July 17, 2025 • 36 mins
Billy Rutledge talks with Justin Rowland, Jack Givens, and Christi Thomas.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome in everyone.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
It's a Thursday edition of The Leach Report, presented by
Bob Bobcat Enterprises. I'm Billy Rutlids filling in for Tom
Leach once again. You can follow me on Twitter at
Billy r Sports and a tip of the cap to
Maggie Davis who did a great job filling in on
the show yesterday. We've got a great guest lineup for
you today. UK Sports Network superstars Christy Thomas and Jack
(00:23):
Gibbons will be joining us in the show, along with
Justin Roland, the new teammate at on three Sports and
the publisher for Kats Illustrated.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
We'll talk to all.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Three about little UK football in basketball today. But the
Wildcat News of the day is presented by Giuseppes of
Lexington and let's start with a little Kentucky football today
at SEC Media Days down in Atlanta, It's time for
Mark Stoops and the Kentucky guys to talk. You can
hear from Mark Stoops today in Atlanta at ten fifty
am Easter Time. It will be live streamed and on
(00:56):
SEC Network. He will be joined by Alex Safari the linebacker,
Jordan Lovett, the defensive back, and Josh kattis the tight
end the three players that will be speaking to the media.
There also today Missouri, Arkansas and Texas A and M
to wrap up the final day of SEC media Days,
and with only forty four days until Kentucky versus Toledo
(01:17):
on August thirtieth, it's starting to feel real, and it's
gonna feel even more real when we hear from Mark
Stoops today before he enters his thirteenth season at Kentucky.
Speaking of football, single game tickets for all seven of
Kentucky's home games go on sale today at nine am.
If you go to ticketmaster dot com, that's where you
can get single game tickets for all of Kentucky's games.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
One less home game this year.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I know that was a sticking point for a lot
of season ticket holders.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
This year, Sports.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Illustrated's Pat forty listed eight SEC coaches who entered the
season on the hot seat, and Mark Stoops is one
of them. He comes in at number seven on Pat
Forty's list. Stoops has gone eighteen and twenty the last
three years. He lost his primary recruiter and Vince Marrow
in the offseason. They have been last in the SEC
and scoring two of the last three years, and they
(02:06):
have a minus twenty two turnover margin in the last
four years. These things have to change. What is this
a year that they do because the schedule is tough.
We'll see how motivated Mark Soops is starting at ten
fifty am Eastern Time when we hear him talk today.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Not a lot going on in the sports world.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yesterday was officially the slowest sports day of the year,
but we did get some NBA Summer League action and
some former Cats were turning heads, including Rob Dillingham for
the Minnesota Timberwolves. In thirty one minutes, he scored twenty
three points, seven rebounds, and seven assists in an eighty
nine to eighty five win versus the Suns. How about
this guy, Chris Livingston with the Milwaukee Bucks. Maybe somebody
(02:47):
that I thought could have used another year at Kentucky
or at least in college, he decided to achieve his
dreams and go to the NBA. He played twenty seven
minutes last night and scored twenty three points as well
five rebounds, and one hundred and two and ninety six
loss versus Chicago. Two guys, I'm really rooting for Rob
Dillingham and Chris Livingston having good nights last night, and also,
(03:08):
speaking of good nights, let's just add it to the
list for Shay Gilgis Alexander NBA MVP, won the scoring title,
won the NBA Finals, got paid the max contract. My
guy is having a banner year, and Shay gil Just
Alexander was named the best Male Athlete of the Year
at the ESP's last night, which.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Was pretty good.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
I don't know if you saw Shane Gillis's monologue. You know,
I thought at times the sp was good last night, including.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
When they honored Lee Corso.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
You know he's going to be doing his final headgear pick,
I believe the first game of the season for College
Game Day, and then I think they are going to
retire that. So Lee Corso speaking last night at the
espis some of the news in July. Why not a
little bracketology? You can't get enough of it right As
a Kentucky basketball fan, I'm sure CBS Sports put out
(03:56):
their full field prediction the other day and they have
Kentucky as a two seed and number seven overall, behind Houston, Florida, Purdue.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
And Saint John's as your one seeds.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
In Michigan, yukon Kentucky and Duke as your two seeds. One,
I love to see Kentucky over Duke in this scenario.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
But two, what are we doing? I mean, it's July.
I get it.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
We're trying to get clicks, We're trying to get reasons
why people listen to the radio show. It feels like
July is a little early for bracketology. But nevertheless, expectations
are high for Kentucky basketball, and expectations are high for
the La Familia team.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
The TBT tournament.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Starts this Friday at nine pm, when the La Familia
team will play their first game. But last night, or
really yesterday, we got the news that the Law Familia
team had scrimmaged the current Kentucky team. Kentucky Basketball twitter
account posting some pictures from the guys running fives yesterday,
and boy would I have loved have been a fly
(04:54):
on the wall to see a little bit of that action.
But nevertheless, you gotta think the alumni are teaching some
valuable lessons to the guys who are on the current
Kentucky team. I know they did that last year. I'm
glad that they did it again, and I'm glad that
the TVT people have been really forthcoming with getting these
guys on media and sharing them with us, and enjoyed
(05:16):
listening to some of the guys on KSR yesterday.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
I believe they will be on as well later today.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
But the link to these stories can be found on
the bud Light Leach Report page at Tom leachky dot com.
We need to take a break and when we come back,
Christy Thomas from the UK Sports Network will join us
here on the Leach Report. The Leech Report comes to
you from the Clark's Pumpin' Shop studio. I am Billy
Rutlids filling in for Tom Leach today and joining us
(05:43):
here on our celebrity hotline is Christy Thomas. You can
follow her on Twitter at Christy uk Sports. She's the
host to the Countdown to kick Off show and she's
also the in stadium announcer during Kentucky football games. Christy,
it's great to have you on. How's your off season
been doing?
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Wild?
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 5 (06:00):
I've got a kid that plays baseball and a kid
that plays softball, so there really is no off season, right,
I mean, this is if you want to know where
I'm at I'm at a field somewhere.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Well.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Going from game to game is a fun summer. But
we are inching closer to the Kentucky football season, and
today we'll hear we will hear from Mark Stoops down
in Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
You know Christy.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
In the past, Mark has boasted his chest out, He's
talked about coaches with stupid sunglasses making TikTok videos. It's
been a different tone this year. He's talked a lot
about not wanting to make headlines. What do you think
we hear from Mark Stoops today?
Speaker 5 (06:35):
You know, I think it'll be really interesting to see.
I'm not sure I could call it and could say
I think maybe, you know, he goes back to kind
of that blue collar coach that we've always known him
to be. And you know, because this this really is
and feels very much like a rebuild in a lot
of ways, and so, you know, I think this is
(06:55):
just a good time for him to talk about how
hard they're working. You know, that they're just putting their
head down, trying to do their do their thing and
and and really trying to write this ship because you know,
he's he's had such a great career at Kentucky and
done some really great things that you know, I don't
want this to to be, you know, hit how he
(07:16):
goes out.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
You know, this is I always.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
Want to see a coach that's had success go out
on top. And so you know, this is this is
an opportunity to get this thing right again. And you know,
with a roster that doesn't necessarily have any real what
I would call high profile kind of names and that
sort of thing, this is a I think a great
opportunity to really bring this fan base in this group
together to say, listen, we're just gonna we're gonna all
(07:40):
do this together and really work hard and just have
that blue collar mentality.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Well for better or for worse.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I'm sure he'll be asked about the new quarterback, Zach
Calzada and the Transferportter quarterbacks haven't really hit over the
last few years now. Terry Wilson will leve us sure,
but Devin Leary, Brock, Vandergriff it's it's it's become a
different trend as of eight and Kentucky has recruited high
school quarterbacks and Cutter Bowley seems to be waiting in
(08:05):
the wings there.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
But I think it will help it. No matter if it.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Is Zach Galzada's first season at Kentucky, that it'll be
the second year of Bush Hampden with Mark Stoops, and
you got to think the continuity will go a long way.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Oh that's huge.
Speaker 5 (08:18):
I think that's been a big problem for this offense
in a lot of ways. And it's not just been
as with offensive coordinator. It's also been with your O line.
It's been with your wide receivers. I mean, there's just
been a ton of coaching changes and inconsistency that I
think once you can get some of those things in
place for a little while. To that end, to your
point about you know, bringing in transfers, that's there's no
(08:40):
more difficult in my opinion, no more difficult sport in
no more difficult position to be then a college quarterback
to come in as a transfer and try to have
an impact very early, you know, in a brand new
system with a brand new coach at a brand new school.
It's a brand new city for these guys.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
I mean, so you know.
Speaker 5 (08:59):
Everything about it is new, and you're trying to really
win over a locker room. All of this is so
difficult to do for a position like that. So but
I think there's no question that something like that helps
when you can finally get some consistency in there with
with your offensive coordinator position.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
It could it has to make a difference. What does
success look like for Kentucky football this year?
Speaker 5 (09:24):
Christy, Oh gosh, that's a loaded question there. You know,
I'm not I'm not sure I have an answer for
that just yet. And I think that's probably because you know, typically,
you know, I do this show with Logan Stenberg and
Jeremy Jarman, who are both former players, and we have
a chance to get over to practice and and watch.
And I think once, you know, once fall camp starts
(09:45):
and we have a chance to get over there, I
might have a better feel for what I think that means.
Because you know, I'm the eternal optimist Billy. So every
year I'm the twelve and O gal who says we're
going to.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
The se.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Only to get my dreams dashed.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
But so I do think that I will temper my
optimism a little this year, and in some very smart ways.
But that's I think that's kind of hard for me
to say at this point what.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
I think success might look like.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
You know, just just so many unknowns for this team
right now that that you know, I'm not sure if
I think that's. Hey, if we're at five hundred and
you know, you qualify yourself for a ball, then then
we're good. That feels like it might be the answer.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
So yeah, I might have to get back to you
on that.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Well, Well, you know, here's the thing.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
They could be a better team this year, but have
a worse record just by the way the schedule lines up,
and you know, oh heck yeah. Really, to me, it's
it's about winning home games. I mean, they have got
to start winning home games again and beating teams like Vandy.
I think that goes a long way to this fan
base just starting to buy in again. Christy Thomas has
been joining us here on the Leach Report, and Christy,
I'm almost out of time here with you, but I'd
(10:58):
be remissed if I didn't ask you at least one
question about the Kentucky women's basketball team. The first year
under head coach Kenny Brooks is now complete, and you
were alongside Jeff Bicorro many a times as a color
commentator on the SEC Network. Kind of overall thoughts on
the first year with Kenny Brooks.
Speaker 5 (11:15):
Well, what I think about the first year with Kenny
Brooks was that it was fun to watch women's basketball
again at Kentucky. And I think that's the biggest thing
is they were in and had a chance to win
every game, every time you showed up, every time you
turn on the TV, every time you listen to the radio,
and they had a chance to win ball games. And
that's not something we could say about Kentucky for the
(11:36):
last several years. So it was a fun brand of basketball.
I was telling everybody that if you haven't seen them play,
go it's not just about Georgia Amore. It's about much
more than that. And they were fun to watch again.
They were in these games, and I think that that's
going to be the trends you're going to see with
what Kenny Brooks will put out on the floor every
(11:59):
single year is a team that has a chance to
win every game they played.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Couldn't agree more. You don't get to go to Puerto
Rico this summer, do you?
Speaker 5 (12:08):
Why don't I?
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Why am I not going there? I don't know, I
don't know. I felt like Darren would only get the invite. Yeah,
we know a couple of people, maybe Darren, I got
to work on that.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yeah, yeah, you do. Christy Thomas has been our guest
here on the Leach Report. Follow her on Twitter at
Christy UK Sports and you can hear before every Kentucky
football game on the countdown.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
To kick off.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Looking forward to having you back in the studio, Christy,
we'll talk soon.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Can't wait.
Speaker 5 (12:32):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Thank you very much to Christy joining us here on
this Thursday.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Edition of the Leach Report. We need to take a break.
When we come back, the goose is golden. Jack Givens
will join us, hopefully not from a cruise ship like
last time we were here, but we'll be right back
here on the Leach Report.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Welcome back. It is the Leach.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Report, presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Big thank you to Christy
Thomas who joined us in the previous segment. We now
keep it rolling with another UK Sports at Work colleague.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
It is Jack.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Gibbons joining us from the former Kentucky basketball player and
also current golf coach.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Right Jack, are you still doing that?
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Well? I'm not coaching golf this year. My granddaughter who
talked me into uh and and I'm using the term
coach when it comes to golf very loosely because that
I was. I was more of just the uh, the
(13:33):
babysitter and helping them set schedules and that kind of stuff.
But yeah, I'm not doing that. She's a big time
volleyballer now, and she and those seasons run together during
the course of the season of the school year, they
run together, and she felt like she had to make
(13:54):
a choice. And although she was a really good golfer,
she's a super good volleyball player. I think I'm the
grandfather now. But she decided to stay with volleyball, So
I won't be coaching this year.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Well, well that means, well, that means more time for
you to get on the golf course and play a
little bit, Jack, So that's I think that's good news ultimately.
But speaking of summer, talk to me about summer workouts, Jack,
I mean, tell me about Jobe. You have any stories,
anything that comes to mind. The guys are going through
it right now, getting ready for the season. Is the
summer a good time to build that team chemistry?
Speaker 3 (14:31):
We hear so much about, Oh, the summer is the
best time for that, by far, the best time of
the year because although we are somewhat structured in what
we were doing during the summer. The coaches couldn't spend
a lot of time with us, which meant we players
(14:52):
spent a lot of that spare time with each other,
running around town, doing up together, eating mills, hanging out.
We did a lot of that kind of stuff together.
And and that's where that that team chemistry comes comes in.
I mean, you you you get to know each other,
(15:14):
You do a lot of laughing, a lot of crazy
stuff and uh and that's the way you grow while
you're still on the floor, uh, getting a lot of
basketball in. Uh. So the main off season for us
uh was and I think was when we lost the
(15:35):
game the final, the Grade eight game to North Carolina
that would have sent us to the final four my
junior year. We lost that game and we came together
right after that game as a team and we said,
nobody's leaving Lexington this summer. We're staying here. We're going
(15:56):
right to work, and we're getting ourselves in position to
win the championship up the next season. So it was
it was, man one of the roughest off season summers
you can imagine when it comes to basketball. I mean,
we played every day and played, not just played, but
we played hard. We didn't lift a lot of weight
(16:17):
to that kind of stuff during the summer, but we
did in the preseason workout to kind of top off
a summer of total commitment to basketball. And of course
we came back and we won the championship the next year,
but that was the huge off season summer for us,
(16:38):
and we made the most of it.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Just about a minute left before we take a break
and then we're going to hold Jack over for one
more segment after this, But get ready to run in
the summer, right, Jack, I mean the conditioning that you've
got to do. I'm sure, not only playing basketball games,
but getting in good shape. But you know, you talked
about team chemistry, and you know, to a point, I
thought last year's team had really good team chemistry. Did
you would you agree with that?
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Yeah? I was very surprised that they had as much
chemistry when you think about what Mark had to do
and bring everybody new in and give them an opportunity
to play. But yeah, they kind of connected. They were
on a mission. I think the glue that held them
together was that they every to a man, wanted to
(17:24):
prove with all the transfers proved that they should have
been at Kentucky from day one. They wanted to prove
to everybody, every day, every game that it's not a
fluke that they're here. And I think that was the
glue that kind of held them together and they kept
growing from.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
There, no doubt about it. Jack Givens our guest here
on the Leach Report. We'll talk more with him on
the other side of this break. We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
It's the Leach Report, presented by Bob Kat Enterprises with
four locations in Kentucky. When you need to rent or
buy heavy equipment or a near new zero turn mower
for your lown, go to Bobcat Enterprises.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Jack Gibbons is our guest. You're on the Leach Report.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
You hear him during every Kentucky basketball game in the season.
With Tom Leach and Jack. We were talking about summer
workouts there in the last segment and speaking of the
team this year, they have a lot of depth and
that's a good problem to have. I think many were
surprised at how long Mark Pope, you know, kept guys
in the games last year. It didn't keep him in
the game last year. And kept the depth involved. The
(18:30):
cream rises to the crop. But tell me about finding
your rotation, because some coaches like six or seven guys,
like cal Pope was playing ten to eleven guys. You know,
how do you find that rotation? In the summer usually
the time that that kind of irons itself out.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Well. And I think Mark Mark's going to continue to
to go deep into the lineup. I mean, with as
many guys as he has, He's going to have to
figure out a way to get minutes for a bunch
a bunch of guys. I mean, not only are they deep,
but he has some tremendous athletes. Man, He's got some
(19:07):
guys who can run, who are quick, can get downhill,
some guys who can defend and defend very very well.
So while the experience that he's going to have what
the transfer is coming in is very similar to what
he had last summer, this summer is going to be
(19:30):
This coming season is going to be a little different
because he has a very athletic team. So what you
like to have as a coach, what you like is
to have every guy play so hard every minute that
he's on the floor that they need to come out
(19:50):
that they stay coach, I need a break, you know.
And that's not a bad thing. I say, that's a
really good thing to have guys who work so hard
that they just max out and you need to get
them a blow. And when that happens that way, you
know you're going to get back in the game because
that's what the coach wants to see. And it was,
(20:12):
and that's what you have. It's interesting as I watched
the I watched some of the game last night yesterday,
late afternoon, started about five point fifteen. I watched a
little bit of that and I saw just that. I
saw guys who are athletic, guys who can run the floor,
(20:37):
who can defend. I saw a little bit of all
of that. Not the prettiest game, and especially for Kentucky
on offense, not the prettiest game, but I was it
was just what I expected because it was their first
time kind of going at it in a game type situation.
(20:59):
And when you go at it against veterans guys who
have more experience than they do, you're going to struggle.
Because the TBT team executed their stuff well. Sean Woods
doing a great job coaching that team, and they they
play hard all the stuff you would expect from that
(21:19):
team we saw, so it's gonna be an interesting season.
It was a kind of a good warm up last
night for the guys to get out there and very
very fun to watch.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Jack.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
One of my favorite parts of the season last year
were your postgame interviews with the guys. It seemed like
they were really responsive to the things that you were saying,
and there was a love between you and the guys.
You know, what's one lesson that you try to teach
these guys behind the scenes. You know, you get to
be a mentor to these guys in a lot of
way and they look up to you. What's something that
you try to get across to them.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Well, you know, there is a mutual respect between myself
and the players, especially when you have guys like we
had last year, guys like we have this year, who
who are experienced and they understand that there's going to
(22:17):
be life after basketball. I mean, it was interesting. I
was in Las Vegas Sunday for the Summer League games,
and of course Mark Pope had a function there where
he invited former players to come back and NBA guys,
the guys who are going through the summer League. And
(22:37):
the thing that I love the most is when a
guy like happened to me Sunday. Andrew Carr came up
to me and we must have sat and talked ten
to fifteen minutes about, Hey, man, how did you get
your job as a broadcaster? What do I need to
(22:59):
do to try to prepare and to be as good
as you are at that? And you know, that's when
you know when these guys come up to you. And
Andrew asked, he must have asked thirty questions about getting
into broadcasting and what do I need to do? How
do you get started? Because he understands that well, he
(23:24):
understands a couple of things. Number One, he's trying to
make the NBA. He'll end up playing somewhere, playing overseas,
but there's going to be life after basketball. And for
him to ask me that, to ask me as many
questions as he asked me in Las Vegas Sunday kind
of tells me that there is a respect there that
(23:48):
Andrew Carr got from a lot of the interviews I
did with him. And that is the part of it
I really love, is forming these relationships. And Butler came
up to me, man, and he gave me the biggest help.
And his mom and dad came up and they hugged
me and said thank you for all you did for Lamon.
And you know that's what you want when you're in
(24:08):
my position. You don't want guys to come up to
come up afterwards and say, man, you killed me on
this play and why did you say this? And his
parents to give you that look like, man, you know
I've been there too, But that was really really neat
for me to have Andrew come up to.
Speaker 6 (24:28):
Me, and.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
With all the other stuff that was going on in
that room we were in, with all the players and
everything else, he cornered me for ten to fifteen minutes
and wanted to do what I was doing. And that
is the thing that speaks the loudest to what my
job is.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Yeah, that's got to be fulfilling, no doubt about it,
not only working with UK again, but being able to
impact young people's lives. There's really nothing like that, is there, Jack.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
That's really not And you know, I've had guys come
up to me and they might ask, man, what do
you do other than basketball? And you know I'm wanting
to get into this. Do you know anybody who I
can talk to who might be able to help me
get into this business or take me down this path.
(25:23):
And I think that, as I say, that comes from
a mutual respect. I mean, I've done what they're doing
right now. I've been there and I've done that. I've
won a championship, and every one of them want to
win a championship. I don't care who they are and
what their personal goal is as far as getting to
(25:44):
the next level. They all want to win and to
be able to say, hey man, I'm up on that.
See that nineteen seventy eight banner over there on the wall.
I help hanging that thing, and that gives them immediate respect.
Don't have to discuss details about how I played. They
(26:05):
don't even ask if I got into a game. Uh,
all they want. All they want to know is that
we want because that's what matters to them, and you
know that gets their attention very quickly.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
But you're working in the forty one points, right, Jack.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
I mean it's you know, I helped raise that title
and then somebody scored forty one points in that game
as well.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
But you know what, we'll do the bragging for you, Jack,
You don't have to you don't have to do that.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
I had a lot better when I don't have to
bring that up somebody else bringing to them.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Yeah, yeah, well we will, don't you worry. And Jack,
thank you for the time today. I always appreciate working
with you and looking forward to talking to you soon.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Yeah, real quick. Lamont Butler. Last summer when Mark Pope
introduced me to the team and said, you know, he
did this, and he did that and all of this.
The next practice, Lamont Butler had gone online and had
chick chicked me out. Eddie Heat came up to be
and you've got forty one and the championship game. I mean,
(27:07):
it was it was really sweet. I said, yeah. He said,
but man, why didn't you tell me that? I said, well,
you don't. I don't need to tell you that kind
of stuff. But yeah, that makes it worthwhile, for sure.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
I love that Lama Butler, wishing him the best in
his next endeavors.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
And Jack, thank you for joining us about Thank you, Bill.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
All right, there you go, Jack Givens, we'll take a
break when we come back. Justin Roland will join us
here on this Thursday edition of The Leech Report.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
It is the Leech Report, presented by Bob Kat Enterprises.
I am Billy Rutledge. Follow me on Twitter at Billy
r Sports. Joining us now is Justin Roland. He is
at Roland Rivals, the publisher for Cats Illustrated in a
teammate with on three Sports.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
What's up Justin? How's your summer going?
Speaker 4 (27:50):
It's going great, Billy.
Speaker 6 (27:51):
Now, we got some real sports to talk about, so
we're getting right into it.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yeah, we're getting close. SEC media days today with Mark Stoops.
A lot of excitement building. I want to take in
a different direction for a second. Mitch Barnhardt is set
to become the NCAA's longest tenured athletic director after the
news that Oklahoma's AD was going to be stepping down soon.
You know what's kind of Mitch's legacy to you?
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Justin? You know he gets.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Blowback for checkerboards back in the day, and you know
maybe the interview he did with Cali Perry on TV
a year or so ago, But you know, this guy
has done a lot for Kentucky.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
What comes to mind when you think of Mitch.
Speaker 6 (28:27):
Well, I mean, anybody who's who's had a job as
big as his that oversees as many things as him
and has been there for as long as he has.
It's going to be a long and it's going to
be a mixed bag in some respects. But what's always
stood out to me is that a lot of the
criticism in.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
The Internet era and when every.
Speaker 6 (28:47):
It's so easy to complain, a lot of the criticism
has has been about things other than wins and losses.
And I feel like in general, he's overseen a pretty
sizable step forward for the athletics department as a whole,
and more often than not, between football and basketball, things
have been okay by Kentucky's standards or better.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
And I mean that's just overall how I feel about it.
Speaker 6 (29:13):
So he's kept him out of trouble. He's going to
have overseen renovations of pretty much everything. By the time
he's done. He's respected among his peers as probably one
of the top athletic strectors in the country. And you know,
he has his way of doing things that is going
to grate on the nerves of some people who are
just temperamentally stylistically different. And that's fine and in some
(29:37):
and in some ways those people might be right. In
some instances, but his method has worked for Kentucky.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
As a whole.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
You know, he has a couple of misses and we
all do right, Billy g and Joker, but he's got
some hits. And Mark Pope may go a long way
into what people think of him here in this last
part of you know, however many years he works. It
also feels like what he does with Mark Stoops is
a question mark right now. He's obviously a coach that
I think comes in on the hot seat. Hasn't been
doing the same production the last three years that he
(30:05):
did the first ten. You know, how many more years
is Mark Stoops at Kentucky justin?
Speaker 4 (30:11):
That's a great question.
Speaker 6 (30:12):
I mean, I would say that the most likely answer
to be right is like two probably for most I think.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
This year, next year, you.
Speaker 6 (30:24):
Think about the buyout, you think about the trajectory. I
don't know how realistic it is that if this year
went went south, unless it went very south, that that
it probably wouldn't be this year.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
But we've heard.
Speaker 6 (30:37):
Mench allude to getting it straightened out over the next
couple of years, and that would that would just be
more plausible. But that's assuming Stoops doesn't get it turned
around on the field.
Speaker 4 (30:47):
That's just kind of playing the odds.
Speaker 6 (30:49):
They're kind of up against it roster wise and portal
wise and in terms of nil what everybody else is
working with and how much they've had to replace. But
so if they if they start to get it to
earned around this year, than I would say It's hard
to say, but two years ago, some of you the
most most likely answer.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Well, we'll hear from Stoops today at SEC Media Days
at ten fifty a m.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
Easter time.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
I asked Christy Thomas early in their show, what do
you expect to hear from Mark Stoops? I want to
ask you justin what do you want to hear from
Mark Soups.
Speaker 6 (31:19):
Well, that's that's really gonna be up to him, just
because I think he's had to make a calculation with
how he handles PR during a real, like objective downswing
when nobody could say things have been going really well,
how are you going to handle PR? And I think
they pretty much laid low. I think they pretty much
realized that the only thing that matters at this point
(31:41):
is wins and losses, that winning the press conference isn't
that significant. But you know, I think you'd like to
hear the energy, You'd like to hear the motivated mark
Mark Stoops so to speak, but really a plan and
confidence in how he's going to take all these disparate
parts from the portal and put together a team according
(32:04):
to his vision. You know, this is his vision. He's
put it together. He signed off on everybody that they
brought in. What is what is his plan and why
does he believe that all of these parts put together
are going to be a step forward for the program?
I guess, I guess what are your expectations for this team?
Coaches are never going to give you a straight answer
(32:26):
on that, but I mean, what does success.
Speaker 4 (32:28):
Look like this year?
Speaker 6 (32:29):
It's six and six, seven and five against this schedule.
I mean, you could still be a you could be
a top twenty five team and go seven to seven
and five.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
Against this schedule. And I don't think most people are
going to call him a top twenty five seam this year.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
So yeah, could have a better team this year and
a worse record than last. So I mean, it's it's
it's a it's interesting situation that they find themselves in.
But nevertheless, we will hear from Stoops later today, and
I think there's a segment of the fan base that
is I need to see it before I believe it again,
And with season ticket prices rise and less home games available.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
In the downturn over the last few years, there is
a lull.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Like you said, but you know Stoops has been here
for thirteen years for a reason, right, He's risen the
standard and now he's a victim of his own success.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
It feels like, yeah, yep, that's right.
Speaker 6 (33:17):
So I mean they're gonna have a chance to get
everybody to buy back in with those two early SEC
games against Ole Miss in South Carolina.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
And yeah, it is a brutal.
Speaker 6 (33:26):
Schedule, it's a top ten schedule, but there are still
opportunities to do things to generate enthusiasm and buy in,
like Ole Miss Tennessee.
Speaker 4 (33:39):
I'm trying to think, who else would you put in a message?
Speaker 6 (33:41):
Old Miss and Tennessee are teams that don't have as
much hype as they've had the last couple of years.
South Carolina and Florida. A lot is riding on a
quarterback that did something last year and some momentum that
was generated. But it's hard to tell one year to
the next. You go down the list. There aren't that
many unwinnable games on paper on the schedule, but it
(34:03):
is a very challenging schedule just looking for reasons for
optimism because because on paper, they're going to be picked
fourteen fifteen sixteen by pretty much anybody.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Just about sixty seconds left here with Justin Rowland of
Cats illustrated at Roland Rivals on Twitter and and Justin
I don't know why I'm giving this guy any credence,
but Paul Finbaum said that Arch Manning is going to
be a better quarterback than Tim Tebow. What do you
think we think or what do you think we see
from Arch not only this year but in his college career.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
I mean, I don't know how you say that.
Speaker 6 (34:33):
I mean, I'm probably not as I'm probably not as
I'm probably not as hot quite as high on Tebow
as most other people as a college quarterback. But we're
talking about like an elite class of quarterback and you're
splitting hair like that's that's that's a very high expectation.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
I mean, just game for game, season per season.
Speaker 6 (34:54):
Tebow's production and success at the college level were just
through the roofs.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
But he's a MA It's it's the last name, right.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
I mean, the media buzz at SEC Media Days when
he walked in was crazy, and I just it's going
to be a circus with him over the next year
or so.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
It's gonna be a circus and they're going to be successful.
Speaker 6 (35:12):
I mean, I don't I don't know whether it's going
to be national championship success or get to the playoff
and lose success.
Speaker 4 (35:18):
But he's set up to.
Speaker 6 (35:19):
Win big and I think I think it's kind of
coming to a head for him with him as the
starter at a time when Texas is it feels like
they're about to win a national title. Just the momentum
that Sark has has generated and you see Day get
over the hump and it seems like Sark is right
there on the crest of it. And we'll see if
if Arch can do it. But he's got all the
(35:40):
tools and he's got the pieces around them.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
Catch Justin's work at on three and the Cats illustrated.
Thank you for your time, Justin, and looking forward to
when we can talk again.
Speaker 4 (35:49):
Thanks Lobbily.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
All right, one segment remains. We'll be right back here
on the Leach Report. Welcome back to the Leader Report.
Presented by Bob Kat Enterprise. This big thank you to Christy,
Thomas Givens and Justin Roland who joined us on the
show today. Before we end things, let's raise a glass
to the Cats. Club Blue, the official NIL fundraising partner.
The University of Kentucky is thrilled to announce a special
(36:11):
bourbon bottle signing with La Familia, the Kentucky alumni basketball team,
at Bespoken Spirits in Gray Line Station today Thursday, July seventeenth,
at six pm. All four Club Club Blue Bourbon releases
will be available for purchase.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
The players will only be signing bottles of.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Club Blue Bourbon, so each purchase includes signatures from the
Law Familia team and every purchase supports UK's and IL efforts.
Don't miss your chance to meet the team and take
home a sign Club Blue collectible that is Bespoken Spirits.
That's gonna do it for us. Big thank you to
Tom for letting me fill in. There's a fun show
planned tomorrow. Stay tuned for that coming up next on
(36:48):
many of these same stations as the ksrpre show.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
I'm Billy Rutledge and this has been the Leach Report.
Welcome in everyone.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
It's a Thursday edition of The Leach Report, presented by
Bob Bobcat Enterprises. I'm Billy Rutlids filling in for Tom
Leach once again. You can follow me on Twitter at
Billy r Sports and a tip of the cap to
Maggie Davis who did a great job filling in on
the show yesterday. We've got a great guest lineup for
you today. UK Sports Network superstars Christy Thomas and Jack
(00:23):
Gibbons will be joining us in the show, along with
Justin Roland, the new teammate at on three Sports and
the publisher for Kats Illustrated.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
We'll talk to all.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Three about little UK football in basketball today. But the
Wildcat News of the day is presented by Giuseppes of
Lexington and let's start with a little Kentucky football today
at SEC Media Days down in Atlanta, It's time for
Mark Stoops and the Kentucky guys to talk. You can
hear from Mark Stoops today in Atlanta at ten fifty
am Easter Time. It will be live streamed and on
(00:56):
SEC Network. He will be joined by Alex Safari the linebacker,
Jordan Lovett, the defensive back, and Josh kattis the tight
end the three players that will be speaking to the media.
There also today Missouri, Arkansas and Texas A and M
to wrap up the final day of SEC media Days,
and with only forty four days until Kentucky versus Toledo
(01:17):
on August thirtieth, it's starting to feel real, and it's
gonna feel even more real when we hear from Mark
Stoops today before he enters his thirteenth season at Kentucky.
Speaking of football, single game tickets for all seven of
Kentucky's home games go on sale today at nine am.
If you go to ticketmaster dot com, that's where you
can get single game tickets for all of Kentucky's games.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
One less home game this year.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
I know that was a sticking point for a lot
of season ticket holders.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
This year, Sports.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
Illustrated's Pat forty listed eight SEC coaches who entered the
season on the hot seat, and Mark Stoops is one
of them. He comes in at number seven on Pat
Forty's list. Stoops has gone eighteen and twenty the last
three years. He lost his primary recruiter and Vince Marrow
in the offseason. They have been last in the SEC
and scoring two of the last three years, and they
(02:06):
have a minus twenty two turnover margin in the last
four years. These things have to change. What is this
a year that they do because the schedule is tough.
We'll see how motivated Mark Soops is starting at ten
fifty am Eastern Time when we hear him talk today.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
Not a lot going on in the sports world.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yesterday was officially the slowest sports day of the year,
but we did get some NBA Summer League action and
some former Cats were turning heads, including Rob Dillingham for
the Minnesota Timberwolves. In thirty one minutes, he scored twenty
three points, seven rebounds, and seven assists in an eighty
nine to eighty five win versus the Suns. How about
this guy, Chris Livingston with the Milwaukee Bucks. Maybe somebody
(02:47):
that I thought could have used another year at Kentucky
or at least in college, he decided to achieve his
dreams and go to the NBA. He played twenty seven
minutes last night and scored twenty three points as well
five rebounds, and one hundred and two and ninety six
loss versus Chicago. Two guys, I'm really rooting for Rob
Dillingham and Chris Livingston having good nights last night, and also,
(03:08):
speaking of good nights, let's just add it to the
list for Shay Gilgis Alexander NBA MVP, won the scoring title,
won the NBA Finals, got paid the max contract. My
guy is having a banner year, and Shay gil Just
Alexander was named the best Male Athlete of the Year
at the ESP's last night, which.
Speaker 1 (03:26):
Was pretty good.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
I don't know if you saw Shane Gillis's monologue. You know,
I thought at times the sp was good last night, including.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
When they honored Lee Corso.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
You know he's going to be doing his final headgear pick,
I believe the first game of the season for College
Game Day, and then I think they are going to
retire that. So Lee Corso speaking last night at the
espis some of the news in July. Why not a
little bracketology? You can't get enough of it right As
a Kentucky basketball fan, I'm sure CBS Sports put out
(03:56):
their full field prediction the other day and they have
Kentucky as a two seed and number seven overall, behind Houston, Florida, Purdue.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
And Saint John's as your one seeds.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
In Michigan, yukon Kentucky and Duke as your two seeds. One,
I love to see Kentucky over Duke in this scenario.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
But two, what are we doing? I mean, it's July.
I get it.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
We're trying to get clicks, We're trying to get reasons
why people listen to the radio show. It feels like
July is a little early for bracketology. But nevertheless, expectations
are high for Kentucky basketball, and expectations are high for
the La Familia team.
Speaker 1 (04:32):
The TBT tournament.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Starts this Friday at nine pm, when the La Familia
team will play their first game. But last night, or
really yesterday, we got the news that the Law Familia
team had scrimmaged the current Kentucky team. Kentucky Basketball twitter
account posting some pictures from the guys running fives yesterday,
and boy would I have loved have been a fly
(04:54):
on the wall to see a little bit of that action.
But nevertheless, you gotta think the alumni are teaching some
valuable lessons to the guys who are on the current
Kentucky team. I know they did that last year. I'm
glad that they did it again, and I'm glad that
the TVT people have been really forthcoming with getting these
guys on media and sharing them with us, and enjoyed
(05:16):
listening to some of the guys on KSR yesterday.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
I believe they will be on as well later today.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
But the link to these stories can be found on
the bud Light Leach Report page at Tom leachky dot com.
We need to take a break and when we come back,
Christy Thomas from the UK Sports Network will join us
here on the Leach Report. The Leech Report comes to
you from the Clark's Pumpin' Shop studio. I am Billy
Rutlids filling in for Tom Leach today and joining us
(05:43):
here on our celebrity hotline is Christy Thomas. You can
follow her on Twitter at Christy uk Sports. She's the
host to the Countdown to kick Off show and she's
also the in stadium announcer during Kentucky football games. Christy,
it's great to have you on. How's your off season
been doing?
Speaker 3 (05:59):
Wild?
Speaker 4 (05:59):
Are you kidding me?
Speaker 5 (06:00):
I've got a kid that plays baseball and a kid
that plays softball, so there really is no off season, right,
I mean, this is if you want to know where
I'm at I'm at a field somewhere.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Well.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Going from game to game is a fun summer. But
we are inching closer to the Kentucky football season, and
today we'll hear we will hear from Mark Stoops down
in Atlanta.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
You know Christy.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
In the past, Mark has boasted his chest out, He's
talked about coaches with stupid sunglasses making TikTok videos. It's
been a different tone this year. He's talked a lot
about not wanting to make headlines. What do you think
we hear from Mark Stoops today?
Speaker 5 (06:35):
You know, I think it'll be really interesting to see.
I'm not sure I could call it and could say
I think maybe, you know, he goes back to kind
of that blue collar coach that we've always known him
to be. And you know, because this this really is
and feels very much like a rebuild in a lot
of ways, and so, you know, I think this is
(06:55):
just a good time for him to talk about how
hard they're working. You know, that they're just putting their
head down, trying to do their do their thing and
and and really trying to write this ship because you know,
he's he's had such a great career at Kentucky and
done some really great things that you know, I don't
want this to to be, you know, hit how he
(07:16):
goes out.
Speaker 4 (07:16):
You know, this is I always.
Speaker 5 (07:18):
Want to see a coach that's had success go out
on top. And so you know, this is this is
an opportunity to get this thing right again. And you know,
with a roster that doesn't necessarily have any real what
I would call high profile kind of names and that
sort of thing, this is a I think a great
opportunity to really bring this fan base in this group
together to say, listen, we're just gonna we're gonna all
(07:40):
do this together and really work hard and just have
that blue collar mentality.
Speaker 1 (07:43):
Well for better or for worse.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I'm sure he'll be asked about the new quarterback, Zach
Calzada and the Transferportter quarterbacks haven't really hit over the
last few years now. Terry Wilson will leve us sure,
but Devin Leary, Brock, Vandergriff it's it's it's become a
different trend as of eight and Kentucky has recruited high
school quarterbacks and Cutter Bowley seems to be waiting in
(08:05):
the wings there.
Speaker 1 (08:06):
But I think it will help it. No matter if it.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
Is Zach Galzada's first season at Kentucky, that it'll be
the second year of Bush Hampden with Mark Stoops, and
you got to think the continuity will go a long way.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Oh that's huge.
Speaker 5 (08:18):
I think that's been a big problem for this offense
in a lot of ways. And it's not just been
as with offensive coordinator. It's also been with your O line.
It's been with your wide receivers. I mean, there's just
been a ton of coaching changes and inconsistency that I
think once you can get some of those things in
place for a little while. To that end, to your
point about you know, bringing in transfers, that's there's no
(08:40):
more difficult in my opinion, no more difficult sport in
no more difficult position to be then a college quarterback
to come in as a transfer and try to have
an impact very early, you know, in a brand new
system with a brand new coach at a brand new school.
It's a brand new city for these guys.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
I mean, so you know.
Speaker 5 (08:59):
Everything about it is new, and you're trying to really
win over a locker room. All of this is so
difficult to do for a position like that. So but
I think there's no question that something like that helps
when you can finally get some consistency in there with
with your offensive coordinator position.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
It could it has to make a difference. What does
success look like for Kentucky football this year?
Speaker 5 (09:24):
Christy, Oh gosh, that's a loaded question there. You know,
I'm not I'm not sure I have an answer for
that just yet. And I think that's probably because you know, typically,
you know, I do this show with Logan Stenberg and
Jeremy Jarman, who are both former players, and we have
a chance to get over to practice and and watch.
And I think once, you know, once fall camp starts
(09:45):
and we have a chance to get over there, I
might have a better feel for what I think that means.
Because you know, I'm the eternal optimist Billy. So every
year I'm the twelve and O gal who says we're
going to.
Speaker 4 (09:59):
The se.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Only to get my dreams dashed.
Speaker 5 (10:03):
But so I do think that I will temper my
optimism a little this year, and in some very smart ways.
But that's I think that's kind of hard for me
to say at this point what.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
I think success might look like.
Speaker 5 (10:19):
You know, just just so many unknowns for this team
right now that that you know, I'm not sure if
I think that's. Hey, if we're at five hundred and
you know, you qualify yourself for a ball, then then
we're good. That feels like it might be the answer.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
So yeah, I might have to get back to you
on that.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Well, Well, you know, here's the thing.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
They could be a better team this year, but have
a worse record just by the way the schedule lines up,
and you know, oh heck yeah. Really, to me, it's
it's about winning home games. I mean, they have got
to start winning home games again and beating teams like Vandy.
I think that goes a long way to this fan
base just starting to buy in again. Christy Thomas has
been joining us here on the Leach Report, and Christy,
I'm almost out of time here with you, but I'd
(10:58):
be remissed if I didn't ask you at least one
question about the Kentucky women's basketball team. The first year
under head coach Kenny Brooks is now complete, and you
were alongside Jeff Bicorro many a times as a color
commentator on the SEC Network. Kind of overall thoughts on
the first year with Kenny Brooks.
Speaker 5 (11:15):
Well, what I think about the first year with Kenny
Brooks was that it was fun to watch women's basketball
again at Kentucky. And I think that's the biggest thing
is they were in and had a chance to win
every game, every time you showed up, every time you
turn on the TV, every time you listen to the radio,
and they had a chance to win ball games. And
that's not something we could say about Kentucky for the
(11:36):
last several years. So it was a fun brand of basketball.
I was telling everybody that if you haven't seen them play,
go it's not just about Georgia Amore. It's about much
more than that. And they were fun to watch again.
They were in these games, and I think that that's
going to be the trends you're going to see with
what Kenny Brooks will put out on the floor every
(11:59):
single year is a team that has a chance to
win every game they played.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
Couldn't agree more. You don't get to go to Puerto
Rico this summer, do you?
Speaker 5 (12:08):
Why don't I?
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Why am I not going there? I don't know, I
don't know. I felt like Darren would only get the invite. Yeah,
we know a couple of people, maybe Darren, I got
to work on that.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
Yeah, yeah, you do. Christy Thomas has been our guest
here on the Leach Report. Follow her on Twitter at
Christy UK Sports and you can hear before every Kentucky
football game on the countdown.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
To kick off.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Looking forward to having you back in the studio, Christy,
we'll talk soon.
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Can't wait.
Speaker 5 (12:32):
Thanks for having me.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
Thank you very much to Christy joining us here on
this Thursday.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
Edition of the Leach Report. We need to take a break.
When we come back, the goose is golden. Jack Givens
will join us, hopefully not from a cruise ship like
last time we were here, but we'll be right back
here on the Leach Report.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Welcome back. It is the Leach.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Report, presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Big thank you to Christy
Thomas who joined us in the previous segment. We now
keep it rolling with another UK Sports at Work colleague.
Speaker 1 (13:01):
It is Jack.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
Gibbons joining us from the former Kentucky basketball player and
also current golf coach.
Speaker 1 (13:08):
Right Jack, are you still doing that?
Speaker 3 (13:10):
Well? I'm not coaching golf this year. My granddaughter who
talked me into uh and and I'm using the term
coach when it comes to golf very loosely because that
I was. I was more of just the uh, the
(13:33):
babysitter and helping them set schedules and that kind of stuff.
But yeah, I'm not doing that. She's a big time
volleyballer now, and she and those seasons run together during
the course of the season of the school year, they
run together, and she felt like she had to make
(13:54):
a choice. And although she was a really good golfer,
she's a super good volleyball player. I think I'm the
grandfather now. But she decided to stay with volleyball, So
I won't be coaching this year.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Well, well that means, well, that means more time for
you to get on the golf course and play a
little bit, Jack, So that's I think that's good news ultimately.
But speaking of summer, talk to me about summer workouts, Jack,
I mean, tell me about Jobe. You have any stories,
anything that comes to mind. The guys are going through
it right now, getting ready for the season. Is the
summer a good time to build that team chemistry?
Speaker 3 (14:31):
We hear so much about, Oh, the summer is the
best time for that, by far, the best time of
the year because although we are somewhat structured in what
we were doing during the summer. The coaches couldn't spend
a lot of time with us, which meant we players
(14:52):
spent a lot of that spare time with each other,
running around town, doing up together, eating mills, hanging out.
We did a lot of that kind of stuff together.
And and that's where that that team chemistry comes comes in.
I mean, you you you get to know each other,
(15:14):
You do a lot of laughing, a lot of crazy
stuff and uh and that's the way you grow while
you're still on the floor, uh, getting a lot of
basketball in. Uh. So the main off season for us
uh was and I think was when we lost the
(15:35):
game the final, the Grade eight game to North Carolina
that would have sent us to the final four my
junior year. We lost that game and we came together
right after that game as a team and we said,
nobody's leaving Lexington this summer. We're staying here. We're going
(15:56):
right to work, and we're getting ourselves in position to
win the championship up the next season. So it was
it was, man one of the roughest off season summers
you can imagine when it comes to basketball. I mean,
we played every day and played, not just played, but
we played hard. We didn't lift a lot of weight
(16:17):
to that kind of stuff during the summer, but we
did in the preseason workout to kind of top off
a summer of total commitment to basketball. And of course
we came back and we won the championship the next year,
but that was the huge off season summer for us,
(16:38):
and we made the most of it.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Just about a minute left before we take a break
and then we're going to hold Jack over for one
more segment after this, But get ready to run in
the summer, right, Jack, I mean the conditioning that you've
got to do. I'm sure, not only playing basketball games,
but getting in good shape. But you know, you talked
about team chemistry, and you know, to a point, I
thought last year's team had really good team chemistry. Did
you would you agree with that?
Speaker 3 (17:01):
Yeah? I was very surprised that they had as much
chemistry when you think about what Mark had to do
and bring everybody new in and give them an opportunity
to play. But yeah, they kind of connected. They were
on a mission. I think the glue that held them
together was that they every to a man, wanted to
(17:24):
prove with all the transfers proved that they should have
been at Kentucky from day one. They wanted to prove
to everybody, every day, every game that it's not a
fluke that they're here. And I think that was the
glue that kind of held them together and they kept
growing from.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
There, no doubt about it. Jack Givens our guest here
on the Leach Report. We'll talk more with him on
the other side of this break. We'll be right back.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
It's the Leach Report, presented by Bob Kat Enterprises with
four locations in Kentucky. When you need to rent or
buy heavy equipment or a near new zero turn mower
for your lown, go to Bobcat Enterprises.
Speaker 1 (18:04):
Jack Gibbons is our guest. You're on the Leach Report.
Speaker 2 (18:06):
You hear him during every Kentucky basketball game in the season.
With Tom Leach and Jack. We were talking about summer
workouts there in the last segment and speaking of the
team this year, they have a lot of depth and
that's a good problem to have. I think many were
surprised at how long Mark Pope, you know, kept guys
in the games last year. It didn't keep him in
the game last year. And kept the depth involved. The
(18:30):
cream rises to the crop. But tell me about finding
your rotation, because some coaches like six or seven guys,
like cal Pope was playing ten to eleven guys. You know,
how do you find that rotation? In the summer usually
the time that that kind of irons itself out.
Speaker 3 (18:46):
Well. And I think Mark Mark's going to continue to
to go deep into the lineup. I mean, with as
many guys as he has, He's going to have to
figure out a way to get minutes for a bunch
a bunch of guys. I mean, not only are they deep,
but he has some tremendous athletes. Man, He's got some
(19:07):
guys who can run, who are quick, can get downhill,
some guys who can defend and defend very very well.
So while the experience that he's going to have what
the transfer is coming in is very similar to what
he had last summer, this summer is going to be
(19:30):
This coming season is going to be a little different
because he has a very athletic team. So what you
like to have as a coach, what you like is
to have every guy play so hard every minute that
he's on the floor that they need to come out
(19:50):
that they stay coach, I need a break, you know.
And that's not a bad thing. I say, that's a
really good thing to have guys who work so hard
that they just max out and you need to get
them a blow. And when that happens that way, you
know you're going to get back in the game because
that's what the coach wants to see. And it was,
(20:12):
and that's what you have. It's interesting as I watched
the I watched some of the game last night yesterday,
late afternoon, started about five point fifteen. I watched a
little bit of that and I saw just that. I
saw guys who are athletic, guys who can run the floor,
(20:37):
who can defend. I saw a little bit of all
of that. Not the prettiest game, and especially for Kentucky
on offense, not the prettiest game, but I was it
was just what I expected because it was their first
time kind of going at it in a game type situation.
(20:59):
And when you go at it against veterans guys who
have more experience than they do, you're going to struggle.
Because the TBT team executed their stuff well. Sean Woods
doing a great job coaching that team, and they they
play hard all the stuff you would expect from that
(21:19):
team we saw, so it's gonna be an interesting season.
It was a kind of a good warm up last
night for the guys to get out there and very
very fun to watch.
Speaker 1 (21:32):
Jack.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
One of my favorite parts of the season last year
were your postgame interviews with the guys. It seemed like
they were really responsive to the things that you were saying,
and there was a love between you and the guys.
You know, what's one lesson that you try to teach
these guys behind the scenes. You know, you get to
be a mentor to these guys in a lot of
way and they look up to you. What's something that
you try to get across to them.
Speaker 3 (21:55):
Well, you know, there is a mutual respect between myself
and the players, especially when you have guys like we
had last year, guys like we have this year, who
who are experienced and they understand that there's going to
(22:17):
be life after basketball. I mean, it was interesting. I
was in Las Vegas Sunday for the Summer League games,
and of course Mark Pope had a function there where
he invited former players to come back and NBA guys,
the guys who are going through the summer League. And
(22:37):
the thing that I love the most is when a
guy like happened to me Sunday. Andrew Carr came up
to me and we must have sat and talked ten
to fifteen minutes about, Hey, man, how did you get
your job as a broadcaster? What do I need to
(22:59):
do to try to prepare and to be as good
as you are at that? And you know, that's when
you know when these guys come up to you. And
Andrew asked, he must have asked thirty questions about getting
into broadcasting and what do I need to do? How
do you get started? Because he understands that well, he
(23:24):
understands a couple of things. Number One, he's trying to
make the NBA. He'll end up playing somewhere, playing overseas,
but there's going to be life after basketball. And for
him to ask me that, to ask me as many
questions as he asked me in Las Vegas Sunday kind
of tells me that there is a respect there that
(23:48):
Andrew Carr got from a lot of the interviews I
did with him. And that is the part of it
I really love, is forming these relationships. And Butler came
up to me, man, and he gave me the biggest help.
And his mom and dad came up and they hugged
me and said thank you for all you did for Lamon.
And you know that's what you want when you're in
(24:08):
my position. You don't want guys to come up to
come up afterwards and say, man, you killed me on
this play and why did you say this? And his
parents to give you that look like, man, you know
I've been there too, But that was really really neat
for me to have Andrew come up to.
Speaker 6 (24:28):
Me, and.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
With all the other stuff that was going on in
that room we were in, with all the players and
everything else, he cornered me for ten to fifteen minutes
and wanted to do what I was doing. And that
is the thing that speaks the loudest to what my
job is.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
Yeah, that's got to be fulfilling, no doubt about it,
not only working with UK again, but being able to
impact young people's lives. There's really nothing like that, is there, Jack.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
That's really not And you know, I've had guys come
up to me and they might ask, man, what do
you do other than basketball? And you know I'm wanting
to get into this. Do you know anybody who I
can talk to who might be able to help me
get into this business or take me down this path.
(25:23):
And I think that, as I say, that comes from
a mutual respect. I mean, I've done what they're doing
right now. I've been there and I've done that. I've
won a championship, and every one of them want to
win a championship. I don't care who they are and
what their personal goal is as far as getting to
(25:44):
the next level. They all want to win and to
be able to say, hey man, I'm up on that.
See that nineteen seventy eight banner over there on the wall.
I help hanging that thing, and that gives them immediate respect.
Don't have to discuss details about how I played. They
(26:05):
don't even ask if I got into a game. Uh,
all they want. All they want to know is that
we want because that's what matters to them, and you
know that gets their attention very quickly.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
But you're working in the forty one points, right, Jack.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
I mean it's you know, I helped raise that title
and then somebody scored forty one points in that game
as well.
Speaker 1 (26:26):
But you know what, we'll do the bragging for you, Jack,
You don't have to you don't have to do that.
Speaker 3 (26:32):
I had a lot better when I don't have to
bring that up somebody else bringing to them.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
Yeah, yeah, well we will, don't you worry. And Jack,
thank you for the time today. I always appreciate working
with you and looking forward to talking to you soon.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
Yeah, real quick. Lamont Butler. Last summer when Mark Pope
introduced me to the team and said, you know, he
did this, and he did that and all of this.
The next practice, Lamont Butler had gone online and had
chick chicked me out. Eddie Heat came up to be
and you've got forty one and the championship game. I mean,
(27:07):
it was it was really sweet. I said, yeah. He said,
but man, why didn't you tell me that? I said, well,
you don't. I don't need to tell you that kind
of stuff. But yeah, that makes it worthwhile, for sure.
Speaker 1 (27:18):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (27:18):
I love that Lama Butler, wishing him the best in
his next endeavors.
Speaker 1 (27:22):
And Jack, thank you for joining us about Thank you, Bill.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
All right, there you go, Jack Givens, we'll take a
break when we come back. Justin Roland will join us
here on this Thursday edition of The Leech Report.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
Welcome back.
Speaker 2 (27:33):
It is the Leech Report, presented by Bob Kat Enterprises.
I am Billy Rutledge. Follow me on Twitter at Billy
r Sports. Joining us now is Justin Roland. He is
at Roland Rivals, the publisher for Cats Illustrated in a
teammate with on three Sports.
Speaker 1 (27:47):
What's up Justin? How's your summer going?
Speaker 4 (27:50):
It's going great, Billy.
Speaker 6 (27:51):
Now, we got some real sports to talk about, so
we're getting right into it.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
Yeah, we're getting close. SEC media days today with Mark Stoops.
A lot of excitement building. I want to take in
a different direction for a second. Mitch Barnhardt is set
to become the NCAA's longest tenured athletic director after the
news that Oklahoma's AD was going to be stepping down soon.
You know what's kind of Mitch's legacy to you?
Speaker 1 (28:13):
Justin? You know he gets.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Blowback for checkerboards back in the day, and you know
maybe the interview he did with Cali Perry on TV
a year or so ago, But you know, this guy
has done a lot for Kentucky.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
What comes to mind when you think of Mitch.
Speaker 6 (28:27):
Well, I mean, anybody who's who's had a job as
big as his that oversees as many things as him
and has been there for as long as he has.
It's going to be a long and it's going to
be a mixed bag in some respects. But what's always
stood out to me is that a lot of the
criticism in.
Speaker 4 (28:44):
The Internet era and when every.
Speaker 6 (28:47):
It's so easy to complain, a lot of the criticism
has has been about things other than wins and losses.
And I feel like in general, he's overseen a pretty
sizable step forward for the athletics department as a whole,
and more often than not, between football and basketball, things
have been okay by Kentucky's standards or better.
Speaker 4 (29:10):
And I mean that's just overall how I feel about it.
Speaker 6 (29:13):
So he's kept him out of trouble. He's going to
have overseen renovations of pretty much everything. By the time
he's done. He's respected among his peers as probably one
of the top athletic strectors in the country. And you know,
he has his way of doing things that is going
to grate on the nerves of some people who are
just temperamentally stylistically different. And that's fine and in some
(29:37):
and in some ways those people might be right. In
some instances, but his method has worked for Kentucky.
Speaker 4 (29:43):
As a whole.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
You know, he has a couple of misses and we
all do right, Billy g and Joker, but he's got
some hits. And Mark Pope may go a long way
into what people think of him here in this last
part of you know, however many years he works. It
also feels like what he does with Mark Stoops is
a question mark right now. He's obviously a coach that
I think comes in on the hot seat. Hasn't been
doing the same production the last three years that he
(30:05):
did the first ten. You know, how many more years
is Mark Stoops at Kentucky justin?
Speaker 4 (30:11):
That's a great question.
Speaker 6 (30:12):
I mean, I would say that the most likely answer
to be right is like two probably for most I think.
Speaker 4 (30:23):
This year, next year, you.
Speaker 6 (30:24):
Think about the buyout, you think about the trajectory. I
don't know how realistic it is that if this year
went went south, unless it went very south, that that
it probably wouldn't be this year.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
But we've heard.
Speaker 6 (30:37):
Mench allude to getting it straightened out over the next
couple of years, and that would that would just be
more plausible. But that's assuming Stoops doesn't get it turned
around on the field.
Speaker 4 (30:47):
That's just kind of playing the odds.
Speaker 6 (30:49):
They're kind of up against it roster wise and portal
wise and in terms of nil what everybody else is
working with and how much they've had to replace. But
so if they if they start to get it to
earned around this year, than I would say It's hard
to say, but two years ago, some of you the
most most likely answer.
Speaker 2 (31:05):
Well, we'll hear from Stoops today at SEC Media Days
at ten fifty a m.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
Easter time.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
I asked Christy Thomas early in their show, what do
you expect to hear from Mark Stoops? I want to
ask you justin what do you want to hear from
Mark Soups.
Speaker 6 (31:19):
Well, that's that's really gonna be up to him, just
because I think he's had to make a calculation with
how he handles PR during a real, like objective downswing
when nobody could say things have been going really well,
how are you going to handle PR? And I think
they pretty much laid low. I think they pretty much
realized that the only thing that matters at this point
(31:41):
is wins and losses, that winning the press conference isn't
that significant. But you know, I think you'd like to
hear the energy, You'd like to hear the motivated mark
Mark Stoops so to speak, but really a plan and
confidence in how he's going to take all these disparate
parts from the portal and put together a team according
(32:04):
to his vision. You know, this is his vision. He's
put it together. He signed off on everybody that they
brought in. What is what is his plan and why
does he believe that all of these parts put together
are going to be a step forward for the program?
I guess, I guess what are your expectations for this team?
Coaches are never going to give you a straight answer
(32:26):
on that, but I mean, what does success.
Speaker 4 (32:28):
Look like this year?
Speaker 6 (32:29):
It's six and six, seven and five against this schedule.
I mean, you could still be a you could be
a top twenty five team and go seven to seven
and five.
Speaker 4 (32:37):
Against this schedule. And I don't think most people are
going to call him a top twenty five seam this year.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
So yeah, could have a better team this year and
a worse record than last. So I mean, it's it's
it's a it's interesting situation that they find themselves in.
But nevertheless, we will hear from Stoops later today, and
I think there's a segment of the fan base that
is I need to see it before I believe it again,
And with season ticket prices rise and less home games available.
Speaker 1 (33:02):
In the downturn over the last few years, there is
a lull.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
Like you said, but you know Stoops has been here
for thirteen years for a reason, right, He's risen the
standard and now he's a victim of his own success.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
It feels like, yeah, yep, that's right.
Speaker 6 (33:17):
So I mean they're gonna have a chance to get
everybody to buy back in with those two early SEC
games against Ole Miss in South Carolina.
Speaker 4 (33:25):
And yeah, it is a brutal.
Speaker 6 (33:26):
Schedule, it's a top ten schedule, but there are still
opportunities to do things to generate enthusiasm and buy in,
like Ole Miss Tennessee.
Speaker 4 (33:39):
I'm trying to think, who else would you put in a message?
Speaker 6 (33:41):
Old Miss and Tennessee are teams that don't have as
much hype as they've had the last couple of years.
South Carolina and Florida. A lot is riding on a
quarterback that did something last year and some momentum that
was generated. But it's hard to tell one year to
the next. You go down the list. There aren't that
many unwinnable games on paper on the schedule, but it
(34:03):
is a very challenging schedule just looking for reasons for
optimism because because on paper, they're going to be picked
fourteen fifteen sixteen by pretty much anybody.
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Just about sixty seconds left here with Justin Rowland of
Cats illustrated at Roland Rivals on Twitter and and Justin
I don't know why I'm giving this guy any credence,
but Paul Finbaum said that Arch Manning is going to
be a better quarterback than Tim Tebow. What do you
think we think or what do you think we see
from Arch not only this year but in his college career.
Speaker 4 (34:31):
I mean, I don't know how you say that.
Speaker 6 (34:33):
I mean, I'm probably not as I'm probably not as
I'm probably not as hot quite as high on Tebow
as most other people as a college quarterback. But we're
talking about like an elite class of quarterback and you're
splitting hair like that's that's that's a very high expectation.
Speaker 4 (34:51):
I mean, just game for game, season per season.
Speaker 6 (34:54):
Tebow's production and success at the college level were just
through the roofs.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
But he's a MA It's it's the last name, right.
Speaker 2 (35:02):
I mean, the media buzz at SEC Media Days when
he walked in was crazy, and I just it's going
to be a circus with him over the next year
or so.
Speaker 4 (35:10):
It's gonna be a circus and they're going to be successful.
Speaker 6 (35:12):
I mean, I don't I don't know whether it's going
to be national championship success or get to the playoff
and lose success.
Speaker 4 (35:18):
But he's set up to.
Speaker 6 (35:19):
Win big and I think I think it's kind of
coming to a head for him with him as the
starter at a time when Texas is it feels like
they're about to win a national title. Just the momentum
that Sark has has generated and you see Day get
over the hump and it seems like Sark is right
there on the crest of it. And we'll see if
if Arch can do it. But he's got all the
(35:40):
tools and he's got the pieces around them.
Speaker 2 (35:42):
Catch Justin's work at on three and the Cats illustrated.
Thank you for your time, Justin, and looking forward to
when we can talk again.
Speaker 4 (35:49):
Thanks Lobbily.
Speaker 2 (35:50):
All right, one segment remains. We'll be right back here
on the Leach Report. Welcome back to the Leader Report.
Presented by Bob Kat Enterprise. This big thank you to Christy,
Thomas Givens and Justin Roland who joined us on the
show today. Before we end things, let's raise a glass
to the Cats. Club Blue, the official NIL fundraising partner.
The University of Kentucky is thrilled to announce a special
(36:11):
bourbon bottle signing with La Familia, the Kentucky alumni basketball team,
at Bespoken Spirits in Gray Line Station today Thursday, July seventeenth,
at six pm. All four Club Club Blue Bourbon releases
will be available for purchase.
Speaker 1 (36:26):
The players will only be signing bottles of.
Speaker 2 (36:28):
Club Blue Bourbon, so each purchase includes signatures from the
Law Familia team and every purchase supports UK's and IL efforts.
Don't miss your chance to meet the team and take
home a sign Club Blue collectible that is Bespoken Spirits.
That's gonna do it for us. Big thank you to
Tom for letting me fill in. There's a fun show
planned tomorrow. Stay tuned for that coming up next on
(36:48):
many of these same stations as the ksrpre show.
Speaker 1 (36:51):
I'm Billy Rutledge and this has been the Leach Report.
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