4.18: Friday Vibes Are High - Hour 3

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Sports Talk seven nine day. Now here's Nick coffee.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
All right, five o'clock hour here on a good Friday.
I don't know what it looks like outside, but I
know it was beautiful all day today and I hope
that it still is. And I don't know why. It's
taken me a little while to get used to it.
But it's a nice surprise, like unexpected happiness that you
know you weren't anticipating it. Really, it's a strong hit.

(00:46):
And whenever I leave here at six point thirty or
you know, earlier, depending upon what I have to do
before I leave, and I walk outside and like it's
not only still daylight, but like it's sunny like that.
I don't know, because I'm in this cave all day.
I guess it's just taken me a little longer actually
realized that, you know, here we are in late April,
mid April. I guess, uh, you know, it stays light outside,

(01:06):
and it's uh like tonight is the night patio dinners. Right,
Like if you if you you got a restaurant with
a good patio, you're gonna be busy tonight for good reason,
so good vibes, no doubt. As we get you out
of here, we'll get you set for Easter weekend and
uh we'll finish strong, at least we'll attempt to. So
I'm gonna look up here with the n C Double A.
When is the n C Double A transfer portal window?

(01:30):
Because we talked about that a little bit earlier that
I just assume that, you know, if guys were gonna
leave in college basketball in the portal, they would have
already they would have already decided. But no, because the
last couple of days there have been some really good
players that have decided to UH to enter the portal.
And you know, one of them now is believed to
be one of the UH top three players in the

(01:54):
portal overall, and that's PJ. Haggerty, who, by the way,
UH is this is from on three Sports. He is
asking for four million plus and to play primarily the
point guard role. Well, the report is from on three
is reporting it, but they're citing Jeff Goodman, which makes
me believe it even more because Goodman, despite being you

(02:15):
know Goodman, he is as connected as anybody in college basketball.
But yeah, I mean four million. He'll probably get it.
Somebody will pay him that. I don't know if it's
gonna be worth it, but somebody will probably pay him that.
And that's just where we are now. This would be
a huge get for Kentucky. And I don't even know
if they're I haven't seen if they're in the mix
here or not. But you know, you missed out on

(02:37):
Donovan Dent, you missed out on Linnenborg, and those were
you know, those were Missus and clearly guys that right
out of the gate Pope and company were prioritizing and
they chose to go elsewhere. They did bounce back with
other good players that to me are different than those
two guys. But still, you know, if your consolation gets
in the front court, in the back court are Jade

(02:58):
and Quaintance and Jalen Lowe, I mean, you're still getting
good players. I don't think they fit Pope's system as
quite as much, but still, like it's not like you
went had had to go recruit some walk ons to
try out. But if they could somehow get in the
mix here, that would change a lot of things. But
I'm just gonna assume that Mark Pope, if we're going
to do, you know, if we're basing it off of

(03:19):
you know, consistency, He's not even gonna want this guy
if he's already, if it's already out there, that it's
going to be a formulion other price tag because and
I know, there's no way for me to talk about
Kentucky without people hearing it the way they want to
hear it, as if I'm being like overly critical and
I'm being you know, just a troll Louisville fan. And

(03:39):
sometimes it probably does come off that way, and it's
for good reason. But I think Mark Pope has has
kind of made it clear that regardless of the budget,
he doesn't want to bring in guys where the only
reason the real kicker to get them to pick Kentucky
over three other elite schools is money. I guess he
just feels that is, if that's not going to be

(04:01):
good a good fit for his locker room. I mean, clearly,
guys who come to Kentucky are getting paid in IL
is a real thing, and he can sell that if
you come to Kentucky and you have some success, maybe
you're ANIL deal isn't going to be four million. But
man if you're good here, you can make endless amounts
of money. I mean, Kobe Brea ended up getting that

(04:22):
March Madness endorsement where he was in that commercial for
one of the major sponsors of the NAA tournament. Kobe
Brea was, you know, a role player a lot of
the times this year, a good player. Clearly at times
he played really good, but like he wasn't even like
a top four a guy on their team. And he
got that. You tell me it's not because he played
a Kentucky, one of the bigger brands. So maybe onto something.

(04:43):
But like, I think you will continue to miss out
on guys like this. And I don't even know if
they're recruiting him, I really don't, but I would think
that they would at least try to get in the mix,
but maybe they won't. I don't know. I haven't seen
any schools that are already in good shape with PJ.
Haggerty the transfer from Memphis, because he just hit the
portal yesterday and he probably hasn't had time to even

(05:05):
like read every text message or take every phone call.
Because you know, he's gonna be a player that everybody wants,
but some won't be able to pay for him because
they don't have the funds. And some will say, yeah,
we just can't justify that because you could have got
four million dollars. I mean, human nature, it's a real
powerful thing. Meaning like I feel some way if I'm

(05:27):
in the locker room and I'm making a teeny tiny
percentage of four million, and I know this guy might
be better than me, but man, he ain't that much better.
Like four million dollars for a player. I think it
just becomes something you really got a babysit more than
anything as far as egos, and just making sure that
like that doesn't become contentious because you know, eventually that'll
probably go away because look, in real life, you're gonna

(05:48):
make less money than other people. That's just that's just
how it is. So you get what you're worth based
off what somebody is willing to pay you. So like
there's no there's no like you know, in the NBA,
if you get sour in the locker room because Lebron's
making more money than you, like you got your you know,
you need to change your job, change your career, because

(06:11):
like that's just better players are going to get more money.
That's just how it works, and that's how it's working
in college. But it's still relatively due because yes, it's
now become pro sports, but we still live in this delusion.
Well we don't we know what it is, but like
the NSTA LA operates in delusion to where these guys
aren't being paid to play, they're just being paid because
they're because of who they are. Like it's nonsense, and

(06:32):
I'm sure you still see like clearly like Cooper Flah
Cooper Flag was in the was in the commercial that
you saw too many times during March Madness at the
retirement home. And I just mentioned that Kobe Bray commercial,
Like those are those are those are clearly like they're
they're using those guys to help promote their product. But
like it's not a return on investment, Like which athlete

(06:53):
got a lucrative and il deal at the college level
that whoever gave them the bag got a legitimate return
on investment. Nobody like And I don't say this to
be critical, it's just it's just an example that comes
to mind for me that that I think makes sense.
And again, we appreciate, as Louisville fans anybody who's throwing
up big money to help get these players because that

(07:14):
matters now and you need it. And thankfully Louis's got
some really good support. But like Rick Keeper, he is
the CEO of Glow Brands. They own Planet Fitness, Suntan
City and I believe Buff City soap here in the
UH in the Kentucky and area. Very successful businesses. Rick's
a very successful guy. Great guy too, by the way,
also owns Thoroughbreds and you know, he's he's he's clearly

(07:37):
a made man and he's and he's great. We appreciate
his support at U l as loisvell fans. But do
you think Planet Fitness has has has made the money
back specifically from what they invested to sponsor all these
great UL athletes. Probably not. And that's okay because you know,
it's just these nil deals name, image and likeness. It's

(07:59):
stupid that we even call it that, to be honest
with you, because yes, there are examples of it, but
the like when you see that you've got at least
eight schools now reportedly are spending over ten million dollars
on their roster for college basketball. You know, if it's
coming from the collectives, that's different because that's that's just
crowdsourcing and bringing in, you know, a big pot of

(08:19):
money and splitting it up. But there's also some big
time boosters that are saying, all right, we need three
million to get this guy, I'll cover eight hundred thousand.
That person is not getting a return on that investment,
and again that speaks to how fortunate they are to
where they have money, to where they can do that,
you know what I mean. So here, I am somebody
who has advocated that this is better for college basketball

(08:42):
now that we have this, and I believe that wholeheartedly.
But also I also can acknowledge that like it's just
an unregulated mess. And as someone who never will have
money like that to throw around to get players from
a favorite team, I can't relate. So, like, you know,
I just I can't. But I even if I had it,
I don't know if I'd be able to justify giving

(09:02):
the money, because yes, I want my team to win
and you need good players. But like as someone who's
never and I don't want to act like i've i've been.
You know, I'm in poverty. I'm very fortunate, and you know,
my wife and I do well for ourselves. I had
a very good childhood. So I don't want to make
it out like I've never known what money is. But
if I gave as a fan a lucrative amount of

(09:24):
money couple hundred thousand to go towards bringing in a
really good player, even if I even if I even
if that wasn't a huge expense to me because I
was wealthy, I do feel like I would watch said
player and be like, good thing. I kept the receipt,
Like that's how it works. But I just again, that's
what I mean when I say I can't relate to
like like, I've never paid any kind of money for

(09:45):
you know, the most expensive purchases that I've ever made,
like most people is my home. I didn't pay cash
for my home, you know what I mean. So yeah,
just again, we're lucky as sports fans at the college
level to have very wealthy boosters that that are willing to,
you know, support because you have to. Now if you
don't have it, you're screwed. Like and by the way,

(10:06):
there are programs out there that like they're they can't.
I mean, you know, you always hold that hope, but
like if you're Boston College, where's the light at the
end of the tunnel for you, like what scenario will
you ever be competitive at the top of the sport?
Like you probably won't. So you know, having big money
and going and getting really good players does not at

(10:26):
all guarantee anything. I mean, look at look at the
two most expensive rosters in college basketball last year, Kansas
and Indiana. Big failures in both aspects. Kansas huge disappointment,
Indiana same thing. So doesn't guarantee anything. But you also
have to have it to have a chance. I think

(10:47):
you just do. So we're we're fortunate in that regard.
But anyways, another few names to mention as far as
guys that have that have hit the portal that are
still out there. And again I don't know ifloev is
gonna get involved, but Jimir Watkins he didn't at the
portal recently, but he's one of the top ten players
out there and Louisville is still listed for him. I
just and I would love for Louisville to be able
to bring him in. He's a really good wing, was

(11:07):
an All acc player average eighteen points a game. I just,
you know, a part of me thinks he might look
at Louisville and think they're a little too crowded, but
then again maybe not like maybe the native ment stuff
has made it to where Louisville can now set aside
money for somebody else and sell that role that I guess,
for at least a little while, there were some that

(11:28):
believed that was going to be naatea amant because it
looked like Louisville was in good shape, and now it
looks like there's no, He's clearly not gonna come to Louisville.
It's going to be either Tennessee or Duke, which again,
if he had committed that I had said, great, that's exciting,
but also like, I'm not losing any sleep over not
getting him, because, as we discussed all throughout the week,
the scenario where he's a piece that really substantially elevates

(11:49):
you in the one season he's here, I just think
that's unlikely and you're only going to get in one year,
and he would cost a lot of money, it sounds like.
But ba back to the Kentucky aspect here, I'm curious
to see if there ever is a change of heart
for Pope because I just think if you're if you're
living in the world of well, yeah, they've got a million,

(12:12):
We've got a million. This other blue Blood or this
other school's got two million, But you know you're still
gonna get paid. And clearly like we're better. We're Kentucky.
Look at us. We've got the biggest fan base in
the country. Maybe we've got all these national championships. We're
one of the most followed programs in the sport. That
stuff matters and it has value. But man, if the

(12:35):
money's not right, that's not a big enough incentive for
a lot of these guys to bypass more money in
order to Okay, yeah, I'll take less money, but it's Kentucky. Now,
maybe some will, but the guys that'll do that are
not the PJ. Haggerty's, are not the Donovan Dents. Those
are the guys. Again, those guys, they're sticking around because

(12:55):
of money. That's why they're still here. If there wasn't
money to be made, they'd leave and go play professionally
overseas and make money. But the more, the bigger payday
is in college. So if you're selling high school kids, yeah,
we'll give you a mill. I know this, Uh you know,
I know Mississippi State and uh, Saint John's they're offering

(13:17):
more money, but you're gonna be an NBA lottery pick
regardless of where you go. You'll have a better platform,
you'll be more tested playing here at Kentucky. So those
guys probably will take less money because they they don't
like they're not as hard up for it. The biggest
payday in basketball that Donovan did and PJ. Haggerty are
ever going to get is that is right now and

(13:37):
they know that. So not to say that money is
the only thing that matters, but I would be highly
shocked if money isn't the biggest and most important factor
when they're making these decisions. And who can blame them.
That's how we operate, right, Like, if you're considering a job, Yes,
there are some jobs. Maybe if the salary was a
little bit lower, you'd still take it because it would

(13:58):
be less stress, and there's other things that come with it,
maybe a shorter commute, less stress, like those things matter.
But you wouldn't take that job if it, you know,
paid substantially less. You'd live with having a bigger a
longer commute, and maybe more stress because you know you
want to make money. It's your livelihood. So yeah, I'm

(14:21):
just at a quick search here. I don't know, it
doesn't look as if there's been any you know, this
is you know, Goodman reported that he wants four million
plus and wants to play point guard. But he's one
of those guys that, like any school you hear is
interested in reaching out to him. You're not surprised because
he's believed to be one of the best guys that
is that is available. I didn't even realize that Mackenzie

(14:43):
and Bacco was in the portal like cold. I think
I saw that when I was on vacation. I totally
forgot about it. His recruitment to me kind of went.
You know, I shouldn't say that it was ignored, but
I don't really. I don't really remember hearing anything about it.
But apparently Kentucky was in on Mackenzie and Bacco and
he has decided to go to Texas A and M
instead and play for coach Bucky, who got that job
after Buzz Williams left to go to Maryland. So, I mean,

(15:07):
I don't know if that's another whiff as they're saying
for Mark Pope, but clearly I think Kentucky was recruiting
him and wanted to get him in for a visit.
I don't know if he visited or not, but you know,
to me, A and M is the perfect kind of
example to where, yeah, Kentucky probably has a good role
for Imbaco, and you know, Kentucky's clearly a better program
than A and M. A and M will always be

(15:28):
a distant second, maybe even a distant third, because I
think they have a pretty popular baseball team too. But
like Bucky, even he is not as proven as Mark Pope,
and that's saying something because Pope still relatively new on
the after his first year. But I would be willing
to bet A and M. You know, being A and M,
they probably have a lot of money and that was
the factor for McKenzie and Baco. Now. Not to be hypocritical,

(15:52):
because I did say earlier like there are going to
be guys that just simply decide that they want to
go elsewhere and not go play for you. Wilkerson did
earlier this this this week? Was it this week? Yeah?
Somebody I was thinking of this last week. It was
this week. But anyways, let me see here before we
move on. Yeah, here, so the window for the transfer portal,

(16:15):
let's see it opened Monday, March twenty fifth, which, of
course you know that was right before the Final four,
wasn't it. I think that's what it was, but which
is just insane to think about. Or maybe it was
maybe it was the Monday with the Sweet sixteen. Either way, Uh,
it's been open now for just about three weeks and

(16:35):
it'll close in Wow, he closes in four days. So
I knew they trimmed it to where it was there
wasn't as big of a window. But yeah, if you so,
I'd be willing to bet that over the weekend and
even up until Tuesday, you'll continue to see guys that
were contemplating what they wanted to do, maybe seeing if
their school could could could pay a big amount or not.
And I wouldn't be shocked if there's guys that hit

(16:58):
the portal that end up being in the top twenty
as far as guys that were available, because again when
I mentioned Haggarty and you know Chad Baker, Mazzara, Jimmy
or Watkins, like those guys being top twenty five players,
that's including dudes who've alread committed elsewhere. So as far

(17:18):
as Louisville, I don't know who else they're going to get.
In fact, a good question just came in on the
text line that I hadn't really considered, but we'll talk
about it. On the other side, it's about case in pryor,
meaning like does he owe Louisville a real like like
a real confirmation so they can actively know what they
need to go out there and pursue. That's a good
point I hadn't thought about, but we'll get to that.
On the other side, we are a little bit earlier today.

(17:39):
I didn't realize it until earlier, but we have a
louis Bats game coming your way, so we'll come back
for a segment and then we'll get out of here
early for the weekend, which has me excited. So stick
with us right here. Coffee and Company. Feel about Thornton's
on Sports Talk seven.

Speaker 1 (17:51):
Ninety Now back to Coffee and Company fueled by Thornton's
on Sports Talk seven nine day.

Speaker 2 (17:58):
That's right, Coffee and Company. Let's segment here. We're at a
little early today because the louis of Bats are coming
your way here in just a few minutes. The voice
of the Little Bats, Nick Kerran, will take over with
the their pregame show coming up around five forty five pitch.
First pitch is I believe around six o'clock. So tune
in tonight the wonderful Carl Blanton on the ones. Oh yeah,

(18:19):
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man Nick Kerr and the legendary Carl Blanton, that's what
you call radio magic. At least I call it that.
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So the text that came in earlier, it's a fair point.
At least it's a question because I hadn't really considered it.
But one, we don't know what's going on behind the scenes,
and we're not really entitled to it. It's that weird.

(20:03):
Do we need Cason to say anything? He's still on
the roster, he hasn't entered the portal, so like, should
we expect anything? I am even more so now than
I was earlier this week. Of the belief that Cason
knows what he's doing here and you know, he's got
until Tuesday to say something. I would be shocked, it
really would if we get to Tuesday where the portal closes,
and he, you know, and he hasn't put out something

(20:28):
to say one way or the other. Now, another thing
that just hit me. He could be graduating, and I
think that's still a thing that if you were a
graduate transfer, there's no window you can pop whenever, which
means he could tell us in August that he's leaving,
but I doubt that would be the case. So the
question that came in was, you know, can Louisville really

(20:49):
know what they need without assurance from Casein as far
as him coming back, which is true, but I believe
he's coming back, but it's just belief. There's nobody that's
telling me that. I just assume that he's coming back.
And also Pat Kelsey's no dummy. He's probably had, you know,
like look Case and Pryor. I mean, he's already a

(21:11):
guy that made money last year and obviously got hurt,
which was unfortunate. So you know, when you are being
paid and this is now viewed as a job for you,
because you know it is, you don't get paid based
off performance, clearly, But I just have a hard time
thinking that Pat Kelsey wouldn't be real direct with Case
and as far as like what's going on to where

(21:32):
I guess Case could burn him. I just don't see
that happening to where I'm of the belief that everybody
internally knows he's coming back, and they are moving within,
you know, the portal and even the high school ranks
maybe to try to find the pieces that they know
that they're gonna need, meaning that they're not looking for
somebody to fill the role that they have in mind

(21:52):
for prior because they believe he's coming back. I don't
know that, and I feel like to say that I'm
just guessing wouldn't even be fair because that makes it
seem as if like it's totally up in the air.
He has not said he's leaving, and I still think
even though things have changed quite a bit, that does
have some value. But as we talked about earlier this week,
he's he is someone that you would expect there to

(22:16):
be some kind of an announcement because of how big
of a PC is and because clearly he's somebody that's
that's utilizing this new world and this extra eligibility to
make money and continue to play college basketball. Guys like
can I Russ and James Scott. I mean, if they
hit the portal at this point, it would be a shock,
but like they haven't done it yet and it's just
not super necessary. James wouldn't do it anyway. He's not

(22:37):
on social media and he's very much just you know,
don't like the attention. Can I, you know, he said
after the season in the locker room he can't wait
to come back. So like technically they you know, he
did tell us he's coming back. It just wasn't like
a formal thing. But you saw Noah what's his name,
what's the guy's name, Trent Noah for Kentucky and then
also Colin Chandler yesterday, those guys in ounce they're coming back,

(23:01):
and like it used to be make fun of you
thing like you used to announce that I'm coming back
instead of going to the NBA Draft, and people would
be like, you were never going to the NBA Draft
and you never will, Like who do you think you are?
Like it used to be people just clown you for
doing that. Now you announce your coming back just so
your fans know that you're not hitting the portal, because again,
so many guys do hit the portal. So I don't

(23:21):
think Case's holding out on him, like making them like again,
I hadn't even thought about that, And look, I could
be wrong, but I'd be highly shocked if it's a
situation to where they're not knowing who they need to
be targeting because of you know, he's not told them
what he's gonna do. I think they're under the impression
he's coming back, and I hope he comes back. All right,

(23:44):
So Kentucky's gonna get a visit from Ryland Griffin. I
meant to mention that earlier, but he's a Kansas transfer
and I don't I know the name, I don't know
a whole lot about him. But they're still obviously looking
to fill some some roles. And you know, when you
have Otega away coming back, and you brought in Jalen Lowe,
and you do bring back some other players too, you
know at the guard spot. If they were to get

(24:06):
if they get in the mix and they get Haggardy,
then clearly they they would I mean that would be
huge for them. But I feel like if you, like
this is something you see from time to time, if
in fact they got Haggarty to commit, like, would it
be a shocker if Jalen low then decided to not
come to Kentucky, and who would blame him? And Kentucky

(24:28):
would be like nobody totally get it, Like we we
really liked you, but like then something, you know, things changed.
So anyways, Ryland Griffin is a six' six guard and
he's played At kansas for three seasons and he averaged
six points a game last, year so you, know solid,
PLAYER i. Suppose but, again if you've got oh way

(24:49):
back Low Jasper, JOHNSON i, mean Maybe Ryland griffin is
the kind of guy that like is, realistic because you,
know he can't be thinking he's somebody that's, gonna you,
know run a team because obviously you know he couldn't
do that At. Kansas why would you think you could
do that At. Kentucky that's what's, interesting. Man, well these

(25:09):
guys take on whatever role for the. Money some of
them probably, will AND i don't blame, them because it's
so much more of a just a job now that
it is anything. Else All, right we're out of. Time you,
guys have yourselves a good, weekend a Good easter. Weekend
we're back at it On monday and look looking forward to.
It have a good, weekend. Everybody see. Soon