2026-03-25- KSR - Hour 1

Summary

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KSR - Hour 1 (March 25, 2026) - Detailed Episode Summary

Podcast: Kentucky Sports Radio (KSR)
Hosts: Matt Jones, Ryan, Drew, Shannon
Date: March 25, 2026
Theme: Major changes and uncertainty in UK Athletics, basketball staff shake-ups, the innovative new UK Athletics business structure, and notable sports/news moments.

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Main Theme & Purpose

This episode centers on a chaotic and pivotal moment for University of Kentucky (UK) Athletics. The KSR crew discusses breaking news about staff turnover within the basketball program, a significant investigative article from The Athletic about radical changes in UK Athletics' business model, the implications for recruiting and the roster, and broader questions about the athletic department's future. The conversation balances insider details, speculation, and the hosts' trademark humor and banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Turmoil in UK Basketball: Assistant Coaches Departing

• Topic: Jason Hart, UK basketball’s head recruiter, leaves for SMU as associate head coach.
• Reason for Departure: Unclear—could be to reunite with a previous colleague, a perceived upgrade, or a push due to recruiting struggles.
• Recruiting Impact: Hart was the primary connection for prospects like Dink Pate and Tyron Stokes, but UK secured no major commitments during his tenure.
• Staff Uncertainty: Rumors suggest that Hart might not be the only departure (“there are those...who don’t think Mark [Fox] will be here after this year” - Matt Jones, 10:07).
• Urgency: Staff changes must happen fast, as the transfer portal opens April 6 and roster construction is critical.

"My bigger concern is whatever you think of Jason Hart, I don't love the idea of a new assistant coming in—maybe not even here yet—in late March when we need a roster ASAP."
— Drew, 09:41

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2. Addition of Keegan Brown: Hope for Staff Innovation?

• New Hire: Keegan Brown, formerly of the Wisconsin Herd (G-League), joins as Associate Director of Player Development.
• Role Unclear: Not a General Manager, but may be involved in data, player development, and NIL negotiations.
• Staff Perceptions: Drew, after previous research, is optimistic—“He seemed to be a big part of the offense Pope was running...I was rooting for him to be an assistant"* (11:43). Other hosts withhold judgment.

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3. Major News: UK's Athletics LLC Structure

• Reference Article: The Athletic publishes an exclusive about UK's move to a nonprofit LLC, the first such structure in college athletics.
• Message from UK: The LLC will usher in a new era of revenue generation—restaurants, shopping, and hotels alongside sports, aiming for budgets “beyond $200 million a year.”
• Public Confusion: There’s tension between UK’s “Scrooge McDuck money” optimism in the article and recent warnings about budget cuts from university leadership.

"Kentucky athletics has access to plenty of money, potentially swimming in it, Scrooge McDuck style...They're going to provide opportunities for our fans at a level beyond what we've traditionally done."
— Matt Jones, paraphrasing The Athletic and Eric Monday, 30:06

• Potential Risks: While innovative, running athletics as an LLC introduces business-related risk—“businesses can succeed and they can also fail." (37:38)
• Comparison to UK Healthcare: The same model was used for healthcare, allegedly with great success, but the hosts ask listeners to share their real-world experiences.

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4. National Coaching Carousel & Its Impact

• Major Openings: North Carolina and possibly Kansas jobs are (or could be) open for the first time in decades, potentially attracting top coaching talent away from other programs.
• Concerns: If Kentucky’s targets or elite coaches are lured elsewhere, it could worsen fan anxiety after a disappointing season.

"We had three different times to hire Billy Donovan and if he comes none of those three and then goes to Carolina..."
— Matt Jones, 26:28

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5. Notable News Oddities & Lighter Moments

• Viral Headline: The crew reacts (with shock and comic disbelief) to a story about a quadruple amputee cornhole champion charged with murder.

  "I don't even know how to begin. That is one that's hard to even begin to process."
  — Matt Jones, 19:59

• Pop Culture: Extended joking about TV show “Neighbors” and the warning about its notorious sixth episode.

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6. Constructing Next Year's Roster

• Critical Mass of Returnees: Sweet 16 data shows teams need at least three top contributors returning; UK must retain key pieces.
• Caller Concerns: Fans voice worries about hasty decisions and losing valuable “glue guys.”

"My fear is that, because of the situation we're in, we're going to make bad decisions... Of the 16 teams playing right now in the Sweet 16, 14 of them had at least three players in their top six that were returners."
— Matt Jones, 44:19

• Bench Depth: The importance of keeping role players (e.g., Garrison, Diabate) is emphasized.
• Portal Pressure: The hosts agree that UK must “get some dudes” to replace departing stars.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Map Geography Running Joke: Banter about Texas not being “West Coast” and the distances involved, referencing the show “Justified” (08:12, 18:12).
• Scrooge McDuck as a Metaphor: Extended riffing on the “Scrooge McDuck swimming in money” image—hosts wonder if this will come back to haunt UK administration if the promised financial windfall doesn’t lead to recruiting wins (33:31, 40:41).
• Listener Feedback Solicited: Matt asks listeners with UK Healthcare experience to report on what the new model might mean for athletics (34:28, 41:11).
• “Swing and Miss” Philosophy: The article quotes UK as ‘not afraid to swing and miss,’ prompting the hosts to joke that it’s time to “make contact” instead (38:12).

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:37] — Show begins, team introductions and location
• [03:47] — A "huge day of news": Setting up the show's topics
• [05:33] — Jason Hart leaving for SMU; staff shakeup analysis
• [09:03] — Role of Hart and Mark Fox in in-game coaching
• [10:12] — Portal urgency and timing of staff changes
• [10:30] — Adding Keegan Brown, debate over GM role
• [13:09] — Matt discusses improved communication and ‘come to Jesus’ moment in UK Athletics
• [15:55] — Player development and recruiting, new visitor on campus
• [18:12] — Humorous diversion on Kentucky maps/"Justified"
• [18:53] — Quadruple amputee cornhole champion story
• [21:10] — Listener texts about Jason Hart’s impact, recruiting analysis
• [22:35] — Show recommendations: “Neighbors” and warning about episode 6
• [24:09] — Call-in: Fan perspective on coaching staff turnover and recruiting
• [25:01] — North Carolina and Kansas jobs: National context
• [27:20] — Brief baseball update, intro to UK’s Athletics LLC story
• [28:36] — Breakdown of The Athletic article, summary of the LLC model
• [30:58] — Scrooge McDuck analogy, and possible mixed messaging with university budget
• [34:28] — Call for listener feedback on UK Healthcare’s restructuring as an analogy
• [36:37] — Discussion of business risks with LLC model
• [41:11] — Listener reactions to healthcare comparison (UK Health Care vs. Athletics)
• [43:07] — Callers weigh in on returning players, building next year’s core
• [45:01] — Discussion of Sweet 16 stat about returning players being critical for winning
• [47:08] — Assessment of bench players’ value if they return
• [48:25] — Episode wraps up as they head into Hour 2

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Notable Quotes (with Timestamps & Attribution)

• On confusion over Hart’s reason for leaving:
  "We don't know if it's like he's leaving because he wants to leave or he was being pushed out, I really don't know the answer to that."
  — Matt Jones, [07:09]

• On new UK Athletics LLC strategy:
  "Kentucky is embracing an adapt or die mentality. They want to be up there with schools like Texas and Ohio State. We are running to what is next in college athletics."
  — Matt Jones (quoting The Athletic/Eric Monday), [30:38]

• On the pressure of a business model:
  "Businesses can succeed and they can also fail."
  — Matt Jones, [37:38]

• On fan anxiety about high-level coaching hires elsewhere:
  "What happens, Drew, if Dusty May goes to Kansas or Todd Golden goes to North Carolina?... How are things going to feel in Lexington?"
  — Matt Jones, [26:16]

• On roster construction:
  "We got to go get some dudes because we are losing our two best players."
  — Matt Jones, [48:10]

• On cautious optimism:
  "I'm hoping it works out, but... there [are] people that have had to work with them [the administration] that have said the opposite... so I'm still conflicted on how it will actually play out."
  — Drew, [32:10]

• On leadership shift:
  "Mitch Barnhart was a big part of that [hunker down mentality]... It seems to me... [there's] a realization from a lot of people... [that] that didn't work, so let's try something else."
  — Matt Jones, [15:00]

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Overall Tone

• Conversational, informal, humorous: The hosts riff heavily on regional geography, pop culture, and viral news while tackling serious uncertainties in UK sports.
• Candid and speculative: They openly admit what they know, what they don’t, and urge listeners with expertise or insider knowledge to weigh in.
• Pragmatic optimism edged with skepticism: While excited about change, the KSR crew repeatedly questions whether bold new directions will actually deliver results for UK fans.

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Bottom Line Takeaways

• UK Athletics stands at a crossroads: The basketball program faces severe instability, with assistant coaches departing and a critical need to rebuild the roster quickly.
• Administration is betting big on a nonprofit LLC model for financial growth: This innovative but risky strategy could establish UK as a national powerhouse—or expose it to new vulnerabilities.
• Fan engagement and transparency are more important than ever: Communication gaps are starting to close, but much remains uncertain.
• National pressure looms: Powerhouse programs are in flux, and Kentucky's trajectory will be shaped as much by external movement as internal choices.

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Transcript

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[Shannon]

This is Kentucky Sports Radio, presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now here's Matt Jones.

[Matt Jones]

Welcome, everyone. It is Kentucky Sports Radio. Wednesday, March 25th. I'm Matt Jones. I am here in Louisville, Kentucky. Ryan and Drew are in Lexington.

[Ryan]

Shannon's in Louisville as well. You can give us a shout on the Clark's Puppet Shop phone line, 859-280-2287. A Vision Auto Glass text machine is 772-774-5254.

[Matt Jones]

In this edition sponsored by the TJ Smith Law Office. If you call TJ, I'll make them pay. Guys. I woke up this morning very casually, was gonna do the show from home in Louisville and then come to Lexington and then all of a sudden realized Shannon. They changed all the ways to get

[Ryan]

into the show now. All the little.

[Matt Jones]

What do you call them? IP addresses.

[Shannon]

Yeah, the little ports that you have to click on.

[Matt Jones]

They changed all the ports and I couldn't get on, so I had to drive my car speed in. You should have seen me.

[Ryan]

I was like.

[Matt Jones]

I was at a road course on Formula One getting through downtown Louisville and walked in here about two MIN4, ready to go.

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Right.

[Shannon]

Well, you made it. Welcome.

[Drew]

Yeah. I'm proud of you for obeying all traffic laws.

[Ryan]

I did not go through.

[Matt Jones]

Your red lines were forsaken. But we got here and ready to go. And this is a.

[Ryan]

This is another, like, insanely huge day of news.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, Drew. Drew, I. I don't know.

[Ryan]

I can't think of a day in a long time where so many different things happened last night that there's going

[Matt Jones]

to be really kind of big stories that I don't even know if we get to today.

[Drew]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

And if you combine it with. Excuse me.

[Ryan]

You okay?

[Drew]

I talk. I have something in my throat.

[Ryan]

All right, I'm back.

[Drew]

Sorry. No. When you combine it with yesterday, What a crazy 48 hours of news. It's just been one thing after another here lately. We have a full slate today.

[Ryan]

We do.

[Drew]

So as I clear my throat.

[Matt Jones]

So let's let.

[Ryan]

Let's get started and figure out. I'm trying to figure out which way to go.

[Matt Jones]

I think probably for the future of

[Ryan]

UK Athletics, the most important thing today is a story that came out, at least in a surprise to me this morning from the Athletic, which is basically the New York Times about the UK Athletics department.

[Matt Jones]

And I can't tell if this is a story. So the Athletic is a paid site, but I can't tell if this article

[Ryan]

is free or not.

[Matt Jones]

Did any of the three of you look at it yet to see, because I subscribe so I can get it, but I don't know if the general

[Ryan]

public can get it.

[Matt Jones]

Do you know?

[Drew]

I don't think we can get it yet.

[Matt Jones]

Okay, so you can't get it.

[Ryan]

All right.

[Matt Jones]

So I guess if that's the case, I don't really want to start a

[Ryan]

show talking about business. Shannon, that seems boring.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, right?

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

But I do think this article is very important, so I'm going to compromise

[Ryan]

and talk about the article in like 30 minutes so that we talk about sports first.

[Matt Jones]

But I would say if in those 30 minutes in the background you want

[Ryan]

to read that article, you should, because

[Matt Jones]

I think it's a lot of our questions about JMI and all those things

[Ryan]

that people have asked are talked about in that article.

[Matt Jones]

But let's start with probably the most important thing, which is that Kentucky's one of their assistant coaches. Jason Hart is leaving for smu. He was kind of the head recruiter,

[Ryan]

I would say on this staff he

[Matt Jones]

wasn't the only recruiter, but he is probably the the head recruiter for UK basketball. He's going to SMU for a similar job, although I guess his job title

[Ryan]

will be associate head coach. But that's really a job title. It's kind of the same job.

[Matt Jones]

What Drew, what do you make of the decision of Pope losing heart or

[Ryan]

heart leaving, whichever it happened?

[Drew]

Well, he's returning to a guy worked with in Berg for a long time. I think he's like being named the associate. So it's a little bit of an upgrade. I'm conflicted on how to react because I can see it two ways. He either is leaving UK because he couldn't get recruits and it's not really his decision, or he's leaving because he was bringing recruits to the table and Kentucky couldn't finish the job. And I really don't know the answer to which way that goes, but I know he was the dink Pate connection. All anyone wanting Deke Pate, Tyron Stokes.

[Ryan]

Right?

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Drew]

But Pate was the big one. He had coached him before any. Oh, he coached him before any interview with Pate. It's heart, heart, heart, heart, heart, heart, heart, heart, heart, heart. So he was the big Pate connection. And then yeah, recently any of the trips that have been made to Stokes were Jason Hart. But as far as you know, it's also very obvious that we have zero players and that was his job the last year. So you could also say, well, he didn't bring anything to the table. So what are we losing? But I don't know if he's leaving because he was getting them all the way through the door and up to Pope, and Pope couldn't close or if he just. He couldn't do it himself.

[Matt Jones]

Well, I mean, we first don't know if.

[Ryan]

Yeah, we don't know if it's like

[Matt Jones]

he's leaving because he wants to leave

[Ryan]

or he was being pushed out. I really don't know the answer to that. And I haven't.

[Matt Jones]

I haven't really gotten. I'm not sure. So I don't know. I will say, Ryan, I was very

[Ryan]

excited when Jason Hart came here, heard

[Matt Jones]

good things about him.

[Ryan]

I think he had done a good job at usc, and I was very excited. I thought when he came here that he would be a really good addition.

[Matt Jones]

I think his emphasis was on, like, high school recruiting.

[Ryan]

And, you know, I think the two guys from Kentucky weren't even guys that he was necessarily the main guy on Johnson and Moreno.

[Matt Jones]

So I don't know that it's a huge loss because I'm kind of withdrew. Like, I don't know that he was

[Ryan]

able to get anyone now.

[Matt Jones]

Was he not able to get anyone? What reason.

[Ryan]

Was it because of him? Is it because of Pope? Is it because. I don't.

[Matt Jones]

That. I don't know. But in terms of, like, we're losing our connection to recruits, I'm not sure that we had that to begin with,

[Drew]

you know, and it could be something as simple as he's a west coast guy. He wants to go back. Back home.

[Ryan]

Dallas is not West Coast. He's going to smu.

[Drew]

We come west, west part of the state. Get closer to home.

[Matt Jones]

It's not even the west part of the state.

[Drew]

Closer to home. I should have said to start with maybe he just wants to get closer to home.

[Matt Jones]

Does he have a map?

[Shannon]

He's been to Texas before.

[Matt Jones]

You've been to Tech. You know, it's kind of like in the middle, right?

[Shannon]

We were next to Vegas when we were in.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, to get. To be honest with you, he's not that much closer.

[Drew]

Dallas to Los Angeles.

[Matt Jones]

Not really. I mean, you're not. You. We've done this drive. Do you remember it took like two and a half days to get from

[Ryan]

Dallas to Los Angeles.

[Drew]

But I think what else where it hurts? As far as in game coaching, him and Mark Fox were the only two guys that really did like a lot of in game coaching. It looks like on the sideline, you know, if you watch the bench it was Pope and then Hart and then Mark Fox.

[Nate]

Those are.

[Drew]

Those are the guys that kind of did most of it. So I think. I think this is a blow. You meant you guys talked to Touch on the recruiting, but I think on the coaching also, this is a blow.

[Matt Jones]

He loves the beach, Shannon. The Dallas beach.

[Shannon]

That's right.

[Matt Jones]

You know, I mean, he's. He's big on the sand. That sort of borders Fort Worth.

[Drew]

Waco is kind of like Malibu. Really?

Yeah.

[Shannon]

If you squint, South Padre island down there somewhere, right?

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, it's there. It's not there, but it's in. It's around Texas, right? It's around Texas. So, I mean, yeah, it's the West Coast. Drew, you were going to say you think it's. Do you. Are you saddened by the loss, regardless

[Ryan]

of how it happened?

[Drew]

I'm really indifferent because my bigger concern is whatever you think of Jason Hart, I don't love the idea of a new assistant coming in on maybe not even here yet in late March when we need a roster asap.

[Matt Jones]

Well, and there's people who believe this

[Ryan]

won't be the only one.

[Drew]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, you mentioned Mark Fox. There are those.

[David]

I.

[Matt Jones]

Again, I have no idea what part of the coaching staff will be here because I haven't heard. But there are people on the Internet

[Ryan]

who don't think Mark will be here after this year.

[Matt Jones]

I don't know. I will say, if they're going to

[Ryan]

be staff changes, I do hope, Ryan, they happen quick because the portal opens

[Matt Jones]

April 6, but I'm assuming work is

[Ryan]

already taking place right now. Yeah.

[Drew]

You got to move fast right now. There's no delay whatsoever because when that portal opens, their players are going to find a home very quickly. We saw it happen last year, man. It doesn't take long for them to find a new place to go.

[Ryan]

Yeah. So.

[Matt Jones]

But then Kentucky officially added the. Keegan Brown guy is the associate director of player development. They're very clear that this is not

[Ryan]

a gm, but we still don't know whether or not he's going to hire a GM or this may be part of the gm. I don't know.

[Matt Jones]

I don't know much about this guy. Drew, he was at the. With the. What, Wisconsin Herd? Is that right?

[Drew]

Yes. Video guy for the.

[Matt Jones]

Video guy for the Wisconsin Herd, which

[Ryan]

is a G League team. Shannon, you heard right.

[Shannon]

Heard that.

[Matt Jones]

And so I don't really know anything about him. I mean, I think when we get into this, these jobs where it involves getting players in nil and negotiation, I Don't know that we're always going to have heard of these people, to be honest.

[Ryan]

So I really don't know if this is good or bad, but we have a new person in that job.

[Drew]

Yeah, he left Wisconsin to get closer to Utah. Down here in Lexington. I will say when, when Pope first got hired, you know, we're all trying to guess who the assistants were. And I went and nerded out on a story about Keegan Brown. I'll admit, I was like, we got to get this guy. Because he did seem like a young mind.

[Matt Jones]

What did you like about him?

[Drew]

He seemed to be a big part of the offense Pope was running. Everyone watched that video game, offense YouTube video when Pope first got hired, talked us into it. And I think Keegan Brown was a big part of building Pope's teams there. I actually was rooting for him to be an assistant just completely based on one YouTube video. And then the story I read that was. I can't remember if it was a BYU story, but if something out in Utah that made him seem like a young up and comer and then it kind of, you know, obviously didn't make the move and he ends up in Wisconsin. And I didn't think much of him, so I at least couple years ago thought highly of him based on what I was reading.

[Ryan]

Okay, so.

[Matt Jones]

Well, that's good.

[Ryan]

That makes me feel good.

[Matt Jones]

So you've actually, Shannon, he's done Keegan Brown research?

[Shannon]

Yeah. The only one on the show who has.

[Ryan]

Yes, Well, I certainly have not done Keegan Brown research.

[Matt Jones]

So you're pro Keegan Brown?

[Drew]

I am. Well, you know, we'll see. But in the role he's in which Pope said he's just going to be around the clock, you know, collecting data, spreadsheets, all that stuff, I mean, it. I can't hurt to have him. And like I said, I can't switch up because I wanted him in the beginning just based on one article I read.

[Matt Jones]

All right, well, Drew is pro Keegan

[Ryan]

Brown, then I'm pro Keegan Brown.

[Drew]

It's all that one. I'll tweet it, I'll find it. It was a couple of years old, but I'll put it out there.

[Matt Jones]

All right, so what were you going to say?

[Drew]

This as close as he'll get to a general manager is this guy.

[Ryan]

I don't know.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, you know, I feel like we say quite a bit.

[Ryan]

I don't know.

[Matt Jones]

Which has been kind of the theme of a lot of stuff with. I mean, UK has been so close

[Ryan]

shot for a while. That is hard to know.

[Matt Jones]

I and this kind of will go

[Ryan]

to the second thing I was going

[Matt Jones]

to bring up, but I have probably had more positive or constructive conversations in

[Ryan]

the last 24 to 48 hours with folks around UK sports athletics just to get an understanding of what's going on.

[Matt Jones]

Not necessarily to agree with a lot of the decisions, but just communication lines

[Ryan]

that had kind of gone down.

[Matt Jones]

I don't know if here's what I think's happened, Ryan. I think the loss Sunday and then the reaction to the loss and then the realization that Mitch Barnhart is going

[Ryan]

to be gone and the realization that a new era is coming and then

[Matt Jones]

all the conversations that have been going in all different directions with fa, with fans on every side of every issue. I do think there has been a little bit of a come to Jesus moment in the UK world that, okay, whatever it is we were doing this last year or two, we can't do that anymore. Okay?

[Drew]

Yes.

[Matt Jones]

And I appreciate that. Now I'm as concerned as anybody about

[Ryan]

some of the stuff going forward. I'm concerned about whether or not we'll

[Matt Jones]

have a roster next year.

[Ryan]

I'm concerned about a lot of stuff.

[Matt Jones]

But for the first time, and this is really in the last 24 to 48 hours, for the first time in about a year and a half since the early years of Pope, really when the early days of Pope, since Mark Stoop started having his bad, his bad season two years ago, UK has been in this hunker down mentality of everybody

[Ryan]

get away from us.

[Matt Jones]

We're going to be in our cocoon.

[Ryan]

And I do think Mitch Barnhart was a big part of that thought process. It seems to me in the last

[Matt Jones]

24 to 48 hours a realization from a lot of people in a lot of different areas.

[Ryan]

All right, that didn't work, so let's try something else.

[Matt Jones]

And that to me, people sometimes ask me, I get asked, I got asked four times yesterday, you know, are we, is Kentucky basketball gonna ever be back? I feel encouragement that at least it feels like for the first time in

[Ryan]

about two year and a half that

[Matt Jones]

the university seems to realize that the way things have been going just can't

[Ryan]

keep going like that now. We'll see what happens with that.

[Matt Jones]

So I'm excited about the Keegan Brown.

[Ryan]

I don't know if the Jason Hart thing's going to matter, but now the question is, can we get a roster and can we get players? And there's some developments on that also. There's some developments on some recruiting. We got a guy coming on campus

[Matt Jones]

today, so there's a lot of stuff to talk about.

[Ryan]

859-280-2287 this is KSR.

[Nate]

Hey everybody, it's Nate. All right, two truths and a lie. Here we go. I wear size 13 shoes, I can ride a unicycle and I have been a Verizon customer for 27 years. Anybody?

[Drew]

Anybody?

[Matt Jones]

All three are true. I know riding unicycle is not hard,

[Nate]

but you know Verizon isn't as expensive as you think. In if you bring in your AT&T or T mobile bill to a Verizon store, they'll give you a better deal. That's right, a better deal on the best network with the most ways to save on plans, streaming and phone deals. Take that AT and T or T mobile bill to your local Verizon store today. Get your better deal and start saving for real. Based on root metrics Best Overall Mobile Network Performance US Second Half 2025 all rights reserved. MUST provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply.

[Tyler Redick]

Tyler redick here from 2311 Racing Victory Lane yeah, it's even better with Chumba by my side. Race to chumbacasino.com let's Chumba no purchase necessary. VTW Group Void War prohibited by law CTNCs 21/plus sponsored by Chumba Casino no

[Ryan Seacrest]

one knows what the future holds, but you deserve a weather app that can help. Weatherbug is easy to use and provides forecasts for your every need from storm warnings to pollen levels right at your fingertips. Get the fastest local Alerts and comprehensive 10 day forecasts wherever you are. Its hyperlocal real time customizable alerts. Make sure the weather never takes you by surprise so you can plan every day with confidence. Download the free Weatherbug app from the App Store today and start getting accurate weather forecasts 247 hey, it's Ryan Seacrest

[Albertsons and Safeway Advertiser]

for Albertsons and Safeway is stock up savings time now through March 31st. Spring in for storewide deals and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hunts, Nerds, Pillsbury, Lowry's, Breyers, Quaker and Culture Pop. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more. Enjoy savings on top of savings when you shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pick up or delivery restrictions apply. See website for full terms and conditions

[Ryan]

in Fort Worth, Texas.

[Matt Jones]

I you know Ryan's just using the same map that they used in Justified.

[Ryan]

Did you want.

[Matt Jones]

Did you all watch Justified?

[Drew]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yes.

[Matt Jones]

And Justified, they would say. They said Harlan was, like, 10 minutes

[Drew]

from Lexington, right down the road from Lexington.

[Matt Jones]

Said it was right down the road

[Drew]

from Lexington, just like Dallas is for Los Angeles.

[Matt Jones]

And that made a lot of people

[Ryan]

in Kentucky mad with that show, if you remember.

[Drew]

It did.

[Matt Jones]

They were like, Harlan is not 10 minutes from Lexington.

[Drew]

And on one of the first scenes, he's on some old dirt road, and he's on the phone. He's like, I'm on Tate's Creek Road.

[Matt Jones]

I'm like, oh, no, you're not.

[Shannon]

Where's Kroger?

[Ryan]

Where's New Circle?

[Nate]

Tate.

[Matt Jones]

Tate's Creek is not dirt road. Yeah.

[Ryan]

So we obviously have serious things to talk about, but Shannon just told me a headline during the break.

[Drew]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Read me that headline again.

[Shannon]

Quadruple amputee cornhole champion. Charged with murder.

[Matt Jones]

Quadruple amputee, corn Cornhole champion.

[Shannon]

Yeah. Championship player. Professional player.

[Matt Jones]

Professional player.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Charged with murder.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Well, what did they say he did?

[Shannon]

Shot a man and then dumped the body.

[Matt Jones]

Shot a man and dumped the body.

[Shannon]

That's pretty good. Amputee. That's.

[Ryan]

That's.

[Shannon]

That's a lot. Shot a man where the amputee was driving.

[Matt Jones]

Was driving.

[Shannon]

Was driving.

[Ryan]

Okay.

[Shannon]

And then pulled over and shot the guy, then dumped his body. Wow.

[Ryan]

And he's a cornhole player.

[Shannon]

Yeah. Not anymore. Well, it'd be a different kind of.

[Drew]

In prison, he can be a cornhole player.

[Matt Jones]

I don't. That's an unbelievable story.

[Drew]

It's not to unpack.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Huh. Well, I mean, There you go. Where is that? What city?

[Shannon]

Maryland.

[Ryan]

In Maryland.

[Drew]

It's close to D.C. i believe.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Well, I'm going to have to read that story. I don't want to make any comments because I don't even know. I don't even know how to begin. That is one that's hard to even begin to process.

[Drew]

There's videos of the guy, like, firing guns. Not associated with the crime, but, like, he was. He has a lot of videos.

[Matt Jones]

Prosthetic arms. Is that how he fires it?

[Drew]

Yeah. He also just kind of. I don't know. I'm going to show.

[Matt Jones]

What do you think?

[Drew]

He's driving a car.

You just got to see the video.

[Matt Jones]

I don't know how to describe it. Don't r. Turn Ryan's mic off.

[Drew]

I got to say one thing.

[Matt Jones]

I know.

[Drew]

Just let me say one thing.

[Matt Jones]

You already made one inappropriate joke. In this segment. No, I didn't. Yes. That was not the joke.

[Shannon]

Come on, let him make his joke.

[Drew]

I said I'm making a joke. I don't know how he's driving a car and shooting a gun at the same time.

[Shannon]

Prosthetics.

[Matt Jones]

But that's what I just said. It's because of prosthetics. I mean, I assume. Although Drew says we need to watch the video.

[Shannon]

He didn't pull the trigger with his tongue. I mean, he did it with his finger.

[Matt Jones]

Well, Drew says there's a video.

[Ryan]

I'll watch the video. I need you all to stop talking because I'm not. I'm worried about what we'll save it for.

[Drew]

It's the news later.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, that's probably a good one for our podcast.

[Ryan]

We're typing this afternoon.

[Matt Jones]

All right. 859-280-22-287.

[Ryan]

One person writes.

[Matt Jones]

Matt, we. Jason Hart did get us Lamont Butler.

[Ryan]

Okay.

[Matt Jones]

He was great. So, I mean, that. That. That would have been a good start. I don't know. Are there any players on the roster that were on the roster this year that he was the direct guy, Drew.

[Ryan]

Or do you. Or do you know?

[Drew]

I would be guessing. I'm not sure exactly who he reeled in this year.

[Ryan]

Yeah, I'm not sure. I'm not sure either. 859-280-2287 since I got off track with your story, I do need to say one thing to all the listeners yesterday, I highly recommended the show Neighbors.

[Drew]

Yes.

[Ryan]

I watched the end of episode two yesterday where he does karate. Maybe the funniest thing I've ever seen in my life. You've seen it, Drew, right?

[Drew]

Episode two is the one with the, like, white haired guy and pool and he's.

[Ryan]

Yes, yes.

[Drew]

The characters in the show are unbelievable.

[Matt Jones]

The character. These people existing. There's a guy who calls himself the Italian Stallion that multiple people wrote and

[Ryan]

said was Shannon the dude in 10

[Matt Jones]

more years I got to see. And, like, at first I mocked it and I kind of.

[Ryan]

Drew, Think it's true.

[Matt Jones]

The guy in episode two with the ponytail?

[Ryan]

No.

[Matt Jones]

Not even. Because he looks like him. Like the actions.

[Shannon]

Oh, what's he do?

[Matt Jones]

Well, I'll let you watch it.

[Ryan]

All right, then.

[Matt Jones]

Episode three is amazing.

[Ryan]

About. I can't even like watching it. Last night, I just. I couldn't believe these people existed. And it made me these two best friends arguing over a plot of land that's like three feet.

[Matt Jones]

I bring all this up to say episode six, I'm told, is one that

[Ryan]

I Need to warn the viewers about Drew.

[Matt Jones]

I haven't seen it, but I had a lot of people write me and go, you need to say to viewers that episode six is different than everything else and I haven't seen it. But I just want to say I'm not responsible for episode six because I

[Ryan]

haven't seen it yet.

[Drew]

I have not gotten to 6 yet. But my friends knew I was watching it last night and they're done with it. And they also warned me of episode six.

[Matt Jones]

They said, do not watch episode six with your mom or Larry.

[Drew]

Wow. Really?

[Ryan]

Yes.

[Drew]

I think there's some male nudity involved.

[Matt Jones]

All right, so, Shannon, just for the

[Ryan]

record, I'm recommending episodes one through five. No comment on six.

[Shannon]

Okay, I won't watch six.

[Ryan]

I watch two.

[Matt Jones]

I want you to watch two because that guy's you in 10 years.

[Shannon]

We'll see what you really think about me.

[Matt Jones]

No, I. I'm not the one who said it.

[Ryan]

It's the people on the. It's people on the text machine.

[Matt Jones]

859-280-2287.

[Ryan]

Adam, go ahead, Adam.

[VGW Group Advertiser]

Hey, what's up, guys? You know, I see a lot of pushback online with assistant coaches leaving. You know, Corey Hart came in as with the reputation of we're going to get all these G league players, and that hasn't happened. And, you know, even, you know, Alvin Brooks on. On the staff came in from. From Baylor. It's like he's a. He's a top notch recruiter and we have zero recruits for next year. So, you know, I, I can't really cry over these coaches leaving.

[Matt Jones]

I sort of agree with you, Adam,

[Ryan]

to be honest with you.

[Matt Jones]

I saw someone say online, you can't both say Pope needs to make changes

[Ryan]

and fix things and then get mad when changes are made. Right.

[Matt Jones]

And I think that's a really fair point. I mean, if you do not think what happened last year is acceptable and

[Ryan]

it needs to get better, than changing things would presumably be the way to do it.

[VGW Group Advertiser]

Exactly. And if, you know, obviously a head coaching change isn't going to happen this offseason, but this is. This is the way to go. You got to do something to try to make it better. And, you know, this is, this is how you take care of that. Hire new assistant coaches.

[Matt Jones]

Appreciate the call. So I agree with you.

[Ryan]

I don't know how you can do both.

[Matt Jones]

Hubert Davis is out.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

But surprising. I mean, this is a pretty monumental

[Ryan]

thing in college basketball.

[Matt Jones]

Hubert Davis, being Matt Norlander, said this yesterday, and he's right. This is the first time in any of our lifetimes, in any of our lifetimes that the North Carolina job is open. The North Carolina job has not been open since Dean Smith was the coach.

[Drew]

They've always just picked the guy promoted from within.

[Matt Jones]

They've always promoted from within. And they say they are now going outside the family for the first time ever. Ever. So however you think of brands in college basketball, North Carolina is certainly one

[Ryan]

of the three or four biggest.

[Drew]

Of course it is.

[Matt Jones]

And that job is open. And I think that job has as much potential as any job. And the Kansas job might be open.

[Drew]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

It's not official. It's not official.

[Ryan]

There's been no official announcement, but you

[Matt Jones]

could end up with a case where the North Carolina and Kansas job is open. And Matt Norlander said last night he thought that there were some top coaches that would leave for those jobs. So what happens, Drew, if Dusty May goes to Kansas or Todd golden goes to North Carolina or something like that happens? How are things going to feel in Lexington?

[Drew]

Not great. Billy Donovan's name is also being thrown around a lot. That he might want to return to college for that job. That would really hurt after just two years ago.

[Matt Jones]

We wouldn't wait four days to talk

[Drew]

to him if we couldn't.

[Ryan]

I mean, we couldn't wait.

[Matt Jones]

We had three different times to hire

[Ryan]

Billy Donovan and if he comes none

[Matt Jones]

of those three and then goes to

[Ryan]

Carolina,

[Drew]

I mean, what if we just look up and, you know, Todd Golden's at usc, Nate Oats, and I'm just guessing, Nate Oats is at UNC or NATO is at Kansas, Golden's at unc, whatever. They just all upgrade and get the best coaches. And that will also come with a trickle effect across the board with recruiting and then other coaches raising their contracts and buyouts at other schools.

[Matt Jones]

They'd both be out of the sec though

[Ryan]

some try to find some positive out of it.

[Matt Jones]

But those jobs, those are two of the best four jobs in the country.

[Drew]

Yep.

[Ryan]

We'll be right back.

[Matt Jones]

T.J. smith, personal injury attorney.

[Albertsons and Safeway Advertiser]

Call T.J. he'll make him pay.

[Shannon]

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

[Matt Jones]

Welcome back, Techie Sports Radio Kentucky. Kentucky beat Murray State. And baseball. That's a World College World Series baseball

[Ryan]

team we beat yesterday, Drew. Right.

[Matt Jones]

They went to college. Was it last year?

[Drew]

Yes, last year. Murray State also.

We've been struggling against teams in the states. This year, Morehead State beat us. It's good to get a big win. One by ten.

[Matt Jones]

Okay, so you can apparently this JMI

[Ryan]

article or this article about UK's athletics can be shared as a gift article.

[Matt Jones]

I don't know what that means, Shannon.

[Shannon]

You give it as a gift, but

[Matt Jones]

you can give it as a gift. So someone sent it to me as

[Ryan]

a gift and they say that I

[Matt Jones]

can share this as a gift. So, Drew, I'm going to give this for you to share it as a gift.

[Shannon]

It's the gift that keeps on giving.

[Matt Jones]

Okay.

[Drew]

You can also join KSR plus and it comes with an athletic subscription shout out.

[Matt Jones]

Is that right?

[Drew]

Yeah, 50% off right now.

[Shannon]

Are you not a member of KSR Plus?

[Matt Jones]

I am, but I pay for the athletic. I guess I didn't have to do that, did I?

[Drew]

Comes free if you're on KS board.

[Matt Jones]

Get in there. You just saved me money, Drew. Thank you very much.

[Drew]

And we have a sale.

[Matt Jones]

Go.

[Drew]

Go there now.

[Matt Jones]

So I will tweet out the gift article or you. Either way, if you want to read

[Ryan]

this, there's a way to get it.

[Matt Jones]

It's by a guy named Justin Williams. Here, here. It's very long. Here are the basics. UK for the first time talked about how this whole new athletics department's gonna run. Justin Williams says that Kentucky has become the first athletic department to completely transition their athletic department to a nonprofit entity, llc. No other college university has changed their athletic department to to an llc, except Kentucky. Now, in the article, they quote a number of people who say this is revolutionary in a positive way. And then they quote a couple of people who say they're a little skeptical, but nevertheless they Kentucky is the first university to ever do this. I remember when they announced it a few months ago.

[Ryan]

Or what was it like eight months

[Matt Jones]

ago, Ryan, however long ago that was,

[Drew]

seemed like about right.

[Ryan]

Yeah, they said soon every university will do this.

[Matt Jones]

Yes, as of right now, only Kentucky has. But that doesn't mean there won't be

[Ryan]

others that will do it as well.

[Matt Jones]

In the article this, I'm going to read you this paragraph. It's understandable to assume that with the amount of money the Wildcats are paying, they could be in financial distress. An overly leveraged asset that would have financial expert Dave Ramsey folding his arms in. Disgusting.

[Ryan]

Dave Ramsey.

[Shannon]

Shannon Rice and beans.

[Matt Jones]

The reality, however, is quite the opposite. Kentucky athletics has access to plenty of money, potentially swimming in it, Scrooge McDuck style. In an industry where a lot of schools, even at the power conference level, are scrubbing their budgets and pleading for Congress to step in, Kentucky is embracing an adapt or die mentality. They want to be up there with schools like Texas and Ohio State, which have budgets over $300 million. Eric Monday, University Administrator and likely future

[Ryan]

president of university that's my thing.

[Matt Jones]

We are running to what is next in college athletics. We're going to provide opportunities for our

[Ryan]

fans at a level beyond what we've traditionally done.

[Matt Jones]

We're going to have an athletics department beyond 200 million a year to 225 million a year, to 250 million a year.

[Ryan]

So we can do more at UK.

[Matt Jones]

So that's the that's the biggest part of it. Basically they're saying we're going to essentially

[Ryan]

an LLC model and we're about to roll in money. Now

[Matt Jones]

that's hard for me to hear. We're rolling in money Scrooge McDuck style drew after Eli Capilouto came on Saturday and said get ready for cuts, I don't that messaging seems different to me, but if you read this article, it goes into detail how it will work. It goes into detail as to how they believe it will succeed. And it seems like to me reading it, a lot of it is they think they're going to be able to grow lots of revenue off things that are not just athletics, specifically the restaurants, entertainment districts, hotels, all the things they've talked about building.

[Ryan]

They say those businesses and shops, those

[Matt Jones]

businesses will benefit from game day traffic, but also have year round money for athletics as they are essentially businesses that

[Ryan]

will have UK athletics as their profit center. What do we make of all that?

[Drew]

Well, since they're pretty much Kentucky's collective these days, I'm rooting for them. I'm still a little skeptical with how all that will work. As you said, it hadn't been a week since Eli told us there's going to be cuts and all of that on the football end. I've always thought we're good. I still wonder how this works with basketball and it might even not reflect well on the basketball staff if it's true that they have a Scrooge McDuck's amount of money and can't sign anybody. Can't sign anybody. But I like the optimism within the building, even though I still have my guard up a little bit that this is going to work out. I mean they're saying all the right things and this story obviously paints it all in a in a bright light for Kentucky and leading the way in nil. So I'm hoping it works out. But I've still, you know, there people that have had to work with them have said the opposite and people in the building. So I'm still conflicted on how that. How it will actually play out.

[Matt Jones]

So I. When I read it this morning, I mean, I think it sounds great.

[Ryan]

Okay, it sounds great.

[Matt Jones]

We're going to run UK athletics like a business.

[Ryan]

I've been saying that for a long time.

[Matt Jones]

I think without saying it, it's kind of a. Hey, by the way, the way we did things under Mitch, we're not doing them anymore.

[Ryan]

I think there's a subtext to this in the way they say that although Mitch is quoted in this a couple times supporting it,

[Matt Jones]

I think it looks good if you read it. I also agree with Drew that I

[Ryan]

actually think what they're doing is working for football. Basketball is a different question.

[Matt Jones]

There's a couple of things that I think, though, to watch. One, the Scrooge McDuck language. I wonder if that's going to be

[Ryan]

Shannon, like Ferrari was with basketball this year.

[Shannon]

You think we're going to hear that a lot?

[Matt Jones]

I think if we. Now, granted, this was the writer that said that it wasn't uk, but, like, if we don't get recruits, are people

[Ryan]

going to go, I thought we had Scrooge McDuck.

[Shannon]

Yeah, yeah. A Dave Ramsey reference and a Scrooge McDuck Tales reference.

[Matt Jones]

The other thing is, and UK cites this, and this is where I'm going to need help from the listeners. I'm going. I'm going to do something that people

[Ryan]

say I never do, but I'm going to do here.

[Matt Jones]

I'm going to admit I don't know

[Ryan]

what I'm about to talk about at all.

[Matt Jones]

And I want, over the next 24 hours, there are many listeners right now who will have experienced what I'm about to say. And I would like on the text machine or on, you know, Twitter, whatever, write me and tell me, because I

[Ryan]

really want to hear from you on this.

[Matt Jones]

In the article, they basically say, we're going to do to UK Athletics what we did to UK health care. They say in this article that this model they're doing for UK athletics, they did for UK healthcare and it had

[Ryan]

a ton of success.

[Matt Jones]

I will be honest with you, I have no idea if that's true or

[Ryan]

not, because I don't know anything about health care.

[Matt Jones]

So what I would like is, I think there's probably a ton of you out there that have experiences or dealings with UK health care that you can tell me, let's assume UK athletics. Let's take what they say at face value. They're going to do with UK athletics, what they did with UK health care, if that's true, those of you that have experience with it, tell me what that means. Because, Ryan, I don't know. I don't know what that means. But the university itself cites what UK has done with UK health care as to what we are about to do with athletics.

[Ryan]

And it's going to change and make

[Matt Jones]

UK a Texas, Ohio State, like power. All right, so somebody who knows what

[Ryan]

they've done with UK healthcare, Ryan, let me know what that means.

[Drew]

I have a question.

[Ryan]

Okay.

[Matt Jones]

Do you have any of you know what happened with you?

[Mike]

No.

[Ryan]

Okay.

[Drew]

I don't.

[Matt Jones]

Drew, do you?

[Drew]

Yeah, I know there was a guy there a long time and maybe paid him well to take another gig. Similar to what we're seeing with UK athletics.

[Matt Jones]

Well, that might be similar. Is that true? Is that actually what happened? It's.

[Drew]

It's. I don't know what's public, but yeah, kind of.

[Ryan]

Okay, well, leave that part to the side. I didn't know what he was gonna say. I didn't know he was gonna say that.

[Matt Jones]

What were you.

[Ryan]

What was your question?

[Drew]

Right, so you know when they said they were gonna make athletics part of an llc, like, what do you said? Like eight months ago, I remember we all applauded it, thought it was a great idea. So why haven't other schools.

[Ryan]

It still might be a great idea.

[Matt Jones]

It still might be. I don't know if it's a great idea or not. Their argument is it will be a lot easier for us to do things like buy businesses as an LLC than if we were part of the university. And they're right about that.

[Ryan]

That's true.

[Matt Jones]

Now, here's the problem with making anything

[Ryan]

of yours a business. What can happen to businesses, Shannon?

[Shannon]

Well, they can go under, they can fail.

[Ryan]

Yeah, Right.

[Matt Jones]

So at least when you have government

[Ryan]

regulation, and there are many, many negatives of government regulation, you have a backbone of the government to hold you up.

[Matt Jones]

And sometimes that leads you to make

[Ryan]

bad decisions, sometimes it doesn't.

[Matt Jones]

But you always have a stopgap that.

[Ryan]

Okay, at the end of the day, we have this pot of money from our government that will keep us in order.

[Matt Jones]

With a business, you can have infinite success, but you also can go bankrupt. And what's going to happen? Is this private, Is this LLC going to then have to come to the government and go bail us out? That I don't know. So I'm sure that this could be really good.

[Ryan]

But, Shannon, businesses can succeed and they can also fail.

[Matt Jones]

And that they do put in this article, what happens if they go belly up?

[Ryan]

And UK's answer is basically like, we

[Shannon]

won't love the confidence.

[Matt Jones]

Okay. I mean, that's confidence, right? You got confidence?

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Ryan]

So we'll see.

[Matt Jones]

But what I'd really like to do is that this is really put out there of. Let me know you all in the UK healthcare world. I want to hear from you over the next few, like, 24 hours because. Because it seems like whatever they did to UK healthcare, that's what we're doing to UK athletics.

[Ryan]

So we'll see what that is.

[Drew]

There's the quote in there about Kentucky is not afraid to swing and miss. Let's swing and hit, though.

[Ryan]

How about we.

[Drew]

Let's make contact.

[Matt Jones]

Make contact. I watch the reds a lot. I see a lot of swinging misses.

[Drew]

Yeah, we don't want that. I'm glad you're at the plate. I'm glad you're ready to swing.

[Ryan]

I don't like the Mrs. Home runs.

[Shannon]

It starts tomorrow, too.

[Ryan]

Yeah, we got that summer bellies coming. We'll take a break. We'll be right back. Take a couple of your calls. Ksr.

[Nate]

Hey, everybody, it's Nate. All right, two truths and a lie. Here we go. I wear size 13 shoes, I can ride a unicycle, and I have been a Verizon customer for 27 years.

[Drew]

Anybody? Anybody?

[Matt Jones]

All three are true. I know riding unicycle is not hard,

[Nate]

but you know, Verizon isn't as expensive as you think. In fact, if you bring in your ATT or T mobile bill to a Verizon store, they'll give you a better deal. That's right, a better deal on the best network with the most ways to save on plans, streaming and phone deals. Take that AT and T or T mobile bill to your local Verizon store today. Get your better deal and start saving for real. Based on RootMetric's Best Overall Mobile Network Performance Performance US 2nd Half 2025. All rights reserved. Must provide recent consumer mobile bill in the name of the person redeeming the deal. Additional terms, conditions and restrictions apply.

[Tyler Redick]

Tyler redick here from 2311 Racing Victory Lane. Yeah, it's even better with Chumba by my side. Race to Chumbacasino.com, let's Chumba. No purchase necessary. VTW Group void where prohibited by law. CTNCs 21+ sponsored by Chumba Casino.

[Ryan Seacrest]

No one knows what the future holds, but you deserve a weather app that can help. Weatherbug is easy to use and provide forecasts for your every need from storm warnings to pollen levels right at your fingertips. Get the fastest local alerts and comprehensive 10 day forecasts wherever you are. Its hyperlocal real time customizable alerts. Make sure the weather never takes you by surprise so you can plan every day with confidence. Download the free Weatherbug app from the App Store today and start getting accurate weather forecasts 247 hey, it's Ryan Seacrest

[Albertsons and Safeway Advertiser]

for Albertsons and Safeway is stock up savings time now through March 31st. Spring in for store wide deals and earn four times the points. Look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from Hunts, Nerds, Pillsbury, Lowry's, Breyers, Quaker and Culture Pop. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more. Enjoy savings on top of savings when you shop in store or online for easy drive up and go pick up or delivery restrictions apply. See website for full terms and conditions.

[Matt Jones]

You know you gotta give the. You gotta give Scourge McDuck a lot

[Ryan]

of credit as a reference that has lasted a long time.

[Matt Jones]

It has, you know, because when's the last time you've seen anything DuckTales related 90s. In the 90s, Scrooge McDuck was not even a huge character, was he?

[Shannon]

No.

[Matt Jones]

And yet when you say Scrooge McDuck, everybody knows.

[Drew]

Everybody knows what you mean vision of

[Shannon]

them jumping in that pile of gold.

[Matt Jones]

That's right.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

So it really has worked for a long time. Now I'm getting a ton of messages

[Ryan]

already from people on the UK health care.

[Matt Jones]

Keep them up today. I want to read them later tonight because I, I do want to understand

[Ryan]

kind of because you know, the fact

[Matt Jones]

that UK specifically made that comparison means

[Ryan]

that, you know, they see it as the same thing.

[Matt Jones]

And Drew was correct.

[Ryan]

They did essentially push out the leader of UK healthcare and gave him some money to put somebody else in. So I don't know if that's coincidence or not.

[Matt Jones]

Now you had a question, right? First of all, let me so a

[Ryan]

couple people criticizing me for saying Ryan told inappropriate joke but not saying it to Shannon a couple segments ago. There's a difference, Shannon.

[Shannon]

It's called tact.

[Matt Jones]

It's called subtlety.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Go back in podcast.

[Ryan]

Listen to that joke as told by Shannon subtle. And Ryan Shannon, less subtle.

[Drew]

I don't know what you're talking about.

[Ryan]

Exactly.

[Drew]

I don't have any idea.

[Ryan]

Exactly. So that's the difference. Now what was your question?

[Drew]

So you know, like you said, they started this LLC eight months ago or Whatever. And we thought it was very innovative idea, kind of ahead of the curve. But why eight months later, has no other school done the same thing and followed suit?

[Ryan]

Don't know.

[Matt Jones]

It says in the article that their other schools have dipped their toe around it, like Clemson, Louisville and Miami, but

[Ryan]

that no one's done it. But Kentucky does that.

[Drew]

They, they think it's.

[Matt Jones]

I think what they're saying is those schools have taken parts of their athletic department and made them LLCs. But we're the only one that's done

[Ryan]

our whole athletic department, so.

[Matt Jones]

And I, you know, why haven't other people done it?

[Ryan]

Maybe they will, or maybe they want

[Matt Jones]

to see if it works or fails with us first.

[Ryan]

Right.

[Drew]

You would think eight months later, somebody may follow suit and follow the leader.

[Ryan]

Yeah. Mike. Go ahead, Mike.

[Mike]

Good morning, guys. So I'm just, I'm just looking at next season. Oh, my gosh. But anyway, so Jaden Quaintance, you know, we know that situation, but Mel, Diabate, Moreno and Chandler, I think that's. Those are the three players that we, we got to focus on. And I know a lot of people say about Diabate, but I won't say about Diabate. Is that this guy.

[Matt Jones]

You wouldn't put Cam.

[Drew]

You wouldn't.

[Matt Jones]

You wouldn't put Cam in there, Williams,

[Mike]

just because of his injury? I don't know. I mean, you know, I mean, I know it's just ankle and stuff, but. No, I like, I like, I do like him, you know, I do.

[David]

Yes.

[Mike]

But with Mo, Mo was a. He was a battler, man. He got us rebounds, he played some db, he played some good defense. He was. He's not a, you know, he's not an offensive guy, but, man, when we needed some. We needed some grit. He got us some grit. And I. That's the reason I really like him, you know, and I just really think we got to have a core for next year that we can build on and we got. I mean, this is, this is my, My fear is that because of the situation we're in, we're going to make bad decisions. I'm worried about in the same spot.

[Matt Jones]

That's a very. That's a great. That's a very good point. I appreciate the call. Of the 16 teams playing right now in the Sweet 16, 14 of them had of at least three players in

[Ryan]

their top six that were returned.

[Matt Jones]

So it is important to have that. Yes, Michigan and I want to say Texas are the.

[Ryan]

And Texas was an 11 seat.

[Matt Jones]

They're the only two teams, I think, that are in the that don't have at least three of their top six guys were returners from last year. So. So, Drew, knowing that it is important that some critical mass of these guys

[Drew]

come back, I agree that that's important too. Now, if you look at a lot of the guys that came back, they were some of the team's best players a year ago. It'd be nice if, you know, Aberdeen O Way had a little eligibility left and they're the guys you're returning.

[Matt Jones]

That's true.

[Drew]

So, sure, I want to keep college. I want to keep a lot of the guys, to be honest. But under the circumstances that they take a big jump forward and you get some stars to put next to them because I don't think anyone's going to make big enough jump from the current team to be a star. So I want to keep lots of bodies. I think that's important in this era. But the ones Kentucky have an option to return right now aren't quite as good as what a lot of the other schools had to bring back that are still in the conversation.

[Matt Jones]

David, go ahead, David.

[David]

Hey, Matt, I know you haven't touched on this yet, but I got a bone to pick with Michael Wilbon.

[Matt Jones]

Okay, well, I'm going to do that next hour. David, can we hold on till then?

[David]

Sure, I'll hold on.

[Matt Jones]

All right, why don't you hold on? Let me play Wilbond's clip and then Shannon, we'll let David give a good response. Okay?

[Shannon]

Yeah, we'll let David fire.

[Matt Jones]

So you hang on, David, you to

[Ryan]

fire at Will Bond when we do that next segment. All right, let's go to Will. Go ahead, Will.

[David]

Yeah. Hey, thanks for taking my call again, guys. Long time no speak. I really did want to kind of piggyback off the last person that was talking. Just kind of see who you guys really want coming back on the team next year and why there's so much hate for Jasper Johnson. He is such a good kid, local, he could develop into a great player. Same with Malachi Moreno. He struggled toward the end of the year. Just wanted to get your guys thoughts on that and try please to keep BBN in line. We have the best fans, but also some of the worst and nastiest fans. Just wanted your guys.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, so we, we talked about the people coming back or not yesterday.

[Ryan]

There's a video online. I don't, I don't want to repeat it and go over it again, but you can, you can see what we thought about all those. Let me hold off on Jasper Just like I do think Jasper's a really good kid. I want to talk about that because his uncle made a comment yesterday which will go to a bigger conversation again when I have in the next hour.

[Matt Jones]

But I. I do think we need a critical mass of these guys back, and there's nobody on the team that like Drew. If they came back, I'd be unhappy. But I do think we got to

[Ryan]

go get some studs to go along with whoever comes back.

[Drew]

Completely agree. And I've seen people. I'm just going to use Brandon Garrison as an example. Some people don't want him back. I could understand. But at the same time, it's not like the portal is full of people that want to be a backup center that are going to be better than that. I mean, we got to recognize Pope's not going to go out and just nail every position on the roster with the best of the best. So some of these guys, even if you don't think they're, you know, going to be great or whatever, you still need guys on your bench as long as they can accept that role.

[Matt Jones]

And we had nine dudes that played

[Ryan]

last year, so two of them are gone.

[Matt Jones]

That's seven of those. Seven. Like, I'm fine with all seven of them back.

[Ryan]

I don't think they're all going to seven going to come back.

[Matt Jones]

But I think it's key what you do with the other three or four spots.

[Ryan]

Ryan, they better be really good.

[Drew]

You know, got to get some dudes

[Matt Jones]

because we are losing our two best players.

[Drew]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, we went 22 and 14, and we're losing our two best players. So we got to go get some dudes.

[Drew]

Like Drew said, though, Brandon Garrison and Diabota, they both kind of fit in their role coming off the bench, and I would really like to have them coming off the bench again next year.

You could end up with much worse without question.

[Matt Jones]

But you also have to make sure they want to come off the bench.

[Ryan]

Yeah. And who knows if they do? All right, we're going to come back.

[Matt Jones]

Hour two. We're going to play Will Bond. Hear David's response?

[Ryan]

Talk about a couple other things.

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This is Julian Edelman from Games With Names. I want to take a second to talk about something that's personal to me. I've had the privilege of working closely with Robert Kraft for a long time, and one thing I've always respected is how seriously he takes up standing up to hate. As a Jewish athlete, my identity is something I am proud of. But I also know what it feels like to be singled out for it. That's why this new commercial for the Blue Square Alliance Against Hate that aired during the big game really hit home. It's about showing up for someone when they're targeted, even if you don't have the perfect words. And sometimes standing next to someone is enough. And you can show support by sharing the Blue Square.