KSR Today: South Carolina prep, 5-star visitors, and Availability Reports

Good morning, folks! Kentucky football’s prep work for South Carolina continues right along as we’re just two more sleeps away from the Wildcats’ first road game of the season. After yesterday’s practice, we heard from defensive coordinator Brad White, who will certainly have his hands full this weekend against versatile Gamecock QB LaNorris Sellers. Slowing down Sellers is the overarching key to a UK win.

“The way he commands the two-minute drill. He doesn’t get flustered. He seems very composed, in control of what he wants to get done,” White said of Sellers. “We got our hands full.”

That you do, Mr. White. South Carolina has dropped its last two games, both against SEC foes, but not due to Sellers’ lack of production. The junior signal-caller threw for 302 yards (18-28 passing) and a couple of touchdowns in last week’s loss to a ranked Missouri team. He’s also a threat to use his legs, but only if the South Carolina offensive line holds up long enough to allow him the room.

White had plenty more to say about Sellers and South Carolina’s offense as a whole. Before you dive into the rest of this morning’s news and notes, hear everything he had to say below. Kickoff in Columbia isn’t all that far away…

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First Availability Report of the week

Wednesday night brought us our first of four Availability Reports between now and kickoff against South Carolina. The Wildcats appear to be mostly healthy going into Columbia, but with one key exception: starting cornerback DJ Waller Jr. is listed as doubtful and could very well miss his third straight game. That’s not ideal for a Kentucky secondary that is already bleeding. But on the bright side, it appears that CB Terhyon Nichols, WR Troy Stellato, and DT Josiah Hayes will all be back after missing either all or part of the win over Eastern Michigan.

For the Gamecocks, starting right tackle Cason Henry, arguably South Carolina’s best offensive lineman, could miss a consecutive SEC game. Shane Beamer‘s squad is a bit banged up right now. We’ll have another injury update tonight, another on Friday night, and then a final one shortly before the game against South Carolina begins on Saturday (7:45 p.m. ET | SEC Network).

Tipoff times for ACC/SEC Challenge

Yesterday, ESPN announced tipoff times for every game in the 2025-26 edition of the ACC/SEC Challenge, now in its third year. Kentucky drew North Carolina this time around, and you’ll need to prepare yourself throughout the day to stay up for this one. The Wildcats and Tar Heels will go head-to-head in Rupp Arena on Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. Caffeine will hate to see the Big Blue Nation coming that day.

On the women’s side, Kentucky and Miami (FL) will play one of the early games. The Wildcats will hit the road on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 5:00 p.m. ET (ESPN2).

Kentucky VB starts SEC play 1-0

Now up to No. 3 in the national poll, Kentucky volleyball (8-2) opened conference play with a sweeping of South Carolina (25-17, 29-27, 25-18) in Memorial Coliseum. The Wildcats took control of set one late, but faced a massive hole in set two, trailing by as much as 18-10 before fighting back to win it 29-27. The Gamecocks were dead in the water from there, UK winning the third and final set decisively.

[Kentucky’s Comeback Sparks 3-0 Sweep over Gamecocks]

Another 5-star visitor this weekend

Five-star wing Anthony Thompson is in the midst of taking his official visit to Kentucky as we speak. But he’s not the only highly-rated recruit in Lexington this week. We already knew that five-star forward Cam Williams had planned to OV at Kentucky beginning Friday, but another name has been added to the list.

Jacob Poalcheck of KSR+ reports that five-star wing Christian Collins has moved up his trip to Lexington and will make his way to town later today. Collins was originally expected at UK in early October, but bumped up the date a week. He’s already visited Southern California and Oregon. Mark Pope is still searching for Kentucky’s first 2026 commitment.

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Zion Childress is going back to Houston

The Houston Texans’ secondary is not in good shape right now. The franchise has brought on former ‘Cat Zion Childress off the Cowboys’ practice squad to help fix that. Childress, who was born right outside of Houston, went undrafted in the spring before shining in Dallas training camp, but he only filled in a special teams role over the last two games. Now, he’ll have an opportunity to prove his worth as a productive NFL defensive player. The Texans face the winless Titans this Sunday.

KSR Happy Hour at 4!

It’s Thirsty Thursday once again this afternoon (4:00 p.m. ET ) over on the KSR YouTube channel. Join us for our weekly Happy Hour live show, where we take some time to relax, sip some Country Boy, and talk about whatever random topics (Kentucky-related or not) we can come up with. Last week, we discussed who would win in a fight: Mark Pope or Pat Kelsey? Come join the conversation today and have some fun with the KSR crew.

Thursday Night Football

We’ve got the Seattle Seahawks (2-1) at the Arizona Cardinals (2-1) on the NFL schedule tonight with kickoff set for 8:15 p.m. ET (Prime Video). Only one former Kentucky player is listed on either roster, Seattle DT Quinton Bohanna, but he’s a practice squad player and is unlikely to suit up. The Cardinals enter as a 1.5-point favorite, per BetMGM. I have Arizona’s defense on my fantasy team, so I’ll be rooting for plenty of Seattle mishaps.