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Speaker 1: All right here with Mark Pope. This is exciting for me.

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Speaker 1: It's our first chance to really sit down and have

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Speaker 1: a longer conversation because you've been on a whirlwind since

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Speaker 1: you got hired year one. Mark, thank you for coming

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Speaker 1: on KSR.

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Speaker 2: I'm so happy, man, Come on, you ready to rock?

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Speaker 1: All right, Well, let's start with this. Last time we

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Speaker 1: talked was around this time one year ago. How has

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Speaker 1: year one been better, worse, different than you expected? How

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Speaker 1: would you sort of judge your first year at Kentucky?

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Speaker 2: Jeez, I don't. It's so hard to say. I mean,

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Speaker 2: it's it's so much, right, it is. Uh, I mean

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Speaker 2: it's I say this all the time. It's the greatest

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Speaker 2: job in the world. And it's in the greatest community,

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Speaker 2: in the best fan base, and and I get to

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Speaker 2: work with the best administration, and I love this stuff

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Speaker 2: so much. And this season I got to work with

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Speaker 2: the greatest kids ever and and so and it's just

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Speaker 2: a NonStop It's like it's every it's every day.

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Speaker 1: And do you like that? You like love it?

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Speaker 2: I mean that's part of what makes it the best

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Speaker 2: job ever. And so, uh, I mean, it's it's there's

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Speaker 2: so much. Actually, I was talking about this with Leanne

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Speaker 2: Uh yesterday. It's just like it's hard to it's hard to.

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Speaker 2: Everything comes so fast, and there's so many incredible, incredible,

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Speaker 2: meaningful moments that you kind of think about. You want

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Speaker 2: to find a break in it. So you're like, well

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Speaker 2: if you just think about to like to two months ago,

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Speaker 2: and then trace trace just the last two months, but

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Speaker 2: then you cut out something right before that point that

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Speaker 2: was monumental, right, And so it's I love it. I

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Speaker 2: love being here, and I love that we get to

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Speaker 2: have this opportunity and I love Uh, there's just not

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Speaker 2: enough time. That's the thing that I feel over and over.

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Speaker 2: There's just not enough time. We need more time. But

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Speaker 2: but but the whole thing is zhilarating and it's wonderful,

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Speaker 2: and we have a very clear cut mission and a

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Speaker 2: job to do that no, we haven't even come close

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Speaker 2: to completing, and so we're just hungry, chasing every day

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Speaker 2: and enjoying everything along the way.

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Speaker 1: I want to kind of go back to last year

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Speaker 1: then talk about Now you think.

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Speaker 2: About last year when we were when we sat down

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Speaker 2: and talked, Yeah, everything we didn't know, like everything was

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Speaker 2: a hypothetical.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And when I talked to you there. I think

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Speaker 1: I said to you in that conversation where you and

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Speaker 1: I were just sitting in your office, and I said,

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Speaker 1: this is gonna be interesting for Kentucky fans because.

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Speaker 2: They don't know any guys.

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Speaker 1: You're gonna have a team where they don't know anybody.

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Speaker 1: And I do remember wondering. Everybody loves Mark, but how

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Speaker 1: they gonna feel about these guys they don't know. And

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Speaker 1: it ended up becoming one of the more beloved teams

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Speaker 1: that I can remember. You knew the guys, but I

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Speaker 1: was surprised how much people just embraced that group.

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Speaker 2: Could you could they feel it? Yeah, our guys could

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Speaker 2: for sure. And I think is as much as I

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Speaker 2: was happy about that, I was happy that our guys

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Speaker 2: didn't miss it. Because the craziest thing is, like, and

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Speaker 2: this is almost incomprehensible to me, you could actually come

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Speaker 2: here for a year as a player and miss it,

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Speaker 2: Like you could miss the whole thing if you if

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Speaker 2: you came here and we talked to our to our

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Speaker 2: recruitis about this all the time. If you came here

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Speaker 2: and you were just only dialed into yourself, you could

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Speaker 2: actually miss the great uniqueness and like the monstrosity that

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Speaker 2: this experience can be. You could actually miss the whole thing,

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Speaker 2: Like you might take it in in a minute here,

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Speaker 2: in a minute there in a crowd here and whatever,

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Speaker 2: but you could miss it. And I felt like our guys,

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Speaker 2: I felt like one of the reasons why there was

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Speaker 2: such a great relationship between BBN and our players was

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Speaker 2: because our players also were really engaged in growing the relationship,

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Speaker 2: like they meant something to them from from our guys

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Speaker 2: coming in. You know, our guys logged almost four hundred

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Speaker 2: hours of community service, which is just a very separate,

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Speaker 2: little standalone niche. But their interest in like in in

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Speaker 2: in embracing the magnitude of this opportunity was pretty special.

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Speaker 1: I thought part of it for the fans was the

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Speaker 1: fact that these they seemed to really appreciate the moment

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Speaker 1: to be here, the fact that they had played at

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Speaker 1: schools like Drexel and Dayton and all that made it

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Speaker 1: to where I felt like they were as grateful as

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Speaker 1: the fans want them to be grateful. Does that make sense?

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Speaker 1: And I think they love that.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think that's what I'm saying about not

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Speaker 2: missing it. You know, I was I was at uh

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Speaker 2: just yesterday, I was in Brooklyn with No No in

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Speaker 2: the Bronx Sorry with with with Modiabat's mom, and you

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Speaker 2: think about MO. He's coming from Alabama. Alabama was in

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Speaker 2: a final four, and then the lad aid it's a

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Speaker 2: pretty good program, and just being we actually walked and

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Speaker 2: he came down and met us outside the building and

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Speaker 2: walked in and security was right there, and the kind

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Speaker 2: of lead security guard was losing his Mind's like, he's

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Speaker 2: like coach Bolp. He's like, I'm a diar Kentucky, you know,

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Speaker 2: the whole thing. And and then he knew he knew MO,

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Speaker 2: but he didn't know about the change. And so I

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Speaker 2: was like, no, you're gonna be watching MO. We're coming

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Speaker 2: here to play Michigan State this year and he was

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Speaker 2: like wait what Yeah, And and then spending you know,

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Speaker 2: spending some time with MOA's family. They get it too.

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Speaker 2: And it's not just the guys that were coming from

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Speaker 2: a mid major. I mean, he's coming from a from

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Speaker 2: a really good program. But but is already so ingrained

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Speaker 2: to him how different this is at Kentucky than anywhere else.

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Speaker 2: And he's going to come here with he's a beautiful man.

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Speaker 2: He's a beautiful human being. But he's going to come

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Speaker 2: here and he's not going to miss it either, Like

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Speaker 2: he's going to take it all into And so I

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Speaker 2: think we, I think we have the makings of a

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Speaker 2: of another group. Hopefully it's a staple for us forever,

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Speaker 2: of guys that really understand what this is.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, this is gonna be pretty well to be a

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Speaker 1: little bit of a different group. But let's get to

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Speaker 1: that in a second. Before I leave. Last year, I

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Speaker 1: want to go back to UH in Milwaukee. You beat

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Speaker 1: Troy in the first round, your your first NCAA tournament win,

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Speaker 1: and I I really there are certain things I always

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Speaker 1: am gonna remember when my career is over, and I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna remember watching you when that game was over, your

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Speaker 1: embrace of your wife, your embrace of your your family.

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Speaker 1: And then also the same thing after the Illinois game.

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Speaker 1: Those it felt like and maybe it'll feel like this

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Speaker 1: for you in all the future game tournament games you win,

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Speaker 1: But it felt like that was a moment you really

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Speaker 1: wanted to soak in. Am I right about that?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's it's kind of the same thing we

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Speaker 2: started out talking About's just say, everything comes so fast

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Speaker 2: that you could miss all the moments. Yeah, and and

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Speaker 2: and all of us are driving so hard and it's

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Speaker 2: so relentless that you could miss the moments. And so

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Speaker 2: you know, I didn't want to miss it with my guys.

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Speaker 2: I didn't want to miss it with my family. I

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Speaker 2: didn't want to miss with the fans. You know. I

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Speaker 2: I it's just too good to miss. And so you

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Speaker 2: only get a few seconds. But but taking those few

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Speaker 2: seconds really, yeah.

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Speaker 1: That was that was a that was a really cool moment,

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Speaker 1: just even for me to be a part of. All Right,

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Speaker 1: so when you came here, we were all trying to

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Speaker 1: figure out, right, what is Mark Pope basketball? And now

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Speaker 1: we have a year of it. And I'll just take

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Speaker 1: on a personal level some things that surprised me. Maybe

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Speaker 1: we're a little different, And get your your take. I

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Speaker 1: watched you, b yu felt like you got shot zillion threes,

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Speaker 1: ended up not shooting as many as maybe we would

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Speaker 1: have have thought. Why do you think that was?

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Speaker 2: It's poor coaching.

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Speaker 1: Well I think you won plenty, but I was.

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Speaker 2: Really disappointed with that. This year. It still eats me

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Speaker 2: a little bit. I'm like, oh, I just couldn't we

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Speaker 2: couldn't quite get there. I was really proud of the

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Speaker 2: product our guys put on the floor last year, and

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Speaker 2: I thought, with all things considered, I saw, I was

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Speaker 2: really proud of it. And we have so much room

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Speaker 2: to grow, Like we have so much more to do,

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Speaker 2: Like we left so much on the table that that

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Speaker 2: we weren't quite the team that I envisioned us being

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Speaker 2: when we're great. Injury though, right, part of an injury,

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Speaker 2: part of a coaching part of it, all the things,

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Speaker 2: part of newness, part of it, you know, part of it,

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Speaker 2: roster construction part it was all little pieces of it.

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Speaker 2: And like I said, I'm super proud of what the

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Speaker 2: guys did. I think it's incredible. It was. It was

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Speaker 2: a really amazing journey. But you know, you go to

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Speaker 2: that and you're like, man, we weren't even close to

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Speaker 2: what we're supposed to be, like what we're aiming to be,

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Speaker 2: And I think that gives you great hope for what

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Speaker 2: we can actually be.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you had look you lo this car right

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Speaker 1: at the beginning of the year, Jackson Robinson's hurt on

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Speaker 1: and off, Lamont Butler's hurt on and off you, I

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Speaker 1: mean Andrew Carr's hurt on and off. I mean you

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Speaker 1: all had to deal with a lot of stuff. You

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Speaker 1: had guys playing roles you probably didn't think they were

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Speaker 1: going to play immediately, but you just kept fighting. And

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Speaker 1: I felt like outside of I thought Alabama was a

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Speaker 1: tough matchup for you, for you all, But besides that,

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Speaker 1: I felt like you were matched up and in all

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Speaker 1: those games you had to feel good about it. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: You know how I know that Alabama was a tough

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Speaker 2: matchup because I was just on the road this weekend

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Speaker 2: and went said and Natoates came a sady. I mean,

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Speaker 2: he was so happy, was he was so happy to

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Speaker 2: talk to me. He was like my best friend in

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Speaker 2: the whole world. That's what happens when you go zero

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Speaker 2: and three.

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Speaker 1: Ah, But but that was I think it was just

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Speaker 1: tough when with the rosters you had to go in

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Speaker 1: those games.

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Speaker 2: It was complicated. But you know it's it's yeah, but

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Speaker 2: that's all part of it. It's all built into it.

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Speaker 2: You know. We think we have some answers for when

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Speaker 2: when some things go wrong this coming season, Like you

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Speaker 2: learn and you grow and you get better, right, and

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Speaker 2: and that's what we're gonna do. Uh. With all that said,

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Speaker 2: you know, we we had you know we talked about

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Speaker 2: all the continuity issues and everything else, but you know,

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Speaker 2: I did. I do think we we learned a lot

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Speaker 2: last year. I think we grew a lot last year

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Speaker 2: as a staff. I think we grew as a team.

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Speaker 2: But dealing with the changes, what was what what we

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Speaker 2: also learned was just how massively important our guys getting

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Speaker 2: to know each other and love each other and trying.

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Speaker 2: You know, as a basketball player, you're the only reason

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Speaker 2: you're here is because you're completely obsessed with your own

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Speaker 2: personal development and growth. You can't get to Kentucky without

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Speaker 2: being like crazy, selfishly obsessed with yourself and how you grow,

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Speaker 2: because that's what it demands. Like this personal sacrifice scat

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Speaker 2: is so huge, and so we're not living in laala

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Speaker 2: land where guys are gonna completely divorce themselves from their

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Speaker 2: own ambitions. But what we're trying to do is build

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Speaker 2: a place where you're gonna go achieve your own ambitions

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Speaker 2: by by by becoming the greatest teammate ever and loving

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Speaker 2: your guys more than you can possibly imagine, because this

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Speaker 2: actually is by definition here and in the NBA, it

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Speaker 2: is a team sport and it's about a team. And

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Speaker 2: I thought that was what helped you know, our guys

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Speaker 2: being so good at doing that last year was what

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Speaker 2: helped us survive all the stuff that that kind of

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Speaker 2: went into the season.

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Speaker 1: All right, some basketball nerd stuff a little bit. You

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Speaker 1: you were very big on that. Fans wondered about the

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Speaker 1: first substitution substitution pattern. They had a lot of games

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Speaker 1: where we go out, we get a lead, then you'd

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Speaker 1: make a sub and people, ah, what's he doing? What's

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Speaker 1: your philosophy on that on that early in the first

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Speaker 1: and second half bringing in some subs? What why do

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Speaker 1: you do that? Well?

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Speaker 2: In the games where I brought in substitutions and it

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Speaker 2: went bad, it was just bad substitution, right. But sometimes

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Speaker 2: you know, when you're thinking about the whole nature of

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Speaker 2: the game, you you you so these are thoughts that

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Speaker 2: go into it, and it's it's pretty much artistic. You

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Speaker 2: lose the science of it really quick because there's such

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Speaker 2: a small sample size. But but it's it's you know,

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Speaker 2: a couple a couple of things going so, uh, when

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Speaker 2: we thought about our roster alignment, about guys that actually

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Speaker 2: function well together, or who we could have on the court,

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Speaker 2: who we felt you know, sometimes there's there's a young

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Speaker 2: guy that you're trying to put on the court where

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Speaker 2: you need to have them kind of protected, right, and

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Speaker 2: so sometimes it's hard to take a bunch of young

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Speaker 2: guys or less experienced guys and put them on the

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Speaker 2: court at the same time, and so sometimes you have

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Speaker 2: to grab someone out of the line up early to

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Speaker 2: get someone in so that you can start the rotation

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Speaker 2: early so you don't have a bunch of guys fatiguing

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Speaker 2: all at the same time, and then you're then you're

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Speaker 2: doing more wholesale or maybe a guy when he's fresh,

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Speaker 2: he's actually to be able to be more supportive than

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Speaker 2: when he s are. So you think about things like that.

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Speaker 2: You think about running through the roster to kind of

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Speaker 2: see who's got a good vibe that night, because there's

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Speaker 2: game to game differentiating. There es game for me you

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Speaker 2: do I think one hundred percent, and then the other thing,

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Speaker 2: you're trying to explore his matchups, because the vibe sometime

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Speaker 2: is really determined by the matchup about like what does

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Speaker 2: it look like? And sometimes you're thinking, man, I could

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Speaker 2: really function smaller in this game. Maybe maybe I could

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Speaker 2: get to smaller in this game against a particular lineup,

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Speaker 2: and so you're reactive to those things. Sometimes sometimes it's

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Speaker 2: just a matter of like, hey, I'm going to take

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Speaker 2: the hit now so I can be more fresh than

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Speaker 2: the second half, which was really effective for.

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Speaker 1: Us this year. You did have a lot of games

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Speaker 1: where it felt like at the end you guys had

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Speaker 1: some energy that the other the other team didn't. In

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Speaker 1: just looking at your roster for next year, and granted

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Speaker 1: I have not seen these guys play nearly as much

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Speaker 1: as you have most of them, but it does look

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Speaker 1: to me as an outside like you intently went to

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Speaker 1: get more athletic, and it was that? Was that true?

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Speaker 2: Yeah? I think I think that we have. Positionally in

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Speaker 2: some positions, I think we're way more athletic, and I

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Speaker 2: think positionally in some places were way more physical, And

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Speaker 2: I think both those things matter.

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Speaker 1: Was that a going through the SEC and seeing I

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Speaker 1: always say about the SEC, especially last year, even the

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Speaker 1: worst teams in the SEC had great athletes. Was it like, Okay,

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Speaker 1: I gotta ramp the athleticism up a little bit? Yeah?

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Speaker 2: I think it was. It's again, it's always like a

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Speaker 2: stew of of ideas, right. One of the things that

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Speaker 2: is functional for us is like positionally if you could,

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Speaker 2: you know, like a like a low hanging fruit, example

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Speaker 2: would be just the ability to switch one through four

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Speaker 2: defensively or one through five defensively. So can you get

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Speaker 2: more either more size or more quickness or more of

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Speaker 2: a steal percentage in your back court? And you can

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Speaker 2: you get you know, a four for example that's more

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Speaker 2: coultiple or actually could be a dominant defensive figure against

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Speaker 2: any matchup. Right, So you're kind of thinking about a

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Speaker 2: bunch of different pieces, Man, can we fit together? And

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Speaker 2: you're not gonna have your whole roster be able to

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Speaker 2: do that, but can we put together a lineup where

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Speaker 2: that's super functional? And how do we add pieces?

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Speaker 1: Do that?

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Speaker 2: You know, like you do that a thousand different models

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Speaker 2: of your rosha works together in terms of how you

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Speaker 2: want to scheme different things on the floor, as well

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Speaker 2: as just kind of looking individually at ones, two, three,

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Speaker 2: source fives and the standalone about how they function.

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Speaker 1: So I see, again as an outsider with your system

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Speaker 1: that to me watching your one, the two positions that

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Speaker 1: seem like to me are the most important for you

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Speaker 1: are the point guard in the big, especially the big

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Speaker 1: that's at the top with amar a maris a very

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Speaker 1: unique ability. So you have I assume Brandon Garrison is

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Speaker 1: what you're thinking at that role. He had some great moments,

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Speaker 1: also had some inconsistent moments. I remember when you all

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Speaker 1: lost him, you saying something to him like all right,

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Speaker 1: this obvio and you know, here you go. You think

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Speaker 1: Brandon's ready to take that step up because it'll be

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Speaker 1: big shoes to fill with the mark.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, first, you know, traditionally in my roster, probably

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Speaker 2: for most of my you know, most of my tenure

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Speaker 2: as a head coach, it's probably been the four that's

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Speaker 2: been a more unique piece. We slid into this five

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Speaker 2: roll kind of of necessity last year and and to

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Speaker 2: be a personnel group I had before I got to

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Speaker 2: get that kind of led me to the five a

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Speaker 2: little bit. It kind of changes, but a lot of

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Speaker 2: time it's been a four where I'm playing a four

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Speaker 2: that's an elite level ball handler, decision maker where where

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Speaker 2: it gives us some space and we can protect a

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Speaker 2: five a little bit. So those two pieces are interchangeable.

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Speaker 2: All of that leading to Brandon Garrison. So Brandon Garrison

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Speaker 2: showed me some signs in the last month and certainly

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Speaker 2: this summer where he is just like he is growing

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Speaker 2: up man, And it's so cool to see. It's the

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Speaker 2: best thing to see as a coach. But uh, he's

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Speaker 2: talking about what he wants to be. It's no longer

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Speaker 2: kind of what he is and who he is and

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Speaker 2: how he expect it's what he wants to become. You know,

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Speaker 2: he's he's he's done this publicly where he's talked about Amar,

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Speaker 2: that he was that that beg was blessed to have

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Speaker 2: this big brother Amary, that the kind of mentored him

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Speaker 2: and took care of him. Yeah, and that he kind

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Speaker 2: of wants to be that guy. And it's a change

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Speaker 2: now when you start to have guys talk about what

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Speaker 2: they would like to become, then you're like, oh, we

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Speaker 2: got something here, and he's definitely there.

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Speaker 1: Man.

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Speaker 2: So much of his space is that and we need

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Speaker 2: him to be great. Next Year's can be really important

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Speaker 2: because he's he's one of the few guys that are

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Speaker 2: coming back with a ton of experience and he's going

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Speaker 2: to teach everybody on the roster.

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Speaker 1: Jalen Lowe I watched play a couple of times. Uh.

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Speaker 1: I watched him a lot when they played Louisville and

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Speaker 1: I remember thinking, boy, this guy's got some talent. He's

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Speaker 1: got some scoot. He can get by people, which something

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Speaker 1: I thought sometimes we had a hard time doing last year,

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Speaker 1: beating people off the dribble. He's also though he can

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Speaker 1: be all over the place. How do you take that talent,

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Speaker 1: which is immns and then make it work in a

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Speaker 1: system like yours?

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Speaker 2: So super fun stand on him and you've probably seen this,

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Speaker 2: but so and it's I still haven't found the right

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Speaker 2: way to say this in short words. To give me

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Speaker 2: a minute here. So, Jalen Lowe was an elite levels

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Speaker 2: in terms of the raw stats, points, assist, everything else

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Speaker 2: he did in the game was really good. But he

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Speaker 2: wasn't a super efficient player last year. Yeah, part of

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Speaker 2: it was because he had to do a lot. It's

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Speaker 2: not a It's no takeaway from Pitt. Pitt's a great

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Speaker 2: program to do a great job was just a situation

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Speaker 2: that he was in. And so so one of the

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Speaker 2: things he did, he was in the ninetieth percentile in

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Speaker 2: the country, in the top ten percent of taking the

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Speaker 2: highest percentage of shots that were are in the bottom

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Speaker 2: twenty percent of shot quality. Oh that's a that's a

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Speaker 2: long analytical way of saying he took he made the

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Speaker 2: game so hard, or the game that was delivered him

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Speaker 2: was so harder. However, that happened like he was taking

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Speaker 2: some of them trying to make the hardest plays in

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Speaker 2: the game of basketball and make him over and over

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Speaker 2: and over again. Not incredibly dissimilar in some ways from

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Speaker 2: Lamont Butler. So Lamont Butler shot quality usage wasn't quite

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Speaker 2: a low shot bottom twenty percent. Shot quality usage wasn't

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Speaker 2: quite as significant when he came, but it was still

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Speaker 2: a little bit of that trend. He had never been

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Speaker 2: forty eight percent from two, he'd never been really above

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Speaker 2: thirty three percent from three. He comes here, he shoots

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Speaker 2: thirty nine point one percent from three on the season,

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Speaker 2: suffering half the season with a debilitating shoulder injury, and

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Speaker 2: was at fifty six percent from two at eight percentage

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Speaker 2: point jump in a super senior. And so much of

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Speaker 2: that was because he was humble enough and willing enough to, like,

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Speaker 2: let me rethink this game a little bit, so I

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Speaker 2: don't spend all my time trying to get better at

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Speaker 2: making impossible shots, but I actually manipulate this game and

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Speaker 2: work enough to earn myself great stuff. So now instead

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Speaker 2: of being instead of being in the top ten percent

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Speaker 2: of taking of usage of bottom twenty percent quality shots,

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Speaker 2: now I mean like the top ten percent of usage

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Speaker 2: of like twenty to eighty percent quality shots, right, And

400
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Speaker 2: that shift without improving your raw skill set can transform

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Speaker 2: your entire game. And so what we love is I

402
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Speaker 2: love seeing guys where I'm like, wow, with a little

403
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Speaker 2: bit of study and a little bit of humility and curiosity, like,

404
00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:37,399
Speaker 2: we can transform your So that's a really interesting crazy

405
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Speaker 2: because I was gonna ask you, that's a moneyball game.

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Speaker 1: When the season is over, you have this porridge of

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Speaker 1: players to choose from. They're all over the place, and

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Speaker 1: you could choose, especially at Kentucky, you could choose a

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Speaker 1: lot of them. You got a lot of choices. How

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Speaker 1: do you sit there and say Cam Williams at Tulane

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Speaker 1: that's the kid I want? Like, how do you even

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Speaker 1: how do you come to the point of saying that?

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Speaker 1: Are you looking for things like that? Little inefficiencies you

414
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Speaker 1: can take advantage?

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Speaker 2: Yes, Like, so you're always ask yourself what are you

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Speaker 2: good at coaching? Like what part of coaching are you

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Speaker 2: good at? Right? And it changes, So it changes based

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Speaker 2: on a guy's talent and based on it, but like

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Speaker 2: it's a it's a it's very much all sliding scales,

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Speaker 2: like you have one hundred sliding scales. But you're kind

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Speaker 2: of like, okay, this is this is what happened out

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Speaker 2: Jayalen Lowe had a terrific season last year, I mean

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Speaker 2: put up really incredible numbers. So that's that was the

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Speaker 2: number one reason why I came out on the radar.

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Speaker 2: But as you dig deeper into it, you're like, ooh,

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Speaker 2: you know what, like we could actually take credit for

427
00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:41,600
Speaker 2: him getting way better when it's really not. It's really

428
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Speaker 2: not that complicend. And and when you when you think

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Speaker 2: about Cam, I mean Cam was pretty easy for us.

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Speaker 2: I think about that three kind of four spot guy

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Speaker 2: that can really shoot it, really stretch the floor.

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Speaker 1: But when you say it's easy for you, like I

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Speaker 1: remember when he committed, I had somebody close to you today,

434
00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:01,320
Speaker 1: here's the case for him, here's why he's awesome. But

435
00:21:01,359 --> 00:21:03,679
Speaker 1: if I hadn't talked to that person, I would have

436
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:06,639
Speaker 1: seen the stats and gone, that's odd to me. So

437
00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:08,080
Speaker 1: how is it comes to you.

438
00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:12,440
Speaker 2: To Well, it's it's a little bit like so because

439
00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:14,879
Speaker 2: we know what fits in our system. We know what works.

440
00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:18,000
Speaker 2: You know. To me, it's just to give you like

441
00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:22,760
Speaker 2: it was, you know, and things don't always work out

442
00:21:22,800 --> 00:21:24,960
Speaker 2: the way that you think they're going to, right. But

443
00:21:25,200 --> 00:21:28,720
Speaker 2: when we signed Ansley Almanor, there was a lot of

444
00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:31,160
Speaker 2: kind of questions and I was just like, ah, guys,

445
00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:34,280
Speaker 2: just wait, just wait and see. And now I didn't

446
00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:36,480
Speaker 2: I wasn't saying that he was gonna have the greatest

447
00:21:36,480 --> 00:21:39,639
Speaker 2: shooting season in the history of Kentucky basketball. That's not.

448
00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:41,320
Speaker 2: But what I was saying is like, no, you don't

449
00:21:41,359 --> 00:21:44,160
Speaker 2: understand the way he fits into our system. The way

450
00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:46,919
Speaker 2: we played was is very much an NBA style, Like

451
00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:49,920
Speaker 2: we've had players like him that come in here and

452
00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:54,280
Speaker 2: they are winning you games and you didn't anticipate it

453
00:21:54,320 --> 00:21:56,959
Speaker 2: because of the skill set he brings because it's a

454
00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,640
Speaker 2: piece that fits so well to what we do.

455
00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:01,919
Speaker 1: I had learn about him because to Mario and now

456
00:22:01,960 --> 00:22:04,159
Speaker 1: we're at your pro deck. Yeah, and I like, I

457
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:06,439
Speaker 1: give him a hard time about it because he was

458
00:22:06,960 --> 00:22:09,520
Speaker 1: I was like, I looked at Antsy Almanor, I'm guilty

459
00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:13,240
Speaker 1: of this and I went, I don't know about that dude,

460
00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:16,240
Speaker 1: Like I trust smart, but I don't know and I

461
00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:18,280
Speaker 1: and I used to joke, hey, Mario, this is your

462
00:22:18,320 --> 00:22:21,200
Speaker 1: favorite player, and then I saw it once the game starting,

463
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:23,080
Speaker 1: I saw what you were. So that's what you're looking

464
00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:24,280
Speaker 1: for our pieces.

465
00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:26,280
Speaker 2: And and and listen, this is Cam Williams.

466
00:22:26,320 --> 00:22:28,200
Speaker 1: Now is he's an NBA.

467
00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:32,560
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's the NBA piece, Like he's the NBA loves him.

468
00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:35,760
Speaker 2: So it's not like we have some genius insight into

469
00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:38,480
Speaker 2: like reading these guys, but like we I think we

470
00:22:38,560 --> 00:22:41,320
Speaker 2: have a pretty clear sense of how we'd like to

471
00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:43,080
Speaker 2: do things and how we like to function, and then

472
00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:45,800
Speaker 2: finding the guys that that suit that really well. And

473
00:22:45,920 --> 00:22:49,439
Speaker 2: Cam is one of these guys that he's gonna be

474
00:22:49,480 --> 00:22:52,760
Speaker 2: great wherever he goes and plays, but coming here where

475
00:22:52,800 --> 00:22:55,200
Speaker 2: we're really really gonna dig in and use the skills,

476
00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:57,200
Speaker 2: he's gonna be special. So it's all different.

477
00:22:57,200 --> 00:22:59,320
Speaker 1: But so how do you find the dude from Croatia?

478
00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:02,199
Speaker 1: I mean, you know he played for by the way

479
00:23:02,240 --> 00:23:04,159
Speaker 1: he played the team. I don't you probably know this

480
00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:07,920
Speaker 1: when when Kentucky played in the Bahamas that we played

481
00:23:07,920 --> 00:23:10,320
Speaker 1: them and beat him by like night we played that team.

482
00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:11,400
Speaker 1: How did you end up with him?

483
00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:13,120
Speaker 2: In fact, I'm gonna throw meets go under the bus.

484
00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:15,200
Speaker 2: So Misco is one of the top agents in all

485
00:23:15,200 --> 00:23:20,520
Speaker 2: of all of Europe, and so Misko, uh, you know,

486
00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:25,720
Speaker 2: had kind of been a party to setting up that game.

487
00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:27,160
Speaker 2: And then I guess when they got to the game,

488
00:23:27,400 --> 00:23:29,399
Speaker 2: there were a bunch of stipulations like you guys aren't

489
00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:32,720
Speaker 2: allowed to play so and so is so.

490
00:23:32,800 --> 00:23:34,200
Speaker 1: He's not allowed to play zone.

491
00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:36,640
Speaker 2: He's still bitter about losing by fifty of that game.

492
00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:41,000
Speaker 1: Uh but we I remember they not allowed to play zone. No. Yeah,

493
00:23:41,520 --> 00:23:44,520
Speaker 1: but but I mean you look and you go now

494
00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:46,879
Speaker 1: that we follow this guy, like, wow, how did you hit?

495
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:47,840
Speaker 1: You got on your radar?

496
00:23:47,920 --> 00:23:51,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you know, our staff does an unbelievable job

497
00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:56,120
Speaker 2: scouring everywhere and and and he's the guy that kind

498
00:23:56,119 --> 00:23:58,880
Speaker 2: of you know when you So he's in a developmental team,

499
00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:02,199
Speaker 2: megas a development mental team, So they play in a

500
00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:05,240
Speaker 2: professional league, but they're all developmental guys. So they bring

501
00:24:05,280 --> 00:24:07,560
Speaker 2: in really young guys and just raise them up playing

502
00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:11,680
Speaker 2: them against legitimate guys. And his length was super attractive

503
00:24:11,680 --> 00:24:13,920
Speaker 2: to us once we got on film, and his skill set,

504
00:24:13,960 --> 00:24:16,159
Speaker 2: his ability to push the ball in transition and kind

505
00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:18,640
Speaker 2: of make a decision on the floor, and then talking

506
00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:21,440
Speaker 2: to him was was really great. So you know, one

507
00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:23,200
Speaker 2: of the interesting things is we go through this portal

508
00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:26,080
Speaker 2: season is we talk to everybody. And the reason we

509
00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:28,960
Speaker 2: talk to everybody is because we actually don't know who

510
00:24:28,960 --> 00:24:33,440
Speaker 2: fits Kentucky. So we actually have to have multiple conversations

511
00:24:33,800 --> 00:24:36,399
Speaker 2: not just with the player, but with the team around

512
00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:39,520
Speaker 2: them to understand if they fit here. There's so many

513
00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:43,520
Speaker 2: guys that don't fit Kentucky this place.

514
00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:45,520
Speaker 1: Is do you sometimes have to go meet them to know.

515
00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,359
Speaker 2: That sometimes, but we don't always have that. You know,

516
00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:50,440
Speaker 2: I'm a FaceTime zoom guy, so I want to be

517
00:24:51,040 --> 00:24:51,680
Speaker 2: even with that.

518
00:24:51,720 --> 00:24:54,080
Speaker 1: Though. Have you had meetings where you had the FaceTime

519
00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:55,240
Speaker 1: and went, yeah, I just don't think.

520
00:24:55,080 --> 00:24:58,040
Speaker 2: This work for one hundred percent. Yes, So that happens.

521
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:02,880
Speaker 2: This is a special so special place. So it happens

522
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:06,679
Speaker 2: more often than not that that we're a little bit

523
00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:09,160
Speaker 2: in and we're like, ah, like, you know, I might

524
00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:10,800
Speaker 2: love his time and be like, oh, he's not gonna

525
00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:14,119
Speaker 2: survive here, or I might I might love you know

526
00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:16,600
Speaker 2: him as a kid, but think, ah, his agenda is

527
00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:20,800
Speaker 2: just different than our agenda. And so you know, that

528
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:23,399
Speaker 2: process is really important, and that was one of the

529
00:25:23,840 --> 00:25:25,919
Speaker 2: one of the really important parts of the process with

530
00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:29,000
Speaker 2: Andrea because I liked him. You know, you never know,

531
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:32,720
Speaker 2: like we'll see how some of the skills that translates,

532
00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:34,960
Speaker 2: some of the physicality translates, some of some of those

533
00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,040
Speaker 2: things translate. But as we were exploring all those things,

534
00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:40,480
Speaker 2: which I was so excited about, all those pieces, when

535
00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:42,840
Speaker 2: I started talking about on the phone and like it

536
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,840
Speaker 2: was one particular conversation on FaceTime where I'm talking to

537
00:25:45,920 --> 00:25:49,439
Speaker 2: him and you could see him get emotional as he

538
00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:52,359
Speaker 2: started to talk about the possibility of playing at the

539
00:25:52,480 --> 00:25:56,200
Speaker 2: University of Kentucky, and I'm like, that's it. That's our guy, right,

540
00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:58,919
Speaker 2: because he's gonna get it. He's not gonna miss it.

541
00:25:59,480 --> 00:26:02,800
Speaker 2: As the head coach here running this program, I cannot

542
00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:05,480
Speaker 2: bring guys in here that are gonna miss this. It

543
00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:08,600
Speaker 2: would feel like I'm disrespecting this place that I love

544
00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:12,600
Speaker 2: so much. And sometimes like uber talented guys could come

545
00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:15,000
Speaker 2: here and miss this. But I think the guys are

546
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,880
Speaker 2: gonna serve us well as a community and a commonwealth.

547
00:26:17,920 --> 00:26:21,720
Speaker 2: And is is that this this this incredible? You know,

548
00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:24,200
Speaker 2: the pro the flagship program all college basketball, or the

549
00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:25,800
Speaker 2: guys that have come here and not miss it, and

550
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:27,600
Speaker 2: those are the guys who actually hang banners forks.

551
00:26:28,400 --> 00:26:30,639
Speaker 1: You know, you having played here, you know what it

552
00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:33,800
Speaker 1: means to people to have dudes from Kentucky. And you

553
00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:36,360
Speaker 1: are going to have three on this year's team, which

554
00:26:36,359 --> 00:26:39,399
Speaker 1: has gotta be one of the most. Ryan sitting over there,

555
00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:41,640
Speaker 1: I mean, there are not many times we've had more

556
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:42,160
Speaker 1: than three.

557
00:26:43,400 --> 00:26:45,159
Speaker 2: I'm so, I'm so proud of Ryan for having his

558
00:26:45,200 --> 00:26:47,640
Speaker 2: shirt on. Still this is I'm really proud of you. Man.

559
00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:48,600
Speaker 2: That's actually super cool.

560
00:26:49,240 --> 00:26:52,080
Speaker 1: A few minutes, but you from last year's team, you

561
00:26:52,080 --> 00:26:54,880
Speaker 1: had Trent Noah, you had Travis Parry. Trent's coming back.

562
00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:59,800
Speaker 1: Everybody's excited when the when the Travis thing doesn't work

563
00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:02,720
Speaker 1: out and he ends up going what is your like,

564
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:05,680
Speaker 1: how's that play out? Because you know what dudes from

565
00:27:05,760 --> 00:27:07,480
Speaker 1: Kentucky mean to the fan base.

566
00:27:07,560 --> 00:27:10,919
Speaker 2: I know, so this is the thing, so you know,

567
00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:12,880
Speaker 2: a bunch of things can be true at the same time.

568
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:17,920
Speaker 2: Travis Travis Perry is special, special, special like he had

569
00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:20,040
Speaker 2: just is and he's a big time basketball player and

570
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:22,840
Speaker 2: he's gonna have a big time career. He's gonna be

571
00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:26,520
Speaker 2: a terrific player and he's such a joy to coach.

572
00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:29,840
Speaker 2: I mean, he just you know, took an information and

573
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:32,280
Speaker 2: just wanted to get better. And and he's got this

574
00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:35,200
Speaker 2: seriousness about him that's pretty unflappable. And I just think

575
00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:37,439
Speaker 2: he's got so many of the components of being a

576
00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:40,920
Speaker 2: great basketball player. So and and I love coaching him,

577
00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:44,960
Speaker 2: and that's all true. And so sometimes I get cautious

578
00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,720
Speaker 2: about when he told me that he was leaving. We

579
00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:50,480
Speaker 2: actually were having an ongoing conversation. I was trying to

580
00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:55,439
Speaker 2: like help him see what I saw, and you know,

581
00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:57,560
Speaker 2: we just just didn't get to the same place. I

582
00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:00,840
Speaker 2: was super It was devastating. I mean, it's actually like

583
00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,560
Speaker 2: it hurts my soul now just because.

584
00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:08,040
Speaker 1: I so you really tried to convince him.

585
00:28:08,119 --> 00:28:10,520
Speaker 2: Oh man, I just desperately want him to stay and

586
00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:14,440
Speaker 2: and and and and Travis Perry loves Kentucky. So that

587
00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:16,320
Speaker 2: that's when I say, I want to be sensitive, like

588
00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:20,399
Speaker 2: he loves Kentucky. It's just he just you know, I

589
00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:22,399
Speaker 2: would never want to put words his mouth, but I

590
00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:25,880
Speaker 2: think probably he was just not feeling super confident about

591
00:28:25,920 --> 00:28:29,000
Speaker 2: the path for him here at Kentucky being exactly what

592
00:28:29,160 --> 00:28:32,600
Speaker 2: he wanted out of the game of basketball. Maybe I

593
00:28:33,080 --> 00:28:36,320
Speaker 2: couldn't have disagreed with him more on that. But you know,

594
00:28:36,440 --> 00:28:38,000
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, we're all just making

595
00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:43,520
Speaker 2: our best. Guess. I just know and so and and listen,

596
00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:45,200
Speaker 2: he's gonna go to Ole miss and he's gonna have

597
00:28:45,280 --> 00:28:47,360
Speaker 2: a great career there, and he's gonna do it he's there,

598
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:51,360
Speaker 2: and yeah, he's a terrific player and and and all

599
00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:56,560
Speaker 2: those things are true. I just know that being a

600
00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:01,440
Speaker 2: Kentucky basketball player is so much bigger than being a

601
00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:05,360
Speaker 2: basketball player. And and it's my job to help our

602
00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:10,160
Speaker 2: guys see that and understand it and and feel it

603
00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:15,200
Speaker 2: and and and and you know it sometimes as old people,

604
00:29:15,360 --> 00:29:18,600
Speaker 2: it's so much easier for us to see ten years

605
00:29:18,600 --> 00:29:20,680
Speaker 2: and twenty and thirty years down the road than it's

606
00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:25,160
Speaker 2: just for young guys. And and so there's no so

607
00:29:26,240 --> 00:29:29,840
Speaker 2: it just it just just all of that just man,

608
00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:32,080
Speaker 2: it just it breaks my heart. But I'm also I

609
00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:34,520
Speaker 2: love I love Travis and and he's gonna have a

610
00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:36,320
Speaker 2: great run and all those things are all true.

611
00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:38,600
Speaker 1: At the same time, I'm gonna read you what Ryan

612
00:29:38,680 --> 00:29:40,880
Speaker 1: Lemon just texted me. All right, So now I got

613
00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:42,200
Speaker 1: to give you the part where we give you a

614
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:44,360
Speaker 1: hard time. We have a little thing on the show

615
00:29:44,400 --> 00:29:47,080
Speaker 1: where we talk about how much you say special and

616
00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:49,960
Speaker 1: how much you say beautiful. Man and Ryan just said

617
00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:55,680
Speaker 1: Pope throughout the trifecta special. Travis Perry is special, special, special.

618
00:29:55,880 --> 00:29:57,840
Speaker 1: You love those words beautiful and special.

619
00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:00,360
Speaker 2: Don't don't be don't be mad at me. I'm not

620
00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:02,920
Speaker 2: mad at you because Leanne crushes me. She's like, well,

621
00:30:02,960 --> 00:30:06,320
Speaker 2: you stop saying beautiful. At one point I was saying breathtaking.

622
00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:10,280
Speaker 2: She's like, stop saying you say. She's like, could you

623
00:30:10,440 --> 00:30:13,040
Speaker 2: please grow your lexicon so you can have some other

624
00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:15,600
Speaker 2: works of sayers special and beautiful and.

625
00:30:15,800 --> 00:30:17,840
Speaker 1: Beautiful is a big one. You're big. I'm beautiful.

626
00:30:17,920 --> 00:30:19,880
Speaker 2: I'm actually gonna I'm actually gonna put a card down

627
00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:24,120
Speaker 2: here with some some some synonyms for for for my hyperbology.

628
00:30:24,160 --> 00:30:26,160
Speaker 1: You know, some people have a cuss jar. You need

629
00:30:26,200 --> 00:30:28,440
Speaker 1: to have a beautiful and special jar, so they have

630
00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:31,200
Speaker 1: to put a dollar in uh every time. Let me

631
00:30:31,240 --> 00:30:34,840
Speaker 1: ask you some philosophy things about things I know Kentucky

632
00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:37,000
Speaker 1: fans care. Well, let's talk about scheduling real quick. You

633
00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:39,560
Speaker 1: have made and we don't even know all the schedule yet,

634
00:30:39,880 --> 00:30:42,200
Speaker 1: but like it's gonna be a hard schedule here. I mean,

635
00:30:42,440 --> 00:30:44,720
Speaker 1: you know, when you we start the Indiana series back,

636
00:30:44,800 --> 00:30:47,120
Speaker 1: we got the Saint John's game where they're replacing in

637
00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:50,400
Speaker 1: the Champions Classic, there'll be an ACC team come here.

638
00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:52,560
Speaker 1: I'm rooting for Duke, although I hear it's gonna be

639
00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:55,400
Speaker 1: something else, which disappoints me, but that's not your control.

640
00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:58,480
Speaker 1: And now you got these two preseason games perdue and

641
00:30:58,600 --> 00:31:02,680
Speaker 1: today was announced Georgetown. You really believe in Let's go

642
00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:04,040
Speaker 1: play the best, right? I mean?

643
00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:06,840
Speaker 2: This is this? Yeah, you guys are hear me say this,

644
00:31:06,960 --> 00:31:09,480
Speaker 2: until as long as I get to be here. You know,

645
00:31:09,560 --> 00:31:12,480
Speaker 2: if you're coming to Kentucky, you don't come here and hide.

646
00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:14,720
Speaker 2: It doesn't make sense to come here and hide. Like

647
00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:16,920
Speaker 2: we're gonna grow. We have some by games where we're

648
00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:19,400
Speaker 2: gonna have a chance to grow and and do whatever.

649
00:31:19,520 --> 00:31:22,840
Speaker 2: But like this is you know, if you'll let me.

650
00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:27,040
Speaker 2: I spent the entire weekend and then I'm going to

651
00:31:27,080 --> 00:31:29,880
Speaker 2: the SEC meetings next week and all I can talk

652
00:31:29,920 --> 00:31:32,160
Speaker 2: about is we got to expand this over thirty one games.

653
00:31:32,160 --> 00:31:33,760
Speaker 1: I agree, like we have got to.

654
00:31:33,880 --> 00:31:37,200
Speaker 2: Expand this season, guys, because what's happening is especially with

655
00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:40,640
Speaker 2: the revenue share. Now, like the revenue share should change

656
00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:46,080
Speaker 2: everything in terms of our opportunity to actually go share revenue. Right,

657
00:31:46,520 --> 00:31:48,680
Speaker 2: let's get to you know, I keep saying forty and

658
00:31:48,720 --> 00:31:51,120
Speaker 2: everyone's mad at me. I'm gonna keep pushing forty. But

659
00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:53,920
Speaker 2: can we get to thirty five? Imagine if we had

660
00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:56,680
Speaker 2: four extra games? Yea, then we can put on our

661
00:31:56,720 --> 00:31:59,440
Speaker 2: schedule where we go play a big time neutral game

662
00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:02,400
Speaker 2: and set up a home and home and and and

663
00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:05,760
Speaker 2: do an in state game that people here really care about,

664
00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:09,760
Speaker 2: and just give us a little more flexibility in this deal.

665
00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:13,360
Speaker 1: I just think, well, what's the downside? I mean I

666
00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:15,360
Speaker 1: used to say, like, well, you don't want to have

667
00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:19,200
Speaker 1: games during Christmas break? But who cares? Now? I mean

668
00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:20,240
Speaker 1: at this point, like why not?

669
00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:22,760
Speaker 2: But this is the thing is those are the greatest games.

670
00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:25,320
Speaker 2: And listen, if you know every kid is inspiring and

671
00:32:25,400 --> 00:32:27,680
Speaker 2: go play in the league. Yeah, one year from now,

672
00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:31,880
Speaker 2: they're gonna be playing a Christmas Day game and their

673
00:32:31,960 --> 00:32:35,160
Speaker 2: whole family's gonna come. You know, with nil, Now you

674
00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:38,280
Speaker 2: fly your family in for the Christmas Day game. You

675
00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:40,680
Speaker 2: want to be a pro, let's be a pro. Right,

676
00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:43,800
Speaker 2: And I even if you keep a three day window

677
00:32:43,880 --> 00:32:45,680
Speaker 2: right now they have this three day window, It's fine.

678
00:32:45,880 --> 00:32:47,840
Speaker 2: You know, people argue about that. People, you don't have

679
00:32:47,880 --> 00:32:50,360
Speaker 2: to make the season longer. Give us an extra week

680
00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:51,760
Speaker 2: in the season, that's fine.

681
00:32:51,920 --> 00:32:54,120
Speaker 1: But to simper you all play, it's like once a

682
00:32:54,200 --> 00:32:55,840
Speaker 1: week a lot of times, right.

683
00:32:55,760 --> 00:32:58,840
Speaker 2: And we have six weeks of practice leading up to it. Anyway, Yeah,

684
00:32:58,960 --> 00:33:01,440
Speaker 2: extend out a little, just to double down on this

685
00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:04,360
Speaker 2: whole on this whole insanity. You know, we'll get our

686
00:33:04,400 --> 00:33:08,360
Speaker 2: guys in the summer, and our guys every college basketball

687
00:33:08,400 --> 00:33:11,720
Speaker 2: player is making more probably than their parents right now. Okay,

688
00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:18,880
Speaker 2: And the incredible thing is that during the summer, these

689
00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:21,440
Speaker 2: guys are getting paid a significant amount of money and

690
00:33:21,560 --> 00:33:26,920
Speaker 2: they're only allowed to work four hours a week, and

691
00:33:27,160 --> 00:33:30,320
Speaker 2: the guys are dying. They're like, can we please, you know,

692
00:33:30,440 --> 00:33:32,840
Speaker 2: can we please get together and get some work done?

693
00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:35,360
Speaker 2: Like the all the whole thing is starting ouside it

694
00:33:35,400 --> 00:33:36,120
Speaker 2: but I'm getting.

695
00:33:35,920 --> 00:33:38,760
Speaker 1: Them, know, actually think that it makes perfect sense.

696
00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:40,640
Speaker 2: So all of that leads me back to, like, can

697
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:42,880
Speaker 2: we please extend this season because you know what, we

698
00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:46,600
Speaker 2: get Purdue and Georgetown, which is awesome in the non conference,

699
00:33:46,640 --> 00:33:48,280
Speaker 2: but come on, man, let us do a home a

700
00:33:48,360 --> 00:33:51,680
Speaker 2: home with Kansas, Like yes, So, like, why am I

701
00:33:51,800 --> 00:33:54,320
Speaker 2: not going to stores to play a game, like we

702
00:33:54,400 --> 00:33:55,120
Speaker 2: should be up.

703
00:33:57,440 --> 00:33:57,920
Speaker 1: Some more.

704
00:33:58,120 --> 00:34:01,760
Speaker 2: We need some more flexibility this and also like we

705
00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:04,520
Speaker 2: have to like let us get to Maui.

706
00:34:04,880 --> 00:34:05,000
Speaker 1: Now.

707
00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:08,000
Speaker 2: Part of the complication is is that we make so

708
00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:10,600
Speaker 2: much revenue off our home games that I'm locked into

709
00:34:10,680 --> 00:34:15,320
Speaker 2: this twenty game home slate. We have to do that

710
00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:17,480
Speaker 2: to pay the bills for us and for the athletic department,

711
00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:19,520
Speaker 2: which is good. That's a good thing. It's fine, it's great.

712
00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:23,000
Speaker 2: Bring on some more flexibility so we play some more

713
00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:25,640
Speaker 2: games that every school could actually bring in some more

714
00:34:25,680 --> 00:34:27,520
Speaker 2: revenue that we can share with these student athletes, that

715
00:34:27,600 --> 00:34:29,240
Speaker 2: we can share with the rest of athletic department.

716
00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:31,040
Speaker 1: Let's go, well, they have some of those tournaments now

717
00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:33,239
Speaker 1: where the players get revenue, and I would think that's

718
00:34:33,280 --> 00:34:35,960
Speaker 1: probably helpful in recruiting if you can play in them.

719
00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:40,000
Speaker 2: Right, and our guys do better academically. It's the time

720
00:34:40,600 --> 00:34:43,840
Speaker 2: tested proven our guys do better academically during the season

721
00:34:44,280 --> 00:34:46,480
Speaker 2: than they do out of season. So let's make the

722
00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:49,200
Speaker 2: season the whole school year. Our guys will be four

723
00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:51,240
Speaker 2: point those students, they're.

724
00:34:51,040 --> 00:34:52,520
Speaker 1: All gonna be academic starts.

725
00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:55,040
Speaker 2: I'm gonna brag about this. Our guys that we were

726
00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:57,799
Speaker 2: three point five GPA team nice this year. I'm super

727
00:34:57,840 --> 00:35:02,840
Speaker 2: proud of our guys academically. Out to Michael Stone. Does

728
00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:05,439
Speaker 2: everybody it'd be another A lot of people do. Yeah,

729
00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:08,279
Speaker 2: Michael Stone is a legend. If you take your mom

730
00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:12,960
Speaker 2: and you multiplier by ten, that is Michael Stone. He

731
00:35:13,160 --> 00:35:17,440
Speaker 2: is relentless. I mean this guy, he is the greatest

732
00:35:17,480 --> 00:35:18,279
Speaker 2: to ever do this job.

733
00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:18,480
Speaker 1: Man.

734
00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:19,480
Speaker 2: I love him.

735
00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:23,040
Speaker 1: So. The only downside I've seen about your tenure is

736
00:35:23,600 --> 00:35:26,040
Speaker 1: and I hear this from Louisville fans too, so like

737
00:35:26,320 --> 00:35:30,880
Speaker 1: I loved at times how much Kentucky and Louisville hated

738
00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:33,919
Speaker 1: each other, Cal and your old coach wanted to stab

739
00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:36,000
Speaker 1: each other and still do whether whether they say it

740
00:35:36,120 --> 00:35:38,319
Speaker 1: or not. But you and Pat Kelsey are too nice.

741
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:41,319
Speaker 1: Like the Louisville fans don't hate you. We don't really

742
00:35:41,400 --> 00:35:43,600
Speaker 1: hate Pat Kelsey. That's the only thing I got to

743
00:35:43,640 --> 00:35:46,279
Speaker 1: get you to spice up the Louisville rivalry a little bit.

744
00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:50,280
Speaker 2: I hate this Pat Kelsey and all of those Louisville fans.

745
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:54,520
Speaker 1: Hay, No, now here's the thing.

746
00:35:54,640 --> 00:35:56,640
Speaker 2: I'm gonna tell you this. You know it's actually super cool?

747
00:35:56,840 --> 00:35:57,040
Speaker 1: Yeah?

748
00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:00,800
Speaker 2: Is that I got a boatload respect for Pat Helle. Okay,

749
00:36:00,880 --> 00:36:02,800
Speaker 2: I got so much. I think he's what he's what

750
00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:05,279
Speaker 2: he did last year was incredible. Yes, And I mean

751
00:36:05,520 --> 00:36:08,480
Speaker 2: two of my guys played for him last year, right,

752
00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:11,400
Speaker 2: and and what they accomplished and and you know, I

753
00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:13,239
Speaker 2: don't I don't have a ton of interaction with the

754
00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:16,399
Speaker 2: little fanibies, but I'm sure they're great. But but here's

755
00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:19,080
Speaker 2: the thing. I actually the one thing I would say

756
00:36:19,160 --> 00:36:22,640
Speaker 2: is that that I actually think I think that this

757
00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:26,720
Speaker 2: that this Kentucky Louislle thing is just gonna get heated

758
00:36:26,719 --> 00:36:29,000
Speaker 2: and heated. You know, it's gonna get heated because it's

759
00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:31,320
Speaker 2: gonna be back to being like one verse four in

760
00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:32,040
Speaker 2: the contret.

761
00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:33,880
Speaker 1: No, they're gonna be good and they and they have

762
00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:38,080
Speaker 1: the nisle to participate, and I think that's gonna be Yes. Yeah,

763
00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:39,839
Speaker 1: well you get you get to go in there next year.

764
00:36:39,880 --> 00:36:41,920
Speaker 1: You'll get a sense of I think they're gonna be

765
00:36:41,960 --> 00:36:44,120
Speaker 1: cussing at you like they used to cuss me.

766
00:36:44,440 --> 00:36:48,200
Speaker 2: They would never, they would not do that.

767
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:53,680
Speaker 1: I've had some blank Matt Jones chance from the student section,

768
00:36:53,880 --> 00:36:57,280
Speaker 1: so I think, uh, maybe you'll get that as well. Okay,

769
00:36:57,360 --> 00:37:00,640
Speaker 1: So going into year two, you made a that was

770
00:37:00,719 --> 00:37:02,360
Speaker 1: like we want to be the best in everything, and

771
00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:05,440
Speaker 1: you basically said and then included we're gonna be the

772
00:37:05,560 --> 00:37:07,239
Speaker 1: We're gonna pay the most, We're gonna do this, We're

773
00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:09,520
Speaker 1: gonna do that. I thought that was a really interesting statement.

774
00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:12,640
Speaker 1: A lot of coaches want to downplay the future and

775
00:37:12,800 --> 00:37:15,680
Speaker 1: kind of go we want you're you're just embracing like

776
00:37:15,800 --> 00:37:17,680
Speaker 1: we're gonna be the top and we're gonna have to

777
00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:17,960
Speaker 1: do that.

778
00:37:18,600 --> 00:37:22,520
Speaker 2: It's Kentucky, Like, you know what, Guys like, I'm not

779
00:37:22,600 --> 00:37:24,560
Speaker 2: gonna be the guy that comes to Kentucky as the

780
00:37:24,600 --> 00:37:29,120
Speaker 2: head coach and somehow lowers the expectations of this place. Man,

781
00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:31,720
Speaker 2: we're trying to win this whole thing. Like we failed

782
00:37:31,719 --> 00:37:34,360
Speaker 2: at our job last year. You know you believe that

783
00:37:34,640 --> 00:37:37,640
Speaker 2: one hundred percent. Like we listen. If I know myself,

784
00:37:38,000 --> 00:37:40,480
Speaker 2: for the last thirty years, I've been a diehard Kentucky fan.

785
00:37:40,520 --> 00:37:41,880
Speaker 2: If we didn't went out, Like what is wrong with

786
00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:44,200
Speaker 2: that coach? Man? He can't win to Kentucky. That's what

787
00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:46,200
Speaker 2: all my guys are saying to me every single day.

788
00:37:46,640 --> 00:37:49,880
Speaker 2: And so like I'm not unrealistic. I understand the reality.

789
00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:54,319
Speaker 2: But we're supposed to listen, we are blessed. I'll tell

790
00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:57,360
Speaker 2: you the one thing that nobody in the world will deny. Okay,

791
00:37:57,719 --> 00:38:00,719
Speaker 2: you can't actually argue we have the great fan base

792
00:38:01,239 --> 00:38:05,399
Speaker 2: in all of college basketball. There's no one any other

793
00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:07,759
Speaker 2: fan base that would argue that. Nobody can argue that.

794
00:38:08,400 --> 00:38:10,760
Speaker 2: And so that fan base deserves the best of everything.

795
00:38:12,160 --> 00:38:14,959
Speaker 2: And so you go down the list, and we're trying

796
00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:17,080
Speaker 2: to be the best at everything. And that's what Kentucky

797
00:38:17,160 --> 00:38:19,520
Speaker 2: is supposed to be. That's what Kentucky has traditionally been.

798
00:38:19,960 --> 00:38:20,440
Speaker 1: That's what you know.

799
00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:22,280
Speaker 2: I was just with I was just with Karl Anthony

800
00:38:22,360 --> 00:38:25,760
Speaker 2: Towns yesterday in New York. And that's what he expects

801
00:38:25,800 --> 00:38:28,160
Speaker 2: out of this joint and and and that's what Antons

802
00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:30,920
Speaker 2: cars yesterday. Yeah, I mean it's what that's what all

803
00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:34,200
Speaker 2: our foreigner players, former coaches, you know what you know,

804
00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:37,120
Speaker 2: that's what Cal expects. I mean, Cal is that Arcis.

805
00:38:37,239 --> 00:38:38,920
Speaker 2: He's like, don't you ruin my program?

806
00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:39,080
Speaker 1: Man?

807
00:38:39,160 --> 00:38:41,080
Speaker 2: That's the best song I wanted to all of basketball.

808
00:38:41,200 --> 00:38:43,000
Speaker 1: I wondered when you got here? Here was here was

809
00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:45,040
Speaker 1: a worry I had not about you as a coach.

810
00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:48,360
Speaker 1: But you know, Kentucky fans, I think we're ready for

811
00:38:48,480 --> 00:38:50,680
Speaker 1: a different thing. But they do love that. We have

812
00:38:50,840 --> 00:38:53,479
Speaker 1: twenty six guys in the NBA and they love those

813
00:38:53,600 --> 00:38:56,360
Speaker 1: guys and they watch them. They still feel very connected.

814
00:38:56,360 --> 00:38:58,239
Speaker 1: And there was a part of me that goes, well,

815
00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:02,879
Speaker 1: those guys still, you'll embrace this new coach, this new era.

816
00:39:02,960 --> 00:39:05,279
Speaker 1: And then I saw Andrew Harrison, who's not in the pros,

817
00:39:05,320 --> 00:39:07,799
Speaker 1: but said he watched more UK games this year than

818
00:39:07,840 --> 00:39:11,480
Speaker 1: he had in years past. And I've seen you, you know, talking,

819
00:39:11,560 --> 00:39:13,719
Speaker 1: and Devin Booker gave you a compliment and all these

820
00:39:14,800 --> 00:39:17,239
Speaker 1: was that important to you to keep that bond with

821
00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:19,960
Speaker 1: all those NBA guys and all those guys that played

822
00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:20,399
Speaker 1: for Cal.

823
00:39:20,719 --> 00:39:23,080
Speaker 2: Well, it's listen. I mean guys played for Cal and

824
00:39:23,200 --> 00:39:25,680
Speaker 2: they played for Tubby and played for Jobie and and

825
00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:31,680
Speaker 2: and so those relationship Listen. You develop a really special

826
00:39:31,760 --> 00:39:34,680
Speaker 2: relationship with your head coach, like every player does. That

827
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:37,040
Speaker 2: should never go away. Like I mean, I played for

828
00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:41,000
Speaker 2: coach Patino. Coach Patino is is is is coaching at

829
00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:43,239
Speaker 2: Saint John's. I'm not gonna wear Saint John's T shirt,

830
00:39:43,280 --> 00:39:45,719
Speaker 2: but but I love Coach Patino. I say that from

831
00:39:45,760 --> 00:39:47,960
Speaker 2: the rooftops. I'll shot it from the rooftops, if you know,

832
00:39:48,560 --> 00:39:50,920
Speaker 2: I was out a little quieter when he was coaching

833
00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:55,919
Speaker 2: at Louisville, but otherwise, like so that relationship is always

834
00:39:55,920 --> 00:39:59,400
Speaker 2: gonna exist. But but here's the thing, just like we

835
00:39:59,480 --> 00:40:03,839
Speaker 2: were talking about with TP right, I am thirty years

836
00:40:03,920 --> 00:40:07,000
Speaker 2: down the road, and I know what it feels like

837
00:40:08,040 --> 00:40:11,840
Speaker 2: to walk back into Rupp Arena with your family and

838
00:40:12,280 --> 00:40:16,160
Speaker 2: to let your children see this place that changed the

839
00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:18,920
Speaker 2: trajectory of your life forever, and it means something. It

840
00:40:19,000 --> 00:40:20,719
Speaker 2: was actually super you know, I don't know if Carls

841
00:40:20,760 --> 00:40:22,759
Speaker 2: gonna get mad at me, but I was with him

842
00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:26,000
Speaker 2: yesterday and he talked that's what he talked about. He's

843
00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:30,240
Speaker 2: actually so forward thinking that he's already thinking about legacy.

844
00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:33,440
Speaker 2: And so he was talking about one day when he

845
00:40:33,719 --> 00:40:37,120
Speaker 2: brings his children back to Kentucky and that they get

846
00:40:37,160 --> 00:40:38,839
Speaker 2: to see because the truth is that we all stop

847
00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:42,520
Speaker 2: playing and then the next guy's become way cooler to

848
00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:45,279
Speaker 2: our kids. Yeah, and then you get to walk back

849
00:40:45,360 --> 00:40:49,280
Speaker 2: into the gym and you get to see this relationship

850
00:40:49,360 --> 00:40:53,560
Speaker 2: that our thirty year old, you know, thirty years ago

851
00:40:53,640 --> 00:40:57,279
Speaker 2: played and played in Kentucky, Jersey. You still feel see

852
00:40:57,320 --> 00:40:59,640
Speaker 2: how people embrace them and you get to walk in

853
00:40:59,719 --> 00:41:01,239
Speaker 2: with your children and they get to feel that and

854
00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:02,520
Speaker 2: they get to see you on a light that they

855
00:41:02,719 --> 00:41:07,719
Speaker 2: never actually saw you cool. And that's a real thing.

856
00:41:08,040 --> 00:41:08,759
Speaker 1: And I know that.

857
00:41:09,160 --> 00:41:10,680
Speaker 2: I mean, I got to play in the league as

858
00:41:10,680 --> 00:41:12,279
Speaker 2: a bad player for a long time. I know what

859
00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:17,439
Speaker 2: it's like. And so I want every single coach, every

860
00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:20,960
Speaker 2: single one, and every single player that ever played here

861
00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:26,000
Speaker 2: to feel like this is their building because they built it,

862
00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:28,200
Speaker 2: like we get to enjoy it right now. I get

863
00:41:28,239 --> 00:41:30,920
Speaker 2: to be the head coach at Kentucky enjoying this because

864
00:41:30,960 --> 00:41:34,640
Speaker 2: of what Kat and what Antoine and what Tony and

865
00:41:34,760 --> 00:41:38,960
Speaker 2: what Kyle Macy and what Joby, what all those guys built.

866
00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:41,400
Speaker 2: That's what I get to enjoy right now. And so

867
00:41:41,520 --> 00:41:44,480
Speaker 2: it's really important to me that every single person that

868
00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:47,800
Speaker 2: ever wore this jersey or walked the East sidelines always

869
00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:50,000
Speaker 2: feels like this is home, because that's what BBN does.

870
00:41:50,280 --> 00:41:51,320
Speaker 2: That's how BBN is.

871
00:41:51,360 --> 00:41:51,480
Speaker 1: Man.

872
00:41:51,560 --> 00:41:54,920
Speaker 2: There's no fan base like it. You know, you finished,

873
00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:57,560
Speaker 2: you put on this jersey, and thirty years from now,

874
00:41:57,840 --> 00:41:59,680
Speaker 2: whether you were the best player on the team or

875
00:41:59,719 --> 00:42:02,000
Speaker 2: you're coming off the bench for two seconds at the

876
00:42:02,120 --> 00:42:05,319
Speaker 2: end of the last game of the conference season, they

877
00:42:05,400 --> 00:42:08,200
Speaker 2: will remember you and cherish you because you shared an

878
00:42:08,239 --> 00:42:08,920
Speaker 2: experience together.

879
00:42:09,200 --> 00:42:11,759
Speaker 1: Yeah, John Wall, who It's crazy to me, but it

880
00:42:11,800 --> 00:42:14,399
Speaker 1: almost gets me emotional to hear John Wall talk about

881
00:42:14,520 --> 00:42:16,600
Speaker 1: how excited he is about you. Like, that's a great

882
00:42:16,719 --> 00:42:19,359
Speaker 1: sort of melding of time. Dev's giving me the look.

883
00:42:19,440 --> 00:42:21,120
Speaker 1: So I got one more question. So let me do

884
00:42:21,239 --> 00:42:26,319
Speaker 1: this quickly. You went to London on Sunday. You saw

885
00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:30,160
Speaker 1: that devastation down there, which I also saw on Saturday,

886
00:42:30,200 --> 00:42:32,320
Speaker 1: and then we took the show on Monday. It is

887
00:42:32,719 --> 00:42:37,440
Speaker 1: very hard to describe pictures in video. Don't do it justice.

888
00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:40,239
Speaker 1: You were there. I know that had to have had

889
00:42:40,280 --> 00:42:41,040
Speaker 1: an effect on you.

890
00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:44,279
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's so I mean, man, I had so many

891
00:42:45,120 --> 00:42:49,239
Speaker 2: you know, I was only there for six hours. On Saturday,

892
00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:52,520
Speaker 2: I was in Omaha and Memphis recruiting, and I called

893
00:42:52,600 --> 00:42:54,960
Speaker 2: I heard heard about reports, and so I called Shep

894
00:42:55,640 --> 00:42:59,400
Speaker 2: and I was just like, you know what what you know?

895
00:42:59,760 --> 00:43:03,160
Speaker 2: And everything's happened in real time on the ground. So

896
00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:05,440
Speaker 2: she was like, I don't know, man, We're still racing

897
00:43:05,480 --> 00:43:08,160
Speaker 2: around trying to find out what's what and who's who

898
00:43:08,320 --> 00:43:11,520
Speaker 2: and how we can help and who needs help? And

899
00:43:12,120 --> 00:43:14,560
Speaker 2: so he texted me. I got back late that ninety

900
00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:17,640
Speaker 2: he text me and said, Hey, there's a place where

901
00:43:17,760 --> 00:43:19,480
Speaker 2: I'm going to go tomorrow with a few people, and

902
00:43:19,520 --> 00:43:21,120
Speaker 2: we're just going to try and actually just try and

903
00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:25,680
Speaker 2: help one house, right, to help one family. And so

904
00:43:25,960 --> 00:43:28,000
Speaker 2: he gave me an address and we actually we actually

905
00:43:28,040 --> 00:43:29,880
Speaker 2: got there early that morning. I took a couple of

906
00:43:30,000 --> 00:43:34,000
Speaker 2: daughters and then a couple of their friends and we

907
00:43:34,200 --> 00:43:35,960
Speaker 2: ended up parking a few hours away because there was

908
00:43:36,040 --> 00:43:37,920
Speaker 2: so much stuff, and we got out of the car

909
00:43:38,520 --> 00:43:40,560
Speaker 2: and we actually never made it to the house we

910
00:43:40,640 --> 00:43:42,120
Speaker 2: were supposed to go to because we got out of

911
00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:44,560
Speaker 2: the car. And I'm gonna just say that first days,

912
00:43:44,560 --> 00:43:49,320
Speaker 2: but a senior couple maybe or late seventies, early eighties,

913
00:43:49,680 --> 00:43:52,200
Speaker 2: Catherine and Jerry, were outside their house. There was a

914
00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:54,880
Speaker 2: bunch of trees that had fallen on their roof, a

915
00:43:55,120 --> 00:43:57,960
Speaker 2: huge trailer that I think had blown from the airport

916
00:43:58,080 --> 00:44:00,520
Speaker 2: and flipped over right pushed against the side of ours.

917
00:44:00,520 --> 00:44:04,480
Speaker 2: It was just absolute chaos, and they were outside kind

918
00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:07,120
Speaker 2: of like trying to pick up stuff, and so we

919
00:44:07,360 --> 00:44:09,839
Speaker 2: just stopped right there and we just started helping them.

920
00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:12,400
Speaker 2: And then he grabbed a little chainsaw and he started

921
00:44:12,440 --> 00:44:14,480
Speaker 2: cutting off a little branches these trees. We started taking

922
00:44:14,520 --> 00:44:17,160
Speaker 2: it down and then you know what was really miraculous.

923
00:44:18,200 --> 00:44:20,960
Speaker 2: Just to give you all emphasized the hopeful side of

924
00:44:21,000 --> 00:44:24,320
Speaker 2: this was it seemed like every half an hour, a

925
00:44:24,440 --> 00:44:27,640
Speaker 2: new group a couple people showed up. And by the

926
00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:31,240
Speaker 2: time we finished, you know, six hours later, we removed

927
00:44:31,360 --> 00:44:34,040
Speaker 2: all these trees from off their house. We had probably

928
00:44:34,120 --> 00:44:36,600
Speaker 2: four chains. I was working. The big guns came in

929
00:44:36,760 --> 00:44:40,080
Speaker 2: and we had a big h you know kind of

930
00:44:40,480 --> 00:44:43,200
Speaker 2: uh forklift that came in. It was helping to lift

931
00:44:43,320 --> 00:44:46,800
Speaker 2: trees and and uh. And there was a family that

932
00:44:47,040 --> 00:44:50,160
Speaker 2: was really special to me from Paduca that that had

933
00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:52,560
Speaker 2: just they had just come and parked and walked into

934
00:44:52,600 --> 00:44:55,719
Speaker 2: the front yard after us, and I was like, do

935
00:44:55,800 --> 00:44:57,320
Speaker 2: you guys know the family where He was like, no,

936
00:44:57,520 --> 00:44:59,480
Speaker 2: we were in Paduca when things were really tough four

937
00:44:59,560 --> 00:45:01,560
Speaker 2: or five years. People came helped us. So when we

938
00:45:01,640 --> 00:45:03,200
Speaker 2: heard about we got in the car and we drove

939
00:45:03,239 --> 00:45:06,239
Speaker 2: out here and we're like we're gonna like, we're gonna

940
00:45:06,280 --> 00:45:08,440
Speaker 2: go pay it, pay it, pay it forward right kind

941
00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:11,000
Speaker 2: of thing. And he was just like and then when

942
00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:14,200
Speaker 2: we we when we left, we're trying to drive out

943
00:45:14,640 --> 00:45:16,360
Speaker 2: and I kid you not. There was a like a

944
00:45:16,800 --> 00:45:19,080
Speaker 2: it was a it was a parking lot for like

945
00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:24,319
Speaker 2: a mile with people coming into town. And we drove

946
00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:26,320
Speaker 2: by a gas station. There's two people out there with

947
00:45:26,440 --> 00:45:30,000
Speaker 2: signs that are like they just had science scribbled the

948
00:45:30,080 --> 00:45:33,000
Speaker 2: magic mark er free food. So you know, you just

949
00:45:33,160 --> 00:45:35,160
Speaker 2: inviting people to come stop buying and if they if

950
00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:37,120
Speaker 2: they need some food. And the point is like, there's

951
00:45:37,160 --> 00:45:39,320
Speaker 2: so much work to be done, and it's like, you know,

952
00:45:40,200 --> 00:45:41,800
Speaker 2: all of us that go in the you know, like

953
00:45:42,080 --> 00:45:44,880
Speaker 2: we went in the first day, and so that's all great,

954
00:45:45,000 --> 00:45:47,839
Speaker 2: but they're gonna be fighting us for the next years, right,

955
00:45:47,920 --> 00:45:51,040
Speaker 2: and so the continuity of help and care for this

956
00:45:51,080 --> 00:45:53,840
Speaker 2: community really is really important. But it was I'm telling you,

957
00:45:53,920 --> 00:45:57,960
Speaker 2: it's it's Kentucky. It's Kentucky, man, the same vibe that

958
00:45:58,080 --> 00:46:00,800
Speaker 2: we have in BBN, where there's this it's just this

959
00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:05,719
Speaker 2: connection point like people in the state. From my vantage point,

960
00:46:05,840 --> 00:46:09,080
Speaker 2: like we are great at loving our neighbor like people

961
00:46:09,120 --> 00:46:11,200
Speaker 2: love their neighbors man. And that's to me, that's a

962
00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:13,680
Speaker 2: gospel principle that's so important. But it's something that we

963
00:46:13,880 --> 00:46:15,960
Speaker 2: see lived out in the lives of people here and

964
00:46:16,680 --> 00:46:19,160
Speaker 2: and Kentucky's had way more than his fair share of

965
00:46:20,000 --> 00:46:22,000
Speaker 2: natural disaster over the last couple of years. But it

966
00:46:22,080 --> 00:46:25,160
Speaker 2: was as Biancy and I saw you guys down there,

967
00:46:25,200 --> 00:46:28,799
Speaker 2: and I and and uh, you know what, I'll give

968
00:46:28,840 --> 00:46:30,440
Speaker 2: you a little sid of hair because I think it's

969
00:46:30,480 --> 00:46:34,239
Speaker 2: so cool. So you know, I know you guys, I

970
00:46:34,320 --> 00:46:36,080
Speaker 2: think you were on air live there. But I saw

971
00:46:36,160 --> 00:46:38,680
Speaker 2: some social media stories that you guys did where people

972
00:46:38,719 --> 00:46:41,640
Speaker 2: were telling their story and I want to expand this

973
00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:44,520
Speaker 2: just as this connection point. So I had some guys

974
00:46:44,600 --> 00:46:46,120
Speaker 2: coming to my office like a month ago. I haven't

975
00:46:46,160 --> 00:46:49,040
Speaker 2: had a chance to tell you this, and they this gentleman,

976
00:46:49,520 --> 00:46:52,440
Speaker 2: incredible artist, just an amateur artists. He got a real job,

977
00:46:52,480 --> 00:46:54,480
Speaker 2: but he's just he's just and so he did this

978
00:46:54,760 --> 00:46:59,040
Speaker 2: incredible painting from the from the press conference a year ago,

979
00:46:59,800 --> 00:47:02,480
Speaker 2: and he brought the office and this was what was

980
00:47:02,520 --> 00:47:04,880
Speaker 2: super cool. So it was him and he brought his

981
00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:07,359
Speaker 2: four buddies and there but my age there fifty right,

982
00:47:07,920 --> 00:47:10,160
Speaker 2: and and and kind of gave me this gift. So

983
00:47:10,239 --> 00:47:13,000
Speaker 2: we're sitting down talking in the office and so we

984
00:47:13,080 --> 00:47:14,640
Speaker 2: got to this point where they're like, ah, man, we

985
00:47:14,840 --> 00:47:16,920
Speaker 2: just you know, when I get up in the morning.

986
00:47:17,160 --> 00:47:18,800
Speaker 2: The first thing I do is be like, what's you know,

987
00:47:18,880 --> 00:47:21,880
Speaker 2: what's going on new? And then then I'm listening to KSR,

988
00:47:22,320 --> 00:47:24,520
Speaker 2: you know, while I'm working, and then you know, I

989
00:47:24,640 --> 00:47:27,200
Speaker 2: get home and after dinner, I'll go check and see,

990
00:47:27,320 --> 00:47:28,960
Speaker 2: you know, what else is happened with the cats and

991
00:47:29,000 --> 00:47:33,759
Speaker 2: the whole thing. And it's this connection point, the same

992
00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:37,560
Speaker 2: thing we're talking about that you guys do an incredible

993
00:47:37,680 --> 00:47:41,080
Speaker 2: job providing is is. And I say this all the time.

994
00:47:41,080 --> 00:47:42,919
Speaker 2: It's like, it doesn't really matter if you say something

995
00:47:42,960 --> 00:47:44,759
Speaker 2: bad about me or good about me, or bad about

996
00:47:44,760 --> 00:47:46,600
Speaker 2: the cats or good about the cats. What matters is

997
00:47:47,400 --> 00:47:52,440
Speaker 2: that there's all these people coming to the well. So

998
00:47:52,560 --> 00:47:54,200
Speaker 2: I got to I've been. I had a chance to

999
00:47:54,280 --> 00:47:57,440
Speaker 2: go to Africa so many times and do some service

1000
00:47:57,520 --> 00:48:01,560
Speaker 2: trips there and in these communities though, well, in these villages,

1001
00:48:02,080 --> 00:48:05,640
Speaker 2: the well is where you always find people because everybody

1002
00:48:05,760 --> 00:48:08,200
Speaker 2: is constantly throughout the day. You have to go, you

1003
00:48:08,280 --> 00:48:10,880
Speaker 2: have to leave your hut and you walk across the

1004
00:48:11,000 --> 00:48:12,880
Speaker 2: village and you go to the well to collect waters

1005
00:48:12,920 --> 00:48:15,840
Speaker 2: happening all throughout the day. And so the well is

1006
00:48:15,920 --> 00:48:19,920
Speaker 2: a special place because it's where everybody gathers and everybody interacts,

1007
00:48:19,920 --> 00:48:22,040
Speaker 2: and you guys do an unbelievable job. And I thought

1008
00:48:22,040 --> 00:48:24,000
Speaker 2: it was so special that you guys went down there

1009
00:48:24,000 --> 00:48:26,960
Speaker 2: and and just like brought the well there too where

1010
00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:29,520
Speaker 2: everybody can see. That's super cool, man. I appreciate you

1011
00:48:29,600 --> 00:48:30,000
Speaker 2: doing that. Well.

1012
00:48:30,000 --> 00:48:31,920
Speaker 1: I want to thank you. I'll let you go, but

1013
00:48:32,000 --> 00:48:33,799
Speaker 1: I want to say this set with you a year ago,

1014
00:48:33,880 --> 00:48:36,520
Speaker 1: and I told you that before you had gotten hired.

1015
00:48:37,560 --> 00:48:40,120
Speaker 1: I was kind of like, you know what, I might

1016
00:48:40,160 --> 00:48:43,719
Speaker 1: be done with this, and you said to me, And

1017
00:48:43,800 --> 00:48:46,160
Speaker 1: at that point I decided to stay. But you said

1018
00:48:46,200 --> 00:48:48,600
Speaker 1: to me, you begged me to do I was I

1019
00:48:48,680 --> 00:48:49,920
Speaker 1: was like, you don't have to beg me. I'm going

1020
00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:54,239
Speaker 1: to do it. But you have. This is the fan

1021
00:48:54,400 --> 00:48:58,719
Speaker 1: Matt talking, not the radio host. You have rejuvenated the

1022
00:48:59,520 --> 00:49:02,520
Speaker 1: love of this People always loved the basketball, people always

1023
00:49:02,719 --> 00:49:06,239
Speaker 1: wanted to win all that, but you have rejuvenated the

1024
00:49:06,400 --> 00:49:10,680
Speaker 1: thing where there's a pride, there's a self esteem that

1025
00:49:10,880 --> 00:49:13,560
Speaker 1: comes with being a part of it, and there's that collectiveness.

1026
00:49:13,680 --> 00:49:16,800
Speaker 1: In a state that's had a lot of difficulties historically,

1027
00:49:16,880 --> 00:49:19,719
Speaker 1: but especially in the last few years, this is that

1028
00:49:19,960 --> 00:49:23,040
Speaker 1: center point. And I've watched people who had kind of

1029
00:49:23,160 --> 00:49:26,359
Speaker 1: gone you know, I don't know if college sports are

1030
00:49:26,400 --> 00:49:29,719
Speaker 1: for me anymore. And you brought all that back, and

1031
00:49:29,840 --> 00:49:32,200
Speaker 1: these those players brought that back, and that is a

1032
00:49:32,320 --> 00:49:36,200
Speaker 1: really special thing. So just as somebody who talks to

1033
00:49:36,280 --> 00:49:38,520
Speaker 1: the fan base, thank you for that, because there's a

1034
00:49:38,560 --> 00:49:40,800
Speaker 1: lot of people who said to me, last year was

1035
00:49:40,800 --> 00:49:43,360
Speaker 1: one of my favorite years being a Kentucky fan. And

1036
00:49:43,440 --> 00:49:45,480
Speaker 1: I think we'll look back at last year the way

1037
00:49:45,560 --> 00:49:48,680
Speaker 1: we look back at some of those early Rick teams,

1038
00:49:49,200 --> 00:49:52,480
Speaker 1: the John Waldon, Marcus Cousins cal team, like the you

1039
00:49:52,600 --> 00:49:55,200
Speaker 1: got everybody back, and I think that's awesome.

1040
00:49:55,320 --> 00:49:57,160
Speaker 2: So let's say let's run back this year. I think

1041
00:49:57,480 --> 00:49:58,439
Speaker 2: I think we got a chance.

1042
00:49:58,520 --> 00:49:58,640
Speaker 1: Man.

1043
00:49:58,680 --> 00:50:00,719
Speaker 2: I think I think we're gonna fall and love with

1044
00:50:00,840 --> 00:50:03,320
Speaker 2: this team. And I think these guys, you know, the

1045
00:50:03,480 --> 00:50:09,680
Speaker 2: the the DNA of this team. By definition, we have

1046
00:50:09,800 --> 00:50:12,640
Speaker 2: a crew of guys that are like hungry to compete.

1047
00:50:12,960 --> 00:50:14,960
Speaker 2: We don't have anybody that's running away from it. Like

1048
00:50:15,040 --> 00:50:18,160
Speaker 2: everybody that's on this roster is hungry to come compete.

1049
00:50:18,520 --> 00:50:20,800
Speaker 2: I think they all get Kentucky and they're excited embrace it.

1050
00:50:20,840 --> 00:50:22,080
Speaker 2: I think there's gonna be a fun ride, man. I

1051
00:50:22,120 --> 00:50:22,440
Speaker 2: can't wait.

1052
00:50:22,440 --> 00:50:23,960
Speaker 1: Take it with your appreciate.

1053
00:50:24,000 --> 00:50:24,440
Speaker 2: Okay, let's go.