2025-06-13 LEACH REPORT

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
This podcast of The Leach Report is presented by Boone's
Butcher Shop in Barnstown at one hundred Old Bloomfield Pike,
Family owned and operated since nineteen forty six, with fresh
meat cut on site daily.

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Boons Butcher Shop Welcome into the Leach Report. A Friday
edition of our show Today presented by Bobcat Enterprises, and
a Friday the thirteenth edition. I might add, despite that,
I'm feeling lucky that I get to be with you
here this morning on The Leach Report, filling in for
the Voice of the Wildcats, given our tom a nice
Friday off. He deserves it right. He doesn't get enough

(00:36):
of those days. So in his place today, I'm Maggie Davis.
I'm thrilled to be with you. But if you're not
used to hearing my voice this time of the morning,
I completely understand. I'm honestly not used to hearing my
voice this much this time of the morning. Normally you
hear from me at night. More of a night person.
I host a show weeknights at seven thirty. That's bebe
in tonight weeknights at seven thirty on LAX eighteen. You

(00:58):
can find us on that station here, in central Kentucky.
We're syndicated all across the state. You can find us
on social media, our website, our app, all those things
that you know about by now. But where you can
find me right now is actually in downtown Lexington, and
I am just thrilled to be with you over the
next hour or so here on the Leach Report. Where
are you listening from, I'd love to know. Send me

(01:19):
a message on social media. You can find me on
x at Maggie Davis TV. Let me know where you're
tuning in from this morning. Now, I did say already,
it's a Friday, It's June thirteenth, It's a Friday in June,
and we have a lot to talk about.

Speaker 3 (01:32):
It's a blessing and I guess.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
In some ways, depending on how you feel about some
of the news today, maybe a curse. But for a
sports radio talk show host today, I'm excited and we
have some great guests lined up to talk all about it.
So let's jump right in, not waste any of your time,
Let's jump into the Wildcat News of the Day, presented
by Just Steppis of Lexington. The big story of the day,
I think is still this board of Trustees meeting and
the Athletics Committee meeting from last night That was yesterday

(01:57):
evening on campus. I was there, one of a handful
of reporters and attendance to hear more about the university
and the athletics department's plans to move into this new
era of collegiate sports. Now we're not just talking about
NIL really primarily here. We're talking more about revenue sharing,
so it's completely separate, and we got a lot more
information yesterday on Champions Blue. Now, this was an idea

(02:19):
that was introduced to us a couple of weeks ago
in LLC the university will be using in terms of
shifting the athletics department into a new financial space in
this new era, was described repeatedly yesterday as bold, innovative,
unique in a time where flexibility and having the ability
to create additional revenue streams will be more important than ever.

(02:39):
We got a lot more information on what that board
will actually look like, who's on it, who's making these decisions,
who is providing input. We also learned more about the structure,
its financial goals, how that will affect things on campus
and for all your favorite Wildcats.

Speaker 3 (02:54):
We also saw a request.

Speaker 2 (02:55):
For one hundred and ten million dollars in investments, one
hundred ten million dollars, forty one million of which is
primarily going to facility upgrades, largely to the football program.
About five million currently being designated towards soccer and softball,
a facility upgrade there, with softball set to host the
SEC tournament in twenty twenty six. A lot of details,

(03:17):
some of which are really big pictures, some of which
are really granular. We're gonna have John Hale from the
Herald Leader on in just a couple of minutes to
break down his reporting from last night.

Speaker 3 (03:25):
That's topic number one.

Speaker 2 (03:26):
The other news of the day, of course, Vince Marrow
officially a Louisville Cardinal came out yesterday. The Louisville Program
announced Marrow has signed a three year deal his contract.
His title will be executive Director of Player Personnel and Recruiting.
We got statements yesterday from Marrow, from Mark Stoops even
got the chance to talk to Mitch Barnhardt a little
bit about that yesterday at that board meeting. So we'll

(03:47):
have a whole lot more on that story and the
latest on who could actually be replacing Vince here in
Lexington to do that. Adam Luckett of Kentucky Sports Radio
will be with us. Look forward to talking to him
about all things football. And then in terms of some
men's basketball news, get ready for a big weekend for
some Wildcats because it's the USA Basketball U nineteen national
team training camp. They're actually on the way to Colorado

(04:10):
right now to take part in really some stiff competition
the freshmen. You have Malachai Moreno and Jasper Johnson both
heading out west right now, the freshman both vuying for
spots on that twelve man team. And then Mark Pope
actually an on court coach for this period of the
training camp. It's the first time he's been connected to
USA Basketball, So excited to learn a little bit more

(04:30):
about how all that unfolds for the Cats in the
coming days. Other big basketball news we got last night,
for the first time since twenty fourteen, the men's basketball
program will host the tar Heels in rupp Arena, Kentucky
against North Carolina December second, come into roup Aerena. We
also found out who the women's basketball team will be
playing in that.

Speaker 3 (04:50):
Acc SEC matchup.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
It's going to be the next day, December the third
and they get to travel south. They're going to Miami
to take on the hurricane. So a couple of big
games to talk about to in terms of both basketball
programs and for more on basketball. I'm so excited we
get to introduce you to a new member of our
team at LAX eighteen, our Sports department, our BBN Tonight Family,
Miss Hannah Hammelback. She's brand new, but she's familiar to
a lot of us. She interned with us last summer.

(05:15):
She also is from right here in central Kentucky, and
she told a great story on our show earlier this
week about the Kentucky men's basketball program. So I'm excited
to have her on a little bit later in the
show to tell you more about that story as well
as just help you get to know her a little bit,
because you'll be hearing a lot more from her on
our airwaves over the next coming several years, so a.

Speaker 3 (05:36):
Lot to get to.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
Like we said, those are the big stories of the day,
big guests coming up, John Hale, Adam Luckett, Hannah Hammelback,
and we hope you'll stay with us right here on
the Leecher Report for all of it. For now, going
to get to our first break, and we'll be back
with John Hale right after this. Welcome back in the
Leecher Report comes to you live from the Clerk's Pump
and Shop studio. Return, refresh and refuel at Clerks. Also,

(05:58):
how about you reimagine the way college sports is operating.
That's exactly what we are all trying to still wrap
our heads around following the change to NIL a couple
of years ago, the House settlements approval just a couple
of weeks ago, and then last night on UKs campus,
the Board of Trustees meeting, President Eli Cappoluto saying, quote
overnight a new era of intercollegiate sports was born. A

(06:18):
new chapter regarding the future of collegiate sport must be
written by US and programs across the country end quote.
I also had the chance to talk with Athletics Director
Mitch Barnhardt after the meeting, specifically asking him about the
money that the university's athletics department is asking for approval
to build some new projects, primarily around the football program.

Speaker 3 (06:39):
We have producer Rick in the studio. Rick, can we
hear that sound bite real quick?

Speaker 2 (06:43):
In terms of investing into the future of over one
hundred and ten million dollars requested today, a lot of
that going to the football facilities in particular in addition
to softball and soccer. What went into the prioritization of
what is going on that slide with that budget request today?

Speaker 4 (06:57):
So seriously, the stadium is you know, obviously continues. Do
you have to continue to maintain and repair the stadium
for safety reasons, making sure that all the components of
whether it's stairwells, ramps, those kind of things, that there's
not anything that's going to put in of our patrons
at risk. So that's important than the other piece is
just the fant amenities that allow us to bring new

(07:19):
revenue streams or be able to do some things differently
in our suites really really important, you know. So those
are priorities, what things, What decisions do we make that
allow us to create revenue streams or be more efficient
or making sure that we're prioritizing our fan experiences the
right way. So there'll be more to come. Trust me,

(07:39):
we got more on our plate and we're excited that'll
come as we go, probably more into the fall.

Speaker 2 (07:48):
More to come. I found really interesting there and we'll
ask John Hale about it. Coming up here in this segment,
because how about forty one million dollars in investment projects
primarily football as well as softball and soccer. Thirty one
dollars to one million, sorry, got to say the word million.
They're more in an operating loan that brings us to
seventy two, but the total they've asked for is about
one hundred and ten.

Speaker 3 (08:08):
John Haill of The Herald Leader joins us.

Speaker 2 (08:09):
Now, John, you were there at the board meeting last night,
had a chance to talk with Ady Barnhardt as well
after the meeting. What were your big takeaways from everything
we learned yesterday.

Speaker 5 (08:18):
Yeah, I think the clear goal here is to make
money as quickly as they can. You mentioned the thirty
one million dollar operating loans. They're going to operate as
at a deficit the next two years. That was pretty
much obvious. When you have to find twenty and a
half million dollars in revenue sharing that you that's not
like new revenues coming in. You have to just figure
out something else. But instead of just slashing their budgets
and cutting sports and cutting salaries, laying people off, like

(08:41):
maybe we've seen it some other universities, their strategy is
to spend to make more money, and the place that
they clearly have identified that they can build more revenue
is the football stadium with the suites. It's interesting because
right now we're in a moment we're coming off of
four and eight season season ticket sales are day on.
I think twelve percent was the renewal number that I
got a couple of months ago. But those suites in

(09:02):
particular are kind of recession proof, for performance proof based
on how the team's playing. Those are booked out for
years in advance. And so they're going to renovate the
corner suites in the stadium, which opened in ninety nine
when they first expanded it, and then they're going to
build a new west end zone club space similar I
assume to what they have in the Loje clubs on

(09:25):
the sideline there, which we'll add another spot for premium seating.
And the hope is by twenty seven twenty eight, so
three years from now they'll be back in the black.
And with that revenue, expanded distributions from the SEC, which
I assume will come from playoff expansion, and probably adding
a ninth game to the schedule if they get to

(09:46):
that with that money, they can be back financially independent
and begin paying back this loan that they're taking from
the university.

Speaker 3 (09:52):
Now, yeah, spend money to make money. I like how
you put that.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
I liked in the article I read last night from
your report from the board meeting, you said it's really
five pri all of which are located off Alumni Drive.
Four of them are really located right there at Kruger Field.
And that's obviously a big part of the financial goals
at this point. Something that gets brought up a lot
is the revenue sharing model. This twenty million dollars is
the figure that's out there pretty heavily right now, and

(10:17):
trying to decide how that's actually getting allocated amongst the
programs on campus. Barnhart was asked about that a couple
of times yesterday. He didn't really seem keen on giving
us too much information. I want your take on that,
and specifically, I think you were the one to ask
him about it, whether or not he was worried about
a competitive advantage or disadvantage to releasing that information. Do

(10:38):
you think we'll ever know exactly how much each program
is getting.

Speaker 5 (10:42):
Yeah, I think we're going to because it should be
public record they when they start. So part of the
new champions Blue Board, the LLC that is going to
run the athletic department. Now, it's still supposed to be
subject to open records and open meetings laws, and they're
monthly meetings for the next year. They're going to have
monthly financial report every month and then quarterly they're going

(11:03):
to get sport by sport reports based on what we
were told this week, and so those reports should theoretically
be public record, and we'll see the number then. But
the point that Mitch is making over and over again,
which is interesting I don't think I've really heard other places,
is that percentage will probably change year to year for
Kentucky based on sport needs. They are at an interesting

(11:23):
spot versus most of the other teams in the SEC
in terms of Obviously football and men's basketball are both
revenue drivers for Kentucky. Football still makes more money even
though of the history of men's basketball, but men's basketball
does make money Kentucky, which it does not everywhere. And
obviously they have the most successful men's basketball program all
time in the country. So whereas some schools can say

(11:44):
we're definitely giving whatever seventy five percent to football and
just fifteen percent of men's basketball. It will be interesting
if Kentucky does that or if they give more money
to men's basketball. That's the question we're all asking that
Mitch doesn't want to answer right now, and other schools
will certainly use that against them and recruiting if they're
giving less money to football than some of their sec counterparts,
and certainly in basketball, they've got to worry about schools

(12:06):
who are participating in revenue staying that don't have football
programs to support, you know, the Villanova's of the world,
those kind of Big East schools. That's going to be
interesting to watch too, So that's part of it. I
think the ads from Ohio State and Missouri both had
meetings yesterday too, and we're asked similar questions. Both of
them declined to reveal their numbers for similar reasons. Competitiveness

(12:27):
is part of it, certainly. I think there's still some
figuring it out, and Mitch keeps making the point that
their rosters for next year are already set, so it's
not like a question of we need to know how
much money we have for next year. They know that
they know the situation but the year after that it
might change. So we should know those numbers eventually, but
they're not going to tell us before they absolutely have to.

Speaker 2 (12:45):
The other big story that came out of yesterday I
thought was actually, who is on this Champion's blue LLC board? Right?
You have four big administrators essentially, from the university president
Cape Ludo at the top, three other men around him
that are high level administrators within the university, and then
also these three ex subject matter experts is what they're
calling them. You have the president and CEO of Keen

(13:07):
lyn Chan and Arvin. You have a former Nike executive
turned SVP of Fanatics, Chris Prineville, and then a former
Wildcat a connection in tight End turned business. Me and
Jacob Tammy, what were your big takeaways from those actual selections,
because to me, I think that had to be a
huge decision and the experience from those three subject matter
experts specifically is really interesting to me.

Speaker 5 (13:29):
Yeah, obviously Jacob being involved is the headliner for us.
You know, fans are certainly aware of his career, what
he did here, what he did in the NFL, but
he has such a like a positive post playing career
in terms of the business. He's a financial advisor now
for Murdi and Wealth Management in terms that he runs
their athlete division, so works with professional athletes to manage
their money. Now that's what his job is day to day.

(13:50):
He obviously does a lot of charity work with his
Swings for Soldiers event that he has every year here locally,
Like he seems like the perfect fit for that. And
to have Jacob there makes a lot of sense. To
have Shan Arvin from Kenland makes a lot of sense.
They're going through right now the biggest renovation Keenland has
had since they opened in the nineteen thirties, building a
new paddock in some new seating and dining options. Like

(14:11):
that's clearly something that's on Kentucky's plate right now, trying
to figure out these facilities in the entertainment district and
finding new ways for revenue. So she has plenty of
experience in that world as well. And then Chris Prineville
was the one we didn't know until right at the
meeting yesterday. They had briefed us beforehand and didn't have
his name yet. He has a lot of you know,
experience at Nike and Fanatics in terms of that licensing

(14:33):
inil marketing space. That's really really interesting. I wondered if
that third person was going to be a basketball person,
you know, a Nazi Mohammad or somebody who has that
ex Jamal Mashburn who has those kind of experience, But
Tony doubt Yeah, but he and so I was surprised
to see his name because I frankly didn't know who
he was before the slide went up there. But doing
some research, it makes sense. He ran a licensing company

(14:54):
before he went to Fanatics that got buyt by CIA
and then Fanatics that was a client of Kentucky. Kentucky
use them, so they have a relationship there and he
clearly has been very involved in that NIL space is
that since it started, So that will be another voice
that makes a whole lot of sense to put on
that board for now.

Speaker 2 (15:11):
John, thank you so much for your reporting. Everybody out there.
You can read a whole lot more on the Harold Leader.
You did a great job yesterday. Continue to provide expert
analysis on all of this. There's a lot of details
to sort through, so we appreciate your time and your expertise. John,
Thanks so much.

Speaker 5 (15:23):
Thanks Maggie.

Speaker 2 (15:24):
All right, you can find him at John Hale underscore
hl on X and coming up next it's Adam Luckett.
K I started talking a little more football and hey,
a little more on the Big Dog. Are we still
calling him that? We'll talk about it next on the
Leach Report. Welcome back into the Leech Report. Happy to
be with you. I'm Maggie Davis filling in for the
Voice of the Wildcats today, giving our guy Tom, our friend,

(15:47):
a little Friday off.

Speaker 3 (15:49):
In the meantime, we're talking about all the big Wildcat
news of the day.

Speaker 2 (15:52):
Big thanks again to John Hale in that last segment
for breaking down some more on everything Champions Blue. Obviously,
it is very, very in depth and there's a lot
to sort of break down. A little less in depth
and a little more emotional, I would say, is this
Vince marrow decision to go from the University of Kentucky
to the University of Louisville. I mean, there's just a

(16:12):
few things in this world that are shocking and people
going from blue to red or honestly vice versa. It
surprises us every single time. We're work going to get
Adam Luckett on the radio with you to break down
more about this story. And I think really a couple
of the big points that people are still harping on
at this point are the statements we got from these
two men yesterday. We hadn't heard anything from them in

(16:34):
any official capacity since news from Pete Thamill first leaked
out multiple days ago, and yesterday at noon we got
a Mark Stoop statement through a university spokesperson. He said, quote,
We're thankful for coach Mero's contributions to our program over
the past twelve years. As we looked at the new
season and a new era of college football, We're focused
on the opportunities at hand. We will continue to build

(16:57):
a roster and staff that balances talent, maturity, physicality, and
the attitude it takes to win in the nation's most
competitive conference. I wish my friend and colleague nothing but
the best in quote little interesting their nation's most competitive conference.
I don't know if that's acc shade or something else

(17:17):
from Coachtops. But in the meantime, we have a lot
to talk about with this Vince Marrow actual replacement right
because Big Dog or whatever we're calling him now can
go ahead go to Louisville, et cetera.

Speaker 3 (17:28):
Eventually that will die down.

Speaker 2 (17:29):
What won't die down is the four titles he held
at Kentucky. He was the associate head coach, the tight
end coach, the recruiting coordinator, and the NFL liaison. It'll
be really interesting to see which direction the program moves
in terms of replacing him. I don't think it's gonna
be one guy. That's four jobs. It's really unique that
Vince even had all four of those titles, and so
how they replace him, whether it's one man, four dudes,

(17:52):
whatever it is, however many it takes. It'll be interesting
if they shift people around on the current staff, bring
in some new talent, etc. We are waiting on Adam
Lucket of FKSR to join us with his take on
all of that, hopefully right after this break. We'll be
back with you on the Leach Report. Right after this
don't go away. Welcome back into the Leach Report. Our
guests on the Leach Report come to you via the

(18:13):
Club Blue nil dot com hotline. And hey, it's a
surprise guest for you because we are so excited to
have Nick Rausch on the phone, my good buddy at
RALSHKSR on X. Nick, thanks so much for joining us
talk a little bit about Vince Merrow and how this
whole situation has unfolded. The real question I have for you,
when Pete Famil first posted that initial report, did you

(18:34):
check and see if it was the real Pete family
like me like three or four times before you said anything,
or did you have an inkling this was coming?

Speaker 6 (18:42):
Uh?

Speaker 7 (18:43):
I'll be honest, I I had a feeling it was coming.
And that's not even the right way to say it either, Maggie,
because it was very similar to the John Caliperry issue,
where you knew it was possible, but it's like, Okay,
I'll believe it when I see it, because well, let's
be real, we've been through this rigmarole before. I got

(19:04):
kind of criticized in December because I put it out
there and oh, this is just KSR steering up stuff.
But no, like there was that it was very real
in December. It has been real in the past. And
the night before I had some long conversations and felt like,
oh wow, this okay, well this might happen again. But Maggie,

(19:28):
I was also in a real boycrowd wallf situation. I'm
not going to put that out there, right. I can't
put that out there. I'd already put stuff like that
out there before, so I was like, you know what,
if it happens. It happened. And it was kind of
funny though, because as much as I say I wasn't surprised,
I mean, we were alive on YouTube. You could see
my faith, It's still surprised because for that guy to
go from throwing l's down and like, it's that part

(19:53):
of it is just like, not only was he one
of us, but he was the most of us, right
Like he was the most one of us. And I
go back a lot to that twenty twenty three season
with Ray Davis, where like things looked like they had
completely fallen apart after the South Carolina game and he

(20:14):
played a big Barton rally in the troops of that
locker room to go get that big win over a
Wouisville team that was on its way to the a
SEC Championship, a top ten Louisville team. And for him
to go from doing that to the other side and
now we're throwing shade at UK, It's so weird. It
is so so weird.

Speaker 2 (20:31):
It's so weird, And to me, the weirdest part was
there for I don't know, seventy two hours we had
this report and then nothing radio silence, no statements, no quotes,
no contracts, except he did reply to you on X
you posted a Colin it's merrill lost power in the
Kentucky football recruiting room. Taking a closer look at his resume,

(20:53):
he replies, Lol, I will be speaking soon on this.
And then it was just a little bit after that
we started getting statements from these guys. What did you
make of that article, how it was received? And obviously
being the only one to get a big dog quote
there for a minute.

Speaker 7 (21:09):
Yeah, I felt like a real reporter. But you know,
so the thing with Vince and it is a like
we know him as Vince a recruiter because he got
most of the guys and part of the biggest reason
from my understanding of why he left, like sorry, let
me let me just go back to the start and

(21:30):
then we'll get to the recruiting because in many other
times throughout this situation when Vince was getting courted by others,
there's two reasons why he didn't leave. It was the
money and it was the relationships. The money was always
better at UK or just as good and the relationships
won out. And I think the relationships soured there between

(21:50):
Vince and Mark Stoops, and I think they soured because
Stoops was taking a different direction in recruiting. Part of
that's just because, like, let's be real, it's poor Nil now, right,
Like relationships in high school recruiting don't matter as much
as they did in the past. They just don't. So
that is why steps started. Instead of giving Vince Marrow

(22:13):
ultimate deferral on a lot of these guys they took,
he was given other guys a lot of athity, a
lot more authority in the room, including eight Grand and
some of the coordinators that were at Kentucky. And I
don't think Vince liked that, and I think maybe there
was some resentment that built up from that. And so
part of what I wanted to do in that article
is take a look at, like, Okay, so how good

(22:33):
were Vince's players that he recruited? And it's when you're
asked to get more, when you're asked to be a
high volume shooter, you're not going to have his high
a percentage. But the best thing that Vince did is
he recruited the best players to Kentucky. We ranked the
top ten players of the first decade of the Mark
Stoops era, and he recruited six of them. He also

(22:55):
got dang Key here and I think he would be
maybe eleven or twelve. So he got a lot of
star players, but he hadn't had as many in recent
years that had been dwindling, and so I think in
this new era, Soups had to take a different recruiting approach,
and that's ultimately why Vince was ready to seek out

(23:16):
greener pastors elsewhere. But you know how green are they
on Ployts Street? Right? There's a lot of concrete over there.
I don't know about all that.

Speaker 3 (23:24):
Very fair point.

Speaker 2 (23:25):
Okay, Rosh, you only have about two more minutes with
you here, but I want to get your take on
the latest in terms of replacement potential.

Speaker 3 (23:30):
What are you hearing?

Speaker 2 (23:31):
Because everybody out there knows Maro did a million jobs
for this program, right, he had four official titles. Where
what direction do you see the program going in terms
of replacing that? Is it one guy? Is it four guys?
What do you see happening over the next couple of weeks?
Because they have to move quickly.

Speaker 7 (23:49):
Yeah, and that's why you know the first person that
comes to mind a CJ. Conrad, just because you're like, oh,
he's a great tight end. He's been he's at UK coaching,
he's been a great coach since he left recruiting Kentucky
and Isle iiO. That makes sense, but it's also June.
You just need somebody to coach the tight end, and
there's there was a couple options we threw around. We've
been hearing now that Derek Shay is the most likely option.

(24:10):
He coached with Bush Hampden at Missouri previously, and he's
also a tight ends coach. It's very similar to what
Stubs did when he had to replace Javon bow Knight
a few years ago. Uh he got one of Liam
Cohen's guys who was already on the staff, Scott Woodward,
and promoted him. So that makes the most sense from
that standpoint. But like from a NFL, the ason is

(24:32):
I think a big, big one that we don't think about.
I don't know who would fill that role, but I
know that's where Vince got a lot of feedback from
NFL guys to give to his players and to help
him recruit and and from a recruiting standpoint, you know,
with Damian Washington. You got to give the new Rod
receivers coach a lot of credit because he's gotten a
couple of commitments. They got one the other day from

(24:53):
Jordan Crutchfield over Louisville, so that was that was pretty nice.
But I will say to Vince went on another show
this morning, and he's already you know.

Speaker 6 (25:04):
It's weird.

Speaker 7 (25:05):
He's still saying we when talking about Kentucky and they
with Louisville. So he's got some adju justin do figuring
out how to throw his els up. But the one
deb he got in and I'm like, okay, all right,
I'm ready for this War of Wars. He said. Sometimes
I didn't have that much to sell, and I brought
in a bunch of four stars. This is going to
be easy to sell. So you know what, bring on
the War of Wars. This is all right, it's on.

Speaker 3 (25:27):
It's on, and it adds a little extra juice.

Speaker 2 (25:31):
So a football season that already had so many storylines
and so much for fans to be a little apprehensive about,
this is another big one. And obviously you gotta wait
till the very end of the season to play the Cardinals.

Speaker 3 (25:41):
Rash we appreciate you and your insight.

Speaker 2 (25:43):
You guys over at eleven personnel especially, have been all
over this, so thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker 3 (25:47):
Thanks for your time.

Speaker 7 (25:49):
Oh, no problem, Maggie stocks soon, socks soon.

Speaker 3 (25:51):
All right. Coming up next for you on the Leach Report.

Speaker 2 (25:54):
Guess what we have, My girl, Hannah hammelback talking men's
basketball and her new role with us at BBN tonight
LX eighteen. Meet her the Paris, Kentucky native. Coming up
next on the Leach Report. Welcome back into the Leach Report.
We are presented by Bob Kat Enterprises for locations across
Kentucky when you need to buy or rent heavy equipment

(26:15):
for a big job. But how about a new job
for our girl, Hannah hammelback right into the workforce, a
recent Western Kitsucki graduate. We're so excited to have her
on our team over at LAX eighteen and BBN tonight. Hannah,
so excited to have you on the Leach Report. Introduce
yourself to BBN, tell us a little bit about you
and what brought you here.

Speaker 6 (26:35):
Hi Maggie, and Hi BBN. I'm so excited to be
here this morning and introduce myself. Yeah, so I grew up.
I grew up in Paris, Kentucky, so just right outside
of Lexington, and I just always kind of had a
passion for journalism and public speaking and leadership in a sense.

Speaker 3 (26:53):
So I knew I.

Speaker 6 (26:54):
Wanted to go to WKU for their media program. So
I go and absolutely fell in love with it, super
involved with everything that they offered, and then ended up
interning with LAX eighteen last summer, which is literally a
summer that changed my life. I've told Maggie this, I've
told everybody at LAX eighteen that I mean literally that

(27:15):
was what confirmed what I what I wanted to do
for the rest of my life. And so I went
back to school for my senior year. I worked really
hard on everything that I had learned through my internship,
and then I wanted I wanted to come back. I
you know, there's different opportunities for me at other places,
but I really saw myself coming back to my hometown

(27:35):
and covering the people and the schools that I had
grown up around, and so I'm just so thankful to
be back home and covering the Cats.

Speaker 2 (27:44):
Well, we are so thankful to have you talk about
Hannah hammelback our new Sports multi media journalist. You can
follow her on x at h Hammelback, TV, Hammelback one
M one L. That's the big news, right, And Hannah,
you're doing such a great job because you've already told
incredible stories for us. You went down to London around
where the tornado damage had happened early on, like basically

(28:05):
your first week on the job, to start reporting on
that for US and cover Kentucky football's efforts down there.
And then just last weekend you were on campus at
one of the men's basketball camps to tell a really
unique story. What can you tell us about what you've
learned about the Dyer family.

Speaker 6 (28:19):
Yeah, so we were informed that this father son duo
was going to come to the camp. They were from Atlanta,
but they'd always been Cats fans and so they were coming.
And Bryce, the son, he's in sixth grade. He has
a really cool story. So he was born with a
congenital disease called microtia, which basically he was born deaf

(28:40):
in his left ear, and so his family just went
on a journey of trying to find healing and all
the things. And so at the camp they got to
talk with Mark Pope because they have a podcast, which
is a fundraiser with the University of Virginia Children's Hospital,
which basically raises money for children that need hearing implants

(29:05):
or just anything related kind of to what Bryce had
to go through. So they have this partnership with UVA
and so this podcast raises money for that. And so
they actually got to do a podcast with Mark Pope,
which was just so cool to witness. And Mark Pope
was obviously just so intrigued, had so many questions about it,
and just was so kind to them as he always is.

(29:27):
So it's really really cool to get to cover that. Yeah,
I'm literally week three of the job. So that story
is out and if you guys want to watch it,
it is on bbntnight dot Com.

Speaker 2 (29:36):
Yeah, and you do want to watch it because I've
watched it, I think like three times and it's a
great story. So check it out Bbntnight dot Com and
Hannah obviously today on our show, if you've been listening,
we've talked football, we've talked basketball, all the big news
of the day.

Speaker 3 (29:48):
You also have a background in horse racing.

Speaker 2 (29:50):
When you think about everything we get to cover here
in Central Kentucky, you know, in this new job, you
have with Laxat and bb in tonight. What particular sports
or events even are you most looking forward to covering
here in central Kentucky.

Speaker 6 (30:03):
Gosh, well, I feel like the Givens are obviously, you know,
I've grown up loving and watching and studying football and basketball, volleyball.
I mean all you know, those are I think probably
my three main ones that I that I know and
I talk about the most. But you know, going off
what you said, a lot of people have asked me
that they're like, what are you most excited to cover
in Lexington? I have to say horse racing is one

(30:24):
of them. I have just grown up around the horse
racing industry. That is what both of my parents are
involved in for work. And so being able knowing that
you know, you guys do the Derby Show and then
Breeders' Cup is coming to Keenland next year, even just
getting to cover just like any other Keelan race. I'm
so excited for that.

Speaker 3 (30:42):
And you know, this past school.

Speaker 6 (30:44):
Year I did a feature story called called The Backbone
of the Stable, and so that was recently published and
so I'm hoping that you know, one day down the road,
maybe during Breeders Cup time I can turn that into
a turn that into a news story. So yeah, I'm
really excited to do just honestly everything. But if I
had to hone in, I am really excited about covering.

Speaker 3 (31:05):
Horse racing, Hannah.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
I love it, And you know, you bring so many
great ideas. You just brought up a couple there, and
we're just so excited to see all this come to
fruition for us. I set up top of your front Paris.
Any message for your hometown, I'm sure there are some
people listening.

Speaker 6 (31:18):
Yeah, I've I've gotten a lot of messages since I've
started working here, a lot of people saying, oh my gosh,
it's so fun seeing you on the news. No, but
I just I love where I'm from. I've grown up
here since two thousand and eight, so majority of my
life I have been here, and so it's just so
fun being able to represent and getting to talk to

(31:39):
the people that I've grown up with and all the families,
you know, just getting to see their messages of how
much they love seeing me where I'm at has been
just so humbling and refreshing. And so I just love
where I'm from and I love that I am getting
to represent them, well in a good place.

Speaker 2 (31:57):
Well, you're doing absolutely that. We're so excited to have
you and thanks so much. Hey, radio debut, you crushed it.

Speaker 3 (32:02):
Thanks for joining us.

Speaker 1 (32:04):
Report.

Speaker 2 (32:05):
Yeah, everybody out there, make sure you're following her on
x at h Handlback TV.

Speaker 3 (32:09):
You can watch for her on LAX eighteen.

Speaker 2 (32:11):
The six o'clock news, eleven o'clock news, weeknights, weekends, BBN Tonight.

Speaker 3 (32:16):
All the thanks, the Delaware Place everywhere.

Speaker 2 (32:18):
A Henna, Thank you so much. And hey, I'll see
you in the office in just a little bit.

Speaker 3 (32:21):
Huh, thanks for having me. Thank you, Maggie. Thanks Hianda.

Speaker 2 (32:25):
All right, you are listening to The Leech Report. I'm
Maggie Davis filling in for the Voice of the Wildcats today.
One more segment to go where we're going to be
talking about some final thoughts, UK history, happenings around campus,
what you need to know ahead of the weekend. It's
a lucky Friday, the thirteenth. Thanks for joining us. We'll
be back with you right after this. Welcome back in.

(32:45):
It's our final segment of The Leech Report. I can't
believe it. Time always flies on this show. I do
thirty minutes a day on BBN tonight, but for some
reason an hour on the radio.

Speaker 3 (32:55):
I mean, it just it just flies by.

Speaker 2 (32:56):
So thank you to every single person who has listened
to his in our guests, everybody out there who has
been sending me messages on X of where you're listening from.
If you haven't done that yet, I'd love to hear
from you. Let me know where you are tuning in
this morning. Now a couple of final thoughts and some
UK history for you today. It was on this day
in nineteen ninety Bernadette Maddox was introduced as an assistant

(33:17):
on Rick Bettino's staff with the Kentucky men's basketball program.
Obviously a groundbreaking higher that was on this day in
nineteen ninety. Now today it's also a big happy birthday
to Kentucky football. A love Mike Hartline, who is back
with the Wildcats this season.

Speaker 3 (33:31):
He is an offensive quality control coach.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
Haven't gotten the chance to catch up with him yet
since his return to Lexington, but I'm sure that will
be coming at some point this summer or into the
fallless football season gets closer and closer, of course, speaking
all things football season, big thanks to our guest Nick
Rousch today joining us for that. John Hale talking with
us more about champions Blue and everything regarding this new
revenue sharing model, the board, everything that's interesting about that story.

(33:56):
And of course Hannah hammelback our newest team member at
the LAX eighteen department. All of this presented by Kentucky
road Show Sports Cards and Memorabilia in Lexington. You can
learn more about them at Roadshowcards dot com. I'm going
to watch for you this weekend. It's the NCAA Outdoor
Championship still going on for Kentucky Track and Field.

Speaker 3 (34:13):
It's day three in Eugene.

Speaker 2 (34:15):
Four men's event finals are happening today, starting with the
men's four by one relay that's at eight o two
pm Eastern time. They're running out in Eugene, organ so
you gotta confer the time zone eight oh two pm
Eastern time. The men's triple jump with Luke Brown is
at eight ten, and then the final two events of
the day Collins Kiprock. Kipcock is in the three thousand
meters steeple chase. He's at eight twenty four Eastern time,

(34:37):
and Carly Macarabu, who is also on that relay, is
also competing individually in the men's two hundred at nine
thirty seven, So a late night for those Wildcats and
in early morning for me today on the Leech Report.
But you can still catch us, our team, myself, Hannah,
my co host Keith Farmer, our whole team over at
LAX eighteen weeknights at seven thirty on BBN tonight, except

(34:59):
not tonight, No, I'm sorry, it's the US Open on NBC,
so we are preempty tonight.

Speaker 3 (35:03):
But we'll be back with you with all things Wildcats.

Speaker 2 (35:06):
Starting Monday night at seven point thirty all the way
up the rest of the week.

Speaker 3 (35:09):
I mean, this is what we do. It's all Cats,
all the time.

Speaker 2 (35:11):
Big thank you to the voice of the Wildcats, Tom Leach,
someone I absolutely just idolized, and I can't believe he
let me sit in the big chair today. I've been
on this show as a guest many many times over
the years, hosted a couple of times for him while
he was on vacation last summer, and I'm just so honored,
truly honored that he.

Speaker 3 (35:27):
Let me do this again this morning. I hope it
went okay.

Speaker 2 (35:30):
Thank you to everybody listening, and hopefully he'll let me
come back one day down the road because I have
a lot of fun and I hope you all did
as well.

Speaker 3 (35:38):
A couple other things to keep an eye on this weekend.

Speaker 2 (35:40):
Don't forget some of these basketball guys are in Colorado
for the USA Basketball U nineteen national team training camp.
That's Jasper Johnson, Malachi Moreno, Mark Pope an on court
coaching role, So make sure you're following along with us,
whether that's Tom Leach, bban Tonight, UK Athletics dot Com.
I'm sure we'll get some content out of that over
the weekend, and everybody out there have great weekend, a

(36:00):
Father's Day weekend in the Bluegrass. Can't wait to spend
it with my dad, and I hope other people out
there who are able to do that have a great
weekend as well. Thinking about everybody out there who joined
us this morning, and thank you so much for listening.

Speaker 3 (36:14):
For all the great feedback.

Speaker 2 (36:15):
We appreciate it and we'll see you next time on
the Leech Report. Thanks for joining us. I'm Maggie Davis
saying so long for now from Lexington