2025-10-02- KSR - Hour 2

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00:00:59
Speaker 3: Welcome to our two of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage. Now here's Matt Jones.

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Speaker 2: All right, welcome back our number two Ryan Drew and Shannon Here of Kentucky Sports Radio. We mentioned Matt makes his return tomorrow our live show at Shady Rays at Oxmorn, Maall and Louisville, but Drew, every year during the EKU football's bye week, we usually get to visit with their head coach, Walt Wells. Guess what bye week this weekend? Walt Wells making a return trip. It's always good to kind of this has worked out. It's been several years in a row you've come in and sat with us on your bye week.

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Speaker 4: So no, we really appreciate you having us up because it's great for us to get you know, EKU out there right and across the state. Nothing else goes across the state like this. I'll have you know, I spent ten years in Bowling Green and I've spent I don't know, seventeen years up around this area. So I'll get people calling all the time, Hey, I just heard you on KSR, you know, and I appreciate the reach for our program and our university because it's it's a big time for us.

00:01:55
Speaker 2: Well I tell us about the EKU season, how you guys have been doing so far.

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Speaker 5: We are we're doing okay. We we just won We're two and oh at home.

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Speaker 4: So we beat Houston Christian who is used to be Houston Baptist, famous for Bailey Zappey, and uh so we played them, and then we beat Nicols State last week, who is a team that has you know, done a great job in the Southland Conference. And then we played Louisville obviously and didn't win that game. Lost A one game that we lost that we are disappointed in is against West Georgia, who's a ranked team in FCS and in our conference. And so, uh we were playing well, had a touchdown called back and kind of we're a named young team right now growing up and we lost twenty seven seniors, which is rare in the world. And so, uh, you know, we kind of grew up on the road down in in Carrollton, in Carrollton, Georgia, and then we played Marshall.

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Speaker 6: You open the year at Louisville, as you mentioned, what's the importance of a game like that, kind of punching up going to a power for school for a team of your level. And have you ever had any success in one of the those games over the years.

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Speaker 5: Well over the years.

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Speaker 4: Definitely as a player, I was at Austin p when we beat Kansas State nineteen eighty seven. I don't know who was worse than or us, but we won the game, which was incredible. Then as a coach at Western Kentucky, obviously we came in here I think that was twenty twelve, Willie Taggers last year and upset Kentucky.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, we don't talk about that.

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Speaker 4: And then you know, we actually at EKU beat bon and Green State, and so it was a year that I actually had my cardiac arrest.

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Speaker 5: It was my first game.

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Speaker 4: Gary mcpeete was the acting coach, but I was back on the sidelines that game. So you know, we every now and then you can sneak in and get one. But you know, it's obviously financially, it's big for our program, and you know that goes to all athletics, not just football. And then and then it gives our guys an opportunity to step up and see where they're at, Guys that think, you know, and then guys that are on the radars of the NFL scouts. I mean, we'll have every NFL team into our practices this year, just like in the last that you know, they get a chance to watch them against those type players and see how they fit. You know, basically they know that those are one and two game tests for them. You know, they're still gonna watch every game, you know, at our level, but they want to see how they play against you know, Isaac Brown and all those dudes, and they get in the hole with them one on one and can they make the play and different things like that depending on who they have. So, you know, two years ago, we came in here and played Kentucky and it was it was a good game for a while, Yeah, I was.

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Speaker 2: It was a scary game for a while. You guys came in here.

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Speaker 4: I remember that, and so it you know, it's our guys get up for a big time.

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Speaker 5: Sure, they love it.

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Speaker 4: Our coaches love it because they want to prove who they can, you know, coach against.

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Speaker 6: Sometimes you mentioned the NFL. I wasn't gonna go this direction, but I'm a long suffering Titans fans. We've had some Eastern Kentucky colonels recently. I believe they played for you. I mean Tim Boyle is still on a roster out there. I think he was before you were a coach. But what's the sense of pride when you have a guy go from Eastern and get to the league.

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Speaker 4: Well, I'm born and raised Nashville too, so I'm a Titan fan. And so when we get through it. When Matt and t K were down there, they both stayed for a year, year and a half or two years, and uh, you know that's match from Nashville too, Matt Jackson was so that was really prideful for me. And you know, my best friends, one of the media guys down in Nashville does radio show, does all this, and so he would get them on and talk to him and do everything.

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Speaker 5: So it's really prideful.

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Speaker 4: But you know, I hate to see I mean, I'm a Steve McNair fan, have been for a long time. I think he's one of the best quarterbacks to ever played NFL. Of course everybody thinks I'm an idiot when I say that, but he was tough. He carried that town. I it's kind of funny. Me and my brother, my dad bought us PSLs. So when they brought the Titans, and that means you had preferred sea license for two seats in the end zone. And the year they came is a year I got into college coaching, and so my brother was a longtime high school coach down there, so I never got to sales and uh, and so I eventually I just said, hey man, you got him. You you've been paying for him the whole time. You take them and uh. He passed a couple of years ago, but his family still has them, I think. And so you know, we've been that long in Nashville and we love it and I'm for him. They were just asking me, these young guys with me. They were like, who'd you grow up liking the Titans? I liked, well, no, because Titans didn't come till I was in you know, probably my thirties. You know, I said I was a Raiders fan because the Raiders was my high school nickname.

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Speaker 5: So I want the Raiders.

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Speaker 2: So you mentioned that game you came into over here to Kroger Field a couple of years ago, kind of put a little scare in Kentucky a little bit. You guys are on the schedule again on the next coming years, aren't you.

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Speaker 5: I think it's twenty eight or twenty nine.

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Speaker 2: I saw I think they had the future schedules and I saw uku on there. I mean, it's a big deal for a program like you guys, and you get to go into a big SEC program and play him.

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Speaker 4: It's so we're so thankful that Kentucky does it because here's the deal for us. We don't have to spend a lot of money to come over here in the game day atmosphere. I mean, we're twenty minutes down the roads. Are we gonna you know, we're gonna stay at home. We're gonna you know I have to do is rent the buses and the postgame meals. So it's almost like being at home for us and financially and then then we we get the financial windfall and we get to keep it and then we get to come in you know, we've got we recruit.

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Speaker 5: The state pretty hard, and we've got a lot of.

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Speaker 4: Local Guyslexington, Yeah, you know, Brady Hensley just had a big game last week against us from LCD.

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Speaker 2: He good for him.

00:07:29
Speaker 4: Yeah, he rushed for one hundred and forty two or forty eight yards. Wow, he scored a touchdown. He's doing real well for us. And then Joe Sloarman, John's son is our is our second team center, and you know We've got other guys that are from you know, Caden Smith's from Taylor County, And I can go on and on.

00:07:47
Speaker 5: I'm gonna leave a.

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Speaker 4: Bunch of guys out, But we have a lot of guys from the state of Kentucky that play for.

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Speaker 2: Us, that dream of one time playing at Croverfield.

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Speaker 5: But he does.

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Speaker 4: I mean, I grew up Nashville. I grew my dad was the biggest Kentucky fan ever. But I grew up wanting to go to Tennessee, you know. And because if you grow up in Nashville, that's especially in the eighties. You know that when you came out in the eighties, that's what you did. You wanted to go play Tennessee. And so I understand that. And it's a great atmosphere, it's a it's a hopefully a great game for us and for them, and and everybody's satisfied at the end of the day.

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Speaker 6: You ended up at Austin P as you said, former Austin p ballboy, Here go Ghos, Let's go Hoe, all right, But I saw their next on your schedule after this bye week, coming into Richmond's play. What can fans just expect to see in that game and the rest of your home games.

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Speaker 4: Well, I think you know right now, currently we're on a nine game win streak going all the way back at home, going back to twenty twenty three, and you know, I think you'll see a really good game. Austin P's rank. They upset Middle Tennessee earlier in the year, played Georgia. Well, so, I mean, they're they're going to come in here. They got a transfer quarterback that's really good from Mississippi State, so they're going to come in here ready to go. Obviously, we won last year in overtime on a walk off touchdown.

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Speaker 2: Uh, so they're gonna be mad.

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Speaker 4: So they're gonna be Yeah, they're gonaad coming in here. Jeff Ferris, the head coach, hair has done a great job. I know him and his dad for my time at Tennessee and uh and so you know they're gonna They've got a really good football team. Now they play West Georgia, who's ranked also ranked ahead of them in our conference this weekend, so you know, maybe we'll find out a little more about who both of them are as we move forward. We played West Georgia and that's the one team that beat us an FCS. So, uh, you know, I'm looking forward to it, but it's been good to have a week off. Like I said, we have a young team, so five games into it, it's been a hard run.

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Speaker 7: Uh.

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Speaker 4: Three of the games have been on the road and things like that. So to give them a break and we got practice that we had three days of practice. Today is the third day, and then give them a break for the weekend. They need it and it'll be good for them. Some of them will be going home and the rest of them will be sticking around.

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Speaker 2: Now, that's when you mentioned that game coming up on the eleventh. You know, it's Kentucky's bye week, and it's worked out a lot over the past Cup years. When you come in here, a lot of Kentucky fans go watch your your home game out Kentucky's off that weekend, let's go watch ek you play. You usually get a lot of UK fans go down to Richmond to watch you guys play. And it's gonna be a big game against Austin p So how can people get tickets and what's the best way to try to maybe get tickets to come to that game.

00:10:15
Speaker 4: Well, right now, we've got a five dollars special, so oh goodness, they can come get a single game ticket for five dollars. I mean, you can bring your whole family, and the food's cheap, and the beverage is cheap, and they got all types of beverage that you want. They got adult to to small children beverage. We've got a fund zone for them. So all they have to do is go to eku sports dot com, go to the ticket window or drop down and you can get your tickets right there, and then it'll come straight to your phone. You know, they'll buzz you in when you come here, and all that we're gonna leave. I think Ray's here, are uh Ray White, our ticket managers here. He's gonna leave some free tickets here for y'all to give out throughout the next week if you want a cool.

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Speaker 5: Yeah, and then uh and then we'll uh, we'll continue to.

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Speaker 2: Go through it.

00:10:57
Speaker 5: But it's easy.

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Speaker 4: E Ku sports dot Com is where they have to go and go to the tickets and then they can.

00:11:03
Speaker 2: It works out perfect. When Kentucky's off that bye week, people go travel down and watching football game. It's a neat environment too, you guys have I mean, it really is.

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Speaker 4: They do a great job our administration. You know, you've got the big Colonel lot. Yeah, over there where the where the arena is. It's got all kinds. They'll have concerts, they'll have all different types of things going on.

00:11:21
Speaker 7: Uh.

00:11:21
Speaker 4: They let you, you know, enjoy yourself in cornhole. And you know they have a kid zone there. They have a kid zone inside the stadium. So if you want to go, turn your kids loose on the bouncy house for the whole game and.

00:11:32
Speaker 5: You sit over there. You've got the heel at the end zone, right, I.

00:11:35
Speaker 4: Mean last game we had, we had an unbelievable crowd and the end zone was it was parents weekend. The end zone was packed. Everybody had their you know, blankets out sitting on the end zone kind of like the old days. Yeah, and uh and so I felt really great about that. And then we actually you know, played well and got the win. So it was a fun day. And and then you know, we have guys if you want one game tickets for RVs. If you if you used to tailgating over here and you want to bring your camper down and in tailgate, I mean we usually have about twenty twenty campers sitting out there. You know, I know a lot of former players had a barbecue rib cook off the other day all night, and you know I've got one with a bunch of other guys are in town that we we you know, let I let my I don't ever get there until after the game, but my wife and and all our friends they sit there and party and have a good time.

00:12:22
Speaker 5: Then we do our.

00:12:23
Speaker 2: Colonel walk, Colonel walk. Yeah, all right, Well take our break, come back. If you've got a questions for coach Walt Wells, go ahead and give us a call. Eight five, nine to two two et seven. Tell what we do. We're gonna take those tickets and give them way tonight at Thursday Night football. We got usually we have a good crowd here for Thursday Night Football. I'll be one of the prizes we give away tonight.

00:12:38
Speaker 5: That'd be awesome, all right, I'd be great.

00:12:40
Speaker 2: All right, Ryan Drew and Shane with the EKAU football coach Walt Wells. Be right back. This is Kentucky Sports Radio. Welcome back at Teckan Sports Radio. Ryan Drew and Shenning here with EKU football coach Walt Wells. You're off this weekend, but then you host Austin p on Saturday, October eleventh, which coincided with Kentucky's off week. So we encourage everybody if you're looking for a football game to go to go down and check out the Colonel's Big game. Have you guys, you said Austin P's pretty good this year.

00:13:04
Speaker 5: Yeah, Austin Pace's got having a great year.

00:13:07
Speaker 4: You know, we've got to continue to to We've got to continue to build this week and get ready for him for next week. But it should be a great game.

00:13:14
Speaker 5: Uh.

00:13:15
Speaker 4: There's not been a game since I've been there against them that hadn't been decided, probably in the either overtime or in the last possession.

00:13:21
Speaker 5: So uh, you know, I think that's.

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Speaker 4: Uh, you're gonna watch a lot of good football players. You'll see some potential NFL players.

00:13:29
Speaker 5: You'll you know, if you want to come tailgate, you can tailgate.

00:13:31
Speaker 4: There's plenty of things to do down in Richmond to to have fun and watch games, and plenty of TVs around in the parking lots to to watch the other games that are going on too, Because I'm sure there'll be some good games before our start. But we start at six o'clock and so so You've got all day to get your get your little kids football in and everything we try to we try to make it as fan friendly as we can. Uh, and then get rolling at six and and it should be a great game.

00:13:57
Speaker 2: I'm throwing off here.

00:13:58
Speaker 7: Ryan.

00:13:58
Speaker 6: During the break, we're talking a little Steve McNair and he said, where are you from? And I said, Madisonville. Turns out like his whole family's from Madisonville. Where we were talking about the schools. His dad went to all these connections.

00:14:10
Speaker 5: Brain.

00:14:10
Speaker 6: I'm like, I'm here to ask him about the Colonel's but I did not expect so many Madisonville connections. During the break, we talked all the way through it. We were late getting back to join you.

00:14:18
Speaker 2: Drew's path, Andy's chest. The Maroons six and.

00:14:21
Speaker 6: Six and best start since nineteen ninety three were high.

00:14:25
Speaker 4: Oh, I mean the Madisonville Maroons. I used to go to the Pirates Cove.

00:14:30
Speaker 6: Oh you know Pirates Cove. We could do a whole show at the at the mall there.

00:14:34
Speaker 4: We Oh yeah, they would. My parents would drive me up. I would think it would be the worst week of my life. I always thought that when I first started, because I'm coming from Nashville. So I'm sitting here thinking, all right, we got this, we got that, we got Coppery Land, we got the Wlavepool, we've got the river behind this. We can go fit. We can do all this stuff. But we're going to Hanson. What the heck am I gonna do? You know, Hanson's out of Walmart.

00:14:57
Speaker 7: Now.

00:14:57
Speaker 4: They hey, let's call them right there by the convey center, which they called it a convenience center down there, and I was like, what is a convenience center? And it's basically where you take your trash and uh.

00:15:07
Speaker 5: But it's a great town. I loved it. Every time.

00:15:10
Speaker 4: Every week I'd go up there and spend with my aunt and uncle and my.

00:15:14
Speaker 5: Cousin that was my age.

00:15:15
Speaker 7: You know.

00:15:16
Speaker 4: We'd always end up at the Pirates Cove and I'd have to take a you know, a wide full of quarters and and go over there and we play games and then we'd need it. I think there was a pizza hut or something in there.

00:15:25
Speaker 5: Godfather's Godfather. Yeah.

00:15:27
Speaker 6: I got to pick my jaw off the floor with him name dropping Pirates Cove.

00:15:30
Speaker 2: I know that.

00:15:30
Speaker 6: You know, everyone's not here to just hear our Madisonville references.

00:15:33
Speaker 2: But what's the restaurant you say is the best restaurant in town, the Mexican restaurant Oversero.

00:15:38
Speaker 6: But we're going way back before all that. Pirate's Cove is a deep cut for Madisonville.

00:15:42
Speaker 4: I mean, Pirates Cove was That's where all every I mean when you went back, when I went back, when I was in high school, that's where you went. You cruised them all there, and you stopped off into Pirates Cove and played some games.

00:15:51
Speaker 6: Guy knows Madisonville.

00:15:52
Speaker 2: Now you know that, we've seen how the transfer portal has affected, you know, the power for schools of Kentucky. They plucked guys from like e K You. How do you guys at EKU combat that?

00:16:03
Speaker 4: Well, we just continue to rec I mean, the thing about the transfer portal is that it makes Recruiting is always twenty four to seven, three sixty five, always, but now it's even more so because you have to be critical in your decision making.

00:16:15
Speaker 5: We lost.

00:16:16
Speaker 4: We've got a line Our starting All Conference linebacker last year is planning at Virginia right now. He starts on special teams and he plays a lot at linebacker. Our freshman All American offensive guard is it went to Purdue and they plucked him out of here, you know, and so you just got to I mean, it hurts you. It hurts your depth, It hurts what you do because you put the two years of development or what you're development into them. But you can get mad about it, or you can just I tell our coaches and this is our philosophy right now it seems to be working decently. Is like, hey man, you're the head coach of your position, okay, and you have to understand that what we want and the link, the size, all the different things that we want. But you have to be ready to go. And we can't replace a starting sophomore or starting junior or you know, with a true freshman. You know, we're still going to recruit high schools. That's what we do. That's who we think we can develop, and that's who's been our best players.

00:17:17
Speaker 5: Uh, but we're gonna.

00:17:18
Speaker 4: Have to go into portal and find guys that can come in and help us win. Like our outside linebacker is playing really good for us. Is a uh cam junior. Cam originally signed and played for Cincinnati and then he came down and he's had success with us. He got a lot of scouts looking at him, Jahane Ward. I recruited both his brothers. One of them was Jay Ward, who was committing walking to to commit to Kentucky when I was there. Uh, and Matt House was recruiting him and somehow put a L s u hat on that day and you know, between the parking lot and the table, he put the lsu hat. I know what happened there, but that was il exactly right. And then uh, and and so Jaheim came from Austin p and came to play for us when they had a coach and change. And then uh, you know, we've got Veto Tisdell, who's playing extremely high.

00:18:12
Speaker 5: Level right now.

00:18:13
Speaker 4: Every scout that comes in the first person they talk about is is Vito Vido has got a pick six.

00:18:20
Speaker 5: He's got three or four picks already. Uh.

00:18:24
Speaker 4: He is really really matured and really really come around and and he's been nothing but great for us. And uh, and then we got Tommy Zezmer, you know who used to play gear, who's starting noseguard for us and and really making a name for himself. And so you know, I there's a lot of Kentucky connections there, obviously because of my relationships up here, and I can call and check on people. But I know Veto since he was a ninth grader. So when he was leaving, Uh, when he left here, we tried to get him, but he wanted to go to Colorado. And when he left Colorado, I I had been the first one to offer him when I was at Tennessee and anh grade. And then my chief of staff Jeff Griffith, who's a long time high school coach uh in the state of Kentucky. Uh, you know, and down in Bowler Green High.

00:19:11
Speaker 5: Coach Vito's dad.

00:19:13
Speaker 4: So Vito's dad called him and here we go, you know, and and UH, Veto didn't look anywhere else. And you know, for all the things that have gone wrong for Veto, he's been nothing but great for us ten years and and uh and he's a high level player. And I think he'll get I'll be shocked if he didn't finish the way he's playing right now that he won't get an opportunity to play in the NFL.

00:19:37
Speaker 6: His pick six was against Louisville, right, yeah, one A little extra to him on that one.

00:19:41
Speaker 4: Right before halftime, and so uh he had two right before had me back to back series. He had two picks. He had, uh the one pick six and uh that scored. And then Jaheim broke up a ball and it and he was covering the guy and they kind of broke it up and the ball just popped up and he was right there and took it and went. He had one last week force that kept them out of the end zone. And uh, you know, like I said, I mean, he's very very intelligent football player, and he's got three hours. I'm gonna put it out here that he's gonna be an EKU graduate just to keep him, keep his nose to the focus. But he was on our three point oh board too, So I mean he's doing great. He's doing really good, and I'm.

00:20:19
Speaker 5: Proud of him.

00:20:20
Speaker 6: You're talking about losing guys to other schools, other opportunities and kind of tying in with veto here, how often do you get the balance where you're able where a kid was stuck at a big school and didn't get as much of an opportunity there do you get to see a lot of times you're able to, even though you don't love losing a player to those schools, that you're able to get something in return.

00:20:40
Speaker 4: Well, the thing the most the attitude you have to take is if you keep the old attitude that we all had as coaches, then you're gonna be miserable. And I mean because you're gonna sit here and you developed this kid, you do everything you can for him. I mean, Jaden Higgins is a prime example. I don't know if y'all know who Jaden Higgins is.

00:20:57
Speaker 5: He was he was.

00:20:58
Speaker 4: The first overall. He wasn't he was in the second round, but he was the first pick for the Houston Texans last year in the NFL Drafty Jaden Higgins is from down around Miami. He had one offer coming out and.

00:21:12
Speaker 5: That was US. Wow, one one committable offer.

00:21:16
Speaker 4: And uh he came and played for US for two years with Parker McKinney and did a great job. All right, comes in, coach, I'm going into portal, all right. And of course that was right when the portal was kind of new. So I'm sitting there, like, man, this kid is, you know, he just I think he had like nine hundred yards receiving for US and ten touchdowns and I'm like he's six three, you know, two hundred pounds and can run like a Gazelle.

00:21:40
Speaker 5: I get it, but you know, I'm a little upset, you know.

00:21:46
Speaker 4: And uh, And so he goes and he goes to i was you know, he had all these other offers. He goes to Iowa State, and which was smart on his part. He needed to go somewhere where he could develop. He developed there, and like I said, he's the first, the first pick for the Houston Texas this year. He's starting for him and uh and so you know that crushes you, right because you're sitting there, like, we put two hard years of development into that young man and you can't just you just can't replace that. You know, I don't care if the kid's dropping down from Alabama, if he's I don't mean this to sound as bad as this sounds, but if he's dropping all the way down to us, he's probably not as good as Jayden Higgins's. There's issues, whether it's talent or whether it's off the field. Academically, he can't learn from something is wrong and you got to figure out what's wrong and try to fix it and grow him up. And you know that that's what you do is when you get guys from bigger schools to drop down and give him opportunity like Tommy's Seismer. Tommy's phenomenal young man. I mean, one of the best kids you'll ever be around, and he needed some opportunities. He came in and played in the spring, and you know he's done. You know, he's been nothing but great for us, and he was a boundary for us. But we had to move him to We needed a noseguard, so we moved him to the nose guard.

00:23:05
Speaker 5: And he's playing well.

00:23:06
Speaker 4: So yes, it's you just got to give up the attitude of what you're losing these guys and it's everything's a yearly deal. Now that's the negative of it all.

00:23:16
Speaker 2: Listen, we appreciate you coming in, coach. Go check them out ekusports dot com, get tickets, go seeing play Austin p on the eleventh. We'll take our break. Come back eight five, nine, two oh two. Tweet seven. Richie Farmer's gonna give us a basketball report. We come back. Thanks, Coach, was awesome, Thank you.

00:23:28
Speaker 5: Appreciate you.

00:23:29
Speaker 1: TJ Smith, personal injury attorney called TJ. He'll make them pay now.

00:23:34
Speaker 3: More of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage.

00:23:37
Speaker 2: Here's Matt Jones All right, Welcome back, Ryan Lemon, Drew Franklin, and Shannon the Dude Fun visiting with EKU football coach Walt Wells there for a couple segments getting these colonels ready, so there'll be a lot of people go down to watching play Austin p on the eleventh.

00:23:49
Speaker 6: I bet definitely got a good season going. Had some tough competition early, so the record doesn't reflect it, but they're getting into their conference and I should do well.

00:23:58
Speaker 2: On the side. Note, I got a real estate deal right now. My buyers are using the UK Federal Credit Union. Get anything you want to say about the UK Federal Credit Union, Drew.

00:24:05
Speaker 6: It's funny you asked Ryan. I was just sitting here wondering when I could have the opportunity to brag about UK Federal Credit Union. Did you know there's some wild myths floating around about it. Let's go on and bust them. But one, you've got to be part of UK to join. That's false of us.

00:24:18
Speaker 2: Busted. I'm a member.

00:24:19
Speaker 6: I don't work for UK. Busted, Bless your heart. That's such a myth. Myth too, joining is a whole ordeal. Come on, now, that's just playing wrong. Busted. Truth is a lot of Kentuckians are missing out on great rates and real benefits. And you can join at one of our seven local branches that are online and under three minutes, whether you wear blue and white or not, because at UK Credit Union there's a hard and heart stop there or not just for some. We're for all y'all membership eligibility required federally insured by NCUA.

00:24:50
Speaker 2: Back to you, Ryan on the phone, we have celebrity hotline phone call. Or Richie Farmer who was on the show the other day with Buck Stivers. Great show, Richie, by the way, great feedback. Everybody loves hearing you and Buck kind of go back and forth and tell stories. But af you left the show, you guys went to practice and watched Mark Pope's squad practice a little bit. You got a little insight intel for us.

00:25:10
Speaker 8: Now, well again, thanks for having me in. Buck and I really had a good time. We always enjoyed that. And I think that I really think that he gets a lot of feedback on.

00:25:25
Speaker 7: His social media from all of that.

00:25:27
Speaker 8: So so anyway, we had a good time. But you know, really practice, what I saw was encouraging because it didn't change my mind any that's for sure. You know, I don't know that there was anything crazy that I can tell you that that a lot of folks may or may not know. But you know, getting to see some of those guys for the first time was good.

00:25:55
Speaker 7: But I think Drew may like to hear this.

00:26:00
Speaker 8: Uh you know, I've been I've been a fan of this guy all along, but I really like the way uh Colin Chandler looks, you know, he he was shooting the ball.

00:26:13
Speaker 7: And that was the other thing that I you know, that I took away.

00:26:16
Speaker 8: I was a little bit worried about, you know, are we gonna have enough shooters with the guys that we lost, But I was I was very encouraged by what I saw because there were several guys that made a lot of shots. But but Chandler, you know, he looked really good. They they were They didn't do any real scrimmaging or anything. It was more of a teaching day and they were working on you know, different grills and different things. But uh, beforehand, before practice started, I got a chance to watch Jadon Quaintin's.

00:26:50
Speaker 7: Worked out for a little while and.

00:26:52
Speaker 8: My goodness, uh, if he if he gets when he gets healthy. Uh, he's he's a beast and can do a lot of things. And but down low he's he's unbelievable. Uh and he's he's just he's he's a monster.

00:27:09
Speaker 7: Do that. But I liked what I saw there.

00:27:13
Speaker 8: But the other guy that I was really impressed with was Yellow Itt.

00:27:20
Speaker 7: Uh.

00:27:20
Speaker 8: He he's a really good shooter, you know, and he's every lid of sixteen. I don't know what they list him, sixteen or uh six eleven maybe, but he's every bit of that, and he can step out and shoot the ball and and he's he's powerful down on the block as well. So Aberdeen looked really really good. My buddy Trent Noah from Eastern Kentucky. I mean, you know, everything they were saying about is shooting. He's he's shooting the ball great and he looked great. So, you know, and and one guy that nobody ever talks about that I thought, what really good yesterday was uh.

00:28:05
Speaker 7: Uh let's see here, I'm Cam william Cam Williams, you know, Cam Williams. Uh. He that we've got a lot of link this year.

00:28:13
Speaker 8: We're we're going to be long and uh you know that's where that's where I was a little.

00:28:18
Speaker 7: Bit concerned about the shooting.

00:28:20
Speaker 8: But you know, Cam Williams, Colin Chandler, Trent Noah, Denzel Aberdeen, uh, every Jalen Lowe, everybody that I watched yesterday modea baute can shoot it a little bit. He you know, he looked good. But and j uh you know that's what that's gonna be. The key to our team is how good is he going to be, you know when the chips are down, because.

00:28:44
Speaker 7: Uh, he's he's quick as.

00:28:46
Speaker 8: A cat, he's crafty. You know, he's a lefty and he does a lot of things well. And you know, my my point and all saying that I wasn't disappointed is you know, I kind of felt like when I saw all the pieces that I felt like we had a chance to make a make a run up the final four and and maybe a championship.

00:29:08
Speaker 7: And uh, you know I didn't.

00:29:12
Speaker 8: I didn't see anything that discouraged me. But of course, all that is going to be based on the fact that, you know how he puts all the pieces together, and you know how everybody jailed together, and you know, all all of that is based upon you know, a lot of things going well. And then obviously us getting better as the year progresses, you know, that's uh, and I think we will because when you have that many players to play against, you know, every day in practice, you're going against somebody that that you know is as good as you are and can play the same thought you can. So you know that that that brings out the competitiveness in you and it makes everybody better. Uhciate, Yeah, yeah, I'm I'm really excited about it.

00:29:59
Speaker 7: I mean I was.

00:30:01
Speaker 8: I saw what I was hoping to see and that's uh, that's a good thing. And and they kind of answered my questions about you know, shooting.

00:30:11
Speaker 7: We've got a lot of guys that, uh that can shoot the.

00:30:14
Speaker 8: Ball really well, so you know, hopefully that will carry over to games this year.

00:30:18
Speaker 7: But but I'm really excited.

00:30:19
Speaker 6: So it was a way of full participant. He's working his way back from he's been in a boot all summer with a toe, and I know that he's almost back to full of full speed. But was he was he out there with everyone?

00:30:32
Speaker 7: Yeah? Well he was out there. He didn't take part in uh in a future drills.

00:30:38
Speaker 8: Wasn't there if there was any contact or anything, but uh, he did do a lot of things. You know he he's uh, he looked really good. Old ways gonna be He's gonna be fine. I think they're just being cautious right now, not trying to push anything and let him get completely back.

00:30:55
Speaker 2: Well, we appreciate it, Richie. A little inside intel from you. Guys went to practice after you were here the other day, so we appreciate you calling in and let's get your thoughts a little bit on what you saw on the cat. So we appreciate it, buddy.

00:31:05
Speaker 7: Yeah, all right, ma'am.

00:31:07
Speaker 8: Thank you guys, and we look forward to maybe doing that again sometime.

00:31:11
Speaker 2: We will have you back, trust me. Richie Farmer and KSR co host Now, but I had lunch.

00:31:19
Speaker 6: With with those two after the show. I've had I've been blessed with a lot of Richie and Buck. I called rich and Bucky at the end of the show.

00:31:29
Speaker 2: I did want to get that insight because you know, dude, midnight Madness is a week from Saturday. That crazy A week from Saturday is midnight Mann. We're in October. They have exhibition games and a couple of weeks against Purdue coming up. I mean, we're right here on it.

00:31:43
Speaker 6: Yeah, the Purdue, what is that three weeks from tomorrow.

00:31:46
Speaker 2: Three weeks from tomorrow, the.

00:31:48
Speaker 6: Number one team in college of basketball will come to rapp Arena in three weeks play Kentucky three weeks from tomorrow. That is just a crazy thing to say out loud.

00:31:57
Speaker 2: Well, you have to hopefully they got to.

00:31:59
Speaker 6: Figure it out. But you know, the Blue White stuff's ramping up. Yeah, it's on sale. But the fact that madness is eight days away and then Blue White didn't Purdue all within the next few weeks and saying that it's right up here on this but cannot wait to get it started.

00:32:12
Speaker 2: And he didn't say anything negative at all. Everything was positive about every player. Everything he saw was like positive enough to where he feels like he could support his thought they could go to the final four, maybe make a running a national championship.

00:32:24
Speaker 6: Now, I'd like to get the Buck version, you know, Richie. You know Buck knows ball too, Richie the former player. That's an opinion we take, you know, we trust more than others. But I'd like to get Buck's thoughts on Trent Noah looking good and how Buck was acting in there. I'm sure he was fired up.

00:32:40
Speaker 2: And at of Richie's top three guys you've been on the Chandler Colin Chandler bandwagon. I've been on the Andres yellowch bandwagon. Yep, he said, both those guys look good.

00:32:48
Speaker 6: Well, some people that listen to this show for a long time, we know Ball well that, but they know I don't just start making crazy predictions. But Nick Richards I kind of went out neck out there a little bit for Nick. Richards said, y'all need to calm down. This guy's gonna be Fineomnick almost one sec Player of the year, if not for Manuel quickly they finished one two. Now Chandler, I don't think that there's people that were as negative towards him as Richard's, but similar circumstances. He's a little late getting getting going, getting the groove of college basketball. He's he's my next breakout star.

00:33:21
Speaker 2: Well he's gonna come off the bench. But the thing is good about that he could play the point, or the two, or the three whenever you need him. He can back up Otega, Lowe or Aberdeen whoever. Those three guys are out there.

00:33:31
Speaker 6: And you know, Richie said, he looked good. We've heard he's been a vocal leader. Yeah, I mean you want that out of him. We saw a couple of dunk highlights that they put in these short clips. He's gonna dunk on someone's face this year.

00:33:42
Speaker 7: Uh.

00:33:42
Speaker 6: I thought we'd get one last year after he did it in the Blue White game when he dunked on Brandon Garrison. I think, but Colin Chandler has a poster in the making, sooner than later.

00:33:51
Speaker 2: I wanted from the text, I want to shout out for we get out of here a vision last tech machine. I was at the EKU game last Saturday, great game, Grain Environment and they play Grove Street as well at the EKU game, so well, why not went on head down there on the eleven all right, I got something to tell you, Drew. Tell me your dream home awaits and where can it await? At Bluegrass hoome Center dot com Bluegrass home Center dot com, you can now choose the sighting, the shutters, kitchen colors, and more and see your kitchen come to life with Bluegrass home Center's new online home design center. Whether you're looking for your first home or upgrading to something bigger. Bluegrass home Center is a family owned business specialized in meeting the needs of home buyers with standard built, single section and multisection manufactured on with two, three, four and five bedrooms available. Come see customize your customize your four plan at Bluegrass Home Center at six oh six two one five thirty three hundred at six oh six two one five thirty three hundred, or visit their display room at twenty two forty one Rudy Bear Road in London. We did a show there one time. They will match the competiting prices. Bluegrass Home Center offers home only financing with zual percent down to qualified buyers at Bluegrass home Center dot Com. All right, we'll take our final break, come back our final segment, Ryan Drew and Shannon. This is Kentucky's Sports Radio. Welcome back, Final segment Kentucky Sports Radio, Ryan Drew and Shannon. It's our last segment without Matt, who returns tomorrow to the live remote at Shady Rays in Louisville at Oxmore Mall. So we'll come on out and see us there. Who's this segment sponsored by Shannon Tdude.

00:35:15
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00:36:03
Speaker 2: Well, we're talking about Draft Kings. Let's go to make our picks for the baseball games. There's three wild card game, three deciding games today. The Tigers, the Guardians, the Padres and the Cubs and the Red Sox and the Yankees. Of course, the Dodgers eliminated the Reds last night Summer of la has come to a close. So who you got? Tigers? Guardians? The Tigers had a fifteen game lead over the Guardians going into September, and they collapsed. Guardians got hot, and here they play each other in the first round of the wildcard playoffs. So who you got?

00:36:32
Speaker 6: I have already placed a bet on the Guardians. Turns out I'm probably gonna jinx myself right now. I've done really well on DraftKings. With Baseball's baseball, this is easier. Am I just getting lucky?

00:36:41
Speaker 2: You're just a brilliant baseball mind.

00:36:42
Speaker 6: I didn't lock in until this week. I'm a playoff guy. But so far, so good, and I'm on the Guardians in the in the early game today, Shannon.

00:36:49
Speaker 3: The Tigers collapsed in the regular season, They're gonna collapse again today. And Withdrew, I'm taking the Guardians to win.

00:36:54
Speaker 2: I'm the same way is that they've been playing horrible baseball the whole month. They're not all of a sudden gonna get good, good Guardians. We're all on the Guardians bandwagon.

00:37:02
Speaker 6: Although I hate calling them Guardians, They're still not used.

00:37:04
Speaker 2: To They're They're the Cleveland Indians. They are away Commanders.

00:37:06
Speaker 6: I got used to I say it, but I still Guardians. I have to like pause and think of what I'm talking, Like, what is it?

00:37:12
Speaker 2: Washington should have discne with the football team. Yea, they went the Washington football team. That's what they should have stuck with.

00:37:16
Speaker 6: Guardians.

00:37:17
Speaker 2: I'm not used to carry on Padres Cubs. I'll go first. I hate the Cubs. I'll never pick the Cubs and win anything. So I'm going Padre. The Cubs could play anybody. I'm picking against the Cubs, so I'm going to all Padres today.

00:37:29
Speaker 6: I'm not a I'm not a Cubs hater. All side with the Cubs. A big cat finally won his fifty to fifty raffle after ten years of trying. Oh did earlier this week, So well, there's there's magic in Wrigley. I am going to go.

00:37:42
Speaker 3: I think with the Padres gonna be tough being on the road, but I think San Diego is the better team. I think they win today.

00:37:48
Speaker 2: When the winner of this Padre Cubs series gets the Brewers, I believe that's correct. Because the Dodgers are gonna play the Phillies. That's gonna be a great series. Dodgers Phillies. So then the last game, the big one, Red Sox Yankees. Not a lot of love lost when these two teams get together, Drew, they can play Tidley Winks, and then they can play whatever they hate each other. So Red Sox Yankees, who you got?

00:38:07
Speaker 6: I'm torn. I've watched every pitch of the first two games. I love this rivalry, even though I really don't care about either side. I like any one. I just love how nasty it is.

00:38:16
Speaker 2: I kind of the same.

00:38:18
Speaker 6: Uh. I'll say the Red Sox get the upset, just to add some spice to the rivalry.

00:38:25
Speaker 3: Shannon, it is the greatest rivalry in all of Major League Baseball. I hope the Red Sox win, but I think the Yankees win at home tonight.

00:38:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's at home. That's the thing that Yankee magic there. I'm a big Aaron Judge fan because he's an adopted kid, so he's not a kid any more than a man. But I want to pick the Yankees as well. Of course, all these can be found on Draft Kings. Go to DraftKings dot com and make your bets. There is one football game tonight, the forty nine Ers and the Rams on Thursday Night Football. Will have a big watch party here tonight at Kaspar and Grill. I just got some EKU football tickets to give away tonight. I got some other goodies to give away. So the people that have been coming on Thursday Night Football, they know we've got some goodies to get away, So come on out and check it. So who you got tonight? Rams and forty nine Ers.

00:39:04
Speaker 6: Rams are gonna win. It's a huge spread though, it's like eight and a half. I'm not gonna touch that one. The forty nine Ers injury report is ruthless. Like every the other day or last Sunday, they couldn't even get into the medical tent because there were too many people already in the medical tent. They're they're beating up pretty bad. I'll say the Rams win, but I have no idea about the eight and a half points spread. That's a big that's a bit a lot of numbers in the NFL prime time game. Yeah, but Rams win this one.

00:39:29
Speaker 2: Shannon Yep, I agree. Give me the Rams on this one.

00:39:32
Speaker 5: Ram.

00:39:32
Speaker 3: I'll even take the points on it.

00:39:33
Speaker 2: I am too Rams and they cover, Yeah, because the forty nine Ers are just got too much going on right now.

00:39:38
Speaker 6: You know there's a whole breakdown of that game on the new episode of NFL Cover zero.

00:39:41
Speaker 2: What at they got this morning?

00:39:43
Speaker 6: Apple podcast? iHeart podcast. It's wherever you get your podcasts.

00:39:47
Speaker 2: Who's on this Cover zero podcast?

00:39:49
Speaker 6: This one his NFL Cover zero with Drew Franklin and Billy Rutledge. Matt was on his flight yesterday, couldn't couldn't do the show, so we were like, all right, whatever, We're fine, and Billy and I just did it. We all did like an hour and a half. We had too many topics.

00:40:04
Speaker 2: I've had a topic on my list to get since the day Matt left. We've got like a couple of minutes. But it involves you. Oh, you've told me this story. You've never told it on the air. It involves ate off for up a cat and the Lexon Cemetery. Do we have time for you to tell it?

00:40:19
Speaker 6: I can tell it, but it's some outrageous no one believes. If I'll tell it, it's one hundred percent true. I used to live over near Lecxenon Cemetery. Yes, and occasionally like on a on occasionally did it once, but on a Sunday, Abby and I went and got coffee, and we're just driving around Lexington Cemetery because it's really pretty in.

00:40:35
Speaker 2: There is a nice, very beautiful in there.

00:40:37
Speaker 6: There's some famous, famous headstones in there. We were looking for Rupp's grave and we couldn't find it. We were in there what felt like forever, and finally I'm like, let's just let's head back. I can't commit a whole sunday to just driving around looking for RUP's headstone. This is a big place you get lost in there. We're heading to the main gate. We've given up where I am looking anymore, and a cat runs across the road right in front of us.

00:40:58
Speaker 2: Is it a black cat?

00:41:00
Speaker 6: I think so. This is where it's a little foggy because it was a holy crap moment in the day. I do think it was black though, And I jokingly said, well, we should follow the cat at saganus Rupt's grave. And I make a hard right on the road that I was about to pass to go back towards where we were in the cemetery, and I swear on everything, this cat ran right up and set on.

00:41:20
Speaker 2: Adolf on the grave.

00:41:22
Speaker 6: Yes, And we had like a moment where neither one of us spoke for like five minutes, like did we really just see that? Because I mean I don't even couldn't begin to guess how many graves are there. It's huge. I mean we've spent forevery mask for it, and I was just kidding about following this cat. But everyone, I know you're rolling your eyes saying this is made up, ran right up and set on his headstone.

00:41:42
Speaker 2: I got chili bumps right now.

00:41:43
Speaker 6: I know it was very, very very freaky.

00:41:46
Speaker 2: That was the ghost of Adolf Rupp leading you to his grave.

00:41:49
Speaker 6: Yeah, I don't know what it was, but that's exactly how it happened. We were on our way out and I jokingly did a hard right to follow this cat, like maybe he'll take us, you know, just being silly. And then if you step out.

00:42:00
Speaker 2: Of all the graves at the cemetery, it's set on Adolf rope.

00:42:04
Speaker 6: But that's the one you wanted me to get out in the final moments before Matt returns.

00:42:07
Speaker 2: I thought we'd get to it on day one. It made it all the way till day twenty one.

00:42:12
Speaker 6: I thought we'd get to this big comment spaceship heading towards Earth, and we're not sure if it's a comet or a ship full of aliens. But well maybe Matt's next three week vacation.

00:42:20
Speaker 2: Well that's that with the International Space Station that I missed last night, with it flying around on the sky up there.

00:42:25
Speaker 6: Who knows. Tomorrow, we're back to the normal routine.

00:42:27
Speaker 2: Well normal routine tomorrow, So listen. We got a good crowd here for lunch or at KOs Bar and Grill. Come out on here for lunch. We got our watch party tonight for the Rams and the forty nine ers. I already mentioned. We're gonn gave Way some tickets and some other freebies to give away, and tomorrow we're Shady Ray's at Oxmoor Mall in Louisville. Match returned to the show. Yay, Matt's back.

00:42:46
Speaker 6: You're excited.

00:42:47
Speaker 2: I'm excited, so for Ryan, for Drew, for Shannon, thanks for everybody for putting up with this the past couple of weeks. Matt returns tomorrow this Iseking Sports Radio