The Mike Keith Show (Apr. 23, 2026)

Conversations with some of the newest Vols including football's Ory Williams and Kayin Lee, and basketball's Terrence Hill Jr.

Transcript

SPEAKER_17 0:00

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

SPEAKER_06 0:21

Landing on the back and hands on it! Fight for this history scores for Tennessee!

SPEAKER_17 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 fall, Mike Keith. Delivered by Uber Eats.

SPEAKER_18 0:48

Welcome to the Mike Keith Show, 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. Here's the most important thing to listen to. Download the Uber Eats app. Type in the code GOBIGORNEG. Go Big Orange is the code. You get $15 off all orders. Uber Eats, official on-demand delivery partner of the balls. Let's eat. A lot of good guests on this show. A couple of football players, tackle Ori Williams, transfer from LSU. Cornerback Kay and Lee transfer from Auburn. We look forward to having him on the show. We look forward to Kibb's quarter. Ross Kivitt brings in Blake Grimer, who hit three home runs in the win over Ole Miss on Sunday. Excited to have a chance to talk to that young man and sort of get up to date on everything with him. Alicia Longworth has some news that I think you're going to be very interested in. She's the deputy athletic director. She will be joining us in just a couple of moments. But right now on the program, it's time for Quinn for the Win, highlighting a great moment or 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. What's the Quin for the Win this week? Well, it's what the basketball programs, men's and women's, have been able to do in the portal and representing all of the portal entries and how excited we are about them. We've gotten a men's portal entry who's joined the University of Tennessee to join us. He is Terrence Hill Jr. Welcome to Terrence Hill Jr. to the Mike Keith Show. Thanks for having me. You picked the University of Tennessee from a lot of different schools who are interested in you. Coming out of high school, you were not nearly as recruited a player as you were the last few weeks as a transfer portal guy. How different was it for you and what made Tennessee stand out?

SPEAKER_07 3:11

It was a very different journey. Like you said, I wasn't highly recruited in high school by all the schools I was and I am now. But yeah, going into this transfer portal recruiting segment of my life, it's been pretty hectic. It was really hard to, you know, narrow the schools down. But I think the biggest impact for me that came with Tennessee is um the trust they showed in me from day one when I entered the portal on our first Zoom call. Um just the just the way they had everyone was on on the Zoom call, the whole staff, and just told me how much they believe in me and told me I'm the guy that they need to run the show was very impactful. But I think when I came down to my visit to Tennessee, they showed none but love, and I just feel like it was the right place for me to be.

SPEAKER_18 3:55

How impactful on your decision was seeing how Tennessee chose to use Jacoby Gillespie this past season?

SPEAKER_07 4:04

Yeah, it was very impactful. Um I was watching a Lee A game, the Sweet 16 game, uh, this this past tournament, and just watching him how he was controlling the whole offense, how Coach Barnes let him let him play and let him be who he was out there. And I was actually sitting with my agent Connor Odom, just looking like, wow, they're really letting this guy go. Um, and we were just talking like Tennessee might be a good spot for you. They do good with guards. Obviously, I have a a game that requires freedom and just a lot of a lot of important plays. Um, but yeah, watching him um go through the whole season, how his production went up, um, his usage went up for him to get a shot at that next level was very impactful. And when I met him out there um when I went on my visit, just the the small talks we had, I just felt very important and it felt like he was passing torch to me, so that was good.

SPEAKER_18 4:53

For you, your first season at Virginia Commonwealth was a pretty typical freshman year, averaged just under four points a game. Your sophomore year, you exploded and and became this big time force. What happened between year one and year two that allowed Terrence Hill Jr. to make that jump?

SPEAKER_07 5:13

Yeah, I think it was just my mindset going into year two. Um, and obviously, year one, when I was um playing with those guys that were over me at the time, like great players, Max Stulger, um, Zeb Jackson. Um, those guards were ahead of me at the time. Obviously, they were older and they had a lot of experience. So I kind of took it up into a positive way of I'm gonna learn everything as much as I can from these guys and try to apply it to my game. So when my time comes, I'll be ready. Um, and then my mindset just going through the whole summer, me not deciding to go into the portal after my first year and just staying at VCU. Um, my mindset was just I'm just gonna get better every single day. Um, when my time comes, I know I'm gonna be ready. And I kind of just envisioned myself in those workouts of being in those big moments and leading VCU uh to what we did this year. Um, and it ended up working out pretty well.

SPEAKER_18 6:03

When you're mentioned in various articles, the term high basketball IQ comes up multiple times from multiple people. So, two-part question: what is basketball IQ in Terrence Hill Jr.'s mind? And number two, do you agree that you have a high level of basketball IQ?

SPEAKER_07 6:24

Yeah, I think basketball IQ in my eyes is just being able to read and dissect a whole team, a defense, a scouting report um before the game even starts. Um, I think just going out there to me being a very willing passer and scorer myself, just knowing the game from watching it from when I was born and talking, having great talks with my dad um about, you know, where did this guy go to college? Where did this guy go to college? Just doing that study of the game, just knowing most, uh not all the history, but most of the history I can learn um from the game, just going into it, I think is really essential to being a point guard, you have that great basketball IQ because a lot of different is gonna be a lot of different defenses that they're gonna throw at you, a lot of different situations that you're gonna be in. And I think over time, when you get in those certain situations, your basketball IQ develops. Um and then the second part to that question is I definitely do believe I have a high basketball IQ. Um, you know, like I said, just being in those situations, ups, downs in the middle of kind of not knowing what could happen next, but just being in those situations, you get challenged and you kind of find out a lot about yourself um with this game of basketball, and just how I'm able to connect with my teammates and make them make shine their greatness as as well as mine is is a big thing for me.

SPEAKER_18 7:43

Another interesting thing I read from you was a quote that said, Yeah, you're totally willing to do all the things. You're not so worried about your point total. It's about assists and playing defense and and all everything that goes with it, but you want the ball at the end of the game.

SPEAKER_07 7:58

Oh, yeah. For sure, for sure. I live for those moments. I dream about those um all the time. I think I'm the I'm the guy to take those big shots, miss or make. I'm I'm good with the results because I know how much hours and how much dedication I put into my game. So when the when the game's on the line, I think I should be able to take those shots.

SPEAKER_18 8:16

You were all A-10 first team this past year. You also won A-10 sixth man of the year. Started only two games in your two seasons at Virginia Commonwealth. Does it matter to you whether you start or come off the bench?

SPEAKER_07 8:33

No, not really. Obviously, everybody wants to be a starter and be that main guy. Um, that was always my goal going into any any situation I am. Um, but I was talking to one of my coaches this year, and he asked me a really good question of do you want to be a starter or do you want to be a finisher? Um, I think the biggest thing for me is being a finisher because that's that's what they're gonna remember at the end of the game. They're not gonna remember who started or who played in the middle is who finished that game when the game wasn't a line. So obviously I want to be a starter and be the one to lead this Tennessee team to our championship run. Um, but what whatever coach wants me to do, I just I just want to be on the floor. That's the that's the main impact for me.

SPEAKER_18 9:10

Have you been able to build any sort of rapport or do you even know any of the other guys who are in the transfer portal headed to Tennessee?

SPEAKER_07 9:20

Yeah, obviously they had a we have a great class coming in. Um that was a big part of my decision coming in and just seeing the roster kind of built built around where I could come in and lead the show and lead the team and just make it easier for all those other guys that are coming in because obviously they're great players. I'm excited with the team we got right now, to be honest. I don't think there's nothing I'm not excited about. I'm just ready to get to work.

SPEAKER_18 9:41

And you're gonna be the first Oregonian ever to play basketball for the big orange. So you've you've already uh made the history books right away.

SPEAKER_07 9:51

More history records than break for sure.

SPEAKER_18 9:53

Really enjoyed that conversation with Terrence Hill Jr. Time for something else good. The Sonic Smash of the Week brought to you by new Sonic Refreshers, live free, eat Sonic. Here is Levi Clark from Sunday. This one went nearly 440 feet.

SPEAKER_21 10:14

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SPEAKER_18 10:28

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SPEAKER_01 11:20

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SPEAKER_18 14:23

This is Deputy Director of Athletics, Alicia Longworth, who joins us with some important news for people who enjoy attending football games at the University of Tennessee, and then enjoy getting home afterwards expeditiously. New traffic plan. Welcome.

SPEAKER_12 14:41

Thank you.

SPEAKER_18 14:42

This is a lot of work. I have my computer up because I just have to read who all's been involved in this. Not only the University of Tennessee, but the City of Knoxville, Visit Knoxville, T Dot, KPD, UTPD, and totally campus leadership. And then also you hired a traffic engineering firm out of Nashville, Kemley Horn, to come up with solutions. The reason that everyone felt like it was a good idea to come up with solutions was because we heard our fans.

SPEAKER_12 15:20

Um getting on and off campus um has become more and more difficult. We're selling out more football games um consistently, which credit to our fans. They're excited to get over here. But it's made traffic getting home just more and more difficult. So, you know, we we had had a lot of conversations on the campus level with a lot of KPD, um, UTPD, as you mentioned, but credit to visit Knoxville, um, that they really stepped up, they got the whole group together. Um, we've been able to have, I think Danny came on the show maybe in November and told you we were studying this. So um we knew we need to make it better, campus leadership knew we need to make it better. So we have spent the better part of six months here, seven months, um, studying every different thing that we can do, and we're ready to test some stuff out for the Luke Combs concert.

SPEAKER_18 16:06

Okay, Luke Combs concert is May the 2nd. And beginning with that concert, I think what we're going to find is that people will be able to turn onto Neeland and there'll be three lanes of traffic that funnels people going westbound.

SPEAKER_12 16:24

Yep. So coming down Lake Loudoun, fans will two lanes will still be able to go east if they would like to go east. But when you turn um right and go west, once you get past the bridge, um, almost to Joan Cronin, you'll see it open up into three lanes. And that far left third lane, um, we're gonna call the Kingston Pike Express Lane. Uh, because we are gonna stop it. It'll flow all the way up to Kingston Pike, those two right lanes. They still will have to stop at Jacobs Drive and Stevenson and the different spots that we have there that we had tra uh police directing traffic, but because we do still have to get people coming out of those lots as well. But hopefully we're gonna get everything moving westbound, going faster. Um, you know, some of what we're gonna advise our fans as we go into football season is, you know, go south to get to Nashville. Um, certain things we've learned, like maybe get up on Alcoa Highway, then go to Pelissippi Parkway, and then get back up on 40. Um, but we're not quite there with that. But at least for the Luke Combs concert, we're gonna get everybody going west, open up that third lane, and hopefully get everybody moving a little faster.

SPEAKER_18 17:31

Okay, so again, for Luke Combs, you're gonna that's basically a practice run or a test run.

SPEAKER_12 17:36

Yeah, both of those events in May give us a great opportunity um to try things out. So we have Luke Combs on May the 2nd, and then we have Savannah Bananas on May 23rd. Both gonna be really full Kneeling shows or Nealand um events. And so tons of traffic. A lot of people that are probably a little different than our season ticket holders. They don't park in the exact same lot, um, especially for Savannah Bananas. They might be coming from way out of town. Um, so giving them a little different traffic pattern and for us to test it out with all these different groups, like you mentioned. I mean, from T Dot to KPD to, you know, all of our parking attendants and the different folks that we have that help us make game day go. Well, just give us a good opportunity to see how it works, see what else we can do, and then be ready to go by September when we can call.

SPEAKER_18 18:20

So if you've purchased tickets to Luke Combs and the Savannah Bananas, you're gonna get an email letting you know this is the plan.

SPEAKER_12 18:27

Yep. So announcing it here. Um, and then this afternoon, everybody should be getting um an email if you've purchased those tickets. And then we're gonna get information to our football season ticket holders also. We actually surveyed our football season ticket holders because anecdotally we had heard, we also read Twitter, we also know what's going on out there in the world, but we wanted specific information from the people that are parking in those lots. So we got a ton of feedback. Um, we're gonna be reaching out to those people that filled out that survey and having more conversations with them and just better understand their experience. So if you're coming to either one of those events or if you're a football season ticket holder, be on the lookout because we're gonna get some information to you.

SPEAKER_18 19:04

All right, so let's back up again and just hit the important parts. If you're going east, you're still gonna have two lanes like you have had.

SPEAKER_26 19:11

Yes.

SPEAKER_18 19:12

Nothing changes for going east. So you don't get you don't get cost anything in that. So that's good. But then there's gonna be three lanes going west, with the far left lane being what you're calling the Kingston Pike Express Lane.

SPEAKER_12 19:26

Yeah, and again, we know a lot of our fans come from the you know, west of Knoxville or south of Knoxville. Again, one of the things Kimley Horn did for us was they were here for the Oklahoma game. Um, and they've got all this technology, and they, you know, where our fans were traveling, and they took our season ticket holder data and put it in with what they were seeing that night. So we were able to see a full breakdown of percentage-wise where our fans were coming from. And no surprise, we got a lot of folks coming from the west and the south. So, um, how do we get them going that way faster is the first hurdle we want to get over. And then we're gonna try some other things, like I said. But yes, for Luke Holmes and for Savannah Bananas, three lanes of traffic going west on Neeland.

SPEAKER_18 20:09

And the process has been so long in this. One of the things that you were able to do at the end of football season and towards basketball season is you were able to let the people who park at the top of G10 get out on Philip Fulmer and then turn on to Lake Loudoun to get to Neyland Drive the way they needed to go. Are people, once we get to football season, still going to be able to get out of the top of G10 along with out of the bottom of G10?

SPEAKER_12 20:38

Yeah, so G10 for football season may look very different, as we all know. The entertainment district, um, we're still working towards that. But yes, um, you know, one of the challenges for football is just the amount of pedestrian traffic we have exiting the stadium all at one point. It's a great challenge. You got 100,000 people that are in there. Um, but then when the game's over, you've got all those people rushing in for roadways. Um, so keeping our fans safe, keeping everyone walking and in their cars safe so that we don't have any sort of accident is really all those groups that you mentioned from, you know, UTPD, KPD, T DOT, campus leadership, our leadership. That's really what we're trying to do. We're not trying to make it more difficult people getting out of the garage. We just want to keep everybody safe. So once the pedestrian traffic clears, then absolutely that will open back up.

SPEAKER_18 21:29

Okay, that's parking. Let's turn to another topic. Next week, April 28th through 30. Big orange caravan is on the road. First Chattanooga, then Nashville, then Tri-Cities. Tickets are still available, and these are always well attended events because of really who's on the bill.

SPEAKER_12 21:48

Yeah. Um, I mean, you know this. You got to do it last year between um Josh and Rick and Kim, just the, you know, relationships that they have. Um, I think Rick has more fun. Telling jokes on this than anybody does doing anything all year long. It's a really fun event. Um, so yeah, we're excited to go back to Chattanooga. We weren't there last year. You and I were talking about this. We've been rotating Chattanooga and Memphis, finding dates for our coach's calendars, um, just really difficult to do as transfer portals has opened and just the workload that they're carrying. Um, so three is really the best number of events that we can have. So we just decided it would be best to rotate Chattanooga and Memphis. So start in Chattanooga, get to Nashville, and then get down to Tri-Cities. Um, hopefully, three really good days with our fans and our coaches.

SPEAKER_18 22:34

And there's information about it at utsports.com. Absolutely. Yeah, utsports.com. If you want to get tickets, we look forward to seeing you. It's a tremendous amount of fun. We had a great time last year, great crowds. Excited to go back to Chattanooga. We'll miss you this year, Memphis, but we'll see you in the future. We'll see you next year. Yeah, that's right. But Chattanooga gets their crack this year, and uh, that's gonna be a good time for everybody, and we can't wait for that. Alicia Longworth, great news about the parking and the continued work towards that. I know Vol fans everywhere are thrilled to hear that there are going to be more options. And I think people have understood that that you've been working at it for a long time. So we'll test it out with Luke Combs and the Savannah Bananas in May.

SPEAKER_12 23:16

The fan experience is really important, right? Taking care of all of our fans, um, getting 100,000 people to walk into Nealand uh makes it a really special pet place, makes it one of the best places to play college football. So we will keep working. Um we will look at every different thing that we can, but we will work to make it better for everybody.

SPEAKER_18 23:34

Alicia Longworth, Deputy Athletic Director at the University of Tennessee. We've got more of the show coming up right after this.

SPEAKER_02 23:45

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SPEAKER_17 26:03

Mike Keith continues, delivered by Uber Eats.

SPEAKER_18 26:08

This segment of the Mike Keith Show brought to you by First Horizon Bank, official bank of the balls. Big bank muscle, small bank hustle. So glad to have you with us for the show as we continue on in this segment. And this guy, Ori Williams, is brought to you by Valvaleen Instant Oil Change. Ori Williams, hello. How are we doing? It's so good to see you. It's a pleasure. Now, for those who don't know, this man is 6'8, listed at 330 pounds. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_22 26:42

Is that where we are? About 339. About 339. Where do we want to be? We want to be about 330, 335 range. So I'm a little bit over, but we're working, we're working. Okay, you're what did you weigh when you came here? When I came here, I was three, I was 327 when I came here.

SPEAKER_18 26:57

Okay.

SPEAKER_22 26:58

Yeah, so when I first got on campus, I was 327.

SPEAKER_18 27:00

All right, so his background is quite interesting. He is from San Marcos, Texas. Yes, sir. Initially went to school at LSU, played at LSU for two years, played a good bit last year, over 150 career snaps at left tackle.

SPEAKER_22 27:15

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_18 27:16

And throughout the course of spring practice, he has been working at right tackle for the balls, winding that down. So let me start with the process of being in the transfer port. Ori, how different was the recruiting process coming out of high school to this past winter when you were in the transfer port?

SPEAKER_22 27:38

So from for high school recruiting when it comes for colleges, it was more of like the glam and what the college could do for you, you know what I mean? And like trying to get you there, showing you all like the old school, like the good history, and like, you know, just trying to like persuade you to come here. Um definitely for the transfer portal, it was more of like it was a business side of it. You know what I mean? It was more business. Um you're coming here to do one thing, one thing only. Obviously, get your education, but you're here to play, you know what I mean? So that's that's that's kind of what the differences were.

SPEAKER_18 28:12

All right. Coming out of high school, how many official visits did you make?

SPEAKER_22 28:17

I made, I want to say four. Four. Four.

SPEAKER_18 28:20

Four official visits. Okay. As you went in the transfer portal, you were a heavily sought-after player. You were probably recruited harder as a transfer athlete than you were as a high school athlete. Is that fair? Yes, sir. I I can say that's probably a little bit harder to say. Okay. I thought you were going to Virginia Tech at one point. I thought you were going somewhere else at some point. How did you settle on Tennessee? How did it all come down?

SPEAKER_22 28:44

Yeah, um, so the this is the whole thing. Uh when I first decided to enter the transfer portal, Virginia Tech was at the top of my list. Um you know, I had some good conversations with them. A couple of guys from the LSU staff uh had some things going on over there, so I decided to had a connection. Exactly, exactly, had a connection. So um, you know, things happened. Um, called Coach Ellie, I got on the phone with Coach Ellie, he hit me up. I feel like we kind of hit it off instantly. And so um I was supposed to go visit Kentucky. Um but that but the way my schedule was set up, you know, Tennessee wanted to be the same weekend as Kentucky. So I was kind of in the bottom, I had to make a choice. And so, you know. How do I say this? Uh there's there's not enough experience at some other places, so I chose to come here. You know what I mean? Right. And Coach Ellerby is heavily experienced um in the offensive line and knows he he kind of knows what kind of he knows what he's doing.

SPEAKER_18 29:49

All right, I want you to tell me about Glenn Ellerby. Okay, due to the fact that Coach Ellerby is very reticent to talk to the media, he does not give a lot of interviews, he generally gives a press conference once or twice a year, and or he does a press availability once or twice a year. So most people don't know him very well, and yet all you guys in the O line talk about the connection, the teaching, everything that he comes with. What jumps out most to you about Glenn Ellerby that you could share with us that we don't know?

SPEAKER_22 30:22

Well, I will tell you this you you said it yourself, the teaching. So on my official visit, it was me, my mom, and my father. Okay. Uh we all sat in his office, and you know, obviously, um it's a business, so they want to see how smart you are. So he they couldn't, I wasn't committed yet, so they couldn't actually give me the plays. So he had just made some, you know, just some plays, just some plays up out of the blue, and he um just like scheme, plays like area scheme, and so he taught it to me. And so um he's like telling me and going down, and so he was like, now recite back to me what I just told you. Lo and behold, I everything he just told me, I recited back, I knew the scheme. I it was like it was like the back of my hand. And so he was like, let's see if your parents were paying attention, let's test your parents. So he asked my mom a question. Damn, my mom got it. So I looked at, I was like, hold on, hold on, coach, if if you can teach my mama football, then I mean you can teach me almost anything. So that really, that was like, yeah. So he got me right there, and I was like, okay, so that really sparked my interest with Coach Ellerby. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_18 31:19

Okay, did Tennessee tell you we're recruiting you as a right tackle?

SPEAKER_22 31:26

So, yes, I will tell you that they told me they recruited me as a right tackle. I've had a little experience as right tackle. Um, my first, I'm gonna say, yeah, my first start was at right tackle. Um, my first playing time against Alabama, that was like my real, my real, like, okay, this is your moment. Here we go. Yeah, it was at right tackle. So it was a little bit uncomfortable for me at first, but just leading up, um, you know, Brad Davis, the way he he he did practices, he would make you do both sides. So I was already a little bit prepared for that moment, I'll say, at right tackle, although it's not my um preferred position, the left tackle. Um so so they told me I was coming to play, but they said I could also, you know, fight for a position at the left tackle if I really wanted to. I, you know, I told them whatever gets me on the field, you know, I'm a team player. So whatever puzzle I, whatever, whatever piece of the puzzle I need to be to fit to make the team win, I'm I'm I'm down to do it.

SPEAKER_18 32:17

How would you characterize what you were able to do at right tackle this spring, Lori? Um how would you characterize your entire spring in terms of how you thought you did?

SPEAKER_22 32:29

I would characterize it as um, it wasn't perfect, but it was an improvement from my first spring. So I will say it was an improvement. It was an improvement.

SPEAKER_18 32:38

So I was watching you practice. You're a pretty intense guy. Some offensive linemen are just kind of calm because you're the gentle giants. Uh I've seen you a couple times not be totally calm. How do you harness that intensity to do a job which is very cerebral in terms of what your responsibilities are?

SPEAKER_22 33:01

Well, I mean, sometimes, you know, as you said, we're we're gentle giants, but we got we got a job to do. And protecting that quarterback is is our job. So when things, when you know, defenses they like to chip away at us, you know, throughout the games, you know, do little small things here and there, tip at the quarterback after the ball's throw. So I mean, sometimes you just gotta let them know, hey, we we we don't we don't we don't play that, you know what I mean? So but you just gotta you football is a game of emotions, you know what I mean? The team that can control their emotions the best will most likely come out successful. So that's just what I try to do.

SPEAKER_18 33:34

You're protecting your guy no matter what, and you're not, and he he's not gonna take anything off anybody on that.

SPEAKER_22 33:42

Dang I'm right.

SPEAKER_18 33:44

Even if it's not that particular play. You're gonna, I mean, you're the secret service, that's what the offensive is.

SPEAKER_22 33:49

That's what we are. Yes, sir, from left to right, all five of us. We have secret service.

SPEAKER_18 33:53

When did you start playing offensive line?

SPEAKER_22 33:55

Oh, that's a good question. I started playing offensive line my sophomore year high school.

SPEAKER_18 33:59

What were you originally in terms of a football position?

SPEAKER_22 34:02

I played quarterback.

SPEAKER_18 34:03

Were you really?

SPEAKER_22 34:04

I did. When did you grow to 6'8? I grew, so I was always, I was always tall. I grew to 6'8 in my eighth grade year uh of high school, my eighth grade year of middle school. No kidding. Yes, right. And you were still a quarterback. Uh at that time, when I when I broke my leg um and came into rehab, I was big. I was pretty big. So when my high school coach saw me, he was like, Yeah, you're gonna be offensive line. So I was rehabbing my freshman year. Um, I didn't get to play. Uh but my sophomore year when I came out, I was offensive line.

SPEAKER_18 34:33

All right, so how playing quarterback is fun.

SPEAKER_22 34:37

It is. And so when they say you're gonna be an offensive lineman, did you think the first thing that came to mind was like at least tight end? Like, I can cash, I can throw, I can do a lot of things, but block it. Come on. So it wasn't really my, it wasn't really like it didn't, it didn't pique my interest at all.

SPEAKER_18 34:55

When did Ori Wiggs fall in love with being an offensive line?

SPEAKER_22 35:00

I want to say about the third game. It was the third game of my sophomore year. Um I think we played Austin Westlake. We played Austin Westlake. They're pretty great high school. Great high, you you know about great high school.

SPEAKER_18 35:12

I mean, it's unbelievable the people that they put out, the quarterbacks that they put out of Drew Brees probably being the most famous.

SPEAKER_22 35:20

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So, you know, we played them and um they're there's some pretty big boys, you know what I mean? Um so I came, it was it was a wide jump play, and I think it was like their best defensive player. You know, we were scouting them all week, and I came and I just dumped them into the floor, and it was just happening all game with everybody. Um my right tackle as well, uh, my cousin Brenda Jones. We were just we were just having a ball, and so you know, like the joy it felt to beat them, we beat them actually. So it just felt good. So I think that's why I fell in love with the offensive line.

SPEAKER_18 35:49

The offensive line is such a close group. I mean, just one to 15. Everybody on a roster who's in the offensive line is is very much part of that group. The real relationship that is special is a guard of tackle. So you and Jesse Perry, have you gotten there yet?

SPEAKER_22 36:07

We're we're still getting there, you know. I still gotta hold it on my end, because you know, Jesse's been in the offense, so he knows what he's doing. So me coming in, you know, still learning the offense, you know, not being up to par. He's been getting on me a little bit, but that's that's what's building us closer, honestly. Um, to you know, the truth, the truth and the honesty that he brings to the table, you know, when I'm not doing my job sometimes. That's what really brings us closer. I feel like, and I respect him for that. I really do. And so um, you know, we're getting there, but you know, it's coming. By the time season comes, it's gonna we're gonna be like this.

SPEAKER_18 36:37

All right. So coming out of spring practice, knowing that you're playing right tackle, you're very involved in working towards camp and moving towards all the football. That's great. We've established that. What do people need to know about Ori Williams that they don't know in your bio or any of the articles that have come out about you joining the ball? What would you like for that?

SPEAKER_22 37:00

Um I love basketball. Well, I was gonna get into that. I love basketball. How serious were you? Man, I mean, it came down to my senior year, I had to choose. Like, were you being recruited? I uh I was by like some D2 schools, not heavily recruited for basketball as much as I was for football, you know, that's probably why I chose football, but uh I was being recruited by a couple D2 schools. Yes, sir, but I love basketball, I had to choose, and you know, it came down to football because I hate running up and down that court, but you know, you know, bodying somebody and putting it in the basketball.

SPEAKER_18 37:34

Have you seen Dwayne Brown play for the basketball team yet? I have not. He's also 6'8. Okay, okay. You should watch him. Okay, you would appreciate that. He also looks like he could probably play tight end. Oh, yeah. Okay. He's 260 inch.

SPEAKER_22 37:48

Okay, see if I was still playing basketball, I'd probably look like that. Keep an eye on him. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_18 37:53

Nice to meet you.

SPEAKER_22 37:53

It's a pleasure.

SPEAKER_18 37:54

Auri Williams brought to you by Valvaleen Instant Oil Change. Switch to the winning oil change team by joining Valvine Instant Oil Change. Visit vioc.com slash switch by April 30th for your oil change offer. More of the show coming up after this.

SPEAKER_04 38:16

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SPEAKER_20 39:47

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SPEAKER_18 40:43

Welcome back to the Mike Keith Show. This segment of the program is brought to you by Certa Pro Painters of East Tennessee, proud supporters of the ball. Here's a ball. It's a ball right here. Henry Ford, who had a big weekend, especially a big Sunday, against Ole Miss four for five with a home run, helping Tennessee get a game in that series and moving towards can you believe it's the seventh SEC series of the year? It's unbelievable.

SPEAKER_08 41:11

It's flying by it is flying.

SPEAKER_18 41:12

Starts tonight against Alabama. Henry Ford's appearance is brought to you by Valvelain Instant Oil Change. So good to see you. Yeah, I appreciate you having me on. How has life gone for you? We had a visit not long ago, probably five, six weeks. How has life gone for you baseball wise and otherwise since we last had a chance to sit down?

SPEAKER_08 41:33

Yeah, I think uh it's been good. It's been a little bit up and down, you know, battled uh walking pneumonia for two and a half weeks.

SPEAKER_18 41:40

And uh whoa, whoa, whoa, don't bury the lead here. You had walking pneumonia?

SPEAKER_08 41:44

Yeah, so I I played through that uh for two and a half weeks and um have just been trying to, you know, kind of get back from that and um you know feel like I'm finally starting to get back in my rhythm a little bit. Um and you know, I think the team and you know the voice have really started to come together and you know get a lot better each week. So it's been super exciting to you know see the growth in in the team and um you know to you know continue to see that as well. People lose weight when they have walking pneumonia, yeah. Get weak. I lost 20 pounds.

SPEAKER_18 42:16

You lost 20 pounds.

SPEAKER_08 42:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 42:18

How much of it do you have back?

SPEAKER_08 42:20

Uh I'm up about like 10. So I'm getting back there.

SPEAKER_18 42:23

Okay, so you you played through the walking pneumonia. And you lost 20 pounds, you gained 10 back. Are you starting to feel the overall strength come back? Because I mean it's not like you you just get better from that in a hurry. Yeah, the reason I speak about it is I had this when I was a very young man, and so I understand what it means. It took me six weeks until I felt like myself again. Are you almost to that point?

SPEAKER_08 42:50

Yeah, I think uh like overall, like energy-wise, I think my energy is finally back, which is good. Obviously, breathing a lot better, you know. Before, you know, I had a bunch of junk in my lungs, and um, you know, it's pretty tough to breathe. Like, especially, you know, I ran like a double out against Missouri, and you know, I was pretty gassed after that. Um, but I think the weight is really just the last thing now. Um, you know, Keegan's been awesome in helping me with that. Um, you know, just putting a bunch of calories in my body, you know, eating the right stuff and um, you know, electrolytes, you know, staying hydrated, stuff like that. So he's helped me kind of gain it back pretty quick. So I feel like I'm getting close.

SPEAKER_18 43:26

How many calories a day do you have to ingest to be able to gain weight in a period where you're playing and practicing so much that you would naturally certainly not gain weight?

SPEAKER_08 43:39

Yeah, I'm going about like 4,500 plus. Wow. A lot of them crustables, they got a lot of calories and chocolate milk. Um, and then you know, just trying to get you know good proteins, you know, steak, burgers, stuff like that, um, fish, whatever it may be. Um, so really just trying to, you know, you have three meals a day and you just gotta eat in between that, too. That's the biggest part.

SPEAKER_18 44:00

When you're playing through something like that and you're weakened, baseball's a game of confidence. You're probably not up to your own standard. Does confidence become a problem? Do things get in your head baseball-wise while you're going through this?

SPEAKER_08 44:16

I I feel like I have an extreme self-belief in myself. Um I feel like I've kind of had that my whole life. Um, and you know, even if I'm not gonna be, you know, 100%, you know, I know I'm an elite competitor and I know I can go out there and scrap and find a way to help the team. You know, it might not be perfect, it might not be four for four, four home runs, but I'm gonna go put off competitive bats, you know, and do my job. So that that was kind of where my head was at.

SPEAKER_18 44:40

As you start against Alabama tonight, do you feel like Henry Ford is ready to really be Henry Ford the rest of the way again now, like you like you were obviously before the walking pneumonia?

SPEAKER_08 44:52

Yeah, um, a hundred percent. Uh, you know, I feel like my mindset just in baseball in general is you know pretty even keeled. You know, I go out there and you know, I play to win and you know, I play the game because I love to compete. So uh, you know, it's the same thing every day. It's you know, you line up against the guy on the mound, and you know, you go to war and you, you know, you want to beat him and you you're going to beat him. So um, you know, I I think you know, I'm Henry Ford every time I go out there, you know, but I definitely do feel like physicality-wise, um, I'm starting to feel a lot better.

SPEAKER_18 45:22

Obviously, you've gone through adversity, and people go through baseball adversity too. You go through slumps, teams go through slumps and bad games. How do you try to do your part and then encourage other guys as the baseball team goes through ups and downs, which Tennessee has had this year?

SPEAKER_08 45:41

Yeah, I think uh, you know, God's a big part in that for me. And um, you know, talking to him and just continuing to trust in his plan and you know what he's got moving forward for me. And um, you know, I think like the big message for this group is especially the hitters, is you know, it's a brotherhood. And um, you know, how how can you get yourself fully prepared to have success on you know Thursday, Friday, Saturday? Um, that's the biggest thing, you know. Can you do every little thing, you know, when your body hurts? You know, you play a full series on the weekend, you got a Monday lift, you know, making sure you're getting every single rep in, you know, no matter how your body feels, um, making sure you're doing everything on the Wednesday workday, you know, when we have practice, you know, that's what leads to the Sunday wins, you know, when your body feels bad on Sunday after playing two emotional games, you know, late at night, Friday, Saturday. You know, how can you be tough and you know continue to stay mentally locked in like that? So I think um that's been our big focus is just focusing on you know the little things and and really doing it together, you know. Um I think baseball at a point can get kind of individualized and you know, guys start to you know kind of focus on them. You know, you got stats on the scoreboard and and stuff like that, but I think this team has done a great job about you know being about us and you know being a group together. Um and I think we're just continuing to grow in that fashion.

SPEAKER_18 47:01

So the hitting on Friday and Saturday against Ole Miss wasn't great, and then on Sunday, totally bust out six home runs, 13 total hits. What happened the first two days is isn't exactly normal for this team, but what happened on Sunday isn't exactly normal. Where is the middle what we saw from the offense at Mississippi State? Is that more what you're hoping to gear it to where you have the consistency of not just the long balls, but also the excellent situational hitting.

SPEAKER_08 47:32

Yes. I mean, I thought we played really complete baseball at Mississippi State, and um, I thought our you know approaches against those guys were were really good and elite. Um, you know, I think uh, you know, Friday night to be honest against Ole Miss, I thought we had competitive bad score. I thought we hit the ball hard. We just kind of hit it at guys and um you know didn't get up in any out of the park like they did. Um, you know, it's just uh that's baseball SEC ball against baseball. So um, you know, obviously it's just a game of adjustments, you know. You continue to make adjustments and um continue to learn, and um, you know, I think we just continue to grow, and that's kind of been our focus is continue to just get better every weekend.

SPEAKER_18 48:11

Would you mind explaining what a competitive at bat is, even if it doesn't end up being a hit? What is that to this Tennessee baseball team that we continue to hear that we need to see more of down the stretch?

SPEAKER_08 48:27

Yeah. Um, I think the the number one focus is, you know, what's the situation on the field, you know, runner at second and third, you know, nobody out. You're trying to put a ball, you know, to the left of the runner, shuffle on the ground to move those guys over, you know, get the run in. Then all of a sudden you got a guy on deck behind you coming up with a runner on third, you know, one out. All he's got to do is, you know, hit the ball up the middle, you know, get that guy in. Um, so hitting the situation, you know, that goes for, you know, like I said, runner on third and one out. You know, you're trying to, you know, get a ball in the air and um, you know, get him in. And, you know, I a walk obviously is a competitive bat. To be honest, you know, like an 11-pitch out is an extremely competitive bat. You know, you're facing elite arms in this league, um, especially the starters, and um, you know, you got to make them work. You know, they can't just go up there and you know throw 12 pitches in any and you know, get out of there like you, you know, you have a 12, 13 pitch a bat, um, you know, and it results in an out, that's still a you know, a big win for for the group. Um and I think just you know the approach like against our guy, you know, we have a different approach for every pitcher we face. And um, you know, I think as long as you stick and kind of like live or die by that, um, you know, I think you kind of just you live with that, you know, because um I think when you start to get out of that and start to get away from that and try and do like more compared to the approach, you know, I think that's you know not really what we're looking for. But if you go up there and you know you make a couple good pitches, but you stick by your approach, you know, you kind of live or die by that at baseball.

SPEAKER_18 49:57

What does it mean to Henry Ford and the baseball team that you haven't had to travel having been at home last week, home this weekend starting tonight against Alabama? What does it mean for this club at this point in the season?

SPEAKER_08 50:12

Yeah, I mean, I think it's awesome. Um, you know, obviously you have the best fans in the country, and um, you know, the environment every night is electric, and um it's been super fun to play in front of them. And um, you know, we're looking forward to you know getting a series one here at home this weekend, and um you know, just excited for for what's to come.

SPEAKER_18 50:31

All right, wrap up with this. How have you liked third base both time?

SPEAKER_08 50:34

Yeah, I've enjoyed it. Um, you know, I played third base in high school. Um, so I've always kind of enjoyed being on the dirt. And um, you know, Ricky Martinez and you know Kiv have been awesome. They've really uh helped me become a better third baseman and we're pretty much in a really short amount of time. I mean, they really worked with me hard over, you know, the winter and you know, sending me programs and stuff to do to get better at it. And I've loved it, you know. Um, I feel like you're a little bit more involved in the outfield. Um and it's been fun to you know share a left side with Manny. Um and uh, you know, having my buddies in there like Grim and Levi too. You know, it's been cool to, you know, kind of be up close and on the dirt.

SPEAKER_18 51:12

Henry Ford, glad to see you on the rebound and good luck tonight and this weekend against Alabama. Appreciate it. Thanks for having me. Henry Ford is brought to you by Valvellen Instant Oil Change. Switch to the winning oil change team by joining Valvaline Instant Oil Change. Visit VIOC.com slash switch. That's V, as in Victor, V-I-O-C, Valvine Instant Oil Change, get it, V-I-O-C, dot com slash switch by April 30th for your oil change offer. More than Mike Keith show, delivered by Uber Eats. Catch up on today's show anytime.

SPEAKER_01 51:50

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SPEAKER_17 51:54

Mike Keith, we are the Vall Network. The weekend's coming. Time to get ready for AR Action, the voice of the Fall. Mike Keith is here with your weekend scouting report, delivered by Uber Eat.

SPEAKER_18 52:13

This portion of the Mike Keith show is sponsored by KUB Fiber, the world's fastest internet and Vall Nations' favorite way to connect. This is Lady Ball head basketball coach Kim Caldwell back on the program. It's so good to see you. Good to see you. Before we get into what you've been doing, I want to ask you about your pro players. And second round pick, Janaya Barker to Las Vegas, third round pick, Zee Spearman to Dallas at number 31. First time in eight years, the Lady Balls have had two players drafted. You hate to have them leave, but it but at the same time, point of pride for the program and their development while here.

SPEAKER_26 52:52

Absolutely. Yeah, it was always a goal for them, and they worked really hard to do that, and we're incredibly proud of them and going to continue to root for them every single step of the way. And I think it says a lot about the way that we play that we got two of our bigs drafted um in one year. And again, they put the work in, and I'm excited to see what they do next.

SPEAKER_18 53:10

Let's talk about your program going forward. And here's the one thing I've wondered as I've watched all of these editions and the coaching changes and the different things that you've done. Because it went so fast, and because it does go so fast, did you have a moment to sit at a desk and write down how you wanted to sort of reform this thing at your at your laptop? Was there a moment where you where you could put together a master plan?

SPEAKER_26 53:37

It's always something that you're thinking of, but no. Everything happens so quick, and that's just what the transfer portal is is things happen fast, you make quick decisions and you hit the ground running, and we've been pretty much running since the season has ended. Wow.

SPEAKER_18 53:50

Leaving out character, because that's a given. You want character in your program. As basketball players, what are the things that you've been looking for most definitively in the portal so far?

SPEAKER_26 54:00

Yeah, having two years under your belt at this level, we are looking for, we didn't have very many floor spacers. So we really Now what does that mean?

SPEAKER_18 54:08

Shooters. Shooters, okay.

SPEAKER_26 54:09

Shooters, high percentage three-point shooters that that are really hard to help off of. And so we really wanted to make sure that from the jump of the portal, we were getting those floor spacers out there. Your bigs and your point guards are harder to come by. And so we have been really trying to get key pieces there that fit that we what we the way we want to play. You've got to be willing to play fast, you've got to be willing to play hard, you gotta be willing to come in and work and want to win for Tennessee. And those are conversations we've had openly and pretty upfront with every player we've brought in.

SPEAKER_18 54:36

How about the personalities of the young ladies in terms of sort of molding together, knowing you're gonna have to do it with 90% of your team new?

SPEAKER_26 54:45

With the portal, you it's like speed dating, is what you call it. You don't have a lot of time. You do your background checks, you talk to them while they're on their visit, a little bit coming up to it. But I think the one thing that every player that we've signed so far has in common is they have a chip on their shoulder. They maybe had a different route to get here, which very much mirrors me, a different route, uh something to prove. And I think they're all hungry to win.

SPEAKER_18 55:05

Avery Mills was the first one to commit, and she comes from Liberty. She feels like the type of player that you're just talking about. So if you discuss her and also kind of get into the fact that the first one to jump in the boat is generally very important to the collection that you're gonna be able to get.

SPEAKER_26 55:24

I agree. And I'll back up a little bit further. I think one person that maybe gets overlooked in all of this is Gabby, our freshman who stay. And she was unwavering, and then we get Avery, and Avery very much set the tone of how the season should look and the type of player we want. And she's she's hungry. She definitely has a dog mentality and is not afraid of anything, and she knew that this is what she wanted. She believed in herself enough, she believed in us enough to cancel the rest of her visits and just jump right in.

SPEAKER_18 55:50

Was there a different way that you approached the portal this year than last year from your own philosophy?

SPEAKER_26 55:55

Yeah, I think there's a lot of different things that you learned throughout. Um, I think one thing is we were almost trying to scare people away with telling them how hard we were gonna work. And this is how hard this is gonna be, you have to really want to do this. I think it gets really easy to start to try to out-recruit people and sell. Sell, we can do this for you. Tennessee can do this for you. It's an amazing brand. We kind of went the exact opposite this way and say, no, you are here to help Tennessee. This is how hard it's gonna be. You have to believe in yourself enough to want to do it.

SPEAKER_18 56:20

All right, I want to ask you about this freshman that you ended up with, Irene Obawoodu. Mm-hmm from England. Yeah. So, how did how did you land her? How did you become aware? Were you already aware of her?

SPEAKER_26 56:32

No, we were not aware. She was sent to us. We got to watch her film. She came to campus, she was um already over here doing some visits, and so we got her on campus. Great family, great kid, very confident in herself. I think she's gonna be able to help us.

SPEAKER_18 56:47

And how much basketball experience can you have in Great Britain in terms of the quality of the competition?

SPEAKER_26 56:54

Yeah, pretty, pretty good. She's on their their national team. She's uh a I would say a star over there. Everyone knows her, so we're excited to get her.

SPEAKER_18 57:01

As this mix is coming together and you're continuing to wind it forward without getting specific, what do you think you're still looking for?

SPEAKER_26 57:08

I think we still need some size if we can get it. And we are looking for one more speedy girl with a ball in our hands.

SPEAKER_18 57:16

Two new assistants, and I want to make sure Bill Ferrara. I get that right. Okay, let me try this one. Is Sokan Uzamire? E Sokum Izamare. Izamare.

SPEAKER_26 57:27

Yeah, we call her coaches.

SPEAKER_18 57:28

Tell me about why you decided to add these two particular people and what they're doing for the program and why you feel good about what they're adding.

SPEAKER_26 57:38

Yeah, I think our offense was not the way we wanted it to look last year. It's not the way it's looked any year in my career. And Coach Bill is a firm believer in playing fast. I think that he and I have battled throughout our careers of who can lead the nation in scoring. And so, no better way than to just pair up and get on the same page and work together. And so he sees basketball through the same lens that I do of playing in transition, playing fast, shooting a lot of threes in that regard. And then Coach East is a phenomenal human being. Uh, such a light to be around, a great recruiter, can relate to all of our players, somebody that can sit here and talk your head off, which is very the opposite of me. So it's been great at these visits. She'll just put on a show and talk, and we can just listen. But she can relate to players really well, and she's done a really good job just hitting the ground running for us.

SPEAKER_18 58:24

You said something else about your offense was, I can't remember how you put it, broken or didn't work right, or whatever you said. From a basketball fundamentals standpoint, what was not right about it in your mind?

SPEAKER_26 58:36

Yeah, I think that that is one thing that we could easily reflect on is we wanted to play fast, we want to play in transition, we were recruited to play fast, we were recruited to play in transition, but then our half-court sets didn't necessarily match the pace of our offense. And so just making sure that our entire system is married together and that when we are running sets, they're still quick hitters and they they're still working and creating space. And and you have shooters that were if once you have a gap, you can get to the rim, all of those things. But again, the main thing we want to score in the first 12 seconds, we need to get back to that.

SPEAKER_18 59:07

You're excited.

SPEAKER_26 59:08

Yeah, I am.

SPEAKER_18 59:09

Yeah, I could I could sense it. Okay, so before I let you go, I've got to do a feature here. So are you ready to take part? Yes. It's time for the Firehouse Subs hot take. You're gonna have to offer a hot take.

SPEAKER_16 59:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_18 59:21

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SPEAKER_26 59:42

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_18 59:43

SEC champions for the first time ever. They've been playing since 1992, and they win that championship three to two over Auburn. Win four, they win four total times to get to get and win the championship. What an accomplishment. That's amazing. Diana Cantu and that whole team.

SPEAKER_26 1:00:02

I heard they had a clutch shot, right?

SPEAKER_18 1:00:04

Yeah, they had a clutch shot at the end. It was it was so big time. I'm gonna let you say what that means to all the people in this athletic department and especially to the ladyballs as well.

SPEAKER_26 1:00:16

Yeah, I think for ladyballs, it's amazing. We've been hunting a championship all year. They got one. They got one for us. I think it's awesome. Um, continuing to support them. They had a few ladies at our practice. I got to meet them this year, and I can't golf for anything. I think that it's the easiest-looking sport that is incredibly hard. So, my hat off to them. We're excited, we're gonna celebrate them. That is a hot take.

SPEAKER_18 1:00:36

Thank you. Well, we we wanted to get your thoughts on it because I mean, it is just awesome. Congratulations to Coach Gantu and uh the Ladyball Golfers, Southeastern Conference Champions for 2026. We can't wait to see what's gonna happen with them in the NCAA. Thank you so much for your time. It's great to see you. Thank you. Looking forward to being out with her on the Big Rage caravan next week. And we'll be back with more of the show right after this.

SPEAKER_17 1:01:00

Mike Keith on the Ball Network.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:03

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SPEAKER_18 1:02:00

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SPEAKER_20 1:02:31

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SPEAKER_18 1:03:00

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SPEAKER_23 1:04:02

They just need to play free. They just need to play the golf. Trust the amount of work they put in and believe in themselves, like I believe in them, and just go out there and be who they are. They are enough. They are great kids. They are amazing golfers. And if we do that for each other, it's going to be a great week.

SPEAKER_09 1:04:19

The Big Orange with its biggest win in women's goal. Tennessee's taking the SEC trophy to Rocky Top.

SPEAKER_18 1:04:41

That is your Uber Eats delivery of the game 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 Go Big Orange for $15 off all orders. Go Big Orange. $15 off all orders. Uber Eats, official on-demand delivery partner of the Vols. Let's eat. It's time for the show within a show. Everyone looks forward to it. It's being taped early because there's a baseball game tonight against Alabama. But it's Kibb's Quarter presented by Calhoun's a taste of Tennessee. This is Ross Kivit, University of Tennessee Assistant Baseball Coach, recruiting coordinator. He brings the guest. He brings the topics. Thanks for giving us a Kibbs corner and a special guest.

SPEAKER_11 1:05:42

Very special guest coming off a big time Sunday game where he left the yard three times. Not one. Not two. Three. And you get points every time you do that. That's when he drove in five or six. You could tell us on when I ask you. He's from Spring Lake, Michigan. Blake Grimer. Everybody. Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 1:06:01

Three bombs. Can I ask the first question? Have you ever hit three bombs in a game before?

SPEAKER_15 1:06:05

No. I hadn't even hit two until my last one, like two weeks ago. No kidding. Yeah. That was my those are my first multi-hammer uh games. Are you serious? Yeah. I mean, I only played two two years of high school, my junior and senior year. And then I mean, maybe I probably had some like when I was younger, but like nothing like when it's a high school level or good segue with his two years of high school, because it was my first question.

SPEAKER_11 1:06:30

He battled a back injury um in high school, right? And then his first year here, he had the red shirt. Then he's getting some time last year, now every day. What's been the best part of getting to play every day and feeling good?

SPEAKER_15 1:06:44

I think just like having like the consistency of that that's um, you know, like when you're getting in there in spots, it's kind of you can put a little bit too much pressure on yourself. Um, but knowing like the the coaches trust me and like my teammates trust me, like I'm just gonna go out there and try my hardest, obviously, to to perform. And when you have a bunch of reps under your belt um from this year getting them, uh you have some confidence going in.

SPEAKER_11 1:07:10

One of the three homers kissed the pole. I've never hit a foul pole, even in practice, like hitting a fungo. Uh uh, I haven't either. Did the umpire allow you to stand there? Because he's like, well, it's either gone or foul. How was that feeling?

SPEAKER_18 1:07:25

The catcher reached for a ball. No way, yeah. They didn't know that. The catcher's reaching for a ball, thinking that it's a foul ball.

SPEAKER_11 1:07:33

Well, at first base, you try to blow it that way. I think it was what I was doing. I didn't see the catcher do that.

SPEAKER_15 1:07:38

I think that worked because I it started turning, and I was like, and then it started coming back a little bit, like it started not turning as much, and I was like, this thing might have hit the foul pole. And it literally hit it, I think, by an inch.

SPEAKER_11 1:07:51

Literally, it was unbelievable. That's great.

SPEAKER_15 1:07:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_11 1:07:54

On a really good arm. Ole Miss brought out some some good arms and you you handled for the most part that Sunday, your whole group gets together. What's it take to kind of get that consistency from Mississippi State Sunday, Georgia Sunday? I mean, we can go Vanderbilt Sunday. What is it about maybe Sunday where the group is a little bit less tense or kind of more free swaying?

SPEAKER_15 1:08:20

Yeah, you know, it's kind of motivating like the upcoming week as well. Cause like the way you play on Sunday, it can kind of transition into a better week for sure. Um, and obviously dropping the first two games, we want to get one. Uh, because you know, every game you're trying to win every game in the SC, basically. Like you're trying to win a series, but sure, at the end of the day, a a win on Sunday is is a good win. Um, and then going into the next week, where we got some fuel to maybe it's a little shorter of a week, but we got more games coming up at home and we're we're all excited.

SPEAKER_11 1:08:53

How do you handle a short week? I know how I do it. You have to cram a lot of scouting into the Monday and even Tuesday where you played with lip scum, but you're still cramming for the test here on Thursday. How do you, as a guy that's gonna play every day, handle it?

SPEAKER_15 1:09:08

Yeah, you know, you gotta prioritize your recovery, taking the extra time uh off and not really putting too much stress on my body because it's gonna be warm uh the whole rest of the season. Um, and just prioritizing the recovery is important.

SPEAKER_18 1:09:21

How much do you still have to be conscious of the back having had the issues that you had earlier in life?

SPEAKER_15 1:09:28

When I was recovering from it in the past, it was a lot of stretching. Like I would stretch in the morning right before I would go to bed, and then obviously when I'm doing baseball, I'm I'm stretching a lot too. So I feel like I don't really gotta worry about it, but I prioritize like my mobility in the weight room or like my stretching. Like I can't just go into a game and just not do anything because then maybe I would be like a little bit more tense because maybe I didn't stretch today and right could something could happen. So I really try to prioritize the stretching, the recovery, uh, and the relaxing when I get to relax.

SPEAKER_18 1:10:03

One more on that. Go ahead. So when you have that injury so early, how do you finally get that out of your head? How is it how is it not always with you? Oh gosh, this could happen again. Facts are serious.

SPEAKER_15 1:10:17

I know it it was it was kind of nerve-wracking at the beginning for sure. But like trusting Woody and like knowing that there wasn't really anything big time messed up with my back was kind of a relief. Um, just being able to go out there and play free. Because like honestly, if if something happened and it reaggravates, but I'm doing everything that I can recovery-wise, like stretching, um, all the vitamins I've been taking in the nutrition, um, knowing that I did everything that I I could, and if something bad happens, then it's honestly I feel like and I think the resources that Woody has with the hot and cold tub, the stem, the recovery, and he's been doing it for a hundred years.

SPEAKER_11 1:10:56

There's no one better to handle it than him. He's amazing. Also, this is no offense to any right-handed hitters. We I don't know if we've had any on the show, but left-handed hitters for some reason seem to torque more. Does that do you notice that watching it? Like, think about it Griffey or Ross Kevin, who's got a prettier sway. It's probably gonna land on Griffith.

SPEAKER_18 1:11:16

Well, Matically had all the back problems too. Yeah, I mean, that's a back injury ended his career.

SPEAKER_11 1:11:22

When you watch Blake swing, there's a ton of torque, it's a lot of buildup, his loads are really simple, but he gets into that back hip, and then here it comes.

SPEAKER_18 1:11:30

All right, so let me ask you both this question: you know, hitting and you're left-handed. So why is a left-hander swing beautiful and a right-hand, you rarely see a right-hand hitter swing that you call that you call here. But you think about, you know, back years ago, the Roger Merritt swing and some of the swings of the hitters today that are left-handed. It's just Griffey that you mentioned, just gorgeous. Bond swing was gorgeous. What why do you think that's different?

SPEAKER_11 1:11:59

You're gonna think this is crazy. There's a lot more right-handed pitchers, so it just looks it's more it looks, it's since it's over. It's a better picture, it's a better picture. I've always thought that was easier to call. I don't know. That's my answer. What do you have? You hit left-handed.

SPEAKER_15 1:12:13

Something crazy. Like, I honestly just thought of it. Is a lefty's on like the right side of the batter's box when you when you look at it, and maybe like when they're swinging and getting out of their swing, like they're running. I don't know.

SPEAKER_18 1:12:27

They're falling or they're opening towards first.

SPEAKER_11 1:12:30

And if yeah, that's a great point. And if you fall towards first base as a right-handed hitter, they're that swing's that's a bad one. That's a that's we call it a jailbreak swing when you're just trying to get out of there. That's good. That's why we're running all the left. He's taught me something. You could teach the class something too. You're playing multiple positions. You played third, you've played second, left field, first base, and obviously when you were getting back from the inflame U DH. How is it managing all those positions? And which one do you like the most?

SPEAKER_15 1:13:02

Yeah, you know, managing it is honestly, it's just straight up reps. Um, getting the reps in practice. Um, I've kind of prioritized getting more at second in practice because I'm not as familiar as a first base or a third base. But honestly, uh as time has gone by, I've really liked second base. Um playing it good. You play well, excuse me, I'm a journalist. You get to touch the ball a lot, um, as a little bit more than first base, which I've played probably an equal amount of time. But I I would probably say second base is probably my favorite, yeah.

SPEAKER_11 1:13:38

He's a tall second base. It's kind of a not to give LSU any credit, it's kind of a DJ LeMayhew. Okay, because he can play multiple spots, he just hits left-handed. DJ's 6'5 from Michigan. I love DJ LeMayhue. You know, north of 6'2, and I wish he was still if he hadn't gotten hurt, he got hurt too. Yeah, what about tonight's matchup going into this weekend? Obviously, every single SEC weekend's a war. The intensity of a rivalry, and then obviously anticipating what two teams that are trying to get into this postseason mix, well, what should we expect from the group?

SPEAKER_15 1:14:14

You know, I feel like we could get some like real intensity of this weekend. I feel like coming out of the gates is really important for us. I have faith in everybody on our team that we we can get the job done um with our pitching staff, and then knowing what our lineup can do, obviously, on any given day, um, gives us a lot of momentum going into this.

SPEAKER_11 1:14:32

I'm glad you brought the lineup up because it seems to kind of be more of a roller coaster this year with some younger players, some transfers that maybe don't have experience in this league. And you've already talked about how you manage the ups and downs of it. But when the lineup starts to really go, what do you feel like the approach is that makes you guys the best?

SPEAKER_15 1:14:53

I feel like just getting on base, working for the guy behind you to trust him and that he's gonna get the job done.

SPEAKER_11 1:14:59

Go ahead. No, go ahead. You all just like I was gonna talk to you about you would like to call some homers. Would love to call it. Those are those are those are the most fun part. Calling home runs are great, especially no doubters.

SPEAKER_18 1:15:10

Oh, when you get to do the high five at first. Well, so I had Helton in 1995 against Arkansas when he hit three. Nice. I was at Tennessee Vanderbilt in 1981 when Rusty Enser hit three. Yeah, I was born 10 years later. Oh, great. Uh, but I was there, I was there that day, and I loved it. Rusty, uh, one of the all-time great ball baseball players, and I love to tell him the story. And then John Wilkerson has done the rest of them. Yeah, so of the balls who have hit.

SPEAKER_11 1:15:40

Richard Moore's hit one. Right. Had hit three. That was a pretty right-handed thing. Dean Curley did too. Dean Curley, Kansas State. John got to call that.

SPEAKER_18 1:15:48

John's called either John's called them or I've called them. Or I've seen them. Yeah. We've been we've been around for every time it's happened.

SPEAKER_11 1:15:56

This is a different segue. Onto that. Okay. You're you're heavily recruited, okay? You choose Tennessee. The first part of my journalistic question is why? And then the second is you don't play the first year, but you stick it out. Today's kind of era of baseball or even sports in general, it's hard for guys to stay when they don't get the time the first year. What was the reason, maybe for that, or what was what you saw on the future that you're like, this is the only place for me?

SPEAKER_15 1:16:26

Yeah. Uh so the first part, I mean, I committed when I was a freshman in high school. Old rules, yeah, yeah. Now you can't do that anymore. That was a long time ago. Uh uh. So honestly, coming in, I mean, Tennessee wasn't what it was today when I committed. Um, and I really just trusted the coaches. Uh, the amount of faith that they had in me um at a super young age, and like for them to be able to stick it out for the next four years with new recruits coming in, transfer portal happening. Um, I just felt like it was a family here. Um, and with the coaching staff. And then when I got here on campus, um, everybody made it seem like home. Um, and then being able to stick around, I think the big reason was the development um that's gone gone on here. Um, the hitting side, the defensive side. Um, you've seen guys come in here, uh, three-year guys that come out, and they're uh big prospects um in in the next level. Like Blake Burke, three-year guy, Christian Moore, three-year guy, Don Dryling, two-year guy, Cavaras Tears, three-year guy who didn't play. Um, like he played a little bit his first two years. Um, so same thing with me. I I didn't play at all my freshman year. Um, saw a lot of people in the past have had success sitting out and trusting the coaches um and just going every day, just trying to grind and develop.

SPEAKER_18 1:17:56

But obviously, you were enjoying, even though you weren't playing, you were enjoying your life experience, your your friends, classes, going to school, Calhoun's Calhoun. But you have to, in order to have that's the second part of it. You trust the baseball people, but if you were miserable with everything else, that wouldn't matter, right?

SPEAKER_15 1:18:16

Exactly. And you obviously weren't. Yeah, I was not. No, I've enjoyed every second that I've been here um for my freshman year, not getting on the field, but being on the field for the national championship, seeing that crazy experience, watching those guys perform, um, building relationships with those guys. And then last year, new people coming in was a great experience. Got to touch the field a little bit, show what I could do, um, and just kind of wait my turn until this year, till um I could able to get on the field.

SPEAKER_11 1:18:46

And when he says choosing to come back, I don't know how many people know this, but you are an analytical darling. Like the models love the swing, the production, the the ability to leave to leave the yard. I mean, your launch is probably in the 99th percentile, according to scouts. You had to turn some money down, you know, for major league clubs to stick around. What is it about this team, especially with 12 games left in the SEC, which it's a grown man's league? There's no such thing as is too late to get started. Yeah, and you are one of those horses. What is the confidence level going into this weekend and then obviously the the rest of the year?

SPEAKER_15 1:19:24

You know, it's big. Um I know what we can do um and what we're able to do. And we've we've seen some programs in the past that haven't really had a great start, like the 23 team started five and ten, uh, ended up making it to Omaha. Um, so obviously things can happen. Historian. And uh I'm just excited for this next weekend with the group. Um, trying to get a series win at home.

SPEAKER_18 1:19:49

Nice. Need a series win at home to reward these people. Agreed. Because they've done a great job, and and also to kind of get that thing going down the stretch to where you're sort of bulletproof at home where you say nobody's coming in here and winning anymore.

SPEAKER_11 1:20:04

Lindsay Nelson has always been an intimidating factor for our group. I I think that it's a two-part, right? You you have to have the ability as a R side to produce energy into the stands and get it going where other teams are going. This is deafening. Which we've had points this year doing it. I think the other part of it too is when the stands are full, like tonight, it it gives guys energy as soon as they run out there for I.O. So my suggestion is after you're done watching this, get to the yard early if you have tickets, because it does matter. Seeing the seats filled in pregame gets these guys more excited. It might rev up, you know, a Coons or an Apenzella or a Mac. And uh the ability to start hot, like you said, get out the gates. That's important in this league. So the fans have done a great job. I think everything can get one step on the on the stretch run.

SPEAKER_18 1:20:59

I'm nervous. Nervous about tonight.

SPEAKER_11 1:21:02

Well, yes, I know why you're nervous. Yes. You get to watch it live.

SPEAKER_18 1:21:05

I get to be with John Wilkerson on the Vall Radio Network, Tennessee baseball. Two goats on the call. I know. What would you like for me to say about you when you come up? What would you like? Is there a story you'd like for me to tell that people don't know?

SPEAKER_11 1:21:17

He gets more tan in July.

SPEAKER_18 1:21:19

He does?

SPEAKER_11 1:21:19

You get more tan?

SPEAKER_15 1:21:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_18 1:21:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_15 1:21:21

He's working on it when I'm up north in the winter and you don't see the song for about two months.

SPEAKER_11 1:21:26

It takes him about three months to get going here.

SPEAKER_18 1:21:28

Well, I'm I'm married to a northerner, so I know she she came down here. She's she's never going back. Shout out, shout out Michelle Keith. Yeah, Michelle Keith. Shout out, Indiana.

SPEAKER_11 1:21:38

Hey, we I'm not allowed to talk about it, but we got to recruit from that area. Yeah. Crown Point, Indiana. That's where they're grow they're growing them up north. Yeah. It's great. I got a follow-up. Do we have time? Sure. Hey, do you enjoy how national our recruiting is? Like you get to play with guys that you might have played summer ball with up north or a guy you played against from California. Is that is that neat when you're making your selection of roommates or clubhouse?

SPEAKER_15 1:22:02

Yeah, 100%. Uh, you know, I mean Dean Curly, uh California. I've never really like experienced anybody from like the west side of the country, um, besides like playing against people.

SPEAKER_11 1:22:15

And was he big time Cali?

SPEAKER_15 1:22:17

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_11 1:22:18

Shout out Dean, he had a big week last week. We gotta keep it going.

SPEAKER_15 1:22:22

Yeah, but yeah, I he was my freshman roommate, and then Holden was Holden Bronner, he was also my freshman roommate, he was from Florida, and then Stone um from Alabama as well. So everybody was kind of all scattered across the country. So, I mean, building a relationship with those guys and just seeing how they kind of run and how they act a little bit differently from a northern guy.

SPEAKER_11 1:22:46

Is because of Stone now, Blake has two cats at his house. Yep, two cats, Doug and Craig. Doug and Craig. When you do the two truths and a lie deal on uh on the screen tonight, that's usually one of them. Is Stone Lawless has two two cats named Doug and Craig that Blake has to watch.

SPEAKER_15 1:23:04

Do you really? I really wasn't like you were not a caveman. I wasn't and then like breaking.

SPEAKER_11 1:23:10

He's more of a dog guy, but yeah, people can change.

SPEAKER_15 1:23:13

People can change. I mean, that yeah, they're they're pretty adorable. I'm not gonna lie.

SPEAKER_18 1:23:18

I'm one of the few dog people that really likes cats too, because I grew up with cats.

SPEAKER_11 1:23:22

Yeah, I did not not have one dog, yeah, Ruby Kivitt. Yeah, we're dog people, yeah. Uh me too.

SPEAKER_18 1:23:29

So what else we are? Calhoun's people. Love Calhoun. Love Calhoun. Thank you for coming.

SPEAKER_11 1:23:34

Of course. Lake Grimer, he's a dog. He is three homers tonight would be great. Thank you. That would be that would be super if you did that every game. That would be fun.

SPEAKER_18 1:23:42

Kim's Corner, presented by Calhoun.

SPEAKER_03 1:23:46

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SPEAKER_20 1:24:18

Hey Vall Nation, it's Coach Barnes. Here to remind you our pilot is the official travel partner of Tennessee Athletics. Every season is a journey. Note on what's in the rear view while keeping your eyes on the road ahead. The folks at Pilot know all about that. They're out here to help you make the most of every mile. Just like things were always better in that Tennessee Orange, every journey's better with a stop at pilot. See you out here.

SPEAKER_02 1:24:50

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SPEAKER_17 1:26:10

Mike Keith delivered by Uber Eat.

SPEAKER_18 1:26:14

This segment of the Mike Keith Show is sponsored by Clayton Holmes, Oakwood Homes, and Love Homes of Tennessee, helping families across the state find their dream home. So glad to have you with us back on the Mike Keith Show. This is Big Play K. That's what he was known as at Cedar Grove High School in Ellenwood GA. He is Kayan Lee, cornerback, University of Tennessee. They called you that in high school, didn't they? Big Play K. Big Play K. I love it. Yes, sir. Your high school has some University of Tennessee history, right? Yes, sir. Reggie Johnson, who played last century, one of the great basketball players in Tennessee history, played at Cedar Grove in Ellen Wood. Yes, sir. Tennessee's got a basketball player coming from Albanwood. Manny Green. Manny Green. Okay, now let's let's get the thumbnail on Manny, 6'6. I know you were three years older, but he was a star even as a freshman, right?

SPEAKER_14 1:27:12

Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_18 1:27:12

Give me a quick profile. Give these Vall fans an update on one of the next great basketball players here.

SPEAKER_14 1:27:18

Manny Green is a playmaker. Like big play Manny. Like that's that's that's him. Like been a star since since I met the kid. I played with his brother on the football team. Uh hard worker. He loved loves everything about Tennessee. He's here all the time. Every time I go home and see him, y'all got on some Tennessee gear, nothing but Tennessee gear. So he's a he's a player that everybody should be excited to watch when he touched down here in, I believe, the next two months. Y'all get y'all pot car ready. He he'll put on a show for y'all on that basketball court.

SPEAKER_18 1:27:48

Okay, that's it. Goodbye, everybody. No, we're not gonna do that because Cad Lee, his appearance on the Mike Keith show, sponsored by Valvine Instant Oil Change. And we've got a lot to talk about. With him. You have a real interesting story as I understand it about the University of Tennessee going back to your freshman year of high school. What was that?

SPEAKER_14 1:28:10

It's crazy. Like it's everything came full circle. So Tennessee was like the first school that ever offered me. So no kidding. And like, and now I'm here. Derry Angley offered me the whole defensive back coach here. Now he's in the NFL. So I try to look at that when uh through my days here. Like it's like again, it's a full circle thing. So it's it's really a blessing. It's really like guys playing, I feel like.

SPEAKER_18 1:28:35

You initially in high school committed to Ohio State. Jim Knowles, the defensive coordinator. Yes, sir. So he was quite aware of you at that point. Of course, you eventually chose instead to go to Auburn. We'll talk about that in a second. But the relationship with Jim Knowles through the recruiting process, through the recruiting process to come to Tennessee in the transfer portal and kind of that connection. Tell us about that, if you would.

SPEAKER_14 1:29:01

Coach Knowles is a great, great guy. So I knew him since high school, so we already had that bond uh that we had built. Like he remembered, like first thing he brought up when I first got on campus at Tennessee. He still got all those Rottweilers at home.

unknown 1:29:13

Oh.

SPEAKER_14 1:29:14

Like he he remembered from when I was at Ohio State. Uh, we showed him a picture of all of our Rottweilers back at my house in Atlanta. We had like five huge Rottweilers. Coach knows like on the field and off the field, like a great guy. We built that bond since high school. So it's it's something like that's gonna be very exciting coming forth this year. Like, and I know this is a guy like I can trust in his in his scheme, his his coaching style. I can I can play free. We get confident under him. In the transfer portal, why Tennessee? This feels like a family, like a winning program and a complete fresh start for me. So coming from Auburn, uh, it was a lot of ups and downs. Uh, I'm still thankful for everything that they have done for me. Uh, but like now I'm on to my last year. So I just want to be able to give it my all like for that tea on my chest, and like for my brothers and my teammates and my family, and like everybody that that that that helped me get to this point now, like just pouring it all out for that tea and just like being the best me I could be for for Tennessee and just being a a Tennessee, a Tennessee man.

SPEAKER_18 1:30:16

I think the thing that stands out to me about Auburn, especially your last two years, you were big play K for the Tigers. As a redshirt freshman, you became a starter late in the year. You end up starting 27 total games there over your three years. And then you come to another SEC program in Tennessee, have to learn a system, get adjusted. What was that like?

SPEAKER_14 1:30:38

It's been pretty smooth. It's it's a lot of similarities from Auburn. Uh it's a lot of differences, also, though. But like I've seen so much that I've been in school for so long. So like I'm usually like I'm I'm I'm able to adjust to things very well. I done played for two DCs at Auburn, so I already had to learn it uh two different playbooks there. So learn another one. It's not really too too hard because it's a lot of same as for me, but I just try to put things like that I already knew into the things that I have to learn. So like making things being able to work smoother for me through like I would say, like, for example, the playbook. Like, it's a lot of cause, like we might have different words here at Tennessee, but at Auburn, it's a different word there. Sure. But same as. So I'm just remembering it from Auburn and just putting it together in the Tennessee format, basically.

SPEAKER_18 1:31:30

Do you think it's fair to say that you improved dramatically from the start of spring practice through the orange and white game?

SPEAKER_14 1:31:38

Yes, most definitely. Like I'm I'm learning still to this day. Like I'm a student of the game. So everything, Coach DJ, Coach Knowles, and all my other coaches, Coach Bryant, Thomas, Coach Torber, Brent, they they teach me things like about the game. That's gonna help me in the long run, like thinking, thinking throughout the game, like thinking the game before it's physically out there. Like if I'm able to think the game, process the game correctly through my head, that's that slows down the game for me. And through my years and playing it throughout the SEC, the game has definitely slowed down. But these guys, like, they're helping me slow it down even more and like at a pro level. What's it like playing for Derek Jones, the cornerback coach? Coach Cheetah. Yes, sir. We call it coach Cheetah. What's that about? Cheetah is it's it's something like within our defensive back room. So like you you're very intentional and like you you just you're very focused. Like cheaters, cheaters, they always on the hip, and so are we as DBs. Like, we we we train to to stay on that hip. Like we we we all the way locked in, we we always fast, cheaters move fast. It's just like the life of a cheater is the life of a defensive back. It's a lot of similarities within that.

SPEAKER_18 1:32:46

Coach Jones really has a plan for the commanders, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_14 1:32:49

Yes, sir. We we we keep it simple and fundamental uh within our room. Like it's not too much, not too little, but it's everything that we need with within that room that he's teaching us. Like, especially off the field, becoming a man, learning how to talk to people, learning how to greet people. He does a lot of those things for us. So like that's very helpful, like outside of football and within football. So like when I'm when I'm ready to take that next step or go into that next stage, like I'm already prepared. He's preparing us for those talks. Like, we'll get up in front of the whole meeting room and one by one and we'll talk to each other, telling each other our our weaknesses, our strengths, things that we can get better on, things that we see from each other that that can help us as a unit, like just bonding, building that chemistry. Cause like if we do that every day, like it's go it's gonna have we're gonna have no other choice but to go hard for our brother on the practice field and on the game field, because we done built that that trust within each other. We don't learn so much about each other. So it's like you're doing it for more than yourself, you're doing it for the man next to you.

SPEAKER_18 1:33:45

So it sounds like, tell me if I'm wrong, that at this point in your career, an experienced defensive back, getting this defense, this this school, and this Coach High Tools program, Tennessee, this cornerback's coach, this group of guys, was an important next step in Kay and Lee's development.

SPEAKER_14 1:34:05

Most definitely, yes, sir. Most definitely. I can I could I could truly believe in that. Like, cause development is everything. Like being able to uh get to the point where I'm at where I'm at now, it took a lot of a lot of trials, tribulation, blood, sweat, and tears for real, for real. Like just to get here. So that development piece is everything, being able to be ready and prepared for that, for that, the NFL.

SPEAKER_18 1:34:27

A lot of Tennessee fans saw what you did on Orange and White Saturday. You were one of the standouts of the day. Maybe your best day of all spring practice, Mayor? Yes, sir. They saw it and they go, oh man, can Kay and Lee be the next Colton Hood? Yes, sir. And you obviously know Colton Hood from experience when he started at Auburn. Do you mind that comparison that they could have that kind of expectation that you could be that guy who shines in that way?

SPEAKER_14 1:34:54

I'll say, like, me and Colton, we we like we have a lot of similarity in our games, but I feel like we still play different. But like we always used to talk at Auburn, like we we knew all this, like we would be in the positions that we're at now. But like it's it's like a difference in our games. I'm I'm a little bit smaller, so like we play a little different, but like we got a lot of similarities in our game. With like, I say, like our our our our ball skills, like I know it like Colin got real good ball skills, and that's something like I work on a lot too. I know I got very great ball skills, so like those types of things, and like I feel like our game is a little a little similar, but that's that's my real bro. Like, we have a conversation on and off the field since since we've been knowing each other at Auburn. So that's that's I'm glad that he in the position that he's in now. Hope he goes to the next level and do his thing. Like, I know he's gonna do his thing. He's been doing his thing since I met him. He he may get paid quick. Yes, sir.

SPEAKER_18 1:35:46

He may get paid tonight, as a matter of fact. We'll have to see how that goes. Thank you so much for joining. Yes, sir. I'd like Big Play K. I I love that. K and Lee, Tennessee defensive back, presented by Valen Instant Oil Change. Switch to the winning oil change team by joining Valvoline Instant Oil Change. Visit VIOC.com slash switch. That's VIOC.com slash switch by April 30th for your weekend scouting report with Mike Keith.

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SPEAKER_18 1:39:17

This segment of the program is brought to you by UT Medical, official health care provider of the Balls and the Lady Balls. And joining us now, Mr. 865 himself, Dr. Andy Brock, Sarah Detweiler, host of the Everything Orange podcast. Hi, Sarah.

SPEAKER_24 1:39:36

Hey Mike.

SPEAKER_18 1:39:36

Who's on the Everything Orange podcast this week?

SPEAKER_24 1:39:39

We have Ella Dodge on the podcast. Ella Dodge? Yes, you know Ella.

SPEAKER_18 1:39:43

She was a good guest.

SPEAKER_24 1:39:44

Oh, yes. She's fantastic. Very outgoing, great personality. I'm very excited for it.

SPEAKER_18 1:39:50

I I want you to tell me about the thing that you guys did Monday night with the athletes.

SPEAKER_24 1:39:56

Rocky Top Royale. It's a student athlete award show that we have every year in the spring for our student athletes that looks back on the previous spring sports through the current winter season. The SAC Council puts together all the nominations and the student athletes. It's the student athlete advisory council.

SPEAKER_19 1:40:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_24 1:40:18

And uh they put together all the nominations, and then all of the student athletes vote, and it's an award show where they have all the winners. I get uh presented their awards. Brittany Tarwater was the host. It's a it's just a fun night to be able to celebrate all of their accomplishments on and off the field. I mean, we talked about Jordan Thomas Torchbearer, Cross Country, How to Run Your City, part of organization started here in Knoxville, honoring the graduates as well. And then afterwards, Stirl gets the music going and they have lots of fun with raffle prizes and desserts. So it's a great time.

SPEAKER_18 1:40:51

Everybody's all dressed up. Andy, did you make it to that?

SPEAKER_13 1:40:54

I did not make it to it. I didn't get an invite. I don't think I was nominated for anything. They just missed my name.

SPEAKER_24 1:40:59

They did, honestly. That's it was just a miscommunication, Andy.

SPEAKER_18 1:41:03

Feels wrong. It's the Planet Fitness 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. Alright. So Andy goes first with his Planet Fitness Heavy Lift.

SPEAKER_13 1:41:24

Mine is the basketball portal has officially closed, but there's still a lot of entries in there that can still take visits, do the rounds, try to figure out their home. But also another heavy lift is for guys that are in the portal that have maybe NBA draft aspects, they technically can go into the draft process and not have to decide until the end of May. So it almost feels like the portal goes on a little bit longer for some of these guys that programs are interested in. So that that's my heavy lift is trying to continue to figure out this roster construction for both teams.

SPEAKER_18 1:41:58

If you look at the men's roster right now, and I don't know the exact women's number at this point based on the fact that it's still so fluid. Because they have so many. It looks like the men have two or three roster spots left.

SPEAKER_13 1:42:17

Correct.

SPEAKER_18 1:42:18

So man, that's gonna be some tough choices as they continue to hit every target, which is crazy. Your point was good. Sarah Detweiler, host of the Everything Orange podcast. Give us your Planet Fitness heavy lift.

SPEAKER_24 1:42:32

I think that the softball series in particular is the heavier lift to get the job done. Top 10 matchup between number three, Alabama, and number eight, Tennessee. So I'm really excited to see what they do. The Saturday to Monday series this time around. It's gonna be a great atmosphere over at Sherry Parker Lee. They need the fans to show out for this one, but I think I think they'll be able to do it. But it's definitely the, in my opinion, the heavier lift between the two.

SPEAKER_18 1:42:56

All right, so the baseball series with Alabama starts tonight at seven o'clock. The softball series with Alabama doesn't start until Saturday, and it goes Saturday, Sunday, Monday. So the only day of overlap is Saturday. Could you do them both?

SPEAKER_13 1:43:14

I think you can, technically. It's going to be close at the end of the baseball game. It starts at one Eastern. You know, a standard baseball game is about on a good day, if it's fast, two and a half. On a slow day, three and a half. So softball game starts at four, so you could technically go to the end of the baseball straight into softball.

SPEAKER_18 1:43:32

And then next week, Big Orange Caravan, which we're very excited about. Tuesday in Chattanooga, Wednesday in Nashville, and then Thursday in Tri-Cities. If you missed Alicia Longworth earlier in the program, the deputy athletic director, she talked about the fact that, you know, and we've talked about this before, not going to Memphis this year because we didn't go to Chattanooga last year. So it's Chattanooga's turn. And it's just difficult to get the coaches, really difficult to get them for three days. But this was what they they had to work out because they wanted to make it happen. But the coach's schedules now with this calendar as far as recruiting, it's crazy. I mean, it is absolutely insane, and hopefully they'll fix it someday. And I don't know what that would mean in terms of the caravan. Uh could they do more or whatever? I don't know anything about that. But what I do know is for the men and women who do this on an everyday basis, 365 days a year, their calendar is nuts because they're in the middle of recruiting periods, of evaluation periods, of you know, moving towards the offseason with their teams, figuring out NIL, who comes back, and and all of that. So um really kind of uh kind of a tricky thing. Smokey just walked outside the store here.

SPEAKER_19 1:44:58

Oh come on in.

SPEAKER_18 1:45:00

Get dissed by Smokey. Come here, we're closing the show. Yes. All right, come here, Smokey. All right. So for Sarah and Andy, I'm Mike Keith. This is the number one mascot in America right here, Smokey. Thanks for joining us for the Mike Keith show delivered by Uber Eats. Look forward to seeing you.

SPEAKER_17 1:45:22

Mike Keith talks big orange sports right here every week. Getting you ready to work game game.

SPEAKER_01 1:45:28

Presented by Uber Eats.

SPEAKER_17 1:45:30

Download the show at utsports.com. Mike Keith, we are the Ball Network.