2025-04-09- KSR - Hour 1

Drew, Jack and Zach talk Basketball.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Comedy Up Broadway in Lexington welcomes Mike Armstrong marks twenty
seventh through the twenty ninth. Then it's the Lexington debut
of Laurie kil martin April third through the fifth, and
catch rising comedy stars Sam tallon April eleventh and twelfth.
Comedy Up Broadway opened then downtown Lexington in nineteen eighty seven,
and they're still bringing the best and stand up comedy

(00:21):
to the area at thirty eight years later. Call eight
five ninety two seven to one joke or visit Comedy
Up Broadway dot com com off Broadway.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Welcome into a new day on Kentucky Sports Radio Drew Palooza.
We're calling it as I Drew Franklin. I'm hosting the
show all week as Matt, Ryan, Shannon, and Mario all
take vacations, separate vacations. Except for Ryan and Shannon. They're
down there on the beach together, ailing each other up
like we know they like to do doing. God knows
what's going on down there in Panama City. But today

(00:53):
I brought my dear friends from our KSR Rapid Reaction Crew.
You see them after games on ksr's Utie Tube channel.
The three of us. We used to do it indoors,
but here lately you've seen us out in the elements
after every game, doing our rapid reactions on the streets.
We have a lot of fun doing it. It's me,
Jack Pilgrim and Zach Gagan making his KSR radio debut,

(01:15):
Dunbar's own Zach Gagan. Good to have you here. Zach
and Jack had to bring you back after you had
a hot hand yesterday. We're not nearly as chaotic as
we were yesterday as we got started on yesterday's show.
We'll talk more about that, but first let me tell
you about TJ Smith, our sponsor. He's your personal injury
lawyer to call, and if you call TJ he will
absolutely make them pay. Today, we want to hear from

(01:36):
you on the Clark's Pumping Shop phone line at eight
five nine two eight h two two eight seven. I
swear I'm gonna start getting the callers. We've been so
busy here lately. Yesterday you know, we had Jayden calling
in with a crying baby in the background, had a
good interview with Tianni Key. But I still want to
hear from the KSR listeners. I hope you out there
you're out there. We've been getting good feedback so far
through two days. We'll also get the Whiskey Thief Call
of the day. And if you want to talk to Matt,

(01:58):
he has the a vision auto glass text machine over
in Amsterdam, where I have no idea what time of
day it is, but he tweeted a picture of some
beautiful tulips. Looks like he's having some good weather over
there and having a good time. All those guys will
be back on Monday before. Right now, you got Drew,
Jack and Zach ready to talk a little ball. First,
I got a shout out Monique here at Chaos Bar.
I walk in and she's just got her hands covered

(02:21):
an egg salad, which reminded me it's Master's Week par
three tournament today and she has cooked up the Master
special we have every year, the traditions from Augusta, and
she made a sampler out of it. You get one
pimental cheese slider, one pulled pork slider, and one egg
salad slider. That's the three iconic sandwiches down at Augusta.

(02:41):
So if you can't make it to Augusta, come to
Chaos Bar today. I'm hanging around all afternoon, gonna get
some par three on TV. We'll preview Augusta tomorrow and
everything going on down at the Masters. But we got
a lot of basketball going on and Jack, I'll be honest,
I'm a little disappointed. You've been here for ten minutes
and there's not been a commitment yet. I thought you
had a hot hand after yesterday long show. We got
two hours. Okay, So that is that a teaser? Do

(03:03):
I need to get the already?

Speaker 3 (03:04):
I just after the absolute hecnic miss the chaos of yesterday.
I'm making no promises like this. This show could get
off the rails in seconds. So just you know, I'm giddy.
I'm excited now that we've taken a breath. That was
pretty wild yesterday.

Speaker 2 (03:16):
How fun was that? I mean, you were, as I said,
welcome to Kentucky Sports Radio. You were on the phone
like I got to call you back, Call you back,
I call you back. Well, we'll talk to you eleven.
You were, you were working the phones there with the
Quainton's family as he was on his way to rehab.
He had committed five minutes before the show started, So
Rick got to hit the Wandi Nana right away. We
kind of broke the news. For anyone that didn't have

(03:37):
their phone out on Twitter yesterday morning.

Speaker 3 (03:39):
It was stressful. It was a lot. We were very calm.
I remember we walked in yesterday and you got You
and Stephen were in the back, and I walked in
and said, hey, I think we're about to get a
Jaden Quentin's commitments. I don't know when it's gonna happen,
but I'm feeling pretty darn good about this. And then
I looked at my phone and it was like thirty
seconds later we get the notification. It was like, oh crap, okay,

(04:00):
show is all the plans that we had for the
show completely thrown out. Let's let's you know, refocus, regroup.
So it was it was a lot, and if you
listen to that opening segment you could probably tell we
were a little a little frazzled, if you will, and
but I think we were recovered nicely.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
I stuttered through most of it. I think I got
all of our ads wrong. But there was a lot
going on. And Zach, you weren't here yesterday, but you
cover it just as much as anyone else for ksr's
website ks Board. I'll go ahead and get your thoughts
on what happened yesterday. We'll just get right to it.
Get this roster breakdown. There's even more portal movement to
watch today. But what did you think of the addition
of Quaintance and the time it dropped yesterday?

Speaker 4 (04:34):
Well, I kind of got a little bit of a
hint just from Jack ahead of time to maybe be
prepared about it, so I was getting ready to write
posts about it, and then it just kind of happened.
So I was scrambling myself while Jack was here having
to get ready for the show. So I was trying
to do all the stuff behind the scenes and get
that ready. But it's it's a pretty massive land. It's
the big fish that Pope has been wanting to reel
in and fans have been wanting him to reil in,

(04:55):
So it really is. It is kind of impressive and
amazing that it happened within like twenty four hours. It
felt like less than that, where it just all came
together and now Jane Quaeman's is a cat again. Let's
get right to it, Jack. You know, the just because
Quainten's got added didn't mean it just stopped and the
roster's done. I mean there's still people to watch. I
know Yeats is a name a lot of people wanted.
Others have emerged there, But sticking with the quaintance news

(05:17):
has is there any trickle effect coming from that that
could happen with UK's roster or anything we need to
watch there?

Speaker 3 (05:23):
Yeah, you know, you get the portal season is just
hilarious because you get the first, like you kind of
just have to take it in waves. You get the first. Okay,
the season just ended. Who is the guaranteed out? Kerkrisa
was the name that you heard weeks weeks ago, months
ago that Kerr would not be back.

Speaker 2 (05:42):
So that was like you.

Speaker 3 (05:43):
Felt confident saying, okay, let's just kind of we start
without him and then just kind of make our way
from there. They feel solid about bringing back the five
guys that you know have remaining eligibility while kind of acknowledging, okay,
if there were a couple of potential you know, wafflers,
if you will, maybe one domino effect leading to another

(06:05):
Braindon Garrison was one that you know popped up pretty
regularly as a maybe likely you know, one foot in
but you know, not necessarily not having one one extra
foot foot out so that was one that you know,
once the Jadan Quaintons news happened, there was some you know,
some scuttle butt like throughout the afternoon and evening that

(06:26):
that could be one that we could be keeping an
eye on. I don't think anything's done. I don't think
anything's finalized, but that is one that I just kind
of have in the you know, my peripheral right now.

Speaker 2 (06:35):
Yeah, Pope spoke very highly of Garrison throughout the end
of the season, almost sounding like he's coming back, will
be a big piece of this team. But if you're
Brandon Garrison and you see Jayden Quainton's just got recruited,
you do gotta wonder, you know, Zach maybe some writings
on the wall. But of course he could stay, and
I think they'll leave him. He'll be a big piece.
But it's understandable Garrison does start looking around that Quaintance
is now in the mix.

Speaker 4 (06:55):
Yeah, and you know, there's still minutes to go around
because the front court is still kind of the one
area where they're not as deep as you know, they've
got like eight or nine cards right now. It feels
like a couple of guys can maybe slide down like
Cam Williams or even Trent Noah. But there are ford
front court minutes to go around, so it'll be interesting
to see, if you know, Pope, there's the word going
around as he wants to add another shooter. Is that
a shooting guard? Is that a stretch shooting guy? So

(07:18):
you know, maybe they're looking to add another piece of
that front court too, and then then things maybe get
a little bit crowded. So but as it's constructed right now,
you can still see a path for Brandon Garrison to
play big minutes. Just kind of depends, I guess on
how Pope wants to spend these last one or two
roster spots or however he ends up playing this out
this offseason.

Speaker 2 (07:34):
Matt even broke his silence from the tulip farm yesterday
to tweet about UK is still gonna add a shooter.
Yates was a name we were watching. Felt good about
that yesterday, but it seems throughout the afternoon Toidd's might
have turned a little bit. He still had made a decision.
But where do things stand with Wesley Yates, the USC
shooting guard that hit the portal.

Speaker 3 (07:51):
It's been since the second he put his name in
the portal, it's been Washington or Kentucky. I think there
was a lot of optimism on both sides. Washington thought
they had them, Kentucky thought they had him. But a
lot of it had to do with what Quincy Pondexter,
who found out he was his cousin like two years
ago and now they're just the best of friends and
following each other across the country. So yeah, that's how

(08:12):
I found out, Like it was on the cold call
where he offered a scholarship to Wesleyates. That's when they
figured it out. Yeah, it was an article I read.
That's how they figured it out. A cold call, A
fascinating story. But I think Quincy's kind of leveraging that
into getting back on the Washington staff and saying, hey,
I got a potential draft pick coming with me if

(08:34):
you bring me back to Washington. So it's complicated, and
I think it got to the point where, you know,
he's a very talented player, future draft pick comes with
the price tag of a future draft pick. So I
think it kind of got to the point where Washington's
kind of gaining momentum as Kentucky's saying, okay, well, we
have so many different names out there that we just
need a shooter, like we don't. It doesn't have to

(08:55):
be that shooter. We had just had one role to fill.
And if it starts getting into a bit war, that's
not necessarily something I'm in love with. So I think
it is kind of trending toward fork in a fork
in the road that is going the opposite direction there.
But Lamar Wilkerson is a kid. Sam Houston state that
that one's picking up as we speak, and that's one

(09:16):
that I would keep an eye on. But again, there's
two thousand names in the portal. If it's not that kid,
and then it's not the next one, then it's gonna
be the one after that. So you're in a really
comfortable spot right now where you only have one real
need to fill and then whatever happens with Garrison, I mean,
I think you have five guys with returning eligibility. Anything
could change on a dime, But but you know, you're
in a really comfortable spot with where things are on

(09:38):
the options you have.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
If it's not Yets, the Wilkerson name that popped up
from Sam Houston, he shot forty four point five percent
from three on several attempts. I think he hit like
ninety on the season, shooting at that rate twenty one
points a game, Zach, I wouldn't be mad if he
wants to get in here shooting forty five percent from three,
we'll take We'll fill that spot right now if he's ready.

Speaker 4 (09:56):
Yeah, I think one more shooting guard is definitely that
would be something that they could use that and to
stretch for, Like if they can take another look at
the Alvaro Vulgaris kid from Spain. We still don't know
if he's in Spain or not out of Robert Morris.
That kid like a six foot nine guy with a
seven foot five wingspan, calling the octopus. That's like his
Spanish nickname is. So what's the Spanish version of that?

(10:18):
I couldn't. I would butcher it if i'd have to
look poopo? Is that you could?

Speaker 3 (10:22):
You can?

Speaker 2 (10:23):
I could sit here all day and I would not
have a clue what that is.

Speaker 4 (10:26):
So I think what's nice is Pope can really be
he can start to get picky now and be patient.
We still got thirteen days left that the portal is open,
so you're still gonna get an influx of names going
in over the next two weeks, so he can he
can play his he can play things out and see, like,
you know what, what does Brandon Garrison want to do?

Speaker 3 (10:43):
Poopole?

Speaker 5 (10:44):
There you go?

Speaker 3 (10:45):
Is that?

Speaker 2 (10:46):
Did you just pull that out of thin error?

Speaker 3 (10:47):
No?

Speaker 4 (10:48):
Yeah, he goes his nickname okay poopoctionary dot com and
translated it. But yeah, so it's they definitely need one
more shooter though. I think that's the one missing piece
of this roster, whether it comes to the front quarter
of the back court. I get think it just looking
at the roster construction, if you can add another guy
to the front cord that can shoot and stretch the
floor a little bit, I think you're going to have
almost like a complete perfect roster of what Pope is

(11:09):
looking for. But with the unknowns of Brandon Garrison and
then you know, other names can pop in and out
like it's just the like Check said, it comes in waves.

Speaker 3 (11:17):
So do that again, El Poopo.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
It almost sounds like the Pope, El Popo.

Speaker 5 (11:23):
It fits.

Speaker 2 (11:24):
It kind of feels right, Am I hearing that correctly?

Speaker 3 (11:26):
If you say it quickly, Yeah, for sure, El poopo
p u l p o.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
Okay, Hope and Spanish. A caller on Monday reported that
El Poopo was Uh was back from Spain, and then
I was quickly told that caller was incorrect. I gave
the caller credit. I was like, well, you're reporting it,
We're going with it. So it's everyone that listened on
Monday and thought the Spaniard had arrived back state side
because a KSR caller said it that is was factually incorrect.
Not my apologies. You don't get to hear fact though,

(11:53):
that is true. Facts are very optional. We do want
to hear your facts, whether they're incorrect or correct. Eight
five nine two a H two two eight seven. I
saw if Dante Allen is in the portal. There's been
no communication with Kentucky and Dante UH that I know of,
and it's probably not realistic at all, But wouldn't that
be wild? Just another Kentucky guy of this roster.

Speaker 3 (12:12):
I need a shooter. I'm good on one reunion and
Jayden Quainton's fills fills that void pretty nicely. I'm gonna
eligibility left unbelievable.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
There's a lot of former cats in the portal. UH.
Someone on cas board last night wrote they wanted Jordan Burk's.

Speaker 3 (12:27):
Back on the reunions. I'm very good on I'm not.

Speaker 2 (12:33):
I mean, we wish all these guys well, Devin, ask
you Cam Fletcher. Who else we got in the portal?
I guess Big D found Bryce Hopkins. Yeah, we wish
him well, but we don't need to do a complete reunion.
But there are a lot of a lot of them.
Is A Has there been anything on DJ? He's sticking
around in Arkansas. I know A dou entered the draft yesterday.
I think he put out of players on the roster
right now, do put out a whoop pig. I'm going

(12:54):
to the NBA post. So good luck to a do
Even though you know he did call the Hogs, I
still have his soft for a Doe. I always liked him,
so I hope he has a good career. But port
a full of former cats. You don't want any of them? No, no,
just we're good.

Speaker 3 (13:07):
We're good right where we are.

Speaker 2 (13:08):
So you say we're good right now right at a shooter,
an unnamed shooter, call it Yates Wilgerson, whoever, someone to
be named later, you're feeling good. That'd be thirteen players
if they find shooting. Maybe it's the Alvaro Spaniard. Heck,
maybe they add two, who knows, but you're feeling good
about where things stand now. Lowe's likely running your point guard.
We're assuming Otega always coming back. There's still not really

(13:28):
been any buzz about that, but you know, it could
just be the case he's coming back. Doesn't have to
tell anyone you like the way the roster stands.

Speaker 3 (13:35):
If you can guarantee me that O take and I
think there's still some real optimism about Otego coming back,
if you can guarantee me that he can kind of
be your your anchor in the middle there. Scoring wise,
I think that's a contending roster. I think it's a
very very good team that upgraded at a lot of positions,
that upgraded in depth. I really don't if you again,

(13:57):
as constructed as you know we're talking in this hypothetical,
I think that team really doesn't have a single flaw
that you can point out and go, ah, you know,
I don't know if they have enough of this. I
think that's a team that can content.

Speaker 2 (14:08):
All right, we'll keep talking basketball throughout the show. We
got some other things. Our friend Billy Hobbs from True
Blue Customs is here at KAOS Barr to listen to us.
He makes all the sneakers for athletes, both college and pro.
We're gonna bring him on at one point just ask him,
how do you do that?

Speaker 5 (14:23):
How are you so talented?

Speaker 2 (14:24):
Number one fan? It's amazing, right, I got a pair
of Taco Bell Jordan's from him that Abby got me
from a birthday years ago. But I think that would
be an interesting conversation. He only works with a lot
of athletes here and how that goes Later in the show,
Josh Hopkins is gonna call in. I believe he's in Austin, Texas,
that's where he lives, but he's also out of shoot,
so who knows he could be anywhere. But those are
two guests today. And of course we have Zach here

(14:45):
making his KSR radio debut, even though you've heard a
lot from him on ksr's podcast, ksr's YouTube channel with
the rapid reactions, and of course Jack from sources say
you see these guys all the time. You even did
a reaction yesterday for Jaden and Quainton, so everyone go
check that out. You hadn't got enough content from those
two here on the radio. But We'll take a quick
break and we'll be right back with lots more. This

(15:05):
is KSR. Welcome back to KSR. Drew Franklin here hosting
the show with my dear friends Jack Pilgrim and Zach Gagan.
You know, I like to think of myself as a
man of the people, But the last two days I've
not been letting the people get on the phone lines
here and talk on this show. We've been a little
too busy. I have over programmed. So today I want

(15:26):
to get a head start on the Clark's Pumping Shop
phone line. Give us a call there at eight five
nine two two two eight seven, and my guy Rick
tells me we already have people on the line, so
let's just get to our first caller. Got Andy up first, Andy,
thanks for calling in.

Speaker 6 (15:40):
Hey, what's up, guys.

Speaker 5 (15:42):
How's it going?

Speaker 2 (15:42):
Andy's favorite Andy?

Speaker 6 (15:47):
Yeah, Hey, Jackson Robinson. I will say, my uh, most
fondest memory of Jackson Robinson is not even Jackson Robinson
doing anything in stuff as it's Jack and y'all on
doing that podcast six hours untill fuller in the morning,
wait on him to make the decision whether it goes

(16:08):
pro or not. I'm kind of hoping we'd have a
player at that time and get a repeat of that.
But and my question is with the SEC right now.
I know we've done a lot in the portal, but
I've not really heard a lot of big movement with
all the other teams in the SEC, knowing they've lost
a lot of guys and the SEC having a big

(16:28):
year like it did this last year, record breaking year?
Do you think that we will have it a little
easier next year than the SEC? From you know, two
games a week competition? Will the SEC be all a
little easier to power through next year than it was
this year?

Speaker 2 (16:49):
I thank you, Andy, We appreciate the call. Always good
to hear from you. I'll start with his first part
of that jack You did a six hour marathon waiting
on Jackson Robinson can't kind of came down to the
deadline last summer. I think was Andy saying he wants
you to do that again. I assume you'd rather not
do a six hour YouTube stream, but you got through it.

Speaker 3 (17:09):
We got to the point where we were talking about
whether or not we could be how many Pat Kelsey's
we could bench press. So I think we decided at
least two, maybe like two and a half Pat Kelsey's.
It was was that at the time was we were
trying to calculate what he weighed based on what his
playing day playing weight, so you got to add, you know,

(17:29):
fifteen twenty just for you know, age aging purposes. But yeah,
I think we decided to two and a half Pat Kelsey's.
We could, we could ventures it was. It was the
most ridiculous thing I've ever done doing doing this job,
but by far so I hope it doesn't get to
the point where we're stressing out over a last second
decision in that way, like maybe it's like Otega that guy,

(17:53):
Yeah has to It's kind of one of those types
of deals, you know. I I love the ridiculous, ridiculousness,
but I did not enjoy the gravity of what the
decision meant.

Speaker 2 (18:04):
And the second part was the other sec rosters I
haven't been completely dialed in and all of them. I know.
Bruce was getting pretty desperate down at Auburn, which is
why he tried to get Jaden Quaint's at the last
minute hold that l Bruce also saw Bruce might be
getting Chad Baker Mazarre back at age twenty six. How
is this possible. We just made fun of him for
a whole year about go get a job, and now

(18:26):
he's putting out teasers saying he could return again for
the Tigers. College sports are out of control. If we're
have a twenty six year old playing for Auburn next year.

Speaker 4 (18:34):
He's got to get on his parents' insurance. Get off
his parents' insurance this year. I think he turns twenty six,
so that's why he needs a nil money to pay
for Yeah, I guess eight insurance company a nice little
nil do right there with him.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
Yeah, hopefully the SEC isn't a stacked as it was
last year. That was a pretty unique year, as we
all know. Arkansas, I saw a tweet yesterday about how
they haven't gotten anyone out of the portal yet. They
do have a good freshman incoming class though DJ I
guess coming back. Billy Rich been probably coming back, so
they do have pieces. But I don't think Arkansas has
added anyone, right.

Speaker 3 (19:05):
Yeah, I think they're kind of building around Milik Thomas
and Darius Acuff is kind of the you know, the
next meat dangling on a stick for for that fan
base and just that the next guys to get get
him across the finish line. But yeah, a lot of
you know, part of the reason why this was such
a historic year in the SEC was was just the
seniors and just the experience, the fifth and sixth year guys,

(19:28):
the twelfth year guys, whatever, Chad Baker Mazzari is, you know,
sticking around as long as they did. You know, you
get the Walter Clayton's and you know a lot of
seniors that kind of this was their last hurrah. And
I don't think, you know, you'll never get another year
like what we just got in the SEC. I mean
that that was an all timer that will probably never
be top when you get fourteen to sixteen teams in

(19:48):
the NCAA tournament, so it's not gonna be as good.
But I do think a big part of that is
going to be all the experience leaving the conference, thank goodness.

Speaker 2 (19:55):
And maybe Kentuck' is the team that's making it good.
Maybe we're the team everyone's watching in the final four.
Hopefully that's the case. Almost said Billy. Billy's right here
sitting at table. He's not on the show yet. Rick,
Who's up next?

Speaker 5 (20:05):
We have Dave up next?

Speaker 2 (20:07):
Dave, thanks for calling.

Speaker 7 (20:08):
In good morning fellas.

Speaker 2 (20:11):
How you doing, Drew, We're wonderful good.

Speaker 7 (20:14):
I could first fall fist buff here in Louisville, Kentucky.
I mean old Budys and Roperena, and congratulations on running
the show. That's pretty good. Second thing is congratulations of
Florida win the national title. Even though I don't like Fanning,
it hurts come by my mouth. Congratulations to him least
at the SEC. And one more thing, the sun shines
on Kentucky Day. We've had a lot of bad weather
and we need some good news. And Jaden Quainton's coming

(20:35):
to Kentucky is phenomenal news. This kid's gonna make a
big difference for a UK and I love it. And congratulations.
I'll see in Reparenas next year again Drew, and go cats.

Speaker 5 (20:45):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
We appreciate the call. Thanks for mentioning the flooding. I
didn't get so much of that, but our hearts certainly
go out to everyone having to deal with that around
the state. Hopefully we're getting a little bit better on
the other end of it. But I mean some of
the scenes out of Louisville are beyond belief. And then
one that sticks out just the place I've been so
many times, Buffalo Trace being completely underwater. I know there's
people with their homes and much smaller areas that are

(21:07):
bad too, but something about seeing Buffalo Trace, the place
I was at just a few weeks ago, it is
in bad, bad shape. Same with a lot of recognizable
places in Louisville. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (21:16):
Out in western Kentucky, where my girlfriend's from and her
family is, they just keep getting relentlessly hit like over
and over again. It feels like every so many months,
some new storm, like new one hundred year storm hits
every three months over there. And I had a friend
as well who her sister saw like a house floating
in the back creek. Well it was a creek and

(21:36):
turned into a river essentially. And yeah, so there's been
a lot of crazy stuff going around the state the
last few days, but like you said, it actually is.
Today's probably the nicest day. It feels like it's been
in literally a whole week here in Kentucky.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
So yeah, Western Kentucky's that's where my heart is. It's
been bad. And my aunt was gonna come visit earlier
this week and she couldn't make the trip. So everyone
stay safe and hopefully we get past this soon. Let's
try to get one more in quickly. Rick, who's up next?
Got John up next? Josh? Give us your your quick
call here.

Speaker 8 (22:05):
Yeah, hey, guys, I just had a question on the
jade and acquaintance. I had always heard and maybe I'm mistaken
that a full torn acl would take anywhere from eight
to twelve months to completely heal before you can get
back into playing sports again. Uh where, what's what's your
als percentage that he that he'll be ready by September October?

(22:29):
Thanks for taking my goal.

Speaker 2 (22:30):
All right, we appreciate the call. We're coming up against
the hard break. Give a quick answer. I know yesterday
said a slight tear and things have changed so much
on that. He even said he's shooting for December at
the latest yesterday straight out of his mouth. So I
guess that's probably better than us giving a prediction there.

Speaker 3 (22:43):
Yeah, doctors are pretty optimistic that he'll be early part
of the season at some point.

Speaker 2 (22:47):
All right, we're gonna take a quick break and we
come back. We're gonna talk about the sneaker business with
Billy Hobbs from Trubue Customs. So it's not Matt Jones.
I gotta get that. I gotta get that bump fixed there.
We got to change that. I gotta keep correcting everyone.
It's Drue Franklin here hosting KSR for the week while
Matt is away. This segment coming up is brought to
you by our friends at Commonwealth Causes. Big Blue Nation.

(23:09):
Club Blue is calling on fans to raise a glass
to commemorate the new era of men's basketball. Club Blue,
the official NIL fundraising partner of UK, is teamed up
with Bespoken Spirits to craft a special release, the limited
edition Club Blue basketball bottle, featuring a bold, weeded Kentucky
bourbon whiskey. Fewer than eight hundred individually numbered bottles have
been produced, so this collectible won't be around for long.

(23:31):
This is the perfect bottle for your bourbon or Kentucky memorabilia,
and it's ideal for autographs. Limited edition Club Blue basketball
bottles are now available at liquor barns across Kentucky while
supplies last. Every bottles sold directly supports UK's NIL efforts,
So pick one up today and show your pride for
the Cats. We need those NIL efforts expensive time to
be running the Kentucky show over there boys.

Speaker 3 (23:52):
Big fan of Club Blue, big fan of Club Blue.

Speaker 2 (23:55):
Everyone that does part of Club Blue. You probably helped
to get Jayden Quainton yesterday. So good on you. I'm
excited by our guest joining us now. Billy Hobbs, one
of the most talented people you'll ever meet. If you
ever see UK athletes and they're sneakers have been hand
painted and customized, there's a good chance he did it.
He runs True Blue Customs here in Laxnia and does
shoes for college athletes. Pro athletes. Did something for me.

(24:19):
I think you've done several for Matt. Billy. It's good
to have you all with us today.

Speaker 5 (24:22):
Thanks for having me on, guys, I really appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (24:24):
We want to hear a little bit about how this
business works. Obviously you're very talented, but how did you decide,
you know what, instead of just painting this or that,
I'm gonna get into the sneaker world.

Speaker 5 (24:33):
You know, growing up, I was always into sneakers obviously,
you know, I grew up in the Jordan one, Jordan Dude,
Jordan three, you know, they all came out. So I
was always into sneakers. I was always into art and
then you know, fast forward, probably twenty five years later,
my son started getting into sneakers. You know, he was
like ten eleven years old. So I started doing customizations
for him and his friends. And then it's snowballed. Man.

(24:54):
It's a buddy of mine, a good friend of mine,
Jamie Saugers. He mentioned, he's like, hey, man, you ought
to do a restoration on these old Jordan's he had,
and I was like, that's cool. So I did that
and he was impressed with him, and he's like, you
got to start a side hustle, started a little Instagram page.
I'm like, whatever, okay. So you know, at the time,
I was still working at PEPSI and I started doing
stuff for like Alex Porter's reached out, and then Willie

(25:14):
reached out. Actually, Tyler Eulis was the first one nice
and I did a pair of Jordan's for Tyler and
it was a crazy time. And then I think Willie
wore those gold Jordan elevens I did, and he wore
him in the first round of the NCAA tournament that
year and uh dunked on the kid from Cincinnati and
we've not seen it ever since. Yeah, and then I
woke up the next morning and then it blown up,
blown up, like my emails were overflowing. My you know,

(25:37):
my Instagram following went from like two thousand to like
ten thousand, and I was like, oh my gosh, this
is like serious, you know. So you know, it's started
snowballing from there and then here we are, you know,
I quit my job a couple of years later, and
now I do it full time.

Speaker 2 (25:50):
Now it's like a whole industry. But I remember you
doing it way before anyone.

Speaker 5 (25:52):
Oh yeah, yeah, and it was It's kind of it's
kind of changed. The whole industry has kind of changed
just over the last ten years. You know, it has
its little fads, like with the Nike Roaschie run. You know,
everybody had the Roachi's. I bet I painted five hundred
of those one year. You know. It's like but now
it's like I'm kind of getting into big orders, like
team orders. I do a ton of that. I just
shipped off like one hundred pairs for Providence University, huh

(26:13):
for to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day. We did that Bellerman.
I've done further. Women's basketball team I do, like the
whole team, like twenty thirty pairs for those for those
girls and guys. So it's cool, you know, it's just
kind of transitions into different aspects, and I'm starting to hire,
you know, I've got a couple guys that you know,
helped me here and there to kind of help me
be able to do the cool stuff that I want
to do, and then like the production stuff, somebody else

(26:34):
do it.

Speaker 2 (26:34):
So didn you do the basketballs for Madness for the
gold painted I remember getting close to one. I was like,
I was allowed to touch it. Yeah, very cool.

Speaker 5 (26:41):
It's funny. They're actually down at Big Blue Delhi. I
gave most of my guys Zach, Yeah, Zach he I
did like four balls, and it was it's kind of
embarrassing now I look back at the COVID ball. I
put a mask on it.

Speaker 2 (26:52):
Oh my goodness.

Speaker 5 (26:53):
Yeah, it's pretty embarrassing now I look back. But yeah,
it was kind of cool, you know, to look back.
I did like a gold ball. I think I did
a blue ball one year, and then a white ball
and not a gray I think. But I remember Tyler
Hero used to complain about it because he's like, I
can't chew with this bo because it was so slick.

Speaker 2 (27:06):
But yeah, he turned out all right.

Speaker 5 (27:07):
Yeah, he's all right. I think he's doing fine.

Speaker 2 (27:09):
You do a lot of the UK guys shoes. We
see those all the time. But also I have seen
you do a lot in Major League Baseball. Who's the
highest profile athlete you'd say you've worked with?

Speaker 5 (27:18):
Honestly, probably I would say Albert pooh Holst was probably
one of my favorites because, you know, growing up, like,
I wasn't a Cardinals fan, you know, so I didn't
really care about you know, pooh holes when he was there.
And then you know, when he got traded out West
and my son was into baseball, and you know, he
kind of started liking him, and I was like, man,
I like this dude. And then all of a sudden
he was actually part of one of my agencies that

(27:38):
I deal with and I do a lot of work
for and I was fortunate enough to do cleats for
him for like the last three years of his career.
His last All Star Game he wore I did two
pairs of cleats for him. He wore one in the
home run derby and then the next night in the
All Star Game, and I'm like, man, that's that's that's dope.
You know, it's just his last All Star game, you know,
it's it's pretty cool. So, but that was probably one

(27:59):
of the best.

Speaker 2 (27:59):
What's i'd say, like the wildest request you've ever gotten,
where they'd be painting something other than shoes or something
on the shoe.

Speaker 5 (28:05):
Or Honestly, I get I get crazy requests all the time,
and a lot of times I'll try to turn away
some of the stuff. I mean, I've had some crazy,
like wild stuff people want. But actually, probably one of
the craziest moments is not even something that's like cool
on the show. It was just doing shoes for the Pope.
I mean that was insane.

Speaker 2 (28:22):
Oh yeah, the actual pope, the one in the Vatican.

Speaker 5 (28:24):
Yes, the actually, yes, there's actually a pair of my
shoes at the Vatican. Like, that's insane.

Speaker 2 (28:29):
I like that. And you said Poohols is the highest
profile I'm actually gonna I'm gonna correct you there. I
would say the pope has a slight Albert.

Speaker 5 (28:36):
I haven't seen the Pope's jumper yet or is bad
at average or anything. But yeah, as far as far
as celebrity, you know, status goes, that was kind of wild,
you know, I was father. Jim Sitchko set that up
and that was epic.

Speaker 3 (28:46):
You know.

Speaker 5 (28:46):
I woke up the next morning and it was going crazy. Everybody's,
oh my gosh, the Pope. The Pope got a pair
of custom blazers. You know, so that was pretty dope.

Speaker 2 (28:54):
You don't have to name names, but is is it
ever hard to deal with some of these athletes? Yeah,
and if you want to name names, we'll completely throw
them under the bus on the radio. I just didn't
want to put you on the spot of that one.

Speaker 5 (29:03):
Yeah. Actually, you know, I'll start with saying a lot
of the UK guys that go through here, even through
you know, Cow's years. When I first started doing it
for these guys, they were all great. I never really
dealt with any you know. I mean, granted, you're dealing
with eighteen year old kids. You know, I'm dealing with
kids the age of you know, my son. You know,
so I'm you know, we're full blown text message and
then I'll get a noted text back, you know, like
an emoji, and then like, okay, what you know, so

(29:25):
I'm having to text my son what's this? Man? You know?
What did PJ. Washington mean when he said so but uh,
but yeah, they're all they've all been pretty cool. But
like that, when you get into the like the major leagues, man,
a lot of those guys, they'll send you ten pairs
of cleats and they want them all last week. You
know it's not but yeah, dealing with the agents and
dealing with the players, it's a little different.

Speaker 2 (29:44):
So alright, you're a big guy into the UK vintage stuff.
All three of us are too. I even noticed that's
an electric sweater you're wearing right now. I don't even
know what that is, but that's got to be authentic
for some year.

Speaker 5 (29:55):
My mother in law lives with me right now. Okay,
she h My my father in law passed several years
ago and she moved in with us, so we have
we we bought a house together. And uh, she's got
mild case of dementia. But she didn't. You know, she
has all of her old UK stuff and she used
toll you know, she had pulled it out a couple
of months ago and it was like, look at this.
It's like, I think I can fit that. So I
think I wore it to the Uh. I worked to

(30:15):
the Arkansas game and then I haven't worked since.

Speaker 2 (30:18):
Okay, whenever mind, I don't like it to do more. Also,
are those the new denim books on your face?

Speaker 5 (30:23):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (30:23):
Well do you get a Did you get an advance
on those? You've been a lottery?

Speaker 7 (30:25):
Yeah?

Speaker 5 (30:26):
I got them a little early, but they'll be out
next week, I think. But yeah, that's this guy just
flexing and having may I may wear donim, I may
wear down them all summer, like I got my favorite jeans.

Speaker 2 (30:34):
Well, that was gonna be my next question of all
the eras of vintage UK, You're like me, we want
to see UK work more of that end is what's
your favorite?

Speaker 5 (30:41):
Is it to dentim tonim Bro? Yeah? Like I remember,
like ninety six was the first year, the first championship
that I remember, you know, seventy eight I was alive,
but you know, I don't remember it. But ninety six
was just insane, you know. And I remember that the uniforms,
it was just so crazy at the time. And I
remember that night. I even told Coach Pope when I
met him, I'm like, I blame you for me being

(31:01):
a part of tearing down the light pole down at
the front of line is ninety six, you know, I
was like, you know, I blame you for that, but
you know, it was good memories and I love that time.
That was that was peak basketball for me. And then
you know, I started working second shift in between there
for a while and I didn't really get to keep
up with it as much. And then when Cal got
when Cal came, and you know Tubby of course. But
you know, I've been a UK fan since I was

(31:23):
just like you guys, you know, since I was born,
and you know, there's nothing like it. It's it's crazy
looking back. I had fifteen year old Billy would be like,
you're crazy, dude. You're not doing painting shoes. What do
you mean you're painting shoe shoes? And it's like it's
kind of like a full circle moment, you know, meeting
some of these like Kenny Walker. You know, Kenny reached
out and I did some crocs, some crocks for him
a couple of years ago.

Speaker 2 (31:42):
Custom crocs, Yes, I did.

Speaker 5 (31:43):
I did, come off to the show. Yeah, I did
some crocs with him, Duncan and his uh Nicks, his
Nick's uniform from the Dunk Contest.

Speaker 2 (31:50):
Yeah, Kenny Walker having custom crocs might be my favorite
thing that will come out of the show this week
that was dope. There is one story that went viral
right as the tournament started this year that you were
I guess I can dary a character in, but if
everyone remembers Kobe Brao just showed up at a woman's
house and knocked out our door and surprised her. And
I think he actually started at your house. It was
in your neighborhood. Walk us through what actually happened for

(32:12):
Kobe Bray to just go door to door.

Speaker 5 (32:13):
This is great Kobe. Kobe had been to my house
probably four or five times dropping shoes off, and he
didn't really ever come in, and I always just walk
outside and meet him in the driveway and we talked
for a little bit. And my wife hadn't met him yet,
and she was like, I really want to meet him.
He's you know, he seems like a good kid. So
he came over and I was like, here, let's go outside,
and we met him by side and we're talking and
a buddy of mine and Bill Huffman, he lives like
in the court next to me, and I've coached against

(32:35):
him like baseball. Our kids, you know, grew up playing together.
And he turned around. He didn't know that it was
even Kobe sitting there in his car, and he pulled
up behind it to talk to me, and then Kobe
was like, you want a picture? So Tracy, my wife,
walks around and Kobe gets out and he's taking a
selfie and Bill was like, oh my gosh, you've got
to come here. And he came over and he took
a selfie with him and he's like, I gotta ask

(32:57):
you this. Can you go to my house real quick?
Kobe was like listen. I was like crap, you know,
he really went and you know, when.

Speaker 2 (33:03):
No hesitation at all, just yeah, where are we going?
Following a stranger down the street.

Speaker 5 (33:06):
Yeah? Yeah. So he drove down there and uh went
to went to his house and uh, Bill said, he
hit out behind the behind the bushes, and Kobe went
to the door and his wife, Debbie opened the door
and she was like, oh my god, is that really
you? You know? And uh, my wife and I waited outside
until he came back out, and Kobe stopped and talked
to us and he was like, man, that is so awesome,
and I'm like you do you guys don't really get it,

(33:28):
you know, like he'll have a place here forever, you know,
like people in there and dear to people here, like
Willie Willy was another one when he got when he
came back for the TVT it was just like, Bro,
you don't realize, man, Like you're in Sacramento walking around.
Nobody cares, you know, just a seven foot back by
uh basketball player, you know, like they see those guys
all the time there. You know, it's a pro city,
a pro athletes. You come here, you get off the

(33:49):
plane and everybody's like, oh my gods, you're Willie call Stein.
You know, like, dude, you can you know, you're You're like, God,
here do you come here? And you can for real
build a life here? Man. It's like people here love you.
And I think Kobe's getting that and I think o'll
Take is getting a little bit of that too, So
he's you know, I think they understand. You know, they
get here and there's the guys that they never dream
they'd be at UK. You know these guys didn't you
know tak and never thought he'd be here. He's just like, Wow,

(34:11):
this is insane, man. That the fan base and how
they kind of come out for everybody's awesome.

Speaker 2 (34:16):
Well, I hope Otago. Always wondering around your neighborhood. Next season,
he might be. Yeah, take it. Please go go parking
Philly's driveway and go meet the neighbors. Thanks, thanks for
hopping on. It was a fun conversation. Learn how the
business s works, learn about how how the athletes get
involved in the ones that are nice or nice and
the ones that aren't.

Speaker 5 (34:33):
Art Yeah, and the Pope. Yeah, thanks for talking to
Thank you guys. I appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (34:39):
Good to have you on. Appreciate a quick break. When
we come back, We've got more more people on the line,
more basketball talk. This is Drew, Jack and Zach on KSR.
Welcome back into Kentucky Sports Radio. Drew Franklin here with
Jack Pilgrim and Zach Gagan, making his KSR radio debut.
You haven't fun so far, as Zach is this.

Speaker 4 (34:59):
Yeah, the this beat of sweat that was on my
back when I walked in is gone. So I'm comfortable
now I've settled in.

Speaker 2 (35:05):
It's just us. I mean, we do rapid reactions out
in the freezing cold.

Speaker 4 (35:08):
Yeah, and I am warmer actually compared during those because
it's so cold, yeah, or the rain is hitting my head.

Speaker 3 (35:14):
Yeah, So I can't tell at that point, but.

Speaker 2 (35:15):
They can't control us here. We're allowed indoors. This is
our place. Nobody can tell us what we can and
can't do. So it's good to be indoors with you guys.
Talking a little ball first, I have a little bit
of a personal thing going on, personal announcement I want
to make, and I'm I'm not embarrassed, but I feel
like you are are gonna look at me like what
have you gotten into?

Speaker 3 (35:32):
Now?

Speaker 2 (35:33):
I I will soon make my acting debut in a
local production of Romeo and Juliet. Why are you laughing?
I didn't even get through the sentence and you're laughing. Wait, wait, wait,
I am in Romeo and Juliet. What is wrong with that?

Speaker 3 (35:48):
You?

Speaker 2 (35:49):
I feel like you don't think I've got the acting
chops to pull that off.

Speaker 3 (35:52):
I didn't say that, I just okay, Well, when you're
done laughing, is Abby gonna be your Juliet?

Speaker 2 (35:57):
I know I'm not Romeo. I actually I turned down
for Romeo, but it's for charity.

Speaker 3 (36:02):
Are you the tree in the corner?

Speaker 2 (36:03):
No, I've got speaking roles. I have to speak. I
have a costume fitting Friday at twelve thirty this is
a big deal, but it's it's for charity. It's the
Lexingdon Children's Theater. They caught me in a good time
when they asked, because I was at home practicing my
Hugh Jackman for Karaoke night in the SEC Tournament, which
we didn't yet. But I was on my fourth watch
of the Greatest Showman making sure I've perfected the moves,
when out of nowhere, I get asked to be in

(36:25):
Romeo and Juliet. It's coming up on April twenty sixth.
I have my role, I have my script. I've not
looked at either of those. But I'm Count Paris. Do
y'all know anything about Count Paris? Before I start studying
for Count Paris, I.

Speaker 3 (36:38):
Don't know who that is.

Speaker 2 (36:39):
I don't either.

Speaker 3 (36:40):
I'm my mind. I'm short circuiting right now. My mind
is well, that's like three weeks. It's an Oh, are
you aware of it?

Speaker 2 (36:46):
I've already missed the first rehearsal. They they did it during.
It was on a morning, they did it during KSR.
I can't be there before noon, so I'll get the
next rehearsal. Like I said, I have a costume fitting
coming up on Friday. That's why our friend Josh Hopkins
is going to join us soon. He's gonna give me
acting tips. But I did ask chat GPT about count
in Paris. It sounds like I'm a wealthy, well connected

(37:08):
person that is seen as a perfect match for Juliet.
I guess I'm trying to get at trying to push
Romo out of the way. I want to marry Juliet,
but she doesn't love me back. I think maybe I
propose at one point. I'm pretty sure I die a
spoiler alert for people that don't know Juliette Kinck for
a while. But I'll be honest, guys, I'm all nervous.
I was excited to commit, but now it's here in

(37:28):
front of me, and I don't really know what I'm
getting myself into.

Speaker 3 (37:32):
I hope they continue to schedule these rehearsals during KSR,
so you just go in and totally no idea what
you're doing, and you just have to, you know, just
just wing it.

Speaker 2 (37:43):
I felt bad missing the first it was it was
a read through, you know. You see, like other people
in my industry, actors, you know, they do like a
table read and they're all just in their regular everyday
close just reading off the paper. I missed that part
of it.

Speaker 4 (37:55):
So do you remember reading the book or watching the
movie or anything. I watched the Uh, I think.

Speaker 5 (38:02):
I saw that one.

Speaker 2 (38:04):
I saw that one. It's also on my to do
list to watch at some point before this comes up.

Speaker 4 (38:09):
I think that's more of the modernized version of the books.
So it might not be a one to one comparison
if you're trying to uh, if that's how you're trying
to form your audition for but uh, I think that'll
be uh that'll be a very unique Franklin experience. And
I'm definitely gonna Can I buy a ticket?

Speaker 2 (38:25):
Is this? Oh? Yeah, sure? I never thought you'd ask
you can, but it's it's for real. It is a
fundraiser for the Lexident's Children Theater. We can make fun
of me, but if they call it the curtain call.
If you want to go, there's there's cocktails, there's a
live action auction, not action and live action. There'll be
lots of fun.

Speaker 5 (38:39):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (38:40):
Lct on stage dot org is where you can buy
tickets if you're interested in going. But it really is,
it's needed. They have They do lots of stuff across
the state. They tour a lot of teaching. UH. They
got performances on their main stage throughout the year and
in school theater residency, uh, school camps. And this is
a big part of their fundraising for the year. And
I'm a part of it. And I'm nervous, to be honest. Well,

(39:02):
eighth grade. Eighth grade, I played a donkey in a
midsommer Night's dream and I bombed. I think it got
to my part and I'd forgotten. It didn't work out
for yeah, but this one, this is a big deal.

Speaker 3 (39:14):
I will be there for the tragedy within the tragedy
that is your performance.

Speaker 4 (39:18):
I've got faith and Drew you didn't do you know
he's gonna nail it.

Speaker 3 (39:23):
What what if this is like his breakthrough where there's
gonna be like one really important person in the audience
that goes, oh Broadway. We were like, you're just you
just disappear and you become world famous. You're already like
you know, our famous, but like, imagine, just this is
this is your shot to superstart up.

Speaker 2 (39:39):
I have gotten into Broadway lately. I went to Hamilton
a few years ago. That's really good. I can almost
do that start to finish, and I'm not gonna lie you.
You say that maybe jokingly, part of me wants this
to be the beginning of me taking over the big stage.
Maybe I'm a young well not young, but maybe the
next Linn Manual Miranda is that his name?

Speaker 5 (39:58):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (39:58):
Sure, I got that going on for me. And like
I said, Josh Hopkins is gonna join us in the
second hour. We're gonna talk basketball with him, what he's
got going on. He's actually in the middle of a
shoot this week, maybe even today's. It's a nice him.
He's gonna volunteer his time, but he's gonna give me
some acting tips. But it is a serious event at
the curtain call UH supporting the theater. It operates with
UH its program needs and brings in an average of
fifty thousand in donations a year. And that's a big night.

(40:20):
I guess I'm gonna go help out and hopefully not.

Speaker 4 (40:22):
Bum Will people be allowed to film your your performance?

Speaker 2 (40:25):
Sure? I hope he's no. No, we're four k We're
not gonna be Steven.

Speaker 3 (40:32):
Is going to film this whole thing, and we're going
to rapidly react to it out.

Speaker 4 (40:35):
I think we still do a rapid reaction outside Jamik.

Speaker 2 (40:39):
I regret bringing this up. I regret bringing this up.
Someone did on case board say we should do a
rapid reaction to today's show. That'd be like a rapid reaction.

Speaker 4 (40:46):
We should do pregame walking talks on our way here
as well, like really do the whole And.

Speaker 2 (40:50):
This is I've over committed. Speaking of your walking talk,
shout those out a little bit. You started that this year.
It's when I'm on the pregame show. I only get
to join you occasionally, but tell us about what you
do before basketball games.

Speaker 4 (41:01):
Well, we started an undisclosed location that is relatively close
to my house, but we just don't want people to
know exactly where I live, so we try and keep
it a little bit hush hushed there. But it's basically
just Steven Peak walks backwards down High Street for about
you know, half a mile, and it's me and Jack
previewing the game while also ensuring Steven Stephen's safety and
making sure that he doesn't run into traffic or slip

(41:23):
on ice, which has happened almost happened multiple times. But yeah,
so we started doing that this season. It's been a
lot of fun. Me and Jack were doing We were
doing our post game tiktoks for a little bit at
the beginning of the season and then it got too
cold to do all that. Those were fun where you
just kind of talk around nonsense with people, the three
hundred people on our TikTok, the KSR TikTok. So, but yeah,
we've been really trying to up up our coverage from

(41:46):
start to finish.

Speaker 3 (41:47):
I love the Columbia, Missouri experience when we did our
walking talk where the hill was vertical, where I was
trying to pretend I wasn't out of breath, and yeah,
we're live on camera just so, Yeah, it's a lot
of fun. We enjoy it.

Speaker 2 (42:01):
All. Right, Well, we come back more with Jack and
Zach and we'll have Josh Hopkins to teach me how
to act and when I should start looking at my
script this this KSR. We'll be right back