05-01-24 LEACH REPORT

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Good morning everybody. Dick Gabrielle sittingin for the voice. Tom is off
today three days from the Kentucky Derby. He'll be back in tomorrow and we
have our usual Wednesday lineup today,Leach Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Chris
Fisher will join us. Chris,of course, covers basketball recruiting and more

(00:21):
for the Cat's Pause part of thetwo four seven Network. Kyle Tucker of
The Athletic will join us. Comingup in the second half hour, time
to take a look at Wildcat Newsof the Day presented by giuse Up.
He's of Lexington and you've probably heardMiddle of the Day yesterday. Brandon Garrison
is a Kentucky Wildcat. The newscame out sometime yesterday morning that he had

(00:46):
committed to Kentucky, transferring from OklahomaState. Shortly thereafter, he officially signed.
Mark Pope in a press release,said he's a McDonald's All American,
a FOBA under eighteen, Erica's goldmedalist with Team USA, which crushed me
at Brie at BYU last year andcrushed coach Alvin Brooks at Baylor last year,

(01:10):
poping on to say, we're unbelievablyglad he is on our team now,
called him an incredible person with abrilliant, joyful smile that BBN will
fall in love with. Poe said, We're really excited about our front line.
Brandon will be a key piece toit. And this was quite the
surprise because he never visited Kentucky.We'll talk to Chris Fisher more about that.

(01:34):
But he did visit Texas, Oklahomaand Arkansas, and no one would
have been surprised that he signed withCaliperi out there. But he signs with
Kentucky. Transfer Portals twenty first bestplayer and fourth best center per two four
seven Sports. So again, we'lltalk more to Chris Fisher about that.

(01:59):
Former Wildcat Tyrese Maxie, once aWildcat, always a Wildcat, had an
incredible time last night leading the seventysix ers to a comeback win over the
Knicks in New York in Madison SquareGarden. Now, the Knicks in game
two had scored five points or theywere down five within the last twenty seven
seconds, came back in one.Part of that comeback was a key turnover

(02:23):
by Maxie. Well, he vowedto make up for it, and he
did. Also missed a shot inthe closing moments that helped cost his team
the game. He made up forit last night. I will say he
scored seven points in the final twentynine seconds back to back three pointers,
first to which he was fouled,turned it into a four point play.

(02:45):
So the Sixers were down six insidethe final thirty seconds, came on to
win it by six, sending theseries back to Philly Knickers still up three
to two. But Tyrese Max hesaid, what was going through my mind
was trying to survive. He hadforty six points last night. Man an

(03:08):
incredible talent, never got to playin the NCAA tournament. He was on
that COVID team. The NCAD oneMen's Tennis Subcommittee announced selections for the nca
singles and doubles tournaments, and threeWildcats will compete at the championships coming up
May twentieth through the twenty fifth atthe Greenwood Tennis Center in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

(03:34):
Tehi Body was Kentucky's only selection toqualify for the singles draw. Josh
Lapa Dot and JJ Mercer got aninvitation to the doubles tournament. They will
be seeded number three. The Questfour Kentucky's quest for the NCA team title
begins Friday, Wildcats hosting the firsttwo rounds of the tournament here in Lexington.

(03:59):
First round they take on to Paulat the Boone Tennis Complex, beginning
at four pm. A little bitof recruiting news on the football front four
per two four seven, a receiverfrom Saint Louis to Jerry and Miller sixty
three to one ninety will take anofficial visit to UK the weekend of June

(04:19):
twenty first. One other official visitschedule to own Miss Michigan, Tennessee and
others trying to get visits from Miller. He took an unofficial to election in
this spring. He is one ofthe top receivers in the country per two
four to seven Sports and they've gothim ranked number sixty third sixty three wide

(04:42):
receiver. Wildcats have five commitments inthe twenty twenty five recruiting class right now
ranked number forty three. And JanetBrock is the new head coach of the
UK dance team. She's been theassistant coach at UK for the past four
year, so she has been promoted. Links to these stories are on the

(05:03):
bud Light Leach Report page at TomLeachky dot com. And when we come
back, Chris Fisher of the Cat'sPaws and two four to seven Sports will
join us here on the Leech Report. Welcome back to the Leech Report that
gabrieln for the Voice here on aWednesday, coming to you from the Clark's

(05:23):
Pumpin' Shop studio, and welcome ChrisFisher from two four to seven Sports in
the Cat's Pause. Chris, goodmorning, Good morning. Tell me a
little bit about Brandon Garrison. Wereyou surprised by that news. He never
made a visit, looked like hewas going to stay somewhere in the Midwest.
Suddenly he's a Kentucky Wildcat. Yeah. To me, that reeked of

(05:47):
a misdirection play by Arkansas to geta what looked like a head to head
recruiting win over Kentucky. And somelate smoke that it might be Kentucky,
And honestly, I didn't believe itfor one second. He hadn't even visited.
He was fresh off a visit toArkansas over the weekend. But it

(06:10):
says a lot about Mark Pope.I think in the vision that he's selling
at Kentucky for both Lamont Butler andBrandon Garrison to pick Kentucky without even having
visited Kentucky, and so just animpressive recruiting win for Mark Pope. He
gets his first mcdonald' All American lessthan three weeks on the job. And

(06:33):
Brandon Garrison is a guy that Ithink gives Kentucky a little bit of a
much needed talent injection. They have, you know, some really good experienced
players coming in, but this isa guy that is a former mcdonald' All
American, you know, six footeleven, very skilled, like Mark Pope

(06:53):
said, really beat up on bothBYU and Baylor as a freshman last season,
and can get it done in thepost. And you look at the
guys that Kentucky has committed so far, I think scorers are a dime a
dozen in the portal. You cango get you know, an eighteen,

(07:14):
nineteen to twenty point scorer in theportal, no problem. But it's the
defenders that are harder to come by. And if you look at the defensive
ratings for Kentucky's transfers that they havecoming in, I think all of them
are ranked in the top twenty fiveindividual defenders. And so It's been quite

(07:35):
a squad that Mark Pope has puttogether so far. You tweeted just a
few minutes ago a mean basically aboutKentucky taking Garrison instead of waiting on great
Osa board. Do you believe thatmeans they won't take him or they won't
get him. I think the writingis on the wall there that those two

(07:56):
are probably moving in opposite directions.And I think Kentucky and Brandon Garrison wants
to commit, you have to takehim instead of rolling the dice and waiting
on Greylose for now. If gredEls were wanted to come on campus and
commit to Kentucky, I think,you know, he's probably the choice there
if you're having to choose one orthe other. But if he says,

(08:18):
you know how I really like Kentucky, and you know, I might commit
here, but I want to goahead and take my visits to Louisville and
Texas Tech and Washington in the daysof n I L. You cannot let
him off campus without a commitment,because, as we've seen, things can
change overnight, and you know,a school can offer him an absorbent amount

(08:41):
of money that he just can't turndown. And so you know, you
have Washington. At the end ofhis visit schedule, he played for Danny
Sprinkle at Utah State. I'm surethat will be an intriguing option for him
as well. We saw the reportedfigures that Louisville was offering Jaden Quaint and
so I just think, you know, a bird in the hand is worth

(09:03):
two in the bush. And yeah, I think in that scenario where you're
choosing one or the other, youhave to take Brandon Garrison. You can't
afford to roll the dice and waiton gread Old support. And it's not
that unusual to see a coach sayand they tell kids, look, you
know, I got one Scolli forthis spot. We're also looking at so
and so. Whoever takes it firstgets it. And you make a great

(09:26):
point, Chris, that's even morepronounced now than I owe money out there,
isn't it. Yeah? Absolutely,And and Mark Pope talked about this
the other day about how you know, they had a big, you know,
whiteboard and had twenty nine names onit and how each individual piece affects
the other and so, I meanthat's exactly what he was talking about.

(09:48):
So many different things have to lineup for someone to pick Kentucky at you
know, they have to have anoffer, they have to you know,
fit in with other guys. Whoelse does Kentucky have committed? Who are
their other targets? When are theyready to decide? And so all of
those factors are variables in different recruitments, and I think all things being equal,

(10:11):
of course Kentucky would have liked,would have loved to have had great
osabor. But if he's not willingto pull the trigger on a commitment,
I'm not sure how long you canafford to wait for him. No,
you're right. I also thought itinteresting and you retweeted a tweet from Doug
Gottlieb, who played at Oklahoma Statetransferred there from Notre Dame. He is

(10:33):
a Fox Sports radio host, alsoa studio analyst for Westwood One, does
some TV work and pretty outspoken,and he tweeted, I said we're gonna
Missigan Orange BG and he said,BBN getting an all time great young man.
So for a guy like Gottlieb totweet that, I think is legit,

(10:56):
isn't it? Yeah? I thinkI think And not to say that
John Callcarry didn't bring in great kidsto Kentucky because he absolutely did. But
I do think that's another common threadwith the guys that Mark Pope has brought
in, Guys that are high characterguys that are going to be great teammates.
You look at Lamont Butler from SanDiego State, he was one of

(11:16):
the pillars, you know, thecornerstones of building that program into a Final
four contender and taking them to itsfirst ever NCAA title game. And had
some glowing reports from Les John's atour wake Forest site last night about Andrew
Carr and his personality and you know, what type of player and what type

(11:39):
of person he is. And thenDoug Gottlieb's comments about Brandon Garrison and just
a really really good kid who wantsto work hard to get better. And
so he's a guy that has tremendousupside and he's only going to be a
sophomore next year. And I knowwe're in the age of the transfer portal
and in il where you know,a lot of guys are kind of,

(12:01):
you know, more or less oneyear rentals, but he is, you
know, if you can find away to keep him on campus for multiple
years, obviously, the ceiling isvery very high. Chris Fisher of two
four to seven Sports, Our guests, We'll come back and talk more with
Chris after the break. Here onthe Leach Report. Welcome back to the
Leach Report, coming to you fromthe Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Dick Gabriel

(12:24):
in for the voice. We're talkingwith Chris Fisher of two four to seven
Sports and the Cash Pause and Chris, where are we? And forgive me
if I'm behind on this? OnJackson Robinson the transfer, apparently he's in
the portal. Was the big twelvesixth man of the Year from BYU.
Has he chosen a school yet now? Just officially entered the portal yesterday or

(12:50):
the day before. I think we'vebeen moving so quickly here. But he's
essentially in the portal. But he'salso going through the NBA draft process that
have until May the twenty ninth towithdraw from the draft and return to school.
I've heard really good things about Kentucky'schances. I've also heard that Kansas
is prepared to make a really bigrun at him as well. And so

(13:15):
if you're Kentucky, I think youhave to feel good about your chances there.
I think you know he gives hewould give Kentucky a lot of that
star power that I think they wouldneed for next season, and was you
know, big twelve at six Manof the Year and is obviously familiar with
Mark Pope's system and thrived in MarkPope's system, And so I would think

(13:35):
Kentucky would have a big head startthere. But like I said before,
with the transfer portal and nil,you just never really know for sure.
But I think, you know,Mark Pope said the other day about you
know, filling up as many spotsas they can as they feel comfortable with
and then maybe holding a couple spotswhile they wait for guys to go through

(13:56):
the draft process. And definitely thinkJackson Robinson is one of those guys.
Anything new on Kobe Brea at thisrate, I would be very very surprised
if he If we don't see aCody Feger tweet here very shortly, O
getting a new commitment, and Iwould expect that commitment to be Kobe Brea.

(14:18):
I think the writing is on thewall there. He visited Yukon,
they took Aiden Mahoney, who alsovisited Kentucky, and so they're out,
and so he hasn't lined up anyother visit. I think his duke in
Kansas for the other two schools involved, which they are not anymore, and
so I would expect him to bea Kentucky Wildcat sooner rather than later.

(14:43):
Good news for Big Blue Nation.How surprised were you by Jade and Quainton's
choosing Arizona State? On one hand, extremely surprised. On the other hand,
not surprised at all. If youlook at his recruit post Kentucky,

(15:03):
it honestly just felt like he wasgetting sold to the highest bidder. And
he visited Louisville, and you know, I think they thought they had him
wrapped up. Uh, scheduled avisit to Memphis, that visit got canceled,
was supposed to have in home visitwith Mark Pope that got canceled,

(15:26):
and then out of the clear blueyonder, he sets up a visit to
Arizona State, which had not beeninvolved in his recruitment whatsoever up until that
point, and commits and signs withArizona State. And so but you know,
that's the nature of the beast thesedays. But I wouldn't be surprised

(15:46):
if we're a year from now inthe exact same boat talking about Jade Winn's
entering the transfer portal and you know, because he's going to have to spend
two years before he enters the draft. Uh, he'll be back. And
so whether that's at another school,whether that's at Arizona State, whether that's
at you know, one of thevarious professional routes, remains to be seen.

(16:08):
Yeah. Well, uh, it'sit's not unusual now to see a
player's resume, if you will,with multiple schools, multiple stops, like
you said, but it's it's justuh, it's it's almost a mercenary situation.
Just about a minute and a halfleft. But I know you're not
heavily into the football recruiting. ButKentucky gets a visit from an elite Missouri

(16:33):
pass catcher and they've they've done fairlywell with with people from the passing game.
And I think Chris, that speakswell for Kentucky really with a reputation
now kind of running a multiple offense, don't you. Yeah. I think
they're I think they're putting some somereally quality pieces together. I think June

(16:55):
twenty first is the weekend that isshaping up to be. You know,
there's every summer, there's one weekendwhere Kentucky tries to bring all of its
top targets on campus, get asmany commitments out of that weekend as possible,
you know, let the guys kindof co mingle and you know talk
about, you know, potentially playingtogether at Kentucky. And so I think

(17:15):
June twenty first is going to bethat weekend this summer, and so we'll
we'll see what happens there. Chris, thanks so much, and we'll be
following you at two four seven sportsdot com and on x formerly the artist
known as Twitter. Chris Fisher twofour seven, Thank you, sir.

(17:37):
All right, thank you. Comingup after the bottom of the hour break
Kyle Tucker of The Athletic. Hereon the Leach Report. Welcome back to
the Leach Report. Dick Gabriel infor the Voice. Join now as Tom
is every Wednesday on the Leach Reportby Kyle Tucker of The Athletic. The
Leach Report, presented by bobcat Enterprisesfor locations in Kentucky. When you need

(18:00):
to rent or buy heavy equipment ora new zero turn more for your long
Kyle, good morning, good morning. Let me get your reaction. I
just talked to Chris Fisher about BrandonGarrison, and here's a guy who makes
a visit, or rather does notmake a visit to Kentucky and still decides

(18:21):
to sign on with Mark Pope.How surprised were you by that? Yeah,
pretty surprised. I mean he Ithink he visited I think Texas,
Oklahoma and Arkansas, and everybody thoughthe was going to. Arkansas was like
pretty much a locked Arkansas and Kentuckywas not really on the radar. And
then all of a sudden, whilethey're hosting Great Oaks War, they get

(18:45):
Brandon Garrison, former McDonald's All Americanwho started most of the last season for
Oklahoma State of the Freshman. Prettysurprising pickup, but not not totally shocking
when you consider Alvin Brooks and hisrecruiting acumen. You know, he's a

(19:06):
guy that obviously they were very familiarwith. Both Mark Pope and Alvin Brooks
the third were in the Big twelve. Both got lit up by him.
As Pope pointed out, they bothhe had twenty point games against both those
both by U and Baylor last year, and so they were very familiar with
what he could do. He gotbetter as the year went on, played

(19:26):
played the really well in conference play, and so they're they're getting a guy
with a lot of upside. Imean, I think one of the interesting
things about taking Garrison is just thatyou're getting You're getting a guy who is
a high end recruit coming out ofhigh school obviously as McDonald's All American by
the way, keeping alive a streakof like twenty straight years or something like

(19:47):
that that Kentucky's had at least wonMcDonald's All American on the roster, you
know, and a guy who's got, you know, NBA potential. I
think that is important. You know, they've they've got and a bunch of
really nice pieces. Not a lotof guys that you could guarantee an NBA
future for, and I don't knowif you guarantee it with Garrison, but

(20:07):
he's somebody that's on that, youknow level, and certainly in terms of
their athletic gifts, and so Ithink that's important to add somebody like that.
It would seem that well, andit's fairly evident that Mark Pope and
his staff are building from the insideout. They've got basically the core of
this team, the spine, ifyou will, rim protector's physical play inside.

(20:33):
Now they go look for kids whocan score and create their own shots
from the outside. Does that seemright to you? Yeah, I think
he definitely clearly. I mean maybeit just worked out this way, but
it seems to be deliberate that,you know, the early building blocks were
really defensively minded. I think toget you know, grown men who defend

(20:55):
was an important start. I mean, that's kind of foundational stuff. If
you know, if you trust youroffensive system, one that it works and
two that it will attract you know, scorers, you then then I think
it makes a lot of sense tostart with the hard part, which is
getting guys who will fight and defend. And so they they got that,
and now I would expect him tostart adding the offensive weapons. Kobe Brand,

(21:22):
the best shooter in the portal,is finishing up his visit. I
think leaves this morning at some point, and so you know, I think
anybody's kind of waiting for the forthe boom tweet to signify that they've got
in the commitment. I think thereI'd be I'd be pretty surprised if they
don't get him. That's a greatstart. Guy who led the n c
A A and three point percentage.They're obviously going to be in the mix

(21:44):
with Jackson Robinson, who was thebest player at b YU under Mark Pope
in a six six sixty seven wingswho scores and can can shoot it.
He's testing the NBA draft but hashas entered the portal, So I think
they'll be in the mix there.And you know they're going to be in
the mix for some other guys aswell. There's you know, there are
are names that we probably haven't evenheard yet that Kentucky will get involved with.

(22:10):
So I I think it's a prettysmart strategy, assuming that those offensive
pieces come together as they they certainlyhope they will. You mentioned Jackson Robinson
and just reading up on him,if he well, wherever he goes,
if he goes to school to anothercollege in lieu of the NBA, would
be his fourth stop, would it? Not? A and m Arkansas?

(22:30):
And where was he at last yearwith BYU and by Yeah? Yeah,
four stops, three three schools inthe SEC. That's all you need to
know about the new era of collegefast. It's crazy, isn't it.
By the way, Kyle retweeted aphoto of Brea outside the Residents in right

(22:51):
next to the radio station here inLexington with Mark Pope and a fan.
So everybody's smiling. I don't knowif you can read anything into that,
right. Yeah, they I thinkthey spent a lot of time together,
you know, I think, Uh, there was another It's funny all these
all these Kentucky fan photographers hiding inthe bushes. Yeah, and all these

(23:12):
pictures of Pope Pope, Pope withrecruits at restaurants, Pope waiting on recruits
at the airport. There was aone that was like from a distance last
night of a silhouette of Mark Popeand it looked like Kobe Bryan walking into
repp Arena. It's it's pretty funny. So you get in this day and
age, we get a little more, a little more real time updates than

(23:34):
than normal. But I think they, I think they legitimately spent as much
time as they could with Kobe brandtrying to get him comfortable with the idea
of how he'd be used and howthat works in his in their offense,
you know, again, pairing theteam that I think b YU, you
know, the offense that they're goingto bring to Kentucky. B YU last

(23:55):
year was number two and three pointattempts like thirty two a game in all
of college basketball, and then repairthat with a guy who led the NCAA
in three point Perinach. I thinkis a pretty pretty no brainer, you
know. Combination, Yeah, numbersthat up and it doesn't hurt the recruiting
season con size with a Keenland springmeat as well Kyle Tucker as our guest.

(24:18):
We'll come back with more questions forKyle after the break here on the
Leach Report. Welcome back to theLeach Report, coming to you from the
Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Dick Gabrielinefor the voice, for chatting with Kyle
Tucker of the Athletic and Kyle steppinginto the NBA for just a moment.
I did not watch Sixers Nicks lastnight. I did the previous game,

(24:41):
but I chose not to last night. What a mistake. Tyrese MAXI man,
what was it? Seven points inthe last thirty seconds. Every time
I see him play, I thinkabout that COVID season and I know the
knee jerk with Cali Perry was wewould have won it. I firmly believe
they'd have made the Final four.I don't know they'd wanted, but that

(25:02):
kid never getting a chance to playin the tournament unbelievable. Yeah, there's
there's so much about that season,you know. I think it's a little
you know, especially given the lastfew years results when they had good teams
and failed anyway, it's hard tojust go just to put him in the
final four. But I will sayno, you know, second year Emmanuel

(25:23):
Quickly who was terrific, not gettinga chance, Tyrese Maxie, who was
a super clutch freshman not getting achance. Nick Richards, who had emerged
as an SEC Player of the Yearcandidate as a junior, not getting a
chance. You know, Nate Cistina, who like would crawl over glass to
have another year at Kentucky not gettinga chance. Those all you know that

(25:48):
that's one of the great wettest Andit's interesting. Last night I tweeted this
out, but it took me aminute and it then dawned on me.
The dagger that he hit to forceovertime, just pulling up from the logo
at Madison Square Garden was exactly wherehe hit the big dagger in his first
college game in the Champions Classic atMadison Square Garden. Yeah, from the

(26:08):
logo against Michigan State and that wasa that was an incredible night. You
know, you're you're welcome to TyreseMaxley was him. I think he had
twenty six in that game and hitthe big logo three to to ice it.
But he's been an incredible pro.He's becoming a star. And when

(26:29):
you do something like that, afour point play and a and a logo
three in the last to think twentysix seconds. Uh, and then they
go on to win that playoff game. That was that was big time stuff.
Forty six nine and five. Andyou also retweeted a screen grab Maxie.
At one point the game was stillhappening, but John Stewart on the

(26:52):
left side, it just looked atthis glaze look in his eye, like
what just happened? So, uhyeah, all the all the celebrity Knicks
fans. Yeah, I think itwas Tracy Morgan. There's one of him
flipping flipping Tyrese off. Everybody wasangry and sun for sure in the garden.
Yeah, and Max he played withsuch joy, didn't he. Yeah.

(27:14):
That's that's something that really stands outabout him is he's this always smiling,
sort of happy go lucky kid,but he's got some killer in him
too. Yeah, what do youthink so far of Caliperi's efforts out in
Arkansas? He didn't get everybody.Everybody. People assume that all of his
recruits would follow him. Did itsurprise you that they did? Not a

(27:40):
little bit. I would say theQuaintance one was interesting because his dad,
and you know, it's tough becausefor him, because that was the guy
to get. I mean, yeah, he's probably the best guy that was
committed to Kentucky. Also the uniquesituation where he's sixteen years old Jaden Quaintance
and has to play too years,not necessarily in college, but two years

(28:02):
somewhere before he goes to the NBA, you know, And if you got
him at your place, you getyou've got the best chance to get him
the second year. I do thinkhe'll be renegotiating all over again this time
next year, but you know,you've got a chance to have him for
two years, which is rare withthe talent of that level, you know.
And his dad had tweeted right aftercal left for Arkansas, you know,

(28:22):
riding with the big doctor the wheelsfall off. The the unsaid part
was or unless somebody else makes anunbelievable offer. Apparently Arizona State did,
which is you know, that wasthe big stunner is of all places,
you know, and Louisville was reallyin trying to get acquaintance, I think
made it made a very competitive niloff for Kentucky at least inquired about did

(28:48):
he still want to stay committed,and that didn't go anywhere. And you
know, I think the assumption ishe's going to follow Cal to Arkansas and
then he all of a sudden he'sgoing to Arizona State. So we are
in a brave new world in collegebasketball where even even the historical have not
can can rise up and get aplayer of that caliber. But yeah,

(29:11):
I mean it's it's gonna be interesting. Cal got a huge win last night.
He got John L. Davis,you know, arguably the top player
in the transfer portal who's played inthe final four at FAU. You know,
I think that's a that is aa big time program changer. You've
got a chance that you know,you've got this proven commodity to go with

(29:33):
your freshmen. They got jonas Adthe starting big man from Tennessee. So
they've got two veteran pieces, butright now only five players. Incredibly,
I would not have bet on calhaving two fewer players than Mark Pope at
this point on his roster. Butyou know, the players he's got are

(29:55):
all good. I mean, Davisand a are really good players. And
then you've got three five to ourfreshmen who followed him from their commitments to
Kentucky. So he's certainly got atalent at Corps. My thing is,
Kyle's never lacked talent, you know, and he hasn't lacked talent these last
four years at Kentucky either. Andthat's really not the question. Nobody ever
questioned whether he would get talent toArkansas. It's just what will he do

(30:18):
with it? Yeah, I thoughtit was interesting that he went after a
due given the fact that it's fairlyobvious. Yeah, he had three bigs
last year at Kentucky, but noneof them consistently guarded the rim. Now
he's got somebody who can do that. Yeah, and he I guess I
should say he's got six players becausehe also has a big Z. So

(30:40):
yeah, he did take one ofthose with him. But yeah, also
interesting that it didn't seem like therewas a whole lot of even discussion about
Bradshaw coming with him. He wentto Ohio State where Duld Justice is now
wmer Uk assistant. And then you'vegot Ugo, who could also end up
back in the SEC. Could bea whole lot of reunions next year.

(31:02):
Alabama looking like potentially the favorite toget Ugano and Ninso and uh So.
That was That's interesting to me aswell. It never felt like, never
felt like that Cal was ever tooexcited about any of those guys last season.
Maybe maybe big Z at times,although he had his his limitations.

(31:22):
But I'm fascinated to see what bigZ will do with a full you know,
summer and off season and not thenlike rushed over from from Croatia and
stuck in NCAA limbo and all thethings that he had going on last year,
getting food poisoning every time he trieda new American dish. What will

(31:42):
he look like? You know,what would he look like with another you
know, with a full year underhis belt. Yeah, I got about
two minutes left. But what aboutAdu Sierro. Yeah, I don't know
what he's going to do. Doesn'tseem like it's going to be coming back
to Kentucky. But you know thatwould have been one of the pieces,
Like if you were going to keepone, he would have been the one.

(32:07):
It's interesting, I know he haslisted them, I say, continues
to list them as one of theiroptions. But unless it's a big surprise,
it doesn't seem like that's gonna happen. That's that would be a terrific
get for them because he's I think, really versatile. He can play,
you know, a power forward rolefor you. He could you know,

(32:27):
give you a giant wing as well. I do think his shooting is going
to improve continuously. He's kind ofgrowing into his body that that that huge
gross spurred he had to kind ofrelearn to shoot a little bit. But
you never questioned effort with him,and certainly I think he certainly fits sort
of the mold of what Pope hasdone with the rest of his roster.

(32:49):
You know, you want tough,tough guys who will defend and rebound,
and they've gotten a bunch of those. But you know, for whatever reason,
doesn't seem like that's gonna be thecase. Pitt I guess you know,
going back home in Pittsburgh is amajor option. I think that'd be
great for him. I think,yeah, in the ACC, there's a
there's far fewer guys like uh,like Adu Thierro in the ACC, and

(33:14):
I think he could terrorize those uh, those ACC oppolts. Kyle, thank
you so much. Have a greatday. I appreciate it you too.
That's Kyle Tucker of the Athletic anduh he is Tom's guest each and every
Wednesday here on the Leach Report.And of course you want to follow his
work on the Athletic. If you'renot a subscriber, at least follow him

(33:36):
on Twitter. Kyle Tucker underscore ath We'll come back and wrap up this
edition of the Leach Report. Thanksagain to our guest Chris Fisher of two
four seven Sports, Kyle Tucker ofthe Athletic UK History presented by Kentucky road
Show Sports Cards and Memorabilia and lexingand learn more about them at roadshowcards dot

(33:59):
com. Happy birthday on this Mayfirst to Jim Dinwiddie, former Kentucky guard
from Litchfield, Kentucky. His senioryear was nineteen seventy seventy one. That
was the year the Wildcats played WesternKentucky in the NCA tournament. Things didn't
go too well. But that teamincluded Tom Parker, Mike Casey, Tom

(34:21):
Payne, Kent Holland Beack, LarrySteele. Of course, Payne played briefly
in the NBA, Larry Steele playedfor a long time, and Larry of
course played for the Portland Trailblazers,stayed out in Portland and was the coach
for a while at Portland State.But let's see Parker, Casey, Payne,

(34:45):
and Steele all first team All Conference, and after the seventy seventy one
season, Ken Holland Beack was thirdteam All Conference. Jim Andrews, a
youngster, was a sophomore. Itwas his first season of varsity basketball for
the Wildcats. He would go onto average a double double later in his

(35:08):
career. A senior on that teamas well Terry Mills, who would go
on to sire a couple of reallytalented basketball playing sons, Cameron and Collier.
Larry Stamper on that team from Batyville, Kentucky, Stan Key from Hazel,
Kentucky Clint Wheeler who would later transferfrom Ashland. So you had a

(35:30):
lot of Kentuckians on that ball club. Mike Casey, of course, was
from Simpsonville. Tom Payne from Louisville, but I don't know that I remember
this. Ken Hollenbeck was from Knoxville. I don't know how he got away
from the Orange, but he cameup and played for the Wildcats. Mark
Soderbergh, who was a backup center, was from Huntington Beach, California.

(35:55):
So they came from far and wideto play at Kentucky uy, at least
for that team, but not quiteas much as they do now. We've
talked about recruiting so much today thatit's nothing to hear of a player well
overseas. I talked to Kenny Brookson my show The Big Bulldsider last night,

(36:19):
and he has players on his teamfrom Australia, from Canada, has
an assistant coach from Lithuania. Sonow truly a global game. They come
from everywhere to play college basketball,and of course in the NBA. But
Kentucky now with five transfer portal commits. So he joins at Garrison, joining

(36:39):
Amari Williams, Lamont, Butler,oteg Oway, Andrew Carr, and the
Wildcats now up to seven scholarship players. You've got Colin Chandler, an incoming
four star freshman guard, as wellas Travis Perry So Mark Pope and his
staff getting it done for Big BlueNation or producer Matt Allen Dick Gabriel join

(37:04):
me tonight here in election in onthe Big Blue Sider or via the iHeartMedia
app. That's it. Have agreat day. Thanks for listening to The
Leach Report. Anytime you miss theshow, you can catch the Mingy Beef
Tricky Podcast. Find them at Tomleitch Ky dot com or on the iHeartRadio
app. Interested in advertising on theshow, email Leach Reports at gmail dot

(37:25):
com. We'll see you next timeon The Leech Report.