2025-07-31 - LEACH REPORT

Tom talks with Jack Givens, Justin Rowland, and more.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Good day, everybody, Welcome in to our Leach Report for
a Thursday, presented by Bobcat Enterprise. Is lots of basis
to touch Today. We'll talk with a goose Jack Gibbons
little UK basketball conversation Justin Rowland from Katz Illustrated and
Darren Hendrick. It was the voice of UK women's basketball

(00:24):
and baseball and the women's program had a media opportunity
yesterday and we'll talk with Darren a little bit about
what the upcoming season might look like and also the
season that he crossed paths with Ryan Sandberg, who just
passed away this week. So that's what's coming up on
the Leach Report today. Opening segment of Wildcat News always

(00:44):
presented by Giuseppees of Lexington. Training Camp began yesterday for
the Kentucky football team, with the season opener slated for
a week four week excuse me from this coming Saturday,
which will be fan Day. Tomorrow will be media Day,
so you'll be getting a lot of UK football content

(01:05):
over the next few days. Yesterday was just getting everybody
settled in, get out on the field for a workout
without pads. They'll put the pads on I think Monday
for the first time. So it's what they call the
training camp phase. It used to be called the to
a day phase, and we're brutal to today practices sometimes

(01:27):
and those days are long gone. So it's what they
call training camp. And then about a week and a
half before the opener, they'll shift gears into the more
of a mode where they're preparing primarily for their opponent
Toledo in the opening game. Some interesting questions to get
answered or storylines to follow for training camp. We'll get

(01:50):
into that with Justin when he joins us a little
bit later on. UK announced the next class of adductees
for its Athletics Hall of Fame yesterday. Josh from UK football,
Karl Anthony Towns from Kentucky men's basketball, Mikayla Apps from
Kentucky women's basketball, or a UK baseball player and Cincinnati

(02:10):
Red Big Red Machine member Doug Flynn also been a
longtime broadcaster for UK baseball, Abby Cheek Ramsey for softball,
and Sonya Han for tennis. That's the class of six
that will be honored on the weekend of the September
thirteenth Eastern Michigan game. They'll have the Hall of Fame
induction dinner the night before. I think they always do

(02:36):
that out at the long Ship Club at the stadium, Now, Josh. Yesterday,
Josh Heinz Allen posted a note on social media with
some great news. Nine year old Wesley, his oldest son,
declared cancer free after battling leukemia. So there was a
big smiling picture of Josh and his son Wesley yesterday

(02:59):
that was posted. Was just thrilled to see that he
and his wife Caitlin have formed a foundation for to
One for Hope playoff Josh's number here at Kentucky, and
they're going to launch a campaign next month to fund
pediatric cancer research. And I think it was supposed to

(03:22):
coincide with the day Wesley gets to ring the bell
for his final chemotherapy treatment, but maybe yesterday meant that
he won't even need that, So it was just outstanding
to hear that news. How about the Reds, they keep
the streak going. They have I think the only team
in Major League Baseball that has not been swept this season.

(03:43):
Last night they were at risk of being swept by
the Dodgers and they were facing Sho heeo Tani, but
he had to make an early exit from the mound
because of some kind of physical issue. I forget what
it was, but anyway, it was two to two. In
the eighth, the Red score three times and they went
it five to two. So they're hanging in there the

(04:03):
wildcard race and have that interesting distinction of the only
team that hasn't been swept in a series all season.
And Saturday night they're going to play the Braves in
a game at Bristol Motor Speedway. So obviously we've seen
a lot more of these unique venue situations. They did

(04:23):
the Field of Dreams games, they done it for hockey
and college basketball. Tried it on an aircraft carrier that
didn't work so well, but why not try some things.
So this'll be interesting to see what it looks like
at Bristol Motor Speedway. I wonder what the dimensions are
going to be like. I know, playing high school baseball,

(04:45):
you would run into a field and if you were
left handed bat or like me, you wanted it to
be right for you. Where the fence might be like
two twenty, it'd be like, you know, three fifteen to left.
Sometimes it would be the other way around. One time
we play I think it was over at bath County,
and the baseball field was on the football field, and

(05:07):
so left field was basically like infinity and right field
was fairly short. Links to the stories that we talk
about each day you can find those on the bud
Light Leach Report page at Tom leachky dot com. Darren
Edridkill join us when we come right back our opening
segments presented by Giuseppes of Lexington. Go to open table,

(05:27):
make a reservation today for a special night at Giuseppes.
They expanded their lounge area a couple of years ago
because it was such a popular spot to sit there
and enjoy a fine meal with the live jazz music
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thing is the music is a perfect compliment. It doesn't
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(05:52):
can be romantic, can be just very enjoyable. Check it
all out at Giuseppes. We'll be right back on the
radio network quarter past the top of the hour. Here
on the Leads Report. We come to you each day
from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return, refresh and refuel

(06:13):
at Clark's all across the Commonwealth and make sure you
get into their new Loyalty rewards program so you can
get discounts on your Phillips and also items in their stores.
Darren Hendrick joins us now here on this Thursday edition
of The Leacher Report, and you hear him as the
voice of UK women's basketball during the winter. And yesterday

(06:34):
they had a media opportunity yesterday for the catch Kennybrook's
second team, and I'm sure we'll start to get a
lot of content coming out of that and coming days.
But how do you think this team is shaping up
to be different slash better than his first one?

Speaker 2 (06:53):
Well, for one thing, Tom, this team is going to
have some tremendous depth than when he goes to his bench.
There won't be a ton of fall off. But as
impressed as I am at the depth they've built in
the off season, this is going to be one of
the biggest teams in the SEC when they take the floor.

(07:13):
I think somebody was telling me yesterday and I forget
who it was, but they've done the math and the
average height for this Kentucky team is the second tallest
in the SEC, behind only South Carolina. And when you
think about the triplets that they had on the front line.
Amelia and Clara and Tianni potential starters like a Jordan

(07:36):
Obie is going to be a mismatch at the two.
And then Tony Morgan, the new point guard transferred in
from Georgia Tech, has size too, So this is going
to be a team with a lot of depth and
a lot of height.

Speaker 1 (07:49):
You know, if you and I are in the position,
where as broadcasters, you never want to be that guy
who has to follow a legend. And if you're Morgan
with the women's basketball team, Torey Morgan, you have to
follow a bit of a legend. Even though she was
here just one year, Georgia Amoor was made quite a

(08:09):
stamp on the program in that position.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah, there's no question Georgia is one in a million
personality talent and her ability to lead. Obviously, she had
all the experience of playing under coach Brooks, so she
knew his system, knew what he wanted. I think Tony's
adapted really well this summer. I had a chance to

(08:33):
talk to her for a minute yesterday, and she is
acclimating herself and she has an understanding of what coach
Brooks is looking for, and you know, running the offense
running the show. The one thing that stood out is
she talked about how she gets to play without handcuffs.
She gets to play free in his system, and that

(08:55):
was something George always talked about as well. You get
to be an extension of him on the floor in
his offense.

Speaker 1 (09:02):
Interesting. So that's I'm sure why she's here at Kentucky
now to get a chance to do that. I am
a big Tiani Key fan. She came down with coach
Brooks for the tip off luncheon at Louisville last year,
so I enjoyed interviewing her there well before the season started.
But she is as an interesting skill set and last

(09:28):
year was her first big opportunity I think to really
start to show what she was capable of. Is she
a player that you think has a big move that's
possible in a second year at Kentucky.

Speaker 2 (09:41):
I really do, And that's something that I've heard spoken
about Tianni this offseason. I think she has come back
this year stronger. I think for an Amelia halfset, both
have come back stronger, and really I think both of
them have a lot of confidence going into this season.
I think they used last year and sort of the

(10:01):
learning and growing to be motivated this offseason, so I
think you're going to see confident players. Keianni's a mismatch.
I agree with you. I love to watch her game
and her ability to run the floor. I mean, she
can be a point guard if she has to be,
and we saw her take rebounds and go coast to

(10:23):
coast several times last year. So the more confident she
has this year, playing strong and so much attention will
be on Clara's track. I think this could be a
big year for Keani.

Speaker 1 (10:34):
If you want to see what the best version of
her looks like, go back to the Tennessee game late
in the season. She was fantastic that night when the
Cats just whipped up on the Lady Vaults. So I'm
thinking she could have a big year, and you know
it's gonna be interesting. Georgia was not only the leader

(10:56):
as the point guard, like the quarterback you know, football team,
it's kind of a natural leader when you play that position.
But she came in with so much acclaim and then
you know, lived up to the hype that there's no
one person like that. That is maybe the dominant storyline
for this season. So it is a little different from

(11:17):
that standpoint, isn't it?

Speaker 2 (11:20):
It is? And I think that's what has made this
summer so important for this particular team. They don't have
that one big voice anymore with Georgia now in the WNBA,
and so I think the biggest challenge for this team
is going to be developing the chemistry and whose voices
become the loudest in the huddle and become vocal leaders.

(11:42):
I think there are several candidates, including Tony as she
gets more comfortable with this offense and with her teammates.
But I think that's what's going to make the summer
so critical, is how this team continues to come together
in terms of the chemistry and who's going to be that.
She can't replace Georgia Amore, but you definitely want you

(12:03):
hear coaches talk about it all the time. You want
that leadership on the court.

Speaker 1 (12:07):
Saw a picture that you posted as we shift gears
to baseball, a picture that you posted of yourself with
the like an intern with the Knoxville Smokey's and their
manager was Ryan Sandberg who passed away earlier this week.
There was a cool picture and what was that?

Speaker 2 (12:25):
Like, you know what it was? It was a thrill
of a lifetime. It was only my second year as
an intern. I was about two years removed from graduating
college and to work with the Hall of famer like
Brian Sandberg was a huge opportunity that we took advantage
of the whole year. And you know, he, as I

(12:46):
told Dick Gabriel yesterday, he has this quiet intensity about
him and was always very professional, well spoken. He was
easy to talk to and the more you got to
know him, you got to see this tremendous sense of
humor that he had and was guarded most of the time,

(13:07):
but he was incredible and obviously his players loved him.
He guided them to an appearance in the Southern League
Championship series there in two thousand and nine and I
think might have broke a record for the most wins consecutive.
I think they won twelve games in a row at
one point. So, just like I say, quiet personality, but

(13:29):
tremendous presence in the dugout and all class, all pro,
all the way to work with and learn from.

Speaker 1 (13:37):
And lastly, another all class guy, Doug Flynn going into
the UK Athletics Hall announcement came yesterday and I know
I was thrilled, and I'm sure you are as well
because you get to wave at him a lot from
booth to booth over at Kentucky Prott Park.

Speaker 3 (13:56):
We TV for him.

Speaker 2 (13:59):
YEA, excited for him, Tom, He Doug is just one
of my favorite people that I've gotten to know here
at Kentucky and to be honored with the Hall of Fame,
I know he was very humbled and appreciative. I spoke
to him for a little bit last night and really
cool moment. John Sadak and Barry Larkin on the Reds
TV broadcast gave him a shout out all great honor

(14:22):
in the induction. So yeah, really neat last night to
hear his name going into the Hall of Fame. And
congratulations to him and all the the inductees in the
twenty twenty five class this year.

Speaker 1 (14:36):
Darren, Thank you much as always, have good day.

Speaker 2 (14:40):
Thank you, Tom, I appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (14:42):
Take care you too.

Speaker 1 (14:43):
It is the Lead Triport, presented each day by Bob
Keen Enterprises, and we'll be right back with the Goose,
Jack Evans. It's the Lead Triport and we welcome the
goost Jack Givings to the program. Goose, have you seen
any other any more practices since.

Speaker 4 (14:58):
We talked last week, you know, I have not Tom.
I left Friday Thursday. I guess it was you know,
when you when you get grandkids, you build your vacation
time around tournaments, you know. So he had a he
had his national basketball tournament. Has it down here in

(15:20):
Orlando at the Convention Center. My granddaughter a month ago
was down there with volleyball. So it's it's good to
kind of get back to where I lived for twenty
some years and to see friends and everything. But it's
kind of a working vacation, and the working part is
going to games.

Speaker 3 (15:41):
What how's he doing?

Speaker 4 (15:43):
He's he played really, really well. His team one two
and lost one, did not advance to the championship round.
One of our kids hurt his knee, one of our
better players, and that definitely hurt. But the grandson played well.
I'm a proud papa man. He played well, looked good,

(16:07):
and was really happy with the way he played. So
I have not been back in to watch practice. I've
been kind of asking around some of the folks I
know who have been there, and sounds like sounds like
they're getting getting there, that's for sure.

Speaker 1 (16:24):
The one thing I went last Friday, and the one
thing that it was kind of what I was thinking
was the case anyway, just kind of confirmed it that
in watching them, if you asked ten twenty people like
yourself that would go see some practices to rank the
say the top ten players out there in order one

(16:44):
to ten, you maybe get somewhat of a consensus on
Otega at number one, but I'm not sure if you
get much consensus on that on two through ten, as
far as you know how they'd be ranked. And that
just I thought kind of confirmed the quality of the
depth I think they'll have.

Speaker 4 (17:00):
Yeah, I think it's gonna be really neat Tom because
it's gonna give Mark a lot of options, and the
thing it's gonna do is make practices extra extra competitive,
which it's gonna be fun to watch. I mean, if
I if I had to try, And of course we
haven't seen all of the guys, so it's really doesn't

(17:23):
make a whole lot of sense to even try. But
like I said, I really like Denzel. I think I
told you that before, just because of he's kind of
a dog. He doesn't mind mixing it up. He shoots
it better than than I thought at least he hasn't
the workouts I've seen really shot the ball well and

(17:47):
he can defend also, so all of that is is
really good stuff. Trend Noah, I would probably try to.
I would have to probably put him up there somewhere
in that starting lineup right now because him the way he's.

Speaker 1 (18:01):
Played, he's got to get to a break here real quick.
We'll come back with get a few more thoughts at
a moment.

Speaker 4 (18:07):
So good.

Speaker 1 (18:09):
It's the Late Tripparte presented by Bob Kat enterprises with
chatting with the Goose Jack Gibbings. I want to ask
about a guy from over your way. You are in
Scott County and and Malachi Moreno led great crossing to
a state title, and Malachi with Jade and Quainton still
recovering from his knee surgery, and well, I think kind

(18:34):
of the hoped for target date to get back into
workouts was I think in September. Hopefully that happens for him,
But if it ends up being a little later, whatever,
for whatever reason, Malachi's get more of a run now
that he might normally if Quainton's were at full strength.
So it's a bit wonderful opportunity for a rookie to

(18:55):
get some extra development in you know, scrimmage situation and things.
How much could you expect from him in year one?

Speaker 4 (19:07):
Well, you're right, he's getting all of those minutes that
he probably would not have been getting if Kentucky was
fully healthy and everyone was here. And frankly, with what
I've seen, I would, with with the makeup of the
team right now, I would think very seriously about starting him. Wow,

(19:30):
putting him in the starting lineup. I mean, and I
know Brandon is it's kind of penciled in for that,
but with with uh, I mean, let's put it this way.
I've been pleasantly, very pleasantly surprised with both of our
local guys. I didn't know that either one of them
was as good as they've they've looked. And Malaka certainly

(19:54):
certainly fits into that category because because of all the
minutes he's getting, in the fact that he's he's working hard,
he's getting through, getting a lot of good training in
all the stuff that you want this time of the year,
he's getting and he's excelling. Man, So I would I know,

(20:16):
I know Brandon is kind of penciled in at that spot,
but the competition has been really good at that position.
And I'm really proud of Malakai because he has not
back down one inch from the contact and all the
stuff that comes with working on this level.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
He looks older than he is out there when he's
going up and down with these guys, and both he
and Jasper, to your point, both seem to play with
a lot of confidence. They don't kind of look lost
like some rookies can sometimes.

Speaker 4 (20:54):
And and I don't know, I guess Jasper because he
has had more experience playing against you know, bigger and
and stronger and international. I guess that's one reason why
you see it from Jasper. But I know one thing
that is helping Malachai a lot is that his big

(21:19):
brother Michael is in his ear and and not coaching
him in his ear, but encouraging him and patting him
on the back for UH and and and just I
know he's in his ear, And I really think that
has helped Malachi a lot because he's getting that enforcement

(21:40):
from uh his big brother, and he really really loves
his big brother and has watched all of his games,
so I guess Malachai could get some of that from there.
But they both are very very confident in the early
days of working out makes sense.

Speaker 1 (22:00):
Vacation down there, so we'll let you get get back
to that. Appreciate you jumping on with us. We'll talk
to you next week.

Speaker 4 (22:05):
Yeah, Tom, thanks a lot.

Speaker 1 (22:07):
That is the ghost Jack Givens joining us here on
the Leach Report. We talking I think yesterday maybe with
maybe with Chris Fisher about the point guard's position. And
you know, Jalen Low has looked really good and he's
QB one if you will. But Mark Pope at his

(22:27):
most recent media session talked about the the other options
that he has there and he had to go to him.
Last season, the main backup was supposed to be Kerkkrisa
and he was lost early, so they had thrown a
curveball there. Hopefully that doesn't happen again, but if he does,
Pope talked about the options that he has.

Speaker 5 (22:51):
I have a really talented backcourt, you know, I have
so many options. Otag has played some some Minnesota one.
Colin Chandler's played a lot of minutes of the one.
Jasper Johnson's completely cable playing in one. I think Da
is very comfortable playing the one. So we're in a
little bit of a different scenario than we felt like
we were in most of the season last year. We
have so many capable options. I also think at the

(23:14):
two and the three were built a little bit different
where we probably are going to have more get where
you want to go ball handling on the floor. Besides
just our point better. I think our two guard for
the most part in the game, and a lot of
times our three is going to be really aggressive off
the bounce also be able to make plays off the bounce.
I think we'll live in that space a lot this year.

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at cornbreadhamp dot com. This is the good life. We'll
be right back on the Leach Report with Justin Rowland
Nature Parts presented each today by Bobcat Enterprises. They have

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to you and they will treat you right. Justin Roland
comes to us from Catsillustrated dot com. And the training

(25:01):
camp portion of the lead up to the college football
season is underway as of yesterday. Justin for the Wildcats
think they put the pads on for the first time
believe Monday. What are the storylines you're most interested in
following out of what you hear from training camp between
now and the opener.

Speaker 3 (25:21):
I mean there's no shortage of them.

Speaker 6 (25:22):
They got fifty new players since January first, that's almost
as many as Mississippi State. So we've got Zach Calzada
at quarterback. I think we've got a running back competition.
There's a receiver room where you know one guy is
going to get a lot of targets, but there are
any number of other ways that it could go based
on how guys fit into their roles. And then how
improved is the Big Blue Wall gonna be? And flip

(25:44):
it over to the other side, and Brad White is
passioned together another defense and will this be another Brad
White defense with as much turnover as they had to
bring in from disparate parts in the portal, So no
shortage of storylines. And I guess the big question is
can they make this thing good enough to generate enough
optimism to keep it going into the future.

Speaker 1 (26:04):
One of the things you mentioned in that rundown was
the Big Blue Wall the offensive line group, and at
the kickoff luncheon on Monday, I think offensive coordinator Bush
Hampden turned a few heads with a comment he made
about how bullish he is on this offensive line, and
I would back and looked from the twenty eighteen season

(26:26):
through the twenty twenty one season included two ten win
years and an eight win year. They had six of
their linemen drafted into the NFL none sense. And they
do have some guys on this line that are I
think thought of at least as fringe prospects at this point.
The possibility so if those guys, if next spring there

(26:50):
are one or two Kentucky guys from the offensive line drafted,
if we could somehow look forward and know that would
be the case, I think that would justify a lot
of that optivism for fans.

Speaker 3 (27:05):
Yeah, yeah, I think so.

Speaker 6 (27:06):
I mean, there's been so much turnover in the offensive
line coaching room right there, and we talk about the
impact on quarterback development with all the offensive quarter with
all the offensive coordinator turnover. Think about offensive line recruiting, development,
retention with as much offensive line coaching turnover as they've had.
And now Wolford is in the second year of his
second stint at Kentucky and they're signs that it's getting better.

(27:28):
I mean, Avicelm is somebody they're really excited about it.
Guard Jalen Farmer has pretty much been developed by Kentucky
and seems like he could be ready for a breakout.
I feel like they've got they go five deep on
the interior, they've got their center for twenty six in
line for when Jagger moves on after this year, and
they go three d at tackle, hoping to get Darren

(27:49):
Stray ready as a fourth. So overall going eight deep
with the rotation being intentional, but maybe pushing that to
ten deep over the course of the season, and then
you really got a hope that these guys like Abba
and maybe Hayes Johnson and Malaki Wood and Darren Stray developed,
so you don't have to spend another three million dollars

(28:11):
in the portal on the offensive line next year, and
that would impact really everything that you do building next
year's team.

Speaker 3 (28:17):
So I think they're signs that it's moving in the
right direction.

Speaker 1 (28:20):
How do you think that financial number would stack up
with other college football programs that had a.

Speaker 6 (28:25):
Lot that was Yeah, I think that was a heavy
investment for the offensive line, but that was just the
position they found themselves in and they had a lot
of issues last year. But I think the thinking is
unless you really fix the offensive line, you really haven't
totally cleaned up anything. And so they did earmark a
lot more for the line, but think about how much
they brought in what six linemen from the portal, So

(28:48):
it's not like you're putting too.

Speaker 3 (28:49):
Much into any one guy.

Speaker 6 (28:51):
But yeah, you know, each one of these situations is
just so difficult where you're trying.

Speaker 3 (28:55):
To convin somebody not to go back to the.

Speaker 6 (28:57):
School that they're coming out of, and you've got think
you've got somebody, and at the eleventh hour, somebody sweeps
in with a better offer and you don't have anything
else to push his direction.

Speaker 3 (29:06):
So it was a wild off season, but that was
a lot of money.

Speaker 1 (29:09):
Biggest offensive line in Kentucky football history, maybe.

Speaker 6 (29:13):
Yeah, yeah, And well Wolf kind of does that.

Speaker 3 (29:17):
That's his mo. Like if you go back to when
he was.

Speaker 6 (29:20):
At Alabama, one of the things that people always talked
about was like he wants a massive offensive line, like
those guys got big in a hurry, and so he
wants athletic, he wants quick, but he really is gonna
put together a big, big unit.

Speaker 3 (29:35):
And then the emphasis has.

Speaker 6 (29:36):
Further been on getting bigger with Wolf Schleger coming in
from the MAC needed to get bigger and stronger at
right tackle. And Stoop's mentioned he attacked the offseason well,
and then Evan Wibberly had really a more acute need
to get stronger and bigger, and he has, but he's
still got a ways to go.

Speaker 3 (29:55):
But I think it's.

Speaker 6 (29:56):
Interesting that Stoop said the first interior move would be
Jagger kicking over to guard and Wibberley moving up to center.
So that tells you they do really probably feel good about.

Speaker 1 (30:06):
Talking with Justin Rowland from Katzillustrated dot com, it's that
Roland rivals on x Twitter if you prefer. And Kentucky
two years ago had a big play guy in Ray Davis.
He went on to the NFL. Last year, the big
play guys were more barring Brown Dame Key. They're both

(30:26):
at other schools now, so who are going to be
the big play guys? And maybe a little insight came
from Bush Hampden to the kickoff luncheon when he mentioned
Kendrick Law's name prominently. He's going to be a kick
returner as well as a receiver. Also, hearing really good
things about McGowan the running back transfer, and he has

(30:49):
that you know, home run hitting ability from that position.
What are your thoughts on that area.

Speaker 6 (30:54):
Yeah, I think I think it's gonna have to come
from a strong running game, because I think they'll get
the juice and they'll get they'll get something from the
ground game. You know, for a long time it was
there not getting any chunk runs and no offense to Demmy.
Demmy was a great running back, but he he wasn't
an explosive guy. But will Cox can give you that.

(31:15):
McGowan can give you that. Maclin should be able to
give you that. Willie Rodriguez maybe extend the passing game
with the tight end vertically a little bit more.

Speaker 3 (31:24):
Hester coming in.

Speaker 6 (31:25):
From Oklahoma's a big kid, hardly Gilmore could help them
stretch the field. So I think DJ Miller, the freshman
out of Saint Louis. But it's gonna have to be
off play action.

Speaker 3 (31:35):
That's going to have to.

Speaker 6 (31:36):
Come from making teams put more guys in the box
to respect the run.

Speaker 1 (31:40):
I think over to the defensive side, stoops that his
media session and the kickoff lunch and really tucked up
the defensive front group and had some you know numbers
as far as weightlifts and size for the guys that
will be up front behind that and the two inside linebacks,

(32:01):
Alex Afari Devyan Rayner, we think will be those two guys.
Alex is a guy that has always looked like, you know,
he'd make he'd flash and make big plays, and you
always thought you were going to see more there, and
he didn't ever really fit in to a spot. It
seemed like, you know, whether it was trying to be
a you know, maybe a slot cover guy or you know,

(32:24):
a hybrid of some sort as an outside linebacker. Now
he's inside and told he's up to about two thirty.
He's a guy that I think could potentially, if it
ends up being a good fit there, could have.

Speaker 6 (32:36):
A career year a little bit like DeAndre Square, except
except Mafari started at corner whereas Square looked more like
a safety when he was starting out and then started
at linebacker. But yeah, Stoops talked about repeatedly how impressed
he was last year. Maybe they didn't know how he's
going to hold up on the inside, but they were
so impressed with him, and really one of the.

Speaker 3 (32:58):
Silver linings of last season.

Speaker 6 (33:00):
It sounded like, and he's gonna he's gonna carry a
lot because how many years have they had either a
DeAndre Square or a Jacques Jones or a Derick Jackson
or a jam And Dumas Johnson, like big name guy
that has done it at a high level, gotten sec accolades.
It's a much quieter, more subdued hype for the inside
linebacker room this year. And Stoop said they brought in

(33:23):
Land and Watson because Davyn Rainer hasn't gotten any bigger
and so kind of covering their bases there. But it's
an inside linebacker room with a lot less hype than
they've had in recent years. But I'm interested in the
development of the younger guys there. Grant Godfrey and Antoine
Smith are two really different players and they're not going

(33:44):
to be in starring roles this year, but I think
they can be starring players in the future, and they
could both be starters in twenty twenty six. So so
I'm interested in the depth the back end of that
room this year.

Speaker 1 (33:55):
I forgot a little run last year with juries and
his dad played it. It was a great player at Georgia,
so the you know, the bloodlines are certainly there for it.

Speaker 3 (34:03):
On his side.

Speaker 1 (34:07):
Talk with Justin Rowlandkatz Illustrated dot Com been all football
so far anything of that particularly intrigues you've heard out
of Kentucky basketball, either at media sessions or just reports
from practice.

Speaker 6 (34:23):
Yeah, early on we heard a little bit, like we
heard the shooting had been there. It had been a
mixed bag, but it was such a small sample and
it was early.

Speaker 3 (34:31):
I know, the people that I talked to that had
had heard some of.

Speaker 6 (34:34):
The things about early practice were adamant that Oway was
the best player and did look like he had taken
to the emphasies that Pope had laid out for him,
and that Lowe is probably the most important player on
the team just for obvious reasons like how much is
the efficiency going to improve coming over from Pitt? But
he can really create and he's a dynamic player who's

(34:55):
got who's got something to him.

Speaker 3 (34:57):
And then the other the other thing.

Speaker 6 (34:58):
That stood out was the people that I spoke with
or adamant that like JQ needs to come back. They
need JQ back to feel good about the big situation side,
even if they've been impressed with Moreno and some.

Speaker 1 (35:08):
Of the other guys that have come in justin Rowland
Katzillustrated dot Com.

Speaker 3 (35:13):
Thank you, sir, Thanks a lot, Tom.

Speaker 1 (35:15):
It's the Leake's Report presented by Bob Kat Enterprises. We'll
be right back with the final segment. Shufflebean Coffee is
one of our great partners here on the Leaks Report.
They've been with us for probably more than a decade.
I think they've been in business for a little over
a decade with a commitment to excellence that is unrivaled
in that business. Rupert Kentucky. It's got together with the
gold and making the best cup of coffee, and it

(35:38):
starts with the best coffee beans. And you can read
about all of that at Shufflebean dot us and you
can order some coffee while you're there, and you can
also get it through Amazon. And here in central Kentucky,
Meyer Stores is where you can find shuffle Bean Coffee.
It's the official coffee of upp Arena and the KFCM
Center and many Lexington restaurants. So make it the official

(35:59):
coffee of your home. It is the official coffee of
the Leads Report. That is Shufflebeam Coffee. NFL Hall of
Fame game tonight, so you get a little taste of football,
kind of pretend football, but you won't see a lot
of the starters, I don't think, But it's the Chargers
and the Lions up in candall Ohisle. NBC will have
it at eight Eastern times, so maybe we'll see a

(36:21):
little bit of Bud Dupree with the Chargers, Josh Pascal
with the Lions. And speaking of the NFL, the Bengals,
Trey Hendrickson has ended his holdout so that he didn't
want to be a distraction, so they're still working on
trying to get a long term deal done, but he
is back in training camp with the Bengals. To stand
wild Cat History a service of Kentucky Road Show, sports
cards and memorabilia. They're on Romney Road here in Lexington.

(36:44):
Happy birthday to the Deuce. Tim Couch celebrating a birthday today.
UK Athletics Hall of Famer, Kentucky Sports Hall of Famer,
College Football Hall of Famer. Just looking up a few
facts on Tim. If I had heard this, I don't remember.
Coming out of high school and leastly County, ESPN ranked

(37:06):
Couch as the sixth best high school athlete ever, and
he was obviously tremendous on the football field, but people
tend to forget he led the state in scoring thirty
six points per game as a high school junior, so
he could have played college basketball too. He left as
the all time passing yards leader in the SEC when

(37:26):
he finished up in ninety eight with Kentucky, and that
record stood until Joe Burrow broke it with the LSU Tigers.
So happy birthday to the Deuce, Tim Couch or with
Kentucky basketball star Mike Flynn celebrating a birthday today. Also
Hamidou Diallo, Happy birthday. And Glenn hold from Kentucky football
at the game winning touchdown pass in two thousand and

(37:49):
four against Vanny and what at the time was the
best fourth quarter comeback in Kentucky football history, and that
whole called the winning TD pass from Shane Boyd. All Right,
that'll do it for us. Each report presented by Bobcat
enterprises back with you tomorrow to close out the week.
Have a good day, everybody,