Billy Rutledge (2:21)

There you go. We're underway. Absolutely. It's great to be with you, Drew. Like you've said throughout the week, we're just going to keep showing up and doing our job for Drew Palooza. Drew uninterrupted was the name that I really like.

Drew Franklin (2:35)

I like that one, but I know.

Billy Rutledge (2:36)

You'Re going to kill it. So we're really looking forward to this week and glad to be with you today.

Drew Franklin (2:39)

Thank you. I appreciate you sticking around. You just did a good pre show. Drew Palooza, I feel like puts a lot of pressure on me. I just want to show up and do the show like I've been doing for a decade. I know the guys are gone, but I wanted to keep it kind of the same. Drew Palooza, I think a listener came up with that. Feels like it needs T shirts, signage, posters. That. That feels like a little more than I need. It makes it a bigger event than I. Than I felt like coming into. Even though I am very excited to do this.

Billy Rutledge (3:02)

Get a T shirt done. Kentucky branded. We got a graphic done about it. So I hope you're not feeling the pressure, Drew, but the. The entire state's going to be listening.

Drew Franklin (3:10)

Oh, my goodness. Maybe even people beyond maybe.

Billy Rutledge (3:12)

Maybe so.

Drew Franklin (3:13)

Well, we could start in a lot of different directions. You know, Mark Pope added another player to the roster over the weekend. Lots of transfer portal news. But Billy, I want to start with the state of our country. How do you feel about that? Do you see it going that way? The look on your face looks terrified right now.

Billy Rutledge (3:32)

Just the state of the union to start Drew week.

Drew Franklin (3:34)

I like you know. Well, we've been divided as a nation lately, but on Saturday we were all united with Duke giving us an all time collapse in the final four. So even though we could talk about our own roster, how it looks, how it's shaping out, what we need, who we're talking to. I would much rather talk about that meltdown that we saw in San Antonio because I'm sure you're like me. It absolutely made the weekend Cooper flags.

Billy Rutledge (3:56)

Face when he got called for that. Over over the back foul after the missed free throw. Incredible.

Drew Franklin (4:01)

Priceless. You know, they tried to tell us he was better than Anthony Davis.

Billy Rutledge (4:04)

Could slurp up the tears.

Drew Franklin (4:05)

They tried to tell us Zion Was better than Anthony Davis. Neither one of them got a ring. Duke led for 35 minutes, 35 minutes over Houston. They led by 14 with 188 minutes left, nine with 2 minutes left, six with 30 seconds left. ESPN gave them a 99% chance of winning, but Houston got it done, scoring nine points in the third in the final 33 seconds. Did you ever think in that game that Houston could pull it off? And did you celebrate as much as I did? I almost went to State Street. I'm that much of a hater against Duke that I treated it like my own team had won, thought the game was over.

Billy Rutledge (4:40)

Drew, I'm 100% honest with you. I was starting to move on to other things. Starting to look at my phone a little bit more than watching the game. And they just keep hanging around, hanging around. And John Shire collapses at the end. How great was that?

Drew Franklin (4:54)

It really.

Billy Rutledge (4:54)

I was stunned, though, weren't you? I mean, I jaw on the floor while celebrating, obviously, with Duke louving. I was stunned that Houston was able to make that comeback. Duke, I think one field goal in the final 10 minutes of the game.

Drew Franklin (5:08)

Chef's kiss. I wasn't going to confess to this, but you said you started doing other things. I, in the second half, turned on the movie Conclave about electing a new Pope. I had the game on. I had, you know, I bring out my side tv. It's usually for NFL Sundays. I prop it up in a little chair in my living room next to my usual tv. But Conclave took over the big tv. I was so tired of watching the Duke love fest. They kept showing. Coach K kept telling me how great Cooper Flag is. So I'm like, you know what? I gotta find out who this new pope is that they. That they're electing in this movie that won an Oscar, was nominated for an Oscar, but I had it on corner of the room. Kind of watching it a little side of the eye. About three minutes left, I decided, okay, this is going to the big TV with sound. Just absolutely love the collapse. Thought for a moment, you know, Houston got that technical foul.

Billy Rutledge (5:57)

Yeah.

Drew Franklin (5:57)

Reaching over on the inbounds, and Kelvin Sampson put his. Put his face in his hands. And I thought up. It was a good run while we lasted, but they just continued to get it done. You mentioned that over the back call. That really changed things. Even though Doug Schalls wasn't a part of that call, I felt like Doug got some good TV time there at the end of the game. Really, really happy for Doug. Big moment for him in that game. But what'd you think about that over the back call? That's kind of a big talking point as part of the collapse.

Billy Rutledge (6:21)

Yeah, I mean, listen, it's Duke. So I think the consensus is that, you know what, that was a foul. I'm not going to cry over Duke having a bad call against them, but we've seen a lot of questionable calls in college basketball this year. So I'm, you know, I'm not going to act shocked when there's a questionable one on one of the biggest stages in college basketball. This. But ultimately it was just, it was, it was really great to see. I'm really happy for Kelvin Sampson. That guy's story and about building that basketball program at Houston has been incredible. Jim Nance as well, you know, shedding tears. It is a good story with Houston, but overall just glad to see Duke not in that big game tonight.

Drew Franklin (7:01)

One of my favorite aspects of the game other than Duke making one field goal for the final 10 minutes. Really impressive stat from Duke's 7 foot 2 projected top 10 pick. Mal, you watch zero rebounds. You are 7 foot 2 and you are being considered a top 10 pick. Some mock drafts even have him in the top five. My man got zero rebounds in the national championship and an even better statistic. He was a minus 20 in 21 minutes of basketball. How is that even possible?

Billy Rutledge (7:33)

They're not making up any ground with you out there. But with zero rebounders as a seven footer, I didn't realize that Drew, that is, that is hard to do.

Drew Franklin (7:40)

It's very hard to do. You can, you can talk about the over back. You can also talk about Proctor missing that free throw. Shire playing a little stall ball. There was the stat that he was like 77 and oh, and Duke has a 10 point lead. Love seeing him fall apart. Kind of felt like that Kentucky game when Kentucky beat him in the Champions Classic. Same situation. Cooper Flagg had a chance to win it against Kentucky. He slipped. But in this one went to that spin move that Mark Pope pointed out in the Kentucky game. I'm sure Mark Pope saw that coming against Houston and he just fell short hitting front iron and it goes the other way and Houston gets the win.

Billy Rutledge (8:13)

Little deja vu, wasn't it? I mean, just get put Cooper in isolation. He's going to rotate and then try to shoot. But against Kentucky, he obviously turned the ball over. People told me that Kentucky did trail Duke by 10 points, so I guess I thought that.

Drew Franklin (8:27)

But that stat popped up. That had not happened. So I guess CBS needs to get their stats correct.

Billy Rutledge (8:31)

I read it as that had not happened on the pre show and then I got a bunch of people correcting me. So I assume that it did happen. But that was just such a signature win for Mark Pope this year. Not only beating Duke, but Gonzaga. And then to see Duke lose was. It was great. I'm not going to. I'm not going to lie. That made for a great. I guess. What would you say cap of the day after Florida and Auburn as well the day before the same day.

Drew Franklin (8:55)

Yeah. One more thing on Duke Houston.

Billy Rutledge (8:58)

Yeah.

Drew Franklin (8:59)

How about White Lotus? Just.

Billy Rutledge (9:01)

They knew.

Drew Franklin (9:02)

They had to have known. It was like episode two or three earlier in the season. We're not playing spoiler on White Lotus. I know last finale I did. I won't ruin it for everyone, but if you haven't seen like the second or third episode by now, that's on you. But one of the main characters, the dad, is wearing a Duke T shirt and he puts a gun to his head for that screenshot of a Duke fan with. Right there with the bullet to his dome. And we thought this will pop up back up in the Insta Tournament. We thought maybe the first weekend and an upset looked like the White Lotus meme had died. And then they blow that huge lead and that thing was all over the.

Billy Rutledge (9:34)

Internet as it should have been incredibly timely. I mean, with the. With the finale last night, it's like they thought this through and they said, hey, our finale will be the weekend of the Final Four. Let's put him in some apparel of a team that could be there. And it ends up being it. But for Duke to, you know, were they like suing for this or were they saying, like, they need to take it down or. They were whining about it.

Drew Franklin (9:54)

Did you watch the finale?

Billy Rutledge (9:56)

I did, yeah.

Drew Franklin (9:57)

Well, they did it again with the scene. There's another scene with the T shirt. Not gonna reveal anything about what happens in the storyline, but they're. They gave us another meme last night, but just great to see Duke lose. I know it's not the right attitude you should have when your team's not in it to be hating on another team so much. But that's. That's what we are as Kentucky fans.

Billy Rutledge (10:14)

And they. And they tried a full court pass at the end of that game, Drew. Oh, yeah, they tried it. And the college basketball gods were not going to let that happen twice. I mean, that one wasn't even close. But even the.

Drew Franklin (10:25)

Even the fadeaway at the end had a little latent. Why didn't he hit front iron back in 92. Yeah, but in the other game, Florida advance beating Auburn. Auburn led for that much of that one. It was Bruce Pearl's second Final Four appearance after 2019 when he got in beating our Kentucky Wildcats and that Elite Eight stupid Tigers in that one. But I thought it was interesting. I'm sure that they've featured this on the broadcast. Lots of people already know, but the connection of Pearl and Todd Golden. Pearl coached Todd golden in the Jewish Olympics years ago. And then really, Todd golden was one of Pearl's very first hires at Auburn. He hired his son Steven and he hired Todd Golden. So history with those guys. And then they meet Florida versus Auburn. First SEC matchup in the Final Four. Did it turn out the way you thought it did?

Billy Rutledge (11:11)

It did. I think, you know, Florida was my national championship pick for a reason. Because when they play at that tempo, they are hard to stop. And Walter Clayton showed off his layup package, man, I mean, boy, was he good. First player since Larry Bird, I think, to have back to back 30 point games in the Elite Eight in the Final Four. And he was incredible. He had to be. I mean, he had to be every sense of the word, incredible for Florida to win that game. You know, Broom has been a great story as the national player of the year and a guy coming from Morehead, I feel like I've kind of rooted for him a little bit to a degree for Auburn, but I thought, you know, it was a good game. Auburn was up eight at halftime. So for Florida to come back and the baby face Todd golden to keep it rolling, now, is it the youngest coach or the oldest coach could win the title tonight and him and Kelvin Sampson. So I'm looking forward to a fun matchup. What about you? What'd you think of that sec?

Drew Franklin (11:58)

I was pretty indifferent. You know, Florida, I guess they're. They're pretty far behind in titles, but you don't want them getting too many when they got two. They won in 26, 2007, it's the last time they were there. So I leaned Auburn a little bit. Even though the belts in Rupp arena were still fresh on my mind. I didn't want them to have the satisfaction. But you nailed it. Walter Clayton Jr. He's special. 34 points. I mean, that dude was at Iona for Rick Patino a couple of years ago. Transfers to Florida has a special year. It makes us look back on that, that January game in Rupp Arena. How in the heck did Kentucky. Well, they didn't really contain him I think it's 107 to 102, but Kentucky pulling that off looks even better in hindsight.

Billy Rutledge (12:37)

You know what it was? It was that early start. I mean, Kentucky's such an old team Drew, that they were able to get it out of the way. Go to that early bird, early bird special at Golden Corral afterwards and get to bed by 8:00. I mean, those old guys makes a difference, but it does make you scratch your head a little bit. How did they beat that Florida team now that they'll be playing tonight in the national championship? It goes to show you what this team's potential and ceiling was when they were fully healthy.

Drew Franklin (13:01)

Absolutely. One more note ahead from the Final Four, then we'll move on. We have Corey Price in studio. He's going to teach us about Kentucky's eight national championships. I thought it's, you know, championship day, and since we're not a part of it, we will reflect on the eight times Kentucky did win it. So a lot of us remember 2012, 96, 98. But we'll start back at the beginning. I don't have a lot of firsthand knowledge of those and memories, but we did some homework and Corey is going to teach us a lot about those. But like that, before we get to that in the transfer portal news that was big over the weekend. One more from the Final Four. Did you see Jelly Roll playing before the Final Four games?

Billy Rutledge (13:35)

I saw he performed. I asked the fiance if she liked Jelly Roll. She said she wasn't a fan. And then I think we changed it after that. What did. What did Jelly Roll do as Well.

Drew Franklin (13:44)

I like Jelly Roll. I'm not. I don't drive around listening to Jelly Roll, but when it comes on, you know, I'll sing a little bit. And he's apparently the nicest guy of all time. Lives in Nashville. I have friends that have known him a little bit, golfed with him, live near him, and they just act like he is the greatest human on earth, even though, you know, judging a book by its cover with all the tattoos and stuff might not come across that way. But I'm bringing him up because in his performance, his drummer was wearing a Louisville football jersey. I guess Jelly Roll has a Louisville fan in his group. Also odd to wear a football jersey at a Final Four event, whatever. But the cameras turned him so you didn't see that. What, the drummer, did he take the cameras right on him? It's a solo shot on this Cards fan drumming for Jelly Roll. And he just takes his drumstick and licks it from bottom to top while looking at the camera. It was just. It was very Louisville behavior. You're on the big stage, you're wearing the wrong uniform. But I thought for a second Louisville was going to have a cool moment being part of the final four introduction. And then my man just licks his drumstick up and down, proving that, you know, Louisville fans, they just are what they are.

Billy Rutledge (14:45)

Oh, okay. I, you know, probably getting a little too intimate with your musical instruments there. I always think of when you think of Louisville behavior, the fan drinking out of the garbage bag tailgate, if you remember that.

Drew Franklin (14:58)

What a classic. She full bag of trash and ripped off a bottom corner and just chugged.

Billy Rutledge (15:03)

Louisville fans get a little testy right now with all their transfer portal additions.

Drew Franklin (15:08)

I mean, we'll get to that next. They're doing pretty well. We got a pat Louisville on the back, but not too hard. Kentucky also got an addition over the weekend. You had Jacob Polachek from KSR plus on. On the KSR pre show. And as he was leaving, packing things up, saying goodbye to me, I said, where are you going? Why don't you just stay? We're going to talk portal. Might as well have Jacob on. So Jacob will do the next segment with us as we go over where Kentucky stands in the portal, who they added, how the roster shakes up. Corey Price is here. He brought donuts. He also brought me a gift that he says I have to open on the air.

Billy Rutledge (15:38)

Oh, is that right?

Drew Franklin (15:39)

We'll do it later. It's nicely wrapped in a plastic bag. Might have moved there for a minute. So I'm a little nervous about what that could be. We got keeneland, we got masters. A lot going on. But we'll take a break now. We'll come back with Jacob and the news around Kentucky basketball. And we'll be right back.

Jeremy Scott (15:55)

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in bone Valley season one.

Lori Kilmartin (16:02)

I just knew him as a kid.

Jeremy Scott (16:04)

Long, silent voices from his past came.

Gilbert King (16:07)

Forward, and he was just staring at me.

Jeremy Scott (16:10)

And they had secrets of their own to share.

Gilbert King (16:14)

Gilbert King. I'm the son of Jeremy Lynn Scott.

Jeremy Scott (16:20)

I was no longer just telling the story. I was part of it.

Gilbert King (16:24)

Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

Jeremy Scott (16:28)

I was becoming the bridge between a killer and the son he'd never known.

Gilbert King (16:33)

If the cops and everything would have done their job properly, my dad would have been in jail. I would have never existed.

Jeremy Scott (16:38)

I never expected to find myself in this place. Now I need to tell you how I got here.

Gilbert King (16:45)

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

Jeremy Scott (16:48)

Bone Valley Season 2 Jeremy.

Gilbert King (16:52)

Jeremy, I want to tell you something.

Jeremy Scott (16:54)

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and to hear the entire new season ad free with exclusive content starting April 9th. Subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

Drew Franklin (17:12)

Welcome back to KSR. Drew Franklin filling in for the whole crew as they take vacations at the same time. Billy R. Sports is here with me. He's gonna do the full two hours. I appreciate Billy sticking around after his pre show so I can have some familiarity with the KSR personalities here.

Billy Rutledge (17:28)

I'm tripling my hours of work so that should be reflected on my paycheck, right?

Drew Franklin (17:32)

Big, big, big money. Yeah. Guess we should get to the the big roster news. As I mentioned in the first segment, Jacob from KSR plus, who works around the clock track in recruiting and all the Kentucky basketball movements, was on his way out of the building and I said, well, heck, why don't you just stick around with us? We're going to be talking about it, you know, as much as anyone. So Jacob, I appreciate, appreciate you hanging around. I hope you know someone's watching your dog. I know usually the dog sitting is an issue. Hope we're not keeping you away from home for too long. Is that we good?

Billy Rutledge (18:00)

Yeah.

Jacob (18:00)

If he's, if he's going to do damage, he's probably already done it by now, so what's the harm?

Billy Rutledge (18:04)

You got a puppy tearing things up or what?

Jacob (18:05)

He's got bad separation anxiety, but he's getting better with it, so he'll be all right.

Drew Franklin (18:10)

Well, we'll run through what's happening with UK basketball, then you can go check on your pup. But I appreciate you being here as we react to the big news over the weekend. On Saturday, Kentucky added a point guard to the backcourt. Jalen Lowe, a 6, 375 lefty from Pittsburgh. He was third team All ACC. He has two years left of eligibility. Averaged 16, 8, 16.8 points, 5.5 assists, 4.2 rebounds. In a sophomore year for a pretty terrible pit team. They went 8 and 12 in the ACC. He's got some good size. Watching his tape. He can really get to the rim. Great change of pace, makes his free throws. Looks like a good distributor. Didn't shoot it that well. Shot 27% from three at 38% from the field. A lot of people are hoping that getting into Pope system and having some better pieces around instead of playing for a terrible team will help his efficiency. But Jacob, I'll start with you. What did you think of the addition of Low over the weekend?

Jacob (19:05)

Yeah, Billy, let me know that people are not too happy about this addition, but I think it's a really good pickup for Kentucky. Like you said, he's not the best shooter, but he's come up clutch in a lot of games. If you want to get excited about this guy, I urge you to look back at his game against Duke his freshman year. So a couple years ago he hit the game winning shot over Kyle Filipowski at Duke in Cameron Indoor, shushing the Duke fans. So he's an exciting player and I had a pit beat writer text me about him that they're getting a really, really good player.

Drew Franklin (19:38)

I'm sold on the big shot in Duke also. He played Louisville twice this year. 24 points, 6 assists in one game, 16 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists in the other. I even wrote down what Pat Kelsey said about him. Pat Kelsey said he's a dynamic guard. He puts fouls on you. He's as fast and quick twitch as any guard we're going to play against. He has an uncanny knack when he gets to the rim and if you come over he has this ability at the last second to whoop and fire that thing for threes. So looks like we'll have to put some shooters around him. But it's a guy that can really facilitate. He and Owe will make great drivers. I just mentioned in the the negative reaction. I think he's a good piece. I think a lot of that is everyone wanted Dent. You know, Kentucky, it's everybody wants the number one ranked of everything. You lose Dent to ucla who followed Kentucky's big offer with a big offer their own and kept him home. I think, you know, we got to trust Pope. I think Pope found what he wanted. I like what I've seen of Low. I like how it can fit and how he can make a big jump. But there is a little bit of fan disappointment, which I I feel like our fans just read the stats on ESPN.com they see a site rank transfer portals and then they're like I can't believe we lost this guy when they probably didn't even know that person was on the planet two months ago. But there has been a little bit of a disappointing reaction.

Jacob (20:52)

Yeah, and I think you're getting low at a much better value than you Would have gotten Dent being the number one player in the portal, he went for a lot of nil money. Getting a guy like Low, you're not spending as much. You can build out the rest of the roster. And he was really, I'd say probably their third option at point guard. So you're not going too far down the list. But I think they got a really good player in Low.

Billy Rutledge (21:13)

Yeah, I think Kentucky fans spent all year trash in the ACC and now they've got to turn around and talk themselves into a third team. All ACC guard. But that doesn't mean that he doesn't have room to grow to become a better player and could be even better in a system like Mark Pope's, right? Yeah.

Jacob (21:29)

And I think you put him around SEC talent, you put him around Kentucky talent, he's not going to be shooting as much as he did at Pittsburgh, so it'll allow him to be more efficient. And if you want proof of a guy that can shoot the ball a little better at point guard, just look at Lamont Butler, what he did going from San Diego State to Kentucky. I think Low could have a growth like that.

Billy Rutledge (21:46)

And he's lefty and he's lefty with.

Drew Franklin (21:48)

His all lefty backcourts getting a lot of lefties. Jasper Johnson and Kaden Lewis. Now Low. I don't know what it is about lefties and I am a lefty, so maybe I should know. Corey, you're a lefty. You just raised your left hand. That told on yourself that you're a lefty. It just. I don't know if it really matters to a defender. Maybe it does, but it just looks so much better when a lefty shooting the ball. It really does. I don't know the science behind it maybe just because it looks so different, but it just looks so pure when you got a lefty shooting. We got three of them in the backcourt. Looking forward to that.

Billy Rutledge (22:16)

Well, football too, like you don't see it often because it changes, you know, a lot. You know, your left tackle is not the blind side blocker anymore. Receivers kind of have to play a different ball and. But Michael Penix is doing it with the Atlanta Falcons and it's just aesthetically pleasing.

Drew Franklin (22:30)

Not forget the hefty lefty, our favorite lefty of all time. Jacob, before you go back to dog sitting, what else should we be looking for in the transfer portal right now?

Jacob (22:38)

The one guy that I'm watching right now is Wesley Yates from USC. Scored 14 points a game last year and Kentucky has already reached out to Him. They're recruiting him. Another school to watch there is Washington. So he's got. I got my eyes on him. And then we've got a full list of guys that they're going after over on KSR plus, but check out KSR plus. Check out KSR plus. But yeah, Wesley Yates is really the number one target in my eyes right now.

Drew Franklin (23:03)

He's a great example of the fan overreaction. You know, I don't know if we'll get Wesley Yates. You're in a good spot. But on Friday, Kentucky fans are like, there's no more people left. The portals closed. What are we going to do? And then Wesley Yates enters. You've got guys enter in today.

Jacob (23:16)

The things right from Baylor just ended.

Drew Franklin (23:19)

It's open for two more weeks. I wrote a big thing about this. I'm not telling you how to fan, but it's not the end of the world if a guy goes to another school because he had a zoom with Mark Pope that you think the portals close and there's no one left. Wesley Yates is a great example. No one was talking about him last week. On Friday, the sky is falling in big blue nation. Saturday morning, Yates pops up in a good spot there. Pierre, who I called Jason Pierre last week. Still embarrassed by that. He's still in the mix. So a lot of good options overall. Before we let you go, you shouted out KSR plus. Things going well there? After a few, you know, the dent thing, we weren't. Not our fault. It changed on a dime. But you caught a lot of heat for that one. You doing all right? We good?

Jacob (23:59)

I'm doing good. I think the people on KSR plus are the ones that understand because they saw the full shift. They saw it go from. Kentucky's in a good spot. Oh, UCLA is picking up traction. UCLA might have the lead to.

Drew Franklin (24:11)

All right.

Jacob (24:11)

He's going to ucla.

Drew Franklin (24:13)

Well, cool. Keep following Jake. Jacob there on KSR plus KS board. We have a lot of fun. We have a show thread going every day on KS board. Check that out. But Jacob, thank you for stopping by and dropping a little insight on low and we look forward to what you're reporting next. Maybe a commitment today. Who knows? That's not a Ryan Lemon teaser. That's just me hoping, but should be more pieces falling soon.

Jacob (24:31)

Absolutely. Thanks for having me.

Billy Rutledge (24:32)

Thank you, Jacob.

Drew Franklin (24:33)

All right, well, we'll take another break. Corey Price, we're going to let him talk. He brought donuts. That's the least we can do. So we'll be right back on KSR here's not Matt Jones. I am Drew Franklin, sitting with my good friend Billy Rutledge. Corey Price plugging in his microphone now to get ready to join us. Before we get to that, let me tell you a little bit about court physical therapy. Spring has sprung and that means you are getting outside more, whether that's doing yard work or just staying active by biking or running. For most, increased physical activity when the weather gets warmer can lead to aches, pains, and injury. That's where court physical therapy can help. At court, our therapists know what it takes to help you heal and get back to the things you enjoy, while also helping you prevent future injuries from happening. With over 70 locations statewide, it's easy to find a center near you. Go to court.com, that's k o r t dot com. I went to one of those 70 locations, the Beaumont. They got my back feeling better years ago. So a little personal testimony for me over there at court did a great job.

Billy Rutledge (25:32)

We got to get that back lubricated so you can get back on the golf course, Drew.

Drew Franklin (25:35)

That's right. It's been a long time. We'll talk to some golf. You like my hat? Little masters time of the year. The birds are chirping. Billy. The fake birds are chirping. A few more portal things that we didn't get to with Jacob. This just flies by, Billy. I got a bunch of notes. It's not going to get to half of them.

Billy Rutledge (25:49)

That's. That's what happens. But you'd rather be over prepared than under prepared, right?

Drew Franklin (25:53)

I'm a big prepared guy. Always want to be prepared. Kirk Risa. He has a new home. He entered the portal leaving Kentucky a week ago, spent five or six days shopping around, and he has landed at Cincinnati. He will be a bearcat going back to the Big 12 for his sixth season of college basketball.

Billy Rutledge (26:11)

Unbelievable.

Drew Franklin (26:12)

Six seasons. He'll even play his old school. West Virginia and Arizona, both old schools in the Big 12. But Kerr, we were expected him to enter the portal. He did. There were rumors about St. John's maybe being in the mix. I didn't hear much about Cincinnati, but yesterday news dropped that Kerr will be a Bearcat just going across the river. What do you think about that news, Billy?

Billy Rutledge (26:33)

You know, shades of C.J. frederick, I. I wish him nothing but the best. You know, I've heard rumblings that maybe things weren't the best behind the scenes. But look, that's a guy that even after breaking his foot, he still got back on defense and contested that shot. I Will remember that for a while, despite him not playing only like nine games this year and getting that medical red shirt. But I know there's some pressure there in Cincinnati for that coach to make the tournament. They. He has not made it in four or five years at this point. But do you feel like the new Pit transfer is an upgrade over Kirk Risa in the grand scheme of things? Because it feels like I do.

Drew Franklin (27:08)

I mean, I don't know that he'll be Lamont Butler. I was a big fan of Lamont, but you got to remember this, Lamont wasn't highly ranked. We all rely on these transfer portal rankings. Ansley Almanor was like, number 300 something, 345th. He was down to Siena in Kentucky. Yeah, we liked Ansley Almanor. All right. Right.

Billy Rutledge (27:26)

Yeah, sure.

Drew Franklin (27:27)

Amari Williams was like 75th. Did Amari turn out okay? Now we don't. It's Kentucky. We don't always want to have the 75th and 345th person. I'm not sugarcoating things, but you got to remember, we don't know what will happen when they get in the system, get around better pieces, go up a level. Pope's coaching the fan base and Rupp arena can bring the best out of people. So we truly don't know how these guys will pan out. But I did like Low, especially watching his highlights. He's fun, he's quick.

Billy Rutledge (27:52)

I have had to adjust my expectations in year one because Cal would bring in all the five stars. Right. And you are getting guys from Drexel in the transfer portal. But now in year two, the transfer portal is in full swing and you've got some cream of the crop in the SEC that it looked like some guys value over Kentucky right now. So it's just. It's a brave new world. If you've read that book. Drew and I think Mark Pope is the right guy for the job. But, you know, also, I'm not going to expect him to get the best of the best every single time.

Drew Franklin (28:19)

I've not read that book. I have not read that at all. And if you look at last year's portal rankings, some of the top guys didn't pan out. The schools that did the best in the portal didn't have a great year. It's all about the right fit. You just got to trust Pope on this. There is one that was a bit of a loss. We all wanted Yaxel Lindenberg from uab. Yeah. Number one guy in the portal. Kentucky was in great standing with him. Pope had flown to See him, they had been zooming. He picked Michigan on Saturday. So that is if we were going to say there is a loss, that that's one that hurt. However, there is talk that he will still go to the NBA. So as long as he just goes to the NBA and ditches Michigan in a couple months, then we can look at that. It may be Pope was out in front of it. Maybe Pope even knew that was the case. But in the moment, it didn't love seeing Yaxel go to Michigan.

Billy Rutledge (29:05)

You would really hate that if you're all in on this guy. He's committed to your school and then decides to just go to the NBA. You know, I think of recent recruiting misses with Hunter Dickinson, with great Osbor and both of those guys I don't think lit up the world at their new stops. And I think you look back at it and say, thank God they didn't come here. Right. So, yeah, I do think Big Blue Nation for the most part needs to pump the brakes and allow this process to play out before you have your hot takes about how you think Pope is doing. But I, I, I'm not going to lie. I've had to adjust my expectations a little bit over the last couple of weeks.

Drew Franklin (29:38)

Yeah, I mean, we all get antsy as teams start getting additions. Louisville's done well. We want to see stuff, but we also have to remember how last year went. I mean, we're way ahead of that already in a better spot. I think people aren't considering assuming he stays. And so far it's looking like he will. I mean, Otega away would be top five in the portal. I think everyone was happy when you took Jasper Johnson from Alabama. I mean, Nate Oates thought he had Jasper Johnson. Pope went and won that recruitment. Kaden Lewis down to Duke and UConn. Pope pulled him away from there. So there's still good pieces you got to consider in the grand scheme of things.

Billy Rutledge (30:08)

And retaining Ortega away is a huge part of what you want to do next year. And I'm not sure any news has dropped on that yet, as he still waits to make a decision. But that's a guy I'd love to see in year two of Mark Pope system. And think about some of the other guys. Colin Chandler's another one that we expect.

Drew Franklin (30:22)

By sleeping on him.

Billy Rutledge (30:23)

Right.

Drew Franklin (30:24)

I mean, look at the jump he just made. You know, as everyone knows, two years off from basketball, you get reminded of that anytime there's a game and he does something. Yeah, but I mean, look at the jump he just Made from November to the NCAA tournament. If I had told you at Christmas he would be hitting logo threes and step back threes in March Madness, you would have thought I'm crazy. But if he made that jump in a few months as a freshman, what about a whole summer? And going into a sophomore season, what can he be capable of doing?

Billy Rutledge (30:46)

And not specific to Chandler, but this team improved so much on defense after that Ole Miss game, when it comes to Ken Palm ratings, that it makes me confident that no matter the roster, Pope can adjust and get them to focus on things they need.

Drew Franklin (30:58)

Corey Price, I haven't been talking to you yet. You've been here. I think you got here two hours early. You were here before Billy. You were here before the people that opened the city center downtown. Where. Where do you stand in your. Your patience and how you feel about the. The transfer portal movement so far?

Corey Price (31:14)

Well, first, I gotta say, longtime listener, first time guest.

Drew Franklin (31:17)

Oh, welcome.

Billy Rutledge (31:17)

First time.

Drew Franklin (31:18)

We see at the bar all the time.

Billy Rutledge (31:19)

I guess we've never.

Drew Franklin (31:20)

We've never put the headset on you.

Corey Price (31:22)

Yeah, everyone.

Drew Franklin (31:22)

Just so they know. I guess I better set up. Corey, if you don't know, and you probably do, we reference him a lot. Big on Twitter. Somehow finds every stat in the world, every newspaper clipping in the world, every school photo of every person we've ever had on the show. Even school photos of people like Dan Dockett.

Billy Rutledge (31:38)

Good and bad.

Drew Franklin (31:39)

We would all have to get to that.

Corey Price (31:40)

Dan is a great, great guy, by the way.

Drew Franklin (31:42)

Corey can find anything on the Internet. He's specifically good at stats. So we're going to get to that a little later. But back to your portal. Thoughts?

Corey Price (31:49)

I would, as the late great JT would say, it's now Coach Pope has got it. Like I said, he. He is a male alum, by the way. Shout out to the Bulldogs. Yeah, so like I said last year, we were not nearly at this point. We've already got two guys. I think I'm. I'm optimistic. I'm hoping for maybe the guy from Princeton, maybe Lee.

Drew Franklin (32:18)

Yeah. Xavian Xavier looks good. I don't know what adding low will do you still looking at Pierre, but he's. He's still an option. He's got some fun highlights. He's another guy that can get to the rim. Billy, I feel like we. We had some calls and already lost one that went away. I don't want to run people off. I'm already taking too long to get to the Clark's Pump and Shop phone line, so it's a Monday.

Billy Rutledge (32:36)

We understand if somebody has something come up at the beginning of the workday.

Drew Franklin (32:39)

But are you running it there? Is Rick running it?

Billy Rutledge (32:41)

Rick is running it.

Drew Franklin (32:42)

Okay. Well, Rick, let's go to the phone line. Good to see you, Rick. Or hear from you, Rick. Who's up first on the phone line?

Mike Armstrong (32:47)

First off is LL Cool Tay.

Drew Franklin (32:51)

Love starting my week with LL Cool Tay. Thanks for calling in.

LL Cool Tay (32:54)

Hey, hey, drone crew. Hey, I'm out here in Montana droning the skies, but I wanted to kind of figure out what we're gonna do with our roster. It seems like we are like point guard heavy right now. Seems like we need to add a big man down below. I mean, we got Brandon Garrison and Malachi, but I feel like we need to add some more size or we might be getting bullet down low.

Drew Franklin (33:19)

You're absolutely right. Before I give my thoughts on that, you're. You're manning a drone in Montana right now. Is this just like a hobby? Are you out there for work? Tell me more about your droning in Montana. I'm sure that's some good scenery at the moment, especially at that hour.

LL Cool Tay (33:37)

Oh, man, it's beautiful. Yeah, I do it for work. It's pretty low key, honestly, but you do get a couple neighbors who, you know, get a little edgy with you.

Drew Franklin (33:48)

All right, well, stay safe out there. If you can send a picture or something on Twitter, we'd love to see the droning in Montana, what's going on out there. But thanks for calling in. We appreciate the call and he's exactly right. We're tracking a lot of guards, but little thin in the, in the front court. Garrison Marino, as he said, but he got to go out and get some forwards. I know he's going to get a stretch forward that can shoot, can kind of fill that Andrew Carr role, but I wouldn't mind a little bit of depth there, too. Pretty concerning at the moment, even though he'll eventually get it. But Kentucky's roster right now as it stands has 10 players. You got low Lewis Perry at point guard, away Chandler Johnson at two guard, then little Cam Williams, Trent no on the wing. But then it's just Garrison and Marino. Billy?

Billy Rutledge (34:31)

Yeah, in, you know, in Mark Pope system, he's not going to play the bigs 30, 35 minutes. So you're going to see more, more rotation and depths important there. I think the guy from Robert Morris as the stretch four is probably one that a lot of people have circled right now, if you're looking at specific guys. But I mean, look, that There is absolutely the front court is an issue right now. They don't have the depth that they need right now. I'm very confident that Malachi Moreno will be a good player, but will he be the first few games? Will he need to adjust to the physicality of the sec? I mean, he is a freshman, so it's. It would be nice to bring in a transfer portal guy with experience.

Drew Franklin (35:07)

I like the Robert Morris guy.

Billy Rutledge (35:09)

Oh, yeah.

Drew Franklin (35:09)

I'm going to try to say his name. Alvaro Folk Juarez.

Billy Rutledge (35:12)

I'm going to say that's correct until somebody says otherwise.

Drew Franklin (35:16)

It's been quiet around him, but he was one of the first names to pop up when transfer portal season started. He's been over in Spain, I guess just, you know, got to go home, check on things. I don't know if he's back, but the plan has been to get him for a visit. But that's one I, you know, we don't know that anything's a done deal. But he seems like a favorite to feel that Andrew Carr stretch four role.

Billy Rutledge (35:35)

And every year we see more and more Europeans. I feel like impacting the college and the professional game. Speaking of, Big Z has a new home at Illinois, I believe. Correct. Teaming up with his brother in Orlando Antigua. So, you know, hopefully his stomach can hold up in Illinois. It's been quite the journey for him.

Drew Franklin (35:54)

It will be fun to see the Avic brothers there. I guess Coach O worked at work. The phone got Big Z to join him there. Coach O was big. And getting Big Z here to Kentucky. Big Z stepping away from Arkansas to go for some brotherly love in Illinois. I guess I'll root for Big Z a little bit. I know people are indifferent. They didn't love his reactions in Rupp Arena. He's booed. Whatever. I'll be cheering for Big Z at Illinois a little bit. Not. Not cheering too hard. But I hope things go well.

Billy Rutledge (36:20)

I don't know. I'm the same way. I feel like I'm defending him. He doesn't know any better, Drew. I mean, he's just doing what Cal told him to do. And now he's breaking away from Cal and going up there with Coach O.

Drew Franklin (36:28)

You can't take that Georgia game memory from me. That was too much.

Billy Rutledge (36:31)

Electric. An electric moment.

Drew Franklin (36:33)

We got time for one more, Rick? Sure do. Ryan's up next. Ryan, thanks for calling in.

Lori Kilmartin (36:40)

How you doing, Drew? I met you years ago at a bar in Fern Creek and long hair and old whitehead guy.

Drew Franklin (36:47)

But yeah, that sounds like fun.

Lori Kilmartin (36:49)

I'm a Happy?

Drew Franklin (36:50)

Yeah.

Lori Kilmartin (36:51)

You remember me, I think.

Drew Franklin (36:53)

Of course.

Lori Kilmartin (36:53)

Anyway, I'm a happy man this morning. I can't stand Duke and I've got a root for Florida because Billy's talked about Kentucky bands crashing ACC or whatever. They've been to Louisville and the national band been trashing Southeastern Conference teams for years in basketball and we finally proved that we had good teams. And actually I think the SEC basketball is better than football. And it's not all about money because everybody's got money nowadays. We, it's about a lot of. It's coaching and the players we're getting. I don't think it's all about money because I think us, the Big Ten had the bet, had the best teams, but I also want to give the shit out. A shout out to the Kentucky administration for put Bellarmine on the schedule because I like Bellarmine. I like Coach Davenport. You remember Reggie played for Coach Davenport in that game, you know, in that Haskell game, Ballard against Ballard years ago. But I guess that's about all I got. Thanks for taking my call.

Drew Franklin (38:01)

We appreciate the call. Hope to see you at another bar in Fern Creek also. Glad. You know, I don't know the, the rules on language, but when it's just a slip of the tongue, like it was more of a stutter than the actual word there. Right, Billy?

Billy Rutledge (38:15)

Yeah. I don't know if intention matters in the FCC finds, but we're going to hope that we don't get one for that. Can I use a callism here for something that you can do whatever you want. He was talking about there.

Drew Franklin (38:26)

There's no rules this week because he.

Billy Rutledge (38:27)

Was talking about the make sure there's.

Drew Franklin (38:28)

A show on Monday when everyone gets back.

Billy Rutledge (38:30)

The SEC and college basketball coaches win games, but administrations win championships. And I think it is. Has a lot to do about money, despite what the caller is saying because the SEC has committed to basketball in many recent years. You've seen the coaches salaries go up. You've seen some of the best coaches in the game in the SEC now. So it's going to be very different than your, your granddad's SEC or Kentucky just stroll into the SEC championship game every year. I mean they are legit and they are here to stay. So I think I will be rooting for Florida in the championship game tonight for that reason.

Drew Franklin (39:04)

I've had Houston on my bracket since the beginning. I'm going to stick with that. But you know, I get people like in the sec, as I look at the clock, I'm worried about my national championship history lessons. I'm already a little behind schedule.

Billy Rutledge (39:15)

We got a whole second hour.

Drew Franklin (39:16)

I mean, we got a lot of national championships. We got callers. We got the masters. We got Keeneland. We got so much to talk about. I'm way behind on my notes.

Billy Rutledge (39:24)

You got a whole week, so that's true.

Drew Franklin (39:26)

But, you know, with Corey here, we got to go through our championships. That's why we brought him in. It's why we flew him in, why I brought donuts. So let's take a quick break, and we come back, we will start our history lessons on Kentucky's eight national championships. And we'll take more of your calls here on ksr. We'll be right back.

Jeremy Scott (39:41)

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in Bone Valley season one.

Lori Kilmartin (39:48)

I just knew him as a kid.

Jeremy Scott (39:50)

Long, silent voices from his past came.

Gilbert King (39:54)

Forward, and he was just staring at me.

Jeremy Scott (39:56)

And they had secrets of their own to share.

Gilbert King (40:00)

Gilbert King. I'm the son of Jeremy Lynn Scott.

Jeremy Scott (40:06)

I was no longer just telling the story. I was part of it.

Gilbert King (40:10)

Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil. Evil.

Jeremy Scott (40:15)

I was becoming the bridge between a killer and the son he'd never known.

Gilbert King (40:19)

If the cops and everything would have done the job properly, my dad would have been in jail. I would have never existed.

Jeremy Scott (40:24)

I never expected to find myself in this place. Now I need to tell you how I got here.

Gilbert King (40:31)

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

Jeremy Scott (40:34)

Bone Valley Season 2 Jeremy.

Gilbert King (40:38)

Jeremy, I want to tell you something.

Jeremy Scott (40:40)

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2 starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And to hear the entire new season ad free with exclusive content starting April 9th, subscribe to Lava for Good plus on Apple Podcasts.

Drew Franklin (40:58)

Welcome back to Kentucky Sports Radio Drew Franklin with Billy Rutledge and Corey Price. We're about to start our history lesson on Kentucky's eight national championships. But first, a couple little notes here. Some of our KSR listeners on Twitter have tweeted me at Drew Franklin, ksr. Hit me up there, jelly rolls. Drummer is Cody Ash from Mount Washington, and he went to Bullet East.

Billy Rutledge (41:19)

Shannon the dudes next.

Drew Franklin (41:21)

Maybe Shannon knows Cody. Maybe Shannon and Cody were licking drumsticks together in high school.

Billy Rutledge (41:25)

Probably eating banana croquette, but drumsticks next thing. Yeah.

Drew Franklin (41:29)

Also, before we get to our championships, Corey, you were saying that your father and our guy Rick.

Corey Price (41:34)

That's right.

Drew Franklin (41:34)

In The Louisville studio. We're high school classmates.

Corey Price (41:37)

Yep. They went to trinity, class of 1970. Yeah, I got a picture of them at Chico Rocks. That's right. Got a picture of them from 68 their sophomore year. It's a small, small world.

Drew Franklin (41:48)

Very, very cool connection there we have on the show. But let's get right to our history. You know, Kentucky's got eight national championships. We're just going to tell you a little about. A little bit about each one. We don't want to forget. You know, some of them been a while. We've got like four in 65 years. I don't like to say that out loud, but you know, we want to win it every year.

Billy Rutledge (42:05)

It's 4 and 65.

Drew Franklin (42:08)

I mean, we get, we got, we got to get the. We got to pump these numbers up. We got to get Pope going. But first, Corey, let's start with the first one. 1948, eight off. Rups 18th season when Kentucky beat Baylor in the title game in Madison Square Garden. What else do we know about that first title season outside?

Corey Price (42:23)

We have eight more titles than the.

Drew Franklin (42:26)

The balls.

Corey Price (42:26)

So let's.

Drew Franklin (42:27)

Oh, yes. And several more final fours. Good note.

Corey Price (42:31)

They had a 36. 3 record the end of the season. A 16 game winning streak. They pushed the ball up the floor. They were fifth in the country in scoring offense at 69 points a game. It's nice. The leading scorer was fellow male alum Ralph Beard. I can do a shout out to male today. Today is their birthday at the first day of classes on April 7th, 1856.

Drew Franklin (42:53)

Today's male's birthday.

Corey Price (42:54)

Yeah.

Drew Franklin (42:54)

Okay. That's interesting.

Corey Price (42:55)

169 years old until male high school. Go Dogs. That team had three all Americans, of course. Ralph Beard, Alex Groza and Wawa Jones. All five starters were named to the all conference team.

Drew Franklin (43:07)

I think we were called the Fab Five. Huh? Isn't that one of our most famous starting fives of all time?

Corey Price (43:13)

Nine guys were picked in the draft from that team. Seven actually played in the pros. The schedule was a little weird for the Commerce player. They only played nine games, but they were nine. And oh won the conference during the season. Won the conference tournament as you alluded to. They defeated Baylor 58:42 in the national title game. Alex Grozer led the Cats in scoring the game with 12 points. Groza was also named the final four most outside player.

Drew Franklin (43:41)

He was pretty good.

Corey Price (43:41)

And then during the summer, the starting five was part of team USA that won Olympic gold. They defeated France in the gold medal game. Of 65 to 21.

Billy Rutledge (43:51)

Wow.

Drew Franklin (43:51)

I like that. We win the national championship. And they're like, hey, you guys want to just represent America in the Olympics? Adolph Rupp was an assistant. UK was the first college program to have five Olympic gold medals. I'll add that stat. I liked you. You texted me. The song of the year was Manana by Peggy Lee with Dave Barber and the Brazilians. I guess we'll do a song of.

Corey Price (44:11)

The year that was number one the week of the finals. Yeah.

Drew Franklin (44:15)

Also want to add they beat Tennessee three times that year.

Billy Rutledge (44:18)

Three times.

Drew Franklin (44:18)

Little topical. Beat them in the SEC tournament. We love beating Tennessee. And Cliff Barker, one of the. One of the Fab Five. He was a World War II veteran, and he was shot down over Germany and was a prisoner for 16 months. And while he was imprisoned, he dribbled a volleyball to polish his skills before going on to play for Kentucky. I mean, what a different era. Could you imagine? As we're in the portal right now, like, we're looking at a guy in a prison camp in World War II. He's been dribbling a volleyball. But that just shows you what that era was like. Had a couple of World War II veterans on that team. Just completely different times.

Billy Rutledge (44:50)

And 18th season for Rupp.

Drew Franklin (44:53)

Yeah, finally. Finally got one. We'll do a little more on 1948, move on to 1949 after the break. But Rick's counting me down after the first hour. We've had fun so far. More championship facts. Maybe some championship trivia, maybe some Keeneland talk, maybe some Masters talk. It's Drew here with Billy and Corey having lots of fun on a Monday, kicking off Drew week. We'll be right back after this break.

Jeremy Scott (45:17)

Something unexpected happened after Jeremy Scott confessed to killing Michelle Schofield in in Bone Valley season one.

Gilbert King (45:25)

Every time I hear about my dad is, oh, he's a killer. He's just straight evil.

Jeremy Scott (45:29)

I was becoming the bridge between Jeremy Scott and the son he'd never known.

Gilbert King (45:34)

At the end of the day, I'm literally a son of a killer.

Jeremy Scott (45:37)

Listen to new episodes of bone Valley Season 2, starting April 9 on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.