4.7: Who's The New Guy - Hour 1

you know, all the corny stuff. But it really does feel like it's been about a month since I've been here to do what we are about to do for the next three hours, which has provide what is hopefully an enjoyable experience for you here on Sports Talk seven nine. It is coffee in company with myself, Nick Coffee, and the tribal Chief, Austin Montgomery, and we are fueled by Thornton's taking you up until six o'clock. And what a

good day to be back. We've got a National championship game tonight and I have a hard time thinking that we won't be highly entertained with this matchup between Florida and Houston, and obviously a lot to unpack as far as how we got here, and we'll do that. Reaction to the Final four, I suppose, more than anything, will just probably make fun of Duke, right and and you know the collapse that they had and with Duke, we don't probably need a reminder for this, but if you did,

it was there. Duke is one of I don't know, there's not that many of them in all levels of sports. I would guess there's probably ten or less teams, schools, programs, clubs, whatever you want to call it, because of course you know different levels different sports they do reference, you know, they reference, they have different names, but my point is they're villains. Right. If you're not a fan of certain teams and you know they lose, you you really enjoy it.

And I feel like college basketball fans, really sports fans across the globe enjoyed seeing Duke lose the way they did the other night, unless, of course, you somehow are a Duke fan. If so, I don't really know how you become a Duke fan, unless you went there, or you just became a bandwagon whatever it may be, or

maybe you lost some money because they lost. But other than that, we all it kind of felt like we were big winners in a Final four despite you know, most of our teams, especially the local teams, not being there. So again tonight National Championship game, Austin just said it. He's right. I mean, he said it to me right before the show started. But I've been thinking about it

since he said it, because it's true. This is it College basketball officially over after tonight, and it'll be sad, but already a lot of momentum for year two for Pat Kelsea obviously, as I'm sure a lot of you know, a lot went on last week, and I wasn't here to react to it, so I'll try to, as always, do not make an entire show on old news from a week prior. But obviously there's a lot to run through, and I've got plenty of thoughts to share, and you can't I mean with Pat Kelseat when you look at

what he's been able to do so far. We're talking about three commits in the portal that as it stands right now, they have the number one class. That could change, of course, but still, I mean, there's work to be done. But I feel like when I was gone last week, he got a lot of work done in my absence. He didn't need me. Clearly that's a joke. I hope you guys get it. But my point is he has three transfers coming in all guards that should help and fit what he likes to do as far as the

style he wants to play. You have two top twenty five incoming freshmen that'll be joining the mix next year. Sonny is not a McDonald's American and he's a guy we'd never heard of until he committed. But just to remind folks, MIKEL. Brown, he's a top ten player overall. McDonald's All American won the three point shoot out, by

the way in the McDonald's All American Game. But Sonny Frew, he's a guy that you know, again, we just heard of him when he committed, but he's ranked as a top twenty five player overall in the class, ahead of you know, guys that are McDonald's Americans. So a lot to be excited about. But they're not done. They are not done. I'm sure there's still plenty of guys there working on on the portal. Who knows what happens with

Nata Mint. I certainly don't feel like it's gonna be Louisville, But I just say that based off of what I see on the toxic platform that is X formerly known as Twitter. Like I'm not an insider by any means, I'm not sure anybody really knows what's going on with this kid. He ends up at Louisville, great, If not, Lowiell will have money to go get somebody else, probably not a guy that's you know, looked at as a

top ten pick in next year's draft. But you can go get a really good college player that can help you have a big special season. I mean I don't want to act like we shouldn't prioritize elite NBA talent coming out of the high school ranks, because I feel like every coach program would take those guys. But man, the proof is there. It's gonna be there tonight when you watch that. The guys who have that status as eighteen year olds, some of them are phenomenal. Look at

Cooper flag right, I mean Edgecomb at Baylor. I mean there are great freshmen that have joined teams that are loaded with other veterans and transfers, and they are very impact So it's not like you should avoid them. But there's also teams that we watched in the Final four that were able to get there and have great seasons because it was the first time we had a Final four with all one seeds in quite some time, and there wasn't really a freshman that had.

best players that ever committed here. But I just if he does, Like I you know, this is not me just accepting a loss before it happens, meaning losing him and him going somewhere else. I'm saying it because I mean it. I won't lose a wink of sleep if he doesn't come here. If he does, great, If not, I don't my you know, my expectations for Louisville really won't change. I guess if they don't get anybody else, which I find it highly unlikely. But anyways, pack else

off to a great start. And last year he didn't have proof of concept, meaning he hasn't he hadn't shown anybody that he'd be able to have success at this level. And I feel silly now because we kept saying that last year. I said it a lot. This is a guy that has been at Charleston, at sam or it's Winthrop. Can he get it done here? That's a big jump and all that's true. But I just feel now that we've gone a full season in watching it right before our eyes. As far as you know, what he what

he brings to the table. Who he is as a coach, as a leader, A guy who is insanely detailed and organized, clearly not going to be out work by anybody. I mean, you have he's got a he's got a formula, right, it's been successful, and now he's got resources that can help. You know, he had resources last year, right, Like he came to Louisville and was building a roster from scratch.

And yeah, he's a great recruiter, I think when it comes to just being energetic, like you can when you listen to him talk when he was introduced as the coach here, you could tell, Okay, I could see guys really liking this guy's high level of energy, wanting to play for him, that kind of stuff. But you know, money was gonna really matter, and money's always going to matter when it comes to players. But I feel like everything about Pat Kill now nothing really changed with this guy.

There's just now a season under his belt where he has shown he's off to a good start and there really should be no reason to expect them to slow down. I don't mean they're gonna win the same amount of games they won last year, because obviously the record was somewhat indicated by the acc being down. But nonetheless, this guy has now shown he's got some momentum here and didn't take long for them to prioritize who they wanted

in the portal and then get those commitments. So exciting stuff. Again, Well, I'm not gonna give you, you know, a ton on the three guys that have been added. We'll talk about him briefly because again those in fact, I think all of those commitments happened like pretty early last week. No, I mean it was the weekend whenever we landed the young

man from Kennesaw State wory. But after that, I mean, wasn't long after he committed did you end up making it official with Isaac McNeely, who, of course another guy they prioritized pretty early to the shoot up from Virginia, and then Ryan Conwell the transfer from Xavier. So off to a good start, no doubt. Now, Mark Pope a little bit of a different situation on the Kentucky side, And I'm gonna give you this disclaimer before I say this,

because it's important. It is insanely too early to panic about having a good enough roster to compete at a high level next year. In year two, for Mark Pope. That's the disclaimer, But here's the facts. He went after three guys and simply couldn't get them. He couldn't. I mean, they clearly considered Kentucky. He got a face to face with one of them, a guy who the UAB transfer.

I always forget his name for some reason, but Mark Pope got a face to face from an understand Maybe I had that, maybe it was a different rooker, but either way, like there's really no way to hide that they were prioritizing a few different guys. In all, all of those guys decided to go elsewhere. And that doesn't mean like Mark Pope is a bomb and he can't recruit. I mean, Louivill fans of course are going to say that,

and I don't blame him. I get it. It's a rivalry, but you know they're not used to that, right Kentucky. Last year. I don't even remember who they targeted in the portal. I don't remember like who their big git was, because to me, they just had a nice collection of players. I would say Jackson Robinson, who came with Pope from BYU. Would you agree, Austin Jackson Robinson was probably the guy

that came with Pope. Yes, that like had the most hype that ever that they thought was going to be their best player.

that I think is really undoubtable. I mean I can't prove it, but like the commitment that they did land over the weekend Jalen Low from Pittsburgh, I mean that was that he's a talented player and he you know, he may be really good for them, who knows that works out, But to me, he might be the worst fit for what Mark Pope wants to once out of a guard, he's not a good defender. He is a high volume shooter, but he shoots a terrible percentage and is not a good three point shooter really at all.

But he's talented. I mean, he's quick, he can get to the rim, he can finish at the rim, but he shot a terrible percentage and I remember watching him play against Louisville when I was in person in Pittsburgh and also watching him play when Chucky Hepburn, you know, abused him. I mean a talented guy. Clearly he's making an obvious upgrade here. Going from Pittsburgh to any program that he was considering, I would assume would have been a big jump up. Kentucky obviously is that, but like

I think, it screams desperation. We keep swinging and missing. I don't want to let it get any worse. So it wasn't as if they I don't think they had to beg the guy to come to Kentucky. But like to me, it's rather obvious, and I think louisll fans, if you watched Pittsburgh, you're familiar with the acc like

you would know that this guy talented. But when you're talking about like compatibility as far as what Mark Pope likes to do, as far as his style as a coach, especially on offense, this guy they may figure it out, it may work out well, but everything about his game at Pittsburgh just doesn't translate. So again I see two sides of the Kentucky reaction, which I don't know why it ended up that way. Maybe it's because I do love to kind of just, you know, sit back and

watch our rivals be miserable. But like when I would be off of Twitter for like a day, which, by the way, we'll get to that, it was a really good thing for me to do, just kind of unplugged more than I usually do. But it would be Kentucky fans either acting as if the sky's falling because Pope missed out on another player, or it was a Kentucky fan yelling and other Kentucky fans telling them to calm down. Don't you know where this guy was ranked last year

and this guy was rank last year? Well, both things could be true, meaning the portal class rankings can be silly, and I think we will learn down the line that there's not really worth There's not a whole lot you

should put into that. It just to mean, I think it's hard to really know how good of a class you're getting when you're getting players from all different levels of high major, low major, mid major, sophomore who played a little bit a year ago, a fifth year senior who's taking advantage of an extra year, Like it's just insanely, it's insanely difficult to really know what you're getting. So again,

both things can be true. I mean, they're missing out on guys and that that should be should be maybe not like concerning, but Kentucky's just not used to get missing out on players. That's what I was. That's the point I was getting to earlier, and I'm right back where I left off before vacation, just losing my train

of thought. But like, when's the last time Kentucky would would like and by the way, the last time they would miss on recruits like routinely is if they know as they did last week or really since the season ended, was probably before. Like the internet is what it is now where people have this platform where they can just

constantly bitch and complain about it and talk about it. Right, So like it's a new it's a new experience for Kentucky fans because like pre John Caliperi, Billy Gillespie, Tubby Smith, like maybe they were going after players and missing routinely, but at the end of Tubby and really during Billy's time, you understood why they weren't picking Kentucky. Right. So here's Mark Pope coming off of a really good season overall, as far as you know, they played to their seed,

got to the sweet sixteen, that kind of stuff. But it just you know, it's I think they're not panic. They still trust in Pope. But again, this is a

new thing for them. They've not they've not gone through this in this new world, and hell, it's new to all of us as far as the season coming to an end, and the most important component to how you're gonna view the next season for your program is based off a short amount of a short window of time where coaches are scrambling like crazy and you've got thousands

of players entering the portal. And again, I just think it's hard to imagine many teams looking back midway through the season, and you know, if you can, if you're midway through next season and you reflect and you're honest and you say, yeah, we really missed in the portal, have a hard time thinking that you're having a successful

season midway through. It's important, but it's also just so unusual, so different than what we used to be accustomed to as far as looking ahead to the next season, because we're excited about some players that like we've never even heard of, you know what I mean, Like I'll be honest with you when it comes to the kid from Kennesaw State. I mean, I love what I see. As far as his numbers, Adrian Wooley was insanely impressive at Kinnesau State. But I'm at least willing to acknowledge that

pride to three two two. Three weeks ago never heard of him, and now who knows, he may be your best player next year. I'm not saying he will be, but you just don't know. So anyways, this is gonna be sports talk radio in this market, I believe for the foreseeable future, meaning when you get towards the end of the college basketball season. Really, I guess once the I mean the portal opens officially like leading up to the Sweet sixteen, which is crazy to think about, but

that's just the way. That's that's what the NAA decided to do. So this mad scramble for a few weeks to a month as far as figuring out, you know, where guys end up, Like, it's it's gonna be something we track, it can also become, you know, and I'm sure there's many people that aren't interested at all, And I get it, totally get it, all right, If you guys want to be part of the show today, you can. You can give us a call five oh two five

seven one seventy nine hundred. You can also text in on the ln N Federal Credit Union Tex Line at five oh two four three eight ninety seventy three. And uh, I mean you can react to really whatever. I mean, if you just missed me that badly and you just want to call and have some dialogue, I mean, I get it. Going without me for that long. I'm sure it was a really really uh difficult experience for those out there. And again, I hope you can pick up

on sarcasm. But I am happy to be back, and I'm hopeful that that is coming across the airwaves Austin. I didn't miss a whole lot, right, We got the city underwater.

River in Cincinnati the last couple of days. I mean that was insane to see, and it's now happening right here. I mean there's people down the river roads or an avenue area that are being rescued from from certain places because when it when it rapidly rises, it it rises quickly. That's what I told her. That's right. Yeah, I mean it's thanks to doctor Wood, the Louisville Men's Clinic and for being honest. But anyways, we're talking about flooding here

and it's uh, it's about a crest. It sucks that that thunders can't canceled because it is such an I mean that's how you knew that they were aware that this was going to be bad, you know what I mean. And it's such an economic thing for for this for this city, this community in so many ways that like you never think about if you you know, if you unless you just sit down and randomly think about it.

But I think not having thunder is probably a bigger deal than most people realize, just because that this is an event that brings way more people to Louisville that I think most realize. I mean, it's not the dirt, but like, and it's been here for so long, and I actually when I see the amount of people that are there every year, especially when there's good weather and you got that working for you, I mean, that's when

it hits me. You know what. There's an insane amount of people in downtown Louisville right now, and there's a ton of them that are not from here, and that's it's always big for the economy around here when you can bring in visitors and tourists and people that want to take in the big events. And not having thunder is a real punch to the gut.

show and the Kentucky Derby. But after being down there and just like because I honestly never went to Thunder other than like the last couple of years when I started working here and they needed some help down you know, just getting interviews, and the amount of people that have said that they I talked to people that didn't even know about like it was part of the Derby festivities. It's like, oh, yeah, that's right, Katucky Derby is here

in a couple of weeks. They just come for the fireworks, yep.

realize that. Like, let me give you an example. Despite not really being my thing, there's something about being at an event that you can just you know, the energy from people who were there because they love it. It can be a little bit infectious that you just feel like, hey, this is actually a pretty cool thing that we have here in Louisville. And the best example and this may not hit but I'm gonna try when I went to

do a vibe check it Louder than Life. I couldn't name any bands there other than like the main events and I could or the main actcent. I couldn't probably really name any songs of theirs. I would maybe know a few, so like I'm the most unrelatable as far as music, Like, I just that's just not really my jam. But being there, man, I could tell the people who love it. Man, they freaking love it, oh dude. And there's something about that that, again I think can be infectious.

I'm not sure if that's the best comparison, but that's kind of what Thunder turned into for me, because it is something that like not just I mean not just a handful of louivillions. There are people that travel. I mean, there's somebody I interviewed that had been like nineteen straight thunder over Louisville events, which wow, I mean I would have never even yeah, I would never even guessed that like somebody would do that. But some people really love

that kind of stuff. It's a bummer that that we aren't having it this year. And look the flood the flooding, I should say that. I mean, it's it's crazy and then one thing I did miss and I were you know, I wasn't. I was trying not to be super you know, distracted by my phone and what's going on. But I was also interested to kind of know what is going on back home, especially when I saw that we had some severe thunderstorms tornado like stuff coming through.

we got like CNN coverage. It was pretty crazy. And then we had one in Fern Creek that really wasn't that long ago. It wasn't a huge one, but you know, it did touch down I think the Glenn Mary neighborhood and it wiped out a couple of houses. But we had a really scary experience on our way back on Saturday because we were driving back Saturday and our plan was to and by the way, wife won. We drove all the way through and it worked out because the

kids were perfectly behaved, so it was great. Yeah, so it was great, but on the way back, you know, we didn't really want I mean, I just I didn't want to have to get up at five am, last day of vacation. I'd rather sleep in a little bit and like not feel rushed, and then we'll get on the road and we'll see what happens. Well, I wanted to stop because we knew we were going to be entering tough weather at some point. My wife just wanted so badly to get home, and I mean, I was

gonna let her make the call. But then we're coming through Nashville, and all of a sudden, you know, I don't have any I'm not following anything on my social media. I don't have any apps for local news stations in Nashville. I'm not checking social media about what's going on in Nashville. But all of a sudden, my iPhone starts going off the alarm that says there's a tornado warning where you are.

Obviously they can they know my location, And all of a sudden, I look up in the sky and sure enough, I'm like, I don't know if that's a tornado, but if somebody told me that it was, I would believe them. So we ended up pulling off the road for like an hour and twenty minutes, and you go look it up on X I mean it was. In fact, it became a he became somewhat of a not a national

story within sports. But everybody, buddy in the Nashville area was pissed because they could watch the Final four because the local coverage on CBS was tracking this storm, and everybody was pissed about it. But we were like we were following the tornado. So we ended up pulling off. It took like an hour and fifteen minutes before we were able to feel comfortable enough to get back on

the road and try to get back home. And then we knew it was gonna be dark on sixty five and there's stretches of sixty five that are so dark at night. And you know, we've got friends that left ahead of us that didn't stop, and they were like telling us that at certain spots on sixty five north kind of like around Etown, around I guess a little bit a little bit south of the town, there were like you could see the water rising close to the interstate.

And I'm just having like I told my wife, look, we can't, like we don't We're not gonna be able to see anything. It's gonna be dark as can be, you know, We're already seeing areas of sixty five that we're going to drive through in an hour and a half that are already close to having like where they're gonna have to close the Interstate because the water's too high. So we ended up standing bowling Green randomly as hell

on Saturday night, had a good evening. We end up getting late dinner watch some of the final four games. But but yeah, it was. It was probably the scariest experience for me when it comes to weather in a long time, because we were in traffic in downtown Nashville on the Interstate. I guess going through downtown Nashville on the Interstate and everybody's kind of like, You've got a bunch of cars that are just off to the side

of the road not knowing what to do. You've got some people driving like a bad out of hell trying to get somewhere where they could be safe. We didn't

know what to do. We ended up we ended up getting off the exit not knowing where we are, and I told her, like to find a parking garage or something, you know, I just don't want to be And then sure enough we didn't realize that, but we're driving towards the storm, So it was it was kind of scary, but it was a lot worse here because clearly a tornado did touchdown in jay Town and cause a lot

of damage. Again, that came in earlier today as the National Weather Service has said that the Yeah, it was a a preliminary confirmation of an EF three tornado in Jaytown last Wednesday night early Thursday morning, one hundred and forty five mile per hour winds, which is crazy, dude.

now National Championship Game night. We've got Florida and Houston, which should be a really really really good game. I mean, I'm hoping so it would mean I guess you never know what you're gonna get, but I think it'd be a really really really big surprise. If this thing's not competitive, maybe it's not super competitive, but I think both these teams clearly are very very good, very well coached, and you know, I think it's just going to come down to who can you know, cause you know, to me,

it's pretty simple. Can Florida continue to be as efficient as they've been offensively throughout this tournament? Or can Houston be the team that disrupts them enough to just kind of hold on and win. But tonight, eight fifty, I believe is the tip, which uh is late. I feel like that's later than what we usually get.

work is television viewers. And even if you're getting, you know, way more viewership on the West or the East, Coast or just Central America. You still need West Coast viewers to an extent for you to be able to have that big number that gets you those big big checks that keep this thing, you know, keep this keeps this thing going. So currently Florida is favored by one and and that's what I would probably have said it at myself. I just the Florida team certainly really really talented. They're

very balanced. But Walter Clayton Junior, what he's been able to do is I mean, I know they had a close call, and really, I don't know if I can really say that Texas Tech choked or that like Florida pulled off some miracle, because if you watched Walter Clayton Junior this year, even last year, heck, I mean, if you want to get real specific, just in the last month. He hits shots where he is defended as perfectly as he could possibly be defended. And he doesn't just do

it randomly like he's on some heater. He's got that in his back, like there are shots that he like. When they say things like he can get to his spot, that sometimes annoys me because I think it's a real tryhard move from an analyst as far as like wanting you to know that, you know, sometimes these guys I believe and I'm you know, I think, I think I've got the credentials and I've I mean I've certified ballner. I mean that's that's right, sort offued ballnover here.

means as far as my understanding of it. But Walter Clayton Junior gets to his spots, and it's it's if he's getting there and he has been able to do it, I mean it's insane. I mean his elevation on his pull up jump shot despite not being very tall, like that's what makes up for it. He's athletic enough. I wouldn't say he's the super athlete, but he doesn't lack athleticism to an extent to where like it's holding him back. I don't know if i'd say he's a lottery pick.

I know Summers starting to say that he should be and could be. I wouldn't be shocked if he is. But that guy's really really good. And yes, Houston is a team that is defensively elite, but he's been defended at times as good as anybody could defend him, and he still made shots, not just ones that are big because of the moment, because you know that, of course is something he's doing as well. But like early on in that game against Auburn, like do you how do

you defend that? I mean, I think the answer in some of these shots he's hitting and people say, like, what are you supposed to do? There's nothing you can do. He's just that good. Now, maybe he's run out of gas and his shots aren't falling. Now you really never know. But I would take Florida here just because I think that they're a little bit better built to win this.

But Houston's also a team that they're going to fight to the end, and always give themselves a chance to you know, to stay alive and win one, just like they did against Duke. And I wish I had a strong take or you know, feeling about the way that ended between Houston and Duke, but I don't. I don't mean. What I mean by that is I'm not ready to say, well, hey, that's why you don't go young, because that's that's something

you could easily say, is that it got late. Duke had outplayed everybody in this tournament by a wide margin, meaning their opponents of course, and they outplayed Houston like that game played out where like Houston's good, we know what they can do, but man, Duke's just got some dudes, like Douke's elite with talent, and they are and then at the end, Houston their DNA is their veterans. They're tough, they don't waiver, They're not going to be outworked there.

You know, they could be down twenty, which rarely ever happens because they're so good. But like they did just enough to give themselves a chance, and they took advantage of every Duke mistake and they also made some tough shots on their end, right like that comeback It's mostly going to be about how did Duke manage to lose in that situation, which is crazy to think about. I mean, the win probability for Duke down the stretch, it's crazy to think that they lost the way that they did.

But Houston hit a tough step back three, which at that point, what are they down? Seven?

I'm sorry, you know the tech. Yeah, the technical on Houston. Did that put him up six or seven? I don't know what it was at that time, and it's really not important, but yes.

didn't happen. But Cooper Flag has length right, he had like he can do some things that most can't do, as far as finding his way to a rebound without giving you the old boxing out your guy getting low and using the trunk of your legs like he's just he's different. So I think him doing that and his guy, you know, maybe didn't have a full I mean, it wasn't like a I think had the guy really dropped low and you know, pushed Cooper Flag out of the way.

And I don't think there's really enough time to do it. They were reacting to a to a miss and you know, balls coming towards him. But I think had the guy for for forgetting his name for Houston, that that they that they put to the foul line because of the because of the over the over the back call. I woun't even I didn't even want to say, like if he'd has sold it more, I just mean more so, like had he actually been in a in a better

box out position, maybe they wouldn't have called it. I know what you're thinking, Well, if he wasn't in a box opposition, he wasn't boxing out, it was it was a bad call. Look, maybe you're right. I just think that what that ref saw in real time, I understand why his instincts were, I gotta call this foul now again. I also think that if he didn't call it wouldn't have been a huge deal. And here's something that nobody wants to hear. I hate even saying it because it's lame.

It sounds like I'm, you know, get off my lawn kind of guy. But like, there are questionable calls that could go either way an unbelievable amount of time in games. We're just not used to seeing it late when calls, you know, can certainly impact a game the way that one did. And you know, I know the oh you got to swallow your whistle there late. Well, don't you want it consistent? Like which one is it? I think what you want is perfect officiating. I'm here to tell

you something that'll never happen. Players misshots, Refs miss calls. The best refs of all time. They miss calls every game they call, every game that they're a part of. They miss calls every player, Michael Jordan, the best ever, Lebron whoever, Larry Bird. They miss shots. They're not perfect. Like that's one thing that's starting to really just make me feel like I'm a Boomer's I just I can with the officiating. Like in game, yeah, I'll yell about a ref because I'm watching my team and I'm in

the moment, like I'm I'm a sportsman. But like in retrospect after a game, I really have ever felt like, well, man, we just really got screwed by the officials. They really got us because they're not perfect. And those that say that refs need to be a have a press they need to be held accountable, have a press conference after so they got to face the music. You would be underwhelmed. You'd be underwhelmed in a major way. Like those of you who don't go to the lot of men's clinic.

Your wife's underwhelmed. That's the underwhelming feeling that you would feel, because you'd want to you'd find a stream for it on Twitter or maybe you'd you know, maybe you pull O. I don't know where you'd find it, but you'd find that press conference. So these refs have to take their medicine, and you know what they would tell you, Yeah, we missed that one, and you would feel a level of like,

because they're not perfect. They miscall and sometimes there's questionable calls that like it could go either way, and you're just you're you're at the mercy of whatever they decide. Because they're officials, you can tell I miss talking about doctor wood A theew Woman's clinical I was on.

pursue professional options. And it doesn't appear that we have any update case and Pryor and Jamon Hadley are still members of the program as far as I mean, I mean, I don't know. It's awkward because there are still some that'll say, well, why would you why would you even talk about them leaving? They haven't left fair enough? But like I feel like, now, haven't we got to the point where good players don't don't you feel the need to, like if you are keeping up with the portal and

maybe not even the portal. Let me let me, let me rephrase if you are up to date as far as like where we are in college athletics basketball, specifically good players playing for programs that you know, really any program, but especially programs that aren't making the final four every year. I think you kind of just sit back and you you do need a confirmation that somebody is going to be coming back, because you know that they have the ability to leave whenever they want, and a lot of

them are doing it. So I'm not telling you the case in Prior and Jamon Hadley are are gonna leave, and I'm gonna wait until they tell us they're coming back for me to believe it. I just I to me no clue what they're gonna do. Hope they come back, So I don't. I don't know. I would. I would have assumed that there would be some type of clarity on maybe there an il situation on their end to where they would know, Okay, is this good for me?

Or do I do? I want to go hit the portal and see if I can get some money, more money elsewhere. And you got to keep in mind with some guys being available to play because of injury this past season, Kobe Rodgers, Ali Khalifa, as well as the

guys they've met. Because again, this is where it's just awkward because it's still relatively new, but it's very obvious but also important if you are a player who, like, if you're a Jamon Hadley, let's say there is a I'm gonna pull up the transfer portal ranking just to give you kind of an example, because you know, Javon Hadley was awesome. I would love to have him back. Look, I love everything about him, and I mean that like

I think he is. He was one of the I wouldn't say one of the unsung heroes, but like he was a super super factor in Louisville being able to go eighteen and two in the ACC and make it to the a SEC Championship game and get this thing

turned around. He didn't get the same praise and love that guys like Chucky and even rain God, and that's that's understandable Terrence Edwards too, But like, those four, to me were the real reasons why Louisville was able to rally after having some tough losses early and then some injuries. Those guys really kind of put it all together. But let's say I'm trying to find I mean, would you consider help me out here? Austin Like he can definitely

stretch the floor and give you some perimeter play. But Javon's a four, right, he's a stretch for like he's he's a guy who can you know he can give you some He's a mismatch because for Beggs he's a little too quick for him at times. And for guards he can he can box, he can post him up. So let's say you've got perfect example, and I have no clue if Louisville. In fact, it looks like Louisville, I mean looks like this guy may already have landed

at another school. But bright, yeah, Bryce Hopkins, he's transferring to play for Rick Patino at Saint John's. He is a six to seven, two and twenty pound power forward. So again this is all hypothetical. He's already going to Saint John's play for Rick. And you may remember he was committed to Louisville under Chris Mack before he ended up going to Kentucky for a year and then going to Providence. Having a really good season, and he's been

injured the last two. But anyways, if Louisville landed him, Javon Hadley understandably so would have to reconsider what he wants to do, right like the days of well, you don't want to compete, it's not about that. It's about doing what makes sense. It's about doing what make like what's best for you. I mean, so it doesn't look like Louisville has it anybody. You know, Bryce is a top ten transfer. So like, I'm just giving you a hypothetical. So in a long witted way, I have no clue

what those guys are doing. That's what I'm trying to say. But those that think we should just assume they're back, maybe you're right, and I'm not assuming that they're not back, but I am someone that for me, I will need them to announce they're coming back for me to just assume. Okay, Like, when I think about Louisville's lineup next year, there's a

lot of unknown pieces. One because they're still going to be active in the portal to an extent, but also I'd love to look at potential lineups next season and talk about depth with guys like Cason Pryor and Javon Hadley. It's just I don't know if they're coming back, because if they didn't, then they decided to go elsewhere. It wouldn't be a it shouldn't be a big shock to anybody.

I'll say that. So again, no real clarity on my end, but I would love both those guys to come back, And honestly, I just I love the dynamic of that. I mean, you bring in a couple of really talented freshmen, one who's already played pro ball for a couple of years, Sonny Frew, and the three guards you've added in the portal. Hell yeah, I mean Canai Rus hasn't hit the portal. I mean I would love to get him back. And then you've got veterans like Javon and a healthy case.

And I mean, I think that's a pretty good I mean, that's a pretty good recipe. To be honest with you, I still would like to see a more polished, offensive, low post guy. And we'll actually talk about one of those guys who is fighting for another year, a College

of Charleston transfer who played for Pat Kelce. His argument as far as why he deserves another year is exactly what I guessed it would be, and we'll get to that in a lot more two more hours left here, stick around National Championship Game the Night, good stuff right here on Sports Talk seven to ninety