favorite. Tuck Johnson is my second favorite. He's got to wear the goggles.

He cash is your favorite because he puts you through a table. That's true. Did you see the Abby Hornacek reporter get body slammed? It made me think of your derby. No. Oh, she took a suplex from a female wrestler. Her neck almost snaps. I know this is radio.

You can't give you the video here, but you'll have to watch it. Okay. She voluntarily takes a suplex, but she is inches from her neck's mapping. Reminded me of your derby. She took it in stride. She did. She hopped right up. She was on the job?

Yeah, but she hops right up and finishes. the live hit, but you know she's hurting. And she probably didn't know how close she was to some long-term effects. It was a nasty suplex. 859-2802-287. Who's next, Shannon? Let's go to Kevin. Kevin, go ahead, Kevin.

Yeah, thanks for taking my call, guys. You may have said this earlier in the show, so sorry if it's a repeat, but what are your, what's your opinions on Stokes? You know, I guess, what is your gut telling you? I'll just give you mind real quick. I think if he wanted to come to Kentucky, he'd be here already. He seems to be waiting on, you know,

I guess a clear future for Bill's self. So, and to me, if that's, if he wants to go to Kansas that bad, then even though we need players, he just doesn't seem like he really wants to be here, in my opinion. So I'll hang up and listen to your call. All right, Kevin,

appreciate it. What you're hearing, Jack? I preface by saying I think that Kansas is the leader, has been the leader, better relationships with the Kansas staff. All of those things are very true. But why is he not committed to Kansas then? Like why are we still doing this song and dance with him if it's just been a shoe in lock for Kansas this whole time? So you can't kind of have it both ways when we're, you know, weighing both of these things. Oh, he doesn't really want to be here.

Well, it doesn't sound like he really is dying to be at Kansas because he's still not committed there too. The Bill Self thing, I think that's something to really monitor that is he just going to pull a Bruce Pearl, Steven Pearl deal where he's going to coach the guys throughout the summer. And then once you get the day before the official start of fall practice, say, Coach Vaughn, you're now the head coach and I'm calling it a career. I think that's something that if I'm Mark Pope, I need to be leaning super, super, super hard into and say, like, you don't know if the guy that is promising you to be your head coach is even going to be your head coach. So I think the longer this drags out, it helps Kentucky. I do think that the Nike thing is very real. I think that's been probably the biggest hang up in his entire recruitment is will he, if he goes to Kansas, will they let him wear Nike?

Would he ever be willing to wear Adidas, given his contracts and all that? I think that's a really problematic thing for him that he's trying to sift through. So I think the longer this drags out is better for Kentucky, but all things considered, the momentum is still still in Kansas way. Yeah, it's pretty clear he prefers Kansas, but the Adidas Nike thing and Bill Self, he just can't pull the trigger yet or hasn't. I know Kentucky fans kind of grown at being the second option, but if he ends up at Kentucky next year when it's 10 minutes left in the Louisville game, I'll tell you what I'm not thinking about that he thought about Kansas in April. I don't care if we're fifth on his list. If he ends up putting the jersey on, I don't think twice about what is happening right now.

So that doesn't bother me at all that maybe second on his list. if he ends up putting Kentucky on top, we're fine with whatever he's going through his mind right now. I mean, Terrence Jones committed to Washington. That's true. And then Coach Cow called him a day later and was like, hey, but what will be doing? And he switched.

You up. We were fine after that. Are you putting any traction to the Jamal Crawford interviews with Kentucky, possibly assistant coach, and he's a connection with Stokes or anything? Not yet. I think that's something that I'd love for Pope to call

and pick his brain a little bit about, but my understanding is that Jamal loves where he is. He's got that super cushy NBA on NBC job that, you know, he's coaching his, you know, eighth grade son in Seattle. So I think it's something that Pope needs to see if he can swing for the fences on that one. But my understanding is that he's content with where he is. But, you know, worth a phone call. 859-2-80-2-287. Shannon. Let's go to Jacob.

Jacob. Go ahead, Jacob. Hey guys, good morning. Morning. I love this team, man. I didn't like the outcome, but I love this team. I love the cats, no matter who those on the jerseys. I do worry about Tyron Stokes being

a Darren Peterson type. Granted, I'd love the kid if he came, no matter what he did, if he puts up 30 a night, you know, we're going to love him. but with the and I hate all the fake media on Facebook I don't know what to believe what not I mean you can obviously tell what not to believe but with the landscape of like Vox and of course we got Mo Williams committed which is awesome who could you possibly see starting for Kentucky next year?

I appreciate it Jacob if you have let me know if you find out it is a song summer show, so why not? Who would you foresee a potential starting lineup next year? Oh my goodness. Malachi? Are we being optimistic? Yeah, I'll say Malachi. I mean, like the dream lineup would have Stokes in it,

maybe some dink paint. There's three. I don't know. I mean, if we're just dreaming. Colin and Cam, there's our five. We need a good point guard. I mean, I would love to go to Vanderbilt and take him. There's a lot of them I'd love to have, but right now it's so early in the portal process, I don't have much optimism at the point

guard spot. Superstar point guard. Not going to name names, but just superstar point guard. Yet to be announced point guard. Colin. Stokes. Yeah, let's go.

Yeah, let's do this. All right. Superstar point guard, Colin, Dink Pate, Tyron Stokes, Malachi Marano. There we go. There's your train line out. That's what I want.

With Yelovich off the bench. There we go. Heck yes. Let's do it. And Aberdeen. Aberdeen with his make-believe six-year senior. Cam Williams, six man of the year. This is on the A Vision Glass Tech Machine.

What are you guys over under for a tournament run next year? If I give you Sweet 16, are you taking the over or under? Don't make me do this, Ryan. Gosh, I mean, until we, like, if Tyrant Stokes commits, and I go, let's run it, let's go. I could be bought very, very easily. But until we see it, I think this week, I mean, with the Domino's, with the Stegos decisions, I think the offers are coming in. I think they're going to be accepted slash turned down.

and I think we'll get a better feel for all of this. But I think Sweet 16 is a real nice, safe bet for right now. So I'm going breaking even on that one. On March 30th, I'll go under because I can't name one player that will be on the team. But my mind could quickly change in the next two weeks. That's true. Excuse me, Mason Williams. You know what?

I apologize to Mason Williams. In that case, Elite 8. Mason Williams and 11 players to be named later will lead us to the elite eight. Well, didn't Hawthorne say he was coming back during that? I mean, they all say that. What else are you supposed to say in those moments? Yeah, Jalen Lowe is not going to say during the March Madness run that he's coming back. And even if they believe it, you're one phone call away with someone on the other end saying,

I got a bag for you to come here. I mean, this can change in a night. Well, as we saw with your boy Wilkerson last year. Yeah, changed overnight. It takes one phone call and whatever you thought you were doing, you can change that real fast. I can confirm everything that you heard on that. You are totally vindicated and everything to do. Lamar Wilkinson.

Thank you, Jack. They still get right to be clear. We can't vindicate him saying it was done. Yeah. Yeah. It was done that night before. But your optimism was justified. Yeah.

Just can't use the 100%. 99.9. There you go. All right. We'll take our last break. Come back. Our last time. We've got a couple calls.

We've got to get to 859-2-2-287. Ryan, Drew Shannon, and Jack. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. 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 SportsSlice 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. SportsSlics brings you closer to the action with stories told by the people who live them. Listen to SportsClyce on the IHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

And for more, follow Timbo Slic 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. 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.

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Body by Jake Radio, where hope meets momentum. Search Body by Jake Radio and stream it for free. Have a great day. I heart radio. What's up guys? This is Clivert Taylor the 4th. And on my podcast, The Cliverts Show, I'm bringing you conversations about all kinds of stuff. Like being an internet famous referee.

We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Quarterback on office blue 42. Hey, rep, my mama wants you to wave at her. What? Where's she at?

Hey, Ms. Parker. Listen to the Clippers show on the Iheart radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Final segment, Kentucky Sports Radio. Ryan, Drew, Shannon, Jack, who's our sponsor, Shannon? The Kentucky Skin Cancer Center. You know, the Final Four is here, and so is prime time for your skin, tailgating, patios, sunshine before tip off. It can all add up. Skin Cancer is the most common cancer in America.

It's also one of the most preventables. So go to Kentucky Skin Cancer Center.com. They offer full-body skin checks and treatment for all types of skin cancer, and they're right here in your community. Owensboro, Bowling Green, Franklin, Glasgow, and Powderly, Kentucky Skin Cancer Center. Center.com for an appointment. Did their Louisville Kings win their opener this weekend? Oh, no, I watched it. Lost in the end. They led for a lot of the game.

It looked like a great crowd. It looked like it was packed. They had like a cool skyline shot of Louisville before the game started. The broadcast was fun. First drive, they threw an interception. It's like a blooper. It hits the tight end and the helmet pops in the air. Then it bobbles off both of his hands.

I think it hits in the helmet again and it's an interception. At that point, I was like, oh my goodness. Let's not have him on the team anymore. or just hand it off to Benny. But then Benny didn't really get going either. The offensive line's got to get him some help. But they lost the overall just product of the broadcast and stuff look fun. I'd like to go sometime.

So I'm rooting for it, but game one did not go well. And they had a little incident. I don't know if you saw it halftime. The players walked through a tunnel where there's an open bar and the other team and the fans got into it, including other players grabbing drinks and throwing them at the fans. Oh, my. It had to be separated.

Oh, wow. I would say maybe not run that back next time. Because, I mean, it wasn't like a little bit of jaw in there, throwing drinks at each other. That's Shannon's kind of an event. Overall, Go Kings, though. We got to get Benny going a little better, get him some holes, but it looked like a fun atmosphere.

It looked like it was packed. Did Lynn Bowden ever get picked up? He did not. I feel like we could get him on waiver wire right now. Well, we cut him, so I don't know. I know. I may he's free. We can back up now.

That's a big hit for them not having Lynn and Benny. That was a big selling point. 859-2-802-8-7. I've got a couple callers yet before we get out of here. So who we got, Shannon. Let's go to bike. Mike, go ahead, Mike. Hey, guys, I've got a question for Jack.

On the recruiting trail, do you think that Polk's shared minutes and name on the front of the jersey hinders his ability to land some of these top recruits, whether it's high school or transfer fertile? I appreciate it. Thank you, Mike. Yeah, 100%. Yeah, that's definitely been a talking point, and it's been negatively, you know, a negative recruiting pitch. for other schools to say, why would you only go play 20, 22 minutes there when we're going to promise you 30? But I think it's kind of the same deal with the cow where it's like, we're not going to promise you anything, but you can come in and play. And I think it helped

this year with, you know, Aberdeen playing 38 minutes and Otega playing 38. Like, I think year one was a bad example because that's when it really peaked. You know, hey, this is Mr. System coach, not player's first coach. So I think year two helped his. cause, even though the product itself was a little bit more of a stinker. So I think it should be on the uptake going into year three. And I think some of the support staff help that he's getting. And it seems like he's trending back in the right direction to kind of make, you know, make up some ground on the recruiting front.

Your post you made, you and Jacob, was very alarming with the fact that some people were admitting that Pope would get to the closing table and couldn't get the deal closed, that sort of thing, and it wants you to play for the front of the jersey. and that's alarming in this day and age. Yeah, but I'll, I think to Pope's credit and to give him some grace, this is all brand new to him. I mean, he only, he has this romanticized view of Kentucky basketball of the 1990s and what it was then and what it means to him now.

And I think what's missing and something that he has to learn on the fly on the job is kids just don't care about that. You've got to make, you've got to get them here first and then make them care later. Don't, you know, like, John, wall didn't come to Kentucky because it was the sacred piece of cloth. He came because he wanted the platform to go be the number one draft pick. And that's exactly what he did. And then he ended up falling in love with the University of Kentucky in the process. That is the future. That's what these kids care about. Tyrant Stokes is the perfect example of I could not, because Drew so

eloquently said, I do not care about where he's like, oh, I'd rather play at Kansas. Don't care. Get him on campus. Let him fall in love with the fan base. Let him fall in love with all this stuff and figure all that stuff out later. For being honest, most of the players we love in history probably didn't have those feelings about Kentucky until they got there. Outside of the ones born in this state or might have grown up nearby that like it, the legends we think of probably came in here not really knowing about the sacred cloth on the fan base other than what they hear and then they fall in love as it happened. So let's keep it that way.

Trying to sell it to them until they live it, I think they might even be like, what are you talking about? What is this? They'll fall in love when they get here. There's no doubt about that. So maybe I wouldn't lean all the way into that. I would focus on the basketball and let the Kentucky romanticism fall into place because it will. Who's next, Shannon?

J.C. J.C. You're up next. Go ahead. Hey, guys. I'm trying to get to invest, most invested in Tyron Stokes. Of course, I've never seen play other than his eclipse. Jack, do you think he would even be a top 10 player in this year's class if he was like a year older? and Disney have an outside shot. And I'm a kind of guy that kind of likes this older postman.

I'm worried about Maika being able to put on waiting within a year. I think he's like three years away. I'll hang up plus. All right, J.C., appreciate it. What do you think, Jack? 100%. Tyron is, he's the goods. Tyron is a...

He'd be a top ten player this year? Yes, he's a bull in a China shop, like physical freak. Julius Randallie, in that regard. but also I think tests himself with what he can do on the perimeter and he's taken 29 foot step back threes just to be like I can add that to my bag you know pick little things so like the efficiency is a work in progress those things but he's even said in interviews he is he is cocky he but he believes in himself more than anybody else in the world believes in himself and you need that like that's what that's what a kentucky basketball player embodies it's

i believe i'm better than you i believe that i can go be a a superstar at the highest level, average 20 points a game and be the number one draft pick. You want that to be a part of your program, and I think he lives up to the billing in that regard. Tough, tough, tough kid. You know, character, I don't know, so concerns, but that's a talking point about being a, you know,

good teammate, but he's just, he's got that, that edge to him, that dog to him, that it embodies winning. Yeah, one more caller. We've got out of here, Shannon. Who we got, Robert? Robert. Go ahead, Robert. Hey guys, I want to say I am pro-poe, but I want to go back if when Bruce Pearl was a conversation,

how would you all have felt if he had come to Kentucky? And at whatever stage of the game it was, left right before the season and left Kentucky with having to take Stephen Pearl as their coach. Appreciate the phone call. Drew, we got back a minute. Well, that wouldn't have. It wouldn't have taken the Kentucky job just to leave. Also, we got like nepotism laws that they don't have, right?

I don't think he could have done that. I think that was a Cal Brad issue. So I don't think that's scenario. could have even happened. What if he'd stayed five years, then giving it off to Stephen? That wouldn't have had. We would not have let Stephen Pearl coach this basketball. That would not have happened.

There's no scenario where Stephen Pearl would have taken over. Like what Auburn did, you know, their Auburn. And Bruce Lesson, that would not have happened here. Good for him, though. Good for Stephen to just walk his way into a high major, big-time coaching job and have Bruce Pearl build the platform for him. Almost made the tournament. Yeah, jealous.

For your first head coaching job, not a bad. Jack, thank you for coming in. Appreciate you. I'm always. On a basketball heavy day. Drew's driving the ship tomorrow. Football talk. A lot of football and Nick Rouse.

That's right. We'll back. This is Connecticut Sports Radio. 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 business.

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And nobody's telling you exactly what happened. That's where Sports Slice comes in. I'm Timbo. In every episode, we're cutting through the noise, breaking down the biggest moments in sports and giving you the real story behind the head. 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 podcast.

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We're in the middle of a game. This linebacker. This linebacker walks up to me, he goes, Hey, ref, my mom wants you to wave at her. What? Time out. Quarterback on office blue of 42. Hey, ref, my mama want you to wave at her.

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