When Mark Pope announced that he would be taking questions directly from BBN, we all knew things could get interesting. But honestly, it turned out pretty good; you had some honest questions and some good answers. Sure, there were sarcastic questions that just were never going to be answered, but Pope did address the GM situation. While it wasn’t the answer a lot of people hoped for, at least there is now a clear hierarchy within the basketball front office. Let’s break it down.
Kentucky
KSR's ten favorite things from Kentucky's win over Georgia State
It was a weird night inside Rupp Arena, one that included a sloppy start and a rowdy finish leading to a blowout victory for the Kentucky Wildcats over the Georgia State Panthers. There was a fight, free ice cream and everything in between.
How did Mark Pope coach his team to another win en route to a 7-0 start on the year, the team’s best since 2016-17 and one victory away from the best start since 2014-15? How about some of the other highlights? KSR’s got the ten best things from the win.
1. Clash Peters gets bullied into oblivion
You hate to punch down on a zero-star kid playing for Georgia State, but when you’re a dirty basketball player whose uncle also happens to be a Duke villain with a similarly stupid name, it happens. Cherokee Parks’ nephew, Clash Peters, became enemy No. 1 of Big Blue Nation on Friday for undercutting Amari Williams on a pass inside leading to a brouhaha resulting in technicals also called on Koby Brea, Otega Oweh and Zarique Nutter of the Panthers. Mark Pope even got out there to split players up and cool down the emotions before things got any further out of hand.
Trash Peters has been ejected. https://t.co/8BHP1iShms pic.twitter.com/rtYquPPi6Y
— Rare Rookies #BBN (@rarerookies) November 30, 2024
If the public shame wasn’t enough inside Rupp Arena, fans then proceeded to dig up old photos of young Clash rocking Duke gear with a terrible haircut next to Zion Williamson.
Oh, and Clash in a Duke sweater and jorts doing his best to look mysterious as he gazes away from the camera.
None of us knew Clash Peters existed before tonight. Now he’s hated for eternity by the most passionate fanbase in college basketball. Funny how life works.
2. Plus-21 after the fight
It was an eight-point lead with 12:37 to go when all hell broke loose, Peters leading the four-technical sequence that included a ten-minute stoppage of play. That point forward, the Wildcats went on a 44-23 run to close out the game, turning a 61-53 lead into a 105-76 win.
There wasn’t a ton to love about Kentucky’s start, Georgia State down just two points with five minutes to go in the first half. The Cats responded with a 17-1 run to lead by as many as 18 before going into the break up 48-33, only to let that lead slip away down to just six, then eight right before the scuffle and statement finish.
If we can somehow bottle that energy from the 5:06 mark to the 1:08 mark in the first half, then everything after the fight, we’d be in good shape.
3. Mark Pope gives away free ice cream
Waiting for Coach Pope’s first misstep in Lexington? It didn’t come against Georgia State.
The Cats ran away with it, plus the Kentucky head coach jumped in the thick of things when it got chippy — he joked he’s just happy he didn’t pull a hamstring jogging out there. His best moment, though, came during postgame radio when he told the crowd that while he couldn’t stay after to sign autographs, the Popes did leave the family credit card at the ice cream stand so fans could get a cone or two on their way out of Rupp Arena.
“The word on the street is, here in Rupp Arena, we have the best ice cream in the world,” Pope said. “So, Mrs. Lee Anne dropped her credit card off at the ice cream stand right up here, so it’s on me tonight. Go help yourselves. Get some ice cream on the way out. Enjoy it, and thank you guys for coming here. Let’s go Cats.”
No one else in the country is doing that.
4. Seven players in double figures
I don’t have the stats in front of me, but I doubt anyone else in the country has seven players finishing in double digits in a single game, either. Kentucky entered the matchup with five different Wildcats averaging between 10.8 and 16.5 points, plus another right behind with 9.3. Tonight, we saw seven players score between 10 and 19 points, everyone with at least 20 minutes hitting the double-figure mark.
Jaxson Robinson led the way with 19, followed by Lamont Butler with 17, Amari Williams with 14, Otega Oweh and Ansley Almonor with 12 and Andrew Carr and Koby Brea with 10. Kerr Kriisa is the only guy who played at least six minutes (16) and did not hit that barrier, yet he still managed to go for nine and did his best to add another bucket — more on that in a second.
Doesn’t get more well-rounded than that.
5. Rupp Arena was on a different planet
It feels like we talk about the crowd after every game, but my goodness, Rupp Arena was unbelievable against Georgia State. Sun Belt competition in 30-degree weather on Black Friday? No problem — the venue was packed from top to bottom.
Fans made their presence known, too, flipping the momentum when the Panthers fought to make a push and especially when the fight broke out in the second half. They were loud from the opening tip, but the pop on Kentucky’s big plays — Kerr Kriisa’s charges, Otega Oweh’s reverse dunk and basically whenever Clash Peters even thought about touching the ball — were special.
Then a good portion of those fans stuck around afterward to listen to Pope’s postgame radio show. Little did they know, they’d be leaving with words of wisdom and free ice cream.
6. Kerr Kriisa is Mr. 997
Wondering why No. 77 launched a trio of 3-pointers in the final 1:19 with the game well out of reach? It’s because Kriisa was just one shot away from his 1000th career point in college.
The fifth-year senior entered the game with 988 total points following stops at Arizona, West Virginia and now Kentucky. Going for nine in the first 38 minutes to bring him to 997, Kriisa reentered the game with 1:44 to go in hopes of getting three more to hit the 1,000-point mark. He missed all three, but you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take, right? Odds are good he would’ve taken a couple more if there was additional time on the clock.
“It was actually super fun. All our guys were cheering like crazy for him. Demanding that he shoot it,” Pope said after the game. “And the one thing about Kerr: if you tell him to shoot the ball, he’s gonna shoot it.”
7. Patrick Sparks pump-faked as the Y
Kentucky has had an all-time run of special guest appearances this season with names including Dale Brown, Jim Andrews, Travis Ford and Dicky Lyons Jr. honored as celebratory Ys. That continued in a major way against Georgia State with none other than Patrick Sparks earning a roar from BBN at mid-court.
The best part? He pump-faked at the UK logo, just as he did in the corner against Louisville inside Freedom Hall back in 2004 to pull off the road win. In the spirit of rivalry week, he recreated his signature moment with fans enjoying every second.
Welcome back, No. 22.
8. 33-41 on 2-pointers
Kentucky finished just 7-26 from three, the team’s worst shooting night of the year and the second game in a row failing to hit the double-figure mark after doing it in each of the first five.
Instead, the Wildcats found a way to win inside the arc, going an impressive 33-41 on 2-pointers for an insane 80.5 percent finish. That’s how you manage to shoot 59.7 percent from the field overall despite a 26.9 percent mark from deep.
9. A 38-point difference in the paint
When you shoot 80 percent on twos, odds are good a solid chunk of those buckets are going to come inside the paint. That was the case for Kentucky, who racked up an impressive 62 points in that area.
Even better? Georgia State only scored 24 points in the paint, a surprise considering the team entered the game shooting just 33.8 percent from deep with its best player and leading scorer, Zarique Nutter, being a non-shooter. The Panthers have size, especially up top, but it didn’t really show as the Wildcats simply dominated inside while also winning the rebounding battle by nine.
10. Ansley Almonor is emerging as a fan-favorite
Doesn’t it feel like good things happen every time the Fairleigh Dickinson transfer enters the game? He had his best performance as a Wildcat, finishing with 12 points on 4-5 shooting and 2-3 from three to go with four rebounds and two steals in 24 minutes.
Kentucky was a bit short-handed in the frontcourt with Brandon Garrison held out “more as a precaution than anything else” with “a little bit of soreness,” but Almonor once again stepped up in a major way, just as he always does — this time in an expanded role. He came in knowing he wouldn’t be playing the most minutes or taking the most shots, but his impact on the game is just as important as anyone at this point.
Warm and humid weather for Preakness Stakes this weekend
The second race of the Triple Crown is May 16 in Laurel, Maryland. Conditions at Preakness Stakes are expected to be warmer with humidity. There could be a spotty thunderstorm after the race.
Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby. He won’t be at the Preakness. And that’s becoming a familiar story.
This marks the second straight year and the third time in five years that the Derby winner has decided not to compete in the Preakness Stakes despite having a healthy horse. The reason is almost always the same: two weeks isn’t enough time.
Trainer Cherie DeVaux made the call quickly after Golden Tempo’s dramatic last-to-first Derby victory on May 2.
“Golden gave us the race of a lifetime,” DeVaux said in a statement. “We believe the best decision for him moving forward is to give him a little more time following such a tremendous effort.”
DeVaux and Golden Tempo are focused on the June 6 Belmont Stakes instead.
The pattern is pretty clear.
From 1997 to 2018, every Kentucky Derby winner ran the Preakness, keeping the Triple Crown path intact. That streak ended with Country House, who won the Derby on the disqualification of Maximum Security, was scratched from the Preakness. The sport has been wrestling with the question ever since. Maryland’s racing leaders have considered moving the Preakness one week later, from the third Saturday in May to the fourth, though no change has been made.
Of the 14 horses entered in the Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park on May 16, just three made the trip from Churchill Downs. None of them won the Derby. One nearly caused the biggest upset in recent memory.
Ocelli (Post 2, 6-1)
The most intriguing Derby returnee. Ocelli finished third at 70-1 odds on May 2, giving trainer Whit Beckman and jockey Tyler Gaffalione a surprise ticket to Laurel Park. He was the lone maiden in the Derby field and remains a maiden heading into Saturday. Nobody expected him to be here.
Incredibolt (post 12, 5-1)
The morning-line co-favorite among Derby runners. Incredibolt finished sixth at Churchill Downs and trainer Riley Mott moved quickly to point him to Laurel Park. Jockey Jaime Torres won the 2024 Preakness aboard Seize the Grey. The connections believe the 1 3/16-mile distance suits Incredibolt better than the Derby’s mile and a quarter.
Robusta (Post 4, 30-1)
The longest shot of the Derby trio is Robusta, who finished 14th of the 14 in the Derby. The question with any horse coming back this quickly after a tough Derby is how much the race took out of him. At 30-1, it seems the market has answered that question.
COVINGTON, Ky. (WKRC) – A Northern Kentucky man is in jail, accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl who’d been reported missing.
Matthew Wade, 40, faces charges, including sexual abuse, unlawful transaction with a minor and assault.
Covington Police say they found the teen at Wade’s home on Highway Avenue on Monday. According to the police report, he was knowingly hiding her, knew she was missing and had cut her ankle monitor off.
Investigators say the teen was given alcohol, marijuana and magic mushrooms.
The girl told police wade slapped her and choked her.
Officers also say they found guns in the home.
Mark Pope has confirmed that no official GM position will exist for at least this season, and most likely won’t exist going forward. Why? Because he has the responsibilities spread out across 4 different people, and believes that is the best way forward.
“In this ever-changing college basketball dynamic, everybody is trying a different solution. For us, instead of hiring a singular GM, we’ve gone with a more comprehensive general management team approach. We have four members of the team. Keegan Brown is a data analysis and roster construction expert who’s worked in both college and the NBA. Nick Robinson is our salary cap strategy and management specialist. Kevin Sergent is our compliance officer, and he deals with all of our contracts and legal language. Kim Shelton is our JMI liaison, and she does all of our NIL contracts that deal with corporate sponsorships. That’s our four-person general management team.”
But who is each one of these people, and what makes them qualified?
Who’s doing what in the Kentucky basketball front office?
Well, Keegan Brown has been a video coordinator in the G-League. That essentially means he would go and watch all the videos on league opponents and potential prospects, and come up with data-backed scouting reports for the coaching and front office teams. Pope has worked with Brown at BYU, so there is some familiarity there.
Nick Robinson also worked with Mark Pope in Provo, being an assistant coach from 2019 to 2024 and following Pope to Lexington. He has been on staff all 3 seasons now, and is being tasked with handing out Kentucky’s money and setting a budget for each player.
Kevin Sergent is not new to Kentucky; he has been in Lexington since 2020. But this is his first time handling compliance on his own; his official title is Senior Associate AD for Athletic Compliance. He handles all the rules, applying for waivers, basically making sure the entire staff is doing everything the right way.
Kim Shelton is a UK alum who was more known for soccer than anything else. She was part of the very first Kentucky women’s soccer team and is a former CEO of Lexington Sporting Club. She worked for Kentucky when Commonwealth was renamed as Kroger Field, and played a role in setting up naming rights for Kentucky Proud Park. Right now, she is kind of the bridge between Kentucky and JMI, specifically handling BBNIL Suite.
If you don’t remember what BBNIL suite is, it’s essentially the opt-in program where student athletes agree to only work with deals through JMI. They find offers, broker deals, and help athletes make money. It is, of course, optional, but if players decline, they will not be able to use the University of Kentucky logos in their NIL marketing.
Trent Noah is probably the most successful NIL athlete who opted out. The Kentucky native is handling his own NIL, and by the amount of ads and cardboard cutouts I see littered around the state, he seems to be doing pretty well.
Seeing JMI integrated again into Kentucky Basketball is probably going to make some of you uneasy, and I get that. But everyone who has worked with them who has officially gone on the record says they are a pleasure to work with.
And that’s how Mark Pope wants it done. There is a theory out there that he wants a GM, but JMI won’t let him. Considering he has chosen 2 of the 4 people personally, I highly doubt that’s true.
What do you think of his explanation, and what do you think of how he is handling the GM role?
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