We have ourselves a good ol’ radio war brewing in the southeast as Kentucky’s Matt Jones and Josh Graham of North Carolina exchange jabs. Regardless of who you agree with, Graham seems to be the winner solely because he has more to gain.
Jones has the bigger platform with his self-made brand, Kentucky Sports Radio. He’s used to battling headlining adversaries like Mitch McConnell, but that won’t stop him from firing back at the Triad radio host.
It started when new Wake Forest basketball coach Steve Forbes, shamed the University of Kentucky’s academics during an appearance on Graham’s Triad radio show The Drive on WSJS The Sports Hub. With Olivier Sarr choosing to transfer to Kentucky for his senior season, Forbes told Graham what he asked the now former Wake Forest center.
“I think the most important thing is, why would you go to Wake for three years, put all that time in for a prestigious degree, and end up getting your degree at a place like Kentucky?” Forbes told Graham of his conversation with Sarr.
Forbes’ comments were discussed nationally on shows such as ESPN’s PTI and Dan Le Batard’s Highly Questionable. Naturally, Kentucky Sports Radio opened their Wednesday show with the topic, garnering a listen from Graham and the Triad radio host didn’t like what he heard. Graham then went on his show and ripped KSR, calling out inaccuracies and poking fun at Jones’ accent
“Control your own damn show, dawg,” Graham said on-air Wednesday evening.
“If you’re going to take shots at Wake Forest, at least come correct…Nobody’s confusing your radio show with Colin Cowherd. Nobody’s confusing your radio show with anything other than some guys hanging together in Kentucky. Some slap-words I can’t say on the radio,” Graham continued. “I think that we could do their radio show better than they could.”
Graham’s advice caught the attention of Jones, who vowed to punch back.
It’s been an interesting first week for the new Wake Forest men’s basketball coach. Beginning with an odd intro video which featured some uncomfortable acting and continuing with a dig at the University of Kentucky. But without much sports to react to right now, credit these two radio hosts for furthering the story and giving us some entertaining content to follow.
Brandon Contes is a former reporter for BSM, now working for Awful Announcing. You can find him on Twitter @BrandonContes or reach him by email at Brandon.Contes@gmail.com.
Josh went too far. To comment on the basketball was fine, but making fun of Kentucky fans and citizens was just juvenile and lowbrow. It was also a bit odd of him to beat his chest about academics, given that his education came from ECU. My dog could graduate from that place.