KSR Today: One month since Calipari to Arkansas, Kentucky Baseball and Softball in action
Good morning, friends. Can you believe it’s been one month since word first broke that John Calipari was leaving for Arkansas? To say it’s been a crazy 30 days since would be an understatement, but things are slowing down a bit — at least momentarily.
Mark Pope and his staff are still hard at work on the roster, waiting for NBA Draft decisions from a handful of prospects and communicating with others in the portal. The NBA Draft Combine (Jaxson Robinson) and G League Elite Camp (Chaz Lanier, Wooga Poplar, Kadary Richmond) next week should bring some movement as players get significant feedback on whether or not they should return to school for another year. High school recruiting heats up the following weekend (May 17-19) at the EYBL stop in Indianapolis, the first time Pope and his staff will have boots on the ground in Kentucky gear at an event.
Until then? All is a little too quiet on the basketball front. On Monday, we got one piece of good news from Matt Jones, who reported that Club Blue, Kentucky Basketball’s NIL collective, has received over $650,000 in recurring annual commitments since Pope was hired in addition to private donations totaling nearly $5 million. Club Blue hopes to increase that number to $1 million by the meet-and-greet event with the team in June (you can help them get there by clicking here). We also found out that Adou Thiero is following Calipari to Arkansas, which was a bit of a surprise.
Last night, Jack Pilgrim and Shawn Smith discussed the current state of Kentucky’s roster and what’s next on a new episode of Sources Say. If you missed it live, check it out below or wherever you find your podcasts.
While we wait for basketball news, there are two events on the diamond to keep us entertained, weather permitting. That’s where we’ll start today’s rundown.
No. 4 Kentucky Baseball at Xavier
BBN in Northern Kentucky, today is your chance to cheer on the Bat Cats. Coming off the massive series win vs. Arkansas, Kentucky is up to No. 4 in the rankings and gets a break from league play with an afternoon game vs. Xavier in Cincinnati. It’s the Cats’ first midweek game since the win at Louisville on April 16.
First pitch is set for 3 p.m. ET and the game will stream on FloSports. If you don’t have a subscription, Daniel Hager will be providing updates on KSBoard. Showers are in the forecast, so cross your fingers that Mother Nature will play ball so we can watch this awesome team in action.
This weekend, Kentucky travels to Florida for the penultimate SEC series of the regular season. Next week, they’ll host Wright State on Tuesday and the Vanderbilt Commodores Thursday through Saturday. With six games to go, the Cats hold a one-game lead in the SEC and are in a good position to host a Super Regional for the chance to get to Omaha for the first time in program history.
Kentucky Softball starts SEC Tournament run
We still have a few weeks until the baseball team heads to Hoover, but the softball team starts their SEC Tournament run tonight in nearby Auburn. The Cats are the No. 12 seed and play No. 13 seed Ole Miss in the play-in game at 7 p.m. ET. The winner advances to play No. 5 seed Missouri in the first round tomorrow at approximately 1:30 p.m. Both games will be shown live on the SEC Network.
ICYMI, Gavin Wimsatt was in town
A familiar name came across our timelines yesterday when Matt Jones broke the news that former Owensboro High School star quarterback Gavin Wimsatt was visiting Kentucky. The Cats heavily recruited the former four-star prospect in high school, but he chose Rutgers instead. Now, after three seasons at Rutgers, he wants to finish his college career elsewhere. Is that at Kentucky as Brock Vandagriff’s backup?
As Adam Luckett outlined, Wimsatt has the wheels Bush Hamdan is looking for in the quarterback room but needs to develop as a passer. He also has experience, with 21 career starts (1,205 snaps), 2,537 career passing yards, and 25 total touchdowns (14 passing, 11 rushing). He has two seasons of eligibility remaining. We’ll have our ears to the ground to hear if he enjoyed his trip to Lexington, including the greeting from Vince Marrow at Bluegrass Airport.
Jamal Murray threw a heat pack in the Nuggets’ loss to the Timberwolves
In the words of Austin Powers, who throws a heat pack, honestly? Last night, it was former Cat Jamal Murray, who tossed a heat pack onto the floor during live game action of Game Two between the Nuggets and the Timberwolves. The referees didn’t notice it came from the bench so no foul was called, but afterward, they said Murray should have been called for a technical foul. The Timberwolves went on to win 106-80 to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored right after the heat pack hit the floor, finished with 27 points (10-15 FG, 3-5 3PT) and 12 rebounds. Murray had 8 points (3-18 FG, 0-4 3PT) and 13 rebounds. Game Three is Friday night in Minnesota.
Elsewhere in the NBA Playoffs, the Knicks beat the Pacers 121-117 to take a 1-0 lead in that series. Tonight, the Celtics host the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the East Semifinals and the Oklahoma City Thunder host the Dallas Mavericks in Game 1 of the West Semifinals.
EC Semifinals | Game 1 | Tied 0-0
7:00 PM (TNT): Cavaliers vs. Celtics
WC Semifinals | Game 1 | Tied 0-0
9:30 PM (TNT): Mavericks (PJ Washington) vs. OKC Thunder (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Olivier Sarr, Cason Wallace)
Dan Hurley was on Monday Night Raw
There was at least one brief moment in the past month in which we thought Dan Hurley could be Kentucky’s coach. That did not happen and we’re very happy with Mark Pope, but last night, Hurley made an appearance on Monday Night Raw. Who would win in a match between Hurley and Pope? Pope’s got the height advantage, but Hurley’s got crazy person energy. If the Cats and the Huskies ever square off in the Final Four, maybe this dream can become a reality.
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