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Good day, everybody, Welcome into the Leacher Report, presented by Bobcat Enterprises

0:20

for this Wednesday. Rainy day that took out the Kentucky baseball game against Wright

0:26

State last night, but hopefully the rain will stay away for the weekend.

0:32

Big series between Kentucky and Vandy should be ideal, whether tomorrow for the opener

0:37

again, they'll start this series on a Thursday, go Thursday, Friday,

0:40

and then Saturday afternoon. I think Friday's the main day where rain could be

0:44

a little bit of an issue and Kentucky's trying to wrap up what would be

0:48

just its second SEC championship and a chance I think to win outright for the

0:53

very first time. So we'll get more into that as we get toward tomorrow

0:59

and Friday. For today, we're going to hear from Kyle Tucker from the

1:03

Athletic obviously talk a lot about Kentucky's first basketball roster under Mark Pope, which

1:11

is still being finalized. And Kyle was part of a team of writers for

1:18

The Athletic that did a couple of editions of their regular mail bag stories.

1:23

And we want to get into a little bit about in IL. It seems

1:27

like whenever I speak to a group these days and there's a Q and a

1:32

portion, a lot of it is about in IL, and fans are really

1:36

curious about how it works, how it's going to work moving forward. So

1:41

we'll talk about that. Chris Fisher from The Cat's Paws and Bob Eric who's

1:46

a golf writer for SI dot com. It's a new book out about Tiger

1:49

Woods and got the PGA Championship starting tomorrow at Valhalla, so we will that's

1:57

the lineup for today. Wildcat News of the Day always the service of just

2:00

Sepies of Lexington and Kentucky Football, with what could be a very important addition

2:06

yesterday picking up a punter. Ada Laros was a FCS All American at UT

2:14

Martin last season, where he averaged forty seven yards per punt and also handled

2:20

kickoffs and was ten of sixteen as a field goal kicker. No. Kentucky's

2:23

in good shape as far as the placement kicking, but the kickoffs certainly the

2:29

punting areas where Kentucky could certainly stand improvement from last season. So this adds

2:36

to the competition there. He had eighteen punts of fifty or more yards,

2:39

So this could be a key pickup because you know in this league you're going

2:46

to end up in a lot of close games, and a good punter can

2:51

make a significant difference in a close game. So really nice pick up yesterday

2:58

there for Kentucky via the train for a portal the NBA Draft combines continuing in

3:04

Chicago, Ben Roberts has a story on Jackson Robinson. He's the former BYU

3:08

player who's going through the combine and the draft evaluation process, but has also

3:14

put his name into the portal. So if he comes back to college,

3:17

I think there's a strong feeling that he would end up at Kentucky. He

3:23

was noncommittal on what he needs to hear from the NBA according to the quotes

3:27

in Ben's story, but Robinson was very appreciative of Mark Pope being there in

3:31

Chicago and also about how the system that BYU ran prepared him for the NBA.

3:39

Robinson's projected the late second round from everything that I've seen to this point.

3:46

So depending on how things go for the rest of the week, the Combine will see how it shakes out for him. He's got until almost the

3:53

end of May to make a decision on leaving his name in or not.

3:58

And Antonio Eaves had a nice game yesterday at Combine seventeen points in twenty eight

4:02

minutes, also had forced This links to the stories that we talk about.

4:06

You can find those on the bud Light Leach Report page at Tom leach Ky

4:12

dot com. Our opening segment always presented by Just Seppies of Lexington, and

4:16

they have expanded their bar area. That's where you could always sit and enjoy

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opportunities to sit in that area and enjoy the music along with your meal at

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Giuseppes and it is a fantastic meal. Go to Juseppes Lexington dot com or

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open table to make a reservation. Will be right back on the Leech Report

4:45

presented by Bob tat Enterprises. M Clark's Pumpin' Shop Studio, Return, Refresh,

4:51

and Refuel, and it is the Leech Report. We go to the

4:55

Club Blue Nil hotline and bring on Bob Harrige. Mob cover's golf or sports

4:59

illustrated at SI dot com. He's also covered the sport for ESPN and the

5:02

Tampa Bay Times. He has a new book out Drive, The Lasting Legacy

5:06

of Tiger Woods, that we're going to talk about and also talk about the

5:11

PGA this week, in which Tiger Woods will be a participant. I guess

5:15

let's let's start there. This kind of ties in both topics, uh,

5:17

Bob, because it seems just as a fan watching golf, that Tiger physically

5:25

is at a point where he can get one or two good rounds, but

5:28

not four. Do you think he'll ever get to the point where he could

5:31

get back to be able to make one more run at a major? Yeah,

5:35

right now it looks like it's gonna be. You know, that's quite

5:39

the quite the big ask. You know, He's he's battling a couple of

5:44

things here. One is the ability to play four rounds and and and get

5:49

through it physically, and and you'd think over time, as he gets stronger

5:54

and things get better, that's possible, but then there's the all the issue

5:59

of being prepared, and he's coming back at the biggest tournaments and hardly playing

6:04

and trying to compete against guys that are playing a lot, you know,

6:09

and it's just it's not a great combination. And and and still like it

6:14

just seems like the physical skills are there, but he's not able to do

6:21

the things necessary to play seventy two holes and to prepare properly. If you

6:28

can't practice, it's it's going to be really hard to beat Scotti, Scheffler

6:31

and Roy McElroy, you know. And it's hard enough just to get done.

6:36

You know, we saw that at the Masters there was sort of a

6:40

microcosm of his last ten years, you know, two really good days which

6:45

sort of were, you know, the flashes that we've seen, and then

6:47

the weekend was sort of the struggles he's had physically, and you know,

6:51

unless he can get some physical improvement, I think it's going to be very

6:56

difficult. A big part of the book is about the the last major he

7:00

won, the twenty nineteen Masters, his fifteenth major, and you've covered Tiger,

7:08

I guess from the beginning is a pro golfer. How is he viewed

7:15

differently by his contemporaries young and old. First, now, with all he's

7:21

been through versus when he first exploded on the scene, Well, you know,

7:26

he's he's been more humanized, I think in the last decade or so.

7:30

You know he was in the first decade he was just such a machine,

7:34

you know, blinders, didn't let a lot of people in, didn't

7:39

really have a lot of friends. The people he socialized with on tour were

7:42

a lot older Marcomera, John Cook, you know, guys that you know,

7:46

had been around, were veterans. You know, he didn't spend a

7:50

lot of time amongst the guys that he was playing against, and and people

7:55

didn't really get to know him. You know, he kept to himself and

7:58

all he did was win. Uh, and then and then he became,

8:01

you know, a human figure. He showed fallus, you know, Fallacy

8:07

showed, he showed vulnerability, you know, the marital scandal, then all

8:13

these injuries. You know, he over the last ten years, there has

8:16

been forty majors played and Tiger's missed eighteen of them, you know, and

8:20

I think there was a redemption story there. You know, a guy climbing

8:22

his way back, and so there's great respect among his peers for what he's

8:28

all accomplished and how great he is or was, and how actually, you

8:33

know, how skilled he still is. They still appreciate the the immense talent

8:37

that he has, and you know, for the most part, they root

8:39

for him. Oh, Bob Harry go on the Club Blue Nil hotline.

8:43

He writes for SI dot com covering golf, and he's in town for the

8:48

PGA Championship. Has a new book out Drive, The Lasting Legacy of Tiger

8:52

Woods. Obviously the longest of shots maybe for Tiger to be a contender.

8:58

But is there anybody outside the main names, you know, Scheffler, McElroy,

9:05

Kepka, any the rom anybody outside the group that could spring a surprise

9:11

this week? Well, I think the PGA is typically the major that that's

9:15

the most wide open. I think there's there is the potential for surprise here

9:20

because the field is bigger and deeper. It's it's got the best players.

9:24

You know, the Masters doesn't have everybody the eighty eight ninety players. This

9:28

is one hundred and fifty six players. No, No, the only the

9:31

only players who get in via via actually qualifying to get in are the club

9:35

pros, twenty club pros. You've basically got one hundred and thirty guys that

9:39

are that are touring pros and that we're that are in the field based on

9:45

playing professional golf at a high level, so that that just increases the field,

9:48

I mean outside of the top guys. And I mean it's hard to

9:52

go away from those three guys, you know, Scheffler, Rom and excuse

9:56

me, Scheffler, Keopka and Rory given their recent play. But I mean,

10:01

you know, I still think Brom has got a you know, something

10:05

to prove. He's not done much this year on Live Golf, kept us

10:07

coming off a win. The guy that's not been mentioned much is Cam Smith,

10:13

you know, who won the Open two years ago at Saint Andrews and

10:16

and has been coming on a little bit recently on Live Golf. You know,

10:20

still a world class player. But you know, I wouldn't be surprised

10:24

to see a bunch of names out there that people might not be thinking of,

10:28

you know, kind of random PGA Tour players who are very very good

10:33

golfers. And and the PGA is probably most like a PGA Tour event,

10:37

you know, it's not set up really difficult like USL but it won't be

10:41

easy, but it's not quite as hard either. So I think that lends

10:45

to more birdies. It lends to the more style of play where he used

10:48

to see and week in and week out. You did this book on Tiger,

10:52

did another one Tiger about Tiger and Phil? Is there another book you'd

10:58

like to write about Tiger once it's over or at some later point down the

11:03

road. Yeah, Actually, I'm about to start on another one. It's

11:05

not going to be out for a couple of years, but I am going

11:09

to tackle the issue of Tiger versus Jack, you know, who's the greatest

11:15

sort of a working title, and try to dive into all the pros and

11:20

cons to each argument, you know, And I think it's a great barroom

11:24

or you know, you know sports bar discussion and argument or you know,

11:28

fun talk. I'm not sure there's a right answer, but I think you

11:37

could argue for and against each player and not necessarily be wrong. I'm gonna

11:41

I'm going to try to have some fun diving into that. Well. We

11:45

will look forward to that next book, but for now, can enjoy drive

11:50

the lasting legacy of Tiger Woods by Bob Harrig. Enjoy your time in Kentucky

11:54

this week. Thanks so much, looking forward to it. Appreciate it.

11:58

Golf writer Bob Harry as a golf writer Bob Herrig. And this is the

12:03

Leach Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises. If you need to rent or buy heavy

12:07

equipment, or if you just need a new zero turn more for your lawn

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at home, go see our friends at Bobcat Enterprises. Google them. They

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have four locations to find the one closest to you for fantastic deals and even

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better service after the sale from Bobcat Enterprises. This is the Leach Report Radio

12:22

Network and we'll be right back. Today is the deadline to sign up for

12:28

Club Blue NIL and be part of the VIP event coming up next month that

12:35

usher's in the new era of Kentucky basketball. It would be a meet and

12:39

greet with Coach Pope and the staff and players and it's exclusive to Club Blue

12:45

subscribers who are signed up by today. So this is the deadline and big

12:52

day to go to Club blueenil dot com click join Club Blue for your chance

12:56

to be a part of it and be a part of the NIL effort with

13:03

the rest of Big Blue Nation various levels at which you can participate in Club

13:07

Blue, So today is your last chance to sign up and be a part

13:13

of that VIP event on June fifteenth. Joining us now is Chris Fisher on

13:18

the Club Blue nil hotline. You read him Atcatspaws dot com and one of

13:22

several stories you've got up there now, Chris, is about a couple of

13:26

interviews Mark Pope has done. You used one quote in the story which I

13:31

thought was interesting. We can talk a little bit about a bit about it.

13:35

I think it was in the John Rosstein interview. He talked about basically

13:39

having to start from scratch and building a team, and he said it was

13:43

terrifying, but it actually turned out to be a blessing. We got to

13:48

handpick guys that perfectly fit into the way that we play. So, you

13:52

know, it was inevitable whenever John cal Perry left, the cupboard was gonna,

13:58

I don't know if it'd be completely empty, but it was gonna be

14:01

pretty bare with just the reliance that he had on freshmen. And thank goodness

14:07

for Kentucky Batman's Basketball that the transfer portal exists, right, Yeah, I

14:13

think I think Matt McMahon had the same issue when he went to LSU a

14:18

couple of years ago, lost every single scholarship player from the previous roster,

14:22

and that was something that Mark Pope was facing as well. And the transfer

14:28

pertal certainly does make it a lot easier. And when you're in that situation,

14:33

you have to walk a really fine line between being aggressive enough to fill

14:37

out a roster but also being selective enough to get the guys that you really

14:43

want. I think Mark Pope has done a really really good job putting the

14:46

roster together, putting a roster together that fits that compliments each other. You

14:52

know, you look at the first three editions, they were defense first and

14:56

Lamont Butler and Mary Williams and I'll take a and then kind of filled out

15:01

the roster from there with some shooters, a stretch for and Andrew Carr.

15:07

And then you look at these last three roster spots, it looks like they

15:11

will try to add Ansley Almanor the transfer from Fairley Dickinson, who's on campus

15:16

for a visit right now, and then one of Jackson Robinson from DYU,

15:22

Chaslin here from North Florida, and Willga Poplar from Miami and then it sounds

15:26

like he's going to be very judicious with that final roster spot. That could

15:31

be you know, it could be a potential reclass from twenty twenty five,

15:37

it could be you know, there's still coaching changes going on, so that

15:41

could shake some guys loose in the portal since they have that thirty day window

15:46

after a coaching change, and so it sounds like they'll be very judicious with

15:50

filling that final roster spot. And you know that could be much later in

15:56

the summer. Yeah, I know, there's some speculation there's a young men

16:00

from BYU, big guy Noah Waterman, who has entered the portal here late.

16:06

But from what you lay out, it would sound like that if assuming

16:11

they get almanor then they would use the twelfth one for a scorer and then

16:21

they I don't know if they want to commit to the other one that quickly

16:23

or not. Yeah, I think they'll take their time with that final roster

16:30

spot. You know, he said it could be for a transfer, it

16:33

could be for a project, it could be for a reclass. And so

16:37

the landscape of college basketball is so fluid now that you see changes happening much

16:45

much later in the calendar than we're used to, and so it sounds like

16:48

they'll keep that thirteenth and final roster spot open a little bit longer. Mark

16:52

had a team at BYU last year that was a sixth seed in the NCAA

16:56

Tournament out of a very difficult league. Do you think this roster is better

17:03

than that roster was? Yeah, I definitely think so. I think Mark,

17:10

you know, BYU has its obvious recruiting limitations, and I think,

17:15

you know, being at Kentucky and you know, the power of the brand

17:18

is given Mark Pope a lot of advantages that he didn't have at BYU.

17:22

So I certainly think he's upgraded the talent from a b YU team that fared

17:27

very very well in its first season in the Big Twelve with a big win

17:32

at Kansas highlighting that Chris fishercatzpaus dot Com at Chris Fisher two four seven on

17:38

x or Twitter will hold Chris over for one more segment when he come right

17:44

back. It is the Lad's report for the Clark's Pump and Shop studio.

17:47

Return Refresh and Refewel at Clark's. Download their app to get the monthly specials

17:52

for May. The report presented by Bob kat enterprises a couple more minutes here

17:57

with Chris Fisher from cat pause dot com. Another story you got up at

18:02

the site, Chris is about Reed Shepherd and he is turning heads at the

18:07

NBA Combine this week, both with his shooting and his measurements. Right,

18:14

Yeah, I think he really really showed well for himself. People around Kentucky

18:21

aren't going to be surprised by a forty two inch vertical considering what they saw

18:26

out of him in his freshman season at Kentucky, but also you know,

18:30

watching his dad play for four years at Kentucky and so. But it also

18:37

showed off his perimeter shooting ability that was also again no surprise, led the

18:44

nation and three point percentage. And really think with that performance solidified himself as

18:49

a top five pick. And it's kind of surprising if you look back with

18:52

all the draft success that Kentucky had under John Caliperry, they hadn't had a

18:57

top five pick since Deer and Fox twenty seventeen, and I think ESPN has

19:02

reached ever. Projected at number three overall, that would be the highest draft

19:06

pick for Kentucky since Carl Towns went first overall in twenty fifteen, so breaking

19:11

a lot of ground there for Reed Shepard, and I believe he would be

19:15

the highest drafted Native Kentuckian that played for Kentucky since Rex Chapman in eighty eight.

19:23

So a lot of history being made there. If Reed Sheppard can go

19:26

in the top five, what did Rex go seven? I'm thinking Ace,

19:32

I think he was the Hornet's first first ever draft pick. Yeah, it's

19:40

heady stuff for Reed and just an amazing run. I think back to the

19:45

games in Toronto last summer and that play that he made. I can't remember

19:51

which game it was, but he closes out and blocks a three point shot,

19:56

which turned out to become one of his specialties, runs down the loose

20:00

ball, drives in and dunks it, and that was maybe the first wow

20:03

moment that foreshadowed what was coming. Yeah, even then watching that play,

20:11

I knew that was where he were going with that. I remember thinking it's

20:15

going to be hard to keep him off the floor. I still wasn't thinking,

20:18

hey, we might have, you know, a bona fide National Freshman

20:22

of the Year on our hands. But yeah, it was unbelievable, the

20:26

meteoric rise that we saw from Reed Shepherd since his original commitment to Kentucky to

20:34

you know, kind of throughout his freshman year and now projected as a top

20:38

five pick. I'm not sure even Jeff and Stacey saw that come. And

20:44

I was happy for Antonio Reeves having a nice game yesterday because he needed to

20:48

impress some folks there at the combine this week, I'm sure. Yeah.

20:52

I saw Sam Vesini of The Athletic, a guy whose opinion I really really

20:56

in respect, he really dives deep into this NBA draft, said he was

21:00

close to moving Antonio Reeves to a first round grade wow after his performance not

21:07

just in his senior season at Kentucky, but throughout the combine. Said he's

21:11

just a really gifted score has so many counters to what defenses can throw at

21:17

him, and there's just a lot of spots in the NBA for guys like

21:21

that. So it sounds like he's helped himself out tremendously as well. Chris

21:26

Fishercatzpause dot Com, Thank you much. All right, thanks Chris Fisher coming

21:30

to us of the Club Blue nil Hotline. It is the Leach Report.

21:34

Next up, Kyle Tucker from the Athletic Leature Bard presented by Bob kat Enterprises

21:41

and joining us in the Club Blue ANDIL hotline is Kyle Tucker rights Forthathletic dot

21:47

Com. Let's start Kyle with project you were a part of for a couple

21:52

of recent stories, one of the a couple of the mail bag columns that

21:56

you did with a couple of other writers for the Athletic and and I want

22:00

to talk about the portion of it focusing on nil and some of the the

22:07

funds that are going to players and what the numbers look like, because it

22:10

seems like any time I talk to a group of fans, the there's a

22:15

lot of questions about that, and fans are trying to and I wrap their

22:18

arms around how this is actually all working. And it is very much a

22:25

study in capitalism and supplying demand, right, Yeah, absolutely, and even

22:30

more to your point, you know, as as scarcity arrives, right like,

22:36

as this portal process winds down, a handful of viable players that are

22:41

left are commanding we're seeing pretty pretty big numbers. It almost it almost behooves

22:48

you to hold out, you know, until the very end. And you

22:51

know the report of Great Os four, who Kentucky had in for a visit.

22:55

Getting two million dollars from Washington is pretty wild. You know, it's

23:02

you're you're hearing crazy numbers left and right, and you know, we're actually

23:06

we've actually talked to even more people since that kind of brief mail bag item

23:12

about the going rates for players, and it's pretty universal. I mean,

23:17

the numbers are you know, depending on on the league and all those type

23:21

of things, they vary a little bit, but we're hearing a lot of

23:25

the same type of numbers and they're huge and and it's it seems pretty unsustainable

23:30

to me that these these numbers can continue. At some point that the dust

23:34

has to settle a little bit and the market has to adjust. But uh,

23:38

for now, if you're if you're needing to do what Kentucky just had

23:42

to do and it is still in the process of doing, which is,

23:47

you know, completely at an entire roster of good, viable, SEC level

23:52

players, you're gonna it's gonna cost you. And uh, you know,

23:56

I think if you if you want to start, it's gonna really cost you.

24:00

And it would stand a reason that cost is probably going to escalate until

24:07

there are what people have said used to phrase guard rails or you know,

24:12

a market adjustment to have heard you know, some coaches say they don't think

24:17

it's sustainable as people start to you know, look at what they're spending and

24:21

what their return is after a But we don't know how much time that would

24:26

take. Is it a year, is it five years to make that kind

24:29

of adjustment, But until some kind of something changes in the marketplace, it

24:33

would figure it to only go up from year to year, right, Yeah,

24:37

And it'll be really interesting when you talk about return on investment. It

24:41

becomes you know, it kind of becomes the thing you didn't really want it

24:45

to become. And you know, it's kind of a tough spot because you're

24:52

asking, right, you're asking fans. Kentucky's doing it and everybody's doing it.

24:55

You're asking fans, both your big donors and your everyday fan to be

25:00

part of the process to chip in and you know, help get rosters together.

25:07

Well, there's a natural especially among the big donors, you know,

25:11

I think even among small donors. But you know, if you're if you're

25:15

a guy who's you know, put up six figures or a million dollars towards

25:18

a roster, if you're been a part of a small group that's given a

25:22

school several million dollars to go put together a great roster, and then that

25:26

roster doesn't do well. Now what like, Now you're in the position that

25:33

those those fans are your owners in some way. And if they decide,

25:38

okay, that coach underachieved with that roster, I'm not giving that coach in

25:44

an ile anymore. So what is the athletic director to do? You You

25:48

wither and die without it. So they're essentially in charge. And and that's

25:52

a very that's gonna be a very interesting situation. It already is going forward.

25:57

Okay. If all these schools are pony huge amounts of money, if

26:00

their donors are toning up huge amounts of money, and then they say we're

26:03

turning that faucet off until you make a change, they are now in charge,

26:10

you know, And to an even crazier degree, if they wanted to, they could say we're not toning up unless you hire the guy we want

26:15

you to hire. I don't think that's where anybody wants it to go,

26:21

but it certainly is a risk now being run. Yeah, there's some real

26:26

uncomfortable things that could be on the horizon, depending on how all of this

26:32

shakes out unless you think about players, and there's always been the feeling these

26:38

are quote unquote college kids and they're not pros yet, and so they're coaches,

26:45

understandably at all sports, trying to shield them from some of the criticism

26:52

and don't you know, don't take it out on the players like you would

26:55

in the pros, et cetera. But as you know, guys, the

27:00

men and women athletes are making more and more money, and you've got sports

27:04

betting ramping up. You know, if you're an athlete at a place like

27:10

Kentucky and you have a bad game and a big game, and you know,

27:14

you can hear plenty about it in social media. Sometimes might be hard

27:17

to think it could be worse, but it probably could be. Right. Yeah, absolutely, I think that that's another area we're you know, hurtling

27:25

toward. I mean, it's not not a ton of people, but a

27:29

sort of alarming number of people have like tweeted at me, is it okay

27:33

for me to boo players now? Which is like, yeah, I mean

27:36

I guess it is it? Certainly. I certainly don't think once they are

27:40

truly basically professional athletes in college, you got to accept some criticism, I

27:45

think too. You know, you've got to show up and you know,

27:48

answer questions after you lose. I think that's all part of being a pro

27:52

and learning how to be a pro, and those are useful lessons for life.

27:55

But some of these guys are still eighteen nineteen years old. More and

27:59

more of them are not more of them than ever are going to be older. But it strikes me as odd that people that people preemptively like, is

28:07

it okay? Now do I get to boo? Do I get to boom

28:11

my own team? I mean, I don't know. I'm not a big

28:15

fan of that in general, Like you know, boo when something, when

28:18

something, you know, something happens on the court that you don't agree with.

28:22

You know, I love booing the officials, I think, I think

28:26

you know that that that always cracks me up, just the like the lusty

28:30

uh booing from the home crowd when you when they feel like they're not getting

28:34

the call. But you know, I don't know, something something a little

28:40

off putting to me about booing your own team and your own building. But

28:42

uh, you know, booing the opponent I think is obviously normal, and

28:45

that's kids people kind of thrive on that right, going on the road and

28:51

sort of driving on the hate. But there's a there's a whole other element

28:53

to it. To get in booed from your home crowd. That's a that's

28:56

a pretty miserable feeling. I'm sure. Y. Yeah, we're headed for

29:02

it. Yeah, we're headed for the more money that's on the line.

29:04

When you've got when the fans think that they are you know, hey,

29:07

I help build this roster. And as you mentioned, the sports cambling,

29:11

I think that already has like ramped it up. We did. We did

29:14

a story during the NCAA tournament where a bunch of us set the Athletic ass

29:18

different into the bench. Guys walk on you know, the human cigars.

29:23

How much gambling has changed, you know, how they're received. And it's

29:27

like some of them get like death threats from gamblers because they come in a

29:32

game that's a blowout and they hit a three and over you know or under

29:37

or whatever gets affected. Uh, they get like why would you do that?

29:41

You know? And and so that's already happening. Were you said?

29:47

Kyle Tucker's with us from the Athletic dot Com. If you're not a subscriber,

29:52

it's really easy and you can get access to the content that Kyle provides

29:56

a lot of other great writers about various sports. Also in the mail bag,

30:03

I think maybe the first edition of it, the two stories that are

30:07

posted, you and the team talk about best players, top five excuse me,

30:15

teams, best five teams for next season. I think Bama, I

30:18

can in your post Bama was in your top five, especially if they were

30:22

to get Mark Sears back. Let's say Kentucky adds a scorer, be it

30:27

Jackson, Robinson, Lanier, whoever. How good is Kentucky with that roster

30:36

that Mark Pope has put together. I think it's a roster that you know,

30:41

it's interesting because it's so different. Especially it's so different from what all

30:45

of us that have been around Kentucky basketball I've seen for the last fifteen years.

30:48

But it's a little hard to process. But when I look at the

30:52

landscape of what is college of basketball now, it's old. You know what

30:57

is the styles? It's this? You know that's winning. It's the style

31:00

that of offense that Mark Pope plays. You know, do these pieces fit

31:04

what he wants to do offensively? And they do? I feel like for

31:10

what he runs he's a symbol of the team that has a chance to,

31:14

you know, be a top twenty five team. I think they still do need to add that score. I think, you know, if they don't

31:18

get one of of Lanier or Jackson Robinson or Poplar, or if there's somebody

31:23

else that pops that pulls out of the draft, they got to get they

31:30

got to get one more. That's a high level score for sure. But

31:33

if they do that, you know, I think it's a team that should

31:37

certainly be considered for preseason top twenty five. They're not on any of those

31:41

lists that I've seen right now, and I think there's you know, it's

31:45

not unreasonable to be a little skeptical. You don't know, how's Mark Pope

31:48

going to do at the higher level, and how's this roster of guys going

31:52

to do when there's not a lot of you look at it and there's not

31:56

a lot of like, oh, this guy's going to the NBA in a

31:59

year or two. And I think they'll they will have more and more of

32:02

that as they have time to recruit a high school class, which you know

32:06

starts this weekend, basically the first open period for coaches. They'll be out

32:10

on the road. I'll be out checking them out to see, you know,

32:15

who are they watching on the Nike circuit this weekend in Indianapolis. But

32:20

you know, for now, I think this is a roster that can compete. You know, I don't think it's a roster I would pick to win

32:25

the SEC, but I think it's going to be very competitive in the top

32:30

half of the SEC. Interesting quote from Jackson Robinson and Ben Roberts story from

32:37

the Combine and he talks about how by us what they ran last season with

32:43

Mark has you know, prepared him for what he's dealing with at the Combine

32:50

and just even you know, the way that they play and how it's prepares

32:53

him, as he thinks, prepared him to have a good shot to make

32:58

it in the NBA. I thought that was interesting from the standpoint of in

33:01

the NBA stuff became a you know, a hot button thing with Cal for

33:07

the fans, But it is, you know, for all players, they

33:12

you know, most if not all, aspire to get to that level and

33:16

if you've got to you know, a way to help them do that,

33:20

it certainly enhances your chances of getting players. And so it may not you

33:24

know that still may be something that Kentucky can sell in terms of the way

33:29

we play here can get you ready for the NBA. Yeah, absolutely,

33:34

And you know I think players like you know, if you get if you

33:37

get Robinson, and what what is another year in doing it at the highest

33:40

level back in the SEC. For Robinson it'd be interesting because you know,

33:45

he's already had that SEC experience. He's played at Arkansas and Texas A and

33:47

M and then played his you know, last year at b y U was

33:52

in the Big twelve. So you know, if he goes to Kentucky and

33:55

they and thrives again in that offense, I think to a guy like Brandon

34:00

and Garrison will be an interesting like litmus test for their NBA development. You

34:04

know, Colin Chandler a guy who I think has some NBA potential but is

34:08

gonna have to develop and obviously shake off the rust of being on his mission

34:14

trip. How some of those guys elevate this year, you know, how

34:22

how does that affect how they recruit going forward? Because Kentucky has on its

34:27

own still has a huge brand. I think you know, nobody's gonna get

34:31

the level the number of McDonald's all Americans five stars that Cal did. But

34:36

every coach that's been at Kentucky has gotten McDonald's all Americans. I think that's

34:40

not gonna stop. But you know, if you pair that brand of Kentucky

34:45

with what you'd expect to be Mark Pope's really electric offense, that that is

34:50

very pro you know style. Now, I think they've got a chance to

34:54

go get you know, I don't think they're gonna get three, four,

34:58

five, but they you know, one or two five star kids every year

35:00

to go with some older players and developing guys. They have there got a

35:05

chance to make this new formula for roster building. Work at Kyle Tucker Underscore

35:10

ath on X and at Theathletic dot Com on the web. Thank Kyle,

35:15

Thank you. It comes to us via the Club Blue nil hotline. Today

35:20

is the day the deadline for signing up to be a part of Club Blue

35:24

and then being eligible to be in that VIP event on June fifteenth, the

35:30

meet and greet with Coach Pope and the players in the New Era or Kentucky

35:34

Basketball event. Go to Club Blueenil dot com click join Club Blue. Various

35:38

levels at which you can participate, and today's the deadline. You sign up

35:44

by today and you could be one of the Club Blue subscribers at that VIP

35:46

event on June fifteenth. Club blueenil dot com. It is the Leads Report

35:52

and we'll be right back bring this coming up Saturday in Baltimore. He is

35:58

a chance for some rain up there. At this point they're saying triple crown

36:00

coverage here this spring on the Leach Report, once again presented by Clayburne Farm.

36:06

Doing the usual, unusually well from the daily racing form. Mister Dan

36:12

settling in well. Saw a little video of him heading back out to the

36:15

track this morning. He galloped yesterday under Robbie Albarado, the former jockey works

36:20

for Kenny McPeak now and Robbie talked about how nicely mister Dan has settled in.

36:27

He seems to be enjoying the calm atmosphere at Pimlico compared to the hubbub

36:32

of the backside at Churchill during Derby Week. But he said he's just such

36:37

an easy going horse that he doesn't get too excited unless you need it to.

36:43

So Kenny's talked about the worse how smart he is, so mistic Dan

36:47

doing well heading toward the Preakness on Saturday. We will see you guys tomorrow

36:52

here on The Leech Report, presented by Bob Kat Enterprises. Thanks for listening

36:58

to The Leech Report anytime. He it's a show. You can catch the

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