KSR Today: Kentucky Baseball at Louisville, Football Transfer Portal Opens, Pope Watch
Good morning, Big Blue Nation. We’ve got a heck of a day ahead of us. In addition to Pope Watch (what I’m calling Kentucky’s roster and staff rebuild under Mark Pope), the Bat Cats finally get to play Louisville, AND the transfer portal opens in football. Add in more comings and goings for Kentucky Women’s Basketball and the news just isn’t slowing down.
Let’s start with baseball and work our way through the agenda.
No. 3 Kentucky Baseball at Louisville
Lost in Pope Mania is the impressive work of another team on campus. Your University of Kentucky Baseball team is now No. 3 in the D1Baseball.com Top 25 after sweeping Auburn with a come-from-behind win on Sunday. The Bat Cats are now 30-5 and 14-1 in the SEC, two full games ahead of Arkansas atop the SEC standings. It was their third straight SEC sweep and No. 3 is the program’s highest ranking since 2018.
Tonight, they’ll finally get to face Louisville (21-14, 7-8 ACC). The first meeting between the two rivals in Lexington was postponed due to weather. Midweek games haven’t been kind to either side lately, as the Cats lost to Samford last Tuesday and the Cards lost to Western Kentucky the same night. Louisville won the only meeting last year 7-0 at Kentucky Proud Park.
Tonight’s game takes place at Louisville’s Jim Patterson Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. If you can’t make it in person, you can watch on the ACC Network or listen on the UK Sports Network (630 AM-WLAP locally). This weekend, the Bat Cats return home to host a three-game series vs. No. 4 Tennessee in one of the program’s most anticipated series ever.
Not getting ahead of ourselves, though. First things first. Ls Down. Daniel Hager will be by in a bit with a preview. Until then, have fun guessing what Nick Mingione and Mark Pope said to one another at Rupp Arena Sunday night.
Transfer Portal opens in football
Spring practice may be wrapping up, but you’ll have plenty of football news on your timeline soon. This morning, the spring transfer portal window opens. Players will have 15 days to enter the portal if they choose. There are currently 2,618 players in the portal; that number could be over 3,000 by the end of the month. Remember, just because players have to enter the portal by April 30, they can take longer to decide their next destination.
The fun doesn’t stop there! In addition to the transfer portal, there is now an open contact period in recruiting. Coaches can conduct in-person meetings and evaluations off of campus until May 25.
What does the spring portal season mean for Kentucky? Yesterday, the program got a commitment from JUCO OT Anfernee Crease. Some Wildcats will likely leave too. As Stoops said on Saturday, attrition is a way of life in the SEC.
“I need to lose a few. I need to get to 85. If I want to gain some, I got to lose a few.”
For more, I’ll direct you to Nick Roush’s transfer portal primer. Over at KSR+, Adam Luckett has an in-depth look at what Kentucky could be shopping for in the portal starting today. Is former four-star WR Karmello English one of them?
Pope Watch Continues
On the basketball side of things, it was a very busy Monday as several current Cats made future plans and Mark Pope held the first call-in show of his Kentucky coaching career. Let’s start with the comings and goings and work our way through some quick hitters.
Only two current Cats remain “undecided”
After the dust settled on Monday, two current members of the team remain in the “undecided” category of our roster tracker, and even that may change very soon. On Monday alone:
- DJ Wagner entered the transfer portal
- Zvonimir Ivisic entered the transfer portal and committed to Arkansas
- Aaron Bradshaw committed to Ohio State
- Ugonna Onyenso declared for the NBA Draft and shut the door on a return to college
That leaves Jordan Burks and Reed Sheppard. On his radio show last night, Pope acknowledged that Reed is a lottery pick, which is “not something to be taken lightly.” He encouraged Reed to follow his heart and lean on his faith but joked that he told Jeff he’ll be praying that God calls him back to Kentucky for a sophomore season. We’ll find out soon enough.
Coaching Staff news incoming?
Pope joked that he got lonely all by himself in the basketball offices on Monday. Who will join him? Pope said he has “a couple of guys” who they’re finalizing details with to add to his staff, which will hopefully happen in the coming days. On Monday’s radio show, Matt Jones said Pope will likely bring two staff members with him from BYU, one who has been with Pope for a long time focusing on Xs and Os, and the other who is younger and a “mathematical analytic savant.” While Jones did not name names, if you look at BYU’s staff, Cody Fueger and Keegan Brown seem like candidates, with Brown potentially taking an off-the-bench role.
We could get a piece of staff news before then. Jones said the program is going after a big-name hire, news of which could potentially come today. They’d also like to round the staff out with an elite young recruiter and someone with Kentucky ties, potentially a former player or maybe someone from the Calipari era as a grad or full-time assistant.
Until then, Pope will continue to multitask by reaching out to players Kentucky was already recruiting and contacting others in the transfer portal. That process, he said, is selective.
“What we’re really most importantly looking for is — we’re looking for great players with epic talent that can go hang a banner and that fit what Kentucky stands for,” Pope told Tom Leach. “That’s actually a lot. That’s a lot and it’s going to be a very selective process. I don’t think it’s just about going out and getting the most raw talent. I think it’s about going out and getting the pieces that can fit together to form a team that is elite and dangerous. Teams are complicated, it’s like a perfectly put together stew. There’s a real artistry to it and that’s what we’re pursuing.”
We’ll have our ears to the ground for the latest. If you’re a KSBoard member, you know at least one name Pope is pursuing thanks to a recruiting update from Matt Jones.
We’ll share some leftovers from Pope’s radio show today, including a great breakdown of his offensive and defensive philosophy and the impact analytics plays on his system. Needless to say, it was a very refreshing broadcast.
Should the Denim Unis return?
All the nostalgia of Pope’s homecoming has some fans clamoring for the return of the famous 1996 denim uniforms. When asked if the denim uniforms would make a comeback, Pope said he wanted to put the vote up to the people. So, what say you, BBN? Time to throw it back to the Converse unis for at least one game?
What would a modern take on the denim uniforms look like? Jersey artist extraordinaire 75toRupp shared his vision this morning:
If you haven’t yet, watch this video
I’ll leave you with Steven Peake’s excellent look at the buzz inside Rupp Arena on Sunday leading up to Pope’s introductory press conference. If you weren’t there, it’s the closest you’ll come to feeling the excitement in the building as the BBN waited to welcome home the captain of the Untouchables and celebrate the start of a new era of Kentucky Basketball. I was there and I’ve already watched it three times.
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