Sunday Morning Sports Talk - May 5, 2024 - Hour 1

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Welcome in Stockyards Bank Sunday Morning SportsTalk. I am Anthony White along with
Jack Pilgrim and Larry Vault for thispost Derby, Cinco de Mayo, UK
basketball coming all together. Addition,we're coming to you. I am live

(00:22):
here at Clark's Main Street Market studiosand beautiful downtown I mean Lexington, Kentucky.
Jack Pilgrim, Uh, how wasyour weekend? Oh? It was
filled with horse racing and hanging outwith friends and family and all that good

(00:44):
stuff. Is little Man's first Derby, so it was a blast. We
you know, really enjoyed the beddingand you know, just trying to make
some money while just ended up losingall of our money anyway, So it
was a blast. We got closeon a couple of the big races,
didn't hit big on any of them. But man, what an absolute blast
yesterday was to get a historic finishphoto finished for the first time in decades

(01:10):
and then have it be a youknow, Lexington's own Tate Tates Creek graduate
as the trainer. I mean,just you couldn't dream up a better scenario,
a better finish for Kentucky Derby onefifty and did you? So you
did you have mystic Dan to placeor or do you not. I don't
know how the betting goes. We'regonna get to Bow here in a little

(01:30):
bit so he can tell me alittle bit more. But you have mystic
Dan anywhere. So I had himfirst on one of my pick fives,
which was my just stupid dreamland scenario. All right, Well, Reed Shepherd
picked him earlier in the day,so that dude, just anything he touches
turns to gold, so I mightas well guess it. So I picked

(01:53):
him on, picked him first,and then the rest of my field was
you know, the other four wherejust ran that. I think I might
have hit two of them or whatever. But I should have just trusted Reed
Shepherd to see this. This iswhere we go wrong. Whenever Reed Shepherd
makes a gut call the way thathe did, we also just followed him
and took his lead, and everybodywould have made a lot more money because

(02:15):
of it. So I apologize toRead Shepherd for not listening. And that's
that's cool, Jack. I mean, you might have missed on horse racing,
you don't miss on UK basketball.And that's what we're going to talk
about after this first segment. Becauseobviously the derby was yesterday and everybody wanted
to talk about that. Uh soyou get you get a chance to vindicate
yourself after this first segment, LarryVaught, are you in condition to after

(02:40):
the derby? Are you in conditionto grant me a little loan? Uh?
No, I didn't. I didn'teven know the read Shepherd pick Mystic
dan If i'd have known that,maybe, but no. I spent my
day uh with with with rehab forthe hamstring. Still, I did go
to Danville's first come Con with myoldest grandson. I've never quite experienced anything

(03:04):
like that. Don't even know exactlyhow to describe it. And when he
teld me that was just kind ofa miniature version of I guess like what
the one would be in Lexington orCincinnati. It's it's quite an experience,
It's all I can say. So, and did a little workout in the
yards. That was my day yesterday. But I'm still pretty limited right now
with what I can do and notdo. Wow, how much did he

(03:28):
appreciate it? Was it like halffor him or was it he's just happy
to be there. He's in hollHaven't and you would like this part Anthony.
I was there as his money man. Because it's an event where it
cost you. I guess BO wouldprobably know this. Maybe it cost you
a decent amount to get into theinto it, and then once you get

(03:49):
in, it costs you to doeverything else. I mean, there's just
vendors in there selling things. There'scelebrities of course, who I didn't know,
but one of them that are inthere. If you want to talk
or get a picture or get anautograph, that's another twenty thirty fifty dollars
a piece to do that. Idid get a chance to meet, I
talk with or I known him alitle bit. But to see Al Snow

(04:11):
there and that was kind of cool, But was also kind of cool to
see how many people wanted to geta picture or a photo with Al Snow.
So that was the one celebrity thatI didn't know. The rest of
them, I didn't really have anyidea even who they were, like the
I mean, I just had noidea. Larry Vaughan, I didn't think
your money was any good anywhere inthis statement. I thought your money was
no good everywhere in the state.They loved it yesterday. I loved a

(04:39):
lot of it. Our man BoRobinson was there. I guess in pretty
working. I don't know if it'sfifty to fifty working and casual duty.
Last year was his debut as interviewingon the Red Carpet and things of such,
and Bo, are you in positionto offer myself Larry or Jack me

(05:04):
first? Because I don't know howmuch you won or would have won?
But all right, me first.If you got enough for me, then
that's fine. But if you wanta whole lot, then you might be
able to break Larry and Jack offtoo. I showed up this morning to
do Sunday Morning sports talk so thatI ought to tell you how much I
won yesterday at Churchill Downs. Thereis a piece threatened by Hunter S.

(05:27):
Thompson called the Kentucky Derby is decadentand depraved. Well after yesterday, I've
realized I am decadent and exhausted.Right now I'm wiped out. Well the
event itself, this is your secondyear. You should have been a not
Larry of all condition. You don'thave a pooled hamstere. You know.
I might have to start training withLarry just to master the Kentucky Derby.

(05:48):
I thought I had it all undercontrol. I thought. I was just
kind of go in there and wowthem all. What was the best part
of What was the best part aboutit? The best part for me personally,
or yeah, you're experience, Myexperience was and I say all that
being sarcastically. Now let me getto the serious side. I loved every
minute of it. I love theridiculousness of what people are wearing, the

(06:11):
hats, the camaraderie, just everythingabout the Kentucky Derby. I loved this
weekend so much. The best partfor me was also a learning experience,
was interviewing the jockeys. That wasan experience in itself. I've never interviewed
jockeys. I had no clue howto get down to the new paddock.
It's fabulous, It's unbelievable. Ihad no clue about walking through the tunnel

(06:34):
out to the track and then tryingto find a jockey after the race and
talk to them. This was afirst for me. I love horse racing,
I really do. But I amalso learning how to report on horse
racing, how to get my feetinto the journalistic aspect. I will tell

(06:54):
you this, after yesterday, Ihad no business being there at all.
Trying to do as a fan ofthe Kentucky Derby than trying to cover it.
Well, let me clear this upfrom what you said. I know
how much you enjoyed it last year. Are you are you feeling that you
would prefer to just go watch itand enjoy the entertainment or are you saying

(07:15):
it is so exhausting, Because sometimesexhausting is good. If you exhaust yourself
and win a championship or some something, then it is worth it. But
you sounds as if if they aska bottom line, they ask you'll do
it again next year? Are youon board? Or is it? Let
me see, sign me up,I will do it again. Oh okay,
So is that kind of exhaustion rightright? It is. It's just

(07:38):
kind of a mental fatigue on takingeverything in. It's overwhelming. I think
they said, what was the attendance, one hundred and sixty five thousand people.
I got there at ten thirty yesterdaymorning, and it seemed like within
an hour and a half the crowdjust ballooned in the paddock area to where

(07:59):
you could not get through. AndI get it. The paddock area was
just brand new to everybody, andthat's where everybody wanted to gather and see
the horses. I understand that,but to get from one side of the
paddock area to get to it theother side, and this way there was
a lot of people to fight through. Plus they got a pretty steamy,
pretty warm between one four o'clock.Finally cooled down a little bit after four

(08:20):
o'clock five and when the derby started, But just fighting the people to get
from point A to point B andback to point eight. Again, that's
what I mean by exhausting. Butthat's better than the rain we typically get
up. Oh yeah, up untilso it was nothing like Friday. And
I wasn't there on Friday. ButI'm thinking glad I was not covering the
Kentucky Oaks because I would have beena mess. So both, where did

(08:41):
you track the jockey down? Andhe already came off the track? Was
he still just leaving the track andjust as elated as he could be.
I'm sorry I missed it. Ihope I'll go back and find a way
to listen to that interview. SoI'll explain this to you all, because
at first it didn't make sense tome, but then I thought about it
and start reading the race program.And things kind of fit together for me.

(09:03):
In the previous races leading up tothe Derby, so race one,
two, three, all the wayup to ten to eleven, I have
to find the winning jockey. Let'ssay Race two. I got to find
out who the winning jockey is.I'm not going to talk to him because
he's going off to the winter Circlewith the owners, the trainer, getting
pictures, things like that. Ihave to find the losing jockeys. I

(09:26):
want to talk to them because theywill have a couple extra minutes for me
to talk to them. I alsohad to find the losing jockey in those
previous races that have a mount inthe Derby, those are the ones I
want to talk to. It doesn'tmatter if they finished third, fourth,
fifth in a race, as longas they're riding in the Kentucky Derby,
those are the jockeys I want totalk to in the previous races. So

(09:48):
that kind of makes sense. Theproblem is when they come off the track,
they are all dirty, muddy,They've got dirt everywhere, and I
have to identify their silks and theirnumbers. Wow, the tunnel's kind of
dark. You got so many peoplecoming through. I'm just standing off the
side, thinking, Okay, howdo I weasel my way in to talk

(10:11):
to one of these jockeys. Thefirst one, I thought, I hit
a home run. First jockey Iinterviewed, it went great. I talked
to Joel Rosario, got ninety secondsfrom him. I stopped my phone the
recorder and I said, thank youso much. I said, this meant
the world to me because you arethe first jockey I ever interviewed. And
I remember we're standing in the paddockand he's got this big smile on his

(10:31):
face and there's just mud dirt allover him. He's caked in it,
and he's smiling at me, andhe said, find me again. I'll
give you whatever you need. Iwas so glad to help you out on
this. I'll never forget that ninetyseconds of audio. That was a big
deal to me. The next jockeyI talked to, I completely screwed it
up, but you all don't knowthat completely screwed it up. I just

(10:56):
kind of got some information wrong,and oh wow. He looked at me.
He was like, excuse me,and I said, I'll take care
of it. Let's do this again. And then we restarted the interview and
I apologized, and he was coolabout it. He said, don't worry.
I said, you're only the secondjockey I've ever interviewed, and he
said you'll get better at this littlebit of encouragement there, But it was

(11:18):
still fun for unique experience to kindof get in there and figure out how
this all works. There's no wayI could do what Kenny Rice does and
walk down the track talking to thetrainers or the owners in front of one
hundred and sixty thousand people on livetelevision. There's no wed at all.
But the job that Kenny Rice doesand the NBC crew that was kind of

(11:39):
cool to see too, how theygo about it because you have a lot
of things going on at the sametime. Really neat experience, Anthony,
You are correct. I will signup again and do it, and I
will be one hundred percent better nextyear because I already know how to do
this. That is our producer,Bo Robinson. For the rest of the
show, we will have ten thirtyhave Max Steve, Marquise Davis newest running

(12:03):
back commit apparently the first or secondbiggest running back commit out of the state
of Ohio. Whoever you're a fanof, we'll talk with his head coach.
We also are hoping Evince Merrill finallygot in bed at the right time
and recovered. We should have himat eleven o'clock to talk draft in UK
sports. You we all you knowwe have Jack Pilgrim, so you can

(12:24):
call on him if you want tohear about what's going on in UK basketball,
and that's what we will come backwith at the top or the next
break. You're listening to Stockyards BankSunday Morning Sports Talk on news radio six
thirty WAP. This is the homeof the Wildcats. Six thirty w l
a P. Welcome back Stockyards BankSunday Morning Sports Talk. I am Anthony

(12:46):
White along with Jack Pilgrim and LarryVault. Stockyards Bank. It is your
trusted partner since nineteen on forehead onover syb dot com for all your banking
and financial needs. If you wouldlike to on the show eight five nine
two eight zero two two eight seventynine eight zero Cats to get into the
show as usual, we have JackPilgrim until ten thirty, so if you

(13:11):
do have basketball, because there's beena whole lot of shaking and baking going
on since our last show about ourroster and things of such, So get
your call in before ten thirty.If you have a question for Jack,
or if you have comments, youcan call in throughout the show. But
as I stayed in, talk DerbyUK football, you k, baseball.

(13:31):
I mean, I guess I can'tlimit to you what you want to talk
about, but right now I thinkthe hot topics are basketball and Derby.
So that's what we're going to headto in Jack Pilgrim, how is this
roster rounding out? What do youknow about our roster? And I know
we won't have a whole lot oftime if you get through it now because
we want a little long last segment. We wanted Boda talk about his experience

(13:54):
of it. But where do westart at? Uh? As far as
the basketball roster is a rounding outnicely? Yeah, So we got nine
nine guys signed up for next season. We went into last weekend, you
know, with a nice little coregroup. We pick picked up some some
recruiting momentum last time we talked,and then the day since we've had it

(14:16):
three more. On top of that, our first real surprise I think in
Brandon Garrison. You know, wehad great asibor on campus Utah State,
so he was on campus, andthen there was some some smoke starting to
kind of pour out a little bitabout the Oklahoma State Center transfer this is
the home of the Wildcats. Sixthirty w l a P. Welcome back,

(14:41):
Stockyards Bank, Sunday Morning Sports Talk. I am Anthony White, along
with Jack Pilgrim and Larry Vaught.That's pretty neat, seem now. Now
you're playing checkers bows, not chessney. I figured that one out easy.
I figured that one out easy.Well, I may be playing checkers here,
but I was definitely not playing anybig winnings. Yesterday, everybody around

(15:05):
me was winning money. You andI were talking about this during the break.
Who are these people? What dothey know that I didn't know yesterday?
And why didn't they share this informationwith me? I was standing right
next to somebody won two thousand dollarson a race, been talking to it
for twenty minutes. Never told mewhat he did. Maybe maybe you value

(15:26):
more, Maybe you value money morethan some of those other people. No,
I value the experience overall. Well, I'm saying for somebody to win
sixty thousand dollars, as you said, Yeah, I'm not getting I'm not
betting five hundred, two hundred.Oh, I'm not one hundred or anything
like that. I'm not betting enoughto win enough, so I keep my
money in my pocket. By theway, I want to make this comparison

(15:46):
about interviewing the jockeys. Larry,you will appreciate this. Jack, you
will too. I'm used to interviewingdudes that are three hundred pounds, threatening
me with a chair over top ofmy head asking stupid questions in wrestling.
I'm not used to interviewing one hundredand twenty pound jockeys. Well, that's

(16:10):
the sport. You can't be threehundred pounds on the back of a horse,
Larry. No, I mean both. Yeah, I know that,
but I'm not intimidated by that.I was a little just apprehensive interviewing the
jockeys because it was the first time. But if you're going to threaten me
with the chair over top of myhead for asking a stupid question about a
wrestling match, that's no problem.I can handle that. That That is

(16:32):
Bo Robinson, This Hour Sunday Morning, the Sports Talkings about You by Country
Boy Brewing Larry Vaught. I didbefore we get back to Jack, I
did want to ask you. Youknow, Jack kind of rounded out the
roster that we're putting together. Wenow currently have nine players. One thing
that has been newsworthy is the heightof some of these players. And I'm
not saying it in a bad way, but everybody's standing next to Mark Pope.

(16:52):
Either Mark Pope is shrunk or someof these numbers aren't right. It
doesn't matter what the numbers are aslong as you prefer on the court.
But Larry, how do you feelabout this roster? I don't know.
I know you've been a busy guy. I want to watch Comic Con and
running around icing your hamstring and things. But how do you feel so far
about this roster that Mark Pope isconstructed? Oh? I think given the

(17:15):
circumstances, I think he's done areally good job and this short period that
he has. And I think,as Jack was noting if he could add
Jackson Robinson, that I think theyare in really good shape. I don't
know how any other players besides thathe can add. Because when you've got
a roster that's got already got sevenveterans on it that are all going to
be expecting to play, and youget two nice freshmen coming in. On

(17:38):
top of that, I would thinkjack it's going to be hard to really
convince many more guys to come unlessyou have a connection like with Jackson Robinson,
because they're going to look around andsay, huh, wonder how much
I'm going to play in that roster. If he's already got all those guys,
they're already so I don't think they'llprobably get to thirteen or anything like
that. I think if they hadrobertson, you may go into next year

(18:02):
with tim scholarship guys. And Iwas gonna add, like, there's a
kid that just transferred from Baylor who'sa you know, bench guy for Baylor
that played for Mark Popitt b YuKate Caleb Lohner I think is his name.
I don't know if off the topof my head, but kind of
kind of those types of guys whereyou know exactly what you're signing up for.

(18:26):
He's kind of, you know,I imagine bringing in this team's version
of lance Ware where they're not comingin expecting to play a ton They're just
gonna be a locker room presence.They're going to be a you know,
maybe a physical force down low oryou know, a specialty guy. Maybe
he comes in and does nothing butknockdown shots. Whatever they I completely agree
later, I think that's going tobe the way to fill out the roster

(18:48):
beyond a star at the very top, something like that, where you know,
a guy like Jackson Robinson, youknow that there's a very clear role
of hey, like you're you're goingto fill the Antonio Reeves role for us,
where you're gonna have the ball inyour hands, you're gonna launch shots,
You're gonna have things created for you. Our offense is gonna be built
around you. Let's you know,let's do this. There's there's still a

(19:10):
spot for that. I think he'sdone a really good job of filling out
like three to eleven right now interms of you know, maybe two to
eleven or whatever. In terms ofyou know, ross or impact guys.
You're still needing your one. Butit's a good thing to not need your
third best player, fourth best player, fifth best player at this point in
the cycle where you can just kindof push all your chips in on.

(19:32):
You know, if there's a fringeguy that pulls his name out of the
draft that's already in the portal,like a Jackson Robinson or you know,
there's a couple other examples. SoI think he's done a really good job
structuring this thing where you only needone true star and then you can fill
out a couple rests with with someend of bench guys if necessary. Jack
Pilgrim, I'm hearing, well,I'm not here. Everybody knows this.

(19:55):
You're talking about how many more playerswe can get? One more player?
But a do is still in theair, right, And I like,
the kid, is he are you? Are you gonna? Are you gonna
sit here? Sit up here andtell me he's not? Uh? Is
he absolutely gone? Or is therestill a smidget of an opportunity for him
to return? I mean, technically, yes, he's still available, but

(20:18):
I just I don't envision that happening. I think it's gonna come down the
Arkansas U n C uh in Pittthose are you know, depending on what
you're looking for. You have thecontinuity with Coach Cow, the familiarity with
the family stuff that that obviously makessense. U n C is still a
pretty big brand for him. Buthe could still go there and be a

(20:38):
surefire star and then Pitt is backhome and and that is a guaranteed star
role, and that's kind of whyhe wanted to enter the portal in the
first place. Didn't feel like henecessarily got the same opportunities last season that
he maybe thought he deserved or youknow that that he was kind of hamstrung
a little bit, no pun intended. Larry. I know you're you're struggling

(20:59):
over there, but uh uh,but but I think I do is kind
of just battling some things up.Okay, what do I really want next
season? Because I think he ifhe's not going to enter the draft of
this cycle and he ended up notchoosing to do that, I think he
wants next season to be his Okay, this is going to be my showcase
year to you know, really takethe next step forward. So where is
that going to be? And Ithink those are the three schools that that

(21:23):
he thinks is going to help themget there. I just don't think conversations
have gotten any deeper now than theydid when they when when Pope first got
here with Adu Hero. So Idon't think he'll end up at Kentucky.
Larry Vaud, I'm not Jack Pilgrim. You're not Jack Pilgrim. You're typically
the the post of the fan base. I think Jack. Jack has a
large fan base as well, alittle younger than us and a little more

(21:48):
interesting in their in their thought processes. And this is the first thing he
came to mind to meet Larry whenuh as this week as last week,
I asked Jack, what does aroster look like? We expect anything?
And he said he expected things.And after Sunday Man things were rolling,
things were happening every day. There'ssomething different happening, Larry. I'm looking
at our roster And the reason Isaid I'm not Jack Pilgrim because I do

(22:10):
not recognize any of these people priorto Mark Pope contacting them. Our fan
base wants people to stay four years, three years, whatever they want to.
They want them to stay long enoughto win a championship. I don't
think they care if it's even oneyear. Is this is going to the
season or where we have the samehype that we have over in women's basketball

(22:33):
with coach Kenny Brooks because of whathe brings in some of the names he's
bringing from a women's basketball side orare attractive. These names now their stats
are attractive. Jack has pointed thatout to us but the names theirself.
Me personally, I'm not familiar,but I do like I do like.
I guess if I covered basketball enough, I could figure or follow and know

(22:57):
that these guys can play basketball.And I have no doubt they can.
But it's coming from guys who aregoing Two or three of those guys are
going to go to the NBA nextyear or something is our Is our fan
base going to be satisfied with that? Or does that is going to have
to wait until the season to seehow they produce. I think the majority
of folks I talk to have gonefrom not quite so sure what was going

(23:19):
to happen to now pretty excited aboutwhat they think is going to happen.
And I think they more the morethey listen to Mark Pope, the more
excited that they are going to get. And I think come November, most
times, it doesn't matter who youget on the roster, come November,
the Kentucky fan base gets pretty excited. It's going to be an excitement a

(23:40):
different type way, a little bitdifferent type way. This year, maybe
the expectation won't be quite as high, but I think come November, this
fan basically pretty excited about this groupthey'll have a chance, as you said,
get to know them a little bitmore, see a few more things
about them, and hopefully Mark Popethey can work some magic and fit them
all together. But the bottom lineis there's no You've got plenty of reasons.

(24:03):
I think they could do better whatthey've done in the last three or
four years. And maybe they don'thave that star guy yet at all like
that, but having all those stargas having got UK the SEC tournament semifinals
or the second weekend NCAA tournament,so maybe change won't be all that bad.
So is okay? So Larry Vaught, here's where I stand on the

(24:26):
situation. And I love when MarkPopa's on and I just want everybody to
be patient enough. And I hope, you know, we go Sweet sixteen
first year. Actually, I hopewe go championship, which is a tough
thing to do. Only one teamcan do that every year. But Larry
Vaught, I know as a player, and people really respect what Tim Couch,
Craig East and those guys done backin the Air Raid. It was

(24:47):
exciting football coming from you know Moleft Mo right, which that's no knock
on Mo. It was just itwas a one mare record crew and he
was exciting to watch, but youwe were the expectations weren't as high as
there are now for football. Sothat is my concern that people will feel
as if, well, this isnot exciting brand which Mark Pope is going

(25:11):
to bring it. If you're abasketball bennie, you're gonna you're gonna appreciate
the brand of basketball he's bringing.I just feel like, you know,
watching Dillingham dance on the floor andReed Shepherd shooting for fifty percent from behind
the ark, those things are thethings that I don't want the fan base
to get bored with. And ifyou had to pick a fifty to fifty

(25:32):
of ratio of what they desire,you think is championship over excitement or or
deep h I'm gonna say March winsover excitement because you only play, you
only play in a tournament until youlose. The season is thirty some games.
I think if you're talking about andI'll let Jack deal with younger fans,

(25:53):
think, if you're talking about olderfans, they'll take wins, especially
late in the season, over spectacularone on one play in November and December.
All Right, Jack hold on tothat. When we come back from
breaking, I'm gonna have you tellme how you feel, how you're fan
bas Phild and I also want toask you about the coaching staff. We

(26:14):
never got a chance to talk aboutcoach Alvin Brooks being added to the staff
last week. We'll be back afterthis. You're listening to Stockyards Bank Sunday
Morning Sports Talk on news radio sixthirty WAP. This is Stockyards Bank Sunday
Morning Sports Talk, presented by thelead Troop Boards Radio Network on six thirty
w LAP. Welcome back Stockyards BankSunday Morning Sports Talk. I am Anthony

(26:37):
Wide along with Jack Pilgrim and LarryVaught talking to all things Kentucky sports,
even the questioning era because Derby wasthey happy sinkle demil to you all and
happy or I appreciate everyone who wishedto be a happy birthday, especially these
two guys on the line with me, because they I guess they appreciated they

(27:00):
showed some love and I appreciate that, Jack Pilgrim. With that being said,
speaking of love, what does amillennial group who in your your time
has seen so many guys go tothe NBA witnessed championships and just a whole
bunch of exciting basketball. How areare they on board with what Mark Pope

(27:23):
is putting together and has trust inthe Pope? Or is it you know,
we won't see exciting basketball. Wedon't care what the score is.
We won't see a hundred We won'tsee a hundred point score. No.
I think even the most passionate millennialor gen Z or whatever you call me
these days, even the most passionateversion of me and my era of fans

(27:48):
got fed up with the all flash, no substance, with with some of
the stuff we saw this past season. Like it's great to see Rob Billingham
go for thirty. I love him, that dude is. I will be
rooting for him every single game ofhis NBA career. But at some point
that needs to translate to wins.And who is to blame for that?

(28:11):
Whether it was Cal, whether itwas the rest of the staff, whether
it was you know, the playersnot buying in or executing a game plan,
whatever. I think the fans wereready for just something new, something
fresh, something different of like,yes, we've had a lot of exciting
talent, we had guys that dominatedin ways. I mean Oscar Sheebwey,

(28:33):
one of the most dominant players ofthis program's history that never won anything really
of substance while he was at Kentucky. That sucks because he's a fan favorite.
You want to root for him,you want to you know, see
him accomplish things at the highest level, and we never got to see that
for him. So it just feltlike something was missing. And I think

(28:53):
that's where Mark Pope has really hityou know, some some some little holes
in some you know sections of thesand base where he said he was going
to prioritize those things and figure outhow to win in those big games and
overcome what you know, some ofthese more recent teams haven't been able to.
So I think they loved Rob Billehem. I think they loved the you

(29:17):
know, entertainment value that came withit. But I think they're ready for
a little bit more of a mixtureof both where we do get some entertainment
and if you watch Mark Poe play, that's what his his system is,
but it's also going to translate tosome some wins that we haven't seen in
the last several years. And Iheard a discussion earlier this week. It

(29:40):
may have been with I can't rememberso I was listening, but I did
hear discussion this week, and Jack, do you feel as if there needs
to be a big name? I'mlooking at the state he's putting together a
great rosser. Don't get me wrong, I know this sounds is I'm just

(30:02):
asking questions that the fans have beenasking. These are not my questions.
I love what Mark Pope is doingand I think it's going to work out.
I think it's gonna work out alot better than people expect. If
if you're not really a fan,or if you are a skeptical fan,
I think it's gonna work out alot better. So I want you to
pick your side now because I don'twant you jumping on and off the bandwagon.
But there was a discussion that waspretty lively and it was pretty interesting

(30:25):
on whether it does. Is therea big name piece that needs to be
added to this team to push offthe hump or to drive enthusiasm or the
way he's constructing the roster and hisability. We're gonna talk about the coaches
and on the other side of thehours, who's on the staff now,
But is there a name or abigger name that needs to be added like

(30:48):
a wow name that needs to beadded to this roster, or do we
just need puzzle pieces and it's gonnabe a masterpiece at the end of the
day. Jack I genuinely think,I genuinely think that guy is Jackson Robinson,
the BYU transfer. You know,I don't think he's a you know,
he's not a twenty five point pergame superstar like you know, I
think some fans are hoping to add, but he is. He fits that

(31:14):
definition of a guy who could goget you a bucket when things go south,
when the offense crumbles. When youknow, this team right now,
the way it's constructed is very schemeheavy. It is built perfectly for a
Mark Pope offense to just kind ofyou know, it doesn't really matter that
the talent levels of each individual piece. They just all work really really well

(31:37):
together that they can kind of hidesome of their individual weaknesses for the for
the some of some of all parts, for the greater the greater team oriented
goals. So I think they needa guy like they have the perfect roster
to fill the system, to fitthe system. In nine times out of
ten, it's gonna work. Butwhat about that one time out of ten

(32:00):
and where that kind of collapses alittle bit and you just need a guy
who can just put the team ontothe back and go get to a bucket.
That guy isn't on the roster yet, and I think that's why you
got to add one more piece ofstar potential. Jackson Robinson fits that big
twelve six million of the year,you know, top forty five ish player
on the draft boards right now,and a clear NBA talent just needs the

(32:22):
platform to kind of catapult himself alittle bit further. And I think it
makes just too much sense for himto end up at Kentucky. I think
if you can add Jackson Robinson andmaybe add a couple in the bench guys
for depth and you know, justfoul insurance or whatever, injury insurance,
I think that'd be a perfect,perfect, perfect way to end to cap

(32:42):
office roster. But I do thinkyou need one more dude at the very
time Larry bought. This does nothave to do with basketball, because I
was just looking through the tweets ifyou like to tweet the show Sunday Am
at Sunday Am Sports on Twitter.But Larry Va, we got to go
to break. But I want toask you this really quickly because I'm sure
I know the answer. But KennyMcPeak, the trainer of the derby winner,

(33:07):
is not related to coach McPeak overa brand station. I mean at
Douglas Fresier Douglas. Right, Ido not think so. No, I
think they're spilled differently. All right, we will be back after this.
You'll listen to Stockyards Bank Sunday MorningSports Talk on news radio six thirty WLAP.
This is the home of the Wildcatssix thirty w LAP. Welcome back

(33:31):
Stockyards Bank Sunday Morning Sports Talk.I am Anthony White along with Jack Pilgrim
and Larry Vault Stockyards Bank. It'syour trusted partners since nineteen on forehead on
over syb dot com for all yourbanking and financial needs. If you would
like to join the show eight fivenine two eight zero two two eight seven

(33:51):
eight five nine to eight zero Catsto get into the show. As usual,
we have Jack Pilgrim until tenth Soif you do have basketball, because
there's been a whole lot of shakingand baking going on since our last show
about our roster and things as such, so get your call in before ten
thirty. If you have a questionfor Jack, or if you have comments,

(34:14):
you can call in throughout the show. But as I stated before,
you want to call in talk Derby, UK football, you k Baseball?
I mean, I guess I can'tlimit to you what you want to talk
about. But right now I thinkthe hot topics are basketball and Derby.
So that's what we're going to headto in, Jack Pilgrim, how is
this roster rounding out? What doyou know about our roster? And I

(34:36):
know we won't have a whole lotof time if you get through it now
because we went a little long lastsegment. We wanted Bo to talk about
his experience and I enjoyed every minuteof it. But where do we start
at as far as the basketball rosteris a rounding out nicely? Yeah?
So we got nine nine guys signedup for next season. We went into

(34:57):
last weekend, you know, witha nice little core group. We picked
up, picked up some some recruitingmomentum last time we talked, and then
the day since we we've added threemore. On top of that, our
first real surprise, I think inBrandon Garrison. You know, we had
great Osibor on campus Utah State star. He was on campus, and then

(35:19):
there was some some smoke starting tokind of pour out a little bit about
uh, the Oklahoma State Center transferformer McDonald's All American, you know,
a guy with three years left ofeligibility who showed flashes as past season.
Not super you know, not astar like Great Osibor, but had some
flashes of pretty impressive stuff. Youstart, you know, hearing some some

(35:44):
some rumors about you know, Kentuckymaybe ramping things up with him, while
Great Osbor is on campus, andyou're like, well, how do we
get there? You can't add fourbigs you know that are probably expecting to
come in and play play right away. And then you get the announcement.
Brandon Garrison announces his commitment to KentuckyWild Great Osbour is on campus. So

(36:06):
you have a pretty awkward Tuesday whereyou know, he's just kind of sitting
around wondering what the rest of hisvisit looks like and just kind of having
to you know, play things outvery awkwardly. Uh. He ends up
cutting Kentucky from his list, visitsLouisville, then goes down to Texas Tech

(36:27):
and then Washington. He'll have adecision coming up, but you got your
your core big man class around itout with Brandon Garrison, and then you
close things out the week with Kobebraa Dayton sharpshooter, the best shooter in
college basketball in terms of volume andefficiency, a fifty percent three point shooter.
Just say that every analytic and statadvanced stat just he didn't. Nobody

(36:50):
came close to him this past season. So to be able to get him
as a coin flip three point shooter, it doesn't get much better than that.
And then a little bit of asurprise at the point guard position.
Kirk Hearsa, who is at WestVirginia. Mark Pope said that he'd been
recruiting him for several years now.Wanted him because he's, you know,
feisty. He's one of those guysthat everybody that plays against him absolutely hates
his guts, but if he's onyour team, you love him a death.

(37:14):
So it's another one of those thosetypes of kids that Mark Pope is
a big, big, big fanof. Really great shooter, nice little
playmaker, a little turnover prone andstruggle a little bit defensively, but he
brings a different level of fire thathasn't been on this roster. Yet So
yeah, you've got a nice littlenine man group. And then Mark Pope
said that he's looking to close thingsout with one or two more guys that

(37:36):
are currently exploring their draft possibilities,seeing where that goes. They're testing the
waters. Jackson Robinson BYU Star isthe you know, the the main guy
that we're keeping an eye on whocould really elevate the ceiling of next year's
team. So I think things arecoming together quite a bit. He got
the core down. Now you justneed a couple of stars surround this thing

(37:57):
out, and that is Jack Pilgrimwill be back after this to talk all
things connect Kentucky sports after this.Hey, had, I'm sorry, don't
pull on Martha Stewart at the derbyyesterday. You know what she almost did.
I see you're onto something there,Bo you on the Stockyards Bank setting
when Sports talt on news Radio sixthirty w a p.