Kentucky

KSR Today: Transfer Portal opens, Gonzaga aftermath, Kentucky WBB vs. Queens

Published

1 year ago

December 9, 2024

KSR Today: Transfer Portal opens, Gonzaga aftermath, Kentucky WBB vs. Queens

Good morning, friends. Everyone catch up on the sleep they lost on Saturday night cheering for the Cats? Despite a very busy Sunday, I certainly tried. We’ve got another busy week ahead of us with more departures coming for the football team now that the transfer portal is officially open, the men’s basketball team preparing for games vs. Colgate and Louisville, and the volleyball team taking on Missouri in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in Pittsburgh. It’s also gameday for the Kentucky Women’s Basketball team, which hosts Queens.

Lots to do, so let’s get to it, starting with the most chaotic item on the agenda.

Announcements have been coming out for almost a week, but starting now, the transfer portal is officially open for business. It won’t close until Dec. 28, meaning players have 20 days to tell their current schools they’re interested in leaving; beyond that, they have however long they like to commit to the school of their liking.

So far, 15 of Kentucky’s scholarship players have announced they intend to enter the portal. There will be more; Nick Roush estimated that 35 players from the 2024 roster will enter the portal when all is said and done.

DL Keeshawn Silver
DB Avery Stuart
LB Jayvant Brown
LS Walker Himebauch
TE Tanner Lemaster
TE Khamari Anderson
TE Jordan Dingle
OL Courtland Ford
OL Ben Christman
DL Tommy Ziesmer
WR Dane Key
WR Barion Brown
WR Anthony Brown-Stephens
EDGE Tyreese Fearbry
EDGE Noah Matthews

Who will Kentucky pursue in the portal? That will be changing by the new minute as new players go in, but Roush outlined Kentucky’s biggest areas of need in his Transfer Portal preview last night. If you’re a KSR+ member, you can go even deeper with Adam Luckett’s scholarship distribution breakdown.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. Keep closer tabs on the Cats with our staff-only sticky thread on KSBoard, which will have updates on departures and targets throughout the offseason.

Jon Sumrall is staying put at Tulane

One more quick football note: despite being one of the hottest names in the coaching carousel, Jon Sumrall is staying put. According to Pete Thamel, Sumrall will not pursue any of the open jobs this offseason, electing to stay at Tulane. Sumrall has had a wildly successful first season with the Green Wave and was mentioned as a candidate for the North Carolina job, but instead, is going to sit this cycle out, leaving the dream of him returning to Kentucky one day on the table.

The biggest news on Sunday was that Kerr Kriisa will be out indefinitely with a foot injury suffered vs. Gonzaga. Kriisa came up limping after a turnover with about eight minutes to go in the second half vs. the Bulldogs. At the time, it appeared to be just cramps, but Kriisa never returned to the game and afterward, was captured in a locker room video in some pain. He underwent testing on Sunday, and according to Jeff Goodman, has a Jones fracture in his foot, the recovery from which has a timetable of 3-6 weeks. He is scheduled to have surgery in the coming days.

Lamont Butler was close to returning vs. Gonzaga after suffering a knee injury in the Clemson game. With Butler and Kriisa out, Jaxson Robinson stepped in at point guard and led Kentucky to the comeback win vs. the Bulldogs. The Cats host Colgate on Wednesday night. The Raiders are 2-8 and No. 272 in KenPom, by far the worst team left on Kentucky’s schedule. Even if Butler is capable of playing Wednesday, I’d expect to see a healthy dose of Robinson and Travis Perry at point guard.

We’ll hear from Mark Pope on his call-in show

With football season and the Early Signing Period officially over, Mark Pope’s radio show will move to its normal Monday night home of 6 p.m. ET. Tune in tonight for the latest on Kriisa and Butler, Pope’s reflections on the Gonzaga win after a day of film study, and much more. The show airs on 630 WLAP in the Lexington area, UK Sports Network affiliates across the state, and on iHeart Radio. We’ll have a recap of the big talking points on the main site and live updates as they happen on KSBoard.

Join KSR Plus! With a KSR Plus membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.

Where will Kentucky land in the new AP Poll?

It was another wild week for AP top 10 teams. Tennessee will likely be the new No. 1 team in the country after Kanas and Auburn lost. What does that mean for Kentucky, which lost at Clemson but notched a huge resume win vs. No. 7 Gonzaga? We’ll see around lunchtime.

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	LAST WEEK
1	Kansas	7-2	Losses at Creighton and Missouri
2	Auburn	8-1	Loss at No. 9 Duke; Win vs. Richmond
3	Tennessee	8-0	Win vs. Syracuse
4	Kentucky	8-1	Loss at Clemson; Win vs. No. 7 Gonzaga
5	Marquette	9-1	Loss at No. 6 Iowa State; Win vs. No. 11 Wisconsin
6	Iowa State	7-1	Wins vs. No. 5 Marquette, Jackson State
7	Gonzaga	7-2	Loss to No. 4 Kentucky
8	Purdue	8-2	Loss at Penn State; Win vs. Maryland
9	Duke	7-2	Win vs. No. 2 Auburn, at Louisville
10	Alabama	7-2	Win at No. 20 North Carolina

Kentucky Women’s Basketball hosts Queens

No. 14 Kentucky WBB (7-1) is back in action tonight, eager to get the taste of last Thursday’s 19-point loss to No. 16 North Carolina out of their mouths. The Cats host Queens University of Charlotte tonight at 6 p.m. ET at Memorial Coliseum. The Royals are 5-3 this season, two of those losses coming to Ole Miss and LSU. They’re coached by Jen Brown, who used to play for Kenny Brooks and coached on his staff at Virginia Tech.

Tonight’s game will stream on SEC Network+ starting at 6 p.m. If you’re going to the game, the theme is Monday Night CATS, a spinoff of Monday Night RAW. Fans are encouraged to enter to win a Kentucky Wildcats World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Legacy Title Belt at the entrance; doors open at 5 p.m. ET.

Phoenix Stevens and Katie Hutchison will be there to capture the action. Follow their updates on the KSR LIVE BLOG starting at 5 p.m. ET.

Kentucky Volleyball on to the Sweet 16

For the seventh time in the last eight seasons, Kentucky Volleyball is headed to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The No. 3 seed Cats punched their ticket with a win over Minnesota on Friday night at Memorial Coliseum. On Thursday, Kentucky will face No. 7 seed Missouri at 1 p.m. ET in Pittsburgh. The Cats swept the season series vs. the Tigers this year, winning six of the seven sets played, including the match in Columbia Thanksgiving week, which clinched the outright SEC title.

If Kentucky wins, they’ll face the winner of Oregon and Pitt in the NCAA Regional final Saturday at 1 p.m. on ESPN2.

2024 NCAA Volleyball Championship
Pittsburgh Regional Schedule

Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024

(3) Kentucky vs. (7) Missouri – 1 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
(4) Oregon at (1) Pittsburgh – 30 minutes after (ESPN2)

Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024

Winner match 1 vs. Winner match 2 – 1 p.m. ET (ESPN2)

In case you were under a rock, the field for the first 12-team College Football Playoff was set on Sunday. There was some drama, as the committee elected to give the final spot to SMU instead of Alabama. That leaves three SEC teams that made the cut: Georgia (No. 2 seed), Texas (No. 5 seed), and Tennessee (No. 9 seed).

All times Eastern

First round (Dec. 20-21)
- Friday, Dec. 20: No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame | 8 p.m. | ABC/ESPN
- Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State | 12 p.m. | TNT/MAX
- Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas | 4 p.m. | TNT/MAX
- Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State | 8 p.m. | ABC/ESPN
Quarterfinals (Dec. 31-Jan. 1)
- Fiesta Bowl: No. 3 Boise State vs. No. 6 Penn State/No. 11 SMU winner | 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31 | ABC/ESPN
- Peach Bowl: No. 4 Arizona State vs. No. 5 Texas/No. 12 Clemson winner | 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1 | ABC/ESPN
- Rose Bowl: No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 8 Ohio State/No. 9 Tennessee winner | 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1 | ABC/ESPN
- Sugar Bowl: No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 7 Notre Dame/No. 10 Indiana winner | 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1 | ABC/ESPN
Semifinals (Jan. 9-10)
- Orange Bowl: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9 | ESPN
- Cotton Bowl: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10 | ESPN
CFP National Championship
- 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20 | ESPN
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia

SEC Bowl Schedule

Obviously, Kentucky isn’t going bowling. What about the rest of the league’s teams? As you know, Texas, Tennessee, and Georgia made the College Football Playoffs. From there, ten other teams from the league earned bowl invites, including Vanderbilt, who will play Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl. Kentucky is one of just three SEC teams staying home this postseason alongside Mississippi State and Auburn.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF GAMES

CFP First Round Game – Clemson at Texas (Austin) – Dec. 21 – 4 pm ET – TNT and MAX
CFP First Round Game – Tennessee at Ohio State (Columbus) – Dec. 21 – 8 pm ET – ESPN and ABC
Allstate Sugar Bowl (New Orleans) – Georgia vs. Indiana/Notre Dame winner – Jan. 1 – 8:45 pm ET – ESPN

SEC-AFFILIATED BOWLS:

Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa) – Florida vs. Tulane – Dec. 20 – 3:30 pm ET – ESPN2
Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth) – Oklahoma vs. Navy – Dec. 27 – 12 pm ET – ESPN
Birmingham Bowl (Birmingham) – Vanderbilt vs. Georgia Tech or Big 12 – Dec. 27 – 3:30 pm ET – ESPN
AutoZone Liberty Bowl (Memphis) – Dec. 27 – Arkansas vs. Texas Tech – 7 pm ET – ESPN
SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas) – Dec. 27 – Texas A&M vs. USC – 10:30 pm – ESPN
TransPerfect Music City Bowl (Nashville) – Missouri vs. Iowa – Dec. 30 – 2:30 pm ET – ESPN
Reliaquest Bowl (Tampa) – Alabama vs. Michigan – Dec. 31 – Noon ET – ESPN
Cheez-It Citrus Bowl (Orlando) – South Carolina vs. Illinois – Dec. 31 – 3 pm ET – ABC
Kinder’s Texas Bowl (Houston) – LSU vs. Baylor – Dec. 31 – 3:30 pm ET – ESPN
TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (Jacksonville) – Ole Miss vs. Duke – Jan 2 – 7:30 pm ET – ESPN

Mondays with Myron are back as the KSR crew travels home

The KSR Road Trip to Seattle was successful, culminating in a wild postgame show following Kentucky’s comeback win vs. Gonzaga. The gang heads home today, and while they travel, some familiar voices will fill in. Myron Medcalf and Billy Rutledge will host the show, while Jack Pilgrim will join Billy on the KSR Preshow. The fun starts now on 630 WLAP, affiliates across the state, or iHeart Radio.

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Kentucky

Kentucky ‘playing with joy’ heading into volleyball championship match

Published

1 hour ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

Kentucky ‘playing with joy’ heading into volleyball championship match

KANSAS CITY, MO ― On Thursday, No.1 Kentucky punched its ticket to the NCAA volleyball championship match by winning a five-set thriller against No. 3 Wisconsin that defied logic.

“Congrats, guys. We couldn’t have played any worse,” head coach Craig Skinner told his team in the huddle after Kentucky dropped the first set, 25-12, with a .056 hitting percentage.

The Wildcats, who will play Texas A&M for the national championship on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC), did not lead in a single major statistical category against the Badgers, but it didn’t matter. Kentucky clawed back and evened the match 1-1. The two teams traded blocks, kills and long rallies until late in the fourth set when two Badgers’ errors left the door open for the Wildcats. Kentucky, seemingly powered by Wisconsin’s mistakes, stormed out to a 6-1 lead in the fifth set. But, the Badgers weren’t done.

Fueled by massive nights from Mimi Colyer and Carter Booth, Wisconsin kept coming and pushed Kentucky to the brink. It took a colossal push from outside hitter Eva Hudson (29 kills on .455 hitting, seven digs), freshmen Kassie O’Brien and Trinity Ward, libero Molly Tuozzo (17 digs) and Brooklyn DeLeye (15 kills, 14 digs) to fight off the Badgers. Hudson slammed the door on Wisconsin’s title hopes with two final kills, but it was DeLeye’s defense in the fifth set (six digs) that made the difference.

“The cool thing about this team, I thought we’d done it all, and I thought we found every possible way to win, and tonight was a different way,” Skinner said after the Wildcats beat Wisconsin. “The way they played, the heart that they show is immeasurable. I keep telling them they’re transformational leaders in the way they go about it, what they’ve done for the sport.

” Proud of them. But the job isn’t finished.”

The Wildcats said they knew from the first practice in January that they would be playing for a national championship. Hudson revealed this week she didn’t think any growing (from the beginning of the season until now) was needed. She said she knows Kentucky is ready. In her opinion, it’s just a matter of soaking in the environment.

Deleye echoed Hudson’s sentiment about taking it all in. Yet, the junior did admit an underlying thought; none of the players on the Wildcats’ roster have been to a Final Four. Only Skinner has been to the national championship stage and won. He was an assistant on the 2020 team that brought a trophy back to Lexington.

Deleye shared that all year long, the Wildcats have been talking about their “why.” She says there’s a lot of pressure that comes with volleyball, especially in the SEC tournament and NCAA tournament, where they earned wins over UCLA, Creighton and Wisconsin. Yet, Deleye and Hudson both agreed the Wildcats are just out there to have fun and “play with joy.”

“In the last few games, have drawn smiley faces on our hands or somewhere where we can see it to remind us to play with joy,” Hudson said. “Some of the best times in volleyball, and when we’re really playing well, is when we’re all playing with joy and bouncing off one another. Kind of have those reminders in those pressure situations, too, is a really good thing.”

Kentucky said in the midst of their joy and between sets, they look one another in the eyes. Everything is moving at such a fast pace that the Wildcats want to take the time to connect and say “I got you” to each other to promote unity. They needed that same reminder deep in the match against Wisconsin when the season and a possible championship were on the line.

In a sequence that seemingly went unnoticed, DeLeye and Tuozzo took a brief moment to look at each other and nearly simultaneously make a “mask on” gesture. However, Tuozzo later explained that it wasn’t a “mask” she and Deleye were proverbially putting on. It was a helmet.

“Helmet on, ready to dig,” Tuozzo said matter-of-factly.

Deleye added when there’s an open hole or the block is not there, someone will typically step up into the seam, and “whatever happens happens.” Kentucky will live with the results, knowing it put its “body on the line.” With two losses this season and an impressive 28-match winning streak that also includes an October victory over the Aggies, Kentucky has maintained its composure throughout the NCAA tournament.

The Wildcats have taken multiple moments during the Final Four to talk about how their “accountability partners” have helped them. Players on the roster have someone who can pick them up on days when they may struggle and remind them not to get caught up in what they aren’t doing. That collective support and belief in one another started at the beginning of the season and has translated into joy at the highest levels of volleyball, something that has even impressed Skinner, who is in his 21st year of coaching.

“Because they play with such joy, I want to coach more players like that. I want players that you don’t really have to coach body language and enthusiasm,” Skinner said. “If you do, you’re spending all your effort on the wrong things. We can spend our energy on how do we put the pieces togetherand form a system to go around that.”

“(It’s) trying to find those people that are driven internally, and have an enthusiasm, infectious enthusiasm for life. Those guys, being around them every day, I look forward to that.”

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Kentucky

No. 12/13 Kentucky Tops Wright State on Friday

Published

13 hours ago

December 20, 2025

Press Room

No. 12/13 Kentucky Tops Wright State on Friday

Clara Strack scored 26 points and grabbed seven rebounds as No. 12/13 Kentucky thumped Wright State 96-53 on Friday night inside Historic Memorial Coliseum.

Three other Cats also scored in double figures. Tonie Morgan had 18 points, six rebounds and six assists. Freshman Kaelyn Carroll made six threes on her way to a career-high 18 points. Asia Boone hit five threes en route to a 17-point night.

Wright State scored first on a three, but Kentucky got baskets from Strack and Morgan to lead 4-3. After WSU scored, Amelia Hassett drained a three and the Cats led 7-5. Wright State tied the game at 7-7 before Morgan and Strack scored to give UK an 11-7 lead. However, Wright State scored the next four to tie the game again.

Strack made two free throws, and Morgan made one, to give the Cats a three-point lead. A Boone three extended the lead to 17-11. Strack scored two more buckets and the Cats had a double-digit advantage. A Morgan three-point play capped the 13-0 run that gave UK a 24-11 lead. Kentucky would lead 31-13 after one quarter.

Wright State opened the second quarter with an 11-4 run to cut the Kentucky lead to 35-24. However, the Cats responded in a big way. Threes from Josie Gilvin and Boone gave UK a 17-point lead. A Morgan layup, two Strack free throws, and threes from Strack and Carroll (three times) compiled a 22-0 run that ended the half. Kentucky led 57-24 at the break and Strack led all scorers with 18 in the first 20 minutes.

In the third quarter, WSU scored first on a free throw but a Strack basket gave the Cats a 59-25 lead. After three Wright State points, UK got layups from Morgan and Jordan Obi to lead 63-28. After a Raiders’ three, Kentucky went on an 11-4 run, sparked by another three from Carroll, to lead 74-35. The Cats would lead 74-37 after three quarters.

Kentucky scored first in the final stanza on a Strack basket. After WSU scored twice, Carroll hit another three to make it 79-41. Kentucky would build the lead to as many as 46 (96-50) before settling for the 43-point victory.

The Cats now take a break for the holidays before hosting Hofstra on December 28. Tipoff for that game is set for 2 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on SEC Network Plus.

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Kentucky

Kentucky will have Flexible Recruiting Operation in New Territories

Published

1 day ago

December 19, 2025

Press Room

Kentucky will have Flexible Recruiting Operation in New Territories

Will Stein‘s play-calling mantra is simple: Feed the Studs. It only works if you have studs. Kentucky must acquire talent to be competitive. It starts in the upcoming transfer portal, but there are long-term deficits that must be remedied by high school recruiting. Stein is building a staff that has cut its teeth on the trail.

One of the first things we learned about Joe Price, the new Kentucky wide receivers coach, is that he is known in the Lone Star State as East Side Joe. That is a reference to his hometown of Houston, a talent hotbed in the state of Texas. Safeties coach Josh Christian-Young just spent a couple of years at Houston after four years in New Orleans at Tulane.

New offensive line coach Cutter Leftwich first called Denton, Texas, home. He played college football in Louisiana at McNeese State, and spent time coaching at UTSA and North Texas. Kentucky’s two new coordinators each cultivated reputations as excellent recruiters and are coming to Lexington via the state of Texas and Louisiana.

Are you picking up the geographical theme yet?

Texas and Louisiana produce some of the most talented football players in America, not only in terms of quality, but quantity. In the 2025 On300 rankings, Texas led the way with 42 players, while Louisiana contributed a dozen, tied for the sixth-most. The issue is that Kentucky hasn’t gotten a lot of those players over the years. Might a tide finally be turning?

Sloan has Adaptable Recruiting Pitch

Within his first 24 hours on the job, Joe Sloan flipped four-star wide receiver Kenny Darby from LSU to Kentucky. Sloan’s connections in the state of Louisiana quickly paid dividends. He cultivated those connections for more than a decade in the Boot, but those weren’t always there for the former East Carolina quarterback from Virginia.

“I was 26 years old when Skip Holtz hired me at Louisiana Tech, and I had never been to Louisiana. He said, ‘Hey, what do you think about recruiting Baton Rouge?’ I said, ‘All right, that sounds good to me,’” Sloan recalled on Wednesday.

“He gave me, it was really nice a Crown Vic. The first one, it was a light baby blue. The second one was red, cherry red. It was nice; rolled down there and we started just developing relationships.”

You can expect Stein’s staff to lean on prior relationships to bring players to Kentucky. Jay Bateman has plenty of those in the DMV, the same region where the Wildcats recruited Josh Paschal. However, Kentucky can’t just rely on Texas, Louisiana, and the DMV to build a roster. Sloan believes this staff has the tools to adapt and find the best players from near and far to suit up in Kentucky blue.

“Recruiting it’s a people business. Coaches, mentors, and family members, they want to know that you have a plan for their son, on and off the field, to develop them to their fullest potential. What I look forward to is the opportunity to develop relationships right in all the areas that we’re going to recruit. I think that’s what it’s going to be,” said Sloan.

“That’s what it’s about, having open doors, answering the phone, creating relationships, and developing a trust with the people around the players that we’re going to recruit, that we’re going to take care of those young men. That’s what I’m going to do, that’s what I’ll continue to do, and that’s what we’ll do here at Kentucky as an entire program. So in terms of, I don’t know that it’s just one area, it’s more about the ability to develop those relationships and the excitement to do that, and I’m fired up.”