Kentucky basketball loses IN THE FIRST ROUND to Oakland and everyone is sad | Rapid Reactions

During the Kentucky Wildcats’ opening round game of the 2024 NCAA Tournament on Thursday night in Pittsburgh, the 14-seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies officially began its Cinderella run following an 80-76 win over 3-seed Kentucky.

Senior guard Jack Gohlke was unconscious against the ‘Cats, raining down 10 three-pointers (one shy of tying the NCAA Tournament record) en route to 32 points. Antonio Reeves countered with 27 points of his own for UK, but a more confident Oakland team flexed its way to the program’s biggest upset in school history.

The Golden Grizzlies went 15-31 from deep. Reed Sheppard finished with just three points on 1-5 shooting for Kentucky. Oakland’s bench finished with 19 more points than the ‘Cats. Tre Mitchell chipped in 14 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out.

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I would say this is unprecedented I would say this is Unthinkable but unfortunately we’re kind of used to this stuff at this point Kentucky Falls once again in the NCA tournament one and done just like SEC tournament in Nashville just like two years ago in against St

Peters 80 to 76 a loss to the 14th seed Oakland Golden Grizzlies suffered at the hands of Jack Goki they the one guy that we kind of talked about Ed nauseum leading up to this is the three-point sniper that you just can’t leave open can’t give open shots he was the one guy

That ends up sending Kentucky Home in um just unbelievable fashion where now none of the ingame commentary matters because this is another just unspeakable loss in March I I it’s it’s it’s very weird to even talk about this as a reality Tyler I mean coming into this into

Tonight I I don’t think I’d entertain the possibility that Kentucky could lose in the first round again and so when it happened I I think I was kind of numb um I’ve been trying to kind of process those feelings and of course I’m very sad that it happened we all are this is

Not how this team this very special team which you know including Reed Shepard and we’ll talk about him a little more later was supposed to go out and as fans you we’re heartbroken about that but for me I do feel like there’s a sense of relief because it feels like if all of

The scenarios in this tournament that could happen after this crazy season there seems like there is going to be some certainty I hope some clarity about paths forward what will happen we don’t know exactly what’s going to happen with John calip Perry’s future but to me it kind of feels like the

Writing’s on the wall and I we just can’t keep going forward like this two first round losses in three years the one that wasn’t was the second round loss this is not Kentucky basketball and it’s just not sustainable anymore yeah so Stephen you are our resident Um passion filled human being

Um I know that you take these losses harder than just about anybody um I know this this tournament run was important for you just in terms of you know not having a middle ground not having a what happens if we get to the Sweet 16 and

You lose in a heartbreaker at the buzzer you know that just that awkward gray area what happens then and uh it sucks that it wasn’t on the other side of the aisle where we would all want to be in Phoenix celebrating and and getting the most out of this unbelievably enjoyable

Team one that I have had it the absolute pleasure of working with from start you know dating back to Toronto playing I was on Reed Shepard and Rob dillingham’s team on at Fantasy Camp like just going back to last summer the the pure Bliss that was this team in riding the ways of

The ups and downs and knowing that the finish line now has no tangible reward for all of the the you know kicking the can down the road of well it’s just UNCC Wilmington it’s just three home losses at Arena something that’s never happened before we can accept all of those things

Because we know what the end Vision looks like now that’s not even a thing now built for March meant absolutely nothing from the beginning Stephen how do you weigh those emotions knowing what being a Kentucky Wildcat means and the blue blood status that Unfortunately they have not been very blue as of late

We’ll always have Global Jam that gold medal man yeah we got gold standard make a one shiny moment real I sorry no you’re fine um man it sucks like I like I growing up in Louisville I took a lot of flack supporting John caliper I mean my loyal friends hated John caliper

And then kind of hated me because I would I defended him for against everything I mean I I would have taken a bullet for John calip Perry I think in 2012 12 like I I mean I just came short of worshiping that guy I I was in Paduka

Kentucky for the trophy tour and I remember when Matt Jones actually came off the bus first but isn’t that weird yeah that’s weird Matt Jones is riding the bus with John calip Perry but you know John calip Perry comes off the bus and I’m I think he’s a god like I look

At him like he has made my life and it’s just a basketball game but he’s made my life just so happy I’m looking around at all the people around me all my friends were all like this guy did that because we were I mean where we were at I didn’t

Think I would ever see a championship again I mean I just thought we’re just get mean the kind of guys we were bringing in wasn’t Kentucky talent and John calip Perry flipped that switch so fast I mean I seriously like I mean I idolized that guy like he I mean he

Brought so much joy to me and my family and my friends and I just know all the talk right now about like he’s not you know he can’t come back next year and that that seems to be like there aren’t very many people that are saying otherwise and that this I never ever

Thought ever that this is where we would be with John caliper I never thought that it would be like this so I’m just devastated and I think that’s where my big frustration so the joy that you talk about and where this started and and the highs that were just that nobody has

Seen in I I mean I couldn’t tell you the last time a team in the college basketball landscape dominated and had high and excitement the way we saw up until that 2015 run with with Kentucky and we had stuff since I mean the 201617 team was a blast and the Tyler hero PJ

Washington like we’ve had those moments but the issue that I have with accepting what the product has been the last several years and what the end result has been is it if you accept the way things have looked now it it Dam s the glory that we had experienced to

Start this and and the product and the the true gold standard of all this John caliper as a Hall of Fame coach and as you know a God to so many here in Kentucky if we okay what we’re seeing right now and in the the final product

That we’re getting and just kind of saying well the way the ball bounces is it it minimizes just how special those previous years were you are dampening the product that you put out that nobody could touch in college basketball so I I just I there are times that I I just

Don’t know how much he he realizes he’s hurting his legacy by not just saying this stuff sucks right this product is not enough right now is that hard to say I think it’s really interesting to think about obviously you know from 2009 to we’ll even end it right before Co

Because that team was on a run who knows what they could have done calip Perry will remind you that a million times but after then it feels like there’s just a trend with each of his teams no matter how differently they’re built no matter if they’re built from the transfer

Portal and have the national player the year in Oscar sheway no matter if they’re built full of freshmen and have you know just Elite young Talent his original recipe in March they just crumble and I felt like at times both tonight and in Nashville at the SEC tournament quarterfinals like I was

Watching those teams from you know 2022 and 2023 they were tight they were nervous they were out of syn they couldn’t get anything together and it’s just it’s a bummer because he really really was having everybody you know believe that this team was different they were built for March they had so

Many fun moments but in the end the endings the same we’re going home the first round and it’s just to me you know if you keep getting the same results you got to evaluate who’s at the top and I mean that’s that’s going to be the conversation for the next however long

And um it’s certainly been the conversation here um we were in the postgame press conferences and Jack you can probably speak to this Mitch Barnhart was there he did decline comment when asked about you know calip Perry’s future um but Jack you had a

Good view of where he was I I mean I was I stood right next to him the entire time and I was watching his facial expressions just to kind of see like how does a guy like that who clearly has a decision to make whether it is you know

What let’s try one more run like whatever that is stay or go he has a decision to make this offseason that I don’t think he has had up to this point and watching him kind of process every word that John caliper said at the podium he was kind of not so subtle

About sharing some of those emotions there was there were a couple times that as C was talking Mitch kind of just had like a that slight Shake of the head like this just isn’t well let’s let’s run through those comments that he made because I think they’re interesting

If I could I mean I didn’t see him like you did but if I had to guess it was probably every time that caliper blamed youth probably Mitch shook his head right MH or every time there was an if you know or it just I feel like we’re hearing the same

Excuses over and over and over again and if you choose to build your team with youth and you think they’re built for March and then you know 10 months after most of these kids got here 33 games into the season you’re still blaming youth it’s your own fault you know it I I

Don’t MV Mitch at all it’s a very difficult decision calip Perry’s buyout is very big 33.4 million that doesn’t just grow on trees um but yeah I mean I we all heard at the end of the game fans were upset um I actually got hit by a

Beer that was fun shameful I didn’t know that oh yeah it’s shameful so we were getting ready to leave you know pack up and there was a fan I don’t even know if it was an angry Kentucky fan or a jubilant Oakland fan it’s a loser whoever it is they threw their beer

Trying to throw it onto the court it hit the back of my chair so I I wasn’t hit by the can but I was hit by the actual beer so beer all over my jacket that was fun I wish they would have just passed it to me and I could have chugged it

That I could have enjoyed it then right yeah so that was a fun moment um you know there’s this book called players first [Laughter] and the author of it said that and if the Kentucky this is it’s John caliper and he said in his book that the uh

Before he got there Kentucky had won two NCAA tournament games in four years and that just doesn’t happen in Lexington that can’t happen in Lexington um how many have they won in four years now one so that’s not good and I mean you know it’s like there’s parody and the game has changed

I I get I get that but Yukon is you know sorry man like you know they’re do like I mean like at some point it’s like okay I can handle I can handle a disappointing March I can handle three disappointing marches if you give me one solid run I have said this repeatedly

Really since the John wer I’ve told to several people like that was if you win the SEC regular season the SEC tournament or get to the Elite 8 I will I will call that a good season and and and you don’t have to do it every time

Cuz all three of those are really hard to do but we got to get we got to do one of those we got to get one can we get one in four years like is am I asking too much no you’re not I mean and if you think about it the regular season

Success there wasn’t really much there either yeah you had the win over UNC which was great um you had the win at Auburn the win at Tennessee there were some fun moments but you also had the first three game losing streak in rep Arena history like there wasn’t any SEC

Tournament success like even if this team had gone on a run in Nashville you could have that moment I mean Jack you talked a lot about this you could have had that Feelgood confetti moment a little bit of a cushion that would hopefully get this team on a roll but no

They they they choked they collapsed and we saw a repeat performance tonight and that’s why minimizing everything up to this point as I said and clearly Cal had an issue with it because every time he had a microphone in his face since then he said that this was all part of the

Agenda and what we’re rooting for and ab abute nonsense which now’s not the time to tell people how to fan just being totally transparent it’s time for some accountability and to look at yourself in the mirror and say you know what maybe I should just sit this one

Out the product up to this point is how we got the zigging while everybody else in college basketball was was zagging John caliper tried the transfer portal thing tried to go with the Rhode Islands and the uh kraton and the uh georgas and and West Virginia he built a portal

Heavy roster and it fell on its face there were highs with those teams too but the final product wasn’t Kentucky good as he said he put those words out into the ether like that was him saying that that product wasn’t good and decided to go all in on youth decided to

Go all in and say I’m going to go with what I know works I’m and that was almost the the Second Chance in Kentucky fans eyes the the the vibe that I get from them was the product up to this point hasn’t been good enough in recent

Years but they were willing to give him a pass a because the entertainment value was there this was a fun team the personalities were good so they could rally behind this group seeing the end goal but now when you can’t dangle that piece of meat on the stick anymore what

Like this was the dream roster this was the team we wait for all last that Cal said that he this was his team this is the one that’s built for Mar it was that is the piece of meat that was hanging on the end of the stick and now it got

Ripped off in a stray dog named Jack gokki took it and ran it into the round of 32 like that’s that what is left that’s this was kind of the defining moment the the pivot the the the fork in the road this was choosing one path and

Sticking by it and saying we’re pushing all of our chips in that if that’s not if we don’t get the end result we’re looking for then what is like what what would it take what there is no recruiting class I hated hated the comments that cal made after the game

Saying well I’m just really excited about next year’s group it’s one that I really trust you this was that you can’t just keep gaslighting this fan base and and saying well the next one is just I promise this one it had its flaws but just wait till next year we can’t keep

Doing this it’s it’s just been a revolving door and a a circle of life that the has just sucked in recent years I I you were in there Tyler as as he was saying those things and I I’d like to get your live reaction because I only

Got the the the tail end of that it it’s frustrating so he blamed we talked about this a little bit he blamed youth for the loss talking about how the team was really anxious which he chalked up to Youth and not being used to the stage and then they make critical errors

Because they’re young they’re freshman he literally said the line they’re freshman what do you expect and but went asked if he was going to change his roster building philosophy he was like but I like what I’m doing I like having freshmen you it would be really hard for me to change

And then he launched into I’ve got a great group of guys coming in next year and you know maybe some of these guys will stay and we’ll bring in some pieces from the portal and but then he kept went back to but I really liked how I

Coached this year and I thought it went great and and that’s the other big question you know the big question now is what happens with Cal and I this will be related but you got to think about the player decisions too you know I think there are some PE some guys who

Are obviously going to go to the draft you know dylian ham DJ Wagner I’m not going to speak for them by any chance you know means but another big question is Reed Shepard I mean I jack I want you to talk about Reed because you were in

The locker room and you too Stephen I mean he was distraught and before we get to that it’s we do have to note it was his worst game he had two field goals I mean it’s just one just one how many times did he shoot the ball five times

He ended up shooting five he was one for five three points I mean that has to be his worst outline of the year and I felt so bad for him because you could tell he wasn’t have any fun you know he’s a pretty stoic guy out there but he never cracked

A smile once none of the team none of the team did that I saw I don’t know about you guys but yeah it was it was and and look I’ll be honest I appreciate the NCAA policy and you know SEC as well up at the open locker room it’s a blast

When things are fun and you get to you know get it to we have get to personal levels with the players that you don’t necessarily get in a you know 5 10 minute timed interview uh during the regular season so it’s a chance for getting personal with these kids that

You’d never really get to leading up to this point but when it’s on the flip side of things and it’s just absolute heartbreak and Devastation that’s not something that I personally like seeing I know it’s like there’s a section of the fan base that like lashes out at you

For sharing the pictures and the videos from there like why don’t you guys give them their space it’s like well it’s not our decision it’s the ncaa’s decision so it almost adds to like the ickiness feeling of well our jobs to cover it I mean it’s the unfortunate reality of it

And I’ve been in those losing locker rooms too I think in 2015 I was like Midway through the horde of people going into the locker room and I turned around and just worked my way back out cuz I I emotionally couldn’t handle it but so I yeah and Reed Shepard being just kenty

Son like the the the the pride and joy the the Legacy recruit the number 15 like that that this was his moment this was his March and to walk in there and see Reed Shepard sobbing and saying I love my brothers I love this team this has been such an unbelievable

Roller coaster that I just never want to get off that unfortunately now I have to Stephen it’s hard to kind of put even into words just how sad it was seeing Reed just kind of lose it just that raw emotion of this no m whatever his decision ends up being this will never

Be the same no matter what the future holds with the the head coach with his teammates with the stay and co go decisions with the transfer portal none of this will ever be the same and there was a a very clear level of Devastation on Reed’s part I mean I feel like we’ve

Been talking about Reed Shepard since he was 12 years old or maybe even younger I mean I remember listening to ksr you know long before I was working here and you’re talking about Reed uh you know playing games in seventh grade and eighth grade and and waiting for him to

Uh eventually you know he wasn’t all you know I mean I know there was he’s looked at other schools but I mean we always thought he was going to go play Kentucky of course and it I I you know I think you know he’s got a decision a ision to

Make too and just like seeing him in the locker room being like man is this is this like the last time I’m going to see Reed in a Kentucky Uniform like is that that would just like that’s not how it’s but I mean winning a national title is

Going out I mean like that’s the dream right but but it’s like if you go on a run if you make the elite eight if you go to the final four um if you win the he said win the SEC tournament I just I kind of wanted to see we had this like

Eight years of or or however long of talking about his kid and look forward to him playing for Kentucky and I I was I was 8 years old when they won in ’98 so Jeff Shephard me my dad was having me watch Jeff shepher tape you know to be

Like this is how you need to come off curl screens and stuff you know like I I I was a big fan of Jeff and so obviously enjoyed watching Reed if that’s the you know I I guess I wanted that that moment I wanted that confetti moment for him um

And yeah man being in that locker room it sucks I just everything you said about the ickiness of it like I feel kind of like a POS like when I when I’m pointing my camera at at these kids who are I mean you know they’re living a

Pretty great life but this is probably their tough one of the toughest days of their life we’re just I mean working in news I had to experience that a lot putting a camera in somebody’s face experiencing something terrible and I just felt back CU like that’s when the

Moment when you realize oh they’re kids cuz we really don’t see reach show a ton of emotion and I was like that’s when you go oh man this kid’s like he’s like he’s not even 20 years old like and this and everybody’s going to be talking about how poorly he played unfortunately

Yeah I mean I was like I have my Twitter pulled up and I just saw a CBS Sports you know HQ video it was like where were you Reed Shepard where were you I hate that those are the headlines coming out it’s like if I hope that’s not the ending for him

Here I mean if he goes on and gets drafted High we’ll we’ll wish him nothing but the best and cherish the time we had with him but I just hate that his career at Kentucky could have ended on that note it just breaks my heart and I’ll say there’s not a

Negative word I have about anybody on this team the roster I I I look in that locker room and see Z sitting there on his phone I see Jordan Burks and I see Rob Dillingham and like all these guys that had their own individual thing like whether it was energy on the bench

Whether it was you know highlight reel or being the three point like everybody had something that you loved about each of them and knowing that there is a nonzero chance that everybody in that room has some type of decision to make whether it’s going pro whether it’s deciding to come back whether it’s

Deciding to hit the transfer portal what does Trey you know Trey Mitchell and Antonio Reeves that is the last time we’ll see those guys so it is just it’s just devastating to know that a team that clearly had National Championship promise one that had all of the pieces and tools and excitement and

Personality and and Vibe of a national championship level team and to not have anything tangible to leave is is just it’s speechless like you go you talk to aduo and he was like you know is it is it frustration or is it sadness like how do you process your emotions knowing the

Levels of high that you experience but also knowing that it never resulted anything he was like dude I’ll be honest like I don’t even know how to process that I don’t know how to put that into words because it like yeah this has been one of the most fun

Experiences of my lifetime but what do any of us have to show for it like it’s just it’s just all of it was for nothing and that’s a really weird gray area that like there is only one answer with with with that when you are left in that type

Of gray area because there is no excuse for this team to not reach the highs of the highs at the very end of the day yeah I mean I we’ll see if or if and when changes made but to me I think the writing is on the wall I’m I think that

This was the one solution aside from a final four National Championship where it’s like well you know what’s going to happen now and if anything I’m just trying to take a little comfort and the clarity so we’ll see it’s going to be an interesting off season I’ll say that

Stephen closing thoughts I feel bad for you no yeah uh I’ve uh I’ve got I it’s been my dream to cover Kentucky uh basketball and football but uh and uh so far I’ve seen uh zero SEC tournament wins and one NCA tournament win over Providence so um still not seen a second

Weekend by the way yeah or a Sunday in Nashville but like and it’s hard to look into next year and be like okay well yeah Jaden quinton’s coming in Boogie fln and these guys and I’m sure they’re good but but will we play the right lineup like will we see a lineup they

Goes oh that that works you can actually win a title with that lineup and Cal will say not so fast we’re going with something different and that’s I mean it’s like how do I get excited like how do I go how do I I asked you just a a

Few minutes ago like how do I go to Big Blue Madness next year and be like here we go I just don’t know how i’ do that with this and I again I love c i everything that Cal all the all this happiness that he’s given me and it’s

Just a game it’s just a stupid game but it matters to a lot of people and I know he’s given this I know he’s given the entire Commonwealth and all of Big Blue Nation a lot of great memories and if this is the end of the road like I hope

That there’s a day it may never happen but that there’s a John caliper day in rup Arena and we thank him for everything that he did and you know maybe he’ll come back and he’ll win number nine I don’t know we cannot just keep dangling the

Piece of meat in front of these fans the fans deserve to eat at some point and unfortunately they have gone hungry we will see what happens it’s going to be a very interesting couple of days out hours days and weeks absolutely but unfortunately the offense uh the offseason begins now

Um and we’re very upset about it for Jack for Steven for Tyler we’re sad at president