It's time for Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety. Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think when we are get off our show, idiot, the kids are playing or turn off. The countries are screwing it up. Goldplay inter Murals, Brother, Goldplay inter Murals. They're supposed to be mature adults, but they're really not. Who's the kid here? Who's the kid here? Are you kidding me? Now?
Here's nick coffee? All right, ladies and gents, Welcome in to another edition of Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven Sports Talk seven ninety and I just completely Sports Talk seven, but it's a radio host. Yeah, it was, it was something. It was something. I don't know what that was like it was I was kind of like briefly blocked out or something. But I'm good to go. I guess better to get that out of the way at three oh one rather than, you
know, in the middle of an interview or something like that. But let's, again, as mentioned, get it started. And I can't tell you what station this says. This is Sports Talk seven ninety and again it's coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's My name is Nick Coffee. The company man John all In alongside today on a muggy, moist, humid Thursday afternoon, it's swamp ass. See is it just me? Or is it? Is it like sticky out there? It is sticky yesterday too because the temperature is
not that bad. It was like seventy five yesterday i left it. It's amazing how weather. You know, how mother nature is, you know how she operates. Because my son plays t ball at the Blue not Blue Lick, that's where it's that doesn't exist anymore. That's where I played t ball for you know, four games and quit when I was a little kid. But he plays at Okolona Optimist, which is right behind Southern High School, and it looked like it was about to storm the entire way on my way
there. He played at six o'clock. I got there at like six twenty and during the game looked like it was about to storm and never did. And then sure enough, and you go a mile down the road and it looks as if as if it's monsooned out there. So you know, after that, it kind of cooled off a little bit. But this I think this humidity, this moisture out there, it's because rain's on the way. So if you are at the PGA Championship out of Valhalla, enjoy yourself,
because I don't know if you're going to be there tomorrow. I mean you could be, but they may be having some weather delays because I believe it's supposed to thunderstorm all day tomorrow. So the fomost kind of wore off. John like, I'm glad people are enjoying it, But now that it's actually going on, meeting the PGA Championship, I hope everybody's enjoying it. Again. It's a big git for the city to host these kind of events. A lot of eyeballs on Louisville, and by all accounts of those who cover
golf will really just cover sports in general. Right, It's not just golf, right, We've got I mean, ESPN has a lot of their op talent here doing their daily shows because there, of course, you know, mixing in coverage of the PGA Championship. But now that it's here and everybody's enjoying it, it's just a reminder to me that, like I don't know anything about it, I'm hearing. I'm hearing like score updates, all these updates, and I'm like, okay, yeah, I don't know what it
means. I saw Scotty Scheffler eagled on his opening hole, I believe, right, Yeah, And apparently is it Scotty Scheffler. I mean, he's the guy that apparently has been on fire entering this in this tournament. But there's somebody else who I guess is off to a great start. It might be Scheffler, but I feel like it was a different name, one that you know, wasn't the you know, wasn't Tiger. Obviously he's not going to be a real contender here, at least he's not supposed to be.
So yeah, hopefully everybody's enjoying it. But we were actually potentially gonna have
the show. That was the initial plan was to do the show there today and tomorrow, which you know didn't end up going through, which is good because you know, I really would have felt unworthy of being there, not only you know, not not only because I'm not a big golf guy, like you know, when you're broadcasting from that kind of event, you would, you know, I have I have a fear of being you know when I'm on location somewhere at like an event, which do happened that often?
Like usually if I'm doing a remote, it's at a business or somebody we're partnered with or something like that, or I'm traveling, which I guess you wouldn't call that a remote. But back in my earlier days of radio, probably ten years ago roughly, I ended up doing a show at a golf course in Bullet County. What is the name of that golf course that's right off Cedar Grove? That Heritage Hills? Is that what that? No, that's Heritage Chills. Is Indiana. There's two different ones. There's an Indiana
Heritage Chills and there's there's a Heritage Hills golf course. Imagine be Heritage Hill without the yes at the end. Okay, either way, we did the show there. It was Yeah, it is Heritagechill, It's and it was it was great, Like it was a I mean, just another show. I was on different station at the time, on from I believe at that time I was on from like five to seven, and we were set up there and I think we already had some kind of a relationship, like business
wise with the golf course. Itself, but they were doing the Topper Tour or something like that. In Louisville. They have the they used to have the Cardinal Caravan where there'd be these events in different places in different areas and they'd bring a handful of coaches and players, kind of like a little many pep rally for alumni. Indiana does win at Huber's what do they call that, Like, they have these events where India. I don't know the name
of it, but it's been at Hubers for years. And he used to do one another location. Yeah, yeah, they do them. They do them all over the place, but the one, I think the closest one to Louisville, yes, was Hubers. So anyways, WKU was doing one of those things and the coach can think give his name, maybe not McDonald,
ray Harper. Ray Harper was the coach at WKU basketball at that time, and we weren't there to cover that event, but that was going on while we were there doing the show, and I don't remember who was working WKU media relations at the time, but they thought we were there to cover it. And I'm live on the air, probably talking about nonsense like I typically do, and the s I d for WKU basketball, walks up and sits Ray Harper next to me, and you know, we just got back
from a break. I know that that's Ray Harper. Glad me they'd have brought me another coach. I would not have known who it was, so I kind of just you know, if that happened now, I would have, I guess the courage to say, you know, just to say I
would I would tell them to wait till the breaks. I would. I would tell whoever is producing, like tell them that, like I don't know what they're doing, Like tell them we need, you know, we need a segment here and then we can regroup and figure out what's going on, because I think there's there's some confusion going on here. But I just you know, sat there and felt like, Okay, well, I guess I'm
gonna interview Ray Harper. And I didn't you know, he didn't. He didn't seem eager to you know, it wasn't like he was using this as an opportunity to really pitch WKU basketball to my listeners. You know, he looked like he just got drug over there by his sid to sit down and do an interview. Kind but he wasn't like real energetic. He didn't know me, and I probably made it very clear during the conversation that I didn't know him. I mean I knew of him and I know basketball a little
bit. But I remember they brought in George Phant, who was a pretty big time recruit out of Bowling Green, played at Warren Central, ended up having a good career there WKU, and ended up now he's an NFL offensive lineman. He made the switch to football. So anyways, I remember covering the Derby Classic like two weeks prior and George Fant was a part of that, and I think I asked him like five questions about specifically about George Fant,
the incoming freshman. He might have brought back an All American. I didn't know that, but that's all I had. That's the only thing I had in the back for the interview, is to ask about the one player I knew that was on his team. I mean, I didn't know a lot about his background, like where he came from. So it was probably one of the worst interviews I've ever done. And I always get fear when I'm at when I'm at an event that like they think because you know this,
John, You've worked with me long enough. I don't I don't want to have a guest on that I don't have any interest in talking to. Now, sometimes you have to do that, but I'm not good at making that in any way compelling. Like I'm not good at setting up that guest to look great. I'm not good at faking like I have a lot of interest. I mean, there's other people that do that really really well. And I say that sincerely because that's that's a good skill to have, because
at the end of the day, entertainment is what this is. But you know, making your advertisers look good and selling that partnership is important and I'm just not That's not what I'm great at. I'm not sure if I'm great at anything, but I know it's not that. So I thought about doing the show at Valhalla during the PGA Championship and it's going on right now,
so I doubt that they'd be throwing a guest at me. But like if they did, like there's a I don't know, a former caddy making the rounds promoting, you know, some kind and he's there on behalf of some brand kind of like when they have those former NFL players do radio row at Super Bowl, Like they're there, you get am eight minutes, they'll answer a few questions, but of the two of the eight minutes, you got to have him pimp out whatever sponsor they're they're promoting. So I'm kind of
glad we're not there. The FOMO were off because I now know deep down I don't belong at Valhalla. Uh it's it's just not me. I'm not worthy. So we're here at the studio and we're gonna have some fun today. I'm I'm very much looking forward to it. Do you know who Ray Harper is? He probably was the coach Stansburgh. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
good coach. But yeah, there's there's there's a handful of memories that I'll always that'll always be with me, and some great and you know, wow that was awesome and some like wow like that that That was a moment where I questioned myself, like should I be doing this? Should I just go back and get my you know, go back to my real real job. And that was one of them, just because I felt like so it was just a bad interview and if I didn't know when I was gonna get
the w Q basketball coach. I would have been ready and I would have you know, I'd have tried my best because I always try, and those
that situation. Stat's a good question that like fans of the team would want to hear about when it comes to basketball, but also lighten it up a little bit and let them kind of you know, maybe like my goal each time I would interview a coach is to bring something out that they haven't expressed in another interview, right, something that humanizes them a little bit and maybe just you get to know them a little bit more about them as a person.
And I couldn't. I mean, that was I hope that doesn't exist in the archives somewhere. And then another one was my first ever remote. This was back in twenty and eleven. I did a remote at a like a bar and grill in Oldham County. I don't think it's open anymore. And I showed up. There was a show on before mine, and they were on from I think like four three to like three to five, and I was five to seven and I showed up. You know, I'm in twenty and eleven. I'm very young, I am, because how old would
I be? I was born in eighty eight, twenty and eleven was I let's do some math here. I feel like I have thirty three. No three, I'm thirty five now, twenty and eleven, so yeah, so fourteen yeah, so I'm thirty five now and that would have been thirteen years ago, so I guess I would have been twenty two. No way, Wow, Could I been that young? That sounds crazy? Why's the math
not math in here? Either way, I was young. I probably didn't look like somebody that you would just expect to have his own radio show. So I walked in and they're kind of sitting on the patio area. I walk up to the bar and, you know, just I say, can I get a water? Well, then lady comes out. It's like, can I help you, like with something else? And I said, yeah, I'm here. You know i'm here. I said, I'm here for work, meaning like the radio show. Well, She's like, okay,
come here, come on, come on back. So I walked back, like and I'm like, what is she gonna do. She gonna like give me a tour of the place. She's going to give me a gift card. She was the owner, I believe, and she handed me in apron.
She thought I was the new bus boy, and you know, and you know that was a you know, it wasn't like a crazy uh you know, she felt about two feet tall after the fact, But like, how would she have known, right, Like, she wouldn't nobody know who I was, and I'd probably didn't look like I mean, I probably looked
like somebody she would have hired for that position. But I'll never forget that, right because I was like, well, I guess I got a long way to go before, I got a long way to go before people know who I am. And you know, when they have my have my name up on the thing, like you know, sports Dtation X is going to be here in this show and that show. Like I remember thinking, I got a long way to go and a lot of work to put in before
anybody actually sees that and knows who the hell I am. And people probably still don't know who the hell I am, and that's okay, But anyways, everybody enjoyed the PGA Championship. We actually are going to check in with Kent Spencer coming up today at four thirty. He's been doing some really great
coverage. I enjoyed his story. He did for WWHS eleven yesterday on Tiger Woods, and how obviously he's not, you know, believed to be a real threat to win this thing, but obviously he's Tiger Woods and still commands a lot of attention. And I don't know if it's genuine, I assume it is. But he now that he is a part of these events, and he still moves the needle, and obviously he's going to be the most of one of the most talked about players at every event he goes to.
But we all know he's not. I mean, you never count him out, but like he's not. He's not at the top of his game or anywhere close to it. So the fact that he's still playing and still commands this attention, I thought it was a really heartfelt answer when he asks, you know, he mentions, you know, twenty years later, I mean,
I think that's the last time he played here at Valhalla. You know, he now appreciates the amount of people that are, you know, super fans of his that like if they're in his presence, like it's something they're going to remember for the rest of his life because he's been doing this a long time. And again, he still moves the needle like nobody else. But it's just because he's a larger than live star and that's and that's really it. So again we'll talk to Kit coming up here at about four thirty.
All right, so let's start, I guess with a little bit of a recap from yesterday's events, because we had back to back days. And I say events, I mean, like, you know, I guess they're probably not considered events. But you know, Pat Kelsey land in recruits, that's you know, to me, that's an eventful thing. And it started with Case and pryor sort of out of nowhere on Tuesday, and then yesterday Kahani Roots the four star freshman, top forty, top thirty player depending on
where you look, he committed. And this really really is is an example for me as to how different we look at freshmen now because you know, he's a top you know again in all the like, he's one of the top thirty five. I think he's thirty first in the twenty four to seven Sports Composite rankings, which that's what I mean. Let me just give you some context here. And people are excited about him, trust me, like
they are. But now that people now just question. Okay, this is great, but like it's kind of a one year investment, right because the portal he could leave in any moment and we'll see if he's ready to contribute right away like that. It's just we look at it differently now. So I don't want to position this as if fans kind of don't care that they landed a good recruit. But he's the eighth highest ranked incoming freshman to ever
commit and sign with Louisville. And I feel like if you'd have said that a few years ago, it would have it would have been all anybody's talking about around town. And yes, the situation here is just, you know different. You have a new coach and you have an entire new team, so you know, it's just different. And as much as he is a highly ranked guy, you know, it's not Jaden Quains with Jayden Quains. That would have been different because he is, you know, in the eyes
of some the number. You know, he's like the top top five, top six player in the country. And he was committed to Kentucky. You know, clearly everybody wanted him. With Ruthsip is different. He was committed to Michigan, got out of his letter because Juan Hyard was fired and really Louisville kind of appeared in the last few weeks to be the real threat to land him, and that's what happened. But this kind of commitment years prior,
it would have been all anybody was talking about. And now it's kind of like, okay, yeah, another nice, good piece. We'll see if he can play, like we'll see if he can maybe crack the rotation. Because now it's I mean again I talked to this yesterday. You have the ability now to choose not to rely on young players anymore, and most coaches understandably so choose not to because it's more of a risk. So I think he's gonna have a chance to crack the rotation and play. He's six
's eight two oh five. Pat Kelsey seems to have a type, and what I mean by that is skilled and versatile. I think you could put him on the wing. He could be a stretch four for you, you know, heck, you could maybe make him. I mean, I don't know if he's a guard, but he seems to be somebody that is highly skilled for a guy with that size, so you know he'll he'll have some
tough competition because he's going to be competing against grown men. But I love the idea of you taking a freshman, one guy coming in and you know, it's not just any freshman. He's one of the best freshmen in the country as far as these rankings go. And he's going to be playing around a lot of grown men. So I think that's going to be a good culture for him to come in and really learn from guys who've been doing this
for quite some time. And you know, maybe I'm just a nerd for this kind of stuff, but like I think these guys who've played at James Madison, who have played at Long Beach State, even College at Charleston, Like, if this thing is rolling next year and you've got eighteen thousand at the UMP Center, like those guys will I hope be really like blown away by that and seeing like what a program like this can be when things are
thriving. And I think it'll be good for I think Kahani Ruz to see like, Okay, I'm at a pretty special place, so a big addition, no doubt. In fact, I'm looking at it right now. Maybe this is an example as to why we shouldn't you know, rely on these rankings as much as we do, which I know we shouldn't, but we do. Smarto. Samuel's a number one player ever that committed. He was the number one player in the country, and he was a good college player.
But like you know, I don't know if people would say that, like you got your bank for your buck by landing the high school player of the year. And I hate that they include these guys. But Sebastian Telfair's number two, and he never played here, went to the NBA. Number three, Samuel Williamson loved Sam but man that never came close to being accurate as far as like his upside. Brian Bowen never played here. Trenton Flowers never played here, Dennis Evans kind of played here for a minute or two.
Mer Johnson never played here, went to the NBA. And then it's Kahani Russ. So after him, it is Shane Bhannon, who had a really good career here and was part of a national championship team. Number ten VJ. King VJ King is like, in my opinion, one of the I don't want to I think there's a difference in being a bust in being like way over like VJ was just overrated. He wasn't a bud, Like he wasn't as if he couldn't play. He just wasn't nearly as good as
everybody thought he would be. Wayne blackshere number eleven. This is what pisses me off, Like people would say that VJ is the new Wayne, and that makes me want to punch something. Because Wayne black Sheer scored over a thousand points, played for some of the most successful program most successful teams Lois had my lifetime, and was a starter on a national championship team. Like I don't mean, did he make the NBA, did he become an All
American? No? But like the disrespect Wayne used to get was just mind boggling to me, So is he? You know, would people guess that he's one of the highest ranked guys to ever commit here, maybe because they knew the hype he had coming out of high school and he you know the did the results necessarily match what you thought you were getting? I don't know.
I guess that's up for you to decide. However, you know, he also played and was productive with guys like Russ Smith on his team and Luke Hancock and Peyton Siva and Gorky Jang and Shane Behan, and so you know, if Wayne would have been sort of the guy on a on a team that's not close to that good, he might have put up twenty five a game, but he played with some of the best players we've ever had here. Number twelve, totally overrated guy, I mean, just wasn't nearly
as good as anybody thought. Malik Willilliams thirteen Tchaikuan airon Total Bust, couldn't play here, went to USC wasn't very good there either. Donovan Mitchell number fourteen, I'd say that when worked out, and I'd say he probably belongs to be a lot higher. Number fifteen is Brian Harvey, a guy who I would say is one of them. I mean, he was a big
time recruit. He couldn't play here, transferred transferred out after I think maybe one or two years, and then I later played against him in a men's league game and he tried to fight me. True story, I wouldn't have done well in the fight. He's six five, two hundred pounds, built like an NBA two guard, but his game didn't match that at all.
But yeah, how about that? True story? Did you instigate. Who oh, I mean, I probably instigated a little bit of a I probably instigated some things as far as maybe saying some stuff, having some attitude that made him mad. But trust me, I'm an idiot, but I'm not that big of an idiot to try to get in a fight with somebody like that. But once I get him that hot that, I know I'm under
their skin. And you know, I never crossed the line to where I'm like, you know, prepared to get beat up after the game in the parking lot. But yeah, I mean I played with a little flair, as they say, which I don't know if people say that, but my coach used to say that I play with Flair, not Rick Flair. But
you know, like I guess some SaaS. I remember one time, my grandmother she used to come to all my games and if I was you know, if I was talking trash to the other team or you know, just kind of there was one of those moments where I was a little mouthy, or maybe I was mouthed off to the ref and got a technical. My grandmother would ask me after the game why I was being so sassy, which
I always thought that was funny. So I'm glad Louisville ind to Kahani Russ And right now, right now as we speak, unless you know the reporting has been incorrect, Noah Waterman is visiting Louisville, or at least he's on his way here. So I mean it sounds like because of the relationship with Ali Khalifa, his teammate at BYU, and because there was clearly some mutual interest that was expressed in some former fashion prior to him entering the portal a
few days ago. I mean, I think Louisville is in the driver's seat and he would be a big time pickup. And as far as that last spot, let's say Waterman does end up committing, I think Ugo is still you know, on the board. But as we discussed the other day, I'm thinking to myself, you know what, if you've got one spot,
what's the best sell right like? What is like what position would you be able to really attract interest from because they could see a path to them having a role, And it's point guard because you can put Corn Johnson at the one. But chuckiy Hepburn is gonna run your team. He's gonna be your point guard and he's gonna be the guy that plays probably as many minutes or
more minutes than anybody else. But after that, you know, you need somebody that can give him a break if he gets in foul trouble or just you know, to get him some rest. And now it sounds like Louisville is in the mix for Elijah Crawford, who is also a freshman to be
part of the twenty twenty four class. He was committed to Stanford, got out of his letter of intent and is now you know, talking to a handful of schools, including camps by U, Louisville, Wake Forest, And I don't know if he's going to visit Louisville, but he went to Brewster Academy, which is where Donovan Mitchell went. So maybe Donovan could uh, you know, make a phone call and and really sell Louisville because the kid, you know, six' to one, you know, he's a four
star point guard. Not a guy that's ranked nearly as high as as ruth'sys, but still a guy that I think, you know, to me, I mean, it took me a while to kind of realize that, but I think that I don't want to say like it's a weakness, because again, I think you can play Corn Johnson at the one, and he's shown that he can he can distribute, but I think a backup point guard would be would be ideal. And again I think you can You know you're recruiting
freshman differently than you're recruiting transfers. All right, let's get to a quick break here, a lot that we need to get into the rest of the way. Here, We've got some sound from Pat Kelsey from the ACC meetings earlier this week, which I think will make you fall in love with him even more than you already are, you know, if you're a Louisville fan. And he posted a picture last night that I have questions about. So
we'll get to that. Kentucky Land at another commitment from the portal, giving them a little more depth, And at some point, I want to talk about something that I believe is a uncomfortable conversation for a lot of people, understandably so, and that's gratuity tipping at restaurants. I'll save that though, because I've got some thoughts to share and I'm done with hiding the way I
feel about tipping. I'm just going to lay it all out there, John, you join you, all right, let's do it Coffee and Company. Fel about Thorton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. This is the Kanye West that I was really, really a big fan of good stuff here. I feel like most people enjoy the college drop out late registration era, and Kanye clearly others that really enjoy the later stuff. I'm just not one of
them. And I feel like he's always been a really creative artist and he's a to me, he seems like he's lost his mind as of late, but I remember really getting it, like gosh, it's probably been no joke twenty years. But at the time he started becoming you know, mainstream relevant, I remember thinking to myself, like, this guy's like super creative, Like you know, I can't really like he's He's very unique. Like there
wasn't somebody that I would find myself like comparing him to. And you know, sometimes when I'm at the gym and yes, I know you can tell i'll do workout, I'll just hit like two or three Kanye songs on the on the shuffle within like you know, twenty thirty minutes, and I'm reminded, like, man, this was this was really good stuff. Speaking of good stuff, it's coffee and company here fiel By Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety. Let me tell you guys about my friends at Edlin and Eedland.
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vacation something like that. So again Eatlin and Needland is so you need to turn to Eland dot com is the website. Give them a call f Ibo two five nine nine at twenty eight hundred. It's speaking of vacation again. Reminder I'm out next week and uh, I'm getting I'm getting a little slap happy. And I don't know if I've told you this yet, John, we have not. The kids don't know Whe're going, Oh yeah, that's cool, So we'll surprise trip. So they love the you know,
they love the airport, and they love being on planes. They haven't flown a lot, but they really they think it's cool. And they see airplanes in the sky and my son's obsessed with with airplanes. So what we're gonna do is we actually leave Monday, Monday afternoon or early like mcnon I think. So we're you know, school is at school ends for my daughter on Friday. Tomorrow's our last day of school. So uh, they're gonna get up and kind of go to do their normal routine like Moose is gonna go
to daycare. My daughter, I think on Monday, she's gonna be with my mother in law, and then we're just kind of going to arrive and get them not that long. What we're gonna do is go home. We're gonna do a little pre packing and then load up the car after we drop them off, and then go pick them up and tell them where we got a surprise, and then they'll see where we're going, you know, to to the airport and be excited. Then I'm assuming we'll tell them then then
we're going to the beach. So in a weird way like that has been the thing I'm most excited about about the trip is to surprise them, so hopefully they are. They're they're happy and pleased with it, and we've probably had I guess, I mean, Mays'll be three in a couple of weeks, so and because my vacation has always you know, I try not to take any big trips or take a lot of time off for really about eight months out of the year whence football starts up until basketball ends, like I
rarely take many days off, certainly not a full week. So he's been on a handful of trips despite you know, only being three years. I say he'll be three before. So anyways, my kids are just better behaved when we travel. I don't know what it is, maybe because they're just there, they've got you know, they're drunk on the excitement of you know, being on vacation. But one day that may backfire. But like we look back at all of our trips we've gone on, and you know,
my kids are usually pretty well behaved overall. But like we just have such a good time when we have our family trips because you know, it's it's what it's for rest, relaxation, all that kind of stuff. So looking forward to it, and again, you'll be in good hands when I'm when I'm out. So Kentucky, they have landed another commitment in the portal and I don't you know, i'd be a'd be a fool to try to tell you all, like I know much about this guy, but I do know
that his name is Annsley Almonor and he's coming from fairly. Dickinson averaged sixteen points, five boards, and thirty two minutes per game last year, so I guess it's just a depth piece for them. I doubt that is somebody that is going to be playing, you know, a ton of minutes. But you never know, Right, Kentucky's in the same situation as Louisville when it comes to this debut season for their new head coach, and that is the ultimate unknown, Like you just have no clue what to expect. New
coach, entirely new staff, and an entirely new roster. And I think Kentucky fans can look at their roster and feel as if they've done a pretty good job. And maybe this is me being a homer here, but I kind of feel like they're missing, like they're missing a like a a like a a star. And maybe that's unfair to say because I'm not really sure how many stars there are in college basketball, right. And there were teams that did you know, like Yukon, Yukon's gonna have dudes drafted this year.
Like I'm not trying to sell you that Yukon is this you know, you know, blue collar team with a bunch of scrubs that just play hard for the love of the game. But like who was their star, like you know of some players on their team because they're great. They were one of the best teams in the country, the best team. They just won the National Chiamian ship back to back years. Some of you need like a Zach Edy or a Hunter Dickinson to be really good. But like who,
I wonder who Kentucky fans would say their best player is right now. I feel like a beaten Blamont Butler Junior. You think just because of the fact that they played for a national championship game. He had a big shot in the final four. And if it's not him, my next guest would be Kirk Crisa. Maybe that's not a good choice. I feel like he's gonna
be a big character for them. It's because of the the attitude that he kind of carries himself with and the kid who they got from Dayton, the Kobe b. Yeah, he's like his numbers were impressive and there were a ton of I mean, his numbers are, you know, pretty. I mean, I don't act like he's coming in, but he was a Dayton in the A ten. And he's a really good shooter. We know that great catch and shoot guy. And how do you spell his last name? B r E y Okay. Yeah, so he he comes to Kentucky after
you know, a few years. I believe at Dayton. Actually he's a he's a five year guy. He's one of these dudes that's taking advantage of the fifth year. So this past year he averaged eleven points and shot forty nine percent from three. So again, like that's like, that's good, but it's at Dayton, right, So like eleven points per game at Dayton in the A ten, you know, would you expect him to probably have, you know, nine eight points per game at Kentucky because of the difference
in competition. And I don't know, some guys thrive whenever they you know, play up at a higher level. But yeah, I mean, I don't they got a bunch of good players, but I don't really know like who the guy is. And I guess you could say the same exact thing
about Louisville. But I happen to believe that Chucky Hepburn is a guy that you know, you feel as if night in and night out, you're gonna have a point guard that is going to maybe not be as talented, maybe not have you know, you know, a gaudy stat line like somebody else should go against, but like you're not going to be outmatched that often from that specific position. I think Trey Orr is still the most undervalued guy.
Louisville has added at this point, just because I think he's gonna be hard to keep off the floor. He plays with so much energy. I mean, his his numbers for a six six, six seven or actually no, he's six five, but like you can play him at the four. He's got a long wingspan, you know, can jump out of the gym. So somebody asked me this the other day and I didn't really give it much
thought, But here I am doing it. The rosters for these two teams, don't I don't think they're similar as far as personnel, because you know, Kentucky I think is more front court built. Louisville is more. You know, they got a bunch of dudes you could put two through four. Kentucky, you know they don't have as many guards, although they did add Crisa. So I think there's similar in the fact that they're you know, they've added a lot of good college players from a variety of different levels,
and you just hope it works out. But ready to go there yet, because some people have asked, like, hey, who do you think, who do you think as the better team? Who do you think would win if they played today? What would the spread be and I just I mean no clue. I mean no. I love the ult event, the ultimate unknown, as you keep referring to, and that's what for both teams.
The beginning of next season is going to be so exciting from the Louisville and Kentucky market of things, because there's gonna be excitement, fear, really every level of anxiety and excitement will be felt from I feel like every corner of the fan base, both fan bases. Sometimes it is fun to not have expectations, and I don't mean where you just like don't care what happens.
But again it's it's you could. You could put out there what you realistically expect and what you think is fair for year one for Mark Pope and Pat Kelcey, and I'm sure people will do that. That's normal, but again, you have no clue if that's a fair expectation because you just don't. You have no I mean, you don't know what you have. And it's
not just about what you have, it's how it all works together. And that's where it true is the ultimate unknown, because I think you can go out and put together a team and this is very unusual that you'll see both programs. In fact, any program go through this. In fact, I mean maybe USC's doing it because of how things played out there Arkansas. I guess they did the same thing. To be honest with me, I don't think they brought back anybody, did they. I don't think CAL brought back
a single player from Musselman's team. So you know, it happens, but it takes this kind of a situation where a coach leaves and goes to another school, and that happens from time to time. But as we've learned here in like the mid major, guys going up to a higher level, which is what with what both Pope and Pat Kelsey did, they're aware of what they can do in the portal and they're not going to bring everybody from their
lower level team because they know they're playing at a higher level. So you know, it takes a big, a big, a big fish, if you will, leaving or a disastrous situation like Louisville just had where everybody wanted to get out and start over. But like Musselman was a big name and he led to USC, so you know they're in a similar situation. But
I think you can on paper, every year find. You know, if you find yourself in this situation, you can look at who you brought in, where they're from, balanced roster production, and you can check all those boxes. But when it's all brand new and they've never played together, that's where you just have no clue. And although it's unusual, I think it could be. I mean, I enjoy this, I really do. All
right, we need to get to a quick break. We'll come back on the other side and let you guys hear what Pat Kelsey had to say yesterday or maybe it was the day before. I think it was two days ago
at the ACC Spring meetings. Talked a little bit about, you know, how the roster's coming together, and talked about I'll let you guys here for yourself because I was going to try to, like, you know, describe what he's you know, but I'll let you hear because it's and I think it's an example as to why people would want to play for this guy. Good salesman, no doubt. It's coffee and company. We are feel about
Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Can I tell you what I think one of the most overused responses or just you know, things that people say to one another in a text message? What is it? And I do it too, I'm guilty. It's a way to like make sure that people know that you are being not funny, but you're it's the ultimate like okay, they're being lighthearted like they're you know, lool like like l ol, And a text message is like a given with a lot of people.
And I do it as well, But nobody's really laughing a lot of times when you say it, right, correct, So I have now I've now started doing this if somebody sends me something rather it be just a text message that's funny response or a you know, a meme or a video, and it does bring genuine laughter out of me. All right back, I laughed out loud, And don't say lol. I say it because we need to we need to separate the two. Would you say that's one of the most
I mean, I shouldn't say over correct. I shouldn't say that it's overused, because again, I think it serves a good purpose to like because if you just respond without any like emoji, any any flavor within your you know, your text. If that makes sense, Maybe it's punctuation, Maybe it's an emoji. You know, at times people can you know, if you're just real direct, it doesn't mean you're being a jerk, but you never know, like you could. You know, context is not always there.
And I think LOL helps you because he can at least you know the tone of the conversation. If they throw the l lol on there, but they're not really laughing, it's just to kind of, you know, keep the conversation, you know, lighthearted, playful. Yeah. Fine, I don't think I could have said it any better because there's a there's a certain section there used to be a very I guess it was very common years ago for people to text three letter I guess like there weren't acronyms, but there was
IDK, there was IKr, lol obviously being one of them. But nobody uses the other ones anymore, they but people still use lol. Yeah. So my buddy Andy sent me this on Instagram and during the break and I wrote him back. I said, I laughed out loud, and I hope if he's listening, he knows that I when I say that, it means I really like. It means I really did laugh out loud. Because this
is a and this I'm probably already over selling this. This isn't that funny, but I just you know, it got a chuckle out of me. There's this meme that has it's a it's it's a it's a Spotify playlist. I'm showing John here on the scene, and it says Marvin Gaye's clueless ass, and it has four titles of his songs, What's going on? What's happening? Brother? When did you stop loving me? Where are we going?
I like, isn't that funny? Yeah, that's funny. Like those are all songs of his, And if somebody sent me laugh out you just look at those, You're like, damn, this guy. He really didn't know what the hell was going on. He's clueless, and he let it be known through his through his artistry that his music. So anyways, let's let's transition here to uh to mister Pat Kelsey, which I want to get
to his birthday post. We'll do that in the four o'clock hour, because I refuse to believe that was a coincidence, and again we'll talk about it coming up here shortly. But yes to I guess two days ago he was in wherever the acc Spring meetings take place. Amelia Island, Florida, I believe. And he was talking about his uh, you know, he was talking about the you know, the the first few months on the joss a few months. He hasn't been here a few months, it's not even been
that long. But there's a couple of clips I wanted to play for you guys, And here's the first one. What will you do over the next couple of months to unite this team some team building? Do you have anything in mind? Anything up your sleep? Yeah? I mean, I think that's part of the secret sauce of being successful in college basketball in today's day and age, because there is roster turnover, there's new parts coming in every year, and I think a program of staff's ability to build a culture right
and cultivate that and grow it every single day. You know, we say relentless, relentless effort, competitive excellence, and the last, but not least and most important, the power of the unit. That's the uncommon commitment to a guy next to you, Right. We all have individual goals and ask operations in every walk of life. We're all competitive people, but nothing can
be at the expense of the unit and the team and winning well. So I'm sure you know if you're not, you don't care about Louis of basketball, you're a Kentucky fan whatever, Like you're you're thinking all this guy's I mean, those are corny things. That's such a cliche. And look, you may be right, but he'll I think he'll give you, you know, a line or a motto that he follows and it just sounds like what
a coach would say. But then when he explains it, I think, at least for me, it helps me, you know, understand more so why guys are willing to buy in and play for him. Like you know, I think Pat Kelsey just from what we what we know now, and we're gonna learn a lot about him, trust me, but I feel like he is somebody that would be able to lead a group like this when you have so many new pieces coming from different areas. And you know, I
remember we had Terrence Edwards on the show. You know, he talked about Pat Kelsey and just how I'll you know that everything he knows about his program at Charleston is that like they're all dogs, like they work for everything they're going to get. There's a collective buy in from everyone and when that happens
and you succeed. It's good for everyone. It's good for everybody. And look, it happened with him at Charleston where they did that and had success, and then those guys used that success to get out of Charleston and go play at a higher level. So you know, you hope that you won't have to do that here at Louisville because things are going well, then you
won't need to, all right. The one more clip I wanted to play this was actually from I think a serious sexm interview that he did while while there, and this is him talking just about the guys that they've signed and how the roster stands today. This is about thirty seconds and then we'll get to the top of the hour break here. No, it's a monumental task. Right when I took the job at the press conference, and within a
few days you realize that you know, you're starting over from scratch. My staff has just done an extraordinary job, work their tails off, and we're really excited about where we sit right now. In mid May and over the next couple of weeks, be able to shore some things up and finalize the roster. But you know, we've you know, we've signed nine guys, two of which are going to be Red Shirts, and we're really close on
several more. But couldn't be more excited about where the roster stands. So when that took place, I don't think they'd sign prior or roots yet. So it's getting closer to being finalized, and I wouldn't be shocked if in a week or two, maybe even less than that, it's done. In fact, i'd say it's less than that, just because you know guys are going to start making decisions here soon. All right. We got to get to the top of the hour break. Two more hours to go, so
stick with us right here. Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety