2025-12-08 BBI Statewide

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
From border to border across the Commonwealth of Kentucky. This
is Big Blue Insider. Talk to Tick Gabriel. Call eight
five nine two eight zero Cats that's eight five nine
two eight zero to two eight seven. Or state wide
that's one eight hundred six six game. That's one eight

(00:26):
hundred six oh six four two sixty three. Or you
can tweet the show. That's Big Blue Insider one. Now
here's Tick Gabriel.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
Everybody to the facilities of the iHeartMedia Megaplexus is Dick Gabriel.
This is the state wide edition of the Big Blue Insider.
You've heard Mark Pope's comments, Kenny Brooks, some of the
UK women's players, and tonight we'll chat Kentucky football and
basketball as well as volleyball. Cole Park from the Cats
balls ess here, jeffcor will join us from the UK
Sports Network, and Molly Tuzzo from the UK volleyball team.

(00:58):
That's all ahead on the state wide by from Pikeville
to Particla. It is the Big Blue and Sider. Dick
Aberlin Studio, Cole Park at the cast Pause traveling man
was in Nashville Friday night. Now he was back in
time Saturday for our dear friend Aaron Gershawn's wedding. Aaron,

(01:20):
of course, was Cole Park before Cole Park became cool.
Aaron was the beat runner for the cast pause and
moved on and then Cole stepped in both with the
magazine and with the radio show. But that was fun
seeing a lot of UK beat guys were there too.

Speaker 3 (01:34):
Yeah, it was a great time, a lot of people.
I didn't really know.

Speaker 4 (01:37):
Who was going to be there before I showed up.
I just knew I was invited.

Speaker 3 (01:40):
So it was cool, you know. Nice.

Speaker 4 (01:44):
Nice to be around all the people that you know,
we get along with, that we work with, and not
be in a.

Speaker 3 (01:49):
Work setting like we want our deadline.

Speaker 4 (01:51):
Yeah, and more importantly to have a nice time after
what we witnessed in Nashville, because that was very fun
for anybody, I don't think.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Yeah, you know, And I felt bad for you guys
because I'm there with my wife and she's like, now,
who's this, Who's that? And I pointed out this, you know,
And we sat with Darryl Bird and his wife, your boss,
and yeah, I felt so bad for them. I did
not feel guilty. I felt bad for you guys. But
I actually watched the game this morning for the first
time because I was busy with volleyball, and I had

(02:19):
a wonderful time. So we'll talk about that though, coming
up in a little while with Molly Tuzzo. But let
me let me give you my impressions and you tell
me now you were there, and it's like, I'm sure
just being slapped in a face so many times. I
did not absorb the slaps because I didn't travel, I
didn't pay to see the game. I didn't have to
write about it. I didn't have to report about it,

(02:41):
so I was just telling ball before you got here.
I was really surprised Cole at the fact that we
and I marked it in my mind six and a
half minutes to go in the first half and Zaga
had scored only twenty six points. If you told me
ahead of time that was the case, I would have
thought this game might have looked like last year's game

(03:01):
overtime Kentucky win or lost, whatever. But then, of course
I had heard during our producer kept updating us during
the volleyball match about the terrible shooting, so I'm watching that,
and of course I knew it was gonna happen, so
I had a different perspective than you did. And I
didn't feel like they let go of the rope. Everybody

(03:22):
I had read and i'd seen the tweets and all
that they played with no heart and all that. I
didn't feel like that happened until between the first and
second timeouts of the second half. I felt like that's
when they came out hit that first three, but then
the bottom fell out again, and that's when they started
to let go of the rope. And I can fully
understand why people are unhappy. I have removed my objections

(03:47):
to booing because now they're paid professionals. I say, bow
the coach, not the players. Now players are millionaires or
some of them are whatever. They're well paid. Yeah, you know.
And I appreciated what Pope said after the game. Somebody
asked him about it. I don't know who, uh, and
he he owned it, and he owned it tonight. And
people love to say, you know, well, they're going to

(04:09):
quid make an excuse. He has never made one excuse.
He has never said, folks, we're missing now two and
a half of our players because jale Low played a
little bit. He's missing two of the most important players
on his roster. He has never He's only talked about
that when asked about their progress. So that said, Am

(04:29):
I crazy? Because you know, I felt like they tried
to play hard on defense, they were outsized. Was it
Huff the guy that they just they had no answer
for him?

Speaker 4 (04:38):
Yeah, I mean they didn't have an answer for him
or Grammy k for the third year in a row
against Kentucky.

Speaker 3 (04:44):
Uh, he corrected me.

Speaker 4 (04:45):
In the press conference, don'tant to ask him about his
back to back strong performances. I was trying to talk
about against Pope. Yes, you know, against people in general. Well,
he meant in general. I said, this was your second
straight strong performance against Kentucky. I was trying to imply,
you know, against Mark Pope's teams. Yeah, because I don't
really see the benefit in comparing Mark Pope's teams to

(05:05):
Calipari's last team. They're very different teams in different systems.
He corrected me, held up a little three with his fingers,
because it has been three straight strong formces against Kentucky.
The last three times Kentucky has played Gonzaga, GRAMMYKS had
twenty plus points last Saturday. He finished with twenty eight
and ten for a double double. I mean, he was
absolutely pounding Kentucky down low points in the paint forty

(05:27):
six to eighteen Kandaga.

Speaker 2 (05:29):
Yeah, but you can almost see that coming though, Yeah, you.

Speaker 3 (05:33):
Could see that coming.

Speaker 4 (05:34):
But to your point, I actually do kind of agree
with you. I felt like in the first half Kentucky
never really let go of the rope because they never
had it. You know, when you start the game with
a nine minute scoring drought, that tends to happen. But
I thought I agreed with you, you know, in the
locker room, I don't know what was said, but I
can imagine Pope was, you know, last year we were
in the same spot. We're down big, you know, we

(05:55):
can do this again. And it looked like they did
come out and they did try. They were hitting better
shots early on, they were trying to, you know, get
back into this one, and it was just it became
very clear quickly Gonzaga had no intention of letting Kentucky
get back into this one. They were matching them, you know,
with everything they threw at them. And I'm kind of
with you after it felt like, you know, maybe the
first time out of the second half there, Kentucky just

(06:16):
kind of I'm not going to speak for them, but
it looks like the players are like, yeah, well we're
not winning this one, so we'll see how it goes
from there. But it was it was fascinating. You know
how quickly the booze started. I mean, oh yeah, naturally,
you know, a nine minute scoring coup to start the game.
That's rough, you know that they were like the timeout
that was like twenty six to two or something like that,
something ridiculous, But the booze started really quickly. Yeah, second

(06:40):
time out, people were yelling. I heard someone right behind
me behind the press row, you know, yelling like Hope,
take your bags and go home, like they they were mad.

Speaker 2 (06:49):
Bo said he heard the same thing from people around him.

Speaker 3 (06:52):
They were extremely unhappy.

Speaker 4 (06:53):
And it didn't necessarily I kind of agree with what
some other people have been saying. Think there's been a
lot of discussion about it, but it felt to me
like all of the feelings in Nashville were about more
than just Nashville. When you look at the last few
years of Kentucky basketball.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yeah, well that and you know this this year, I mean,
the North Carolina Lo Los loss. But here's the thing,
you know, yeah, e K, you knew I knew at
the beginning of the game that there's you know, they're
gonna have to absorb him. But I felt like it
was tough that had just the Daggers. Yeah you know.
I mean he was nine to eleven. Yeah, you know,
And so I don't know how much diabate would help,

(07:32):
but he would have certainly acquaintance would have helped a
great deal. Now, I will say this as well. Two
observations about the guys in the middle. I thought Brandon
Garrison played hard. I was impressed. I think Brandon Garrison,
I don't know if he's responding to critics or just
knows himself. He's played like crap, you know, after all.

(07:55):
Oh yeah, second for back, Hey, that's a guy you
can you can count on. But it also kind of
exposed Malachi, who look like a freshman, look like the
freshman he is, and he really, I mean, he plays hard,
he's he communicates, he does everything he can, but right

(08:16):
now he does not have an offensive game, and that
really hurt them. On offense, they were almost like five
on four. Yeah, you see it that way.

Speaker 3 (08:24):
I would agree with that.

Speaker 4 (08:25):
Yeah, I mean I think it's not necessarily I mean,
I feel weird say it's not necessarily his fault. He's
a freshman, you know, and he's going against grahamy K.
But no, he was getting consistently you know, shut down
and everything he try to do. And I just every
time I learned about Malachi, I still think back to
that Pope quote from over the summer. He says, some games,
it's going to look like he's NBA ready right now.

(08:47):
In some games, it's going to look like he doesn't
even know what he's doing. And in Nashville, I don't
know that Malcho knew what he was doing.

Speaker 3 (08:53):
I don't know that he knew what he was doing.

Speaker 2 (08:54):
I couldn't agree more. And that's a great, yeah, good
memory by you, because that's exactly right, that's what he said.
But having seen Malachi play in high school a little bit,
I knew exactly what Mark was talking about because when
he dominated at Great Crossing and he only did it
when he had to, you know, he did it not
in a way that that made you think this guy's

(09:14):
going to be untouchable at the next level. He did
it in a way that made you say, this guy's
got a bright future, which he does. And I like
where he is now. I like the fact that we're
getting to watch him. But for the longest time he
had zero rebounds, and that's what the TV anchers pointed out.
And he ended up in twenty four.

Speaker 3 (09:34):
Minutes with two rebounds.

Speaker 2 (09:36):
He had two more than I did and I wasn't
even there.

Speaker 3 (09:39):
The same mountain seventeen minutes.

Speaker 2 (09:40):
But it's not like he wasn't trying.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
No, he has this thing. He was playing.

Speaker 2 (09:44):
Yeah, he was playing hard.

Speaker 4 (09:45):
It was clear in this In this instance, it was
a mismatch and boyd Gonzaga exploit it.

Speaker 2 (09:52):
Uh oh take away at the beginning. Did what I
was talking about his friend of mine the other day,
I said, it seems like for time times he drifts,
he drifts in and out of games. Then he it
looked like he began to try to step it up
a little bit. But for a guy who is one
of the few players who can get his shot, he
only shot us seven times.

Speaker 3 (10:12):
Yeah, I mean it was a it's really hard for
me to analyze.

Speaker 2 (10:16):
But he did get to the line, yes, which is good.

Speaker 4 (10:18):
It's hard for me to analyze this game because you
see the sixteen points and that leads the team. Only
two players in double figures. For Kentucky otego one of them.
But then you're like, well, he had nine free throws
on sixteen points. But also he had nine free throws
out of ten because he was just fighting for his
life trying to drive the basket and getting filed every time.
So it is a bit tough to really grade this game.

(10:40):
It wasn't a great efficiency night for him, three for
seven from shooting, but he did get to the line,
he did draw those contacts, and at the end of
the day, when you look at offensive output and what
was a very bad offensive game for Kentucky, he was
the best they had.

Speaker 2 (10:53):
Yeah, and he actually got five rebounds, Yeah he did.

Speaker 3 (10:58):
Yeah, also led the team.

Speaker 2 (11:00):
What's that?

Speaker 3 (11:01):
I think that also led the team five assists. Yeah,
no one else had more than two.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
You're right, So yeah, it was a bad game. Uh,
the question is what's next? And I think that's what
bothers Kentucky fans. This is not an isolated incident.

Speaker 4 (11:15):
Well, the real answer is in C Central, isn't it.
H No, I agree with you. You got the n C
Central game to get right to stay above five hundred.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
Uh this Tuesday tomorrow.

Speaker 4 (11:26):
But then you know, back to back Saturdays Indiana and
Ruptu and Indiana just had a ranking by their name.

Speaker 3 (11:31):
I think they might still. I don't know.

Speaker 4 (11:33):
I haven't actually looked at the New A people. That's
on me, but they did last week anyway. And then
Saint John's and that's Rick Patino. If you think, if
you think Rick Patino is not going to have his
team ready to go for Mark Pope, I mean, it's
I don't know what to tell you. And then you
have one more kind of freebie against Bellerman before you
get into SEC play.

Speaker 3 (11:48):
Opening that up in Tuscaloosa in Alabama.

Speaker 4 (11:51):
I mean, that's that's Mark Pope's kryptonite right there in
tuscal So they went I believe his teams went zero
and three against Alabama last year.

Speaker 3 (11:58):
It doesn't get any easier.

Speaker 4 (11:59):
And when you look at this team, there's different reasons
and each game has its own story. But at the
end of the day, every single NCAA Tournament caliber team
Kentucky has played, they have lost, and they've looked quite
puzzling at times doing so.

Speaker 2 (12:17):
He is Cole Park at the cash pause. When we
come back, we'll talk volleyball with Molly Tuzzo. The Wildcats
in the regional round of the NCAA Tournament. We're back
in a minute on the state Wide BBI. Welcome back
to the Big woons Cider state Wide Pikeville to predicta

(12:38):
Dick Gabriel with Cole Park here in the studio joining Stanner.
Celebrity hotline is none other than Molly Tuzzo. She was
named the most Valuable Player for the Southeastern Conference tournament.
As you all know by now, I after the win
over Texas, but that's in the rearview mirror, isn't in
Molly after wins over Georgia Tech. I'm sorry over Wafford
and UCLA. It's all about what's up next? Am I right?

Speaker 5 (13:00):
Yes it is so is great, but we're onto the next.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
Well, first of all, though, congratulations and it was such
a cool moment. And you know what, I swear to God,
I said this to myself to nobody in the room,
but I said it to myself. They should give it
to Tuzzo And then honestly I did.

Speaker 5 (13:18):
Thank you.

Speaker 2 (13:18):
But what it also told me, and I've said this
as well, is whoever voted on that was paying attention
because you know that was the effect and not just you,
but you know that was like a you struck a
blow for defensive players everywhere, didn't you?

Speaker 6 (13:32):
Sure?

Speaker 2 (13:33):
But what did that mean to you? Did? To have
them hand that to you, you know, after such a
big win that you shared with your teammates.

Speaker 5 (13:40):
I mean, it's just such an amazing feeling. I was
completely shocked, But I think all credit to my teammates.
I mean, I couldn't have done it without them. This
team is just so amazing. Like I said after I
won the award, but we all just take so much
pride in we're in Kentucky and we played for each
other and not just ourselves, and they genuinely pushed me

(14:01):
to be better every single day. So I really couldn't
have done it without them. But it's a great feeling
for sure.

Speaker 2 (14:07):
Well let's go back to the matches that pushed you
into this next round. Though, you sweep Wafford, but they
made you work pretty hard in that second set. But
you had to shake off a little bit of Russ,
didn't you.

Speaker 5 (14:18):
Yes, always a little bit of Russ.

Speaker 2 (14:20):
Yeah, But what did that do for you going? Because
the next match, I mean camp Shychuk, who worked the
match with me. She and I were talking before the game,
We're like, this is gonna be tough, and it was.
But how did work and to shake off that rust
together help propel you into the UCLA match.

Speaker 5 (14:37):
I mean, I think it really just opened our eyes
that in the tournament, everyone is there for a reason,
and everyone is just gonna be guns blazing at us.
We have a massive, targer target on our back and
we know that, and it just only pushes us to
be harder or work harder and just see more consistent
and not underestimate any team.

Speaker 4 (14:56):
Really, you talk about every team being there for a reason.
The team you're going against next cal Poly kind of
a little bit of a Cinderella. They're upset BYU and
USC to set up the matchup with you guys, winner
gets either number two Arizona State or number three Creighton
in that bracket. I mean, when you look at the
the they're the Mustangs, the Mustangs. You know, what do
you see from them? You know when you're you guys

(15:17):
are probably already scouting them, looking ahead, And how how
do you guys make sure that you're not the next
victim of Cinderella.

Speaker 5 (15:24):
Yeah, I think I watched a lot of their game
versus USC, and they're just such a scrappy team. They
look like they do not take a single point off.
They're just going out at every single point like they
have nothing to lose. And I mean they have some
really good arms, some heavy swings, So I think just
preparation and not taking this week for granted.

Speaker 2 (15:46):
Really, I did watch some of that match as well,
and yeah, they've got size, they've got power, But you
beat a team in UCLA that adds size and power.
I mean, you know, Marianas Singletary and Shardan Leverett, that's
a great one to punch. Not as good as yours.
But how do you think beating UCLA helped prep you

(16:09):
for this match with cal Poly?

Speaker 5 (16:12):
I think it's really just so much different in the tournament.
It's kind of like survive in advance really obviously, So
I think it's just kind of shaking off those like
nerves of not playing to lose and just always playing
to win and playing to Kentucky volleyball standards. Really. But
I think UCLA is an amazing team and they really

(16:34):
put up a fight and made us work for it.
So I think that just really is going to push
us in the next round.

Speaker 2 (16:41):
Talking to Mollie, tezzo. She is a libro or liberro
if you will, either one works, and if you're new
to volleyball, she's the one wearing a different colored jersey.
She is a defensive specialist, but a free substitution. There
are substitution rules which are very complicated in volleyball, but
the libro is the free sub. So you see Molly
all over the court. You had ten assists. You're basically

(17:02):
the secondary setter when people go after Cassie O'Brien with
a serve. How do you feel your setting has come along.

Speaker 5 (17:11):
I think it's made a huge progression. Obviously, Evan Brooklyn
are arguably the best outside duo in the country, so
I think they kind of make it look a lot
better sometimes since they're just crazy athletic and honestly can
make any ball score. But I think it's really working
on that connection every single day in practice has really helped,

(17:33):
and it's gotten so much better this year.

Speaker 2 (17:35):
You had fifteen digs, but three of your teammates were
in double digits as well. What does that tell you
about Kentucky's defense.

Speaker 5 (17:44):
I mean, we're a scrappy team. We work on defense
and open hand scoops and all these crazy things every
single day in practice that I think has just shown
in past games. And it's gotten so much better over
this season especially, and I think it's still growing. Definitely
a scrappy team for sure.

Speaker 2 (18:02):
You mentioned Eva, and everybody knows now she is the
SEC player of the year, newcomer of the year. Brooklyn
was the reigning SEC Player of the Year. I'm sure
she's happy to share that now with Eva and Brooklyn.
As competitive as it gets, But Eva Hudson, I mean,
have you ever played with anybody so outwardly competitive as

(18:24):
she is?

Speaker 5 (18:26):
I personally have never in my life. I mean I
personally was like, I knew she was fiery coming in,
but it was just a whole other level to anyone
I've ever seen or played with before. But I mean,
it fires all of us up, so we love it.

Speaker 2 (18:41):
You know, a real dramatic moment in your season came
I'm not telling you anything new in the Tennessee match
in the regular season, when Craig had stumped for such
a big crowd and he got it. Everybody showed up
and showed out, and then she turns her ankle on
the first set. I think it was which Tennessee won,
and back behind the scenes they were actually talking to

(19:02):
her about, well, maybe you need to sit this one
out or whatever, or later on they asked her if
she wanted to sit out for and you know, it
wasn't the fact that she turned them down, it's the
way she turned them down. As I understand that we
can't use her language on the air, but that was
never gonna happen, was it. There was no way you
were tearing her out of that.

Speaker 5 (19:22):
Match, oh rider, for sure, And she was never going to.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
Be taken out of that No. One of the fans
came out of the stands prior to the Watford match
and told me about your family connection to UK basketball,
which I think, is it your grandfather's brother, Am I correct?
Was Cliff Barker?

Speaker 3 (19:46):
Yes?

Speaker 6 (19:46):
Much?

Speaker 2 (19:47):
How much did you know about his story?

Speaker 5 (19:50):
Honestly, not much at all until my uncle kind of
talked to me about it recently. I think it was
I didn't really know anything. I came to college obviously,
and then that's whenever I kind of learned his story.
But that's crazy how I honestly had zero clue and
then oh, it's that big of a connection.

Speaker 2 (20:09):
Played on one of the greatest teams in the history
of the school, and our producer Bo Robinson is steeped
in UK basketball history. But most Kentucky fans know the
Fabulous Five but probably can't name them all. They could
probably name two or three, maybe four. It seems like
close to the one they forget. But you know he
was a pow right. I mean, that's a heck of
a story.

Speaker 5 (20:31):
Yeah, that's that's amazing.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
But the fact that you didn't know and nobody told
you that when you committed to Kentucky.

Speaker 5 (20:39):
I don't even think the coaches really knew, or the
staff because I brought it up to them and they
had no idea either.

Speaker 2 (20:46):
And family told you.

Speaker 5 (20:48):
Yeah, it was my uncle and my mom.

Speaker 2 (20:51):
But was it after you committed the UK? Yes, that's fantastic.

Speaker 5 (20:55):
Think I had already been here for a couple of months.

Speaker 2 (20:57):
Oh you're kidding. And now you play, You play in
the same building where he did. How about that? Yeah
that's so cool, isn't it. Well let's get back to
the volleyball. Just got a minute or two left, though.
Tell me about the mindset going into this match. I've
got to think it's similar to what it was last week, right, Yes.

Speaker 5 (21:15):
For sure. I think, like I said earlier, we can't
underestimate how poly They've all obviously been upsetting some crazy
good teams, and I think that's what they want to
do on Thursday for us, So I think just really
working hard this week and not underestimating them and treating
them like any other team.

Speaker 2 (21:33):
You mentioned the target on your back. You've got a
winning streak, you're the absolute powerhouse in the SEC or
a one seed. Do you feel that when you line
up against other teams, especially even during the SEC when
you know you're the nine time champion? Is that pretty
evident when you're when you're facing off against another team.

Speaker 5 (21:53):
Honestly, No, We always talk about being where our feet are,
so I think it's in the back of our minds sometimes,
but as soon as we step on the court, it's
just game on and we're in the present moment and
not really thinking too much about that.

Speaker 2 (22:06):
Yeah. Well, I appreciate the time as always. I enjoy
your commercial, Clark's Pumping Shop. You guys did a great job.
Was that fun?

Speaker 6 (22:14):
Thank you?

Speaker 5 (22:15):
Yes, it was fun. I had no idea whenever I
showed up and then they were like showing a commercial
and I was like Okay.

Speaker 2 (22:21):
You're gonna play volleyball here in the store. And it
worked out. Okay, and you got a pancake, right I did.
That's great. Hey, thanks a lot, best of luck. We'll
see you this week.

Speaker 5 (22:32):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (22:33):
All right, that's Molly Tuzzos. She is the Kentucky libro libero.
I I asked many, many people, which is it. They said, eah,
either one. But that's the free substitution position in volleyball.
And she is one of the best in the country.
She was second team All Conference and one of the
biggest reasons. She's not that big, but she's one of
the biggest reasons that Kentucky is where it is this

(22:53):
year in volleyball. How cool is that, bo that her
grandfather's brother was Cliff Barker, two time NCA champion, one
of the fabulous five Olympic gold medalist US Army Air
Force shot down over Germany sixteen months in a prison
and I forgot to mention this on the broadcast. I
should have mentioned to her while he was in the

(23:15):
prison camp and was playing basketball, you know what he
used of volleyball? Yeah, how about that full circle? I
think it's great. That's awesome. Take notes, young, Cole Park.
That's a good story. I know you know it all right.
When we come back, Jeff mccaryll, who not so young.
We're back in a minute here on the state wide
BBI we plake Field two. It is the big Ruinsider,

(23:50):
Dick Gabrielle Cole Park, busy man. He's been covering basketball
and a big football story last week and it seems
like a long time ago, Cole. But it was last
Monday that we got the word and the way, you know,
who broke the story to me that they had signed
or they had come to terms with Will Stein was
our next guest on our Celebrity hotline, Mister Jeff Pikoro.

(24:14):
I was outside doing an interview with w KYT Channel
twenty seven of my old station, and the reporter was
asking me to speculate on the number of names we
had heard. And here's a guy who is with the
UK Sports network committedly but also the sports director of WTVQ,
walked into the middle of my my taped interview and
what did you say? Jeff?

Speaker 6 (24:37):
I said, I didn't want you to look like an
idiot the air, but.

Speaker 2 (24:41):
I can do that by myself.

Speaker 6 (24:42):
You better you better, you better start over because Stein's
the guy.

Speaker 2 (24:48):
My eyes are like, what and then he points in
he just announced it. I'm like, oh, okay, well, I'm
out here on the sidewalk. We Jeff and I had
been a part of the The Football Hour they did,
and they were busy talking to by then. I think
maybe they moved on to the Mark Pope Show. But
Jeff and I had appeared with Mark with Tom Leach
and we had talked about Mark Stoops and then that's

(25:09):
when the news got so yeah, it was really anyone
like why is this guy budding into my interview? But
I do appreciate that. I guess Jeff, you had heard,
like everybody, that Stein's name had come up. But I'll
ask both of you guys, Jeff, starting with you, the
fact that Mark Stoop's dismissal became official, and then the

(25:30):
announcement of the head coach became came out as it
was official the next day, on the same day, what
did you make of that? How surprised were you by that?

Speaker 6 (25:40):
Well? I think that that Mitch Barnehart had made up
his mind about Mark Stoops obviously prior to the announcement,
and it had already reached out. He I kind of
know this that he wanted someone in place by the
time he announced Mark Stoups a. Uh, he didn't want

(26:01):
it to linger. You know, he didn't want it to linger.
And you know, I think there were some people out
there that thought that, you know, had he done it sooner,
they could have got Summer. I don't think John Summer
was ever in the equation of being the head coach
at the University of Kentucky for two reasons. One, I
think that that Mitch wanted to go in an offensive direction,

(26:24):
not that John isn't you know, and his teams aren't offensive.
But two, I think John had his pick of of
places to go, and I think Kentucky was maybe two
or three on his list, and it all kind of
hinged upon what what Lane Kiffin did at oldviss And

(26:46):
once he left and didn't go to Florida, then you know,
I mean, you say what you want, and I would wish,
like heck, I could say, Kentucky's a better job than Florida,
But you're going to get the you know, as you
call him Jimmy's and Joe's, You're gonna get the You're
going to get them there because they've got, you know,
a brutal area.

Speaker 2 (27:04):
Oh was your reaction, Cole.

Speaker 4 (27:06):
Yeah, I mean it was a little hectic for me
doing my job, you know, the riding side of it.

Speaker 3 (27:11):
But I also understood the move.

Speaker 4 (27:12):
I think Barnhart even kind of implied it a little
bit when we got to speak with him after. I mean,
in the modern era, in the modern era, when a
team doesn't have a coach, there are sharks in the
water for every single player on that roster. So yeah,
making this move as quickly as possible was important for
retention in building Kentucky's team. I also agree going offense
minded was a big point of emphasis. I mean Barnhart said,

(27:35):
I think his actual quote was it's really hard to
win games in our league scoring seventeen to twenty one
points a game. He said, we got to find ways
to light up the scoreboard, put some points out there,
and I think Stein brings that. I mean, Oregon is
a very very exciting team. They have potential to go deep,
and Stein's been fantastic with that offense with some a
aw I kind of higgyback off of what Jeff said.

(27:59):
My impression, as always that if it was between Kentucky
and Florida. I get the ties, you know, but Florida
is where he was going to go once that was
made clear, and.

Speaker 2 (28:09):
You can't blame him.

Speaker 3 (28:10):
No, it's Florida.

Speaker 2 (28:11):
Yeah. Yeah. The other thing too, though, is that and
it doesn't take a genius to see this, but Mitch
Barnard knew when the National Signing Day deadline was Yeah,
you know that's yeah. Coincidentally enough, that's why he had
to rush to hire a basketball coach when he signed
Billy Gillespie, and it worked out because they got Patrick Patterson.

(28:32):
Now what happened after that, we can debate and discuss
for the rest of the night. But he got will
Stein in place. Now he's signing people, and as you
guys have said, signing a guy who is known for offense.
Now Mark Stoops Jeff known for defense and built a
program that saw two teams win ten games and eighth

(28:53):
straight Bowls. So there's no tried and true method, right,
I mean, either way can work, but this kind of
puts a jolt of enthusiasm into the program, into the
people buying tickets, right.

Speaker 6 (29:06):
Yeah, And I think both of you guys will agree
with me. If you lose the Big Blue Nation, which
they kind of did after the last two games at Vanderbilt,
and he knew that he had to do something immediately
to soothe the savage beast, so to speak, because you
didn't want to start the season next year. And look

(29:28):
what Mark did. They should erect the statue for him
the greatest coach that ever coached football at the University
of Kentucky. You look what he did. Eight football games
and two ten wins seasons. I mean, it's just amazing.
But to the point is, if you would have kept him,
you would have had an opening game next year with
thirty five thousand people there. Yeah, you know, I just

(29:49):
think the enthusiasm and fun was gone. And to tell
you the truth, I think it was a huge weight
off of Mark's shoulders because, Dick, you were there, you
saw him when we were talking to him after the
he was a shell of I mean, he was just
like in shocked fitting there, yep. And I think his
mind was made up at that point, to tell you
the truth, Yeah.

Speaker 4 (30:11):
I mean, and huge respect to Mark obviously, big part
of why this was even possible, negotiating that extended by
out which I believe reports now that it's going to
go through twenty thirty one. You know, if if he
hadn't have done that, that it would have been a
lot harder to make this move happen. He got praise
from both Barnhardt and Stein during his introductory press conference.
But for you, Jeff, words are just words. We'll have

(30:33):
to see, you know how it goes. But as for
Stein's press conference, you know yourself, being a former player,
he wanted to thank you guys. You know, he said,
this is your guys' program, it's not his. Just I
got the impression that, again, words are words. We have
to see how it goes. But it felt like he
said all the right things in that press conference. Did
you get that same impression?

Speaker 6 (30:54):
I did? And I think the best the best thing
he said was he's not trying to build a program
for five years, five years down the road. He wants
to win and win now immediately. He has a I
think he has a really nice core of players, especially
the younger class that's sophomore class is outstanding. And again
I think and I think that I don't want to

(31:17):
say he brushed it off, but we have we been
in the medium said, you know, Cutter has to come
back and he's kind of like, Hey, whoever the quarterback
is in my system works. I mean, and this is
a guy that's what you you've seed him when he
was a trade five nine, maybe five ten. You know
his father was the same way. Yeah, his father's the

(31:38):
same way. Was a little undersized, but had the heart
of a lion. And I just I just like what
he's done. I like who he's brought in, who who
we've heard and who were speculating that he's bringing in
as his coaches. I like who he's Kep and warr And.
And I really think having Mike Cartline coming back really
helps with the quarterback room because I know him and

(32:01):
Cutter were very tight.

Speaker 3 (32:03):
Yeah, I mean you want to I would agree with
that as well.

Speaker 4 (32:07):
I also agree that there's a really good core of
players here in.

Speaker 3 (32:10):
This team that can do a lot of big things.

Speaker 4 (32:12):
As for my favorite Stein quote from the press conference,
I haven't pulled up here, pardon my friends. My favorite
quote he said is success is not free, and rent
is do every damn day that we're here. That's I
was not on the team, but I was ready to
run the ball through all right.

Speaker 6 (32:27):
Yes, yeah, but you know, I tell you what guys,
and all we have to do. And I hate piling
on a situation, but all you have to do is
look at the basketball team. Money doesn't buy everything, and
you know, like there's something missing on that on that
basketball team. And I think that the football team kind

(32:48):
of had their heart taken out of them this year.
A couple of close games that could have gone fifty
to fifteen they went the other way, or else Kentucky
would we'd be talking about where we're going bowling at.
But I just agree that what you said there it
is do every day and the harder you work, the
better you're gonna be. But he has to go out
and find guys to fill a couple of holes. Offensive line,

(33:10):
He's probably gonna have to go out and find at
least two starters for that. Wibberly has to gain some
weight and some strength that he's going to be the center.
So there are some problematic areas. But I like the
start of his recruiting. I thought he pulled some strings
and was able to get some players and got a
flip and you know, let's let's see how this plays

(33:31):
out for February and when the portal opens.

Speaker 2 (33:35):
You mentioned retaining hard line. I thought retaining Annwhyer Stewart
was massive too, didn't you guys think so?

Speaker 3 (33:41):
Absolutely?

Speaker 4 (33:41):
I think when you look at Kentucky, I mean, year
to year, consistently, the defensive line has been one of
the pride and joys of the Kentucky teams. I mean,
I think when when Stoops got brought in here, and
obviously we saw the offensive side drift a little bit
in the back half, but it really started up front,
you know, in the trenches on offense and on defense,
offensive line, defensive line. Kentucky had the big blue wall

(34:01):
for so long, and on defense, the defensive line has
been really, really good with some great players on that side.
So bringing him back I thought was massive for Kentucky's
future because I think, again consistently speaking year to year,
the defensive line has had some dudes on it and
that's been a really good group.

Speaker 2 (34:17):
Jeff you this year too, Go ahead.

Speaker 6 (34:21):
I'm just saying they had some depth.

Speaker 2 (34:23):
They had some depth this year too, and a lot
of that's his recruiting as well as his development. And
you like to to precede and who can blame you
each football game with a trip to the Kman's house
just to say hi to your former teammates and your buddies.
And uh, I have never heard so much praise. And
I mean this was throughout the last few years for

(34:45):
a position coach. And I know he's one of you guys,
but so many of the lettermen have made it a
point to tell me how much they love anwar Stewart.
Are you hearing you? I got to think you heard
the same things.

Speaker 6 (34:58):
Oh yes, yeah, he's he's almost the equivalent to John Schlarman.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
Uh.

Speaker 6 (35:04):
You know, with the offensive players around him, You've never
heard a defensive lineman leave here bad mouthed him. You
never heard an offensive lineman leave saying anything bad about Schlarman,
and mar gets in their face. But he, you know,
he can play back both sides. You can be the
bad cop, but he's also gonna be the good cup.

(35:24):
And his players produce, they play hard, and he's not
afraid to bench a player like he did this year.
And and it was a player that was that played
a lot and what they were expecting a lot out
of him and he wasn't giving it. And he said,
you're not even traveling with the team, and that that's
saying something when you can do that to a guy

(35:45):
that's is important to the team, is that defensive lineman.

Speaker 2 (35:49):
Was No, I know.

Speaker 4 (35:50):
I was just going to add, you know, I might
be less connected to some of the lettermen as you guys,
but I was talking to you a little bit at
Stein's introductory press conference Dick with some of the lettermen,
and I I did it. I heard people say, you know,
if you know, They said, you know, if he knows
what he's doing, he'll bring back en War. You know,
he'll bring him back on staff. I was like, what,
they seem to like him quite a bit.

Speaker 2 (36:09):
Now, unless I missed it, he is not go ahead,
go ahead.

Speaker 6 (36:13):
I was going to ask you guys, have you heard
anything because the one guy that I think that if
he could bring this guy back, because I saw great
improvement with the wide receivers this year, and that's Ladamian.
And I haven't heard anything about him. Have either of
you heard any of that?

Speaker 2 (36:28):
Not a word?

Speaker 4 (36:29):
Yeah, I mean, for me, I've heard that it's still
a possibility. I mean, obviously he's been doing recruiting already
still for the team, but I haven't heard anything, you.

Speaker 3 (36:36):
Know, official about him coming back.

Speaker 4 (36:38):
But I agree with you, Jeff that that is one
that I was very impressed with the wide receiver room
this past year.

Speaker 3 (36:43):
That the improvement.

Speaker 4 (36:44):
I like every time I've spoken with Ladamien, he seems like,
you know, he says the things you want to hear
from a wide receivers coach, and I like him quite
a bit. So that's one I also hope that they retain,
and I've heard that there's a possibility, But as for
any kind of official I haven't heard anything in that.

Speaker 2 (37:01):
And it seems like the players liked him, like playing
for him. Jeff, what did you that was your position?
What did you think of the way the receivers performed
this year?

Speaker 6 (37:11):
Well, I think the greatest achievement by a coach is
if you could bring a freshman in because this is
a different world. Coming from you know, high school, no
matter how big it is, to the SEC is an
enormous step and it usually takes the guy two years
just to your head is just spinning. And to get

(37:34):
what he got out of some of the young kids,
and especially you look at Cam min Or. Cameron Miller
was sensational all year. Quizn't Berry was as well, but
I think they wanted to keep him because he played
a different position, and they had depth at that position.
He was behind Kendrick Law. So as long as Law
was producing and was injury free, you want to save

(37:55):
that red shirt for quiz But I'll tell you what,
what he did with those guys was amazing. H Hester.
You know, all those guys, they just came on under him. Yeah,
and it's yeah and Miller as well. And I just
see great Da, DJ, JJ, Cameron, all those guys, you know,
with the exception Jay are back and and so you've

(38:17):
got some depth at wide receiver and some size and
some guys that have moveability or or you know, you
like I said about Quizenberger, you can't touch him in
a phone booth. So you know they got some talent
there a wide receiver too.

Speaker 3 (38:32):
Yeah, I would just add too.

Speaker 4 (38:33):
I think what was really impressive to me is, you know,
early on in the season, I felt like we were
talking about, you know, this group has been a little
bit disappointing, but the in season, you know, adjustments, developments.
I mean it felt like week to week they just
kept I mean, the offense as a whole really kind
of felt like they were taking a lot of strides.
But uh, to make those adjustments mid season to bring
these guys on in the middle of a season while

(38:54):
you're game planning, you're prepping for each team, and you're
still bringing these guys along. You know, that's what you
want out of a coach, but we've seen it all
across the country. That's not always what you get out
of a coach. And I think that that's a huge
credit to la Damian that he was able to kind
of bridge both of those in that we saw on
a week to week bas we could see improvement with
that group.

Speaker 2 (39:12):
Now, Jeff, be honest, and I hate to pick in
it all wound, but in the latter stages of your
career Kentucky as a receiver, did things get easier because
they just looked at you as a downfield blocker?

Speaker 6 (39:27):
It was just everything Yeah, idea, but what you know.
We had a numbering system, uh you know, and and
you just round ran the route that correlated with that number,
and like an outpass only had you only had to
do two things. If it's manned, you run it out

(39:49):
and if a zone you run the gear down. That's it. Now,
depending on what the zone is or if it's man
that either's three or four or five different different plays
off of every routes, off of every play call. Yeah,
and it's just it's so much more complicated now that
it than it was before. I don't know if it

(40:11):
has to be, but it just is.

Speaker 2 (40:13):
D backs may be bigger. Yeah.

Speaker 6 (40:18):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (40:18):
I heard somebody on TV call a rout of slug.
I'm like, no, wait, I've heard that term and texted
to one guy I knew who knew, So now I
know you know, but uh, you know the banana rod
you like to talk about in the gear downs and
all that stuff we all learned. That's that's that's the
bright spot. Jeff bro, thank you so much, and we
will see you down the road. Hi, guys, come back

(40:38):
and wrap up this edition of the State Wide bb
I stay with us. Thanks again to Jeffiicorp, to Molly
Tuzzle for joining us. Tomorrow night at Kentucky and inn
C Central. You hear it, almost of these same stations
Cole Park will be there covering that one. Can this team,

(41:01):
let's say they go out tomorrow night, play well, hit
a bunch of shots. Can they win the fans back
over tomorrow?

Speaker 6 (41:08):
No?

Speaker 3 (41:09):
I don't think it's.

Speaker 4 (41:11):
It's kind of one of those deals where this game
can only really hurt you, you.

Speaker 3 (41:16):
Expect to win this one big.

Speaker 4 (41:18):
I don't think anything Kentucky does tomorrow is really gonna
win anybody back over. But if the team can get back,
can kind of find its mojo again, feel like it's
comfortable again, then you can change people's minds against Indiana
and especially against Sint John's. I think that, if anything,
this is a kind of like those two games were
in between the Michigan State North Carolina one. You know,

(41:39):
just you have to do, you have to take care
of business. You gotta do what you gotta do. I
don't think it's really gonna change how anyone views this
team unless it's in a negative way, but I believe
it can give this team momentum going into these next
two games that can change minds. And of course we're
getting closer and close to SEC play. Obviously, you know

(42:00):
you have to start getting some of these bigger wins.
But it is still early in the season. Nothing is unsalvageable.

Speaker 2 (42:07):
At this point.

Speaker 3 (42:07):
I mean, this this team could still finish very very good.

Speaker 4 (42:10):
I mean, I'm not at all expecting what I'm about
to say, but you know, Kentucky could finish the season.

Speaker 3 (42:18):
With four losses and then we feel fine.

Speaker 2 (42:20):
Right, So.

Speaker 4 (42:24):
I think that the biggest thing is just getting back
to work, back to the drawing board, fixing these offensive issues,
fixing this body these body language issues, getting it together,
and taking this game against NC Central to really build
going into this Indiana game against a team that I
think again, granted I thought that way, but some of

(42:44):
the teams they've lost to already, but it is a
winnable game.

Speaker 2 (42:47):
Yeah, oh yeah. What did you think of DeMarcus cousins tweet?

Speaker 3 (42:52):
Yeah, I mean for me, it was interesting.

Speaker 4 (42:56):
Obviously. You know, DeMarcus Cousins can do whatever he pleases
me personally does I don't know that I would have
said that if I was in his shoes, but granted
we the key though.

Speaker 2 (43:06):
If you were in his shoes. Ex player, a guy
who played his butt off, that's kind of thing.

Speaker 6 (43:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (43:11):
Uh, But for what it's worth, Mark Pope said he
saw no issue with that quote. He was asked about
it post game. He said, I have no issue with
what he said. He said, there's nothing wrong with what
he said. He said, I'm a former player.

Speaker 3 (43:21):
I get it.

Speaker 4 (43:22):
It's like I'm just as made It did make me
chuckle a little bit, he said.

Speaker 3 (43:26):
And I'm mad at the coach too. I'm like, you're
you are a coach.

Speaker 4 (43:29):
But regardless, you know, I respect that for Mark Pope,
like you said, he hasn't made excuses. He hasn't been
like well this this is He's owned it and it's
it's still a problem. It's really Mark Pope's, you know,
first crisis here at Kentucky.

Speaker 3 (43:44):
But I respect that.

Speaker 4 (43:47):
It would have been easy to have a very negative
reaction to that, especially as a former player yourself, because
I can't see Mark Pope doing something like that.

Speaker 2 (43:54):
But that wasn't his style though, No, no, no, no.

Speaker 4 (43:56):
But he owned it, and I think if my Pope
is owning it, then that's all we can do is
be like, well, you know, more power to them.

Speaker 2 (44:04):
Yeah, exactly, And again I understand it having watched it,
as your kids like to say, from ten thousand feet,
I wasn't invested in it with my time effort. I
wasn't working it, I wasn't in the arena, I wasn't
watching it at live as it unfolded, so I knew
what was going to happen, and so I kind of

(44:25):
watched it a little bit differently, but I can certainly
understand where a former player might have that to say,
get it all right, ball game tomorrow night. See it there,
see there, and we will keep you posting on football
as well for Bowl and Cole and Jeff pcaol. That's it,
good night from Lexington.