The Mike Keith Show (Mar. 19, 2026)

With all eyes on college basketball, Mike Keith visits with head basketball coach Rick Barnes, Blue Ribbon Yearbook's Chris Dortch, and the most VFL of VFLs, Ron Slay. Plus head football coach Josh Heupel stops by to talk spring football. Throw in Kiv's Korner featuring Blaine Brown and this week's Mike Keith Show is jam-packed!

Transcript

SPEAKER_10 0:00

From the banks of the Mississippi to the peaks of the smokies, this is the home field of champions.

SPEAKER_14 0:13

And now nobody can catch these lazy lights on a side of the game storage landing on the neck and hands on Here's Hike Davis Henry scores for Tennessee.

SPEAKER_10 0:26

More than 75 years of broadcast excellence. We are the Fall Network. We're big orange fans. Get ready for game day. Your guide, The Voice of the Falls, Mike Keith. Delivered by Uber Eats.

SPEAKER_11 0:47

So glad to have you with us for the Mike Keith show. I'm, you guessed it, Mike Keith. Our program is brought to you every single week. We say delivered by Uber Eats. On game day, you don't want to miss a single play. Uber Eats brings your favorite food right to your door. Wings, pizza, burgers, whatever you're craving, it's just a tap away. Download the Uber Eats app and use code GOBIGOrange to get$15 off all orders. Uber Eats, official on-demand delivery partner of the Vols, let's eat. Today should be a national holiday. Because there's really nothing getting done in offices around the country. People are ordering Uber Eats, and if you want to be a good boss, just go ahead and order it now. Use code Go Big Orange and get your people some wings or some pizza or something good. Because I mean, again, this should be a national holiday. Tomorrow should be a national holiday. The first two days of the NCAA tournament should be a national holiday because realistically, nobody's getting anything done, Andy Brock.

SPEAKER_13 1:54

Welcome. You're right. It's good to be here. And I agree. I think these are the two best days of the year. And it's even better, maybe a little more stressful that Tennessee's been in it now. Eight straight years. So it adds to that excitement.

SPEAKER_11 2:07

You know, it's the best in program history, Sarah Detweiler. Wow. Welcome. Did you know that? No, it's not.

SPEAKER_26 2:15

That's amazing. Go us.

SPEAKER_11 2:16

You take it for granted sometimes. By the way, you're both wearing Tennessee creative sweatshirts.

SPEAKER_13 2:23

That's right. We corded it. Did you not not get yours?

unknown 2:26

No.

SPEAKER_13 2:26

I thought we were all three going to us today.

SPEAKER_11 2:29

It seems like you you wear those because you want people to say, oh, there's Andy Brock. He's creative. Well, if it's Sarah Detweiler, she's creative. You're trying to get over with the people by having that on the front of your shirt, on the front of your sweatshirt, you're telling everybody you're creative.

SPEAKER_13 2:48

If you have a sweatshirt with it on it, it means it's true.

SPEAKER_11 2:51

It means it's it's a hundred percent. Any sweatshirt or t-shirt you wear with a with a message, it's a hundred percent true. It has absolutely uh this segment of the Mike Keith Show is brought to you by UT Medical, the official healthcare provider of the Vols and the Lady Valls. Sarah, do you have an Everything Orange podcast coming out tomorrow?

SPEAKER_26 3:11

I do. Um, Layla on the women's tennis team. She's on the podcast this week. And then for those that might have missed Who is that? Layla Brites Rizzo on the women's tennis team.

SPEAKER_11 3:20

Oh, okay. Okay, nice.

SPEAKER_26 3:21

Yep, she's the number 18th ranked women's tennis player in the country right now.

SPEAKER_11 3:25

Well, you just I mean you dropped the one name on me there.

SPEAKER_26 3:28

Oh well, I I just was gonna keep it shorter because I also wanted to mention that Ethan Davis was on last week while we were away. So if anybody thank you. Yeah, so if anybody was looking for some more football content, you can go ahead and watch that too from last week.

SPEAKER_11 3:41

And Andy, what about Sarah on the SEC network at the SEC tournament, representing us very well? Representing us, you did a great job.

SPEAKER_26 3:49

Yeah, thank you. Thanks, guys. It was an unexpected opportunity.

SPEAKER_11 3:53

And how did it come about?

SPEAKER_26 3:55

Um, long story short, when I was in college, I sent a cold email to SEC's social and digital team and got a volunteer opportunity and worked a couple of women's tournaments, and they texted me the Friday before the tournament started and said, Any chance you can you can come on down if you're free? And I said, I will, I will be free. I will figure it out. And so shout out my boss who let me go and work it and get the opportunity.

SPEAKER_20 4:19

Shout outs.

SPEAKER_26 4:20

It was it was a great experience. It was a long one because I hadn't worked since Oklahoma and Texas got added. You know, 12 games in three days was a lot, but it was a very fun week.

SPEAKER_11 4:32

Who was the most interesting person that you got to interview in Nashville?

SPEAKER_26 4:36

Chandler Bing, actually.

SPEAKER_11 4:37

Chandler Bing. And I think, you know, all of those could he have been any better for Vanderbilt?

SPEAKER_26 4:42

Yes, exactly. Exactly that.

SPEAKER_11 4:48

Yeah, I wished he hadn't, but right. But he was interesting, he was an interesting guy.

SPEAKER_26 4:53

Yeah, very interesting. And the fun fact of it all is that he's never watched a single minute of friends.

SPEAKER_11 4:59

It's like there's no way that's true. I know there's a hundred percent. I mean, he he has had to, for his whole life, for the whole time he's been alive, there's been a Chandler Bang on Friends. There is no chance that he didn't one day go, I gotta watch this because I gotta see what Chandler Bang on this show is like.

SPEAKER_26 5:21

It's probably harder also to just avoid it with how much it runs on multiple channels. So it's like he has to run out of the room anytime it actually excellent comes on.

SPEAKER_11 5:32

We're very proud of you. You did a great job.

SPEAKER_26 5:34

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_11 5:34

You did a wonderful job.

SPEAKER_26 5:35

Thank you.

SPEAKER_11 5:36

I'm excited about tomorrow in Philly, Xfinity Mobile Arena, Tennessee, playing basketball in the NCAA tournament for the 28th time. Tennessee, this will be Tennessee's 10th game in Philadelphia all the time. Did you know that? Wow.

SPEAKER_26 5:53

Wow, is that the record?

SPEAKER_11 5:54

Yes, now we have learning time with Uncle Mike. Tennessee is 3-6 in games played in Philadelphia. They are 0-2 at Villanova, 0-2 at St. Joseph's, 1-2 at the Temple. Do you know what the piece of history that the Temple has with Tennessee basketball is probably the most interesting. No 1973 volunteer classic. The Temple held the ball for the entire game.

SPEAKER_13 6:31

Really?

SPEAKER_11 6:31

The entire game. What was the final score? 11-6. Wow. Wow. They knew they had no chance, so they held the ball for the entire game.

SPEAKER_13 6:42

And Tennessee said, alright.

SPEAKER_11 6:43

Well, I mean, there wasn't much they could do, you know? Just throwing the ball back and forth. Jeez. Yeah. How about that? Fascinating. It was one of the early precursors of the shot clock. Yeah. It took another maybe 10 or so years. You see it at the high school level still at times. By the way, the balls are, they were, they're only two wins in Philadelphia at the 1971 Quaker City Tournament. They beat Manhattan in Boston College, but they lost to Villanova. So here's the good news about tomorrow. Tennessee's not playing St. Joseph's. They're not playing Temple. They're not playing Villanova. Excellent news. So hopefully the balls can get a big win. Right?

SPEAKER_13 7:32

Right.

SPEAKER_11 7:33

I like it. Yeah. Yeah. Good venue. You know what that leads directly into? Quinn for the win. We string it together here. You see how we do it? Everything ties together. There's a theme. It's time for Quinn for the Win, highlighting a great moment of performance in Tennessee Athletics this week. Brought to you by Quinn Appliance, your home for the best selection of GE appliances. Visit their showroom in Alcoa or at QuinAppliance.com. GE Appliances built for America. Because she's real famous regionally now, Sarah Detweis gets to go first.

SPEAKER_26 8:07

My Quinn for the Win is over at the softball stadium. Carlin Pickens had her 700th career strikeout over the weekend.

SPEAKER_11 8:18

That's great. But I thought her coming back to beat Mississippi State after being out for 11 days was awfully cool. It clearly flummoxed Mississippi State. They're like, whoa, we didn't expect her. Boom. There she is. She was awesome. Gave up one hit. All right, Andy Brock, what is your quin for the win?

SPEAKER_13 8:39

Yep, I'm I'm gonna stick with uh tournament time. I I like Tennessee's draw for certain reasons. One, time-wise, I I love middle of the day on a Friday to get the most amount of rest in that stretch. And I think it's you know not too early, not too late because at times Tennessee is just right. It's they've had the the 940 tip, but it's not fun.

SPEAKER_11 8:58

No, it's not my favorite.

SPEAKER_13 8:59

No. And for the amount of late games you've had this year, Mike, I think it's a blessing to get middle of the day.

SPEAKER_11 9:04

I love 425. We're on the air on the Ball Radio Network at four o'clock Eastern 3 Central time. So I like that. Yeah two good quins for the win. By the way, if you're looking for a place to get away when you visit Pigeon Forge, the whole family can play. With hundreds of attractions set in the Great Smoky Mountains, your crowd will go wild too. Join the fun and plan your trip at mypigeonforge.com. Chris Dorch from the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook is next to break down Tennessee's first weekend in the NCAA tournament. That's next on the Mike Keith Show delivered by Obree's.

SPEAKER_21 9:40

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SPEAKER_03 10:12

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SPEAKER_09 11:12

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SPEAKER_11 12:38

This segment of our program brought to you by KUB Pfeiffer, the world's fastest internet and proud supporter of the Balls. Special guest in this segment of the Mike Keith Show, it's Chris Storch. He is the editor and publisher of Blue Ribbon's College Basketball Yearbook. Most of us consider it the Bible of college basketball. I literally use it multiple times each week during basketball season. He's been the publisher for years and years and years. How many years, Chris? 27. 27. He's also worked for four newspapers. He's in three halls of fame. It's a big deal to have Chris Dorch with us. Tennessee will play Miami of Ohio at 4.25 Eastern Time. Chris, what should we know about these 32 and 1 Redhawks?

SPEAKER_05 13:32

Rick Barnes said it best in his media opportunity the other day. I don't care who you are or what league you play in, you win 31 games. That's a big deal. And a lot of critics say, well, they don't have any Quad 1 wins. And I'll answer that by saying no Quad 1 teams had the guts to go play them. Not even on a neutral court. But here's what's incredible about what they did. They could have had back a three-point shooter who led the MAC with 97 three-pointers last year. He transferred to Georgia Tech. Bad move. Georgia Tech's coach just got fired. Came to school. They could have had back backup center Reese Potter, who's from Lexington, transferred to Kentucky, ended up ranch earning. And oh, they lost their starting point guard, too, who transferred, I don't know why, to Lindenwood. And what's really crazy is their start, the guy who replaced the starting point guard was injured after 10 games and never played in another second. And the third strength point guard, a kid named Luke Skaljak, finished it out. And wow, even with that reconfigured lineup, they were able to get it done.

SPEAKER_11 14:48

They have incredible balance in what they do. That's what stood out to me looking at the statistics.

SPEAKER_05 14:54

They're 22nd in the country in three-point percentage, but they're also number two in the country in two-point percentage. They're making 61.5% of their shots. So they've got, as you said, real balanced offense. Defense is probably their weakness. Obviously, when they get into a tournament and encounter the size of a Tennessee, uh, it's going to be problematic. But this is a team full of guys who can shoot the basketball. I'll never forget Steve Forbes, who was an assistant at Tennessee, now the headman at Wake. He used to have, he still does. His credo is if he don't shoot, don't recruit. And these kids are all shooters. They all have a basketball IQ. The Mac is a basketball-centric league, even though they do play football. So they're just a bunch of hoopers that I mean to go 31-0 and to have that target on your back, they want a bunch of overtime games. They want a bunch of one possession games. And to have that grit and metal, I think is incredible. Travis Steele deserves all the kudos he gets.

SPEAKER_11 16:03

Talk about how Travis Steele, the head coach, turned this thing around in year three and then carried the momentum into year four, even with the losses that you mentioned.

SPEAKER_05 16:16

They won 25 games uh the year before. And they were within a last second shot of winning the Mac tournament last year. And of course, this year they got knocked out early, but it ended up not mattering uh because they did enough to get in. Uh quad one wins, be danged. Uh so it was mainly just a matter, you hear this a lot. When I edit or write a blue ribbon story, if I see this once, I see it hundreds of times. Retention and culture. And that's what he's been able to build there. Uh he's been able to retain a good amount of people, even though he lost those three players that I mentioned. And he's built a culture of winning, of sharing the basketball, especially taking good shots. I think a lot of teams, even in a league like the SEC, players, even though they're coached it up and down, they don't respect the value of taking good shots. And I think Miami and the statistics I mentioned earlier prove it, uh, indicates that they know what a good shot is. They wait for it to come around, and that's how they've been able to be so successful. And like I said, they've got kids that have high basketball IQ. They're all Midwesterners. They didn't grow up like in the SEC. Uh, Rick Barge's staff, when he first got to Tennessee 11 years ago, a lot of their coaches told me the one thing they had to adjust to was the different kinds of kids they recruited. Because, as you know, in the Deep South, they're usually two and three sport athletes, with football and spring football being two of those three. And sometimes it's baseball or a track. But the kids they recruited at Texas, they were, you know, basketball only. So that's the deal with Miami. These are basketball-centric kids that by staying together, growing old together, uh, for the most part, resisting the lure of NIL dollars, uh, got to win together.

SPEAKER_11 18:21

Let's look at the other side of this bracket from Tennessee. Wright state is the 14th seed. They will play third-seeded Virginia in the game right before Tennessee plays. What are Wright State's chances against Virginia and pulling the big upset?

SPEAKER_05 18:39

I think there's two. That would be slim and none. Whoa. As I research Virginia more and more, and especially for your show, I wonder why Ryan Odom doesn't have more consideration for national coach of the year because he has done an absolute incredible job in his first year. Of course, he grew up in Virginia. His dad, Dave Odom, who went on to coach at East Carolina, South Carolina, Wake Forest, was an assistant uh there when he was a kid. And he grew up, he was a ball boy, and it was just great and fitting when he returned there last year. And he basically had zero to work with. So what are you going to do? Well, one of the first things he did, Chance Mallory, a point guard that Tennessee recruited, after he decommitted from Virginia when they made a coaching change, he got him back into the fold quickly. He made a couple of other really good uh portal acquisitions. Malik Thomas averaged 20 points a game for San Francisco last year. Jacari White, another guy, I think that might have been on Tennessee's uh radar as a shooter. Uh, he came from a Southland Conference school and shot 43% in the ACC from three, which is unbelievable. But the thing that really helped Virginia, I think, was that they were able late in the ball game to get some kids from overseas, which is a growing trend in college basketball because you know, with NIL, it's it's a lot more profitable for a guy to come over here and play for a college team and earn some NI NIL coin instead of playing in a European pro league. So they they were able to get a guy named Tess Sterritter. He's a 6'8, 245-pound, uh 23-year-old freshman who comes from Belgium. He's been their leading scorer. He shoots it from three. He's tough. He rebounds the ball, he blocks shots. He's a true stretch four in every sense of the word. They've also got a kid uh named Johan Grenlow, who came from Germany. He's a seven-footer, and uh he started all 34 games, been a factor. But the real guy that I haven't even mentioned yet is a guy named Yugana Onyenso. SEC fans will remember him. He started out in Kentucky, uh, transferred somewhere else. Uh Virginia was astute enough to get him. And here's all he's done this year. He he led the nation in block shot percentage. 17.7% of the time he was on the floor. He blocked a shot. He was second in the nation in blocks per game, almost three, and total blocks, 101. Wow. I'm not mistaken. He set the ACC tournament record with 21 block shots, including eight in a single game.

SPEAKER_11 21:43

If Tennessee wins tomorrow, how do you feel about their chances against Virginia on Sunday?

SPEAKER_05 21:50

Well, in my bracket, I've got Tennessee winning. But they're gonna have to deal like, as I said, with Anyenso, because everybody knows what Tennessee. Tennessee's weakness has been this year. They've been great at offensive rebounding, but a lot of those come from a player's own misses. And they rack them up. Sometimes two, three in a possession, and they're missing tip ends and putbacks. And they're going to have to learn pretty quickly what Nate Ament came to school knowing that that square on the backboard is there for a reason. If you watch Nate Ament, and I've listened to your a lot of your calls where he's made these driving layups, that ball is bounced off the middle of that square on the backboard. And that's how you make layups. You just do that over and over again. Or you dunk it. And I know Tennessee is capable. When they played South Carolina, they came out, Felix Aquara, J.P. Estrella, they were dunking machines. I think they set a season high for dunks in that game. And obviously that's what Virginia's going to try to defend. They're going to try to double-team the ball out of Gillespie's hands and prevent that pick and roll. But I'll tell you, if Tennessee can make layups uh against a pretty formidable front line, they will win that game because I think in terms of guard play, uh Tennessee has an advantage. If you consider Amen a guard at 6'10 with a 7'1 reach, and if he's back to full strength as he showed against you know late later in the season, uh in a first round in the SEC tournament, if he's that native man, it's going to be hard to deal with Tennessee.

SPEAKER_11 23:42

Chris Dortch is the editor and publisher of the Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and a friend. Thanks so much for taking time with us on the Mike Keith Show.

SPEAKER_05 23:52

Appreciate it, buddy.

SPEAKER_11 23:53

Thanks for having me on. We're back with more right after this.

SPEAKER_03 23:59

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SPEAKER_24 25:26

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SPEAKER_10 26:21

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SPEAKER_11 26:49

The last one. This segment of the Mike Keith Show is presented by Food City, the official supermarket and tailgating headquarters of the balls.

SPEAKER_22 27:14

This will be in Philadelphia. The 16 is Tennessee. Rick Barnes becomes the fourth coach in tournament history to reach 30 or more tournaments.

SPEAKER_11 27:26

The Tennessee basketball team is going dancing for the eighth straight year. That is a record in the history of Tennessee basketball. 28th overall trip to the NCAA tournament. Pleased to be joined by Tennessee head basketball coach Rick Barnes. You've seen March Madness develop all the way through. Why do we love it so much?

SPEAKER_04 27:47

I think it kind of just captures the entire country because every state has a chance to be a part of it. And it, you know, spreads out over the United States. And uh it's three weeks where, you know, obviously all eyes are on college basketball and everybody's looking for the great upsets, you know, the the Cinderella story. But in the end, it seems like they want that early, but in the end, they want the Giants to finish it up, you know? And uh, but what's great about it, even now that we have seen it play out in our lifetime, Mike, where 16 can beat a one. So there's no there's no give me games. You look at those first games and people say they're easier. I don't know, because you know, there's so much pressure in that first round just to get going in the tournament. Uh, you know, guys understand uh they've grown up watching it, they've always wanted to have their one shining moment and be a part of it is something that not everybody gets to be a part of. So there there's uh pressure, there's drama, there's uh, you know, the agony of defeat, all that, you know, where uh it's just kind of in some way mirrors life in a matter of three weeks. What did you feel like you have to clean up from your SEC tournament two games? Turnovers. Uh you know, you and I spoke after a game. It's just seems like it was one of those days when the way we turned it over, you know, we had a chance, I think, a couple different times to come down and possibly tie the game and just um got in a hurry, got rushed, uh trying to make it happen too quickly. And um that along with we we've got uh we had two fouls, and you know, people talk about fouls late in the game, but or situations you can't foul when the clock's running out and you force somebody in. You you you don't even want to uh offensively, you would say let's let's get the referee involved defensively, let's keep him out of it. And that those areas there we had two really late fouls that that really weren't timely, and but the turnovers hurt, and we that's somewhat been a problem all year because we've proven if we take care of the basketball to get a shot, we're the best offensive rebound team in the country, and we have a chance to go get it. We still need to get more from those second chance points. That's something we've talked about all year. But right now we got to be the best we can possibly be in every facet. We've got to get our defense. Um, you know, I thought we guarded Vandy well. I I really do. Uh I thought we guarded Auburn well. Um, but those turnovers that we gave up, you can't defend that. And um so if you ask me one single thing, that would be that. And and still everybody understanding this time of year, you can't have any more what my players say my bats. You know, that and that's from breakdowns, defensive breakdowns, coverage because it's such a fine line between winning and losing.

SPEAKER_11 30:35

You mentioned the rotation of players. Do you spend some time this week figuring out how you're going to approach that? And and could it be somewhat different?

SPEAKER_04 30:42

It could be because you know what, Mike, you look at our team, uh you know, we we need the guys that have played the most minutes, and it's obvious who they are, to play really good basketball. And all year long we've it's kind of been who's got the hot hand, who's who's playing, because no one else has really established themselves as hey, this is this is who we can count on night in and night out. I wish we would have had that, but you know, we are who we are, and uh so that's a great question. And uh answer would be we'll see. Nate Amid's status for the tournament.

SPEAKER_11 31:18

Feeling better about that?

SPEAKER_04 31:19

Yeah, I I think it was important that he was able to get a little bit of the rust off. I mean, this time of year when you miss games, because right now the game is is at a fever pitch, high level intensity, and you can't assimilate that in practice because one, we're not going to go as long this time of year. We're gonna obviously want to be as fresh as we can be in games. But I think the fact that he went in in the first game, I thought he was terrific. Second game, he he pressed really hard, you know. He he wants to win so badly, and um you know, he took some tough shots, had a couple tough turnovers, but uh I think it was good for him. Now if we played the what if game, if we would have won, could he have played all four games over there? I don't think we would have allowed it at that time because this is the one that matters most. And there was concern even in the second game, but he wanted to play because that's who he is, and uh but four games back to back would have been a a lot on him at that time.

SPEAKER_11 32:11

Question I'm dying to ask you because of your experience. There is a difference in terms of how the game is played in postseason football, in postseason hockey, certainly in postseason baseball. What's the difference in regular season college basketball and playoff postseason basketball in terms of the nuance of the game?

SPEAKER_04 32:36

No question, physicality. I mean, I I I was on the rules committee for many years, and uh I often said, why do we call that why do we let them play rougher in the postseason play? And I promise you they'll say they don't, but they do. And uh first round, you feel you almost feel like the first round is called tighter, but after the first round, let's go play some hockey. You know, let's play some football, yeah. I mean, some of the physicality, and you know, and obviously there's that old saying that we'll let the players decide the game. Well, that's true, but you gotta call the rules of the game, officiate the rules of it. But there is no question it's more physical. You know, referees are being scrutinized, and the one thing they would probably say to themselves, you know, if you don't make a call, they probably don't replay it. And uh, so unless it's something that they think that really affects the play, they it's a play-on. And uh, you know, they have some leadway there, and I think that lead way stretches a little bit more this time of year, but uh as long as uh it's like calls. That that's all that's all coaches ever want. Let's do it the same on both ends. Mike, we've talked all year about you know, if a foul, if a three-point shooter gets moved under and it's a foul, I think the same thing should happen in the mid post and underneath, but it's not, and that's uh a part that I'll always argue that because I know I know the advantages of being able to walk underneath players close to the rim.

SPEAKER_11 34:05

Jacoby Gillespie had his worst game of the season in the home finale against Vanderbilt. Were you pleased with how he bounced back in Nashville with the idea that most people recognize guards are a huge part of the NCAA tournament, a massive part.

SPEAKER_04 34:22

It is. I mean, everyone, I mean, they're the ones that have the ball the most. They're the ones that can control the game for you. They're the ones that have to be locked in there mentally and really understand the flow of the game. And and Jacoby's gotten so much better with that this year. But yeah, I I think obviously he bounced back, had a great year. You know, it will be first team all conference in this year if you don't, but um, but that's what the tournament's about, too. I mean, uh, I didn't see the game, uh, the championship game, but I'd be interested to see if everybody played up to their best game, like it, you know, ACUF obviously stepped up. And uh this time of year, we you need your best players to to play at the highest level of their best basketball. And if they don't, you probably won't go very far. All right.

SPEAKER_11 35:04

SEC question about the tournament, just for Rick Barnes, you again using your expertise. Um, Florida's a one, they're a number one seed, but outside of that, the SEC didn't get a lot of high regard. Um Arkansas, Alabama, Vanderbilt, you were six. Um, why do you think the SEC was not served more by the competition in conference towards getting some better overall seeds in the tournament?

SPEAKER_04 35:30

Well, you know, when you're in a league that's really balanced and our league is balanced, you know, Florida certainly, you know, uh got on a run, got going, but you know, they were in a you know, uh remember the first I told you at the beginning of the year they were a top five team. And they I don't even think they're a rank when they beat us, but they were not. But uh you look at teams that you know when the rankings come out early in the year, and depending on where you start, depends on how long you can stay up there. And there's no doubt the Big 12 has had a phenomenal year. When you look at their top part of that league, I haven't looked at the lower part of it. I don't know if there's a if it's been a two-tier league. Our league is not a two-tier league. Our league is it was proven in the in in our tournament. I mean, uh a fact that uh a team like Ole Bis could come in and win the games they won after what losing uh they lost a lot of games in a row. True, they finished fifteenth. Yeah. And then uh you think about it. I mean that that's that just tells you and in and how close our games were played. So there was there was a great deal of parity. And and so you got a lot of teams that are what around it's what, 12 and 6, 11 and 7, and uh then you got uh other leagues that maybe teams that have four or five. I don't know how many losses like an Iowa State has in their league. And I th I think that Arizona won the league, what one or two losses. But um the fact that I think we got the most teams in, I think speaks volumes for a league and the parity that we that we had. Final question.

SPEAKER_11 36:56

At this point in your career, are you able to find points during the course of this overall week going to the NCAA tournament for the 30th time? Do you have moments that you can just really enjoy and appreciate, or is it just pretty much all stress?

SPEAKER_04 37:13

It's all getting ready, you know. I mean, I I've always said, Mike, uh, you know, we've had teams that barely got into the NCAA tournament, which was a great achievement where we were picked last in the league and and you get there and then you you know you don't win a game. It is it's devastating to you because I will say this I think we've lost in every round except the championship game, and and uh they're all heartbreaking. I mean, it's uh it's just like it brings a just a f finality to uh a season where you've been around people and it this group's never gonna be together again. And and some teams you have that there's just a bond there that they created and just getting there was a great achievement. That's why I learned early you don't take it for granted because uh some people never get that opportunity. So I'm thankful that God's blessed our teams and our programs through the year that you know that we've had a chance to play. And if you're in it, now you know, and we know anything can happen. Uh and uh because teams can get knocked out along the way that where you say, Well, we don't match up well with that team, but somebody knocks them off there. So you go into it knowing that you gotta get the first one. And we've always told our team, we've got a two-team tournament this a four-team tournament this weekend, just like we started the season going to Vegas. There's four teams and you've got to win this tournament, and then you would think about like I haven't even looked at the bracket. I could not tell you who we play or where we go after that. Because I'm like you uh uh I don't know if I like to use the word stress as uh much as I'd say the word uh you know focused, you know, I'm saying where I want to be I just I don't want to get anything to take away from where we are right now because uh we're just so locked in as a staff and a program like everybody else. And so again, we got we got to go to Philly and win uh we've got to beat two teams and uh they're they're good or they wouldn't be there. Coach Rick Barnes with us again.

SPEAKER_11 39:06

Tennessee is headed to their eighth straight NCAA tournament. That's never been done in the history of this program. Tennessee basketball fans enjoying uh the good old days right now with Coach Barnes, and hopefully this team can continue it this weekend. We've got more of the show right after this.

SPEAKER_16 39:26

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SPEAKER_11 39:57

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SPEAKER_03 40:27

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SPEAKER_04 40:58

Hey, this is Rick Barnes. The great John Wooden said, failing to prepare is preparing to fail. That's why I put such an emphasis on preparation. I get to the gym early before everyone else, or when they walk through the doors, I'm ready. Food City does the same thing. Long before the doors open, they're stocking produce, cutting certified Angus beef, and prepping ready-made meals. So when you walk into a Food City or the Food City Center, we're going to be prepared.

SPEAKER_11 41:54

This segment of the Mike Keats Show is presented by Pilot, the official travel partner of the vault. Your movement off that front foot is gonna be a lot more efficient.

SPEAKER_07 42:07

Let's go, buddy. Let's go, big boys. Let's have a dunny. Build a master, everything you're doing. You got me? That's why you're here to grow. Have a great day today. Have a great day. Have a fun today, man. Have a great day. Hey, day one, build a master of everything that's gone. Building up, me, please. Don't make the same mistake from my feet, everyone else. I'm gonna be alone, everybody got me.

SPEAKER_06 42:54

You feel something in the concept? I don't want your hand placement here. Keep progressing to it, right? Keep progressing. Play the concept like the individual route, right? You got with your heads and shoulders on the number four. Hey, you feel somebody dropping in, I'd be ready to move on that. You know what I mean? In general, in general, when it's dropping in, if it's a small, like weak month picture, it's a different story. So when they're dropping in off the pressure, it's really gonna be that way unless it's a cover two. You wanna stay on the move. It's not about where you're at, it's about where you gotta get to. There's a climb that everybody in this program has to take.

SPEAKER_07 43:41

And that's every single year for the rest of your career. I'm still trying to get better every single day. Take it, incorporate it, get better on the next snap. That's all that this thing's about. Everybody got me? Alright, let's go get a break.

SPEAKER_11 43:53

It's back to work for the Tennessee football team. Not that they haven't been working, but they're on the field spring practice. Guys getting out, getting started, and building towards the orange and white game on April the 11th. Very pleased to have with us your head football coach, Josh Heipel. Let me ask you just straight up when you got into coaching to now, how much has spring practice changed?

SPEAKER_06 44:18

Well, it's changed quite a bit. You know, you go way back. Um, not sure they had a limit on the number of practices that uh that they used to have. Um, but certainly now with the the turnover of your roster, um, you know, graduation, NFL, and the transfer portal, a lot more new guys that are exposed to your schemes uh for the first time. And so the fundamentals and technique that go into playing those schemes extremely well. Uh huge priority that we build and master those things as we work through spring ball and um everybody understanding, you know, what it looks like to be a Tennessee vol when we step between the white lines.

SPEAKER_11 44:56

For guys who do what you do, head coaches of major college programs, how much is it going to help you work through spring that there is no longer a spring portal?

SPEAKER_06 45:06

Yeah, certainly different than it has been here uh the the last couple of years. And uh, you know, we're gonna have great competition out there. Uh, everybody's got to learn it, earn it, and go take a job. Um, but it it certainly helps you as a head coach and as a program to understand who are the bodies that are gonna be in that room uh and how do we develop those guys and uh you know, position flexibility that you may need uh as you figure out what your depth looks like here on the back end of spring ball as well.

SPEAKER_11 45:32

I would think it helps the players a lot too to have more certainty that they could take these four weeks and potentially build on them, you know, knowing this is our ball club and this is what we're gonna do.

SPEAKER_06 45:42

Yeah, I think it gives you an opportunity uh when you get back in January, you know, for us, you know, somewhere around the 20th, uh the guys that are in that room are the guys that you're gonna be going to battle with uh when you get to the fall. And so uh every offseason, you are starting new. Uh, you know, you gotta build your team starting in January, but this gives you an opportunity to truly build your team and know who's gonna be there when you get to the fall.

SPEAKER_11 46:06

Do you have a different set of goals with the 26 team in spring practice than say you did with the 25 team?

SPEAKER_06 46:13

Well, I think, you know, there's obviously uh new scheme on the defensive side of it. So the install of that and the mastering of what we're trying to do and the why behind it uh is extremely important. Uh, but spring ball to me really is about fundamental and technique growth as much as anything that's gonna allow you to play within the scope of those schemes extremely well. Uh, but a big part of this, too, is you know, when we got back in January, seven weeks of offseason uh on the strength side of it, um, we are still in the building of a team with 46 new guys here. And uh, so that's gonna be important as we go through spring as well.

SPEAKER_11 46:50

You're very much a ball guy. Yeah, you you love the game. How much fun has it been for you to be in the office with your new defensive coordinator, Jim Knowles, and the guys that he brought with him just talking about ball and exchanging ideas over the last couple months?

SPEAKER_06 47:05

Yeah, it's been uh a lot of fun uh to have those guys inside the building. Uh great group of men, elite teachers. Um, a lot of those guys have a background with Coach Knowles. Uh, that was important. Haven't been a coordinator, gone somewhere new. Uh, when you have that familiarity, I think that expedite speeds up the process of getting it to your players where everybody's in sync and on the same page for those guys having the opportunity and subtly come in and tweak some of their verbiage, uh making the teaching progression a little bit easier for our guys as well. So you combine all of that. It's been a lot of fun having new ideas uh from somebody that's you know been somewhere different, seen it a different way, um, to ultimately help us find a way to continue to find the instances that make the difference.

SPEAKER_11 47:51

Derek Owings, run in he's the new strength coaches, director of football sport performance, I think is the formal name. What's the difference in you that you can already see in your athletes from the time he's had to work with you?

SPEAKER_06 48:03

Yeah, from the from the time that he got here uh and his staff got here. Uh, you know, they met with all of our players, you know, first 48, 72 hours that uh that they were here, uh getting an opportunity to know our guys, um, you know, what are their goals, dreams, uh, where they're at, how do they need to continue to get better to to become the player that they want to be and that we need them to be. Um, but I I think the title says a lot too. Um truly controlling, you know, from the nutrition side of it, uh, working with our medical team to ensure that we have a seamless uh process to help our guys become their best. And, you know, that's in the weight room, it's speed, it's agility. You know, you can see the testing, the numbers that we've gotten every single week, uh, how our guys have continued to get better throughout our offseason, but it also comes in the mentality and how they approach every rep every single day uh and everything that they're doing.

SPEAKER_11 48:56

The buy-in, the defensive staff, Coach Owings, and everything that the strength and conditioning staff are doing couldn't have been much better as with the players that I talk with.

SPEAKER_06 49:07

No, we got a group of men uh that were here previously that ultimately want to be their best and go chase and win championships. And they've embraced the change in a very positive way. And um, you know, we have had a great offseason because of the way that they've uh approached it and their complete buy-in uh to the changes that uh that we've made and what we're doing inside of our program. And uh really excited about the new guys that we brought in, 46 new players. Uh, they've handled themselves with great maturity, they've continued to push to get better every single day. Gonna need that as we go through these uh 15 practices as well.

SPEAKER_11 49:42

Overall, with the football team, how much physicality are you able to get in spring practice now?

SPEAKER_06 49:47

Yeah, I I think at the end of the day, you got to look to what you need to be in the fall, and you got to be able to work backwards. Uh, I already said it, but there's a lot of fundamental and technique growth work that needs to happen here in the 15 opportunities that we have during the course of spring ball. A lot of that needs to be in good work against someone on the other side of the line of scrimmage. Um, you can do that in 11 on 11, and we're gonna get some of that work, but a lot of it is in our group work where you're just working in um a physical environment in a relatively safe spot where there's not a bunch of bodies, you're not gonna have piles, but you get a chance to work those fundamentals and technique that you ultimately are gonna need to play well inside of the scheme when you get to the fall. Tennessee fans want to talk about the quarterback situation.

SPEAKER_11 50:34

Every football fan. I can't imagine every football fan wants to talk about the quarterback situation, but as they stack days, as they build towards July and August, moving forward to the opener on September 5th, what needs to happen in spring practice practices to get them established to take steps forward?

SPEAKER_06 50:55

Yeah, I don't think we'll be in a position where we're naming a guy here at the end of spring ball. I think it's important that those guys get a chance to go through it, digest it, and uh uh come back in summer and by training camp and be a much different player than they were during the course of uh the 15 days in spring ball. Um, but for those quarterbacks, what you want to see is them ultimately master what you're doing offensively and be able to see and diagnose what's going on on the other side of the football and then play with great fundamentals and technique. The easiest way I can describe it is these young quarterbacks, we want to see them not make the same mistake twice. And that's showing constant and consistent growth. Uh, and that will put them in a position to be ready uh to you know take a job in training camp, but also go play the way that we need to uh to go chase a championship. Head football coach Josh Heipel, thanks so much for the time.

SPEAKER_11 51:44

I appreciate more of the show right after this.

SPEAKER_10 51:47

Catch up on today's show anytime.

SPEAKER_21 51:50

Presented by Uber Eastports.com.

SPEAKER_10 51:55

We are the ball network. The voice of the fall. Mike Keith is here with your weekend scouting report, delivered by Uber Eats.

SPEAKER_11 52:32

The Mike Keith Show is delivered by Uber Eats with Andy Brock and Sarah Detweiler. I'm your host, Mike Keith. So glad you've chosen to join us. And now we are just about 24 hours away from Tennessee basketball in Philadelphia, playing in the NCAA tournament. As a matter of fact, at this exact time tomorrow, we will be on the Ball Radio Network. We'll be live. It'll be Chris Lofton, it'll be me, it'd be Larry Stone. It's gonna be very exciting. Have either of you ever been to Philadelphia? I've never been. Never? Never. Sarah, are you a cheesesteak fan?

SPEAKER_26 53:09

Yes, 100%.

SPEAKER_11 53:11

Where do you get your cheesesteaks?

SPEAKER_26 53:13

Well, I haven't, this is bad. I haven't found a place in town that I like them as much as my hometowns, Philly Cheesesteaks.

SPEAKER_11 53:19

So but in Philadelphia, where do you Pats? I don't have a spot in Philly.

SPEAKER_26 53:26

I could ask my mom though, because she's from Philly. But oh your mom is from Philly. She is, she's she's born and raised, so I will get back to you on that with her report.

SPEAKER_11 53:33

You don't have to. It's okay. I trust you. You have a favorite place? Probably Pats. But you know, the the street vendors have phenomenal cheesesteaks too. I mean, they're just they're unbelievable. Um but you gotta get a real one. I mean, that's the whole thing, is to to really get a good one. Now, Firehouse, they they do that. And um that's that's awfully good. But if I'm there, I want the bread. I want a pretzel too. They do the pretzels. Is that a thing? That's a thing. Okay, that's a thing. In some cases, a pretzel is more of a thing than a cheesesteak.

SPEAKER_13 54:14

Is it a pretzel with a cheesesteak or is it no no no no it's an alone pretzel? No, it's alone, no, it's a standalone. Okay.

SPEAKER_11 54:20

You know, the bread's good on the east coast, they say because of the alkaline in the water. Did you know that? Huh? Yeah. Because it it has extra alkaline.

SPEAKER_13 54:35

You know a lot about you know a lot about Tennessee Sports. I didn't expect the science knowledge.

SPEAKER_11 54:40

The science knowledge. This segment of the Mike Keith Show brought to you by First Horizon Bank, official bank of the vaults, big bank muscle, small bank, hustle. We have a lot to do in this segment. We have much to pack in. Much. But I I did want to start you with a factoid about tomorrow. Did you know that Tennessee has been a number six seed only one time in their NCAA tournament history? Andy Brock may remember this. Yep. 2010. The Vols beat 11th seeded San Diego State, and then after an upset, they caught number 14 seed Ohio, won both of those games in Providence. They went to St. Louis, Tennessee upset second seeded Ohio State, and then lost to the fifth seed Michigan State, 70 to 69. I was at that game. Were you got up that morning? A friend of mine and I had talked and found out that I could get tickets, and so we drove from Nashville to St. Louis through just a driving rainstorm. Thought we had them beat. It hurt. Yeah. It was a hard drive home. It was it was really not easy. But maybe do you believe history repeats itself? I kind of do. Sarah?

SPEAKER_26 55:59

I guess we'll see.

SPEAKER_11 56:00

Wow.

SPEAKER_13 56:01

That is a no-answer answer. That wasn't very confident. I hope so, but I hope it goes a step further, though. Sure. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_11 56:10

Stop there. By the way, some good guests this hour, Kibb's Corner, presented by Calhoun, will feature Blaine Brown. And Blaine Brown's dad will make an appearance. If you don't know who Blaine Brown's dad is, you'll find out. And I'll I'll just say Blaine Brown's dad is somebody that I was associated with in my past life. You know him quite well. So stick around for that. And then Ron Slay, the ultimate VFL. Does that guy represent like crazy? Is there anybody that represents Tennessee like Ron Slay? And that's not a knock on anybody else. Anyone? Anyone even close?

SPEAKER_26 56:55

Not in his sleigh way.

SPEAKER_11 56:56

In his sleigh way. She's into the Slay language even.

SPEAKER_26 57:01

There's no one quite like Slay.

SPEAKER_11 57:03

There's no one quite like Ron Slay. You know, did you see him earlier this week on ESPN? He got to do all of the pre-tournament. Really? Yeah, the selection show. I mean, he's blowing up.

SPEAKER_26 57:16

Yeah, he's fantastic.

SPEAKER_11 57:17

The nation is learning what we know, and that is he's he's good at broadcasting. He knows the game of basketball. And um he's just so much fun to watch. Energy. And people say, is he that much fun to be around? And the answer is 100% yes. He is hilarious. He's a huge football fan, too. Football really might be his truer love, which a lot of people don't know. Strange. That sounds kind of like a hot take, doesn't it? Yeah. Aha. Very nice. It's time for the Firehouse Subs hot take. Firehouse, enjoy hot subs all over Big Orange Country. The new chicken and cheddar rancher has arrived at Firehouse Subs. It's packed with grilled chicken breast, crispy bacon, melted cheddar, and creamy buttermilk ranch. And here's the best part it's here to stay as a permanent menu idol. Order in the Firehouse Subs app and get it delivered today only at Firehouse Subs. And we got to have one a couple weeks ago while we were in here. They are phenomenal. All right. Andy Brock, Dr. Brock, Mr. 865. He gets the first hot take of the day. Go ahead, Andy.

SPEAKER_13 58:32

Here we go. I'm going to say that Tennessee baseball, they have a chip on their shoulder out here. Just a second.

SPEAKER_11 58:37

Okay, Andy. Uh-oh. We need the signs in the picture. Yep. Ben George. Thanks, Ben. Let's get a look at Ben George here with Andy Brock. Holding up to the side. Ben's one of our favorites.

SPEAKER_13 58:51

Perfect.

SPEAKER_11 58:52

That away. And Kylie Davis. Kylie, what year in school are you? You're a junior? Where are you from? Well, I mean, town? Carible? I know carible. Junior from Caribbean, Tennessee. That away. Alright. So now, Andy, now that we have the visuals, Ben right behind you. Ben really enjoys this too. He's been on the front row at every basketball game in the student section. He's used to this. Yeah, he's a wild man. Love this guy.

SPEAKER_13 59:26

Okay, go ahead, Ed. Okay. Tennessee baseball. They got a chip on their shoulder after a series loss to Georgia, but they did swing the bats well. They had six home runs in the series. So I think they're going to hit more home runs this week and have their most in a weekend series all year. They had eight against Nichols opening weekend. I'm going to say that they're going to up that against Missouri this week. Hot take. Hot take.

SPEAKER_11 59:50

Firehouse subs hot take for Sarah Detweiner, host of the Everything Orange podcast, whose guest tomorrow is Layla Britez Rizzo. All right. From the tennis team. Okay. Your hot take.

SPEAKER_26 1:00:04

I think that Tennessee women's basketball is going to get their revenge over NC State. Tonight. Tonight.

SPEAKER_11 1:00:11

Really? Yeah. Strong pick. Neither of the teams have had the year they thought they were going to have. Weren't they both top 10 when they played in November?

SPEAKER_20 1:00:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_13 1:00:21

Yeah. Interesting also that there is a rematch in round one. Crazy, right? Yeah, that doesn't happen a lot.

SPEAKER_11 1:00:28

Well, somebody's season ends against the team they opened with. So true. One of the two. We do know that. Good hot takes right there. Thank you very much. And thanks to our friends at Firehouse Subs for what they do. Okay. You guys can put the signs down and resume your duties working. It is time for the Sonic blast of the week. If you're looking for a meal that's never boring and guarantees fun, look no further than Sonic. And here is McKenzie Butt.

SPEAKER_25 1:00:57

Looking for the biggest sling of the night. Two on, two out, top of the ninth, zero-zero tie. First pitch to Butt. It's driven a long way. The biggest butt-bomb of the year.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:28

What I saw with Mac all night was every at she was locked in. Whether the at she got a good result or not, she was taking good cuts. She was swinging at the right pitches. Um she stays so emotionally even. It's just awesome to watch. Uh, she just moves on. And so, you know, with her, the more she sees somebody, um, she's eventually gonna hit a ball hard. And boy, timing couldn't have been any better.

SPEAKER_25 1:01:52

And for McKenzie, but that is home run number seven. That ties the team lead.

SPEAKER_11 1:01:57

Sonic is now offering the$6 All-American Smasher meal for a limited time. It includes the new All-American Sonic Smasher Burger, medium tots or groovy fries, and a medium drink. Tots or fries, Andy.

SPEAKER_13 1:02:12

Fries. For sure.

SPEAKER_11 1:02:14

Sarah? Tots. Wow. And probably tots as well. Although Sonic's fries are really good. Very good. Yeah. Strong play there. Okay, so we saw McKenzie butt there, hit the three, run Homer. This team is gonna go to Florida this weekend. Another big challenge. It feels like Sarah that the payoff is going to come like on a weekend like this one, and did last weekend at Mississippi State because they played such a tough schedule to begin the year. Agree?

SPEAKER_26 1:02:48

Correct. And I think because this team had this start that they did, obviously now they hold the record for the best start in program history. Of course, they faced a little bit of adversity dropping that second game, but I think that's when you learn a lot about the team as a whole and how they respond. So facing that adversity, picking up the win on Sunday, I think was good for this team, and I think will give them more fuel to their fire going down into Gainesville against Florida this coming weekend.

SPEAKER_11 1:03:15

I am not terribly sorry, Andy, that they lost. And I mean, I certainly wasn't pulling for them to lose. Yeah. But I think that undefeated thing, had that rolled on much longer. I'm kind of glad that that's off the table now. Great start, still rolling along, five and one in the conference. Would love it if they win all the rest of their conference games. That would be tremendous. But you don't want to get into that when you're playing such tough conference games, at least to me.

SPEAKER_13 1:03:46

Yeah, you play a little more tense when you feel like you have that weight and pressure on your shoulders. So it's good to get one out of the way. You hate to lose, but it was going to happen inevitably. Um and I think the fact that you're five and one in SEC play and you only had Carlin Pickens for one of them, it's pretty cool.

SPEAKER_11 1:04:01

Tennessee baseball looking to get back on track this weekend against Missouri. Blaine Brown will be a big part of that if they're to have success. He is our guest next on Kibb's Corner, presented by Calhoun's. Stay with us for more of the Mike Keith show.

SPEAKER_10 1:04:17

Mike Keith on the Vall Network.

SPEAKER_21 1:04:20

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SPEAKER_03 1:04:50

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SPEAKER_11 1:05:18

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SPEAKER_04 1:05:48

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SPEAKER_11 1:06:18

Whether you're cheering on the vaults at Food City Center, watching at your favorite sports bar, or hosting a watch party, you need a beer that will cool you down. Choose Coors Light for a beer as cold as the Rockies. It's cold laggered for a lighter, fresher taste, cold filtered for a brighter appearance, and cold packaged for peak freshness. This basketball season, reach for the beer that supports the big orange. Choose chill. Mountain Cold Refreshment, Coors Light. Proud sponsor of the Tennessee Volunteers. Celebrate responsibly. It's time for a show within the show. It's Kibb's Corner. Presented by Calhoun's A Taste of Tennessee, nine area locations. And available at Food City Center too, which is a good thing. This is Ross Kibbon, Tennessee Assistant Baseball Coach. He's in charge of recruiting. And this is his show within a show.

SPEAKER_08 1:07:41

Welcome and please introduce our guest. We have a very exciting guest. Exciting because if we're on defense, he would be out there and not just playing position, but in the center of the diamond, as we're going to be. Transfer for the vaults. Yeah. Another hot commodity like Landon Mack was, and very excited to have him.

SPEAKER_18 1:08:06

Glad to be here.

SPEAKER_08 1:08:07

Most excited to have you on the corner. Finally I'm on the corner. This is your segment, so let me talk about you a little bit. You go into the portal, you're making a decision. You obviously have a lot of people that are fighting for your commitment. What's one thing about Rocky Top that you were so attracted to that ultimately led to your decision?

SPEAKER_18 1:08:25

I would say just the culture.

SPEAKER_08 1:08:34

It's a good vibe. It's a good vibe. When you're going through the process and you're visiting other schools, is the two-way thing something that's important to you while you're going through that, or were you willing to settle out on the mound or or just as a hitter?

SPEAKER_18 1:08:47

No, two-way thing was a pretty important thing. I entered and just getting the opportunity to blow uh to do both was pretty big for me.

SPEAKER_08 1:08:56

I'm gonna ask you this because I know Coach Keith would ask you this. Is it hard to manage doing both? Like, is your schedule different than everybody else? And and how does something becoming a journalist? I'm getting better. What what does your week look like compared to someone that might just pitch or might just hit?

SPEAKER_18 1:09:19

I would say my week would probably consist of finding time to do both, you know. So they gotta set out to get everything in at the end of the day. So just finding time and communicating with Ren and he to find good times to Do you want me to go do pitching right here, or do you want me to do some outfield work and then touch the mound and throwing some pretty big ping too? Do you feel like Keegan's pretty flexible with how the weights work too? Keegan Keegan's very flexible. If I need some if I need to do a little something extra, then I'll get in there with him. If I need to move up my time or get in earlier to lift or lift another day, like he's very flexible with that, which I really appreciate.

SPEAKER_08 1:09:58

How does Ren work around your bull pens and your hitting and your lifting? Is that like you said, communicating, but does he have to manage how many bullets are in that arm, or how does that work?

SPEAKER_18 1:10:12

Usually you leave that up to me, you know, how I feel that day and whether or not I want to do a little extra, or if I just felt good that day, then just leave it at that.

SPEAKER_11 1:10:21

So I want to ask you what as we're in Southeastern Conference play now, what do you hope your role is pitching as we get deeper into the conference schedule?

SPEAKER_18 1:10:30

You know, kind of just a role that can come in and get out when I need it, when my name is called, and just doing whatever to help the team.

SPEAKER_11 1:10:38

How does the staff potentially see him? Because you're building this thing, you're still building, you'll build it into April, you'll build it into May, and hopefully well into June. Yes. As you build this thing up, where do you think he can can help that way on the map?

SPEAKER_08 1:10:53

Well, the arm talent is unquestionable. And we've talked about this. You've gotten brought up on the corner before because it is kind of you've been cornered. I've been cornered. You love that. He's kind of a Martian where you know Shohei is similar, and I'm not putting Shohei Otani pressure on you, but it it is similar where you have to develop both. Right. So right now, it seems like Tuesdays have been our development for him, getting his four outs, five outs, etc. With the expectation that whether it be the end of SEC play, certainly in Hoover, and then postseason, it's a weapon that we can utilize. So to answer your question, he's gonna get some innings in this league, and uh we expect it to go similarly to how it is when he gets up there and hits. Talk about him as a hitter. This was why I felt so confident recruiting him and the the rest of the staff. Yes, it's it's attractive when it's a guy that's throwing 95 plus miles per hour with his left arm. Yes, that's attractive, but the power potential, how it plays into our ballpark being left-handed, um, the ability to use the whole field is really exciting. And then I correct me if I'm wrong, power guy, swing and miss guy. We didn't feel that way. We felt like the hand eye, the hit tool, like they say, in professional baseball, was always there, and the power has just come because he's six foot six and you know, 200 plus pounds, and he's strong into your leverage. But creating an atmosphere, which Chuck and E certainly do, uh, to develop the entire field of a hitter has where I've seen the most jump. So we knew it was in there, super excited about the middle of the lineup power potential, but he's he's proven to be a contact guy as well. Are you pleased with your development as a hitter? Oh, I'm well he has to say he has to say.

SPEAKER_11 1:12:50

But not what if he's like, hey, Gibbs Corner is so dumb editing? I'm not talking about I know he's being well coached. I'm asking, is he pleased with what he's been able to do so far and where he thinks it can go this year as you get deeper into hitting SEC pitching?

SPEAKER_18 1:13:10

I mean, yeah, always there's always something to improve on, always. So just getting better each day is the key to key to success.

SPEAKER_08 1:13:19

Well well, what is one thing? I knew you you wanted to ask. Well, what is one thing that you have to get better at going through this league? Because this is a man set. Yeah, and you know, there's no this is not a slight at the AAC conference. I coached in it when I was at Houston, but it it's different depth-wise as far as the arms that are gonna run out there. What was one thing that you're like, I'm focusing on this, I'm improving on this, this is why I'm a first round talent.

SPEAKER_18 1:13:44

I think just the mindset, I think the biggest thing for me was the mental side of the game and just understanding like you're not gonna have success all the time. Just kind of staying like level-headed. It's like not getting too high on your highs and not too on your lows, and just sticking with my team and no matter what happens.

SPEAKER_11 1:14:01

Hardest thing to do as a hitter is not let one at bat carry over to the next at-bat. And they used to say about Pete Rose that his reason for being such a great hitter, such a successful hitter through the course of his career is he was one of the few guys that most players saw that could start off 0 for three and end up two for five. Yeah. Because he would come back and you know, you're 0 for 3, you're thinking, man, I'm taking the collar here, and this is this is bad. And then he could get up there and pop two hits in the seventh and ninth inning and help you win a baseball game.

SPEAKER_08 1:14:35

Yeah. There's some kids that watch this because we're pretty PG 13 on this show. What's one thing you would tell them about failure? Since you have to do it in both.

SPEAKER_11 1:14:44

So the other day, for no, you're bringing up failure. It's right. So I bring up coaching, you're bringing up failure. Okay, great.

SPEAKER_08 1:14:50

Well, you have to train failure too. Sure. It's literally a game of failure. That's why it's so fun. Yeah. You know, a couple weeks back, it doesn't go how you wanted it against ECSU on the mound, but you still come up the next half inning and drive in a run to tie the game. Yeah. How do you manage the emotions of uh-oh, didn't go like it was supposed to on the mound, but I still got a job to do, you know, being a two-way guy in the lineup.

SPEAKER_18 1:15:17

Yeah. Coming out and I was always throwing an off. It was kind of just understanding like it is what it is, like it happened. Like at that point, it was just like I was I was like back into my teammate B Fred, who came in and shut it down, stopped that bleeding, and then as I'm getting ready to hit it, it was just like, all right, my role is just I'm gonna hit now. Yep. And then I didn't let it affect, got the pitch I saw, and did what I was supposed to do. Whacked it.

SPEAKER_11 1:15:42

Yeah. We've got more coming up with Blaine Brown, our special guest on Kibb's Corner, which is presented by Calhoun's A Taste of Tennessee, nine area locations, and also available at the Food City Center. Stay with us.

SPEAKER_19 1:15:55

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SPEAKER_02 1:16:18

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SPEAKER_11 1:18:22

This segment of the Mike Keith Show is presented by CertaPro Painters of East Tennessee, proud sponsor of the vault. Kibbs Corner continues, presented by our great friends at Calhoun's. I wish I had Calhoun's right now. Blaine, you like Calhoun? Yeah, I like Calhoun. You like Calhouns? I love Calhoun. I have a huge Calhoun's guy. Nine area locations. They are the sponsor of Kibbs Corner. This is Ross Kivitt. He is the Kiv in Kibbs Corner.

unknown 1:18:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11 1:18:54

Talking baseball, talking to Blaine Brown. Yep. Star volunteer, two-way player. Yes. And we actually have another. Star. Yeah. I like Star. Star's good. I want you to bring because this is nostalgia. This is for you. What we like to say is this is a family show. Right now, it really is a family show. Because Blaine Brown's dad is joining us now, and his name is Chris Brown. And if you think, God, he looks very familiar. Not because of the White Sox hat. He didn't play for the White Sox. He played at Colorado. He was a third-round draft pick of your Tennessee Titans. And he ran with Eddie George. He ran with Travis Henry, ball great. He ran certainly with a lot of good backs in the NFL, had a really nice career, and was one of my very favorite players that I ever covered. So, Chris Brown, when I heard your son was coming to Tennessee, I have to say I nearly wept because I was so happy, but also because that made me so old.

SPEAKER_08 1:20:02

Chris, I was very thankful as well. For job security purposes.

SPEAKER_11 1:20:08

All right, Chris Brown, here's my question for you. Baseball, how did your son get baseball? Really? How did that happen?

SPEAKER_17 1:20:19

Well, man, you know, I I expose my kids to everything. I let them know they'll figure out their path. You know, at first sport he played with soccer. They didn't work out too good, but you know, you know, I would have to give credit to maybe my wife on that one because she played softball growing up. And I ain't got I ain't played base baseball a day in my life.

SPEAKER_08 1:20:39

So going into the family dynamic, take yourself out of it. Who's the best athlete in the family?

SPEAKER_17 1:20:47

Best athlete in the family. Who this is hard hitters over here. Best all-around athlete right now. All we're talking all around. Yes. Who's who do you think is the best athlete? I'll probably give it to the youngest one. I'll give it to the youngest one. Yeah. He's actually he's actually pretty dang good on the basketball court. I'm not gonna lie. He's actually pretty good.

SPEAKER_08 1:21:11

We already talked about Blaine's basketball court experience up here in the T-Rec, and his his teammates called it broke.

SPEAKER_17 1:21:18

I'm a household name in the T-Rex. He gets that from me then. I couldn't play basketball. Did you play basketball, Chris? Uh a little bit in high school, if you want to call it that.

SPEAKER_08 1:21:30

How's Houston right now? How's the weather down there?

SPEAKER_17 1:21:33

Oh, it's like 80 degrees. I'm loving it.

SPEAKER_08 1:21:36

I was just in Paraland looking at Ridge Point High School.

SPEAKER_17 1:21:39

Oh, he was over at Ridge Point. Okay.

SPEAKER_08 1:21:41

They got some talent over there. They do. We're looking for the we're looking for the next Blaine Brown. We like going into Texas, which leads me to my next question. When Blaine says he's going to transfer, he comes to UAM in a transfer and he leaves the state of Texas, where I presume you got to see him play a whole bunch. Yeah. What was your first reaction? How did you feel about that? And when you guys came on the visit and then he decided on Tennessee, what were the feelings about kind of being so far from home?

SPEAKER_17 1:22:10

You know, I mean, I was a little spoiled this freshman year, only a 20-minute drive, get to watch every game. I'm not gonna lie, but you know, you gotta do what's best for him, and that was a decision he made. I was all about behind him. Let's roll. We're gonna do it, we're gonna step both feet in it and go.

SPEAKER_08 1:22:26

Yeah, I appreciate that. I and I won't give too much, Mike, on when we got the phone call, but he was at a different establishment in this league, and it felt really good because we got his commitment, but also because of where he was when we got the phone call.

SPEAKER_11 1:22:40

Let me ask you, Chris, are you more nervous as a dad when Blaine's hitting or Blaine's pitching?

SPEAKER_17 1:22:48

Oh, I mean, honestly, I don't really get nervous because I got no control over it. You know, I hope he goes out and performs great, but I I can't control it. So I enjoy being a fan and I don't really get too nervous about him. But I do get frustrated sometimes when he doesn't do what he's supposed to do, you know. But when he goes out there and does what he's supposed to do, it's all good.

SPEAKER_11 1:23:09

When he says that, Blaine, I mean, because Chris just said he didn't play baseball. Yeah. So what is your dad's advice to you before or after games like? Being that he was a I mean, he was a successful professional athlete, high-level athlete in his own right.

SPEAKER_18 1:23:25

Usually I I call him after the games and he'll tell me what he saw, I'll tell him what I thought or what I felt during the game, and we kind of we kind of like meet in the middle on something, and then it's like, all right, we figure out what's wrong, and tomorrow we'll work on getting it better. So it's usually what it consists of.

SPEAKER_08 1:23:43

What about growing up? Your dad was a professional athlete, you're you're starting to really come into your own as a baseball player, your junior and senior year in high school for sure. And then as a freshman in college and now as a sophomore, how was growing up not in that shadow, but with the expectation of, well, your dad was a professional athlete, so you sure need to be one.

SPEAKER_18 1:24:05

Yeah. Growing up like that, it was it was kind of like it was kind of not gonna say hard, but it was kind of like I knew it was there, but it was like I also wanted, you know, I wanted to be myself, you know? So growing up, I I'm I really appreciate it. Now I look back and I really appreciate everything he really did for me growing up.

SPEAKER_11 1:24:24

Chris, where do you think because you were a pro athlete, you were able to help him the most in anything in regards to the process?

SPEAKER_17 1:24:33

Oh, I mean, just trying to slow it down, like just because you work on one thing one day, you're not gonna be perfect at it in the next tomorrow. So it's it's a slow process, you know, especially when from his sophomore year until his junior year, when he grew like seven inches and he looked like a baby giraffe running and everything looked painful, and he couldn't, he didn't know where the ball was going, couldn't swing it. I was like, just stick with it. I promise. Next year it was gonna be all right. You know, that was more of the thing I tried to do with that.

SPEAKER_08 1:25:04

How about helping with expectations? They call him Blaine Tani up here in the clubhouse. Do they really? Yeah, that's a fun nickname. We can we can get that trending. Uh how about dealing with some expectation? Obviously, he's earned all of the accolades from the past, and obviously all of the the we call it hype from now and then through the future. But dealing with that, or how do you navigate that for Blaine?

SPEAKER_17 1:25:27

Really just gotta focus. It's gonna be good days, you're gonna have bad days. You're gonna have days where people love you and days where people don't think you're that good. You gotta stay even, Keel, and just go about your work, do your business, and trust the process. You know how to hit, you know how to pitch. Like, don't worry about the outside noise, it's just noise and keep moving.

SPEAKER_11 1:25:45

You inherited several things from your dad. You look like your dad, you're tall like your dad. But the thing that stands out to me, and just in the brief time I've had a chance to watch you play, you have your dad's even tempered manner. Your dad never let things rattle him. I mean, he was he was the same all the time, which is why people within our building always valued him so much, is because he was so consistent. That's the biggest thing where you have a similarity, you think?

SPEAKER_18 1:26:14

Uh, 100%. Yeah.

SPEAKER_08 1:26:16

Well, what about mom? No offense, Chris, but mom was a really good athlete, too. And this show is for everybody. So, how about uh a little bit of luck? You get your jumping, the ability to jump, the ability to work fast around the bases, because you have scored from first a couple of times.

SPEAKER_18 1:26:33

A couple of those, yeah, for sure. My mom, yeah, really appreciate my mom.

SPEAKER_08 1:26:38

I thought your dad was gonna say she was the best athlete to get some brownie. She likes she he liked brownie like me. He likes he likes to mess with it. Now you now you're starting stuff now.

SPEAKER_17 1:26:48

Now you're trying to start stuff.

SPEAKER_08 1:26:50

She knows. She doesn't need any eye from from Pops. She knows that she's the better athlete.

SPEAKER_11 1:26:56

Now, Chris, I'm told you were pretty sold on Tennessee from the jump. What sold you about this program, this school, and this place where you played the majority of your pro career?

SPEAKER_17 1:27:08

Part of that, like being in Tennessee, spent what, five years there. I've been to Knoxville before, and you know, I really enjoyed my time there. It's a beautiful part of the country. But I mean, I was gonna let him make his decision, and then he he went with it.

SPEAKER_08 1:27:23

Thank you again for that, letting him make that decision. One more thing on the decision process, because the portal is such a a heavy piece of recruiting. When you're going through, and you said culture earlier, when you're going through the culture, is dad helping you kind of identify what you're you need to look for? Because this is another thing. I'm starting to get this journalist thing down because this is a yes, you can, but you said on your visit, I'm gonna pick a spot and I'm staying here. This is where I'm gonna get drafted out of, and I'm gonna pick a spot that gives me that best chance. So, what kind of an Advice maybe going through that.

SPEAKER_18 1:28:02

Yeah, I would say just whatever like feels right, you know, like whenever you like if you feel like this is home, like when I first stepped here and when I was coming around and being around everyone, you know, like when we went out to dinner, like we ever everyone just felt like a family, like it's a it's a family, like everyone's there for each other, and I kind of uh locked it a lot and I knew this is what taking them the Calhoun.

SPEAKER_08 1:28:27

That's there we go.

SPEAKER_11 1:28:28

That's why we're doing it. There we go. All right, well, so we'll wrap up. Chris Brown, so good to see you. And so thrilled your outstanding son, Blaine Brown, is part of the Tennessee baseball program. Thank you for joining us on Kibbs Corner. Ross, would you like to wrap up?

SPEAKER_08 1:28:43

Thank you, Chris. We'll see you in uh in a couple of weeks at one of these series. Blaine Brown, everybody, really excited to have him in our three-hole and then pitching. Looking forward to seeing your development over the next couple of months into the summer. Yep. This will be fun.

SPEAKER_11 1:28:56

Kibbs Corner presented by Calhoun's A Taste of Tennessee.

SPEAKER_10 1:29:01

Your weekend scouting report with Mike Keith.

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SPEAKER_11 1:32:01

The Mike Keith Show continues. This segment of the program is brought to you by Clayton Holmes, Oakwood Homes, and Love Homes of Tennessee, helping families across the state find their dream home. He is a VFL, if there ever was a VFL. Former SEC Player of the Year and volunteer Hoops Standout. Now ESPN and SEC Networks owned, along with 1045 The Zones owned, Ron Slay. Welcome to the Mike Keith Show.

SPEAKER_15 1:32:31

Mike, thanks for having me, man. Great to be here. Excited to be here. Best time of the year, Mike. All these sports just crossing over that way they are.

SPEAKER_11 1:32:39

Got tournament action today as the whole thing gets started. I want to go back to last weekend, though. The SEC tournament and what you think it means to the overall 16 team fan base in your experience, in particular in your hometown.

SPEAKER_15 1:32:57

Man, it's no better spot to be in. I don't think it's a better prequel to what you get ready to walk into for March Madness than the SEC tournament. The way it's done in Nashville, the atmosphere, not only in the arena, I'm talking about the outside of the arena. The things you got to go through as far as the fans being in your hotel lobby, waiting to meet you. You got so many different spots to go and eat. We saw that with Ole Miss, who gave a big time salute to Hall's Chompause. They could not wait to get their night in and night out. So that was some great advertisement. But it's so many different things in the city. It's so many different fan bases can come there and have a phenomenal time. That's before getting in the arena. As a player, it's not many times you get to see that many fan bases in one spot, and you be an underdog in some situations, and you can sway the fans to be able to get behind you. So this was it was it was a lot of, I saw personally, a lot of um Kentucky fans and Florida fans uh come together to cheer against a team like Tennessee when they were playing Van Day. I thought that was I thought that was interesting. So, I mean, listen, it's it's one of those times, man, that you you you don't you don't get, you don't get a lot of by being able to go into a conference tournament like that, and you know the fan bases are gonna show up. This is from the bottom to the top. Of course, Kentucky is always gonna exceed expectations and bring their fan base, but I even saw Ole Miss, the Land Sharks starting to come out. Um, and they were the second-ranked team in the conference. So from top to bottom, it's an experience like no other.

SPEAKER_11 1:34:50

I love it. That's probably the most fun I've had all year. Being around the fan bases and you know, seeing Tennessee there in Nashville, and of course, there's obviously a great Tennessee turnout uh to win a game like the Auburn game, to lose one against Vandy, which was a hard-fought game, but still, I mean, it's great college basketball. And yet, Ron Slay, it does not seem that any SEC team was affected in any way, shape, or form by picking up wins in the SEC tournament in terms of their NCAA seeding. It doesn't look like any of it counted for much. Yeah. I mean, why are conference tournaments not part of the equation more? Or am I wrong?

SPEAKER_15 1:35:36

No, I think I think you're right. I think you're right in that um the I think the only ones that could have benefited from it was teams like Ole Miss if they had won it. Um, Oklahoma put their bid in. They put a very strong bid in. Probably if they win one more game, they would have wanted to have an opportunity to be um right there on the line of being the final four that were getting in. Um you watch them, they moved all the way up from first four out to be in that last spot, not being able to take it. But even with Florida getting beat, they kind of still stamped them coming into it by winning the regular season as the number one overall seed when you had a battle with them in Yukon, with UConn not being able to win the regular season title up there in the Big East. So um it's it's a shame that it is. I also think Vandy um was undervalued, they were underseeded in this match uh coming into the tournament because of I don't know what, but if St. John's, I thought they they were the exact same way. St. John's and Vandy were right there and they both were ended up being five seeds. I thought Vandy should have been a four-seed. Alabama lost and didn't even drop. So that's I don't know what the what the committee puts on it and why isn't just for bragging rights. I know the fan bases love it in the conference tournament, but if they don't start to put a little bit more, a little bit more on it, like it hold a little bit more value, then I think you're gonna lose the competitive spot of it as far as the top teams go. Because you could have easily, Tennessee could have easily said, you know what, let's sit nate amen. Let's let's let Nate chill, let's let Darius Acuff Jr. chill uh for Arkansas. Like you had a lot of guys. Thomas Houck played for Florida with a hindered ankle a little bit. So you don't want to see the stars have to sit out, but luckily those coaches and those players beg to go on and play, and we got to see the best of them.

SPEAKER_11 1:37:33

Any of the regions that came out on Sunday night that stand out to you as the most interesting?

SPEAKER_15 1:37:40

Let's start first with the East. There are no SEC teams in the East. Why would that be? I tell, like, I don't get why would you it's if 10 teams, SEC got the most teams in, and you couldn't space them out to put some over in the East. You look down in the Midwest, and you got four teams there. Like, it's just do it right. That's that's all we ask. Think about it a little bit deeper than that. But it is what it is. Outside of that, I did think some of the situations over in the south, you have Florida and Vandy that could be on another collision course. Um, I thought you could have separated those two teams. Um, but Florida right there in the south, Vy in the South, easier to travel to, so the fans may love it. Over in the Midwest, we'll you got Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia. Like, I thought you could have separated it a little bit better. And I don't think it was right to send Arkansas all the way out west, like you said, after winning the SEC tournament. I thought a little bit more respect should have been put on them. I'm sure Kyle would have loved to go east than to Portland of all places. Uh even though he did say, you know, we recruited guys out of there. He's he got a wide, he cast a wide net when it comes to recruiting. So he'll find a way to make the most of it.

SPEAKER_11 1:38:58

All right, let's talk Tennessee national analyst Ron Slay, the balls opponent, is Miami of Ohio. One of the stories of the year in college basketball. What can you tell us about the Red Hawks?

SPEAKER_15 1:39:11

Well, first and foremost, six guys in double figures. Lost one game all year. That right there, Mike, lets you know you are playing against a team. And this team right here, they know who they're, they know what their identity is. I think it was eight games where they won by four or less. So they've been in tight situations, whether they've been neutral sites, whether it's been home or on the road versus rivals like the Ohio Bobcats. They played and they figured out a way to um to come out victorious. The thing with this team, they like to score. They will run up and down. I think in this matchup, you're really gonna have to get into the depth of Tennessee's bench to understand how you slow these guys down because you got to keep a guy in front. They keep the floor spaced, they shoot the three-ball very well, which opens up the interior for back cuts, um, the ball swinging side to side. They got four and five guys that can step out and shoot it. And we just saw in the matchup versus Vanderbilt what can happen if the four and five men step out or making a couple of threes. You don't have necessarily that that bulk or that interior defense to shock guys from coming into the basket. And this this mom of our team is rocking. I think, Mike, anybody that goes undefeated, well, they lost one game in a tournament, conference tournament, but any team that goes undefeated, it's some value in that. Regardless, I know everybody was talking about their schedule and uh what should be made of it. It's not the strength that it should be. Listen here, man. If you go 30, whatever in 0 in little league, that's a testament to you being a team that's that that can get together and play on the same accord. And so that's dangerous anytime. Miami Vois really good. You got a guy in Suter that leads this guy, Elmer. They like to call him Elmer's Glue. First of all, Mike, they got a lot of nicknames. Elmer's glue is one of them. Skyjack is another one. Like it's they got a lot of guys, man, that can get it going. But um, it all starts with the guy Suter. Suter said he sets the tone for this bunch, um, and they all play together.

SPEAKER_11 1:41:15

How do you like Tennessee's overall draw potentially in the Midwest region to maybe have a chance to get to that Elite Eight again and then not only be knocking on the door of the Final Four, but be a surprise team to get in?

SPEAKER_15 1:41:31

I like it. I like it because for one, the teams that they could go up against. They they win the first round, then they're on to play a team that we would think in UVA. Um, I think UVA is a really good team. They're big, a big team, and I like Tennessee's matchups when they play big teams. The Ritter is a 6'9, um, do-it-all guard that that can that can get going for UVA. But I like our matchups when you have a guy like Amari Evans coming off, being able to match up with him, Bishop Boswell able to get up under him, um, or just matched up with Nate Mint at 6'10 versus 6'9. Both guys can get it done. Both guys are pro prospects, and I like our advantage in that one more so than any. Then you go on. I think the next matchup, um, if Kentucky was able to beat a team like um I was state, which I'm not sure of. I like Lipsy, the point guard for our state, and those guys right there, man, playing like some of the best teams in the country right now. So I would have our state advancing in that the matchup would be Sweet 16 versus I was state. Now, this is right here, this is when you're gonna need all guys hitting on all cylinders. Because when you talk about complete, they got Joshua Jefferson that gets that gets it done, um Mamovich that gets it done, Lipsy can get it done. Like they have a complete team that they have been tested in their conference. Um, if Tennessee was able to get past that, then you know what time it is. Them and Michigan. And you know what? We owe Michigan the Kennedy Chandler year. I remember it's a Kai's freshman year. I remember sitting there watching it when Jawan Howell was coaching them guys, man, and they got lucky. They got lucky, Mike. I'm still sore about that. So I would love to see that rematch against Michigan. I like that front line versus Austin. We let the chips fall where they may or no.

SPEAKER_11 1:43:20

All right, we need Ron Slay's expertise here more than anybody else in the world. It's time for the heavy lift presented by Planet Fitness. The Planet Fitness black card, only$24.99 per month. We're all strong on this planet. Join today, see Home Club for details. Ron Slay. Yeah. What is the heavy lift for Tennessee? Just talking about Tennessee, not opponents. Yeah. What is the heavy lift for Tennessee as they begin play in the NCAA tournament tomorrow?

SPEAKER_15 1:43:50

Detailed focus on making layups and free throws. I think as simple as that sounds, Mike, I think if you can do that, you go in there and make your layups, make your free throws. That right there elevates you past to looking, looking over your shoulder, trying to figure out if a guy got hot from three. One thing you know you're going to do is pound the offensive glass. That's all for nothing. If you when you get the offensive rebound, you can't put it back in to give yourself the advantage, to make teams suffer. Those are drop your head moments. When you play terrific defense, and all of a sudden the team, Tennessee, shoots the ball and they get another opportunity. Do you know what three offensive rebounds means in the game? That's a minute 30, minute 40 going off of the clock and a basket. And that's a possession that you didn't get, three possessions that you didn't get an opportunity to have to run your offense, to lift your spirits as an opponent. So you can crush spirits by being able to put the ball back in. And then the other part is when you got a big lineup like the way Tennessee has, an aggressive style that you play, you're going to the foul line. You got to be able to shoot at least 75 to 80%. That may be a tall ask, man, but I believe it's one that you can get done. So making the details, focus on the details of making layups and making free throws. And I think, man, we can live with everything else because effort wouldn't be a question.

SPEAKER_11 1:45:24

He is the ultimate VFL. He's part of 1045 The Zone's afternoon program 3HL. He's on SEC Network. He's on ESPN. Great work on the mothership earlier this week, too. Ron Slate, thanks so much for your time on the Mike Keith Show.

SPEAKER_10 1:45:43

Let's go. Mike Keith talks big orange sports right here every week. Getting you ready to work.

SPEAKER_21 1:45:51

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SPEAKER_10 1:45:53

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