KSR Today: Portal closes, stadium renovations, MBB heads to UT and WBB beats UF

As quickly as the transfer chaos began for Will Stein in his first official offseason leading the Kentucky Wildcats, it’s all going to (mostly) come to an end when the clock strikes midnight. There will be a couple of exceptions — Indiana and Miami (FL) players get an extended window after the national championship game and a February signing period will open the door for leftover high school and JUCO additions — but the bulk of roster-building efforts for 2026 will be complete today as the portal closes following 15 days of pure insanity.

Players must enter the portal by midnight on Friday, and while they’re free to commit at any point once they’re officially in, imminent add/drop deadlines for the spring semester all across the country complicate things for athletes wanting to take their sweet time. This is expected to be a mad dash to the finish line with final pieces being moved in place this weekend as we transition to spring ball in March — including for Kentucky.

We’re on commitment watch, folks, so keep your head on a swivel.

Names to keep an eye on

Kentucky has crushed just about every aspect of this rebuild with most position groups addressed and upgraded. One glaring omission? The studs — you need to get them to feed them, after all.

Wide receiver is priority No. 1 going into Friday, and we may not have to wait long for some big dominoes to fall.

Former LSU receiver Nic Anderson took his first visit to Kentucky and the predictions are rolling in for the Wildcats in a hurry. That’s a massive one to watch, Stein hoping he returns to form as the guy who went for 798 yards and 10 touchdowns at Oklahoma in 2023. Injuries have kept him off the field since, out for all of 2024 and limited to 106 yards and two touchdowns at LSU in 2025.

Another situation to monitor? Southern Utah’s Shane Carr, entering his junior season with big-time production in back-to-back seasons in 2024 and 2025. He started in ten games as a true freshman and led the team in receiving, tallying 31 receptions for 621 yards and six touchdowns. He followed up on that breakthrough campaign by catching 50 passes for 744 yards and four touchdowns.

The Wildcats could be adding both in short order.

Elsewhere, C.J. May (Louisville EDGE), Hiro Carr (Morgan State CB), Evan Chieca (New Haven TE), Racin Delgatty (Cal Poly iOL), Ezekiel Durham-Campbell (Coastal Carolina EDGE), Logan Goodwin (IUP EDGE) and Klayton Sattler (Augustana TE) are among the other names to keep an eye on going into the weekend.

Kentucky’s portal commitments

Who does Stein have locked up already? The list is up to 29 names and counting.

Player	Position	High School	Former School	Year
Olaus Alinen	G/T (6-6, 322)	Windson (Conn.) The Loomis Chaffee School	Alabama	Redshirt Junior
Jesse Anderson	S (6-0, 180)	Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Cardinal Gibbons	Pittsburgh	Redshirt Junior
Max Anderson	iOL (6-5, 311)	Frisco (Texas) High	Tennessee	Redshirt Sophomore
Elijah “Bo” Barnes	LB (6-1, 244)	Dallas (Texas) Skyline	Texas	Redshirt Freshman
Jovantae Barnes	RB (6-0, 211)	Las Vegas (Nev.) Desert Pines	Oklahoma	Redshirt Senior
CJ Baxter Jr.	RB (6-1, 227)	Orlando (Fla.) Edgewater	Texas	Redshirt Junior
Ahmad Breaux	iDL (6-3, 278)	Ruston (La.) High	LSU	Junior
Jordan Castell	S (6-2, 213)	Winter Garden (Fla.) West Orange	Florida	Senior
Brock Coffman	WR (6-10, 155)	Sayre (Ky.) School	Louisville	Redshirt Freshman
Xavier Daisy	WR (6-3, 210)	Norcross (Ga.) Greater Atlanta Christian School	UAB	Junior
Ja’Kayden Ferguson	WR (6-2, 187)	Missouri City (Texas) Thurgood Marshall	Arkansas	Sophomore
Aaron Gates	Nickel (6-0, 198)	Jacksonville (Fla.) Trinity Christian	Florida	Redshirt Junior
Jamarrion Harkless	iDL (6-3, 315)	Lexington (Ky.) Frederick Douglass	Purdue	Redshirt Junior
Lance Heard	T (6-6, 330)	Monroe (La.) Neville	LSU | Tennessee	Senior
Mark Manfred III	CB (6-1, 175)	Marietta (Ga.) Sprayberry	Missouri	Redshirt Freshman
Kenny Minchey	QB (6-2, 208)	Hendersonville (Tenn.) Pope John Paul II	Notre Dame	Redshirt Junior
JacQai Long	QB (6-2, 205)	Hurricane (W. Va.) High	Marshall	Redshirt Sophomore
Antonio O’Berry	EDGE (6-6, 240)	Huber Heights (Ohio) Wayne	Tiffin (D-II) | Gardner-Webb	6th-Year Senior
Tom O’Hara	P (6-1, 197)	St. Bedes College (Melbourne, Australia)	Murray State	Junior
Coleton Price	iOL (6-3, 318)	Bowie (Texas) High	Baylor	Redshirt Senior
Spencer Radnoti	LS (6-3, 230)	Canton (Ga.) Cherokee	Georgia State	Redshirt Sophomore
Ben Reeves	DL (6-1, 240)	Covington (Ky.) Catholic	Georgetown College	Redshirt Sophomore
Cyrus Reyes	S (6-1, 200)	Taylor (Texas) High	Mississippi State	Junior
Mark Robinson	T (6-5, 320)	Longwood (Fla.) Lyman	UTEP	Junior
Hasaan Sykes	CB (6-0, 185)	Tucker (Ga.) High	Western Carolina	Junior
Tegra Tshabola	iOL (6-6, 322)	West Chester (Ohio) Lakota West	Ohio State	Redshirt Senior
Tavion Wallace	LB (6-1, 239)	Baxley (Ga.) Appling County	Arkansas	Sophomore
Dominic Wiseman	iDL (6-2, 300)	Davenport (Iowa) High	South Alabama	Redshirt Senior
Adam Zouagui	K (5-11, 188)	Herndon (Va.) High	Davidson | South Florida	Senior

Kentucky announces Kroger Field upgrades

Mitch Barnhart is looking to pretty up Will Stein’s new home (and bring in more money to continue feeding the studs in Lexington). Seven targeted upgrades were announced for Kroger Field on Thursday’s Champions Blue Board of Governors meeting, projects set to cost $25 million with an annual revenue generation of $4 million from home football games before debt services. Additional revenue will be brought in via concerts and events.

“We can’t be stagnant in terms of our thoughtfulness and how we’re trying to create revenue,” Barnhart said.

UK’s goal with these enhancements is to “expand premium areas in Kroger Field, improve fan amenities, and create new year-round revenue opportunities across the athletics complex”. These projects were originally authorized by the University of Kentucky Board of Trustees in 2025.

Below are the seven announced upgrades:

1. North Upper Deck Seatbacks
2. South Upper Deck Seatbacks
3. Loge Club Infill
4. Club Seat Infill
5. New Terrace-Style “Back of Bowl” Seating (flexible, social viewing areas)
6. Scoreboard Patio Clubs (standing-room-only premium space and new sponsorship inventory)
7. West End Zone Field Club (a modern membership-driven experience with year-round potential)

Otega Oweh and Andrija Jelavic preview Tennessee

Not sure if you’ve heard, but Kentucky has a pretty big game coming up this weekend — and it’s against a team we all hate. The Cats will travel down to Knoxville to take on the Vols on Saturday for a 12 p.m. ET tip on ESPN.

KenPom gives UK just a 31 percent chance to pull off the win with a projected score of 75-70, favoring the disgusting orange. Bart Torvik is even lower on the Wildcats’ chances, rolling with a 77-67 loss while giving them just an 18 percent chance to leave Thompson-Boling Arena with a victory.

What does Mark Pope’s team have to say about that pessimism? Oweh and Jelavic will speak to the media this morning at 10:30 a.m. ET to preview the matchup. KSR will be in attendance with all of the coverage you can handle this afternoon and leading up to the opening tip in enemy territory.

Kentucky WBB avoids scare vs. Florida

As the men’s team looks to add another win coming off Malachi Moreno’s buzzer-beater in Baton Rouge, the women’s team handled business at home with a 94-89 victory vs. Florida to move to 17-2 (4-1 SEC) on the year and 10-0 in home games.

Tonie Morgan (shocker, right?) led the way with 26 points on 8-9 shooting and 9-13 at the line with 13 assists, followed by Clara Strack with 21 points and five rebounds with three blocks. Jordan Obi, Asia Boone and Amelia Hassett added 12 points apiece, too, as the Wildcats shot 54.8 percent from the field as a team, 38.7 percent from three and 73.7 percent at the line.

Up next? A trip to Starkville to take on Mississippi State (14-5, 1-4) with the Bulldogs entering the matchup with four consecutive losses. Last season, Georgia Amoore and Dazia Lawrence combined for 55 points and 14 made threes in a 91-69 win for Kentucky to open SEC play. That matchup is set for Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on SEC Network+

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That’s all for now. Time for Stein to get some commitments rolling and start the weekend hot.