Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good day.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Everybody, welcome in. It is the Leads Report for a Wednesday,
August the thirteenth is we are presented once again by
Bobcat Enterprises. Coming up on the show today, Chris Fisher
will join us from Katzpause dot Com. We'll talk to
Kentucky football and basketball, and then Mike de Corsi from
the Sporting News in the second half of the show.
(00:22):
Wild Cat News of the Day that is a service
of Juseppes of Lexington. Big story yesterday for UK Athletics
came off the field. The board for the LLC that
now oversees Athletics at UK approved a new deal with
the multimedia rights partner JMI Sports. Estimated value of the
deal four hundred and sixty five million running through twenty forty.
(00:47):
UK will bring negotiating nil deals in house with JMI
in charge of that. As collectives And is this initially
unfolded in the college sports space was handled by collectives
and schools were not allowed to be a part of it,
and now it is all changing as part of the
(01:11):
revenue sharing that's going on now in college sports and
all of this that the operations that collectives did, I'm
not sure we'll talk a little bit of this. Mike,
of course, he might have some insight on this. Is
it's going to be the way? Will everybody bring it
in house? Will some people still have a third party
doing this and kind of be they contract the athletic department.
(01:33):
I don't know, we'll see, but think of one element
of this. Think of nil deals that you see in
pro sports. One I remember was a few years ago
IoT Dak Prescott did, and he would be dressed in blue,
but there were no Cowboys logos. So there will be
certain things that players would still be able to work
(01:54):
outside the school's negotiating partner for nil deals do something
on their own, but they wouldn't be able to use
the trademarks of the university, like is the case again
in professional sports. So but there is an advantage obviously
to being able to be in you know, the team gear,
(02:16):
and for that there's a will be a way to
make that happen, but it'll have to all be negotiated
and then it all has to get approved through the
new NCAA's clearinghouse. So it's a lot of things that
business wise that sports fans don't usually enjoy talking about.
Nearly as much as games. But the nil part of
(02:38):
this is something that always anytime I've talked to groups
of UK fans or it is something that fans are
really interested in, it comes up a lot. So we'll
maybe get into a little bit with this of this
with Mike the course when he joins us later on.
A couple of notes from UK football. First of all,
the two coordinators both did a media session yesterday to
(03:01):
give their thoughts on the scrimmage, the first of the
two scrimmages last Saturday. One of the things coach Doups
talked about after the scrimmage was their focus on getting
better in short yardage situations, something where Kentucky did not
fare as well as they wanted last season. Bush Hampden,
the offensive coordinator now in his second year, talked about
(03:23):
that with the media yesterday.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
A lot for us was just beating ourselves, you know,
things of whether it was cadence related, you know, obviously schematically,
I think the biggest thing is just right now is
how we can have less concepts and do them more
over and over again. So guys feel extremely comfortable because,
as you guys know, you take one run play, you
take three or four different fronts and that one run
(03:47):
play can feel a lot, you know, it can feel
like a lot of adjustments. And so for us really
holding into that scheme in year two, trying to simplify
it and again making it about the fundamentals and execution.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
And Coach Hamid and talked about the wide receiver group
and the competition for snaps out of that group, how
they're still looking for players to help separate themselves. So
for that position group, I would say this next scrimmage
will be big for guys to not only make you know,
(04:21):
big plays, but to be consistent with no drops and
run good routes and blockwell and all of those things
that will give guys a chance to move up or
down the depth chart. For Brad White's side, he talked
about the need to tackle better than they did in
the first scrimmage, but players talked about that and interviews
(04:43):
I saw after Saturday scrimmage as well. Some of it
comes with the layoff and the first time doing the
a lot of tackling over the course of an entire
scrimmage that it should be significantly better this week. It'll
be one thing to listen for in the post scrimmage
interviews coming up on Saturday. Links to the stories that
(05:03):
we talk about. You can find those on the bud
Light Leach Report page of Tom Leachky dot com. Chris
Fisher is going to join us from caatzpause dot com
when we come right back our opening segments presented by
Giseeppes of Lexington. They're located off Nicholasville Road, just past
Manor war Of Boulevard here at Lexington. And get to
open table right now and make a reservation for the
(05:24):
next special night out for you and your family or
friends at Giuseppes. Maybe build it around a UK football
game or a day at Keenland, which, believe it or not,
it's not that far away, so you can go ahead
and plan. You know, if you've got your day planned
at Keeland when you're going well, cap it off with
dinner at Giuseppes. Make the reservations today at open Table.
(05:44):
We'll be right back quarter past the top of the
hour here on the Leach Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises.
Joining us is Chris Fisher from katzpaus dot com. This
we'll start with a story that you did yesterday for
the site about the new extension or the new but
the extension of the partnership that's been in place for
(06:06):
ten years between Kentucky and JMI Sports, And it's a
very lucrative deal that will run through twenty forty and
there's a lot of business elements to it. But I
think from a fans standpoint, one of the key parts
is that this is taking the collective Club Blue used
to operate in that space. Now the collective comes in
(06:27):
house for UK and in IL negotiations will be handled
by JMI, and it just kind of feels like this
is more toward a pro sports model. Would that be correct?
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Yeah, I would imagine.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
So.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I'm sure there are other people that can speak way
more eloquently on this than I could. But you know,
it seems like a lot of fans criticized Mitch Barnhardt
for a long time for kind of being behind the curve,
especially in terms of INIL, but now it seems like
he's way ahead of the curve and in some of
(07:04):
the how he's structuring UK Athletics, first with kind of
the the LLC model and now with you know, the
long term you know, what amounts a historic multimedia rights
deal and kind of keeping everything like you mentioned, kind
of in house and kind of under one umbrella. So
(07:25):
it'll be interesting to see how that all plays out
and whether other schools follow suit with that. I know
Mitch Barnhardt earned a lot of praise by going with
the LLC model and you know, being one of the
first to do it, and how other schools were likely
to follow. It'll be interesting to see if if other
schools follow suit here as well.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah, I mean, this is a lot of uncharted territory
for colleges and you know athletic departments administrators. As you know,
these the rules have changed now you've got the revenue
sharing component to it, and I has to get approved
through the NCAA and yeah, some of this may have
to withstand legal challenges too that could affect it.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Yeah, it's it seems like there's something new that coaches, ads, administrators,
presidents have to deal with every single day. It seems
like it's an ever evolving landscape and you have to
kind of stay stay in front of this stuff, and
that's it seems like that's what Mitch Barnhart is doing.
(08:30):
It seems like he's been very proactive with all of
this stuff, and there was a time where a lot
of people thought he was way too reactive to some
of the changing landscape in collegiate athletics. So it seems
like Mitch Barnhardt is certainly embracing the future of all
this stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Shift, gears and tough Kentucky football. Chris Fisher with us
from katzpause dot com, your colleague Cole Park had an
interesting post yesterday. It was so much talk about all
the newcomers, about fifty of them for this Kentucky ball team,
that he took a look at returning players who could
make a big jump in twenty twenty five. And as
(09:09):
I said, you know yesterday, to think about that a
little bit. So who are the ones who would be
on your list?
Speaker 1 (09:15):
All right? So I came up with three. Number one.
I'm going with Jamoori Macklin. I think he might be
a little bit of an obvious choice, But you know,
it's kind of heartbreaking seeing him last season and the
way he was. It felt like he was underutilized simply
because you know, guys like Barry and Brown and dan
Key ate up so many of the targets. He just
(09:37):
didn't quite get enough balls thrown his way. But when
things kind of flipped late in the season, we saw
kind of what he was able to do. Had a
couple of big, big receiving games, So I'm expecting him
to take a big step forward for Kentucky. I think
it was huge they were able to convince him to return,
and I would be surprised if he's not wide receiver
(09:59):
one for Kentucky this season. Number two, I'm gonna go
Willie Rodriguez. I think at the tight end position. I think,
you know, even as a true freshman, I think a
couple of times last season he provided a glimpse into
the crystal ball with some special plays that he was
(10:19):
able to make. And there was one clip from practice
where he was able to go up and high point
a ball down the field and come down with it.
And so his receiving ability, his running ability, combined with
his blocking ability, i think it's going to be hard
to keep him off off the field this season. And
then for my third pick, I'll go on the defensive,
(10:40):
defensive side of the ball, and I'll go with DJ Waller.
The transfer from Michigan. Yeah, he was in line for
a starting spot at Michigan before he transferred to Kentucky.
I think after last season kind of you know, getting
his feed underneath him. I think he battled some some
kind of nagging injuries. You have the safety position that
(11:00):
you know, it's kind of more solidified with guys that
have played a lot of football Jordan Loved and Ty Bryant,
But at the cornerback position, I think it's a little
bit more wide open with some younger guys that haven't
quite played as much football, and so I think DJ
Waller is one of the prime candidates to take a
step up there.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I'm doing a daily segment now on l e X
mostly on u K Sports each day, and I talked
about this last night. I put four names on my
list and Waller was one of them. We intersect there
because he's a guy that there's two guys that have
on one guy on each side of the ball that
maybe has generated the most buzz SETH McGowan's the one
(11:40):
I hear the most about on the offensive side and
Waller on the defensive side, for how well he's performed
in the lead up to this training camp that's underway,
and how consistent he's been and Stoops loves those long corners,
and so if with Waller and Hardaway, he could have
one on each side. I put Alex Safari on the
(12:01):
list just because he's a guy that maybe seems to
have found a home at inside linebacker because they've moved
him around to different positions and he would always flash
and make some big plays. But now he seems to
be in a spot where he can stay on the
field for a long time, and I think it's a
good chance he could. He probably could be their leading tackler.
(12:24):
Usually it is set up for a linebacker to be that.
On the offensive side, I went with a wide receiver.
I went with Gilmour just I saw that catch he
made in the scrimmage last Saturday, the one handed grab
that they put out on the highlights, and I think
he's a guy that can make those kinds of catches.
He's a very dynamic talent. Now the challenge for Hardly
(12:44):
is to be consistent, and if he can, he could
be a big play guy. But I seriously considered Macklin
for my list and Rodriguez, but the other one I
ended up with was Jagger Burton, just because so much
focus on how much they need the offensive line to improve,
and he could be a big part of that. Kind
of and you know, the the last year factor of
(13:08):
knowing that he needs to prove himself to have a
shot at the NFL and thinking that he could maybe
have a maybe his best year at this new position,
and if he does, that would be a big plus
for Kentucky football. So those are the lists for for Chris.
And I'm sure you guys have your own that you're
thinking about as far as the returning players who could
(13:28):
make a move. You know, Ty Bryant's one that you
know could is a returning player. That's a key part
of it. I just kind of I didn't use him
because I think he was has already shown himself to be.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
He's already football.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, yeah, So I didn't put him on the list
for you as just as an example. For that reason,
Quick Break will come back more and more of Chris
Fisher when we return. It is the least report presented
by bobcat Enterprises for locations around Kentucky. For Bob Katy,
if you need to buy a rent heavy equipment, that's
who you need to call. Google him. You'll find the
one that's closed to you when you need tractors or
(14:02):
Bobcats or forklifts or excavators or something like that. Maybe
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get a good deal towards the end of the summer.
Check it all out at Bob Cat Enterprises. We'll be
right back. Litropote comes to each day from the Clark's
Pumping Shop studio, Return, refresh and refuel at Clark's Chris
Fisher's with us Katzpause dot Com. I see a report
(14:23):
from twenty four to seven Sports that Darren Rippy Junior
has rescheduled his official visit coming in for the first
weekend of October. And this was the one that had
to be rescheduled because there was some bad weather in
New York and he couldn't get out to make the trip.
There's a lot of visits that are going to be
(14:44):
very important that'll take place in October for Kentucky men's basketball.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Right Yeah. I think this is the time where things
are really starting to come into focus for Kentucky's twenty
twenty six class. You have guys cutting their lists and
scheduling official visits, and it seems like Kentucky is in
the mix for a number of elite prospects. I think
they'll host at least a dozen official visits this fall,
(15:09):
and Darren Rippy is one certainly that I would keep
an eye on. I think with the idea that you know,
Taylor Kenny maybe leaning toward Louisville has forced Kentucky to
kind of shift their focus, and I think Darren Rippy
is the guy that they're very keen on. He's played
as well as anyone this spring and summer, and really,
(15:31):
you know, cemented his case as one of, if not
the top point guard in the twenty twenty six class,
and so wasn't surprised to see him reschedule his visit.
I think Kentucky getting the first visit, I think was
kind of a strong indication of the mutual interest on
both sides, and so he'll reschedule in October. I think
(15:53):
that's the weekend that Kentucky will host Purdue at Rupperena,
if I'm not mistaken, and so that'll be a an
excellent atmosphere for him to take part in.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
And you had a post at katspaus dot com about
the completion of the UK men's basketball schedule. I don't
think we need to spend a whole lot of time
on Nichols or Eastern Illinois or Valpariso, But the rest
of the schedule is pretty salty. What's your take on
the overall slate.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Yeah, I think it's kind of the way a lot
of college basketball is going. You're seeing more and more
of these marquee non conference matchups early in the season,
and Kentucky is certainly going to be tested early and often.
I think, you know, one thing to probably keep an
eye on is the timetable for Jaden Quaintan's and you
(16:44):
know how early he's able to come back and participate
in some of these marquee games and test himself against
the highest level of competition. But you know, I think
even if you take some dings in the non conference,
you know, if you're playing a strong non conference schedule,
I think it's going to pay dividends for you, especially
as the season goes along, and Kentucky will have no
(17:06):
shortage of tests in the SEC this seed as well.
I think there's you know, thirteen teams projected to make
the NCAA Tournament on the heels of fourteen the record
they set last year. So going to be a lot
of fun for Kentucky and extremely extremely tough schedule both
in and out of conference.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
That is Chris Fishercatspause dot Com and you can follow
on x at Chris Fishers two four seven. Chris, thank
you very much.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
All right, thanks.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
It is the Leads Report presented by Bob Canted Enterprises
for this Wednesday. Coming up, Mike de Coursey will join
the program. We'll talk a little bit about college basketball schedules,
maybe a little about the business side of how it's
going to look moving forward with collectives and ANIL and
all of that. Mike de Coursey from the Sporting News.
(18:00):
When we come right back on the Leech Report, It's
the Leach Report presented by bobcat Enterprises. Mike de Coursi
joining us from Sportingnews dot Com. On exit's at Ts
and Mike and the basketball season. You'll see them on
the Big Ten Network and doing the brackets for Fox
Sports college basketball coverage. A big story here yesterday Mike,
(18:21):
was the extension of a deal with the UK and
its multimedia rights partner. But the I think for fans
that probably the most interesting element is it brings the
what was the handled by an outside collective in house
with respect to NIL deals and this kind of sounds
(18:43):
like it operates now more like a professional sports model,
and is that do you think where most of college
athletics is going to head.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
I think that for the time being there it's prudent
to sort of figure out how to work this through
the university, because I do believe that there will be
a time fairly soon when the concept of old nil,
(19:15):
the NIL that was in place probably from twenty two
to twenty five, and that is in place for this
year for the almost almost every college athlete that would
ordinarily draw NIL. There may have been some that got
into this late and therefore weren't into the arena in
time to have beaten the house settlement, but almost everybody
(19:40):
it was because the house settlement was delayed so much
all the way up until the summer. I know a
lot of school's coaches, etc. Were hustling to get those
deals done by April because they thought that it was
going to be settled when they had a conference scheduled,
and then it got pushed down, delaid, and all of
(20:01):
a sudden, finally done. I think it was early July
if I remember correctly, so most everybody still has old
style NIL, as well as the revenue sharing that that's
permitted now under the Settlement guidelines. Next year will be
different and there and there's been a lot of consternation
about this, and and I think the the consternation is
(20:26):
not going to change because under the rules that the
House Settlement have established and that the bodies set up
to govern the House Settlement, uh, they it basically looks
like a lot of people will be taking significant pay cuts,
and I don't think that that will stand. So eventually,
(20:47):
I think it's all going to migrate inside the university
athletic departments, and so it's it's prudent to be ahead
of that without a doubt. It's it's whether or not
they ever become employees. We've talked about this before. There
are models where they don't have to become employees but
still can be paid and have perhaps collective bargaining agreements
(21:10):
within different structures. But I think eventually all of the
money is going to come through the university. So it's
I think it's sharp that Kentucky got this done, not
no surprise, given the fact that they have a very
bright administration that's always been proactive and ahead of the game.
I think it's smart to have a deal like.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
This there's still some of this is not just here,
but just all over college sports. We'll have to, no
doubt withstand some legal challenges. One would think it's at
some point depending on how restrictive they are or try
to be, would probably determine how how significant the lawsuit
(21:52):
component of it is. But there's just a lot of
you know, uncharted waters ahead for everybody in college sports,
isn't there?
Speaker 1 (22:00):
There are?
Speaker 4 (22:01):
And I think that one of the things that needs
to happen is that those who are involved on them,
let's call it the management side, whether it's the NCAA
itself or the universities, I think they need to get
proactive about trying to figure out how to collectively bargain
with the athletes, because that's how you keep the lawsuits out.
(22:23):
I mean, how do you think there are salary caps
systems in most of the major sports, or even the
restrictions that are on baseball players where there is no
salary cap you have to spend a half dozen years
in the league before you can be a free agent.
That's all collectively bargained, and that's why there aren't constant
lawsuits by guys unlike a Paul Schemes who's making eight
(22:44):
hundred and fifty thousand dollars because that's all the system
allows him to make. That's basically why is there not
a lawsuit? Well, because this is collectively bargained, and that's
how colleges get themselves out of this. Now, they don't want,
mostly they don't want to recognize the athletes as employees
(23:05):
because which ones are employees and which ones aren't? I
mean the football players, yeah, basketball, yeah, but what about
the archery people and the rifle people. How are they employees?
Nobody goes to well, or almost nobody goes to watch
their their competitions. They're not generating a lot of revenue,
and so are they, and so that's why they need
(23:25):
the colleges need to be more proactive in this area.
I understood for a long time why they were reluctant
about recognizing them as employees. But I've seen enough recently
from various bodies to suggest that you can you can
arrange collective bargaining here without having to do that, and
so I think the colleges need to move more quickly
(23:46):
in that direction than they have.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Chat with Mike coursisportingnews dot Com will take quick break
and come back and continue here in just a moment
on the Leaders Report, presented by Bob Kat Enterprises. It's
the Lead Report coming to you from the Clark's Pumpings
Op Studio. Return, refresh and refuel at Clark's. We're chatting
with Mike the Coursi. Let's shift gears to schedule in
Kentucky finished up their men's basketball schedule last week, so
(24:12):
waiting on times, but we know who all the games
will be against, and Kentucky at one point was regularly
participating in the Maui event. Years ago, there was something
called the Great Alaska Shootout that was a big deal
Kentucky participated in many times. There's the Thanksgiving event at
the Bahamas. I don't think Kentucky's ever been in that
(24:34):
one yet, But are some of those things gonna have
trouble surviving? Mike with against things like the nil theme
tournament around Thanksgiving out in Vegas that's expanded significantly this year. Yeah,
we saw, we saw.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
I actually covered two Great Alaska Shootouts unbelievably, but I
did one of one of my first ever college basketball
event as a beat writer was go going to Alaska
to cover the Duke Cane Dukes getting going zero to
three up there. But it was a great tournament. It
was a shame to see it go away, but people
(25:12):
wanted to go to more hospitable weather climates in November,
so the Bahamas popped up and replaced it, and of
course Maui became extraordinarily popular. I think Maui will always
have a place, but whatever's happening in Vegas, I still
don't totally understand how anybody's making money off of this,
(25:35):
because the crowds aren't that large for events like this
as you see it, Like in Maui, they've always gotten
by with twenty five hundred people. In the Bahamas, I
think it's usually been four thousand, and that's packing those places.
They play in bigger venues in Vegas, but they don't
get bigger crowds or much bigger crowds for a lot
(25:55):
of those games. And the television while it's and it's covered,
I don't think there's that much money in it either,
So I don't really understand the finances of that tournament.
But they're putting a lot of money into it, and
it's been hard for a lot of schools to say
(26:17):
no as a result, and so it is having an
impact on a lot of the other tournaments around the country.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
One aside on the Great Alaska Shootout. That's a great
tribute to something you already know, the passion of Kentucky fans.
Kentucky was playing up there one year and I was
not there here working on the pregame show, I think
and Ralph Hacker's doing an interview of the pregame show
with a Kentucky fan who was there for the games
(26:47):
and didn't like to fly, so he had driven up
from Pikeville. Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
That is incredible.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
Oh my gosh, oh wow.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
I mean I've been there.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
I've been the anchorage three times and it's a long
flinny let alone driving there.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
That's that's dedication.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
And if any fan base was going to produce such
a person, it wouldn't be surprising.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
That Kentucky would have that kind of dedication. No doubt,
Kentucky and Mark Pope have put together a challenging slate
for this season there. You know, I think the game
and the Marquee game in the preseason is probably going
to be the or the pre conference, I should say,
is going to be the Saint John's game right before
Christmas down in Atlanta with coach Pope going up against
(27:35):
coach Patino. But the Louisville game right out of the box,
right the game three for Kentucky. I'm not sure where
that whether it's first, second, or third for Louisville, but
that's going to be a you know, top ten caliber matchup.
It is.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
And I got a chance to watch the United States
U nineteen tournament and the young point guard uh they
they won the World Cup and the young point guard
for for Louisville is terrific. It's just a super talent.
And obviously I saw Jasper a ton in that Jasper
(28:11):
made probably the biggest shot of the entire US run
to the gold medal, hit a three when they were
playing Canada and struggling with Canada. I think it was
in the quarters. Uh And, and Jasper hit a huge shot,
a three pointer that I don't think he got enough
credit for. Uh it was it was such an important play,
(28:34):
uh And, and it showed what he was capable of doing.
So you've got you've got some really great young players,
some terrific transfer players, and and to go to put
that much rivalry that early in the season, uh, It's
not common to do that in college hoops, but it'll
(28:54):
be interesting to see how that plays out when it
played so early in the season.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
The one time was the opener, you know, when they
had the Dream game leading to the series that has
that started in I guess it would have been in
the latter part of eighty three the series started, and
Joe by Hall basically just wanted to get it over
with early, and Denny Crubb's teams were always you know, developing,
(29:19):
and uh, he wanted it as late as possible. And
so U Joe won the battle, I guess in the
first year because it was right out right off the
bat as the uh the opener, and so they played
the Kentucky played the Dream Game and then their next
game was against Louisville next official game.
Speaker 4 (29:39):
It was fascinating to see that they've decided to play
as challenging a schedule as they have with the Cardinals
in Michigan State, Carolina, Gonsaga, Indiana, and Saint John's all
in pre conference. When you're coming out of a season
where almost all of your conference games were against NCAA
tournament teams. Yeah, very interesting that that Mark decide to
(30:00):
take that route through this season. It's a clear indication
he believes in this team and what it's capable of accomplishing.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
And you know, one would think takes a lot of
quality depth to do that, and he certainly seems to
have that. You know, I think if you're talking about minutes,
you'd think o Way would get the most, and probably
Jalen Low the next most. I'm guessing since he's your
point guard. And after that, it's going to be interesting
to see how they're divvied up.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
Yeah, and I think some of that's gonna be by
how guy all of it, really, but it's how guys
earn it and how they earn it, not just by
their work in practice, but also earning it by defending
intelligently and staying in games, not getting into foul trouble,
that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
They have the luxury in.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
The front court of enough depth that they can beat
They can play really aggressively in contesting shots and making
you feel like you don't want to come down the lane.
With two shot blockers like Jaden and Brandon Garrison, They've
got a lot of depth there. They can they can
tell those guys to be aggressive, but you have to
(31:11):
still be intelligently aggressive, because if you get into foul trouble,
then you limit your own minutes and then the other
player has to carry a heavier load. So a lot
of that will be about playing intelligently and that will
that will decide a lot of how the minutes get
to divide it.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Mike of Coursey joins US Twins stay here on the
Leach Report. You can read him at Sportingnews dot com
and follow on x at ts and Mike. Thank you sir,
Thanks Tom. It is the Leech Report. We're presented by
Bob kat Enterprises, Gotta come back talk a little Kentucky
football and the interview that I listened it on yesterday
(31:52):
with running back Jason Patterson, so we'll have some of
his comments. He played apparently really well on the scrimmage
last Saturday at the back position, got a lot of
touches and made the most of it. So we'll hear
from JP when we come back. Stext away from the
top of the hour on Wednesday edition of the Leach Report.
Jason Patterson got a lot of work apparently in the
(32:13):
scrimmage last Saturday at running back because there was not
dal Dell and McGowan didn't get many touches, they held
them for the most part out, according to post scrimmage reports.
So yesterday, as listened in as John Hale, the Herald
Leader talked with Jason Patterson about how he's handled two
(32:37):
transfers coming in to have to battle for playing time personally.
Speaker 5 (32:43):
You know, this this is a job that you know
that I got to do. I feel like doubt that nobody.
That's how it is in the National Football League. So
you know, I appreciate them guys coming in. We both
give each other's point of each and every day and
we just go to work cope against each other, you know,
And that's what we're trying to do. Be the best
one of that group in the nation.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
How much you guys know too, Like at running back,
you're gonna take a physical toll. They're gonna be probably
all you guys at some point this year.
Speaker 5 (33:07):
And then having group, having that group guy Dante, you know,
a very down here guy. I mean, you know, I
know what Jamorrow Young can do add himself, you know.
So I feel like us four that there, it's gonna
be trouble this year.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
How do you feel like the offensive line played Saturday
running behind us very consistent.
Speaker 5 (33:23):
You know that's the big thing. Coach thus is just
stressing us. It's about being consistent. And I feel like
office I was very consistent throughout the whole day, knowing
who they got, you know, and how it was bought up.
It was very consistent.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
It looks looked the same.
Speaker 5 (33:35):
I was just hinting fans be surprised about this offense. Uh,
just about the I feel like the sposal that we're
gonna come with. Last year it was a stat that
I guess Kentucky had with the lowest UH in the
supposed to have plays last year. So I feel like
that's gonna be a big turn around this year. You know,
we want to get top ten, but even hard hiring,
I say top five. So I feel like the supposed
(33:56):
to that the offense is gonna have is gonna be
diffinitely shot to the fans A.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
Little Shorty situations were a real struggle for you guys
last year. What's the key in getting those third and shorts,
fourth and shorts when whateverbody knows you're gonna run probably
out there.
Speaker 5 (34:07):
Uh, start with the mindset, mindset to go get it
U part level and just having the heart and determination
to know everybody and everybody in the fans, the coaches,
just every defense, no can to run the ball, and
we still gonna get it. So it's just really having
that mindset to know like nobody can stop.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Us on whatever play. Coach Busch started to call than,
what did you do to get ready for this year? Uh?
Speaker 5 (34:28):
Personally, Uh, it wasn't anything particular.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (34:31):
I just focused on a lot of myself, you know,
focus a lot of against stronger, big, bigger, stronger and faster,
and just mentally, uh, locking in on what I gotta
do to take that next step.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Can you put into words what you feels different about
the whole operation this year versus a year ago?
Speaker 5 (34:51):
What's different? I feel like, Uh, the game is started
to come a little slower for me. I'm starting to see, uh,
how it's supposed to look, how it's supposed to be developed.
I'm seeing how the offense comes started to come together.
I feel that last year we didn't really come together
until it was almost too late, you know, So I'm
seeing how everything started to play out. So I feel
like we get a lot of commodity and chemistry going
(35:12):
to go along you guys.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
As an offense, there's so many new faces that are
going to be in the mix. Has it clicked really
like you wanted to at this point? I think so.
Speaker 5 (35:22):
We had a couple of guys out last last week,
we had a couple of guys out, so we had
a that's a new guys step up and we've seen that.
We got a live ball players on around the field,
and that's gonna just build competition and just make everybody
else elevate.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
They play Jason Patterson running back and maybe one to
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DeMarcus Cousins celebrating a birthday today at Christy Thomas from
our UK Sports Network pregame show team. And it was
(36:42):
on this day of twenty ten that Anthony Davis committed.
So a pretty good day for Kentucky men's basketball. Those
notes presented by Kentucky Roadshows, Sports Cards and Memorabilia here
in Lexington and at roadshowcards dot Com. See you tomorrow
on the Lake Report
Good day.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Everybody, welcome in. It is the Leads Report for a Wednesday,
August the thirteenth is we are presented once again by
Bobcat Enterprises. Coming up on the show today, Chris Fisher
will join us from Katzpause dot Com. We'll talk to
Kentucky football and basketball, and then Mike de Corsi from
the Sporting News in the second half of the show.
(00:22):
Wild Cat News of the Day that is a service
of Juseppes of Lexington. Big story yesterday for UK Athletics
came off the field. The board for the LLC that
now oversees Athletics at UK approved a new deal with
the multimedia rights partner JMI Sports. Estimated value of the
deal four hundred and sixty five million running through twenty forty.
(00:47):
UK will bring negotiating nil deals in house with JMI
in charge of that. As collectives And is this initially
unfolded in the college sports space was handled by collectives
and schools were not allowed to be a part of it,
and now it is all changing as part of the
(01:11):
revenue sharing that's going on now in college sports and
all of this that the operations that collectives did, I'm
not sure we'll talk a little bit of this. Mike,
of course, he might have some insight on this. Is
it's going to be the way? Will everybody bring it
in house? Will some people still have a third party
doing this and kind of be they contract the athletic department.
(01:33):
I don't know, we'll see, but think of one element
of this. Think of nil deals that you see in
pro sports. One I remember was a few years ago
IoT Dak Prescott did, and he would be dressed in blue,
but there were no Cowboys logos. So there will be
certain things that players would still be able to work
(01:54):
outside the school's negotiating partner for nil deals do something
on their own, but they wouldn't be able to use
the trademarks of the university, like is the case again
in professional sports. So but there is an advantage obviously
to being able to be in you know, the team gear,
(02:16):
and for that there's a will be a way to
make that happen, but it'll have to all be negotiated
and then it all has to get approved through the
new NCAA's clearinghouse. So it's a lot of things that
business wise that sports fans don't usually enjoy talking about.
Nearly as much as games. But the nil part of
(02:38):
this is something that always anytime I've talked to groups
of UK fans or it is something that fans are
really interested in, it comes up a lot. So we'll
maybe get into a little bit with this of this
with Mike the course when he joins us later on.
A couple of notes from UK football. First of all,
the two coordinators both did a media session yesterday to
(03:01):
give their thoughts on the scrimmage, the first of the
two scrimmages last Saturday. One of the things coach Doups
talked about after the scrimmage was their focus on getting
better in short yardage situations, something where Kentucky did not
fare as well as they wanted last season. Bush Hampden,
the offensive coordinator now in his second year, talked about
(03:23):
that with the media yesterday.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
A lot for us was just beating ourselves, you know,
things of whether it was cadence related, you know, obviously schematically,
I think the biggest thing is just right now is
how we can have less concepts and do them more
over and over again. So guys feel extremely comfortable because,
as you guys know, you take one run play, you
take three or four different fronts and that one run
(03:47):
play can feel a lot, you know, it can feel
like a lot of adjustments. And so for us really
holding into that scheme in year two, trying to simplify
it and again making it about the fundamentals and execution.
Speaker 2 (03:59):
And Coach Hamid and talked about the wide receiver group
and the competition for snaps out of that group, how
they're still looking for players to help separate themselves. So
for that position group, I would say this next scrimmage
will be big for guys to not only make you know,
(04:21):
big plays, but to be consistent with no drops and
run good routes and blockwell and all of those things
that will give guys a chance to move up or
down the depth chart. For Brad White's side, he talked
about the need to tackle better than they did in
the first scrimmage, but players talked about that and interviews
(04:43):
I saw after Saturday scrimmage as well. Some of it
comes with the layoff and the first time doing the
a lot of tackling over the course of an entire
scrimmage that it should be significantly better this week. It'll
be one thing to listen for in the post scrimmage
interviews coming up on Saturday. Links to the stories that
(05:03):
we talk about. You can find those on the bud
Light Leach Report page of Tom Leachky dot com. Chris
Fisher is going to join us from caatzpause dot com
when we come right back our opening segments presented by
Giseeppes of Lexington. They're located off Nicholasville Road, just past
Manor war Of Boulevard here at Lexington. And get to
open table right now and make a reservation for the
(05:24):
next special night out for you and your family or
friends at Giuseppes. Maybe build it around a UK football
game or a day at Keenland, which, believe it or not,
it's not that far away, so you can go ahead
and plan. You know, if you've got your day planned
at Keeland when you're going well, cap it off with
dinner at Giuseppes. Make the reservations today at open Table.
(05:44):
We'll be right back quarter past the top of the
hour here on the Leach Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises.
Joining us is Chris Fisher from katzpaus dot com. This
we'll start with a story that you did yesterday for
the site about the new extension or the new but
the extension of the partnership that's been in place for
(06:06):
ten years between Kentucky and JMI Sports, And it's a
very lucrative deal that will run through twenty forty and
there's a lot of business elements to it. But I
think from a fans standpoint, one of the key parts
is that this is taking the collective Club Blue used
to operate in that space. Now the collective comes in
(06:27):
house for UK and in IL negotiations will be handled
by JMI, and it just kind of feels like this
is more toward a pro sports model. Would that be correct?
Speaker 1 (06:42):
Yeah, I would imagine.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
So.
Speaker 1 (06:44):
I'm sure there are other people that can speak way
more eloquently on this than I could. But you know,
it seems like a lot of fans criticized Mitch Barnhardt
for a long time for kind of being behind the curve,
especially in terms of INIL, but now it seems like
he's way ahead of the curve and in some of
(07:04):
the how he's structuring UK Athletics, first with kind of
the the LLC model and now with you know, the
long term you know, what amounts a historic multimedia rights
deal and kind of keeping everything like you mentioned, kind
of in house and kind of under one umbrella. So
(07:25):
it'll be interesting to see how that all plays out
and whether other schools follow suit with that. I know
Mitch Barnhardt earned a lot of praise by going with
the LLC model and you know, being one of the
first to do it, and how other schools were likely
to follow. It'll be interesting to see if if other
schools follow suit here as well.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Yeah, I mean, this is a lot of uncharted territory
for colleges and you know athletic departments administrators. As you know,
these the rules have changed now you've got the revenue
sharing component to it, and I has to get approved
through the NCAA and yeah, some of this may have
to withstand legal challenges too that could affect it.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Yeah, it's it seems like there's something new that coaches, ads, administrators,
presidents have to deal with every single day. It seems
like it's an ever evolving landscape and you have to
kind of stay stay in front of this stuff, and
that's it seems like that's what Mitch Barnhart is doing.
(08:30):
It seems like he's been very proactive with all of
this stuff, and there was a time where a lot
of people thought he was way too reactive to some
of the changing landscape in collegiate athletics. So it seems
like Mitch Barnhardt is certainly embracing the future of all
this stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Shift, gears and tough Kentucky football. Chris Fisher with us
from katzpause dot com, your colleague Cole Park had an
interesting post yesterday. It was so much talk about all
the newcomers, about fifty of them for this Kentucky ball team,
that he took a look at returning players who could
make a big jump in twenty twenty five. And as
(09:09):
I said, you know yesterday, to think about that a
little bit. So who are the ones who would be
on your list?
Speaker 1 (09:15):
All right? So I came up with three. Number one.
I'm going with Jamoori Macklin. I think he might be
a little bit of an obvious choice, But you know,
it's kind of heartbreaking seeing him last season and the
way he was. It felt like he was underutilized simply
because you know, guys like Barry and Brown and dan
Key ate up so many of the targets. He just
(09:37):
didn't quite get enough balls thrown his way. But when
things kind of flipped late in the season, we saw
kind of what he was able to do. Had a
couple of big, big receiving games, So I'm expecting him
to take a big step forward for Kentucky. I think
it was huge they were able to convince him to return,
and I would be surprised if he's not wide receiver
(09:59):
one for Kentucky this season. Number two, I'm gonna go
Willie Rodriguez. I think at the tight end position. I think,
you know, even as a true freshman, I think a
couple of times last season he provided a glimpse into
the crystal ball with some special plays that he was
(10:19):
able to make. And there was one clip from practice
where he was able to go up and high point
a ball down the field and come down with it.
And so his receiving ability, his running ability, combined with
his blocking ability, i think it's going to be hard
to keep him off off the field this season. And
then for my third pick, I'll go on the defensive,
(10:40):
defensive side of the ball, and I'll go with DJ Waller.
The transfer from Michigan. Yeah, he was in line for
a starting spot at Michigan before he transferred to Kentucky.
I think after last season kind of you know, getting
his feed underneath him. I think he battled some some
kind of nagging injuries. You have the safety position that
(11:00):
you know, it's kind of more solidified with guys that
have played a lot of football Jordan Loved and Ty Bryant,
But at the cornerback position, I think it's a little
bit more wide open with some younger guys that haven't
quite played as much football, and so I think DJ
Waller is one of the prime candidates to take a
step up there.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
I'm doing a daily segment now on l e X
mostly on u K Sports each day, and I talked
about this last night. I put four names on my
list and Waller was one of them. We intersect there
because he's a guy that there's two guys that have
on one guy on each side of the ball that
maybe has generated the most buzz SETH McGowan's the one
(11:40):
I hear the most about on the offensive side and
Waller on the defensive side, for how well he's performed
in the lead up to this training camp that's underway,
and how consistent he's been and Stoops loves those long corners,
and so if with Waller and Hardaway, he could have
one on each side. I put Alex Safari on the
(12:01):
list just because he's a guy that maybe seems to
have found a home at inside linebacker because they've moved
him around to different positions and he would always flash
and make some big plays. But now he seems to
be in a spot where he can stay on the
field for a long time, and I think it's a
good chance he could. He probably could be their leading tackler.
(12:24):
Usually it is set up for a linebacker to be that.
On the offensive side, I went with a wide receiver.
I went with Gilmour just I saw that catch he
made in the scrimmage last Saturday, the one handed grab
that they put out on the highlights, and I think
he's a guy that can make those kinds of catches.
He's a very dynamic talent. Now the challenge for Hardly
(12:44):
is to be consistent, and if he can, he could
be a big play guy. But I seriously considered Macklin
for my list and Rodriguez, but the other one I
ended up with was Jagger Burton, just because so much
focus on how much they need the offensive line to improve,
and he could be a big part of that. Kind
of and you know, the the last year factor of
(13:08):
knowing that he needs to prove himself to have a
shot at the NFL and thinking that he could maybe
have a maybe his best year at this new position,
and if he does, that would be a big plus
for Kentucky football. So those are the lists for for Chris.
And I'm sure you guys have your own that you're
thinking about as far as the returning players who could
(13:28):
make a move. You know, Ty Bryant's one that you
know could is a returning player. That's a key part
of it. I just kind of I didn't use him
because I think he was has already shown himself to be.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
He's already football.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, yeah, So I didn't put him on the list
for you as just as an example. For that reason,
Quick Break will come back more and more of Chris
Fisher when we return. It is the least report presented
by bobcat Enterprises for locations around Kentucky. For Bob Katy,
if you need to buy a rent heavy equipment, that's
who you need to call. Google him. You'll find the
one that's closed to you when you need tractors or
(14:02):
Bobcats or forklifts or excavators or something like that. Maybe
a new zero turn more for your home lawn. Maybe
get a good deal towards the end of the summer.
Check it all out at Bob Cat Enterprises. We'll be
right back. Litropote comes to each day from the Clark's
Pumping Shop studio, Return, refresh and refuel at Clark's Chris
Fisher's with us Katzpause dot Com. I see a report
(14:23):
from twenty four to seven Sports that Darren Rippy Junior
has rescheduled his official visit coming in for the first
weekend of October. And this was the one that had
to be rescheduled because there was some bad weather in
New York and he couldn't get out to make the trip.
There's a lot of visits that are going to be
(14:44):
very important that'll take place in October for Kentucky men's basketball.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
Right Yeah. I think this is the time where things
are really starting to come into focus for Kentucky's twenty
twenty six class. You have guys cutting their lists and
scheduling official visits, and it seems like Kentucky is in
the mix for a number of elite prospects. I think
they'll host at least a dozen official visits this fall,
(15:09):
and Darren Rippy is one certainly that I would keep
an eye on. I think with the idea that you know,
Taylor Kenny maybe leaning toward Louisville has forced Kentucky to
kind of shift their focus, and I think Darren Rippy
is the guy that they're very keen on. He's played
as well as anyone this spring and summer, and really,
(15:31):
you know, cemented his case as one of, if not
the top point guard in the twenty twenty six class,
and so wasn't surprised to see him reschedule his visit.
I think Kentucky getting the first visit, I think was
kind of a strong indication of the mutual interest on
both sides, and so he'll reschedule in October. I think
(15:53):
that's the weekend that Kentucky will host Purdue at Rupperena,
if I'm not mistaken, and so that'll be a an
excellent atmosphere for him to take part in.
Speaker 2 (16:03):
And you had a post at katspaus dot com about
the completion of the UK men's basketball schedule. I don't
think we need to spend a whole lot of time
on Nichols or Eastern Illinois or Valpariso, But the rest
of the schedule is pretty salty. What's your take on
the overall slate.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Yeah, I think it's kind of the way a lot
of college basketball is going. You're seeing more and more
of these marquee non conference matchups early in the season,
and Kentucky is certainly going to be tested early and often.
I think, you know, one thing to probably keep an
eye on is the timetable for Jaden Quaintan's and you
(16:44):
know how early he's able to come back and participate
in some of these marquee games and test himself against
the highest level of competition. But you know, I think
even if you take some dings in the non conference,
you know, if you're playing a strong non conference schedule,
I think it's going to pay dividends for you, especially
as the season goes along, and Kentucky will have no
(17:06):
shortage of tests in the SEC this seed as well.
I think there's you know, thirteen teams projected to make
the NCAA Tournament on the heels of fourteen the record
they set last year. So going to be a lot
of fun for Kentucky and extremely extremely tough schedule both
in and out of conference.
Speaker 2 (17:28):
That is Chris Fishercatspause dot Com and you can follow
on x at Chris Fishers two four seven. Chris, thank
you very much.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
All right, thanks.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
It is the Leads Report presented by Bob Canted Enterprises
for this Wednesday. Coming up, Mike de Coursey will join
the program. We'll talk a little bit about college basketball schedules,
maybe a little about the business side of how it's
going to look moving forward with collectives and ANIL and
all of that. Mike de Coursey from the Sporting News.
(18:00):
When we come right back on the Leech Report, It's
the Leach Report presented by bobcat Enterprises. Mike de Coursi
joining us from Sportingnews dot Com. On exit's at Ts
and Mike and the basketball season. You'll see them on
the Big Ten Network and doing the brackets for Fox
Sports college basketball coverage. A big story here yesterday Mike,
(18:21):
was the extension of a deal with the UK and
its multimedia rights partner. But the I think for fans
that probably the most interesting element is it brings the
what was the handled by an outside collective in house
with respect to NIL deals and this kind of sounds
(18:43):
like it operates now more like a professional sports model,
and is that do you think where most of college
athletics is going to head.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
I think that for the time being there it's prudent
to sort of figure out how to work this through
the university, because I do believe that there will be
a time fairly soon when the concept of old nil,
(19:15):
the NIL that was in place probably from twenty two
to twenty five, and that is in place for this
year for the almost almost every college athlete that would
ordinarily draw NIL. There may have been some that got
into this late and therefore weren't into the arena in
time to have beaten the house settlement, but almost everybody
(19:40):
it was because the house settlement was delayed so much
all the way up until the summer. I know a
lot of school's coaches, etc. Were hustling to get those
deals done by April because they thought that it was
going to be settled when they had a conference scheduled,
and then it got pushed down, delaid, and all of
(20:01):
a sudden, finally done. I think it was early July
if I remember correctly, so most everybody still has old
style NIL, as well as the revenue sharing that that's
permitted now under the Settlement guidelines. Next year will be
different and there and there's been a lot of consternation
about this, and and I think the the consternation is
(20:26):
not going to change because under the rules that the
House Settlement have established and that the bodies set up
to govern the House Settlement, uh, they it basically looks
like a lot of people will be taking significant pay cuts,
and I don't think that that will stand. So eventually,
(20:47):
I think it's all going to migrate inside the university
athletic departments, and so it's it's prudent to be ahead
of that without a doubt. It's it's whether or not
they ever become employees. We've talked about this before. There
are models where they don't have to become employees but
still can be paid and have perhaps collective bargaining agreements
(21:10):
within different structures. But I think eventually all of the
money is going to come through the university. So it's
I think it's sharp that Kentucky got this done, not
no surprise, given the fact that they have a very
bright administration that's always been proactive and ahead of the game.
I think it's smart to have a deal like.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
This there's still some of this is not just here,
but just all over college sports. We'll have to, no
doubt withstand some legal challenges. One would think it's at
some point depending on how restrictive they are or try
to be, would probably determine how how significant the lawsuit
(21:52):
component of it is. But there's just a lot of
you know, uncharted waters ahead for everybody in college sports,
isn't there?
Speaker 1 (22:00):
There are?
Speaker 4 (22:01):
And I think that one of the things that needs
to happen is that those who are involved on them,
let's call it the management side, whether it's the NCAA
itself or the universities, I think they need to get
proactive about trying to figure out how to collectively bargain
with the athletes, because that's how you keep the lawsuits out.
(22:23):
I mean, how do you think there are salary caps
systems in most of the major sports, or even the
restrictions that are on baseball players where there is no
salary cap you have to spend a half dozen years
in the league before you can be a free agent.
That's all collectively bargained, and that's why there aren't constant
lawsuits by guys unlike a Paul Schemes who's making eight
(22:44):
hundred and fifty thousand dollars because that's all the system
allows him to make. That's basically why is there not
a lawsuit? Well, because this is collectively bargained, and that's
how colleges get themselves out of this. Now, they don't want,
mostly they don't want to recognize the athletes as employees
(23:05):
because which ones are employees and which ones aren't? I
mean the football players, yeah, basketball, yeah, but what about
the archery people and the rifle people. How are they employees?
Nobody goes to well, or almost nobody goes to watch
their their competitions. They're not generating a lot of revenue,
and so are they, and so that's why they need
(23:25):
the colleges need to be more proactive in this area.
I understood for a long time why they were reluctant
about recognizing them as employees. But I've seen enough recently
from various bodies to suggest that you can you can
arrange collective bargaining here without having to do that, and
so I think the colleges need to move more quickly
(23:46):
in that direction than they have.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Chat with Mike coursisportingnews dot Com will take quick break
and come back and continue here in just a moment
on the Leaders Report, presented by Bob Kat Enterprises. It's
the Lead Report coming to you from the Clark's Pumpings
Op Studio. Return, refresh and refuel at Clark's. We're chatting
with Mike the Coursi. Let's shift gears to schedule in
Kentucky finished up their men's basketball schedule last week, so
(24:12):
waiting on times, but we know who all the games
will be against, and Kentucky at one point was regularly
participating in the Maui event. Years ago, there was something
called the Great Alaska Shootout that was a big deal
Kentucky participated in many times. There's the Thanksgiving event at
the Bahamas. I don't think Kentucky's ever been in that
(24:34):
one yet, But are some of those things gonna have
trouble surviving? Mike with against things like the nil theme
tournament around Thanksgiving out in Vegas that's expanded significantly this year. Yeah,
we saw, we saw.
Speaker 4 (24:50):
I actually covered two Great Alaska Shootouts unbelievably, but I
did one of one of my first ever college basketball
event as a beat writer was go going to Alaska
to cover the Duke Cane Dukes getting going zero to
three up there. But it was a great tournament. It
was a shame to see it go away, but people
(25:12):
wanted to go to more hospitable weather climates in November,
so the Bahamas popped up and replaced it, and of
course Maui became extraordinarily popular. I think Maui will always
have a place, but whatever's happening in Vegas, I still
don't totally understand how anybody's making money off of this,
(25:35):
because the crowds aren't that large for events like this
as you see it, Like in Maui, they've always gotten
by with twenty five hundred people. In the Bahamas, I
think it's usually been four thousand, and that's packing those places.
They play in bigger venues in Vegas, but they don't
get bigger crowds or much bigger crowds for a lot
(25:55):
of those games. And the television while it's and it's covered,
I don't think there's that much money in it either,
So I don't really understand the finances of that tournament.
But they're putting a lot of money into it, and
it's been hard for a lot of schools to say
(26:17):
no as a result, and so it is having an
impact on a lot of the other tournaments around the country.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
One aside on the Great Alaska Shootout. That's a great
tribute to something you already know, the passion of Kentucky fans.
Kentucky was playing up there one year and I was
not there here working on the pregame show, I think
and Ralph Hacker's doing an interview of the pregame show
with a Kentucky fan who was there for the games
(26:47):
and didn't like to fly, so he had driven up
from Pikeville. Oh my goodness.
Speaker 1 (26:54):
That is incredible.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
Oh my gosh, oh wow.
Speaker 2 (27:00):
I mean I've been there.
Speaker 4 (27:00):
I've been the anchorage three times and it's a long
flinny let alone driving there.
Speaker 2 (27:06):
That's that's dedication.
Speaker 4 (27:08):
And if any fan base was going to produce such
a person, it wouldn't be surprising.
Speaker 2 (27:12):
That Kentucky would have that kind of dedication. No doubt,
Kentucky and Mark Pope have put together a challenging slate
for this season there. You know, I think the game
and the Marquee game in the preseason is probably going
to be the or the pre conference, I should say,
is going to be the Saint John's game right before
Christmas down in Atlanta with coach Pope going up against
(27:35):
coach Patino. But the Louisville game right out of the box,
right the game three for Kentucky. I'm not sure where
that whether it's first, second, or third for Louisville, but
that's going to be a you know, top ten caliber matchup.
It is.
Speaker 4 (27:51):
And I got a chance to watch the United States
U nineteen tournament and the young point guard uh they
they won the World Cup and the young point guard
for for Louisville is terrific. It's just a super talent.
And obviously I saw Jasper a ton in that Jasper
(28:11):
made probably the biggest shot of the entire US run
to the gold medal, hit a three when they were
playing Canada and struggling with Canada. I think it was
in the quarters. Uh And, and Jasper hit a huge shot,
a three pointer that I don't think he got enough
credit for. Uh it was it was such an important play,
(28:34):
uh And, and it showed what he was capable of doing.
So you've got you've got some really great young players,
some terrific transfer players, and and to go to put
that much rivalry that early in the season, uh, It's
not common to do that in college hoops, but it'll
(28:54):
be interesting to see how that plays out when it
played so early in the season.
Speaker 2 (28:59):
The one time was the opener, you know, when they
had the Dream game leading to the series that has
that started in I guess it would have been in
the latter part of eighty three the series started, and
Joe by Hall basically just wanted to get it over
with early, and Denny Crubb's teams were always you know, developing,
(29:19):
and uh, he wanted it as late as possible. And
so U Joe won the battle, I guess in the
first year because it was right out right off the
bat as the uh the opener, and so they played
the Kentucky played the Dream Game and then their next
game was against Louisville next official game.
Speaker 4 (29:39):
It was fascinating to see that they've decided to play
as challenging a schedule as they have with the Cardinals
in Michigan State, Carolina, Gonsaga, Indiana, and Saint John's all
in pre conference. When you're coming out of a season
where almost all of your conference games were against NCAA
tournament teams. Yeah, very interesting that that Mark decide to
(30:00):
take that route through this season. It's a clear indication
he believes in this team and what it's capable of accomplishing.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
And you know, one would think takes a lot of
quality depth to do that, and he certainly seems to
have that. You know, I think if you're talking about minutes,
you'd think o Way would get the most, and probably
Jalen Low the next most. I'm guessing since he's your
point guard. And after that, it's going to be interesting
to see how they're divvied up.
Speaker 4 (30:30):
Yeah, and I think some of that's gonna be by
how guy all of it, really, but it's how guys
earn it and how they earn it, not just by
their work in practice, but also earning it by defending
intelligently and staying in games, not getting into foul trouble,
that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (30:50):
They have the luxury in.
Speaker 4 (30:51):
The front court of enough depth that they can beat
They can play really aggressively in contesting shots and making
you feel like you don't want to come down the lane.
With two shot blockers like Jaden and Brandon Garrison, They've
got a lot of depth there. They can they can
tell those guys to be aggressive, but you have to
(31:11):
still be intelligently aggressive, because if you get into foul trouble,
then you limit your own minutes and then the other
player has to carry a heavier load. So a lot
of that will be about playing intelligently and that will
that will decide a lot of how the minutes get
to divide it.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
Mike of Coursey joins US Twins stay here on the
Leach Report. You can read him at Sportingnews dot com
and follow on x at ts and Mike. Thank you sir,
Thanks Tom. It is the Leech Report. We're presented by
Bob kat Enterprises, Gotta come back talk a little Kentucky
football and the interview that I listened it on yesterday
(31:52):
with running back Jason Patterson, so we'll have some of
his comments. He played apparently really well on the scrimmage
last Saturday at the back position, got a lot of
touches and made the most of it. So we'll hear
from JP when we come back. Stext away from the
top of the hour on Wednesday edition of the Leach Report.
Jason Patterson got a lot of work apparently in the
(32:13):
scrimmage last Saturday at running back because there was not
dal Dell and McGowan didn't get many touches, they held
them for the most part out, according to post scrimmage reports.
So yesterday, as listened in as John Hale, the Herald
Leader talked with Jason Patterson about how he's handled two
(32:37):
transfers coming in to have to battle for playing time personally.
Speaker 5 (32:43):
You know, this this is a job that you know
that I got to do. I feel like doubt that nobody.
That's how it is in the National Football League. So
you know, I appreciate them guys coming in. We both
give each other's point of each and every day and
we just go to work cope against each other, you know,
And that's what we're trying to do. Be the best
one of that group in the nation.
Speaker 1 (33:01):
How much you guys know too, Like at running back,
you're gonna take a physical toll. They're gonna be probably
all you guys at some point this year.
Speaker 5 (33:07):
And then having group, having that group guy Dante, you know,
a very down here guy. I mean, you know, I
know what Jamorrow Young can do add himself, you know.
So I feel like us four that there, it's gonna
be trouble this year.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
How do you feel like the offensive line played Saturday
running behind us very consistent.
Speaker 5 (33:23):
You know that's the big thing. Coach thus is just
stressing us. It's about being consistent. And I feel like
office I was very consistent throughout the whole day, knowing
who they got, you know, and how it was bought up.
It was very consistent.
Speaker 2 (33:34):
It looks looked the same.
Speaker 5 (33:35):
I was just hinting fans be surprised about this offense. Uh,
just about the I feel like the sposal that we're
gonna come with. Last year it was a stat that
I guess Kentucky had with the lowest UH in the
supposed to have plays last year. So I feel like
that's gonna be a big turn around this year. You know,
we want to get top ten, but even hard hiring,
I say top five. So I feel like the supposed
(33:56):
to that the offense is gonna have is gonna be
diffinitely shot to the fans A.
Speaker 1 (33:59):
Little Shorty situations were a real struggle for you guys
last year. What's the key in getting those third and shorts,
fourth and shorts when whateverbody knows you're gonna run probably
out there.
Speaker 5 (34:07):
Uh, start with the mindset, mindset to go get it
U part level and just having the heart and determination
to know everybody and everybody in the fans, the coaches,
just every defense, no can to run the ball, and
we still gonna get it. So it's just really having
that mindset to know like nobody can stop.
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Us on whatever play. Coach Busch started to call than,
what did you do to get ready for this year? Uh?
Speaker 5 (34:28):
Personally, Uh, it wasn't anything particular.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (34:31):
I just focused on a lot of myself, you know,
focus a lot of against stronger, big, bigger, stronger and faster,
and just mentally, uh, locking in on what I gotta
do to take that next step.
Speaker 2 (34:43):
Can you put into words what you feels different about
the whole operation this year versus a year ago?
Speaker 5 (34:51):
What's different? I feel like, Uh, the game is started
to come a little slower for me. I'm starting to see, uh,
how it's supposed to look, how it's supposed to be developed.
I'm seeing how the offense comes started to come together.
I feel that last year we didn't really come together
until it was almost too late, you know, So I'm
seeing how everything started to play out. So I feel
like we get a lot of commodity and chemistry going
(35:12):
to go along you guys.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
As an offense, there's so many new faces that are
going to be in the mix. Has it clicked really
like you wanted to at this point? I think so.
Speaker 5 (35:22):
We had a couple of guys out last last week,
we had a couple of guys out, so we had
a that's a new guys step up and we've seen that.
We got a live ball players on around the field,
and that's gonna just build competition and just make everybody
else elevate.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
They play Jason Patterson running back and maybe one to
keep an eye on, corn Brad Hemp has something you
need to keep an eye on. It is a new
flavor for their infused gummies and it is cherry Lime
chill sweet Tart Bursting with Flavor. Go to cornbreadhimp dot
com you check it out. If you're a first time
(35:58):
customer at corn breadhamp put it in the code Tom
at checkout you'll get an extra twenty percent off. Now,
these aren't just any gummies. Their USDA organic flower only
permanently dosed to give you a balanced relief and relaxation
without feeling overwhelmed or like you can't get off the couch.
And they're made right here in Kentucky with Kentucky grown
(36:20):
hemp cornbradhamp dot com. Check out Cherry Lime chill infused
gummies stay a wild Cat History. Happy birthday UK defensive
coordinator Brad White. Also former Kentucky linebacker Don take Key,
DeMarcus Cousins celebrating a birthday today at Christy Thomas from
our UK Sports Network pregame show team. And it was
(36:42):
on this day of twenty ten that Anthony Davis committed.
So a pretty good day for Kentucky men's basketball. Those
notes presented by Kentucky Roadshows, Sports Cards and Memorabilia here
in Lexington and at roadshowcards dot Com. See you tomorrow
on the Lake Report
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