KSR Today: Savvy Swords, Lincoln Watkins, Game 7, MCWS

I thought Nick Roush was making up the phrase Heat Dome to open the weekend, apparently a high-pressure system that makes it feel like a thousand degrees for days and sometimes weeks. He was not making it up, I can now officially confirm. You probably can, too, by simply walking to your mailbox and returning inside with a drenched t-shirt and sweat dripping down your forehead. And by the looks of things, it’ll be in the 90s from now through 2035 at this rate.

The heat allowed those of us in the Pilgrim household to enjoy a day in the sun at the pool on Saturday, so hopefully you’re able to do the same with some type of water and some cold beverage to beat the heat as we put a bow on the weekend. At minimum, enjoy the AC and leave the house only when necessary, preferably in the morning or evening outside that nasty mid-day window. We’ve got plenty of content coming on KSR to keep your attention, so get comfortable and have a day of rest on this Sunday.

Kenny Brooks pulls off a top-10 commitment

Don’t let the Kentucky women’s basketball program get hot — in fact, it might already be too late. Kenny Brooks has added a second five-star commitment in 2026, No. 9 overall recruit Savvy Swords choosing the Wildcats over UCLA, South Carolina, Notre Dame and Michigan on Saturday.

She joins five-star point guard Maddyn Greenway, ranked No. 10 overall and committed since November, in Lexington to give UK a pair of top-10 pledges in the class. Swords, a 6-2 wing out of Long Island Lutheran High (NY), averaged 16.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists while shooting 50 percent from three for the U17 FIBA World Cup Canadian National Team.

Swords and Greenway follow Kaelyn Carroll, a McDonald’s All-American in 2025, as recent blue-chip additions for Coach Brooks and the Wildcats.

Cats add talented TE Lincoln Watkins

Following a surprise official visit to Lexington this week, Kentucky earned a big-time recruiting win over SEC rival Florida on Saturday, 6-4 tight end Lincoln Watkins deciding to join the party as the eighth pledge in 2026 for the Cats.

Watkins, coming in at No. 591 overall and No. 31 at his position in the On3 Industry Rankings, continues the program’s hot streak in June — new tight ends coach Derek Shay flexing his muscles a little bit for this win.

“These coaches are nothing like I have experienced before,” Watkins tells On3’s Steve Wiltfong. “The culture is unmatched.”

Player	Position	High School	Ranking
Jordan Crutchfield	CB (6-2, 195)	Vero Beach (Fla.) High	High 3-star (No. 416 overall)
Messiah Tilson	S (6-2, 165)	Rockford (Ill.) Guilford	High 3-star (No. 450 overall)
Prince Jean	WR (6-0, 170)	Valdosta (Ga.) High	3-star (No. 713 overall)
Davis McCray	WR (6-2, 190)	San Antonio (Texas) Cornerstone Christian	3-star (No. 1,053 overall)
Cameron Miller	T (6-5, 310)	Hammond (Ind.) Morton	3-star (No. 1,320 overall)
Max Mohring	LB (6-3, 215)	Malvern (Pa.) Prep	Unranked
Delvecchio “Deuce” Alston II	RB (6-0, 200)	Hewitt-Trussville (Ala.)	Unranked
Lincoln Watkins	TE (6-4, 225)	North Port Huron (MI)	High 3-Star (No. 591 overall)

LSU shuts out Coastal Carolina to open MCWS finals

It wasn’t the prettiest offensive display in the world, but it was a pitching clinic put on by LSU to earn the 1-0 shutout to put the Tigers one win away from a second Men’s College World Series championship in three years.

Kade Anderson, making his final start on the mound at LSU, pitched a three-hitter with 10 strikeouts against Coastal Carolina in game one of the MCWS finals to hand the Chanticleers their first loss in 27 games — a streak dating back to April 22.

That sets up a win-or-go-home opportunity for Coastal Carolina in Omaha on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET on ABC. Should they pull that one off, we’d get a winner-take-all finale Monday night.

Game 7 of the NBA Finals

Speaking of winner-take-all finales, we get one of those late Sunday evening between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers, Game 7 scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on ABC.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander helped bring the Thunder back from a 2-1 series deficit to up 3-2 going into an elimination Game 6, only for the Pacers to throw one last haymaker to force a Game 7 with a 108-91 victory at home. That sets up this massive matchup, the first Game 7 in the Finals since 2016 and 20th in league history — a chance for SGA to turn his season MVP into a Finals MVP (-225) as the current favorite.

Home teams are 15-4 in Game 7s of the Finals while each of the last eight winners have been decided by single digits in 15 of 19. According to ESPN, the average margin of victory in Game 7 matchups is 6.9 points, the smallest margin among all Finals games — meaning you should be prepared for a back-and-forth down to the wire with everything on the line in OKC.

Can former Wildcats Gilgeous-Alexander and Cason Wallace do it? We’ll see tonight.

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Until then, stay cool and enjoy your Sunday, folks. Go Cats.