Chapter 1: What are the latest recruiting updates for UK Basketball?
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Chapter 2: How will the NCAA tournament expansion affect team dynamics?
Maybe. Or it might be in a different form. Probably won't go away, but it'll probably be something different than it is. Maybe it'll be the small school tournament now or something like that. Yeah, they moved it to, you know, the final four. They moved it to Hinklefield House in Indianapolis. That helped. That definitely helped.
So maybe if they do something like that, go to some historic arenas across the country to help generate a little more interest for it. Yeah. Who's up next, Shannon? Ed. Ed. Go ahead, Ed.
Hey, guys. I got just a couple of questions. It's not about basketball on the football side. I understand. You know, why they didn't put it on TV, but why didn't they broadcast it on the radio?
Spring game? You know, I don't totally know why they didn't. I don't think they usually do the spring game on the radio, so that may be why. I was a little surprised it wasn't anywhere. I think they were trying to get people there, and then, of course, it rained. So, yeah, I don't really know. I mean, I don't know why they didn't really do a lot of broadcasting with it.
Yeah, and then the other question, is the Power K coming back? Well, Will Stein wore the Power K on this show. He did. And he said that he loved the Power K. So I could see it. I appreciate the call. I could see them doing that.
Oh, I think there's no doubt.
And it's coming back in some capacity. Maybe they have a throwback game when they put it on the helmet. It's coming. People love it, especially like the generation one older than me. So really your generation. Like Freddie Maggard when he played. That's the generation that loves it, loves it.
Yes, no doubt.
And especially football because it was more of a football thing. So I think our fans that are very football-centric are the ones I think that really, really want it. And I think the fans will react to it. That's why Will Stein and his staff, they get it. They understand. They're one of us, so they get it. Yes, they are one of us. That's true. Who's next? Jay and Lyndon.
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Chapter 3: What are the implications of having more bubble teams in the tournament?
Who's next? Joe. Joe, go ahead, Joe.
Yeah, Matt, the Pulp Fiction reference, Mark Pope needs the wolf.
The wolf, you're right, the wolf. Yeah, but I don't think the Tyron Stokes thing is any different than what's been going on all year. I think the issue going forward, and I hate it, I don't think it's recoverable, is that Mark Pope has no respect from the coaches in college basketball that are going up against him, the other schools, and now the recruits. He's a pawn.
And he's going to have to do something so outside of the box, going overseas and build a team to be successful, and I'm just not sure that's sustainable for the long term. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's hard to know. I appreciate the call. I mean, I don't talk to other coaches or recruits, Ryan, so I can't say what they think. I know what the national media thinks.
It was very eye-opening to me when I was at the East Regional. And you ā You know, I think I told this story, but on ā the East Regional was Friday night and Sunday in D.C. Saturday night I watched games with probably 15 national media members. And they were talking to each other. They weren't just talking to me. And they talked about a lot of things. It was fascinating.
I got to learn, you know, what coaches cheat on their wives. Oh, I got to learn about stuff all over ā not here, just all over the country, right? But when they talked about Kentucky, the universal theme is they were all baffled at how Kentucky runs the program. I mean, they all ā and to some of their credits, they predicted what was going to happen in the portal.
One of them said to me, they're an unorganized mess. And remember, this was before the portal even opened. And, you know, my natural inclination is I'm Mr. Kentucky. I want to take up for them. And I was like, oh, it's going to be fine. Shut up. But they were right. They were right. They called it before it happened.
I mean, they were like, you know, one of them said, once the portal happens, it's over. Meaning, like, all the business has already been done. And he was like, if you wait until the portal happens, you've already lost. And he said, I think Kentucky, you know, they just hired Keegan Brown like three weeks before. He was like, it's too late.
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Chapter 4: How does Mark Pope's coaching style impact player recruitment?
Yeah.
They've already lost. And it turned out to be correct. I think that's kind of what Jay and Lennon were trying to say before his phone broke up. He can't believe he's saying this about Mark Popity's staff, that they seem so unorganized. And, you know, there's like nerdy analytic guys. You'd think they'd be extremely organized. Yeah. Who's next? Brandon. Brandon. Go ahead, Brandon.
Hey, Matt. If we have another coach in search next spring, which unfortunately looks more likely every passing day, the next AD cannot repeat Mitch Barnhart's biggest mistake, and that's if we don't get our biggest target next time, say it's Billy Donovan, we can't just go way down the list to a nice guy who we know is going to say yes to us.
I think our situation was that we kept crossing off names for vague morality reasons, whether it's a Nate Oates or a Sean Miller or a Bruce Pearl, I'm not saying any one of those guys was the answer then or is the answer in the future, but we just need to not tie our hands in the process and prioritize. We need to prioritize being a winner, being first, second, third consideration here.
Yeah, I think the next AD, it's going to be fascinating, Ryan, to see. Appreciate the call, who they hire for the next AD. That's going to be fascinating because it's going to be a complete culture change. I mean, for 24 years, this university has been run a certain way with a certain kind of person who hired certain kinds of people under him. Now what's the new one going to do?
I think it will be fascinating. And, you know, Mitch Martin did a great job hiring some of those coaches we're talking about, you know, Craig Skinner in volleyball. I mean, he hit a home run with Kenny Brooks with women's basketball right now. Yeah, but who's going to hire the next generation? I think that's going to be interesting.
And that's your flagship athletic program, men's basketball. You want to hire your own guy? Maybe so.
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Chapter 5: What are the fans' expectations for the upcoming basketball season?
And we don't know when we've done enough. Because people scoreboard watch. Life becomes about wins and losses. Steve Burns, Dustin Ross. Because you find it important to be a good person while you're here on Earth? Or are you a good person because you're afraid? Because that's two different intentions, bro. Absolutely. And that's two different levels of trust.
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Did you read ā well, I guess funny may or may not be the word, but interesting. Did you read the story about the woman that got in a fight at McDonald's in Frankfurt? No. So there's a McDonald's on Versailles Road in Frankfurt, and she came outside. I guess she got into it with someone that worked at McDonald's. Okay. Okay.
And someone that worked at McDonald's gets mad, and I don't know, maybe, the story said something like maybe kicked their car or got upset. So the woman hits Shannon, the woman at McDonald's. She hits her, and she goes onto the front of her car. So she's on the front hood of her car. She hit her with her car? Hit her with her car, and the woman is now on the front hood of the car.
And then the woman drives off, leaving her on the front end of the car. Shannon, she hangs on, according to the article in the Herald, for six miles. No.
Oh, no way. I don't think I believe that.
This is in the article.
It had to be in slow traffic.
She hangs on to the front of the car for six miles. and the woman drives on a street, stops, then she jumps off the car, and then punches her in the face. She earned that one. According to this article, they got in a fight six miles away from the Frankfurt McDonald's on Versailles Road where it originally happened.
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Chapter 6: How are recent coaching changes influencing team performance?
So, like, on most of the stuff I do, with the exception of iHeart, I let somebody else do it because then I don't have to be the bad guy. I do wonder if you're having everyone internally in a room make the negotiations, it's kind of hard for you not to seem like the bad guy, or you might just get taken advantage of because you're like, I can't upset this person. I've got to coach them next year.
I think that's the exact position Mark Pope is in. He's a good guy, a nice guy. He can't be the jerk guy.
The heavy. The heavy. That's right. Who's next? Mark Anthony. Mark Anthony, go ahead. Hey, Matthew Ryan Shannon.
Matthew, you know, when a kid comes to Kentucky nowadays, it ain't what it used to be. We ain't the shining star anymore. I mean, we're swelling upstream. For the last ā for his memory of college basketball ā Pepal told me Kentucky used to be good. That's what they're looking at now.
And then they get you to come to the school and you meet Coach Mark Pope, who is, I'm sure you'll agree, not a charismatic man. I don't agree with that.
I think he's charismatic. Mark, I disagree. I think he's charismatic in his own way. I think Mark is very charismatic. But is he charismatic in a way that connects to 18-year-olds? I don't know. But I definitely think he's a charismatic man.
Not in the way that they understand. He don't light a fire with these cats. He don't light a fire. He don't excite them. And for whatever... And the fact that he doesn't have a GM is inexcusable to me. You've got to have a GM. You've got to have somebody to talk numbers. All you need to do is show him, look, this is how we play. This is where I want you. This is what I need you to do.
And talk to him that way. I mean, for goodness sake, maybe he needs to grow his hair out and wear it in a ponytail or dye it blonde.
He needs to live a real life. I appreciate the call. I think there's a lot of guys that are coaches that don't necessarily relate to the players, but that's why you have people on your staff who do.
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Chapter 7: What strategies should Mark Pope employ to improve the team?
But it's hard for me because I don't know how good he is, right? So it's hard for me to know off the top of my head. So we'll see. That's probably the best way I can say it is a we'll see. The roster's not set yet.
All of us will talk ourselves into getting excited about next season, but do we have to be patient and give him time to maybe see what he can put together here before we make a final judgment? Yeah, but... You know, not a lot of time left. But, yes, I mean, we won't know until we know. I mean, until it's over. I did get a little excited this morning.
Shannon's buddy, Michael DeCoursey, was on the Leach Report. What did he say? He said if Braden Hawthorne was a true freshman this year, he would have been a McDonald's All-American. Last year's class was just so loaded.
kind of got lost in the shuffle he was like ranked 35th or 36th but in this year's freshman class if he'd come out with them he'd be a mcdonald's all-american that's good that's good to hear me a little excited yeah that's good who's next mark mark go ahead mark hey three questions real quick one who's the basketball coach in 2027 two what other schools use the interlock u that's good and three
If Pope can't relate to the five-star, all we care about is winning per se.
I mean, if you've got to win with the three stars, that's fine. Just make sure you win the last six games. What do you mean by interlocking you? Tell me what you're talking about there. Where it says UK? Alabama is just the big A. Michigan is just the big M. Oh, okay. Well, Houston ā Oklahoma is the only one that ā Oklahoma is the only one I know that interlocks the U in their advertising.
Does it Houston? Houston does. And why is UK never ā Houston does. Why is UK never in any advertisements? No commercials. Yeah, I think that's their choice, though. I think they have a, you know, I think UK has a, as I understand it, I appreciate the call, they don't do their rights.
So schools can join this group that sell the rights of the university logos and marks and stuff, and I think Kentucky does theirs separately. That used to be our ā we always were on the NCAA tournament commercials. I think they do it separately, though. So I think you ā remember, because we had that happen with the EA Sports thing, right?
Like all those teams agreed and UK kind of held out for a little while. Yes. So to answer your question, I think that has something to do with it. So, like, yesterday just kind of added that. That used to be us in those commercials. That used to be our moment with Charles Barkley and Shaq when I'm ā Recruit picks Kentucky. And we're missing those moments now. It's a gut punch. Yeah.
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Chapter 8: What are the potential outcomes for UK Basketball in the next few years?
This is a job that is more than just showing up and punching the clock. Right. This is a rock star job. You have to be part of the personality. This is a place that wants you to be larger than life. to sit in that chair you have to be. You almost ā and especially in today's world where there's so much everything with the media and social media and just everything.
Like this is ā you got to be larger than life in some ways. And I think Kentucky basketball should have a larger than life coach. And I think Mark ā I don't know if that's him ā But if he's going to do it a different way, an analytic sort of nice guy way, it has to work. You know what I mean? Yes. I mean, nice guy only takes you so far. You've got to win.
I mean, you ask people, would you like to have somebody that you would want to marry your daughter and we lose 12 games? Or would you like to have somebody that you think is kind of a little sleazy but we go to the Final Four? What are our fans going to choose? Final Four. Final Four. And they're all going to choose Final Four.
Yeah.
I think that's what everybody's going to choose. You know, so he's got to win. And, you know, look, if he takes this group and they're great, it'll be fine. Yes. But ā Winning cures all. I said this. I don't think it's just the Sweet 16. I think it's that we've had these years where during the season we get pummeled sometimes. You know, we're not used to losing like that. And ā
This is a little part of it, too. College basketball had a resurgence in popularity last year.
Yes.
Last year was probably when college basketball was in the national collective sports mindset the most it had been in a decade, certainly the most since Zion. Probably so. College basketball, highest ratings, like college basketball was rolling. and we just weren't part of it. And that annoys us. Because we've always been a part of it. Because we've always been part of it.
And here was this thing, and everybody was part of it, right? Duke was great. Caleb Wilson was at North Carolina. Darren Peterson was at Kansas. Michigan won the national championship. Arizona got good again. Like all of ā even Louisville had Mikael Brown for a while, and it was like Darius Acuff-Cowell has a top five pick.
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