UK Fans Of The Day Want Afternoon Notes
It’s a lonely Monday holiday at the Franklin household as I watch over Kentucky-Sports-Radio-dot-com so our readers have fresh content once they get in from the sunshine. I hope you remembered to wear your sunscreen and to mix in some water so you don’t get too dehydrated. I warned you.
Here in the air conditioning, I’m dusting off an old KSR tradition to add to your reading list. It’s a blast from the KSR past: a new edition of UK Fans of the Day Want Afternoon Notes with a throwback photo from the vault. I miss doing these.
— The biggest (and only) real news of the day is Kentucky Baseball’s exclusion from the NCAA Tournament field. It’s been five years since Kentucky last appeared in the tournament, back when the Wildcats made a run to the Louisville Super Regional in Nick Mingione’s first year. Now we wait to see if Kentucky did enough late in the season (won seven of nine before losing to Tennessee in the SEC semifinal) for Mingione, who has not yet commented on the tournament snub, to keep his job. The highs were high and the lows were low in 2022.
— In Louisville, Nike EYBL Session 3 played out its third and final day of basketball at the Kentucky Expo Center. Kentucky targets DJ Wagner and Aaron Bradshaw made their last appearances of the session in the 11 AM game. Wagner had 11 points and nine assists in the 63-60 win, only to be outscored by Bradshaw inside with his 16-point, 10-rebound double-double. Duke commit Mackenzie Mgbako led their team in scoring with 18.
KSR’s Jack Pilgrim and Zack Geoghegan will have more from Louisville on Wagner and Bradshaw, although both Kentucky targets were never made available for interviews.
— Robert Dillingham also competed in the EYBL’s Louisville stop and on Monday he added a 17-point performance to his highlight tape for the weekend. Remember, Dillingham is set to commit on June 24 with Kentucky as the presumed leader for the top-ranked point guard.
— About 80 miles south of Louisville, some lake-dwelling fans of the Cards have taken crazy to a new level. A banner hanging high above Nolin Lake reads, “Kenny Payne Won Those Games,” the new rallying cry of Louisville Basketball.
As Louisville fans celebrate Payne with the new catchphrase, I’d like to remind them they wouldn’t have “Kenny Payne won those games” without me sharing the video of Chris Mack. So, you’re welcome. Maybe I’ll fly an, “I gave you that phrase,” banner outside of my house, which is not on a lake.
— The NCAA’s deadline for NBA draft early entrants to return to school is approaching and by Wednesday at 11:59 PM ET, every returning player will have to make their move final if they intend to maintain college eligibility. For Kentucky’s purposes, Shaedon Sharpe and Jacob Toppin have not yet announced their draft-vs-college intentions, although both decisions seem pretty clear from the outside looking in. Sharpe has been as good as gone since he arrived on campus, while Toppin is expected to head back to Lexington to take on a much larger role for the Wildcats.
In related news, Happy Birthday, Shaedon Sharpe. Kentucky’s most famous practice player turns 19 years old today.
— Some sad news around the Kentucky Basketball program… former player and current radio analyst Mike Pratt has a new fight with cancer and needs some help. According to a new fundraising page for his medical expenses, Pratt already fought off tumors in his colon and liver in recent years and has had radiation to his jaw and his back. “The cancer once again returned and this time has spread even further,” the page says of his new diagnosis.
Tom Leach is one of many who put out the call for help for his radio broadcast partner.
John Calipari will match up to $50,000 in donation’s to Pratt’s fund.
Our thoughts and prayers are with Mike, a wonderful person and longtime friend to Kentucky Sports Radio.
— Here’s what not to do in sports radio. An ESPN Arkansas radio host is under fire for his comments regarding Arkansas Baseball’s catcher Michael Turner. Among the many things Derek Ruscin shouldn’t have said about a college athlete, he called Turner, a fifth-year transfer from Kent State, a “loser” and a “stupid ass.”
The station quickly announced some time away from the airwaves for Ruscin.
— Kentucky Sports Radio’s guest lineup for Matt Jones’ time away for summer vacation is now finalized for next week’s KSR shows. The show will be in its regular format tomorrow through the end of this week, but next week’s rotation looks like this:
Monday (6/6): Peter Burns
Tuesday (6/7): Pardon My Take
Wednesday (6/8): Tom Hart
Thursday (6/9): Bobby Bones
Friday (6/10): Bomani Jones
Tomorrow, we will have a full house at KSBar and Grille to recap the three-day weekend.
Now get back out there and enjoy your day off.
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