Ryan Lemon (2:52)

Black topping.

Drew Franklin (2:53)

We have Shannon the dude producing the show out of Louisville. Shannon, who's this segment brought to us.

Shannon the Dude (2:57)

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Drew Franklin (3:42)

Beautiful. An update from a topic earlier in the show. I have a. I have a box score from an old game. Now, they didn't have draftkings for this game, but I can bet lots of people were probably betting on it. But I have Richie Farmer versus Scott Bowley. Oh, back in the day, 1987.

Ryan Lemon (3:58)

Yeah.

Drew Franklin (3:59)

Clay county won 62 to 56. Richie had 19. Scott Boley had 12. Tough, tough loss for LaRue. Following year though, a rematch.

Ryan Lemon (4:10)

A rematch.

Drew Franklin (4:11)

You did it to him twice, Richie.

Richie Farmer (4:12)

Yeah, I know.

Drew Franklin (4:14)

This time 91 to 54. But we did have 22 points, so he was getting his buckets.

Ryan Lemon (4:20)

How many Richie have Richie had?

Drew Franklin (4:21)

30, I think Richie probably had 30 a lot. But we Corey Price with the evidence of the old Farmer.

Ryan Lemon (4:26)

Bowley showed up playing at Western Kentucky.

Drew Franklin (4:30)

He played a game in Rock Room.

Buck Stivers (4:32)

He's probably out of the game by halftime. Sound like that score 30 points. Yeah, they just let him shoot at the end there.

Ryan Lemon (4:39)

Did Buck Stivers play in the first game?

Drew Franklin (4:42)

He's not credited with any.

Ryan Lemon (4:44)

So he made already graduated.

Drew Franklin (4:45)

In fact, they only played five people that gave.

Richie Farmer (4:48)

Did you.

Drew Franklin (4:48)

Did you not like your bench?

Richie Farmer (4:50)

Bobby Keith didn't play a whole lot of people. Yeah, he liked his five and occasionally would have one guy if somebody got in foul trouble.

Buck Stivers (5:00)

And that was every year until Richie came along. I will tell you for real, I Mean, Richie's right. Like, until that group of riches came along, there was a whole new start lineup every year, and they had won the region every year with them. Everybody knew their role. And that's what.

Ryan Lemon (5:18)

Well, I said this during the commercial break. Clay county and Bobby Keith always had one large, big butt post player. He's only like 6:1 or 6:2, but he could take up a lot of space down there always.

Richie Farmer (5:30)

Yeah, he was. I mean, and he knew his role was to scream and to block out and rebound and kick it out and to rebound. I mean, and he may not be able to jump over a sheet of paper, but he'd get every rebound, you know, I mean, position. But that's what Bobby Keith was good at, is being able to, you know, take someone and develop them into what he needed them to be. And by the time they were seniors.

Buck Stivers (5:57)

Show you how to body somebody and they couldn't jump like, he would, you know, you know, and you get your time and, I mean, that was more to listen. He would come out and they would put that thing that goes over the rim where the ball won't go in it. And you talk about people where. Yeah, I mean, that was work. I mean, you know, like, that was nothing but a rebound and drill and, you know, it was rough.

Richie Farmer (6:19)

Yep.

Drew Franklin (6:19)

While we're going back in time, Shannon, I think. Do we have Richie's commitment video we can listen to?

Richie Farmer (6:25)

Oh, wow.

Drew Franklin (6:26)

Let's. Let's hear what this voice sounded like.

Shannon the Dude (6:29)

Here's the. The TV report that kind of sets it up here.

Drew Franklin (6:32)

Okay.

Ryan Lemon (6:33)

Three hours later, Farmer, flanked by his parents, his grandparents, teammates, and the entire student body of Clay County High School, made it official.

Richie Farmer (6:44)

It has really been a tough decision.

Buck Stivers (6:46)

For me to make, but in the.

Richie Farmer (6:47)

End, after discussion with my parents and Coach Keith, I've decided that it is in my best interest to further my academic and athletic career at the University of Kentucky. Yeah.

Drew Franklin (7:01)

How about that? Does that bring back memories, Richie?

Richie Farmer (7:04)

It does brings back a lot of memories, but can you not tell just how much more citified I am?

Drew Franklin (7:15)

We could hear it there, but paint us a picture of what?

Richie Farmer (7:17)

That. It's so funny. I mean, I was talking about my accent, but that the gym was full. Clay County High School gym was full. The student body was there. I mean, it was there. A lot of the county. A lot of the people from the county.

Ryan Lemon (7:33)

Was there drama, like. Or did people. You know, Everybody knew you were going.

Richie Farmer (7:36)

To go to Kentucky? Well, everybody pretty much knew. I mean, Coach Sutton and Coach Dickey and all those People were there.

Ryan Lemon (7:42)

Where would you have gone if you didn't pick Kentucky? What was number two?

Richie Farmer (7:45)

Lsu. Lsu, yeah. Yeah. Shaq and Chris Jackson, I mean, Dale Brown flew in, landed in a helicopter in my backyard. He came in with his coaching staff, and, I mean, he sat down and he stayed for. He was there for probably an hour or better. And, you know, he sat down, he said, listen, I'm recruiting. What I feel like is the two best guards in the country. He said, one of them, I've already got, a guy out of Gulfport, Mississippi, named Chris Jackson. And he said, you're the other one. And he said, I've already got two pretty good big men. One out of South Carolina, Stanley Roberts, and the other one out out of Louisiana. His name's Shaquille o'. Neal. And he said, if I can get you two guys, he said, with what I've got returning, he said, I'm going to put you guys out there and let you shoot and put them under the go and let them rebound and, you know, put it back.

Buck Stivers (8:43)

That's how much he loves Kentucky.

Richie Farmer (8:47)

That's how much I love Kentucky. Yes, absolutely. I mean, I had that offer and I, you know, and I just told him, I said, you know, I really appreciate it, Coach, and I appreciate you being honest with me. And I feel like that I have to be honest with you, that I want to see if Kentucky offers, and if they do, that's where I'm probably going to go. That's where I'm going to go. And he didn't like hearing that, obviously. But when we played them, you know, we played them a game and Rupp. The game and Rupp. Yeah. And I mean, he started fouling me on purpose at the end of the game, and I, you know, he thought he was going to get my head and that. That I would. That I would miss them. But I was eight for eight. We won 100 to 95. We beat them. And Rup, there are people who swear.

Ryan Lemon (9:35)

To this day that's the loudest Rupp arena has ever been. That game when you guys beat lsu and that famous picture of you and Shaq going up for a rebound.

Richie Farmer (9:44)

Yeah.

Ryan Lemon (9:44)

You look like you're five years old.

Richie Farmer (9:47)

Well, I mean, that was the largest human being on earth. You know, people don't realize just how big Shaq is. If you. If you look at him around other seven footers, they look small. I mean, he's. He's not just tall. He's, you know, he's probably 7:1 mass, but he's just so big and he was so athletic, you know, for a guy. Nobody ever seen a guy that moved like he did, you know, at that size, so. But just an awesome guy, you know.

Drew Franklin (10:17)

It worked out for you. I mean, your jersey's hanging in Rupp Arena. You're an unforgettable. You're a legend. But do you ever think back about what it would have been like throwing lobs to Shaq and. Well, not how different it would look. I mean, you have a Cajun draw.

Richie Farmer (10:31)

Now and so, I mean, it would have been. It certainly would have been different. And I said, you know, Shaq and I, we were friends. We got along. We used to meet at half court and, you know, give each other five and speak, you know, before the game, wish each other well. But we would have probably. Probably been friends. But you know, I tell people that anything other than Kentucky to me would have. It just wouldn't have been. It wouldn't have been okay with me.

Drew Franklin (11:01)

How would that have been received in Manchester Buck if he had left the state?

Buck Stivers (11:05)

Well, you know, everybody. I mean, the Eddie Sutton deals sore subject with Clay county people, you know, because we kind of felt like that Richie was sitting on the bench, you know, Lester Tallett was in front of him and. But, you know, as far as going anywhere else, Richie was born for Kentucky. I mean, that's what he, you know, couldn't even imagine him going anywhere else. But we didn't know if we was going to get to go or not. It was very tense there for a while. Yeah, you know, we was thinking, know.

Richie Farmer (11:38)

What it, you know, you know, had I not got 51 in the state championship game, I'm not sure, I don't know but I know there was a lot of pressure applied from the fans and the people, you know, but it was downers and some pretty influential people.

Ryan Lemon (11:59)

If Richie Farmer played in this day and age of nil and the T shirts. Is Richie going to play tonight? The hats Richie going to play tonight, he would have made. He'd have been a millionaire.

Drew Franklin (12:07)

When we play the who would have thrived the most in the nil game, you know, Anthony Davis comes up, John Wall, Richie Farmer, Rex Chapman. That's. Yep, those are four. Certainly would have benefited.

Richie Farmer (12:20)

Would have been unbelievable. Made a lot of money.

Ryan Lemon (12:23)

Sorry.

Richie Farmer (12:24)

Would have made a lot of money.

Buck Stivers (12:25)

He wouldn't have made it if he had had money.

Drew Franklin (12:29)

I think maybe Eric, but someone from cows 2012 team to wrong one of those guys came out and said, I'm glad I didn't have nil because I would not have handled it well. Yeah, I mean, just very open with the fact that 18 and having that.

Richie Farmer (12:41)

Would have been a little different.

Buck Stivers (12:42)

Look at how things have changed, though, right now. What's been thrown in the mix just. Just the last few years? I mean, you can gamble on anything. I mean, I never thought when I was a kid, you know, that everybody would be promoting, you know, gambling.

Richie Farmer (12:54)

Right. And it's. And it's everywhere. Yeah.

Drew Franklin (12:57)

Like a DraftKings T shirt back here in the back if you need.

Buck Stivers (13:00)

Hey, I had a guide wait for me there. Wasn't doing so good, but it gets. You know, you can get some cheap labor.

Drew Franklin (13:09)

For more stories like these. Give us a call at 859-282-287. We're having fun hearing about the past with Richie and his friend Buck here. Before we take a break, I have a little. Little game I just came up with on the fly.

Ryan Lemon (13:21)

Okay.

Richie Farmer (13:21)

All right.

Drew Franklin (13:22)

You know, we mentioned at the end of the first hour, we're going to Shannon's house tomorrow first. I've never. I've never been.

Ryan Lemon (13:28)

I've never been.

Drew Franklin (13:29)

He's very, very mysterious. Matt tells the story. One time he went. Shannon made him stay in the doorway. Couldn't even come in so far. Yeah. Remember, you're in the back. Remember that story?

Richie Farmer (13:38)

Yeah.

Drew Franklin (13:39)

So what do we. Let's. Let's all get. What are we gonna see tomorrow? Let's all try to guess, like, one item that we will find in the Shannon. The dude man cave.

Ryan Lemon (13:48)

In the man cave.

Drew Franklin (13:49)

Yeah. And then Shannon can confirm or deny or tell us. Just wait and see. Ryan, give us just one thing you expect would be in a Shannon the dude man cave.

Ryan Lemon (13:57)

I can probably guarantee there's something in the Shannon dude man cave that he stole from Phoenix Hill Tavern when they closed down.

Shannon the Dude (14:06)

Stole.

Drew Franklin (14:06)

Stole out his character.

Ryan Lemon (14:09)

Tables, chairs, pictures, bars, paraphernalia. There's. There's Phoenix Hill Tavern stuff in his man cave.

Shannon the Dude (14:18)

Maybe, but.

Drew Franklin (14:21)

Okay, so not stolen property.

Shannon the Dude (14:22)

Yeah. No.

Drew Franklin (14:23)

But potentially a relic from Phoenix Hill Tavern.

Shannon the Dude (14:25)

Yep.

Drew Franklin (14:26)

Richie, do you have a guess?

Richie Farmer (14:30)

You know, I don't know. I will. I would like to say a framed Richie Farmer jersey.

Shannon the Dude (14:38)

If you'll give me one, I'll hang it up. I don't know how I get my hands on one of those.

Richie Farmer (14:42)

Yes, but I'm only kidding. I would think maybe something to do with wrestling or. Or, you know, one of those Draft King football helmets.

Shannon the Dude (14:57)

You were right on the first time, though. There's. There's definitely some wrestling.

Richie Farmer (15:00)

Some wrestling, Yes. I mean, I Figured I was trying to think of who, you know, who might be featured, but I can't come up with anything. I was thinking maybe the Undertaker.

Drew Franklin (15:12)

Okay, Undertaker. Buck, you got a guess?

Buck Stivers (15:15)

I was gonna say maybe a Stretch Armstrong.

Shannon the Dude (15:20)

Not a Stretch Armstrong, but I do have some of those Funko Pops, if you're familiar with those, that people can, you know, create like a little caricature of you. Yeah, and I think you guys got one too, didn't you? I think all. Yes, got one.

Richie Farmer (15:33)

We all got one.

Shannon the Dude (15:34)

I've got mine up in the garage.

Richie Farmer (15:36)

Yeah, two.

Drew Franklin (15:37)

Two wrestling guesses. Those are good. I'm trying to think all of Shannon's like, you know, he likes rock music.

Richie Farmer (15:43)

I mean, he likes the Braves. He's a farmer now. He's growing pumpkins. Award winning pumpkins.

Shannon the Dude (15:51)

Send you guys home with a pumpkin tomorrow.

Drew Franklin (15:53)

I don't know what you garden with. You could have just a bunch of hose in his man cave. That's exactly right. You're not gonna see a bunch of hoes in there.

Shannon the Dude (16:03)

Yeah, maybe not that early in the day, but.

Richie Farmer (16:06)

Okay.

Drew Franklin (16:06)

You gotta let me know if that's the case.

Shannon the Dude (16:08)

That happens after dark.

Richie Farmer (16:09)

Yes.

Drew Franklin (16:09)

I'm gonna say in the corner, right on top of your kegerator full of Shannon the Dude brew. There's like a. Like a. A crock pot or some kind of warmer where you have fresh fazoli breadsticks for your guests. Maybe even a server that walks around with the basket. While you have people, you're not far.

Shannon the Dude (16:26)

Off because, you know, I've talked about my love of fazoli on this show, and they actually sent me a care package a couple of years ago. And one of the things they sent was a candle that smells when you light it. It smells like the Fazili's breadsticks.

Richie Farmer (16:40)

No way.

Ryan Lemon (16:41)

Wow.

Shannon the Dude (16:41)

I'll have that lit tomorrow in the main cave. Now that you brought that, let's go see.

Drew Franklin (16:45)

We know Shannon. We know we're doing.

Shannon the Dude (16:47)

You guys are pretty much spot on.

Richie Farmer (16:49)

Yeah.

Drew Franklin (16:49)

Looking forward to getting there. Tomorrow it'll be live from Shannon's house, but we got more to do here at KS Bar and Grill. It's Drew, Ryan, Richie and Buck with Shannon in Louisville. Gonna get more stories. Might do some playoff picks, but plenty more KSR coming up. Welcome back to ksr. Drew Franklin, Ryan Lemon, Richie Farmer and Buck Stivers. Happy to join us from Clay County. Ryan Lemon, who's the segment brought to us by.

Ryan Lemon (17:13)

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Drew Franklin (17:34)

What is that?

Richie Farmer (17:35)

Squamous.

Ryan Lemon (17:36)

Squamous.

Drew Franklin (17:37)

Squamous.

Ryan Lemon (17:37)

Spell it. S, Q, U, A, Y. Moss.

Drew Franklin (17:41)

Squamous.

Buck Stivers (17:42)

Yeah.

Ryan Lemon (17:42)

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Drew Franklin (18:31)

Well, I'm going to go right back to you because our friends from Avision Glass just walked in, and I'm wondering if that's to scold you for not living up your end of the agreement with the Avision glass text machine.

Ryan Lemon (18:43)

They buy this endorsement just to get the name recognition. So as long as we continue calling it the a Vision Glass text machine, I think we're good. The fact that it's actually sitting in my kitchen on a charger, that's secondary.

Drew Franklin (18:57)

I don't know. I feel like if they just wanted the name recognition, we could say it, but the fact that they bought you a brand new iPhone, got its own number, and handed it to you to use during the show, I feel like they wanted that to be a big part of our operation.

Ryan Lemon (19:11)

It was for the first couple days, and then I started charging it and forgot to take it off the charger.

Drew Franklin (19:16)

All right, consistency.

Ryan Lemon (19:17)

But the a Vision Glass text machine is my own phone right now.

Drew Franklin (19:21)

Oh, so you're gonna give that number out as punishment?

Ryan Lemon (19:23)

No, no. But here's a question on the a Vision glass text machine. My real phone.

Drew Franklin (19:27)

Okay.

Ryan Lemon (19:28)

Ask Buck who'd win a game of horseshoes, him or Richie.

Buck Stivers (19:33)

Probably me.

Drew Franklin (19:36)

Seem Pretty confident there.

Ryan Lemon (19:38)

Seem very confident.

Drew Franklin (19:39)

Is that true, Richie?

Richie Farmer (19:40)

Well.

Buck Stivers (19:42)

He'S my cornhole partner.

Richie Farmer (19:45)

Yeah, we play cornhole, you know, with guys around there in the neighborhood. We like to. I'll get together. It's been a while, actually, since we've done that, but Buck and I would always take on all comers and, you know, so I would say it should be competitive. But he's good.

Ryan Lemon (20:08)

Yeah.

Drew Franklin (20:09)

Not to put either of you on the spot. I'll start with you, Buck. You got another good childhood story, Maybe something from high school, unrelated to basketball, Anything radio friendly. If not, we can put a pin in it and come back to it.

Buck Stivers (20:18)

Well, when he first got a car to drive, which I think he was 14 or 15, he got a Firebird. And we was going to church, and we was racing. Russ and another feller.

Drew Franklin (20:32)

Is it that big of a hurry to get to church? You want to be the first one there, right?

Buck Stivers (20:35)

Yes, absolutely. And we were racing on the parkway. I'll never forget. I guess we was running close to 150, and that thing blowed, and it blowed a radiator hose off of it. I'll never forget. We had to pack water from the creek there. We broke down on side of the road, blow radiator hose. Yeah.

Richie Farmer (20:53)

And.

Buck Stivers (20:54)

Oh, it was very interesting. Russ and the other guy there, who. Which. He's a chief of police now, so. Not Manchester.

Drew Franklin (21:03)

So learned his lesson.

Richie Farmer (21:04)

Yeah.

Buck Stivers (21:04)

Yeah.

Drew Franklin (21:05)

So you were just running late for the service, Richie. You just wanted to make sure you're there. Didn't want somebody taking your usual seat in the pew.

Richie Farmer (21:11)

Or.

Drew Franklin (21:11)

Or was this actually some street racing?

Richie Farmer (21:13)

Well, I think we were racing is what it came down to.

Ryan Lemon (21:17)

You versus Russ.

Richie Farmer (21:18)

Well, it was the other guy that was driving. It was. He was in a. What was it? Cutlass. Yeah, Cutlass Supreme. And I had that old Firebird. And, you know, Buck was in the passenger seat, and he said, hey, let's see what it'll do. And so we, you know, it was. And then the next thing you know, I think we were actually going up.

Buck Stivers (21:40)

Yeah. Yeah.

Ryan Lemon (21:41)

It took off.

Buck Stivers (21:42)

Something left loose in it, and, I mean, it was like we were shot out of a can and we left them. And I turned and looked, and you couldn't see nothing but smoke.

Richie Farmer (21:51)

It was good.

Drew Franklin (21:52)

Like, there might be some other Firebird stories we could do off Shannon. Let's knock out some phone calls. We have anybody on the line?

Shannon the Dude (21:57)

Yeah, let's go to Bart.

Drew Franklin (22:01)

Hey, good morning. Yes, good morning. I am enjoying the heck out of this. I. I grew up in. In Lexington and Louisville area, My family is just a huge Kentucky basketball fan. In fact, they're probably listening this morning.

Richie Farmer (22:14)

So I want to thank Richie.

Drew Franklin (22:16)

Where else in this world can these big fans like ours just sit and listen to these old stories and get.

Buck Stivers (22:21)

A big kick out of it?

Drew Franklin (22:22)

I know my brother Matt and I used to always emulate you in the driveway. I'm 55, he's 50, and we had more fun. And thanks for all these stories and all the great memories and truly appreciate it.

Richie Farmer (22:34)

Well, man, that means more than you know, because here's what people fail to realize about me is, you know, I was fortunate and I got to live my dream, and I did play here. But before that, I was just like everybody else out there listening. You know, I was the kid that I was in my driveway or on the side of that hill, you know, three, two, one. Kyle Macy goes up. You know, there was no three at that time. It was just, you know, at the buzzer, boom. You know, so I did it with Rick Roby and Jack Givens and, you know, so, you know, everything. That was Kentucky basketball for me growing up. The coaches, the players, you know, you had your favorites, but, you know, you knew every player on the team each year. It was. It was so fun. And I said, you know, in Eastern Kentucky, growing up, when. When the Cats played, they rolled the streets up and turned. You know, it was. It was all about the Cats. And if they lost, my goodness, everybody was in a bad mood until we won again. So. Which, thank goodness, didn't happen very often, but it was just. I mean, it just meant so much to us. And so I was just like those guys. And so I understand what it. What it means, and it is really the most special place in the world to play basketball.

Buck Stivers (23:57)

Yeah. My wedding was held up because the UK game was out.

Ryan Lemon (24:01)

Well, it's your fault for scheduling a wedding on day.

Buck Stivers (24:03)

My wife.

Richie Farmer (24:05)

Oh, sure I did.

Drew Franklin (24:06)

I did it, too. But.

Buck Stivers (24:08)

Yeah, and.

Richie Farmer (24:08)

But the.

Buck Stivers (24:09)

The fellow who marries was Les Carnyham was our grade school coach.

Richie Farmer (24:13)

Yeah.

Buck Stivers (24:14)

You know, and I'll never forget, he said, well, surely you ain't gonna get married during this game. I said, well, as you're doing the service, I mean, we can wait. So we did. We wait and watch the ball game and then got married.

Ryan Lemon (24:29)

Then got married.

Richie Farmer (24:30)

Yeah.

Drew Franklin (24:31)

We haven't talked much about the current Cats, and I know it's been a while, but I saw both of you at the Magical Pope press conference two years ago. When we come back from this break, I want to hear a lot about what you thought to the current team. I have a picture of Buck. He's wearing a Pope is dope shirt.

Richie Farmer (24:46)

Yeah, there.

Drew Franklin (24:46)

And then, of course, the season goes on, goes pretty well. So we've focusing on the past. But coming up out of this break, I want to hear what you all think of the current situation, too. It's Drew, Ryan, Richie and Buck. We're KS Bar TJ Smith, personal injury attorney. Call TJ he'll make him pay.

Shannon the Dude (25:00)

Now more of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Here's Matt Jones.

Drew Franklin (25:05)

This is not Matt Jones. It's Drew Franklin hosting KSR today with my dear friend Ryan Lemon at KS Bar and Grill. And he convinced Richie Farmer and his friend Buck Stivers to make the trip from Clay county to join us. For two hours, we're having fun talking about the past. And here in a moment, we're going to focus on their thoughts on the current Wildcats and what Mark Pope's doing over there. But first, Shannon, the dude who's this.

Shannon the Dude (25:27)

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Drew Franklin (26:17)

Those are so good, Shannon. But I gotta admit, I've switched to the blueberry breeze. I left. I mean, salted watermelon still great, but it has been passed is my favorite. I've been blueberry breezing lately.

Shannon the Dude (26:26)

It's just, you know, depends on the day. The peach iced tea is really good too. I really like.

Richie Farmer (26:30)

That's what I like.

Drew Franklin (26:31)

They're all refreshing.

Richie Farmer (26:32)

Yeah.

Drew Franklin (26:33)

One football note before we get into the basketball topics, it's not even really related to the current team. I know we haven't talked much about them. We'll have the rest of the week to do that. But Ryan limit It's Nick Roush's birthday.

Ryan Lemon (26:45)

Today is Nick Roush's birthday.

Drew Franklin (26:46)

I've been working with Nick for a long time. Interviewed a young Nick Roush at Huge Ass Burgers when he was just a college kid when we had ksrcollege.com now you know him as the Mr. UK football everything. He does a million podcasts. We did our KSR football podcast yesterday at 2. Nick's probably covering practice this afternoon, but I just want to give a happy, happy birthday to our good friend Nicholas.

Ryan Lemon (27:10)

Does a good job covering the Kentucky Wildcats. And the thing I like about him, he doesn't hold back. He does not like he on your rapid rewind after the game in South Carolina. He was, he was laying it out there. You know this. He said like, he said something like, this is bad. This is really bad. We are the worst team in the sec. Make no mistake about it. I mean he didn't sugarcoat anything.

Drew Franklin (27:27)

He did not. But he can sugarcoat today's birthday. He can have some happy birthday. And I usually are just slamming press box coffees together in Kroger Field. That's, that's what I'm usually doing with them. But hope he gets to enjoy his birthday today.

Ryan Lemon (27:38)

Can I give a shout out? Whatever you want because I've had this on my list like all week and keep and I haven't had a chance to get to it.

Drew Franklin (27:44)

All right. Yeah. Have at it.

Ryan Lemon (27:45)

Do you remember when Matt had the great idea, Shannon, you'll remember this of having like some people, some listeners host ksr.

Drew Franklin (27:53)

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Ryan Lemon (27:55)

And we both thought was going to be a epic failure. Well, the guy that won was a man by the name of Darren Smith. He was from Harlan and he came in to do it. He was in med school at the time, if you remember. He was studying, doing his residency or med school or something. Well, he killed it. Remember they did a great job. They did one segment, Shannon, it was really good, right?

Shannon the Dude (28:15)

Yeah.

Ryan Lemon (28:16)

Well, he is now a doctor and the shout out is. I got word he just got married. So Congratulations, Darren Smith.

Drew Franklin (28:22)

There you go. Congratulations. Yeah, that's a great, that was a great build up. So you got married. I thought you were about to tell me he's like the commissioner of the Major League Baseball.

Ryan Lemon (28:30)

We could do that too.

Richie Farmer (28:31)

Yeah.

Drew Franklin (28:33)

Marriage is great. I love love.

Ryan Lemon (28:35)

I just remember when Matt had that idea I thought, this is going to fail. This is not going to work. It's going to be awful. And Darren and his two buddies came in and did a great job. Now he's gone to bigger and better things. A doctor and a husband.

Richie Farmer (28:46)

Yeah.

Drew Franklin (28:47)

Good for him.

Richie Farmer (28:48)

There we go.

Drew Franklin (28:48)

Also, congratulations to Rich and Buck. They get to go to UK basketball practice today. You know, we obviously can't ask them what they saw. That's later on this afternoon. But we have been through one season with Mark Pope. You were on the bus that rode into the arena for the big press conference last year. Let's just start there with just the excitement. I know it's a little year old, but I know you were glad to have him around for the last season.

Richie Farmer (29:12)

Yeah, you know, I've told the story about when he was hired and how I kind of felt about it. I was kind of like a lot of other people because there were, you know, tons of names being tossed around. And I had heard his name, but it was way, way, way down the list. And during that time, you know, you were. When they announced was kind of like a shock that they had picked him. And, you know, and then, you know, at first I thought, what? Mark Pope, but then the more I thought about it, the more it started to make sense. And, you know, people. The people that don't realize, and of course, you know, all of us that got a chance to watch him coach this past year saw, you know, he's one of the great young coaches out there. I mean, he's young in his career, but the way he analyzes games and, you know, the way he takes bits and pieces of what he's learned from different people that he's played with and played for throughout the years. I think he does an outstanding job. And his offense is something that these young kids, they want to play for him, they want to be a part of it. And that's a big part of what's happening now. You know, you got to have something that appeals to these young guys, and he seems to be able to do that and to get them motivated and to get them to understand what it means to play at Kentucky. And that's. I think that had been kind of lost over the course of several years, you know, and playing for that name on the front of the jersey and, you know, these fans are the greatest in the world, the greatest fans of any sport, you know, in the world. And, you know, when you play here, it's magical and it means something. And it means something to these people. So, you know, I think he's been able to kind of make the people that wasn't like me, that didn't grow up here, make them understand that and make them buy into that. And, you know, I just really like the culture and I like what he's doing. I love Mark Pope and, you know, with this team that he's got this year, you know, I've told people I haven't had a chance to watch them practice in person yet, and I'm going over today to watch practice. But, but everything that I've been hearing, you know, we. We've got a lot of potential and a lot to look forward to this year, and I'm really excited.

Drew Franklin (31:49)

Last season, obviously you wanted it to work. You're very supportive from day one. But how fun was it when he passed that first test, beating Duke in the way he did it, made the in game adjustments. There's the clip that came out where he literally says, cooper, flag is going to spin. But just a week into his, his coaching era at Kentucky, to beat a team like Duke, you haven't beaten duke much in 20 years. How exciting was that? As a guy who had a memory.

Richie Farmer (32:13)

Against Duke himself, it was fabulous. And you know, just the fact that it was Duke just made it extra special. But, you know, we, we needed, we needed to win a marquee win like that. And you know, with it being early in his coaching career and the fact that he called out what he was going to do and, you know, and, and it just all worked out to perfection, I think that was maybe a sign of things to come. So, you know, I'm really excited about this team. I think, you know, I'm always hesitant about saying, you know, we're going to go 40 and 0 and we're going to win the national championship. But now with this team, I really do think that they have final four potential. There's a lot of things that has to happen and, you know, I think how good Jalen Lowe can be and at the point guard, but I see that we have, you know, a really deep team and, you know, and I want to shout out my buddy from over in Eastern Kentucky, you know, Trent Noah.

Drew Franklin (33:16)

I was going there next.

Richie Farmer (33:18)

Yeah, I mean, I've been hearing great things about the way he's shooting the basketball, and I know he's got that, as we say, that bulldog hang on forever snow. So, you know, he's going to be great and I'm looking forward to seeing him get a chance to play some buck.

Drew Franklin (33:35)

Everybody's got their favorites. We love Every player, but we all. We all attach to some. And I'm sure at home, Trent Noah was a huge fan favorite last year. And y' all are looking forward to.

Buck Stivers (33:45)

Absolutely. I mean, you know, it's very rare. You can go from not really liking a player to loving a player. And, you know, Trent know us who sent Clay county home. I mean, he wore us out over there in the region, and I think he had 40 something on us. And, I mean, he was. You know, he showed what he was made of. I mean, you know, took that team, you know, to the finals against Travis, you know, so I'm excited. I know what kind of work ethic he has. You know, his coach there, his brother coaches Clay county now. So I'd heard a lot of Noah stories, you know, and talked about, you know, said this kid really puts the work in and that, you know, you like to see people do good. That puts the work in.

Ryan Lemon (34:33)

You know, one of you guys said, yeah, he shoots 500 shots a day, and he'd been doing that since he was a little kid.

Richie Farmer (34:38)

That's when he was in High School.

Buck Stivers (34:39)

Yeah, 500 a day, regardless. And I mean, you know, it's. It's. You know, now Richie, it's just like shooting the ball. He had something special, you know, and a lot of guys. But now, you know, even special people put that much effort in, you know, it just comes. Makes it come natural. It's a rit mano. Makes a reflex out of it.

Drew Franklin (35:01)

The other homegrown talent on last year's team from my side of the state, took a different path this year. Travis Perry decided to go to Ole Miss, where you'll most likely have a larger opportunity to play there for Chris Beard. He was really close to Ole Miss in his original recruitment. You know, that was a big story from the summer. I don't think you've had a chance to comment on that, Richie, but, you know, similar role to you. High school, school legend in the state. Knew he wanted to go to Kentucky, gave it one year, but stepped away to try another path. What do you think of that?

Richie Farmer (35:29)

Well, you know, I hated to see him leave. First of all, I was a big Travis Perry fan, and, you know, I love to see these kids that grow up in the state and dream of playing there and have that opportunity. I hate to. I like to see it work out, and I like everything to, you know, to go kind of like a storybook. But it don't always work out that way. And in this case, I think, you know, Chris Beard, I think he was very close to him in his recruitment from high school. He loved, he loved his game, loved the way he played. And I think that he'll have a real opportunity. And you know, with Nil now, you know, people have to realize that, you know, this is real money people are talking about. So when you're talking about maybe a couple hundred thousand, three hundred or four hundred thousand dollar difference in what you could make here versus there, you know, I don't know, I don't know any of that and it wouldn't be my position to divulge that information. If he wants people to know, that's their deal. But I think he had a real opportunity both financially and, you know, and then I think you'll have a greater chance to play there this coming year with, with where we are. But I would have loved to have seen him today.

Ryan Lemon (36:48)

Travis is a guy I wish could have a do over because they he was forced to play point guard in the SEC when he, maybe he wasn't quite ready. Maybe he needed a year to kind of learn the game, get bigger, better, stronger. But he was forced into play and his game just wasn't what he was capable of. So I wish that kid had at least had a do over here one more year.

Richie Farmer (37:07)

Yeah, it would be good to see and you know, make no mistake about it, he's good enough to play in this league and you know, there's a lot of kids that when they come out of high school, when you step into SEC and that, you know, it's bigger, stronger, faster, you know, so sometimes it takes kids a little bit longer. But like I said with Nil and you know, the clock's ticking, you've only got so many, so much time to make, you know, your money. And so, you know, that's one of the unfortunate things about this. But, but I wish, I wish him nothing but success and happiness there. Of course we don't want him to have, you know, it comes to rough this season right away. Yeah, I know. I mean it's going to be crazy, but I hope he does well and we beat him. So, you know, I'm always, I always like to cheer for, for the Kentucky boys.

Drew Franklin (38:05)

I think, I think we're all in that boat. Want him to do well, but not in the not too well. We'll get more on Richie's thoughts on the current team in this final break. It's Drew, Ryan, Richie and Buck at KS Bar and Grill. Might get to the phone lines if we have time. If not, we have plenty more questions about the current team, what Richie thinks about it. But we'll be right back on ksr. Welcome back, Kentucky Sports Radio. Drew Franklin, Ryan Lemon, Richie Farmer, Buck Stivers with Shannon, the dude producing the show out of Louisville. One final segment here. We're going to get more of Richie's basketball thoughts. I saw a clip online yesterday where Amari Williams was telling a story. I guess somebody was late to Pope's practice last year. He didn't name the player, but it wasn't even that it was late. He was on time. But I guess Pope's one of those guys on time is late. He's five minutes early as on time. But he ran. He made the team run. 17 17s. And the 17, I guess, is where you run up and down the court 17 times, but you had to do 17 of them. I guess Mario was saying not even a chance. Anybody could do that.

Richie Farmer (39:06)

Right.

Drew Franklin (39:06)

But that's kind of the Pope philosophy. Made me think about maybe a little Rick Patino there. Richie, you see some similarities in how Pope's doing, some conditioning there.

Richie Farmer (39:14)

Absolutely. He got that directly from him. I don't know about the seven. It would have been probably 5am at the track doing some, some kind of crazy something. But, you know, he, he called it wildcat time, and it was 15 minutes early. So, you know, that's why we were on wildcat time. So if he said nine o', clock, you were there at a quarter till and you know, he could show up at any time during that time. And. But if you, you know, if he showed up at 10 till and you wasn't there, you were late, you were late.

Buck Stivers (39:46)

And that must have been why that Richie was so. He must have, why he got to do all that extra running.

Drew Franklin (39:53)

That's why he's in such good shape.

Buck Stivers (39:55)

Yeah, yeah. That's why he got in such good shape.

Richie Farmer (39:58)

It wasn't that. It was. I hated to run and listen, and I ran with, you know, Derek Miller was. I mean, if this kid would have trained to run, he could have been a world class athlete in running. He would, he would stay out. Now, Derek was known, you know, he occasionally would stay out late and, you know, he would come in early, early and he would lap everybody, really. And he would be so far ahead of me that he would kind of get his breath after he crossed the line. And when I come across the third time, you know, going on my fourth lap, he would push me around the track. I mean, it was unbelievable that. I mean, he ran 440 miles for, you know, 435 miles, that's. That's crazy times.

Drew Franklin (40:49)

I'm out of breath thinking about.

Richie Farmer (40:50)

Yes. I mean, unbelievable.

Drew Franklin (40:52)

Do you see any other similarities in Pope and Rick? Was there a moment last year when you're watching the team and you're thinking up that probably came from Patino?

Richie Farmer (40:59)

Well, just. I mean, just his overall, the way his attitude and, you know, what his. What he demands of his players and what he expects. I think a lot of those things are very similar from the way that coach went about things. Now, sometimes people go about things a little differently, but, you know, the same idea behind it. But you certainly didn't want to be late for practice, that's for sure.

Drew Franklin (41:28)

When you all go to practice today, you're still, I mean, you know a little about the team. But you admitted you haven't seen them yet. Is there anything you're looking forward to in particular? Is there a certain guy you're going to look out for?

Richie Farmer (41:39)

Well, I just. I just wanted to kind of see them all out there on the floor together and how they mash and, you know, kind of what he's doing and where some of the guys, what positions are they. Are they going to be threes, fours, you know, where's he going, how's he going to use them, those kind of things and just. Just a chance to get to see what some of those guys can. Can do because, you know, I'm excited. We got, you know, Aberdeen came here and he was supposedly going to be. He would have been a big part of that team this year, a team which won the national championship and is one of the favorites again this year. Florida will have a very nice team. So, you know, the sec, I think overall will be down a little bit, but Florida will still have a very nice team. Team. But, you know, you had guys like him and Diabate from Alabama. I mean, you know, just. Just to see some of the things offensively that they can do. But I know they bring toughness and, you know, they've been through the war. So it's not like you got a bunch of guys over there that's just going to have to figure out, you know, how to play. It's how do they mash together and how are they going to fit in, you know, to what Pope's asking them to do. I'm kind of excited about that.

Drew Franklin (42:54)

Before we let you guys get over there, Bucker, we beat in Georgia and football on Saturday, you got a prediction for.

Buck Stivers (42:59)

Well, I mean, I might as well predict us to win. You know, I probably won't bet on them. Yeah, yeah, Yeah. I always hope they win.

Drew Franklin (43:10)

I mean, you know, you keep up with the football Cats pretty well, though.

Buck Stivers (43:13)

Fair. Like I said, you have to have 13 different subscriptions to watch them play anymore. You know, I mean, it's. It's kind of tough to keep up with everything, but. Yeah, I try to follow them a little bit, but it's. It's been rough. It's. I told Rich, he said what we're going to talk about. I said, well, we go in there and buy Stoops, things like that.

Ryan Lemon (43:32)

That's the common thread, right?

Buck Stivers (43:34)

Yeah, but I don't. You know, I like Mark Stoops, you know, but I told Rich, if you're a defensive coach, you know, we know you're not, you know, we know you're not going to score, but you have to hold people if you're defensive, you know, you can win if you hold people to less than, you know, you score. Like, if you hold somebody to zero and you score a point, you win.

Drew Franklin (43:57)

Yeah, that's. That's some good math there, bud. Makes a lot of sense.

Richie Farmer (44:00)

It'll be. It'll be a tall task force this weekend. Them, especially them coming off that home.

Buck Stivers (44:06)

Run after what happened. Oh, yeah, but that's also opportunity.

Richie Farmer (44:12)

Yes.

Drew Franklin (44:12)

Good having you guys in today. We'll do a lot of football talk tomorrow. We're live from Shannon's man Cave. Going to snoop around in there. For today, it was Drew, Ryan, Rich and Bucky at KS Bar. Thanks for listening.