KSR Today: Joey Hart, Aaron Bradshaw and Mitch Barnhart
Rise and shine, Big Blue Nation. It’s commitment day for 2023 three-star guard Joey Hart, a major Kentucky basketball target and much-needed depth addition to the upcoming roster.
The 6-foot-5 guard out of Linton, IN backed out of his commitment to Central Florida in May, and after taking an official visit to Lexington earlier this month, he’s ready to make an announcement. That will come at 12 p.m. ET, sources tell KSR.
Hart is set to choose between a final three of Kentucky, Indiana and Rutgers, with Texas and Notre Dame also expressing serious interest after reopening his recruitment. The Wildcats are seen as overwhelming favorites to land the standout shooter.
The Linton-Stockton standout earned SISN Indiana Highschool Boys Player of the Year honors after averaging 23.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists per contest while shooting 41% from three as a senior. He wrapped up his high school career with an impressive 1,901 points, 424 rebounds and 224 assists, leading his team to a Class 2A state runner-up finish and a 29-2 overall record. Suiting up for Grand Park Premier on the Under Armour Association circuit, Hart led all players in scoring and total 3-pointers made (75) while shooting 46% from deep in 2022.
Should he join the fold, Hart will become the Kentucky program’s seventh freshman addition, joining DJ Wagner, Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards, Aaron Bradshaw, Reed Sheppard and Jordan Burks. The Wildcats are also making a push for 2024 four-star center Somto Cyril, a potential reclass candidate and plug-and-play physical presence in the frontcourt.
Eight is on the table, which would be the most for John Calipari since the 2017. But it starts with a seventh today.
Come on down, Joey Hart.
Aaron Bradshaw suffers foot injury
And then there’s the bad (and potentially season-altering) news that surfaced early Friday afternoon.
Bradshaw, a consensus top-ten recruit and prized frontcourt addition for the Wildcats, has suffered a fracture in his foot and could miss the start of the 2023-24 season. Shams Charania of The Athletic first reported the injury, adding that the Kentucky program expects a full recovery.
With surgery, the foot fracture could keep the 7-foot-1 freshman away from live game action anywhere from 4-6 months, multiple sources tell KSR.
Just hours after the report, Bradshaw was seen at Kentucky’s Father-Son Camp interacting with campers without sign of major injury — no boot or limp.
No official confirmation from John Calipari or UK Athletics regarding Bradshaw’s status or potential timeline for return.
Mitch Barnhart talks alcohol, facility upgrades
With the conclusion of the 2022-23 competition season, Mitch Barnhart sat down with the media on Friday to discuss the current state of UK Athletics and what’s to come in the future, namely with alcohol sales at sporting events and plans for new and/or upgraded facilities around campus.
For starters, the UK AD confirmed that beer and seltzer will be available at all athletic venues this fall, including football and basketball games. This move comes after a successful trial run this spring with baseball and softball.
“Obviously, there will be a much larger scale as we move into a couple of the bigger venues. So we’ve got some training and some getting ready to do,” Barnhart said. “But I think our people understand some of the challenges that have occurred at other places and we’ll use those experiences, plus the knowledge that we learned from this spring, to be able to make sure we manage it correctly.”
Barnhart also discussed facility upgrades, namely progress on turf installation at Kroger Field, the Nutter Field House and Memorial Coliseum renovations, and the new indoor track-and-field facility. What about John Calipari’s push for a new practice facility for the men’s basketball team? That remains on the back burner while the other projects are completed.
“The things that are right in front of us are the things that I mentioned earlier, construction-wise. That’s what we’ve got to finish, we’ve got to work on those projects and we’ve got to make sure we’re completely secure on those as we continue to move forward but [Executive Associate Athletics Director Marc Hill] works daily on our master plan of the university, making sure that we’re thoughtful about where we’re trying to go in the future and we’ll continue to talk to Cal about that, making sure that he’s a part of those conversations.”
How about a football season ticket update? We got one of those too, with Kentucky nearing 37,500 tickets sold, outpacing last year’s number — they sold 38,262 season tickets total last season.
“We usually sell more as we get closer to kickoff so I’m thankful for the support,” he said. “Looking forward to a full Kroger Field. I think it’ll be really exciting, so I’m looking forward to that.”
For Barnhart’s complete 45-minute presser, watch below:
Bob Huggins arrested for DUI
The hits keep coming for West Virginia basketball coach Bob Huggins.
After earning a suspension and seeing his salary reduced by $1 million after using an anti-gay slur in a radio interview back in May, Huggins has now been arrested for DUI in Pittsburgh. The incident occurred Friday evening, according to Jeff Jenkins of MetroNews.
“According to information from Pittsburgh police, Huggins was driving a black SUV at around 8:30 p.m. on Merchant Street off of Ridge Avenue when officers observed the vehicle in the middle of the road blocking traffic. Police said the driver’s side door was open and the vehicle had a flat and shredded tire,” Jenkins reports. “Officers directed the male driver on how best to move off the road so they could help with the flat tire. When they observed him having difficulty maneuvering the SUV to allow vehicles to pass, they activated their lights to pull him over.
“Upon questioning, officers had strong suspicion to believe the male was intoxicated. They asked him to exit the vehicle to perform standard field sobriety tests, which he failed. The male was placed in custody without incident and transported for further testing.”
Huggins was later released from custody and will appear for a preliminary hearing at a later date.
Will West Virginia keep the 69-year-old coach in Morgantown? Seems unlikely at this point.
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