2025-04-23 LEACH REPORT

Tom talks with Chris Fisher, Mike DeCourcy, and more.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good day, everybody, Welcome in. It is the Wednesday edition
of The Leech Report, presented by Bobcat Enterprises and glad
you are with us today as we talk some UK
sports with you. Chris Fisher will join us for the
Cats pause, and then Mike de Corsi the Sporting News,
the Big Ten Network, and Mike's gonna continue to do

(00:23):
the show throughout the summer. Usually we drop off and
pick back up near the start of basketball season and
maybe do once a month, but we're gonna move Mike
to Wednesdays in the off season and continue the segments
on a weekly basis, So look forward to chatting with
him today as well. Wild Cat News of the Day
presented by j Sepies of Lexington. UK baseball is on

(00:46):
a roll right now. They won the series against Tennessee
and then took down Number nineteen U of l last night,
seventeen to five and a seven inning game at Kentucky
Proud Park. Patrick Herrera broke it open with a three
run triple. It was a basis loaded situation and he
had a shot to center that the Louisville center field

(01:07):
or misplayed may have lost the ball and the lights
or sun i think there's still sunny at that time. Anyway,
that brought in three runs kind of broke the game open,
and Herrera ended up with five RBIs Louisville pitchers walked
eleven batters.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
And hit six.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
So Kentucky took advantage of its good fortune and once
again had some key hits. And we saw some of
that in the Tennessee series, and that's what had been
missing in a lot of these close losses, including one
to U of L a couple of weeks ago.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
So coach Ben.

Speaker 1 (01:41):
Jones team seemingly getting better at the right time, and
they will host South Carolina for a series on Friday
through Sunday this weekend.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Out of Kentucky Brown Park for.

Speaker 1 (01:54):
The Kentucky men's basketball team comes the news that Travis
Perry is entering the transfer portal just to put his
name in ahead of the deadline apparently yesterday. Wish him well,
nice young man and can't play. I mean he got
pressed into playing more than I think he was physically

(02:16):
ready to do. He's got the game, he can play
the game, but needs to have some more strength physically.
Speed is not his game, but you can there's a
lot of players that are adequate defenders without being exceptionally fast,

(02:36):
and he could get there, will get there, I think
because he gets stronger. But really just a good basketball player,
a great shooter. And the thing I like remember out
at the Missouri games. One that comes to mind hit
a huge shot when Kentucky got out of the gate
slowly and then rally back. I think it may have
been his three from the corner that maybe gave them

(02:57):
the lead for good and didn't hesitate. I always liked
that about him, as he you know, even on a
if things weren't going well, he could stick that shot.
And I wish him well in wherever he ends up.
Always remember that Joe by Hall transferred out of Kentucky.

(03:18):
Nobody loved the Big Blue more than the Cynthiana native,
but he wanted to play, and so he found a
place where he could do that, and he remained a
Wildcat and came back to the Wildcats. So we wish
Travis Perry Well and walker Horn. One of the two

(03:39):
walk Ons or three walk ons on the team last
season was Grand Derbyshire who's entered the portal, and then
Zach Tale from Madisonville. Walker Horn is entering the transfer portal,
and I'm not speaking for Walker here, I'm just guessing
that maybe. Yeah, I think he came here with an
I i'll maybe being a coach and it was a
chance to learn at the highest level. And so he

(04:03):
has had the opportunity to learn under two coaches and
maybe now he just like to play some before his
college seasons wind down. And if that's the case, I
think he can find a place to do that. But
he was a guy that was significant for them in practices,

(04:24):
in terms of the scout team that was running the
other team's offense. Gave the first and second string guys
a great look in practice. So we wish Walker well
wherever he lands as well. And a defensive lineman from
the FCS level that is looking for a new college

(04:48):
football home. Founded defensive lineman Jalen Stone had been mentioned
with Kentucky and was expected to take a visit here,
but committed to Vandy a little surprisingly. Sorry I had
to sneeze, but Vandy was not on his original list.
But that's going to be the trends or the nil era.

(05:11):
Somebody rings in with boor cash and they get the
player sometimes, So Kentucky will still be looking maybe for
somebody to provide some extra depth in that defensive front.
Links to the stories that we talk about each day
can be found on the bud Light Leach Report page
at Tom leachky dot com. Our opening segment of Wildcat

(05:33):
News presented by Juseppes of Lexington colleague Bo Robinson, who's
the producer on the Sunday morning sports talk show. You
hear him interacting with the guys there and he also
sometimes produces our call in shows with Coach Stoups or
Coach Pope. Anyway, Bo and his sister took their parents

(05:55):
to Giuseppes to celebrate their anniversary and had a wonderful time.
And that's why we always tell you if you're celebrating
an anniversary, a birthday, promotion, any special occasion, or just
for a great night out with family and friends, make
at Giuseppes. They have that live jazz music in the
lounge area. You can sit there and have a really

(06:16):
special addition to a fantastic meal, full selection of wines
and bourbons. To check it all out at Giuseppes of Lexington,
just off Nicholasville Road out past Man of War. We'll
be right back with Chris Fisher from the Cat's Paws.
It is the ly Tree Report coming to you each
day from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return, refresh and

(06:36):
refuel at Clark's and do what I did. Sign up
for the new loyalty rewards program so you can get
great discounts and fuel and items in their stores. We
go to Chris Fisher from the Cat's Paws on the
Club Blueenile dot Com hotline and Cryst will start with
the discussion of a couple of stories that you have
up at the site. One nearest the top is about

(06:59):
Travis Perry entering the portal the news that came down
last night. Were you slightly surprised but not shocked or
what was What was the reaction?

Speaker 3 (07:11):
Yeah, I think that's a good way to put it.
Surprised but not shocked. I think it's understandable. I think obviously,
you know, quite literally waiting until the eleventh hour to
do it. It was probably a really tough call for
Travis Perry to make. We all know he bleeds blue.

(07:32):
You know, we've seen him, you know, with taking pictures
with various Kentucky players over the years, and I'm sure
that was a dream come true for him to play
at Kentucky, and so to give that up it was
no easy task.

Speaker 4 (07:47):
But you know, the way.

Speaker 3 (07:49):
These rosters are structured now in college basketball, it's you know,
you're not competing against an incoming freshman for your spot anymore.
You're against a fourth or you know, fifth year senior.
You know, guys that have been brought in to make
it a huge impact. And so going forward, I wouldn't

(08:12):
be surprised if we start seeing some of these you know,
top seventy five to top one hundred and fifty players
out of the high school ranks, maybe start signing with
more mid majors and then playing their way up to
the high major schools instead of starting at the high

(08:33):
major school and then having to enter the portal and
then go, you know, maybe move down a level and
then kind of play your way back up. But the
dynamics and the roster construction is just completely different now
with the current iteration of the transfer portal.

Speaker 1 (08:50):
Yeah, we speculate on these things, but we had we
had time to cover here, so yeah, we can just
throw out theories. I wonder if Travis perhaps thought maybe
you had a shot at winning some of those backup
minutes behind Jalen Lowe and then when Kentucky, so it

(09:12):
gets Aberdeen. He's got the experience in that kind of
a role behind Clayton at Florida, and so you figure, Okay,
maybe it's time to find a spot where I can
get more minutes as opposed to let's say, if they
had landed Wilkerson, who's more of a pure you know,
two or three guy.

Speaker 3 (09:30):
Yeah, I think that's a good point. I think, you know,
bringing in and Denzel Aberdeen who can steal some of
those backup minutes. And you know, you can't blame Mark Pope.

Speaker 1 (09:39):
And I'm sure a lot of.

Speaker 3 (09:40):
Fans will be will be permanently scarred by the injury
issues that Kentucky fakes this season, with you know, two
and three of their their point guards missing time due
to injury, and you know, even at twelve scholarships right now,
it feels a little then you know, it'll be interesting

(10:01):
to see what the House Settlement Committee, you know, rolls
on if it's a fifteen man roster without walk ons
and things like that. But yeah, you can't blame Travis
Perry for wanting to earn minutes elsewhere. And I think
it was going to be really hard for him to

(10:23):
do that as a sophomore next season. And you know,
you look at the Annsley Almonors of the world. Those
are really really difficult to find the twelfth man, a
guy that is not only good enough to contribute, but
also it's willing to accept that role. It's hard to

(10:43):
thread the needle and find those types of guys.

Speaker 1 (10:45):
Yeah, you know, you're right, But Ansley is a perfect
example of a guy that you know, had twenty and
even thirty point games at Fairley Dickinson.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
I mean, he he was.

Speaker 1 (10:56):
Capable of playing a bigger role, but what isn't going
to do that here? But thoroughly enjoyed his opportunity to
get to have one season at a place like this,
And so maybe you can find that guy. It's what
I wonder now, is gonna actually move there next with you?

Speaker 4 (11:12):
Is?

Speaker 1 (11:13):
It kind of felt like they had the roster set
and now Perry enters the portal, so there is not
even until we the house settlement happens. Will just continue
to think in terms of what it's been and that
would be thirteen players, and so now there's one slot
open there if they could find somebody.

Speaker 3 (11:33):
Yeah, and they've had Braden Hawthorne, a four star kind
of top seventy five guy. They had him on campus
for an official visit last week. I think Kentucky's in
the top group of schools. He's visited Virginia Tech, He's
visited a couple other schools, and it wouldn't surprise me
to see Kentucky at a guy like that. But you know,

(11:55):
looking ahead long term, you know, if he comes to
Kentucky and doesn't a lot of minutes, is he in
the portal after a year? You know, obviously you would
love to have developmental guys like that where you bring
in and you know, develop them and you know, give
them game reps over a year or two, and then
by year three they're they're you know, a major piece

(12:17):
of your rotation that sounds good on paper, but that
you know, that development uh over several years we are
seeing just less and less of in college basketball.

Speaker 1 (12:30):
To find the the Dominique Hawkins out there somewhere who
dom could come it. He could help them as a
freshman because of his ability to defend.

Speaker 2 (12:40):
UH.

Speaker 1 (12:41):
Then in the second year he and and Willis played
virtually none on that thirty eight to one team. But
Willis became a starter, Hawkins became a key guy off
the bench and became a you know, reliable three point
shooter and you know, more of an offensive threat to
go with what he could do.

Speaker 2 (12:59):
To had a great career here. But those guys.

Speaker 1 (13:02):
Aren't the easiest to find that will accept that role
over a longer period.

Speaker 3 (13:07):
Yeah, And I think, you know, I saw a lot
of similarities there between Dominice Hawkins and Derek Willis and
that Travis Perry and and Trent Noah, guys that you
know may not be quite ready for prime time as
a freshman, but you know once they get up, you know,
to be a sophomore in junior, I think could be
come really really good college players. But you can't fault

(13:28):
Travis Perry for you know, looking for for greener pastors
elsewhere where he can you know, log minutes and can
continue to develop on the court and you know, not
just help the team, you know, in practice or spot minutes.
But I even wondered if we could see kind of
an Ansley almanar role for Travis Perry next season, where

(13:50):
you know, if he's making shots or if the matchup dictates,
you know, maybe we see him get some minutes here
or there, but obviously, you know, I guess he wasn't
satisfied with that role.

Speaker 1 (14:01):
Going forward, Chating with Chris Fisher from katzpaus dot com
at Chris Fisher twenty four to seven on X and
we'll be right back on the Leach Report, presented each
day by Bobcat Enterprises. They have four locations around Kentucky,
so google Bobcat Enterprises. When you need to buy or
rent some heavy equipment like excavators or bobcats or forklifts,
et cetera.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
Maybe you need a.

Speaker 1 (14:22):
New zero turn more for your home take care of
the lawn, Bobcat Enterprises will have what you need. This
is the Leach Report Radio Network, twenty six past the
top of the hour.

Speaker 2 (14:34):
Chris Fisher's with us.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
You read him at katzpause dot com. He has a
story up there, among others about the transfer from Florida
Denzel Aberdeen to Kentucky. What do you like about that
fit for next season?

Speaker 3 (14:52):
Well, number one, you look at the championship pedigree. I mean,
the experience is good, A championship experience is even better.
And he's a guy, you know. You look at Lamont
Butler made the game winning shot for San Diego State
in the Final four. A couple of years ago, Denzel
Aberdeen actually scored Florida's last point and it's championship win

(15:13):
over Houston, hitting a clutch free throw in the final seconds.
But that DNA, I think is extremely valuable. We saw
that with Lamont Butler as the season went on, just
his moxie and his competitiveness and those types of things,
and then his ability to score from all three levels.
I think he was forty three or forty four percent

(15:35):
on an open catch and shoot threes. Was the sixth man,
but when Walter Clayton and Elijah Martin were out with injuries,
I think he averaged like fourteen or fifteen points per
game in the five or six games that he started
for Florida. So extremely extremely capable. He can play on
or off the ball, so he can, you know, kind

(15:56):
of be a secondary ball handler for you when Jaylen
Lowe is not in the game, and can also work
off the ball as well. And you know, with those
shooting percentages, can can catch and shoot and make open
shots for you.

Speaker 1 (16:10):
Good defender is part of the REP as well, and
you know has that length in the ability to guard. Yeah,
I don't know he's gonna be guarding a five or
even a four, but certainly all three other perimeter positions. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (16:24):
Absolutely.

Speaker 3 (16:25):
And you you know, listening to Mark Pope at the
end of the season, you could kind of tell he realized,
you know, okay, I can't just do a straight copy
paste from what I did at by U, and he took,
you know, the information, and he took the season experiences
and really I think you realized he had to get

(16:45):
better defensively, had to get more athletic, had to get
more physical, more you know, tougher. And I think he's
done that. But I also think he's done it while
not sacrificing a ton of skill offensively and still will
be able to run a lot of the offensive sets
that we saw Kentucky run this season. And so, you know,

(17:07):
the way he was able to pivot in that way
was really impressive. You know, a lot of coaches aren't
humble enough to to change you know, philosophies, and we
saw Mark Pope not only do that, but kind of
do it on the fly. As you know, Kentucky was
playing in NCAA tournament and then the transfer portal open
there in April.

Speaker 2 (17:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (17:28):
Actually, that's a great point because it bodes well for
the future as he has more of an opportunity to
have the time to put a team together to fit
what he sees that he needs.

Speaker 3 (17:39):
Now, Yeah, definitely, and you know he's going to go
on the data. He's data driven, and we know he's
going to make decisions based off of that.

Speaker 2 (17:49):
Chris Fisher, thank you much.

Speaker 1 (17:51):
All right, thanks, you're ready with Caatspause dot Com is
the Leads Report presented by Bob Cann Enterprises.

Speaker 2 (17:58):
We'll be right back. Springs in the air.

Speaker 1 (18:01):
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(18:24):
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You get twenty percent off your first order. All of
their products are made here at Kentucky with Kentucky Grown
hemp and contain the highest quality relief you can buy
corn bread hemp. This is the good Life. Mike de
Coursey joining us now from Sportingnews dot Com and the
Big Ten Network, and Michae'll start with the roster that
Mark Pope has put together, the latest edition being Denzel

(18:46):
Aberdeen from Florida. Travis Perry entering the portal last night,
So maybe he'll try to add one more name to
get back to thirteen. But with the twelve that he
has at the moment, what do you think about the
group put together?

Speaker 2 (19:01):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (19:02):
I think again he's doing a masterful job, and obviously
he has a lot to sell and a lot to
a lot of resources to sell with. But I had
that conversation with Mark back right before the Tennessee game,
and I do think that they're being very strategic about

(19:22):
the way they build their rosters, and I think there's
such an intelligence to what they're doing. A guy like Aberdeen,
who certainly has the ability to be a starting point
guard at the at the SEC Final four level, he
played on the biggest stage. He was not a starter
for the Gators, but if he had had to be

(19:46):
at any point, I think he could have handled that
he was a very proficient player. I don't think he's
a superstar, but I don't think he thinks he's a superstar.
I think he realized there was an opportunity here to
be part of something special that maybe take another run
at going back to the final four. And I'm not

(20:07):
sure that with the amount of ability that Florida loses,
whether they'll be in that position. It depends on some
of the draft decisions content in particular, but Kentucky will
be positioned more strongly this year I think than they
were this past season, to be even more significant than

(20:29):
they were in twenty twenty five.

Speaker 1 (20:31):
Reportedly, Kentucky has an nil budget that maybe is the
best of the country or very close to it. If not,
so when guy like Wilkerson is on the line there
that they're trying to recruit, I think they have them.

(20:52):
Indiana reportedly increases the stakes, and so Kentucky would have
been in a position to try to match that or
slightly exceeded and counter if you just make a counter offer.
But it feels like, I mean, we don't know, not
talking to Mark, but it feels like they had a
slot and a budget in mind for a position and Okay,

(21:16):
this guy doesn't fit anymore, Let's go find somebody else.
There's like sixteen hundred people still left in the portal
at that point, so it ends up being Aberdeen with
a little different skill set. But that, it would seem
to me, is a critical piece of putting rosters together
in this current era, because you have to have the
discipline to not you know, panic or get into you know,

(21:38):
bidding wars and you know, blow up other deals that
you have in place.

Speaker 4 (21:44):
You know, to be honest with you too, Tom, I
think Aberdeen fits more what they would need in this
roster than Wilkerson would have. I think Wilkerson's going to
have a fine year in India, But I think Aberdeen
fits better what they need. They learned more than any
team in college basketball in twenty twenty four to twenty
five that having multiple players at the most important position

(22:08):
is really a help, because they didn't after Kerr got
hurt and never really returned, they didn't have the multiple
players at that position, so they had to make do
and event and transition players and it impacted them. I mean,
they had some success with that. Otega did a really

(22:28):
nice job playing the point. The plays they ran through
the big were really good, especially in the Tennessee first game.
That worked out really well for Mari. But it's not
you want to be playing. You want to be playing
with your A game every night out. And so you
have an Aberdeen now who, as I said, is good

(22:48):
enough to start for you if he has to, but
if he doesn't have to, he's the best backup point
guard or best third guard in the country.

Speaker 1 (22:57):
You mentioned the word fit in that answer, and see
if I if you think I'm on the right track
here with this point in the when you're recruiting freshmen,
you know, maybe Nata Mint is that kind of you know,
just dynamic first level lottery pick talent for for Tennessee
Cooper Flag last year for Duke further back, you know

(23:19):
here Kentucky, John Wall, Anthony Davis, guys that are you know,
just game changers, team changers uh as freshmen, and you
can see that in those players as opposed to transfers.
I don't know that Florida thought it was getting a
first team All American in Future Final four MP when
it landed Walter Clayton from Iona. It's finding the guy

(23:42):
that that fits and develops in the transfer portal. So
that and again I'll take this back to Kentucky. Maybe
the point guard their first target is is Donovan Dent. Okay,
the budget didn't fit end up with Jalen Lowe. He
may ultimately be better. Well, time will tell them that.
But it's about fit and also that there are multiple

(24:04):
options when you are looking to fill a need.

Speaker 4 (24:07):
Absolutely, and and Jalen's now going to be seriously pressed
by Aberdeen, and I think it'll make Jalen a better player.
He's got to be more precise than he was at Pitt.
A lot of too many turnovers this past season, and
some of that was because he's having to always make
something happen with the lineup they had that won't There

(24:30):
won't be as much pressure on him to invent. Create, Yeah,
but not invent, and that's a different thing. Create is
something natural for a point guard. I'm going to make
a play. At Pitt, there were times when he had
to invent something because there wasn't anybody else out there
at that moment who could help him. Ishlegett terrific, But

(24:52):
beyond that, they struggled with scoring options after Done got hurt.
So he won't have that problem now but he's got
to be a better defender as well. Aberdeen has been
a very capable defender, so that'll pressure Low to get better.
I think that competition will make Kentucky better, and it'll
make both of the players better, and by the end
of the year, you'll have, as I said, as good

(25:13):
a one to two combo at the point guard spot
in whichever direction it develops, as as anybody has. I
think that that's a great strength for Kentucky, especially coming
off the year in which they went into a season
thinking they had two terrific point guards, lost one nine
games in, then lost the second one twenty some games
in and had to and had to. I can't stress

(25:36):
enough how important that position is. I think it's underrated
by a lot of people, how important it is to
have special point guard play. He saw it with Walter Clayton.
He was not a point guard coming into his senior year.
The better he got it playing that position, the better
Florida got. The more, you know, the closer they got

(25:56):
to the top of the victory stand on Monday Night, which.

Speaker 1 (25:59):
Chatwan Mike Corsi from Sportingnews dot Com and the Big
Ten Network on the Club Blue Nile Dot com Hotline.
We be right back on the Leech Report Radio network
according for the top of the hour, Mike de Course's
with us on the Leech Report. You read them at
Sportingnews dot com. During the season, you see them on
the Big Ten Network and also doing the brackets for
Fox Sports.

Speaker 2 (26:20):
Mike.

Speaker 1 (26:20):
There was once a high school team in Kentucky, Vergie
High School from Eastern Kentucky, and they made it to
the state tournament in the seventies starting a lineup of
five guys named Newsom.

Speaker 2 (26:32):
Always felt sorry.

Speaker 1 (26:34):
For the play by play guy on radio, same kind
of feeling for the play by play guy at Illinois.
Now I see Pages Stryakovich just son, they're involved with him.
They're going to have a I mean, they've got two

(26:56):
guys that can't agree on how to pronounce their own
last name and their brothers. It's a it's gonna be
a tough.

Speaker 2 (27:03):
Season for the announcer in Illinois.

Speaker 3 (27:08):
It really is.

Speaker 4 (27:08):
It's interesting what they're doing in going all in on
the international players, and it's such a different thing now
with international players coming over because before before nil and
and the ability to UH to essentially pay players UH,

(27:30):
it was it was really difficult to recruit overseas because
you had to find a special, unique young man who
wanted the college experience, who wanted to the education as
much as the basketball. Uh there you had. Therefore, you
usually found players who are probably not universally but probably
maybe a little bit less than the best players from Europe.

(27:52):
And now, because of the money that's been been involved
with it in the last few years, you can get
the very best players. I mean, with the exception of
maybe the Luka Doncics level player, you can get close
to the very best teenagers from Europe and now, I
mean Illinois even bringing in a young man who's twenty
two to play his first college season. I'm very curious

(28:14):
to see what he gets classified, because I've not seen
very many twenty two year old freshmen in intercollegiate sports.
We'll see what they decide on him in terms of
where he stands in terms of his academic years and
the number of years he might have remaining.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
You're a movie guy. Have said that we laughed at
the line and animal House seven years of college down
the dream.

Speaker 2 (28:38):
But it's the thing.

Speaker 4 (28:39):
Now, it's true, and there's so many people out there
that are trying to get that seventh year.

Speaker 1 (28:47):
It's amazing.

Speaker 4 (28:50):
Jeff Goodman from Field of sixty eight has been on
this during the course of the week. With so many
players who are clearly out of eligibility under the old
stand under the current standards that entering the transfer portal,
it has become somewhat comic, somewhat comedic that that this
is happening to the level that it is that there

(29:12):
are there are now dozens of players in the transfer
portal who have no eligibility remaining under the current rules.
Whether those rules will be sent out, I don't know.
But where does that stop?

Speaker 2 (29:23):
Tom?

Speaker 4 (29:24):
I mean, if you say that you can play college
basketball for as many years as you want, why wouldn't
you be able to stay in high school basketball until
you're twenty two or twenty three? I mean, what would stop?
What was where's the where's the logic to this end?
I mean, where it just? You can't do this forever.
It just there's a there's a finite point to it.

(29:44):
There always has been, and there's a reason for it.
And to expand it to whatever the player might want. Uh,
seems just really ridiculous to me.

Speaker 1 (29:55):
One of my listeners who's a Steelers fan wants me
to ask you who you want the Steelers to take
it the draft.

Speaker 4 (30:01):
Yeah, I want them to take one of the defensive linemen.
There's a lot of talk now about and that would
be largely dependent on who's available. There's two at Michigan,
one at Oregon. I think Ole Miss has a terrific one.
The best available of them is what i'd like. There's
been a lot of talk up now about Shader Sanders,
and I just don't understand what makes him a first

(30:24):
round quarterback when I when I see the best quarterbacks,
which among them Joe Burrow, Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, which among.

Speaker 1 (30:34):
Them has an average arm?

Speaker 4 (30:37):
And if you look at all the and I looked
at the tape, and I've looked at every scouting report
I can find, everyone says that arm is that arm
talent is not his greatest strength. I don't want him there.
If you can't make all the throws, I don't think
that you can be an elite NFL quarterback. And if
you can't be elite, then why spend a first round
pick on you.

Speaker 2 (30:57):
You can get You can.

Speaker 4 (30:58):
Get average or slightly above average a lot of places.
But if you're selecting in the first round, committing to
that player for multiple years. I just don't think it
makes any sense at all to have that player be
have an average or slightly above average arm.

Speaker 2 (31:14):
Well, we switched to football.

Speaker 1 (31:16):
What's your take on im Alieva at Tennessee and how
that all played out?

Speaker 4 (31:21):
Yeah, I wrote about that. To me, I didn't it
didn't make any sense on multiple levels, but the primary
level being your future. What you make an as a
college quarterbacks someone who started for a playoff team as
a red shirt freshman. You're going to have an opportunity
to have a future in the NFL with that on

(31:41):
your resume, as long as you stay healthy through and
he really only has to play one more year if
he wants to enter the league. As long as you
can stay healthy through however many years left you you
decide to stay in college, you're going to have an
opportunity to play in the league. And not everybody, as
I mentioned before, is going to be Mahomes or that
Prescott or somebody like that making fifty sixty million dollars

(32:03):
a year, But it's it's out there for you. But
more important, or more to the point I should say,
is the amount of money you can make as.

Speaker 2 (32:11):
A backup quarterback in the NFL.

Speaker 4 (32:13):
Of what Mason Rudolph's going to make four million dollars
to play for the Steelers this year. Last year, Kyle
Allen made one point nine million to throw one pass
all year, and if the Steelers had their way, he
wouldn't have thrown any and they paid him a million nine.
You look around the league and every backup quarterback practically

(32:34):
is in the four to five million dollar range. And
they don't expect you to do anything other than show
up on time, pay attention, be smart, contribute to the conversation,
pay attention in film in case you need to play,
all of that kind of stuff. And what as Nko
said to the world, If I don't feel like showing
up for the last spring practice, I'm not going.

Speaker 2 (32:56):
To show up.

Speaker 4 (32:56):
If I don't want to play in the spring game,
I'm not going to play in it because maybe I
want to change my deal. That's what That's the message
he sent to the people that control all that money
I just talked about for just for the backups. Again,
I think it was a terrible career move for on that.
On that sense, he's gonna have to prove a ton
the teams that he's not that person.

Speaker 1 (33:19):
Yeah, I think that is very well said that that. Uh,
it's just you don't do that in business.

Speaker 2 (33:28):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (33:28):
Now, you can get away with it if you're Patrick
Mahomes or you're Joe Burrow or but that's a small
group of people that can get away with it.

Speaker 4 (33:35):
You know, there's if he turns into that, they have
to tolerate it because there's only a half dozen or
so of those players. Yeah, but he's but no, he
doesn't seem likely to turn into that, So you have
to be all the other things. And he has suggested
to the teams that he's not.

Speaker 1 (33:55):
Mike the course, you can read him at Sporting News
dot com and hear him here on Wednesdays until we
get back into basketball season. Thank you, Mike, Thanks very much,
Tom Mike Decursi joining us on the Club Blue nil
dot com hotline Tension.

Speaker 4 (34:09):
Bourbon Lovers.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
Their sister organization, Commonwealth Causes, is back with their April
Bourbon Raffle and it's coming up tomorrow. The drawing for
the Ultimate Bourbon Collection features an incredible twenty thousand dollars
worth of bourbon, including the Pappy Vanwinkle six bottle set,
the six bottle Weller set and the complete Blanton set.

(34:30):
Several lucky winners. The tickets are limited, Secure yours at
Commonwealth Causes dot org. It is the late Triport Radio
Network and we'll be right back. Congratulations to Sean Woods,
the unforgettable from UK men's basketball is back in coaching
is first love and he's the new boys basketball coach

(34:54):
at Scott County High School and they get them back
on track to their glory days with Sean nothing but
the best. If you run a clothing store, a guy
who's a former Wildcat probably doesn't have a lot of
red in the wardrobe, So reach out to Sean and
he's got to be looking for some red in the

(35:14):
wardrobe now with the coaching chop at Scott County.

Speaker 2 (35:17):
Wish him well.

Speaker 1 (35:18):
Keenland resumes today and Our Derby there's just three days
left in the spring meet. Our Derby Triple Crown coverage
is presented once again by Clayburne Farm, this year doing
the usual unusually well and yesterday the big story was
not so much a Derby horse but Philly for the
Oaks who got things buzzing with the morning workouts. Lacara,

(35:42):
who won the Ashland Stakes at Keeenland earlier this month,
worked for furlongs and did it in forty six point
six and that is exceptionally fast. That would be fast
in a race, much less in a workout. And the
way that she did it, if you watched, looked like
she was going probably a second or more slower than that.

(36:04):
So she did it so easily and just suggests that
she is in tip top form right now and will
be dangerous in the Kentucky Oaks next week. So her
stablemate Sandman from the Mark Cassie Barne, who won the
Arkansas Derby, he's set for a workout today. Well probably,

(36:26):
I'm sure probably by now Journalism has made his first
appearance on the track. He arrived yesterday. He's the derby
favorite as the winner of the Santa Anita Derby. The
Stay a wild Cat History present about Kentucky road Show,
sports cars and memorabilia on Romney Road in Lexington and
at roadshowcards dot com. So wild Cat Birthdays Today. Freddie
Cowen part of that pipeline from Union County High School

(36:49):
in the late seventies that started with Larry Johnson and
Dwayne Casey and then Freddie Cowen. Freddy celebrating a birthday today,
Bob McCowan, who played with Mike Pratt, Dannis and Crew
celebrating a birthday today. And Winston Guy, former Kentucky football
secondary man from Lexton Catholic High School outstanding safety, great

(37:11):
kick returner, celebrating a birthday today as well. That does
it for this edition of The Leads Report presented by
Bobcat Enterprises.

Speaker 2 (37:20):
We will see you tomorrow.