05-02-24 LEACH REPORT

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Good day, everybody. Welcome into the Leach Report, Honey Sunny Thursday
edition of the show thrby if you'rein Louisville and headed to Churchill Downs as
we gear up for Kentucky Oaks andDerby weekend and our show presented by Bobcat
Enterprises. Each day we will leadoff with Travis Branham from two four to

(00:24):
seven Sports and talk about the newesteditions for the basketball program at Kentucky,
Mark Pope picking up two more transfersyesterday. We will chat with a Goose,
Jack Gibbons and Justin Rowland from KatzIllustrated. That's the lineup for this
Thursday here on the Leach Report.Opening segment always presented by Joseppies of Lexington.

(00:49):
So let's get to some of thatwildcat news of the day. Kentucky
picked up two really outstanding shooters yesterday. A defense has been the primary connecting
theme. Maybe's the best way toput it to the previous seven commitments.
Now on signees, now you've addtwo more and guys that are both over

(01:14):
forty three point shooters. Kobe Breafrom Dayton shot forty nine point eight percent
on two hundred and one to threepoint attempts last season. Mark Pope said
in a release by the Numbers themost efficient mid to high major player in
college basketball in the last decade.Pretty strong. And then you've got Kerr

(01:36):
Krisa, who was at Arizona andthen played last season at West Virginia,
four star recruit coming into college basketball, ninety three career starts under his belt
at the point, had two seasonsin which he led the Pac twelve in
assists when he was at Arizona,and I think he's the first player in
twenty two years to do that.Two triple doubles time there. So Kentucky

(02:01):
picking up a couple of key backcourtpieces yesterday. So now a roster of
nine players, and it's getting closeto the point where probably one or two
more and then they'll kind of seewhere they are. I don't know if
Mark will use all thirteen of hisscholarships or not, how they'll put this

(02:23):
together. It's gonna be interesting.He's got again, a lot of guys
that have great defensive reputation reputations ontheir resume, got shooters, A couple
of great shooters here, guy that'sbeen standing as a point guard in terms
of increase, in terms of settingthings up. It's got bigs that can

(02:44):
handle the ball, cars, abig guy that can stretch the floor a
little bit and shoot it. Sohe could play four really nice looking group
that he's put together. And nowthe challenge will be to make all the
pieces fit. And we'll get intoa little of that with Goose when he
joins us later in the program.Good day for Mark Stoops in company.

(03:04):
Four star running back Mark east Davisfrom the class of twenty twenty five.
He picked Kentucky over Michigan and Tennessee, among others. Running back out of
Cleveland six feet two ten. It'sthe probably the key component of what Mark
Stoops has done at Kentucky and elevatingthe football program here has been they this

(03:27):
staff was finally the one that coulddo what so many have talked about,
and that is recruit the state ofOhio to the point that I think if
you talk about Kentucky's recruiting base,you draw a line around the Commonwealth and
also add in Ohio, and youput those the numbers for those two states
together in terms of a base,and it looks a lot stronger than just

(03:52):
for the state of Kentucky and that'sreally what Mark and Vince Barrow and the
rest of the crew have been ableto do over the years here. So
another big pick up there out ofCleveland. And finally, the Kentucky Sports
Hall of Fame class of inductees forthis year announced yesterday Tony Delk from the

(04:15):
nineteen ninety six National Championship team mopat the Final four. Great to see
TD getting this honor, and thrilledfor Oscar Combs. He had an idea
for a fan publication. There wasn'tanything like the Cat's Pause when Oscar got
the idea to start it back inthe mid seventies. Guy grew up in

(04:39):
the newspaper business in Hazard, butknew what Kentucky fans wanted. That's the
key for Oscar is just having thatunderstanding of the audience and he now has
parlayed that into a spot in theKentucky Sports Hall of Fame. We'll get

(05:00):
TD get Oscar on the show herein the coming days, but I know
it will mean so much to themand so they'll be honored this September at
the dinner at Freedom Hall. Andcouldn't be thrilled for more thrilled for those
two guys. Teddy Bridgewater, agreat quarterback at U of L, will
be part of this induction class,and Roy Pickerel, long time sports information

(05:24):
director at Kentucky Wesleyan through a lotof great basketball seasons in particular, he
is going in as well. Soanother wonderful class of four going into the
Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame come September. Links to the stories that we talk
about each day can be found onthe bud Light Leach Report page at Tom
leech Ky dot com. Head intothe break when we come back, Travis

(05:46):
Brandham will join the program from Catspawsopening segment of Wildcat News always presented by
Joseppies of Lexington, tucked away offNicholasville Road, and it is a fantastic
spot if you are looking for awonderful meal, a real true dining experience,
or a place to celebrate something special. I don't know if you could

(06:08):
still get it for Derby weekend,but the next time there's a big event
coming up or something to celebrate,go to Jusappes Lexington dot com make your
reservation or to open table. Thefood is amazing at Jisape's I've had some
new additions to the menu as well. We'll tell you about those coming days,
but right now, head to thebreak, Travis Branham. When we

(06:30):
come back, which more comes toyou each day from the Clark's Pumping Shop
studio, Return, Refresh and refuelat Clark's and download their app. New
monthly specials are out for the monthof May. Joined now by Travis Branham.
It's the national basketball analyst for twentyfour to seven Sports and you read
him at catspaus dot com at TravisBranham pretty simple on X for Twitter,

(06:56):
Travis Mark Pope's been a busy,busy man. Let's talk about the two
latest editions announced yesterday. Kobe Breahad been mentioned by a lot of folks
out of Dayton. KERK Crisa didn'thear his name so much from West Virginia
by way of Arizona. So let'sstart there and tell us about his game.
Uh yeah, KERK Crisa sorry,his career Arizona helped get their team

(07:23):
to a sweet sixteen. A veryskilled guard that can really make shots from
three. And I would say that'skind of been a very common trend with
this rossa that Pope spying together sisguys who can make shots, and speaking
of that, there's not many betterin the entire country than Kobe Braya,

(07:45):
who they added yesterday as well.Transfer out of Dayton's drilled over one hundred
and threes this past season, hittingnearly fifty. So a guy that's obviously
Pope covets he's gonna be able tocome in, bring experience and light it
up from deep. He's he didn'tget as many mentions for his defense as

(08:07):
a lot of these other guys,but having played for Anthony Grant up at
Dayton, I suspect after four yearsthere he can guard. Okay, yeah,
no question again at a lot ofimpact college defenders, a lot of
that just comes from just Asian experienceand like you said, coming from a
guy like Anthony Grant, coming fromgood systems where you learn to play defense.

(08:31):
A lot of these kids coming outof high school, I think we
are all very familiar with at thispoint. When they're freshmen, they're just
not They're not the most impactful defenders. A lot of bad habits that you
got to shake. So when youhave four years in college, you definitely
learn how to do that, especiallyfor a guy like Anthony Grant. Mark
Pope had to get a bit ofa late start on putting a team together,

(08:54):
and then no holdovers at all,so he had to build a new
team and all these guys coming infrom different locations. What's your your take
at this point on the connecting threadsof these players and how they may come
together as a group. Yeah,they've done a good job. Taking the

(09:16):
job in middle of April isn't everideal. However, they're playing the hand
that they're dealt and they're going outand they have found a bunch of good
pieces so far. So what I'mlooking at next is can they find a
dynamic guard, a guy that cango get a bucket and create a play

(09:39):
for somebody else in a pinch.Kentucky's obviously have had those for the last
fifteen years. So you get thatpiece they're they're with net We're sitting here
on May second. There's not aton of it out there right now,
but there are a couple of playersthat are very talented that can fill that

(10:01):
role for you. You get that, and that's gonna be the key that
unlocks a team with as many piecesas this one has. You add one
or two guys that can do thatfor you, and this team can be
really really good next year. ObviouslyRobinson from BYU's one of those guys,
right, Yeah, Jackson Robinson wouldcome in be a guy that can just

(10:24):
go get you a bucket, buthe's not so much of a playmakers.
He is a scorer, a guythat hunched oops, quick trigger, gets
up and down the court, wantsto run off screens and hit threes.
And obviously that is a perfect fitfor Pope, and he brings that experience
under having played for Pope last yearat YU, But he doesn't have that

(10:46):
playmaking ability. A guy who canget into the lane, collapse the defense
and make the right read and kickout of it and get somebody else in
open shot. So that's the typeof those are the two players. A
guy even gets your bucket, JacksonRobinson can do that. But at the
same time, a guy who cango in there and really be disruptive as

(11:07):
a ball handler and create some easyopen looks for other people. Uh if
if that, if they don't landthat particular individual do they have, can
they make it work with what theyhave? Yeah? I would say so
a lot of it will be structurallybased, and obviously we've seen what Pope
can do in an offense. Itwould definitely be a sharing of bload with

(11:33):
a bunch of different players. Butagain, you would kind of see it
more come up just by the waythe offenses ran what Pope calls on the
sidelines. It would require a lotmore coaching in those regards, especially as
games get tighter down the stretch.You don't really have just again at this

(11:56):
point in the roster, you justdon't really have a guy who you can
just say, all right, gomake a play happen for us. So
that would obviously require Hope to drawsomething up and for them to figure it
out from there. So not atthis point this roster, I don't want
it to sound like I'm concerned atall, because again they've done a really
really good job so far, especiallywith where they got this job at in

(12:22):
the middle of April. So it'sjust can we find one or two more
guys that can really unlock all theshot making and all the other traits that
this current roster provides, and itbe you think by year two or would
it even take to year three forus to kind of for Mark to have

(12:46):
the full amount of time to puttogether the mix of you know, some
high school guys, some transfers,et cetera, that he ideally would like
to then build on it kind ofcarry over from year to year, you
know. And in years past Iwould have said you would need two three
years. However, in today's dayand era, obviously I would now say

(13:09):
you only need one year, onefull cycle. So these twenty twenty five
recruits, they have a little groundto make up for sure, but it's
not as big of a gap asit used to be. I would say
all of college basketball is changing thisway. You're seeing a large, large

(13:30):
amount college basketball coaches pivot from justseeing or valuing high school basketball players at
this point because of that Mark Copen, theen can quickly gain the ground that
they've missed out with these high schoolkids. Now you can go out and
get the talent that you want inthe young talent that you want to inject

(13:52):
your program with. Get a couplefive star players. Because I don't I
think the days and this is nota Mark Cope thing. I would say
this is going to be We're goingto see this across the entire country.
The days of thing five to sixfive star classes that we've seen out of
Duke, that we've seen out ofKentucky, I would say those days are
over. People are going to beextremely calculating how they build out out of

(14:15):
high school basketball. At this point, you'll see one or two kids of
the five star range, and thenyou're gonna see a bunch of pieces that
are a couple of pieces. Ishould say that you can develop maybe in
the top fifty matens five, andthen you're going to fill it out with
the rest of the way with transfers. So all that to say, next

(14:37):
year, in this twenty twenty fiveo'clock I think Mark Pope can really get
some stuff done, even though theyhaven't been recruiting the guys like Jasper Johnson,
who's the top ten kid. ObviouslyKentucky fans would be familiar with their
Camon Boozer. In these highly tattedfive star players, I think it shouldn't
take much time for them to coverthe ground they've missed out on so far.

(15:01):
Travis Brannam, national basketball analyst fortwo four seventh Sports and katspause dot
Com. Thank you, Travis,absolutely, Thanks Tom at Travis brann on
X. We're going to get toa break back with the Ghost Jack Gibbans
when we return. It is TheLeach Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises and their
new location is Lewis Occasions in Walton, and they're having a grand opening a

(15:26):
week from Friday, May tenth,ten am to two pm. It said
one three three five zero Service Road, Walton, Kentucky. Stop by,
see what all they have to offer. Meet with the team. They'll take
great care of you after the saleor the rental as well at Bobcat Enterprises.
Go. Jack Evans joins the programhere on The Leech Report. And

(15:46):
I was speaking to a group yesterdayJack, and I said, I think
this maybe the first time that whena new basketball season rolls around, I
have my lineup board that I keepon my computer, and I'll have to
start from a totally blank slate tobuild in all the new names. Man.
Yeah, we both have our workcut out for us. Man,

(16:07):
it's gonna be gonna be just alittle different than what we've had, But
I'm looking forward to it. Bythe way, I was at Churchill Downs
yesterday for the Hall of Fame uhA function. I heard you mentioned it
this morning and got to speak toTony Delk and Oscar and uh Teddy wasn't

(16:29):
there, but and uh the adfrom down there, the s I d
from down at Kentucky wesley Man.It was a it was a big time
celebration for those guys. I wasreally really happy to be there for them.
But the track is looking good,all the changes. Man, it's
really really nice people going this weekend. Well, well, be very impressed.

(16:51):
Yeah, you're you make a greatpoint on two fronts about the new
look. The new paddock at Churchillwas fantastic. I was down there Tuesday
and then couldn't be back yesterday.But all the four individuals are getting a
well deserved honor. But you know, we're closest to the two Kentucky guys.

(17:11):
And we'll talk a little bit aboutOscar in particular because the cats paws
got revved up in the time whenthe goose was putting the balls in the
hoops at the University of Kentucky.So we'll get to a little bit of
that when we come right back.It's the Lates Report, presented by Bob
Cat Enterprises, and we'll continue ourchat with Jack Gibbings when we come right
back. The report comes to youfrom the Clark's Pumping Shop studio, Return,

(17:37):
Refresh and Refuel, And we arechatting with the Goose Jack Gibbons about
sports here in Kentucky and the Wildcats, and you were talking about the newest
class of adductees the Kentucky Sports Hallof Fame, and yesterday they were announced
at Churchill Downs and Oscar Combs isone of them. He started the Cat's
Pause. I think the story is, if I remember correctly, Goose Oscar

(18:00):
was up in New York covering youguys in the nit which you all won
at the Garden, and he justsaw the amazing following up all the way
up there in New York and thoughtthis could work to have a publication devoted
to just one college team. Nobodyever done anything like that before. And
it's obviously he was right, asyou guys followed up with the next couple

(18:23):
of seasons and kind of helped himget the Cat's Paws launched. Yeah,
that was a great story because youknow, we had struggled that year.
We at one time we were tenand ten, you know, and nobody
saw us having a above five hundredrecord that year. But we did get

(18:45):
to the we got hot at theend of the year, won six straight
games sixteen and ten, and thengot invited to the n which, of
course, at that time was prettybig because there were only alreaty two teams
in the NCAA tournament, so alot of good teams. But yeah,
Oscar was there and saw the followingHe started talking to some folks in the

(19:11):
stands, and he was really moreconcerned about people outside of the state of
Kentucky who might who might be interestedin that newspaper or what he had in
mind. And he talked to anumber of folks who were around still there
at the end because no one thoughtwe'd have a chance to win it,

(19:32):
and everyone he seemed to talk towas from out of the state of Kentucky.
So he decided that he and hiswife decided, Yeah, let's do
it. The rest is history.It's a it's a really neat story.
We'll get Oscar on the show heresoon. To celebrate the news yesterday,
let's talk a little bit about theteam that coach Popes put put it together

(19:56):
that you and I will be describingthe action and this coming season, the
theme certainly seems to be guys thatcan defend well, But what else are
your thoughts about the nine that hehas in the fold right now? Well,
with the shooters he added yesterday,you know, I just think Tom

(20:17):
that what he is starting to getreally really particular about the other pieces he
needs to make this team pretty good. But make this team a good team
at Kobe brayer Man, I mean, he's Antonio reeves on steroids when it
comes to shooting the three fifty percent, and he took like two hundred of

(20:41):
those things last year, more thanAntonio, So that's going to be a
huge key. I also think it'simportant to note now, I know everybody's
kind of concerned that we don't yethave that guy who can go get a
bucket when when you need it,you know, you give it to him

(21:02):
and go. But I think wehave to understand that coach cal had those
kind of players because with the offensehe ran, he had to have them.
If he didn't, the offense wasn'tvery good, and we saw times
when it wasn't very good when hedidn't have that bucket getter, the guy
who could you knew was going toget once Mark's offense is going to be

(21:25):
different, So it's not quite asimportant. Yeah, it'd be good.
I mean we want that guy,of course, it's always a luxury to
have him, but it's not quiteas important as it was under coach Kyle's
offense. So you're saying maybe thatthe system, the scheme can get you

(21:45):
the bucket that you need at agiven time, as opposed to just having
to give it to this guy andclear out for him. Yeah. I
think the one thing we would liketo see that we had, particularly with
last year's team, and I thinkwe we we have some of those guys,
and that is guys who can passthe basketball, who recognizes very quickly,

(22:10):
hey I'm not open. One morepass gets the guy open. We
have guys who can stretch the defense. Now, yes, it would be
nice to have a couple of guysthat if you need to clear it out
in a late game situations, theygo make something happen. Be nice to
have that guy, But those passers, those those facilitators are sometimes just as

(22:33):
important. Who can get the ballto the right guy at the right time.
It's gonna be an interesting mix ofof guys, older guys coming in
from a lot of different places.How will bark and his staff go about
making that, making that become ateam. I think. I think one

(22:53):
of the first things is to makesure each of these guys know they're role
within the team. Yeah, Imean yeah, you defend, and we
have guards who have made a livingon defending, and that's going to be
huge because that wins games late inthe year. So I'm very excited about

(23:14):
that, don't get me wrong.But you have some guys who you might
have to say, Man, Isee you being able to score, been
able to get me twelve points agame as opposed to the eight or nine
you got last year, but youdefend it and you rebounded. I need
you to step out of your comfortzone, get comfortable quickly with me expecting

(23:38):
you to give me some more points. And I think you have guys on
the team who can do that.You have some guards certainly who can score
in addition to being great defenders.Now, I think it would be nice
to get another six six, adude, the aero type who can score

(24:02):
for you, who can play threepositions and you don't lose anything. And
those are there are a few ofthose guys out there, not as many
guys who can get your bucket left. But when some of these guys start
to drop out of the draft,you know, they find out they're not
gonna get drafted. I mean,I would be all right if if Mark

(24:22):
just waits and sees who comes out, because there will be some of those
kind of guys who who refin things. Of course, the kid that he
had last year will be huge inthat area if if he makes the decision
to come as well, when hegets jumped he drops out. Yeah,
and he has the luxury I thinkto do what you're talking about now with

(24:44):
having nine players in the fold anduh yeah yeah, and you know,
seemingly you've kind of you've got uhyou know, you can have got it
been a point guard, you've gotwing players, you've got bigs, you've
got you know, uh, there'smore you'd like to add to kind of
fill out the team and make ita little more complete. But you have

(25:07):
the luxury of being a little morepatient now. Yeah. Yeah, yeah.
I mean everybody a week ago,seven eight eight days ago was concerned
are we even going to have ateam? Man? And we go,
you know, and now you seethat Mark and his staff had a game
plan. They have executed that gameplan very very well. They've gotten some

(25:33):
huge pieces that are building blocks whocan produce, especially when you think about
the experience that he's going to have. So yeah, why not wait?
I mean, you know you've hadall of these guys calling. Man,
the people still calling. We wantto be a part of what you're doing
there. Now you can just takea breath, wait a minute and see

(25:55):
what falls in your lap. Goose. I appreciate the time as always.
You've got book signings things coming up. We've talked about before. Everybody follow
at goosegivings on extra Twitter if you'renot, I'm sure probably on Facebook too.
They can keep up to where whereyou'll be doing book signings before they
call me. Goose. And Iknow the book's going well. Father's days

(26:18):
not too far away, so it'llbe a good gift for Dad. So
I know it's going well. Iknow you're pleased. Yeah, going going
very well. Tom. I'm gonnatake a little bit of a break.
I was in Florida last week's Sarasotawent well and leaving the day after the
derby to take a business trip toIreland. Oh, I'll be there for

(26:41):
three or four or five days.Verizons over there. One of our customers.
Their headquarters is there, so theyasked us to come over there.
They've got some expanding to do herein the US, but they want us
to be a part of So lookingforward to doing that, going over to
meet with them. So I won'tbe here next Thursday, just thank you,
no, but I'll be in agood place. I've never been there.

(27:04):
Looking forward to hearing about it whenyou get back. Safe travels,
Goose. Thanks Tom. We'll beright back with Justin Rowland from Cats Illustrated.
It is the Leach Report Radio Network. We're presented by Bobcat Enterprises.
Thirsteen away from the top of thehour, Justin Rowland joins the program from
the Rivals Network, Catsillustrated dot Comand on x it is at Roland Rivals.

(27:27):
Let's start a little football. JustinKentucky picks up a class of twenty
five four star running back yesterday MarquisSummer Chris Davis. What's the take on
his game? Yeah, he rana four to four recently, I think
in an under armour camp and he'sa big guy. Rivals as him as
the number fifteen running back in theclass. He's a four star guy.

(27:48):
We get questions every year. Whyis why didn't Kucky sign more four star
running backs? They've done great withthe running backs they've gotten over the years.
But yeah, when you watch thetape, he's got that extra juice.
There's a reason why Michigan, Ohio, State, Georgia wanted him in
for an official visit this summer.Is the reason why these schools really wanted
him. He's big and he canrun really fast. There's been a couple

(28:11):
of names Kentucky's been associated with inthe transfer portal to try to add a
running back for the upcoming season hadn'thappened yet. Do you think they'll find
one? That's a great question.I mean, when they were recruiting Damian
Martinez out of Oregon State, hewas a good enough player that it was
like, Okay, well, anybodywould love to have him. But then

(28:32):
when you got Penny Boone, whois from the back, and then he
went to Louisville and it didn't workout there, and maybe he's got some
baggage. When you're recruiting him,it's like, okay, well, is
this just their intent to add anotherrunning back? And I guess you got
to say it's likely if they findone they like. They probably do add
him just to fix the depth chart, give him somebody with a little more

(28:53):
experience at the college level. Butthat's not to say he would unseat Chip
as the number one. It's justgoing to depend on who they can find
and how much. I guess andIl does. Yeah, and it feels
like it's kind of depth that they'relooking for, certainly more than a than
a starter. What else in theportal? Uh? Well, what name
it is going to be out therenow? Apparently Gavin Win said, former

(29:17):
QB from Olwensborough that Kentucky recruited leavingRutgers. What's your take on what's happening
there? I think Gavin. Ithink Gavin is somebody that Kentucky would would
will probably recruit and would probably take. The question is would he come in
to be the second quarterback or atleast not be assured of playing time.

(29:41):
They brought in this quarterback from UCLA, Colin Schlee, a little while ago,
and he was an athletic guy whocould be like a backstop option in
case something happened to Brock or maybeeven turn him into a Swiss Army knife
on offense because he was a goodathlete, and Gavin is kind of the
same way. And I mean,here's the deal is, Brock has never
started a game, and the guysbehind Brock are really young. You got

(30:03):
a true freshman in for one springand you got to prefer to walk on
and you just don't have a lotthere. And Gavin has started twenty three
games for a Big ten program,and he's the kind of guy that like,
if something were to happen to yourquarterback and Gavin we're behind center,
maybe the same things would be onthe table with Wimsat, that would be
on the table with Brock, andso it would make some sense. A

(30:25):
lot of Kentucky basketball fans have movedback from the ledge now that there are
nine players on the team, andthen they could feel the team right now,
even though the key point is theydon't have to feel the team right
now. They get four times still. But of the nine players that Mark
Pope has put together, what's whatdo you think about that group at the
moment? I love the defense,I love the toughness. I like how

(30:48):
the parts are complimentary, and youcan see the big picture that he's got
in mind. He's checking all theboxes. He's not just trying to accumulate
as many freak athletes as he can. Over in parts, He's been very
purposeful about what kind of team hewants, and I guess the question for
me is, I mean, theyprobably need to add a little bit more,

(31:10):
a little bit more in the backcourt, especially, But do they
have a star or is it goingto be a team that just relies on
a lot of veteran presence and theparts working together really well that as of
right now, they don't have thatobvious number one guy, but a really
old team could maybe compensate for thatby how well they play together. Yeah,

(31:32):
and and how well you know,they fit together in the in the
system. Could if they don't findthat you know guy that could get him,
you know, could average in thehigh teens or you know, something
around twenty a game. If theydon't get that guy, they they have
a lot of interesting parts to puttogether that would appear and they could always

(31:53):
add a little to that. Butthere is a common theme that has run
through this, and I agree withyou, it looks like he definitely had
a plan here is that you know, defensively, they're gonna be a whole
lot better and they'll have to probablylean heavily on that, no doubt.
I guess the I don't want tosay concern because they've still got a chance

(32:15):
to add more to it. Butthe question that I would have is,
and the point I would make is, that's kind of the team North Carolina
was last year, right with HarrisonIngram and Cormack Ryan and Armando Bacott and
RJ. Davis, a lot ofold veteran players, but they still needed
r J. Davis, who justdropped twenty five most nights, right.
Yeah, Like most of the bestteams still had that guy who would get

(32:37):
on a heater and would take aclose game and chip it in their favor.
That doesn't have to be how theYukon in some ways was a little
bit different for a lot of theyear. But there's no one way to
do it. But I do likethey're gonna be a lot tougher. Yeah,
And guys that have had a lotof starts under their belts at these
various places have increased the yesterday commits. I was looking at his resume.

(33:00):
He started ninety three college games atthe two different stops. Yeah, Yeah,
And this era leaves a lot tothe imagination so somebody like Lamont Butler.
You remember a couple of years ago, he leads San Diego State to
the National title game and his namesurfaces as a potential draft guy second round
or abe undrafted, and he's like, I got one more year. It

(33:20):
didn't work out there, But Imean, how do you forecast how his
offense is going to translate to MarkPope's system coming from San Diego State.
I have no clue on something likethat. And that's for every single player
they're bringing in, so still alot to imagine. Yeah, it's gonna
be fascinating to kind of see itcome together. I wish they had the
opportunity to play games this summer likethe Toronto trip last year, to where

(33:45):
you'd kind of get an early lookat what that might look like. But
unfortunately that won't happen. Justin,I appreciate the time as always, and
we'll talk next week. Thanks hey, Justin and his team coach, David
Sis joins us frequently in the restat Katzillustrated dot Com at Roland Rivals.
You can follow him on X orTwitter. We'll take a break, come

(34:07):
back with one last segment. Getyou, Derby Oaks update heading into the
weekend as well. It is theLeach Report Radio Network presented by Bobcat Enterprises.
Stay in Wildcat History presented by Kentuckyroad Show, Sports Cards and Memorabilia.
They're on Romedy Road here in Lexingtonand at roadshowcards dot Com. It

(34:28):
was this day in nineteen eighty ninethat PJ. Carlesimo said no to leaving
Seaton Hall for Kentucky. A lotof thought that he was going to be
the guy, and ultimately they endedup with Rick Patino who would ultimately land
this transfer named Mark Pope from Washingtonand now he is the new head men's

(34:49):
basketball coach for the Wildcats. Birthdaythat I don't know if we hit yesterday.
I appreciate Gabe filling in for me. But it's Anthony White but lated
Happy Birthday to as he was knownback in the day for the Helmummy era
and co host of the Sunday morningsports talk show here in Lexington each week

(35:09):
so but lated Happy Birthday to AnthonyTriple Crown. Coverage again the Springs presented
by Clayburne Farm doing the usual unusuallywell for more than one hundred years,
and an update from the Kentucky Oaks. A scratch announced this morning. Tapa
Ginelle scratched out of the one hole, so that enables our pretty woman to

(35:30):
draw into the field and she'll startfrom the outside gate in the Oaks.
Tomorrow we'll get more into Oaks andDerby talk. Tomorrow Dick Girardi will join
us to offer some insight into somepicks for the two big races and maybe
others this weekend. It is agreat time to be a Kentuckian. And

(35:50):
hopefully the good weather holds, althoughI think there's a good chance for some
rain in the forecast tomorrow. They'resaying, so keep our fingers crossed that
it will be too rainy up atthe Downs. We're gonna get to a
quick exit. Here tell you we'llsee you tomorrow here on the Leech Report,
presented by Bobcat Enterprises have good Thanksfor listening to The Leech Report.
Anytime you miss a show, youcan catch the Mingy Beef Tricky Podcast.

(36:14):
Find them at Tom Leachky dot comor on the iHeartRadio app. Interested in
advertising on the show, email LeachReport at gmail dot com. We'll see
you next time on The Leech Report.