2026-04-30- KSR - Hour 1

Summary

Kentucky Sports Radio – Hour 1 (April 30, 2026)

Host: Matt Jones
Panel: Shannon, Lynn
Location: KS Bar and Grill, Lexington, KY
Podcast: KSR (iHeartPodcasts and Sports Talk 790 WKRD-AM)
Original Air Date: April 30, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of Kentucky Sports Radio offers a wide-ranging discussion about Kentucky basketball's ongoing roster rebuild, the changing nature of Derby week, some reflections on departed country singer David Allan Coe, a look at John Wall’s move into college coaching, and a spirited debate about Kentucky athletics leadership. The hosts blend inside scoops with classic KSR banter, providing loyal listeners news, context, and some laughs.

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Key Discussion Segments

1. Derby Week, ‘Thurby,’ and Changing Traditions

Timestamps: 02:08–07:30

• The crew opens by discussing “Thurby,” Churchill Downs’ relatively new Derby Week Thursday event, and reminisces about how Derby Week has expanded (“They just keep adding days... They’re going to have people from Louisville come in February.” – Shannon, 02:36).
• Complaints and jokes about the commercialization of Derby Week (higher costs, stricter exclusivity).
• Conversation about the unusual prime-time scheduling for the Kentucky Oaks (now starting at 8:45pm).
  • “For the first time in its history, the Oaks is going to be on regular NBC prime time.” – Shannon, 03:56
• Local businesses and restaurants unhappy with late scheduling (“It’s ruined a lot of the parties in Louisville... A lot of parties have shut down.” – Shannon, 04:24)
• Reflection on the reasons for switching big events (like the Derby) to primetime for better TV ratings, including a tangent about NFL and NCAA scheduling strategy.

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2. KSR Bowling League Update

Timestamps: 07:33–09:31

• Matt and the gang share news that the KSR bowling league is back with 30 teams, the most since its first year.
• Fun banter about serious and less-serious competitors.
  • “Billy is the most competitive person. Billy’s more competitive than me!” – Shannon, 08:15
• The Midway College bowling team, spinoffs like “Betty Boop Too,” and an open invite for more teams.

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3. Kentucky Basketball: Transfer Portal & Roster Analysis

Timestamps: 09:31–23:02

New Player: Justin McBride

• Comes from James Madison (played at Oklahoma State prior).
  • “6’8”, can shoot a little from outside. Was a pretty good player for James Madison – probably will fight with [Adou] Njai to start.” – Shannon, 10:00
• Shoots 41% from three as a big:
  • “He’s kind of the Mohamed Diabate role, but he shoots... probably not as good a defender as Diabat[é].” – Lynn/Shannon, 10:53–10:57

New Player: Drawn (Jerome) Morton

• Lexington native, state championship with George Rogers Clark.
  • “He was the best player on their state championship team. Probably the best player in the state that year.” – Lynn, 11:21
• Morehead State transfer, started at Washington State last year.
  • “Good defender... not gonna be a starter, but could help coming off the bench, eighth or ninth man.” – Lynn, 12:17

Transfer Pipeline & Pope’s Current Focus

• Matt and the crew discuss the need for continued recruiting (“We’re a star away... I still think we need a couple guys”).
• Mark Pope’s recruitment trip to Israel to see Brazilian forward Marcio Santos, who plays for Maccabi Tel Aviv in the EuroLeague (“the second best league in the world behind the NBA” – Shannon, 13:04).
  • “If you can score 8 points in the EuroLeague, you can score 8 points in college basketball.” – Shannon, 17:46
  • Amusement and mock outrage at the Israeli basketball blogger’s description of Kentucky as a “very desperate university.” (“I didn’t like... the ‘very desperate university’” – Matt, 15:47 / 16:06)

Concerns Over International Recruiting

• Regret and humor about potentially losing another recruit to BYU, despite Pope’s international scouting trip.
  • “If we lose another kid to BYU... and they recruited via Zoom and we flew there...” – Shannon, 19:04

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4. David Allan Coe’s Passing and Country Music Reflection

Timestamps: 23:17–28:00

• News of country artist David Allan Coe’s death is shared (“He died last night.” – Shannon, 23:22)
• Classic country favorites, with a focus on karaoke-bar staples.
• Matt and the crew recall some of Coe’s problematic past while celebrating his musical impact:
  • “When people die, you try to remember the best parts of it... Very underrated amount of music for a big time country singer.” – Shannon, 25:36 / 25:39

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5. John Wall Joins College Coaching Ranks

Timestamps: 26:31–29:35

• John Wall has been hired as Director of Basketball Operations at Howard University.
• KSR team is happy for Wall, debates if/when/how he might return to Kentucky’s staff.
  • “John Wall is going to have that [cultural] impact for a long time.” – Shannon, 28:29
  • “John Wall is a cultural college basketball icon. His cultural impact is as big as what his basketball was.” – Shannon, 28:29

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6. Caller Segment: Is Mark Pope Getting a Fair Shake?

Timestamps: 30:22–36:27

• A caller blames Kentucky’s recruiting woes and coaching hire on Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart. Matt Jones pushes back:
  • “[Barnhart] was told by the President’s office he couldn’t hire Bruce Pearl. There was nothing he could do about that.” – Shannon, 32:14
• Matt provides detailed context about coaching search constraints:
  • “If your president tells you... You’re going to hire somebody with nothing [meaning: no NCAA baggage or ongoing controversies].” – Shannon, 36:04
  • Discussion of timing with the university’s swimming scandal making a controversial hire impossible.

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7. Coaching Search Redux and Transfer Market Realities

Timestamps: 41:07–46:13

• Further discussion (in response to a listener text) about “hot” young coaches, why some were not realistic for the last UK search.
  • “It’s easy to say in hindsight... But if they had introduced, if they had brought in TJ Otzelberger... I don’t know how excited people would have been.” – Shannon, 42:50

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Derby Week:
  • “They just keep adding days. They’re going to have people from Louisville have to come in February.” – Shannon, 02:36
• On TV Scheduling for Sports:
  • “More people are watching a major sporting event [on] Sunday at 8 o’clock... That’s why 60 Minutes has always been rated so well, because it comes on right there.” – Shannon, 07:21
• On International Recruiting & Kentucky’s Situation:
  • “He is set to receive a particularly tempting offer from a very desperate university.” – Israeli basketball writer via translation, read by Shannon (15:33)
  • “If we lose another kid to BYU... and they recruited via Zoom and we flew there...” – Shannon, 19:04
• On David Allan Coe’s Music:
  • “This has got to be one of the most famous country songs of all time.” – Shannon, 23:42
  • “When people die, you try to remember the best parts of it.” – Shannon, 25:37
• On John Wall’s Influence:
  • “John Wall is going to have... a cultural impact as big as what his basketball was.” – Shannon, 28:29
• Caller Critiques the AD:
  • “Let’s look back at some of [Barnhart's] highlights: hiring Joker Phillips... the [Billy] Gillispie hire... the 36 million dollar Stoops buyout.” – Caller, 30:44
• On Coaching Search Limitations:
  • “If your president tells you... You’re going to hire somebody with nothing.” – Shannon, 36:04

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Segment Timestamps

| Time | Topic | |---------|------------------------------------------------------------| | 00:36 | Show Introduction / Derby Week expands | | 02:08 | ‘Thurby’ and Derby scheduling changes | | 03:56 | Kentucky Oaks moves to primetime TV | | 07:33 | KSR Bowling League update | | 09:31 | Basketball transfer portal, Justin McBride, Jerome Morton | | 13:04 | Mark Pope’s Israel trip & EuroLeague explained | | 15:33 | “Very desperate university” joke via Israeli sports media | | 19:04 | Recruiting competition - “If we lose another kid to BYU...”| | 23:17 | David Allan Coe dies, country music segment | | 26:31 | John Wall takes Howard University job | | 30:22 | Caller rants about Barnhart & search limitations clarified | | 36:27 | Break / Ads / Podcast plugs | | 41:07 | More on coaching search, transfer market | | 46:13 | Closing and tease for football talk in hour 2 |

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Tone & Style

• Informal, lively, humorous with moments of serious inside reporting on Kentucky sports.
• Banter between the hosts as they mix nostalgia, knowledge and strong opinions.
• Call-ins provide unfiltered fan perspective met with measured counterpoints by Matt Jones.

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Conclusion

This KSR episode dives deep into the present and future of Kentucky basketball, probes big changes in Derby tradition, and blends a distinct mix of music nostalgia and sports news. The frank, sometimes irreverent, banter provides essential perspective for any UK fan wondering about the ups, downs, and what-comes-next for both Wildcats basketball and Lexington culture.

Transcript

[Announcer]

Known for his crowd work comedy off Broadway in Lexington welcomes club favorite Ian Bagg. April 9th through the 11th. Then from Saturday Night Live and the hit TV show DMV, catch Tim Meadows April 16th through the 18th. And from Netflix and social media, catch Amber Autry May 1st and 2nd. For tickets to all Comedy Off Broadway shows, call 859-271-joke or visit comedyoff broadway.com comedy off broadway.

[Matt Jones]

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

[Shannon]

Welcome everyone. Kentucky Sports Radio Thursday, April 30, the 1/3 moment of 2026. We are a third of the way through 2026, which is crazy, but it is. It's a nice day here in Lexington. We're at the KS bar and grill. Come on out and have lunch and say hello. It's just us today. You can come and, you know, have chicken or burgers. And Clark's pumping shop phone line 859-2802. A Vision Auto Glass text machine is 772-774-5254. In this edition sponsored by the TJ Smith Law Office. If you call TJ, he'll make them pay. We got a delivery here from. You think can we say.

[Lynn]

I think we can say who it's from. Yeah.

[Shannon]

Brett Setzer.

[Lynn]

Yes.

[Shannon]

Who of course wrote the letter about the. The Barnhart thing he sent us. He has had made with the power K knucklehead shirts. And then if you're gonna take a picture, Mario. And then the old school UK logo

[Lynn]

that's from a different guy.

[Shannon]

Oh, well, whatever. They're both great and I actually really like it. Look at, look at these hat. Look at this hat and hoodie. I'm a big fan.

[Lynn]

The power K knucklehead hat snapback is awesome. And then the old school logo on the hoodies is perfect.

[Shannon]

I don't know if Brett's gonna get a cease and desist on this power K but nevertheless, this is a quite a gift. So I like both those. I will probably wear both of those at some point.

[Lynn]

Yeah. Christmas morning when you came in here on on therapy. That's your gift for Theraby today.

[Shannon]

So today is therapy. Excited about therapy?

[Lynn]

Well, I'm not. I'm not. But Shannon I know is really excited

[Matt Jones]

about least creative dumb name of all time.

[Shannon]

Why Thursday of the derby.

[Matt Jones]

It's so dumb.

[Shannon]

I actually don't mind were the people

[Matt Jones]

that came up with that name.

[Shannon]

I don't mind.

[Matt Jones]

Hold on a minute now. You used to hate.

[Shannon]

Well, I think I hate therapy. I think I used to hate therapy. My hate has now gone to 5o Tuesday.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, well, that's because they're being.

[Shannon]

Because they just keep adding days. What did they call yesterday?

[Lynn]

Wednesday. W I n Wednesday.

[Shannon]

That one's bad too. They, I mean, you got. I will say you got to give Churchill Downs credit. They found a way to take a week worth of people.

[Lynn]

Yes.

[Shannon]

And they just push the average Louisville person further and further away. They're going to start having people from Louisville. They're going to have to come in February because they, you know, it used to be. When I first moved to Louisville 20 years ago, Oaks Day was Louisville.

[Lynn]

That was Louisville's day at the Derby.

[Shannon]

And then Thursday, Thirby.

[Lynn]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

And then they pushed them back to Wednesday and now it's five all the way to Tuesday.

[Lynn]

Spread it out. Make more money. Get more people at the track.

[Shannon]

Yeah, very. They're very, they're very money hungry there. But I'm going to Oaks tomorrow and we're excited about that.

[Lynn]

The Oaks at night.

[Shannon]

Yeah. I don't know about that. That's going to be crazy. I mean, the whole day doesn't even start till 1 o'.

[Lynn]

Clock seven, the first race.

[Shannon]

Race at 1 o' clock and the Oaks is at 8:45. That's. I mean, that's wild. I'm trying to think. I don't know if I've ever. I don't know if I've ever been to the track at night. I guess the one year they did the. They did the Breeders cup in Lexington, the American Pharaoh year. I think that race kind of started at night, but I don't know how much I've ever been at night.

[Lynn]

I guess is the theory is you weren't on prime time for the tv.

[Shannon]

No, I mean it's going to be on for the first time in its history, the Oaks is going to be on regular NBC prime time. Prime time. They've never, it's never been on network television. It's always been on like Peacock or NBC Sports Network. It's going to be on regular NBC.

[Lynn]

So I guess the Louisville restaurants and places of business, they're upset. They're upset about it.

[Shannon]

They're very upset. As they should be.

[Lynn]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

Because that's going to hurt. I mean, Oaks Night was probably their biggest night. Sure. Much even bigger than the Derby because people are tired after the Derby.

[Lynn]

Derby. After that you go home, go to bed.

[Shannon]

So now I think they're trying to make their money with lunch tomorrow. They're trying to make. Before you go to the track. Yeah, lunch. So, I mean, that's a lot too when you consider how late Oaks will go in for people who try to do both. You know, the parties, it's. It's ruined a lot of the parties in Louisville. A lot of parties are. Have, have, have shut down.

[Lynn]

Friday night parties. Barns Brown. Barnstable Party and thing like that.

[Shannon]

Barnstable Brown.

[Lynn]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

Third time's a charm. The Sports Illustrated party decided to go lighter. So that's the one that's the big

[Lynn]

one this year, right?

[Shannon]

Some. There's some DJ playing. Is there a DJ named Tsto? Is that a person? Well, there's a DJ named something that starts with a T that's playing. I saw. He's apparently a thing.

[Lynn]

So you're kind of our horse racing expert.

[Shannon]

Haven't looked at it yet. Haven't looked at it yet. Going to try to have UT Big Hair on here tomorrow.

[Lynn]

Oh yeah.

[Shannon]

He's never gotten one right.

[Lynn]

Not one. Kentucky Joe does a better job than Kentucky Big Hair.

[Shannon]

UT Big Hair. Okay. He. Yeah, he's not done a good job. I seven last nine derbies.

[Lynn]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

Hit the try. Which has got to be a record. Nobody else in the country.

[Lynn]

Do you have your Derby picks already?

[Shannon]

I haven't looked at.

[Lynn]

Okay.

[Shannon]

I'm going to spend some time tonight kind of going through it and then my official ones I won't release till that afternoon because you have to have some. You got to get the. Get the buzz.

[Lynn]

So is the time coming that the Derby is also going to move tonight on Saturday?

[Shannon]

Just my guess. This is a test to get ready for that. My guess is they're going to see how this goes with the Oaks. And then eventually I think, you know, it was interesting. I saw a lot of TV executives talking about what were the best times, if you just want to maximize audience, the best times to have events. And they said that they have determined. Would you like to Nate you2 guess day of the week and time that gets the highest audience for a sporting event.

[Lynn]

Wow.

[Shannon]

What do you all think? Day of the week? If you. So new TV executives were like, if I could pick the day of the week and the time that I would want a sporting event to run, I would choose this.

[Lynn]

I would say Saturday. No, I'm gonna say Sunday at 8 o'. Clock.

[Shannon]

Sunday at 8 o'. Clock. What about you? Shit.

[Matt Jones]

Saturday at 7:30.

[Shannon]

That would have been my thought. Saturday, prime time. Sunday, 5:30, 5:00'. Clock. Something like that. They say more people are watching a major sporting event and if you think about it Think about all the stuff that plays there. Usually the biggest NCAA tournament game is during that time, you know, in the Elite Eight or whatever. NFL games. Of course, usually the big NFL game of the day is at that time. Golf tournaments end at that time, right?

[Lynn]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

So they say that that's when. That. Now that's not going to happen with the derby. But people think everything needs to be at, like, 8, 9. Really. They like that slot where it's not too late for the west coast. Nights just starting. And on a Sunday night, nobody's out doing stuff. They've gone home.

[Lynn]

Yeah. Families are home.

[Shannon]

Families have gone home.

[Lynn]

Getting ready to start.

[Shannon]

Start the work week. Start. Exactly. And that's. That's the time. That's why. That's why 60 Minutes has always been rated so well, because it comes on right there.

[Lynn]

Perfect timing. Yeah. For families to be at home, watch tv, gather tv.

[Shannon]

I don't know how we got off on that, but last night, by the way, KSR bowling league started.

[Lynn]

Oh, how'd that go?

[Shannon]

It's great. A lot of fun.

[Lynn]

How many teams?

[Shannon]

30 teams. They're still. You can still sign up for next week. So they have 36 lanes. So there are six lanes that you could get. So six teams that could join, but we had 30. That's the most we've had since the first year. Wide range of skills. People that are good. People who bring their own balls.

[Lynn]

Oh, yeah. People shoes.

[Shannon]

Yeah. I'm amazed how many people have their own balls, Shannon. Like. Like the people who like their bowling, they have their own balls.

[Matt Jones]

I'm not good, but I've got my own ball.

[Shannon]

You have your own bowl?

[Matt Jones]

I didn't buy it. It was like my grandfather's, and I didn't want to throw it away. So I'm like, I'll just keep this. If I go bowling, I'll just.

[Shannon]

Hang on. I use the regular ones. I really enjoy. I like beating Billy. Billy is the most competitive person. Billy's more competitive than me, like, and Billy really wants to beat me.

[Lynn]

That's it. I think he's really competitive with you.

[Shannon]

He wants to beat me. He also wants to beat Shannon, but he really wants to beat me. And so I like to get up there, half try, throw a strike, and then look at it. And that's what I enjoyed. That's my favorite part.

[Matt Jones]

Where did you bowl last night?

[Lynn]

Did you.

[Shannon]

I was talking. I. I was introducing my. Like, saying hi to everybody. So I just would throw. I threw like six or seven different lanes or whatever, and I probably had Four or five strikes out of it and it was dry. Every one of them would drive me crazy.

[Lynn]

That's awesome though. We got 30 teams because it is a fun event for the summer out there at Southland Bowling. Lane. Colin Lane.

[Shannon]

I didn't know Midway has bowling team. There was the Midway College bowling team. Your team, the Betty Boops is in it every year. Been in it so long they have a, they have a spin off team. They do, yeah. They have Betty Boop too. There were a bunch of like college age team. It's a lot of fun. So anyway you, you still got ksr bowling.com if you want to join there because you get one week that you can miss. I think I got you. So you could have missed the first one and joining.

[Lynn]

Very good.

[Shannon]

So 859-280-2287 so let's talk a little, a little basketball here for a second. All right. So everybody's been including me yesterday. I'm not going to act like I'm above it. We've all been kind of like with this recruiting cycle but we are like we are getting players and this is going to be our team next year.

[Lynn]

Right.

[Shannon]

So we need that. We need to learn about these guys and you know, celebrate what we do have. I still think we need a couple guys. I think it's actually very important we get a couple guys or we're going to be not great. But the guys we have, you know, we need to learn. So we got. So we didn't get to talk a lot about yesterday. We got Justin McBride right from James Madison. That was the guy you eyeballed, the googly eyes, 6, 8, can shoot a little bit from outside. Was a pretty good player for James Madison. Probably will fight with the Njai kid to start, I would say. I don't know which one of them will win that fight. What do you think of that guy?

[Lynn]

Yeah, he was at Oklahoma State. I know for a year.

[Shannon]

Yeah. There was a game where Brandon Garrison and McBride played against Oway in an Oklahoma, Oklahoma State.

[Lynn]

I didn't know that.

[Shannon]

Little connection isn't that interesting.

[Lynn]

But this guy, yeah, he's shot 41% from threes last year as a 6, 8, 69 guy. Kind of a big butt bruiser type guy. Kind of the Muhammad Diabate role.

[Shannon]

Shoots.

[Lynn]

But he shoots.

[Shannon]

He's like Diabate.

[Lynn]

If he could shoot, that's it.

[Shannon]

But probably not as good a defender as Diabot.

[Lynn]

Probably not. So. So you know, I like the addition of him. Then he, they needed some, some, some girth down There in the paint.

[Shannon]

Yes. So that's. That's an addition. Then yesterday they announced Jerome Morton. Now, he played, if I'm correct, at George Rogers Clark in Winchester.

[Lynn]

He goes to Drawn Jaron. Drawn more.

[Shannon]

Okay.

[Lynn]

Played at grc. He was the best player on their state championship team. Probably the best player in the state that year.

[Shannon]

So. So why don't I know more about this kid? If he was the best player on a state championship team, what happened? How did he end up at Wash. Morehead and then Washington State?

[Lynn]

Yeah. Committed to Morehead, out of GRC. Played there for two years. Didn't play a lot, but played there for two years. Went to Washington State and started like 30 games last year for Washington State. Kind of really blocked.

[Shannon]

Only average eight points a game.

[Lynn]

Yeah. Good defender. He can do some things for you.

[Shannon]

Do you think he's. Is he a point guard?

[Lynn]

No, he's more of a two, three. Yeah.

[Shannon]

So he's going to back up probably our two guards?

[Lynn]

I think so. He, you know, he's a Lexington kid. He grew up here, went to middle school, Windburn Middle School. Then he ended up going to high school at grc. I mean, he's. He's got the Kentucky roots, so I know he's probably good enough.

[Shannon]

In your opinion, you know, you've seen him a long time. Is he good enough to help?

[Lynn]

Definitely help. Not. Not gonna be a starter, but he definitely could help you coming off the bench.

[Shannon]

So you think he can be eighth, ninth man?

[Lynn]

Absolutely. And be a good eighth or ninth man.

[Shannon]

Okay. All right. Well, you need that.

[Lynn]

Oh, yeah.

[Shannon]

So I. So I still feel like we're a star away then Pope. We learned right after the show yesterday. Did we learn it before or after the show? My mind goes. I knew about it a couple. I knew about it in the morning. But when did Jacob put it out

[Lynn]

there that he was flying.

[Shannon]

Going to Israel?

[Lynn]

I think we knew he was flying there yesterday, so we did mention.

[Shannon]

Okay, so he flew to Israel. That's a long flight.

[Lynn]

What is it, 14 hours?

[Shannon]

I don't think it's that long, but it's a long flight. And he goes and immediately goes to a game. It was great following Pope in Israel through the Jewish basketball accounts from Israel. I did not know there was a website, Shannon, called sportsrabbi.com.

[Matt Jones]

i didn't either.

[Lynn]

Rabbi yesterday.

[Shannon]

That's how I was following Pope's visit is rabbi.com. and I was following how things were going. He went to see Marcio Santos. That's a guy from Brazil. That's right. We did talk about that, about the. Him being from Brazil. Now people need. I do. Whatever this kid ends up, whether he ends up coming here or being good or not, I do think people, like, people need to understand at least what they're talking about, because sometimes people are like, he's over there playing in a junior pro league. No, he's not. This kid is playing in the Euro Super League. And so people that know the Euro Super League is the second best league in the world behind the NBA. The Euro Super League is better than college.

[Lynn]

That's the league he plays in.

[Shannon]

Yes. So the Euro Super League is. They take, like, the 14 or 16 best teams in all of Europe and they play against each other. And this school he plays at or this team he plays for, Maccabi Tel Aviv, they're in that league. So, like Barcelona and all those. That's who they play against. So this is not even a domestically. The kid we got from Italy, he's playing in a domestically.

[Lynn]

Okay.

[Shannon]

This guy's playing in the equivalent of your soccer fan, the Champions League.

[Lynn]

So the. Some of the best players in Europe.

[Shannon]

The best players in Europe are in that league. Okay. Everybody you know that plays in the. That comes to the NBA that ends up good, they played in this league. All right, Luca. And all those, like, they played in this league.

[Lynn]

Gotcha.

[Shannon]

So he is a bit. He's a reserve on that league. But that league is better than the sec. So just so people know.

[Lynn]

Sure.

[Shannon]

Some of these other leagues maybe aren't. That league is. So he played Pope flies over there. Not the best game. Shannon. He scores zero points all the way. So he's probably a little bit nervous. Right. He flies all the way there, and then he scores zero points.

[Lynn]

Can you put yourself in Pope shoes for a minute? I just flew 14 hours to watch this dude that didn't score a single point.

[Shannon]

Now, the Drawer Fisher. Drawer Fisher is a. He follows Israeli basketball, and he became a Kentucky, like, icon yesterday. It's because we were reading his reports.

[Lynn]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

This was translated from Hebrew. So he wrote this in Hebrew, and it was then translated to English.

[Lynn]

Okay.

[Shannon]

Here's what he wrote. I'll wrap up the Avaja season. That's the team he plays for. The team. The team Santos, his team was playing, was playing against this guy's team.

[Lynn]

Okay.

[Shannon]

He says, I'll wrap up the season soon. But this is an event worth lingering on a bit. Santos will celebrate his 24th birthday in November and is set to receive a particularly tempting offer from a very desperate university.

[Matt Jones]

Oh, man.

[Shannon]

Why is he throwing shots if he can indeed play there? This will be the second player this season to make the transition from Euro League minutes to college. I didn't like Shannon. The very desperate universe. Yeah, I'm gonna hope that was Lost in Translation.

[Lynn]

I don't think it was. I think he threw us a couple shots right there.

[Matt Jones]

How about, you know, college basketball powerhouse Kentucky? No, desperate university.

[Shannon]

Very desperate.

[Lynn]

Very.

[Matt Jones]

Trying to find anybody to play.

[Shannon]

How does he even know that? I mean, he doesn't. How does he know? I mean, I'm not saying he's wrong.

[Matt Jones]

Maybe if you're willing to come this far to see this guy, you must be desperate.

[Shannon]

Oh, he's thinking, if you flew all the way over here.

[Lynn]

Yeah, 14 hours to watch this guy, you must be really.

[Matt Jones]

All the way over here for McDonald's.

[Lynn]

Really.

[Shannon]

For very, very desperate university.

[Lynn]

I don't like that. Him taking shots at it.

[Shannon]

I don't think it was a shot. I think he was just saying, like, there are other words you can use. That means the people there were saying.

[Lynn]

We're talking about it because.

[Shannon]

Because multiple people are tweeting about Mark Pope being at this game.

[Lynn]

I'm sure that was a big deal. A head coach at a major university.

[Shannon]

That's not what he said.

[Matt Jones]

Desperate.

[Lynn]

Very desperate. I don't like that. I don't like that at all.

[Shannon]

I don't love it. I didn't love it, but I don't think he meant anything by it.

[Lynn]

I think he did.

[Shannon]

Well, let me just say I've never seen this kid play, so I'm not gonna say he's good or not. He averaged like seven points a game for this. For this team, or eight points a game.

[Matt Jones]

He also looks to be about 47 to 48 years old.

[Shannon]

He looks like. He looks like he's been through the ringer.

[Matt Jones]

He's either thing or two.

[Shannon]

He does. He looks like he's been working down in. In Clay county at the moment. Like he looks like he's been through it. Yeah. But I'll say this. A guy that averages that in the Euroleague can play here. He can. Like, people act like that. Now, will he be great? I don't know. Will he start? I don't know. But that kid can play here. If you can score eight points in the Euro League, you can score eight points in college basketball. I mean, they were talking about the kid. Remember T.J. leaf that played at UCLA?

[Lynn]

Oh, yeah.

[Shannon]

That guy averaged 16 points a game at UCLA. He averages 8 points a game with this guy on his Team in the year. Like they have the same app.

[Lynn]

Okay.

[Shannon]

Just so you get a sense of what you're talking about. So this is not, these are not the Euro League. The Euro Super League is the best league outside of the NBA. So I just want people to know that whether that kid ends up coming here or even whether or not he ends up being good is a different conversation. But in terms of the league he plays in, that is a really good league. And he is getting minutes now. He scored zero points. I get that. But I'm just saying I felt like

[Lynn]

they were kind of recruiting him to be a backup. But after hearing you now.

[Shannon]

True. No, I would assume that's true.

[Lynn]

Still you think they're recruiting probably a

[Shannon]

backup or he could be fighting for that last starting spot. But I don't want people like this is not a scrub. Now I will say if you fly to Israel and then you don't get him because he's also looking at byu. If we lose another kid to byu, my we fly to Israel, Shannon and lose a kid to byu.

[Matt Jones]

The BYU even go there are they

[Lynn]

have very desperate university.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah. Are they just recruiting him via Zoom?

[Shannon]

If we lose it and they recruited via Zoom and we flew there

[Matt Jones]

a lot of gas.

[Shannon]

Welcome back Techie Sports radio. So this kid's team, by the way, played in the NBA summer league.

[Lynn]

Oh, they did or played.

[Shannon]

Maybe it's an exhibition game.

[Lynn]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

Anyway, played and he played against the Trailblazers and he had 10 points. So again I'm just using example like I. I'm a little worried he scored no points yesterday. But the kid can play if he plays at that school or not. I keep saying school. It plays at that for that team.

[Lynn]

And he's gonna be 24 years old. I mean he's a grown ass man.

[Shannon]

I don't know how he's eligible because I thought that rule went into effect. From what I understand, apparently they're trying to get him signed and processed before that rule goes into effect. So he'd be grandfathered.

[Matt Jones]

There's rules.

[Shannon]

Well, there's gonna be a rule that you can't be five years older than 19, which I don't know why they don't just say 24.

[Lynn]

Well, I guess

[Shannon]

it's five years older than 19.

[Lynn]

Maybe he hasn't turned 24 yet. Maybe he's.

[Shannon]

He hasn't, but I think it's during the season. But if they get him processed before the rule is passed, he could be eligible. I think you can get your grandfather did so.

[Lynn]

Well, he's a grown ass man playing against grown ass men, you know, so he's.

[Shannon]

Yes.

[Lynn]

And he's Brazilian, but he plays on the Israel team.

[Shannon]

It's not, it's not the Nash. It's just an Israeli pro basketball team. Just like there's. The guy from Senegal is playing here. He's not American. He's just. He's so. He's Brazil, you know, and he plays there. One person writes, matt, I want to get mad at the guy, but we are a very desperate university that maybe. But we don't have. They don't have to say it like I'm not, you know, we don't. They can be nice to us.

[Lynn]

I want to believe he was talking about byu. They're the desperate.

[Matt Jones]

They can't get us like we're the desperate housewives.

[Shannon]

I will say this, Mark, you got. I don't even know if I want the kid, but we got to get him. You can't get on a plane and go to Israel and not get him. Right. You get him to BYU if he goes to Will Wade after we flew out there. Because you know, Will Wade ain't flying there. He's got things to do. So I hope it works out.

[Lynn]

I.

[Shannon]

There's a part of me that says no matter what you, Whether you think Mark Pope's going to work or not, we need him to get some wins. We are. We need to get some wins just for our public image. You know, Duke took another kid today. Duke has got like 14 great players on their roster next year. I saw their roster for next year. It's insane for people like when Louisville fans, like, we're going to be number one. No, you're not. It's going to be Duke or Florida.

[Lynn]

Florida.

[Shannon]

But we just need to get some of these so that we feel better, so that we're no longer saying things like very desperate university.

[Lynn]

The Stokes hangover is real. I mean, there's no doubt Stokes hangovers is real. So we got it. We do need some recruiting wins to kind of get over that.

[Shannon]

And we also, to some extent need to stop recruiting losses.

[Lynn]

Yes.

[Shannon]

You know, we need to stop like flying to Israel and not getting the kids. So I, My assumption is, Shannon, if he gets back on the plane and comes back and doesn't have him, that means we're probably not going to get it. Yeah, right. Like, I assume you go there to finish the job.

[Matt Jones]

Yes, absolutely.

[Lynn]

That's been his problem, finishing the job on these recruitments.

[Shannon]

Well, I will say if there's any, any. If I'm taking any consolation, I kind of do like the randomness, Shannon, of when our roster just comes across like it's almost like a mad lib.

[Matt Jones]

It is.

[Shannon]

Pope flies to insert country here. He gets player from insert country here.

[Lynn]

Well, I did hear the guy drew a couple fouls yesterday, so you got that going for him.

[Podcast Narrator]

Good.

[Matt Jones]

At least it wasn't complete zeros on the statue.

[Lynn]

Yeah, not complete zeros.

[Shannon]

Well, that's good. That's good, that's good. We'll be right back. We'll take your call. T.J. smith, personal injury attorney.

[DJ Hester Prynne]

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

[Matt Jones]

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

[Shannon]

Welcome back, Techie Sports Radio. So David Allen Coe, he died last night.

[Lynn]

Oh, he did? I didn't know that.

[Shannon]

You really do just learn the news. Yeah, you. You said that with such a surprise, like you really didn't know.

[Lynn]

No, I didn't know. I don't follow. David Allen Cole.

[Shannon]

So you don't have to fight. It was in the news.

[Lynn]

Yeah, not in the news. I follow.

[Matt Jones]

Let me, let me, let me, let me. Karaoke bar.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Matt Jones]

It sings this.

[Shannon]

This has got to be one of the most famous country songs of all time.

[Lynn]

Because of the. Yes, because of the crowd participation.

[Shannon]

You don't have to call me darling. And then the part where he talks and goes, I got drunk the day my mom got out of prison.

[Caller]

Right.

[Shannon]

That's it.

[Lynn]

So Shannon's right. Every karaoke bar, every night, somebody sings this song.

[Shannon]

So David Allen co though, didn't just have this song, he also had. I mean, he's got a bunch of them. He's got law. If that ain't country, you can give my. You know. Do you know that song?

[Lynn]

How's it go?

[Shannon]

If that ain't country, you can kiss my.

[Lynn]

You sounded very country when you did that.

[Shannon]

He's got my long hair can't cover up my redneck, Long haired redneck.

[Lynn]

I don't know that song. That title is awesome.

[Shannon]

Well, that's how he sings it. He has. He also has, in my opinion, the best version of a song a lot of people know, which is Tennessee Whiskey. I think his version, George Jones's version is very good. Stapleton's version, like everybody, it's a great song. But I actually think the best version is David Allen Coes.

[Lynn]

Why you think that?

[Shannon]

Because I like it.

[Lynn]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

Because the way he sings it. He sings. I like people that have unique voices and all those guys do. George Jones does, and so does Chris Stapleton But I've always liked that. Now with that. And he also has the ride, which Tim McGraw I think redid Shannon, am I right?

[Matt Jones]

I think so. I think he did.

[Shannon]

Which was, which was big when McGraw did. Now with all that said, he's also very problematic. He had a period where he put out a couple albums that are not good. The lyrics. And I'll just leave it at that.

[Lynn]

Oh, okay.

[Shannon]

Because. Because when I was in high school, a bunch of my classmates discovered those and I. And like they would play him and I didn't, I didn't, I wasn't a fan of that part of. So. But I'm gonna put that to the side. When people die, you try to remember

[Lynn]

the best parts of it.

[Shannon]

And. And I think Shannon, like a very underrated amount of music for a big time country singer. Produce, right?

[Matt Jones]

Yeah, like you said, several hits. I think people mainly know the one we just played there, but he's got other ones.

[Shannon]

Well, but people know he's type of guy though.

[Matt Jones]

You know the name, you know that one song. But you may not know all of his stuff.

[Shannon]

People should know. People should know the ride.

[Matt Jones]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

And then if that ain't country, you can kiss my. So Shannon, I want you to play as we go through and things. If that Ain't country and then his version of Tennessee.

[Lynn]

Yeah, I want to hear that.

[Shannon]

Because I, I, Because I do, I do like those. 859-280-2287. Before we get the phones, John. We're gonna talk, by the way, in the second hour about Vince Merrill. Vince Merrill's my boy. He's my friend.

[Lynn]

Yes.

[Shannon]

We gotta take his phone away from him sometime. My man's on his phone too much. All right. Because he went on Twitter yesterday and I texted him and said, I'm. I gotta, I gotta talk about you today. And he's already preemptively defending himself. But I still gonna have to talk about. So we'll do that in a minute. John Wall got hired. John Wall is hired as the director of basketball operations at Howard University in, in D.C.

[Lynn]

i'm very happy for him. He's obviously wanting to get into some role for. In the college basketball world. Why not here?

[Shannon]

You know what's crazy is I think I knew the last director of basketball operations at Howard and I'm. I, I think I do actually. Yeah. I think he's been to this bar before, oddly.

[Lynn]

Really.

[Shannon]

I think he actually one time had to sit next to Bob and Jamestown here at this bar.

[Matt Jones]

Poor guy.

[Shannon]

What a random. What a Random world. But, but beyond all that, a lot of fans were like, well, why didn't we hire John Wall?

[Lynn]

Yep.

[Shannon]

I would, I love, I would love to have John Wall as part of Kentucky staff in some role. Yeah, I think he would be great. I would not want him to be the director of basketball operations. What I would love him to be, though, is in some symbolic form of the staff to where he's doing something. I would, I don't want. I wouldn't want him to be the gm. Like, I don't, I'm not. I don't think that's his skill set to go negotiate contracts, but to go do something where you are. And a lot of schools have this, some sort of player outreach role I actually think would be really good. I think it's a great gift for Howard and good for John. I think, I think John. I'm really been impressed with John's post basketball career and what he's been able to do.

[Lynn]

I think he would be perfect in like that outreach type role. Like Derek Anderson said, he does kind of for the NBA. I think John could do that.

[Shannon]

I think John be great.

[Lynn]

I think he would too.

[Shannon]

Because the players, guys in the NBA and even guys in college, they really respect John Wall. And I think what you're going to get, there's going to be a generation of kids coming up who even if they don't know John Wall, their parents will.

[Lynn]

Oh, there's no doubt. Yeah.

[Shannon]

So, like John Wall is going to have. John Wall is a cultural college basketball icon. His cultural impact is as big as what his basketball was. And there are a few of those guys over the years. So, like in my lifetime, if you're saying, okay, who are guys that in college basketball mattered even more or whatever than talent? The Fab Five.

[Lynn]

Yes.

[Shannon]

Is an example of that. The Fab Five still pays dividends to Michigan to this day. You know what I mean?

[Lynn]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

Leitner is that for a certain segment of population. Right. John Wall is that Zion will be that one day.

[Lynn]

Zion for the younger generation.

[Shannon]

There are just these guys that sort of have that thing and I. And John Wall is one of them. And I, I hope he does well at Howard, but I also hope the Kentucky stays because he's going to have that for a long time.

[Lynn]

My hope is maybe he goes to Howard, has some success and then there's a spot opens up here that maybe he might be interested in, you know, if he had to find success doing the director of Basketball operations role.

[Shannon]

Yeah.

[Lynn]

Learn the college game, learn the recruiting game. And then maybe come over here and help.

[Shannon]

Can I tell you, by the way, before we go, the phone's the worst thing that's happened to me today.

[Lynn]

What's that?

[Shannon]

They didn't have large cups.

[Lynn]

So you got a little baby cup.

[Shannon]

I. I was like, look. She was like, I got you a medium cup. I said, I'll pay for a large. She said, we're out of large cups. I'm out of soda. And this is very. It's gonna be hard to get through this show.

[Lynn]

Yeah, I only got a little baby cup.

[Shannon]

Little.

[Lynn]

A lot of ice in there.

[Shannon]

Who orders them? I don't even have mediums. Who orders the mediums?

[Lynn]

I don't get it.

[Shannon]

Because it's the same price.

[Lynn]

Yeah, I had a large McDonald's cup.

[Shannon]

You're drinking something that's not good for you. You're drinking a milk clogged filled, sugar,

[Lynn]

French vanilla iced coffee.

[Matt Jones]

You think Diet Coke's good for you?

[Shannon]

Better than that.

[Matt Jones]

I mean, it does have the word diet in it.

[Shannon]

I know, but it could also take

[Matt Jones]

on corrosion off of a battery on a. I don't want to hear your negativity.

[Shannon]

Who's that?

[Matt Jones]

First let's go to Josh.

[Shannon]

Josh. Go ahead, Josh.

[Caller]

Hey, guys. I know we're in a terrible spot right now, but I hope we all know that this is not Mark Puff's fault. This is a hundred percent Mitch Barnhart's fault. Let's look back at some of his highlights. Hiring Joker Phillips. Hiring Billy Gillespie, the cow contract. Thank God for Arkansas for taking that off our hands. The 36 million dollar Stoops buyout.

[Shannon]

Okay, I get all that. I get all that. But at some point I don't. If you want to blame Mitch Barnhart for a lot of that stuff, I'm fine. But Mark Pope, winning or losing this year or last year or recruit, that's not Mitch Barnhart's fault. Like Mitch Martin Hart.

[Caller]

He never should have heard Mark Polk because Mark.

[Shannon]

Okay, well, that's a different point, though. Now wait a minute. That's a different point. If you don't think Mark Pope should be the coach, that's your call. Maybe you'll be right, maybe you'll be wrong. But now that he is the coach, when you say it's not Mark Pope's fault he's not succeeding. Well, yeah, it is.

[Caller]

Yeah. But he just never should have been put in that spot because Pope had no business being this coach. He should have went out and hired a coach that was qualified.

[Shannon]

All right, so who would you have Hired.

[Caller]

We could have gone down the list of Bruce Pearl.

[Shannon]

He wasn't allowed to qualify. He wasn't. He wasn't allowed to hire. He wasn't. That was the president.

[Caller]

He should have fought for them. He should have known that these guys.

[Shannon]

I can tell you. Listen, okay, stop. Just stop. Just. You don't know what you're talking about. Respectfully, I. I don't. I'm not somebody who rides for Mitch Barnhart. I'm was the knucklehead who was pushing for that contract to go away. But Mitch was told by the president's office he couldn't hire Bruce Pearl. There was nothing he could do about that.

[Caller]

He should have went out and got Todd Golden.

[Shannon]

He was told he could not hire Todd Gold.

[Caller]

Okay, what about Michigan's coach?

[Shannon]

Michigan's coach had just been hired by Michigan two weeks before.

[Caller]

Go give him more money.

[Shannon]

But you can't do that. He's not going to leave a job

[Caller]

better than Mark Post.

[Shannon]

Well, who. I'm asking you.

[Caller]

At this point, just about anybody.

[Shannon]

That may be true, but I'm just saying in that moment, coaches revisionist history is easy. It's easy to go. He should have done this. All right, but I.

[Caller]

But we all knew it was a bad hire the night that they did it.

[Shannon]

Okay, but that's true. Or not.

[Caller]

And then they had a prep.

[Shannon]

You're not going to listen to logic. You're just going to. You're just going to talk. I agree with you that there were better options. But the better options, the one that would certainly have been better. He was not allowed to hire. He was not allowed to hire Bruce Pearl. He was not allowed to hire Chris Beard. He was not allowed to hire Nate Oates, and he was not allowed to hire Sean Miller. Dusty May had just been hired. So you're not going to be able to get him. Todd golden hadn't won anything yet. Like, no. But when this happened, nobody wanted. Nobody was saying, get Todd Gold.

[Lynn]

No.

[Shannon]

Right at the moment, his choices were Mark Pope and Shaka Smart or hire someone no one knew. I guess he could have done that. But do you think this fan base would have preferred a person they had never heard of over Mark Pope? No, probably not. So I'm just saying, like, I'm not saying it was a good hire. It may not be a good hire. We'll see. But you can't look back in time and go, he was terrible for doing this. My question to you is, what would you have done if your president tells you? Remember, I thought Bruce Pearl was Going to be there at. He was hired on a Thursday hope at like 9:30 or 10:00', clock, about 1 in the afternoon. I was preparing for what does a Bruce Pearl era look like? And then he was told he couldn't do it. And I have reasons in my mind why. I think he was told that that's for the retirement book. But that's. I mean, I don't, to some extent, I don't know what you wanted him to do.

[Lynn]

So instead of pointing the finger at Mitch like the caller was doing, it should be pointed at the person who told Mitch not to hire these people.

[Shannon]

If you believe that. Yes, but I also understand. I mean, let's be real, folks. If we're just gonna be real, it's

[Matt Jones]

time to be real.

[Lynn]

It's therapy.

[Shannon]

Do you not remember we. We hired Mark Pope on a Thursday night?

[Lynn]

Yep.

[Shannon]

What happened on Friday?

[Lynn]

We celebrated it after.

[Shannon]

But what else happened on Friday?

[Lynn]

Patino did his video.

[Shannon]

No, what else happened?

[Lynn]

Mitch Barnhart called into the show.

[Shannon]

Swimming scandal broke on Friday. Okay, that's something people don't remember.

[Lynn]

I forgot about it.

[Shannon]

The swimming scandal broke on Friday. Let's imagine you hire a controversial coach the same day the swimming scandal broke. Now have I ever been told that's why they didn't hire those people? No. I can't say for certain. But the timing.

[Lynn]

From a PR standpoint.

[Shannon]

From a PR standpoint, if you hire a coach that has any. Whatever.

[Lynn]

Yes.

[Shannon]

The same day that swimming scandal breaks.

[Lynn]

Makes sense. Yep.

[Shannon]

I think they were. This is just my take. I don't know. This just my take. I think they were under instructions. You're going to hire somebody with nothing.

[Lynn]

That is no dark cloud over his head.

[Shannon]

That's how I look at it. They were under a time crunch because they had to get in the portal and get players and they knew the swimming scandal was breaking the next day. That's always been my read on the situation.

[Lynn]

It's a good read.

[Shannon]

Why else would they just blanketly say you can't.

[Lynn]

Can't hire those other guys?

[Shannon]

That's. That's always been my take and I think there's something to it. We'll take a break and be right back.

[Podcast Narrator]

Ksr, this is Saigon, the story of my family and of the country that shaped us.

[Shannon]

The United States will not stand by

[Matt Jones]

and allow any power, however.

[Shannon]

Great take over another country.

[Matt Jones]

From iheart Podcasts, Saigon.

[Podcast Narrator]

Please allow me to introduce Joseph Sherman.

[Shannon]

You don't think I'm serious about a free Vietnam?

[Announcer]

I should stop talking so much.

[Podcast Narrator]

I like Hearing you talk, one city,

[Matt Jones]

a divided country and the war that tore America apart.

[Shannon]

This is for Vietnam. I've taken a hit from Japanese brown fire. Do you read me? They're pouring petrol all over him. He's holding matches.

[Matt Jones]

I'm on a landmine.

[Shannon]

For freedom. Let's get out. Freedom.

[Matt Jones]

Saigon. Starring Kelly Marie Tran and Rob Benedict.

[Announcer]

Staying here's madness.

[Shannon]

The world should hear about this. There's a fire coming to this country and it's going to burn out everything.

[Matt Jones]

Listen to Saigon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Podcast Narrator]

Every story has a point where it's balanced on a knife's edge. That's where we begin. For some, it's a confrontation no parent ever expects. They finally admit we're here to take your children.

[DJ Hester Prynne]

The department has taken custody and we're

[Podcast Narrator]

here to take your kids. It was just shock and horror and desperation. For others, it's surviving the unthinkable. As they're having this gun battle thousands

[Shannon]

of feet up in the air, many of the bullets start to puncture the aircraft.

[Podcast Narrator]

I thought we were gonna die then. The Knife is a podcast about real people whose lives were upended in an instant. We talked to the people who lived it, unpacking what happened, how they got through it and what came next. And on our off record episodes, we go even deeper into the reporting and answer the questions you can't stop thinking about. New episodes drop every Thursday on the Exactly Right Network and the iHeart Podcast Network. Listen to the Knife on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

[DJ Hester Prynne]

When you feel uncomfortable, what do you put on Biggie? You put on Biggie when you feel uncomfortable.

[Shannon]

Because I want to get confident.

[DJ Hester Prynne]

This is DJ Hester Prynne's Music Is Therapy, a weekly podcast from me, a DJ and licensed therapist that asks one simple question. Who do you want to be? And what's the song that can take you there?

[Shannon]

I didn't care about my life circumstance when I listened to that stuff. It didn't matter to me.

[DJ Hester Prynne]

Music changes what you feel, and what you feel changes what you do. Right that moment where a song shifts something inside you, that's where transformation starts.

[Podcast Narrator]

Healing is the shift from survival into choice.

[DJ Hester Prynne]

It's Mental Health Month and I'm talking to experts like celebrity therapist, the mindful mft Lynn Hoffman from Music Saved Me and the man who Shaped My Ear. More than anyone, Questlove. They'll bring the strategies. I'll pair them with the right records. And we'll teach you how to use the music to make change stick. This isn't just a podcast. It's unconventional therapy for you every day.

[Shannon]

This has been so much fun.

[DJ Hester Prynne]

Music is therapy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Michelle McPhee]

Jacob Kingston grew up in an isolated polygamous sect.

[Shannon]

We were God's chosen kingdom on earth.

[Michelle McPhee]

He felt destined for greatness. So when a swaggering Armenian businessman catapults Jacob into an extraordinary world, he doesn't look back.

[Shannon]

Ferraris and Lamborghinis, private jets meeting the president of Turkey.

[Michelle McPhee]

I'm Michelle McPhee, and this is one of the most shocking criminal conspiracies I've ever come across.

[Shannon]

When Jacob met Levan, this went to a billion dollar fraud, but with two

[Michelle McPhee]

kings from entirely different worlds. Just how long can their empire survive

[Shannon]

the largest tax investigation in American history? You need to tell me what you know.

[Podcast Narrator]

Is somebody coming after me?

[Shannon]

Jacob told Lavon, you're ruining my life.

[Michelle McPhee]

Listen to Kingdom of Fraud starting on May 12th on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Shannon]

What do you think?

[Lynn]

Which one is this?

[Shannon]

Tennessee Whiskey.

[Lynn]

Oh, now I hear it.

[Shannon]

Here you go.

[Lynn]

You like this version the best?

[Shannon]

I do. Cause it sounds like what that song should sound like. It's not supposed to be beautiful. It's supposed to be like country. You're. He's saying you. I'm. Is. You're as warm as a glass of brandy. So he's clearly, like, sad and. But drinking. So his voice shouldn't sound beautiful. It should sound like what? Where he is in the space. That's why I like George Jones's version. Sounds very much like a guy who in that moment would be drinking because he's sad about his woman.

[Lynn]

I respect your opinion, but I do like the Chris Stapleton version better.

[Matt Jones]

Keith Whitley nails what you're talking about, too, in a lot of his.

[Shannon]

Exactly. Keith Whitley is a perfect example. I mean, Keith Whitley's actually got a beautiful voice. I'm not saying this guy's voice is great. I just think it's good for this song. But Keith Shan's right.

[Matt Jones]

Keith Whitley gets the sad, the emotion of the song.

[Shannon]

Emotion maybe better than any singer.

[Lynn]

Oh, that one song you played of

[Shannon]

Keith Whitley's Tell, that's a perfect example of that.

[Lynn]

You could hear it in his voice. He's crying and he's. What? He's singing.

[Shannon]

One person goes, matt, what about all these other coaches? What about Tommy Lloyd? Tommy Lloyd hadn't won anything yet.

[Lynn]

That's right.

[Shannon]

What about Todd Golden? He hadn't won anything yet. What about TJ Otzelberger? Really hadn't won anything yet. All these guys are easy to say in hindsight. They hadn't won anything. Right now, Dusty May probably a bit, but the. Remember, that's where Cal screwed us. Cal waited and May had already taken the Michigan job. If Cal resigns right after the season, Kentucky probably goes and tries to get. But he had just taken that job because we remember, had to wait because we had to wait for Cal and Mitch to make that video together and then for him to walk his dog and like all of those things to happen. So, you know, are there better coaches? Of course there are better coaches. But did you know that Todd golden was going to be a better coach at that point?

[Lynn]

No.

[Shannon]

I think he had had one season and I think it had been pretty disappointing to start.

[Lynn]

He had success at San Francisco, but not in Florid.

[Shannon]

But if somebody goes, well, what about Jay Lucas? He had. He wasn't even a head coach yet.

[Lynn]

That's true. Yes.

[Shannon]

You would have been hiring a guy who had never coached the game.

[Lynn]

And that's Kentucky's not a first time head coach position.

[Shannon]

So it's not that I'm saying like it's going to end up being a great choice. We're going to find that out. But I also think it's revisionist history to go, hey, you know this guy that no one was mentioning at the time, I would have hired him. Yeah, well, maybe you would have. But if they had introduced, if they had brought in TJ Otzelberger, you know, and it was known he was picked over Mark Pope, I don't know how excited people would have been.

[Lynn]

Maybe in a revolt, maybe people would never heard of it.

[Shannon]

Wouldn't have had 23,000 people down.

[Lynn]

No.

[Shannon]

So sure. You know, look, I. There are a lot of things you can criticize Mitch about. I do think he was put in a tough spot.

[Lynn]

Yes.

[Shannon]

Because I think what happened with the swimming thing, there's no. Well, I won't say no doubt because I don't know. But there, it seems very likely to me that that factored into this. I just, I don't know how it couldn't have.

[Lynn]

So that directive came from President Capilouto

[Shannon]

and I say, well, nothing with the swimming. I'm just saying that they were not allowed to get the. Bruce Pearl would have been the hot coach here, here. Now that would have come with its own set of complications. Go look at Bruce Pearl's Twitter account and figure out how that would have worked here.

[Lynn]

Little vocal.

[Shannon]

Right. So that would have brought a whole nother set of complications. Yes, but I thought that was what was going to happen. Who's up next?

[Matt Jones]

Let's go to Madison.

[Shannon]

Madison, go ahead.

[Caller]

How you doing, man? I hadn't called for a while.

[Shannon]

It's good to hear from you.

[Caller]

I. Good.

Thank you. I, I have two questions for you. One, first of all, what? What? I know y' all talked about football and how good their recruiting class is for 2027, but what do you think our record will be this year? I don't know.

[Shannon]

I might have to sit and look at the games. I, I. It's probably. It's gonna be tough, but I think they're going to be competing. But I, I haven't looked at it yet.

[Caller]

And then two would. Do you think Mark Pope would consider a series with his former school byu?

[Shannon]

I hope not. I appreciate the call.

[Matt Jones]

There's nothing in it for us if

[Shannon]

they be like, no, I don't. I don't want to do that.

[Lynn]

Watch caller Chandler. Colin Chandler will play for him.

[Shannon]

And yeah, that, that, that is of zero interest to me. Somebody writes Matt, who are some other singers whose emotion comes out in their voice?

[Matt Jones]

Like you're talking about Kurt Cobain in the Unplugged.

[Shannon]

Cobain in that Unplugged. That's a great one.

[Lynn]

That's a good one.

[Shannon]

That's a great example of. You can almost feel the pain coming through the person's voice.

[Lynn]

There's some Tyler songs you can feel.

[Shannon]

Oh, Tyler. No, Tyler's thing. It's. These are actually people all. I kind of like. Tyler's a great call. You can you. There are some songs that. That with Tyler where you can hear it trying to think who else. Well, somebody will let. 772-774-5254. Text machine. Yeah, Keith Whitley's a great. Kurt Cobain in the Unplugged album might be the top choice. When he's singing that last song, you're like this.

[Lynn]

Everybody feels it.

[Shannon]

And then especially because he dies not long after that.

[Lynn]

Yeah.

[Shannon]

Yeah. All right. We'll take a break, talk a little football and some more news from around the world of sports. Ksr.