2025-11-05 - LEACH REPORT

Tom talks with Mike DeCourcy, Jeff Drummond, and Charles Walker.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
God dam everybody. Welcome into the Leads Report presented by
Bob Kat Enterprises for this Wednesday. Kentucky opened the season
with a win last night over Nichols seventy seven to
fifty one. We will talk about that with Jeff Drummond
from Cats Illustrated. Charles Walker, former Wildcat Whiteout, joins us
to talk Kentucky football and the big win at Auburn

(00:29):
and the matchup with the Gators. And then second half
of the show, it's Mike of course, he from the
Sporting News and all things college hoops. Before we get
into the news of the day, let me just start
with just thoughts and prayers. Never seems adequate, but certainly
it's what goes out to anybody impacted by the tragedy

(00:52):
with the ups plane last night in Louisville. Last report,
seven people lost their lives, eleven others there's injured. So
keep them and their family and friends in your in
your heart and in your mind as you go through
your day. Today wild Cat News of the Days presented

(01:13):
by Juseepis of Lexington. It was a first half that
certainly was ugly if you like offense twenty eight to
fifteen at halftime seemed like neither team could make a shot.
It seemed like the score was like it was. I
think it was like four to two when we maybe

(01:33):
the timeout at eight minutes in. I just remember looking
at the scores. I tossed it to a break and
it's like it really only four to two. The fifteen
points was the fewest in a first half a in
a game at rapp Arena since Eku scored fourteen in December.

(01:54):
I think it was of twenty fourteen against that twenty
fifteen defensive Juggernaut was a note from Corey Price that
he passed along. So twenty eight to fifteen at halftime,
ugly offense, or as Mark Pope looked at it, some
really good defense by his guys after some poor defense
the week before against Georgetown.

Speaker 2 (02:17):
It was good for us. We had some tightness on
the floor on the offensive end. But I thought I
was so proud of our guys first half defensive performance.
I thought we really really focused the last several days
on communicating defensively and trying to fulfill some different assignments,
and I thought we did very, very well in the

(02:38):
first half.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
Comes out in the second half and almost doubled its
first half output twenty eight in the first half, forty
nine points in the second half. Colin Chandler led the
charge with fifteen points as he heated up at the
three point line and had an incredible dunk. That one's
gonna go into the discussion when they put together the

(03:02):
clips of the best dunks. There's the Dirk Minifield one
against Mississippi State and the eighties that may forever remain
the standard. Willie coley Stein had one against Florida and
one against Cincinnati. There was a Derreck Darius Miller dunk
against Saint John's. Those just some of the ones that

(03:23):
are popping into my mind. But this one will be
thrown in the discussion as well. Rex had one against
I think over Kenny Payne at Louisville. Derek Anderson, Oh
my goodness that this looked a little bit like a
DA dunk the way Chandler had the ball cocked back
behind his head. Derek threw one down. I want to
say it was against Indiana at Freedom Hall. Might have

(03:44):
been against the Cardinals, but I was thinking about it
after the game. That one looked a little like a
DA slam. With that one handed ball cocked behind his
head firing it down anyway, incredible play, uh, And what
happened in the second half they Denzel Aberdeen was able
to play but didn't start, and so when he came

(04:06):
off the bench, he would I think mostly spelled Chandler
in the first half. Maybe not, I can't remember anyway,
I have to go back in a look. But at
the start of the second half they started the half
with Denzel at the point and they moved Chandler off
the ball because Trenton Noah had injured his ankle in

(04:26):
the first half, and all of a sudden, pieces all
just really fit together well. And Colin is certainly i think,
much more comfortable off the ball, and he started to
get rolling and it really all all clicked. Noah, by
the way, it looked like he rolled an ankle. Goose
picked up on it immediately on our broadcast and did

(04:49):
not play in the second half. He told the coaches
and the trainers he was ready. Mark Pope said, He's
he's lying to you. He's just that tough. There's no
way Pope said he was going to put him back
the game on that ankle. So I'm sure we'll see
Trent probably on Friday night, and Mark Pope told us
after the game on the UK Network postgame show that
he thinks there's quote a chance we might have a

(05:11):
j LO citing Fridays. It'll depend on the next couple
of days of practice. So a lot to talk about
with the Kentucky win over Nichols, and we will do
that when we return. Our opening segments presented by Just
Seppes of Lexington. There own bullet barrel pick is on
the way to the restaurant. Customers can buy a bottle,
take it home and they're currently working on a new

(05:32):
Russell reserve barrel pick, so check those out along with
a fantastic food at Giuseppes. Make a reservation at open
Table as soon as you can. Holidays are coming up.
Get something on the books for a nice outing with
your family or with a group of friends to Giuseppe.
Sit in the lounge area, enjoy the live jazz music
from Dave Hall. It's just one of a kind dining

(05:54):
experience out edge of Seppes. We'll be right back with
Jeff Robin on the Leads Report, resented each day by
Bob Kat Enterprises. Quarter past the top of the hour.
It is the leads report from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio.
Return refresh and refused if Driving Joys is from cats
Illustrated dot com and on three Sports. And in addition,

(06:17):
as the business has evolved, reporters have grown into being
photographers and videographers too. And Jay Drum, I saw on
your feet on X your picture you captured of Colin
Chandler locked and loaded for that dunk. That that was
a nice one.

Speaker 3 (06:36):
Oh well, thank you, Tom. It's something I've always loved
to do in addition to writing, and in fact, I've
probably got as much attention for those as as anything
I've written. So some people think that's all that I
do when it comes to you know, Cat's illustrated being
the main photographer, but I'm also have to remind him,

(06:59):
you know, write some stories too. That's that's my main dup.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
Well, what did you write about this performance?

Speaker 3 (07:10):
Well? I thought that a very interesting opener. You have
to be impressed by the the overall defensive effort Kentucky
showed in this one. And that's something we kind of
everyone spread it about last season. Was we thought, you know,
defense was ultimately going to be the thing that that

(07:32):
tripped up Kentucky season. At some point they tried all
seed and long to get that Kim palm defensive raiding
down into the respectability range, kind of flirted with it,
but never uh to the point where you thought they
could make a long run in a tournament. But this team,
I think is has shown some signs here and there

(07:53):
that by by the end of the run this season,
especially if they get Jaden Quainton's back healthy as a
rim protector, that they think they could really use. This
could be a really formula mole beef as a thing.

Speaker 1 (08:09):
And we all talked over the course of the summer
leading up to this how it was going to be
fascinating to see how Mark Pope fit these pieces together
because he had so many talented players and with versatile
skill sets, and how would they mix and match. And
I thought the second half was a good example of

(08:31):
this when he put Aberdeen out there to start the
second half and with Noah out, that moved Chandler off
the ball and suddenly Chandler gets going and Aberdeen ends
up with six assists and no turnovers, which Coach Pope
said afterward may have been a personal best for DA

(08:52):
but it got Chandler going not only just the tongue,
but the three point shooting, and suddenly the pieces seemed
to fit together litle bit better.

Speaker 3 (09:02):
Yeah, it gets really clear that Colin Tandler looks so
much more comfortable at that two or the three spot,
either one, you know, being on the wing and not
having the responsibility of you know, bringing the ball up.
We've heard some other coaches in the past tell us about,
you know, how much that puts on the guy, you

(09:24):
know running the show at the point, you wouldn't think
it would be that big of a difference, you know,
a guard as a guard, but you could really tell
it with him, how it seems to just open up
his his offensive game and freedom a little bit more
when he's not having to worry about running the whole show.

Speaker 1 (09:44):
Yeah, he looked in that second half like the guy
that we saw it the latter part of last season
when he suddenly emerged and was hitting threes and making
dynamic plays. And he is a dynamic talent. His skill
suit with his athleticism.

Speaker 3 (10:03):
Yeah, I think a lot of people are just now
learning how how specially he is as an overall athlete,
not just a dunk but Mark Braved in the press
conference last night about how a neat his defense has
been at times. He can be a guy you can
you can put on the other teams, uh, you know,

(10:24):
top offensive guy and really frustrate him with the way
he sticks to him and his height and and linked
at that spot. Got a chance to be pretty special.

Speaker 1 (10:37):
Would uh Jeff Drummond from Katz illustrated it's at Jay
drumm U k on X as Kentucky gets the first
one in the books Macy h Jalen Lowe on Friday,
and that would be another great piece to add to
this and just eager to see him what he could

(10:59):
you as a guy who's the most true point guard
that they have to see how that would change things.

Speaker 3 (11:07):
Yeah, I think the thing that we've probably missed the
most seen from the Kentucky offense so far as that
guy that can you know, put it on the deck
and get to the rim and finish and score or
you know, dish it off to his teammates on the wing.
And I think that addition, when he eventually gets back

(11:28):
in the fold, that's going to open up some things
for Kentucky where maybe we see the three point shooting
take a leap too, because it's it's been pretty rough
so far. I think through the two exhibition games and
last night's opener, I believe it was twenty seven percent. Yeah,
so far, and they've missed a ton of three point shots.

(11:50):
And Mark Pope seems to think it's not gonna be
a big problem. He feels like they've gotten the shooters.
Maybe they just need, you know, their main point guard
in there to open thing up and allow things to
flow what they're supposed to.

Speaker 4 (12:03):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (12:03):
I asked him about another post game on UK radio
and he immediately said, I'm not worried at all. It's
you know, don't he said, I don't think at all
about the misshots. He said, In fact, he grabbed the
statue and he said, twenty seven attempts. That's not enough
because part of the reason, he said was they're going

(12:25):
to be their goal is to be an elite offensive
rebounding team, and then fifteen of them last night, and
they're getting about eighty percent of the missus on the
defensive end right now, but going to be an elite
offensive rebounding team, and so it's imperative they be a
low turnover team and then just if they if they're
not making shots, just get them and try it again.

Speaker 3 (12:47):
Yeah. I kind of like that philosophy. And it's clear
he doesn't want them thinking about it and for it
to turn into a thing. He wants those guys that
when they're open and they within the flow of the
offense and the concept that he's running, he wants them
to fire it up. And I think that's a good thing.

Speaker 1 (13:08):
Jeff appreciate the time as always. Thank you.

Speaker 3 (13:11):
All right, thank you Tom.

Speaker 1 (13:12):
It's Jeff Jobbin Cats Illustrated twenty three past the Top
of the Hour shows presented by Bobcat Enterprises. We'll be
right back to visit with Charles Walker, talk a little
Kentucky football. Bobcat Enterprises has four locations around Kentucky. When
you need to buy or rent a piece of heavy
equipment for a job site or know somebody who does,
give them a call, great service after the sale as

(13:33):
well as everything you need on the front end of
the deal from Bobcat Enterprises Lates Report and we welcome
in Charles Walker, the former Wildcat wide Out, the guy
from CBI Insurance. And I know you enjoyed last Saturday
night in the performance by your alma mater.

Speaker 5 (13:50):
You know, Tom, the announcers called it a rock fight,
and that's exactly what it was. But they found a
way to win, and that was some stoops football if
we've ever seen it.

Speaker 1 (13:59):
Yeah, it was a classic version of that for sure.
Just an incredible performance by the defense. And we've talked
about it on the show this week, but you can
speak to it from a former player perspective on either
side of the ball, or even in special teams. When
you have a really bad day at the office like
they did against Tennessee, it's one thing to say you're

(14:19):
going to bounce back, but it can cause you, I
would think, to doubt yourself or question yourself. And instead
they came back with tremendous performance. And it's certainly a
matchup that was more favorable to them, but still they
came through tremendously.

Speaker 3 (14:36):
You know.

Speaker 5 (14:37):
And out explaining the whole matchup thing to a buddy
that asked me if ACC football is the minor leagues,
and I said, you know, it's definitely not the minor leagues.
I think the SEC still as a leg but it's.

Speaker 3 (14:49):
All about the matchup.

Speaker 5 (14:50):
And you know, Tom, like you said, I think we
had a good matchup against Auburn versus our matchup against Tennessee.
And this week I think we got another favorable matchup
with the team that, yeah, it doesn't have a head coach,
so you know, I hate to say hit them while
they're down, but we've got a chance to turn around
the season, and I know Stoops and the players.

Speaker 1 (15:07):
Know that absolutely. And then it's funny how things have changed.
I mean, for the longest time, it was just the
Florida game was something you think people dreaded when it
showed up on the schedule, and part of that was,
you know, spurri Or had it rolling there for a time,
and then Urban Meyer. But once Kentucky kind of broke through,
nearly happened in fourteen, and then happened in eighteen with

(15:30):
the win down in Gainesville, and now they've pretty much
just gone back and forth with the Gators all of
a sudden.

Speaker 5 (15:37):
Oh, Tom, I think a thirty year drought will cause
a fan base to not look forward to a game.
But to your point, you know, we're competitive, and that's
what Stoops has done with this program. He's gotten us
to a competitive stance. Now, of course, we want to
win every game. We can play. But you know, for
all the Stoops haters out there here he is posting

(15:58):
the w at Auburn and hopefully to get another one
against Florida this weekend.

Speaker 1 (16:03):
What are you seeing in the wide receivers, your old
position group, They got a lot of heat earlier.

Speaker 5 (16:07):
This year, we're seeing young guys that want to make plays.
And I think it's exciting because all that does is elevate,
you know the play of other players. But I see
trust in Cutter Bowley. You know, I think with Calzada
maybe there was a little bit of hesitancy and or
you know, we don't know if this is working. And

(16:27):
I think that room is fully getting behind Cutter and
they're making plays when they need to.

Speaker 1 (16:33):
Always said with Jared Lorenzen in terms of you know,
leadership that comes from a quarterback. And you know, I
think coach Morris tried to go down this road Coach
Brooks as well that oh he's not getting himself in
good shape, he can't be my leader. And then the
way he led was when he walked in the huddle,
everybody else in the huddle thought they were better. And

(16:56):
because he would make plays, and you know, Cutter hasheemingly.
A little bit of that quality was that didn't have
his a gaming part of that was the Auburn defense
the other night. But he bounces back from an interception
to complete eleven straight passes. That's pretty tough, you know.

Speaker 5 (17:11):
And he can extend plays, which you know of a
wide receiver loves, even if they're open to begin with.
If you can have a quarterback extend that play, you
run the scrambled drill and again you get the ball
into probably the most athletic players on your team. It's
going to end up with with points and good play results.
So I think I think the team has seen that,

(17:32):
and I think that they're a where coach can call
a great play. Sometimes it might not work. It's up
to us to win the one on one.

Speaker 1 (17:38):
Sounds like you like their chances on Saturday Night.

Speaker 3 (17:41):
I love them, I love them. We're I think we're
back to loving the cats.

Speaker 1 (17:44):
Tom, Charles Walker, thank you much. I don't I don't
think you ever you ever left, But on that account,
ain't that the truth? Charles? Thank you much. Thanks Tom
at CP Underscore Walker sixteen to follow him on X
Charles with the CBI Insurance joining us here on The

(18:05):
Leech Report each week to reminisce about his days as
a Wildcat. We'll be right back talking hoops with Mike
de Corsi the Sporting News maybe second half of our
Wednesday show, and that's when we bring Mike de Corsi
onto the programs from Sportingnews dot com and the Big

(18:26):
Ten Network and the brackets for Fox Sports during the
college basketball season. And last night Kentucky got into the
mix with its opener and defeated Nicols seventy seven to
fifty one. It was not a first half that you
would take the tape and save it as a guide

(18:47):
to how to play offense. Bark Pope talked about how
he liked the defense, and you had to because there
wasn't much offense.

Speaker 4 (18:55):
Yeah, as they say, you wouldn't hang in the louver
and then have somebody take it out the back.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
That's right. It was.

Speaker 6 (19:03):
It was not beautiful.

Speaker 4 (19:04):
It did take a while for them to finally get going.
But that's why you play these games. You've got another
similar game, uh this weekend and then and then you
have to be really ready.

Speaker 6 (19:18):
You put one out like that on.

Speaker 4 (19:20):
Tuesday, UH, and you're going to lose the rivalry, So
you have to that you get ready for those bigger
games by playing games like this. And this is partly
why those who contend that college basketball needs to begin
with with a spectacle, Uh, they're not the coaches of
teams that have that that want to try to put

(19:41):
together n C double A resumes and or resumes that
contend for protected seeds.

Speaker 1 (19:48):
Yeah, because it does take a while. And we talked
over the summer about you know, all the different elements
that Mark had at his disposal here guys would various
skill sets, and you know, you could go a lot
of different ways with lineups and all of that, which
is great, but it would seem that would when you've

(20:09):
got them, they're all coming in, most of them are
coming in new it's going to take a while to
figure out the best way for all of that to
work together. Maybe why they've talked so much about defense
and rebounding, because you can get those things sooner in
that kind of an environment. But offensively, last night I
thought was an example when they put Aberdeen at the

(20:31):
point to start the second half and with Noah doubt it,
they had Chandler off the ball and suddenly Colin comes alive.

Speaker 6 (20:38):
Yeah, I think that.

Speaker 4 (20:40):
I think you see those sorts of things a lot,
And in the past it was kind of like this
for everyone because even though you might return more intact
rosters in the pre portal era, that you only got
like three weeks four weeks to practice full time, start

(21:00):
on October fifteenth ish, and then you start playing maybe
November fifteenth, November tenth, something like that, and you hadn't
really had that much time together. Now you get more
time together, but you kind of need it.

Speaker 6 (21:13):
Because there's very few players.

Speaker 4 (21:16):
I mean, Otega's role is similar in terms of his positioning,
but its responsibilities are significantly greater this season than they
were last and everybody else practically is either new to
the team or an entirely new role. I'm not sure
was that Collins first start, Was that Trent's first start

(21:37):
last night?

Speaker 6 (21:38):
Ever?

Speaker 1 (21:39):
I well, they started the exhibition games and.

Speaker 4 (21:42):
Yeah, but I meant like a regular season game they've
never done before. So that's a dramatic change in their
roles for each of them, and you see that it
takes a little while to grow comfortable in those roles.
I don't know whether that's the long term plan for
both or one or whatever. I mean, you're missing two

(22:03):
starters at minimum at this stage, so you might not
necessarily be in that circumstance when you get to when
you get to your full rotation, but it's good for
them to have that experience and.

Speaker 6 (22:17):
To show that they could shake off what was a
rough start, you.

Speaker 1 (22:21):
Know, in addition to what you were talking about as
far as the schedule now versus then relative to more
newcomers now. The other thing, even with the extra practice time,
oh take aways out for a long stretch with the
toe issue, Low now has been out for two or
three weeks with the shoulder in the Blue White game,

(22:43):
you haven't had quaintsiden't in the mix yet, so you
don't have you know, you've had guys in and out
of the lineup, so you haven't had a consistency in
practice in terms of your personnel either, which just adds
to the situation of the timeline.

Speaker 4 (23:00):
And it's one of the reasons why I love where
college basketball has evolved to. We are a lot of
complaints about where college basketball is now because of the
portal and the instant eligibility and how that changes rosters
from year to year, But we don't hear very much
about the fact that we've abandoned some really archaic traditions
that remember when you couldn't practice at all in the

(23:22):
summer unless you were on a foreign tour, and then okay,
you can have two guys in the gym at once,
but if a third guy walks in, he has to
close his eyes or whatever.

Speaker 6 (23:31):
I mean, we're past that.

Speaker 4 (23:33):
It's you're allowed to be a team now in the
summer some and then in the fall.

Speaker 6 (23:40):
It's not as absurd as it was then.

Speaker 4 (23:42):
And I think that it elevates the quality of basketball.
I know that wasn't evident last night, but you are
fighting through all the elements that you talked about, and eventually,
when players find themselves in new roles or in adjusted role,
it makes them better for when they are ready to

(24:03):
play in what was meant to be their natural role.
Colin having the breakout in the second half last night
is definitely going to give Mark and the staff more
confidence when they get everybody back that they can trust
him to do the things that he did do them
at the end of last season frequently as well. But

(24:25):
now you're looking at him being an even more important
component of the rotation. Than he was last year, mostly
because of injury necessity.

Speaker 1 (24:34):
Maybe the silliest thing that those archaic rules and policies
you talked about was if Kentucky wanted to play somebody
like Purdue at a preseason scrimmage, you had to speak
of them like Voldemort'.

Speaker 6 (24:47):
Yes, goodness.

Speaker 4 (24:49):
We fought it the US Basketball as we fought against
that for like fifteen years. It wasn't that we deserve
to be in there necessarily, but there were coaches who
had open practices who had to close the doors to
keep us out. And it wasn't we were saying, look,
if you're if you would prefer us to be in there,
you should be allowed to have us in there. And
and the NC double A just wouldn't hear of it.

(25:11):
Their process for rule changing was so absurd, and it
was just it was just an interpretation of them. There
was no rule that specifically said they had to be closed,
just it was the interpretation of the existing rules that
said they had to be closed. You know, people complain
about there are no rules. Some of the rules that

(25:31):
went into the bin deserve to be there.

Speaker 1 (25:34):
I will add one more. Back in twenty nineteen was
the first time Mike Pratt and I were allowed to
go to the shoot around in the NCAA tournament at
the Arenas. Couldn't work out before even though you know,
and it's the school radio crew. We do that all

(25:56):
season long, right part of the part of the job,
and they were forbidden to do that. God blessed Wayne Peevey.
I think he was the guy that helped lead the
charge to get that change. Just to be able to
you know, it kind of helps to do the job
in terms of talking about it on the on the
air of what the plan is or what's not going
to according to plan. But anyway, just another example of

(26:20):
you know what you're talking about. Anyway, we're gonna get
to a quick break and come back and get more
into the current Kentucky basketball team with Mike o Corsi
from Sportingnews dot Com here on the Leach Report presented
by Bob kat Enterprises.

Speaker 2 (26:35):
You know, all we do is work on the defensive
end right now, so we're gonna have to spend a
little bit of time on the offensive en. You know,
I felt like we were a tentative and a little tight.
We had tough time catching balls early in the game
and sometimes when you're sometimes you're so excited about beginning
this journey. This is our first step in this journey
that's going to be you know, we're so excited. We've

(26:55):
been building on this for a while now, and so
I think we're a little, you know, a little just
lost in the weeds, a little bit on the offensive side.
And you know these are we have talented group offensive.

Speaker 1 (27:08):
We'll be really good there.

Speaker 2 (27:09):
We just weren't great in the first time.

Speaker 1 (27:11):
That was Mark Pope after the game last night, Mike,
of course, he's with us from Sportingnews dot Com on
our broadcast goose To. They were dribbling too much, and
I Pope about that in the post game, and he said,
very much the case. And I guess that's maybe the
default if you're a player and everything isn't clicking as
smoothly as you're used to, that you tend to go

(27:34):
back to just trying to make something happen on your own, right.

Speaker 6 (27:37):
Yeah, I think that's exactly right.

Speaker 4 (27:39):
It is you're trying to see create space, create opportunities
because everything isn't flowing properly. I loved what Mark said
about the struggling to catch the ball because I very distinctly.
Remember early in the first half Otaga just losing it
over the sideline right in.

Speaker 6 (27:59):
Front of what court.

Speaker 4 (28:02):
It's so, I mean, he's your All America candidate, your
number one option, and that happens it It was pretty
obvious that there was a little bit of nerves, and
as I said that, I liked Mark's approach as well,
not getting angry about it or just saying, hey, you know,
it's the first game.

Speaker 6 (28:20):
We're going to get better.

Speaker 4 (28:22):
And he said, we're going to be good on offense,
and he knows that he knows that they're going to
get that right, and that that part of it is
the least of his concerns. The greatest part of his
concerns is to be improved significantly at the defensive end,
because they want to contend for the for the for
the biggest trophies, and in order to do that, going

(28:45):
from I think fifty first last year in defensive efficiency
to top twenty, top ten is a requirement. You can
get to the Final four without it, but you're not
going to You're not going to get to Monday night.
And I don't While I think this can be a
successful season without that, I also don't think it's beyond them.

Speaker 1 (29:07):
Wonder if his approach to this, because what you're talking
about there, the defense was in terms of those numbers.
He's a big numbers guy. The defensive numbers were below
what the standard is to get where they want to go. Offensively,
they were there. So you build your team with an
eye toward improving that, and then you set about to

(29:31):
implement that plan. And so that's where your focus is.
You've got to win games as you go along and
for your postseason resume. So you do that by relying
on the defense. And he talked about the offensive rebounding
is such a big part of what they need to
do this season, knowing that the offense will come, but

(29:52):
it's probably gonna be a little lagging behind the others.

Speaker 6 (29:56):
Yeah, I think that's true.

Speaker 4 (29:57):
And offensive rebounding is is something that some teams have
abandoned in their approach. It's something that for them, it
happens almost by accident that they believe in the defensive
retreat as soon as the shot goes up.

Speaker 6 (30:14):
That was it was something I first.

Speaker 4 (30:15):
Sawney around ninety nine, two thousand that Larry Eustacey when
he was at Iowa State with the Marcus Pfizer team,
that's what they would do. Ball went up, three guys
drop back, and so I think that it's a It's
an elemented a game that has been de emphasized for
some but I think you can be a great defensive
team without having to play it the other way.

Speaker 6 (30:36):
I think that you can crash the boards.

Speaker 4 (30:37):
And with the size and the dynamism this Wildcats team
has that, I think that that's something they can be
very good at and it can turn it. It can
make them even more efficient offensively.

Speaker 1 (30:49):
By the way, last night on Sports Center, I just
see this on the social media feed. Colin Chandler's dunk
was number one on the of the night, and a
young man in a Malik Monk jersey that hit a
mid court shot and won ten thousand dollars was number seven.
And I remember turning to maybe it was a Goose
at halftime and saying, after the kid hit that shot,

(31:13):
they should sign him given how the first half had gone.
But that dunk for nubverse eight.

Speaker 6 (31:20):
On the that that line should be number eight on
the top ten.

Speaker 1 (31:23):
From Chandler's dunk is gonna be one that'll make that
list of dunks. People talk about among Kentucky players.

Speaker 4 (31:32):
Yeah. Absolutely, it was a phenomenal play, and I think
that it showed what he's capable of in certain circumstances.

Speaker 6 (31:40):
Maybe people hadn't seen that from him before.

Speaker 4 (31:43):
He hadn't stepped away from from his from his assigned role,
especially last year when when he was coming in because
of the.

Speaker 6 (31:52):
Multiple injuries and getting a role.

Speaker 4 (31:55):
I don't think he felt as comfortable to be that audacious,
but it was. It was a phenomenal dunk and and
one that, like I said, we will set up this
Wildcats team.

Speaker 6 (32:08):
Opponents will see it and we'll know that there's more
than just a shooter there.

Speaker 1 (32:12):
There was the Good to Great book that talked about
companies setting big Harry audacious goals. It was a big
Harry audacious dunk. Colin Jaydler quick thought, Mike on with
all the basketball starting up this week, anybody that has
caught your eye, positively or negatively, besides talking about the Cats.

Speaker 6 (32:32):
Yeah, I thought Dukes win last night.

Speaker 4 (32:34):
They played almost at the same time, a little bit
later than the Cats did last night, and to handle
Texas in the way that they did on a night
when Cameron Boozer was not special. I mean, his numbers
were still decent, but even he acknowledged that he'd played
pretty poorly and they still won by I think sixteen

(32:55):
over a decent Texas team, So doke somebody to watch
to The point guard position for them is still kind
of a it's still kind of tough. Caleb Foster a
really good player, but still not proven as a really
good point guard. But they've got Boozer is also a
great facilitator from his forward spot, so the ball will

(33:17):
move if they can get into the offense.

Speaker 6 (33:19):
Last year they couldn't at the very end and it
cost him a national championship.

Speaker 1 (33:24):
A lot of people are talking about this class of
rookies a freshman, I should say, not just rookies, but
is being extra special. You think that's going to be
the case.

Speaker 6 (33:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (33:36):
As a matter of fact, when my All America team
comes out within the next week or so, my lead
says that this is the end of the COVID year era.

Speaker 6 (33:45):
More or less.

Speaker 4 (33:46):
There's still a couple of guys out there that have that.
But the freshmen were getting kind of boxed out all
those years when we had twenty three twenty four year
old guys. Well, along comes maybe the best freshman class
in seventeen eighteen years.

Speaker 6 (34:00):
It's a really deep, special group.

Speaker 4 (34:03):
There's a lot of excellent players in that in that group,
and and Jasper's won, but there are there are many
more at a lot of different schools.

Speaker 1 (34:11):
Yeah, the kid at b y U has been what
it's been talked about for a long time. DEVANSA, Yes,
I haven't seen them yet. But what impressed. What's the
most impressive thing about his game?

Speaker 4 (34:24):
The most impressive thing is he is. He's really relentless,
really is unbelievably dynamic. Not yet a great shooter, and
I think to become a significant NBA player, he's going
to need to do that, but he is.

Speaker 6 (34:38):
He is BYU's best facilitator.

Speaker 4 (34:40):
He really is a point guard in a small forward
in an elite small forwards body.

Speaker 6 (34:45):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (34:46):
And so he's eventually I think that you'll see the
ball in his hands a lot when when they're trying to.

Speaker 6 (34:52):
Get big buckets.

Speaker 1 (34:53):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (34:53):
He's he's really a special, special player. I like the
young man Michael round over at Louisville. You'll see on Tuesday.
He was outstanding in the summer for the U nineteen
World Cup. He's terrific Darren Peterson at Kansas is special.
It's really nice to see this group come along. It's

(35:14):
been a while since we've had such a deep collection
of outstanding freshman. When I was making that statement in
my article, I started looking back through the top groups
on the Recruiting Scouting Index and I kept going, Wow, Okay,
another year, another year trying to find one as deep
as this, and I think I went back to around

(35:36):
two thousand and eight or so two thousand and seven
before I found something that was even comparable.

Speaker 1 (35:42):
Mike Curcysportingnews dot Com at TSN Mike on X And
when we talk next week, it'll be about the recap
of the Battle of the Bluegrass. So look forward to
absolutely all right, enjoy, thank you, quick break, and back
to wrap up this edition of the Leach Report, presented
by Bobcat Enterprises Well Cat History is the service of
the Kentucky Road Show Sports Cards and Memorabilia. They are

(36:04):
on Romney Road in Lexington at at roadshowcards dot Com.
Nineteen eighty three, of this day, Kentucky clinched a Bowl
bid with a seventeen to eight win at Vanderbilt. It
would be the first Bowl bid since nineteen seventy six
and it was Jerry Clayburn's second year at his alma
mater and Kentucky had gone winless in his first year,
and I think that may have set a record at

(36:25):
that time for the biggest turnaround from zero to six
wins from one season to the next. Happy birthdays former
Kentucky basketball players Trey Lyles and Dante Allen and former
Kentucky football kicker Lonus Seeber. Good news coming from our
friends at Cornbread Hemp. They have opened a brand new
retail store right inside their production facility there in Louisville.

(36:49):
Gives you a chance to take a tour at see
firsthand how they make their products, meet the folks behind
the scenes, and purchase your favorite Cornbreadhamp products like those
new four packs of Soltzers, the infused Seltzers and raspberry Limonade,
peach iced tea, blueberry Breeze, salted watermelon and one convenient
box four of them and you can pick those up

(37:09):
or anything else that you love, like the sleep gummies
that are high on my list. And if you're a
first time customer to Cornbreadhamp dot Com, put in the
code Tom at check out you'll get twenty percent off
of the first order, So you can go to that website.
You can find a retailer for the carry's cornbreadhamp products
that's close to you, or you can just go to
their new facility. Tegy Baseball released it's schedule for twenty

(37:30):
twenty six yesterday. Season will start February thirteenth. They'll play
a three game set at UNC Greensboro. The home opener
will be the next week against the Morehead State Eagles.
And Mike of course, he mentioned that Duke win. It
was seventy five sixty over Texas last night. Perdue also
a big win, eighty two fifty one over Evansville. See
you tomorrow on the Leach Report, presented by Bobcat Enterprises