Mid-May is a busy time in the professional sports calendar, right in the middle of the NBA and NHL Playoffs, but it’s the slowest time of the year for college athletics. The college basketball transfer portal madness has concluded, and spring meetings for power conferences drive the conversation around college football. Thankfully, Mark Pope has intervened.
The Kentucky head basketball coach had an impromptu press conference on Tuesday, where he took questions from the media for more than 30 minutes. It was our first chance to hear his unfiltered thoughts on the new-look roster and dish on various topics that created headlines early in the offseason.
We heard his response to Travis Perry‘s surprising decision to enter the transfer portal at the 11th hour. He dished on Otega Oweh and Jasper Johnson, and make no mistake about it, Pope has plenty of beautiful words to describe his next roster.
My Favorite Thing Mark Pope Said on Tuesday
Mark Pope was unintentionally hilarious on Tuesday, and I’m not talking about his various beautifuls. When the Kentucky head coach was asked about Jaland Lowe, Pope said that the point guard has so much room to improve, particularly from an efficiency standpoint, now that he’s not surrounded by garbage basketball players at Pitt.
“It’s very rare that you run into a guy that’s been as pronounced a talent as he has that is dying to play with more talent around him, that wants to be a guy that steps into a program where he wants to stir the drink. He wants to make guys better,” Pope added. “He wants to elevate guys and wants to be around guys that have a ton of gravity on the court.”
That’s just my favorite thing he said. Jack, Zack, and Jacob were in the house for the event and they shared their thoughts in a new KSR Rapid Reaction.
Kentucky Wildcats in the NBA Combine
I do not consider myself among the folks who are sweating out Otega Oweh’s NBA Draft decision, however, today’s a big day for the Kentucky Wildcat. He will be among the dozens of players, including Koby Brea, who are competing in 5-on-5 scrimmages at the NBA Combine.
Oweh will wear No. 63 for Team Lazare, who will face off against Team Mueller with No. 22 Koby Brea. They will tip off at 2:15 PM ET. You can watch all of the action from the NBA Combine on ESPN2.
The Woodford Legends Invitational 3rd annual tournament showcases the talents of some of the biggest names in the history of the LPGA Tour teeing it up alongside top female amateur golfers from the state of Kentucky. This unique two-woman team event will take place on Saturday and Sunday, June 7–8, 2025. The week of family-friendly events will begin on Tuesday, June 3, and culminate in the main tournament on the weekend. The event takes places at The Woodford Club in Versailles. To secure tickets, visit their
website at: www.woodfordclubfoundation.org/tickets
Kentucky Baseball Wins Home Finale
The Kentucky baseball team has performed well enough down the stretch to be on the right side of the NCAA Tournament bubble, but another Lexington Regional seems unlikely. Fortunately, the Bat Cats were able to cap off what will likely be the final game of the season at Kentucky Proud Park with a win.
It was nip and tuck against Northern Kentucky. Things got heated late when NKU head coach Dizzy Peyton was ejected in the bottom of the eighth. It did not inspire the Norse to rally from behind for a win. Ryan Schwartz hit his first career home run to get the offense rolling, Cole Hage drove in a run, and Kyuss Gargett scored on a wild pitch before the insurance runs piled up late, paving the way for a 6-1 win for the Wildcats.
The Kentucky baseball team will wrap up the regular season in Nashville. No. 9 Vanderbilt will host the Wildcats for a three-game series, beginning Thursday night at 7 PM ET.
The NFL Schedule Arrives
During a slow time in the sports calendar, the NFL does everything in its might to take up as much of the news cycle as possible. The early week has featured a slow drip of news. We first learned that the Defending Super Bowl Champion Philadelphia Eagles will open the season against the Cowboys. Then we got to see the full international slate.
That slow drip of news will feel like Chinese water torture until the Kraken is released and we get the entire NFL schedule. You can watch it all at 8 PM ET on the NFL Network.
The 11 Personnel crew is going live a day earlier than normal (3 PM ET on the KSR YouTube Channel) because we have to talk about a few of our favorite non-football topics. Luckett has locks for this weekend’s PGA Championship and I’m ready to break down the Preakness Stakes. There is a void of Kentucky football news, which is why we’re taking any and all questions from Big Blue Nation on KSBoard. First up, How motivated is Mark Stoops?
Closing Time for the Knicks?
Boston Celtics fans received the news none of them wanted to hear. Jayson Tatum suffered a ruptured Achilles in the game four loss to the Knicks. Not only will they be without their star player for the foreseeable future, the Defending World Champs are facing elimination. Will the Boston Garden crowd rally them to a win, or will their season end? The action begins at 7 PM ET on TNT. The Timberwolves could close out the Warriors at home in the nightcap.
We’ve already seen one series reach a conclusion. The Cavs had home-court advantage, but they couldn’t turn that into buckets, falling to the Pacers, who punched their second straight ticket to the Eastern Conference Finals.
RIP to the Gator who got Chubbs’ hand
An iconic alligator has passed away. Morris spent much of his life starring in films. He was best known for taking Chubbs’ hand in Happy Gilmore. Almost 30 years after that movie, and just on the horizon of the sequel, Morris passed away. He was estimated to be more than 80 years old. I’d say that’s a life well-lived.
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