Boomo Bugg Show 012126

[0:00] Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens and all of Northwest Alabama and Southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice. The Boomo Bugg Show. Your exclusive inside track to the Tigers, Tennessee and the rest of the SEC. Now your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score. And welcome into the Boomo Bugg Show for Wednesday, January the 21st. Brent Beard, Harold with a few doctor's appointments today. He'll be back with us tomorrow. Just a couple of quick headlines before we get to our friend Mark McLeod talking Gators and SEC.

One of the more interesting stories I've seen in a while, Charles Bidiaco, former Alabama Basketball Center, has been granted a temporary restraining order by Tuscaloosa Circuit Court, granting immediate eligibility to participate in all Alabama men's basketball activities and games. He could be allowed to play against Tennessee Saturday night, weather permitting. We'll see where that goes. The hearing is going to be, I believe, on January the 27th as far as moving forward. Also during the show, we're up to Alabama and Auburn transfer portal activities and also talk about a lot of basketball talk.

But we're going to move to Mark McLeod, our good friend, host of the Blitz with Mark McLeod and the Gator Blitz. M.M., welcome into the show today, buddy. How you doing? Doing well, Brad. Always good to be on with you, my friend. Mark, have you heard anything quite like that? Well, I don't know if you've seen the Charles Bidiaco news. He left Alabama in 2023, went to the NBA draft early, has never been chosen, he's played in the G League, and now his attorney is suing the NCAA to make him eligible, and the circuit judge has given him temporary restraining order to play, and he literally could play Saturday night against Tennessee.

You know, when I saw that, and I think it was you that posted it, and I saw it, I had to read it twice, because I thought, wait a minute, what's happening here? I mean, I really did. It hit me, and I said, I've got to read this again to make sure what I just read is true. The never-ending saga of the NCAA never really finishes surprising us, does it? It's incredible where we are now. Let's talk a lot about the Gators basketball, the transfer portal in the SEC.

Florida, I believe now, they're up to 27 transfers. Eric Singleton from Auburn, Cincinnati recruiting back Evan Pryor, and Auburn's next quarterback may be Aaron Filo. Again, we're not going to go through all 27, but who are a couple of guys who have caught your attention, and Mark, number one, did Florida meet their needs in the transfer portal? I think they met a lot of their needs. I don't think they met them all. I think they would have liked to have gotten a little more star power on the offensive line.

There were a couple of guys that I know they were going after hard, and they missed on. But, you know, of course, now you have Phil Trotwine coming in, who's done a fabulous job at Penn State. Before that, he was at Boston College with his old coach, Steve Adazio. And, of course, he was a terrific lineman at the University of Florida himself. So, you know, finally, Florida has an offensive line coach who we really trust to not only recruit, but develop. And it's been a long time. I can't tell you how many years it's been since we had one of those guys.

So I think they've gone a long way, as you say, with some of the guys you touched on were the very guys I would touch on as the top guys in the class. You know, I do think Cam Dooley from Kentucky is going to help a lot for Florida. I think that's going to be a big plus. I also think Florida really needed – where they didn't meet their needs probably was a de-tackle. I think they got two guys they really like. They missed on two guys that they really liked, but ended up getting Mason Clinton out of Southern Miss most recently.

But, as you and I both know, we talked about this, the three of us with Harold, you know, throughout the season. Two areas where Billy Napier really missed the mark were offensive line recently. Offensive line, two years ago the line was fine and developing. Last year, just nothing happened in 25. And then certainly on the defensive front, I thought he really needed to go deeper in the transfer portal, both at de-tackle and with an elite edge rusher. But he felt like he had the numbers and the people there, and as we all saw, it didn't prove to be true.

[5:06] Mark, Jon Sumrall, the new coach at Florida, formerly in a lot of places, Q-Lane played at Grissom in North Alabama, Grissom High School. Troy played at Kentucky. Raving reviews when he first came in, putting his staff together, now recruiting. Mark, is everyone still as optimistic with Jon Sumrall the day he walked in the door? Yeah, that's a great question. And I think the answer, I think, is overall yes. I think there are some people, you know, the recruiting guys who are a little disappointed that we missed on some key guys in the transfer portal.

But, you know, there's still going to be a few guys out there now, now that the national championship game is over. In fact, Florida got a guy today, another corner to help him in the defensive backfield, which is an area where I think Florida will be better next year. I don't know how much better. Highbacker, I think Florida will be fine. And then certainly, when you look and think about Florida, you know, one area that's been good recently, but was a glaring weakness a few years ago, wide receiver.

But now you've got some really strong wide receivers in at Florida. So I think overall, yes, they are very happy with the job that Jon Sumrall did. I mean, it may not be a top five, top ten class in the portal, but I think they knew there were a lot of obstacles to overcome. You know, tight end being one of them. Florida has essentially just completely rebuilt their tight end room, Brent, because they just lost so many guys. And now they brought in three guys from the portal, Harpering from Georgia Tech, and then the kid from James Madison, and the kid from New Haven.

So they really, there's just a lot of work to be done at Florida, but I think people are believing in Jon Sumrall, especially the more that comes out about the work he had to do at too late. Absolutely. Those are the words of Mark McLeod, host of the Blitz with Mark McLeod and the Gator Blitz. We begin with basketball. Let me touch on that for a second. Florida beat LSU last night, 79-61. Reuben Chenilu had 15 points and 21 rebounds, and it tied his, he is just a double-double machine.

Florida got off to a 5-4 start. Now I think, Mark, they're 8-1 or 9-1 in their last games. The Gators look like the defending national champions. They're looking really good, aren't they? Yeah, you're right. Nine of their last ten they've won. You're absolutely right. And with those games, and I know the SEC is not the basketball conference, all right? There are some teams that are down right now. But they beat number 18, Georgia. They beat 21, Tennessee. And those games, you know, Florida pretty much ran away with Tennessee.

They had Georgia by 10 or 12 at one point that game. And then, of course, they beat Vandy on the road, which is always tough. I think Vanderbilt was number 10, I believe. But you're right about Chiddy Lou, goodness gracious. The SEC Player of the Week last week with monster performances against Vanderbilt, where he had 20 points, 10 rebounds, which included a 16-point second half. Oklahoma had 19 points, 12 rebounds. LSU, as you said, 15 points, 21 rebounds. He's just playing great. And you know, Brent, if he can play at this level and continue, because right now he's averaging almost 11 rebounds per game, he would be the first Florida player in 50 years to average double figures in rebounds.

So this guy, you're right, he's a monster, an absolute monster. I think the key for Florida, Brent, has been the backcourt. They've gotten better. They're finally developing. You know, he had to completely rebuild it. Boogie Fland is not taking as many three-point shots, which I think is a good thing for Florida. He's doing well in his strength. That's driving to the basket, making something happen, maybe stopping, dropping, and pulling up a little short jumper. You know, Clavizar is playing really well now, starting to knock down some threes, which is his strength.

And then, of course, Lee is getting a little better here and there. And the big plus for him, in addition to, you know, with the backcourt, I'm sorry, the backcourt development, has been they're not turning the ball over like crazy. They had games where they were turning it over 18, 19, 20 times a game, and you just can't have that. And now it's down to a reasonable 10 or 9 or 11, you know, per game. And I think that's been a big part of it. I do think, though, they still, Florida really needs to improve that three-point shooting as they go forward.

[10:06] Let me finish up with a topic we discussed yesterday, talking to Mark McClown, who knows the Gators and the SEC. Now that the SEC finished with a sterling 4-10 or 4-9 postseason record, some of the national journalists have basically pushed the SEC back to Ivy League status. And we were talking about the season overall, much less the postseason. You brought up a good point. Quite a few of the teams in the SEC struggled to run the ball this season. Alabama's at the front of the pack for that.

Some of that is, I maintain, the offensive lines this year were not up to standards. Now, the SEC is not going to go down to Division II, but they do need to improve. Mark, talk a little bit about some of the topics we discussed yesterday. Six new coaches, there was a reason for that. But a lot of the teams struggled at the line of scrimmage running the ball this year. Yeah, and you're absolutely right, Brett. And the national media, some regional guys put it on quarterback play.

And I said, no, not exactly. And here's where I go. Okay, let's go back and look at the summer of 25. Who are the top quarterbacks you're talking about in the SEC? Most often talked about Arch Manning, Garrett Nussmeyer, Lador Sellers, who a lot of people looked at as a potential breakout player of the year in college football. You had D.J. Lagway, provided he could come back from the injuries. And there was some love for Ty Simpson. There was some love for John Mateer. You know, every single one of those quarterbacks, Brett, they had awful running games.

Brett, it was terrible. LSU did last, as you said. Bama right there with them. South Carolina, Florida, Texas, all in ascending order. And that, to me, was the biggest problem. As you said, offensive line play and poor coaching. Well, hopefully they bring to that problem with the six new coaches in the SEC. We'll certainly know beginning in September of this year. Always great to catch up with you. A lot of stuff going on. Football now. And again, Mark, they've got to do something with this calendar.

This is ridiculous. Next year, we would not have even gotten to the national championship game yet. And they've got to do something by condensing this calendar and playing the semifinals national championship earlier and start the season earlier. But where can we get online and get all your great stuff about the SEC and the Gators? Yes, certainly. At McLeod Live on X. And, Brett, always a pleasure to be on with you. Your wealth of knowledge, my friend. Listen, Bud, you know the Beard Boys love you. Listen, have a great week, buddy.

Let's do this again soon. Let's do it. Thank you. All right, buddy. Mark McLeod talking about the Gators in the SEC. When we come back on the show, Joel Lamp, sports development director for the Huntsville Convention and Visionaries Bureau, talking about a big event upcoming this coming football season for UNA. We'll return to the Boom O'Buck Show on 93.9. Let's go on. My Lowe's Pro Rewards members go big during Lowe's Pro Savings Days. Get member volume discounts plus an extra 5% off eligible orders with a quote of $2,000 or more.

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The Score. And welcome back to the Boomo Bugg show. Brent Beard in for Harold Bugg. Harold's taking care of a couple of doctor's appointments today. We're efforting to get on. Joel Lamp, sports development director for the Huntsville Convention and Visitors Bureau. He's got a big announcement. In fact, there's going to be a press conference about this tomorrow. And Joe Davis Stadium has hosted a lot of great events over the years, as most of the listeners know. The Huntsville Stars, the AA affiliate, where it was home to them for many, many years.

And they're about to host another great event. And we're delighted he's on with us now. Joel Lamp does a tremendous job. He's sports development director for the Huntsville Convention and Visitors Bureau. In fact, I've known him for a couple of years. My brother, he was in Jacksonville, Florida, and decided we need to get closer to home. He's got family members in Decatur. And believe me, the city of Huntsville is delighted to have him. Joel, welcome into the show today, Ben. How are you doing? I'm good.

How about you? I'm excited. It's a fun time of year, minus the weather. But it's a great time to be in Huntsville right now. And we've got a lot of momentum in the sports world, especially with our local teams. And then the opportunities around events coming to Huntsville, there's a lot of people that are interested and want to bring their events here. So it's a good time to be in the Rocket City. Absolutely. As you know, we're tied in very strongly to UNA. John Davis Stadium has hosted a lot of great events over the years.

They remodeled it now with a lot of high school football, the semi-professional soccer team. But UNA in Sanford, we had Martin Houston on our show with the CM Newton Classic, one of the greatest guys. He just reminds me so much of his dad. You've got a press conference coming up this week to announce an event with UNA in Sanford. Tell us about what's going to be happening in August in Huntsville, Alabama. We're excited to get the college football season kicked off here in Huntsville at the stadium.

[21:01] Having UNA in Sanford opened the 2026 season in Huntsville, we're very fortunate that those schools had a window on their schedule to work with us. And being able to kick off that schedule is fantastic for us. It's a great opportunity, and we're excited to partner with UNA and Sanford to make this happen. You remember a couple years ago, we had UNA in Jacksonville State over at Toyota Field. And so, you know, a very unique setting, one that came with a lot of logistical obstacles that we won't have to deal with this time.

That's right. So we're excited to get into the neutral site college football business. Well, it's tremendous, and isn't it great when you can partner? I know you work closely with the Huntsville Sports Commission, but you also work closely with schools, organizations. And we're going to get into some of the great events that you're hosting and sponsoring, and particularly the Conference USA Men's and Women's Basketball Tournament at the BBC. But isn't it great to be able to work and partner with the Martin Houston at Sanford, all of the UNA officials?

When everybody's on the same page, it's incredible what you can do. It really is. We've got a tremendous team here in Huntsville, whether it's the Sports Commission, it's the Chamber, it's the city leadership, our friends at Huntsville City, football club who run the stadium, our parks and rec department, the team at the BBC, all of our venues, we've got a tremendous team that's pulling in the same direction. And we're fortunate that we've built some really strong partnerships with some of our regional schools. And at the end of the day, you know, we're judged by bringing in events that bring people in from outside of Huntsville.

We've got tremendous partners at Alabama A&M, and we want them to be successful. But we also look at other opportunities that we can bring big events that can help move the needle and fill our hotel rooms, fill our restaurants. And you hit on the Conference USA Basketball Tournament. That's a huge piece of our tourism puzzle from a sports standpoint. You know, we're going to bring 10 teams, 10 men's, and 10 women's teams to town here in about 50 days. And we're going to send two teams to the NCAA tournament.

That's as big of a basketball event as we can host in March. And so owning a little piece of March Madness is a great, great venue for us to expose people to Huntsville in a completely unique way. Sports is, you know, when you look at college athletics, why do universities have sports? It's that front door to the university. Nobody's going, they don't sell tickets to the chemistry experiment, right? But athletics gives you that opportunity to showcase all the great things that are happening on your campus.

Hey, we're doing all these things. And for us, it's an opportunity for us to talk about all the great things happening in Huntsville, whether it's Space Command, whether it's something that happened to Arsenal, the Eli Lilly announcement. There's a lot of different elements to that, and it increases the quality of life. There's a lot of cool things that we host throughout the year. We host a national championship in beach volleyball. We do a lot of cross-country races. So we've got a lot, we've got our hands in a lot of different buckets from that standpoint.

Joel, as far as the Rocket City Classic, Alabama played Kennesaw State, got a big lead in Kennesaw State, but behind Antoine Pettway and his group came back. Now, is Auburn coming to the VVC this season for 2026-2027? I can neither confirm nor deny. We're working diligently on our 26 matchup and finding the right teams to come to Huntsville and play. We're talking to our friends at Conference USA about having a team part of it and furthering that opportunity. We're looking, we're exploring, hey, can we get a women's game as well.

We did the Tennessee, Middle Tennessee women's game two years ago, and that was a really successful event. So we're kicking the tires on, hey, what could a matchup look like? Who are some teams that would be interested in coming to Huntsville around a similar date as a men's game? Well, I was looking at some of the calendar yesterday, the National Junior College Athletic Association D2 Men's Women's Soccer National Championship. I know that's in November of 2026. The UCI Paracycling Road World Championships. We could spend an hour just looking at the events that you've got scheduled for 2026 and 2027.

[26:38] And again, I know it's getting out on the road, meeting the sponsors, meeting the organizers, and making it happen. But now I know you're thrilled at some of the events that are coming to North Alabama in the next couple of years. One of the things I have to remind myself daily is that Rome wasn't built in a day. Where we are today is a lot different than where we were three, four years ago. But we've still got a lot of room to grow. The opportunity, the relationship with the Junior College Athletic Association has been phenomenal.

We host their national championship in beach volleyball. This will be the third time we've hosted that in May. The Men's and Women's Soccer Championship. We're bringing 24 teams in. And this thing is like a World Cup on speed. Because the winning team is going to play four games in seven days. I don't know a lot about soccer, but having to run that much in a short amount of time is not something that is easily done. And so for us to get that, it's a tremendous economic development opportunity because we're introducing Huntsville to a lot of kids who are going to be looking for jobs in the next few years after they graduate.

And being able to expose them to Huntsville and they get a long saying, like, God, this place is really cool. It's a fun place that I'd like to live and work in. It's a unique opportunity for us for that, but it's also going to be a boatload of hotel nights. I mean, our hotels are going to be packed for that entire week. Joel, that's why companies like Eli Liddley want to come to Huntsville and set up a campus is because of the potential that this city in North Alabama has.

Tell us again about North Alabama and Samford, the conference. Again, our audience is quite familiar with this because UNA came with Tony Pujol, the men's basketball, came within about two minutes of going to the NCAA tournament last year. And the winner, the men's and women's winner, would get an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Tell us again about where we can get tickets for conference USA, the men's and women's basketball tournament. And I know more details about UNA and Samford are going to be, we're here, but certainly a little bit later this week.

Yeah, we've got some more announcements on Friday around the game, and then we've got some other events planned leading up to the event, a meet the coaches event, some other little things kind of throughout to kind of kick it off. And really, our vision on this is to kind of create a bowl atmosphere for this to kick off the season. For the conference USA tournament, we get started March 10 through 14 at the BBC. You can get your tickets at the box office. Pro tip, go save a few bucks and go to the box office as opposed to buying them online.

But we'll actually have individual sessions on sale here in just over two or three weeks. If you are a basketball fan, this is a phenomenal event because we're going to, Conference USA doesn't get enough credit. There are a lot of really good basketball players that play in this league. And whoever wins this tournament is a team that nobody wants to play in the first round. And so, right now, Liberty is leading the league. It's Liberty and Middle Tennessee have kind of separated themselves a little bit.

And to give you an example, the caliber of players, the best player in the league last year is now the leading scorer at SMU. Wow. And SMU is a top 25 team. And that's a kid who was averaging 25 a game in Conference USA last year. So, you're seeing some guys that are really good that have kind of slipped through the cracks and are finding a spot for a year or two. And as the world of college basketball has shifted, you know, everybody wants to get old and stay old.

And so, we're going to have those guys that are a little bit younger, but, man, they can play some really good basketball in every game. I personally have gotten really invested in this, the CSA basketball, just watching the regular season. I mean, the games are fantastic. Yeah. And every game is tight. There's not, very rarely are there blowouts. And so, the difference between being first and 12th is very minimal on any given night. And so, you've got an opportunity on the men's side to see some really good basketball.

[31:57] And on the women's side, you've got a chance to see us, obviously, send a team to the NCAA tournament. But, man, we've got some really good women's basketball teams. Liberty, again, is always good. Middle Tennessee has built a perennial power. Sam Houston has surprised everybody and has got a really good team this year. And Louisiana Tech. Louisiana Tech is a traditional power in women's basketball. And they are having a really good year, too. So, we've got a lot of fun basketball coming up that week at the BBC.

And so, encourage everybody to come out and join us. And then, stay tuned for more updates on the UNA and Sanford, our kickoff game. It's going to be a lot of excitement around that and getting that started here. Starting a new, hopefully starting a new tradition here in Huntsville. Absolutely. Great stuff. Great details. I will be getting in touch with you in about another month. And we'll be talking a little bit more about Conference USA men's and women's. Where can we get online and get the Convention of Issues Bureau information and more details?

The best website to get us at is huntsville.org. And if you want to find out more about the CUSA tournament, just go to cusa-huntsville.org. And we've got a site built just for folks interested in the tournament, the events we've got going on, and other opportunities around it. Wonderful. Listen, great catching up with you again. Brother Brent said hello. He is actually behaving himself in Jacksville for the moment. Listen, great to talk with you again. Let's do this again soon. Absolutely. Hey, everybody in Duval is kind of sad right now.

Joel Lamp, sports development director for the Huntsville Convention of Issues Bureau. When we come back, talking Alabama with Rodney Orr, when we return to the Boomo Bugg Show on 93.9 Score. Wouldn't it be great if you could have your insurance for auto, home, business, farm, and RVs in just one agency? That's what the Michael Noe Agency is for. They're an independent insurance agency that can help protect what is important for you. So simplify your life. Make one call for all your insurance needs. Visit your independent agent, Michael Noe or Bill Cochran, on Mobile Plaza, downtown Florence, or call 256-767-4237.

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It's the second official hire under new head coach Kevin Stefanski and the first from outside of the previous coaching staff. Callahan has a resume that spans four decades through the college and professional ranks. Mid-Soups last night, the Auburn Tigers were winners on the road. They beat Ole Miss 78-66 in the victory. Keyshawn Murphy had 16 points and 14 rebounds. Auburn improves to 12-7 on the year and 3-3 in the SEC. Bundle auto and home, renters or condo, and save with Progressive. I'm John Thayer with the Sports Flash presented by Progressive on 93-9, The Score.

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Garlik helps maintain healthy cholesterol safely and naturally. It's odor and taste-free, and Garlik is a world leader in garlic potency. I'm taking charge of my cholesterol with Garlik Healthy Cholesterol Formula, cholesterol's natural enemy. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The term natural references only the garlic in the product. Use as directed. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. And welcome back to the Boomo Bugg Show. Brett Beaird in for Harold Bugg.

And if it's around 1230-ish on a Wednesday, it's Rodney Orr time. Good friend, founder and editor of Titer Insider, and author of Bigger Than Bama. And by the way, the Boomo Bugg Show is listed prominently in that book. Rodney, welcome into the show today, my friend. How are you doing? I'm doing well, Brett. How are you? Rodney, let me ask you. On Friday was the deadline to enter the transfer portal. And there was a major holiday Monday. And then there is, there are two business days, the way the transfer portal works, which, of course, would be today.

And I've been asked by a couple of folks this week, do you anticipate anyone, and they would maybe call this a prize, but anyone who entered the transfer portal from Alabama late Friday being announced today? Rodney, what have you heard? Be honest with you, Brett, I have not heard of any surprises at this point, but could there be? You know, yeah, certainly, but not that I'm aware of. I have not heard any indication over the weekend that maybe someone slipped in late. Yeah. Well, that's certainly good news for a lot of your subscribers.

Rodney, you had a good article about did Alabama meet its needs, and I know they're still out beating the Bushes. In fact, Mississippi State offensive lineman, Jabin James, I believe, according to multiple reports, is visiting Alabama today, 6-5-3-20, started, I believe, eight games at left tackle. But it's production versus potential, and Alabama's got a little bit of both, but we talked about this numerous times with Alabama's inability to run the ball, a lot of scrimmages win football games. Rodney, did Alabama address most of its needs or at least are heading in the right direction on the line of scrimmage?

[42:28] I think so, Brett. I mean, again, you never really know until they're out there kind of playing together. But, yeah, I mean, I think when you look at the offensive line, I start with Rayson Delgatti from Cal Poly. I mean, he's a guy that's got experience. He's an interior player that can play multiple, whether it's left guard, right guard, center. I think there's a good chance we might see him at least get a good first crack at that center spot with Parker Burlesford gone. You know, I think that's a real possibility.

I really like Delgatti. I think he's, Brett, he kind of brings a little something to the offensive line that is needed. It's an aggressive, mean streak. He's nasty, Rodney. Yeah, and, I mean, I think it's a lot like the freshman Michael Carroll that, you know, he's kind of got that same mentality. So, I like Delgatti. I think from there, there's some guys, Brett, that are really talented young players. I'd start with Nick Brooks because he did start, like, three SEC games last year for Texas. Now, you know, Brett, when I talk to people there, they say that, you know, here's a guy that came in.

He kind of surprised the Texas coaching staff. He surprised Kyle Flood a little bit early on. They didn't realize, you know, they certainly knew he had a lot of potential, but he was actually farther along than they thought. And they did not plan to play him much, and then the injuries they had kind of thrust him into action a little sooner than what they expected. But he performed pretty well. You know, again, you have inconsistencies. But at 6'7", 350, he's not your typical, maybe, Talon DeBoer-type offensive lineman in terms of the size.

He's a little bigger, but he can move. So, I think those two are guys with the most experience. Aiden Strayhorn's an interior player from Michigan as a 20-25 signing for them. Center guard, Ty Haywood, you remember him, the former Bama guy, former Bama commit that flipped to Michigan last year. Again, 20-25 signing at offensive tackle. Brings a lot of length, you know, 6'5", 290. And then, of course, Ethan Fields is from Ole Miss. Doesn't have a lot of experience. Would be an interior player at about 6'3", 320.

He's played 19 games for Ole Miss the last couple of years, but a lot of that special teams. And then, if you want to touch on the defensive line, too, Brad. Sure, absolutely. You did say line of scrimmage. You know, I think it starts on the inside. You know, I had a podcast with Wallace Gilbert. Of course, Wallace played here at Bama and, you know, spent many years in the NFL, 10 years. And he told me, Rodney, when you're building a defensive line, you build it from the inside out.

You don't build it from the outside in. You've got to get those big guys in the interior. Yeah. And Terrence Green from Oregon, 6'6", 330. And then, Kendrick Bingley-Jones from Mississippi State, 6'4", 320. Those are the kind of guys you look for in terms of the size. Both those guys, you know, have ability, have some experience. Of course, Bingley-Jones is still trying to get his petition for his seventh year. So, we'll see what happens there. And I like what they did on the outside, too. I think Devin Tompkins from USC, 6'5", 290.

Really good size, I think, outside. Now, he played inside at USC, and that was out of position for him. So, moving him outside, he's really athletic. That's what I expected Alabama. And then, of course, Desmond Yimazulu from South Carolina. This guy's a backup player, but, I mean, who was he backing up? Dylan Stewart. Exactly. You know, and guys like that. So, you know, I like those guys that they're bringing in on both sides of the line of scrimmage. I really do. Ronnie, I mentioned Javon Jones, J-A-Y-V-I-N, Mississippi State.

According to reports, he's visioning today. Ronnie, what do you know about him, and is he a legitimate possibility for Alabama? Yeah, well, Brett, I was actually told about him yesterday, that he was going to be here, and that Alabama felt really good. They thought that the chances of him, you know, they just needed to get him to campus. And I think it was kind of a hush-hush deal, to be honest with you, because just get him to campus and get the visit and hopefully close the deal.

The way this portal thing is, we saw what happened with Hollywood Smothers, right? Yes. Well, I think Alabama will try to prevent that from possibly happening again. So, Javon James is 6'5", he's 320, started, I think, eight or nine games for Mississippi State last year. And, you know, obviously, he's a guy that's got experience at left tackle, which they don't have. They just don't have anybody that's played left tackle that has much experience. So, and listen, I do know that they're high on, you know, the young players that they have.

[47:47] You know, Jackson Lloyd would be the one that would come to mind at left tackle. But, Brett, he's got all the tools. I think they just would like to see him get a little stronger. Absolutely, right. The one and only Rodney Orr, who does a tremendous job as far as covering Alabama sports. Rodney, I've been asked about this, too, about two other receiver possibilities. Nico Brown, the Yale receiver who visited Alabama, but I know he was going to, I believe, Washington, Michigan State, Northwestern, UCLA. And I believe his brother plays at Stanford.

You know, people say, well, he's from Yale in the Ivy League. He seems to be a very good, as far as production is concerned. And then the Idaho State receiver, Ian Duarte, 5'10", 175, 95 receptions, 1,000 yards. Rodney, what are the chances of Alabama bringing in at least one of those guys? Well, I know Nico, obviously, like you said, he visited here. And then he was going to Stanford, was my understanding, for a visit. You know, like you mentioned, his brother is in school there at Stanford. So, you know, we'll see.

I haven't heard anything more on him really much since he left. Now, we mentioned Ian Duarte from Idaho State last night on Titer and Sider TV. And like you said, you gave his size there. He's not real big. Neither one of those guys are really big, actually. You know, but Duarte's, you know, a really good player. I mean, obviously, he's got a lot of schools that are interested in him. And then the last communication that we had was that he was still in the process of trying to set up a visit.

And he said he would let us know we haven't heard anything back yet, you know, on that visit. Now, he may have something set up. But as of last word, within 24 hours ago, he was still in the process of setting that up. So, we'll see what happens if he makes it to campus. But, Brett, listen, I think they need another receiver. I really do. The numbers just kind of dictate that they need another receiver. So, you know, hopefully they'll do that. And I still think that they need an experienced running back.

And I won't be 100% surprised if, you know, someone kind of crops up. You know, and so those two positions really kind of stand out to me right now. And I'll be honest, too, Brett, if it were me, I'd take another inside linebacker with experience. You've got Caleb Woodson's already coming from Virginia Tech, and he's very productive. But after him, everybody else is really inexperienced. And I know they're high on those young guys, you know. But, anyway, I don't think that's going to probably happen, though. Ronnie, just to finish with you, Speaking of linebackers, I've heard Jacoby Clinton's name bounded about by some of the media played at West Florida.

78 tackles, 19 tackles for a long seven sacks. And most people know he's the younger brother of Ha Ha Clinton Dix. He was on the staff. And I haven't heard anything concrete about that. Ronnie, anything legitimate to them? I mean, I have, you know, certainly seen all the speculation you've seen, Brett. Yeah. But I haven't heard as far as, you know, is he going to make it to campus or what the latest is. And I actually have someone down at West Florida that I've known for years. And he had not heard anything when I texted him about it.

In terms of something with Alabama, like a visit. So, you know, I don't know. But he is a very productive player. Yes. I mean, he was very, very good. And, you know, I don't know, Brett. You may know, because I haven't checked and I've been meaning to check, to see what the latest on Arian Carter is. I didn't know if he re-signed with Tennessee. But he's a really fantastic player who had mentioned Alabama as a school of interest. But I haven't checked. And I think he's a really good inside backer prospect.

But I don't know the latest on him. Well, I can't update you there. He did re-sign with Tennessee. I thought he was leaning towards doing that. Yeah, at one point, Ron, it looked like he's going in about three different directions. Yeah. Going to the NFL, decided to pull his name out for that. Going to the transfer portal, decided against that. And then Tennessee came to terms with him from everything that I've seen in the last couple of days. But we know there are going to be a lot of other names come up.

And I get asked about coaching changes. And if anything happens there, I know you will have the absolute latest, along with the transfer portal. And also, the 2026 receiver from Georgia, who was a late addition to the Alabama class, seemed to have some oppressive numbers. You always do. Titer Insider TV, the latest on recruiting. Basketball tied with an interesting week with Charles Bidiaco. But, Rodney, if it's Alabama sports, you've got it. Loan the 24-7 message board for an incredibly nominal price. But where can we get online to subscribe and also to get online to buy your book?

[53:29] Yeah. I appreciate it, Brad. It's TiterInsider.com. It's only $48 a year. And you can get instant access there with your credit card if you prefer. There is an address there to send a check. And that gives you all the premium information. But also, like you said, our all sports forum. And, I mean, it's been on fire. There's no doubt about it. It's been really rolling with all that's going on. And then, of course, the book, Bigger Than Bama, you can look it up on RodneyOr.com.

Or you can go to Amazon. You can find it there. Either place, RodneyOr.com or Amazon. Get all the details. If you're interested, you know, you can order it at either one of those websites. Absolutely. Listen, I'm always delighted to talk to you. You've been a great friend for years. And I appreciate the class. Professionalism and integrity you show all the time. But, Rodney, have a great week, buddy. Brad, I appreciate it, buddy. You take care. All right, man. Rodney Orr, Titer Insider. Everyone knows Rodney.

When we come back, we're going to be talking about Auburn and what they did in the Transfer Portal and a lot of other things on a very interesting week when we return to the BMO Book Show on 93.9. Well, good morning, kiddo. I love that you're home from college. I've missed you. Still taking your nature-made vitamins? Every day. A multivitamin and a probiotic. You better be taking yours. Still looking out for me, Mom. I'll never stop. Made to care for you every day. Nature-made. The number one pharmacist-recommended vitamin and supplement brand.

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1819 News. A state lawmaker has put a hold on his bill that addresses the Alabama High School Athletic Association. State Senator Donnie Chasteen told AL.com that he plans to slow down on SB 73 after what he described as a productive conversation with coaches, superintendent, and school leaders. The bill being offered by Chasteen would restructure how the AHSAA is governed and would limit how eligibility rules are enforced. Chasteen is a former high school football coach and says that the pause he is issuing is not about politics but about listening, and he stressed that the bill has nothing to do with the CHOOSE Act.

The AHSAA is currently being sued by Governor Kay Ivey and the Alabama House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter over transfer rules that do involve the CHOOSE Act. A judge has temporarily blocked that rule from being enforced while the case continues forward. I'll be back with more Alabama stories after this. Are you enjoying 1819 News? If so, consider joining 1819 News as a member. As a nonprofit news organization, we depend on the support of Alabamians like you. Memberships start out as little as $5 a month, and you'll get access to exclusive content only offered to our members.

[58:31] You'll be supporting independent journalism done by people who cherish Alabama values. Become a member today by visiting 1819news.com and clicking Become a Member. That's 1819news.com and click Become a Member today. The city of Bessemer has changed parts of a plan for a data center to be built that is called Project Marvel. The city says that the developers of Project Marvel are going to acquire additional property to increase a buffer zone between the data center campus and surrounding residential areas. The move comes after community members express concerns about the effects of this new data center on the environment and quality of life.

I'm Andrea Tice. For more news affecting Alabamians, go to 1819news.com. And while you're there, subscribe to the daily newsletter. The exciting action of the NFL postseason is on Westwood One. Caught! Touchdown! Touchdown! If you hadn't seen it, you would not believe it! This is Scott Graham. Join us Sunday for complete coverage of the conference championship games. Our broadcast kicks off at 2 p.m. Eastern time and goes until the Super Bowl matchup is set. If it's the NFL playoffs, it's on Westwood One. Missed the Bumbo Bug Show today?

Missed the last Florence Falcons game? You can access the latest episodes and game broadcasts at our website, 939thescore.com. Click on Podcast and then All Podcasts to access the latest Bumbo, Feinbaum, Bill King, and Florence broadcast. That's 939thescore.com. That's 939thescore.com. 93.9 The Score Weather. Today, an 80% chance of afternoon showers with a high around 50. Tonight, cloudy with a 70% chance of showers overnight and a low near 40. Tomorrow, mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of showers and a high around 50. Tomorrow night, cloudy with a 50% chance of showers overnight and a low near 35.

And if you're Friday, cloudy with a 40% chance of afternoon showers, possible snow and sleet high around 40. Your weather from 93.9 The Score. Now, get ready to roll, Shoals, Decatur, Athens, and all of northwest Alabama and southern Tennessee. It's time for the Valley's exclusive FM Sports Voice. The Bumbo Bug Show. Your exclusive inside track to the Tigers, Tennessee, and the rest of the SEC. Now, your host, Harold Bugg on 93.9 The Score. And welcome back to the second hour of the Bumbo Bug Show. Brett Beaird in for Harold Bugg.

The Bumbo Bug is out with some doctor appointments. Should be back tomorrow. But delighted to bring in Caleb Jones, who does a very good job of covering recruiting, the transfer portal, and probably a lot of other things for auburnsports.com. Caleb, welcome into the show today, Ben. How are you doing? Man, I'm doing great. I got a new office chair put together, so I'm able to sit a little bit more comfortably now, which is always a good thing. Absolutely. Delighted to have you back with us.

Let me double check with you. I mean, trying to keep track of this, I have sympathy for anybody who does, is Kenneth McManus, the latest transfer portal, all 6-2, 3-20 of him. And we'll get into Auburn meeting their needs, and I think they've been able to do a tremendous job. I think he's the eighth offensive lineman that Auburn has brought in. And how many right now are we standing on with transfers, and is he the latest? Yeah, he is the latest to sign with Auburn, and you're right.

That is offensive lineman number eight incoming for Auburn, and they're up to 26 additions total through the transfer portal. Yeah. But when you look at meeting needs, and again, transfer portal is production and potential, and Auburn's done a very good job of all of those. Again, you've got to start, I know, but I want to get on the line of scrimmage because that's where you win games. But certainly quarterback, a lot of fans were not very happy when Ashton Daniels and Deuce Knight left. But getting Byron Brown in, who may have been one of the top targets in the transfer, was tremendous.

I think Auburn has one of the best running back rooms with the addition of Bryson Washington from Baylor in the country, and they picked up certainly the offensive line, as you mentioned, a wide receiver. What are the top two or three positions of needs that you feel Auburn has been able to address? Yeah, kind of first off, kind of what you said about quarterback. Auburn would have liked to keep Ashton Daniels, would like to see Deuce Knight stick around. Ashton's a little bit of a different circumstance.

[1:03:56] I mean, I think kind of hitting, when the portal kind of first opened, there was already kind of this feeling that Byron Brown was going to go to Auburn once it came out that he was entering the portal. And so with Ashton, Ashton played a lot last fall. And so you kind of saw where he's got a season of eligibility left. Ashton's probably going to go somewhere and play and be the guy. And that's kind of where he's going to at Florida State. And then with Deuce, Auburn wanted to kind of keep him around, let him develop a year under Byron Brown, develop another year, excuse me, and then just kind of take over, take the reins over.

But of course, you lose those guys. And so Auburn's done a good job addressing the quarterback room that's got their guy for this upcoming season. And Byron Brown, like you mentioned, he was going to be a top guy for a lot of programs had Auburn not kind of been the favorite to land them regardless. I think they've done a really nice job addressing up front the need for offensive linemen. Like you said, they've got eight on board right now. They've got a good mix of tackles, of interior guys, bringing over Byron Brown Center from South Florida and Cole Best.

So they've kind of hit the ground running here as far as addressing the needs to the portal. And it's a good mix of guys that are experienced, that can step in and are ready to play right away and be day one starters for Auburn. And it's also some guys that are going to sit behind the starters for a season or two and get developed and be ready to rock and roll on a couple of seasons. So overall, I think Auburn's done a nice job with addressing the top needs that they had in the portal, which was quarterback, offensive line, and then wide receiver, bringing in some guys that are proven and are really good, but they have that developed chemistry already with Byron Brown, a receiver.

So overall, I think the staff's done a nice job through the portal. Caleb, I think they even did a good job improving tight ends. And a lot of the guys, the last couple of years, they've been injured or there's been a lack of production there. I thought they even did a pretty good job of refurbishing and improving the tight end room. Yeah, you're bringing in three guys. I think Jake Johnson and Jonathan Echols are going to be those top tier guys, those two guys that are really going to be good in the passing game.

And then obviously, you're bringing in Xavier Newsome from Howard. So he's reuniting or he's following Larry Scott, who was the Howard head coach before taking the Auburn tight end coach position. And then you're bringing back Ryan Gee, who played a little bit as a true freshman. And then you've got a couple of guys coming in from the high school ranks as well. So, I mean, I think the additions of Jake Johnson and Jonathan Echols, those are the two that, you know, catch my eye the most just because Jake Johnson's played a lot of football.

I think the offense and the way that it's run, I think it sets him up to have a pretty solid year and to thrive in this offense. And Jonathan Echols has already been in this offense before, so he knows the ins and outs of it really well. So, yeah, I'd agree with that as well, that they really did a nice job of kind of buffing up the tight end room a little bit. Well, I mentioned running backs. Cobb, Jeremiah Cobb, Bryson Washington, and Davenport have a combined 2,369 rushing yards and 18 touchdowns.

And Henderson and Mabson, we got a little bit of view last year. But, actually, this may be one of the best running back rooms in the SEC. Yeah, this is a deep running back room. I mean, your top three guys on the depth chart in Cobb, Washington, and Davenport, like, those are all three guys that were starters at where they were at, you know, last year. Right? Cobb with Auburn, Washington with Baylor, and Davenport with South Florida. So, I mean, you don't just have a one-two punch.

You literally have a one-two-three punch with a bunch of guys that you can sub in that have played a lot of college football. And then, like you said, behind them, you saw a little bit of Omar Mabson last season, not as much as Alvin Henderson. But, you know, you've got a really solid room overall from top to bottom. It's a pretty stacked room. I really like the way that it looks for Auburn. And, you know, when Golesh was first introduced in his press conference, you know, I guess at the beginning of December, he said, they're going to run the d*** ball, which is kind of what he said.

And so you can kind of see that plan from attack from the transfer portal already, just to getting a guy like Washington and a guy like Davenport. Who's left? And, again, there are going to be some names that will pump up. Miami and Indiana now hitting the transfer portal. In fact, some very impressive guys doing it. Madeline Kiatoni won for Miami. I know Auburn had looked at Yantre Robinson at North Carolina to try to beef up that defensive line. And right now I know they can pick and choose and take their time a little bit more.

[1:09:10] Who could Auburn finish with in the next week or so? There's going to be a lot of names kind of shuffling around over the next week or so, kind of like you mentioned. So, as far as Nick goes, it just gets real crazy there. You're looking to add probably another, you know, guy or two along the offensive line, whether that be a tackle or a guard. I think Auburn would definitely like to add another one to two pieces along that defensive line. Maybe grab another edge, another corner, another safety.

You just really just replenish a lot of the room, you know, just kind of get those numbers up and get them to where they need to be. So, I mean, I'm looking down at my laptop here. So, yeah, there's definitely some need to add a few more guys in a few different positions. Some positions, you know, like running back, like you're good with that. Like you could always add another guy, but, I mean, you take what you've done. Same thing with quarterback. Like there are some positions that are wrapped up.

Like wide receiver, you probably are looking to grab another guy or two for sure. But, yeah, it's just going to be kind of see who goes in the portal or who's still out there, who's still available, and go from there, yeah. Caleb, I get amused sometimes at the misconception about coaches. Well, they've pretty much got everyone in the house in the transfer portal, so they're home taking a nap. No, I've seen coaches all over the place on the road. Caleb Kalen DeBoer visiting a player by helicopter, and Auburn signed, not signed, but got a commitment from the first 2027 under Alice Golich, a very promising tight end, Trey Proctor from Florida.

Yeah, just like with coaching, especially in this industry, it's a crazy job. I mean, you look at Alice Golich, he's having to deal with the transfer portal, and on top of that, high school recruiting is just as important. And in the middle of all this, I think that high school recruiting does kind of get overshadowed by the transfer portal, because the transfer portal is now the big thing that everybody's wanting to pay attention to. But like you said, Auburn got a commitment from Tank Roctor. He's a tight end.

I talked to Tank the other day. He's really excited about what Golich has done. They're really relentless in the recruiting effort, is kind of what he was saying. He felt a lot of the love, and kind of once Golich was there, he felt like that was kind of where he wanted to be. And Golich is out on the road. I mean, Golich, Montrell King-Williams, some of the other assistant position coaches, they're all on the road right now. They're all going to see these high school prospects.

You know, Golich and Montrell King-Williams were just in Birmingham, stopping by Hoover, stopping by Ramsey to see Carlos May, who's a four-star defensive lineman that literally was just on campus, like, over the weekend. So, and that's another thing. Like, Golich, when he was first introduced, there was a 250-mile radius around Auburn that he really wanted to attack, is what he said. You know, he wanted to attack that 250-mile radius, and now you're seeing him go out there and actually do it. Absolutely. Just touch on basketball.

Big win for Auburn last night on the road in Oxford, beating Ole Miss 78-66. Keyshawn Hall rebounded with 19 points. Pettiford with an in-your-face dunk, NBA-style, with 17, beating the Red Bulls. I don't – they've got a tough task going to Gainesville Saturday to face what I think may be the best team in the country, again, the Florida Gators. They're looking like the defending national champions. Caleb, great stuff. I know you've got the transfer portal. You've got recruiting. Great website. Brian Matthews is a good friend of ours. He has been for years.

But thank you, as always, for your time. Where can we get online and get your stuff and the teams? Absolutely. Like you said, we're over at auburnsports.com, part of the On3 network. You can find everything you need when it comes to Auburn athletics, whether that's football, football recruiting, basketball, basketball recruiting. Baseball is getting underway here. Softball will be underway soon. The women's team has a couple of SEC wins already, and then basketball. So, I mean, anything you need to look at for Auburn sports or Auburn athletics can be found at auburnsports.com, home of the corner, home of the bunker, two message boards where you can connect with your fellow Auburn fans and just enjoy a great community that we've really built over there.

I was going to say, two of the most well-known message boards in sports. Caleb, thank you so much for your time, bud. Have a great week. You, too, as well. Thank you, bud. Talking Auburn, going to be talking a little bit Kentucky with a Kentucky legend, Larry Vaught, when we return to the Boom O' Buck Show on 93.9 to score. Get fit and fab this new year at YMCA of the Shoals with 24-7 access and no joining fee if you sign up before January 31st. The YMCA has leading-edge fitness equipment, year-round swimming, dozens of group exercise classes per week, and a family atmosphere.

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It's a daily update on Bama sports, and it's brought to you by Conecuh Sausage, a true Southern flavor since 1947, and the official smoked sausage of the Crimson Tide. Order online at ConecuhSausage.com. Hello again, everybody. I'm Roger Hoover. On Tuesday's edition of Crimson Drive, driven by NASCAR, we were joined by former Alabama player and SEC Network analyst, Richard Hendricks. Alabama has struggled with the balls as of late, and you know that Rick Barnes is going to have his team motivated as they've been able to drop one against Kentucky at home, a team that was struggling early on in conference play but has seemed to pick it up under the leadership of Mark Pope.

But this is a game that Tennessee needs, and Alabama loves to get out and play with a free-flowing style. Tennessee, traditionally, loves to grind things out. They have some physical bigs that can get on the offensive glass, and they try to defend. But I do think that since Alabama has dropped two games early on, there's a sense of urgency for the Crimson Tide. So this is going to be a big matchup and have some time to prepare for the Vols. I think that Alabama will be ready, but you've got to understand there will be a huge sense of urgency for the Tennessee Volunteers.

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Join us tomorrow for Crimson Drive, driven by NASCAR, streaming live at 2 p.m. Central on all CTSN social media platforms at UA underscore CTSN. Crimson Tide Today is brought to you by Conecuh Sausage. Crimson Tide Today is a production of the Crimson Tide Sports Network from Learfield. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. And welcome back to the Boomo Bugg Show, 121. Well, 122, actually, on 121 in January. When you want to talk about Kentucky sports and the SEC, our next guest fills the bill. Larry Vaughn to Vaughn's views, which is, I can't even begin to tell you how many views he gets on that.

[1:20:27] Conecuh for 30 papers and websites. WPBK FM show host. Topps Magazine. Edge Media. WLAP Sunday morning. He is absolutely everywhere. Larry Vaughn, welcome into the show today, bud. How are you doing? Well, I'm starting to think maybe I need to slow down after you just say, I had never thought about all that until you mentioned all that. But no, I'm doing well just preparing for the blizzard, I guess. Yes. It's supposed to be coming our way in a couple days and praying it doesn't get as bad as what is being predicted.

Yeah, it's going to take a wide swath. Larry, every time I hear the name Will Stein, I hear enthusiasm. He never sleeps. He's everywhere. Everything I've heard about him so far, maybe a fresh reboot for Kentucky. Nobody knows coaches the way you do in this league. Larry, your initial thoughts on Kentucky's new football coach. Well, I don't know if he'll be the best football coach in the SEC, but I don't think there will be a more confident coach in the SEC than Will Stein. Will does not lack for confidence, I'll put it that way.

We will see what happens when he has to start being the guy held responsible for how the games end up. But right now, he's saying, doing, believing all the right things. I think he's got 40 coaches. I've never seen so many. I mean, they're going to have, and maybe Alabama and Auburn do this, I don't know, but they're going to have five offensive line coaches. There's an offensive line coach, an assistant offensive line coach, an offensive line analyst, a grad assistant, and some other names. I've never heard so many things, but it's just all of today's new world of doing things.

And, again, they're going to have about 50 new players on the roster between transfers and high school kids. So it's going to be an interesting ride over the next few months with him. And, of course, he took the big swing. He didn't retain the Kentucky native quarterback who had started 10 games this past year and had some really good games at times and ended up going. He went to Arizona State because they really wanted him. And Will, I think, decided he wasn't going to be the guy for him at Kentucky.

And they brought in Kenny Minchie from Notre Dame, who Will said the other day that all the coaches up there said, well, even if he'd have been our quarterback, we would have still won at least 10 games. Well, my question would be if they felt that confident, why wasn't he probably the quarterback anyway? So, I mean, I don't know. We're just going to have to wait and see. But it's certainly a different type of enthusiasm than what Mark Stoops had after 13 years. Larry, the 34 transfers out of the portal, they may have added to that since this morning.

But I know one of the priorities I've heard since he got there was rebuilding the blue wall, Kentucky's offensive line. They brought in, I believe, Lance Hurd, Colton Price from Baylor, Tigra, Shabalo from Ohio State. And when Kentucky and Mark Stoops were his best, they had a very good offensive line. Talk about rebuilding that unit and how will his offense be different than Mark Stoops? I don't know. It's going to be interesting to see if he goes strictly with that Baylor offense. If he lets Joe Sloan incorporate some of what he did at LSU or not.

But I think it'll be a whole big dose of what you saw Oregon do. That's what it'll be. It won't be as much pound and grind as what Mark Stoops liked. But I do think Will also does like to run the football and be more short, quick outpaces to let guys get in space and make plays, I believe. They definitely need to get better on the offensive line. You've heard me say before, I think one way they got better, they got rid of the coach at the head coaching the offensive line.

Good luck to them at LSU is all I'll say. So I think that was an upgrade for Kentucky there. And they got the one young man from Alabama that I'm anxious to see play because I think he's got the best hair in the SEC. Yes, he does. He is. And believe it or not, I first interviewed him five years ago on FaceTime when he was in Finland and got his UK offer. He got back with me and we FaceTimed and all like that. And I've kind of kept in touch with him.

So I'm anxious to see him play. And I know they think he could be kind of a guy that could come in here and maybe surprise a lot of people with what he's able to do. Larry, I think he will do that. Alois Alinan is who you're talking about. Again, just got kind of caught up in a numbers game. But, yeah, everybody remembers Finland. Jay Bateman at defense. What's he going to bring on that? Barbie, that's that of the ball. Well, I think he's a very charismatic guy and I know he's going to be, I think, make a big impact in recruiting because some of the key defensive players that they did retain, most of it was because when Jay Bateman got here, he convinced them, yeah, I want you to stay and I need you to stay.

[1:25:45] And here's why. Because I thought a lot of them might follow Brad White to Florida or a lot of them may just go somewhere else. But they didn't keep everybody, but they kept a big majority and I think kept the guys that they really needed to keep. And that's all I hear from different parents and players is because of the connection they made with Jay Bateman immediately. Now, how he'll be scheme-wise, I don't really know. But I know he's bringing in a lot of big, fast athletes that seem like they've got a pretty solid group up front again.

And Anwar Stewart is the only coach that will retain that's on the defensive line. I think that was the right move to make because Anwar's had really good defensive linemen for a number of years. So I think they'll be good there. And they kept Ty Bryant in the secondary to kind of be their captain and leader back there. And that's a really good move for them. But Jay, again, kind of talks and says all the right things. I think they might be a little bit more aggressive defense than what Brad White had.

But Brad kind of believed in, let's just kind of lay back and make the offense have to make a mistake. I think Jay will attack a little bit more than what Brad White did. Larry, refresh my memory now. Who does Kentucky play the second game of the season to open the SEC conference play? I don't know. It's one of those games they'll win. I mean, that's one that's kind of already marked down as a win up here. I forget what the name of that team even is.

University of Alabama. Yeah, Alabama, that team. Yeah, that team. Yeah, they're going to take the Indiana playbook and just run with it and go right there. So, yeah, we'll get to pretty quick indoctrination to what SEC life is going to be like. Now, tell me about the second best sport in Kentucky, because we all know volleyball, which you remind me every time you come on our show, that the cats in basketball, a Hail Mary, a minor miracle. I'll give them credit. They've come back from 12 down to Mississippi State, 18 to LSU, 17 to Tennessee, and I'm sure that's helped Mark Pope.

Mark's popularity at Big Blue Nation had waned a little bit for a while, but the cats are playing much better now. I know they've had some injuries, particularly with Lowe. Larry, your thoughts on Kentucky now at 12 and 6 and 3 and 2? I would say you're being kind when you said that Mark Pope's popularity had waned. That was a kind word for it right there. But, again, if you look at one side, what's great, they've won three in a row. Now they're up to 3 and 2 in the SEC. They've got a couple of road wins that you don't know, didn't really know if they could do or not do.

And they've been shooting the ball better from three-point range. You look on the other side, though, they've been down by a combined 47 points in the last three games. And how often are you going to come back and win Rosen against Tennessee and LSU? The combined time that Kentucky led in the game was less than two minutes. I just don't think that's a sustainable recipe for success to try to fall behind by 20 and then come back all the time. But I do think of the positive side, they are settling in.

The injuries, in a weird way, may have helped them because now there's no more wondering, is Jalen Lowe going to play? Is he going to do the point guard? No, he's not. Denzel Aberdeen, you've got to be the point guard at Jasper Johnson. You're going to get more minutes because of that. But I kind of think, as crazy as it sounds, if Jaden Quaintance just decides his knee's not responding and he's not going to try to come back, it might be the best thing for him because Jaden has missed the last four games after coming back and playing three.

And he had one really good game. The rest of them, no. And I think if you just know, okay, he's not going to be there, these guys are going to have to play, and here's what you're going to have to do. I think Mark Pope is better with a little more restricted lineup instead of trying to figure out how to play 10, 11, 12 guys. That is not his strength. So I think as hard as it is to think, but your starting point guard and Jaden Quaintance, two guys that are supposed to be two of your best three players going into the season, if they finally just say, hey, we can't play, I think they're going to be better because now more guys know their roles and understand them, don't have to look over their shoulder and think, well, if I make a mistake, not only may I come out of this game, I may not play for two more games.

So that's what happens sometimes. I think it's hard to play with confidence that way. So they've got two really big games this week, Texas tonight, and then Ole Miss on Saturday. That's just two games they can't lose at Rupp Arena, even if they lost to Missouri at Rupp Arena. But then next week they go on the road to Vanderbilt and Arkansas, so they need to get these two to kind of bank a little bit more goodwill for Pope in case next week doesn't go well. Yeah, listen, Nate Oates can sympathize with Mark Pope.

[1:30:47] Last week they had two good road wins, but they had come back from double digits both times, and they've lost to Texas at home. Yeah. Believe me, Texas, when they're playing well, and Sean Miller's a very good coach. Now, before I let you go, remind me once again, the number one sport for the University of Kentucky is volleyball, correct? Oh, there's no doubt about it. Nine straight SEC championships. There you go. National championship game this year had their best player playing with a meniscus injury, or they probably would have won it all.

That's what I'm saying anyway. So, yeah, when you can win nine straight SEC championships, I don't care what sport at the end. That makes you number one on campus. That is exactly correct. Listen, we love talking with you, as you know. Where can we get online? Folks, views, and I kid you about this, but every time I say picture, and I'm going to make a Mel Sheldonist comment here, you're hugging a good-looking woman. Larry, how do you do that? It's just a gift you have to live with.

I mean, it's just something you have to do with. It's the hair, isn't it, Larry? It's the hair. It might be that you've been around so long, and you just kind of feel like you're kind of like their grandfather, and they're just happy to see you. And I do think that female athletes appreciate media coverage a lot more than male athletes on a whole. And they're a whole lot more, you know, just kind of outgoing with you like that and everything. But I do enjoy covering the female athletics.

I think it's got a really good women's basketball team. It's a little short-handed right now, but they're still hanging in there, their gymnastics team. I love watching them compete. And then, like I say, volleyball. It's only nine months until volleyball starts. Amazing. Listen, always great to catch up with you. Have a great 20-26. Let's do this again real soon. Absolutely. Anytime. You know that. All right, buddy. Thank you so much. Larry Vaught, nobody does a better job of covering Kentucky. Drew DeArmond does a pretty good job of covering Alabama and the ACC, and we'll be talking with him when we return to the BMO Book Show.

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[1:36:12] Shoals Royale 2026, Saturday, February 21st, at 7 p.m. at the Renathon Shoals Conference Center. Tickets are available now at givebutter.com slash ShoalsRoyale2026. Progressive presents the Sports Flash on 93.9, the score. Smith Hoops last night, the Auburn Tigers were winners on the road. They beat Ole Miss 78-66 in the victory. Keyshawn Murphy had 16 points and 14 rebounds. Auburn improves to 12-7 on the year and 3-3 in the SEC. The Atlanta Falcons announced yesterday they named Bill Callahan as the new offensive line coach. It's the second official hire under new head coach Kevin Stefanski and the first from outside of the previous coaching staff.

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Use the symptom checker on identifyepi.com and talk to your doctor. That's identifyepi.com. Sponsored by Amphi. The Score. Now, back with Boomo Bugg on 93.9 The Score. The Score. Welcome back to the Boomo Bugg Show. Brett Beaird in for Harold Bugg. Always a delight to bring in a very good friend, Drew DeArmond, host of Talking Ball on Huntsville's 97.7 The Zone. Also a contributor to Titer Insider and basically runs the Huntsville Crimson Panthers boys basketball program on the side. Me too, when I was doing prep this morning, I had to look at this twice.

Charles Bidiaco, the former Alabama center, has been granted a temporary restraining order, granting him immediate eligibility to participate in all of Alabama men's basketball activities and games. And there's a wild rumor that he may even play for Alabama against Tennessee Saturday night. Your thoughts on a very intriguing story that's developed the last couple of days. Well, I mean, it was one that came out of left field. You know, the first thing I saw about it was this morning, really. Of course, Charles played on NATO's team three years ago with Brandon Miller, then went to the Sweet 16 and won the SEC regular season and tournament titles.

And then, really, after Brian Hodgson left to take the job at Arkansas State, he decided to turn professional and go into the NBA draft. I thought he might return at that point after being evaluated, but he decided to stay in the draft. He was very, you know, strongly connected to Hodgson, and his recruitment took a while to play out. And he ended up going pro, as you said, didn't get drafted, but signed to the Spurs. But, you know, we've seen throughout college basketball in the last few months, you know, the young man, you know, that had been a first-round draft pick, signed with Baylor, was granted, you know, four years, four years of eligibility.

Then, you know, you see the young man at Louisville. There's been a few cases of this going on. And the funny thing is, you know, we've made us even commented on this a few weeks back about, you know, of course he's for the high school player and he doesn't want to take away opportunities. But like you said, you know, if this is going on, we've got to look into it. And Fediakos is a little bit different story because he actually did play two years for Alabama before turning pro.

But the thing that I never really thought about was he did not get drafted. And then as far as I had known, and I was correct, he did not ever appear in an NBA game. So you wonder, even though he could, and since he's with the G League, some of these other guys have been. And I agree with his lawyers in the way that, do I like this? I don't. Yeah. I don't want to take away an opportunity for another freshman player and recruit. But when you look at it, you have to sit there and say, okay, if you can sign these kids out of European Professional League, and they've been professional since they were 16, and it doesn't count against their clock or anything, and all of a sudden they can sign and play at a four-year university for up to four to five years, then why can't, you know, guys that have either been in the States, and Betty Aco, even though he was considered a Canadian citizen, had played at IMG Academy and played in the United States, then why do these kids have to have their eligibility compromised?

[1:42:00] And, you know, at first I thought he might have two years' eligibility left, but then according to the NCAA, because of his clock starting, I guess he'd only have this semester. So it would be a short-term deal, but I can't blame Alabama for looking into it, because they certainly have had a ton of injuries. He's not very familiar to them. He can finish his degree, and he can play the last part of the season and have an impact on this roster. So I don't blame him for pursuing this.

It's interesting that he got the injunction. We'll see if it lasts, but I'll be honest. Somebody just asked me, do you think he'll play Saturday against Tennessee? And I certainly hope so, because I know he just got through playing in a G League game, but they could certainly use his rim protection and the depth. I don't think he would start by any stretch, but having him be a part of the rotation would be invaluable. Well, there's no doubt about that. He would be welcome with open arms if, again, they decide to do that.

The restraining order will remain in effect for 10 days or until a hearing can take place. That hearing is scheduled for January 27th. The D2, before we get into the transfer portal, let me ask you about this bye week for Alabama. It certainly came at a good time. This roster has been injured throughout the season. They came back with that. They've had two impressive comebacks from double digits. But the other side of the coin is, why are you down double digits? Got outscored 11 and nothing to Oklahoma to end half Saturday.

Then they came back on a 12-0 run to get back in the game. Hopefully, the rest, the bye week, the practice will help some. D2, your thoughts on where this Alabama team is going into the Tennessee game? Well, I mean, I think it was a huge week last week after they allowed the Texas game to get away from them because, quite frankly, their two best players couldn't make free throws. And that was, of course, LeBaron, Phylon, and Aiden Holloway. I thought that even though they didn't play their best basketball, especially on the defensive end of the floor, if they could have gotten the lead late, they would have beaten Texas.

And they did not execute, could not find a way to survive that and rally like they did earlier in the year against Clemson and win the game at home. So they had two games on the road that were huge because, I mean, you've got to try to get, you know, in a way, make up for that loss. And I thought, going on the road, if they were down 29-14, 29-15 early in the game at Mississippi State, you should have seen my phone. I mean, it was like the season was over.

Just give up. You know, it's a lost cause. But it's like I've said with State Oaks basketball. I mean, you have to let everything play out. Because I remember during the Final Four run in the first round against the College of Charleston, you know, and Alabama got down early. And there were people blowing me up then saying, wow, this team is totally underachieved. And then Alabama was up 30 in the second half. The way they play, you just have to kind of let it play out and see if they can get going.

And they certainly did. They won 92 to, you know, or excuse me, 90. They blew them out by 17, 97 to 82, pardon me. And really got it going in the backcourt. His byline looked like himself again. After I thought he was, for a couple games, he looked sluggish. And that groin injury seemed to slow him some. They played really well. And then the game against Oklahoma, who, quite frankly, wasn't as good as Texas. And I don't think, I think they're in the bottom third of the league. It was kind of a back and forth game.

But in byline, I thought really wasn't very good until the last six or seven minutes. And then he did what great players are supposed to do. He kind of took over. And then Houston Millett made a big shot, no doubt. And then Aiden Shirell, the last two games, has been huge. And his development and ability to score the basketball inside is invaluable. And if you can get a Charles Fediaco to back him up, because right now, I mean, it looks like Noah Williamson against Kentucky was a mirage.

That was just one day. They haven't been able to get a lot out of him. And then you know about the injury to Keith Ann Bristow. We don't know when he'll be back. So, Alabama's exploring all avenues. It's a huge game against Tennessee. They haven't beaten the ball since 2022. And a lot of people probably don't realize that. But it's a home game. We'll see what happens with the weather. But certainly, it's a big game for Alabama. It's a Tennessee team that doesn't look like they're quite as good in the backcourt or defensively as some of Rick Barnes' other squads.

[1:47:05] So, this is a chance to get a big win at home. And I still think this is an Alabama team that's a top three or four team in the SEC. I think Florida right now is the best team. But I think, you know, there's a lot of teams kind of jumbled up. And it's kind of been a – they're kind of jockeying for positions behind Florida. And I think Alabama's still got a chance to be one of those guys. And hopefully, they can get a big win on Saturday.

And maybe even get a shot in the arm from inside with Charles Bediaco. Again, that's going to be something that's going to play itself out. Drew DeArman of Talking Ball with Scott Tyson now in Expanded One Hour. D2 switching quickly to the portal. Alabama's got a combination of production, past production, and potential on the line of scrimmages. They've been able to bring in five dudes on the offensive line. They've got five coming in. Stray Horn, Nick Brooks from Texas, Ty Hayward, of course, who has committed to Alabama.

The Michigan waved a lot of money at him. Ethan Fields, and I know you like Rayson Delgado. We'll see where it pans out. I know the Mississippi State offensive lineman may be visiting Alabama today, and a lot of people are optimistic about him. But at least as far as on the line of scrimmage, where it's one of the areas his team needs to improve the most, so far so good. Yeah, I mean, I think it's been a pretty good portal season. I mean, I would only categorize one disaster in the whole thing, and that was the Hollywood Smothers situation, because you have to get him signed, you know, before he leaves.

And if you get him signed, then I think it's definitely an upgrade to the running back room. Now it will be interesting to see if they still address running back, because I think we all know how special, you know, the reigning now, the silly name Mr. Football is. I mean, he, you know, he is, you know, he is just a special, special player. No doubt about it. He may have spent, you know, a long time recruiting in Xavier Crowell. He can make a big impact. It will be interesting to see, and he's an early enrollee if they try to, especially now with only one portal window, are they going to try to add one more, you know, depth piece there?

Probably won't be somebody with the impact of Hollywood Smothers, but are they going to add a depth piece? You just mentioned the one today, and that may, they do need more competition to tackle. There's no, there's no question about that. Javon James did start 12 of the 13 games for Mississippi State after coming over from Akron. He's played the left tackle position in the SEC. That experience is invaluable. He's on campus now. He hasn't officially committed, but there's strong indication that Alabama leads to this situation, and he would be another quality piece, you know, to that offensive line hall in the portal.

I mean, they've already brought in Ty Haywood, who they had recruited the year before, who redshirted a year at Michigan. I know that the spin for the Michigan side was they didn't think that he'd lift up to his billing, but look, he's still a young player. And then Caden Strayhorn played for Coach Saban, his father did, at Michigan State. He's another one that could probably be either a center or a guard, probably a guard for you. It started in their bowl game against Texas. You know, Nick Brooks, ironically, on the other side, he can play both guard and tackle.

He's another big body who can come in. Probably the best of them, though, is the kid from Cal Poly, Racine Delgado. He's probably going to be your center. Then you bring in Ethan Fields from Ole Miss, who can definitely play guard. But, I mean, this had to happen because you saw it. I mean, Alabama was basically only left with about five offensive linemen after everybody transferred after the season. So, now I will say this, I'm not sure that the player development had been what it needed to be under Cap.

We'll see if he returns to coach the offensive line. I would like to see, you know, a guy like Scott Huff come back to the staff that was going to be the offensive line coach originally, but went to the Seahawks. He's now the tight end coach for the Rams. I'd like everybody to kind of start over with a fresh, under a new coach and a fresh slate and just compete in the spring. But, certainly, they've got to get better along that offensive front. But, I think they've done a nice job at the portal addressing it.

And then, I think they did a good job with the defensive line because they lost so many pieces to the transfer portal and to the NFL after the year. You know, Devin Tompkins was the first piece. He's got a lot of potential. So, I like the addition of Terrence Green to kind of take the place, you know, of Tim Keenan. And then, Kendrick Bigley-Jones from Mississippi State, I think he's a little underrated. And then, you've got a young guy, Caleb Smith, who, you know, is originally from the state of Alabama, from Washington, who will probably play the Bandit spot.

[1:52:18] And then, of course, Desmond Zulu. That's what I'm calling him right now, anyway. Right. South Carolina, the senior. He's another one that I think could be a quality team. But, pardon me, the biggest needs for Alabama in the portal going in were offensive and defensive lines. And I think they, along with special teams, addressed those very effectively. And now we'll see if they can make the necessary adjustments, in my mind, coaching those positions on the staff. Yeah, absolutely. Great stuff. As usual, where can we get online to get all the latest with you?

As I mentioned, additional hour, bonus hour for talking ball now. The Huntsville Crimson Panthers continue to roll. Where can we get online to get all your good stuff? Yeah, it was a big win last night over a really scrappy Albertville team, 64-53 for Huntsville. They're going to be, of the games right now, as you know, we're under another snowmageddon watch. We could have some more winter weather. We seem to have one year in the North Alabama threat. Those games with Grissom have now been moved up.

Huntsville will be playing on the road against Jack Dawson's Grissom Tigers. A victory could seal 7A area, 7A the regular season. Those games have all been moved up on Friday. They're still on Friday. We've got word today that they are going to be moved up in the afternoon. So those will be an earlier tip to try to get ahead of the weather. Prattville still scheduled for Saturday, but that could very easily be moved and rescheduled. So it will be a 1 o'clock JV boys game, 2.30 varsity girls, 4 o'clock boys game on Friday.

But they can connect with me at 9770SPN on my X account since I continue to have the Iranians that hijacked my regular one. And then, of course, you know, you connect with our show on 97.7 on our SoundCloud account or 9770SPN.com. And we appreciate the shout out. Yes, we have moved the last two weeks to three hours from 7 to 10 a.m. And we're really excited about that. And we always enjoy being on 939 to score with you today and talking some of all. Absolutely, buddy. Listen, stay safe during the weather.

We'll see you. And you're right. They're going to be a lot of rescheduling. And Drew DeArmond joining us, talking a little Alabama in the SEC. I was going to take care of the show today. Rumor has it, Harold Buggs is going to be coming back on tomorrow. I appreciate James for producing the show. His wife, Kim, is doing much better. That's an interesting prayer. And for James, Blair, Greg, and Harold Buggs, thank you for listening today. Harold Paul Feinbaum is next. Have a great day, everybody.

We'll see you next time.