Kentucky basketball head coach Mark Pope has had quite the busy start in Lexington.
After a monumental introductory press conference and landing Amari Williams — one of the top targets in the transfer portal — Pope has yet another full weekend of recruiting.
Pope and his staff are hosting Aidan Mahaney, Andrej Stojakovic, Andrew Carr, Deivon Smith and Otega Oweh.
Smith, a fifth-year player, has played for Mississippi State, Georgia Tech and most recently Utah. He really found his groove with the Utes, averaging over 13 points and seven assists per game.
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Carr, similar to Smith, has one year of eligibility remaining. The former Delaware and Wake Forest big man had a career-best season last year, averaging over 13 points and six rebounds.
Oweh, a former Oklahoma Sooners guard, is coming off a much-improved sophomore season where he averaged over 11 points per game and saw an increase in both his field goal as well as three-point shooting percentages.
Mahaney, a former Saint Mary’s guard, is also entering his third year of college basketball. He averaged just under 14 points per game each of the last two seasons and started every game this past year.
Stojakovic is the youngest of the group, opting to transfer from Stanford after just one season. He averaged over seven points per game and has the potential to be a multi-year player that could excel in Pope’s offensive system.
While this group is rather guard-heavy, that’s okay. Kentucky is unlikely to land all of them, but if Pope can secure Carr and two or three of the guards then his roster will be in much better shape than it currently sits.
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Headlines
Cats in the NFL Draft – UK Athletics
A number of former Wildcats are expected to be taken in this week’s NFL Draft.
Brian Robinson Passes More Than Just The SEC Look Test – Vaught’s Views
He has such a high ceiling.
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Alvin Brooks III Joins Kentucky Men’s Basketball Staff – UK Athletics
Alvin Brooks III, regarded as one of the nation’s best assistant coaches, has joined the Kentucky men’s basketball coaching staff as associate head coach it was announced on Thursday.
Bears select QB Caleb Williams with No. 1 pick in NFL draft – ESPN
Like we expected.
Reed Sheppard Has What NBA Teams Like And Want – Vaught’s Views
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Will really miss him wearing Kentucky blue.
59 Wildcats on SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll – UK Athletics
A total of 59 University of Kentucky student-athletes earned a place on the 2023-24 Winter Sports Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll.
Vikings trade up with Jets, get J.J. McCarthy 10th at NFL draft – ESPN
Again, like we expected.
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Amari Williams “like a man among boys on court” – Vaught’s Views
Appears to be a home run.
Michael Penix Jr. taken by Falcons in NFL draft surprise – ESPN
Surprise of the draft.
Bio Blast: Oklahoma transfer Otega Oweh – KSR
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Everything you need to know.
Broncos make Bo Nix sixth QB picked in first round of NFL draft – ESPN
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Rivalry week has finally arrived. The Louisville and Kentucky football program are set to do battle once again, facing off in Lexington for the annual Battle for the Governor’s Cup.
Here are the depth charts for both the Cardinals and Wildcats:
Changes from Louisville’s Depth Chart vs. Pitt:
Quarterback
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9 Tyler Shough (6-5, 230, Gr.) 10 Pierce Clarkson (6-1, 190, R-Fr.) OR 15 Harrison Bailey (6-5, 230, R-Sr.) OR 12 Brady Allen (6-6, 220, R-So)
Running Back
25 Isaac Brown (5-9, 190, Fr.) 21 Donald Chaney Jr. (5-10, 210, R-Jr.) 26 Duke Watson (6-0, 180, Fr.) 22 Keyjuan Brown (5-10, 210, R-Fr.)
Wide Receiver
0 Chris Bell (6-2, 220, Jr.) 81 Cataurus Hicks (5-10, 180, R-Fr.)
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (3-2) at Kentucky Wildcats (5-0)
Lexington, Kentucky; Tuesday, 6:30 p.m. EST
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BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Wildcats -22.5; over/under is 164
BOTTOM LINE: No. 8 Kentucky takes on Western Kentucky after Koby Brea scored 22 points in Kentucky’s 108-59 win over the Jackson State Tigers.
The Wildcats have gone 4-0 at home. Kentucky is 10th in college basketball averaging 12.6 made 3-pointers per game while shooting 42.3% from downtown. Brea leads the team averaging 4.0 makes while shooting 74.1% from 3-point range.
The Hilltoppers are 0-1 in road games. Western Kentucky ranks third in the CUSA shooting 37.4% from 3-point range.
Kentucky scores 97.0 points, 24.2 more per game than the 72.8 Western Kentucky allows. Western Kentucky averages 9.8 made 3-pointers per game this season, 3.8 more made shots on average than the 6.0 per game Kentucky gives up.
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TOP PERFORMERS: Brea is shooting 74.1% from beyond the arc with 4.0 made 3-pointers per game for the Wildcats, while averaging 16 points.
Julius Thedford averages 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Hilltoppers, scoring 11.4 points while shooting 54.5% from beyond the arc.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Mark Stoops owns a five-game winning streak in the Governor’s Cup series. The Wildcats have won three games in a row at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium and have not lost to Louisville at Kroger Field since 2017 when Bobby Petrino was holding the call sheet and and Lamar Jackson was playing quarterback. The Wildcats have also covered a lot of spreads in this series.
Stoops is 7-2-1 against-the-spread (ATS) in this series with with covers as a double-digit dog in 2014 and 2016. Kentucky has beaten Louisville outright as a dog three times since 2016 and has covered five straight in this series. Those are not the only trends going in Kentucky’s direction heading into this Week 14 contest.
Louisville is 0-4-1 ATS as a road favorite under Jeff Brohm with outright losses to Pittsburgh and Stanford. Kentucky is 5-0-1 ATS as a dog in its last six outing including four games this season. Kentucky covered numbers as a double-digit dog against Georgia, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and Texas this season.
The visitor is 11-3-1 ATS (5-10 outright) in the last 14 meetings of this series with 10 outright wins but Kentucky has won the last two meetings at Kroger Field covering each times as a three-point favorite. In 2019, Kentucky ran away for a 45-13 victory and cruised to a 26-13 victory in 2022.
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Kentucky has consistently overachieved pregame expectations in this series. The Wildcats are currently a 3.5-point dog with a total of 48.5. That’s a projected final score of 26-22.5. Will UK exceed expectations again against Louisville? A win would equal four outright upsets for the Big Blue in the last eight meetings of the series.
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