2025-10-02 - LEACH REPORT

Tom talks with Mike DeCourcy, Jack Givens and more.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Good day.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Everybody, welcome in. It is the Leads Report, presented my
Bob gat Enterprises, and we are one day away from
the start of the Fall Meet at Keeland and two
days away from a monumental road challenge for the Kentucky
football team down at Georgia, and we'll talk about some
of those things today. We'll talk some Kentucky basketball. Good
bit of that too with the Goose, Jack Givens, who's

(00:24):
always with us on Thursdays. Well, change in the lineup.
Mike de Corsi could not do yesterday's show as usual,
so we moved Mike to today and Justin Rowland's going to
be with us tomorrow. We will lead off and talk
a little bit about the Kielan Fall Meet with the
new director of Communications, Gaddy Grdett. So that is the
guest lineup today. Wildcat News of the Day is always

(00:47):
the service of Juseppes of Lexington, and we'll start with
the availability report for the Wildcats and Georgia. And for
the Wildcat's probably the biggest news is that Zach Calzada's
upgraded to problem, so one would think he would be
available as an option as if he's listed as probable

(01:08):
should Cutter Bowley get injured or get knocked out for
a play or something in the game on Saturday. Questionable
DJ Waller. That's an improvement from doubtful last week, so
maybe we'll see him on the field soon. And then
two other cornerbacks are listed is out Jaden Smith and
the seer Addison, So that is a hit on depth

(01:31):
at that position for Kentucky and the corner in the
nickel because Smith had been playing some nickel and Addison
had worked his way up into the rotation because of
the injury to Waller, So Kentucky's a little extra thin
there that's been for whatever reason, one position, that corner
opposite JQ Hardaway, who's been just a rock steady guy

(01:53):
on that one side, but on the other side they
have had injury issues. Waller Nichols was out for a
time now Addison who was up into the rotation. So
with Georgia, biggest name on their availability list is the
starting offensive tackle Ernest Green the third out again this week.

(02:14):
I think it was to check it again. I think
he was listed as out or doubtful. Anyway, it looks
like he will not be able to go for the Dogs.
Brad White, Kentucky defensive coordinator, was at the mic yesterday
for the interview session with the football media folks. He
said the common theme right now is little execution issues
for his guys. He said they saw some progress on Saturday,

(02:37):
but there were small issues at times that caught them
in trouble, particularly opening drive when South Carolina was able
to go down and tie the score. After Kentucky's opening
drive touchdown, he said there was some progress on the
explosive plays and that we'll need to continue obviously against
the Dogs this week. We'll get into that matchup and

(02:59):
the Georgie just side a little more tomorrow. Hoops HQ
has a list from one of their writers on the
underrated NBA prospects heading into the upcoming college basketball season,
and Kentucky's Cam Williams gets mentioned there. He's a name
that showed up back in the summer on a draft projection.
I forget from what site, but nobody was really talking

(03:21):
about Cam as a draft prospect, and they had him
projected in the second round, and there have been others
suggesting the same thing. This story at hoops HQ said
that Cam played exclusively off the ball at Tulane, last season,
so there is quote some guesswork when it comes to
ball handling, creation of off the dribble scoring. They say

(03:43):
he's got a skill set that already has some similar
guys projected to go in the first round of the draft.
So Cam Williams one to keep an eye on. What
have many to keep an eye on this season? For
Mark Pope's second team on three Sports, Jamie Shaw has
a story out about the top twenty five impactful transfers.
I don't believe he ranked them in any particular order,
just listing twenty five names that will be impactful, and

(04:06):
it's for Kentucky. Jalen Low, who's on the list. I
would think you could have even more Kentucky guys on
such a list. I know if you've listened to us,
if you're a regular list, or you've heard different guests
from Jay Billis to Mike Decorsi, to Rob Doster and
Goose all mentioning some different names. I think the course

(04:29):
he mentioned Low, but I think Billis mentioned Diabate. Goose
has talked about Alan Prest, he's been with Denzel Aberdeen.
Andrew car said the same thing. We talked to him
last week. So the point there. I think is that
there are several guys again who can be impactful. I
don't know if anybody will be to the degree that

(04:50):
otega Oway was last season, but probably the prevailing conventionalisdom
would be the most likely guy to fill that slot
might be Jalen Low terms of having that kind of
impact as a transfer links to the stories that we
talk about each day and you can find them on
the bud Light Leech Report page at Tom leachky dot com.
Our opening Segments presented by Giuseppes of Lexington, tucked away

(05:14):
off Nicholasville Road, just past man Awarts, short drive from
Keenland or from UK sporting events to get out to
Giuseppes and enjoy a fantastic meal. They expanded their lounge
area a couple of years ago because it's become so
popular to sit there and listen to Dave Hall and
the live jazz music night in and night out while

(05:34):
you enjoy just a fantastic Giuseppes meal. I go to
open Table and get your reservations today at Giuseppes. We
had Giuseppes last night. We'll be right back with little
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(06:41):
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cornbreadhamp dot com. It's the late triport sent about Bobcat Enterprises.
A little change in the batting order. Here is Cavygodet's
tied up at the moment, so the goose Jack Gibbons
gonna move up into that leadoff spot. You're a former

(07:02):
baseball player, though, you know what what it takes in
that position. Goose.

Speaker 1 (07:07):
Yeah. But I hope I'm better Tom than I was
that hitting the ball in that leadoff spot, man, h
for your sake, I hope I'm better because I could.
I could catch everything that came to first base. I
didn't miss anything, but man, I struggle with hitting the ball.
So hopefully I'm a little better.

Speaker 2 (07:28):
We've talked about this before. You shot left handed, but
you do you know you play golf right handed. Were
you a baseball were you? Did you bat left or
right in baseball?

Speaker 1 (07:38):
No? I bet right handed?

Speaker 3 (07:39):
Man?

Speaker 1 (07:40):
Right, Yeah, I bet right handed.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
You don't know.

Speaker 1 (07:45):
Like we said before, the only thing I do left
handed is is shoot a basketball and throw a baseball.
But everything else is on the right side. Yeah. I
don't know how it came out that way, but it did. You. Uh.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
Have you been We were at practice a couple of
weeks ago, but I'm guessing you've been back since then, right?

Speaker 1 (08:09):
Oh? Yeah, I was there late last week. I've been
there every day this week. You know, it's getting closer, man,
And NBA Pro dayis next Tuesday, So I've been spending
a lot of time in the gym and the team, Uh,
it's they're looking better.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
They're probably getting better almost, they're probably getting really easier,
so they're probably getting really eager to get going to
I mean they've got what I guess, two weeks, three
weeks from tomorrow's first exhibition game.

Speaker 1 (08:39):
Yeah, and you know this time of the year, man,
you just wanting to see a different face before you're
tired of going against the same old guy every day.
One interesting thing, real interesting thing, is how Mark has
been mixing up the teams. I mean there's no rhyme
or reason to how he might put together teams to

(09:02):
work against each other that day. And they've done some
really good looking lineups teams that he's put together to
go against each other. And it's going to be a
huge asset to Mark this year. It's going to be
I think, with situations where he can mix it up

(09:25):
and guys understand their roles and they're learning more and
more about how to play from different spots on the floor.
I mean you might have a guy running point guard
for twenty minutes of scrimmaging, and then you might have
him run in the three positions. So I think that's
an attempt to make sure that everybody knows everything that's

(09:48):
going on on the floor, which again get some opportunities
to mix it up depending on what that other team
is doing.

Speaker 2 (09:57):
That's what's going to be really fascinating about this group
as we go into the season, just to see how
different combinations do work together. And you know, the exhibition games,
even though you're playing in Purdue in case of Purdue
one of the preseason top five teams, you still want
to use that. And well you'll get more into this
is when we get close to the game, but you

(10:18):
still want to use those two exhibitions to you know,
I think a little experiment, a little if that's the
right word.

Speaker 1 (10:23):
Right, Oh it is, Yeah, that's exactly the right word,
because you get a group that looks real good together
in practice, and you want to see if that same
group place the way that group plays the same way
in real competition. And I know that like say, that's exhibition,

(10:45):
but it's real competition. To the guys who are out there,
you don't go in there looking at it as an
exhibition game. You go in there thinking you're going to
win this thing. So yeah, it's it's it's going to
be It's going to be really really fun to see
some of the combinations on the floor. It's been good
the last couple of days. Always back working out, so

(11:07):
that's been that's been good. Acquaintance is doing a lot
of individual workouts. He hadn't been in the up and
down drills yet, but but he's looking better and better.
He's picked up a little weight, a little muscle, I
should say, and uh, well he looks like a man,

(11:27):
so uh so, yeah, it's gonna be fun.

Speaker 2 (11:30):
You and Gabe are going to be hosting the coverage
of Pro Day next Tuesday, and I think you guys
did that same thing last year. What did those guys
look for in that kind of setting, you.

Speaker 1 (11:46):
Mean the players or the the scouts. Yes, they want
to number one. They want to get their first kind
of first look, and believe it or not, one of
the first things they look for is what kind of
condition are guys in at this stage of the season,

(12:06):
because they know they're going to get a different product.
Uh In In January and February. But they want to
see what they have done to make sure they are
ready to go at this time of the year. They
you know, the NBA now is is so much about
shooting the basketball, and that's an aspect of this team

(12:29):
that's going to be going to be good too. Not
we we don't have a Kobe Brea or alman or
you know, you don't have those kind of guys, but
you have a bunch of guys who can flat shoot
it and who make high percentages of shots. And so
they want to They want to see if if if

(12:49):
a big can shoot. They want to see if they
can't shoot, can they defend? What is the the one
thing that stands out in their game that we might
be able to use on our team on the next level.
So they want to see a lot again for the
for the pros, for the players. Don't they don't look

(13:11):
at this day as just here we are at that
time of the year. They want to see what players
can do, and the players understand that, and the NBA
scouts and every team will be represented, Every NBA team
will be represented. So there's gonna be a lot of
interest in this team throughout the course of the year.

Speaker 2 (13:33):
You talked about the shooting aspect. I think there were
some question about that as the roster was put together,
because you didn't see a Kobe Bryant type of guy.
But as you said, I could see this being a
team with several guys you know, around forty or percent
or better. Do you think overall shooting will be just fine?

(13:55):
It won't really be a concern.

Speaker 1 (13:57):
I'm not looking at it as a concern yet, And
the main reason is because guys are making shots. I mean,
you're right, Kobe's not out there, but I think with
the number of guys who have made shots consistently in
the workouts I've been watching. Like I say, I've been

(14:18):
in there every day this week, two or three days
last week. With the way guys are shooting, it's gonna
make him even more difficult to defend, I think. I mean,
teams could put a player on Kobe Brea and maybe
take him out of the game, but because you might

(14:38):
be on the floor with guys who don't make him
quite as frequently. But with this unit, it'll make them
harder to defend because there's so many guys who will
be able to make him will be a threat I
think that's good. Yellowvick is coming on to Tom. He's

(14:59):
he is and getting in better and better and better condition.
And he's showing even more right now the last week,
I mean, especially this week, that he's getting in better condition.
I mean, so you have a bunch of guys who
are going to be able to knock him down.

Speaker 2 (15:19):
Eager to see what it all looks like going they
get out on the court. I guess the first look
we'll have at him will be at Madness on the eleventh. Goose,
Thank you much, talk to you next week. All right, Tom,
Thanks Jack Gibbings. Hopefully you got out to see his
event at the Lection Public Library Beaumont Branch last weekend.

(15:40):
Got a copy of They Call Me Goose, or maybe
got the copy you already had signed. If you don't
have one, there'll be more opportunities to get it signed,
So go ahead and make sure you pick one up.
The book he did with Doug Bronk. We'll be right
back with Mike de Coursi on the Leak Report presented
by Bob Kat Enterprises. It is the Leach Report, and
we come to here from the Clark's Pumping Shops studio

(16:00):
Return refresh and refuel. Mike. Of course he joining us
and you can read him at Sportingnews dot com, follow
on x at TSN Mike and see Cam Williams was
on the hoops HQ list of underrated NBA prospects, and
I think probably there were a few Kentucky fans surprised
when he showed up on a mock draft list earlier

(16:22):
in the summer in the second round, because he's the
guy that tends to I think Mike get overlooked on
this group because he committed during the NCAA tournament run
and he was the first one, and so when you're
first in these days as a transfer, you tend to
be the one that maybe gets overlooked, right.

Speaker 3 (16:40):
That's fair. Absolutely. I can tell you he's been well
coached at Tulane. They do a really nice job down there,
and so he's coming in with a good base of experience.
Started twenty eight times as a freshman. Terrific three point
shooter for a guy his size. He's six 's eight,

(17:02):
He's a pure wing and shot over forty percent on threes.
So he's got a lot of good qualities. When you
shoot the ball that well at that size, they're going
to say you're a draft prospect until you prove you're not.
And I don't suspect that that's likely for Cam that
he would do the negative part. I think it's just
a question of of finding a role on a team

(17:25):
that we talked about before, has such a wealth of
assets at so many different positions, and for him, I
think that it comes down to continuing to play offense
as well as he has. And then he was only
only a freshman a year ago, so he's going to

(17:46):
need to continue to learn to defend at the highest
level and he's going to be defending a higher quality
player as a member of the as a member of
the Wildcats than he did in the past.

Speaker 2 (17:58):
So with Mike de Courci will continue that conversation at
just a moment on the Leads Report, gentlemen, Mike Decurseys
Sportingnews dot Com at TSN Mike on X, we were
talking about Cam Williams and you mentioned, you know, the
size and the three point shooting percentage from last season
at Tulane, and you know, one would think that is

(18:19):
something that's likely to transfer. So the probably most likely
for the scenario for him, one would think is that
he gets better in other areas. This report I referenced
in Hoops HQ noted that he was strictly an off
the ball guy for Tulane, I assume just kick it out.
He's opened, let it fly. But he'll get an opportunity
to add a lot more to his game here, won't he?

Speaker 3 (18:41):
Well, he will, absolutely, But it's also it's also not
required of a player at his size. I mean that
whole three and D concept. If you can do that,
you can last in the NBA for a very long time.
We've seen players that had phenomenal care based on that ability.

(19:02):
You can guard your guy and switch and you can
make the open three when it's sent to you. And
if that, if you know, you would like to see him,
and you will work on trying to develop his ball
handling and elevating his passing skill and all of that.
But that player is a very useful player at all

(19:23):
levels of the game. And when you mentioned about translating,
one of the things that I have found since the
transfer contagion began four or five years ago is that
that ability to make three point shots, it's not one
hundred percent that it always transfers, because when you go
up a level, you might feel more pressure because there's

(19:44):
more people in the crowd and all those sorts of things,
but by and large, the ability to make that shot
does go with you. There are two things that follow
you in no matter where you're playing in basketball, and
the first one is rebounding. If you can rebound at
the collegiate level, the guys who who have rebounded the

(20:05):
collegiate level expertly can transfer that to the NBA level.
It's just that now it's not as valued as it
used to be. But the shooting that goes too. And again,
it's a little bit different going from collegiate to NBA
because the distance increases, but when you go from high
school to college or from from the American Conference to

(20:29):
the SEC, that shooting skill translates, and so his ability
to shoot the ball at that level will definitely come
with him.

Speaker 2 (20:39):
And the NBA scouts will be here next week for
Pro Day. I was just talking of this about Goose.
I'll get your take on what are the things that
they look for The players may not fully appreciate.

Speaker 3 (20:53):
Well, I think that I think it starts with they
want to know whether you are dynamic and to play
at that level. And that that can go in a
lot of different ways. It can go from the obvious, Uh,
you know, do you play above the rim and and
all of that, but it also can go to to
your quickness and being able to stay in places. A

(21:15):
guy at TJ. McConnell's size, for instance, is not going
to be somebody I think. I think they still joke
about he's never dunked in a game or something like that.
So it's not all about that, but it's the ability
to be dynamic enough to to to defend your man, uh,
to stay in ball screen situations. Uh. They want to

(21:36):
see they definitely want to see those elements. Uh. They
want to see how hard you work, how how is
how are you? How do you comport yourself when it's
pretty obvious that the play isn't called for you and
that you are a functional member of that particular set,
but but the play isn't for you. They want to
know how you carry about your assignment in those circumstances.

(21:59):
They want to see guys who are engaged with their
teammates because I mean, there was a time when I
was a beat writer when a particular player's bench comportment
became pretty obvious during a game once and when I
was called prior to the draft by a scout from

(22:21):
a team saying, what was up with that? Can you
tell me what you know about it? So, even something
as as apparently obscure as that can be something that
the NBA teams are very much concerned about because it's
a massive investment, not just in money, but more so
an opportunity costs because I'm drafting you, I'm not drafting him,

(22:42):
which what if he turns out to be great and
I drafted you, so you better be great.

Speaker 2 (22:48):
Andrew Carr was on with us last week. Caught up
to him out in Portland where he's going to play
it for the G League, and he had been in
to see his sister, who plays volleyball here this summer,
but he also got to speak spent about a week
around his former teammates and coaches and check out the
new guys, and one thing that he noticed was how

(23:13):
much more physical and better defensively he thinks this team
will be. And he thinks they'll be able to switch
at all five positions. And that doesn't mean, obviously that
you're expecting Brandon Garrison or Jaden and quaintans to pick
up the opposing point guard ninety four feet. But you
know the best example of it was a guy like
Willie coley Stein. I remember against Marshall Henderson of old Myths,

(23:36):
and he WILLI was able to switch off on him
and guard him for you know, long enough that Henderson
had to give up the ball. And that's you know,
that's what Kentucky I'm sure aspires to have. I would
I think this season, especially with a guy like Diabate
maybe at the four right, oh.

Speaker 3 (23:53):
Absolutely, you think about Willie will he made first team
All America averaging I think eight and a half points
a game because of things like that, and that ability,
the ability to switch without having Some teams will switch
one to four because they don't because they have a
center who can't do that. He can't guard a not

(24:17):
just a point guard, but sometimes even the you know,
a really dynamic second guard or or even a small
forward depending on the player. So it in that situation
you'll you'll do one to four. But when you have
Biggs as mobile as Brandon and Jaden, then I think
that you have the ability to switch one to five.

(24:40):
That becomes really valuable in close late games. Because if
you can do that, then you don't have to take
you don't have to worry about taking your shot walker
off the floor. And if you switch the big guy
onto a wing or a point guard in that situation
and he's a great shooter, it becomes that much more
difficult for him to get off, say a tying three

(25:02):
pointer something like that. So you want to be able
to do that if it's available to you. And I
think that Kentucky having that available to them will only
make them that much better.

Speaker 2 (25:12):
You know, the type of play you just talked about.
I was popped into ahead the regional final in twenty
fifteen up in Cleveland, and I think Carl scored, oh yeah,
put Kentucky ahead by two, and Grant's driving the whole
length of the left side of the floor, and that
was a case where Willie did track him about ninety
four feet and contested the shot in the left corner.

Speaker 3 (25:34):
Absolutely, I remember that that played very well. I was
there in Cleveland, and Willy's ability to do that got
that team into the final four. That was a very
harrowing regional final game. That was an excellent Notre Dame
team and equipped to stay in by making a lot
of threes, and so his ability to do that save

(25:56):
them in that situation. He had phenomenal defensive ability is
why he was able to go to the NBA as well.
He never had great, great scoring skill, but that ability
to defend. And I think that, you know, I think
that if I were Kentucky, I wouldn't be at all
shy about showing Jade some of Willie's game tape from

(26:20):
especially from twenty fifteen when he was such a featured player.

Speaker 2 (26:23):
Let's talk about Jayden for a second, because plan out
of Arizona State. I think a lot of us see
as much of the games as maybe somebody like you
might watching the late games. And he's a guy that
had tremendous shot blocking numbers. Would he be a guy?

(26:44):
I mean, we saw Tuki, You've had saw Garrison do
a little of this against Fears, adding that win out
at Oklahoma where he could switch off on a guard
for a short period. Did Quainton's show some of that
in his one year at Arizona State?

Speaker 3 (26:56):
Yeah, I'm not in recollection, I'm not. I don't have
a recollection of whether Bobby used that particular schematic very often.
I can't remember that, But I know based on having
watched him, that he has the ability to do that,
that he is dynamic enough to do it, and that

(27:17):
with practice, with with repetition, he will be able to
do that comfortably and a lot in that case, when
you have that ability, sometimes it's just a question of
getting comfortable and used to doing it, because it's not
something that you don't do that at the high school level.
It's just you're not you're not ever going to be.

Speaker 2 (27:38):
They want to keep off if you're Jaden Quaint's, they
want to keep you off the best player in the
other team.

Speaker 3 (27:43):
Yeah, they want you to hang around the rim and
make it impossible to drive. That's what you do when
you're a high school big with his shot blocking ability,
so I think I think for him, it's just a
question of getting comfortable with it, and he will get
more comfortable with it as the season goes along as
they employ that, because again, it's not something you're going
to do on a lot of possessions because it's hard

(28:05):
for the big guy and you don't want to get
him into any file trouble. Even if you have whether
it's Branded starting or Jaden's starting, you know you have
a great backup, but even in those circumstances, you don't
want to get unnecessary file. So you're going to use
that situationally big stops and the game, those sorts of things,

(28:26):
and maybe as a change up just to throw the
other team off balance every now and then, but it's
not something that you're going to very often do For
forty minutes.

Speaker 2 (28:36):
Talk with Mike de Coursy. You can read him at
Sportingnews dot com and follow on x It's at TSN
Mike and the Big Ten Network during the season and
doing the brackets for Fox Sports during the college basketball season.
Another story that I saw preparing for today's show was
from a writer at on three Sports listing twenty five

(28:58):
impactful transfers for Kentucky. The one he mentioned was Jalen Lowe.
And that's one I know that you had mentioned when
I brought up that subject with you several weeks back.
And it's in part because of just how much you'll
have the ball in his hands. But there's a lot
of good buzz about what he's doing with the ball
in his hands in his time so far at Kentucky.

Speaker 3 (29:18):
Yeah, at Pitt, he played two seasons at Pitt and
he played really well in the biggest games. He was
a revelation. He had been banged up a little bit
early in his freshman year, and then he went down
to do on the road and just lit up Cameron
Indoor Stadium was fabulous, and he had a seventeen point

(29:44):
game with six assists and no turnovers in that game,
and it was really impressive to see, especially because he
hadn't had a lot of impactful games to that point.
He played a lot, but he hadn't had made that
hu and impact, in part because they had a fellow freshman,
bub Carrington, who was more prominent, and he's he's been

(30:07):
in the NBA for a while now and been pretty successful,
and so he wasn't as featured. But they go down
a duke and he completely turns around that team and
he kind of turned around the season by helping them
win that game. And so last year there was a
little bit more pressure on him, more responsibility, had a
ton of injuries, and so the team didn't turn out

(30:28):
as well as they hoped, and it changed his job description,
so to speak. He had to be more of the
offense than he will certainly have to be at Kentucky
and I but I mean what I mean by that
is he was the option instead of him playing to
other options and then playing off them. He was the
option in a lot of a lot of the time.

(30:49):
And it's not really what he's meant to be. I mean,
even in that circumstance, he's still averaged five and a
half assists. But the ideal Jalen Lowe season is him
averaging somewhere, especially for this team, somewhere around twenty eight
to twenty nine, twenty eight to twenty nine minutes and
then maybe towards the end of the year the big games,
that sort of thing, him starting to play regularly in

(31:10):
the thirties, but him averaging seven or more assists a
game is what you want to see and he's more
than capable of that, and that will be if that
If that develops, then you'll get the best of him.
And then the challenge for him, and I think we've
talked about this before, because he's not a big, powerful guy,
is being an impactful defender. And I think he does

(31:34):
that by being disruptive, by getting by getting in passing lanes,
by getting his hands on the basketball when it's when
it's presented to him. I think that's how he does it.
He's probably going to give up ground every now and
then get then. But I think that the way this
Kentucky team is built, they can adjust for that and
take advantage of the great offensive skill he'll give them

(31:56):
at the other end.

Speaker 2 (31:57):
Yeah, he should have plenty of helpers. As for as
the defense, He's not going to be like a you know,
have the strength of a Lamont Butler as a defender,
right right.

Speaker 3 (32:06):
Right exactly. That That's where Lamont was was so outstanding
both at San Diego State and in this one year
at Kentucky, is that he was so physically powerful and
quick enough that it was really hard for opposing point
guards to get by him. I think, Jalen, You're sometimes
you're going to be able to get past him with
your strength, but he in those circumstances, you're exposing the

(32:29):
ball to him, and he is really disruptive in that sense.
He can he can take it off you, and he
can also read the passing lane and get into it
and turn it the other way and then create something
in transition. He's a really highly skilled offensive point guard.
And lam Lamont was terrific. And if he hadn't been injured.

(32:53):
I still think he would have been an All American
for UK, but he was never as offensively skilled as
Jalen and never as creative as Jalen. And so you'll
get at that end, at the offensive end, a lot
that you weren't able to get a year ago.

Speaker 2 (33:09):
Yeah, you had Lamont's second team mid season All America
before he started dealing with that mess of injury issues. Mike,
thank you much. As always, We'll talk next week.

Speaker 3 (33:19):
Thanks Tom, Mike.

Speaker 2 (33:20):
The course the Sportingnews dot Com. It is the Leach Report.
About eleven away from the top of the hour, bring
you the Qelan Follow me with Gabby Gotette, let me
come right back. Letch Report presented by Bob kat Enterprises.
And if you're a fan of the Keelan Racing you
no doubt know the name Gabby got At from working
on the Keelan Race meat coverage for FanDuel TV and

(33:40):
on the Today at Keeenland show on the CW. But
now she's the director of Communications. So how you liking
the new gig?

Speaker 4 (33:48):
Hey, Tom, I'm loving it so far. It's been kind
of a whirlwind. I did my first official date. Start
date was last Monday, and and the fact that it's
kind of sandwiched in between a incredible September sale and
an exciting fall meat and the move into you know,

(34:12):
the new construction, and if you can imagine, there's a
lot going on, and why not, why not, you know,
start it now.

Speaker 2 (34:22):
Keenlan's got all the normal stuff that comes with a
race meet, the Saturday morning track side program, the hill
that's open for free when the weather's nice, and it's
going to be spectacular this weekend. But I saw in
the release there's like a little special something extra on
Sunday conjunction with the anniversary of Lexington's two hundred and
fiftieth anniversary. Right special events.

Speaker 4 (34:46):
Yes, absolutely, and we're definitely looking forward to that as well.
I mean, you know, typically during the fall meet the
special events too, they're incredible for the fans to come out.
Opening Day is going to be very special for its
own reason.

Speaker 1 (35:00):
Then.

Speaker 4 (35:00):
Obviously, the East Entrance is now being unveiled as well,
so when fans and patrons show up to the racetrack
to be able to walk through the brand new East
Entrance and see all of the new renovations, it's going
to be incredible. Always we have the sun rise track side,
make a wish, college scholarship Day, you know, kids club,

(35:21):
family Day, Big Blue Day a little bit later in
the meat. And then one thing that I think you
and I can agree on that families get really excited
about is the Halloween Day when you get the headless
horsemen that comes out as well. So, yeah, everybody is
excited about some of the special events that are going
on here during the fall meet.

Speaker 2 (35:41):
I was out there earlier this week doing some interviews
in the paddock. Looks spectacular and now fans can stand
there along the walkway and look straight across it where
the horses are being saddled. They'll be walked around in
front of them, so it'll be a really nice vantage point.
And then really like the new with the winner circle

(36:02):
being in what used to be the traditional you know,
where they have the horses come out and do the
riders up there in that walking ring and lead out
to the track. That's now a winner circle for the
graded stakes races. And so rather than do that out
on the turf, fans will get a chance to be
a little more of a part of that.

Speaker 4 (36:18):
Right well, I think the new stakes winner circle, it's
a great change because of several reasons. Number one, it
does bring the fans closer to the winner. We were
doing a walk through the other day and you get
you have the opportunity as a fan to get so
close to the winning horse, and especially during Fall Stars,

(36:40):
these are the potential champions of our sport, so you
get to be, you know, within three feet of potentially,
you know, a champion of the season. And not only that,
I think it's really going to be good for the
connections because you know, they can immediately continue the celebration

(37:00):
in the director's room after and they're in close proximity
to that too. It's just all around. I think it's
going to create an amazing experience for not only the
fans but also the horsemen, and that's really what it's
all about, being able to celebrate with everybody in the
sport together.

Speaker 2 (37:18):
Gabby, thank you much and look forward to seeing you
this weekend.

Speaker 4 (37:22):
Okay, thank you, Tom.

Speaker 2 (37:23):
Gabby got that new director of communications out at Keenland.
She'll still be doing the Today at Keenland show with
Scott Hazleton that airs at eleven thirty every day as well.
Quick break back with our final segment of the Leach
report presented by Bob Kat Enterprises. Stan wild Cat History
is presented by Kentucky road Show Sports Cards and Memorabilia.
They are on Romedy Road in Lexington. You can find

(37:44):
them at roadshowcards dot com. To stay nineteen seventy six,
it was a big day for Kentucky football. They did
this two and one deal, two for one deal with
Penn State, So Kentucky went to state college in seventy
five and seventy seven. But they got Joe Paterno Andy
and the Nitney line in the Kentucky Stadium on this
day in nineteen seventy six and Derrick Ramsey and Kentucky

(38:07):
hammered him twenty two to six. Big, big day for
Kentucky football. Tip all the time's been set for the
Kentucky Florida men's basketball game on Valentine's Day and Gains.
It will be a three o'clock tip on ABC, according
to info released yesterday. Tickets for the BBN United Blue
White Game games on sale as of tomorrow through Ticketmaster

(38:28):
at ten am, but there's a pre sale for BBN
United members that starts today, and there's also enhanced access
opportunities for BBN United members if you haven't signed up
for that, You still have time to do that and
take advantage of that and find out more UK athletics
dot com. We will see you tomorrow for the lead
report