2025-08-07 - BBI

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's stick Gabriel taking a little bit of time off,
so we thought we would replay some of the best
interviews from over the last several months. Please enjoy the
best of the Big Blue Insider. Joining us now is
a longtime friend of the show from Cats Illustrated, Justin Roland.
And while many of us get a chance to put
their feet up a little bit in the summertime, and
Justin's had a little bit of that, but just in

(00:22):
summertime and the talking seasons right on top of us,
it's always a big recruiting time for you and your publication.
But just ahead of SEC media days, I've been talking
to a lot of people about this. What do you
think it's going to be, like remarks toops, how do
you think he'll handle it, because he will get the
hot seat questions that I don't know that he's ever gotten.

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Down there, you know, Yeah, I mean I think he
They've kind of handled the off season by just laying low.
You know. I think they realize that it's not about
winning the press conference at this point. The only thing
that matters is winning real games. But I'm sure he
will show some of the excitement that he has for
this year's team. I'm sure he'll talk about how motivated

(01:04):
and locked in is to get this thing right, and
I think it's probably gonna gonna be true. I think
I expect to see the motivation, to hear the motivation
from Mark suits because you know, he's eager to get
last year that taste out of his mouth.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
Yeah, and he has become better and better at at
least trying to control the narrative, not in a combative
way like some coaches do, but and and you know,
he's also a little parent of you're not going to
get me to say this, or someone's going to turn
that into a headline. But you know, he knows what's what.
And as I said, I think he's really grown into
that part of his job, don't you.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Yeah, Yeah, I think so. I think he has a
pretty good feel for where the fan base is at.
I think there were a couple of moments in recent
years where there is some friction, and there was some
maybe maybe ill timed this or that, but he understands
where the fan base is. I think, Yeah, he's gotten
more comfortable at these media days events you can see

(02:05):
just as present. I mean, he's one of the deans
of the league now and that comes with certain clout.
You know, his accomplishment at Kentucky, the recent downswing aside
speak for themselves, and so he probably is more comfortable
and it's up there.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
It's really interesting too, how if you look at the
evolution of Stoops in terms of how he's been perceived
at SEC media Day specifically, you know, he's the new guy.
He's the football coach at the basketball school. He's a
guy who finally breaks through, gets his programmed to a ball game.
Then they start winning ball games. Now they're winning ten games.

(02:41):
But the pendulum has kind of swung back in the
other directions. So you know, I don't think he'll be
intimidated at all to you.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
No, No, I don't think so either. He got some
things to get you excited. The defense has carried pretty
much through the Stute Sarasin. He started getting them in
the right direction in twenty eighteen, and we don't know.
There's maybe more unpredictability on the defensive side this year
because of all the moving parts. But I think the

(03:11):
guys they brought in are very interesting pieces, and you
got to believe that if you're optimistic about this season.
I think it's got to be about trusting Brad White.
It's got to be about trusting that his player evaluations,
his portal evaluations, his defensive staff continuity. That's going to
give them a chance most weeks. I think that's the

(03:33):
best path to them having good season. And then on
the offensive side, the line is improved, and you lean
into that with just more of a methodical, steady ground
and pound approach and set kels that up with a
better group of a better situation in the receiver maybe
not more talented receiver room, but a healthier dynamic in
the receiver room. Maybe they simplify what they're doing, just

(03:54):
get back to the basics. So he has a path,
is a path, but we'll see how they execute it.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
Mentioned Brad White and then took the words out of
my mouth. I mean, is as long as Brad White
is there, you can count on at least some level
of quality. I mean, he's you know, his work speaks
for himself. But what do you make of the fact.
And this was with Brad White's blessing, and he has
promoted Chris Collins as someone who can talk as openly
as he does about the defense. He is now the

(04:21):
co defensive coordinator and the d backs coach. What did
you make of that that they that they gave him
that title.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
Yeah, I mean he's they they've been bringing him up
through the rank. Uh And they liked him a few
years ago and they brought him on staff and he
got a lot of guys on campus. He was clearly
an energetic, invested recruiter. I think he buys into the
to the culture of the program and he fits well
with the culture in the program. And then you throw

(04:50):
in they're putting defensive backs into the NFL, and it
probably reflects the role that Collins has in defensive staff
meetings and in game planning sessions and in and in
team talk, and he's probably just demonstrated a requisite level
of knowledge and experience to become more of a strategic
part of just what they're going to do week by

(05:12):
week and what they're going to do to build a
unit over the course of the season. And they like
developing guys inside the program, bringing them up through the ranks,
and you can kind of mold them the way that
you want. I think that's what Collins has become.

Speaker 1 (05:26):
Well, well, I were talking coaching staff, I kind of
buried the lead here maybe, But what was your reaction.
I don't think we've talked since Vince Merrill left, but
since then, and we'll talk about the kid from Cincinnati
here in a minute. Since then, they've had a run
on commitments for twenty twenty six. But were you knocked
out of your shoes or did you feel like it

(05:47):
was inevitable that he would leave at some point maybe
I'd go to Louisville, but that he would leave.

Speaker 2 (05:53):
I mean, I thought that it was possible that he
would leave, but only if he judged the timing to
be right. And I think it was a combination of
maybe some relationships that Kentucky becoming strained for various reasons.
I don't want to exaggerate that, but maybe maybe not
maybe over time, maybe just to change is better for everybody,

(06:15):
some of that creeping in. I think they were going
to get that run on commitments no matter what. You know,
they still had to get a bunch of guys, and
they were recruiting behind the scenes leading up to that.
But you know, for events to go to Louisville, you
knew it had to be a somewhat bad behind the
scenes and then be because he does care about his
reputation if he was a Kucky fan could tell just

(06:37):
to public facing he is and the coach, but he'd
probably judged that he didn't think that things would play
out well for Steeps over the next couple of years,
and he just kind of as a life raft for
his career. So that's the calculation that he had to make.
Other people have made other decisions. Brad White has had
other opportunities in recent years and he has stuck with Steeps,

(07:00):
which says he still buys into what whereas you know,
events was maybe in a different place.

Speaker 1 (07:05):
Yeah, we're talking to Justin Rowland of Cats Illustrated about
the football Wildcats. We'll talk a little basketball coming up
in a few minutes. But of course, as he's seen,
media days are coming up and we'll learn a lot
more about what Mark Soups has to say. But as
as Justin pointed out earlier, they have just kind of
kept quiet going into media days, going into the talking season.

(07:27):
But things really kick off after that. As we all know,
I alluded to the Ponatowski kid up in Cincinnati. The
quarterback also a pitcher, which was a great get. You
guys covered that store. Everybody did when this kid committed.
He wants mom and dad to be able to see
him play, you know, which is a great reason to

(07:48):
recruit the heck out of the Cincinnati area. Were you
surprised that he chose Kentucky or did it seem like
the natural pick I.

Speaker 2 (07:56):
Heard after the spring that he visited in the spring.
In the talk was they had a really legitimate shot
at this guy. Maybe if they had even pushed harder
at the time, then maybe they could have gotten him
before Alabama and Oregon even jumped into the mix. So
that just means he was interested in Kentucky for a
long time, and I think that speaks to the appeal
of the two sport pitch at Kentucky. I think the

(08:19):
baseball staff at UK did a great job of making
that not just a well are they maybe gonna let
me do this? Are they open to me doing both sports?
But really energetically encouraging that as strongly as he wants
it for himself. And I think that still a lot
to win him over. I think the faith in the

(08:39):
baseball program did a lot to win him over their
approach and their emphasis on relationships to people and whatnot.
I then Alabama got they flipped the quarterback and they
I think they were going to get another. Oregon got
a quarterback, and that really left Kentucky and Arkansas, and
you know which Kentucky with Archbishop Muller being there right
right in Ohio and how many Ohio they brought in

(09:01):
in that context is not a surprise. But he is
a very very talented kid.

Speaker 1 (09:06):
Oh absolutely. But I'm thinking back, just off the top
of my head, You've got Pooky Jones and Brian Adams.
There was one other kid whose name escapes me, but
tried to play both and did play both sports, but
none of those guys. I guess you could make the
case for Pooky as the starting quarterback, but he was

(09:27):
not a regular baseball player in terms of in that
lineup each and every day. Keith Madison told me he
said he would love to have had Pooky NonStop from
day one. He said he had one of the greatest
skill sets he ever coached. But I'm really curious to
see if he can juggle the two sports because it
ain't the same as high school.

Speaker 2 (09:45):
We know that, right, That's right, yeah, And eventually it's
going to get to a point where you're gonna have
to pick. Yeah, but I think he's in a unique
situation where he loves football and he could be an
NFL quarterback one day. He's got that kind of pedigree
on three, he's got him as a top ten national quarterback.
And just in terms of his growing ability hitting all

(10:07):
the spots on the field, its footwork, his advanced mechanics,
his production in a very college like high school program.
Either sport could work out for him, but I do think,
you know, he would be more sought after on the
baseball side, and so we'll just see. You have to
play it one year at a time with him.

Speaker 1 (10:27):
Justin Rowland is my guest from Cats Illustrated. We'll talk
more with Justin on the other side of the break.
You're listening to the best of the Big Blue Insider.
More to come here on six thirty w LAP. It's
Dick Gabriel. Welcome back to the Best of the Big
Blue Insider. Welcome back. We're talking with Justin Rowland from
Cats Illustrated. And if you are not a subscriber, you
need to be. It's now part of the on three

(10:48):
dot com network Online. Just go to a Cats Illustrated
dot com it'll take you to where you need to
be if you would like to sign up one dollar
for your first week, pretty good deals in place. I
want to ask you a little bit about basketball, Mark
Pope his team being made available of a couple of players.

(11:09):
It seems every week Jef Drummond talk with Cam Williams
and Jaden Quainton's But there's a clip online. I talked
about it earlier in the show. Malachai moreto hitting from
three quarters court to wrap up and inter squad scrimmage.
But you go back to the comments that Pope made,
of course glowing about Malachi. But back in May he

(11:32):
talked about Jasper Johnson and basically said, you know, this
guy will be here, needs to be a superstar here.
And as I mentioned justin and you've covered a lot
of press conferences, I don't ever remember a Kentucky coach, really,
any coach, and I'm sure it's happened, but any coach
anywhere saying this kid needs to be or will be

(11:52):
a superstar, putting neck on a label on an incoming freshman.
What did you make of that?

Speaker 2 (11:57):
That says a lot about what he thinks that Jeff
fri can handle. Yeah, those expectations as a local kid
going to play basketball at the University of Kentucky. Ordinarily,
it's like you downplay expectations a little bit, you know,
you maybe give him a soft landing, a little bit
of grace if he struggles the first half of his
freshman season. But it speaks to how he thinks he

(12:18):
can handle it. And the skill doesn't.

Speaker 3 (12:21):
Leave a lot to the imagination.

Speaker 2 (12:22):
I mean, you know that he has the skill ability,
there are other things that he's got to work on,
like physicality and whatnot. The Pope thinks he can handle it,
and also wasn't a foregone conclusion that he's going to
pick Kentucky, and so telling him that he thinks that's
in the cards for him has probably been an important
part of the pitch.

Speaker 1 (12:38):
And I'm also curious to see Malechai Moreno after watching
him playing the Sweet sixteen the last couple of years
incoming freshmen and everything I hear is about his defense,
you know. And of course it's super early and it's
inner squad and all that stuff, but everybody's talking defense
right now. Every player they brought out to us has volunteered,

(12:58):
and it's not like they've been coached on thing, but
they've all said, you know, man, we could be really
good defensively, justin we weren't hearing this last year at
this time, were we.

Speaker 2 (13:07):
That's right quaintance with Sam talking that about their size
and about their length and if you're long and if
you're big, that gives you a good start. And certainly
they've got some defensive pieces like to be fair like
last year. I mean, they had some defensive pieces last
year that made you think, okay, at Maury Williams, Okay,
Lamont Butler, Okay, maybe it take oh way, but there

(13:30):
were maybe some holes and some areas when people were
injured that just really affected the defensive performance. I think
I've got even more of those really good individual, individually
capable defenders. And it'll be interesting to see how Pope
molds that team when it should be a strength from
the very beginning of the season, how much emphasis he
places on defense as opposed to offense early in the season,

(13:51):
how his substitution patterns as really an offensive minded coach
reflect that, and how much offense he gives up for defense. Yeah,
defense could be a special part of this year's team.

Speaker 1 (14:01):
Well, and as we know, the defense struggled last year.
Until after that Old Miss embarrassing loss, and then they
really cranked it up and over the last part of
the season, as you know, became one of the better
defensive teams in the country. I think it's interesting it
seems that Pope is changing the way he's approaching the
year with regard to work on defense early.

Speaker 2 (14:22):
Yeah. Yeah, I think there's always a bit of a pendule,
you know. You see, coaches are always reassessing what they're doing.
Where have I run into a ceiling? Where am I
banging my head against the wall? Where do I need
to tweak something without maybe losing my identity? And the
lesson he took from last season was you got to

(14:42):
be more athletic and you got to be longer in
the SEC as it's currently constituted. Now you see how
what it looked like when we played against Auburn, what
it looked like when we played against Alabama. We need
more guys like that, and so not surprised they went,
I got a guy from Florida, they got a guy
from Alabama, and h yeah, I think those guys Aberdeen
and mo d like you maybe put a little bit

(15:06):
more on their plate, but you want them to have
basically the same role that they had at those other schools,
because those are the kind of teams you want to
have next year. That's the kind of you want to
put too much on their plate. They were very good
role players for those schools. I think they'll play probably
twenty minutes a game at Kentucky as well.

Speaker 1 (15:22):
I agree. And those were guys who gave Kentucky fits
last year among other teams, right, And that's one of
the reasons Pope jumped on those guys when he had
the opportunity. A couple of minutes left with Justin Rowland
of Cats illustrated and we're talking a little bit of
Kentucky basketball right now. It's going to be an interesting season.
The schedule is going to be fun, and learning these

(15:45):
new guys has been a lot of fun as well,
especially Quainton's. I can't get over how young he is,
can you.

Speaker 2 (15:51):
Yeah? Yeah, that's crazy. You got that big and that
advanced defensively, and then he's been in college for a year. Yeah,
it's easy to forget how young he is and that
is crazy.

Speaker 1 (16:00):
Yeah, And I know you remember, well he was coming here,
wasn't he. Now Calvaperry left, so when he said, it's
great to be back. It took me a second. I'm like,
what you know? But yeah, this kind of makes him unique,
doesn't it.

Speaker 2 (16:11):
It's been a long journey, but there's a lot of
guys in that situation now bouncing around in the portal
as much as they do. You mentioned Moreno. I'm interested
in how Pope develops the big man from the jump, Like,
how much does he place on him. We've seen he
can put a lot on big men in offense, the
way he runs his offense. I mentioned when Moreno is
in the game, how much how much does he put
on him and how much does he allow him to

(16:32):
do offensively?

Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yeah, he is justin Roland of Cats Illustrated. Tell everybody
how to follow you on Twitter or x.

Speaker 2 (16:38):
We get Roland rivals on X or Cats Illustrated on three.
You can google that and we will get it and
we'd love to have you over.

Speaker 3 (16:46):
At the community.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
Excellent, Thanks brother, have a great summer.

Speaker 2 (16:49):
Thanks a lot, Dick.

Speaker 1 (16:51):
I mentioned Jeff Drummond from Cats Illustrated. Jay Drumm has
stories up on the site right now about both Cam
Williams and Jaden Quinton's and Justin as a story up
where he is tracking former Kentucky prospects at other Division
one schools, so always interesting. There a couple of other
notes before we hit the break. We mentioned and you've

(17:11):
seen this the Shay gilgis Alexander on the cover of
the EA Sports NBA two K or NBA whatever the
game is coming up next year. Angel Reese will be
on the cover for the women's game. She of course,
the LSU superstar, started off at Maryland but finished up
and now of course making waves on one way or
the other in the WNBA. I mentioned a couple of

(17:34):
nights ago, polling way too Soon preseason Top twenty five
on cbsports dot Com with the writer. It's actually a
panel of writers who took a new account players who
left for the draft and the portal and things like that,
and they adjusted their preseason top twenty five. Well, the
athletic has done the same. And I bring this up

(17:55):
simply because it is a little bit different when it
comes to Uka and U of l CJ. Moore actually
did the poll. He's got Purdue number one, CBS Sports
at Houston, this guy's got Houston number two, yukon third,
Michigan fourth. Let's see Florida number five, same as CBS Sports.
He's got Louisville sixth because of roster additions both through

(18:21):
recruiting and the portal BYU seventh, with aj Debanza coming
in of course, a highly tattled recruit Duke number eight.
Then he's got Kentucky number nine, and he said it
doesn't have the shooting of Mark Pope's first Kentucky team.
Get used to hearing that because that's a nod obviously
to Kobe Brea, but others as well. But he said

(18:43):
it should be better defensively and have more playmaking on
the perimeter. He said Pope showed in year one he
can microwave chemistry, but also gives himself a ton of
lineup options. Only will there be position battles for starting jobs,
but Kentucky will have some talented players who struggle to

(19:05):
even make the rotation. Well remember now, Mark Pope's rotation
is much broader than maybe anybody else in college basketball.
He's not afraid to play a lot of guys, and
that bothers people because they get upset when he makes
a sub with a group that's having a good run.
You're listening to the best of the big Blue Insider

(19:26):
More to come here on six thirty WLAP It's Dick Gabriel.
Welcome back to the best of the Big Blue Insider.
Coming up as the Major League Baseball Draft, and it's
not in terms of being in a high profile event
as big as of course the NFL Draft or the
NBA Draft, But to baseball fans and college coaches, well,

(19:46):
baseball people everywhere pro in college, it is a big deal.
But especially to college coaches, head coaches, their assistants, it's
a huge deal because it has a lot to say
in some corners about what your team's going to look like.
I do remember, and I've said this before, Keith Madison
back in the late eighties really amped up his recruiting

(20:07):
when his program was growing well. One year he had
eight kids, really good class signed, six went pro late
in the summer, and it crushed his recruiting efforts for
the next couple of years, because you know, you start
recruiting kids when they're sophomores. But you've got some guys
on the UK roster right now who may or may

(20:29):
not be drafted high enough to turn their head. You've
got a left handed pitcher, Connor Essenberg, he's actually a
two way player, but a lefty pitcher. You could hear
him go. You got a right hander, Josh Flores. You've
got Owen Jenkins a catcher. You've got another catcher, Jace Mitchell.
These guys all have four years of eligibility coming in.

(20:51):
They might get drafted, they might not show up on
the UK roster. Then you've got transfers. Tyler Cerney, the
Indiana infielder, might be drafted, might decide not to play
at Kentucky. You got the kid from Northern Kentucky, Caden Eschmann,
right handed pitcher. Maybe he's drafted and decides not to

(21:12):
play any more college ball. And of course, off the
UK staff Ethan Walker, a good left hander with one
year of eligibility remaining. So yeah, you better believe Nick
Mangione and Austin Kuzeno and Dan Roselle, they're going to
keep a close eye on what's happening with the major
league draft. Mentioned Livy Dunn, girlfriend of Paul Skenes, made

(21:35):
a ton of money nil dollars, still making good money
with endorsements and her own line of clothing, but she
tried to purchase an apartment a co op in New
York City and they shot her down. She was ready
to pay one point six million bucks get this for

(21:56):
the apartment that once belonged to Babe Ruth when he
played for the Yankees, and they turned him down. She
told her eight million TikTok followers. She is very upset,
but she will She is a babe herself, but will
not be able to buy Babe Ruth's apartment. I'm guessing
she will bounce back. She and boyfriend Paul Skens, who

(22:20):
for now pitches for the Pirates. They got to build
around him or they're going to lose him. But for now,
Livy Dunn has no apartment in New York City. Trust me,
she'll rebound. Wanted to share with you a clip from
the coverage of the Mets Orioles games last night on

(22:41):
Mets TV, Gary Cohne and Keith Hernandez, whom you know
from Seinfeld probably, But I wanted to bring this up
because my man Darren Hedrick had shared with us on
the Chain Gang Text Chain an interview with Joe Buck
who talked about broadcasting baseball on television versus radio and

(23:02):
how it said. He said, it seems like dead air
is never allowed anymore. That if there's anywhere that dead
air is acceptable in sportscasting, it's baseball on television. And
he's right, And again I do both, but primarily UK
baseball on SEC Plus, and the pace of baseball and

(23:25):
the nature of the game allows broadcasters not to necessarily
lay out. You lay out when there's a big moment
and the crowd's going nuts, and the pictures tell the story.
But what I'm talking about is just between pitches, you
don't have to fill the silence. And Buck talks about
that a great deal in this article. I thought it

(23:46):
was really fascinating. Baseball on the radio different animal. And
I've said this before. When I do a baseball game,
I don't do a radio call. I don't say here's
the pitch, he whinds, he throws, there's a round ball
to the shortstop. If you can see that on camera.
Ninety five percent of the time, I'm not going to

(24:07):
say anything like that. I find a different way to
approach it. But and I've been told by a couple
of guys in our line of work they don't like that.
They don't like the fact that I don't talk all
the time. One of them said you should be talking
all the time. I'm like, no, I don't agree, and
another one said, now you're just way too laid back.
I said, well, that's fine, that's your opinion, but I

(24:28):
like to use the pictures that are there. We spend
a lot of money on cameras and people. Let's use
the pictures on television anyway. I bring that up simply
because there are times and these guys have more fun
I think than anybody on local TV. Baseball. Cone and
Hernandez never met. Hernandez work with Gary Cone two or

(24:49):
three times on the INCA Radio network. He's terrific. He's
got a great sense of humor. Kind of snid New
York type, but he's great. They got a shot of
a Mets fan and in Baltimore wearing a Mets jersey,
and he had on a huge styrofoam oversized like a
cowboy hat. It was even bigger than the one you
saw Norm McDonald wear on Saturday Night Live. And Hernandez

(25:15):
had some fun with it, and then Cohen chimed in said, oh,
look at this guy.

Speaker 4 (25:19):
It's funny because it's bigger than a normal hat. One
of those hats. Call right there.

Speaker 1 (25:31):
I've never been called the Norm McDonald hat.

Speaker 3 (25:33):
I've never goes a fanomo under a fowl outside first,
they're called funny hats.

Speaker 1 (25:43):
Wouldn't catch me dead in one. Well, it didn't mean that. Literally,
we can bury you with what if you'd like.

Speaker 3 (25:55):
Or they could put me and incinerate me with it.

Speaker 4 (26:00):
The happy thought. Should they set a forward to address
for the ashes?

Speaker 1 (26:07):
That was fun and again, you don't have to fill
every moment, Bud when you're going to do it with
something like that. That's TV Gold, Jerry Gold. You're listening
to the best of the Big Blue Insider. More to
come here on six thirty w LAP. It's Dick Gabriel.
Welcome back to the Best of the Big Blue Insider.
Joining us now as promised, the head coach of the
defending s He's Champs again volleyball champion Kentucky Wildcats, Craig Skinner,

(26:32):
whose team has been picked to win it all again.
Craig is the preseason coach of the Year. No pressure, Craig,
How does that feel?

Speaker 3 (26:42):
I didn't know they designated something like that pre but no,
it's I mean, you know, like I would say, would
certainly rather be in that position than you know, at
the bottom of the conference obviously, but you know, until
matches are played and all of those things, you never know.
But you know, to sign a respect and and you know,
certainly not any different pressure than we've tried to feel

(27:04):
and put on ourselves each and every year. But tall
order as usual, and even I think tougher this year.
I think there's a chance that we get eight to tenths,
you know, teams in the league in the tournament, NCAA
tournament post first SEC championship tournament in about twenty years.
But yeah, it's an exciting you know, beginning of the league.

Speaker 1 (27:24):
Well let's start with that tournament. I'm excited about that,
But I'm wondering how do you coaches feel about that?

Speaker 3 (27:30):
You know, to be honest, I don't really know because
I haven't played in one, and you know since the
first year I was at Kentucky. But the one thing
that it gives each league is it actually a chance
to crown a conference champion and being dictated by play
on the court. You know, a lot of times it's
it's determined by the schedule. And even now that we

(27:52):
aren't able to play a double round robin, you know,
we can only play each team once and we'll alternate
years of where it's been played. We do get a
true regular seas champion because you can play each once,
but then the home road thing, and you know, but
it determines it on the field, are on the on
the court, and you know, our issue is you're going
to have to play. If you get a double buy
on a top four seed, you still have to play

(28:13):
three matches in three days to determine that champion. So
it remains to be seen. But you know, our league
decided that, you know, be a spectacle for our sport
and for our league and our sport and be on TV.
And you know, I think it's an interesting time. So
we'll find out. I'll let you know in December.

Speaker 1 (28:30):
Okay, that sounds good. Typically brutal schedule going into the
sec of course, with you don't overlook Lipscombe, you're opener,
but Nebraska, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Louisville. I mean, but you
like it that way or I don't know if like
it's their way word Craig, but you need it that way,
don't you.

Speaker 3 (28:50):
I you know, I probably wouldn't have it any other way.
You know, a couple of those matches this in particular
this year, weren't really necessarily in my control. I mean,
League has partnered with the ACC to do an ACC
SEC Challenge, So we're playing Pittsburgh on a Wednesday down
in Texas as part of that, and then the Nebraska

(29:10):
match the you know, the first weekend of the years
at Bridgestone in Nashville, and you know, an event that
the Big ten SEC is putting on. So we're always
going to say yes to situations like that and play
against elite teams. So maybe a little tougher than what
we would probably by design, but you know, I always say,
you can't beat them unless you play them, and you know,
I want to find out where we are and how

(29:31):
we need to improve, you know, before the end of
the season and before it's too late, you know. So
it's those teams will definitely expose the things that we're
good at, first of all, but also the things that
we need to improve on.

Speaker 1 (29:43):
Absolutely, And it is a proven method, isn't it. Even
though your record might not, you know, be as glistening
or or gaudy as some others, but this has worked
for you in the past.

Speaker 3 (29:56):
Well yeah, I mean, I don't think I've ever been
into coaching to see what I can get my winning
percentage at or our teams winning percentage. I mean that
you know, ultimately that doesn't matter. I mean what matters
is how you perform and how you improve throughout the
year and what you can do at the end of
the season. And so you know it has worked because
of those specific things, and we've found out early what
our what our rotation looks like, who's playing better in

(30:19):
what position, what chemistry looks like between certain people, and
what you know, what we're able to execute at high
level and what we should continue to work on, and
then the things that we should junk because they're not
going to work for us, and you don't want to
find that out the second weekend of the Insulay tournaments, like,
oh man, we shouldn't have done that this year. You know,
got to find that out now.

Speaker 1 (30:37):
Yeah, no question about that. Well, speaking of changes last year,
Molly Tuzzo really came on mid season and now she's
a preseason All Conference pick along with Brooke Baltimore and
Brooklyn Delay Inneva Hudson. But tell me first about making
that change with Molly and what that did, because we
you and I have talked for years about how if

(30:59):
a kid playing well in practice, performing well in practice,
she will be rewarded come game time. And I'm assuming
that's exactly what.

Speaker 3 (31:08):
Happened she did. I mean, she obviously performed really well
her freshman year, and then and then going into the
spring our freshman year, and then pre season of her
sophomore year. She was an incredible player, and we had
to We were lucky to have two incredible liberos on
the same team, you know, Eleanor Bevan and Molly, and
we made the decision to go with Molly and and

(31:30):
you know, it works and our team worked because of that,
and Eleanor played great too. But you know, she's an
elite athlete, exceptional player, still improving each and every day.
I mean, she's been asked to play with the USA
U twenty one team this summer in the pan Am Cup,
and so she's been recognized. And but you know, those

(31:53):
are all the decisions that are really tough when you're
a coach and coaching staff and you know, what are
the right decisions, what are the right buttons to put
to help you, you know, reach your potential. And that
was one thing we had to make last year, and
it was an extremely difficult decision, but you know, Mallie
performed well and you know, we're certainly you know, happy
that the way it turned out and quite make the

(32:14):
final four, but had a lot of great wins prior
to that.

Speaker 1 (32:17):
Can you afford as a coach to allow yourself to
worry about how a move like that might affect your
team off the floor as well as on the floor.

Speaker 3 (32:30):
Well, I mean, I think you have to make decisions
and move on. You can't second guess your decision because,
especially if you put a lot of thought and energy
into why, it may work for a lot of different reasons.
But you certainly have to address you know, the team
and chemistry and all of those things and talk about
I mean, if you don't talk about it, it's the
elephant in the room that everyone knows is there, and

(32:53):
you just have to communicate and be transparent. The more
I coach, the more I realize you have to be authentic.
You have to be transparent, but you also have to
be persistent in what you do and continue on because
you know not there's not only one decision that works.
You can make two or three different decisions and they
both and they all work, but you have to press
on and keep trying to you know, fine tune those things.

(33:17):
Once you make those decisions.

Speaker 1 (33:18):
You kind of remind me of Rich Brooks in that
regard for whatever that's worth to you. He was really
successful with that approach. We're talking with Craig Skinner, Kentucky
volleyball coach. The Wildcats open up against Lipscomb on August
the thirtieth, and they will feature, of course, the returning
the reigning SEC Player of the Year in Brooklyn Delay.

(33:38):
It's nice to build around that part, isn't it.

Speaker 3 (33:43):
Well, yeah, I mean she's in the special she's a
special player for Seamal American. You know, was a finalist
for National Player of the Year last year, and she
in our opinion, you know, national Player the Year Offtenber too.
I mean, she's just an amazing person and credible worker
and very giving and very selfless. You know, So when
you're that good on the floor and also off the floor,

(34:05):
want other people to succeed. You have the whole package.
And I think we have a few of those this year,
and now we just got to figure out the right
way to piece them all together to give us the
best chance to compete for championships.

Speaker 1 (34:16):
And she got some help on that front line from
Brooke Baltimore, of course, had to sit out her entire
freshman year with an injury, but man, what a what
a great addition last year and again pre season All Conference.
So that's another huge plus for you, isn't it.

Speaker 3 (34:32):
Yeah. Brooke is you know, probably one of the hardest
workers that's ever been in this program. She never finds
a moment to take it off. I mean she she's
there's always a moment she can improve on something. And
you know, currently she's going to be playing with the
USA team this summer and she's watching USA video to
get familiar with their systems and how they how they
do things in her position, and you know she's were satisfied.

(34:53):
And you know another kid that you know is equally
as happy for someone on our team doing something well
as it is herself. And you know, just a pleasure
to coach each and every day.

Speaker 1 (35:02):
You've got somebody who came through the portal. Also preseason
All Conference in Ava Hudson, and you have lost through
the portal, but you've gained through the portal through the years.
She was a freshman of the year a couple of
years ago at Purdue. As you know, that is literally
a huge addition for you, isn't it.

Speaker 3 (35:20):
Well, he was a very dynamic attacker, you know, one
of the best attackers in the country. And you know,
our fans are certainly going to get their money's worth
with the fireworks that you know, her and Brooklyn and
those guys can put on the floor to see. And
it's an amazing competitor. And you know, small world, but
you know, came from the same club program I got

(35:40):
my coaching start in in Montiansla volleyball and East Central Indiana,
so a cool connection. She has come from a volleyball family.
Her mom played at Purdue and also and but you know,
she's just been an awesome kid to coach as well.
And her teammate Lizzie Carr, who our Cat fans are
familiar with her brother Andrew Carr, you know, really came
in to the program and just been awesome to our

(36:02):
team and really you know, even taking their game to
another level. So it's gonna be exciting to see them
on the floor too.

Speaker 1 (36:08):
Probably should have asked you this earlier, but what have
you seen in practices so far or do you like
what you see? Where do you need to work?

Speaker 3 (36:17):
Well, the spring we had, you know, five weeks of practice.
In the summer, they're just training and together. We don't
have access to our players this summer yet, which I
think we should and I think somebody's exploring those options.
But you know, they're in camp doing some demos and
doing some great things. And we got to smooth out
our offense and smooth our connections. And you know, we're
having a new setter on the floor with Emmigrom graduating

(36:39):
after four years with Starter and all American and but
we're physical, athletic, you know, dynamic probably need to be
a little bit more efficient and decrease some errors. But
you know it's certainly a great place to start.

Speaker 1 (36:53):
Well, what about setter, what do you see? I know,
you've got Avis arofa back, You've got Cassie O'Brien's a freshman.
What do you know about that right now?

Speaker 3 (37:02):
Well, they had a very competitive spring. They both got
you know, probably split about fifty split about fifty percent
of the time and matches and practice and very curious
to kind of see how they're attacking the summer and
how they're competing getting after it. It's it's open right now,
and you know, just waiting for someone to take charge
of that position. But both are have great strengths in

(37:22):
different areas, and and now that now they chance to
prove themselves is right around the corner. So it's going
to be exciting battle to be to witness.

Speaker 1 (37:30):
Well, I'll let you go with this. The renovated Historic
Memorial Coliseum I thought was a hit with fans for
both volleyball and women's basketball. I got to thank your kids.
Love we talking to them preseason. They couldn't wait to
get at it. For another reason, the air conditioning. You'll
be interested to hear that. My sometime broadcast partner Leah Edmund,

(37:51):
she liked the fact that there was no air conditioning.
She felt like that contributed to home court advantage.

Speaker 3 (37:58):
It's just an amazing venue you to watch the sporting event.
I mean, you're you're right on top of the action
on the end zones, and you know, the seating, the
comfort of the site lines, the video and audio effects
in there. I mean, it's just I don't see another
venue in the country that's better. And you know, it's

(38:18):
very blue for the big Blue Nation to be a
part of and you know, you know our campers and
we have camp going on right now. They're very excited.
There's ac in there now too. Because this time of
year it was glittering on doubt. We had to take
a little bit more breaks than we normally do.

Speaker 1 (38:33):
So come on, kids, it's not that hot. Suck it up. Yeah,
easier for us to say. Greg Skinner is the head
coach of the volleyball Cats. I tease him about prem
preseason Coach of the Year because his team has been
picked to win it. But yeah, it's it's gonna be
another fun year for Kentucky Volleyball. Looking forward to it. Coach,
Thanks for your time, appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (38:52):
Thanks, have a great week.

Speaker 1 (38:53):
You're listening to the best of the Big Blue Insider.
Our number two is next year on six thirty w.

Speaker 5 (38:58):
L apt.

Speaker 6 (39:11):
Tact Can Anything Anything.

Speaker 1 (40:56):
It's Dick Gabriel. Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider,
our number two taking a little time off, so please
enjoy the best of the Big Blue Insider. I've talked
this week about some of the polls that come up
in the off season. I always say the internet is
a bottomless pit. We have to fill it and we
have minutes to fill as well on the air, and
so some of these polls come in handy, the rankings

(41:19):
and things like that. And I'm not talking about the
way too early top twenty five for football and especially basketball.
But The Athletic, which of course publishes now through the
New York Times as well as online, has come up
with some kind of fun surveys, or not really surveys,
because they're just maybe two or three writers. One in

(41:39):
particular in some of these poles who ranked teams looking
back at essentially this century. A guy named Jim Root
wrote a feature about and he's been covering the first
twenty five years of the two thousands. In men's college basketball,
they've got the top twenty five players, top coaches. We

(42:00):
went over the top twenty five teams with you the
other day and they asked readers and subscribers to submit
their own picks. Now in March, this guy ranked all
of the men's NC Tournament champions in the last forty years.
But of course it is single elimination. As we all know,
we have seen some disappointing losses, haven't we as fans

(42:22):
throughout the years, fans of whatever program and of course,
in these stomping grounds, it is the Kentucky Wildcats. This
guy ranked the twenty five teams he thought were the
best in this century to not win a title since
the two thousand and two thousand and one campaign. And
remember that was the beginning of the millennial. Remember everybody

(42:45):
kept saying the year two thousand was the beginning of
the millennial. What it wasn't that was the end of
a millennial. The beginning, of course, is two thousand, two
thousand and one. And if you were like us at
Channel twenty seven, our news director at the time demanded
everybody being and either in the building or all hands

(43:05):
on deck for when the computers might go crazy. I
don't know what he expected us to be able to
do in that building. Everything shut down, you know, at midnight.
I mean, we weren't even doing news at that hour.
But anyhow, I digress. The millennial began two thousand and
two thousand and one, and this guy ranked the teams
that obviously he believes should have done more. I won't

(43:28):
go through all of them. Many of them are the
usable suspects. From the top twenty five down Kansas, Yukon, Houston,
the twenty thirteen to fourteen Wichita State team was ranked
twenty second after what he called a stunning run to
the final four. Fred van Fleet was on that team.
Remember Ron Baker. Only five opponents came within single digits

(43:54):
of that ball club. Coach by Greg Marshall, they were
thirty four and oh but per the Ken Palm rankings,
they had beaten just one top thirty team. And who
did they lose to? Kentucky, which, as he said, was
under seated in that tournament. Of course Calipari was complaining
about it, but if you recall, Kentucky had struggled that

(44:18):
year and going into the tournament was playing obviously it's
best basketball, was playing really well, but that was over
a span of like a couple of weeks. All year long,
that team had been up and down. But by the
time they got to the tournament, the Wildcats were outstanding.
Got to the final four, but eliminated at Wichita State team,

(44:39):
And as many people said, Caliperi included, that was a
final four game. That was a final four type game
that year. So yeah, that's hard to argue with that number.
Twenty got Arizona against Zaga after that duke of twenty
three and four dukes on this team a lot which

(44:59):
begs it's the argument that Mike Krzyzewski wasted a lot
of talent. He probably wouldn't argue with that, but he
would also tell you it's hard to win a national championship,
even tho if you've got little dang Sheldon Williams, JJ
Reddick Chris Doohan as your point guard. Twenty ten to

(45:20):
twenty eleven Ohio State. That team lost to Kentucky. Remember
Brandon Knight HiT's a buzzer beater and beats the buck
eys with Jared Sellinger. Remember how George how Josh Harrison
was saving a basketball and fired it off the mid

(45:43):
section of Sellinger and the guy you just saw in
TBT the Basketball Tournament, DeAndre Liggins at a huge three
pointer in that game and sent Ohio State home in
the sweet sixteen North Carolina Kansas again UCLA the eight team.

(46:05):
Ben Allen's Balkler went the three straight final fours. This
was probably his best team. Kevin Love and Russell Westbrook
on that team, and that was a year when all
four number one seeds qualified. He's got Auburn ranked twelve
from last year. Three of the top four teams. Three

(46:26):
final four teams from last year are on this list.
That's how good the final four was last year. Jan
I Broom, of course, leading the Tigers number eleven, the
seven Ohio state team with Greg Odin and Mike Connelly
number ten on the list twenty three to twenty four
per due a couple of years ago that had Zach Eedy,

(46:46):
huge man, almost unguardable, they said, but they ran into
a really good Yukon team that beat everybody. Number nine
on the list. Last year's Houston team probably Kelvin Sampson's
best team. Number eight going back to eight, the team
that beat UCLA in the final four, and that's Memphis.

(47:08):
John Caliperry's best Memphis team should have won the national title,
but of course Kansas threw in a miracle three pointer
got it to overtime. Cali Perry's guys couldn't hit frey
throws and didn't foul properly when they should have. You know,
cali Perry called for his guys to foul so Kansas

(47:28):
couldn't shoot threes, but they didn't do it right. They
didn't foul well enough and let Kansas off the hook.
Got another Duke team number six on the list best
teams not to win a championship twenty fourteen to fifteen
Wisconsin YEP, The Giant Killer, the Heartbreaker beat Kentucky's forty
and oh Dream Team in the final four, but ran

(47:52):
into a good duke team in the title game. Although
I firmly believe looking at matchups, this was a tough
matchup for Kentucky, it really was Wisconsin. I do believe
Kentucky would have trounced that duke team. The next two
teams on the list ranked fifth and fourth, both from
Duke the two team and the twenty twenty five team,

(48:12):
last year's duke team who has Cooper Flag, Conker, Nipple,
Common Malarch all top draft picks. They don't win a
national title. Remember, earlier in the year, Kentucky beat that
duke team. Number three on the list, twenty twenty one
a Gonzaga referred to as Mark Fu's best team, which
came up short number two. This surprised me. Twenty four

(48:37):
to five Illinois Duran Williams D. Brown Luther ed I
had forgotten that team started off twenty nine to zero,
lost the regular season finale on a buzzer beater to
Ohio State, but still rolled into the tournament, made a
great comeback in the Elite eight against Arizona, but in
the championship game they played a really good North Carolina

(49:00):
team and lost. So Illinois was on a run there
for a while, and this was the best team for
the Alliani but came up short. And of course number
one on the list of college basketball teams this century
and the two thousands that did not win a title
naturally was Kentucky thirty eight and zero in twenty fourteen fifteen.

(49:23):
You know what happened falling to Wisconsin, Frank Kaminski, Sam Decker,
you know the moment you remember when the shot clock
went off and Wisconsin scored anyway and there was no call,
and the three straight possessions by the Wildcats that resulted
in shot clock violations with Devin Booker and Tyler Eulis

(49:46):
on the bench, and John Caliperry made no move to
get any help from either one of those guys, not both,
but he should have put either one of them in
the game at some point just to get a shot off.
So that was obviously the most disappointing moment maybe in
UK basketball history. You got Karl Anthony Towns on that team.

(50:10):
I mentioned Booker Uless, Trey Lyles. You just saw the
Harrison Twins in the basketball tournament. Will he call a
Stein Theakarie Johnson and oh Man? And I again, I
agree with the people who say, had that team finished
up its mission and won the national title undefeated, John

(50:34):
Caliperry might still be here. Think about that. Think about
how you felt about John Caliperry over the last three years.
Would any of those feelings, the anger, the disappointment been
tempered by the fact that he had delivered a second
national title in a spectacular fashion to the Big Blue Nation.

(50:54):
It might have. It might have mattered like that. And
again he left of his own volition. He knew it
was time. He wasn't fired. People can say they ran
him off, and maybe they did. But I do believe
firmly that had they beaten North Carolina with the bam
adebaiod Aaron Fox team, or if they'd beaten Auburn in

(51:15):
the Elite eight after blowing a halftime lead, if they'd
gotten to the final four either one of those years,
I do think the BAM team would have won the title.
And I think that COVID team would have gone to
the final four. Any of that happens, he may still
be here, but especially if they take care of business
in twenty fourteen fifteen. All of this is on the

(51:38):
Athletic dot Com. It is not expensive. They have all
kinds of stuff like this. If you're looking for a
way to drop a couple of bucks, and you can.
You can tailor your page to whatever teams you want
to follow, to pro teams, college teams, and again, great writing,

(51:58):
great reporting and stuff like this which is a lot
of fun to read. You're listening to the best of
the Big Blue Insider. More to come here on six
point thirty WLAP. It's Dick Gabriel. Welcome back to the
Best of the Big Blue Insider. There's a radio personality
in Kansas City. Don't know the guy, never heard of
the guy, but you know, in markets like that, you

(52:20):
try to make well. Really in every market, we're all
competing right for listeners for attention. Uh, but how would
it be in a market like Kansas City where the
love for the Chiefs, of course is off the charts
thanks to Super Bowl wins thanks to Patrick Mahomes, A
guy named Kevin Keatsman or Kitzman, is a radio personality

(52:44):
who apparently saw a picture of Mahomes in and off
during an off season workout in a practice jersey helmet
and it looks like there's a little bit of a
paunch on Patrick Mahomes. And this guy was alarmed, basically
and tweeted this. He called Mahomes and un quoting an

(53:07):
embarrassment unquote, but he also said this quote, your belly
would be fat at my pool hanging out with us
sixty year olds. Wow. To take on the multiple Super
Bowl winning champion quarterback, not the current champ of courts,

(53:27):
that's the Eagles, but to take on in that market,
Patrick Mahomes, and not just for the way he plays,
but the way he looks. I mean, you're talking about
a world class athlete calling him fat. The immediate response
came from the trainer to Kansas City chiefs QB. Patrick Mahomes,

(53:49):
a guy named Bobby Stroop. This isn't the team trainer,
This is mahomes trainer. And if you saw the Netflix
series on Quarterbacks with Mahomes, you saw him working with
this guy. Stroop tweeted this out put it on exit,
since been deleted. But TMZ saved it. Send me your location.
You obviously need attention. If you want to see what

(54:11):
shape what in shape is, go make it through a
practice at their practice facility, or run hurry up offense
scrambling back to back to back plays. You don't have
a clue what it takes. It's not a look, it's performance. Now,
to his credit, the radio guy did not back down,
and he tweeted this. He said, here's a fair and

(54:33):
accurate assessment of my commentary. I don't want Patrick Mahomes
to become Ben Roethlisberger who won big as a young
player and then just got big. I want him to
lock in like Tom Brady in his thirties and chase
him down. Interesting back and forth they go in Kansas
City over Patrick Mahomes. And by the way, I wondered,

(54:56):
when I first saw that photo of Mahomes, is that
not the protective device that quarterbacks which causing the look?
And I'm not saying he doesn't have a little paunch.
I don't know, but quarterbacks, where are those vest type garments,
you know, kind of a protective layer under their jerseys

(55:21):
so they always look kind of bulky. So I don't know,
we'll keep an eye on that. But I just thought
it was an incredible move for a guy in that
market to call Patrick Mahomes fat switching to the NBA,
and just in time, it's going to be on NBC.
We know this, and they're calling their coverage NBA on
Prime and there's a Blake Griffin commercial out there. This

(55:44):
guy's killing it. This guy was a really good player
in college and in the pros. But he is one
of the best, if not the best, former athlete who
is now endorsing this, that and the other and does
a great job. And he's been in TV shows. He's
a natural. And there's an NBA on Prime spot that's

(56:06):
plugging the Emirates Cup that comes up, you know that
that early season tournament where he is facetiming with Chet
Holmgren of the NBA champion newly crowned Oklahoma City Thunder
And it starts off with Griffin saying, we, Hey, we
did it. He's drinking champagne. Homer's like, what are you
talking about? You weren't on the team, and Griffin points

(56:27):
out that he was born in Oklahoma City. Since whoever,
since I retired? It's we But then the plugging begins
right after that.

Speaker 4 (56:34):
But hey, the real reason I'm going hold on, let
me channel my inner mamba. Job finished, Yeah, Blake, job's finished.
We won the title. Job not finished? What are you
talking about? Man? My close friend Tom Brady, no big deal,
once said, you know what, my favorite championship is the
next one. And that's what I need you guys to

(56:56):
be focused on all off season. That's a whole year away.
Let me just enjoy this for a second. What No,
the next one. I'm talking about the Emirates NBA Cup
starting in October, knockout rounds on Prime in December. Oh
and did I mention Vegas Way? I thought your ground running.
This is how dynasties are built.

Speaker 1 (57:13):
Man, Come on, that's Blake Griffin courtesy NBC. And again,
this guy is just a natural and it's a funny spot.
It runs two minutes, it's on the internet. But you're
going to be seeing a lot more. I guarantee you
of Blake Griffin. One more note about the NBA back
to the Wildcats. Devin Booker got paid. That was a

(57:34):
headline late last night on Sports Center. The Suns and
Booker reportedly agreeing to a one hundred and forty five
million dollar max contract extension two years keeps him in
Phoenix through the twenty nine to thirty season. It is
the highest annual extension salary in the history of the league. Yes,

(57:59):
he played at Kentucky, but who do you think is
going to take credit or at least point out the
recruits that my players get paid. That's right. The head
coach at Arkansas, John Calipari, will ad that I'm sure
to his recruiting pitch as if he needs to. Kids know,
they know trust me. Before Calipari even approaches a guy,

(58:22):
he'll know the Calipari coach, Devin Booker, and he'll know
what Devin Booker is making. You're listening to the Best
of the Big Blue Insider. More to come here on
six point thirty WLAP it's Dick Gabriel, Welcome back to
the Best of the Big Blue Insider. Joined down our
celebrity Hiuseline for the first time. He's new to the market.
In fact, Noah serieson of l e X eighteen. You

(58:42):
see his work over there and on BBN tonight. I
got to think, Noah, welcome. I assume you'll be all
over the channel.

Speaker 7 (58:49):
Correct we'll be all over the place, Dick, appreciate you
having me on today.

Speaker 3 (58:56):
How to do it?

Speaker 7 (58:56):
A little bit of everything, a little bit of anchoring,
a little bit of reporting. Very excited to kind of
expand upon the different experiences I've had up to this point.
And I haven't been boots on the ground here too long,
but it's very clear how passionate people are about their sports.

Speaker 1 (59:12):
All right, Well, I want to get to that in
a minute, but let me backtrack. You know, I Noah,
like so many people in our line of work, is
already at a young age, a bit of a nomad.
You were from Minneapolis but went to school in Syracuse.
That was kind of a big move getting away from home,
wasn't it.

Speaker 3 (59:28):
It was a big move.

Speaker 7 (59:30):
Very proud of my Midwestern roots, still got family friends
back in Minnesota, and when I was trying to figure
out kind.

Speaker 3 (59:37):
Of what my.

Speaker 7 (59:39):
Posts high school plans were going to look like, had
an affinity for sports and in infinity for journalism, which
took me out to Syracuse. But to your point, it
was quite the adjustment moving so far away, but I
was able to learn so much from the experience, kind
of thrown in the fire, right away, so to speak,

(59:59):
and that's kind of I was able to develop, you know,
some of my skills that I'm still trying to develop.

Speaker 3 (01:00:04):
It excited well.

Speaker 1 (01:00:05):
And coming from Minneapolis, I mean, that's what a huge
sports market look. People like to say such and such
as a great sports Every town is a good sports town.
But when you've got a big market like that Minneapolis
Saint Paul, You've got all the pro sports represented, including hockey,
You've got a huge college there more than one. Was

(01:00:26):
it inevitable that you'd be a sports fan.

Speaker 7 (01:00:29):
You know, it kind of always was that way, and
you know, it was playing sports when I was younger,
but it was also you know, a lot of it
was my family. My grandpa was a big basketball player.
He played at a small Division III college called Wernona
State back in the day. And you know, I was
able to bond about the Minnesota Twins and he was
a big Zimperwolves fan as well, which is always hilarious

(01:00:52):
to me because for the better part of most of
my life they've been terrible, really until the last couple
of years. But yeah, that's kind of where a lot
of my sports fandom, whether it's you know, going games
at the Metronome at the time where I really grew
up on college basketball. And my little UK connection is

(01:01:12):
that I was a big Golden Gophers fan growing up,
and when Tubby Smith came to town, it was a big,
big deal. I was actually able to, you know, go
to the camp that he did every summer, and he
was very beloved in the Twin Cities.

Speaker 1 (01:01:28):
Yeah, and just bad luck. I mean just seemed like
every time he had a good team, someone would get hurt.
You know. I remember when all this point games got
hurt her his best big guys would get hurt. He
just couldn't catch a break up there. And but yeah,
he he kind of turned the market on its ear
here the Big Moon Nation when he took off to
become a Gopher. We're talking in Noah's ears, and he
is a series and he is one of the new

(01:01:50):
hands on deck a l e X eighteen. There's been
a lot of movement in this market, but that's that's cyclical,
and the longer you're in this business, no way you'll
learn that that it's just if somebody leaves the market.
I don't know if it's in threes or whatever, but
there's always movement and after college, you were able to
stay up East and you worked in Vermont, which had
to be interesting.

Speaker 3 (01:02:10):
I would bet yeah, Vermont was.

Speaker 7 (01:02:13):
You know, I really loved it there up in the mountains.
Got to ski a lot, which was fun, and you know,
I was always accustomed to the winters. But you know,
that was a really cool program to follow as well.
University of Vermont is it's kind of the main thing
in that market. You know, everything from being able to
go to March Madness a couple of times. John Becker

(01:02:33):
has done a phenomenal job with that program for over
a decade and really kind of have a good thing
worked out in the America East. And then you know
stories like the men's soccer team ended up winning the
national championship life wow, I remember that, yeah, which following
that run was pretty insane. And even seeing the parade

(01:02:54):
down Church Street, which is the main street in downtown Burlington,
over five thousand people getting excited for that that men's
soccer championships. So I had so many awesome experiences there. Also,
got to go Lake Placid was in that market as well,
and you know, got to do things like go visit

(01:03:15):
with Mike Ruzioti as he took his grandchildren back to
relive the miracle on ice.

Speaker 3 (01:03:21):
So I think that's what you know.

Speaker 7 (01:03:23):
One of the things about vermonta and you know this
business like you alluded to, that's interesting, is you never
know what you're gonna stumble upon and where you're gonna
stumble upon it.

Speaker 1 (01:03:33):
You know what Vermont's on my bucket list, and here's why.
It is one of four states that I have never
been in. I only need four. Vermont's one of them, Minnesota,
North Dakota, and Hawaii or the others. But I've been
every other New England state, but I've not been to Vermont.
And I remember I was in one of the sportscaster

(01:03:54):
gatherings national and talking to in his name isscased me,
this legendary Vermont sportscaster, and he was telling me about
hockey up there. And I know how hockey is in
certain parts of the country, but so crazy college hockey
at Vermont. He told me, he said, think about Kentucky basketball,
that's Vermont hockey. When it comes to the fans, have

(01:04:15):
you found that. I know you haven't been here very long,
but is that accurate?

Speaker 7 (01:04:19):
I would say so that that might have been George
Como you're talking to him, might have been, who is
a legend in Vermont, has called everything from University ver
Mo ment hockey. He's been legendary for years. So there's
some really really quality Division II programs Norwich Middlebury that
the communities get super invested into. And I think that's

(01:04:40):
very true that in Vermont it's really competitive skiing that
people really like to follow as well as hockey, which
you know, as a native Minnesotan was a pretty natural
transition to you know, be able to cover that, although
do not ask me to get on case my career

(01:05:01):
in hockey was very short lived. I prefer to watch
from ringside.

Speaker 3 (01:05:06):
All right.

Speaker 1 (01:05:06):
Well, that brings us to moving to Lexington now. And
I know that you know, market size and money have
things to do with it, But in terms of researching
the market, uh, you know, what did you know? I mean,
clearly as anybody in sports knows about Kentucky basketball, but
what made this move attractive to you?

Speaker 7 (01:05:25):
You know, I think there are a lot of things
that you know, made it attractive, not only Kentucky basketball,
but the University of Kentucky in general, you know, is
just a massive program. And I think right now is
one of the most interesting times really in a long
time to be following college sports this closely. With the

(01:05:46):
transformation of name, image likeness, the transfer portal player empowerment,
There's like new stories coming out every single day, and
I think, you know, being able to sing my teeth
into some of those are you know, that's the sort
of upper to be I.

Speaker 3 (01:06:00):
Was looking for.

Speaker 7 (01:06:01):
But on top of that, it was really the team
at l e X eighteen and the sports team that
drew me in. There's a bunch of fantastic people that
were already doing awesome work there, and you know, being
able to go to a team that is already having
success and then being able to kind of add on
to that learn you know, I think I bring a

(01:06:23):
lot of storytelling elements to the table, and you know,
I'm very confident in my skills, but I also realized
I'm just kind of in the infanancy of my career
at this point, so I also just want to be
a sponge and learn from everybody else, not only at
the station but in the market overall to better my
quote unquote game and serve the market the best. So

(01:06:44):
I think it was a combination of just you know,
the station. It was a really I feel like a
really good match for both of us. And then the
coverage opportunities from UK and also high school sports, like
I am absolutely excited for high schooloo on, specifically high
school basketball.

Speaker 3 (01:07:02):
Because I've never heard of, prior to.

Speaker 7 (01:07:04):
Moving here, anything like the Kentucky High School Basketball Tournament.
So it's just kind of all of the things that
encapsulate this market. Of course, force racing is another key
part of that as well. I think all of those
made it such a unique opportunity, something a little different
than what I've been doing before and gives me an

(01:07:25):
opportunity to grow and you know, give a service to
the sports fans in the area.

Speaker 1 (01:07:31):
You will love that. And you hear reference to the
Sweet sixteen with regard to the nca tournament, but the
Kentucky High School Tournament is the Sweet sixteen, which has
been trademarked. That title has actually been trademarked for the
Kentucky Tournament. Not that it matters, but yeah, you're gonna
love that. We're talking with Noah Susan. He is one
of the new sportscasters over at WLA XLA X eighteen,

(01:07:54):
the home of BBN and I will talk more in
a minute. And you're listening to the best of the
Big Blue Insider. It's Dick Gabriel. Welcome back to the
best of the Big Blue Insider. Welcome back. We're talking
with Noah Siarsan. He is one of the new faces
over at wl e X Channel eighteen, sportscaster who moved
down from the northeast Vermont in the upstate New York area,

(01:08:15):
originally from Minneapolis, attended Syracuse where I think when you
were there was Beheim was still the coach.

Speaker 7 (01:08:21):
Am I right, that is right, And I feel fortunate
to have crossed over with Beheim because sitting in a
press conference with Jim Bayheim, hell boy, you want to
talk about earning your pinstripes as an eighteen year old
just getting into the business, it doesn't get much tougher

(01:08:42):
than that. So I was able to cross over with him.
I was also able to, you know, one of the
coolest college experiences I had is I went down to
Cameron Indoor for the final matchup between Jim Beheim and
Coach K Coach K's last season, So to just be
able to see those two legends one more time.

Speaker 3 (01:09:06):
Yeah. Uh you know, as a college basketball junkie. That
was pretty cool.

Speaker 1 (01:09:10):
That's very cool. Did you ever have to field any
barbs from coach Beheim?

Speaker 7 (01:09:16):
You know, I was, I would say I was largely
someone who came out unscathed.

Speaker 3 (01:09:23):
One day, maybe little.

Speaker 7 (01:09:27):
Running at a press conference after a game in Boston College.
I think I'd asked something to the effect of, like,
who's the the clutch shot maker on this team? Nobody
had to that point on that year's team really established themselves.

Speaker 3 (01:09:42):
And I think he.

Speaker 7 (01:09:45):
Maybe thought otherwise, But I came out pretty unscathed, which
I chuck up as a win because not all students
who went to Syracuse can say the same.

Speaker 1 (01:09:54):
And I'm assuming you asked more than one question in
your time there, So yes, just shrink back and now
but now you've got he's almost the anti Beheim in
Mark Pope. Uh you know, I mean, he just he
just couldn't be more different.

Speaker 7 (01:10:12):
Yeah, yeah, which is why it's it's you know, you're
you're really with the experience of Jim Beaheim. You're you're
jumping into the deep end and then you're almost swimming
to the shallow and like I said, John Becker and
Vermont he was super awesome in press conferences and just
to work with. And you know, I've heard great things

(01:10:34):
about coach Pope as well, So it'll be a little
different than at least by time in school.

Speaker 1 (01:10:39):
And by the way, you may already know this, but
Jim Beaheim's wife born in Miami but raised in Kentucky.
He met her here in the Lexington. He was in
town playing in a golf tournament and that's where he
met her. She has a degree from u k UH. So, yes,
Julie Beheim is basically at Kentuckian.

Speaker 3 (01:11:02):
There you go. Yeah, they're well.

Speaker 7 (01:11:04):
And the interesting thing now is that they're in their
you know, quote coaching days and he's kind of taken
on the media thing a little bit, which is kind
of funny to see that that transition for him as well.

Speaker 1 (01:11:20):
Well, let's talk a little bit about what's coming up
for Kentucky, and of course it's SEC media days. Markof
if you dropped into a situation where Kentucky football had
been one of the great stories nationally when it came
to Southeastern Conference football and the success mark Stoops has
had here with multiple bowl games like eight straight and
ten win seasons and all that and a place thought

(01:11:43):
to be improbable, if not impossible, But now it seems
like it's all of a sudden. Mark Stoops is going
to be answering a lot of tough questions down on
SEC media days, So I guess you gotta circle the
wagons on that, don't you.

Speaker 6 (01:11:59):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:11:59):
And I think the first and foremost thing is, you know,
they recently for those who didn't see, they recently released
the couple of players that are going to be down
there for SEC mediad's with coach Stoops, and maybe unsurprisingly,
there's not a quarterback.

Speaker 3 (01:12:19):
And I think actually.

Speaker 7 (01:12:22):
Maggie Davis dug out the stat that eleven of the
sixteen SEC teams are bringing a quarterback, so a bit
of anomaly, like when you're not bringing a quarterback in
to this sort of event. You know that in itself
is a big question. Is it going to be Calvado
who they brought in, or is it Cutter Bowley who
saw some time last year. Could it even be someone

(01:12:44):
else in that room? I think that's a big question.
But there's numerous questions, especially when you've got a team
that has so many newcomers, both freshmen in the transfer
portal on this year's team.

Speaker 1 (01:12:57):
I kind of would have been surprised if they had
taken one of those guys because all they would have
been able to do what a couple of exceptions. But
Bully is speculate, you know, and really there's so much
speculations surrounding this team anyway. But you know, we could
have asked Cutter Bullie, well what about the Texas game,
that's about it, you know, or you had a big
run against Murray, but it kind of spared them the

(01:13:20):
need to do that. But there are so many question
marks anyway, no about this team. We're gonna have a
new lead on this story, probably for the first four
or five weeks of the season, don't you think. Yeah?

Speaker 7 (01:13:33):
And I think that Week one game against Toledo will
speak volumes about you know, what are what are the
strengths of this team going to be? It looks like,
you know, they bolstered up the offensive line, kind of
invested a lot of resources in that is just gonna
be a run heavy attack again, the quarterback situation, what
does the defense look like? The play calling? You know,

(01:13:54):
I think that game is going to be a bit
of a barometer for not necessarily what the overall record
of the season will be like. But what the team
is actually going to play like on the field and
whether this is like last year's team that you know underperformed,
is not necessarily the same quality of a team that

(01:14:18):
Kentucky fans have become used to during the Stoops era.
But the good news is at least in the last
month or so that there have been some off the
field wins in terms of recruiting that you would imagine
what at least by him a little I guess positivity
from the fans.

Speaker 1 (01:14:37):
Yeah, we're talking of Noah Serisan. He is a new
sports personality over at LAX eighteen, and of course they'll
be covering everything, as is all local sportscasters. Who's already
talked about looking forward to the high school basketball Sweet
sixteen high school football cranks up shortly, as you know.
But we've also had a chance to chat with and
I don't know, forgive me if you've been involved in

(01:14:57):
any of these interviews with the basketball Wildcats made available
to us, but once again, you signed on at a
fascinating time for UK basketball, with the second year of
the Mark Pope era, but almost an entirely new look
for this team, you got to be looking forward to that.

Speaker 7 (01:15:14):
I would think, yeah, and I think this year, you know,
last year with you know, Coach Pope's team, it was
so intriguing because he, along with you know, several others,
essentially put together entire roster from scratch and not so

(01:15:36):
ideal time when some guys had already transferred and other
freshmen had already committed. And while there are a lot
of new faces on this year's team, and there's at
least a little more stability in terms of you got
a couple of returners, but also having a full cycle
to recruit this year's team. And I think, you know

(01:15:57):
so secret they went very very hard into the portal
investing in this year's team. And there's just a lot
of interesting guys, like somebody like Jayden Quaintons from Arizona State,
Like he was an animal out there last season up
until his injury. So how does he rebound? Where does

(01:16:17):
he fit into this year's team along with the rest
of the bigs that are on this team as well,
somebody like Jasper Johnson. A lot of people just got
to watch him in the FIVA You nineteen World Cup.
Can shoot the lights out like nobody else he's got
almost I think I actually tweeted something out about it,
like a James Hardens stepback er ability to make his

(01:16:40):
own shot from behind the arc is lefty. So there
are so many intriguing storylines with this team as well.
And you know, I've been to a couple of press
conferences and all they talk about is just how deep
they are and how confident they are. So what does
that depth actually look like and how does Pope handle
that in year two of his And.

Speaker 1 (01:17:00):
What also amazes me is how much they've talked about defense.
And I don't know if they've been prompted to do that.
It seems organic, but I think based on what we
hear in the video we've seen that UK releases from
the scrimmages, Uh, there's a lot of shots going up
that aren't making it to the rim, that are blocked,
that are rejected. And as we know, and then you
may have caught into this last year, for the first

(01:17:23):
maybe sixty seventy percent of the season, defense was a problem.
They were one of the worst in the country statistically,
and then did a huge turnaround in time for the tournament.
So if there as good defensively, Noah, as they think
they are. This could be really fascinating.

Speaker 7 (01:17:41):
And I think that's you know, that was the big
criticism of last year's team.

Speaker 1 (01:17:45):
Absolutely.

Speaker 7 (01:17:46):
You know, Mark Pope sat down after the season, you know,
solid first year going to the Sweet sixteen. I would
really hope that he made a phone call to his
college coach, who obviously knows defense exceptionally well, in Rick Patino,
and kind of feel some of the elements, you know,
both in practice and just kind of like getting that
intensity up in practice and really taking that onus, taking

(01:18:11):
that responsibility, which I think you've heard, you know, like
you mentioned, you've heard from the guys they want to
make sure that they're one of the best defensive teams
in the country and they're taking a lot of pride
in that, and while you want to see it on
the court. That's a really good first step at this
point in the season.

Speaker 1 (01:18:30):
Yeah. Yeah, it's going to be really fun, especially because
you've got these huge games. So we're going to find
out quickly, aren't we what this team's made out of.

Speaker 7 (01:18:40):
Absolutely, And this schedule is yeah, absolutely loaded first of
all with exhibitions against teams like Purdue and Georgetown, but
you've got Louisville at the beginning of the season, Michigan.

Speaker 3 (01:18:53):
State, North Carolina and Zaga.

Speaker 7 (01:18:56):
You're really loading up the not even into this or
not even past Christmas, you're really loading up that November slate.
And you know, I think that's something that's strategical in
terms of when you're talking down the line in tournament
time and positioning yourself to grab a couple wins. But
I think that also signals, at least in Mark Pope's mind,

(01:19:20):
that he has confidence that this team is going to
be in a good enough position in November to take
on some of those really, really exceptionally tough tests.

Speaker 1 (01:19:30):
He is Noah seris In. He is a new sports
personality reporter anchor at WLAX eighteen and you can follow
him on Twitter at En seraris In cie r z
A n look at the hang of it and watch
more money here. Thank you, sir, appreciate Nick that I'll
do it for now. Thanks for joining us for this
special edition the best of the Big Blue Insider. That's it.

(01:19:53):
Good night from the garage in.

Speaker 5 (01:19:54):
Lexington, Statue.

Speaker 6 (01:20:13):
Tact Contact, then back outside Pact toast Innings