2025-04-15 LEACH REPORT

Tom talks with Larry Vaught, Michael Eaves, and more.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, everyone, Welcome in to our show. For this Tuesday
the Lead Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Today, Michael Eves
will join us. He's a good Kentucky boy who came
up through the ranks at WKYT here in Lexington and
now is working at the highest level of his craft

(00:23):
as a sportscaster working for ESPN doing events like the Masters.
So we'll talk to him about what that was like.
Larry Vatt his regular Tuesday visit from your sports edge
dot com. And Carol mccawskis will join us from the
Lexington Herald Leader where she covers UK women's basketball. And
last night was the draft in the WNBA, and that

(00:44):
leads us to the Wildcat News of the Day presented
by Giuseppes of Lexington. Georgia Amore picks sixth in the
WNBA draft by the Washington Mystics. That was a little
higher than the projection I think I had seen. Most
of the projects has had her going ninth. So congrats
to Georgia Amore and it will be fun to follow

(01:06):
her career now in the WNBA. There are multiple reports
saying that Lamar Wilkerson, the shooting guard transfer prospect from
Sam Houston. State has canceled trips to Auburn and Ole,
miss and will decide between Kentucky and Indiana. You no
doubt know by now that he was at UK over

(01:26):
the weekend. Out at Keenland on Saturday, I think Kentucky.
Someone told me out at Keenland on Sunday that Mark
Pope brought two of his transfer recruits to Keenland last
year and landed them both. So Wilkerson would be three
for three if it happens. You know, you try to

(01:47):
read in between the lines on all these things. Is
the fact that he canceled other visits after Kentucky mean
that that's good for Kentucky. I don't know. We're about
to find out because the decision is expected sometimes this week.
UK Baseball on the field tonight at Kentucky Proud Park.
They will take on Miami of Ohio seven o'clock, first pitch,

(02:11):
Eastern time. Darren Headrick will have the call on the
UK Radio network and you can watch it on the
SEC network as well. Wild Cats need to take care
of business in these midweek games. They've had a couple
of upset losses and then missed a great opportunity to
get one against a ranked team last week at Louisville.

(02:32):
They'll have a rematch with the Cards in the middle
of next week. They go to number two Tennessee on Saturday.
The thing about their schedule, Kentucky schedule is that it
provides them with opportunities to play their way back into
NCAA tournament consideration. They missed a golden opportunity to take
two or three from Texas over the weekend, so they'll

(02:54):
try to pull something like that or better off against
the Balls. The defending World Series chains coming up this
weekend down in Knoxville. Links to the stories that we
talk about each day. You can find those on the
bud Light Leech Report page at Tom leachky dot com.
Come back chat with Michael Eaves about what it was
like to be at the Master's watching Rory McElroy get

(03:17):
his first Green jacket and complete the career Grand slam Our.
Opening segment it's presented by Giuseppes of Lexington. Head out
to Giuseppe sometime soon for a really special dining experience.
The Pasta's homemade seafood shipped in fresh handcut steaks, a
lot of locally sourced ingredients for the sides and the

(03:40):
main dishes. Go to Open Table today, make your reservation
to get out to Giuseppe's. Sit in the lounge area,
enjoyed Dave Hall's live jazz music to accompany your meal.
It is really unlike any other dining experience. We'll be
right back on the Leech Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises.
It's the Leach Report here from the Clarks Pumping Shop Studio. Return,

(04:02):
refreshed and refuel at Clarks. They have a new loyalty
rewards program. Make sure you get signed up for that
so you can get in on all the free discounts,
including when you're filling up at Clark's. We go to
the Club blu nil dot com hotline. Bring on Michael
Eves from ESPN, who spent last week at the Masters
covering that tournament. So the week after has to be

(04:24):
quite a comedown for you every year.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
Yeah, it's a little bit of an emotional recharge once
you leave Augusta and get home.

Speaker 3 (04:32):
You know.

Speaker 2 (04:32):
It's funny, Tom, That's always been my favorite event, even
before I started covering it. It's my favorite week. When
you get down there, everyone's in a great mood. You're
always excited to get there, you're always a little sad
when you leave, and so often there's something that happens
is unforgettable. And I've been very fortunate. I covered Tigers
win in twenty nineteen and now McElroy here in twenty

(04:55):
twenty five. Man that place, for whatever reason, just continues
to create some of the best sports.

Speaker 1 (05:01):
I didn't see all the coverage. I'm guessing you probably
interviewed Rory at some point during the week, right, you.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
Know, you know what I did not, so like I
do my interviews on the telecast on Thursday and Friday,
right right, So obviously we were going to talk to
him on Thursday, but after he made that double bogie
at fifteen and seventeen, he didn't speak to the media
at all, Like he ran off, he left, so I
didn't get a chance to talk to him. And then Friday,

(05:29):
the way he played, he ended up going to Butler
cabin and talking to Scott Van Pelt. So I personally
did not get a chance to interview him this week.

Speaker 1 (05:35):
What was it like? Were you still there on Sunday
watching the final round or do were you back home? Yeah?
So what was that like?

Speaker 2 (05:45):
So I was watching on television because once the golf starts,
I have to see everything, right, So right, I'm not
on the golf course once play happens. But honestly, especially
I mean sundays of the day, Right, you're watching this,
and we had this from this narrative going into the
final round. Right, you had these two guys, you know it,
kind of heavyweight guys who the big bombers off the tee.

(06:06):
They have animosity between them. They play for two different tours.
One of them beat the elder one last year to
claim a second major championship. Roy's trying to do this,
but that's not the story we got. Right, We had
all these ebbs and flows of not just narratives but
also emotion like how did Rory bogey double bogey the
first hole? Then how did he all of a sudden
get back and have a three or four shot lead?

(06:29):
How did he hit in the water at thirteen? How
did he come back and make these birdies? Like it
was just amazing back and forth emotionally, and you could
feel it on the golf course, you know, as the
round was starting to develop and around the area because
the fans were caught her fitted as well, and it's
just one of those tremendous sports moments you can't script.
That makes no sense to have that much good and

(06:51):
bad from one player and then ultimately come out victorious.

Speaker 1 (06:55):
Rory hit some incredible shots. I think it was was
it fifteen where he was over in the pine straw
and had to hook it around a tree to just
a few feet away for an eagle, but then he
missed the eagle putt and that kind of took a
little edge off, and then he you know, hits that
another great shot later down the stretch and then wasn't

(07:17):
able to finish it off, and then he has, you know,
hits it in the the trap on eighteen. What a
roller coaster ride for a player to still be able
to come out on the back end of it the
way he wanted.

Speaker 2 (07:31):
In some regards, Tom, it just doesn't make sense how
the whole thing played out, because if you take even
going back to Thursday, that double bull get fifteen and
the one at thirteen on Sunday, which is inexcusable, Roy
McElroy made some of the worst mistakes a player of
his caliber has ever made in major championship golf, and
then in and around those shots, Tom, he played some

(07:51):
of the best golf has ever been played in major
championship ball, including that shot at fifteen he talked about
on Sunday, the one he hit on Saturday to fifteen
that he actually made the eagle putlass phenomenal. And then
at seventeen, the shot he made to make birdie to
have a one shot lead coming to eighty, and then
from one hundred and twenty four yards in the fairway
with a gap wedge, he misses his mark by a

(08:14):
good ten to fifteen yards, but then have to come
back Tom and play that exact same hole the first
hole of the playoffs, almost the same distance, exact same
club and hit it inside three feet. None of that
makes sense, because he's too bit of a player to
be that bad. We expect the great shots from him.
We don't expect, you know, the terrible shots like he made.
But to put it all together and still bounce back

(08:35):
from all those dumb mistakes and still win the championship,
it just doesn't make sense. I can't drive that home
enough in the history of sports, because Tiger never made
those mistakes. Jack Nicholas never made those mistakes. No one
in contention at that level of play, made those mistakes
coming down the stretch and then still won. That's the thing.
No one still won the tournament making shots like that.

Speaker 1 (08:56):
I remember seeing an interview with John Wooden one time
and after he had finished coaching, and he talked about
how a competitor can want something so much that it
could affects his or her performance in the pursuit of
that goal. And that's I guess maybe what happened with
a little bit with Rory there.

Speaker 2 (09:18):
Oh, there's no question about it. And he even admitted
to it after the round on Sunday, how completing this
career Grand Slam, but also winning there at Augusta specifically
because of what happened back in twenty eleven. As much
as he tried to, you know, get it out of
his mind, as much as he tried to deflect when
I asked about it, it was on his back. And
you saw that relief on the eighteenth green after he

(09:41):
won the playoffs. Now, look, regardless of what happened in
that playoff, Rory was going to cry after that round,
but he was crying tears of joy and relief instead
of disappointment and failure. And those are much better tears.
Obviously most people can attest to that, but you saw
that that was nothing but utter relief and joy that
that moment was finally over because it had become so
much of his narrative. And then when he talked to

(10:02):
the media afterwards, he said to them, what are we
going to talk about next year?

Speaker 1 (10:06):
Yeah?

Speaker 2 (10:07):
Talking about that for a decade. He's been talking about
trying to complete that career Grand Slam for a decade.
Every year gets to Augusta, he never has to talk
about it again.

Speaker 1 (10:15):
We're talking with Michael Eaves for ESPN. It's at Michael
Eves e A V e s on X or Twitter
if you prefer it. If you follow him, you'll see
a post I saw it earlier today where you post
a picture of Rory dropping to his knees when he
made the putt to win it, and the picture was
taken not by a professional photographer.

Speaker 2 (10:38):
Right, Yeah, it was Ken Griffy Junior.

Speaker 1 (10:42):
How about that?

Speaker 2 (10:42):
Who griff is great? Like, since he's retired from baseball,
he's just done all kinds of things that you normally
don't think people do. But griff is different. He'd just
like to spend time learning. He learned a scuba dive
a few years ago, right, he never that wasn't his thing,
but he's learned how to do it. He learned how
to fly a plane. Now he's learning photography and I

(11:03):
guess technically now he is a professional photographer because the
novels brought in then he was he was working under Geddy.
This was his first major sporting event in any type
of photographer round like that. But some of his pictures
that he took are awesome, Like if you didn't know
who it was, you would think to your points. It's
been a long time professional photographer and he's a huge golfer.

(11:23):
He loves it so much. But some of the shots
he got sus that one of Rory on eighteen, uh
just you know, encapsulated the moment.

Speaker 1 (11:29):
So well, well, I speak for all of us here
in Kentucky, it was. You know, we're always so proud
of seeing Tom Hammond succeed at the highest level getting
to NBC. Same for you getting to you know, the
highest level of your craft there at ESPN and you're
going to be going into the UK Alumni Association Hall
of Distinguished Alumni later this year, So congratulations on that.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
Thank you very much. That is Uh, that's really cool
that that's you know, in my career here, I dreamed
of being on ESPN. I dreamed of working the Masters
and NBA Finals and Olympics. I never thought about going
into the Hall of Fame at my alma maters. This
is not something you think about. So I'm truly honored
by the distinction and uh and humbled by it as well.
And people have reached out since then, and I'm looking

(12:16):
forward to coming back and seeing a whole bunch of
people that were that were part of that journey, having
a plan, having a little thing there in Lexington. My
teachers from the first grade, teachers, high school are going
to be there to Yeah, I'm bringing in a bunch
of people because like, that's my journey has been supported
by so many people time, and I just want to
pay them back because they're in there as much as

(12:38):
I am.

Speaker 1 (12:39):
Uh, and your colleague there at WKYT did Gabe Real
just went into the Kentucky Journalism of Hall of Fame.
Rob Bromley's in the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame. I
think the Baker year before last went into the Kentucky
Broadcasters Association Hall of fame. What was in the water
there in the sports department upstairs.

Speaker 2 (12:55):
You know what, when you really think about it, like,
I don't know if we realized that during the time,
just how cool it was that those people, if you
they were all working there at the same time, and
then Drew Diner, who obviously had his own career over
in Louis were now doing radio and were all that
sports department at the same time. I'll tell you one thing.
It was crowded. It was crowded, yeah, sure, but we
had we had so many things that were going on

(13:17):
at that time. I mean, like you know, there were
the there was the final four runs by Kentucky. The
PG Championship was in Valhalla, the Reds were playing well
at times, like there was always Tim Couch when the
hiding milk, like all these things. I mean, there was
no more picking the draft partments. There were all these
things that happened, and we needed pretty much everybody to
cover all those things. But it's really cool that everyone

(13:40):
has had some type of success and people really appreciated
what we did back then.

Speaker 1 (13:44):
Last thing, give me your take on year one of
Mark Pope coaching the men's basketball team. But you're all
the honor.

Speaker 2 (13:51):
He exceeded all expectations Tom because that Mark got the job.
You have to remember the circumstances on which he got
the job, right, because John wasn't supposed to leave after
he and Mitch came out and said we're all good,
and then all of a sudden, John leaves and Kentucky
can't get a bunch of coaches. There are several people
that said no to Kentucky, which is not supposed to
happen in the tradition of our program. And so then

(14:12):
you go and get one of your own guys who
knew the program that could come in. They want to
know what the expectations were. But he didn't have a roster.
He had to put together a team, and all of
a sudden that team gels and comes together. The way
they're playing is fun to watch, and if not for
the injuries, I sincerely believe this team would have gone
deeper into the NCAA tournament. They beat all the top
teams that they played, and they beat Florida, they beat

(14:35):
Duke right, those were final four teams. So Kentucky had
all that talent and Mark put it together in a
short period of time. And look at how well it
came together. So all that does, for better for worse,
is give Kentucky fans much more expectations for this upcoming
season because now he has more time, he actually has
a blueprint to go and talk to recruits or guys
coming into the transfer portalm. This is what we did

(14:56):
in year one and this is what we expect to
do in year two. Do you want to be a
part of it? For minute selling point with the backing
of the tradition that the Kentucky program is presenter.

Speaker 1 (15:03):
Of the years, Michael leaves ESPN, thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (15:08):
Hi Tom, you good brother, you too.

Speaker 1 (15:09):
Michael Leaves joining us on the Club Blue nil dot
com hotline. Club Blues the official collective partner of UK Athletics.
Their sister organization, Commonwealth Causes back with the April Bourbon
Raffle that you won't want to miss twenty thousand dollars
worth of bourbon, including the legendary Pappy Vanwinkle six bottle set,
a six bottle set of Weller complete Blanton set. Go
to Commonwealth Causes dot org and get your tickets. They

(15:33):
are limited for a fantastic array of prizes. The drawings
coming up on April twenty fourth from Commonwealth Causes. We'll
be right back with Larry Votte Lettroport presented by Bob
Kat Enterprises, and Larry Vatt joins us from your Sports
Edge dot Com and Vaunts Views and Larry Georgia Amore
lands with the Washington Mystic sixth pick is pretty impressive,

(15:57):
I would think right.

Speaker 4 (15:59):
For hers, it's very, very impressive, and it looks like
a great fit for her, and it was certainly a very
special draft day for her.

Speaker 1 (16:07):
Yeah, and it's going to be fun now to follow
her career and root for the Washington Mystics. Absolutely.

Speaker 4 (16:15):
I think she was just a generational type talent to
have at Kentucky for one year, and obviously everybody in
the WNBA thinks her skills are going to translate very
well to the next level, and I have no doubt
that they will. And she's also a very just outgoing
young lady. So I think she'll be a great addition
to WNBA.

Speaker 1 (16:36):
I know she spent more time at Virginia Tech, and
this is true. You know see it with a lot
of players the men's basketball and football and other sports,
but where the experience of being in this program with it,
and I think a lot of that goes to the
Big Blue Nation and all the fans, is that there

(16:57):
does seem to be a special connect, she said on
an interview. You know, she'll always be a Wildcat. They
the players do seem to develop a really special connection.
I'm sure they have good memories where they came from.
Nate Cestina is one that comes to mind. But who
just really seemed to enjoy his one year as a Wildcat.

Speaker 4 (17:16):
Yeah, Georgia's quickly became a fan favorite and it just
kind of increased as the game or as the season
went on. With that runner in the NCAA tournament had
dropped instead of kind of dancing off the rim her legs,
he would be even more brilliant than what it is now.
But I think just everything about her, from her perspective
to the way she the way she played the game,

(17:37):
the way she delivered at big moments, I think makes
her just a one of a can and maybe a
while before we see a player quite like that again.

Speaker 1 (17:45):
We will continue our chat with Larry Vaught when we
come right back. You can read his work at your
sports edge dot com. He's also on the Sunday Morning
Sportstock Show with Anthony White, Jack Pilgrim, Bow Robinson every
week here in Lexington. On Sunday mornings, will be right
back with the second half of the Leach Report. Radio
Network Itch Reports presented by Bob Kat Enterprises and Larry

(18:07):
Vaughtz with us on the Club Blue Nil dot com hotline.
You'd read them at your sports edge dot com. Larry,
You've covered college sports for a long time. Uh, You
ever think you get to a point where the starting
quarterback at a place like the University of Tennessee tries
to hold out and ends up leaving, not showing up

(18:28):
for practice or the spring game, and then leaving and
the school says, you know, good luck, and it is
a new world we're living in. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (18:38):
Tom, I think the last three heres, there's been so
many things happened that I never thought. What happened has
been pretty unbelievable.

Speaker 1 (18:46):
I recently got.

Speaker 4 (18:47):
An email from Dale Brown, the former LSU coach, showing
all the different things that he'd either proposed, talked about,
or been in trouble with with the NCAA over the years,
and how every one of them wasn't how not only
fine but encouraged so it's been a wild ride, and
what happened to Tennessee.

Speaker 1 (19:08):
I don't know.

Speaker 4 (19:08):
Now, maybe that'll be the start of we'll even see
more of that. I kind of have mixed feelings on it, because,
like I said, a coach can pick up and go,
So I mean, I think it only makes sense now
that the players are going to do the same. There's
some players are going to do the same thing, and
there's not going to be a lot of loyalty and
money's going to dictate about everything. But it's really bizarre

(19:31):
to think you've got your quarterback set for the next
next year and then all of a sudden the spring,
at the end of spring practice you find out whoops, no,
don't have him that draw.

Speaker 1 (19:39):
Now, you I understand the point about you know, player
movement and you know, coaches can you know, they can
be under contract and leave. There is a buy out
obviously in the contract though, and I would think the
overwhelming majority of the time, somebody reaches out to the
you know, the employer of the coach and you know,
wants to talk to this guy at some point, even

(20:01):
though maybe the conversations had started between agents and reps earlier,
but at some point you kind of acknowledge that, Look,
we want to talk to your guy about this job,
and he wants to talk to us. The thing I
find distasteful about this one is that after the playoffs
are over, go to the school, say you need more money,
and if you can't come to terms, just say, okay,

(20:23):
I'm gonna move on. I'm going to go in the
Portland spring Tennessee, moves on whatever. But then to kind
of do it, just not show up for practice, ghost
your coach until try to contact you, and you know,
walk out on the spring game. That's to me, you
don't do business that way. And and you know he

(20:44):
didn't have an agent apparently as people around him are
advising him and not advising him. Well, I would argue, yeah,
it sure seems that way. Might also start having putting
a buyout clause in these player contracts.

Speaker 4 (20:57):
Yeah, I may have to come along there. So I'm
also very anxious to see in the next week or
so where he lands, or if he lands anywhere. I mean,
I don't know how many schools out there are going
to be willing to pay more than two million dollars
for a quarterback who was good at times last year.

(21:18):
But I don't know that I would say he was
overall brilliant for the entire season. So I just don't know.
And I would also think at this stage most major
teams that hit maybe hit that kind of money, they've
got their quarterback set for next year, you.

Speaker 1 (21:32):
Would think, so, yeah, so I would. I'm like to
be surprised if he ends up getting more than what
he was making and he could end up being less.
And you know, if he gets good enough to get
to the NFL level, they'll be you know, looking back
at how this played out as well, it is just

(21:55):
a strange new world that we lived in living and
you talk about you know, buy out for players. There
is some talk down I can't remember who's what. Smaller
school coach mentioned this recently, was quoted about it, but
about you know schools like, you know, well, Kentucky's re
gonna guy from sam Houston State. Now that if they

(22:15):
get him, that Sam Houston State gets some kind of
compensation to go about, you know, rebuilding their roster. I
don't know if that'll happen, but that is something that's
going to get discussed in all this as well.

Speaker 4 (22:28):
I would say with you and I, we better never
say never. No, we think it's never gonna happen. And
I mean I can see a lot of the smaller
schools that have votes on things, they would certainly be
all for that, and probably in today's financial world, depending
on what the compensation was, a lot of the bigger

(22:48):
schools would say fine, I'll be glad to do it.
So I hadn't really thought about that, but now that
you mentioned, wouldn't surprise me at all if it comes
into play.

Speaker 1 (22:57):
Yesterday was the one year anniversary of Mark Pope's hiring.
BBN Tonight did a half hour sit down with him
with Maggie Davis on their show last night and go
to bbntonight dot com if you didn't see it in
real time. That was quite a weekend, Larry, from when
the word first started to come out about Mark being

(23:19):
the guy and what the initial reaction was. That's something
you don't often see in sports, that kind of from
what the initial reaction was to twenty thousand people in
the building and more people that couldn't get in lined
up outside. Was quite a finish to that opening weekend

(23:39):
of the Mark Pope era. It was.

Speaker 4 (23:41):
That was about a seventy two hour period where I
don't think I've ever seen the tone of things change
so much that a game being played or recruit being
signed anything at all. I guess the Rick Patino message
factored in in a big way. But yeah, my phone
even went just from friends that I have going from

(24:01):
on I think it was on a Thursday night saying, oh,
I don't know, this kind of worries me in the
same way on Friday, and then Saturday it kind of
quite down, but the support didn't roll in. Then all
of a sudden Sunday you started seeing what was going
on there. And then Mark got a change to address
the crowd and couldn't have done that any better, and
he rolled off that bus just like what we'd seen

(24:23):
him do in nineteen ninety six. And it was just like, Wow,
this thing has really got a change to work. And
Mark just brought a fan base back together in a
way I would have never thought possible in such a
quick period of time.

Speaker 1 (24:36):
I saw a quote from Jaden Quainton's dad talking about
the pitch that Pope and the staff made to Jaden,
and his dad talked about how detailed it was, and
you know, but the starting with you all the analytics
that they look at, but just to the whole planning

(24:59):
process and everything they do is very intentional, very detailed,
and well a lot of fans were panicking early in
the days of this portal period. They clearly had a
plan that they went about executing, and I would be
curious to see, you know, what their you know, wish

(25:20):
list was at the start, and I can't imagine it
probably differed much from where they ended up.

Speaker 4 (25:28):
No, I don't think so either. They did a really
good job at the point at some point of keeping
things kind of quiet to where nobody really knew. And
that's why I got a little tickle with with some
of the panic that was kind of going on about
the roster when thinking to a year ago, this time
had nobody on the roster, so I didn't quite understand
why people were worried so much so quick. But I know,

(25:50):
talk about the special that with Maggie Davis last night.
I know Mark was talking about and I think he
always kind of under sales his role in things, but
talking about how easy it was. I'm selling the transfer
guys this year because of what Laman Butler and Andrew
Carr said after they lost to Tennessee to just play
that clip for him, and you know, those guys see
what those people are telling the transfers, and that made

(26:10):
it even easier, which I think it was still a
little bit harder than what Mark made it sound, but
I do think that's certainly helped going forward with what
those guys just volunteered to say after they ended their
collegiate careers.

Speaker 1 (26:22):
There, absolutely right, and now they get a chance to
kind of put a team together with a detailed plan
that's been in place for a while and executed now.
And you know they're looking if they add Wilkerson, that
gives them another shooter for big guys. Plus the abate,

(26:44):
you know, you would think maybe they might be trying
to and they still know where they're gonna guess for
sure have thirteen or fifteen players right right.

Speaker 4 (26:53):
And I know there's a lot of angst among certain
folks about, well, you need a more reliable and experience
back up point guard and all in case something would happen,
what would there with and you need to do something.
But I just don't say that's going to happen in
this day and age. There's not gonna be what you
call a reliable, good guy very experienced that's gonna come

(27:16):
knowing he's gonna be the backup point guard. He's gonna
go somewhere else where he can play, and they've got
different options at point guard if needed. Now, if Lowell
gets hurt, yeah, that's that's a tough situation. But I
think for any any of the major teams in the
in the country, if their starting point guard goes down,
they're probably in a tough situation because you just aren't

(27:37):
going to get a guy that's gonna come and say, well,
I'll just be happy to be a back up and
play eight or nine minutes a game if I think
I'm good enough to start. So, but they've got options
in there, So to me, I'm not as worried about
that as what it seems like some other people are.

Speaker 1 (27:50):
Pope has said more than once he thinks that there's
some of the upside of otega Oway is as a playmaker.
And if he's right about that, and maybe that's the
guy you think that, Okay, he's you know, and that
would help him as an NBA prospect, that you know,
he's our you know, ten minute a game guy to
slide over and play some point.

Speaker 4 (28:10):
Yeah, he got just a taste of that this year,
now that I have a whole off season to work
on things. When you've got a taken and you've got
Chandler and you've got Perry, they can do things, Slide
in there and do things. So I think if you're
just trying to get low, you know, eight ten, twelve
minutes of rest again, you've got enough options you'll be
able to get by. Just find in my opinion.

Speaker 1 (28:32):
Larry vat your sports edge dot com. Thank you much.
All right, Tom Larry joining us in the club Blueenisle
dot com hotline. Our show's presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Not
just Wildcat Country in Kentucky, it is Bobcat Country. So
when you need to buy or rent heavy equipment, google
Bobcat Enterprises. You'll find one of the four locations that
is closest to you. We'll be right back talk UK

(28:55):
weomen's basketball Georgia Amore going sixth in the WNBA draft
last night. Carol mcaws will join us to talk about it.
Probably from the top of the hour. We welcome Carolyn
mccowskis to the program from the Lexington Herald Leader in
Kentucky sports dot Com, where she covers the UK women's
basketball program and Georgia Amore going to the Washington Mystics
with the sixth pick in the WNBA draft last night.

(29:17):
Is that a good opportunity for Georgia. I mean, obviously
it's a nice to be picked that high, but as
far as the fifth.

Speaker 3 (29:22):
There, certainly, good morning to you, thanks for having me
on again. Yeah, in the w and you'll hear this
all summer. It's more about where you're drafted than when
you get drafted. And number six obviously great an earlier
pick than many had projected for Georgia Amore. But I

(29:44):
really like that she landed in Washington. I think Washington
is in a state of rebuild. It has been for
a couple of years now, but announced in December, new GM,
new coach, and there is a lot of room for
opportunities for rookies, for international players who are wanting to
get on a WNBA roster, people trying to show that,

(30:08):
you know, they can make a difference in this competitive league.
I think it's an ideal situation for Georgia Amore.

Speaker 1 (30:14):
Kenny Brooks talked about her being his mini me at
Virginia Tech and just the tight relationship that they had
as a coach and player. So the ground was kind
of plowed there here for her coming to Kentucky in
terms of being, you know, a somewhat popular player. But

(30:36):
I think it was just people loved her. The fans
loved her game, it felt like, and just fell in
love with how she played the game.

Speaker 3 (30:45):
Certainly. Yeah, and Washington, I think will be no different.
Not only is there, you know, probably a big contingent
of Virginia Tech fans over there, built in fan base
a little bit for Georgia Amore coming back over to
the DMV a bit. But you know, this is a
player who she just wants to get in there and

(31:06):
make an impact. She's going to work really hard, She's
going to find ways to score. She doesn't need to
be the star. It just so happens that she kind
of was the star. A face here in Kentucky, a
face at Virginia Tech. But with the mystics, you know,
she kind of has a chance to turn the page

(31:28):
to a new chapter and do it again. And like
you mentioned, people fell in love with her here. She's
not hard to like and her style of play will
translate super well there because you know that's an organization
where you probably need to be really comfortable controlling the
pace of play, staying calm, you know, things that benefit

(31:50):
you in any professional league, but things that she particularly
excels at, especially as a point guard, will give her
a better shot at not only making that final raster
come up opening day, but making an impact.

Speaker 1 (32:02):
What your take on the acquisitions in the transfer portal
by coach Brooks to this point, and then what else
are they looking for?

Speaker 3 (32:11):
Yeah, I'm going to go with so far, so good.

Speaker 5 (32:15):
You know there were people last summer who they're looking
at the portal, They're looking at the quote unquote best
available tom right and you know the people who are
scoring twenty points a game, and you know those players
are not always the players that Kenny Brooks and his
staff like to go after. So looking at right now,

(32:37):
two players from conference usay all conference selections, Josie Gilvin,
former Sacred Heart Valkyrie very fun coming back to Well
she was at Western but now making her way to UK.
And Asia Boone from Liberty, who fans got to see
maybe five minutes of before she got hurt in that
first NCAA tournament matchup. But these are strong, reliable guards

(33:02):
off ball guards who are going to be able to
come in make a difference. What they really need is a.

Speaker 3 (33:08):
Grounded, hopefully veteran point guard to come in. You're not
going to fill the hole that Georgia Amore left. I
don't think anybody realistically can expect that or would be
expecting that. But that's the kind of player that you
want to bring in to sort of steady the ship
and get ready for year two under Kenny Brooks.

Speaker 1 (33:28):
Last game of There's I saw in person was the
blowout win over Tennessee at the Coliseum, and Tianni Key
was sensational. You followed a lot closer than I do,
but just is watching kind of as a fan. I
would think she might be the player with maybe the

(33:48):
most upside to tap into the next season. But is
there somebody else that would be on that list too?

Speaker 3 (33:57):
Tianny Key is a great pull for this. I think
that Clara Strak is someone I know. She had an
outstanding year last year, but just nineteen years old sophomore year,
there is definitely space for her to keep getting better,
keep developing. Those two will likely be in my mind,
you know, I'm thinking they will be the biggest stars

(34:18):
the biggest contributors, you know, kind of barring whoever else
may come from the transfer portal. But it's a great
opportunity year for Amelia Hassett. You know, she started super
strong last season and then down the stretch an sec play.
You know, she was sick for a little bit. There's
some confidence issues a little bit. This is a great

(34:40):
opportunity for her to step into that confidence and level up.
And you know, there's a five star freshman come in
to town. I know people are really excited for cayl
and Carroll to pull up. She is an exciting wing player,
and I am looking forward to seeing just how big
of an impact she can.

Speaker 5 (34:58):
Have early on.

Speaker 3 (35:00):
I imagine, like a lot of Brooks freshmen, it'll be
kind of slow easing into it for her. But this
is a McDonald's all American and she can do a
lot of different things.

Speaker 1 (35:11):
And back to the portal, what do you think he's
still looking to land positionally or anything else?

Speaker 3 (35:20):
Yeah, you know, I think the front court is pretty
loaded at Kentucky. You know, the three stars that I
just mentioned, those are people who are going to.

Speaker 5 (35:30):
Be going to work in that area of the court.

Speaker 3 (35:32):
You want guards, you want guards who are dynamic, who
are going to be able to shoot it all over
the floor.

Speaker 5 (35:39):
Obviously last year through the.

Speaker 3 (35:42):
Three point game was a huge, huge part of the
winning formula at times. And you want shooters, you want
people with experience, You want people who are going to
be able to fit into this system, which admittedly is
a little bit different. But I think if they can go,
you know, maybe get a couple of point guards, a

(36:03):
couple other shooters.

Speaker 5 (36:05):
Not sure exactly.

Speaker 3 (36:06):
How many he will have ultimately on his roster, but
expect more from the back court.

Speaker 1 (36:15):
Karen Makawskis. You can follow her work at Kentucky sports
dot com and in the pages of the Lexington Herald Leader.

Speaker 3 (36:21):
Thank you much, Thank you very much.

Speaker 2 (36:23):
Have a good one you too.

Speaker 1 (36:25):
I need to get to a break and then we'll
come back and close out this edition of the Leech
Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Thank us having to talk
to you about cornbread hemp. All of their products are
made right here in Kentucky with Kentucky grown hemp, and
they contain the highest quality relief you can buy. So
if you're looking to shake off the winter, Doldrum's corn

(36:46):
bread hemp can help you start fresh with the bombs
and lotions for achy joints, or with the infused gummies
to just help take the edge off a tough day.
If you're having trouble sleeping, their sleep gummies are fantastic.
You won't wake up with those melatonin hangovers that you
get if you take some other products this spring, try
the Good Life for yourself and get twenty percent off

(37:07):
your first order. Just put the code Tom in at
checkout at Cornbredhemp dot com and you can get twenty
percent off your first order. Made with flour only extraction
for maximum purity and potency, and all of their products
are one hundred percent legal and made with real THHC
and organic ingredients, no synthetics. Cornbredemp dot com. I forgot

(37:31):
to give you the X follow for Caroline Mkowskis. It's
C Mkowskis, C M A ka U s KAS. Happy
birthday Bill Ransdell, quarterback who led Kentucky to a Hall
of Fame Bowl win in nineteen eighty four. This day
in Wildcat History percent of by Kentucky Roadshow Sports Cards
at Memorabilia. They're on Romney Road in Lexington and at

(37:52):
Roadshowcards dot Com. Couple of transfer outs for Kentucky football,
defensive lineman Kendrick Gilbert and offensive lineman Daniel Minci both
deciding to move on. Andrew Carrs headed to Portsmouth for
the annual event for NBA Scouts. So good luck to
Drew there that event and Shay Gilles Alexander wins his
first NBA scoring title average thirty two point seven for

(38:14):
OKC this season. Shuffle Bean Coffee is the official coffee
of Rupp Arena in the KFC Young Center. Make it
the official coffee of your home. It's Kentucky based company
and they are all about the best cup of coffee possible.
Starts with the best coffee beans. Read about the company
at shufflebean dot us. You can order some product there.
You can get it through Amazon or pick them up
at Central Kentucky Myers stores Today and put some hustle

(38:37):
in your shuffle with Shufflebean Coffee. We'll see tomorrow.