Kentucky
Caleb Wilson is either trolling or praising Kentucky recruits
Despite a hard-fought battle by Mark Pope, Caleb Wilson is heading to Chapel Hill for his college basketball career after picking North Carolina over the Kentucky Wildcats.
The rising top-10 commit had it down to just those two programs and ended up choosing the Tar Heels. Apparently, he had decided far before he actually made the official announcement, reportedly giving UNC a silent verbal in December.
Now, Wilson is either trolling the Wildcats or giving them some very strong praise. We’ll let you decide which it is.
Bleacher Report Hoops posted a video with Wilson in which he gave his top five recruits from the 2025 class, and many incoming Kentucky names were on his list, an odd amount for a player who just spurned their future school.
The Tar Heels, who typically have a strong recruiting class as well, didn’t have any make the cut, just a strange situation.
“I put Acaden Lewis at the 1, Jasper Johnson at the 2, me at the 3, Nate Ament at the 4, and Malachi Moreno at the 5,” Wilson said.
As you probably already know, Kentucky has already signed Lewis, Johnson, and Moreno while also being a finalist for Ament. So there’s a chance, albeit a small one since Ament is seen as a longshot, that Wilson just named four future Wildcats to his top five recruits.
It should also be pointed out that none of the Kentucky commits are ranked in the top 10. The highest ranking any of them has is Johnson being 17th overall at ESPN. Moreno and Lewis aren’t even in the top 20 of any service.
Wilson was among the biggest players that had yet to commit to the class of 2025, so missing on him this late was a big setback. The No. 1 player from Georgia and the No. 4 power forward in the class, Wilson is a 6-foot-9 forward and has the ability to be a scoring machine who’s expected to be a star for the Tar Heels.
Kentucky, meanwhile, is looking elsewhere to fill that void on next year’s roster.
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.
Kentucky football coach Will Stein reflects on new position
Will Stein was officially introduced to fans and media as the head coach for the Kentucky Wildcats, replacing Mark Stoops.
LEXINGTON — Kentucky football had its first spring game under new coach Will Stein at Kroger Field on Saturday.
The offense, in blue jerseys, had its moments. So too the defense, donning white uniforms.
Ultimately, the blue squad earned a 23-18 victory in a game called just after noon because of inclement weather.
Stein admitted he “got emotional” as he charged onto the field prior to kickoff.
“I know it wasn’t a real game, but when I ran on the field, I definitely — man, I felt it,” he said. “It was like a wave running over me. And very, very, just cool.”
While it doesn’t count in the standings, Stein walked away pleased.
“I think we got a lot of really good work,” he said. “That’s the goal of spring is to improve with fundamentals and technique, learn how to practice, learn what winning edges that we need throughout spring to go into summer and fall and prepare the team for play. And we came out of the scrimmage clean. There (were) no injuries, which to me, that’s the biggest win of the day. I could (not) care less about the score.
“If we come out clean, that’s good. The Wildcats won.”
New starting QB Kenny Minchey looked about as expected, with sharp passes evened out by moments of inconsistency. Martels Carter Jr., a defensive back who is lining up at running back this spring, scored a touchdown and had several nice runs.
And the defense forced multiple three-and-outs and also picked off one Minchey pass on a two-point conversion.
This story will be updated.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
-
World10 minutes agoBulgaria votes in eighth election in five years
-
News40 minutes agoReal estate investors are buying up long-term care facilities. Residents can suffer
-
Detroit, MI3 hours agoFormer Piston shows Detroit what they’re missing as he dominates next to LeBron
-
San Francisco, CA3 hours agoEastbound I-80 closure in San Francisco snarls traffic, slows business
-
Videos3 hours agoCan Keir Starmer survive the latest Mandelson revelations? | BBC News
-
Dallas, TX3 hours agoPetar Musa’s Brace Not Enough as FC Dallas Draws LA Galaxy 2-2
-
Miami, FL3 hours agoMLS: Messi double helps Inter Miami slay Rapids in front of huge crowd
-
Boston, MA3 hours agoFrom across Boston they flock to play for Latin Academy boys’ tennis, a co-op of 29 schools – The Boston Globe