2026-03-27- KSR - Hour 1

Summary

Kentucky Sports Radio (KSR) — March 27, 2026 — Hour 1 Recap

Main Theme

This episode of Kentucky Sports Radio (KSR) was a lively mix of sports talk, technical mishaps, and Kentucky basketball and football updates. With Matt Jones away in Washington, D.C. for the NCAA Tournament, Drew Franklin hosted alongside Ryan Lemon, Mario Maitland, Billy Rutledge, and Shannon The Dude. The crew covered a wide array of topics: recapping a wild trip to Opening Day in Cincinnati, breaking down Sweet 16 basketball action, discussing Kentucky’s head coach Mark Pope’s first recruiting endeavors, and taking plenty of calls from listeners.

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1. Chaotic Start at KS Bar and Grill

Technical Difficulties & Host Swap

• The show opened with major technical glitches. Drew Franklin started the broadcast from his cell phone as the main studio setup failed; headsets were swapped, microphones died, and Mario’s equipment wouldn’t work. Eventually, after several minutes of on-air troubleshooting and banter, they got on track.
• Quote: “This is amateur hour. This is embarrassing. We have two guests here...I apologize. We are at KS Bar and Grill for the first time in a long time. Mario and Ryan are having a conversation with themselves. But eventually, I’m going to talk to them. Shannon, help.” — Drew Franklin (05:03)

TS;DR

• Team jokes about their lack of technical prowess and how things unravel when Matt Jones is away.
• “It’s like the teacher’s away. Now the kids are just, you know, doing what they shouldn't be doing.” — Matt Jones (04:42)

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2. Reds Opening Day Recap & Wild Cincinnati Tales (05:27–09:20)

The KSR Crew’s Cincy Adventure

• Ryan, Mario, and Matt attended MLB Opening Day in Cincinnati. The vibe was compared to the SEC tournament in Nashville: a true city-wide holiday.
• Tom Brennaman (guest on the previous day’s show) was praised for candidness about his on-air controversy.
• “It is a national holiday in Cincinnati. Businesses closed, schools let out… if you've been out in Nashville… that's the feeling you get.” — Ryan Lemon (05:51)
• Bill Cunningham, a known “Matt antagonist,” made peace with Matt post-show; they took a photo together.

Notable Moment:

• “One of us — oh, fell asleep during the game.” “Second inning. Shannon, he’s over there snoring.”
  — Mario reveals he fell asleep twice at the ballgame, despite being the youngest. (07:40–07:54)

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3. Drew’s Irish Heartbreak at McCarthy’s Pub (09:20–11:59)

A Day of Sports Misery

• Drew attended McCarthy’s Irish bar in Lexington to watch an Ireland World Cup qualifying soccer match. Ireland jumped out to an unexpected lead only for Drew to enter the bar and “jinx” them—Czech Republic came back for the win in penalty kicks.
• “People came up to me a little teary-eyed and they're like, Drew, just so you understand, this is like a Final Four for us. So much heartbreak in there…I embraced everything Irish and then I get caught up and I get my heart broken. It was… like they're Wisconsin and I'm just.” — Drew Franklin (10:24–11:59)

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4. Sweet 16 Tournament Breakdown (16:24–25:35)

Key Game Recaps:

• Arkansas vs. Arizona (17:16–19:09)

  • Arkansas was blown out 109–88; Charles Barkley’s halftime assessment: “Arkansas’ offense sucks.” (17:59)
  • The game devolved with fouls, technicals, ejections.
  • The crew debates Calipari’s postgame comments, sensing a subtle jab at Kentucky (“you can have absolutely no recruits and no clue who’s coming back, and you have less money than a year ago…”).

• Purdue vs. Texas (20:45–21:19)

  • Controversial finish—did Purdue’s big man commit a push-off or was it just "weight room" strength?
  • Ryan regrets Sean Miller pulling his 7-footer late, possibly costing Texas the game.

• Iowa vs. Nebraska (22:04–23:41)

  • Iowa’s Ben McCollum praised as an up-and-coming coach.
  • Viral moment: a gigantic Florida fan switches to a Nebraska jersey, raising eyebrows.
  • “If I were Iowa basketball, I’d walk up and say, I just sent you home again. What jersey you got next?” — Drew Franklin (23:02)

• Houston vs. Illinois (24:29–25:27)

  • A low-scoring grind (24–22 at halftime), described as “unwatchable.”
  • Illinois and Orlando (Antiigua) move on; Drew expresses happiness for his former colleague.

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5. Calipari—Arkansas Obsession & Kentucky Basketball Watch (19:09–20:16, 48:10)

• Listeners and hosts debate whether it’s time for UK fans to stop obsessing over John Calipari’s fate at Arkansas, despite their Sweet 16 flameout.
• “Can we stop this obsession with all things Cal in Arkansas? ...We're looking at the speck of dust in Arkansas's eye and ignoring the boulder that's in our eye.” — Mark (caller, 48:27)

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6. Kentucky Basketball: Recruiting, Staff & Roster Update (38:31–42:57)

First Potential Commit for Pope

• Mason Williams, son of NBAer Mo Williams, just visited UK; not highly ranked but a prolific shooter, seen as a developmental bench piece.
• “My takeaway is any recruit is better than zero recruits.” — Mario Maitland (38:31)

Rumor Mill

• Speculation about Jamal Crawford joining as an assistant—hosts are skeptical but positive.
• “Listen, I’m not trying to poo-poo the idea here. It would be awesome to have Jamal Crawford...It would be huge if he’s willing to do it.” — Drew Franklin (40:44)

The “Dorm” Hire

• UK officially announced Keegan Brown as "Director of Roster Management" (aka “the DORM”), essentially a GM-style ops hire; previously vital at BYU with Pope.
• “I still, I mean, Pope said there’s still front office moves ahead...He’s more analytical, spreadsheet that kind of guy.” — Drew Franklin (41:32)

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7. Kentucky Football: Special Teams & Spring Ball (34:03–35:36)

Callers Weigh In—Special Teams Hope

• Joe from Louisville commends new OC Will Stein, who promises to put best players on special teams: “Drew, I about started crying. I said this gentleman might have an idea how to win games in the SEC.” (32:20)
• Drew remarks positively on UK football’s open depth chart and encouraging spring clips, particularly local standout Brock Kaufman.

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8. Call-In Highlights & Fan Engagement (29:55–48:10)

• Bob in Jamestown calls about horse racing and Sweet 16 brackets (Arizona vs. UConn).
• Multiple listeners report on their “sports curses” and Kentucky football hardships.
• “If Will Stein’s offense looks like Iowa football, we got probably problems.” — Billy Rutledge (47:42)

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9. Kentucky Women's Basketball & Misc.

• Brief mention at the end: Kentucky women play a big game on Saturday.
• Hosts tease a preview and predictions for St. John's vs. Duke and more NCAA action—the fandom is rooting for Rick Pitino and St. John's against the Blue Devils.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Sports are so cruel. I had so fun in there with everyone at McCarthy’s…Sports are so cruel. I had so fun in there with everyone at McCarthy’s. Shout out to McCarthy’s.” — Drew Franklin (11:59)
• “I see it and I'm like, there's a car seat in my back seat that's there. It's all getting very real in the Franklin house.” — Drew Franklin (37:12)
• “I'm not saying like commitment watch, but things went well with Mason Williams…we could finally have a recruit in Mark Pope’s class…” — Drew Franklin (38:26)
• “I like the sentiment of having starters on special teams to Joe’s point…you can’t help but think that you have an involvement in the game, right? So people say, ‘Oh, I’ve been to these games and they always lose.’” — Tyler Reddick/Ryan Seacrest (35:18)

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Key Timestamps

• 02:29–05:15: Opening chaos & equipment failures at KS Bar
• 05:27–09:20: Reds Opening Day recap, party scenes, and Mario falling asleep
• 09:20–11:59: Drew’s emotional Ireland soccer loss at McCarthy’s
• 16:24–25:35: Full Sweet 16 roundup, including Arkansas-Arizona blowout, Calipari’s comments, viral fans, and Illinois-Houston snooze-fest
• 29:55–32:13: Listener calls (Bob, Joe), Derby talk, and Kentucky football
• 34:03–35:49: Special teams discussion—hope in Will Stein’s approach
• 38:26–42:57: Kentucky basketball recruiting/staff speculation, Jamal Crawford rumors
• 46:07–48:35: More listener calls, Iowa fandom, and state-of-the-program optimism

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Final Thoughts

Despite a rocky technical start, this KSR episode offered an engaging, humorous window into the heart of Kentucky sports talk—balancing heartbreaks (in both Louisville and Ireland), Sweet 16 analysis, a dash of Calipari drama, and hopeful signs for the Mark Pope era and UK Football’s new direction. Drew Franklin’s steady hand (and accidental jinx) made for a fun, relatable broadcast well worth catching up on—even if you missed it live.

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For Calls and Fan Involvement:
Clark’s Pump and Shop phone line: 859-280-2287 (multiple reminders throughout)

Transcript

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[Drew Franklin]

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[Matt Jones]

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

[Ryan Lemon]

Welcome in to Kentucky Sports Radio. It is Friday, March 27th. I am Drew Franklin filling in for Matt Jones and I am currently talking to you through my cell phone because to the surprise of no one, we are having technical difficulties at KS Bar and Grill. My. My colleague here, Ryan Lemon, is efforting a connection. Oh, he's giving me a thumbs up. Wait a minute.

[Shannon]

Oh, here we.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, I can hear you guys. Drew, I think you. I think you can probably jump off the phone and jump on. We're on headsets now.

[Ryan Lemon]

Well, I'm gonna hang up and then move to a headset.

[Drew Franklin]

This is a great way to start

[Ryan Lemon]

a show that I' to you in three seconds.

[Drew Franklin]

There you go.

[Matt Jones]

Drew's gonna hang up and listen.

[Drew Franklin]

All right, guys, just. Just another day. Just another day with ksr. As I was trying to say there for a minute as this intro that we're definitely not thrown off with. It is Friday, March 27th. I am filling in for Matt Jones. I'm Drew Franklin. Ryan Lemon is here with me at KS Bar and Grill. I hope people are on the other side of this listening. If not, I will just keep talking to this brick wall. Mario is here with us. We have Shannon in studio. And Billy our sports is making his way from downtown to join us. Matt went to Washington in tonight's Sweet 16 action. I think he's gonna go cheer for the Johnny's against Saint against Duke. So I'm filling in today on ksr. Ryan, welcome. You know, it's nothing like a little

[Mario Maitland]

technical difficulty to get the morning started, get the blood flowing a little bit. So. But, you know, we just missed, like, what, the first five seconds of the show.

[Drew Franklin]

I love starting a radio show on my cell phone while looking like an idiot here at ksbar. But we are brought to you by TJ Smith. Why are you laughing? TJ Smith, personal injury attorney. It is what he makes.

[Mario Maitland]

He'll make you pay.

[Drew Franklin]

That's right. We also want to hear from you on the Clark's pump and shop phone line. 859-280-2287. Cats there. For a while, I thought the phone line was going to be my phone line. I won't give that number out, but I'm glad we're connected. We want to hear from you all today as we recap the Sweet 16 Talk. All the latest news in UK land. Got a big women's game coming up tomorrow. All the fun. Ryan Lemon, did you bring your a vision glass text machine?

[Mario Maitland]

I did not.

[Drew Franklin]

Okay. Well, we're just really on fire today, but it's good to see you guys. Mario, are we under control? Consistency, right? And his microphone's not working. Good Lord. Shannon.

[Shannon]

Shannon.

[Drew Franklin]

I'm trying, man.

[Mario Maitland]

He's plugged in.

[Matt Jones]

That's not here. It's like the teacher's away now. The kids are just, you know, doing what they shouldn't be doing.

[Mario Maitland]

They updated all the equipment, and I think they forgot to update the equipment here in the restaurant. That's what I'm thinking.

[Matt Jones]

Okay.

[Drew Franklin]

Okay. So let's.

[Matt Jones]

Let's blame it on somebody else.

[Drew Franklin]

We're gonna get through this together. This is amateur hour. This is embarrassing. We have two guests here. Where are you all from?

[Mario Maitland]

Here.

[Drew Franklin]

They're from Lexington. I apologize. We are at KS Bar and Grill for the first time in a long time. Mario and Ryan are having a conversation with themselves. But eventually, I'm going to talk to them. Shannon, help.

[Matt Jones]

Are you guys. Are you guys all right? Are you guys on the air? What's going on?

[Mario Maitland]

We're changing headsets, see if we can get Mario.

[Drew Franklin]

These two. I. This is unblue. Matt would throw a chair through the window if you're watching this right now. I'm trying my best. This in order?

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

All right?

[Drew Franklin]

You guys were at the Reds game yesterday. I want to start there because that's how Matt Jones starts the show. You all went to Cincinnati. You left me. I had to stay back. Getting a little too close to baby time at the Franklin house. I didn't want to get up there and get stuck in a parade. We have a lot going on with doctor's appointments and countdown to that. So I stayed back in the studio. But I listened yesterday. Ryan looked or it sounded like you all had a heck of a time, and then stayed throughout the entire game yesterday.

[Mario Maitland]

The best way to explain it is SEC tournament in Nashville after a big Kentucky win. How the big blue nation just floods Broadway up and down the street. That's what it's like around the ballpark in Cincinnati for opening day. It is a national holiday in Cincinnati. Businesses closed, schools let out, and it's crazy. And that, you know, if you've been out in Nashville, which you've been down there many times, that's. That's the feeling you get. Mario didn't even want to go to the game. He wanted to stay outside with all the party was going on.

[Drew Franklin]

Of course, I've seen Mario in that area before, but. But the radio show. Just leave Mario out of it, right? I got to talk to. You all can figure that out later. Ryan, the radio over here. The radio show was awesome. Tom Brennaman I thought was great. I mean, he was opened up about, you know, his past, and then you all just set the tone for opening Day. You could just hear the buzz behind you. It sounded like an absolute party at 9 in the morning.

[Mario Maitland]

Tom Brennaman was awesome. He was very open, vulnerable, talking about how he had to rebound from his mistake that he made. And it was just. It was really kind of inspiring to listen to him talk about it. You know, he was. Like. I said, he. Matt was hitting him with some tough questions, and he answered every one of them. And I thought it was awesome. A great interview.

[Drew Franklin]

I wanted to be there. Y' all were having a good time. Did he have his Bill Cunningham interaction? I was counting down for that. I know he didn't get it on air, but at any moment. Did they get to meet after our

[Mario Maitland]

radio show is over?

[Comedy Off Broadway Announcer]

Of course.

[Mario Maitland]

That's when Bill Cunningham shows up. So Matt went and talked to him and said, you're. You're the guy that yells at me. And Bill came like. But he. Matt has a picture of the two of them together. I don't think he had a chance to tweet it out. Did have a picture.

[Drew Franklin]

So no beef, though. They were cordial. Put that behind them.

[Ryan Lemon]

Yeah.

[Mario Maitland]

Yeah.

[Drew Franklin]

And you all stayed through the game? Made a whole day of it?

[Mario Maitland]

One of us. Oh, fell asleep during the game.

[Drew Franklin]

Fell asleep.

[Matt Jones]

One of us.

[Drew Franklin]

Well, who.

[Matt Jones]

Who fell asleep during the game?

[Drew Franklin]

There was three of you. You, Matt and Mario.

[Mario Maitland]

Well, Tall. Tall's wife and hug.

[Drew Franklin]

Oh, you're counting them. Okay.

[Mario Maitland]

Who would you think fell asleep during the game?

[Matt Jones]

Mario.

[Mario Maitland]

Not once, but twice fell asleep during the game.

[Matt Jones]

Mario, the youngest one, fell asleep.

[Shannon]

Yes, yes.

[Mario Maitland]

Second inning. Shannon, he's over there snoring.

[Drew Franklin]

Snoring at Great American Ballpark. I do not believe that for one second.

[Matt Jones]

How many fireballs was he in when he got to the second inning?

[Mario Maitland]

He had a couple adult beverages.

[Matt Jones]

Okay.

[Mario Maitland]

Yeah, well, there, you know, we had to get up really early. You're sitting up there in this. We're right in the sun, but there's over 40,000 people in there. My man fell asleep twice during the game.

[Drew Franklin]

Did he embrace Reds baseball other than falling asleep? At least get into it, though. You were tweeting out pictures, and they look like you're having a good time. You must have worn yourself out. Of course, we can't hear the Reds go on to. To lose the game.

[Shannon]

Right.

[Mario Maitland]

You know, the great environment, great party, opening day. Shannon came, scored one run.

[Matt Jones]

Mario's defense, there wasn't much offense to stay awake for. I think they got four hits the entire game. They couldn't be bothered to score a run in the opening game. All that party. And for that, I guess the summer of LA is already over.

[Mario Maitland]

Four hits and three of them got well by one guy. They just could.

[Ryan Lemon]

They.

[Mario Maitland]

They're having trouble scoring runs this year. But it's awesome. I mean, I'm not a Reds fan, but I got sucked up in it. Just being there as part of the environment. It was really awesome.

[Drew Franklin]

I saw a video online where someone's just walking through the crowd. It's no one related to ksr. I think they're Kentucky people. And then you're in the video just walking by and you look perplexed at what you're seeing. You looked overwhelmed by everything. Have you seen that yet?

[Mario Maitland]

No, I haven't seen it. But there was a guy that was wearing I think was a tablecloth as a diaper on the street corner at one point. So there it's, it is, it's. It's good. People watching, there's no doubt.

[Drew Franklin]

It sounds like a great time. I, I did something unique yesterday and I had a blast until it went south. But yesterday morning I woke up and I have a friend, Richie. Richie Dawnworth. Shout out. Richie Dawn.

[Mario Maitland]

Shout out. Rich.

[Drew Franklin]

He's from Ireland. He texted me early, said McCarthy's 345 Ireland World cup qualifier. And I was like, oh, that sounds awesome.

[Mario Maitland]

3:45am or p.m. p.m.

[Drew Franklin]

Afternoon. So I'm like, well, got to do that now. I had something from 4 to 5 downtown. So I go to McCarthy's right before, before they start holding, do the national anthem bit. See everyone, it's an amazing crowd. I felt like I was in Ireland and I'm in downtown Langston. You know the little shop next door. I'm escaping the name. That's where she has the Weetabix.

[Shannon]

Yes.

[Drew Franklin]

Saw her on the sidewalk. She's fired up. Crazy environment. I stay maybe five minutes into the match and then I have to walk across the street and, and work for a little bit right as I leave. Ireland goes up 2. Oh.

[Mario Maitland]

Oh my.

[Drew Franklin]

And they're playing at the Czech Republic. They're big time underdogs. I got them at plus 350. Completely outnumbered and they were up two.

[Mario Maitland]

Oh wow.

[Drew Franklin]

Right after.

[Mario Maitland]

My goodness.

[Drew Franklin]

Now while I'm across the street, check scores. It's 2:1. It's 2:1 most of the game and when I finally am able to go back over there.

[Mario Maitland]

Yes.

[Drew Franklin]

There's about 10 minutes left and I'm thinking they're up to one. I don't want to walk in and mess this up for that crowd. So I Stand at the doorway and I'm like, you know what? I'm going to do it. I walk in. I even asked like three people, even the bartender, if you think I'm a jinx, I will turn around and leave. They're like, no, you're good. Get in here. Sit down. They scored a tie it up in the 86th minute. I wasn't there. Two minutes. Sad faces. We go to extra time. Two, two. No goals there. Penalty kicks. The crowd in McCarthy's is electric. Penalty kicks. World cup qualifier. Qualifier. Ireland doesn't get there much. As I said, I felt like I'm in Dublin. I'm the only one in there not from Ireland, but we're all wearing green. Ireland gets the first stop. I get a video. They're going nuts. They're thinking they're going to win and then they lose. They. They give up or they get blocked on their last two kicks to lose in the end after Ireland thought they had it. Now, I say that because people came up to me a little teary eyed and they're like, drew, just so you understand, this is like a final four for us. So much heartbreak in there. And it's like I tried to escape my own heartbreak. I get lumped in. I embraced the, the, the everything Irish. And then I get caught up and I get my heart broken. It was. It was like they're Wisconsin and I'm just. Sports are so cruel. I had so fun in there with everyone at McCarthy's. Shout out to McCarthy's. But I a heartbreaking loss for my friends and for me, I got engulfed in it and I woke up still heartbroken. So just a unique afternoon with that while you were taking on the Reds game?

[Mario Maitland]

No, Otega away. Half court heaved. Send it into over nothing.

[Drew Franklin]

The fact that they went up 20 and everybody's happy and then I personally kind of ruined it a little bit. And then they get up in PKs and then they think they're advancing and to lose in the end.

[Mario Maitland]

Wow.

[Drew Franklin]

It was supposed to be like a distraction basketball. And I was heartbreaking heartbroken with all of them.

[Mario Maitland]

Well, that's the thing about, you know, with sports. Sports is awesome.

[Drew Franklin]

Well, yesterday they were cruel. They were very cruel. Anyway, got that going for us. I'm gonna take a quick break here because Billy's on his way in. We got to get this on the rails. We gotta get y' all focused.

[Mario Maitland]

Well, at least we're connecting now.

[Drew Franklin]

Just talking to a microphone that doesn't work.

[Mario Maitland]

Two different microphones.

[Drew Franklin]

Are there other people on the other end of this, listening to us.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, yeah, we're good. We're on the air, so we're good. Sometimes we weren't on the air.

[Drew Franklin]

No kidding. This segment will not be in the hall of fame, but we want to hear from you. Clark's Pump Shop phone line 859-280-2287. We're going to recap last night's Sweet 16 fun. More UK news. Got more Sweet 16 tonight. And Kentucky women play a big game tomorrow. Baseball, we got a loaded show. Billy will be here any minute. And we'll be right back. This is ksr.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

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[Drew Franklin]

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[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

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[Ryan Lemon]

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[Shannon]

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[Ryan Lemon]

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[Drew Franklin]

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[Mario Maitland]

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[Drew Franklin]

Welcome back Kentucky Sports Radio. Drew Franklin, Ryan Lemon, Mario Maitland. Thought I saw Billy on his way in. Wasn't Billy but he'll be here soon. Shannon in the studio. This is our first seg. We're just starting the show. Welcome in. Welcome in Friday March 27, Drew Franklin filling in for Matt Jones.

[Mario Maitland]

Payday today too.

[Drew Franklin]

Payday. Congratulations.

[Mario Maitland]

Relation to you.

[Drew Franklin]

Congratulations that it seems working this segment. Glad to have you. Glad to hear from you.

[Mario Maitland]

So we had you know these our equipment got updated during March.

[Drew Franklin]

Madden I don't believe any technology got

[Mario Maitland]

and I think they forgot to update our equipment here at the restaurant. So that's causing some of the issues. Gotcha Connected.

[Drew Franklin]

Neither of those things look like they've been updated this century.

[Matt Jones]

But you knew the other equipment had been updated.

[Mario Maitland]

Yes.

[Drew Franklin]

So thanks.

[Mario Maitland]

Thankfully I had it out in my car.

[Drew Franklin]

No, thankfully Matt's not here. You all need to be thanking me. I'm keeping a level head right now. This place would be upside down. I got to shout out my new friend here. He's wearing the state line co denim hat. I got mine on the way. That looks good in person.

[Mario Maitland]

Nice.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, it looks good. Shout shout out to the denim Ryan, did you watch the sweet sixteen last night or were you like Mario and just way too worn out from Reds baseball to keep up?

[Mario Maitland]

I was watching Arkansas and Arizona and fell asleep. I got. I made it to like second half. Early in the second half. Maybe first TV timeout.

[Ryan Lemon]

Okay.

[Mario Maitland]

It's 20 point game.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, it's pretty much over there.

[Mario Maitland]

I'm out. I fell asleep. So I had to look at this morning when I woke up. What the final score was still a 20 point game. When I look, I didn't miss much.

[Drew Franklin]

I was a little bummed last night. I was excited for that game and it's the late one. I didn't care as much for the early ones. The first ones ended up being the best and the night slate was. Was terrible. I can understand why you fell asleep. But Arkansas went down 109, 88 to Arizona. I mean it was a pretty much a route.

[Mario Maitland]

Yes, it was.

[Drew Franklin]

They gave up 54 points at halftime. Yeah, I mean Acuff had a big game but they had nothing else going. In fact, Charles Barkley at halftime, I don't know if you see what he said on the set.

[Mario Maitland]

I don't remember what he said.

[Drew Franklin]

He just straight up said Arkansas offense sucks. Those were his exact words. He's like it's a cuff running around and nothing else. It seemed if he wasn't scoring, they were turning it over, bricking a three or they would have a highlight reel dunk.

[Mario Maitland]

That's right.

[Drew Franklin]

If they won that game, they had the greatest dunk package they could have put out of all time. But Arkansas goes home. Maybe we can put those. All the, all the conversations, the winning, the divorce, all that crap behind us that we had to go through the last couple weeks.

[Mario Maitland]

I know at halftime Arizona, because it had like 54 points and only hit like three three pointers. They were all just dunks, mid range jumpers, just scoring every which way possible. They looked incredible last night.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, Arizona, I mean, I don't think I didn't have Arkansas winning that game at all, but I actually thought they would cover the eight and a half.

[Mario Maitland]

I didn't do.

[Drew Franklin]

It was absolute blowout. And then at the end, you know, Arkansas, you might have been asleep at this point. They run Raven a little bit. Lot of fouls, a lot of frustrated fouls. How got a technical, there was an ejection, a lot of shoving around, a few cheap shots. So the wheels absolutely fell off for the Razorbacks. And then after the game, did you see cows comment? He kind of. There's a debate if this is a jab or not, Shannon, you all played it on the pre show. Do you have it available? Or I can read it if not.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, Billy, I can pull it up, but if you want to read it, go ahead.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, he pretty much said. Cal said in passing, he's talking about the state of college basketball. He said there's. You can have absolutely no recruits and no clue who's coming back, and you have less money than a year ago. And maybe it wasn't a shot at Kentucky, but Kentucky fans listening felt it a little bit. I took it as more, you know, he can't be throwing jabs when you just lost by 20, whatever. But I did feel like it was a little bit of a subtweet to us or a little bit of a nudge.

[Mario Maitland]

See, I'm the same way.

[Drew Franklin]

Got a little stray.

[Mario Maitland]

I heard it this morning on the pre show. Billy and Shannon were talking about. Both of those guys, kind of thought maybe, like, Shannon, you can answer for yourself. It wasn't necessarily directed at Kentucky. I felt like, in a way, that was Cal's little acknowledgment. You know, I. I hear you over there chirping, guess what? You don't have any players. You don't have enough. Enough money from. You did last year. I think that was a definite reference to Kentucky.

[Matt Jones]

See, I took it as Cal saying, like, he's in the same boat. He's in the same situation. I think because we're in the same situation as he is, maybe we thought, you know, that sounds a little oddly familiar. You know, you don't have any players coming back next year. You don't have any for next year. You don't have recruits. You don't know who's going to be on the team. You don't have enough money. I think that maybe is.

[Drew Franklin]

Is that.

[Matt Jones]

Is it possible, Drew, that maybe we just have a little bit of paranoia to where everything that Cal says, well, it's got to be talking about us,

[Drew Franklin]

you know, well, we were looking for it. Yeah, he's got some good recruits for next year, so I don't think he can include himself in that. He's got another freshman guard.

[Mario Maitland]

That's why I think probably not ACUFF level. Why would you say you don't have any recruits. No. For next year rosters if you don't know who's coming back?

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, but there's a debate. I don't feel like it went full jab, though. Just a little nod, just a little tip of the cap.

[Mario Maitland]

I heard you over there. I hear you chirping over there.

[Drew Franklin]

So you didn't see any of the other games? Purdue, Texas ended up probably.

[Mario Maitland]

I saw the end of it. Yeah, the end of the game. That was pretty awesome.

[Drew Franklin]

Did you think there was a push off on the tip end? That's also been a big debate today.

[Mario Maitland]

I think there's no doubt it was, but I don't know if you call it in that situation. Yeah, I think it was definitely a foul. But would you call it?

[Drew Franklin]

I think you, you tell the Texas guy, weight room, you just got pushed around for.

[Mario Maitland]

You sure did. By a big monster guy. So I don't like Purdue. Never have liked Purdue. And I was pulling for Texas to win it. You know, the high seed left and they almost had it, man. It was right there for them.

[Drew Franklin]

My bracket, not great. I know you're at one point we're in like the 99.

[Mario Maitland]

Yeah. But I had Houston winning it all.

[Drew Franklin]

Okay, that's, that's going to be hit. Mine isn't going to win any contest. But I was big on Texas making a run and I just wanted to win one more game last night. Even bet the money line. So that ended up being the best game. They played them well. People are also critical of Sean Miller because they have that star seven footer whose name I won't try to pronounce, but he pulled him out with 11 seconds left and then you end up losing on that tip in.

[Mario Maitland]

Why would you pull him out? You need him down there for the rim protector defense. Phillips and space down there.

[Drew Franklin]

Exactly. I think Sean Miller would have. Has some regrets there. Non sweet 16s for him without a final Four. So he likes to get close, but hadn't gotten over the hump just yet. Got close last night.

[Mario Maitland]

He plays all those golf scrambles with only play 14 holes clean. Never played the final four.

[Drew Franklin]

You love that one. Stayed a Holiday Inn Express last night.

[Mario Maitland]

Express last night.

[Drew Franklin]

Iowa, Nebraska. Everybody's in love with Iowa's coach, Ben McCollum. He comes from like Division 2, completely off the radar.

[Mario Maitland]

He was the Hampton coach. Right. That the player picked up and belly bear hugged that one one year and they won. Beat somebody.

[Ryan Lemon]

Yeah.

[Drew Franklin]

It's his second year as a Division 1 coach and he has Iowa in the Elite Eight as farthest they've ever been. I like when they got rid of Fran McCaffrey last year who had been there forever. They're like, be careful what you wish for. Fran was the best. And in the very next season they've gone farther than he ever Took.

[Mario Maitland]

I thought Nebraska was kind of fool's gold anyway, but I didn't really believe in Iowa either. One of those teams I don't think are very good.

[Drew Franklin]

Did you see the gigantic Florida fan that's gone viral? The dude who's definitely not on steroids and wears a jersey to games?

[Mario Maitland]

I don't think I saw him.

[Drew Franklin]

Well, he's been like a March Madness sensation. I think he was even there last year. I mean, he's. He's just huge. I mean, that. That is not a natural look, sir. But he. He wore Florida gear last year and this year. But he wore Nebraska jersey.

[Mario Maitland]

He did last night. Is a Nebraska complete flip.

[Drew Franklin]

Couldn't believe it. And if I were Iowa basketball, I'd walk up and say, I just sent you home again. What jersey you got next? Put that one on. We'll beat that one, too.

[Mario Maitland]

Yeah, he's gonna find another jersey to wear Sunday night, Saturday night for the Lee Day game.

[Drew Franklin]

I don't know how he got a jersey on over his arms. If you saw him, he looks like the Hulk. But I thought that was an interesting plot twist. I can't imagine Kentucky losing, and I just go to the next city and buy the jersey of the team playing the one that knocked me out of the tournament.

[Mario Maitland]

So we all work. Root for Patino tonight. Is that the kid? Is that what we're doing?

[Drew Franklin]

Patino's winning tonight. We'll get to that in our predictions. I'm all over St. John's money line. I also have to give a shout out on Iowa. Nebraska to go. Big blue 94. It's one of our KS board posters.

[Mario Maitland]

Okay.

[Drew Franklin]

He wrote on November 24th, look out for Ben McCollum. He's going to be the next Signetti in college basketball.

[Mario Maitland]

Wow.

[Drew Franklin]

They had barely played a few games, called a shot, so I feel like that was worth a shout out.

[Mario Maitland]

No kidding.

[Drew Franklin]

That's kind of going viral on our board last night, getting Pats on the back, as he should to write that in November. But, I mean, that's looking like a hot name. I don't know that he would leave Iowa having just got there. But college basketball is in love with Ben McCollum right now. He's. He's not the Hurley level of getting in your face and toughness, but in interviews with his players, they. They like to say he's the negative one. And the assistant coaches come in and save me. So he's got some. I don't know if he's just a fierce coach that I think college basketball has fallen in love with because he's taken Iowa this far.

[Mario Maitland]

That's pretty good foresight to predict it way back in November that Iowa, Iowa basketball is going to make a run and he was going to be behind it.

[Drew Franklin]

And then in the game, that almost put me to sleep. Did anyone keep up with Houston, Illinois? When I saw it was 24 to 20. Hello, Billy Rutledge. Welcome to the party. Oh, here we go. More technical difficulties. When I saw it was 24 to 22 at halftime, I thought, I have no interest in watching that college basketball game. Illinois ends up pulling away, winning by 10. Houston tried to make a little run, but not enough in the end. And our guy Orlando is moving on.

[Mario Maitland]

That's right. Big Z still in Illinois. I thought the early score I saw was like 4 to 2 at the first TV timeout. Like, oh, boy, what's going on over there on that one?

[Drew Franklin]

Not a lot to take away from that game. Except Illinois and Brad Underwood. I mean, Kentucky knocked him out last year, but with all their visages and all the icks and the ICs on their team, I think that's a European. I think they have like five players whose last names end in ic. They've got a little bit of. A little bit of a couple year run going and it's not stopping. Personally, I'm happy for Orlando. I know everybody's got their own opinions of the past regime, everybody going their separate ways, but. But I'm rooting for him.

[Mario Maitland]

Big Z's older. Well, not old brother, but bigger twin brother, Thomas Love. He's a heck of a player.

[Drew Franklin]

He is.

[Mario Maitland]

The dude can play.

[Drew Franklin]

And they beat Houston and Houston.

[Mario Maitland]

It's bet. That's true. It was a Houston welcome, Billy.

[Drew Franklin]

Hey, guys, did you hear the first segment?

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

I did.

[Drew Franklin]

And how'd I do?

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

Gm, Billy is going to fall on the sword here. We've been updating the equipment.

[Mario Maitland]

Yeah.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

Ryan has said.

[Drew Franklin]

Okay.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

And this is the first time we've used the bar equipment, so.

[Mario Maitland]

But we got. We got connected when I first started and then it timed out and couldn't get reconnected.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

And then Drew started it on the phone.

[Mario Maitland]

Yeah.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

All that.

[Mario Maitland]

Yeah.

[Drew Franklin]

How did I handle. I tried to keep my cool.

[Matt Jones]

You did great.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

You did great. And now we're off and running and, you know, we will just forget that first segment. That Illinois game was unwatchable. I mean, what was it? 26, 22 at half at halftime and Arkansas, Arizona was like 56, 48. It was just completely different games. Did you guys talk about Nebraska Having four guys on the court.

[Drew Franklin]

No, left that out. But have at it.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

I mean, there's less than a minute left. I can understand football. You got 11 guys out there and there's a big huddle. Everybody comes out.

[Drew Franklin]

But.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

But five guys. Four guys on the court.

[Mario Maitland]

And then like Fred Hoiberg Berg tried to, like, blame the officials for not making a call. Like he said, you call it when there's six guys on the floor. Why can't you call when there's only four guys on the court? That's on you. That's on your coaching staff. You don't have your five. Five guys on the floor.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

I mean, look, great accomplishment to make the Sweet 16 for Nebraska, but that's something that lingers, is it? Not like a fan base remembers that you only had four guys on the court when that happened.

[Mario Maitland]

So that's like a football team having just 10 guys. You're playing Florida, leaving somebody wide open for a touchdown.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

That was brutal. And then it was an obvious hook and hold on that final play. Like, I don't know if you call it on that last play, but I thought it was. I thought it was there.

[Drew Franklin]

I think the guy just got bullied for a rebound. And you can't call anything in that moment. I like that you all watch. You know, some fans act like the NCAA tournament doesn't exist when Kentucky is out. And I've been that guy before, but this year I was pretty excited to watch the games last night, decided to watch the games tonight and the rest of the weekend. I guess maybe I'm at a point where the tournament can't hurt me anymore. You know, the St. Peter's and Oakland years. You couldn't pay me to watch March Madness after Kentucky was out. But it seems you all are like me, been excited and watched a lot of basketball and stayed as wake as long as you could.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah, Kentucky had their moment, right? They had the win versus Santa Clara. So that, I think, allowed me to watch the rest of the tournament because I. I'm the kind of the same way. I get bummed out if Kentucky loses early, but I didn't have to go to the Reds game and watch zero runs.

[Mario Maitland]

We'll have all the games on here at KS Bar today. You come watch the game. So I think we had a good crowd last night watching the game. So, you know, even though we're not in it and still enjoy watching games and not be anxious or excited, you can watch Patino win tonight, beat Duke. You got a true against Duke, right?

[Drew Franklin]

That's Right. Ksr. We'll be right back. Live from KS Bar and Grill, TJ

[iHeart Advertising Announcer]

Smith, personal injury attorney.

[Drew Franklin]

Call tj. He'll make him pay.

[Matt Jones]

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

[Drew Franklin]

Here's not Matt Jones. I am Drew Franklin filling in for Matt. He is in Washington, D.C. to watch some of the NCAA tournaments tonight.

[Mario Maitland]

He's supposed to fly out, I guess today, but you lines are big and long, so I kind of hope he has a good travel man get there.

[Drew Franklin]

If I had a flight right now, I wouldn't bother. I'd just cancel the trip. Try another time. That looks like an absolute nightmare going on. But we hope he gets there safely, enjoys the games. He said he's wearing a St. John shirt.

[Mario Maitland]

He's all in on St. John's hoodie. St. John's hat.

[Matt Jones]

He's all in credentialed. How does that work? I know you can't wear, like, team colors, team, like shirts on press row. So I did.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

Are they more relaxed on that now?

[Drew Franklin]

I'm a grown man. I don't need somebody to tell me what to wear.

[Matt Jones]

I thought they like that. They don't enforce that anymore.

[Mario Maitland]

They don't enforce it. It's just kind of a cardinal rule amongst journalists. You're not supposed to wear the colors of the team you're covering.

[Drew Franklin]

I don't even know where the journalism building is, so I'm gonna wear whatever I want to wear. But good luck to Matt. Hope he has fun tonight. We're missing him today. This segment, guys, is brought to us by the Kentucky Skin Cancer Center. Guys, it's that time of the year. Everyone checks their bracket and Ryan takes his shirt off. That means it's also time to check your skin. The Kentucky Skin Cancer center has locations all over the state. Owensboro, Bowling Green, Franklin, Glasgow and Powderly, Kentucky. The Kentucky Skin Cancer center is here to take care of you. You can take care of your bracket, and our dermatologist will take care of your skin. Make an appointment today. It's easy. Skin cancer can be tricky to spot. To ease your mind and take care of your skin, make an appointment by calling 270-842-1999 or visit Kentuckyskincancer.com gotta shout out Dustin here. He's from Knoxville wearing Kentucky gear from head to toe. We've got some, some, some fans that have infiltrated enemy cities. He said he was on his way to Knoxville today and he heard that first segment was like, you know what I got?

[Mario Maitland]

That's a Great radio.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

I got to see this in person.

[Drew Franklin]

Well, I'm happy. Shannon confirmed during the break that he took that first segment and he drove and he threw it into the Ohio river and it'll be never be heard from again. So thank you.

[Matt Jones]

I think we're gonna play it on Christmas Eve, you know, like the best of show.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, let's. Let's not. But let's go to the phone lines real quick. I hear we have some people on there.

[Matt Jones]

You want to talk to Bob in Jamestown first or do you want to save them for later?

[Drew Franklin]

Listen, I'm a little different than Matt. I. I absolutely want to hear from Bob. Jamestown, that's who I. But that's who I hoped you'd say.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. All right, Bob, go ahead.

[Drew Franklin]

Hi, Bob.

[Ryan Lemon]

What is what you say? It looks like the wheels came out the big red machine yesterday and then they had that, I guess a little dust up there at the end of the game. They shut down the banks. Police got a little too rowdy. Fans just. I guess they couldn't handle that loss. Anyway, that Arkansas Arizona game, I thought maybe Cal would give up a better show of that. But anyway, my brackets still good with Arizona going on in the national championship. So we'll see what happens. And then we got a couple of derby prep races this weekend. We've got Arkansas Derby and Florida Derby. A friend of mine, you know, to get a horse in the Kentucky Derby you gotta have points. And I got a friend's got one and he's. It's called Steel. So we're hoping Steel gets in there and get another derby race.

[Drew Franklin]

All right, go, go steal. Well, who's in your final four with Arizona? Let's call out your bracket. You can't just flex you out. Arizona. What are your other three?

[Ryan Lemon]

Connecticut.

[Drew Franklin]

Okay, that's my title game. I got UConn. Arizona final game as well. All right, Bob. We're very like minded. It's almost like we're the same person. Thanks for calling in.

[Mario Maitland]

I don't know if you want to brag on that or.

[Drew Franklin]

I love Bob. I got don't have one single bad thing to say about Bob. I'm still jealous I didn't get to go on their trip to hear about the aliens in Ohio.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

Oh, that was bizarre. But you know, I'm hoping Steel has a better performance than KSR's horse. Was it last year when Simply Joking came in dead last in its heat.

[Mario Maitland]

I think it just finished.

[Matt Jones]

I forgot we're part owner of that horse.

[Drew Franklin]

Come on, guys, don't Hate where it's progress. We just got started. We're going to take a step forward this year. Wasn't our best run at last year at Churchill, but we're all right. We'll get back.

[Mario Maitland]

I checked up on Simply Joking. He was smoking a cigar, drinking a beer out in the pasture, just chilling out.

[Drew Franklin]

That sounds like good living. Good for him. Who's up next? Shannon.

[Matt Jones]

Let's go to Joe.

[Drew Franklin]

What's up, Joe?

[Ryan Lemon]

Thank you, Drew.

[Shannon]

Drew, I'm going to an Irish bar tonight and Louis will call Flanika's and I'll drink one for you and for the Irish. I'm Irish descent and I feel. I felt the pain when you were just talking about the. The big loss to the Czech Republic. So next year, Drew, my advice to you, you're not a jinx. You cut to our tailgate for the ball state games, a red lot. I'll bring some holy water. We'll get you. We'll baptize you and get that jinx out of you. And, and, and I guarantee it, you'll be an Irishman for life after we take care of you in the red lot. Now, here's my big point, Drew, and I mean this sincerely. And I'm not. I'm not making this up. Will Stein said one thing that I really took to heart. I'm 73 years old. I'm a longtime Kentucky football fan. He said that he's going to put his best players on special teams. Drew, I about started crying. I said this. This gentleman might have an idea how to win games in the sec. Especially when you play the schedule we go against. If you've got decent special teams and you get a few breaks on offensive defense along the way, you might have a chance to win six games next year. Now, here's my big point about Mark Stoops. If he'd have took special teams seriously last year, he might have beat Texas. But no, he had to punt the ball twice to that All American punt returner. You know what his response was? By not kicking the ball out of bounds or playing the ball out of bounds. I don't think my punter knows how to punt it out of bounds. Now, that's just one reason why Mark ain't here no more. When you make comments like that and go Wilstein. And I'm sincere about that. Special teams, if he takes them serious and puts his best players on there, we got a chance for six victories. Thanks a lot. Goodbye.

[Drew Franklin]

Thanks, Joe. Appreciate the call. Look forward to seeing the red lot. Look forward to Getting baptized by the Irish, even though I don't need it. I'll happily have a pint of Guinness with you soon. Special teams, we didn't love the way they were going at the end of the Mark Stoops era. I like that Willstown also says open to some Australian punting. If we want to keep doing that, go back to that. Well, another thing, Will Stein's doing that unique that I like, and it can sometimes be coaching speak, but he's literally not doing a depth chart. And it's not like the motivation thing. Like, they're just jumbling. You can have a walk on next to a future NFL player and they're truly seeing who can climb the depth chart this early in the spring.

[Mario Maitland]

Who's your best players? Man, you put them on the field. That's what he's got to do. So I just like his innovative thinking, you know, kind of modern football for coming back to life here at the uk.

[Drew Franklin]

That and I don't know if you saw they've been putting out these highlight clips. We love those this time, like, just show me your best plays.

[Mario Maitland]

Eat them up.

[Drew Franklin]

Brock Kaufman, little local, making some big plays. Had a big catch from Minchi yesterday on the latest highlight reels. So, you know, we know the Kaufmans and we like the local kid who came from Louisville. So good to see him making plays over at uk.

[Mario Maitland]

Won a state championship at Sare.

[Drew Franklin]

That's right.

[Mario Maitland]

Spent. Spent last season at Louisville. Actually played against Kentucky in the Kentucky Louisville game. Came back home. He's a guy that before he leaves here, he's gonna be on the field. There's no doubt about it.

[Drew Franklin]

Absolutely. I love seeing him make the big catch yesterday on the clip. They put out a lot of important

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

moments in the Stoops era when it comes to special teams. I think of a fake punt Missouri ran that kind of derailed the entire season. Yeah, I think it's a big kicks by Austin McGinnis that completely changed the way that you looked at Stoops. So I like the. The sentiment of having starters on special teams to Joe's point for just a second. When I was a kid, I used to go to Tampa Bay Bucks games, and I think they lost the first five games I was went to. And at that point, you can't help but think that you have an involvement of the game. Right. So people say, oh, I've been to these games and they always lose. I mean, you guys ever had that feeling, you just keep going and then you keep losing?

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, it's called A Titans fan have that feeling all the time.

[Mario Maitland]

Our record here watch parties at KS bar is not the greatest either. Although you finally changed that on the Otaga Santa Clara game.

[Drew Franklin]

That was amazing. Having everyone here for the bar for that one second with not so well. Billy, you mentioned the Bucks shout out. NFL Cover Zero. We've still been rolling out interviews from San Francisco because we still can't believe we were there. Billy and I put out a new one earlier this week. You know, we do like 10 minutes just off the cuff to set up the interview. But you don't have to say the number out loud, Billy. But the next morning I came in, you're like, do you want to know how many people listen to just us off the cuff with no plan there for 10 to 15 minutes? And I was quite alarmed by that number. So thank you for Cover zero listeners. And that's out right now. We got Denzel Ward was the most recent one, right?

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

Yes. And then we will have Eric Kendricks next week. We'll do this every week till the draft. I'm shocked how many of you listen. So a big thank you to everybody that does. And we hit the hard hitting stuff in these last two episodes. I think we talked about Donna Kelsey's

[Drew Franklin]

home renovations and she added some sconces to the bathroom. I think we have blacktop coming in next week. We'll update you that when we have the Eric Kendrick show. But I just wanted to thank our cover Cover zero listeners there.

[Mario Maitland]

Yeah, the draft is wide of mouth.

[DraftKings Sportsbook Announcer]

Three weeks.

[Mario Maitland]

I mean it's two weeks. It's coming up.

[Drew Franklin]

Coming up. We'll have a little bit of that too. But thanks again for what's tuned into that. It's kind of our quiet period, but we're still rolling out a few before we get into it.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

He doesn't have a Super bowl hat on. It may be the first time I've seen.

[Mario Maitland]

Oh, you're right about the same of you.

[Drew Franklin]

You're rocking the dad hat. Yeah. A lot of dad energy around me. Last night I installed a car seat get out. This morning I'm driving on the way over here and I see it and I'm like, there's a car seat in my back seat that's there. It's all getting very real in the Franklin house.

[Mario Maitland]

Welcome to fatherhood, young Drew Franklin.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, I hope that's in there. Good. I was giving a little shake. We might need to tighten that thing up. Yeah, it's getting really.

[Mario Maitland]

Gotta have an engineering degree, I think, to put those things incorrectly. Don't you?

[Drew Franklin]

Well, I have YouTube. It was pretty good. There's a nice lady on there showing me how to do it.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

You got a crib or a high chair?

[Drew Franklin]

I got it all. I got. I think I feel like Noah's ark. I got two of everything. It's piled up. But it's exciting times around here. It's also exciting times around Kentucky basketball. I don't want to. I'm not saying like commitment watch, but things went well with Mason Williams, who just visited. Mo Williams kid, He visited campus the last two days, ended up yesterday. He's ranked outside the top 100, but his shooting numbers are incredible. It's a little small 62160, but it looks like things are going well in Kentucky recruiting him, I know there's people have been up in arms about how we're, you know, he's outside the top 100. But this is a. This is a project here. He's not going to hand him the keys to the car next season, but that could be. We could finally have a recruit in Mark Pope's class coming up as that visit wrapped up yesterday. We'll see. I'm not. I don't have any scoop, but I just.

[Shannon]

Jack.

[Drew Franklin]

Everyone reported that the visit went well and we're kind of on high alert in case that does happen soon.

[Mario Maitland]

My takeaway is any recruit is better than zero recruits.

[Drew Franklin]

Exactly.

[Mario Maitland]

And Pope likes to play a lot of players. Needs a little bench. This guy, if this guy can come in and be a good bench player, by all means, bring him in.

[Ryan Lemon]

Yeah.

[Drew Franklin]

We can't say, we can't complain about point guard depth. And then when Pope goes out and recruits someone to be a depth piece, I don't think that's true. So it'd be exciting to get just a body in there. He did commit to his dad. Mo Williams is the coach at Jackson State. Cavs legend Mo Williams decommitted from them. And now considering Kentucky, I, I'm for it. I hope it happens. You know, it's not like said, outside 100 is not something, you know, we're gonna have a parade for, but it's. You got to have these guys. How many times do we see a junior senior in college basketball and they're a three star recruiter, whatever. And they just took time to develop. That's what he'll be. And I think he can do it.

[Mario Maitland]

So I guess is that gonna be a little awkward at the Easter brunch table? Dad sitting across the table and you just committed to dad and like dad I don't want to play for you. I'll play for somebody else. Could be a little awkward for him.

[Drew Franklin]

Listen, if it were me, Mo Williams is very close to LeBron James. I mean, he played in an All Star Game and won a championship because of LeBron. I'm like, hey, Mo, you want to come on over your job? You want to bring LeBron? You want to get us some juice back going around here? I don't think that's the plan, but Mason Williams is a name to watch there now.

[Mario Maitland]

What about the story that was talking about Jamal Crawford? They. Are they talking to him or is that.

[Drew Franklin]

I would love that. And I, I. It seems unlikely to me that Jamal Crawford would do that. He just started on NBA on NBC, the new coverage. He's a Seattle guy, lives in Seattle. He's coaching his son's high school team out there. His son's like, class of 20, 29. It's definitely being rumored. And there's a photo of Pope talking to Jamal Crawford. I think it was the Peach Jam last year. I would love it. I just, I think I would be surprised if Jamal Crawford would do that. I'm just trying to put myself in his shoes. Dude made a hundred million dollars. He's a West coast guy and just got hired to sit next to Grant Hill on NBA on NBC to leave all that to go recruit for Kentucky. I don't know. I don't know if he'd do that, but it would be awesome to add Jamal Crawford to the, to the staff.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

Well, the Internet sleuths were out yesterday. It was like he liked an Instagram comment that said, hey, maybe come be an assistant at Kentucky. So, I mean, we're in full off season now as we try to pick apart the pieces here and there. Doesn't his son play with Tyron Stokes? Like, yes, part of it.

[Comedy Off Broadway Announcer]

Yeah.

[Drew Franklin]

He's an assistant coach of that Rainier High School, so.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

Yeah.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, there's the Tyrone Stokes connection, too. Listen, I'm not trying to poo poo the idea here. It would be awesome to have Jamal Crawford. If you watch his YouTube videos, he looks like the greatest basketball player of all time. He won six man of the year, like, every single year. It's that connection. We want to get back to the NBA. Everyone knows Jamal Crawford. I think that'd be huge if he's willing to do it. I don't even know how serious they're considering it, but the Internet wants it pretty bad. If you read anything on the last

[Mario Maitland]

24 hours, it definitely checks all the boxes. And if that is a way you can do a package deal with him and Stokes, we'll have our own parade downtown then.

[Drew Franklin]

And before we go to the break, you all touched on this yesterday. I don't remember how much you got into it, but Kentucky hired a dorm that's the director of roster management. I'm calling it the Dorm. The Dorm. Yeah. Brown made that higher.

[Mario Maitland]

The Dorm.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Drew Franklin]

You and Matt were at Cincinnati when it came out. Did you all get it? Get into the weeds of what he.

[Mario Maitland]

No, just. Just mentioned it. You know, the hires officially we talked about a couple weeks ago. We said they made it official. And so, so I asked him and said, is this as close as Mark's going to get to calling him a gm, Calling him a dorm?

[Drew Franklin]

I still, I mean, Pope said there's still front office moves ahead. I think Keegan Brown might be acting as a GM right now as they still fill that role. But he's, he's more analytical, spreadsheet that kind of guy. He was a big part in Jackson Robinson's development at byu. He believed in him and kind of convinced Pope on that. Ali Khalifa, who almost followed Pope from byu, ended up at Louisville. I mean, that was a guy I don't think anyone thought highly of in recruiting. And Keegan Brown saw something and got that going. So he was a big part of Pope's offense when it was working at byu and also kind of helped build the Pope's first Kentucky class, even though he didn't end up with a job here. So I, so I like the hire. I don't know who else we could get for our dorm, Billy. I'm calling it a dorm. Just get used to it. But I hope there's still a GM move with some NBA ties ahead.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

I wonder what the hesitant hesitancy is of calling him a gm. I don't know if it's what there is there, but this is the right time to announce that hire.

[Drew Franklin]

Right.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

This is when you need somebody to help Mark at the closing table. If you believe the reporting from the great website of Kentuckysportsradio.com I do. It's something that Mark Pope maybe isn't the best at. So this is. I think it's unfair to ask these high level head coaches to be very good GMs at the same time. Even though recruiting is a big aspect of it, it's just a different landscape right now. So I, I'm hopeful and positive that he can bring in the right guys.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, I like the move. Let's get to work. Get this class going. We want to hear from you all on the Clark's Puppet shop phone line. 859-280-2287. Drew Franklin here with Ryan Lemon, Billy Rutledge and Shannon's in the studio. We'll be right back. This is KSR.

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[Drew Franklin]

Welcome back to KSR. Drew Franklin filling in For Matt Jones with Ryan Lemon, Shannon the dude and Billy Rutled. This segment is brought to you by Court Physical Therapy. BBN Spring has sprung and that means you might be getting outside more, whether that's doing yard work or staying active by biking or running. For most people, increased physical activity when the weather gets warmer can lead to aches, pains, and injury. That's where Court physical therapy can help. At Court, our therapists know what it takes to help you heal and get back to the things you enjoy, while also helping you prevent future injuries from happening. With over 70 locations statewide, it's easy to find a center near you. Go to kort.com to experience the best in rehab. Let's go to the phone line. Shannon. I hear we got a lot of people that want to talk to this. These, these big minds that have all the knowledge here.

[Mario Maitland]

I'm sitting with mine.

[Matt Jones]

Knuckleheads. Matt's up next. What's up, Matt?

[Drew Franklin]

Hello, Matt.

[Ryan Lemon]

Hey, guys. Watched the sweet sixteen last night. It's bittersweet watching Iowa win. All of my in laws are Iowa fans, so I'm hearing it. But it seems like Iowa in basketball and football play a better version of what Kentucky has been playing. And that's all I got.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, that's an unfortunate truth right now. I think there's a lot of states that are doing a little better than us right now. That's okay. We're gonna be back. We're not gonna have any negative energy on this show. I said this yesterday on another show. I want to have fun. We've done a lot of complaining. If you all see me taking a turn towards negative town, just yell at me. We'll get where we need to be. But we're gonna. It's Friday. We're gonna have fun. But yes, Iowa and Iowa State are still in the tournament.

[Mario Maitland]

I have to admit. You know, a guy up there at University of Iowa gave us a tour of their facilities. Kind of got us, you know, the training room, locker room, on the court, shoot, shot some shots on the court. I kind of become a little bit of an Iowa fan because of that. If I got to pick somebody last night, I'm not going to pick Nebraska. I'm going to pick Iowa. So I'm kind of happy they won last night.

[Drew Franklin]

I was for him.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

I kind of like their coach. Have you mentioned him yet?

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, we talked about a little bit. And share your thoughts.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

Well, his hair is wonderful. You know, holding on to what he's got left.

[Drew Franklin]

What's there.

[Ryan Lemon]

Yeah.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

And you know, he just Seems like a fiery guy. He broke the whiteboard and the marker.

[Drew Franklin]

Yesterday.

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

The Iowa guys was talking about that. I love that move. I think Mark Pope tried that once or twice. If Will Stein's offense looks like Iowa football, we got probably problems. So hopefully that's behind us.

[Drew Franklin]

That's true. Hopefully we're the opposite of Mark Stoops

[Tyler Reddick / Ryan Seacrest]

Ball doesn't look anything like. Or Mark sweeps ball did look like Iowa in the past. Hopefully we've moved on from that.

[Drew Franklin]

Yeah, Shannon, who's next?

[Matt Jones]

Let's go to Mark.

[Drew Franklin]

Hello, Mark.

[Ryan Lemon]

Hey, what's going on, guys?

[Drew Franklin]

A great radio show is going on.

[Ryan Lemon]

Most definitely is today. I got a question for you. Foul. Now that Arkansas's lost, can we stop this up? Obsession with all things Cal in Arkansas? I had some grown men yesterday celebrating like it was April 2012. I mean, it was unbelievable. It's kind of like

[Drew Franklin]

we're looking at

[Ryan Lemon]

the speck of dust in Arkansas's eye and ignoring the boulder that's in our eye. I mean, everybody's gone their separate ways.

[Drew Franklin]

I think it.

[Ryan Lemon]

Well, I think hopefully it will turn out best for us in the long run. But it's just like, you know, this obsession is unbelievable. Kyle's got money down there.

[Shannon]

He's got.

[Ryan Lemon]

He's got the best point guard in

[Shannon]

the country coming in for him next year with highly.

[Ryan Lemon]

More highly ranked than Acuff. I mean, these guys.

[Drew Franklin]

I mean, why are we worried about that?

[Ryan Lemon]

We only have recruits right now.

[Drew Franklin]

I completely agree. Excited Arizona. Once we could put that behind us, I did think it was funny. The announcers were like, Cal got him to back to back sweet 16s. I was thinking they just had back to back elite eights before they hired him. They've gone like elite eight. Elite eight, sweet 16. Then they missed it. Then sweet 16. Sweet 16. So the way they were celebrating getting back to the sweet 16, I'm like, did you all forget Musselman had you knocking on the final four back to back years? So there's been a lot of rewriting history in these debates lately. But we'll put that Calipari conversation to bed. We got a preview. Tonight's games. Kentucky women play tomorrow.

[Mario Maitland]

They do.

[Drew Franklin]

This is ksr. We'll be right back after this break.

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[Drew Franklin]

That it's here.

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