Connect with us

Kentucky

Who Should Be the Special Guest for Kentucky at Big Blue Madness in 2026?

Published

on

Who Should Be the Special Guest for Kentucky at Big Blue Madness in 2026?


First, it was Rick Pitino in 2024. Then, it was John Wall in 2025. Kentucky has had two iconic special guests at Big Blue Madness over the last two years.

The last two Big Blue Madnesses have been ones to remember. However, it’s never too late to look ahead to 2026, even just hours removed from our most recent BBM.

KSR+ is choosing five candidates to be the special guests at Big Blue Madness in 2026. Some names are realistic candidates, while others are pipe dreams. Might as well have the full spectrum of people on here.

Photo by Dr. Michael Huang | Kentucky Sports Radio

DeMarcus Cousins

DeMarcus Cousins made his return to Big Blue Madness in October 2023, which feels like ages ago. Let’s make it happen again.

Advertisement

Cousins hasn’t been exactly Big Blue Nation’s favorite former player since John Calipari left. He caught flak after saying Kentucky would “never be the same” after Calipari’s departure. However, the love for Boogie in Lexington is clear.

It’s only fitting for Kentucky to bring back Cousins one year after John Wall makes his return. If there’s anyone who’s been to BBM recently that fans would love to see again, it’s Cousins. Nothing would make things right like Mark Pope introducing him to a raucous crowd at Rupp Arena.

Kentucky coach John Calipari (Photo by Dr. Michael Huang | Kentucky Sports Radio)

John Calipari

Okay, this one might be a bit far-fetched. That’s mainly because he’s currently the head coach at the University of Arkansas. But can you imagine?

John Calipari was the head coach at Kentucky from 2009 to 2024, winning a national title in 2012. He led UK to four Final Fours in 2011, 2012, 2014, and 2015. However, his tenure ended on a sour note, losing to No. 14 seed Oakland in the 2024 NCAA Tournament before leaving to take the head coaching job at Arkansas.

We saw just last year a sitting head coach at another program come into Big Blue Madness and make his return after leaving for a rival program wearing red. Why can’t we see another?

Nov 15, 2011; New York, NY, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Tyshawn Taylor (10) has his shot blocked by Kentucky Wildcats forward Anthony Davis (23) during the first half at the Champions Classic at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Jim O’Connor-USA TODAY Sports

Anthony Davis

Anthony Davis feels like an obvious choice as the NCAA Final Four Most Outstanding Player in Kentucky’s latest NCAA title in 2012. His NBA career has lived up to the hype.

Davis had one of the best one-and-done seasons in NCAA history during the 2011-12 season. He was the national college player of the year, NABC defensive player of the year, the NCAA blocks leader, the SEC Player of the Year, and he won Kentucky’s first NCAA Title since the 1997-98 season.

Advertisement

Davis is one of the most decorated Kentucky players in the NBA. He’s been named to 10 NBA All-Star games, won an NBA title in 2020, and is a four-time First-Team All-NBA selection. Bringing him back to Big Blue Madness would remind Kentucky fans of its latest title.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Jun 22, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) after winning game seven of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

It’s crazy I’ve gone this long without mentioning the reigning NBA MVP and Finals MVP. What’s even crazier is that I wasn’t even 100 percent on including him.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was excellent at Kentucky, earning second-team All-SEC honors in 2018 and being drafted No. 11 overall in the 2018 NBA Draft. Yet, he was never close at Kentucky to reaching the heights he’s reached in the NBA.

Gilgeous-Alexander is coming off one of the greatest seasons in NBA history. He captured MVP honors, won a scoring title, and was named NBA Finals MVP, leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to its first-ever title. He might not have the legacy at Kentucky like some of the other players on this list, but his status in basketball is unmatched right now.

nba-insider-makes-case-kentucky-guard-reed-sheppard-number-one-draft-big-boards
Kentucky guard Reed Sheppard (Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports)

Reed Sheppard

Sure, Reed Sheppard might have upset a lot of Kentucky fans when he wore an Arkansas shirt ahead of the UK-Arkansas game earlier this year. However, by Big Blue Madness 2026, that will be a distant memory.

Sheppard was beloved during his one season at Kentucky. The son of Kentucky NCAA Champion Jeff Sheppard, Reed exceeded all expectations for him during the 2023-24 season.

Sheppard was the national freshman of the year by some outlets during his lone season at Kentucky, eventually being drafted by the Houston Rockets with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft.

Advertisement



Source link

Kentucky

Man arrested after pound of meth found in Kentucky home during search warrant

Published

on

Man arrested after pound of meth found in Kentucky home during search warrant


BURKESVILLE, Ky. (WSMV) – A man was arrested Friday after a search warrant was executed at a Kentucky home, according to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

The search warrant comes after a weeks-long joint investigation between the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and Kentucky State Police.

CCSO said a search warrant was executed at a home at 4426 Glasgow Road about 1 p.m. Friday.

During the search, deputies found about one pound of methamphetamine inside the home.

Advertisement

Stephen Eaves, of Cumberland County, was arrested following the search, CCSO said.

“The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office will continue to work with all first responding agencies to keep our community as safe as possible,” CCSO said.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Kentucky

Kentucky bill would change how alcohol, cannabis beverages are taxed

Published

on

Kentucky bill would change how alcohol, cannabis beverages are taxed


LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – A bill that would change how alcohol and cannabis-infused beverages are taxed is under consideration in Frankfort.

House Bill 9 would impose a 4% state retail regulatory license fee on all sales of alcoholic beverages and cannabis-infused beverages to consumers by retailers.

The bill would also establish state wholesale regulatory license fees on those same products and, for the first time, bring kratom, hemp-derived, and cannabinoid products into the formal tax structure.

How the tax would be calculated

Annie Rouse, CEO and founder of CannaBuzz, said the tax itself is not the problem, but how it is calculated could be.

Advertisement

“Right now it kind of seems like nickel and diming at every part of the supply chain,” Rouse said.

Rouse said the introduction of House Bill 9 means retailers may not be able to absorb the cost of supply chain and retail taxes, eventually passing those costs on to customers. She said the tax would be applied per milligram of THC in a product, rather than on the product’s value — a structure she said mirrors a similar shift happening in the alcohol industry.

“That is also happening with alcohol — they’re moving away from the value tax and moving it to a by-alcohol-volume tax,” Rouse said.

“So kind of taxed on multiple levels. There’s still some work that needs to be done to kind of maybe move some of those taxes around so it’s just one tax,” Rouse said.

Rouse said she is working with legislators to help them understand the best way for the state to earn tax revenue from the products without harming the industries.

Advertisement

“We need to find that sweet spot so that people aren’t going out of state and instead they’re staying here, they’re buying it here and then we’re continuing to support the economy,” Rouse said.

What customers say

Until the bill is passed, it is unclear how much of a financial impact the tax would have on customers. Customers told WKYT that because cannabis-infused drinks and alcohol are entertainment purchases, those products would be among the first cut from their budgets.

“It’s already an expensive product and, you know, I don’t want to spend an extra four dollars on my sleep gummies or my beer,” said Will Partain, a customer who buys products in both industries.

Partain said a price increase would stop him from shopping local. He said if local companies raise their prices, he would shift to major brands and buy less overall.

What else is in the bill

Beyond the new fee structure, House Bill 9 would repeal Kentucky’s existing excise and wholesale taxes on alcoholic and cannabis-infused beverages on July 1, 2027, replacing them with the new regulatory license fee system.

Advertisement

The bill would also direct 0.5% of collected state retail regulatory license fees to the Alcohol Wellness and Responsibility Education Fund and create new public health laboratory and testing standards for cannabis-infused beverages, kratom, hemp, and cannabinoid products.

Under the bill, local governments in moist or wet cities and counties would gain new authority to impose their own local regulatory license fees. Existing local fees would be required to drop to 3% within four years; future fees would be capped at 1%.

The bill also includes a permanent prohibition on retail licensees using a premises where alcohol was sold to minors three or more times within 24 months.

Timeline

The bill includes an emergency clause, meaning most provisions could take effect immediately if signed into law. The full tax overhaul — including the sunset of existing excise and wholesale taxes and the full implementation of the new regulatory license fee system — would not take effect until July 1, 2027.

Advertisement



Source link

Continue Reading

Kentucky

Kentucky Basketball vs. Florida viewing info, what to watch for, and predictions

Published

on

Kentucky Basketball vs. Florida viewing info, what to watch for, and predictions


What an up-and-down season it has been for Kentucky Basketball, as shown by just the last two games: A dominating win over Vanderbilt, where the Wildcats led for 38+ minutes, followed by a double-digit loss to Texas A&M just 72 hours later, allowing a 27-3 run.

While locked in an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament, the Wildcats are playing for seeding, likely a 6-7 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and anywhere from a 4-10 seed in the SEC Tournament. The last game of the regular season to ultimately decide the latter is the SEC regular-season champion, the Florida Gators.

Already having played once this season, Kentucky trailed by as many as 17 points in the first 10 minutes, but fought back to make it a five-point game in the second half.

Can the Wildcats put together a full 40 minutes together, avoid a season sweep for the first time since 2018, and guarantee themselves a bye in the SEC Tournament?

Advertisement

Here’s what to watch for in Kentucky vs. Florida, Part II.

While Florida has one of the best frontcourts in the country, one of the deciding factors in the first game was the backcourt play, as Xavian Lee and Urban Klavzar, who had two of their best performances of the season and combined for 41 points.

At this point of the season, the correlation of Kentucky’s success and the play of Otega Oweh, Collin Chandler, and Denzel Aberdeen is pretty clear. Coming off a game against Texas A&M, where they combined for 36 points, on 11-30 shooting, they need to outplay Florida’s backcourt for Kentucky to have a shot at the upset.

Given their elite frontcourt, Florida looks to give their big men plenty of touches around the basket and attack the basket for offensive rebounding opportunities. As a result, they draw fouls at one of the highest rates in the nation, nearly 20 a game.

In the first matchup, Kentucky had four players with four or more fouls, including Brandon Garrison, who fouled out. This limited Malachi Moreno to just 21 minutes, still having a team-high 11 rebounds. Backing him up, Garrison had as many fouls (5) as points, rebounds, and blocks combined.

Advertisement

Kentucky will likely face foul trouble again, and with a limited frontcourt, Mark Pope has the option of playing Malachi Moreno through foul trouble or hoping for better production from the other bigs. Pope has shown that he would rather go with the latter. Fortunately, Mo Dioubate is coming off his best game of the season, and Garrison had one of his better performances, albeit against a smaller Texas A&M team. They will need to sustain some level of production to give Kentucky a chance against Florida.

Kentucky played well for the final 30 minutes of the first matchup, outscoring Florida 66-60 during that span. It was the first 10 minutes that were the issue, where they turned the ball over 9 times and put themselves into a 17-point deficit.

Whether it be slow starts, as in the Florida game, or tough mid-game stretches like against Texas A&M, too often Kentucky puts itself in a hole with turnovers. Mark Pope has said it, turnovers are a great indicator for this team. When keeping turnovers in the single digits, Kentucky is 11-2; when that number rises to 10 or more, it is just 3-9 against power opponent teams.

Thomas Haugh 6-9, 215 lbs

  • 17.1 PPG
  • 6.0 RPG
  • 17 points and 8 rebounds vs UK on 2/14/26

Reuben Chinyelu 6-10, 265 lbs

  • 11.7 PPG
  • 4.1 APG
  • 22 points, 4-7 3P vs UK on 2/14/26
  • Time: 4:00 PM ET on March 7th
  • Location: Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center in Lexington, KY
  • TV Channel: ESPN
  • Announcers: Karl Ravech, Jimmy Dykes, and Dick Vitale will call the action.
  • Online Stream: WatchESPN and the ESPN app.
  • Radio: Tom Leach and Jack Givens have the call on the UK Sports Radio Network.
  • Replay: WatchESPN and the ESPN network (check local listings)
  • Rosters: UK | UF
  • Stats to Know: UK | UF
  • KenPom: UK | UF
  • Team Sheet: UK | UF
  • Odds: FanDuel Sportsbook has yet to release the odds for this game, so please check back later for those. The analytics have Kentucky as the underdog, giving them anywhere between a 1-3 and 1-4 chance. ESPN is the most positive in Kentucky’s chances, at a 37.2% chance to win. EvanMiya (32.3%), KenPom (29%), and BartTorvik (27%) trail behind, all within five percent of each other.
  • Predictions: The analytics show the most favorable scenario is a five-point loss, with Haslametrics (80-75) and EvanMiya (81-76) projecting that. BartTorvik and KenPom are both in agreement with a seven-point loss, 81-74. Florida is playing like a title contender, riding a 10-game win streak, while Kentucky is struggling to string back-to-back wins. With Florida’s higher level of play, I am taking them to win 85-76.

Sound off in the comments section on how you think this matchup will go.



Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Trending