2025-06-19 - BBI - Big Blue Insider with Dick Gabriel

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Big Blue and Sider Dick Gabrielle with
you on a Thursday edition of our program Baseball, Football,
Basketball to talk about Tonight, we're gonna chat with Kenny Brooks,
UK women's basketball coach. Of course, the conference schedule announced
earlier this week for SEC women and Kenny Brooks made
a big splash that first year, but a key player,

(00:20):
Georgia Amore, is gone, so it's gonna be a different
kind of season this upcoming. But we'll learn more about
that from the UK coach. Also, Aaron Gershaan of the
Cat's Pause back from vacation, and we're also going to
talk with DJ Moberly. He is the head girls basketball
coach at Frederick Douglas. They made the final four last
year in the sweet sixteen. But more than anything, I

(00:41):
want to talk to him, not just about his girls team,
but the fact that he was a middle school coach
a few years ago at Southern and he coached a
youngster named Jasper Johnson, a sixth grader who's now a
Kentucky Wildcat and a rising star. From what we all hear,
I've not seen a young man play, but was one
of the top sign in the country. Now he's a

(01:02):
wildcin under Mark Pope. And when I first met DJ
Mobley working the Sweet sixteen, we were just chit chatting,
getting to know each other, and he told me that
he had coached Jasper Johnson and he had predicted greatness
for the kids. So we'll talk about Jasper Johnson with
his former middle school coach and we will learn more
about that. I mentioned the women and their conference slate.

(01:24):
Well we know now the men will play three home
and home opponents this coming season in the SEC, Florida, Vanderbilt,
and Tennessee. As God intended away games at Alabama got
to go to Arkansas, got to go to Auburn. That's
always tough. Of course, LSU, South Carolina, A and M

(01:44):
never easy. Long trip. Then the three home and homes.
So yeah, at home, you get those three plus Georgia,
Ole miss comes to town. Travis Perry and the Fighting
Rebels come to town. Mississippi State comes to town. It'll
be good to see Neil Price, the radio broadcaster. Missouri
comes in, Oklahoma returns the game from last year. Texas

(02:05):
comes here again, returning from last year. So look, none
of it's easy. I don't know you know what anybody
has got in terms of the portal. I've got a
pretty good idea. But you know how the SEC is.
Every year, it's brutal. But at least Kentucky's back to
home and home with Tennessee the school, the program, it
has played more often than any other. And of course

(02:28):
Kentucky swept Tennessee regular season last year. Tennessee got the
revenge with its first win over Kentucky in the NCAA tournament.
They never played in the NCAA Tournament on March twenty eighth,
but the Wildcats have beaten the Balls one hundred and
sixty three times. Conversely, Tennessee has beaten Kentucky more than
any other seventy nine times. So home and home with

(02:53):
those volunteers. But the non conference schedule is wicked tough
as well. It's gonna be fun away Mark Pope wants it.
And remember, you all want those big games, you all
want the marquee matchups, but you have to be able
to accept once in a while a loss by your team.
And yeah, you can learn things, you can benefit, but

(03:16):
when you play a schedule like that, you're going to
drop some of those games. It's not gonna hurt as
much as it might losing to East Nowhere State just
just be ready for a disappointment here and there. But
I think for the most part, given the roster that
Pope has put together, I think we're all going to
have a lot of fun. Provided they stay healthy. That's

(03:40):
always always the big if, right. I've got to get
into baseball and what happened last night with Arkansas, and
it's been turned around and flipped around for most of
the last twenty four hours, less than twenty four hours.
If you're paying attention to the College World Series, you
know what I'm talking about. But even if you're not,
and you have interest at hall in baseball, in sports,

(04:03):
in humanity, you're feeling for the Razorbacks who blew it
last night. They had a five to three league going
into the bottom of the ninth against LSU, which had
already beaten Arkansas once w Limb in the College World Series,
which means Arkansas would have had to beat LSU again.
But Arkansas was in great shape with its pitching because

(04:28):
gage Wood threw that no hitter a couple of days ago,
which saved its bullpen entirely. And it was a back
and forth game. I would were playing cards Wednesday Night's
poker night, but I was keeping an eye on the
game back and forth, and Arkansas was ahead behind and
took the lead going into the ninth inning, and again
it was setting up another game at LSU, but Arkansas

(04:51):
staying alive right well. LSU put two men on and
with one out, the ball to the shortstop. And I
saw this happen, and the shortstop took the lead runner
threw the man out of third. Okay, fine, but when
you look at it, it was a routine ground ball.

(05:13):
He would have easily, I think triggered a double play.
It was a sharply hit ball. Routine would have been
a routine six four to three, and it would have
ended the game. But it didn't. So now the next
thing you know, there are two men on and an
LSU hitter slams this wicked line drive into the left field,

(05:37):
right out the fielder who got a little a bit
of a weird jump on the ball, and then he slipped,
ever so slightly lost his balance and could not close
the angle on the line drive. He kind of threw
himself at the ball, got a piece of it, but
it rolls into the corner. Two men score, and now
it's tied five to five and a winning run on base.

(06:01):
Here's Carl Ravage on ESPN. Now he called it. This
body is hope to the field and a bad.

Speaker 2 (06:09):
It goes off the little fielders.

Speaker 3 (06:11):
Hey damn, those ones are gonna come in and we
are tied again.

Speaker 2 (06:18):
Oh my goodness, he slipped it in. The fucking went
right off of his body, and we are tied at five.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
If you ever in your life under the wood, so
Arkansas shifts. The batter hits a line drive right up
the middle, right at the defender. The defender in the
middle of the field gets his glove on the ball
deflex it into the outfield, which of course kills the
momentum the ball. Centerfielder comes racing in, you know, base

(06:49):
runners scoring. He's got no shot at the plate. If
the line drive had remained alive, would have been a
one hopper maybe to the center fielder, and the guy
might not have tried to score, or he would have
had a really good opportunity to throw them out at
the plate. But instead, because of the deflection, runner scores easily.
Game over. Lsu wins with three in the bottom of
the ninth Arkansas kids. Of course, the fans devastated, players

(07:15):
are crying. I mean, it was such a heartbreaking scene.
But on the other hand, they self destructed. Arkansas put
men on base the bottom of the ninth inning and
then misplay after misplay. Oh man, it was tough, you know.
And I'm rooting for Coastal Carolina like most of the country.

(07:37):
But I'm okay with Arkansas because I kind of want
to see their coach win a World Series. He's won everything.
But and a few years ago Arkansas had it and
a kid dropped the pop fly and ended up costing
Arkansas the World Series. But last night it was just torture.
It was slow death and you just knew something weird,

(08:00):
what's gonna happen. So now it's LSU and Coastal Carolina,
all right, that's a rematch from twenty sixteen when Coastal
Carolina jumped up and beat Arizona for the national title.
Arizona then was coached by Jay Johnson. LSU now coached
by Jay Johnson. Should be interesting. Gonna be a best

(08:23):
of three this weekend, and I'll be watching interesting. Note
about the college football Playoff, the word comes out that
the College Football Playoff will begin requiring teams to provide
player availability reports starting this season, just like the SEC.

(08:45):
No details yet, but you gotta think they're gonna follow
that model, and I gotta think Greg Sank is pushing
this train down the tracks and the SEC. As you know,
teams are required to release initial availability reports on Wednesday
before Saturday games, followed by daily reports Thursday and Friday,

(09:05):
with a final report at least ninety minutes before game time.
For any non Saturday game, it's got to be submitted
three days before kickoff. Players have to be designated available, probable, questionable, doubtful,
or out. Yeah, this is about gambling, but even if
you're not a gambler and you're a fan, you're buying

(09:26):
a ticket, you're watching TV and probably paying for that.
You deserve to know. So now it's going to happen
for the college football playoffs, and it should. While we're
talking about something that should happen, this is kind of
tilting in a windmill. But pro athletes, college athletes, high whatever.
I don't know what it is about athletes, and I
know this happens all over the place, but of course

(09:47):
it's celebrities athletes who make the headlines. But could we
slow it down out there? Shador Sanders, Brown's rookie quarterback,
cited for going one on one in a sixty on
I seventy one, one hundred and one miles an hour.
And yeah, I know he's young, he's got great will reflexes.

(10:07):
Blah blah blah, you're gonna hurt somebody else. And this
comes up just as a story breaks about Henry Ruggs
the Third, the former Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver who's
doing time after killing somebody thanks to a felony DUI
a drunk driving crash from twenty twenty one. He was

(10:28):
given a special release to speak at an organization and
took that opportunity to apologize again to the family of
the victim. But yeah, he was sentenced to three to
ten years. He pleaded guilty in twenty three to a
felony count of dui which resulted in the death of
somebody else. Why isn't that enough of it? Well, it's

(10:51):
always going to be that way, you know, you and
I are going to get older. They're always going to
remain seventeen eighteen, twenty one years old. And may I
remind you, and the former UK player died in an
accident similar situation, going too damn fast in La ran Alike,
collided with another vehicle and Terrence Clark never got a

(11:14):
chance to play in the NBA going too fast, no
seat belt street racing getting ready for the twenty twenty
one draft after he was a freshman with the Wildcats.
But the sad news is that I guarantee you every
one of the people who might have been affected by
this at some point said, well, that's not going to

(11:35):
happen to me, but it'd slow it down. Please back
in a minute, we'll talk about a situation that was
really shocking involving high profile college basketball that reminded me
of a chapter of Kentucky Basketball that's coming up at
the bottom of the Ara. Kenny Brooks, UK women's coach
around six point thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big

(11:59):
Moonsider coming up in just a few minutes. UK women's
basketball coach Kenny Brooks. A little bit later on Aaron
Gershano the Cats Paws and coach Jamie Bomberley, who is
the head coach of the Frederick Douglas women's team girls team,
but he coached Jasper Johnson in middle schools, so we'll
learn more about his thoughts on one of the newest Wildcats.

(12:21):
I wanted to commend you to an article on ESPN
dot com and it's not a lot of fun, but
it's fascinating in that there's a Kentucky twist to it.
Slight Kentucky twist to it. But this was a huge
headline story back in the early aughts. This is when

(12:43):
a Baylor University basketball player murdered a teammate and the
head coach tried to cover it up by spinning lives
about the victim. We're going all the way back to
twenty three Baylor basketball player where Patrick Denihey went missing

(13:04):
and it turned into a murder Who done it? When
his body was found with two gunshot wounds to the
head and a gravel pit outside of Waco. His car
was found in Virginia Beach, Virginia with the plates removed. Eventually,
his teammate Carlton Dotson confessed to the crime. And then
it got even worse because secret tapes emerged of the

(13:28):
then Baylor coach Dave Bliss trying to frame Dennihe trying
to paint the picture that he was a drug dealer
and that this was about a drug deal going bad,
and there was all kinds of money involved, and all
of this was happening while the NCA was investigating illegal
payments to players at Baylor. I bring this up for

(13:51):
a couple of reason. Number One, I had worked in
Dallas in the early eighties. Dave Bliss was the head
coach at SMU when I was down there, and just
as I was moving back to Election and SMU played Kentucky.
That was an SMU team that was a top twenty
five team and had a big man named John Contact.

(14:11):
He wasn't the best player on the team I ended
up with. He became known as John Contract because he
got a fat contract in the NBA, and he really
wasn't that good, but he was big, you know. But anyhow,
SMU actually came up here and kicked Kentucky's butt in
nineteen eighty five, and that was while Dave Bliss was

(14:31):
the head coach. He left Baylor. I'm sorry he left
SMU for New Mexico, and I thought he would do
big things there. He was a hot property. And then
he left New Mexico and came to Baylor, which is
a big name now because of Scott Drew, but not
back then, so I'm not sure why he left New Mexico.

(14:51):
He was having some success, but when Joe b retired,
one of the guys at cliff Hagen he later told
me this that he looked at because we got to
talking when I came back and I was talking to
him about being down in the Southwest conference was Dave Bliss.
He really believed Dave Bliss would have been perfect for Kentucky.

(15:13):
He was a young, good looking guy, he was good
with the media. He was kind of fun, a New
York Yankees fan from New York. He had blue seats
installed at SMU, which his colors were blue and red.
But when I was interviewing him once in that arena,
he said he was pointing at the seats, so that's
Yankees blue. But Cliff Hagen really thought he might have

(15:37):
been a great choice at Kentucky. So fast forward to
an NCA tournament I worked in the early nineties and
Dave Bliss was there was coaching. I was working at
Friends a Radio, and so I always carried my recorder
with me and I interviewed him briefly about the fact

(15:58):
that you know, his name came up when Kentucky was
looking for a coach and I asked him a question.
He gave me some general answer, and I try to
follow up. Dave Bliss reached his hand out, put it
over my microphone and kind of muttered. I knew what
was about to happen there, and he was referring to

(16:21):
the local newspaper's investigation of UK basketball and leading to
NCAA probation, and so Bliss, if he had ever had
any interest in Kentucky turned away because of that. That's
not unusual either. Mitch Barnard had a heck of a
time hiring a football coach right after NSA drilled Kentucky

(16:43):
in early oughts. Rich Brooks was choice number six. So anyhow,
the story on ESPN dot com refers to the fact that, yeah,
Bliss resigned in disgrace. One player was dead, one player
went to prison, thirty five years sentence. But now he's

(17:03):
been released. He's out of jail, and the family's not
real happy about it. Obviously, they have fought his parole
for years and now they they've decided we're not going
to fight it as vociferously. So he's part of this
super strict program quote unquote in Texas. But the crux

(17:24):
of the story, as it turns out, and I had
forgotten about this, I mentioned the tapes. An assistant coach
named abar Rousse who had just started at Baylor when
the murder occurred. He recorded the comments from Dave Bliss
with the tape recorder that he bought at you know,
a store like a Walmart or a you know, Target

(17:47):
or something like that. He bought a small recorder, taped
it to his body, and captured the comments of a
Bliss explaining to the st members, the assistant coaches, coaching
them up on what to say about the victim, and
how this guy had been a drug dealer and the

(18:09):
murderer was involved in a deal with him and it
all went bad and a bar rouse turned into tapes
and everything exploded. So Dave Bliss, the last thing I
heard he was doing was coaching basketball on a reservation
Native American to Native Americans on a reservation I think

(18:30):
in South Dakota. I don't know. He never obviously got
into mainstream basketball. But the saddest thing of all, next
to the murder, was the fact that a bar Rouse
lost his career. He went and was an assistant coach
or a part time assistant at Midwestern State down in
Texas for a short amount of times, a D two

(18:52):
school or actually former UK walk on Bowl Lander played
a season, played really well, but then transferred to Kentucky.
That's the only time I can remember hearing about Midwestern State.
But this guy could not even get interviewed because he
had taped the comments of a head coach who was
committing a felony. And of course he did it to

(19:14):
protect himself. He turned to a career, believe it or not,
and this is very coincidental in corrections. He joined the
Federal Bureau of Prisons. He's forty nine, now works in Victorville, California.
He's worked at several facilities, and he said he's happy.
He said, I don't know if I would have been

(19:35):
this happy if I had stayed in coaching. So he's
happy now, you know, with a wife and children and grandchildren.
Dave Bliss eighty one is retired and at first he recanted,
he apologized, but apparently I got to go find this.

(19:55):
There was a documentary that appeared on Showtime back in
twenty seventeen, and the man who initially apologized Bliss, apparently
in that documentary repeated many of the same lives he
had told about the victim about Dennahe and that's brutal.

(20:16):
But anytime I heard or read about this situation in
the early aughts, the mid auts three, five o seven
around in there, I thought about it never came close
to happening. But that was a big What if Dave
Bliss had been hired at the University of Kentucky, all

(20:37):
of this might have been avoided. Those two players never
would have been teammates, at least at Baylor. So again,
ESPN dot com has it, and if you just want
to find it, just google Dave Bliss and it'll probably
come up all right. Up next Kenny Brooks of the
UK women's basketball program next on six thirty WLAP Welcome

(21:00):
back to the Big Blue Insider, joining us now as
a young man who has been on the show before,
but he had just been hired as the head coach
of the University of Kentucky women's basketball team. He is
back with us. Kenny Bruce, coach. Thanks for joining us.

Speaker 4 (21:13):
My pleasure, Dick. I'm not sure I'm that young. Man
anymore going through a full year in the sec ages
about ten years. But I'm glad to be glad to
be going, happy to be on you got that.

Speaker 1 (21:23):
I got a few years on you, so you'll always
be young to me. But yeah, that that season can
I'm sure brought a few gray hairs, but a lot
of smiles. Coach, What was it like for you the
first year? Now that you look back on it, it
was so successful, a lot of excitement ended, I know,
not the way you wanted, But how do you assess
that first year?

Speaker 4 (21:42):
Yeah, more more smiles than gray hairs, Dick. You know, obviously,
you know you transitioning to a whole new environment, whole
new conference, whole new team. You can only hope for
the best. And you know, the kids came through and
it was more than I could have hoped for, just
the way that they gelled, the chemistry that they created

(22:02):
in such a short time. Uh, and even overcoming some adversity.
We had some injuries last summer that you know, a
lot of people you know could have said it could
have derailed our hopes.

Speaker 1 (22:12):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (22:12):
And I was a little bit gloom and doomed because
we know Jordan, Obie and and Don Paranova that they
were going to be a big part of what we
were going to do and u with their injuries, it
just really depleted our bench, but it didn't deplete our hopes.
H what the kids did. Everyone stepped up, you know,
did a little bit more than maybe what was asked
of them. And the way they came together and they

(22:33):
fought it was tremendous, you know, and it's probably I
could probably go on record to say it was my
most enjoyable season just because just because of the way
that they came together did We had no issues. Kids
really got along, worked hard, they were they were so
much so, not even late for a meeting, you know.
That's how you know, respectful. They were of the program

(22:53):
and where it was going. So for me foundationally, it
was a it was a tremendous year, a lot of fun.
I think we brought a lot of excitement to Kentucky
women's basketball and we're we're looking to build on that.

Speaker 1 (23:05):
How much Kenny of that success was because Georgia and
Clara came with you, and we know they're great players,
stats aside and all that they knew you, they knew
how to play for you, and other players could take
their cues from them cheat coat.

Speaker 5 (23:23):
It really was.

Speaker 4 (23:25):
And you know, I've started two other programs and it
took a little bit longer to develop that that chemistry,
that that philosophy. Uh and you know, they came in
and Georgia, you know, I effectually call her my minime.
She could finish, finish my sentences. She knows what I'm thinking. Uh.
We played a lot of you know, games together, and

(23:45):
so she knew exactly what I wanted, what was expected
out of the group. So you know, I could go
out there and I could say you know whatever on
the floor, and then when they went in the locker room,
Georgia was still speaking the same rhetoric. You know, she
would be my translator. She would say, well, hey, look guys,
he really means this. There were certain times during the

(24:06):
year where she could sense my frustration, maybe in a practice,
and she would huddle the team up together and then
they come out with a new energy and just understanding
what I meant. And uh so she really was like
a little a little coach on the floor. And so
that really you know, propelled our our just the expectation,
because you know, we were already ahead of the curve.

(24:27):
And then you know, you throw in Daja Lawrence, who
I'd never coached before, but that that kid was such
a She's such a giver and she just wants to
make sure that she's giving the best she can give.
And the leadership between those two, uh really really, you know,
set the foundation for who we can become. I'll forever
be indebted to both of them for what they did.

(24:49):
And uh, and just just a familiarity with you know,
most of the kids that we had in our program,
you know, six of them were either played for me
everything in Tech or were committed to me to come
to Virginia Tech. So just understanding, knowing developing a team
that really fit what we wanted to accomplish. I think
that really put us ahead of the curve.

Speaker 1 (25:08):
It really did. And then you became one of the
top scoring teams in the SEC, one of the best
defensive teams in the SEC. And when you got here,
you talked about the fact that at Virginia Tech you
had played against SEC teams, but now you're hip deep
in it. What was that like for you and trying
to fight your way through that.

Speaker 4 (25:29):
Well, you know, one of the things I'm not trying
to sound over confident. But you know, obviously I've been
head coach for a long time.

Speaker 6 (25:35):
We've had you know, moderate.

Speaker 4 (25:37):
Success and what we've been doing and how we've done it.
And I remember coming here and everyone was saying, you know,
are you ready for the SEC? Are you ready for
the SEC? Because obviously there's different styles amongst programs, And
I just kept thinking in my head, you know, was
the SEC ready for us? Because we were different than

(26:00):
anybody else in the SEC. The way that we ran
our offenses, our defenses were different than the SEC. And
you know, I think that we came in and we
imposed our will more than the will was imposed on us,
and I thought we were different.

Speaker 5 (26:15):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (26:16):
Several coaches even commented on it that it was hard
to prepare for us in a couple of days because
we were different. We were different than anyone else. And uh,
And I think that's just that's that's the brand of
basketball that I love. I think that that's the brand
of basketball that that fans deserve, uh to really go
out and try to play with freedom of movement in space.

(26:36):
I think it really showcases the talent, uh that young
women possessed these days. Uh, instead of just trying to
come and beat each other up. And uh so I
think it's you know, I've had so many Kentucky fans
come up to me and they they thank me for
bringing the style of basketball here because it's very pleasing,
it's fun to watch, and and so you know, just

(26:56):
going through the sec you know, it prepares lot. You know,
when you talk to Georgia, she talked about physicality was
at a different level, but it also prepared her for
the next level. And so we just we just really
kind of came in and just really stuck to what
we do and try to do it as best we
can do it. And it's going to cause problems for
other people.

Speaker 1 (27:16):
I go back, I've been here forever, but I watched
Patty Joe Hedge's play with those great teams back in
the eighties. Was Valerie still and I'm trying, I try
to compare the two different styles of player, but so
exciting and Georgia. It was really interesting coach watching opposing teams.
They were throwing everything they had at Georgia trying to
stop her, and they may may have slaughter, yeah, exactly exactly.

(27:38):
I mean, bumping her, holding her and all that stuff
and she still got her points and her assists. And
I know people have probably asked you every time you
turn the corner, what are you gonna do now without her?
And she's a generational talent. You don't expect anybody to
come in and replace her. But how much, Keny, if
at all, will this affect your style of play with

(28:00):
a new point guard?

Speaker 4 (28:02):
Yeah, I think you need to uh, you need you
need to evolve. And a lot of people will ask me.
You know, I'll have great players, you know, and throughout
my career. I think I think we counted the other day,
I've had nine players who were the player of the
year in college. Really and yeah, and it's like, okay, well,
what are you going to do now since she's gone?
What you evolve? You evolve to your talent and what

(28:25):
you have, you know, and then this year, you know,
we'll we'll do more things through Claaria Strack, We'll do
more things through keani Key and that they'll have their opportunity.
But Georgia, Georgia is such a special talent, not only
because of her physical attributes, because of her mental capacity.
She could go out and you know, I never saw
Georgia have a bad day, you know, So whether it

(28:47):
was practice or a game, she always came out and
she had a just a wonderful attitude to try to
get better. And it was infectious and it made everyone
else if your best player has that attitude, and you
have to have that attitude. And so that's how she
really affected us, you know. And a quick story with Georgia.
Georgia is like my daughter. You know, We've been through

(29:08):
so much together. She spends Christmases with us and everything.
Coming leaving Virginia Tech, coming to Kentucky, I felt a
sense of responsibility because I knew what her goals, her
dreams were, and I didn't want to derail them by
going to coming to Kentucky, all right, and then making
her have to go through something totally different. HER's, her

(29:30):
stock whatever. So every morning, you know, that was the
first thing I thought of, How can I make Georgia better?
How can I put her in great situations? Every night? Okay,
what can I do to make sure that she's going
to be successful? And when we came up against every
defense and everything, we were always prepared for. And part
of that was because you know, she and I spent

(29:51):
so much time together and her dreams became my dreams,
and I wanted to make sure that I was going
to keep her on that path. Beca because I never
had a kid who worked as hard or harder than Georgia.
And so with all of that and everyone's seeing it,
I just think it just spread across our program. And
now to this day, the kids really follow suit and

(30:14):
they're all okay, wanting to work as hard as Georgia did.
And I think that's an lasting impression that will help
our program for years and years and years.

Speaker 1 (30:21):
He is Kenny Brooks, the head coach in the UK
women's basketball program. Will come back and talk more hoops
with the coach on the other side of the break
here on six thirty WLAP. We're talking to Kenny Brooks.
He is the women's basketball coach at the University of Kentucky.
And some new faces on the roster coming up and
some returning. And you mean, I'm glad you mentioned Tianni

(30:41):
Key because watching your team as much as I did,
clearly you needed Georgia to do her thing. But I
felt like Kenny, that if Tianni had a big game,
you had a shot. I don't care who you were
playing again, yea, she transferred in from North Carolina. But
she is an SEC player, isn't she.

Speaker 5 (30:59):
Yeah, she is.

Speaker 4 (31:01):
I love coaching Kiani King. And last year, last year,
we had to we had to instill confidence in Kiani.
Kiani had played three years at the University of North Carolina,
didn't get much playing time. And when we got her.
I've known Kiani since she was eleven years old. I
recruited her sister, Tomori, who went to Tennessee. I've known

(31:23):
the family forever, and so the first thing, our first goal,
what we needed to do was still some confidence center.
So as soon as she got to us, we would
see the athletic ability that she had, the uh you know,
she'd guard like skills that she had, and I was
blown away. But she had no confidence. So all this
all this year, you know, she she had some tremendous

(31:45):
games that you mentioned, she had some games where she
wasn't as a productive for us, and the whole year
was just a building year for us to build her confidence.
Now her body looks great, she's confident, she's a WNBA player,
oh wow, and we're looking forward to, you know, extending.

Speaker 7 (32:05):
Her game a little bit more.

Speaker 4 (32:07):
All the while still in Stilling Confidence Center, and I
think I think everyone's going to see a different Tiani
and they're going to see, you know, a young lady
who's going to come out and show.

Speaker 5 (32:18):
Who she is.

Speaker 4 (32:19):
And I say that having a breakout year. You know,
she averaged twelve points a game and eight rebounds a
game in the SEC last year, and I think she's
going to be even better.

Speaker 1 (32:27):
Wow, bodes well for you hearing you talk about it,
and stilling confidence is just flashed on your colleague. Nick
ben Jone, the baseball coach. His first year at Kentucky,
he inherited guys who were talented, but it kind of
lost their passion and he spent he had to spend
the first half of the year telling them, hey, guys,
we're really good. You guys are really good. We can play.

(32:49):
They end up winning a regional title that year. Part
of your job is helping young players assimilate, you know,
and maybe leave the high school behind where they think
they're you know, and maybe they are the greatest things
since jellybeans. But on the other hand, you have to
build confidence and other players. That's that's quite a gift
for a head coach. How long has it taken you

(33:10):
to develop that skill.

Speaker 4 (33:12):
Well, you know what twenty five years, because they're going
on twenty five years and I'm still doing it because
you know, we've gone from an era that you know,
when I first started, you know, coaching on the women's side,
there was no social media. Yeah, you know, so pretty
much you were instilling confidence and kids and their little
bubble and what they lived in, you know, with their

(33:33):
parents or families or whatnot. And now it's even evolved
to the point where you know, these kids come and
they play a game, and they can go on social media,
and they've got strangers that are just you know, you know,
breaking them down, you know, over a game. People don't
know them, and so, you know, it's just just been
different levels throughout my whole career of talking to kids

(33:55):
and stealing confidence and telling them what they can do.
And I think the one way that I've been able
to be successful with it and be genuine with it
is you have to know your players. You know, you
have to know them. So it's more than you know,
it's more. It's not just transactional, it's relationship based and
to coach them hard, to understand them, you have to
know them. And they've got to come into your office.

(34:16):
They've got to come in and sit down and talk
to you so that they understand, you know, what's supposed
to be happening. And that's that's the way we've been
able to do it. And you know, it took us
a little while. For Kiani, it's still a work in progress,
still a work in progress with some others. You know,
even to the day Georgia was walking out of my
office or all their last game. You know, I'm still

(34:37):
teaching her, talking to her about you know, hey, be
as confident as you can be and your abilities because
you put the work in. So I do think that's
very very important. U. You have to have that relationship
with your players to be able to get the best
out of them, the most out of them. And h
you know, and I have a tremendous staff. You know,
we're very well in tuned with what our kids need,
what they want, uh, and then we just try to

(34:59):
get the best of of them.

Speaker 1 (35:00):
Well, you got to know the fans all season and
yesterday they lined up all the way around Kroger over
at Beaumont Huge Store.

Speaker 6 (35:09):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (35:09):
What was that like for you? You know? And I
know that's all part of the job. But when you
can get out and and interact with the fans like that,
it's got to be a nice break for you.

Speaker 4 (35:18):
I would think, Well, I'll tell you, a big blue
nation never ceases to amaze me. And uh, you know,
just their passion uh for for you know, Kentucky in general. Uh,
me and my family we were just sitting here talking
and and how much we love Lexington. And Lexington is
a really cool city. You're able to do a lot
of different things.

Speaker 6 (35:38):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (35:39):
You know, I I go hardly anywhere while I'm not recognized,
but the fans are so knowledgeable and so respectful and uh,
they just they just want they want a winner. But
more than that, they just want teams that are going
to represent the University of Kentucky, the state of Kentucky.
And when you do that and you play hard, you
know they'll be behind you. And uh and and they
they want to win. They want to win. And you know,

(36:01):
you don't want to be anywhere where people don't want
to win. But it's been a tremendous, tremendous experience for
us in the year. For me going to like Kroger
uh and just being able to interact with you know,
fans on a different level. Uh that that's a joy
for my job. And you know when we were there
yesterday or the day before at Kroger, I was blown away.

(36:25):
You know, I thought the line just went a certain
way and then when they told me you know, the
line wraps around and you know I was I was
blown away. But you know, just having the ability to
sit and talk to each individual person, you know, whether
you know whether it's ten seconds, fifteen seconds, or you know,
it could be a little bit longer. It's what we do.

(36:46):
And for those fans who give so much to us,
for us to give anything back, it's a joy. And
that was a lot of fun yesterday.

Speaker 1 (36:54):
I've only got a minute or so. Let but have
you talked to Georgia since her injury? And then what
are her spirits like? Because what a disappointment a chance
to wait to start her pro career.

Speaker 4 (37:04):
Yeah, you know what, I talked to Georgia probably five
times a day. You know, whether it's whether it's whether
it's you know, on the phone or through text or
you know, through social media. You know, we're constantly and
uh communication with each other. And uh, you know when
when when when it happened. When it happened. It happened
in the afternoon practice, and she called me right after

(37:27):
and she said, Hey, don't worry, I just just going
to take me to you know, look at this situation,
I hyper extended my knee and I and for me,
I was you know, heartbreaking because I had her for
five years and she never had much of a sprained ankle.
And so I waited all day and then she face
timed me that night. And when when I clicked on
and I saw her face and she was, you know,

(37:48):
very emotional, my heart sank and I just start crying.
I just start crying. But but what happened, what happened
after that. That's why sometimes I don't know if I
was coaching her, she was coaching me. You know, she
was she was the calm one, she was the adult,
and she was the one that was assuring me that
she's going to be okay. Yeah, and you know, and
immediately she looked with a silver lining in the whole situation.

(38:11):
The Washington Mystic stepped up. They were tremendous. They didn't
have to keep her on roster. They did. They're rehabbing her.
They sent her to the best doctor to get her
her her surgery done and then her you know, her
recovery is going yeah, exceptionally well right now, and then
you know she's helping me through it. So but she's
she's a trooper, and you know that's why she was

(38:32):
great that she is. So she's doing extremely well.

Speaker 1 (38:34):
That is great, coach. Thank you so much and looking
forward to seeing your team this season. I appreciate the
time and have a great summer.

Speaker 4 (38:40):
Thanks Dick Okat.

Speaker 1 (38:42):
Such a great first season for Kenny Brooks, not unlike Markope,
and it coincided with the opening of the new and
improved Memorial Coliseum, so it all came together. Up next,
Aaron Gershaan of The Catch Balls a little bit later
on DJ Morbley, who coached Jasper Johnson in middle school.
On The Big Blo Insider six thirty, what do you
like feet.

Speaker 2 (39:15):
Tacking back?

Speaker 1 (40:46):
Welcome back to the Big Bone Sider, joining us now
as he does every week. Aaron gershan of The Cat's
Pause back Off vacation down to Florida to see mom,
traveling around a little bit. Everything good.

Speaker 7 (40:57):
Yeah, actually was down in Florida, but this time was
actually with my friends. Was a Bechtel, trip Ah, hanging
out with the guys, wit a great time. And yeah,
like you said, relaxed and ready to get going again,
do you.

Speaker 1 (41:10):
Well, you put that disappointing Nicks finished behind you. I
won't have to, I won't harp on that a little bit.
But you're still trying to find a head coach, trying
to poach coaches, and nobody will let you talk to anybody.
But well we'll leave that. And now your Yankees have
finally scored a few runs.

Speaker 7 (41:26):
You've got a rough time, like the lost. Yeah, they
didn't win a single game while I was gone. So
I saw something today where like the last like the
last nineteen New York sporting events, counting the nets, counting
the nets, the Knicks, like they've lost nineteen in.

Speaker 5 (41:41):
A row combined.

Speaker 7 (41:43):
Man, Yeah, it's not fun right now.

Speaker 1 (41:48):
Miserable time in New York City. Well, let us bring
you back to the beat you cover for the Cat's Balls,
Aaron covers basically anything involving UK sports. Of course, the
headline why you were gone was Vince Marrow throwing over
one program and going to the arts rival. You know,
there had been rumors floating, But again, you've been traveling.

(42:09):
How shocked were you by that?

Speaker 7 (42:12):
Yeah, I think it was the timing of it. I
don't think it was the fact that happened. And like
you said, these rumors have gone on for years at
various different programs. I mean Michigan State when mel Tucker
was hired there, Michigan, Clinkscale was on staff there North
Carolina earlier this year when they first hired Bill Belichick,

(42:32):
and then countless you know, mac head coaching opportunities, and
then both Purdue when Jeff Brown was at Purdue and
Louisville when he first got to Louisville. Like this relationship
with Jeff bro for Vince Marrow has gone back to
their time in the xfs YE in two thousand and
one playing together. So it's not a huge surprise he
landed at Louisville, even though it is the arts rival.

(42:54):
I think that you know, he's at the end of
the day, you know, he's a high paid, well known assistant,
and he's obviously childhood friends and there's no Mark Stoops
for quite a long time. But you know, the fact
he went to Louisville as an assistant, I think, you know,
it's not like the most earth shattering thing ever, especially
when you have a guy like Jeff Brown there. But

(43:14):
the problem and why it's so such a tough look
pr wise for UK such a tough it's the timing.
I mean, we're talking middle of June, well, I guess
early June when this happened, busiest recruiting cycle month. As
you're seeing, you know, Kentucky's finally getting on the board
in the high school recruiting game, which is good, but
you know, the guy that's kind of the guy whose

(43:37):
spearheads all that leaves in the middle of it to
the arch rival.

Speaker 5 (43:41):
He immediately, you know.

Speaker 7 (43:43):
He saw two Ohio kids get offers formoival yesterday. Like
clearly there was a lot going on there, you know,
whether it was a change in power, changing philosophy. You know,
Vince Marra was ready for something else and he went
to go, you know, coaching or I guess I'm get
me on to coach more of a general manager type

(44:03):
with a close friend. And you can't blame them for that.
But it's just the timing of it that it's so
so hard to like not have not to try to
want to dig deeper and see what the heck happened
here because these moves don't happen in June. They usually
happened in December and January.

Speaker 1 (44:19):
Well, and to your point, yeah, those kids get offers
from Louisville. But suddenly Kentucky is up to six or
seven or whatever, there's been like this rush. Do you
think that was a coincidence or do you think one
had something to do with the other with Vince Marrow
moving on as suddenly these kids are committing.

Speaker 7 (44:39):
Yeah, notice how so far none of them moved from
the state of Ohio. It's total different and none are
from the city of Kentucky either. You know, they're from
different places. And I think I don't think it's a
Vince Marrow. This is all happening now because Vince is gone.

Speaker 5 (44:55):
Deal.

Speaker 7 (44:55):
I think this is all happening now. One because it
is June. This is what happens in June typically. And
two I just think Kentucky now with Mayor maybe the
only way that it's not just kind of just timing
thing is you know, Kentucky now is fully now that
Mayor's gone, It's like, Okay, we're going to do it
this way. Now, We're going to kick the tires in

(45:16):
this philosophy, and you know these kids are that they've
had committed. There's been Georgia, there's been one from Texas,
I think Louisiana, definitely one from Pennsylvania the other day.
Like they're from all over the map, but they're not
from the two states. Kentucky's recruited the hardest. So I
do think that is very interesting, you know.

Speaker 1 (45:34):
And the timing, as you say, is everything, and really
the way this is all coming together going into this
crucial Mark Stoops year. You know, we all know what
happened last year. Stoops has talked about how it got
away and he you know, he took a hit for that.
He said, this is on me, and he's not wrong.
But you know, it's a group thing. And now they're

(45:57):
looking at a brutally tough schedule. So all of these
things are coming together at once, and I don't know,
I don't know if there's a feeling of dread, but
by the uphill climb is something like we haven't seen
since Stop's got here, you know what I mean.

Speaker 7 (46:15):
Yeah, it's the truth, And you know I was kind
of I've had a couple of reporters on other beats
jats to me for future stories they're doing. And they
both asked me the same question. So they're both in
the two four seventh space and maybe they're working on
a similar feature. But they both asked me, who do
you think Kentucky's best player is? And so the first
time in a long time, right, usually we'll have a

(46:36):
quick answer, right, Josh Allen, Yeah, right, you know, going
back a couple of years ago, get picked one of
the offensive linemen, Wandell Robinson, Will Levice whatever. Last year,
even going into last year, Dean Walker, no question.

Speaker 8 (46:48):
Yeah, I couldn't like, I couldn't find a good answer
for him. It's like and that to me speaks of
why it's such an uphill battle. And again, yes, the
schedule is brutal. We all know that there's.

Speaker 7 (47:02):
No game, especially now that Vandy had a really respectable
year and has Diego potting it back.

Speaker 4 (47:07):
There's no game on that schedule. You can go right
now on June nineteenth and just chalk up as a
wint that there's just none of that. So that's already
one uphill battle. But the other one too is Yes,
I do think I like what they did with this
transfer class. I think they just a lot of needs.
I think, at least on paper, this offensive line should

(47:27):
be have more depth to it and should be better.
But there's still that there's that lack.

Speaker 5 (47:33):
Of star talent. There's that lack of Okay.

Speaker 7 (47:35):
This guy is going to make a play when we
need him in the fourth quarter, Like I just had
real trouble pinpointing that guy. And I think that's kind
of the biggest problem that maybe isn't even being talked
about enough. I'm sure you know, fans are all angry
and they don't want to talk about much with this
football program other than the marrow stuff and stoops as
this is last year whatever. But to me, like the

(47:58):
biggest issue that's not being talked about enough. And again,
I think they did a pretty good job of the
portal class, but they lost over forty kids from last
year's team. Like if dang Key was coming back, I know,
you know, I don't really know if he was a
locker room ische or not. I know he had some
dumb penalties over the time, but he was a really
really productive player. He's a fifth leading receiver in UK history.

(48:20):
Dane Key was coming back, I'd say, dang Key, sure,
but he's not coming back, so it makes it really interesting.

Speaker 1 (48:25):
That is a great question. And of course you've got
the revolving door at quarterback. And I just saw one
of the many many preseason polls power ratings on SEC
qbs and whoever put it together, of course at Kentucky's
QB last. But then you know who knows anything about him?

Speaker 5 (48:43):
Right, and they had Tabby had right near the bottom
last year. That's yeah, studs.

Speaker 7 (48:48):
Yeah, I mean, and actually I think that's kind of
I think Calzada is really interesting because of how like
the sort of motivated the news ton this offseasons become
almost the joie. But like that dude, that dude's got
everything on the line. This is a seventh year senior
who is back in the SEC after kind of going
two years in SPS to kind of re establish himself.

(49:11):
He was pretty pretty hard solid in twenty twenty one
at A and m makes the decision to transfer to Auburn.
That decision goes terribly and now he's back with it,
you know, Yeah, And that goes back to now he's
back with a chance to redeem himself. Like that's kind
of like a position I'm kind of more. I'm not
I wouldn't say skeptical. I'm more excited to see how

(49:32):
that plays out. And obviously if Cutter Bully who I mean,
that Texas game is real like it happens, was not
so good offensive line. So actually, like, what's funny about
all this to me is like quarterback, I feel decently
okay with It's just the talent up and down the
roster and the schedule, and then obviously the big the
biggest thing is just how locked in is Mark Stepson's

(49:53):
coaching staff.

Speaker 1 (49:54):
Yeah, yeah, well it's all going to come down to
line play, but it always does in the SEC That's
just the nature of the beast. But it's interesting, Aaron,
and we all know the O line had his issues,
but you know the D line, you know, I thought
underachieved last year, underperformed a little bit, and I don't

(50:14):
know why. I'm not smart enough to know why. But
it's funny. That is a difficult position, as you know,
to which to recruit and execute, and yet it's been
a strength of Kentucky football. So now that one's got
to re establish itself, you.

Speaker 7 (50:29):
Know, absolutely, And yeah, I think last year, look, they
were a top run defense in the country, like halfway
through the year and then Deon Walker's back. Really, I
think that was the biggest thing. You know, that guy
was playing. It was amazing that guy got it out
and played. I think that kind of appreciated just what
that guy tried to do. And he obviously wasn't himself
and didn't have the year he was hoping to have,

(50:51):
and that's why he saw his draft stock pummet. But
you know, other guys like they just didn't. I mean,
I think Joe'siden Hazes's injury kind of got underrated in
it too, where they lost that big body in the middle,
like when the season, you know, when they started losing
other bodies. But you know, tav Foxen Done was a
nice player. He was always up and down throughout his
career and that was kind of what he was last year.

(51:13):
I thought Trayvon Ripkay had a great year, but was
a better kind of a pass rusher than run defender.
And they just they struggled to stop the run. And
they remember they had all those defensive line injuries in
spring practice last year, and I think maybe them losing
time on the practice field in the spring hurt them
in the fall and then hurt their conditioning. Because again
they were.

Speaker 5 (51:33):
Top head in the country and run.

Speaker 7 (51:34):
Defense until that Florida game, or yeah, Florida would have
before Auburn.

Speaker 5 (51:39):
So the Florida and Auburn game.

Speaker 7 (51:41):
Is kind of when things started to go super super south.
But I think maybe the conditioning and then Deon Walker's
injury what to blame there. But the thing is with
this year's run defense is like a lot of the roster,
there's so much new and it's hard to just project
exactly how.

Speaker 1 (51:58):
It'll Douncetaer is going to be a question mark and
that's not been a question mark for a while at Kentucky.
So we're talking Aaron gershan of the Cat's Balls. We'll
talk more Kentucky football, a little bit of hoops as well.
On the other side of the break here on six
thirty WLAP Welcome back, We're talking with Aaron Gershaan of
the Cat's Paws about the basketball Cats, the football Cats,
and uh, just let me interject this. Did you see

(52:21):
Arkansas LSU last night?

Speaker 5 (52:23):
Another Arkansas moment?

Speaker 1 (52:25):
Gosh amazing?

Speaker 7 (52:28):
Yeah, really, yeah, It's been a lot of these games,
been really good.

Speaker 1 (52:32):
Great in terms of drama, not in terms of execution.
But yeah, but let me stare you back to football
one more question before I get you to basketball. One
of the you mentioned Dane Key and I I really
I just love watching him play. You go back to
the Old Miss game and Old Miss through anything, and
everybody had him and he still made big plays, and

(52:55):
you couldn't blame him from moving on and trying to
get you know, a bigger year behind him going into
the end NFL. But that said, with the guys coming
back and the guys coming through the portal, I'm really intrigued,
Aaron by the wide receiver room. Or maybe I'm being
overly optimistic, but I really believe that this could be
a strength of this team, you know what I mean.

Speaker 7 (53:17):
I think on paper it can. I think obviously isn't
going to come down to the quarterback play at the
end of the day. But Jamury Macklin, the way Jimury
Macklin played at the end of the year was the
guy who signed out of North tex That's right, like
that is what they were looking for, and I think
him moving outside to his natural spot is going to
help him. I think Kendrick Law, from what we saw
in the couples and practices, looked awesome, and he was

(53:39):
a guy that was at Alabama for three years, right
was kind of underutilizing the past game. Is a really
good run blocker, which Kentucky we all know can use
on the perimeter. That has been a huge issue the
last two or three years, the run blocking on the perimeter.
So I think Kenrick Law and Jimury Macklin are the
two that stand out. It's going to be interesting to
see who they utilizing the spot. If it's choice though

(54:00):
the transfer from Funds, and if it's one of the
freshmen like Quisinberry, I think he's probably got another year
development to do. But you know, he was the guy
who may just made every play when we were there
in the spring, so we'll see if that carries over
into the fall camps. So you know, there's there's a
lot of options in that room. You also have if
you could stay healthy. JJ Hester, who is the six
or four body that played at Missouri originally when la

(54:23):
Damian Washington and Jaworium Mathon were there, went to Oklahoma
last year I think was the healthiest healthiest of his
career and was almost that four hundred yards, So you know, there's.

Speaker 5 (54:32):
A lot of different options. In that room.

Speaker 7 (54:33):
I think there can be a lot of depth. It's
going to be I think, you know you're one and two.
They're going to be macklin in Law. As far as
options go, it's just who's going to step up behind
them and who's going to be emerged as reliable. And
you know, you even have a couple of guys also returning,
like David Washington was a guy who's really good in
the spring too.

Speaker 5 (54:53):
We'll see where he's at.

Speaker 7 (54:54):
And then you know, Fred Berrier made a couple of
plays for you last year too, So it's a very
interesting room. I agree, And I think it can be
a strength that's skiffs again. Who's going to emerge behind
mack when the law is the question for me.

Speaker 1 (55:07):
Holding on to the football and and becoming a downfield threat.
You know, who's going to be the slot guy that
everybody knows needs the ball and you know, can they
get it to him? That kind of thing. It's going
to be fascinating.

Speaker 5 (55:21):
I agree.

Speaker 7 (55:22):
And and the title, well this finally like a guy
like Willie Rodriguezy got to throw the ball, like they
got to figure out a way to get the ball
in his hands. I think, you know, that was one
of the guys. I was like, man, I wish he
had better stats because I think he has a chance
to be the best player on this football team from
everything we hear and everything we see in practice. But
they got to get him the ball to show that.

Speaker 5 (55:42):
Well.

Speaker 1 (55:42):
Joshkatis as well, he's proven he can.

Speaker 5 (55:45):
Yeah, he's been around forever. Yeah, and that's the guy.

Speaker 7 (55:47):
Yeah, that's uh finally gets to play for a same
coordinator for a second year. So in last year, he's
a guy too that was banged up as well. So
if he's back healthy, yeah, there's no reason he can't
have a nice year as well.

Speaker 1 (55:59):
You know we talk about Bush Hampden, the offensive coordinator. Yeah,
that secondary he's got that full cycle, you know, being
a Kentucky not just arriving quickly installing everything. But on
the other hand, you know, so many guys on the
roster don't have that full cycle, so they just they
just gotta get sync, don't they.

Speaker 5 (56:18):
Yeah, they have to get in sync.

Speaker 7 (56:19):
And I think that's what was so good about, you know,
having most of the bulkier transfers and even a lot
of freshmen here for the first spring, supposed to get
a jump start on that, and you know you do
just have some again, you have some returners, but you know,
not as many as a lot of other teams. And
I do think for Handen of the biggest thing that'll
make this I think last year, I'm not going to

(56:41):
say throw away Hamden and you know the play calling
and all that, But I think this year he picked
this team.

Speaker 5 (56:48):
Like on offense.

Speaker 7 (56:49):
You know, a lot of I wouldn't they picked it,
but yeah, a lot of say self were last year
he came in and then Rock Vandergriff was his quarterback,
and you know, they had brought in Jamary Macklin already,
they brought in Jalen part ended up being really good,
right They like the pieces from the portal Gerald Minty,
like those pieces were in place and he kind of
just had to figure it out.

Speaker 5 (57:08):
This year.

Speaker 7 (57:09):
You know, he knows every single piece because they you know,
he helped either recruit them or or scout them or whatever,
like he had to say so on these guys. So
I think this is a huge year for him in
that regard as well.

Speaker 1 (57:20):
Yeah, and it all comes back to the old line
as everybody knows.

Speaker 5 (57:23):
But uh, exactly, you know.

Speaker 1 (57:25):
The proof's going to be evident fairly quickly. But and again,
I've talked all summer with people about the schedule. Toledo's
not going to be easy. It just isn't. And you know,
by the time.

Speaker 7 (57:36):
They boat route Mississippi State, yeah, and then.

Speaker 1 (57:39):
And then they beat Pittsburgh in a bowl game, yep.
But by the time they arrive, you know, I think
in the minds of a lot of the Kentucky fans, well,
it's another Mac team. But you know, need I remind you,
And you've seen MAC teams come in here and play
Kentucky off his feet and win at times. So and
then the next thing you know, you got ol miss
coming in. So it's amazing how some years everything comes

(58:03):
together in terms of the schedule and the team, but
then years like this and they're they're rare. I think
there's so much working against this team right now.

Speaker 7 (58:12):
You know, Yeah, the odds are absolutely one stacked against them,
and no one's really giving them much of a shot
at all. I mean, when the votes come into Atlanta,
I'm expecting them to probably be fourteenth or fifteenth. I
think Mississippi State's still got the longest road in the SEC.
Just with Levy and that rebuild going on there in

(58:34):
the year they had last season, but you know, outside
of them, like fifteenth or sixteenth, probably fifteenth or fourteenth,
probably depending on where Vandy they stacked Mandy with them.

Speaker 5 (58:43):
So it's an uphill battle.

Speaker 7 (58:45):
The schedule is one of the hardest in the country
and in the SEC as well. Like everyone's like, oh
the SEC, no matter who your schedules and stuff.

Speaker 5 (58:52):
Don't look at I.

Speaker 7 (58:52):
Don't have it in front of me, But look at
Missouri schedules and tell me how they got that. Like,
they're two toughest games of the year, I think, are
all of them, and to Carolina they're both at home
and the rector are very, very manigable for the Tigers.
So it's just Kentucky did not get that draw, that's
for sure. And with all the roster questions, all the
mark stoops, that's going to be distraction more like.

Speaker 5 (59:16):
Will they handle it well?

Speaker 7 (59:17):
Hopefully, but that's gonna be something that's hanging over this
program's head all year long. Yeah, and uh, it's gonna
it's gonna be again, it's an uphill doubt. I like
the way you put it, that's what it's gonna be.

Speaker 1 (59:27):
Yeah, and they've lost a lot of the fan base,
which they know and they I mean, that's all part
of the job, you know, it's it's winner else, especially
in the sec uh. But I always go back to
that Old Miss game last year when Kentucky played so
well on the road, tough situation against a good team.
They knew how to prepare a team and they got
it done because the players went out and executed. It.

(59:48):
All has to happen at once. Whatever does happen, Aaron
Gerschell will cover for the catch balls.

Speaker 5 (59:53):
Thank you so much, sir anytime.

Speaker 1 (59:55):
And we ran out of time before we could ask
him anything about basketball, But there's all next week, so
we'll check in with him on that. Coming up next,
we'll talk with DJ Moberley, who coached Jasper Johnson, the
newest Wildcat, one of the newest Wildcats in middle school.
Next six point thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big
Blue Insider. Rejoined now by a young man that actually

(01:00:18):
met during the girls Sweet sixteen. His team had a
run at a state championship. A great job by Dj
Moberley of Frederick Douglas coach.

Speaker 6 (01:00:26):
Are you I'm doing pretty good?

Speaker 5 (01:00:29):
Doing good to.

Speaker 1 (01:00:30):
Talk to you again. I want to talk about your team,
but I also want to talk about something you told
me when we were getting to know each other during
the Sweet sixteen back in March, and that was that
you were Jasper Johnson's middle school coach. Is that correct?

Speaker 6 (01:00:44):
Yes, sir, that's correct.

Speaker 1 (01:00:45):
Where was that?

Speaker 6 (01:00:48):
I don't remember the year that was actually over here
with me, but he's been with me for three years
over here. He actually when he came in as a
sixth grade he started eighth grade? Does the sixth grade?

Speaker 5 (01:00:58):
Wow?

Speaker 1 (01:00:59):
What did you say and him? That's a broad question,
I know, but.

Speaker 6 (01:01:03):
Yeah, Uh, to be honest with you, man, Dennis is
probably gonna laugh, man, But Dennis was thinking I was
crazy in middle school because I had told his dad that, uh,
Jasher was playing three sports when I got him. Actually,
and uh, you know his dad, you know, his dad
is a big, big UK football player, you know, you know,
of course played professional so you know it's Hardsworth football.
But I's the crazy thing about it, Dick h The

(01:01:25):
first year I got Jasper, I didn't want to tell
this at first, right, but I was like, I knew
it from the get first day I had Jasper. I
said this guy's gonna be a basketball placer. I'm gonna
be a football player. And so the day that I
got to tell his dad, and his dad was looking
at me crazy, like, man, you really think So the
day I could, I remember calling him up and telling him.
I was like, man, I said, Jasher's passion is basketball.

(01:01:46):
I said, man, you know, and I told him this
why this kid was in sixth grade me, I said,
this kid's gonna be a pro.

Speaker 1 (01:01:54):
What position did he play in football?

Speaker 6 (01:01:57):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (01:01:57):
He was quarterback, of course, of course, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:02:00):
Course is right, he's quarterbacking football. I don't know what
position he played in baseball, but I know he's really
good at baseball too. Uh but man, he was man,
he Jasher was coming in man, and uh he was
just different.

Speaker 5 (01:02:10):
Dick.

Speaker 6 (01:02:11):
I just I just couldn't believe like some of the
stuff I used to see him doing there and and
quote be wrong. I mean, I mean that was my
peing them. I just told Dennis Daula was crazy. Youth
laughed at me. He's like, man, you're crazy, coach, And
I was like, nah, man, this kid's gonna be a
probe man.

Speaker 1 (01:02:25):
Wow, Well you're a professional coach. You can see athleticism
a guy like me, I can see athleticism. But you
mentioned a word passion. You know, how does that present itself?
What did you see?

Speaker 5 (01:02:37):
Uh?

Speaker 6 (01:02:38):
Just, I mean it was just different when Jashu was
being there just from his his his determination, his drive,
his love for the game. I just didn't see it
nowhere else, like his ayes lit up to me when
he's on the basketball court. No matter what we did,
I don't care if it was a drill, I don't
care if we had to run extra sprints. Like Jasper
was always happy. Uh, he loved getting in the gym,

(01:02:58):
always would be one of the first ones in the
gym actually, and uh, and he just I mean, he
just had a knack for it. And I mean, I
mean I've seen it every day, Like I was joining
every day as to come in and coaching, just just
to watch his growth. And uh, every day he excited
me because I didn't know what what he was gonna
do differently.

Speaker 1 (01:03:16):
And he liked drills, really.

Speaker 6 (01:03:18):
Yes, he loved drills. He didn't he never shot away
from it, man, like Uh. And Jaff was a kid too,
you know, he's you know, people know, you know, he's
very shy, but Uh, he's a humble kid, man, I
mean and uh and and I mean and you know
at times where you know, I would see Jasher's smile
through it. You know, he didn't be some of the
tough drills we might be running a lot, but like
he always had a good, happy you know, just that

(01:03:39):
happy energy around him. I always kept the guys laughing.
Guys loved him when he came over there. Man, I mean,
I mean, everybody took to him. He's a great kid,
a good character. Will we'll joke with you a lot.
So man, guys loved that man, and they brought in
to him.

Speaker 1 (01:03:53):
Man, as a coach, you want to know one of
your jobs, maybe your biggest job, is to push your athletes,
boys beyond how they would push themselves. And it sounds
to me as though Jasper Johnson accepted that kind of
coaching and probably still does. Am I right?

Speaker 6 (01:04:11):
Oh yeah, definitely, man. I mean I would put him
probably one of the toughest coaches agre man, and Jasper
can take you, man, I mean, and he's gonna show
any thing about it. Jasper would come in and score
forty in middle school. You would't even know it. And
he's not gonna be gonna show you that he's got
forty after the game. He's just that type of kid.
He's very very humble. Uh. I mean he would give
you a quiet thirty and you would even know it.

(01:04:33):
Like Forrest, I would know it just because I know him.
I know what he's doing, and I'm looking for it
because I'm ready for the show.

Speaker 1 (01:04:37):
Right.

Speaker 6 (01:04:38):
But but uh, but uh, you know, he would just
be quiet man. He wouldn't be one of those kids
where you know he's you know, he's going to social
media talking about hey, I scored thirty of middle school today,
none of that. Like, he was just a humble kid
and came in every day ready to work. Uh. And
actually Jasper came to our school because he was going
to CARTERA G. So he would have to catch a
bus by hisself to come to our school to practice

(01:04:59):
w So the bus would drop him off from Carter
G and he would come on there in practice with
our kids about selling kids. So he wasn't even going
to school with these kids. But these kids looked up
to jass for so much to where you would think
he was going to school with these kids every day.
That's how well they matched and there. You know how
well they matched together in there in the locker room. Man,
But uh, I mean he's a good locker room guy. Uh.
And the guys took toy and he was a great

(01:05:20):
leader that we had to come over, man, and it
was a joy to have me.

Speaker 1 (01:05:24):
We're talking to DJ Moberly. He's the head basketball coach
for the Frederick Douglass girls team, but in middle school
coach the UK's one of u k's newest players, Jasper Johnson,
and you kind of brought up my next question when
you were talking about the other players. When you got
a guy like that coach who is clearly the best
player but has what you call the happy energy and

(01:05:46):
the work ethic as a coach, I got to think
you just love that because of the effect that's going
to have on his teammates, the example he's setting, right.

Speaker 6 (01:05:57):
Yes, definitely, definitely definitely example that he said, And you
got to think Jasher was pushing these guys at the
age of eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen years old. You know
he's coming in pushing kids, making them go even harder
just because basically our heart he's going and it's the
set that he's happening. So so he So it was
a situation where you know he will will these kids

(01:06:19):
here at Southern Uh, just just as well as as
any other part team he's been on where he's probably willing,
willing kids to know how to win and just be
competitive because because Jasper is a competitor, like Jasper.

Speaker 9 (01:06:31):
Doesn't doesn't want to doesn't want to lose. He wants
to compete. He's not gonna beat on shore loser. If
he loses, he's still gonna shake your hand and smell
about it. But uh, but but one thing I'll tell
you right now, Jasher wants to win. So so that's
that's one good thing that I can that I can
count on. And I can tell you k fans that
you getting a guy that's gonna play very unselfish.

Speaker 6 (01:06:49):
It's not about him. Uh. And he's a winner man.
He loves the win man.

Speaker 1 (01:06:53):
How did you feel about the fact that he moved
away from home. He moved away from Woodford County for
a while to further his career.

Speaker 5 (01:07:02):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (01:07:02):
I thought it was a good I thought it was
a good uh good move for him.

Speaker 5 (01:07:05):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (01:07:05):
He matured. I feel like all the way around the
board mentally, wise, even physical physically wise. Uh, he got this,
he got to I feel like he got to see
himself as far as being away from his you know,
his home, his home and his parents and you know,
you got to grow up as a man a little
bit and get to see like, you know, this is
really what you want to do, and and you know
it kind of groomed him. I feel like because I
feel like when he came back, uh, Jasper, I feel

(01:07:27):
like you know he was he was more locked in
mentally wise. You could tell the difference in his body,
had got a little bigger, put on some weight. I
probably I've been saying this the kids to people, man,
jash has been shooting from how of course this middle
school man. So you know when that when these people
are seeing this guy do these things. But Dennis used
to be like coach. After game, he like, you let

(01:07:47):
Joshu take that, and and and after like the third
fourth game he understood because iused to tell this was
like this, he's got my green light on those shot
and said this he makes them, he can make them.

Speaker 1 (01:07:57):
Yeah, and as he mature, as he'll recognize better and
better shots.

Speaker 6 (01:08:01):
Right, yes, he definitely will. He will recognize better and
better shots. He definitely will man, but Josh is a
kid man where he has unlimited range. So, Uh, to
be honest with you, any shot that's like Jasper gets
gets off man eighty percent is going in.

Speaker 1 (01:08:17):
Wow, you were talking about his his skills, his maturation.
A buddy of mine's a huge UK fan like zillions
around here. He wondered, was Jasper Johnson a YouTube all star? Meaning?
You know, everybody can put up great clips on YouTube.
You know you and I can do that. Uh, but
you know, is he is? He truly the real thing?

(01:08:39):
And from everything you've just told me, it sounds like
he's well beyond being a YouTube all star.

Speaker 6 (01:08:45):
Yeah, tell yeah, to tell your guy get his pop
point ready because this guy's the real deal.

Speaker 1 (01:08:52):
And you also mention this guy go ahead.

Speaker 6 (01:08:55):
This guy's a real Yah. This guy's a real deal.

Speaker 5 (01:08:57):
Man.

Speaker 6 (01:08:57):
He man, he's a great kid man. He's going to
represent Lexon will Man. He's not going to be our
typical and uh and I mean, and I'm saying this
with and I'm saying this with a great salada. He's
actually going to be the actually Kentucky kid where people
can understand that he actually he actually belongs here.

Speaker 1 (01:09:15):
Okay, well again that you're reading my mind, coach, that's
that's my next question. Tell me about you watched. I
know you've been You're busy with your team, but you
keep an eye on the Wildcats. Uh. I don't know
if you've met or talked to Mark Pope at all
or any of his people. But how do you think
he fits into what Pope runs?

Speaker 6 (01:09:35):
When Mark Folk came, he actually got the job before
Jasper committed. When I watched, just some assistance that Mark
Pope runs. To be honest with you, I thought this
was the best situation Jasper before he before he even
committed to a school. To be honest with you, because
I watch a lot of basketball, and I know Jasper's game.
I've been knowing Jaffer since Like I said, i've been

(01:09:55):
I've been knowing since day whe and uh, I thought
it was the perfect fit for Jasper.

Speaker 1 (01:09:59):
Yeah, yeah, what do you like? Why why is it
such a good fit?

Speaker 6 (01:10:05):
Well, of course Post shoots a lot of threes. He
runs a good system, so guards. Uh, I mean he
showcases him a lot too. I feel like, uh and uh,
he runs a guard offense. Or you're in the office.
To me, so uh, shooting a lot of threes is
a plus or Jasper Jasper Uh is a guy that
uh uh that that can that can get up, get

(01:10:27):
get up some points and very very short seconds. He
scores quick.

Speaker 1 (01:10:32):
Yeah. I was about to say they they like the temple.
They like to get out and go triggered by defense
and rebounding. So they got to work on that. But
you know, man, they scored a lot of points last year,
and that sounds like uh in terms of shooting and passing,
that sounds like it's it's right in his wheelhouse.

Speaker 6 (01:10:49):
Yeah, it's passing, man. I think I think he don't
get enough credit for us passing.

Speaker 5 (01:10:53):
Dick.

Speaker 6 (01:10:55):
This guy, this guy, and this guy got the back
of his head like I mean he does. I mean,
this guy, he's gonna if you run. I'll tell you this,
Tucky when we when we run in out how folk
likes to run?

Speaker 5 (01:11:08):
Uh?

Speaker 6 (01:11:08):
Then boys being ready because Jason's gonna hit him right
in the hands.

Speaker 5 (01:11:11):
Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:11:12):
And this guy is he's very unselfish. I mean, I mean, Dick,
you're gonna you're gonna see it, Dick, You'll see you'll
see how phenomenal, how how good he reached the floor
and passes the ball.

Speaker 1 (01:11:22):
Well, I wrote down the word unselfish. Again, you you're
reading my mind. I've never had anybody jump to my
questions better than you have. But it just sounds like, uh,
he's gonna be here. Is already a good teammate and
that's vital, especially at the level of Kentucky where there
could be a lot of egos involved.

Speaker 6 (01:11:37):
Right, Yes, but Jash was a guy that has no ego.
He's gonna come in and do whatever he got to
do for the team. Josh is that type of kid. Man.
He's been there since day ward.

Speaker 1 (01:11:46):
Man.

Speaker 6 (01:11:46):
I mean Dennis and his mom and uh and his
granddad and his grand mama. Man, they they have you know,
played a good seat to him. Man, this guy's this
guy's a great kid own and off the court. Man. Uh,
Josh was a very humble kid. So he will you know,
if it was another guy there to shine and you
know he's getting his points on job, beating woy probably
having seven eights just getting the ball to.

Speaker 1 (01:12:08):
They got all right. We're talking with DJ Moberley. He
is the head girls basketball coach at Frederick Douglass, but
a few years ago he coached Jasper Johnson, one of
the new Wildcats at Southern Middle School. We'll talk more
about both Southern and Frederick Douglass in just a minute
here on six thirty WLAP. Welcome back to the Big
Boon Sider Dick Gabriel with you. We are talking with

(01:12:30):
DJ Moberley. He is the head girls basketball coach at
Frederick Douglas, but he also back in the day not
too long ago at Southern Middle School coach Jasper Johnson,
one of the incoming freshmen and now a Wildcat under
Mark Pope. This is a question that kind of leads
me into your girls team. But you mentioned if you've

(01:12:50):
got Jasper running, he was good with that. He's going
to be running in practice a lot under Mark Pope.
My man Cameron Mills goes to practice and Pope doesn't
let him cut short. They got to touch the baseline
before they turn to go back and the hit a direction.
But but he'll be okay with that, right, And that's
something you did with your girls team a lot.

Speaker 6 (01:13:08):
Right, Yeah, definitely that and Jasper still too. I ran him,
I ran him a lot, So he's definitely he's definitely
in two with that man. And he's got a fready
conditioning man. So he's definitely, he's definitely, he's definitely into
and I know, I know he's ready to accept the
challenge over there.

Speaker 1 (01:13:23):
Talking to DJ Moberley, he was Jasper Johnson's middle school coach,
but also the coach was a highly successful Frederick Douglas
girls team. You got to the final four last year,
falling to g RC, which then lost his sacred heart.
Of course, but we talked in a couple of the
pregame interviews about how hard you worked your kids at
Frederick Douglas. But when they came to accept it, that

(01:13:48):
really kind of opened the gates for you, didn't it.

Speaker 6 (01:13:51):
Yeah, definitely.

Speaker 2 (01:13:52):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (01:13:52):
I was just on a podcast last night and we
were just talking about this and uh, you know, it
just it just bying in. You know, you got to
right standard, you know, from the very first practice, very
first condition that you got. You got to tell them
what's the standard and what's the goals and and and
you know, one of us coaches are you know, what
we're looking for and in our demands and what we're
trying to get out of it, and you know what

(01:14:13):
we're trying to move forward with the team. So, uh,
I think once you established that first, uh, you know,
you get kids to buy in. You know, you get
kids to buy in and understand like what it takes
to win and and really really working hard.

Speaker 1 (01:14:29):
Is that recall you have a pretty good or you
had in a tournament, a pretty young team. Uh so
I got to think your expectations are pretty high going
into this coming season.

Speaker 6 (01:14:41):
Yeah, yeah, it really is. Uh, we we are young.
We will this year we will have three seniors, four
seniors actually on the team this year. We got four
that was juniors last year, the becoming seniors this year. Uh.
Of course, guy Jelly you know, is coming back. She'll
be a junior.

Speaker 4 (01:14:57):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (01:14:57):
She's her game has has stepped up up tremendously this
this summer. She's putting in a lot of work, so
her her game is improving. My eighth grader, she just
came off of she just came off her first offer
from Northern Kentucky actually a couple of like two days ago.
She's got her first offer as an eighth grader. Wow,
she'll be she'll be in ninth grade coming in this year.
So we just we're just trying to work over a

(01:15:19):
dick and just you know, just trying to move forward
and uh just stay in the jail.

Speaker 5 (01:15:22):
Man.

Speaker 1 (01:15:23):
I got to think that making that run last year,
your girls have got to be so hungry right.

Speaker 6 (01:15:28):
Now, right, yeah, they are like right now, Like I said,
today we go to West Kentucky just be our last
summer ball for June ball. Man. But we didne had
a good summer so far. I really like how the
girls came in and uh, they kind of came in
this year and already was ready just to get right
at it this year. I felt like this year was
was exciting summer for us as far as coming next,

(01:15:48):
I feel like the girls was, you know, a little
bit more happy, ready accept the challenge and was excited
about getting back together this year as far as the
little June ball that we got, the little money we
got together. Man. So it's been a good experience so far.

Speaker 1 (01:15:59):
Of course, you're in such a tough region the eleventh
you know, with the election schools Madison Central, Franklin County.
You know, the top four teams in your region. Coach
never lost a district game last year and lost a
total of what six games within their own region. So
so it's a battle every night. I know, isn't it.

Speaker 6 (01:16:19):
Yeah, it definitely is. I mean, I live in region, man.
This I always tell people, you know, your man as
may kind of like the sec a little bit as
far as you know, you're beating up on everybody every night.
You never know who might who might get beat, who
might win, who might be the underdog pull off the upset,
So so you got to be prepared. I tell my
girls this all the time, especially with us being there.
You know, we've been fortunate enough to you know, to

(01:16:41):
win the district the last couple of years. So I
always tell these girls, always the target on your back
because somebody's always ready to try to, you know, take
away to throw them. So I just tell them, you know,
you got to stay in the gym. We can't. I
always tell my girls, you can't. You know, we're we're
of course, we're happy with success we have, but we
still got to always keep them humble.

Speaker 5 (01:16:59):
We don't.

Speaker 6 (01:17:00):
We don't, you know, go off of Hey, we just
want this, we just want that because every years years,
like I told him, you got to get better every year.
You can't just go off of the success that you
might just have this one year thinking it's going Turrio
to next year. So if you don't stay in the
gym and keep at it, uh, you know, teams will
catch up and you know you'll'll you'll start struggling and
win a while. You know you're not winning games, you know,

(01:17:20):
stuff like that.

Speaker 1 (01:17:21):
So well, coach, best of luck this coming season. Thanks
so much for your time, and uh, I hope to
see you again at the Sweet sixteen, if not at
a UK game watching watching your man Jasper, Yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:17:32):
You definitely see the man watching Jasher actually met him
and uh, the craziest story, I'm gonna tell you a
story real quick for you get off your dad. Uh
Jasper when he first landed to the UK, which is
crazy because uh, that's how much family that we got
around him as far as so, I got a guy
that's uh the UK's basketball manager that I coach, named
Max Vandyke. Uh and he's he's actually the boys miniager

(01:17:54):
over there. So uh, him and Max actually played together
at my middle school together with me. Okay, so when
Jasper came, it was funny because they actually face timed
me together, him and Max and I actually missed a
call so I had FaceTime him back that night and
Max was like man and me and Jasher was calling,
you know, we just see what he was doing. And
I said, man, it's crazy, I said, you two boys
back together again.

Speaker 5 (01:18:13):
Huh, you know what I mean. So it was it was.

Speaker 6 (01:18:15):
Crazy because when Jasper came in as a sixth grader
and Max was an eighth grader at the time at
Southern Middle of we was at this school together and uh,
like I said, Jasher got to play with maxes. Like
I said, Jasper came in and starting as an eighth grader,
I mean after sixth grader.

Speaker 4 (01:18:29):
With Max at the time, and so that's great.

Speaker 6 (01:18:32):
It was good man. So it's you know, it's good
good to know he's got somebody right there that that
he really knows, you know, his boy played with so,
you know, just just just a good experiencement all around. Man.
So I was happy for that.

Speaker 1 (01:18:42):
That's a great story. Coach. Thank you so much, and
I hope to see you soon.

Speaker 6 (01:18:46):
Well you definitely see me sooner. It doesn't see me soon,
And good luck to you, man. And I appreciate the
interview with.

Speaker 1 (01:18:52):
DJ Moberly, head coach of a good Frederick Douglas girls team.
They could be back in the sweet sixteen as they
were last year, got to the final four, lost to
GRC in the final four. But yeah, he had a
young team and he's going to have a good experienced
team upcoming. But good things to say as well about
Jasper Johnson. But again, when I first met him doing
pregame radio interviews for The Girl Sweet sixteen, we just

(01:19:16):
got to chit chatting about his background and you know,
I told him, you know, I'd worked on the UK
network for a while and he brought up Jasper that
I was his middle school coach and might go, oh
that that calls for a conversation down the road. So
I enjoyed talking to him. That's going to do it
for now. Thanks so much to DJ. Thanks as well,
Tier in Gershon, Kenny Brooks that said good night from
the garage in Lexington.

Speaker 3 (01:19:36):
Mister Speakcole it that's in the game. You're ripping the car, Yeah, Bud,
what's your problems?

Speaker 2 (01:20:03):
Batatat tat the shivering then back outstation then too

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2025-06-19 - BBI

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