KSR Today: The Masters tee off; Mark Stoops joins the show

ZGeogheganKSR

Good morning, folks! We’ve actually got an exciting few days coming up in what are typically the early dark hours of post-basketball season. Today is just the beginning as Tiger Woods starts his run at another green jacket. Also, we’ll have plenty of Kentucky football content on the way from today’s practice. *Reminder that the Spring Game is now just two sleeps away.* Plus, as a special treat, Wildcat head coach Mark Stoops will join the radio show at 11:30 a.m. EST to talk some football with Ryan Lemond, Drew Franklin, Shannon the Dude, and special guest host Freddie Maggard.

It’s gonna be a fun one, so tag along. Now let’s dive into the rest of this morning’s news and notes.

TyTy Washington off to the Association

TyTy Washington‘s time at Kentucky has come to an end, officially declaring for the 2022 NBA Draft and hiring an agent. The freshman guard confirmed the news with ESPN on Wednesday, hiring Kevin Bradbury of REP1 Sports for his representation.

Thank you BBN💙 pic.twitter.com/UDX9O24rdf
— Tyty Washington (@tytywashington3) April 6, 2022

The news wasn’t too much of a shock, as Washington has long been a projected NBA lottery pick and continues to fall in that category according to several recent mock drafts. But what did stand out were his comments to ESPN, stating that his ankle still isn’t fully healed after the initial injury against Auburn on Jan. 22.

“I wasn’t anywhere close to full strength in the past two months of the season,” Washington told ESPN’s Jonathan Givony. “My ankle had moments where it felt really good and then others it was really hurting. After the Auburn game, that’s when things went downhill. It was a nagging injury that I never really got right. I’m still not 100% now, but I’m getting close.”

Washington finished his lone season at Kentucky averaging 12.5 points, 3.9 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game while shooting 45.1 percent from the field and 35.0 percent from 3-point range. He earned unanimous All-Southeastern Conference Second Team honors, was named a five-time SEC Freshman of the Week selection, a semifinalist for the Jerry West Award, and a finalist for the Kyle Macy Award honoring the nation’s best freshman.

He’s gonna do just fine in the NBA.

Tiger Woods headlines day one at The Masters

Day one of the 2022 Masters Tournament has already teed off, with the first group starting bright and early at 8:00 a.m. EST. This year’s event should see an unexpected ratings boost, as five-time winner Tigers Woods will make a surprise appearance. He tees off at 10:34 a.m. along with Louis Oosthuizen and Joaquin Niemann. As someone who otherwise wouldn’t have even known The Masters were even going on, I plan on tracking Woods’ progress throughout a hopefully long weekend for the GOAT.

Below are today’s tee times. Live coverage is available all day long on Masters.com

8:00 a.m. – Jose Maria Olazabal, J.J. Spaun
8:11 a.m. – Mike Weir, Padraig Harrington, Austin Greaser (a)
8:22 a.m. – Larry Mize, Sepp Straka, Francesco Molinari
8:33 a.m. – Fred Couples, Garrick Higgo, Guido Migliozzi
8:44 a.m. – Vjay Singh, Ryan Palmer, Kyoung-hoon Lee
8:55 a.m. – Min Woo Lee, Hudson Swafford, Cameron Young
9:06 a.m. – Stewart Cink, Brian Harman, Harry Higgs
9:17 a.m. – Zach Johnson, Si Woo Kim, Aaron Jarvis (a)
9:39 a.m. – Luke List, Matthew Wolf, Mackenzie Hughes
9:50 a.m. – Danny Willett, Jason Kokrak, Talor Gooch
10:01 a.m. – Max Homa, Kevin Na, Shane Lowry
10:12 a.m. — Kevin Kisner, Daniel Berger and Tommy Fleetwood
10:23 a.m. — Bryson DeChambeau, Cameron Smith, Paul Casey
10:34 a.m. — Tiger Woods, Louis Oosthuizen, Joaquin Niemann
10:45 a.m. — Hideki Matsuyama, Justin Thomas, James Piot (a)
10:56 a.m. — Adam Scott, Scottie Scheffler, Tony Finau
11:18 a.m. – Sandy Lyle, Stewart Hagestad (a)
11:29 a.m. – Lucas Glover, Erik Van Rooyen, Cameron Champ
11:40 a.m. – Bernhard Langer, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Cameron Davis
11:51 a.m. – Charl Schwartzel, Robert MacIntyre, Laird Shepard (a)
12:02 p.m. – Gary Woodland, Justin Rose, Takumi Kanaya
12:13 p.m. – Lee Westwood, Russell Henley, Corey Conners
12:24 p.m. – Patrick Reed, Seamus Power, Lucas Herbert
12:35 p.m. – Bubba Watson, Tom Hoge, Keita Nakajima (a)
12:57 p.m. – Marc Leishman, Webb Simpson, Sungjae Im
1:08 p.m. – Sergio Garcia, Thomas Pieters, Harold Varner III
1:19 p.m. – Abraham Ancer, Tyrrell Hatton, Sam Burns
1:30 p.m. — Dustin Johnson, Billy Horschel, Collin Morikawa
1:41 p.m. — Will Zalatoris, Patrick Cantlay, Jon Rahm
1:52 p.m. — Jordan Spieth, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele
2:03 p.m. — Matthew Fitzpatrick, Brooks Koepka, Rory McIlroy

Drew Franklin broke down his preview of The Masters yesterday, which you can read here.

Mackenzie Mgbako announcing Friday night

Mackenzie Mgbako, a five-star class of 2023 wing out of Gladstone, NJ, posted to Twitter yesterday that he will make his college decision this Friday, April 8 at 9:00 p.m. EST. It was revealed on Tuesday by On3‘s Joe Tipton that Mgbako is down to Kentucky, Duke, Memphis, and Ohio State. Clocking in at 6-foot-8, 185 pounds, the Gill St. Bernard product is considered the No. 5 overall junior according to the On3 Consensus.

Mgbako received his offer from Kentucky not long before making a trip to campus back in the fall of 2021. He was on that trip to Lexington with fellow New Jersey area five-star DJ Wagner and current Kentucky commit Reed Sheppard. Mgbako told KSR in January that he has a “great relationship” with UK, specifically Calipari and assistant coach Orlando Antigua.

However, Mgbako was been considered a Duke lean since he took an official visit in early September. On3 recruiting expert Jamie Shaw logged a pick in favor of the Blue Devils on Wednesday with 75 percent confidence. Other recruiting services such as 247Sports and Rivals also predict Duke as Mgbako’s landing spot.

We’ll have our answer soon.

Bat Cats begin series against Texas A&M

After Tuesday’s rivalry game against No. 4 Louisville was postponed due to rain, the Bat ‘Cats are now down in Aggieland for an early-weekend series against unranked Texas A&M (17-11, 4-5). The hosting Aggies, on the other hand, were not rained out of their midweek contest, taking down a ranked Texas State squad at home, 8-4.

Kentucky enters College Station with an 18-11 record on the season and a 3-6 mark in the Southeastern Conference, needing a big series win to stay in contention in the East. Starters for Thursday and Friday are currently unannounced while Saturday should see lefty Tyler Bosma take the mound.

Here’s the series schedule against Texas A&M.

Thursday, April 7 at Texas A&M
     9:00 p.m. EST; Blue Bell Park (College Station, Texas)
     TV: SEC Network; Radio: UK Sports Network

Thursday, April 7 at Texas A&M
     7:30 p.m. EST; Blue Bell Park (College Station, Texas)
     TV: SECN+; Radio: UK Sports Network

Saturday, April 7 at Texas A&M
     4:00 p.m. EST; Blue Bell Park (College Station, Texas)
     TV: SEC Network; Radio: UK Sports Network

ICYMI: Will Levis signs NIL deal with horse

This right here is why the NIL era is amazing.

Kentucky quarterback Will Levis is partnering with Thoroughbred stallion War of Will, a multimedia advertising campaign that focuses on the athleticism of football players and racehorses and promotes the selling of breeding seasons.

“We are thrilled to be the first farm to partner with a Division I athlete in this newly created NIL space,” Walker Hancock, President of Claiborne Farm, said in a release. “Having a star quarterback help promote one of our young and promising stallions is a new way of advertising that we think provides a perfect synergy of our brands. Will’s athleticism and performance displayed on the football field mirrors what we saw with War of Will on the racetrack and the reason he is such an exciting stallion prospect.”