- 1 week ago
Taylor Eldridge drops by with all the latest from Shocker Nation.
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00:05And now, digging deeper with the teams you follow, it's another Sports Daily Insider interview on KFH.
00:14And that insider joining us right now, Taylor Eldridge, fresh back from London, Wichita Eagle Zone.
00:22Taylor, how was the trip? Jet lag?
00:27Yeah, we just got back yesterday. But yeah, it was an awesome trip. The weather was amazing over there. Great
00:35for walking around.
00:37You know, I've obviously seen Wembley on TV, watched a couple, you know, soccer games.
00:43And to be in there, it's just massive. You know, I can only imagine what it's like, you know, when
00:48it's full capacity for an England national team game.
00:52So, yeah, that was really special. Yeah, just awesome trip. 10 out of 10.
00:59Taylor, I'm looking at some of the stuff you've been writing recently and going with the London game.
01:05KU finding progress in that running game. But you had a word from Lance Leipold in the postgame using one
01:13word to describe his level of concern.
01:15And we kind of talked about this a little bit earlier in the show with Henry, but he said extremely
01:21was how he characterized his concern on the running back.
01:25What's your thoughts?
01:28Yeah, you know, you know, obviously people from around Wichita, they know Dylan Edwards.
01:32You know, he was a derby superstar and he really hasn't been like a, you know, a workhorse running back.
01:40So that is kind of a concern when, you know, Willis went down, you know, it's up in the air
01:46how long he's going to miss time.
01:47The good news for KU, though, is they get the bye week and then next week is Middle Tennessee.
01:52So, you know, don't have to have him back until, you know, the Big 12, you know, in a couple
01:58more weeks.
01:59So that's good news for KU. I think, you know, obviously I was just hopping in for London.
02:06I'm not really covering the team, you know, week to week.
02:08So that'll be something that they'll figure out, you know, in, you know, two or three weeks and hopefully have
02:14them back in time for their next Big 12 game.
02:17All right, let's talk Shockers, Taylor.
02:19The last time you reported on the Shockers, you left a pretty good little nugget there for us to chew
02:25on,
02:25which was another legal turn for Kenyon Giles, a new court case in a different state, not Kansas, but a
02:33different state.
02:34As we see, well, we see that you we see that the Protect College Sports Act might take a little
02:42while and that'll that'll last.
02:45So if he can maybe win one of these court battles, he could be eligible, at least for the first
02:50part of the season.
02:51Where do things stand with him?
02:54Yeah, they're still just waiting on the judge right now, from what I can tell.
02:58You know, the case is basically in the judge's hand.
03:01You know, KG has joined that group that's challenging the NCO boys five year rule.
03:06The hearing has happened from what I could tell, the briefs are in.
03:10So there's no deadline for this, but, you know, it should be this week would be my guess would be
03:17the end of the week from kind of the reading the tea leaves on Twitter from national guys that are
03:24paying attention to this as well.
03:25They expect a ruling, you know, by the end of this week, if not, you know, early next week.
03:30And, you know, that's a big deal for Wichita State.
03:32You know, they actually start official team practice today and they still don't know, like, what their roster is going
03:38to look like.
03:39And that's a huge and it's not like we've talked about this before.
03:42It's not like Kenyon Giles is just a role player you can plug and play.
03:46You know, this is a entire this changes the composition of the team.
03:51You know, the way that they're going to play the rules for other players.
03:55You know, that's going to depend a lot on if Kenyon Giles is eligible or not.
04:01From what I can tell, you know, he's still still planning on playing for the Shockers, still around here in
04:05Wichita.
04:06And they're just kind of playing the waiting game.
04:09But, you know, with official team practices starting, you know, you would like some some kind of certainty with who's
04:16going to be on your roster.
04:17And right now, WSU doesn't have that.
04:20Taylor, when do they need some certainty?
04:22Like what's kind of obviously sooner to better, but are we getting close to some important deadlines as far as
04:29how that's going to work out?
04:31Yeah, I mean, that's a good question.
04:33And, you know, one I'd love to ask Paul Mills, you know, they haven't done, you know, any media availability,
04:39you know, since all this stuff came out.
04:41I asked this week and they said, you know, we'll talk to you guys sometime soon.
04:44So, yeah, that's a question I'd love to ask Paul Mills, because, you know, with the season, now that you're
04:51able to really dig in and practice with your squad, you would think that coaches would want roles, you know,
04:59squared away, you know, this time of year to know, you know, is Mike Gray going to play the point
05:04guard?
05:05Or is, you know, Kenyon Giles coming back and he's going to be on the ball, you know, 70%
05:09of the time?
05:11Jordan Freison, you know, is that something that would he be point guard?
05:15Or if, you know, KG is going to be on the team, he's probably not going to be on the
05:20ball as much.
05:21So, it just has such a massive impact for those guards, and especially just the way that WSU plays.
05:29So, yeah, I mean, I think they would like the certainty, like you said, sooner rather than later.
05:34But, yeah, right now, kind of just speculating until we hear from Paul Mills on what they're thinking.
05:41And hopefully that's going to be, you know, maybe later this week, early next week.
05:46Sometime, hopefully we can talk to them soon, because I would like to know the answer to that question, too.
05:50Because you would think that coaches would want to have those roles starting to form, you know, 45 days away
05:56from the start of the season.
05:58So, let's say Taylor will create a hypothetical Taylor Eldridge or Shocker Insider.
06:05Let's say he has success in one of these court cases and he's ruled eligible.
06:09And then, in, let's call it in late November, the Protect College Sports Act comes down.
06:19Can it take away that eligibility if it had already been granted in a court?
06:24Like, is there a world where Giles starts the season with Wichita State but doesn't finish it?
06:30Yeah, I mean, I would believe any combination.
06:34And, like, I'm not a, you know, expert in the courts, what would overrule what.
06:39So, I don't know if, like, the Protect College Sports, you know, how that would impact, you know, our previous
06:45judge's ruling.
06:47But, yeah, I mean, I think that that's what I've said all along.
06:50You know, I think this is going to go into the season.
06:53You know, even if he's eligible to play, I think it's going to be a question mark looming over, you
06:58know, those first few months.
06:59You would hope by, you know, conference season, you know, the start of the new year, we would have some
07:04kind of resolution on,
07:06are these guys going to be able to play or not?
07:08Because at that point, you know, you want to know for your NCAA tournament, you know, are these, what are
07:14the teams going to look like?
07:16And, you know, it's kind of crazy that we're even talking about that, you know, this late into the season.
07:20But I do think there's going to be uncertainty, that cloud hanging over, you know, that first month of the
07:27season.
07:27And, you know, remember, WSU has a couple big games, too.
07:31You know, that Kentucky and USC game are both in November.
07:35So, yeah, I mean, it's going to be a crucial month for WSU that first month to see if Kenyon
07:42Giles can be eligible.
07:44Because we've talked about it before, you know, it just raises the ceiling so much, you know, if they're able
07:50to make this work on the court.
07:53And I would assume that, you know, the coaching staff, they ran this by players.
07:57And, you know, they're okay with it.
07:59So, if the players are on board, obviously the coaches are on board, KG's on board.
08:04You know, that should make for the chemistry to make this work.
08:09And, you know, if they can make it work on the court, man, this team could be special.
08:14But we're not going to know the answer until we get this initial court hearing.
08:18And then even then, you know, who knows what could happen.
08:22So, I do think there's going to be uncertainty pretty much for the rest of this year, for sure, I
08:27think.
08:27Boy, what a wild start to the season it could be when you think about all that.
08:31And the other thing, Taylor, just to remind us, I think you've mentioned this before, but Kenyon Giles, I mean,
08:38he's basically kind of all in on this, right?
08:40Because I believe you were telling us not too long ago that when it came to any pro prospects that
08:46he had, he's kind of missed some windows on being ready for that, right?
08:50So, he's really kind of all in on playing for Wichita State, hopefully.
08:54Yeah, I think the guys that are fighting for their eligibility right now, they kind of are all in because
09:00this is about the time that, you know, the pro contracts are signed.
09:05You know, most of the time they're in August.
09:06So, yeah, I mean, I'm not too, you know, locked in on, like, the international contacts.
09:12But I know August, September are usually when guys figure out where they're going.
09:17They sign the contracts.
09:18And, yeah, I mean, if this doesn't work out, you know, there's going to be a lot of guys, not
09:22just Kenyon Giles, but there's going to be a lot of guys in that limbo.
09:26And they might just have to sit out a year.
09:28You know, maybe they find some league that runs, you know, in the winter with a little later start.
09:34I think there are some.
09:36I want to say Samajah Hinge-Jones actually played.
09:38Forgot what country he was in, but his league didn't start until, you know, January, February.
09:45So, maybe they can find something like that.
09:47But, yeah, they are pretty much all in on this.
09:50And, you know, that was kind of a question running through my mind.
09:53At what point does he just kind of bail and just be like, hey, I'm just going to take the
09:57for sure money, go sign somewhere overseas, start my professional career.
10:02But it sounds like he is all in.
10:05He's committed to coming back to Wichita State.
10:08Last I heard, but, you know, things can obviously change day to day.
10:11But, yeah, that's a good point, too.
10:13But I do think the longer this thing goes on, they are – the opportunities to go play right away
10:19pro ball overseas, those are evaporating.
10:24For the Shockers, Taylor, what is sort of the next – outside of Kenny and Giles, which is, of course,
10:29what we're all paying attention to.
10:30What is the next thing?
10:32They work this time of year.
10:34Are they in full practice yet?
10:35Are they able to do all their full work on the calendar?
10:39Yeah, it just started today.
10:41So, they're going to do their full practice at Coke Arena, yeah, today, 45 days before their first game.
10:47So, yeah, I mean, that's – that is why today is a big deal because now that they're turning their
10:55attention to the full practice, no limitations.
10:57You can go out there and practice as long as you want, be in the film room, you know, the
11:04weight room, all that stuff.
11:06So, obviously, there's some hour protections there.
11:09But, relatively speaking, they can go much longer on the court now.
11:14So, that's why, you know, it's important for them to kind of figure out those roles.
11:19And, you know, without knowing with – you know, is this a team with Kenny and Giles or without it,
11:25that's just kind of looming over everything right now.
11:28But, yeah, they have a couple weeks of practice, and then they'll do some scrimmages.
11:32I think they're going to do two.
11:34They have a Missouri State one coming up at Coke Arena in October.
11:38I think they're going to do another one.
11:40And I haven't heard yet on the other scrimmage, but they usually do two scrimmages and then an exhibition game
11:46before the start of the season, too.
11:48So, we should know more, you know, about that stuff in October.
11:51But right now, yeah, first official day of practice is today.
11:55Taylor, I'm glad you mentioned that exhibition game.
11:57That's kind of what I was going to go to next.
11:59See your piece from the Eagle talking about that, adding Murray State to that exhibition game.
12:04That'll be October 7th in a charity exhibition game in Coke Arena.
12:09So, talk about that.
12:10Murray State coming in.
12:11That's a pretty decent team.
12:12The Racers, they've made some noise before.
12:14That seems like a good primer.
12:16Yeah, that's – I forgot.
12:18That's my jet lag right there.
12:20I wrote that when I was in London.
12:21So, I forgot.
12:22Murray State, that is the second one.
12:24So, yeah, they're coming to Coke Arena.
12:26The little Kevin Saul special.
12:27You know, that's where he came before WSU.
12:30So, I'm sure he had something to do with that.
12:34Yeah, and also, I think, you know, that Kentucky game, too.
12:37He worked at Kentucky previously, too.
12:39So, I think Kevin Saul is helping, you know, Paul Mills get some of this stuff done.
12:43Yeah, Murray State, you know, that's a borderline top 100 team coming into this season.
12:48If you look at, you know, the Bart Torvik rankings, I think they're like 105 or something like that.
12:54So, they're very close.
12:55And, you know, that's a solid team.
12:57You know, that's a good, you know, mid-major team to come into Coke Arena, kind of give WSU that
13:02first test.
13:04And so, yeah, I mean, those are the kind of teams that you want coming in to practice against and
13:10see kind of the measuring stick.
13:11And, you know, before the real thing starts.
13:14So, yeah, Missouri State, Murray State, and then we'll see about the exhibition.
13:18Taylor Eldridge back home in the States.
13:21Welcome home.
13:22Just in time to get us ready for Shocker basketball.
13:24We will follow along with all the reporting at the Wichita Eagle, at Taylor Eldridge on X.
13:30See the latest with Kenyon Giles, hopefully here soon.
13:33Taylor, glad to have you back.
13:35Awesome.
13:35Thanks for having me.
13:36Talk to Taylor again next week as we wrap things up here.
13:40A couple more minutes on the show, Brady.
13:43Man, good stuff.
13:46You've got to be comfortable with getting eligibility and then losing it, I guess.
13:50And I think that they are.
13:52And I would be, too.
13:53I'm fine with that.
13:55Injury update.
13:56Alec Pierce of the Colts.
13:58Apparently, he's on IR.
14:00Yeah.
14:01That's tough.
14:02At least four games.
14:03He's good, man.
14:05He got overpaid.
14:06He is good.
14:08Yeah.
14:09All right.
14:10That does it tomorrow.
14:11Our betting insider is in.
14:14Our K-State insider, Tim Fitzgerald, is in.
14:17He'll be with Pat Boyle, our betting insider.
14:18That's all coming on a Thursday edition.
14:20For Brady, for Max, thanks to Taylor Eldridge and Henry Greenstein.
14:23I'm Jacob.
14:24We'll see you tomorrow.