05-22-24 LEACH REPORT

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This Bingie beef Jerkey podcast of theLeach Report is also presented by Boons Butcher
Shop, one hundred old Bloomfield Pikein Barnestown. Fresh meat cut on location
daily and they're family owned and operated, have been since nineteen forty six.
Good day, everybody, Welcome into the Wednesday edition of The Leach Report,
presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Coming uptoday, we'll lead off with talk

(00:25):
about the SEC Baseball Tournament Kentucky inaction in two and a half hours at
the SEC tournament site in Hoover,Alabama, south of Birmingham. Dick Gabriel
will join us, and Gabe hascovered many of those SEC tournaments and we'll
talk with him about Kentucky's path inthe tournament and then what would be in

(00:47):
store next week for the NCAA.Beginning Chris Fisher from Kat's Pause, and
then Kyle Tucker from The Athletic.Kyle has a new story up focusing on
Mark Pope on the recruiting trail,and we'll talk to him about that coming
up today. So that's the gaslineup. Wildcat News of the Day presented
by Joseppes of Lexington, Kentucky andLSU. First pitch set for ten thirty

(01:11):
am Eastern televised on the SEC network. Listen to Darren Headrick's call on the
UK Radio Network. If you're atwork today, you know, find the
the earbuds, the earphones. Stickthose in. Keep up with the cats
via Darren Headrick while you're getting alittle work done today as Kentucky takes on

(01:32):
LSU. The eleventh seed Tigers knockedout Georgia yesterday nine to one, a
lot of speculation that perhaps secured anNCAA tournament spot for LSU. LSU has
been hot lately, last twenty games, they're fifteen and five. Last five
SEC series they've won four of them, so Kentucky is facing a hot team.

(01:56):
They got off to a horrendous startin league play I think three and
twelve, but has really turned itaround. And of course it was LSU
that dow Kentucky out of the postseasonlast year in the Super Regional and baton
rouge. So we will talk aboutthat matchup today when Gabe joins us here
in just a bit. Yesterday's gamesat the SEC tournament were all single elimination.
Today's games begin the double elimination playso if Kentucky wins, it would

(02:23):
advance and play tomorrow morning. Ifit should lose today, it would play
tomorrow afternoon. We'll talk about someof the strategy with pitching, etc.
Here in just a bit. Congratsto bam at Obio and Anthony Davis named
to the NBA's All Defensive Team.I think it's the first time for Bam

(02:44):
eighty's a multiple time selection to thatparticular squad, So happy for both of
those guys. And a report onZag's blog says twenty twenty five recruit Will
Riley, a five star, isworking on a visit to UK for next
month. Six eight wing players beentearing it up on the Nike eybl circuit,

(03:04):
averaging a little over twenty per game. Up in Indie last weekend there
was a major high school event andhe had a forty two point game in
one of the outings there. Sohe is a top ten prospect and maybe
even moving up in the rankings.So Will Riley named keep an eye on
for Mark Popen company links to thestories that we talk about each day.

(03:27):
You can find those of the BudLightlyach Report page at Tom leechky dot com.
Our opening segment a service of Giuseppesof Lexington and Giuseppes. It needs
to be your go to spot forspecial occasions or for time when you just
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enjoy the live jazz music with yourmeal. Just Sepies of Lexington. Nobody

(04:12):
does it better. Just off NicholasvilleRoad here in Lexington. We will get
to a break and come back withDick Gabriel. Then reports presented by Bobcat
Enterprises for locations across Kentucky. GoogleBobcat Enterprises find the one closest to you
when you need to rent or buyheavy equipment excavators, loaders, Bobcats,
et cetera. And they have zeroturn moors for your long too at Bobcat

(04:35):
Enterprises. Dick Gabriel joins us nowfrom the UK Sports Network and Big Blue
Insider dot Com and we want totalk about the SEC Baseball tournament game in
Kentucky opening up against LSU, ateam they did not play during the regular
season. How does the Kentucky matchup with the Biobengals. Well, any

(04:57):
game. Obviously, he's tough,that's the old cliche down there. But
they got maybe the hottest team inthe league, tom which is you know,
uh, they're they're a top seed, but they were running into an
LSU team playing its best. Andthis is one of those teams that when
you see them down in the standingsin the SEC West, it just doesn't
look right, you know, likeMississippi State or teams like that. But

(05:20):
they're they're on a roll right now. So they've got confidence from winning yesterday.
Plus they got Tommy White who's gottwenty three home runs and a million
runs batted in. Uh, youknow, they just gotta be careful with
that guy. But the big ballparkshould help a little bit. But they
they got to be on their gametoday. Obviously, I was gonna ask
you, how does the ballpark fitthis particular Kentucky team. Well, they've

(05:43):
got guys with power. It's notit's not a quote unquote small ball team.
And they spend much of the year, convincing us of that because last
year they manufactured runs so well.But they've got guys who with some surprising
cop in their bat. But thegood thing Tom about this team is they
don't go up there trying to hithome runs. If they get a mistake,
they'll square it up and put itout of the park. And of

(06:05):
course Ryan Nicholson could put it outanywhere. But this team, I think,
you know, a lot is reallybuilt well for Hoover. It's a
big ballpark, and of course thefarther back defenses are the bigger, the
alleys are and Kentucky's got some guyswho can really slash into the alleys,

(06:26):
you know, Walt Schmidt, LopezPetrie, guys like that. So it's
it's gonna be I think a bigplus for their offense. And defensively,
it's a grass infield, it's dirt, they played on that. But I
do think Kentucky's got the best doubleplay combo. And now you've got Mitchell
Daly, who's an All Conference defensiveplayer. Third, he's a shortstop by

(06:46):
trade, So I think that Ithink it sets up well for Kentucky defensively
as well. Talk with the Gabriel. You can follow a Big Blue Insider
one on the egrefer Big Blue Insiderdot com. Kentucky has the luxury of
being under pressure for the next tournament, and they're going to be almost certainly

(07:13):
a top eight national seed. Mightbe the overall number one, depending on
how things are playing out this weekfor the Cats and others. But that
gives Nick Vincio from situation that hetypically goes into this SEC tournament in in
terms of managing his pitching staff,right, no question about it. First
of all, you don't have toworry about piling up wins in the tournament
just to get in the postseason,which was the case a couple of years

(07:36):
ago. But you're exactly right.You know, you keep your eye,
keep your on the prize, onthe big trophy if you can get there.
But yeah, number one, tobe ready for that tournament next week
because if you win that one,if we all know now, you got
a shot at hosting the Super whichthey likely will if they win it,
and that puts you two home winsfrom Omaha. So you want to win

(07:58):
the SEC tournament. You do whateveryou can. They've never done that.
They've made the finals only three times, but the last time was in nineteen
ninety five. So keep that pitchingstaff as intact as possible. That's why
any team that can get extended inningsfrom any of their pitchers in the first
round have a major advantage moving on. Yeah, LSU's picture, I think,

(08:20):
what the game of seven innings yesterday? Yeah, so now they're set
up. And I remember one year, you know, Price and I used
to do a whole tournament on theradio for the SEC radio network. LSU
came in an eight seed and Ithink on the first starter who was not
an acclaim guy went eight innings andset them up for the rest of the
week. So yeah, it's it'svital. Kentucky is in the double elimination

(08:43):
phase now, but you know,you might have to play what I guess,
five games to win this thing.So the bullpitia huge for every team,
but you know, for Kentucky inparticular, because they want to protect
their starters for next week. Yeah, and that's a concern of mine.
I think the bullpen, I thinkit's a combination of some guys who might

(09:05):
be a little tired, because evenif you're not pitching, you're warming up.
But more than anything. I thinkthat they've done so well, and
they've been playing all year long.Obviously, like everybody that they're scatting off.
You know that in depth on Kentucky'spitchers, But it's like Dan Roselle
said, you go out there andyou throw strikes. Nick Man sounds simple,

(09:26):
but it's not. Nick ben Jones. Execute the pitch that we need
you to throw, and you gota great chance. That's another thing too.
If and when Mason Moore pitches thisweek, when he's on and his
sinker's going, people pound the ballinto the ground ball part plays well.
You know. They got a coupleguys who have trouble with home runs,

(09:46):
but they're figuring things out. Andone guy I think has been a big
plus down the stretch is Robert Hogan, the kid who transferred intom A and
m throws smoke, a huge competitor. Has gotten out of some tight jams
for Kentucky and he can come backthe next day of the day after need
be Gabe, appreciate it and enjoythe games. Thank you you too.
That is Dick Gabriel, and wewere going to get to a break.

(10:09):
We'll come right back. Chris Fisherfrom the Cat's Pause will join us.
We're coming to you from the Clark'spumpin Shop studio. Return, refresh and
refuel at Clark's. And Gabe andall of our guests coming to you on
the Club Blue Nil Hotline. It'sthe Leach Report Radio Network and we'll be
right back quarter to two past thetop of the hour, back to the
Club Blue nil Hotline. Bring on, Chris Fisher Catzpause dot com. Uh,

(10:33):
exciting times for Kentucky baseball. Uh, Chris, You've got a couple
of posts articles at katzpause dot comabout UH postseason awards and now they're heading
into the postseason and I would suspectnext week the crowds should be off the
charts out at KPP. Yeah.I would thinks so they've been. It

(10:54):
looks like they've been bracing themselves forthat, installing the new bleachers in the
outfield, and it should be areally really exciting time for Kentucky baseball.
I think in all likelihood Kentucky haslocked up hosting not only the regionals,
but the Super Regionals as well,And I think excitement is is really is
that an all time hot This isa really really fun team to watch.

(11:16):
If you watch them play, nomatter how many runs they're down, they're
never out of it. They canput together clusters of runs and just keep
battling and scrapping. And it's aneasy time for sure. Yeah, and
it's new. The success in baseball'srelatively new. They you know, Knick's
first season. They had a nicerun last year. They got to a

(11:37):
super regional, but mean to bein a position to maybe host a super
regional if they could get that far, and to be top five in the
country. When something's new like that, you know the school you follow one
of the sports is having success unlikethey've had. It gets people fired up.

(11:58):
Yeah, it definitely does. Andlike you men, and the two
previous super regionals were both on theroad. They have a chance to host
one this year, which you know, can can make a lot of difference.
And I just I look back atthe job that Nick Minion has done
this season and a lot of peoplefelt like, you know, his time

(12:18):
at Kentucky was coming to an end. To finish fifth in the SEC East
this season, and they go outand you know, win a share of
its second ever regular season championship andfirst since two thousand and six. So
what he's done with this team isremarkable. And if you look at the
way both current and former players reachedout after he was named SEC Coach of

(12:41):
the Year, you can tell they'rethe really rare and he's definitely a player's
coach. Shift to basketball recruiting andMark Pope and his staff at a busy
weekend with the ramping up of gettingopportunity to see these top high school prospects
in action, and for Mark,you know, he suddenly is has access

(13:03):
to the best in the Lake,which he didn't before at his previous stop.
Right. Yeah, I mean youlook at the brand identity with associated
with Kentucky and then you know,juxtaposed to that some of the recruiting limitations
that he had when he was atBYU, and all of a sudden,

(13:24):
it's a whole new ballgame. Butyou know, my tast live period over
the weekend, I think Mark Popeis still going to continue to prioritize the
in state prospects, especially when thosein state prospects are elite and you have
two of them in Jasper Johnson,who's the top ten prospect, and Malachai

(13:45):
Moreno, who's a top thirty prospect. I think Kentucky is still going to
be very, very active in thoseguys. You have some familiarity there with
Jasper Johnson obviously be in the UKlegacy, but also Alvin Brooks was recruiting
him at Baylor and had, youknow, Baylor in one of the top
positions for him. And so youstart with those two guys, and then

(14:09):
it looks like they're going to continueto pursue the guys that Kentucky had already
offered and some of the guys thatthey had already for visits, the Boozer
Twins, Varius A. Cuff,Caleb Wilson, you know, the list
of the elite talent goes on andon. But there's about eight guys that

(14:31):
Kentucky had offered that were in youknow, good to pretty good position with
that they had on campus for visitsthat I think Kentucky will will continue to
pursue. I think there's been prettymuch universal praise ass that that Mark has
put together to go out of anattack recruiting, right, Yeah, I
definitely think so. I think thebig concern when Mark Pope was named the

(14:54):
new coach was whether he would beable to recruit at a high level.
I think that was probably the bigquestion mark, But you know, I
think he put the put those doubtsto bed with the hiring of both Jason
Hart Alvin Brooks. Both of thoseguys had tremendous success at their previous stops

(15:15):
and really have an eye for highend talent and have the relationships to bring
those types of guys in, andso I think they're off to a really,
really good start. Talking with ChrisFisher from Katspaws dot Com on x
or Twitter, it is at ChrisFisher twenty four to seven, the recruiting
calendar looked like in this next monthand change for Bark Pope and Company.

(15:43):
Yeah, you'll have a couple morerecruiting stops for for the live periods.
July is obviously a you know,probably the biggest month on the recruiting calendar,
and you'll have Peach Jam at theend of the of the summer.
I think the focus right now andthe last weekend, the focus has been
the transfer portal and continuing to roundout the roster. They just had North

(16:07):
Florida transfer Chaslaneer on campus for avisit. They had three Star Center former
Vanderbilt commit Jamie Vinson on campus fora visit. I think he's, you
know, a candidate for that thirteenthand final scholarship spot. And then you
wait and see what happens with JacksonRobinson over the next half does he pull
out of the draft? And ifhe does, if Kentucky were to miss

(16:30):
on Chaslineer, I think he becomesof the utmost importance to add to this
roster, and he Robinson has isit? Is it twenty ninth? Is
that the date? Twenty ninth?YEP for making a decision to stay in
the draft or go back to college. Chris appreciate the time? All right,
thinks we're halfway on the Leach Reportfrom the Clark's Pumping Shop. Studios

(16:56):
return, refresh and refuel, downloadtheir app get the monthly specials. There'd
be a new set of specials comingup for June here soon. Kyle Tucker
from The Athletic coming up next.We'll talk about his most recent story,
the insight into Mark Pope on therecruiting trail. We'll be right back.
It's the Lectrivari presented by bobcn Enterprisesat twenty six away from the top of

(17:22):
the hour we go to the clubBlue nil hotline. Welcome in Kyle Tucker
from the Athletic dot com. Andwe always tell you if you're not a
subscriber, it's always a good timeto jump on board, but especially so
right now because there's a great newsstory that Mark has Pope. Kyle has
posted about Mark Pope and out onthe recruiting trail that you can read if

(17:45):
you're a subscriber to The Athletic andKyle, this is a little more insight
into, you know, something thatpeople when Mark Pope was hired. One
of the questions was, you know, how well will he be able to
recruit and you know, as faras going after the best of the best,
And that's the guys that he waswatching last weekend, the best of

(18:06):
the best, right, Yeah,I think that's you know, I think
that's a pretty clear it was apretty clear message going out from both he
and the staff at the first biglive recruiting weekends that he's gotten hired,
just that they were out watching thebest players. You know, they were
watching the number one and the numbertwo and the number three player. And

(18:27):
I think in both the twenty fiveand the twenty sixth class and several other
five star players, and that's notall there. I mean, I think
they you know, one of themost interesting things that when I talked to
Pope there that he told me wasthat, you know, they're take they're
trying to take a tiered approach wherethey're they're kind of sorting who they're watching

(18:47):
and who they're who. They're kindof targeting into three tiers. You know,
guys that they think are one anddone, and they still want to
get those guys, you know,the high impact NBA you know, ready
guys, guys who they think canin the second tier who they think can
help them be in the rotation asfreshmen, and then the third tier being
guys that maybe could help as freshmen, but more likely are developmental guys who,

(19:11):
as you know, juniors are goingto be huge factors for them.
And that third tier is gonna bepretty tough at this current climate, just
because it's hard to get guys tostay and developed. But I think in
particular, if that if that kindof guy is an in state guy and
they've got a couple of those thisyear, you have a chance with that
because they have sort of an incentiveto day. They're there for more than

(19:33):
just the sort of transactional nature thata lot of these decisions are now.
So I thought that was a smartapproach to it. But you know,
to your original point, it wasallowed and clear that they're not going to
stop recruiting, you know, highlevel five star players, and not even
just five star players, but guysat the very top of that list.

(19:56):
So I think if you for peoplewho want want a mix, you know,
they love all the work he's donein the transfer portal, they loved
getting all those five star players underCali Perry, but they'd prefer a mix.
I think that's what you can probablycount on under the in the in
the Mark Pope era. One thingthat seems clear is that he when you

(20:19):
look at what he did has donein the transfer portal, the staff he's
put together, and now you knowthrough this story we're reading about from you,
about his work on the recruiting trail, it just seems to me that
he came into this. He wasyou know, when the coaching search began.
His his name was not at thetop of the list of fans or

(20:41):
pundits, but it's clear that hewas ready to put a plan into action
and gave you know, had youknow, whether it's going to be Kentucky
or somewhere else the you know,his next big opportunity if it came,
he was going to be ready.He was going to be able to hit
the ground running. Yeah, AndI one one of the things that I've

(21:02):
I should have asked him by now. I've talked to him a couple of
times, but you know, it'salways a little bit limited and trying to
trying to hit the points that I'mafter at that moment. But one thing
that's been on my mind that I'dlove to ask him about is just like,
what has this been in his mindfor a long time? Like he
obviously has always loved Kentucky. There'sa deep love there, he said.

(21:23):
He you know, Mitch barely hadto get the question out before he said,
yes, Like, has he beenthinking about one day when I'm the
Kentucky coach? You know, ifI ever get that chance, this is
how I would do it. Becauseit does feel like it didn't take him
very long to to formulate this plan, right, you know, And so
I would imagine there's a decent chanceof that. You know, obviously had

(21:48):
already been a head coach, sohe had a general idea how he wants
to run a program. But butrunning the Kentucky program and the BYU program
are very very different, and heand he seems to have a very good
handle specifically on how he needs todo it at Kentucky. So yeah,
I don't know, I'd like toI'd like to talk to him a little
bit about that. But yeah,he he doesn't seem daunted by this.

(22:11):
You know, maybe he's just goodat a good actor, but he seems,
you know, very comfortable in thissituation. I think it's very advantageous
that he is a apparently just atireless human being in terms of, you
know, having a deep well ofenergy to draw from. Everybody I talked

(22:33):
to about him that's ever known him, either in the long term or been
around him since he's taken the Kentuckyjob, everyone says, basically, he
just never gets tired, or henever appears to be. And you talk
to recruits and the word energy comesup a lot, you know, a
lot of a lot of different guysthat he's got a great energy about him.
So he certainly was ready for hismoment. And if you talk to

(22:56):
his teammates. I mean, that'skind of who he was as a player,
and he was here, right,yeah, exactly. I mean that
you know, Cameron Mills, JeffShepherd, those guys will all tell you
he was just you know, Ithink I asked Cameron when is he gonna
crash? And he said, never, you know, like it, this
is just how he'll be. Andif you think about it, like even

(23:17):
outside of basketball, like he wasa Rhodes Scholar finalist, he was in
medical school at Columbia. Like thosethose are you know, fifteen eighteen hour
days. If you're in medical school, it requires that level of tirelessness.
So I guess it's not all thatsurprising. With Kyle Tucker from the Athletic

(23:41):
dot Com at Kyle Tucker Underscore htH on X, he was on with
us a couple of weeks ago,and I talked to him in detail about
you know, analytics and how heyou know, came to have the put
the value on it that he does, and in a couple of interesting things
I thought that he said. Onewas that players when they leave here would

(24:07):
have a much keener understanding of theirgame from an analytics standpoint, and know
what you know, they're to put, in baseball terms, what their best
pitch was and what, you know, what they needed to maximize, what
they needed to minimize. But healso said that in the recruiting process they
would be able to tell recruits thingsabout their individual games that the players wouldn't

(24:34):
be aware of. And you referencea black binder that he pulls out of
that backpack at this particular recruiting eventlast weekend in Indy that you were observing,
and I assume that's what's in theblack binder, right, Yeah,
partially, I mean some of itis just notes and schedules and where are

(24:55):
these players, you know, whatquarter are they on at this event that
but yeah, he said, youknow they have. He told me they
have, you know, significant analyticson every guy that they plan to watch.
And so that was interesting. I'mcurious. I didn't follow up I
should have on where that comes from, if they put it together themselves,
if they're if they're pulling it fromSynergy I have. I think most people

(25:18):
are at least vaguely aware of Synergy, Like I have an account that has
access to college and NBA stuff,but there's another tier of it you can
pay for and college coaches do toto have all the high school stuff,
and you have data on their highschool and their AAU games and film and
you know, kind of a deepdive analytical stuff on on you know,

(25:41):
percentages off catching, catch and shootand coming off of screens and playing in
the pick and roll all that,all that kind of stuff, and I
assume they probably have that. Andand then you know, like Natoate's at
Alabama, one of the things that'salways kind of impressed me about him is
he was he got so into thatso early that they started paying a company
that you know, very few otherpeople used to do specific stuff for them

(26:06):
analytically, you know, to givehim exactly what he wants at the tip
of his fingers that you know,you'll watch him after a game, he'll
pull he'll have his phone out,he's kind of scrolling through the real time
report on the analytics of that thatgame that just happened. And so,
you know, I don't know ifif Pope has some other company that he
uses, but but clearly they're verybought into that. And it's interesting you

(26:30):
mentioned that they would be able totell recruits things because one of the guys
I talked to one of the fivestar players. Tunday, I believe it
was. And I won't even tryto pronounce his last name on to get
get that down pat first, buthe said, uh, you know they
something to the along the lines ofthere, they're gonna be able to show
me things about my game. Idon't know. So I think clearly that's

(26:52):
been part of that conversation there,And you know, players want to players
want to know how do I getbetter? Chat with Kyle Tucker the Club
Blue Nil Highline. It is theLeach Report Radio Network, and we'll come
back continue the conversation in just amoment thirteen away from the top of the
hour. We're chatting with Kyle Tucker. You can read him at the Athletic
dot com talking about his latest post, a story on Mark Pope out on

(27:18):
the recruiting trail and big event thattook place last weekend up in Indianapolis.
Jasper Johnson, the former Woodford CountyHigh School star, one of the players
that Mark and the staff have beenwatching. You got a chance to catch
up to Jasper too, right,Yeah, And you know it was interesting
he had Mark Pope had reached outto his parents first, and I guess

(27:41):
has kind of indicated to some familiesthat he prefers to, you know,
talk to the parents before he talkedto the to the kid. I think,
you know, just trying to showa sign of respect for you know,
for the folks there, and Ithink they usually appreciate that. And
he kind of let them know,Hey, we're crazy busy trying to finish
off this roster and then we're goingto jump into recruiting and and so then

(28:04):
on you know, with most ofthe roster wrapped up. They on Thursday
before that event last weekend, uhPope called Jasper, who's been away at
school at a prep school, andsaid, hey, I'm gonna be at
your games. You know, lookfor me there and and it was hard
to Jasper said, is hard tomiss, you know, he's six foot

(28:26):
ten coach and a big blue poloor pullover sitting literally directly under the basket
at one of Jasper's games, frontand center, you know, and and
clearly as as the son of aformer Kentucky football star and growing up there
and rooting for Kentucky his whole life, like that the Kentucky brand, you

(28:48):
know, and and just caring aboutthat program. Is really important to jasper
And so I think it's pretty logicalthat if Mark Pope is going to go
all in on recruiting him the waythat you know, Kentucky was also recruiting
him under John cal Perry, youknow they're gonna, they're gonna listen.
I would expect Kentucky to be inthe mix at the very end and that

(29:10):
recruitment and uh that that's a that'sa huge, you know, stroke of
luck for Pope that, you know, his first year a guy who really
values in state kids who you know, care about wearing that jersey, a
state that doesn't produce a ton offive star kids. In his first year,
they got, you know, atop fifteen player in the country who's
from there and who's in a who'sa legacy player at Kentucky. So you

(29:36):
know, I think there there's areally good shot with him. I mentioned
Tune Day earlier, top twenty fiveplayer who said before he came over from
West Africa that Kentucky was the schoolhe dreamed of playing at, and that
Mark Pope has made early and oftencontact with him. So there's already a
couple of five stars in that classthat I feel like Kentucky's gonna be,

(29:59):
you know, in a strong positionwith for the writhing seniors. It's kind
of nice that it's Mark's arrivals coincidingwith an uptick in the big time prospects
coming out of the state. Imean, you had read Shepherd on last
year's team, and the Pope hasgot Perry and Noah, you got Jasper
Johnson, you got Moreno over agreat crossing, and so it's a time

(30:22):
when it seems like the number ofbig time prospects is a little greater than
has been the case for a fewyears. Yeah, and you know,
mentioning Malachi Moreno. Cody Fieger wasin Texas for the Adidas event for the
first two days. That's the otherthing. The staffs all fanned out.

(30:44):
Alvin Brooks started out in Wichdal,Kansas at a Puma event, but Figer
was two days watching Malachi Moreno andthen he switched places with Jason Hart,
one of the other assistants, andPope. They got on a private jet
on either Saturday night or early Sundaymorning and switched places with Sieger and went
out and watched Moreno. So thehead coach was there. Two of the

(31:07):
assistants were there over the course ofthe weekend to see him as well,
so they they made sure they wereseen and they were seeing and being seen
by the top guys that they want, and two of those were in state
guys for the upcoming season. ChasLanier was in for a visit. Also,
Vincent player that Vandy had earlier hada commitment from visited, a wing

(31:30):
player reportedly more of a developmental typeof guy. But Lanier. You got
Jackson Robinson weighing the NBA versus collegeand he guests on you know, odds
line. How this plays out forthose final two roster spots, Yeah,
I think I think if Robinson wasis definitely out of the draft. I

(31:53):
like Kentucky's position with him. Lanieris going to be a tough one day.
Kentucky sort of drew the toughest spotin the visit order, right in
the middle. So b why yougot the first visit in Kentucky and then
he went late the night of inLexington Monday, and then I think got
in a car and made it toKnoxville late Tuesday night and was there or

(32:19):
Monday night and was there all dayyesterday. So I think Tennessee has clearly
prioritized him. They're obviously selling himon the idea that he could be the
next adult and connect and that's prettyappealing. There's more of a, hey,
you can be the man type ofa vibe to I think what they
are able to offer there than atKentucky, where they've gotten a lot of

(32:40):
a lot of players, a lotof guards, they've gotten a lot of
other shooters. So it's going tobe a battle, you know. I
think Kentucky has given it everything theycan to get him. I know they
understand that having a creative, youknow, guy who can go get buckets
and is also a terrific shooter fromoutside, you know, would take them

(33:01):
to another level one. I thinkthey obviously have prioritized getting somebody that fits
that bill, whether it's Linear orI think will go Poplar Is sort of
doesn't seem like that's really on thetable right now, but they certainly took
a look and then Jackson Robinson,so I feel like they'll get somebody.

(33:22):
I don't know. The bigger questionis what do they do if they don't
get any of those guys? Ifthey don't get Linear and Robinson stays in
the draft or it goes back toBYU or whatever. In that sort of
worst case scenario, is there stillsomebody out there worth getting or do they
just stan Pat or you know,I think the other the other thing to

(33:44):
consider is is there somebody that couldreclassify, you know, And I think
there's there's at least one or twopossibilities that guys that are in high school
right now that by the end ofthe summer could could do a late reclass
and you know, maybe you gothere. Well, it'll be interesting to
follow here in the coming weeks howthat particularly situation plays out. We're kind

(34:07):
of used to that in recent yearsof guys you know, ended up committing
in somewhere in June or even closeto July. So also I was I
was sort of brain freezing there asI was talking about it. Will Riley
is the play one player in particulartwenty twenty five kid who's a six to
eight wing and Pope watched every oneof his games. He's super intrigued.

(34:30):
He has forty two points in thefirst game of the session there in the
EYB Nike circuit on Friday night.Will Riley is, you know, if
you're talking about it. If youwant a name of somebody that might be
a late reclass that could could helpthem on the wing and can really score
it would would certainly be at thetop of that list, and he's reportedly
planning to visit next month. Kyle, thank you much, Thank you.

(34:52):
You can read a story on MarkPope at The Athletic dot com if you're
not a subscriber, again, goodreason to sign up today get access to
the that story. In all ofKyle's content on the Cats, he comes
to us on the Club Blue nilhotline and they had a great launch for
the opportunity to sign up for nextmonth's New Era men's basketball event, a

(35:13):
meet and greet with Coach Pope andthe team. Subscribers that subscribe by May
fifteenth get access to that, butthere will be other opportunities like that.
There'll be monthly giveaways if you're aClub Blue member, so go to Club
blueil dot com, an official partnerof UK and membership packages start at twenty
five dollars per month and go upfrom there. So a lot of different
points that you can get involved withthe nil effort for your favorite Wildcats sport.

(35:38):
Club Blue nil dot com We'll beright back to close it out.
Stay in Wildcat history of service atKentucky Roadshow Sports Cards and Memorabilia Roadshowcards dot
Com on the web. Happy birthdayto former Wildcat big Man Rob Locke,
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(36:04):
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(36:28):
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