KSR Today: Sweet 16 action gets underway
Good morning, folks! Today marks the first day of the 2022 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 round, with four teams looking to lock up an Elite 8 spot on Thursday and another four coming on Friday. As we know all too well, Kentucky won’t be participating in the festivities, which might make the games more difficult to watch for you (or maybe it frees you of the postseason stress. Whatever works). But the sports world keeps on moving whether Kentucky Basketball is relevant or not.
Let’s dive into today’s news and notes.
Sweet 16: Day 1 tip times
7:09 p.m. EST (CBS): No. 4 Arkansas vs. No. 1 Gonzaga (West)
7:29 p.m. EST (TBS): No. 11 Michigan vs. No. 2 Villanova (South)
9:39 p.m. EST (CBS): No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 2 Duke (West)
9:59 p.m. EST (TBS): No. 5 Houston vs. No. 1 Arizona (South)
Well, this sure should be a fun night of tournament hoops. Arkansas and Gonzaga open us up with what has potential to be the most entertaining game of the day, if not the entire Sweet 16. Arkansas is still red-hot and the only SEC team remaining while Gonzaga is the tournament’s top overall seed and perhaps the favorite to win it all at this point.
Next, 11-seed Michigan and its third-year head coach Juwan Howard will look to play Cinderella against a well-disciplined Villanova squad with a track record of recent postseason success. Texas Tech has all the makings of a title team and ending Mike Krzyzewski’s career to get there sure would be a fun footnote. The undermanned Houston Cougars will close out the night against an Arizona squad with a legitimate shot at winning it all.
There will be plenty of storylines to cover throughout the night.
Also, if you’re someone looking to put down a bit of coin on these Sweet 16 games, KSR’s Drew Franklin has your betting guidelines right here — just make sure to take a trip over the border before doing so.
Another transfer name linked to Kentucky MBB
First, Kentucky reportedly reached out to Utah Valley star Fardaws Aimaq, who put his name in the transfer portal on Sunday. Now, a new report has the ‘Cats linked to another portal prospect: Missouri forward Trevon Brazile, who averaged 6.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game as a freshman in 2021-22. Clocking in at 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan, Brazile is viewed as a project in a similar way to that of Jacob Toppin when he transferred to UK from Rhode Island.
Arkansas, Illinois, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, and Cincinnati have also reached out to Brazile, he told Blake Smith of Recruits Zone.
Reaching out to Aimaq feels like a backup option in case Oscar Tshiebwe goes pro. Reaching out to Brazile feels like a backup option in the instance that one of Kentucky’s many forwards opts to transfer out of the program. Expect plenty more outside transfer names to surface over the coming days and weeks.
If you want the inside scoop on all the happenings of Kentucky Basketball as we dip into an unpredictable offseason, make sure to check out the latest episode of the Sources Say podcast, hosted by KSR’s Jack Pilgrim and Go Big Blue Country’s Shawn Smith.
Listen to the episode in its entirety below:
You can find all past and future episodes of the show by subscribing to the official Sources Say Podcast feed on iTunes right here.
Vote Oscar Tshiebwe for Naismith Player of the Year
Fan voting has officially opened for the 2022 Naismith Player of the Year Trophy, which is down to just four potential options that were announced on Tuesday: Kentucky’s Tshiebwe, Kansas’ Ochai Agbaji, Iowa’s Keegan Murray, and Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis. You can vote by going to naismithvote.com where you’ll pick one winner among the Men’s and Women’s National Player of the Year awards along with the Men’s and Women’s National Coach of the Year honors before submitting.
Voting opened on Tuesday and will run for one week, ending on Tuesday, March 29 at 6:00 p.m. EST. Fan voting accounts for five percent of the overall tally, so make sure to get a vote in every day for Tshiebwe. A winner will be announced during the Final Four on Sunday, April 3.
Mustache Man cashing in
Remember Doug Edert, the guy with the mustache that came off the bench to score 20 points in Saint Peter’s upset of Kentucky last week? How can you not, right? Well, Mr. Mustache forayed his March moments into a national NIL deal. Edert announced on Instagram Tuesday night that he’s partnering with Buffalo Wild Wings. He’s also launched an apparel line with Barstool Sports with the slogan “Dougie Buckets.”
(someone get Doug McDermott’s lawyer on the phone)
KSBar and Grille really fumbled the bag on this one.
Adidas embracing NIL era
Adidas is going all-in with name, image and likeness, launching a network dedicated to signing student-athletes — all of them — as paid brand ambassadors.
The network will be open to any student-athlete at all 109 adidas-partnered Division 1 schools reaching over 50,000 competitors across 23 different sports. Power 5 and HBCU programs will be the first to join the network.
It’s the first major sports brand to offer a group deal of this magnitude. It’s also basically what the company was doing five years ago, only now it’s legal.
That’s all the news and notes I have for you this morning. Make sure you tune into the radio show in an hour as Matt Jones and friends take over the airwaves.
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