KSR Today: Mark Pope speaks, Florida injury report, and WBB/VB in action

Good morning, folks! It’s going to be a busy day in the world of UK Athletics. Let’s talk about it, starting with Mark Pope‘s Kentucky men’s basketball program.

Coming off the Wildcats’ season-opening 77-51 win over Nicholls earlier this week, Pope will hold his weekly press conference later this afternoon. Expect injury updates on the likes of Jaland Lowe (shoulder) and Trent Noah (ankle) ahead of Friday’s home game against Valparaiso in the BBN United Tipoff Classic Presented by Kentucky Tourism (Drew Franklin tells me I’m legally obligated to say the event’s full name).

Lowe has been trending in the right direction ever since going down with an injury to his non-shooting shoulder during the Blue-White Game on Oct. 17. Pope said after Nicholls that we could see Lowe back against Valpo — we’ll have a better idea of how possible that truly is later today. As for Noah, he appeared to twist his ankle in the first half against Nicholls, and despite being good enough to return, Pope elected to hold him out for the second half. He was spotted wearing a boot yesterday.

Stay tuned to the website and the KSR YouTube channel for immediate updates on everything Pope says during today’s presser. Kentucky will host Valpo (in the BBN United Tipoff Classic Presented by Kentucky Tourism) on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. ET on the SEC Network+. Now, let’s dive into the rest of this morning’s news and notes.

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Kentucky vs. Florida injury report

Mark Stoops‘ Kentucky football program has a chance to win two straight SEC games this weekend when Florida comes to Kroger Field. The first Availability Report of the week dropped last night, and it featured some good news and some bad news. As for the bad news, CB Terhyon Nichols is listed out, but CB DJ Waller appears to be on the verge of making his return after not playing since Week 1. WR Ja’Mori Maclin was not listed on the report after sitting out last week’s win over Auburn.

• WR Troy Stellato: Out
• RB Jamarion Wilcox: Out
• DB Terhyon Nichols: Out
• DB Jaden Smith: Out
• LB Devin Smith: Out
• OL Aba Selm: Out
• WR David Washington Jr.: Out
• TE Elijah Brown: Out
• DL Tavion Gadson: Probable
• CB DJ Waller Jr.: Probable

Meanwhile, Florida’s receiving core is dealing with plenty of injuries. Find out more about who could be missing for the Gators on Saturday by clicking here. An updated report will drop later this evening.

WBB back in action at Memorial

Kenny Brooks and his Kentucky women’s basketball program will look to start the season 2-0 with a home win tonight against Monmouth (6:30 p.m. ET | SEC Network+). UK opened the season on Monday with a 75-59 victory over Morehead State, led by a pair of 15-point, 15-rebound double-doubles from both Jordan Obi and Clara Strack. Kentucky didn’t shoot the ball particularly well (37.3 FG%, 16.7 3PT%), but dominated the glass and blocked a dozen shots.

Now Monmouth stands in the way. The Hawks beat Chestnut Hill 81-42 in their season-opener earlier this week. This will be the first-ever meeting between Monmouth and Kentucky. KSR’s Phoenix Stevens will have a full preview of tonight’s game on the website later this morning.

Tyran Stokes is on the move

Pope and his staff are heavily pursuing Tyran Stokes, the top-ranked high school recruit in the 2026 class. Stokes found himself mixed up in some headlines on Wednesday. He is no longer enrolled at Notre Dame (CA), the high school announced, with reports coming out indicating that he was “facing disciplinary issues at the school, including altercations with students.” As of now, there has been no indication of which school Stokes will land at next.

Stokes is officially down to a final three of Kentucky, Oregon, and Kansas. The ‘Cats continue to be the team mentioned the most in intel pieces.

Kentucky VB begins important stretch

Everything is on the table for Craig Skinner’s Kentucky volleyball program. UK is ranked No. 2 in the country and is sitting alone at the top of the SEC standings with an undefeated 11-0 league record. Only four more regular-season matches remain on the schedule as Kentucky looks to win its ninth straight conference title. Up first is the Missouri Tigers (16-8) tonight in Columbia at 7:00 p.m. ET on the SEC Network+.

If the Wildcats can take care of business tonight, it sets up a massive showdown on Sunday at Memorial Coliseum against No. 19 Tennessee on ESPN. Skinner wants a sold-out crowd for that one, filled with nothing but blue-colored fans. Tickets are still available through the link here. KSR’s Penelope Steffek-Lynch has a preview of this week’s matches, which you can read by clicking the link below.

[Kentucky VB Faces Pivotal Weekend vs. Missouri and No. 19 Tennessee]

High school football playoffs begin tonight

With some potentially severe weather making its way to the Bluegrass over the next couple of days, we have a loaded schedule of high school football action tonight to get the postseason rolling. Nearly 90 games will take place throughout Thursday and Friday. You can find the full schedule here. The KSR Game of the Week will be in Lexington on Friday to watch Lafayette host Bryan Station.

The KSR YouTube channel is COOKING

Wednesday brought a ton of video content over on the KSR YouTube channel — you don’t want to miss any of it, either. Here Comes The Boom has the latest on Kentucky’s recruiting efforts, Memorial Memo previewed the women’s game tonight, Sources Say discussed the win over Nicholls and dives into the Stokes situation, and 11 Personnel got us ready for Saturday with some football talk.

And guess what? There’s more to come! Not only will you find Pope’s press conference from today over there, but you’ll also get to watch this week’s edition of the KSR Happy Hour, which will begin as scheduled around 4:00 p.m. ET. We’re hoping Jacob Polacheck has an update on his mice situation.

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