05-15-24 LEACH REPORT

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This Bingie beef Jerkey podcast of theLeech Report is also presented by Boons Butcher
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Good day, everybody, Welcome intothe Leacher Report, presented by Bobcat Enterprises

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for this Wednesday. Rainy day thattook out the Kentucky baseball game against Wright
State last night, but hopefully therain will stay away for the weekend.
Big series between Kentucky and Vandy shouldbe ideal, whether tomorrow for the opener
again, they'll start this series ona Thursday, go Thursday, Friday,
and then Saturday afternoon. I thinkFriday's the main day where rain could be

(00:44):
a little bit of an issue andKentucky's trying to wrap up what would be
just its second SEC championship and achance I think to win outright for the
very first time. So we'll getmore into that as we get toward tomorrow
and Friday. For today, we'regoing to hear from Kyle Tucker from the
Athletic obviously talk a lot about Kentucky'sfirst basketball roster under Mark Pope, which

(01:11):
is still being finalized. And Kylewas part of a team of writers for
The Athletic that did a couple ofeditions of their regular mail bag stories.
And we want to get into alittle bit about in IL. It seems
like whenever I speak to a groupthese days and there's a Q and a

(01:32):
portion, a lot of it isabout in IL, and fans are really
curious about how it works, howit's going to work moving forward. So
we'll talk about that. Chris Fisherfrom The Cat's Paws and Bob Eric who's
a golf writer for SI dot com. It's a new book out about Tiger
Woods and got the PGA Championship startingtomorrow at Valhalla, so we will that's

(01:57):
the lineup for today. Wildcat Newsof the Day always the service of just
Sepies of Lexington and Kentucky Football,with what could be a very important addition
yesterday picking up a punter. AdaLaros was a FCS All American at UT
Martin last season, where he averagedforty seven yards per punt and also handled

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kickoffs and was ten of sixteen asa field goal kicker. No. Kentucky's
in good shape as far as theplacement kicking, but the kickoffs certainly the
punting areas where Kentucky could certainly standimprovement from last season. So this adds
to the competition there. He hadeighteen punts of fifty or more yards,
So this could be a key pickupbecause you know in this league you're going

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to end up in a lot ofclose games, and a good punter can
make a significant difference in a closegame. So really nice pick up yesterday
there for Kentucky via the train fora portal the NBA Draft combines continuing in
Chicago, Ben Roberts has a storyon Jackson Robinson. He's the former BYU

(03:08):
player who's going through the combine andthe draft evaluation process, but has also
put his name into the portal.So if he comes back to college,
I think there's a strong feeling thathe would end up at Kentucky. He
was noncommittal on what he needs tohear from the NBA according to the quotes
in Ben's story, but Robinson wasvery appreciative of Mark Pope being there in

(03:31):
Chicago and also about how the systemthat BYU ran prepared him for the NBA.
Robinson's projected the late second round fromeverything that I've seen to this point.
So depending on how things go forthe rest of the week, the
Combine will see how it shakes outfor him. He's got until almost the

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end of May to make a decisionon leaving his name in or not.
And Antonio Eaves had a nice gameyesterday at Combine seventeen points in twenty eight
minutes, also had forced This linksto the stories that we talk about.
You can find those on the budLight Leach Report page at Tom leach Ky
dot com. Our opening segment alwayspresented by Just Seppies of Lexington, and

(04:16):
they have expanded their bar area.That's where you could always sit and enjoy
your meal and listen to Dave Hall'smusic, his live jazz music to accompany
your meal. Well, it's sopopular they expanded the area so there's extra
opportunities to sit in that area andenjoy the music along with your meal at
Giuseppes and it is a fantastic meal. Go to Juseppes Lexington dot com or

(04:41):
open table to make a reservation.Will be right back on the Leech Report
presented by Bob tat Enterprises. MClark's Pumpin' Shop Studio, Return, Refresh,
and Refuel, and it is theLeech Report. We go to the
Club Blue Nil hotline and bring onBob Harrige. Mob cover's golf or sports
illustrated at SI dot com. He'salso covered the sport for ESPN and the

(05:02):
Tampa Bay Times. He has anew book out Drive, The Lasting Legacy
of Tiger Woods, that we're goingto talk about and also talk about the
PGA this week, in which TigerWoods will be a participant. I guess
let's let's start there. This kindof ties in both topics, uh,
Bob, because it seems just asa fan watching golf, that Tiger physically

(05:25):
is at a point where he canget one or two good rounds, but
not four. Do you think he'llever get to the point where he could
get back to be able to makeone more run at a major? Yeah,
right now it looks like it's gonnabe. You know, that's quite
the quite the big ask. Youknow, He's he's battling a couple of
things here. One is the abilityto play four rounds and and and get

(05:49):
through it physically, and and you'dthink over time, as he gets stronger
and things get better, that's possible, but then there's the all the issue
of being prepared, and he's comingback at the biggest tournaments and hardly playing
and trying to compete against guys thatare playing a lot, you know,
and it's just it's not a greatcombination. And and and still like it

(06:14):
just seems like the physical skills arethere, but he's not able to do
the things necessary to play seventy twoholes and to prepare properly. If you
can't practice, it's it's going tobe really hard to beat Scotti, Scheffler
and Roy McElroy, you know.And it's hard enough just to get done.

(06:36):
You know, we saw that atthe Masters there was sort of a
microcosm of his last ten years,you know, two really good days which
sort of were, you know,the flashes that we've seen, and then
the weekend was sort of the struggleshe's had physically, and you know,
unless he can get some physical improvement, I think it's going to be very

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difficult. A big part of thebook is about the the last major he
won, the twenty nineteen Masters,his fifteenth major, and you've covered Tiger,
I guess from the beginning is apro golfer. How is he viewed
differently by his contemporaries young and old. First, now, with all he's

(07:21):
been through versus when he first explodedon the scene, Well, you know,
he's he's been more humanized, Ithink in the last decade or so.
You know he was in the firstdecade he was just such a machine,
you know, blinders, didn't leta lot of people in, didn't
really have a lot of friends.The people he socialized with on tour were

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a lot older Marcomera, John Cook, you know, guys that you know,
had been around, were veterans.You know, he didn't spend a
lot of time amongst the guys thathe was playing against, and and people
didn't really get to know him.You know, he kept to himself and
all he did was win. Uh, and then and then he became,
you know, a human figure.He showed fallus, you know, Fallacy

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showed, he showed vulnerability, youknow, the marital scandal, then all
these injuries. You know, heover the last ten years, there has
been forty majors played and Tiger's missedeighteen of them, you know, and
I think there was a redemption storythere. You know, a guy climbing
his way back, and so there'sgreat respect among his peers for what he's

(08:28):
all accomplished and how great he isor was, and how actually, you
know, how skilled he still is. They still appreciate the the immense talent
that he has, and you know, for the most part, they root
for him. Oh, Bob Harrygo on the Club Blue Nil hotline.
He writes for SI dot com coveringgolf, and he's in town for the
PGA Championship. Has a new bookout Drive, The Lasting Legacy of Tiger

(08:52):
Woods. Obviously the longest of shotsmaybe for Tiger to be a contender.
But is there anybody outside the mainnames, you know, Scheffler, McElroy,
Kepka, any the rom anybody outsidethe group that could spring a surprise
this week? Well, I thinkthe PGA is typically the major that that's

(09:15):
the most wide open. I thinkthere's there is the potential for surprise here
because the field is bigger and deeper. It's it's got the best players.
You know, the Masters doesn't haveeverybody the eighty eight ninety players. This
is one hundred and fifty six players. No, No, the only the
only players who get in via viaactually qualifying to get in are the club

(09:35):
pros, twenty club pros. You'vebasically got one hundred and thirty guys that
are that are touring pros and thatwe're that are in the field based on
playing professional golf at a high level, so that that just increases the field,
I mean outside of the top guys. And I mean it's hard to
go away from those three guys,you know, Scheffler, Rom and excuse

(09:56):
me, Scheffler, Keopka and Rorygiven their recent play. But I mean,
you know, I still think Bromhas got a you know, something
to prove. He's not done muchthis year on Live Golf, kept us
coming off a win. The guythat's not been mentioned much is Cam Smith,
you know, who won the Opentwo years ago at Saint Andrews and
and has been coming on a littlebit recently on Live Golf. You know,

(10:20):
still a world class player. Butyou know, I wouldn't be surprised
to see a bunch of names outthere that people might not be thinking of,
you know, kind of random PGATour players who are very very good
golfers. And and the PGA isprobably most like a PGA Tour event,
you know, it's not set upreally difficult like USL but it won't be

(10:41):
easy, but it's not quite ashard either. So I think that lends
to more birdies. It lends tothe more style of play where he used
to see and week in and weekout. You did this book on Tiger,
did another one Tiger about Tiger andPhil? Is there another book you'd
like to write about Tiger once it'sover or at some later point down the

(11:03):
road. Yeah, Actually, I'mabout to start on another one. It's
not going to be out for acouple of years, but I am going
to tackle the issue of Tiger versusJack, you know, who's the greatest
sort of a working title, andtry to dive into all the pros and
cons to each argument, you know, And I think it's a great barroom

(11:24):
or you know, you know sportsbar discussion and argument or you know,
fun talk. I'm not sure there'sa right answer, but I think you
could argue for and against each playerand not necessarily be wrong. I'm gonna
I'm going to try to have somefun diving into that. Well. We

(11:45):
will look forward to that next book, but for now, can enjoy drive
the lasting legacy of Tiger Woods byBob Harrig. Enjoy your time in Kentucky
this week. Thanks so much,looking forward to it. Appreciate it.
Golf writer Bob Harry as a golfwriter Bob Herrig. And this is the
Leach Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises.If you need to rent or buy heavy

(12:07):
equipment, or if you just needa new zero turn more for your lawn
at home, go see our friendsat Bobcat Enterprises. Google them. They
have four locations to find the oneclosest to you for fantastic deals and even
better service after the sale from BobcatEnterprises. This is the Leach Report Radio
Network and we'll be right back.Today is the deadline to sign up for

(12:28):
Club Blue NIL and be part ofthe VIP event coming up next month that
usher's in the new era of Kentuckybasketball. It would be a meet and
greet with Coach Pope and the staffand players and it's exclusive to Club Blue
subscribers who are signed up by today. So this is the deadline and big

(12:52):
day to go to Club blueenil dotcom click join Club Blue for your chance
to be a part of it andbe a part of the NIL effort with
the rest of Big Blue Nation variouslevels at which you can participate in Club
Blue, So today is your lastchance to sign up and be a part

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of that VIP event on June fifteenth. Joining us now is Chris Fisher on
the Club Blue nil hotline. Youread him Atcatspaws dot com and one of
several stories you've got up there now, Chris, is about a couple of
interviews Mark Pope has done. Youused one quote in the story which I
thought was interesting. We can talka little bit about a bit about it.

(13:35):
I think it was in the JohnRosstein interview. He talked about basically
having to start from scratch and buildinga team, and he said it was
terrifying, but it actually turned outto be a blessing. We got to
handpick guys that perfectly fit into theway that we play. So, you
know, it was inevitable whenever Johncal Perry left, the cupboard was gonna,

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I don't know if it'd be completelyempty, but it was gonna be
pretty bare with just the reliance thathe had on freshmen. And thank goodness
for Kentucky Batman's Basketball that the transferportal exists, right, Yeah, I
think I think Matt McMahon had thesame issue when he went to LSU a

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couple of years ago, lost everysingle scholarship player from the previous roster,
and that was something that Mark Popewas facing as well. And the transfer
pertal certainly does make it a loteasier. And when you're in that situation,
you have to walk a really fineline between being aggressive enough to fill
out a roster but also being selectiveenough to get the guys that you really

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want. I think Mark Pope hasdone a really really good job putting the
roster together, putting a roster togetherthat fits that compliments each other. You
know, you look at the firstthree editions, they were defense first and
Lamont Butler and Mary Williams and I'lltake a and then kind of filled out
the roster from there with some shooters, a stretch for and Andrew Carr.

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And then you look at these lastthree roster spots, it looks like they
will try to add Ansley Almanor thetransfer from Fairley Dickinson, who's on campus
for a visit right now, andthen one of Jackson Robinson from DYU,
Chaslin here from North Florida, andWillga Poplar from Miami and then it sounds
like he's going to be very judiciouswith that final roster spot. That could

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be you know, it could bea potential reclass from twenty twenty five,
it could be you know, there'sstill coaching changes going on, so that
could shake some guys loose in theportal since they have that thirty day window
after a coaching change, and soit sounds like they'll be very judicious with
filling that final roster spot. Andyou know that could be much later in

(15:56):
the summer. Yeah, I know, there's some speculation there's a young men
from BYU, big guy Noah Waterman, who has entered the portal here late.
But from what you lay out,it would sound like that if assuming
they get almanor then they would usethe twelfth one for a scorer and then

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they I don't know if they wantto commit to the other one that quickly
or not. Yeah, I thinkthey'll take their time with that final roster
spot. You know, he saidit could be for a transfer, it
could be for a project, itcould be for a reclass. And so
the landscape of college basketball is sofluid now that you see changes happening much

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much later in the calendar than we'reused to, and so it sounds like
they'll keep that thirteenth and final rosterspot open a little bit longer. Mark
had a team at BYU last yearthat was a sixth seed in the NCAA
Tournament out of a very difficult league. Do you think this roster is better
than that roster was? Yeah,I definitely think so. I think Mark,

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you know, BYU has its obviousrecruiting limitations, and I think,
you know, being at Kentucky andyou know, the power of the brand
is given Mark Pope a lot ofadvantages that he didn't have at BYU.
So I certainly think he's upgraded thetalent from a b YU team that fared
very very well in its first seasonin the Big Twelve with a big win

(17:32):
at Kansas highlighting that Chris fishercatzpaus dotCom at Chris Fisher two four seven on
x or Twitter will hold Chris overfor one more segment when he come right
back. It is the Lad's reportfor the Clark's Pump and Shop studio.
Return Refresh and Refewel at Clark's.Download their app to get the monthly specials
for May. The report presented byBob kat enterprises a couple more minutes here

(17:57):
with Chris Fisher from cat pause dotcom. Another story you got up at
the site, Chris is about ReedShepherd and he is turning heads at the
NBA Combine this week, both withhis shooting and his measurements. Right,
Yeah, I think he really reallyshowed well for himself. People around Kentucky

(18:21):
aren't going to be surprised by aforty two inch vertical considering what they saw
out of him in his freshman seasonat Kentucky, but also you know,
watching his dad play for four yearsat Kentucky and so. But it also
showed off his perimeter shooting ability thatwas also again no surprise, led the

(18:44):
nation and three point percentage. Andreally think with that performance solidified himself as
a top five pick. And it'skind of surprising if you look back with
all the draft success that Kentucky hadunder John Caliperry, they hadn't had a
top five pick since Deer and Foxtwenty seventeen, and I think ESPN has
reached ever. Projected at number threeoverall, that would be the highest draft

(19:06):
pick for Kentucky since Carl Towns wentfirst overall in twenty fifteen, so breaking
a lot of ground there for ReedShepard, and I believe he would be
the highest drafted Native Kentuckian that playedfor Kentucky since Rex Chapman in eighty eight.
So a lot of history being madethere. If Reed Sheppard can go

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in the top five, what didRex go seven? I'm thinking Ace,
I think he was the Hornet's firstfirst ever draft pick. Yeah, it's
heady stuff for Reed and just anamazing run. I think back to the
games in Toronto last summer and thatplay that he made. I can't remember

(19:51):
which game it was, but hecloses out and blocks a three point shot,
which turned out to become one ofhis specialties, runs down the loose
ball, drives in and dunks it, and that was maybe the first wow
moment that foreshadowed what was coming.Yeah, even then watching that play,
I knew that was where he weregoing with that. I remember thinking it's

(20:15):
going to be hard to keep himoff the floor. I still wasn't thinking,
hey, we might have, youknow, a bona fide National Freshman
of the Year on our hands.But yeah, it was unbelievable, the
meteoric rise that we saw from ReedShepherd since his original commitment to Kentucky to
you know, kind of throughout hisfreshman year and now projected as a top

(20:38):
five pick. I'm not sure evenJeff and Stacey saw that come. And
I was happy for Antonio Reeves havinga nice game yesterday because he needed to
impress some folks there at the combinethis week, I'm sure. Yeah.
I saw Sam Vesini of The Athletic, a guy whose opinion I really really
in respect, he really dives deepinto this NBA draft, said he was

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close to moving Antonio Reeves to afirst round grade wow after his performance not
just in his senior season at Kentucky, but throughout the combine. Said he's
just a really gifted score has somany counters to what defenses can throw at
him, and there's just a lotof spots in the NBA for guys like

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that. So it sounds like he'shelped himself out tremendously as well. Chris
Fishercatzpause dot Com, Thank you much. All right, thanks Chris Fisher coming
to us of the Club Blue nilHotline. It is the Leach Report.
Next up, Kyle Tucker from theAthletic Leature Bard presented by Bob kat Enterprises

(21:41):
and joining us in the Club BlueANDIL hotline is Kyle Tucker rights Forthathletic dot
Com. Let's start Kyle with projectyou were a part of for a couple
of recent stories, one of thea couple of the mail bag columns that
you did with a couple of otherwriters for the Athletic and and I want
to talk about the portion of itfocusing on nil and some of the the

(22:07):
funds that are going to players andwhat the numbers look like, because it
seems like any time I talk toa group of fans, the there's a
lot of questions about that, andfans are trying to and I wrap their
arms around how this is actually allworking. And it is very much a
study in capitalism and supplying demand,right, Yeah, absolutely, and even

(22:30):
more to your point, you know, as as scarcity arrives, right like,
as this portal process winds down,a handful of viable players that are
left are commanding we're seeing pretty prettybig numbers. It almost it almost behooves
you to hold out, you know, until the very end. And you

(22:51):
know the report of Great Os four, who Kentucky had in for a visit.
Getting two million dollars from Washington ispretty wild. You know, it's
you're you're hearing crazy numbers left andright, and you know, we're actually
we've actually talked to even more peoplesince that kind of brief mail bag item

(23:12):
about the going rates for players,and it's pretty universal. I mean,
the numbers are you know, dependingon on the league and all those type
of things, they vary a littlebit, but we're hearing a lot of
the same type of numbers and they'rehuge and and it's it seems pretty unsustainable
to me that these these numbers cancontinue. At some point that the dust

(23:34):
has to settle a little bit andthe market has to adjust. But uh,
for now, if you're if you'reneeding to do what Kentucky just had
to do and it is still inthe process of doing, which is,
you know, completely at an entireroster of good, viable, SEC level
players, you're gonna it's gonna costyou. And uh, you know,

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I think if you if you wantto start, it's gonna really cost you.
And it would stand a reason thatcost is probably going to escalate until
there are what people have said usedto phrase guard rails or you know,
a market adjustment to have heard youknow, some coaches say they don't think

(24:17):
it's sustainable as people start to youknow, look at what they're spending and
what their return is after a Butwe don't know how much time that would
take. Is it a year,is it five years to make that kind
of adjustment, But until some kindof something changes in the marketplace, it
would figure it to only go upfrom year to year, right, Yeah,

(24:37):
And it'll be really interesting when youtalk about return on investment. It
becomes you know, it kind ofbecomes the thing you didn't really want it
to become. And you know,it's kind of a tough spot because you're
asking, right, you're asking fans. Kentucky's doing it and everybody's doing it.
You're asking fans, both your bigdonors and your everyday fan to be

(25:00):
part of the process to chip inand you know, help get rosters together.
Well, there's a natural especially amongthe big donors, you know,
I think even among small donors.But you know, if you're if you're
a guy who's you know, putup six figures or a million dollars towards
a roster, if you're been apart of a small group that's given a

(25:22):
school several million dollars to go puttogether a great roster, and then that
roster doesn't do well. Now whatlike, Now you're in the position that
those those fans are your owners insome way. And if they decide,
okay, that coach underachieved with thatroster, I'm not giving that coach in

(25:44):
an ile anymore. So what isthe athletic director to do? You You
wither and die without it. Sothey're essentially in charge. And and that's
a very that's gonna be a veryinteresting situation. It already is going forward.
Okay. If all these schools arepony huge amounts of money, if
their donors are toning up huge amountsof money, and then they say we're
turning that faucet off until you makea change, they are now in charge,

(26:10):
you know, And to an evencrazier degree, if they wanted to,
they could say we're not toning upunless you hire the guy we want
you to hire. I don't thinkthat's where anybody wants it to go,
but it certainly is a risk nowbeing run. Yeah, there's some real
uncomfortable things that could be on thehorizon, depending on how all of this

(26:32):
shakes out unless you think about players, and there's always been the feeling these
are quote unquote college kids and they'renot pros yet, and so they're coaches,
understandably at all sports, trying toshield them from some of the criticism
and don't you know, don't takeit out on the players like you would

(26:55):
in the pros, et cetera.But as you know, guys, the
men and women athletes are making moreand more money, and you've got sports
betting ramping up. You know,if you're an athlete at a place like
Kentucky and you have a bad gameand a big game, and you know,
you can hear plenty about it insocial media. Sometimes might be hard

(27:17):
to think it could be worse,but it probably could be. Right.
Yeah, absolutely, I think thatthat's another area we're you know, hurtling
toward. I mean, it's notnot a ton of people, but a
sort of alarming number of people havelike tweeted at me, is it okay
for me to boo players now?Which is like, yeah, I mean
I guess it is it? Certainly. I certainly don't think once they are

(27:40):
truly basically professional athletes in college,you got to accept some criticism, I
think too. You know, you'vegot to show up and you know,
answer questions after you lose. Ithink that's all part of being a pro
and learning how to be a pro, and those are useful lessons for life.
But some of these guys are stilleighteen nineteen years old. More and
more of them are not more ofthem than ever are going to be older.

(28:00):
But it strikes me as odd thatpeople that people preemptively like, is
it okay? Now do I getto boo? Do I get to boom
my own team? I mean,I don't know. I'm not a big
fan of that in general, Likeyou know, boo when something, when
something, you know, something happenson the court that you don't agree with.

(28:22):
You know, I love booing theofficials, I think, I think
you know that that that always cracksme up, just the like the lusty
uh booing from the home crowd whenyou when they feel like they're not getting
the call. But you know,I don't know, something something a little
off putting to me about booing yourown team and your own building. But

(28:42):
uh, you know, booing theopponent I think is obviously normal, and
that's kids people kind of thrive onthat right, going on the road and
sort of driving on the hate.But there's a there's a whole other element
to it. To get in booedfrom your home crowd. That's a that's
a pretty miserable feeling. I'm sure. Y. Yeah, we're headed for
it. Yeah, we're headed forthe more money that's on the line.

(29:04):
When you've got when the fans thinkthat they are you know, hey,
I help build this roster. Andas you mentioned, the sports cambling,
I think that already has like rampedit up. We did. We did
a story during the NCAA tournament wherea bunch of us set the Athletic ass
different into the bench. Guys walkon you know, the human cigars.
How much gambling has changed, youknow, how they're received. And it's

(29:27):
like some of them get like deaththreats from gamblers because they come in a
game that's a blowout and they hita three and over you know or under
or whatever gets affected. Uh,they get like why would you do that?
You know? And and so that'salready happening. Were you said?

(29:47):
Kyle Tucker's with us from the Athleticdot Com. If you're not a subscriber,
it's really easy and you can getaccess to the content that Kyle provides
a lot of other great writers aboutvarious sports. Also in the mail bag,
I think maybe the first edition ofit, the two stories that are
posted, you and the team talkabout best players, top five excuse me,

(30:15):
teams, best five teams for nextseason. I think Bama, I
can in your post Bama was inyour top five, especially if they were
to get Mark Sears back. Let'ssay Kentucky adds a scorer, be it
Jackson, Robinson, Lanier, whoever. How good is Kentucky with that roster

(30:36):
that Mark Pope has put together.I think it's a roster that you know,
it's interesting because it's so different.Especially it's so different from what all
of us that have been around Kentuckybasketball I've seen for the last fifteen years.
But it's a little hard to process. But when I look at the
landscape of what is college of basketballnow, it's old. You know what

(30:57):
is the styles? It's this?You know that's winning. It's the style
that of offense that Mark Pope plays. You know, do these pieces fit
what he wants to do offensively?And they do? I feel like for
what he runs he's a symbol ofthe team that has a chance to,
you know, be a top twentyfive team. I think they still do
need to add that score. Ithink, you know, if they don't

(31:18):
get one of of Lanier or JacksonRobinson or Poplar, or if there's somebody
else that pops that pulls out ofthe draft, they got to get they
got to get one more. That'sa high level score for sure. But
if they do that, you know, I think it's a team that should
certainly be considered for preseason top twentyfive. They're not on any of those

(31:41):
lists that I've seen right now,and I think there's you know, it's
not unreasonable to be a little skeptical. You don't know, how's Mark Pope
going to do at the higher level, and how's this roster of guys going
to do when there's not a lotof you look at it and there's not
a lot of like, oh,this guy's going to the NBA in a
year or two. And I thinkthey'll they will have more and more of

(32:02):
that as they have time to recruita high school class, which you know
starts this weekend, basically the firstopen period for coaches. They'll be out
on the road. I'll be outchecking them out to see, you know,
who are they watching on the Nikecircuit this weekend in Indianapolis. But
you know, for now, Ithink this is a roster that can compete.
You know, I don't think it'sa roster I would pick to win

(32:25):
the SEC, but I think it'sgoing to be very competitive in the top
half of the SEC. Interesting quotefrom Jackson Robinson and Ben Roberts story from
the Combine and he talks about howby us what they ran last season with
Mark has you know, prepared himfor what he's dealing with at the Combine

(32:50):
and just even you know, theway that they play and how it's prepares
him, as he thinks, preparedhim to have a good shot to make
it in the NBA. I thoughtthat was interesting from the standpoint of in
the NBA stuff became a you know, a hot button thing with Cal for
the fans, But it is,you know, for all players, they

(33:12):
you know, most if not all, aspire to get to that level and
if you've got to you know,a way to help them do that,
it certainly enhances your chances of gettingplayers. And so it may not you
know that still may be something thatKentucky can sell in terms of the way
we play here can get you readyfor the NBA. Yeah, absolutely,

(33:34):
And you know I think players likeyou know, if you get if you
get Robinson, and what what isanother year in doing it at the highest
level back in the SEC. ForRobinson it'd be interesting because you know,
he's already had that SEC experience.He's played at Arkansas and Texas A and
M and then played his you know, last year at b y U was
in the Big twelve. So youknow, if he goes to Kentucky and

(33:55):
they and thrives again in that offense, I think to a guy like Brandon
and Garrison will be an interesting likelitmus test for their NBA development. You
know, Colin Chandler a guy whoI think has some NBA potential but is
gonna have to develop and obviously shakeoff the rust of being on his mission
trip. How some of those guyselevate this year, you know, how

(34:22):
how does that affect how they recruitgoing forward? Because Kentucky has on its
own still has a huge brand.I think you know, nobody's gonna get
the level the number of McDonald's allAmericans five stars that Cal did. But
every coach that's been at Kentucky hasgotten McDonald's all Americans. I think that's
not gonna stop. But you know, if you pair that brand of Kentucky

(34:45):
with what you'd expect to be MarkPope's really electric offense, that that is
very pro you know style. Now, I think they've got a chance to
go get you know, I don'tthink they're gonna get three, four,
five, but they you know,one or two five star kids every year
to go with some older players anddeveloping guys. They have there got a
chance to make this new formula forroster building. Work at Kyle Tucker Underscore

(35:10):
ath on X and at Theathletic dotCom on the web. Thank Kyle,
Thank you. It comes to usvia the Club Blue nil hotline. Today
is the day the deadline for signingup to be a part of Club Blue
and then being eligible to be inthat VIP event on June fifteenth, the

(35:30):
meet and greet with Coach Pope andthe players in the New Era or Kentucky
Basketball event. Go to Club Blueenildot com click join Club Blue. Various
levels at which you can participate,and today's the deadline. You sign up
by today and you could be oneof the Club Blue subscribers at that VIP
event on June fifteenth. Club blueenildot com. It is the Leads Report

(35:52):
and we'll be right back bring thiscoming up Saturday in Baltimore. He is
a chance for some rain up there. At this point they're saying triple crown
coverage here this spring on the LeachReport, once again presented by Clayburne Farm.
Doing the usual, unusually well fromthe daily racing form. Mister Dan

(36:12):
settling in well. Saw a littlevideo of him heading back out to the
track this morning. He galloped yesterdayunder Robbie Albarado, the former jockey works
for Kenny McPeak now and Robbie talkedabout how nicely mister Dan has settled in.
He seems to be enjoying the calmatmosphere at Pimlico compared to the hubbub
of the backside at Churchill during DerbyWeek. But he said he's just such

(36:37):
an easy going horse that he doesn'tget too excited unless you need it to.
So Kenny's talked about the worse howsmart he is, so mistic Dan
doing well heading toward the Preakness onSaturday. We will see you guys tomorrow
here on The Leech Report, presentedby Bob Kat Enterprises. Thanks for listening

(36:58):
to The Leech Report anytime. Heit's a show. You can catch the
Mingy Beef Tricky Podcast. Find themat Tom leach Ky dot com or on
the iHeartRadio app. Interested in advertisingon the show, email Leach Report at
gmail dot com. We'll see younext time on the Leech Report.