KSR Today: Kentucky women's soccer opens 2025 season

Kentucky women's soccer - Marissa Gilchrist, UK Athletics

Good morning, folks! I’m back to work after a nice week away from blogging. I spent some time in Virginia to see family and the rest of it at home knocking out the mindless chores I’ve been putting off for months. It was a great break — and exactly how I planned it in my head, honestly. There’s something therapeutic about ~~spring~~ summer cleaning. I also have to send a general thank you to everyone in the KSR community who wished me a Happy Birthday over the weekend. Much appreciated from all.

But now it’s back to the grind. I missed the rollout of the BBN United fan club, the preseason AP Top 25 poll, Kentucky football’s first fall scrimmage, schedule updates, more official visits, and even Tyrese Maxey asking fans how to use a can opener, for goodness’ sake. I can’t miss anything else. Time to lock back in.

Let’s start by diving into this morning’s top news and notes.

Kentucky women’s soccer kicks off 2025 season

A new season of Kentucky women’s soccer begins this evening in Lexington. The ‘Cats will make their 2025 debut at 7:30 p.m. ET (SEC Network+) against Jackson State inside the Bell Soccer Complex. UK is coming off an impressive 2024 campaign that saw them go undefeated at home, make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014, and even reach the second round.

There was plenty of roster turnover in the offseason (78 percent of scoring and 100 percent of goalkeeping were replaced), but six Wildcats were named to the 2025 SEC Preseason Watch List — forward Alexis Tylenda, midfielders Sophie Harlan, Skye Leach, Catherine Rapp, and Tanner Strickland, and defender Grace Hoytink. UK is picked to finish 10th in a deep SEC and is receiving some top 25 votes.

Tonight also serves as Bark at the Bell, so leash up those pups and go have a fun night on the pitch with friends and family.

Matt Jones on new UK-JMI deal

Earlier this week, UK announced its $465 million contract extension with JMI Sports through 2040. It’s a lot to take in, so Matt Jones hit the radio waves to help explain just what it means for the athletics department moving forward. The good: Kentucky has plenty of money to be competitive in revenue-sharing. The bad: there will no longer be a private collective to help funnel more money to athletes.

It’s all far more complicated than that, though. Allow Jones to give you his take through the video below. We’ll know more and more about this deal in the weeks to come.

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Matt Ponatoski throws GAS

Kentucky football commit Matt Ponatoski is the Wildcats’ top high school pledge this cycle — and he might be even better at the game of baseball. The Cincinnati (OH) Moeller product touched 101 MPH while throwing at the Perfect Game USA National Showcase this summer. His fastball was topping out at 95 MPH with an 80 MPH curveball. Ponatoski, who plans to play both sports at Kentucky, is considered a top 15 baseball prospect and a top 100 football prospect in the 2026 class.

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Kentucky football and baseball commit, QB Matt Ponatoski touched 101 mph throwing across the diamond this summer at the @PerfectGameUSA National showcase.

Ponatoski is a @Rivals rankings outlier and Top 100 national prospect in 2026.

Industry Comp: https://t.co/z5zICmXGCh pic.twitter.com/i4TXBvG3oQ
— Cody Bellaire (@CodyBellaire) August 13, 2025

A nice pay bump for Mark Fox

Mark Fox, Kentucky men’s basketball’s associate coach, came to Lexington on a one-year deal worth $200,000. He’ll enter year two with another year on his contract — in addition to a tidy pay bump. Fox will make $500,000 during the 2025-26 season as one of Mark Pope‘s top assistants. He’s a good piece to have on Kentucky’s side.

Fox previously served as the Director of Student-Athlete Relations and NIL Partnerships at Georgetown in 2023-24. Before that, he was a head coach at Nevada, Georgia, and California, picking up 324 career wins with four regular-season conference titles and five NCAA Tournament appearances. Fox was also the one who gave Pope his first-ever coaching job at Georgia back in 2009.

A fresh episode of 11 Personnel in your feed

You can almost taste the college football at this point. We’re a little over two weeks away from kickoff between Toledo and Kentucky inside Kroger Field. To make sure you’re as prepared as possible for August 30, the 11 Personnel crew of Nick Roush and Adam Luckett broke down every position on this year’s Kentucky football team in their latest episode. They also discuss the new UK-JMI deal, wide receiver competitions, and more.

Stay tuned to the website and KSR’s YouTube channel later today for player/coach interviews from Thursday’s football practice.

Join KSR Plus! With a KSR Plus membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.

Some movement within Kenny Brooks’ staff

Will Sims has been promoted to an assistant coach under Kenny Brooks‘ Kentucky women’s basketball staff, KSR’s Phoenix Stevens has learned. Sims served as the Director of Scouting & Program Analytics last season, but will swap roles with Kendall Dillard, who was an assistant coach in 2024-25, moving forward. Sims will earn $70,000 this coming season on a contract that extends through the following season.