Kentucky
Mark Pope must land this Kentucky native in the transfer portal who shoots 47% from three
A massive addition to the transfer portal just happened as former Liberty guard Brett Decker Jr. announced that he plans to hit the portal when it opens on April 7th. This should immediately catch the eye of Mark Pope, as Decker Jr. is a Kentucky native from Elizabethtown.
This season for the Flames of Liberty, Decker Jr. averaged 16.9 points per game while shooting 49.9% from the field and 47.1% from three. Decker Jr. will more than likely end up being the best three-point shooter in the transfer portal, so knowing this, plus the fact that he is a Kentucky native, Coach Pope needs to do everything in his power to land Decker Jr.
Last season, the Wildcats didn’t have that much three-point shooting outside of Collin Chandler. Otega Oweh, Denzel Aberdeen, and Kam Williams all were solid shooting the three ball, but Chandler was the only player fans could rely on to make one from deep.
When Pope doesn’t have a lot of players who are capable of making threes, his offense isn’t going to be that good, and this is why the Wildcats had a rough season last year. Coach Pope needs to learn from this mistake and make sure that he adds a bunch of players via the portal who can fill it up from deep. Obviously, Decker Jr. is a player who makes a ton of sense for this staff to target to come in and play the Koby Brea role.
If Decker Jr. does pick Kentucky, he could come off the bench as a flamethrower from deep, and in the games where he just can’t seem to miss, Pope won’t take him off the floor. When it comes to the other backcourt members Pope recruits, he will need guys who can score all over the floor, while Decker Jr. could just be the shooter for this team.
Decker Jr. is only a sophomore, so if Kentucky were to land him, he could develop the rest of his game and be one of the better players in the nation during his final two seasons of college hoops. Pope needs players who are going to be knockdown shooters from deep, and a good start would be to land the best shooter in the portal.
If Kentucky is able to land Decker Jr., Pope will still need to go out and get some more players who can be reliable from three, but he would be an excellent start. Coach Pope needs to do everything in his power to bring the Kentucky kid home.
Jim Obergefell talks LGBTQ+ rights 10 years after Supreme Court ruling
Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage nationwide, looks back on its impact 10 years later.
Happy Pride Month!
About 9% of U.S. adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual, and some places are safer for and more welcoming of those in the LGBTQ+ community.
Here’s how Kentucky ranks compared to other states.
How Kentucky ranks for being welcoming, safe for LGBTQ+ members
Kentucky ranks No. 35 out of 50 states for being welcoming of the LGBTQ+ community, according to Out Leadership’s State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index. While the commonwealth has climbed eight spots since 2019, it earned about 41 out of 100 possible points, receiving a B- grade.
The report comes as national scores continue to decline. The average state score has fallen for four consecutive years and now sits at 53.1, with 26 states scoring below 60, Out Leadership founder and CEO Todd Sears told USA TODAY.
The index suggests acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. has declined in recent years, reversing progress that once improved the well-being and safety of LGBTQ+ communities, Sears said.
“When we started this index eight years ago, the goal was to show Americans the issues that were still live but invisible — HIV criminalization, conversion therapy, where state legislators actually stood — because once marriage equality passed, a lot of people assumed the work was done. It wasn’t,” Sears said. “What we’ve documented since is a genuine regression.”
This year, Out Leadership added 12 new indicators measuring the effects of policies affecting LGBTQ+ people, including restrictions on bathroom access, pronoun and name use and gender-affirming care for adults. Sears said the additions were made to better capture policies that have increasingly affected LGBTQ+ residents and their families.
“For the last several years, we simply weren’t capturing forces that were already hitting LGBTQ+ citizens and their families,” Sears said.
SafeHome.org also ranks Kentucky on the lower side for LGBTQ+ safety. The state ranks No. 27 out of 51 jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C., and received a score of 80.7 and a B- grade.
The rankings are based on a score that combines state laws affecting LGBTQ+ residents and hate crime data. Researchers evaluated laws across several policy areas using input from a survey of more than 1,000 LGBTQ+ people and paired the results with FBI hate crime statistics before calculating the final scores.
Contributing: Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY Network. Reach Marina Johnson at Marina.Johnson@courier-journal.com.
Kentucky got consecutive home runs from Jayce Tharnish and Tyler Bell to take a 9-6 lead over West Virginia. Chase Alderman and Nile Adcock combined to record five consecutive scoreless innings. The Bat Cats were three outs away from reaching — and hosting — a super regional.
West Virginia had other plans.
Free passes, a balk, and a three-run home run from Paul Schoenfield plated five runs in the ninth. It was absolute chaos in Kendrick Family Ballpark. Kentucky snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
That sets up one final game between the Wildcats and the Mountaineers again, but this one could sting for some time. Jeff Drummond and myself are reacting to the crushing loss by taking a look at what went wrong, how it got off the rails so quickly. and what could be on the horizon for tomorrow.
Smash that play button.
More Kentucky News and Views on the KSR YouTube Channel
Kentucky Sports Radio has expanded its coverage of the Wildcats in the most ridiculous manner possible on our YouTube Channel. Here you will be able to find interviews with coaches and players, as well as commentary from the KSR crew. From Rapid Reactions following big events to our lengthy lineup of live shows, subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel to stay up to date on everything happening around the Big Blue Nation.
Want more coverage of the Cats? Join KSR+
KSR has been delivering UK Sports news in the most ridiculous manner for almost two decades. Now, you can get even more coverage of the Cats with KSR+. Now is the perfect time to join our growing online community. Subscribe now for premium articles, in-depth scouting reports, inside intel, bonus recruiting coverage, and access to KSBoard and House of Blue, the most vibrant message board communities in Big Blue Nation.
JOIN HERE
There is a ton of stress right now in Lexington as Mark Pope and the staff are trying to land Milan Momcilovic, but this recruitment is being stretched out, which isn’t good for Kentucky. It sounds like the Wildcats have the highest offer NIL money wise, but he still hasn’t committed which has Kentucky fans scratching their heads.
Since Momcilovic pulled his name out of the NBA Draft on Wednesday night, Kentucky fans have felt pretty good about him being a Wildcat, but with the Wildcats being the hot name in the recruitment, fans wanted this done sooner rather than later. The other schools that are involved in this recruitment are Louisville and Arizona.
Louisville has spent a ton of money this offseason, but it sounds like they still have more in the tank, knowing their offer isn’t far off from Kentucky’s, according to reports. Arizona hasn’t offered as much as these two schools, so if Momcilovic were in it for the money, one would imagine that he ends up at Louisville or Kentucky.
When it comes to his system fit at these two schools, he fits in well with what both Pope and Pat Kelsey want to do. These teams want to shoot the three-ball a ton, and Momcilovic is the best shooter in college basketball. Both Kentucky and Louisville are in need of some shooters, so he would be a massive addition to either of these rosters.
Knowing the Wildcats had a ton of early momentum in this recruitment, Big Blue Nation wanted this to be a done deal late last week or early this weekend. It is midday on Sunday, and there is no word on his recruitment. It is head-scratching for Kentucky fans knowing that the Wildcats have a massive offer on the table, but he still hasn’t picked Kentucky.
While I do believe he will end up in Lexington, it is definitely a little bit concerning that he hasn’t done it already, knowing the Wildcats have thrown a ton of money his way. Pope knows how important adding a player like Momcilovic is to the upside of this team, so if he isn’t able to land him, things could get ugly next season in Lexington.
There is a world where he could commit later this evening, but if this keeps drawing out over the next few days, it really seems like Momcilovic might not want to be a Wildcat unless he is looking for more NIL money.
Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook and YouTube for the latest news.
Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow
-
News11 minutes agoRemains of Los Alamos National Laboratory employee missing for nearly a year found in New Mexico forest | CNN
-
Los Angeles, Ca2 hours agoSticker shock not just affecting World Cup match ticket prices, but parking costs too
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoFrankie Valli cancels tour. Why Four Seasons won’t be back in Detroit
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours agoLive From Microsoft Build 2026 San Francisco
-
Dallas, TX2 hours agoDallas Cowboys Full OTA Schedule Ahead Of 2026 NFL Season
-
Miami, FL2 hours agoThese Miami pizza spots rank among America’s best
-
Boston, MA2 hours agoNew England’s most welcoming towns and best summer escapes
-
Denver, CO2 hours agoA Writer Goes Down the Rabbit Hole at Denver’s First Microdosing Cafe
