Welcome to the Big Moon Cider Day Abroe with you Friday edition of our show. It is the eve of game day, and not just any game, and it is the beginning of Southeastern Conference play. Tomorrow, the Wildcats take on those Florida Gators eleven a m. You'll hear it right here on six thirty WLAP. Why eleven am, as always television. I don't know any other details, guarantee you that's why. So start your day off with Kentucky in its first SEC game, and it's gonna be tough. The
SEC is gonna be a bloodbath all year long. The worst team in the league right now in terms of win loss record South Carolina at ten and three. I've not seen a lot of SEC games other than Kentucky. I have to admit I've paid more attention to football. But I've seen Alabama play, I've seen Auburn play. Man, are they good? It's gonna be tough. I think Kentucky has picked the finish middle of the pack that may
indeed happen. And I know how good the Wildcats have looked at times, but we saw what happened against Ohio State. Not a great team. Against Clemson, not a great team. But on the other hand, we see them come back against Gonzaga and Duke. Now those teams played different styles, and Clemson and Ohio State not nearly as physical, So Kentucky's gonna need to learn to bang and battle in
the Southeastern Conference. These guys have come together playing together for the first time against SEC teams which likewise have been cobbled together. But the better teams, of course are the veteran ball clubs. So it's gonna be fun. It's gonna be wild. Just try to be patient because everything now is so vitally pointing toward March. And you got tired of hearing that with John Caliperi, But that's because his teams were so up and down, I think with
those true freshmen. But it's gonna be fun. Of all else, it's gonna be fun, and you'll hear it right here. Speaking of fun, how much fun was last night's UK women's game. Kentucky opened up SEC playing the women's side, blew out Mississippi State ninety one to sixty nine, and State kept trying to come back, trying to come back. Kentucky went on a run late first half early second half, but Mississippi State kept getting to the basket and making shots.
Fortunately for the Wildcats, the Bulldog could not hit three pointers. And that's what Kentucky did better than it ever has. In fact, Wildcats has set a record eighteen made three pointers, the previous record sixteen set four years ago. In twenty twenty, Kentucky has made at least ten triples in three of
its last four games. And this is not a team that at the beginning of the year we heard, oh, they're gonna shoot a lot of threes, They're gonna make a lot of threes the way we did the men's team. But it's happening that way. It's the fifth time Kentucky's made at least three ten threes in games this season. It's not gonna live and die with the three pointers. It's gonna live and die with what the Cats can
get done in the paint. And Kentucky did a great job last night because the three pointer opened up the paint for the Wildcats. But Kentucky with all that side Clara Strack and Silva and Key, they did the job last night against Mississippi State. Ninety one points tied for the largest margin of victory for Kentucky and an SEC opener, and was the most points scored in an SEC opener in the history of UK women's basketball, So all kinds
of milestones. Last night, Dojah Lawrence had a game I and season I twenty eight points three I'm sorry, seven three pointers, their second twenty point game this season. Of course, Georgia Amore the outstanding point guard I had twenty seven points. She had seven three pointers and she hit a lot of hers on the run. Lawrence was spotting up in the corner or on the wings, did a great job doing that. Aymore, of course, is perpetual motion and not
only hitting shots. She had nine assists for the second straight game, by the way, first player in program history to have at least twenty seven points and nine assists in the same game, so watching her shoot on the run pretty incredible. She will be the head of the snake. Of course, most point guards are for SEC opponents coming in, but then you get Amelia Hasset, who can score from outside.
The birthday girl. She had three three pointers and Taoni Key was absolutely wicked tough on the boards ten points, thirteen rebounds, tied to a career high, and had her sixth double double this season. Clara Strack sixty five, seven points, eleven rebounds. So Kentucky looked good last night. Kentucky now twelve and one. Next up for the women Vanderbilt in Nashville on Sunday three o'clock. You'll hear it right here with Darren Heddrick. It'll be on SEC Plus as well,
justin Rowland the catch illustrated. We'll talk Kentucky football for the most part. We're going to talk about the portal and how the Wildcats had done so far. A little bit later on Christy Thomas at the SEC Network. She worked last night's game. Scott Brown, a freelance writer who wrote Reggie Wharford. Scott Brown, a freelance writer who wrote a book about Reggie Wharford, the first African American basketball player at Kentucky to graduate, will join us in nowur
number two and a few minutes. We're going to talk about Eddie grand because I posted something on Twitter that got all kinds of responses from UK fans good and bad about Eddie Grant. Really interesting, but I got to share with you. I comment from a man, Charles Barkley, who was kind of going back and forth via Inside the NBA on TNT with JJ Riddick, who claims that, among other things, NBA ratings TV ratings are down because of the criticism of the product. On TNT, Sir Charles clap back at him.
She's just talking about TV. He said something about with the reason people aren't watching this craftic product we got JJ. Yeah, I like we out.
There jacking up one hundred trees to night. JJ. I don know Jason Monroe.
I don't know who that is, but JJ, you come for the king.
You been not missed.
And I can't get you, brother, because I got Remember, I got your Lakers games.
You can't hope them flaws.
They got.
You just a dead man walking. They got rid of Frank Vogel, who did a good job.
They got rid of Darbnham, who did a good job. But you came out that thing and you were gonna change things with that same ugly girl you went on to hate with.
Sixty fifty one was your halftime score.
We get back to the highlights. I think it came in at thinking I can make this thing worse. Here. You can.
Legus steak Man, okay Man Tatum.
By the way, I love it and Charles ain't wrong. Everybody jacking up threes now, but everybody's trying to be like the Warriors. And if you don't have Steph Curry and Klay Thompson and Steve Kurr running the show, you ain't gonna look like that NBA champion Warriors. So Barkley coming from the top rope and I love it. We'll talk Eddie grand next on six thirty w l A p.
Welcome back to the Big Blue and Sider. I wanted to go over some tweets that have popped up in my profile because the other day somebody posted a clip from gosh, what was it twenty nineteen when Lynn Bowden ran for ran all over the SEC and helped leat Kentucky to the Belk Bowl victory, And that entire season was just so weird because you know what happened. All Kentucky's quarterbacks went down and they stick Bowden in a quarterback and he just took over and the Kentucky offense,
they completely changed the offense. Yeah, a lot of it was Lynn doing things, but it was also the offensive line in formations and play calling and a little bit of passing, including the last play of the Belk Bowl, the last offensive play for Kentucky when Bowden throws a touchdown pass and I tweeted, I retweeted the clips. Somebody had shared the highlights from the Belkboll. In fact, it was the Kentucky Network, not the UK network, but whoever
goes by that. And I just tweeted, Eddie gran We'll never get enough credit for what he did with the offense that season. Boy did it touch off reaction. It was really kind of fun to see it kind of come pouring in and Darren Ininshaw was involved in that as well as quarterbacks coach. I got close to one hundred and fifty responses to that post. It was a repost, a reach twheet. Most of them were supportive, agreed with me.
Many of them didn't. And I thought that was interesting because there were so many people who complained about Eddie Grand and ripped him of course on his way out. So I thought, what am I forgetting? Am I forgetting something about Eddie Grant? And that season when Bowden took over, like I said, it was more than just give Lynn the ball and get out of his way. No, there were actual plays called. As I said there and many of them involved run pass options and the option usually
you know Lynn running the football. But like I said, they had to alter formations and blocking schemes and things like that downfield blocking by receivers. It was an absolute team effort. And a lot of people pointed out they said our offensive line was really good that year, and it was. It was, But do not conflate that old line from that year with the best on line Kentucky said in my opinion, which was the Will Leviswandelle Robinson year, which was what twenty twenty one. But it was good.
I mean, it was developing. There were a lot of good players, young guys, depth, that sort of thing. So yeah, the old line was good, no question. And if you ask me, the offensive line problems have been number one on a UK football list. All of you out there who are and I would think that's all of you Kentucky football fans who have been very frustrated over the last three years, really because seven wins that's not enough anymore, is it. Most of it I think goes back to
the old line. I'm not laying it at the feet of any particular coach or player. I'm just saying that because of the portal, and because of different recruiting successes and near missus, Kentucky has not been able to put together the kind of offensive lineman room that it takes to go back to playing the way it used to it and I don't know if it ever will. Quite frankly, because of the portal. Young players don't stick around now and work on their game to the point where it
might be their junior year before they can play. They can go out and get more minutes and more money elsewhere. They won't be as good for the most part. But how do you put a group together? And this isn't just Kentucky. Everybody's having the same issues. But let me remind you, and again, I don't need to carry Eddy Grand's water. His resumes for itself, the job he did at Auburn, the job he did at Cincinnati, and the
job he did at Kentucky. And I bring up Cincinnati because you might recall Mark Stoops was looking for an offensive identity. He tried a form of the air raid when he got here, and he later admitted he shouldn't have that that was more of a marketing thing. That's not who he is. He's a play action guy who likes to run the ball first, but they've got to be able to throw the ball down the field. And again, think about that jan Dale Robinson year. That was Kentucky
at its best offensively. Per Mark Stoops, he didn't call plays, but that's what he wanted to see. A guy like Benny Snell or Chris Rodriguez who could move the chains, especially in the red zone, get the ball into the end zone. But when you need it, gash people do the explosives, like they say. So if you're going to
single out one year, it's that one. But you might recall Eddie Grant and Darren Hinshaw get here fully expect to do at Kentucky what they did at Cincinnati, and that was put the Wildcats into the top ten and so many different offensive categories including running the ball and overall offense. And Drew Barker was the trigger man part of that class at twenty fourteen. It was going to
turn Kentucky football around. And you might remember this, Freddy Maggert, our buddy, predicted that that class and he did this not long into the twenty fifteen year. He thought that twenty fourteen class might set Kentucky football back because it wasn't working out properly. The fifteen class ended up being better. But Drew Barker was part of the fourteen class. He was going to be probably a three year starter and rack up all the yards and lead the Wildcats thanks
to Graham and Hinshaw on their offense. And he gets hurt. He gets hurt in the second game in twenty sixteen, down at Florida. And what happened after that? They turned to a Juco guy that they had signed at the last minute named Steven Johnson, and Steven showed up knowing that Kentucky had what looked to be the incumbent guy, the starter, and Drew Barker. He said, I just want a chance to compete, and he did, and he lost out to Barker. But the next thing you know, they're
down to Florida getting hammered forty five to seven. Barker goes down injured, and suddenly Stephen Johnson is put on the spot. He's got the keys of the Cadillac and now it's up to him. And how about that. He did the job, starting with that huge win over a poor New Mexico State team. They beat him sixty two to forty two, and it was fun to watch, wasn't it. And Kentucky ends up going seven and six that year
in the regular season. But what happened at the end of the year, Wildcats upset Louisville four touchdown underdogs and beat Lamar Jackson and the Louisville Cardinals the Heisman Trophy winner forty one thirty eight on the last second field goal by Austin McGinnis. And people, well, Lamar Jackson fumbled in Kentucky. Yeah, but you know what, Benny Snell had fumbled and given the ball to Louisville, and Louisville fumbled it right back. And then the Cats go on and
losing a ballgame to Georgia Tech. But what did job Steven Johnson did? And again Eddie Grant, Darren Henshaw. They grabbed this Juco kid who was when he got to Kentucky maybe won sixty one sixty five, he admitted later he was listed in one seventy five or one eighty. But you could look at him and see. And I
helped produce the documentary on Stephen called Hartible Wildcat. And there were more people, including the training staff, coaches, teammates who said it was the toughest kid I've ever played with, a scrawny little quarterback. But again there's Eddie Grand's fingerprints on that season. Yeah, it eventually went sour and it
was interesting. Not long ago, Mark Stoops admitted that after that twenty twenty year when the Cats went five and six and really struggled at times on offense, you know, it's weird they get They put up forty one against South Carolina and ended up winning the bowl game against North Carolina State. But Grant realized they had to make a change at offense. They talked it over and that's when they made the change. But it's interesting to me
how people remember. Of course, it's like anything in sports. They remember what they want to remember. And it was so fascinating to me to see so many people respond to the repost of those Belk Bowl highlights with Lynn Bowden and when I mentioned Eddie Grant, and of course he's back with a program. I don't think he has a title, but he's sort of the general manager. He works on you know, raising nil funds and things like that, and you will not see a person on that sideline
more involved emotionally and mentally. Who's not calling plays than Eddie Grant. I see him before each game. I see him on the sidelines. He kind of stands on the edge of the coaching box and he talks to players. He doesn't coach him up, but he just talks to him and you know, gets written all over his face. How deeply involved he is still with UK football even
though he's not on the coaching staff anymore. But you know, he contributes so interesting And if you're interested in looking, just go to my ex or Twitter and you can catch up with some of the comments that poured in after they saw the video of Lynn Bowden running all over Virginia Tech and what was a great game? Remember Virginia Tech moved down the field and was working to either tie or win the game, and the defense came
up for the Wildcats. So all right, we're gonna shift back to basketball when we come back in some football as well. Here are the Big Moon Sider six thirty Wlap Welcome back to the Big bon Sider, joining us now as a longtime friend of the show. You see his work with Cats illustrated. He is Justin Rowland, who has been covering Kentucky sports for quite a while. Justin Happy New Year to you you as well did This
is obviously basketball season. We're still talking football because of the playoffs, but now with a portal door spinning like a windmill and the players coming and going, it's really a fascinating time, isn't it for college football? If you if you can put a motion aside, just just watching everything from as you can kids like to say, you know, ten thousand feet, it's kind of interesting.
It sure is. I mean, you think about the excitement that there used to be on like National Signing Day. It's almost like signing Day is like a year round thing, or at least for a couple of months, and it's like immediately important. It's not like we're going to sign these guys in three years from now they might be impact players or they're going to transfer somewhere else. It's like, we're going to sign these guys, and these guys are
going to from in how our next season goes. The problem is people are are kind of worried about next season, but in the long term, it makes the sport more exciting year round.
And it keeps guys like you on your toes because you dig in and you research and you and your folks on your website with rivals are on top of the folks coming in and you tweeted, I guess it was last night about a new running back for Kentucky. What do we want to know about? Is a Dante Dowdell.
Yeah, yeah, Dante Dadell Nebraska running and I mean they got so many new additions and so much to catch up on. But he was a highly regarded recruit two years ago and he signed with Oregon. He went to Oregon and they were pretty loaded in the backfield. He still got seventeen carries, so even Oregon recognized his talent and he transferred to Nebraska after last year at Nebraska he scored twelve touchdowns and he was a great short
yardage running back. I mean, I think he's more proven than shit was coming in from Ohio State the previous years. And he would have yeah, he would have been part of a one to two kind of thunder and lightning combination at Nebraska and they would have loved to have him back in Nebraska. Matt Rule brought Dabtele in because Matt Rules said, we have to have a physical culture of physical mentality and doubt all is a guy who's just going to try to run right through you, and
he runs hard, he runs fast. He's not going to shake in bake you. He's not going to miss many tackles, but he's going to run through some tackles. And that's the role he'll fill at Kentucky. Also, you figure they'd have a thunder enlightening thing going with Jamry and Wilcox coming back as well.
Yeah. Will you talk about a need though, just in a physical back, you know, and that's only brought home even more by watching Chris Rodriguez play in the NFL. Now, it was amazing how how often Kentucky needed that this year and just couldn't get it done.
That's right, Yeah, it's it's not common. It's uncommon to see Kentucky struggle in those short yardage situations. But you know that's the byproduct of the offensive line struggles and they didn't have that power back option this year. I think going into this season, you feel better about Dowdell and Wilcox than you felt about Demy and a less proven Wilcox. You feel better about the running back.
Yeah. Yeah, Well he's got to run behind some talent. He's got to run behind an O line that gets it done, which really has struggled quite frankly over the last three years. They bringing a kid from Arkansas who has played in the SEC, but obviously that's that's no guarantee. What do we know about Braun and anybody else they're bringing in.
Yeah, Braun. Braun is the kind of guy that they could send the SEC media day and he's a very good interview He's very well spoken, he's very intelligent, and he's a he's a good culture guy. He was All SEC two years ago, right, one of the better, one of the better players on Arkansas's offensive line in twenty twenty three, he wasn't one of their very best offensive linemen this year. And my understanding is he probably needs
to lose a few pounds to hit peak performance. But this is a guy that played a ton of snaps in the SEC, started at Florida, went to Arkansas, and I just think he's a set it, forget it, legitimate SEC starter at guard. And so bringing him in means they're going to have four new starters on the line instead of three, because it wasn't a given they would bring in another guard.
And they've got the kid from New Mexico. They got a kid from from the MAC from Bowling Green. Yeah, we've seen in this work. We've seen it not work. But you know they're going to have to learn to play in the SEC, aren't they.
Yeah. Alex Wolfschlager was a first team All MAC player at Bowling Green. Is their right tackle this year and he needs to get a little bit stronger, so he needs a good off season in the strength program. But I guess the question is do they have their left tackle or not. You know, we've seen you got to have a left tackle to protect Zach Calzada or he's
going to struggle. Wolfschlager could play right tackle. The offensive lineman coming in from New Mexico, Wallace Unamba, could play right tackle, but I'm not sure if either one of them is you feel great about it left tackle and that's that's the spot they definitely need to lock down, no matter.
Who they're protecting, and it's it going to be either Cut or Bully or Zach kal Zada. Do you know much about him Zach? Yeah?
He I mean, he's been around for a long time, right, So he started his college career at Texas A and M. And he didn't play at first, but he wasn't expected to. And then he led that twenty twenty one team to an eight and four record. He was very up and down. That was a pretty talented A and M team. Eight and four. Going eight and four for Jimbo is about
what he did there. And so he had some games where he really struggled, probably playing a head of schedule, but then he beat Alabama and Mark Passwaters, he covers Texas A and M on rivals, told me it was the best game he's ever seen a quarterback play, just just hitting every spot on the field, just an electric clutch performance. And he was hurt and went back into the game hurt and led them to victory over Alabama, and they beat South Carolina, they beat I want to
say Missouri, and so he had some moments. He's got a great arm, he can run, but he's got to no, he can't fit the ball into every window, and he's got to know that he's got to make good decisions. So I would say Vandigrid is almost kind of the prototype. I mean, I'm not saying he's going to be Vandergriff, but they're similar players in some respect.
Well without protection It doesn't matter what he is or who he is. We'll never know what Rock Vandergriff might have been. But Calzada, I know, played at the FCS level, which is around here where Eastern Kentucky plays. When he was at Incarnate Word, and having covered that level for quite a while, I can tell you it's more about speed than size. But you said going to make plays, and he had good numbers at Incarnate Words.
Yeah, he put up good numbers his first year there, and he could have gone into the portal to go to another place, but he stuck around for another year. Incarnate Word is where cam Ward attended before he went to Washington State before he went to Miami, and so they liked the development the quarterback history there and he came out this year and he hit even more big plays. He was even more efficient. He protected the ball a little bit better. He's got to protect the football, that's key,
you know it. With a new offensive line questions around him, he's gonna make some big plays, but he's got to cut down on the number of kind of turnover worthy plays and it's gonna be interesting. One thing he is a lot more than vander Griff is experience he's got a lot of experience at the college level.
Yeah. And by the way, if that sounds familiar in Carnate wered Kentucky baseball fans know, that's where Grant Smith, the shortstop played before he transferred to Kentucky and became one of the best in the country. We're talking with Justin Rowland of Cats illustrated of course about the transfer portal. A lot of guys on defense coming through as well. Justin. They've really got some needs, especially at linebacker, but d well, everybody needs d lineman, but especially I think at linebacker.
Do you see it that way?
Yeah, well, I mean we've gotten so used to having headliner names that find that's right, and how long has Weaver been around? And but just guy Jamin Dumus Johnson, and you had DeAndre Square and Deeric Jackson and Trevin Wallace. They've had a lot of a lot of years that were a luxury there up the middle, not just with good starters that they've had pretty good depth there. So you bring back probably Davyn Rayner and he's somebody that
you hope your starter level contributions. And Landon Watson comes in where he was a starter at Marshall last year, and that's one of the great questions for me. How did the defensive players coming in translate? Watson has only played really one year as a starter at Marshall, and so he's going to be presumably a starting inside linebacker at Kentucky and how he handles that is going to be big. But I like the edge defenders they brought
in at linebacker. Cameron Olds at kent State had a breakout season with six sacks, and he was a pretty coveted player. And then on the other side, Sam Green coming in from USC He played about as much for the First Southern cal as Tyree Spear replayed for Kentucky. So he's ready to step up into a starters level role. And he had some flashes, some splash plays. So Green and Cameron Olds helped the situation at edge. But I'm with you, linebacker is a question.
Justin Rowland is my guest. We're going to come back and talk a little more football on talks and basketball as well in the eve of the SEC season for the Wildcats and everybody else. It's the big blooming cider of six thirty WLAP welcome back. We're talking with Justin Rowland of Cats illustrated and part of the Rivals Network. The playoffs in full swing, now controversial justin entertaining to be sure. The top four seeds have all been knocked out.
Greg Sank is now speaking out about the fact, reminding people that the current format was built for a college football landscape that included Back then, the PAC twelve was considered a Power five conference. Now he's talking about making changes, and we had to figure this would happen, the receding and all that, you know, because look, Notre Dame underseeded, Ohio State underseeded, things like that. But have you enjoyed what you've seen.
So farsolutely I've enjoyed it. I think it's interesting that we get the twelve team playoffs at the same time that NIL and the portal have really changed the sport, because it seems like it's made it more difficult to build one of those super teams that Kirby and Saban
have had recently. Now it's a one year sample. If you look at the best teams now, the four best teams less standing now do not appear to be on the level of recent national championship teams in my opinion, so that's no knock on Penn State or Notre Dame, And I think you can make the case that Notre
Dame would be an interesting national champion. That would you know, a generation have to deal with that that hasn't had two for But you know, I feel like we knew that the format was not going to be the best for maximizing the number of SEC teams in, and eventually it seems like Sinkie wants that to evolve more to where the sport is in other respects. But the secason so down this year. They really don't have room to talk.
And in this year they really have been a down conference, the most down that I think it's been in at least fifteen years, certainly not like we've seen the conference for the last twenty. And the big question for me is is the Big ten just ultimately going to beat a big winner from NIL because those schools have just as much money as the SEC. They just haven't had the geography, they just haven't been where the best players are.
And so I think my hot take is that the Big Ten is just going to be the long term big winner from NIL.
Wow.
But the SEC will get more teams in normally than they did this year.
What did you think of Arizona State Texas now they're sewing. It was a terrible I thought, no call on targeting, which absolutely affected the game. And what were your thoughts when you saw that happen?
Terrible? I mean, they're I mean the coach said after that, I don't even know what constitutes targeting, what targeting is. You know, you're never going to take human error completely out of the game. You can try to account for it, you can try to put guardrails and technology in place, but human error is always going to be a part of the game and it's unfortunate that it would happen on a stage like that. But crazy to see Texas rally from down fourth and thirteen, needing a score to win.
You blink and they're up by eight. This wild, wild format.
My takes always get the easy ones, right, and that one seemed easy. But it just yeah, they just couldn't pull the trigger on Well, let me shift it to basketball. In the time we have re many You were talking about the SEC and the strength of the conference in football. Is the basketball conference at men's basketball? Do you think it's really that strong or is it just a matter of so many teams scheduled. Well, if you had a chance to see.
Much, I think it's really that strong. Yeah, I've watched a good amount and the number of teams that you could see going to the Elite eight, I mean, compared to the rest of the country, just the quality of play is astounding. I mean, there really is kind of like one of those best years for the Big Ten, or best years for the ACC or best years for
the Big East. The SEC is at that level. And you know, but we've seen so many years where the SEC just didn't take care of business in the non conference, and then this year they are excellent in the non conference schedule, and so now you're in a situation where even if the teams in the league go up and down, even if some of them disappoint, the resumes are already always such that like all those resumes are versus the
other conference. So really you're guaranteed a lot of Quad one opportunities the rest of the way.
Yeah, that's my concern for the league is that they're going to start obviously beating each other up right now, and so their record won't be quite as glittering as it is now. But are the committee, people paying close enough, paying the attention they need to pay. You know what I'm saying, eyeballing these teams when it comes time to make decisions.
I think they are unless there's an inherent built in anti SEC bias, which I don't think that there is. Might have been a built in anti Calipari bias in the seeding, but not SEC anti Calipari bias, I would say, but I think they seeded the Big ten like that before. We've seen years when the Big Ten would have like eleven or twelve of the top twenty five teams on kN Palm and it is ultimately reflected in the seedy and I think that it will be.
Have you seen Arkansas play much? What do you think of what's happening out there in Fadble earlier.
In the season. Adu has really taken his game to other When I've watched Hero play, I mean, he's he's going to be a really good player. He's going to be a pro, and he would be really good on this Kentucky team, just adding something that they don't have. But I wonder how far those guards are going to take him. I don't think John L. Davis unless he's turned it around completely. Has been quite the fit that they expected him to be, and Jay Wagner has had
some moments. But I just don't know. I just don't know that they're built quite the way the team. Same question we've had with other Calipari teams. Are they built the way that you want to win at the highest level? But they'll there'll be a tournament team and they they have the potential to come in and win it. Run that were to happen, it would be interesting to see their reaction.
But what do you think of the way this Kentucky team's built.
I like it. I like how Pope has pretty much two of everything. He's got a lot of flexibility. He's got to get the rotations right. But ultimately, how they respond to physical defense, I think is going to be a lot of it. We've seen that as a question for another Kentucky team or two recently. But how do you respond when they get in your face and they make it harder to run your offense? And that's when
they've been a little bit more inconsistent. Not everybody can guard you like that, but the SEC had a lot of teams that can't.
And you just described what Ohio State did right up in New.
York, right right, and in the pre Clinson how how they respond the mindset, the preparation that they have coming in. You know, if they're expecting it to be a cakewalk and Florida comes in on Saturday and they're blowing up their screens and they're extending the defense and they're making it hard to get to get the ball moving around the perimeter, then it's going to be hard. I mean, I've picked Florida to win this week, and I know the other guys with Jet Till said pick Kentucky, but
a lot of toss up games. And got to know me, you could go eleven and seven in this SEC and the National Titles Attendant.
I'll tell you what I was talking to hoops wife, so I'm sure you know Dick Weiss, the venerable Hall of Fame sports writer up in New York. He told me he thinks the SEC champ regular season might have as many as six regular season losses.
They could, they could. Now I think Alabama and Auburn and Tennessee are are We know that those three teams are going to win a lot of games, But how it's going to play out and you know, we know Kentucky's gonna win a lot of games, but I don't know that we know they're going to be quite at that very highest level. We'll see.
Let me ask you one more about the SEC, and it probably should have led with this question, why is this happening? In your opinion? Why has everything come together so well for SEC basketball this particular year.
I mean, you know, like a decade ago, the SEC started hiring some really big name coaches and you could tell that it was an emphasis for the league to go more all in on basketball. And I feel like the down this is a downstream effect of having really good coaches.
In the league.
So when the ACC, when the Big Ten, when the Big East were the dominant conferences, the Big Twelve, those leagues tended to have the most all star cast of coaches. And now you throw in nil and the SEC is swimming in cash. I mean, I think the SEC just has the best cast of coaches in college basketball. And that's that's kind of reflected in the product.
Speaking of how ironic did Jim larronagad Miami steps down complaining about the portal and anil and yet he rides it to the Final four a couple of years ago.
That's right. It's just they don't want to deal with it. You don't want to deal it's it's a quality of life issue. You might you might win, but you're you're not going to have as much fun along the way. I mean, you're managing a lot more and you're doing a lot less basketball coaching. I'm sure it's more so a problem for football, but for basketball. I mean as a coach, you probably feel like you just don't have
control anymore. Maybe day to day but year to year. No, you don't have control now, and the control belongs to the players.
And bringing it back to football, it is so evident that that Mark Stoops just is not loving life right now because he cannot coach football the way he wants to coach it.
That's right. I mean he had he was, he really program is all about culture and blue collar identity, and the changes in the sport have pulled the rug out from under that approach.
That's exactly.
And you get some other programs that have tried to do it that way, like IOWA and whatnot to darying degrees of success. But when you're old method was developing guys for two to three years and that becomes a harder formula and you got to you gotta adapt, adjust or die. And that's where they're at.
All these nil dollars has almost made it a white collar situation. But yeah, a discussion for another night. Justin Rowland. We love talking football and basketball. You're always up to speed. He is a publisher of Cats Illustrated. Find it at Cats Illustrated dot com and subscribe. Thank you, buddy, have a good.
One, Thanks, thank you too.
Up next in our number two, Scott Brown, who wrote a book on the late great Reggie Wharford. Reggie, of course, was the first African American basketball player men's basketball player to graduate from UK and the subject of a documentary we've put together a few years ago. Scott's book is terrific. We're talking with Scott coming up next and Christy Thomas of the UK Network and SEC Plus. That's all ahead in our number two here on six thirty, Good La,
Welcome back to the Big Blue Cider. Joining us now is a gentleman I met via the phone a few years ago, Scott Brown, who was the editor and publisher of Steeler Depot, the website but also a freelance writer, and Scott became friends with my buddy and my former classmate and a man I covered when he was a UK basketball player of the late great Reggie Wharford and has written a book about Reggie that is available now.
If you haven't picked it up yet, you need to have this in your UK basketball library because it is such an incredible chapter in the history of UK basketball. Scott, good to talk.
To you again, Yeah, Dick, thanks, thanks for having me on and always great to talk to you. And I would like to say about the book. Is a documentary you and I believe cam Mills.
Cameron was the exec producer.
Yeah, Yeah, it was tremendous and a great resource and even more importantly, I know how much it meant to Reggie for you to tell his story in that way.
Yeah, and there's quite obviously the parallel and you can put so much more into the book than we were able to get into our basically forty four minutes of the documentary. But tell everybody about how it is you came to know Reggie and just to know him immediately and his story. You know, that's a hell of a story and made for a documentary and a great book. But how did you happen to cross paths with Reggie?
Yeah, it's a really interesting story, and that Reggie. When I was growing up, Reggie became somewhat of a mythical figure to me. And I say that because he was an assistant coach at Pitt and I knew he had played at Kentucky. And my cousin Tom became really good friends with Reggie. I think they were rocketball buddies and and just became really close from that. And I would just breathlessly wait for Reggie stories about Pitt. You know some of the players that's when they had You're talking
about Turner's Sake and Charles Smith, guys like that. And all those guys were recruited by Reggie, by the way, you know, the teams that really kind of Golden era and pit basketball with Smith, Eacon Lane. Reggie recruit all those guys. And anyway, you.
Know, I.
Got to know him a little bit grown up, and one day, and I'm not positive of the year, but my cousin called me and he said, you know, paraphrasing, that he had just seen Reggie and Reggie was Reggie was just he was such a great storyteller, and he was telling stories that day, and so my cousin called and said, you know, his story really needs to be a book. Would you be interested? And I said yeah yeah. He said, well there's a catch, and I said, well what is that? He said, he might not have much
time left. And at that point it was you know, Reggie and his family that they didn't think he had much more than months to live. And long story short, he ended up living, you know, at least three years past that. And anyway, what I did was, you know, Tom set up a meeting with Reggie, and I went down and spent about three hours with him, and uh, you know, he's he was telling stories about growing up,
playing for Jobie Hall, uh, coaching pitt and uh. And I walked out that day with three hours of tape and said, oh my goodness, this is an unbelievable story. The only bad partner is that and then I had to transcribe it.
Yeah.
Uh. But from there we started and and what I would do is regulated about an hour from me, I'm about an hour outside of Pittsburgh, and we would meet, you know, once a week, did just for a couple of years and and just talk all things that he had to say about his incredible experiences breaking the color line in Kentucky and unfortunately his his health issues which were married ot and and really, uh, you know with the heart transplant, kidney transplant. That's that's really just the
top of a of a very long list. And from all that evolved a pretty incredible book, not anything that I wrote, but just Reggie's story and all those obviously to talk to a ton of people who who were important in his life. And and again it just really started that phone call he you know, would you want to want to write a book, but there's a catch, you might not have much time with uh, with Reggie. And I ended up having uh, three glorious years with
him and became pretty close. We became pretty close, and uh it was just a really uh you know, one of the most worthwhile things ever done.
And you ended up speaking at his funeral where I and I which I attended along with Jack Gibbons and a lot of other lot of former Kentucky players.
Yeah, I was blown away by that that he he wanted me to do that, and I did. I did not know that, to be honest with you, until his wife Marissa asked me if I would speak, So, yeah, it was. It was a tremendous honor. And I do have a funny story about that. So I am horrible
with directions. And after the service they had, there was the burial, and I am people were leaving there and there was a reception at a nearby restaurant or hall, right, And so I obviously have a Pensania plate and I think people from Kentucky, and I hope you weren't one of them, saw my plates and assumed that I knew where I was going, and they started following me, and I got horribly lost in this sem It was a in my defense, it was a really sprawling cemetery. Very yes,
but I got lost. And finally I was just I kind of pulled over and faked like I was on a phone call so people could just try and find their way out because they were following them wrong, they're wrong thing.
I think I remember that happening. I don't know I was riding. I was actually driving with Jack and Jim Andrews, and I think I do remember some folks got turned around in the cemetery. But my story now was so I'm going up and you know, Jack and Jim and I are telling stories and all. So I turned to Jack and I said, Jack, I've never been to a
black funeral. What can I expect? And so he said, well, ordinarily they do take a while, he said, but Marissa doesn't want people to, you know, sit for three hours or so. She wants to keep this at a at a tight ninety minutes, you know, but as you well know, it went way past that. And Jack was laughing about that when we walked out of the church. He said, you know, you think I lied to you. You know, I said, now everybody needed to say. Everybody wanted to
speak and say something about Reggie. So you know, it was sad but joyful.
Yeah, and it's funny. When I talked to Marisa afterwards about that, she she said that, you know, at first she started getting a little antsy and nervous because you know, obviously the time was going over. But then at the middle she said, you know, what, the heck with it, I'm just going to enjoy this, and and I'm glad
that she did. She and her sons Tiger and Grant were able to hear what everyone had to say about Reggie, and uh, yeah, it was it was longer and she wanted, but at some point she just said, you know what, I'm just going to go with it and my stress about it and just really enjoy the celebration of a wonderful life.
You talk about a strong woman, Am I right?
One hundred percent correct? Yeah, And that's a big part of his story too, is you know Marissa and the strength that she and her her father and grand Tiger showed.
Uh.
You know, while Reggie dealing with the issues in the in the in the twilight of his life, all the health issues, uh, and you know, they they really kept him going. And he kept going because of his love for them and wanting to be there for them as
long as he could. And I'll tell you what I mean, he I don't know if I ever the fight that he showed was amazing and they were I mean, Dickie, he had he he had COVID at once and it was around New Year one year and I remember getting to texta Marissa Saint Reggie had COVID and Texas back, is there anything I can do? And I got back one more answer, prayers And you know, I mean he was in ICU and he figured, you know, with with all of his his hard problems. There was no ways
to survive that, and he lived. He lived another year and a half. Uh, I mean, just a just a fighter and in it's still something that inspires me to this day talking to.
Scott Brown, is the author of the Reggie Warford Story, Integrating Basketball at the University of Kentucky. We'll come back with more for Scott in just a minute. Here on the Big Bloon Sider six point thirty WLAP. Welcome back to the Big Bloon Sider. We're talking with Scott Brown. He is a freelance writer. He is also the publisher of Steeler Depot website. But he is the author of the Reggie Warford Story, Integrating Basketball at the University of Kentucky.
And it does, as we said earlier, kind of parallel the documentary that Cameron Mills and Jason Eperson and I worked on a few years ago called Fight of His Life. And I knew Reggie, of course from college. He and I share a birthday. Believe it or not, he's a year older. I was reminded him he's a year older than I am. But you know, I wrote a piece about Reggie at the end of his career at Kentucky, and he balked at talking to me, and he said, you know, you haven't wanted to talk to me before,
why do you want to talk to me now? And he was, you know, a little way, he was making a point. He knew the answer, of course, you know, and I just kind of said, well, you know, that's kind of the way it works and all that. But what got me in with him, Scott was his mother liked the article. And then, you know, so when I went over Moy, when I went over mom, I was good with the rest of the family. But you know what people need to realize is and yeah, this dates
back to the early seventies. It's stunning what Reggie and his family had to go through as African Americans coming up. But Kentucky fans need to understand that maybe that seventy eight championship team doesn't come together if not for Reggie, who had graduated two years prior. But told those young guys, you know, told Jack Gibbans and those guys, you're going
to win a championship. That's how good you are. But Jack admitted on camera to me, said to you, I might not come to Kentucky if I don't see Reggie Warford on my recruiting trip. You know, that's that's so vital.
And it's incredibly and one thing that that blows me away about Gradory's story, especially in context of everything that's happening now in college athletics with the transfer Florida and guys going to school to school, is that he stuck it out of Kentucky and and forget, forget everything else
off the court, just solely on the court. This is a guy who was an ultra competitor and wanted to play, and he could have gone probably a lot of other places and have been a star or at least been a starter, which during his first three years of Kentucky, uh,
he didn't see the court much. And he stuck it out and and and again that's in the context of what we're seeing today, and that's nothing that's not to denigrate you know, kids today, and you know, they actually have a lot more freedom with with the portal and n I L and good for them for taking advantage
of it. But it's still that's just unheard of for a guy to wait his turn like that the way Reggie did despite all the frustration, and you totally hit it on the head, is you know, do they win the seventy eight championship if things go sideways for Reggie Kentucky and he ends up leaving because obviously they had Mary Gibbons and I'm sorry Mary Haskins and Larry Johnson. Then then Jack and James Lee and guys like that followed, and really guys who were the core of that seventy
eight championship team, especially Jack Gibbons. I mean, I don't We'll never know, but you know, they might not have followed Reggie to Kentucky and somebody had to go first, and that was Reggie.
And you know, it's fascinating to me. One of the greatest stories. And you've got it in your book and it's in a is Reggie who had basically committed to Austin p and a young recruiter named Leonard Hamilton because see he had, you know, gone down to Clarksville to play pickup games from Drakesboro hitchhiked to go play basketball
down there. Yeah, and uh, and he had decided Reggie to leave and is walking down the hall at the coliseum, which is a hallway that I walked a thousand times to go to job's office and say I'm out and he bumps into Leonard Hamilton.
How about that?
How about I mean take it from there. Tell everybody, I don't want you to give away the store. But that's a great story.
Yeah, and I think you yeah, you really nolt it is it was. It was a total coincidence that they ran into each other. But Jobi was and I'm not sure exactly if he had hot I think he was an interviewing PI. Yes, yes, And and basically, you know, Reggie,
they bumped him into each other, you know, fearedly. One guy was was coming and one guy was preparing to go in Reggie and and coach Hamblon talked to him and and paraphrasing here, just you know, I said, hey, wait, wait a second, hold on, hold on, don't do anything yet. You know, I may become to join you. And he got hired and talked Reggie in the staying and and I think Reggie needed that too. Is not just having you know, a couple of black teammates, but having a
black assistant coach as well. And he and Hamilton obviously became very close and worked until the day that he passed. So but yeah, I mean there's another one if like what if what if Reggie doesn't bump into Leonard Leonard Hamilton that day. Well, you know, talk about kind of the butterfly butterfly effect of that on Kentucky basketball.
And you probably know this, but Leonard Hamilton had decided to quit coaching. He had quit himself because he kept knocking his head on the barrier being a black assistant and people saying, you're not going to be a head coach at an established you know, you can go to one of the smaller schools, but you're never going to
get where you want to be. And he went to work for I think dal Chemical or in principle and accepted a job and somebody said, hey, I think Joe Hall's looking for an African assistant, and the rest is literally basketball history. Now if you look at Leonard Hamilton's resume, now.
Yeah, that's that's incredible. I'll be honest, I did not know that about him looking to leave the coaching profession. But yeah, that's just so many things, so many what ifs, and that's that's such a great part of you know, Kentucky basketball history. In Reggie's history with the program, got a.
Few minutes left with Scott Brown. He is a freelance writers also the publisher and editor of Steelers Depot dot com. But he wrote the Reggie Warford Story, which you can get through University Press. If you don't have it in your UK basketball library, you need to have a Jack Gibbons wrote the foreword. But Scott has talked to us about the fact that basically for three years he built a relationship with Reggie and Marissa and their sons up
there in Pittsburgh. And of course Reggie was inducted into the Kentucky Basketball Hall of Fame, the High School Hall of Fame, I should say, and I went over and set all out to and paid my respects, congratulations. And it's funny. Cameron Mills and I worked on a couple of other docks on the ninety eight to ninety six championship teams, and he kept saying, what's next. I said, well, I'm kind of toying with with, you know, something on Reggie, and he's like, who's that. Come on, man, you got
to know. So I told him Reggie had told him Reggie's story, I said, But Cameron, I said, Reggie's in a bad way. And I don't know how much longer we're going to have him, And I said, I'm not sure I'm up to this. I'm not sure I'm up to this. Well, Cameron blew Right by me went to Reggie and said, hey, we're going to do a documentary on you, and he was so excited. And I love the fact that you know, he was a humble, god
fearing man. But as you know, Scott, he liked the fact not because it was all about him, but because his story could help other basketball players down the road. That's what I respected the most about that process. Did you get the same feeling?
Absolutely? And one thing that I'm really gratified for that Marissa has told me several times is you know projects like that, working on this book or things that helped keep Reggie alive, to be honest with you, because it
gave him something to look forward to. And as you know, I'm sure I can't imagine the tape that you guys had that didn't make it into the documentary just because obviously, yeah, you've got a finite time there, but uh, I mean his stories and and and just awake and tell it, and and his charisma, his recall it just for me, it made it so much easier other than again having to transcribe like three hours of tape after every every meeting.
But yeah, I mean it's just he definitely wanted to tell his story to help others, and that's just really a continuation of what he had done, uh in Kentucky, you know, breaking that barrier line, being that first guy to go for for Marion Haskins and James Lee and
Jack Gibbons and Dwayne Casey. Uh, you know, guys like that and and and to be honest, uh, you know when when Reggie, after Jack Gibbons and James Lee and that class got there, there was no way he was leaving Kentucky because you know, he had he had promised them that that he would stay and he took that responsibility seriously and obviously he did stay. But uh, but yeah, it was just his his his storytelling, his his recall and just his charisma. I mean, it was just it
was such a joy to be around him. And and I'll tell you a story too, is not a story, but not one time when I saw him and he was going through unimaginable pain and suffering during that time, not one time did he not greet me with the biggest smile and just just the light like so happy to see me. And it made me feel like I
was the most important person in the world. And and that to me is the measure of Reggie war for as much as anything he accomplished is just who he who he was person day in and day out.
Yeah. Absolutely, that's a great way, great place to leave it. We could talk all day about Reggie, but I will say that you need to get the book, make it, like I said, part of your UK library and tell you what. Next time I call, we'll talk to some Steelers because I got a lot of friends that were Steelers fans. But again, finite time doing us in. But Scott Brown, thank you so much for.
Your time, big thank you for having me on. And again I just want to reiterate how much Red and his family appreciate all that you did for Reggie and getting his story out.
Yeah, I appreciate it. Thanks Scott, have a great.
One you too.
Thanks Up next Christy Thomas of the SEC Network and the UK Network on the Big Blone Siders six thirty WLAP. Welcome back, join now by longtime friend and colleague Christy Thomas of the UK Network and SEC Plus, and that's who she was working for last night. She and Jeffiicoro calling the action as the UK women opened up Southeastern Conference play, and Chris I wroted it off the numbers earlier in the show, but suffice it to say, I got to think, a you guys didn't expect to see
that kind of shooting prowess from this team. I don't know if it was in a game plan or not, but obviously they said a new record and be a blowout win over a decent Mississippi State team in Kenny Brooks's first Southeastern Conference game. What does that tell us?
Well, I think there's a good bit to unpack as far as all that goes. One would be that I think what we saw with Mississippi State coming into that game at thirteen and one is that their non conference schedule really wasn't maybe as difficult as what it should have been to get them ready for a league play.
So I think that's one piece of it. I think the other piece of it is that this Kentucky team is probably underestimated, and you know, I thought they could they could win that game last night, No question, did I think they could win it like that and per form like that. I'm not so sure because we've seen some really good things out of this team this year. But you know, I go to go to shoot around. I watched shoot around a lot, and I know this team can shoot. There's no question this team can shoot.
And that's something that Deja Lawrence said last night in the post game with us, was I know I'm a good shooter, right, I mean, so she said this was just a matter of getting in the gym and just getting up shots and then having that confidence, the same kind of confidence that their coach has, and then that they they have to find that in themselves. And last
night they did that. And you know, this is much like baseball when your leadoff man gets a hit and you're just passing the bat and then everybody can get a hit. Basketball is the same way. If you see one teammate knock down a shot and then another one, everybody starts to gain a little bit of confidence. That these two young ladies were absolutely on fire last night,
which was making it impossible to guard them. I mean, they were hitting three pointers that that I felt like were relatively contested, so and you could just kind of see Sam Purcell kind of throw his hands up like, I don't, don't, I don't know what else to do. So yeah, this was this was a game that it really all came together for Kentucky in all the right ways because I thought they were really good on the defensive end too.
Oh yeah, I'll get to that in a minute. But speaking of the shooting I mentioned earlier, Dajiel Lawrence did a great job filling lanes, spotting up on the outside. Georgia Aymore Christy, it seemed like half of her threes were on the run, on the move. And I know you were a post player, but you can appreciate somebody who gets those feed organized, as Bill Rafferty says, and her form was just flawless.
And this isn't something that Listen, she's gifted, and you know she's athletic and all those things that this young lady works at it so make no mistake that this isn't something that she works at. These young ladies come in an hour before practice, an hour before they're shoot around, and get in extra work in order to be able to fine tune things like that to be able to offer that in a game. You know, when you're coming
off the screen that quick. Really, she's only five six, so you know she's she's not very big in that way, so she's got to be able to get that shot off quickly, and she does that. But she elevates so well for her size, which is another huge feather in her cap She's got great shooting form and she has an enormous amount of confidence. All that to mix together is a dangerous player and so I think that's what
I love. But I tell you from her stat line is so impressive from a scoring perspective, you know, hitting seven of ten three pointers, but she had nine assists. And that's what I think I love about that balance that you get with Georgia Amore is that she above all else, has such a high basketball IQ that she absolutely understands how and when to facilitate for a team, and then how and when to score for her team.
You know, they had a run of about they would zero for five on a couple of trips, and she came down and threw up a shot that you think, oh, is that the one, and you're like, well, heck yeah, because it went in. So she just gets it. She just underunderstands what her capabilities are and what she brings to the table for a team, and she knows when to offer it.
I like it when she she goes over and talks to Kenny Brooks while her team or the other team shooting freeze is whatever. And I'm always saying, man, I'd love to hear what they're talking about. You know.
Oh, yeah, they've got such a special relationship and there's such a mutual respect for each other, and you know that's that's something that has been earned over the years, and you know, this is something I think that you know, there's only there's two players that remained from last year's team. That's Sanaia Tyler and Cassidy Row. And I think Sanaia Tyler is learning now what Georgia Amore is knowing is that we're gonna if you buy in and you listen
and you'll do what he says. I mean, you know, then you start to understand we can have a really good working relationship. And that's ultimately what this is is is a relationship that is a two way street and that communication works both ways. And it's really a beautiful thing to watch.
This is the biggest Kentucky team I think, I think up and down the roster. Maybe ever think that I can remember, and you've been covering almost as long as I have. But it's skilled. It's not just Biggs taking up space. I mean strack. Obviously, she's one of the best in the league, if not the country. Silva is going to be good. You and I talked about this last night after the game. When she gets in the
weight room, but she helps. But the key was was was key last night the way she worked the boards against bigger and what looked like stronger Mississippi State bigs. And that's going to be so vital. As you know in the SEC this year.
Johnny Key is scrappy. That's what I really saw last night from her was a player that when she comes down with the rebound and three sets of hands and arms are around her, she's able to have strong hands and get herself out of that to get the ball, to outlet the ball and get it going the other way. And she's not afraid of the fight. I think that's the other thing that you know past players, it's a different game where it's you know, it's not the same game back when I played. So that's why we see
all three of these post players. I include Amelia Hassett in that in a lot of ways. But you'll see Janny Key, Claire Strike, Clara Silva step out and shoot. They'll face up. They shoot this really love. I mean, it's a it's a thing of beauty, this little fadeaway shot that's very dirt and Navidski like and and it is.
It's because the game is very different, and you know, these these young ladies are learning a skill set and have a skill set that is very different from what you might think a six ' five post player would have in the game today. So you know, these young ladies are very versatile. They're all excellent passers, which certainly is we've seen on display all season long from them. They see this floor really well, so they've they've got a really special skill set.
What is it about the way Kenny Brooks, I won't say coaches, but constructs offense and defense that leads you to believe that this team can can compete in the SEC? He at the upper level of the SEC.
This guy's only had one losing season in his entire coaching career. So when you consider that alone, he must know what he's doing. He must be he's getting something right. But I think the big thing is is he understands what kind of player he wants, and it is a certain kind of player. He wants you to play a certain way, but he also wants you to act a certain way. He wants you to be coachable in a
certain way. So he's looking for a certain type of player, and he doesn't care if you're the best player in the country. If you don't fit that mold and that's not what or who you are, then you may not fit in with this team. So I think having a real understanding of what he wants and what he's looking for, more than anything, brings a team together and jels a team together to be able to play together in a
way that is so hard to coach and do. But I think him just knowing exactly what kind of player he wants has been the key to his six because you know, look, he's he's always got players that can shoot and players that can do a lot of different things, but they have to be able to play together. Last night was twenty three assists on twenty six made baskets
for Kentucky. That the team that plays together, right, So I think that's that's very telling about what kind of team Eddie Burk wants to put together, n sorry, wants to put together.
Yeah. I mean it's it's clear that the guy knows what he's doing. Obviously his resume. Yes, State staff. But you know what impressed me the most last night is it seemed as though you got to give State credit. I mean, they ran their stuff and they've got good stuff, but they didn't guard very well on a three point line. It didn't look like Kentucky relaxed. You know, maybe for a minute or two, but you get out to a big lead and kids can lose focus. I didn't see that last night, did you.
No.
I totally agree, and I actually said that coming out of a commercial break going into the fourth quarter is this is when you put the adblolutely, put your foot on the gas. You don't take anything for granted. But I think some of that comes with the experience that this team has. You know, a lot five players played thirty one plus minutes last night, so they don't have a deep bench, they don't have a lot of players
that they play. But what you have out of those five are players that have played a lot of basketball. So I think they understand that and They're going to follow Georgia amore, and as Georgia goes, they will too. And Georgia plays as a tremendous amount of intensity from tip off the final buzzer, and so she's setting the tone in a lot of ways. So and this team wants to follow her. So I think that was huge last night.
Christy Thomas my guess. She worked last night's Kentucky Mississippi State game for SEC Plus along with Jeff mcorrel. We'll come back with more from Christy in just a minute. Hair on a Big one Sider six thirty WLAP Welcome back with talking with Christy Thomas. She worked the UK women's basketball last night for the SEC network, but she also is a teammate on the UK Radio network when it comes to Kentucky football. She and Jeremy and Logan Stenberg,
who had a great rookie season. I thought this year he.
Did, Yes, he was very good.
Yes, but you guys were tasked with you open the broadcast, you look at the upcoming game, but it also evolved sifting through the previous game. And there was too many losses this year, of course, but it was such a head scratching season Christy. When you go back and look at some of the things Kentucky did, especially the episode went over Ollle Miss and how well the Wildcats played over Georgia. And I just heard you guys constantly saying if we could just get back to that level of football,
and it never happened. And I'm just wondering, looking back on it, can you put your finger on one or two things that you look at. Did they try to explain it all?
Yeah, you're right, it is a head scratcher in a lot of ways. But I think there are two things that stand out to me about it. One is that they just didn't appear to be any player leadership. And I think oftentimes, as we've talked about the women and there is no question who the leaders on that women's team is, you really, I don't think there was a clear, clearly defined leader in the locker room for this football team, and that that can't happen, So, you know, I think
that that's so important. But I think that's also where the transfer portal helps you and hurts you. I mean, you have new guys that are coming in that probably could be leaders, but do they take on a leadership role and they haven't been here and they don't know things like other players do. You've got to be very sure, very confident in yourself and your abilities to be able to do that in order to take on a leadership
role in an environment like that. Georgia Amore was empowered to do that by the nature of the situation and
her coach and that sort of thing. And I just don't think we saw that from There's not anybody you could point to to say, you know, and I've talked to Logan a lot, an awful lot about that with the offensive line and how they took they took it upon themselves that have their own inner workings of their own leadership and how they were going to do things, and he said, you know, I don't see that on
this offensive line. And then I think the other piece of it was that we've really gotten bogged down with this nil and who can offer me what kind of thing? And you know, that's something that we talked about on the broadcast a couple of times, is who wants to
play football? You know, it's one thing to want to go somewhere where you can, you know, set yourself up and make some money and do those things and I don't begrudge an athlete wanting to do that or having the ability to do that at all, but you also have to want to play the game. And I think that's where we maybe we lost a little of that with some guys that we had big expectations for this season and maybe we're a leaddown and we didn't see it.
You've got to want to love the game and like, if it's gone tomorrow, have you left it all out there? And there's a lot of guys in that locker room that would have to say no, they didn't.
I've been talking this and last about the fact that and he brought it up and more than once Mark Stoops does. Buddy also says, look, I'm not whining and crying. I'm just saying this is what it is with the portal and nil. And he is so stereotypical of I would say ninety eight percent of the coaches in America who are just unhappy with the way things are. They've got to get together and change it. More guardrails, different calendar, do something because an old school guy like Mark Stoops
is not coaching the way he wants to coach. And I got to think very few people are.
It's a mess. It's a complete mess. I mean, it's all the way up and down. You know, as you think about the NCAAA trying to do things for the student athlete and trying to get on the side of the student athlete, there's a way to do that with there being a happy medium. Do I know what the answers aren't?
Absolutely not.
I know we're not there, right, I mean, this is not When I think about NIL standing for name, image and likeness, I means you make money off of your or name, image and likeness. It doesn't mean I pay you to come here to play football. So I think that's where my frustration with NIL really comes in, is
that you're getting paid anyway with a free education. So now whatever you do when you get here, your performance will dictate whether you get a car dealership deal, or whether you get a billboard deal, or whether you are asked to come sign autographs and get paid for that, or whether you get jerseys that you know, that's what indicates. Your performance on the field indicates what kind of money you make now on your name, image and likeness. So I think that's what's gotten lost for me, is it's
like why are we paying people? And then these kids are getting disappointed because a lot of times they're being promised things that are not being delivered. So, you know, and then I think the transfer portal has just become really a very sad place for a lot of athletes because they go there and never come out, and then
they realize maybe they've made a mistake. And I said, you know, I think as we look back, what I want to see is in ten to fifteen years, these athletes that made these decisions and did these things, what kind of regrets do they have, because we need to learn from that as well too.
Yeah, that soleness and there's going to be way too many sitting back blaming other people pointing for you.
Yeah, that's right, that's right.
I also fear for the high school kids because now you know how many kids are going to be ignored. Well, instead of going into the high school ranks, let's use the portal, uh, you know in mass and uh it's like I said, this has got the change. And I don't bash the NCAA in air quotes like most people, because, uh, it is a collection of the schools, but there's got to be leadership at the top. Whether it's in Indianapolis
or on committees, you know, chancellors eighties or whatever. They've got to fix this and they can do it, can't they.
Well, they can fix it, that they have to do it with some quickness.
Like, let's don't drag our feet.
Let's don't let you know, let's don't make it a year's long process. I think that's the other frustration that a lot of fans have is why does something take so long to do it?
Shouldn't.
I mean, you all know there's a problem. You know there need to be changes. Let's talk about it, Let's get it done. Let's figure out what those are. And they don't have to all be instituted at once, you know. Let's let's start to make small changes that are better for the game and better for the athlete, better.
For the school.
Let's make it better for everybody. But let's get to it. Let's let's don't keep dragging our feed and take years to make this happen.
Well, because their member institutions, they have committee meetings that only happen a few times a year and all that, maybe they need to change the entire structure, create a czar or somebody like that you know, with with eight or ten people working with them on behalf of this because I don't know, but you're right.
It's well, it's like it's like this corporate America nonsense. Right, It's like just because you meet a couple like you guys are in charge figure it out. I mean, this is you know, like, let's problem solve this and figure it out. If you only meet a couple of times a year, then maybe that's not enough. Let's figure this thing.
You know, it's not rocket science.
Christy Thomas of the UK Network watch your own sec pluses. Well, thank you so much, have a good one.
Hey, thanks for having me and that'll do it.
Thanks to my guest Christy Thomas, Scott Brown and Justin Rowland Tomorrow Kentucky Basketball eleven AM Tip with Tom Leach and Jack Gibbons. Thanks for joining us. That's it. Good night from the garage in Lexington.
Where the hell have you been?
Soldier training? Sir? What kind of training? Son?
Be me training, sir?
Day amer