2025-04-07 - KSR PRE-SHOW

Billy talks NCAA Tournament and much more, 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome everyone to another edition of the KSR Pre Show.
Today is Monday, April seventh. You can give us call
at eight five nine two eight zero to two eight
seven or text us at five oh two two six
five six six five six is always The KSR Pre
Show is brought to you by Italics Fine Italian dining
right here in Lexington, Kentucky, on Main Street in the

(00:23):
city center where we are now. I am here live
and studio in Lexington without my co host Shannon the Dude.
Almost all of KSR is actually off this week down
on down in the beach, maybe down in Amster down Damn.
They're in a lot of different places. But Shannon and
Ryan on their bro date together this week, so it
will be a week of special guest Drew Franklin. Big

(00:45):
week for him as well, Drew Palooza. I'll be joining
him on KSR a little later today. Our friend Corey
Price will join us then. But joining me for this
first hour on the KSR Pre Show is a guy
that's he's tapped in, folks, I mean he's locked in.
It's his busy time of the year. It is Transfer
portal expert Jacob Policheck, who works for KSR plus. Good morning, Jacob,

(01:05):
how are you.

Speaker 2 (01:05):
Good morning Billy. Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (01:07):
First time having you on the pre show, so it
is an honor to have you here. I got your
last name right, correct. Polo check, Polo check okay, right,
I get a lot of polar check, but it is
polo check.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
Okay.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
Good well. You do a great job on KSR plus
and the YouTube channel as well with rapid reactions. And
I thought i'd have you in to talk a little
transfer portal because I don't know what's going on, Jacob.
I'm going to be one hundred percent and honest with you,
Like these kids are changing their minds last minute. I mean,
Kentucky's trying to fill out a roster. I mean it's
a really interesting time of year, don't you think.

Speaker 3 (01:37):
Yeah, it is really NonStop right now. It was NonStop
before the season even ended. And now the second Kentucky
lost in the tournament, it hit a full head and
now they're going after guys every single day.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
Kentucky's got a new commit they missed out on a
couple others. We'll break that down throughout the show and
if you have any questions for Jacob, maybe if you
have an eye on a recruit that Kentucky would should
check out Texas five o two two six five six
six five six. I do want to want to start
with the severe weather that we've had throughout the Commonwealth
this past weekend, Jacob. It's been unreal the amount of

(02:09):
rain that we've gotten. You know, Keemlin will be racing
today and tomorrow after had they had to delay their schedule,
but other things have gotten delayed, including thunder over Louisville
being canceled this weekend. I guess the ground is just
gonna be too wet for them to do these these
these festivities and the fireworks show that was supposed to
happen this weekend. The only other time it's happened was

(02:30):
during COVID, Jacob. So you know the weather's bad when
you got to cancel a great event like this.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Yeah, that's unfortunate to hear.

Speaker 3 (02:36):
Actually, when I was in high school, the first time
I ever went to Kentucky, I visited Louisville and it
just so happened that thunder over Louisville was taking place.

Speaker 2 (02:43):
Oh it was.

Speaker 1 (02:43):
That was the first time.

Speaker 2 (02:44):
It was the first time I visited.

Speaker 3 (02:45):
It was not planned We just happened to be there
when it happened, and it was a really cool.

Speaker 2 (02:49):
Four timing four time.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
It is crowded as hell down there, but I'm sad
to see that. I mean, it really is. We've seen
some flooding all throughout the states, some terrible images coming
out of places like Frankfort, Kentucky, where a boy was
washed away walking to the to the I guess the
school bus stop a little on Friday. I've seen houses

(03:11):
floating down the floating down the road. It's just been
incredible to see. And our thoughts and prayers are with
everybody affected. Dawson Springs in the western part of the
state is underwater, so I'm thinking about everybody today throughout
the Commonwealth and some of the severe weather that we've gotten,
and you know, it's bad when Keeenlan's backed up, when
thunder is canceled, and we're just hoping that we can

(03:32):
all get through this week a little bit drier. You know,
we're excited for Drudihost. But Jacob I had something over
the weekend that I want to share. I did a
little spring cleaning, trying to clean up the upstairs and
the closets, and found my old class ring, and I've
got it on this morning. Jake, there you go, pass
of twenty seventeen, the Western Kentucky Old Toppers with this

(03:53):
huge red stone on the top of it. That is
a nice ring, And I want to start with a
little bit of a fair or foul. Do you think
I think it's tacky to wear a class ring? I
mean maybe to an event of like your graduating class.
But if I were to just start wearing this around, Jacob,
would you look at me a little differently?

Speaker 3 (04:09):
If you've got it flaunted, I think it's better than
sitting in a drawer where you're never going to see it.

Speaker 1 (04:14):
If you have it, I think I think it's definitely fair.
You gotta wear that thing fair. So if we were
to go fair or foul, you'll say fair on the
class ring.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
I think one hundred percent fair. I think it looks good.

Speaker 1 (04:23):
Well, I'm also wearing it on. I guess where my
wedding ring would be, since I don't have one yet,
I guess that changes. If you were to have a
wedding ring, maybe you put it on your right index
finger or your ring finger on your right hand to differentiate.
But for now, if I'm gonna punch you with my
left fist. You're gonna get a little bit impression right now,
Jacob with the class ring. Where did you go to college?

(04:44):
You didn't go to Kentucky.

Speaker 3 (04:45):
I went to the University of Kansas, Kansas. Yeah, so
another blue blood.

Speaker 1 (04:50):
Unfortunately, Shannon's not here to say Kansas is the worst state,
so I will it's one of the most boring states.
Would you agree with that or do you have a
fond place in your heart for it?

Speaker 2 (05:00):
I would one hundred percent agree with that.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
I always tell people that the best city in Kansas
is Kansas.

Speaker 2 (05:05):
City, which is not even in Kansas, Missouri. There you go.

Speaker 1 (05:08):
Yeah, so you know, we'll get to know Jacob as
the show goes on. I once drove through Kansas. It
was the only time that I stopped driving to Colorado.
So I drove from Louisville to Colorado. It's a long drive.
We stopped in Kansas City to watch a Royals game.
We stayed overnight, and really the only time of the
trip I didn't drive was through Kansas. So I started

(05:30):
to take a nap in the passenger seat, and that's
when we got pulled over. So it was like a fiance.
You know what, just back in the passenger seat. I'll
drive the rest of the way. She's gonna get pulled over.
But hey, man, what a what fun weekend it was.
Those final four games were incredible, weren't they.

Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah, that was four.

Speaker 3 (05:46):
Number one seeds and they were really the four best
teams in the Country's hard to arg game.

Speaker 1 (05:50):
Oh, people complain about all the chalk, but it allowed
you to get some pretty good games. In the Final four.
Florida defeats Auburn seventy nine to seventy three. I mean
Walter Clayton junior man, I mean, first person since Larry
Bird to have back to back thirty point games in
the Elite Eight in the final four. It wasn't only
his range, Jacob his layup pack, which was incredible. I

(06:11):
mean he was. He's somebody that's definitely turning heads, isn't he.

Speaker 3 (06:14):
Yeah, he could do everything, and for his size to
be able to get to the hoop like he does,
it's pretty impressive. I think a lot of teams are
going to regret not drafting him in the upcoming didn't
he go.

Speaker 1 (06:25):
To Iona Is that was at his transfer portal?

Speaker 3 (06:28):
Yeah, I think he went to Iona and then transferred
two years ago.

Speaker 2 (06:31):
I want to say, so.

Speaker 1 (06:33):
Got that Ricky p in him a little bit, He's
got that dog in him. So that was That was
a great game. Despite Jeni Broome being the player of
the year and Bruce Pearl being the coach of the year,
Auburn could not get over that hump. Despite what's the
guy's name, Baker, Chad Baker Massari. He said that little
Oh my god, glad that he is. I mean, doesn't

(06:54):
he have another year of eligibility.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
He does because of the jew coach.

Speaker 1 (06:57):
Unbelievable, It's unbelievable that guy.

Speaker 2 (06:59):
I was.

Speaker 1 (06:59):
I was, I'm gonna be glad to see his career end,
but maybe it'll be at a different school instead of Auburn.
But really, the game we will remember for eternity was
that Houston upset over Duke seventy to sixty seven, where
Duke I believe, had one field goal in the final
ten minutes of the game, a collapse that saw Houston
trailing by fourteen at one point, I mean, Florida trailed

(07:20):
by eight at halftime to Auburn, and we thought that
was a great comeback. But Jacob we didn't have to
wait but two hours to see a historic collapse from
Duke in that game.

Speaker 3 (07:29):
Yeah, I think everyone in America that is not a
Duke basketball fan was pretty happy about that. And I
was just surprised that Cooper Flagg didn't slip in the
last place. Yeah, just missing the shot.

Speaker 1 (07:41):
Well, Kentucky ends up beating Florida, who's in the National
Championship game tonight, and Duke who lost that game versus Houston.
I was really happy for Calvin Sampson. We've talked about
on this show before about his journey to Houston and
just really him turning into one of the best coaches
in the sport, doing it the right way. But to

(08:01):
see Duke Luke like lose like that was incredible, It
really was.

Speaker 2 (08:05):
I mean.

Speaker 1 (08:08):
John Schier was undefeated up ten and you know, leading
it half and things like that. So many great stats
came out of that. It was a historic loss for
the Blue Devils.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
Yeah, that was a collapse of epic proportions.

Speaker 1 (08:20):
And like you said, I think we were all okay
with it. I think we were all absolutely okay with it,
but they just they kept hanging around, hanging around. Duke
can never put them away, kind of very similar to
the Kentucky game. And you know what a Duke roster
you talk about underachieving, I mean a historically good roster,
don't you think one that they'll look back on, like,
how did they not win the title? For that one?

Speaker 2 (08:41):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (08:41):
When are you ever going to have a talent like
Cooper Flag playing on your basketball team?

Speaker 2 (08:46):
Maybe? Never?

Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yeah, And you know what, I don't know if I
would have called it over the back foul on Cooper Flag,
But you know what, I enjoyed seeing it called, you
know what I mean? I enjoyed that in the moment,
there was no doubt about it.

Speaker 2 (09:00):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:00):
And they just let Houston hang around too long. They
really should have closed that game out. You can't let
good teams hang around, and they got the bad end
of the sixth.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
I was stun though, weren't you? Like I just could
not believe what I was watching to some degree. Yeah,
it was shocking and it was just fun to watch.
You just you're hanging on the edge of your seat
the whole game, thinking is this actually gonna happen?

Speaker 2 (09:24):
And when it does you can rejoice a little bit. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (09:29):
I don't like Duke. I covered Kentucky. I went to Kansas,
so Duke is pretty high on list of schools.

Speaker 2 (09:35):
I don't like.

Speaker 1 (09:36):
So, I know you cover Kentucky as a job, but
where's your fandom?

Speaker 2 (09:39):
Lie? Are you a So.

Speaker 1 (09:41):
I'm rock chalk jayhawk kind of guy?

Speaker 2 (09:43):
Deep down, I'm a little bit.

Speaker 3 (09:45):
But I've been doing the journalism thing since I was
a sophomore in high school, so I kind of, even
when I was in college, tried to maintain of a
level of objectivity.

Speaker 2 (09:54):
I understand, but I did when I was in high school.

Speaker 3 (09:58):
I tell this story before I I was actually considering
Kansas and Kentucky. Those were my two schools that I
was considering going to, and they were playing each other
in basketball one day and I was like, you know what,
whoever wins this, I'll go to school there. So maybe
if things would have turned turned out a little differently,
did Kansas win that game? Kansas won that game and
I wound up going to Wow.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
So Jacob chose his school based on a one basketball game.

Speaker 3 (10:22):
Yeah, and it turned out to be the best because
I get to experience both Lawrence and Lexington.

Speaker 1 (10:28):
Yeah. No, that's that, you know. Bill self a disappointing
year a loss to John Caliperry in the tournament. But
you know what, we're not We're not gonna cry about
that over here on the KSR pre show. But it
is Florida versus Houston tonight in the National Championship Game,
eight fifty start. It's always a light one for these
national titles. But I believe is it Florida that's a

(10:50):
favorite in this game? Maybe by three and a half. Jacob,
what's what's your early thoughts.

Speaker 4 (10:53):
On this one?

Speaker 3 (10:54):
I think you gotta go with Florida. But they've been
so good down the street, and we've seen what Walter
Clayton has done. When you have a guy like that
in March, just an elite guard, those guys are just
hard to slow down and you don't want to pick
against them.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (11:11):
Well, you know, Florida had those back to back titles
in the in the two thousands and and now Todd
Golden could have a lot of success.

Speaker 2 (11:18):
Over these coming years at Florida.

Speaker 1 (11:19):
I mean, I think back to that Kentucky game, man,
what was it like one hundred and six to one
hundred or something like that. It was it was that
early start game. It was, Yeah, it was like.

Speaker 3 (11:27):
Noon or eleven o'clock, and yeah, they both teams scored
in the hundreds, which you don't see very often. And
I think this is this is assigned to other coaches
because Todd Golden did a phone interview with me the
day of the game or the day before the game,
previewing his team. So, hey, if you want to go
to the national title game, do an interview with me
the day of the Kentucky game, and good things will happen.

Speaker 1 (11:50):
Is that right? Is that the Is that the how
we get to the title game? Okay, that's cool, Well
it should be exciting. I'm just you know, Houston is
so good at defense, and you know Florida loves to
play at that up tempo pace that this will be
a fun matchup. I was just hoping that Duke didn't
blow out Houston so for them to keep it close,
and they just kept hitting those threes and Duke was

(12:11):
missing some free throws late.

Speaker 2 (12:13):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (12:13):
Just definitely a disappointing loss for the Blue Devils and
and Houston their their their their story keeps on in
Kelvin Sampson, So we're looking forward to that tonight, the
National title in between Houston and Florida puts a bow
on it all. We get to watch one shining moment
after the game, Jacob. That's always a great time. And
and then we hit the sports dead period, So you
get ready for it, folks, I mean, unless you enjoy

(12:35):
the dog days of baseball and maybe a little NBA playoffs.
We still got some NHL going to Jacob, but not
a lot of NHL fans around these parts.

Speaker 3 (12:43):
Yeah, no, I'm I'm a Brewer fan, so I'll be
tuned into the MLB season. They've struggled to start the year,
but I think they'll turn it around.

Speaker 1 (12:50):
Yeah, Shanon, don't want to talk a lot of baseball
right now.

Speaker 2 (12:54):
Play it so bad.

Speaker 1 (12:55):
But Jacob is an expert on recruiting in the transfer portals,
so we're gonna take an early here. When we come back,
we'll start to dive in a little bit about Kentucky's
latest commitment, a point guard from Pittsburgh, maybe some targets
that Kentucky has along the way. Somebody snapped a photo
of Mark Pope and San Antonio this week.

Speaker 2 (13:13):
Did you see this, Jacob? I did see that.

Speaker 1 (13:14):
He just looked so bothered and it wasn't I don't
think because of getting the picture with the fan. I
think it may have been something that had just been
told to him on the phone right before he took
the picture. We'll talk about what that possibly could have
been and much more on the way. It's Billy Rutlige
and Jacob Polojeck from KSR plus joining us on the
KOSR pre Show. We will be right back. It's a

(13:35):
Monday edition of the pre Show. Billy Rutledge no Shannon
the Dude this week, so we're bringing in some special guests.
Jacob Poulocheck is our first guest of the week. He
is with KOs R Plus. He does a great job
on the recruiting and transfer portal scene and with it
being a confusing time, Jacob's going to talk about it
with us today. Eight five nine two eight h two
two eight seven is the phone line. One person says

(13:58):
on the text line, Yeah, we're in a heist. School
letter jacket and class rings is peaked in high school energy.
I would understand the letterman jacket, Jacob, if I was
strutting around here with my letters on. Yeah, that's a
little a little more than the class ring. I liked
the was it house of cards where he would bang
it on the table and that was some dramatic effects there.

(14:19):
But am I having peaked in high school energy with
my bangs in my class ring this morning?

Speaker 2 (14:23):
I don't listen to the haters. I think it looks great.

Speaker 3 (14:26):
Well, if you were wearing a letterman, I'd probably have
a different a different comment here, But I like the ring.
I don't think you should. I don't think you should
let anyone dissuade you into it.

Speaker 1 (14:37):
Well, thank you, Jacob. And speaking of not listening to
the haters, you've had a few haters over the past
couple weeks or so. How's your mental health doing? Or
you're not letting the haters get to you? Are you
be ready? That's all I gotta say. Two words, be ready?

Speaker 2 (14:50):
Two words, be ready.

Speaker 1 (14:51):
I'm glad you have a sense of humor about that.
I felt like you were getting killed a little bit
on online unfairly because you know that was the news
at the time. Was it not? Can change?

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Right?

Speaker 1 (15:01):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (15:01):
Things did change and I was I was made people
let me know about it, and uh, yeah, it's all
in good fun. It's gotten a lot more attention to
KSR plus, which is all I can ask for.

Speaker 1 (15:14):
Uh, And that had to do with Donovan dent correct
that was the new Mexico transfer that ended up not
going to Kentucky and then he committed to was it Ucla?

Speaker 2 (15:23):
Ucla? He stayed home, He's from that area.

Speaker 3 (15:27):
To sum it up real quickly, Kentucky put in a
good nil offer. Nobody thought Ucla would match. They ended
up matching it, and the rest is history.

Speaker 1 (15:36):
Well, you know, I think it feels like Big Blue
Nations started to panic a little bit when the UAB transfer.
Is it Yaxel, Yaxel Lendenburgh. Lendenburgh did not pick the
Cats to commit. He actually ended up going to Michigan
with Dusty May. That was I felt like somebody that
Kentucky was a front runner for Jacob. What happened there?

Speaker 3 (15:56):
Yeah, that was one that Kentucky was right in the
mix the whole way. It was one that we knew
from the second he entered the portal it was gonna
be a quick recruitment.

Speaker 2 (16:04):
And I put up on KSR plus.

Speaker 3 (16:06):
I think the day before that, I was told Kentucky
was in a good spot. They had a position, they
had the chance to make up ground, but they were
not the favorite. Michigan ended up pulling that out, and
that may be for the best because he will probably
be the highest paid player in the entire transfer portal.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
I've also heard is somebody that's a candidate to stay
in the NBA draft if he hears the right things.
And if you were to get a commitment from a
guy that would just end up leaving you the same offseason,
that would set you back, wouldn't it.

Speaker 3 (16:34):
Yeah, I think that it would be a much worse
reaction from Big Blue Nation had Kentucky gotten the commitment
there and he stayed in the draft, rather than just
losing him to Michigan. And maybe Kentucky fans will be
able to laugh at Michigan in a few weeks if
he stays in the draft.

Speaker 1 (16:49):
Well, Michigan had a little bit of a resurgence with
Dusty May. We'll see if they can continue that. One
name that they had already gotten in the transfer portal
maybe a week or so ago, was Cam Williams. Can
Entucky actually brought this guy in while they still had
games to play, And that's just I guess recruiting nowadays
is that you've got to start recruiting your roster before
your season is even over. A lot of times, but

(17:10):
Cam Williams comes from Tulane. I believe Jacob, and tell
me what Kentucky's gonna get with this guy.

Speaker 3 (17:15):
Yeah, he can play the two, he can play the three.
This is a commitment that I think really surprised Kentucky
because they were obviously recruiting him, but I don't think
they were pushing too hard for a commitment yet when
he gave them a call and said he wanted to
head to Kentucky, and that just starts off your transfer
portal class in a really nice fashion. A guy with
NBA potential, His stats might not jump off the page

(17:39):
to you. Nine point three points a game, four point
five rebounds, but he's really got a high, high ceiling.

Speaker 1 (17:45):
Yeah. Absolutely, somebody that's tall and can shoot a three
is going to be welcome on any basketball team, I think, Jacob.
But that's a guy that's a little bit more athletic
than maybe we've seen in this last transfer port class.

Speaker 2 (17:57):
Yeah, I think he compliments otega Ver.

Speaker 3 (18:00):
Well, he's a good shooter, but he's also athletic, can
get to the rim. He can do everything you want
in that kind of hybrid wing two three spot, So
he can fit alongside a lot of guys, and I
think that it's a good first commitment to have because
people will want to play with him.

Speaker 1 (18:16):
M well, that's good. Another one of those guys that
is going to play with him is new point guard
commit Jalen Lowe. He comes from Pitt. He was All
ACC third team over the season. Not the best three
point shooter, Jacob, but what is Kentucky getting with this guy?

Speaker 3 (18:32):
Yeah, you're getting a guy that's really good at getting
to the rim. He's not a great three point shooter,
as you mentioned, but it's funny. I got a text
from a friend who's a pit beat writer right after
the commitment and he texted me and he said, he
is going to be so laughably good there, I cannot wait.
So the pit people have hold him in very high regard,
and I think that he's going to step in be

(18:54):
that point guard one and then you've got kayten Lewis
and Jasper Johnson also to help compliment him.

Speaker 1 (19:00):
So somebody that didn't have a lot of talent around
him and could benefit from some shooters being able to
space the floor and let him do a little bit
more of what he is successful at.

Speaker 3 (19:08):
Right Absolutely like You see the thirty seven percent from
the field, and it might alarm you a little bit,
but he won't be asked to shoot the ball nearly
as much as he did at Pitt last year.

Speaker 1 (19:19):
That's thirty seven percent from three.

Speaker 3 (19:21):
Correct, No, that is actually thirty seven percent from the field,
twenty six percent twenty six point six percent, so he
can round that up to twenty seven percent from three.

Speaker 1 (19:30):
How is he turning over the ball?

Speaker 2 (19:31):
I mean?

Speaker 1 (19:31):
Is he a I mean somebody that can take care
of the ball. Is it somebody he's had issues in
the past? Like, tell me why Mark Pope in Kentucky
is so high on this guy? Or is was it
or was this somebody that they just had to adjust
to get after they didn't get somebody they wanted.

Speaker 3 (19:44):
Yeah, he had three turnovers a game last year, which
is not great, But like I said, he his usage
was just so high that he had the ball in
his hands the entire game. And whenever you have that,
you're you're bound to turn over the ball. And if
you're not a knockdown shooter, your percentages might struggle. But
we saw what happened with Lamont Butler last season when

(20:05):
he went from being a guy that you don't expect
to knock down shots to be in A pretty competent
shooter for the point guard position.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
Average sixteen point eight points a game, five point five assists,
four point two rebounds, one point eight steals in thirty
five minutes. As a sophomore he comes in will have
two years of eligibility remaining as well, so somebody that
can learn Pope's system. I'm a little worried about the three,
but you don't have to be the best three point
shooter if you're the point guard, right Jacob.

Speaker 2 (20:30):
Yeah, and he shot.

Speaker 3 (20:32):
He attempted fourteen shots a game last season. He's not
gonna do anything near that Kentucky, which will allow him
to be a lot more efficient.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
And also had his best performances versus Louisville, I believe.
I think in the two games that he's played versus Louisville,
I think he's scored over twenty points in each game.
So if he's got even an ounce of a Lamont
Butler in him, the thirty three points versus the Cards,
and just the defensive intensity that he had all year,
then he can be a great fit. The six foot
three point guard from Pitt Jalen Lowe being the newest edition.

(21:04):
So just a couple of minutes left. I want to
talk about what's next for Kentucky and the transfer portal.
But what do you think about the fit of Kerr
Krisa going to Cincinnati over the weekend, Jacob.

Speaker 3 (21:13):
I think it's a good fit. I think it's very exciting.
The thing that a lot of people don't realize with
Kerr is I know he put in his Instagram post
when he committed that this is his last year, but
there's actually a path for him to return for another
year next season because of a suspension he had at
West Virginia. I don't want to get into the details,

(21:35):
but he really could be in college for two more seasons,
which is pretty insane to me.

Speaker 1 (21:40):
That's incredible. He's already on his fourth different team.

Speaker 2 (21:42):
I believe maybe a fifth next year. We'll see.

Speaker 1 (21:46):
I mean, that guy is just embodying the new transferportal
era and what it's going to be like more and
more for these kids. One more before we take the break.
Big Z on the way to Illinois to team up
with his brother and Orlando Antique, who I believe is
still on the coaching staff there.

Speaker 2 (22:02):
Yeah, it's a.

Speaker 1 (22:04):
Familiar face, gets to see his brother. I'm just his
poor stomach is gonna have to adjust to a different cuisine.

Speaker 3 (22:08):
Now, yeah, he'll he'll have to avoid some of that
that food a little bit further away in Chicago.

Speaker 1 (22:16):
But he's not getting a dog off the street. I
don't think he's got a strong enough stomach for it.

Speaker 2 (22:21):
Jacob.

Speaker 3 (22:21):
That might cause some trouble for Illinois, but it will
be fun to see him playing with his brother.

Speaker 1 (22:25):
All Right, we're gonna take a break with with Jacob
polo Check this morning here on the KOSR pre Show.
All right, welcome back. It is the KOSR Pre Show
rolling here on a Monday. It's Billy Rutledge and Jacob
polo Check. You can find him on Twitter. Is it
at Jacob polo Check at Polo Check ks polo Check
KSR writes for KSR dot Com and KSR Plus. With
all the recruiting and transfer portal scoop, people not really

(22:50):
sold on this pit point guard coming to Kentucky. Here
is some responses. One person online on Twitter, Brian says,
I don't understand the recruitment. I feel Pope took him
in desperation. Another person on the text line says Jacob
trying to sugarcoat it. Standards at UK now are third
team All ACC players terrible acc at that Jacob, was

(23:13):
there any sense of desperation with UK signing this guy
or is this somebody that they think feels that they
can fit their scheme.

Speaker 3 (23:19):
Yeah, I'm not gonna come here and say that he
was their first choice. I think we all know that
they wanted Donovan Dent. They were going after Silas Demri
from Georgia, so he wasn't their number one choice. But
I think after missing on your top guys, it's hard
to do better than a third team All ACC guy
out of the portal that averaged almost seventeen points a game.

(23:40):
I think that under Mark Pope he could be a really,
really good player.

Speaker 1 (23:43):
Do you think he brings more than maybe kerkkrisa who
was already in house or is that you know, motivations
are different, right, Maybe Kerr wants more guaranteed starting time
or whatnot. But do you feel like low can bring
a lot that maybe Kerr did not? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (23:58):
Absolutely, I think that Lowe going to be brought in
to be your point guard one while Kayden Lewis is
getting used to the college game.

Speaker 2 (24:06):
I don't think Kerr.

Speaker 3 (24:07):
I don't think anybody would have been too excited to
have Kerk Crisa as Kentucky's point guard one next season,
as much as some fans might have loved him.

Speaker 1 (24:16):
So you bring oh Way back hopefully, I think that's
the that's the biggest hope of this transfer portal time.
Garrison another guy that I think you try to pencil
in for him to come back unless you bring in
a bunch of other bigs. And then you have Chandler
Noah Perry, you also have freshman like Johnson Lewis and
Moreno we talked about Cam Williams coming for Tulane. What

(24:38):
does Kentucky do next in the transfer portal, Jacob.

Speaker 3 (24:40):
Yeah, I think they've got their their eyes set on
a few guys. The first guy I'll mention is Alvarro
Faulgarris from Robert Morris, who I believe is still currently
in Spain, so that one's moving a little bit slowly,
but they seem to be very well positioned there. Power
forward who can hit threes forty one percent from three.
I think he's six ten or something around that mark.

(25:02):
So if you can have a six ten big that's
hit in threes. That would be really good. And then
you got a few other guys like Wesley Yates from
USC that they're going after. You got Jaron Pierre from
Jacksonville State and those are and then you got Mohammed
Diabate from Alabama, who will see how serious the interest is.

Speaker 1 (25:19):
Well love him? Yeah, I mean he killed Kentucky, didn't
He was the.

Speaker 3 (25:23):
Reason that otego Away had lost his ten point streak
because he was defending him most of that gay So
Kentucky fan should be very familiar with him.

Speaker 1 (25:32):
You mentioned a name, Wesley Yates. That's the guy that
was at Washington at one point, then was at USC
looking for his third school, but was an AAU teammate
of one of Kentucky's newest commits.

Speaker 4 (25:42):
Is that right?

Speaker 3 (25:43):
I think he was if I remember that right? I
believe that was with Jalen Low.

Speaker 1 (25:50):
Yeah, actually Jalen Low and Cam Williams is if what
I'm reading is correct. And was also spent time in
the past with UK assistant Alvin Brooks. So somebody that's
familiar with a lot of faces on the roster already.
So maybe somebody that you know they're texting or tweeting
or sharing their Instagram posts. Jacob, it's a weird thing
to cover. Talk to me a little bit about covering,

(26:12):
recruiting and the transfer portal. I mean, these guys can
change their mind at the very last minute. It kind
of drives you crazy, doesn't huh.

Speaker 2 (26:19):
It definitely drives you crazy.

Speaker 3 (26:21):
I try to stay away from the who's following who
on Instagram because that can get a little blown out
of proportion. I feel like every day I'm seeing a
new Twitter post of oh my god, ex Kentucky Target
followed why Kentucky Target on Instagram, and then the guy
ends up going to Memphis or something not related anywhere close.

(26:42):
So I try to stay away from that. But Wesley
Yates is probably the best player that Kentucky is going
after right now.

Speaker 1 (26:49):
How do you think these conversations are going. I mean,
Mark Pope is getting on his private jet and flying
to meet guys overnight. I mean they're constantly on the phone.
Do you think their prom seeing playing time millions of dollars?
You know? Do you think these kids are starting with
small talk before they get into the the big numbers? Jacob,

(27:09):
I mean, I just I want a little insight on
how do you think that these coaches are conversating with
players in the transfer portal nowadays?

Speaker 3 (27:16):
Well, it seems like you're having a lot of assistance
reach out. First, set up an initial call if they
like them, set up a zoom call with the whole staff, okay,
and then they can start getting into this is how
we see you in our system. And also obviously the
money talk of this is what we want to offer
you an nil But yeah, I think that it's kind

(27:37):
of a slow route to get there to the nil point.
I think that's once you really know this is our guy,
this is a guy we want, and let's go lock
him down.

Speaker 1 (27:44):
How do you see this change in over the next
couple of years or so? You know, this week is
when we could be seeing that settlement in in in
the court case. That could you know, make it so
like you have a set amount of money to share
with your athletic department. So I mean, and this is
all it's all been in the wild West over the
last couple of years. Do you think that this is
going to be much more organized? Maybe a year or

(28:06):
two from now.

Speaker 2 (28:07):
It can't get any less organized.

Speaker 1 (28:09):
So that's true, that's true, it could not get less organized.
But what are some changes that you maybe see coming
in the next couple of years. Yeah, sot, Right now,
what you're seeing is a lot of teams want to
unload that collective nil money, locking down players, getting them
committed early before this house settlement where most of most
collective nil, the regular nil deals that we know today,

(28:32):
we'll all have to go through a clearinghouse. But then
there's going to be the revenue share aspect, where basically
teams will have a certain amount of money to split
amongst their players. You have a fifteen roster scholarship a
roster limit fifteen players, so a lot of people see
that as an increase, but you still have walk ons,
and coaches will want to keep walk on so they

(28:55):
don't have to pay their collective revenue or their revenue
share among fifteen players.

Speaker 3 (29:00):
They can only do that among twelve players. A player
could get more money.

Speaker 1 (29:03):
Ah, so the less players that you have, the more
money you could offer to the players that you do have.

Speaker 3 (29:07):
Exactly, and a lot of times walk ons won't be
getting that revenue share, or at least getting a very
small chunk of it.

Speaker 1 (29:14):
That's interesting because I mean cal could pay his team
and his players a lot more per player. If there
were limits, then maybe somebody that had more players on
the bench and you fill out that fifteen. But then
you have the luxury of depth. So that's an interesting point,
you know. Speaking of NIL deals, I saw a Mari
Williams finally got that weeed a big steal. Did you

(29:36):
see that over the weekend? I believe it was perfect.
That's what nil deals are for. Right then they waited
way too long for that. I don't know if there
were some international things that they needed to do, but
you know this nil it's just completely changed the way
kids look at schools, right It's like what opportunities and
how much money can I make before you even talk
about starting time or even playing for the school. So

(29:58):
we've seen that change the landscape over the last couple
of years.

Speaker 3 (30:01):
Yes, sometimes Nio will put a team, put their foot
in the door and give give them a chance at
landing a guy, and sometimes it could be the deciding factor.
I'm not here to say that it's always the deciding factor,
but when you're a top transfer and you're deciding between
two schools that you like, a difference maker could be nio.

Speaker 1 (30:20):
Now, tell me about KSR plus. What is it that
you guys offer on there that you know maybe listeners
of this show would be interested in.

Speaker 3 (30:28):
Well, so I'm writing three stories a day on KSR plus.
We got Adam Luckett from KSR who writes a story
on there every once in a while. But really the
main selling point of KSR plus is the message board.
I'm on there almost all day. All of the KSR
staff is on there interacting with people. It's a lot
of fun. And we're giving hour by hour updates on

(30:50):
the transfer portal right now because it's nuts.

Speaker 1 (30:52):
Now do we have people losing their mind on the
message boards? Because that I think is the appeal of
message boards is some of these hot takes after or
a UK loss or a UK recruiting loss. Jacob is,
does that still remain on these message boards? Because that
was my favorite part of the old school message board.

Speaker 3 (31:09):
Jase, it still remains, And unfortunately for me and fortunately
for a lot of other people, I have to moderate
that so we make sure that it doesn't get too
toxic of after a loss that people aren't people can
vent their frustrations, but we limit it to a point
so that it's not absolutely nuts.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
See when I have a bad hair day and somebody
posts my picture online, I can just not look at
the mentions. You're telling me, you've got to go through
the mansions. I've got to go through the moderate them.

Speaker 2 (31:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (31:41):
Yeah, that's not a job for the faint of heart,
especially if you're in this business of reporting information and
it changing by the hour.

Speaker 2 (31:49):
Jacob.

Speaker 3 (31:50):
If I could survive moderating the message board after the
Oakland loss, I can survive anything.

Speaker 1 (31:55):
Was that a bad one?

Speaker 2 (31:56):
That was as worse as I've seen it?

Speaker 1 (31:58):
Well, I was, you know, hosting a morning show the
morning after the losses of Saint Peter's and Oakland, So
I understand that to a degree. I actually hosted the
Leach Report the morning after the Saint Peter's loss, So
it was like, I was very you know, professional and
my journalism one oh one hat for the Leech Report,
and then I came on on the pre show and
I was like, what was that? Are you kidding me?

(32:20):
But you were probably in Kansas still, Jacob.

Speaker 2 (32:23):
Yeah, I was not covering Kentucky in yours.

Speaker 1 (32:25):
Ruby reds slippers, not even worrying about the cats.

Speaker 3 (32:29):
No, but the Oakland loss. I was certainly worried that
one was a bad one.

Speaker 1 (32:34):
Hey, we saw a huge collapse over the weekend Duke
falling to Houston, and I talked about it being historic.
Here was one of those historic stats. Duke is the
only team to lose an NCAA tournament game with a
higher field goal percentage, more free throw attempts, more assist,
fewer turnovers, and more steals than their opponent. The teams
were three hundred and thirty five and zero prior to

(32:56):
Houston's win. I mean Duke dominated that game well, is
that they led by fourteen points with about eight minutes
to go and then just a collapsed by the Blue Devils.

Speaker 2 (33:05):
Yeah. I think I saw one of the big.

Speaker 3 (33:10):
Twitter Twitter accounts posting that Duke was undefeated after under
Shire with a ten point lead, and I had to
think back, didn't they have a ten point lead over
Kentucky earlier this year?

Speaker 2 (33:20):
I don't think that's nine. It was.

Speaker 1 (33:22):
Duke's lead was nine over Kentucky. Kentucky came back. Duke
was seventy nine and zero under Shire in games where
they led by at least ten points at any time,
So not only the halftime lead that they had but
ten points at any time, so.

Speaker 3 (33:37):
I stand corrected then I thought I thought they led
by more than ten against Kentucky.

Speaker 2 (33:40):
That's surprising.

Speaker 1 (33:42):
Talk about disappointing if you're Duke. I mean an all
time roster, a Cooper flag esque and they don't get
it done. Houston and Florida tonight at eight fifty pm.
Who you got, Jacob Before we move on, I'm gonna
stick with the SEC, gonna go Florida.

Speaker 2 (33:56):
I'll be rooting for Houston. I think that would be
a better story.

Speaker 3 (33:58):
But if I'm making my pay, the SEC has been
so good this year, it's only right that you get
an SEC champions.

Speaker 1 (34:03):
Yeah, I'm gonna go Florida two. And you know Walter
Clayton Man, he's got is shades of Kemball Walker. Maybe
it was just these these amazing guards and that can
make plays that make your jaw drop. He has definitely
done that several times in a team that Kentucky beat
earlier this year. A five nine two eight oh two
two eight seven. If you'd like to join the show,

(34:24):
Texas at five o two two six five six six
five six, We're gonna take a break here when we
come back for our final segment, it'll be Billy and
Jacob getting ready to hand it off to Drew Franklin,
who is going to be hosting KSR this week. We've
got a couple of news tidbits from over the weekend
and we'll we'll talk more Transfer Portal with Jacob, because
that is his job, it's his life, it's his busy

(34:46):
season right now. And I won't make Jacob eat this
twinkie in the studio. We'll save that for Shannon when
he comes back. It's Jacob and Billy here on this
Monday edition of the ksrpre Show. We'll be right back
our final segment here on the KSR Pre Show. Billy Rutledge,
big thank you. Jacob Poulachick, who joined us, does a
great job on KSR plus. We were talking about a
little bit about his process during the break and Jacob,

(35:07):
you do a lot of cold calling. You just got
to call people. Is that how you get people on
the phone.

Speaker 3 (35:11):
That's how people pick up Once you let him know
you're a reporter, it's it's hard to get him on
the phone.

Speaker 1 (35:15):
So it's not like DMS or anything like that. You're
picking up the phone in calling people.

Speaker 3 (35:20):
Sometimes it's DMS, sometimes it's texting, but during transfer portal
season it's mainly cold calling.

Speaker 1 (35:26):
Well, I told you during the break I would not
want to do your job.

Speaker 2 (35:28):
I do not envy you.

Speaker 1 (35:29):
People seem to get mad at you for the recruiting
news that comes out and not just how the landscape works.
It's like you did it, Jacob. Somebody. They got to
get mad at somebody, so it might as well be you. Right,
don't kill the messenger. I am not recruiting any of
these players. Hey, well, as long as you get me
a two words be ready T shirt. When you start
making them.

Speaker 2 (35:48):
I'll get you on. We're gonna start making.

Speaker 1 (35:50):
Those, okay.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
I like them good. I like how you're leaning into it,
kind of lean into it as much as I can.

Speaker 1 (35:54):
Drew Franklin is going to be hosting KSR all week
this week, and he's he's jumping on right before the
big show today. What's up, Drew?

Speaker 4 (36:00):
How were we doing fellas hop in warm up the vocal
cords a little bit?

Speaker 2 (36:04):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (36:04):
Are you ready to go? You got your you know,
Matt normally has his ten topics? Do you have your
ten topics?

Speaker 4 (36:09):
I got some topics, you know, I'm as ready as
I'm gonna get. We'll just we'll hit, we'll hit, go
on the machine there in front of you at ten
oh three and see what happens. But I'm looking forward
to it.

Speaker 1 (36:17):
Well, we've got the National Championship, those final four games
to recap. But selfishly, Drew, I'm looking forward to a
little master's talk. Me and you love our golf. We
got to play Valhalla last year together. That was a
lot of fun.

Speaker 4 (36:28):
As the last time I golfed, is that the last
time you got much anymore? I miss it?

Speaker 1 (36:33):
Well, we've got the Lexington Golf Scramble coming up, getting loose,
so Drew, hopefully we'll have a team and be ready
to go then. But Corey Price is going to be
joining you later today, is that right?

Speaker 4 (36:43):
He is? He brought donuts. That's awesome. You know, Kentucky's
not in the championship unfortunately tonight's game. So I thought
we would use today as to learn about the championships.
You know, we all remember twenty twelve, most of us
remember ninety six, ninety eight, but we'll go way back,
start at the beginning and just you know, teach the
listeners about the eight seasons Kentucky have done. As we

(37:05):
get ready for a ninth next year.

Speaker 1 (37:06):
I had to look up a couple of notes from
the championships, so just so I don't embarrass myself with
any Reggie Hansen facts on the show later today. So
the old Vernon Hatton's and the.

Speaker 4 (37:16):
Yeah, I did my own homework. It's not like I
remember a lot about nineteen fifty one.

Speaker 1 (37:20):
No, missed most of that.

Speaker 4 (37:21):
But that's why we do show prep. We learned so
we can educate the listeners. But it'll be fun.

Speaker 1 (37:26):
Yes, absolutely well five O two two sixty five six
six five six if you'd like to text me today
or at any point later today, as Matt and Ryan
have taken the text lines with them. You know, we
did get some news about an opponent on Kentucky's schedule.
Kentucky will take on Bellerman in December in the upcoming season.
It is not Scotty Davenport. It will be his son,

(37:48):
Doug Davenport. But Jacob, I always like Kentucky plays in
state schools. I'm gonna be the one that screams about
Western Kentucky. I'll hit you with my class ring here
if you say anything bad about it. But good to
see Bellerman on the schedule.

Speaker 2 (38:01):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (38:01):
I think that drives a lot of people to want
to go see these games when you have them in state,
nothing more exciting.

Speaker 1 (38:07):
Yeah, just bring in Western, bring in Eastern Drew. I
mean they've got so many of these what is it
BBN Invitational games? We got to get through. I mean,
come on, let's bring in the end state school. So
I liked seeing that Doug Davenport will be coming in
with Bellermant.

Speaker 4 (38:20):
Yeah, if Ryan we're here, he would say, poop State.
You know, he always says that anytime you're ask him
about the schedule. But you got to play somebody there,
And I like that they keep it in the Bluegrass.
You know, Beller rooms here a few years ago with
Scotty Davenport. Now we'll take the younger Davenport. Heck, I
wish we could add Murray. You had Western just last year.
I mean, keep it going. It's fun playing the in

(38:40):
state schools.

Speaker 1 (38:41):
And Western tested you to the point where you knew
that you had some issues defensively, right, So Western changed everything.

Speaker 4 (38:46):
They figured out the recipe.

Speaker 1 (38:47):
I think, So, I mean, I think you can look back.
It wasn't the old miss game as the catalyst or
duke or beating Gonzaga. It'll be the Western game. But
Jacob just a couple of minutes left. You know, it
was a fun first year for Mark Hope. I think
many rose their letter grade for the year to an
A after making the Sweet sixteen. Some may be a

(39:08):
little bit more disappointed. Where did you land on a
year one under Mark Pope?

Speaker 3 (39:11):
I'll give him an A minus maybe even in a
like he didn't go one and done in the SEC
tournament and he made the Sweet sixteen. Those are the
two things that I felt like he needed to do
in year one, And it also helps that he beat
a whole bunch of top twenty five teams.

Speaker 1 (39:26):
Yeah, it just doesn't help. They lost to Arkansas, Jacob.
That was the one game, wasn't it, Like it felt
like that was the one that we said before that
you do not lose at all costs, and then they
end up losing it. But then maybe it helped that
Caliperry did go on a Sweet sixteen run right after that.

Speaker 3 (39:40):
Yeah, that Arkansas loss is probably the one thing that
has me at an A minus instead of an A.

Speaker 1 (39:45):
So in the fact that Drew's got to deal with
his dad, the Tennessee Valls fan the entire time, and
then losing in the NCAA tournament. Has he just been
insufferable since? Or has it been nice to see that
Houston has taken down Tennessee and Duke.

Speaker 4 (40:00):
After Kentucky lost to Tennessee, it was not not a
good day to be me. It wasn't just him. I
have several Vall's friends. Unfortunately. I don't know why I
let these people in my life. But by halftime on
Sunday it got real quiet. On Saturday they were saying, Drew,
enjoy your baseball season, and at halftime of the Houston game,
I was getting welped. It's baseball season. So uh it
was just a little over twenty four hours. I had

(40:21):
to deal with deal with it.

Speaker 1 (40:22):
Like good good. I don't know how Mike was able
to turn coat like that, and you allowed that to happen, Drew.
Is one of the bigger questions I'll ever have.

Speaker 4 (40:31):
Me too, me too. You think you know somebody, then
they just switching like the Tennessee Valls.

Speaker 1 (40:35):
Well, Drew, thanks for hopping on with us here in
this final Stey too excited for Drew Palooza excited for
another two hours already with you. You're gonna kill it man.

Speaker 4 (40:42):
Uh, the Drew Palloza, I feels like it adds a
lot of pressure, like it's this big, grand event. I'm
just hosting KSR like I've been on this show for
over a decade, just doing what I do. But Drew
Palouza adds a whole another elbum T shirts.

Speaker 2 (40:55):
Now, this is this is.

Speaker 4 (40:56):
It's added more than I than I expected. But it'll
be fun.

Speaker 1 (40:59):
Well, you did the game show a little earlier this
year and we had a great time with that.

Speaker 4 (41:02):
So also, people forget a host of a week last
summer when Shannon and Ryan took their vacation at the
same time again and you were a big helping that.
So even though Matt build this is the first time
we did this last.

Speaker 1 (41:12):
Year, like you said, we'll keep clocking in. Yeah, we
just keep showing up.

Speaker 2 (41:16):
We'll keep showing up to work and paychecks.

Speaker 4 (41:17):
Might not be that big, but we'll just keep.

Speaker 1 (41:19):
Showing up the low end of the scale when it
comes to the KSR paychecks. But yeah, you're exactly right, Jacob,
big thank you to you for jumping in, not only
with your coverage on KSR Plus, but joining me this morning.
I know this is a really busy time for you,
so I know you got to get back to the cold, Colin,
but thank you for all that you do, and thanks
for joining us this morning.

Speaker 2 (41:37):
Thank you for having me. It's been a pleasure, all right.

Speaker 1 (41:39):
That is going to do it for us here on
the KSR pre show our week without Shannon the Dude.
We'll have more guests tomorrow and we'll talk more Kentucky
sports for Jacob Polacheck. I'm Billy Rutledge. This has been
the show before the show, and I'll talk to you
in a bit with Drew on KSR