2025-07-15 - LEACH REPORT

Billy Rutledge fills in to talk with Larry Vaught and Brandon Ramsey.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome everyone to this Tuesday edition of The Leech Report,
presented by Bobcat Enterprises.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
I am not Tom Leach. I'm Billy Rutledge.

Speaker 1 (00:08):
You can follow me on Twitter at Billy r Sports
and hear me on many of these same stations right
after Tom on the ksrpre Show with my guy Shannon,
the dude who is also here producing the show.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
He always does a good job.

Speaker 1 (00:20):
But happy to be alongside with you today and happy
Tom's getting a week off.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
He definitely deserves it.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Hopefully he's down on the beach somewhere drinking margarita, having
a good time.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Let's get into it though.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
It's the Wildcat News of the Day, presented by Giuseppes
of Lexington and not a lot of news going on
right now in the month of July, but currently this
week the SEC Media Days are happening in Atlanta, Georgia.
Greg sank He took to the podium yesterday and the
first thing and he said was, let me be clear,
college athletics is not broken. Well, I don't think Greg

(00:52):
can blame us for thinking that way lately. He also
went on to talk about the possibility of going to
a nine game conference schedule in the few future, the
possibility of college football playoff expansion and NCAA tournament expansion.
I guess he just wants more. That's what these guys want, right,
More money, more, more more. Greg Sank you had a
lot of interesting remarks yesterday along with Brian Kelly, Shane Beemer,

(01:15):
Clark Lee, and Lane Kiffin, who had an awesome conversation
with Paul Finenbaum. If you didn't hear the full ten
minute convo today at the SEC Media Days, you'll hear
from Kirby Smart, Hugh Freeze talking about his golf game
a little bit, I'm sure, Josh Hipel, Steve Sarkisian, and
also John McDade.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
He is the SEC coordinator of football officials.

Speaker 1 (01:37):
Shannon the Dude is the producer here on the Leech Report,
and Shannon, I'd love to ask this, John McDade, if
we could have press conferences with officials after games. That's
not that crazy, is it. I mean, we got to
hold these guys accountable somehow.

Speaker 3 (01:49):
I mean, you make the players go up after a
game and you know, shove a microphone in their face.
Why not have the officials be held accountable? You know,
they're never going to do this, but it would be
nice if they did. And you and I've been talking
about this for a long.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
Time on the years years man, we've been talking about this.
Just a little accountability for the officials would go a
long way. But we'll continue to see more interviews today
in Atlanta, Kentucky. Will talk on Thursday at about ten fifty.
That's when Mark Stoops will hit the podium. Some news
coming out of the TBT and the Law Familia team.
YouTube star Jesser, with over thirty two million followers or

(02:24):
subscribers on YouTube, dropped out of the tournament yesterday due
to a scheduling conflict. He was replaced by Lexington native
Marquise Wark. He is the all time leading scorer at
Henry Clay High School. He spent four years at NKU
and then spent his final year of college eligibility at Missouri,
so a great replacement. Cool to see Marquise Wark join

(02:45):
the La Familia team. But how is La Familia going
to recover without the YouTube star Jeser.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
I just don't know. I mean, how are they going
to go on? It's a tough loss for the team.

Speaker 1 (02:56):
I guess those two audiences won't be merging, but the
UTB Tube star and side show will.

Speaker 2 (03:01):
Not be on the TV team anymore.

Speaker 1 (03:04):
Owensboro, Kentucky four star running back Evan Hampton flipped his
commitment yesterday from Louisville to Vandy.

Speaker 2 (03:10):
I know, Shannon, the dude likes that the number.

Speaker 1 (03:13):
One ranked recruit in the class of twenty twenty six
in the state of Kentucky and also the number sixteen
running back in the country, will now be a Vanderbilt Commodore.
Maybe he just heard Diego pave at the podium yesterday, Shannon,
maybe that's all he needed to be inspired enough to
flip to the Vanderbilt Commodore.

Speaker 2 (03:29):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (03:29):
Pavey has already declared that Vanderbilt is going to own
the state of Tennessee, and then he said yesterday that
maybe Vanderbilt doesn't needed a quarterback that was the problem
all along.

Speaker 2 (03:39):
So I love this swagger.

Speaker 4 (03:40):
I think you got to have that in your quarterback.

Speaker 3 (03:42):
And kind of crazy though that they're able to get
somebody to flip from Louisville to Vanderbilt.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
Yeah, yeah, no doubt about that.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Speaking of things that are kind of crazy, cal Rawleigh
was it the Big Dumper.

Speaker 2 (03:53):
Was that his name, Shannon?

Speaker 1 (03:54):
Is that what was the big dumper won the home
run derby last night? It was it was fun. I thought,
I thought it was good in moments. My favorite part though,
was the kid robbing the home run. I'm not sure
if you saw that, Shannon, but during the one of
the final rounds, a kid jumped up, went over the
fence and caught a ball before it went out of
the stadium.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
But yet they still counted it. Probably the right thing
to do, but Shannon, that ball did not leave the yard.
That is not an official home run.

Speaker 1 (04:20):
It did not eventually matter, but probably was one of
the better moments of the night, along with the measure
off they had. Cal Rawley only advanced in the first
round after they had a measure off, and his final
home run went four hundred and seventy point six feet
compared to the guys who's went four hundred and seventy
point five. He advanced by point oh eight feet in

(04:40):
the home run derby. That was just kind of a
remarkable moment last night.

Speaker 3 (04:44):
I've never seen anything like that before, and you know,
that's something that wouldn't have happened even ten years ago.

Speaker 2 (04:48):
You know, when they weren't.

Speaker 3 (04:49):
They didn't have the precise measurements of how far these
balls go, right, so those that's I think at first
for a home run derby.

Speaker 1 (04:56):
Yeah, no doubt. And that so the All Star Game
is tonight in Atlanta as well. Our final news note,
the volleyball team was selected to finish first in the
Southeastern Conference for the twenty twenty five season.

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Yesterday.

Speaker 1 (05:07):
The Cats received nine of the sixteen first place votes
in the preseason SEC coaches poll and also Kentucky had
four athletes named the All SEC preseason Team, Brooke Baltima,
Book Brooklyn delay Ava Hudson, and Molly Tuso. Congratulations to
those girls in the UK volleyball team team who will
no doubt probably have another good year. Let's set up

(05:30):
the guest lineup for today's Leech Report. We will have
Larry Vaught on the show in the coming segments and
also Brandon Ramsey from KSR. We'll be talking a little
Kentucky basketball SEC media days, La.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
Familia, whatever's going on right now.

Speaker 1 (05:43):
In July, because there's not a ton but you know what,
we will get you there and we will have a
good time. That's the Wildcat news of the Today, presented
by Giuseppes of Lexington.

Speaker 2 (05:52):
We need to take a break.

Speaker 1 (05:53):
When we come back, our guy Larry Vatt's gonna join
us here on the Leech Report on a Tuesday.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
We'll be right back. Welcome back.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
It is the Leach Report, presented by Bobcat Enterprises for
a Tuesday. I am Billy Rutledge in for Tom Leach
and now joining us on the Celebrity Hotline is Larry Vott.
You can find him at voughtsviews dot com or on
x at Voughtviews as well.

Speaker 2 (06:15):
It's good to talk to you again, Larry.

Speaker 4 (06:16):
How are you, Yeah, Sorr, I'm doing fine, And Billy,
thank you.

Speaker 2 (06:20):
Awesome, Larry. Awesome.

Speaker 5 (06:22):
And uh.

Speaker 1 (06:22):
If you follow Larry on Twitter at Voughts Views, he
has a tweet pin to his profile. It's a quote
from Coach Cal that reads, you can't have two thoughts
at one time, except Larry Vott. He has three at
one time, but the normal human being has one at
one time. And I remember when that happened. Larry, actually,
and it's funny. It makes me laugh when I think

(06:44):
about it. But at the same time, you know, having
a relationship with Cal is a little different than having
a relationship with other coaches, wasn't it?

Speaker 4 (06:52):
It was?

Speaker 5 (06:53):
And sometimes he liked to poke fun and have a
little fun and you have to just kind of appreciate that.
And sometimes he just showed how smart a man he
was with sort of things he said, and that was
just one of the examples that you really had to
know that he really was an intelligent man.

Speaker 1 (07:07):
Well when he can highlight the multitasking Larry Vatt, you
know he is an intelligent man. But how have things
changed with Mark Pope. You're a year into covering Kentucky
with Mark Pope at the Helm. I mean, is it
just a complete culture shock having to cover Mark Pope
after covering coach.

Speaker 5 (07:22):
Cal I think the two one season going into season
two with Mark Pope is, if you want to be fair,
it's somewhat like the first year or two with John Caliperi.

Speaker 4 (07:35):
He was.

Speaker 5 (07:35):
I mean, people I think kind of forget how much
fun those first couple of years were with John Caliperi,
and he was a lot more successful, a lot more
open with everything about him. So it's kind of been
a return to what it was like those early col years.
But nothing with Pope has really been a huge surprise
because if you're old enough like me and you happen

(07:57):
to have covered Mark Pope when he played at Kentucky,
the same goofy, nerdy gay that played to Kentucky.

Speaker 4 (08:03):
That's kind of the same type of guy you have
as a coach.

Speaker 5 (08:06):
If you saw if you ran into him when he
was playing, he always had time to stop and talk
with you.

Speaker 4 (08:11):
If you're on into him anywhere. Now that he's coaching,
he still talks to you.

Speaker 5 (08:15):
Whether it's in the parking lot outside of My World Coliseum,
whether you seem somewhere in Lexington or whatever. So it
should and I have been a big surprise because that's
just the Mark Pope that you knew and loved from
thirty years ago.

Speaker 1 (08:29):
Well, there's a lot more that goes into being the
coach of the Kentucky basketball team others than just x's
and O's. Cow was really good during natural disasters and
things going on this in the state, mobilizing his team
and being there Mark Pope doing the same, but also
seeing the videos of Mark going into the crowd at
road games after wins and and speaking to fans for

(08:49):
an hour, it was a it was a really nice
touch and showed that. You know, as a player, he
got this fan base, and as a coach he's doing
the same Larry.

Speaker 4 (08:58):
He certainly does. That's just Pope.

Speaker 5 (09:00):
I don't think that'll ever change, whether it's buying ice
cream for fans when he couldn't say for a radio show,
or letting these players be a lot more accessible with
fans and doing things. I think that's just how Mark is.
He has a huge heart, and he does a lot
of things. He doesn't really worry about seeking out publicity

(09:22):
for doing them.

Speaker 4 (09:23):
That's just who he is.

Speaker 5 (09:24):
Like when he went to eastern Kentucky after the tornado
down there and was helping clean up debris.

Speaker 4 (09:32):
I mean, that's just who Mark Pope he.

Speaker 5 (09:33):
Is as the kind of person he is and what
makes him so genuine and why I think he will
last on this job for a long long time.

Speaker 4 (09:42):
He may not always do exactly.

Speaker 5 (09:43):
What everybody wants him to do, but you just have
to understand he plans things out me and he's such
a smart person, and then he may do something that
seems a little different, but it's because he thinks that's
what's going to fit best for him and his team.
I think you just have to trust him and he
that's what he's doing.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
One guy that will be playing for Mark Pope this year.
We mentioned Swaggy cal Let's mention Swaggy Cam Cam Williams
is a pretty confident guy, Larry. I learned that on
the article that you have on Vought's views. He said,
I think I'm going to win every single shooting contest
we have this year.

Speaker 2 (10:17):
Trent Noah is my only competition.

Speaker 4 (10:19):
You know.

Speaker 1 (10:20):
I think some people forget Cam. You know, he signed
with the Cats before the season was over. But this
guy looks like he's going to be a big playmaker
for Kentucky next year.

Speaker 4 (10:29):
He does.

Speaker 5 (10:29):
I just saw one mock draft that came out in
the last day or two. I don't know if you
saw it or not, Billy, that has him number six
the twenty twenty six draft.

Speaker 2 (10:38):
Well wow, I did not.

Speaker 4 (10:40):
Wait.

Speaker 5 (10:41):
Yeah, I mean I'd seen one earlier where he was
like listed somewhere in the mid twenties. This one came
out was he's up to like number six or something
in it. So I think he's probably going to be
I don't know if you want to call him the
X factor, the biggest surprise on the team or potentially
could be. But I think, yeah, that everybody is probably
kind of not fully aware of just how good maybe

(11:04):
he's gonna be. And again, that's an example of Mark
Pope identifying somebody quickly that he thought would fit that
most of us, to be honest, I've never even really
heard of Cam Williams, and when he signed him, I
do they think, well, or got his commitment, Well, that's nice,
that's maybe a good role player he'll be bringing in here.
Then the more you've been around, the more you've seen,

(11:25):
you think, well, this Cam Williams is gonna be pretty
pretty special. And then the family that he comes from,
the way his father has kind of just became a
fixture of Big Blue Nation already. I think Mark really
maybe hit the jackpot with his kid.

Speaker 2 (11:40):
Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 1 (11:41):
And if the team lacked defense last year and had
an abundance of shooting, it may be flipped for this
next year. They may have a lot of defense with
guys like Mo Diavatte and Jane Quainton's, but at the
same time they lack some shooting with no Kobe Bray
on the team, and maybe Cam can fill that role.
But you know, you're gonna have to have good shooting
if you are going to be in Mark Pope's offense.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
There's no doubt about that.

Speaker 1 (12:04):
Larry Vatt is our guest here on the Leach Report,
but we need to take a break. We'll hold Larry
for one more segment because we need to talk about
more of the current Kentucky Wildcats and some of the
former ones. Coming back for the TBT. You're listening to
a Tuesday edition of the Leach Report. I'm Billy Rutliche.
We will be right back.

Speaker 2 (12:19):
Welcome back. Ks.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
No, it's not the KASR preow, It's a Leach Report.
See look, I got my hours mixed up. Thank you
to Tom for letting me host this morning though. I'm
Billy Rutledge along with Larry Vott, who's joining us for
one more segment, and the Leach Report comes to you
from the Clark's Pumpin' Shop studio. You know I believed Larry,
but you sent me the screenshot Cam Williams going six
in this NBA mock draft. I mean, I guess, never

(12:42):
say never, but that would be surprising. That would be
a good year for the Cats if he turns out
to that kind of prospect, wouldn't you think, Oh my.

Speaker 5 (12:49):
Gosh, it probably be one of the biggest surprises and
things that you have ever seen. I think, if this
turns out like this, so but just to know that
there's somebody out there that really likes Cam Williams, And again,
I think it.

Speaker 4 (13:04):
Could change your whole outlook on this season.

Speaker 5 (13:07):
You think, wow, because you've talked about me Mark Cope,
doesn't get a top five high school player or something
like that. Well, if you've got the transfer portal and
you get a guy that's projected number six in the
next NBA draft, that's pretty darn good. So again, it
just kind of changes what you think this next season
could be like. And these guys that do the draft,
they're not always right, but they're not always wrong either.

Speaker 1 (13:29):
Well, let's talk about a high school prospect Mark Pope
will have on the roster this year. That's Jasper Johnson.
You recently had his father, Dennis Johnson, on the Sunday
Morning sports talk show and talked a lot about the
mental toughness Jasper is going to need to play well
at Kentucky. What are your expectations for the freshman this year?

Speaker 5 (13:47):
Well, hopefully Mark Cope doesn't put too much pressure on
it because man, he is.

Speaker 4 (13:51):
So high on Jasper and praises him so much.

Speaker 5 (13:54):
But I've known and watched jass for many, many years,
and he's really a special athlete. I think he's a
very humble kid. He fits very well into whatever team
concept that the coach wants him to. I think leaving
Woodford Kenny two years ago and going playing where he

(14:14):
has the last two years have really helped prepare him
to be a factor immediately in college. He's played with
USA Basketball, so I think he's a guy that can
hit shots. I think he's a guy that can handle
the ball for you. I think he's probably an underrated pascer.
Mark Pope thinks he's a much better defensive player than
what he's given credit for. And I was a little

(14:36):
worried about physically whether he was quite strong enough.

Speaker 4 (14:40):
To hold up or not. And I don't let something
surely worked.

Speaker 5 (14:42):
On in the last year is trying to get stronger.
But then talking to a couple of the current UK players,
they don't see that being a problem at all, so
I'll trust them for that. So I think Jasper will
be a really really good player. Whether it's coming off
the bench, whether it's starting, whether it's being mainly a
three point shooter, where there's just kind of being an
all around type player. But I think he'll fit into

(15:04):
what a remark Pope wants him to do and do
it very well. But don't ever doubt that he could
play to shoot the basketball.

Speaker 1 (15:10):
Speaking on that mental toughness point, Larry, you've covered the
Cats for many a years. Have you seen the pressure
of Kentucky basketball get to certain kids, fair or unfair?
I think of guys like Dante Allen or Khalil Whitney.
You know, maybe guys that have had a moment or
two but things didn't really work out and even magnified
even more for Kentucky kids like Jasper or Dante. But

(15:30):
have you seen it with your eyes, the pressure of
Kentucky basketball get to coaches or players in your time covering?

Speaker 5 (15:38):
Oh yeah, I can think, you know, going all the
way back forty years ago, to guys like you're.

Speaker 4 (15:44):
Probably too young, do you even know them.

Speaker 5 (15:46):
You'll look at maybe a Derek Hord or a pair
uff guys that were really highly tabbed coming to Kentucky
were great practice players, and we're very good players.

Speaker 4 (15:57):
At UK but never quite what you thought that they
might be.

Speaker 5 (16:01):
So yeah, I think sometimes the pressure can get to
about anybody. It's kind of hard not to and certain
guys can cope with it better than others. But yeah,
occasionally you do see it just kind of overwhelmed a player.
And I think that's one good thing about Mark Pope.

Speaker 4 (16:18):
He really understands that.

Speaker 5 (16:20):
I think he helps players deal with that, probably as
well as any coaches.

Speaker 4 (16:24):
But I can remember being in a Kentucky well.

Speaker 1 (16:27):
I'm sure Jasper's dad will be able to help. He
was an All SEC Conference defensive lineman and played in
the NFL after being at Kentucky. But Kentucky basketball obviously
a lot different than Kentucky football.

Speaker 2 (16:38):
Just about a little less than two.

Speaker 1 (16:39):
Minutes left with Larry Vaught and Larry, I want to
ask you the TBT is starting on Friday and nine
pm tip off, which is way too late. I will
complain about that even as a thirty year old. But
this is a cool opportunity for those alumni to feel
the love again from BBN.

Speaker 2 (16:54):
Don't you think?

Speaker 5 (16:55):
Yeah, I like you do not understand any reason, no reason,
because no reason on TV be on TV's the only
reason it can be, but nine o'clock I just hate that.

Speaker 4 (17:06):
But yeah, it's really good.

Speaker 5 (17:07):
I'm really glad to see guys like DeAndre Liggins, Archie
Goodwin and Khalil Whitney.

Speaker 4 (17:13):
Those guys get.

Speaker 5 (17:14):
A chance to come back and get some love for
Kentucky fans. I don't Jeron Lamb was such a huge
part of that twenty twelfeen you probably don't doesn't get
near the credit he does, because when you're on there,
the guy's named Anthony Davis and Michael kid gil Christ,
it's kind of easy to get overlooked like what he did.
So coming back like this, it's really great for them.
I think the Harrison Twins and Willie Colligstein found out

(17:35):
last year just how good this was, and I think
fans really really embrace this opportunity, and these guys are good.

Speaker 4 (17:42):
About interacting with the fans.

Speaker 5 (17:45):
I think they put together a really good team, and
I know Sean Woods is really confident that they're going
to be able to do some special things. So I
hope he's right, and I hope they just keep winning
and we'll even get to see the final four in
Memorial Coliseum this year. I Paul goes, well, that's right.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
Larry Vatt has been our guests.

Speaker 1 (18:02):
Find his writings at Vaught's Views online and on x Thank.

Speaker 2 (18:06):
You Larry for joining the show. All right, Billy, all right,
we'll take a break.

Speaker 1 (18:10):
Brandon Ramsey with KSR joining us next here on the
Leach Report.

Speaker 2 (18:14):
Welcome back.

Speaker 1 (18:15):
It is the Leach Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises with
four locations in Kentucky. When you need to rent or
buy heavy equipment or a new zero turn mooo freer lawn,
go to Bobcat Enterprises. I'm Billy Rutledge in for Tom
Leach this morning, and joining us on our celebrity hotline
is Brandon Ramsey.

Speaker 2 (18:33):
He is at b ramsey.

Speaker 1 (18:35):
KSR on Twitter, a former D three basketball coach and
writes for KSR covering the Kentucky basketball team and the Reds.
I'm sorry about that last part, Brandon, that I'm sure
that's can be the dog Days a summer sometime.

Speaker 2 (18:48):
But I do want to ask you.

Speaker 1 (18:51):
I noticed that you tweeted out the Lane Kiffin and
Paul Finbaum interview from yesterday.

Speaker 2 (18:56):
That was great, wasn't it?

Speaker 1 (18:57):
Because Lane Kiffin, I think is one of my favorite
co which is in college football.

Speaker 6 (19:02):
Yeah, I think, you know, Lane Tiffin probably is, well,
not probably. He is a very polarizing figure, but like
to me, it's honestly pretty refreshing when you have a
coach who just kind of seems to have a personality,
isn't afraid to kind of stir the pot a little bit,
and I think he's just kind of organically himself. And

(19:22):
I think in a media world where a lot of people,
you know, probably rightfully so, are sometimes afraid to really
have an opinion, I think it's somebody that just kind
of says what's on his mind can be pretty fun
and he's certainly probably one of the best at that
right now.

Speaker 1 (19:39):
Yeah, we need more of it and less of Brian
Kelly and his family and him trying to relate to
a fan base. I don't know if he got into
the accents yesterday when he spoke that was obviously the takeaway.

Speaker 2 (19:49):
From his first year.

Speaker 1 (19:50):
Brandon, you cover a lot of recruiting things when it
comes to Kentucky basketball. How I mean, in twenty twenty
five it seems like just the wild West. How do
you keep your sand keeping up with the transfer portal
high school kids changing their minds at the last minute,
Rick Potino says he's not even recruiting high school kids anymore.
How are you able to adapt as these last few
years that have been kind of crazy?

Speaker 6 (20:13):
Yeah, it really has. And you know, I've I've done
kind of the scouting service recruiting side of things off
and on for about fifteen years now, with some time
coaching myself mixed in kind of in the middle of that.
And yeah, I mean just away from when I started
to Now, the way the landscape has changed is is

(20:33):
pretty stark, and especially these last few years, you know
that there are more and more people like coach Patino
who you know, maybe they're not going to come out
and say it as clearly as he did, but yeah,
like high school kids are just in a much harder
position to earn scholarships now than it was, you know, five, ten,
fifteen years ago, because you're competing against all these international

(20:55):
kids now that are you know, coming over having played
a couple of years of professional basketball. You're competing competing
against guys across all levels of college basketball. They're transferring
around and taking spots as well. So it's it's much
more competitive now than it ever was. For these high
school kids to turn scholarships we got. I enjoyed following it.

(21:17):
I spent spent last week in rock Hill watching the
Adidas Championships. I'm in North Augusta as we speak right
now for the Peach Jam and it'll be heading into
the gym probably about as soon as we get off
the phone. So yeah, I'm I'm bouncing around, following them all,
following all the guys.

Speaker 1 (21:31):
Well, you know, I love it for mid majors like
Western Kentucky because they were able to get a level
of talent out of high school that they didn't get
in the past. The problem is, Brandy, they leave after
one year or two if they you know, they fulfill
those promises and they become the player that they're expected
to be. But you've covered Mark Pope closely over the
last two years. Last year, remember he was driving stick

(21:51):
shift in South America or Central America.

Speaker 2 (21:54):
He kind of got a late start.

Speaker 1 (21:55):
He had to go pick up Andrew Carr and his
family after the somewhere in Bowling Green after they had
a flight problem. How has year two been different? And
do you like what Mark Pope has done with the
roster editions this year?

Speaker 6 (22:07):
I absolutely like what he's done with the roster editions,
and I think that you know, kind of across the board,
you're just going to see probably a little bit more talented,
certainly a more athletic and physical roster in twenty five
twenty six than you saw in twenty four to twenty five,
because I think he was, you know, his back was
against the wall a little bit coming into Kentucky with

(22:30):
how he had to build the roster last year. Now,
obviously he did a great job doing it and was
able to piece together a you know, top fifteen to
twenty roster that made the Sweet sixteen and had quite
a bit of success, even through some injuries. But you know,
I think now he's able to do it kind of
more the traditional way where he can you know, hit
the ground recruiting and all that, and he's just able
to go after a little bit higher level of talented

(22:53):
kid because A, you have some proof of concept with
with how things work to Kentucky, and then b, you know,
you just have of the time, you don't have some
of the limited resources that you had coming in kind
of late in the process last year.

Speaker 1 (23:07):
Yeah, you took the words out of my mouth with
proof of concept. I mean, when you see him make
a Sweet sixteen in his first year at Kentucky, you
see the joy on the faces of guys like last
year's Lamont Butler or Kobe Brea, that looks like a
spot I would want to go play. I want to
talk to you about some of the individual guys on
the roster this year, maybe some of your expectations that

(23:27):
you have for them. But one guy that hasn't joined
the team yet. Is this yellovinch guy.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
I mean, is he going to be on the team
this year, Brandon or you.

Speaker 1 (23:35):
Know, because I guess maybe I've just been spurned a
little bit in the past with the big Z thing
and we had to get a billboard up to even
get this guy eligible. Is this gonna be the drama
that it's been in the past, or will will he
be on the team this year?

Speaker 6 (23:49):
Well, I mean the short answer is I don't know that.
The answer to that, I think some people that know
more of the ins and outs of the kind of
inner workings of the roster still seem to be optimistic. Therefore,
I will remain optimistic that will have him. I know
just recently he was added to the roster on the
website for whatever that's worth. That seems to be a

(24:11):
good thing and not a bad thing at least. But
you know, outside of diving into you know, the geopolitical
stuff of how you get student visas and all that
kind of thing, you know, I think it is not
the easiest thing in the world right now to kind
of jump through some of those hoops. But then you

(24:31):
see some other teams that like have their international guys,
So I understand why Big Blue Nation as chronically online
as we are are, Like, hey, you know, like Purdue
has this guy, Illinois has this guy. Why is our
guy don here? And quite frankly, I don't have the
answer to that question.

Speaker 1 (24:47):
Okay, all right, Well I've just been yearning for some
answers here because I don't want him to take three
months to adjust to the cuisine, you know what I mean.

Speaker 2 (24:54):
Like, we've got to get this guy ready to go.

Speaker 1 (24:56):
Louisville basketball games before the Louisville football game this year,
So I mean, this guy needs to get on campus
and do it quick. Brandon Ramsey is our guest here
on the Leach Report. You can follo him on Twitter
at b RAMSEYKSR. Does a great job on Kentucky Sports
Radio dot Com. We need to take a break. We're
going to hold Brandy Brandon for one more segment. We'll
talk a little bit about some of the guys on
the roster this year, like Jalen Lowe and Trent Noah.

(25:18):
What does Brandon think these guys are going to do
this year. We'll be right back here on this Tuesday
edition of The Leach Report. Welcome back.

Speaker 2 (25:24):
We roll along on the Leach Report this morning.

Speaker 1 (25:27):
Billy Rutledge in for Tom and joining us as a
guest here on the Leach Report is Brandon Ramsey, who
writes for ON three and KSR. Brandon, you also have
a podcast and a YouTube channel.

Speaker 2 (25:40):
Is that correct?

Speaker 6 (25:42):
Yes? Yeah, you can find me on YouTube and all
your podcast networks. The Brandon Faisey College Basketball Show breaking
down pretty much every Monday and Friday through the season.
We do a little bit of off season work and
some film breakdowns there as well. But yeah, the Brandon
Ramsey College Basketball Show you can find on YouTube.

Speaker 1 (26:00):
So, Brandon, we saw how important LaMonte Butler was to
the Kentucky basketball team last year, especially when he went
out with injury.

Speaker 2 (26:06):
Is Jalen Lowe going.

Speaker 1 (26:07):
To be that guy as well, a guy that had
to play around not the best talent in Pitt. But
I've heard a lot of people say if Jalen Low
is good, then this Kentucky basketball team is going to
be really good. Do you feel the same way as
you did about Lamont Butler with last year's.

Speaker 6 (26:20):
Team, Yeah, I feel the same way. I think that
you know, anytime you you bring in a guy that
that has already been an All ACC contributor. You know,
we know he was on a team in struggle a
little bit and the ACC wasn't great, but still when
you can be one of the top fifteen players at
a high major conference, that that says something about your
talent level. And I think that, you know, with some

(26:42):
of the playmaking that he's going to bring to the table,
you know, point guard is a very important position, and
I think that you're gonna you're gonna need him, especially,
you know, probably with the lack of kind of a
true backup point guard. You know, he's going to probably
need to lead the team in minute or be darn
close to it, and he's going to have to be
good because there's not a whole lot of other options

(27:04):
kind of for that primary ball handler, playmaker role.

Speaker 1 (27:09):
Yeah, you said no backup point guard. Does Colin Chandler
shift into that role or d seem more as a two?

Speaker 6 (27:15):
I mean, I think he's more comfortable as a two.
I also think that you saw him become much more
comfortable late in the year last year, and I'm sure
that's only grown exponentially over the course of a full
off season where he can kind of get his feedback
from under him after not playing basketball for two whole years.
You know, I can only imagine what that, you know,

(27:36):
initial learning curve is like when he comes back. So yeah,
I think you know he he's capable of doing it.
We've seen him take it away, you know, be capable
of doing it. You know. Certainly Jasper Johnson with all
the experience he picked up this summer with USA Basketball,
I think he's capable of doing it. But you just
don't have kind of the pure point yard like you
have in Jaylen Low And I think that's why his

(27:56):
performance is going to be so important.

Speaker 2 (27:58):
M Yeah, I agree.

Speaker 1 (28:00):
I'm as excited as anybody about a second year Colin
Chandler and even Jasper Johnson to pick things up by
the end of the year one guy I don't really
know what to think of is Trent Noah.

Speaker 2 (28:09):
Now, Mark Pope asked.

Speaker 1 (28:11):
Him to gain nineteen pounds during the off season, But
there's just so much depth, Brandonly, Is there enough? I mean,
is does Trent talented enough to be able to rise
above that depth or do you think like he's gonna
it's gonna be crowded on that depth chart for him.

Speaker 6 (28:26):
Well, it's certainly going to be crowded. It's something I've
tried to put out there just to sort of calm
all of vbn's expectations. Is like, I think there's a
well that there is a difference between being capable of
playing and then actually playing in the games, Like is
Trent noa good enough play in the games? Will he
proved that last year? That doesn't mean that he might

(28:48):
not be the twelfth man and be outside of the rotation,
Like you're not going to play twelve, thirteen, fourteen guys.
I think Kentucky has the depth that those guys can
play in the games, but it doesn't mean that they
will now with with Trent Nolla, the thing he has
in in his favor is he can fly out shoot
the basketball and a lot of times. That's something that
can get you on the floor a little bit easier

(29:09):
than even some other skills. You know, like there's you know,
big guys all handled all that kind of stuff. You
always need shooting, and especially on a team that might
be a little light in the shooting category. I could
certainly see situations where he you know, could be you know,
rising up the depth charge simply because he could put
the ball in the basket from beyond the arc.

Speaker 1 (29:28):
Well, I felt like we were screaming at the TV
screen at times, or at Mark Pope last year because
how quick he was to pull guys right. I mean,
he kept a lot of guys in the rotation, maybe
a little bit longer than the fans would have, but
that paid off in the end, right when Kentucky had
a lot of injury issues. These guys had played throughout
the regular season and we're ready to produce. So, you know,

(29:51):
twelve to fourteen guys is a lot, and there's no
way you get to that. But if anybody was going
to do it, it seems like Mark Pope is that guy.

Speaker 2 (29:58):
He's not going to play these guys thirty five.

Speaker 6 (30:00):
It's a game, right, absolutely, Yeah, we've seen that now
through through one year, and certainly with what he has
done in the past at BYU and other stops. Even
your best players are going to play twenty five to
twenty eight at the most thirty minutes. So it does
lend itself to a deeper roster. And he certainly know
as well as anybody first handed injuries always happened, So

(30:23):
you know, I'm not going to complain about having overqualified
sort of you know, eleventh, twelve, thirteenth, fourteenth pieces because
as again we know as well as anybody, those guys
might be relied upon to win the games at some point.

Speaker 1 (30:37):
And it's just nice to hear from Mark Pope what
he's doing, right, not getting lectured in a postgame press conference.

Speaker 2 (30:43):
Did you see what I did?

Speaker 5 (30:45):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (30:45):
You didn't expect that, did you. I mean, it's just
a different tone. It's just a little different when you're
trying to get information out of the guy. Brandon Ramsey
is our guest here on the Lead Report. You can
fall him on Twitter at b ramsey KSR. Tom Leach
sends a rundown for every show that he does, and
on the rundown it says Brandon is a former D
three basketball coach Brandon. I want to know where you
coached at and maybe a memory from your time as

(31:08):
a coach, and why aren't you in the profession anymore?

Speaker 6 (31:12):
Yeah. So I spent a year as an assistant Hanover
College in southern Indiana, two years at Defiance College in
northwest Ohio, and then three years at Wabash College, which
is Howard west of Indianapolis, all really good Division three programs.
Probably the reason I'm not in it now a probably
to make a bit more money. The money basketball coach interested.

(31:36):
And you know, I still spend a lot of time
in the gym. I'm around basketball, so I'm able to
stretch the itch. But our team made it to be
in civil A tournament when I was the definance made
it to the round of thirty two, be at the
defending national champions in the first round. That's probably the
best memory I have as a as a Division III
basketball coach.

Speaker 1 (31:54):
Nice I was an athletic coaching minor in college, so
I took a basketball coaching class. I had to be
a counselor for a summer camp for a week doing drills.
And it wasn't D three, right, it was ten year
olds and less, and I learned very quickly. I was
not cut out for the profession. I don't know if
it was my communication skills maybe fit better for wise

(32:14):
cracks and sarcastic remarks on the radio, But I think
it's very uh, you know, what's the word I'm looking for.

Speaker 2 (32:20):
You get a lot being able to coach people. Right.
Did you did you feel fulfilled doing that job at all?

Speaker 6 (32:26):
Absolutely?

Speaker 4 (32:26):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (32:27):
I mean it's one of the you know, greatest things,
I think, just being able to be around the guys
and you know, in those lifelong relationships. And I've got
a wedding coming up in a couple of weeks with
the you know, with the former player that's getting married.
You know, getting to do stuff like that, to me
is is why you do it. Kind of the lifelong relationships,
so you build just getting to be around the guys

(32:48):
the way that you are as a coach. You know,
it's pretty special relationships with relationships built through that.

Speaker 1 (32:54):
Yeah, no doubt. It didn't help. I dribbled the ball
like Stanley from the office. You know, when people see
you not play back basketball, well they don't really take
your coach well either.

Speaker 2 (33:02):
Right, you got to have a little talent behind.

Speaker 6 (33:05):
Yeah, yeah, I don't think Stanley is the picture on
the He's not exactly the logo of a basketball.

Speaker 1 (33:14):
No, He's no Jerry West. But it is a rewarding profession,
no doubt. But we are rewarded by having Brandon Ramsey
on the show, and he does great work on KSR.
Check out his podcast, his YouTube page and his Twitter
account at b Ramsey kiss R.

Speaker 2 (33:27):
Thanks again, Brandon, and have a good week man.

Speaker 6 (33:30):
Yeah, thanks, Billy, have you one?

Speaker 2 (33:32):
All right? There you go. That completes our guests for today.

Speaker 1 (33:35):
We've got one segment left, though, We'll take a break
and be right back here on the Leach Report.

Speaker 2 (33:39):
Welcome back to the Leech Report.

Speaker 1 (33:41):
In for Tom Leach today, I am Billy Rutledge and
let's raise a glass to the Cats. Club Blue, the
official NIL fundraising partner of the University of Kentucky, is
thrilled to announce a special bourbon bottle siding with La Familia,
the Kentucky alumni basketball team, at Bespoken Spirits in gray
Line Station on Thursday, July seventeenth at six pm. All
four Club Blue bourbon releases will be available to purchase

(34:04):
and the players will only be signing bottles of Club
Blue bourbon, so each purchase includes signatures from the Law
Familia team, and every bottle purchase supports UK's and IL efforts.
So don't miss your chance to meet the team and
take home a signed Club Blue collectible that is bespoken
Spirits at the Gray Line Station. Big thank you to

(34:24):
our guest today Larry Vatt and Brandon Ramsey.

Speaker 2 (34:27):
Shannon.

Speaker 1 (34:27):
The dudes making fun of me during the break. I
must have called him Brandy three or four times during
that interview. Shannon, I don't know what got into me.
It's just, you know, I combine the two names a
little bit, Brandon and Ramsey. So I do apologize to Brandon,
but I thought he had good stuff talking about being
a D three coach. But leave it to Shannon to
catch the mistakes. But some final thoughts and some UK

(34:48):
history presented by the Kentucky road Show, Sports Card and
Memorabilia in Lexington. Learn more about learn more about them
at roadshowcards dot com. We got a birthday today, Brennan
Canada spurt day today, So there you go, July Birthday
for him. A guy that will be remembered as a
walk on but you know what you wear, the blue
and white. You wear the blue and white. And so Brennan,

(35:10):
Canada is on that list again. And thank you to
Larry Vatte and Brandon Ramsey. Excited for the TVT on Friday,
even though we got the news that Jesser is going
to be dropping out in his thirty two thirty three
million followers, I think La Familia will be just fine
without his basketball ability. But again this from the Wildcat

(35:30):
News of the Day earlier today, I thought they got
a good replacement for Jester. Marquise Warwick, the all time
leading scorer at Henry Clay High School. He spent four
years at NKU in one year at Missouri, So the
guy that's a Lexington native has been around a little bit.
If you can't get all Kentucky alumni, I think this
is the next best thing. But this is a guy

(35:52):
that I'm sure will love to hear BBN call out
his name. But gotta be a pretty good player to
be the leading scorer at Henry Clay High School over
a four year period and then four years at NKU.
I mean, we can't can't fault that, right being at
an n State school. We can't fault the one year
at Missouri. Don't need to know any more about that.

Speaker 2 (36:10):
A little later.

Speaker 1 (36:11):
Today at the SEC Media Days in Atlanta, Kirby Smart
is going to be speaking to the media. Hugh Freeze
to talk about how much he's been playing golf, Josh
Hipel to talk about maybe his fans throwing golf balls
onto the field when Lane Kiffin was there in Ole,
miss And Steve Sarkisian, who is probably the luckiest man
in the world to have Arch Manning as his quarterback

(36:32):
this year, and also luckier to have Quinn Ewers enter
the NFL draft maybe before he should have. If I
was Quinn and doing it again, I'd probably would have
entered the transfer portal or maybe one more year at Texas.
But I feel like that fan base was probably ready
for him to leave and ready to move on to
Arch Manning. But again, many of the same stations. You

(36:52):
can hear the KSR pre show. Billy and the Dude
will be coming up next, where we will talk about
some of the nonsense that happened in the home run
derby last night. You know, while we're talking baseball, I
believe it was Ryan Ritter who hit his first home
run for the Colorado Rockies recently the former Kentucky product.
I went to the Cincinnati Reds game versus Colorado Rockies
the other night. The Rockies won and they are twenty

(37:13):
two and seventy on the year or something close to that.
So you know, the KSR curse took do effect a
little bit. The very next game, Ryan Ridder hits that
home run, So you know what, Kentucky Product's making us
proud in the MLB. But tonight is the MLB All
Star Game and a little later in the week I
will rejoin you on the Leach Report, but you'll have
another guest host tomorrow that'll do it for me. I'm

(37:35):
Billy Rutledge. KSR pre show is next and we will
talk to you another time. This has been the Leach Report.