Kentucky
Sunday Headlines: Malachi Moreno to visit Kentucky for Big Blue Madness
Mark Pope had to build his first roster in Lexington by hitting the transfer portal due to the timing of him being hired as the new coach of the Kentucky Wildcats.
However, Pope has made it clear that he still wants to recruit the best high school players as well.
He is hoping to cash in on that with one of the best centers in the 2025 recruiting class, as Malachi Moreno has scheduled an official visit to Kentucky.
The 7-foot center out of Georgetown (KY) is currently ranked as the No. 25 overall player and the No. 3 overall center in the class.
In a report from Kentucky Sports Radio, Moreno will be taking his official visit to Lexington during the weekend of Big Blue Madness.
His lone official visit to this point was to Iowa, but he says he will also take a day trip to Louisville in the future as well.
As for now, Moreno is down to just eight schools, including Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisville, North Carolina, Notre Dame, and Ohio State.
Landing Moreno would be a huge get for Pope in what would be his first recruiting class at Kentucky.
Tweet of the Day
Reed Sheppard IS TOO GOOD FOR SUMMER LEAGUE
23 PTS
4 REB
5 AST
1 STL
3 BLK
9/17 FG
4/6 3P
64.3 TS
+ 21One of the best summer league debuts we have ever seen. ⬇️
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) July 13, 2024
Reed Sheppard shines in NBA Summer League debut!
Headlines
Argentina back Uruguay players, concerned about final security – ESPN
Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said he understands the reaction of Uruguay players in entering the stands to protect their family members in the aftermath of last Wednesday’s Copa América semifinal between Uruguay and Colombia.
5-star SF Nate Ament talks Mark Pope, Kentucky: ‘It’s kinda hard not to like what he’s showing me right now.’ – On3
Five-star wing Nate Ament has been on a tear this week. He spoke with KSR to update his recruitment with Kentucky.
Judge sets Yankees record with 34th HR before All-Star break – ESPN
All-Star Aaron Judge set a franchise record for the New York Yankees Saturday with his 34th home run before the All-Star break, as he and teammate Juan Soto went back-to-back with long balls in the fifth inning of a 6-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles.
4-star PG Tay Kinney racking up offers, expects to visit Kentucky soon – On3
Newport point guard Tay Kinney is looking to visit Kentucky in the near future as his stock begins to explode.
2024 Scottish Open leaderboard: Robert MacIntyre surges as Ludvig Åberg takes two-stroke lead after Round 3 – CBSSports
Rory McIlroy and home country hero, Robert MacIntyre, are among those on the chase in Scotland
Reds’ Cam Collier wins Futures Game MVP; Rangers’ Teodo shines – ESPN
Reds prospect Cam Collier, the No. 18 pick in the 2022 draft, homered and took home MVP honors after leading the NL to a 6-1 win in Saturday’s Futures Game.
UK Women’s Basketball spends time at Kentucky Children’s Hospital and ISCO Championship – On3
Earlier this week, Kentucky Women’s Basketball took some time to visit Kentucky Children’s Hospital for a Mini Pro-Am.
Angel Reese double-double streak: Sky rookie sees incredible run end at 15 in loss to Liberty – CBSSports
Reese finished just short of double-double no. 16, finishing with eight points and 15 rebounds
NBA free agency 2024: Reaction and grades for the biggest signings – ESPN
Grading the offseason’s biggest free agency signings and examining their impact.
Hayes: USA win over Mexico a sign of progress before Olympics – ESPN
USWNT head coach Emma Hayes said she saw signs of progress in a win over Mexico, but they’re still only scratching the surface ahead of the Olympics.
Lakers’ Bronny James in ‘a little slump’ after shooting 6-of-26 in first three NBA Summer League games – CBSSports
James has missed all 12 of his 3-pointers so far
EA College Football 25: Best Dynasty Teams – On3
This is your guide to choosing the best school to start your new Dynasty once EA College Football 25 is finally released.
Detroit Tigers’ ‘great comeback’ stuns Los Angeles Dodgers – ESPN
Gio Urshela hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning after the Tigers overcame a 9-4 deficit in the ninth with the help of a Colt Keith long ball, and Detroit topped the Los Angeles Dodgers 11-9 on Saturday, their seventh win in the past nine games.
Entering the weekend, Vanderbilt baseball had gotten swept in its only SEC series in which it hadn’t won the first game.
So the Commodores had a tough task in a series they badly needed after dropping the opener 5-2 on a walk-off grand slam after Vanderbilt’s best healthy starter, Connor Fennell, pitched well.
But the Commodores (24-17, 9-9 SEC) rebounded to take the series with an 8-7 win in the second game and a 13-6 win in the finale April 19. They did that despite not having any pitcher go more than three innings in either game. Though the pitching was still shaky at times — they issued more free passes than strikeouts in both of the wins — they worked out of enough jams to let the offense go to work.
Here’s what we learned from the series.
Will Hampton proves an unlikely hero for the offense
Vanderbilt got strong performances from a few of its typical top performers, including Braden Holcomb (6-for-13, four doubles) and Brodie Johnston (4-for-12, two home runs, three walks). But one of the biggest hits of the series came from the unlikeliest of sources.
Logan Johnstone was held out of the finale after colliding with Mike Mancini in Game 2, and in his place coach Tim Corbin opted to go with redshirt freshman Will Hampton in left field. Hampton had recorded just six college plate appearances, all of which were in nonconference games.
But Hampton reached in all three of his plate appearances against Kentucky, first on a single, then a walk. In the sixth inning, with the score tied, he came up with the bases loaded and two outs and blasted a grand slam, giving Vanderbilt its first lead.
Tyler Baird learns the ups and downs of being a closer
Freshman Tyler Baird has been Vanderbilt’s closer for the past three weeks, recording his first save April 2 against Texas A&M. But he learned the pitfalls that can come with that role in Game 1 against Kentucky. Summoned for an eight-out save with the Commodores leading 2-1, he retired the first five batters, but loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth. He struck out the next two batters but then gave up the walk-off grand slam.
Baird returned for Game 3, this time attempting a five-out save and coming in with runners on first and second and one out with a three-run lead in the eighth inning. He allowed both inherited runners to score, but kept the lead and then had a scoreless ninth inning after Vanderbilt scored three runs in the top of the inning.
Baird’s emergence has been key for the Commodores, and the Game 3 bounce-back was especially important.
Vanderbilt’s RPI shows improvement
On April 15, Vanderbilt was 95th in RPI, a mark that wasn’t going to cut it for NCAA Tournament selection. But with a road series win against a Kentucky team that started the week in the top 20 of RPI, the Commodores moved all the way up to 75th, according to Warren Nolan.
While Vanderbilt will need to keep moving up — a top-50 mark would be ideal — the series win did a lot. In the next two weeks, it will face two top-five RPI teams in Alabama and Texas, giving more opportunity to improve its standing.
Aria Gerson covers Vanderbilt athletics for The Tennessean. Contact her at agerson@gannett.com or on X @aria_gerson.
Power forward has been one of the positions that Mark Pope and the Kentucky Wildcats have to fill with Andrija Jelavic and Mo Dioubate gone. The two players that Pope has had on campus at the power forward position are Syracuse’s Donnie Freeman and Colorado’s Sebastian Rancik. Both are really good players, but Freeman is better by a wide margin.
It has felt that entire time that Kentucky wanted Rancik as the backup to Freeman or a backup plan if they weren’t able to land Freeman. Well, Rancik just picked Florida State, so perhaps this is a sign that the Wildcats will land Freeman.
Big Blue Nation was torn on Rancik, but I do believe he would have been a really solid backup power forward. I personally didn’t want him to be the starting four for this team. It is clear that he wanted to go somewhere where he could be the guy at the four, so he will be heading to the ACC to play for FSU.
Now that Kentucky has missed on Rancik, it is very important that the Wildcats land Freeman soon. The problem with waiting on some of these players is the fact that the portal isn’t slowing down. If Pope targets two power forwards and misses on both of them, most of the good fours in the portal will be gone.
There will be some panic in Lexington if the Wildcats are not able to land Freeman, but I do believe the Wildcats are in a good spot to land the elite power forward. From the beginning, Freeman has been my top player for Kentucky in the portal, as he, plus Malachi Moreno, will give the Wildcats an elite frontcourt.
If Pope is able to land Freeman and Tyran Stokes to pair with Zoom Diallo, Alex Wilkins, Moreno, and Kam Williams, this could be the start of a really good team in Lexington. Hopefully, an announcement for where Freeman will transfer comes soon, and hopefully, this will be to play for Pope at Kentucky.
Fans of rival teams will say Pope “whiffed” on Rancik, but if this whiff was because the Wildcats are set to land Freeman soon, then it was more than worth it for Kentucky. If the Wildcats are able to land Freeman, it will officially be time for Big Blue Nation to start getting excited about the 2026-27 season. I expect a decision from Freeman to come within the next day or two.
Rancik would have been a solid backup four in Lexington but Freeman has been the guy from the beggining for this staff so if Kentucky lands him all is well. If the staff misses on Freeman not landing Rancik will look bad.
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Kentucky
Kentucky is poised to land either Donnie Freeman or Sebastian Rancik this weekend, per report
Jones posted on Twitter that “Kentucky will have (absent a major change) either Freeman or Rancik by tomorrow,” while also noting the Wildcats still need to add another shooter and another big to round out the roster.
One of the top targets is Donnie Freeman, a 6-foot-9, 205-pound sophomore forward transferring from Syracuse. Freeman arrived in Lexington on Tuesday night and began his visit on Wednesday before leaving without a commitment. While there was concern he could land at UConn, that visit has since been canceled, leaving Kentucky and St. John’s as the top teams.
Freeman averaged 16.5 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game last season, while adding nearly a block and a steal per contest. He shot 47.4% from the field but 30.2% from 3-point range across 23 games.
The other option is Sebastian Rancik, a 6-foot-11, 220-pound sophomore forward transferring from Colorado. Rancik visited Kentucky starting Wednesday through Thursday and brings a versatile skill set, averaging 12.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 2 assists per game while shooting 33.1% from 3.
Either Freeman or Rancik would provide a significant boost at the power forward position for head coach Mark Pope. Kentucky has already added guards Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins in the portal.
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