Kentucky

Kentucky basketball NBA draft streak likely to continue. Latest projections for UK players

Published

2 years ago

June 19, 2024

Kentucky basketball NBA draft streak likely to continue. Latest projections for UK players

LEXINGTON — Even with John Calipari moving on, a pair of streaks dating back to his first season as Kentucky’s coach in 2009-10 will continue at least one more year.

The Wildcats have had at least one player selected in the first round of every NBA draft dating to 2010. And UK has had at least two players picked in every draft beginning with the 2010 event.

Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham, the freshman guard duo who provided instant offense for Kentucky off the bench last season, are widely expected to be lottery picks.

Where the other former Wildcats in this year’s draft pool — guards Justin Edwards and Antonio Reeves along with forward Tre Mitchell — might land is unsettled. Edwards and Reeves might hear their names called. They might not. And Mitchell is expected to go undrafted unless a team takes a late flier on him before the second round concludes.

One difference from previous drafts: The NBA decided to expand the two-round event to a two-day affair. The league traditionally had conducted both rounds on the same night. Instead, the 2024 NBA Draft will hold the first round June 26 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The second round will take place June 27 at ESPN’s Seaport District Studios in New York City.

Here’s a look at where each of the five former Kentucky players vying to find a place for themselves in the NBA are projected to go, per the latest mock drafts from a number of national outlets:

Reed Sheppard: Near-lock to be top-10 pick. And maybe even higher.

After a phenomenal freshman campaign, Sheppard, a UK legacy and in-state star from London, shouldn’t have to wait long to hear his name called in this year’s draft. In the most recent mock drafts from nine national outlets — USA TODAY, ESPN, The Athletic, CBS Sports, Fox Sports, Yahoo Sports, The Ringer, SB Nation and Bleacher Report — Sheppard is projected to go no lower than sixth overall to the Charlotte Hornets (predicted by Fox Sports’ Jason McIntyre) and as high as second to the Washington Wizards (where he’s slotted by CBS Sports’ Gary Parrish).

The most popular projection for Sheppard is the third overall selection, which is owned by the Houston Rockets. That’s the pick, and team, forecast for Sheppard by USA TODAY, ESPN, The Athletic, SB Nation, Bleacher Report and CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone.

The biggest question mark: whether Houston actually will keep the pick.

The mock drafts penned by Jonathan Givony (of ESPN) and Sam Vecenie (of The Athletic) both pointed out the league-wide perception that the Rockets will entertain trading the pick, whether it’s to move down in the draft to accumulate additional picks or using it as the centerpiece to bring in a star player to complement the wealth of youthful talent (Tari Eason, Jalen Green, Alperen Şengün, Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore, all of whom are 23 or younger) already on the roster.

Wherever Sheppard goes, he’ll bring elite shooting, instinctual playmaking and defensive savvy.

He left UK as the program’s all-time leader in 3-point percentage, converting 52.1% (75 for 144) of his attempts during the 2023-24 season. Sheppard also recorded 82 steals, the second most in a season in Kentucky’s illustrious history, six short of Rajon Rondo’s mark. He also dished out a team-high 4.5 assists per game and notched 23 blocks.

“Sheppard’s combination of shot creation, passing and sneaky athleticism makes him an intriguing prospect in the top half of the lottery,” wrote Krysten Peek of Yahoo Sports. “He plays the right way and his game translates well to the NBA with how productive he can be with or without the ball on offense.”

Rob Dillingham: Another likely lottery selection

Unlike Sheppard, whose projected draft slot has remained fairly steady between Nos. 3 and 6, there is far more fluctuation with Dillingham, an electric — if undersized — scoring machine. A handful of mock drafts have Dillingham going ahead of Sheppard. Cameron Salerno of CBS Sports even speculated Dillingham will go to the Wizards with the second overall pick. At the other end of the spectrum, The Ringer has him falling out of the lottery entirely, coming off the board with the 15th pick, held by the Miami Heat.

Dillingham never will be able to outrun his size: He measured 6-foot-1, on the dot, at the NBA draft combine. And he tipped the scales at just 164.2 pounds — the lightest player among those who attended the combine.

His stature never slowed him down with the Wildcats, though, as he averaged 15.2 points per game off the bench last season. Givony named him the top ball handler in the 2024 draft class.

“Dillingham’s jittery handle, burst and explosive change of gear makes it difficult for opponents to stay in front of him,” Givony wrote. “He has a wide array of elusive moves at his disposal, including herky-jerky crossovers, double crossovers, in-and-out dribbles, behind-the-back dribbles and more, which he combines with sharp changes of speed, accelerating from slow to fast with either hand to take the paint and finish with touch around the rim.”

Given the space-and-pace nature of the current NBA, Givony said Dillingham should be even more dangerous offensively at the pro level than he was at Kentucky.

Justin Edwards: Draft place uncertain for former five-star signee

Entering the 2023-24 season, Edwards was touted as potentially the top pick in the next NBA draft.

Now, it’s anyone’s guess where he’ll go in the draft. If he’s even picked at all.

ESPN and CBS Sports have him as a late first-round selection. The Athletic, Yahoo Sports, The Ringer and Bleacher Report predict he’ll be a second-rounder. USA TODAY, Fox Sports and Bleacher Report, which only released its projections for the 30 picks in the first round, didn’t include Edwards’ name among them.

But Edwards — the Philadelphia native started 31 of the 32 games he played in last season, averaging 8.8 points and 3.4 rebounds in 21.4 minutes per outing — has his supporters.

“Edwards did not have the season many expected at Kentucky,” Givony wrote, “but he’s still worthy of consideration. … Standing 6-7 with some perimeter shooting acumen and upside to grow into after one season in college, Edwards ranks No. 28 in ESPN’s Top 100.”

Antonio Reeves: Senior scoring leader a second-round candidate?

Reeves ended his college career with a bang. Not only did he lead UK in points per game in 2023-24 but his average (20.2) also was the highest by any player in any season of Calipari’s tenure in Lexington. Reeves’ average was the best by a Wildcat since Jodie Meeks poured in 23.7 points per night during the 2008-09 season.

Reeves doesn’t appear in the first round of any mock draft conducted by a national publication. But ESPN, The Athletic and Bleacher Report all have him squeezing into the second round.

“He’s clearly one of the class’ top shotmakers,” wrote Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Wasserman, “who also has a good feel for how to get himself those catch-and-shoot, pull-up and floater chances within an offense’s flow.”

Tre Mitchell: Undrafted free-agent deal in the future for veteran forward?

Much like last year with Jacob Toppin, another former forward who transferred into Kentucky, Mitchell doesn’t appear in any two-round mock draft. Anywhere. The 2023 mock drafts proved prophetic, as Toppin went undrafted. But shortly after the event concluded, he signed a two-way contract with the New York Knicks.

Toppin went on to appear in nine games with the Knicks in 2023-24 and also played in 24 contests for the Westchester Knicks of the NBA G League.

Mitchell hopes he can approximate — or possibly surpass — Toppin’s post-Kentucky efforts.

ESPN ranks Mitchell 82nd on its list of top 100 prospects in the 2024 draft class.

Joining UK as a transfer from West Virginia prior to last season, Mitchell went on to play in 27 games (24 starts) in 2023-24, averaging a team-high 7.2 rebounds to go along with 10.7 points and 2.6 assists in 30.2 minutes per contest.

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter at @RyanABlack.

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Kentucky

Affordable Care Act rates rate hikes could strain Kentucky families, WKAS warns

Published

9 hours ago

July 10, 2026

Press Room

Affordable Care Act rates rate hikes could strain Kentucky families, WKAS warns

Wkas (2).jpg — West Kentucky Allied Services Paducah office on July 9.
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Max Davis

PADUCAH — Affordable Care Act marketplace rates are set to rise again in 2027, according to public filings, and West Kentucky Allied Services said that it could be catastrophic for those affected.

The ACA marketplace is a public platform for buying private insurance plans and applying for premium tax credits and Medicaid.

The rate increases can be found in 77 publicly released ACA rate filings submitted to state regulators on June 30. The rates reveal a median 14% rate hike across the country and double-digit rate increases for two policies in Kentucky.

“For our low-income clients, we’re already seeing that a good number of them find prices are so out of reach that they are having to make a decision between paying rent or utilities or having health care coverage, and sad to say, a good number are deciding not to have health care coverage,” Uppinder Mehan, CEO of West Kentucky Allied Services, said.

Mehan said that the ACA marketplace was supposed to be the more affordable alternative to other private plans, but has become just as expensive. He explained that this has put many in Kentucky in a bind, especially those who do not qualify for Medicaid.

“I think the main driver is that the kind of support states like Kentucky have enjoyed in the past few years, that is, support from the federal government for Medicaid, has simply vanished,” Mehan said. “The decision was made by the current administration to no longer fund states in their Medicaid costs, and so now states like Kentucky have to come up with the resources to pay for the coverage for its citizens, or look to save money wherever they can, and unfortunately, what that often ends up meaning is that people end up losing coverage.”

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“Those of us who are in the middle are beginning to feel the squeeze more and more. A greater portion of folks’ budgets are going towards health care than ever before, and they’re finding it a challenge to find suitable coverage,” Uppinder Mehan, CEO of West Kentucky Allied Services, said.

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“Those of us who are in the middle are beginning to feel the squeeze more and more. A greater portion of folks’ budgets are going towards health care than ever before, and they’re finding it a challenge to find suitable coverage,” Uppinder Mehan, CEO of West Kentucky Allied Services, said.

Max Davis

ACA rates also increased in 2025 by a median of 20% across publicly available data. 2026’s change is lower, but according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, it is the second-highest rate change since 2018 and shows some premiums on the marketplaces have jumped by more than a third in two years.

“As more people become aware, they’re beginning to actually contact their representatives, which is probably the best thing you can do is let people in our state government know that there are concerns that you have about this,” Mehan said. “There are a number of committee hearings that are still going on, and my hope is that we can find a better solution.”

While not every provider’s proposed rate is publicly available at this time, Mehan said that almost every provider is scheduled to raise their prices by 8% to 14%. The two Kentucky rate increases included in the 77 available on June 30 have Anthem Health Plans of Kentucky increasing by a proposed 16.9% and WellCare Health Plans of Kentucky increasing by 20.7%.

“A greater portion of folks’ budgets is going towards health care than ever before, and they’re finding it a challenge to find suitable coverage,” Mehan said.

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Kentucky

Public Health Student Hollie Hagan found her calling in rural Kentucky

Published

19 hours ago

July 10, 2026

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Public Health Student Hollie Hagan found her calling in rural Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky. (July 10, 2026) — Growing up in Grayson County, Hollie Hagan always knew she wanted to help people. She just wasn’t sure what that looked like.

Like many students entering college, Hagan originally envisioned a career in healthcare. She planned to study nutrition and dietetics, inspired by time spent volunteering at her local food pantry. But an internship with the Grayson County Health Department during her senior year of high school introduced her to a field she hadn’t even realized existed — public health.

“I had no clue what a health department does or even what public health was,” Hagan said. “Then I got there and saw all the ways they were helping people, both directly and indirectly. I thought, ‘This is something I really want to be a part of.’”

That experience changed everything.

Alongside her coursework, she has served as a College of Public Health senator in the Student Government Association, has moderated public health panels and is participating in the Rural Public Health Scholars Program, a combination of course- and fieldwork that places students in rural communities to work on projects aimed at improving health outcomes.

But throughout those experiences, one goal has remained constant — returning to the community that helped shape her.

“I’ve realized that with public health you can make an impact on any level,” said Hagan, who is also a Lewis Honors College student. “For me, I want to be at the local level helping people.”

That desire has been evident since she first arrived at the Grayson County Health Department.

Josh Horton, public health director for the Grayson County Health Department, said Hagan quickly distinguished herself through both her work ethic and willingness to learn.

“Hollie has always been a very capable person,” he said. “You just give her instructions, and she runs with it.”

While Hagan entered her high school internship knowing she was interested in leadership, Horton watched her interests evolve as she gained firsthand experience in public health.

“When she came back to us and said, ‘I want to do something in public health,’ that was a reminder of why we’re doing what we’re doing,” Horton said. “Our goal has always been to inspire people to go into public health. We’d love for them to come back to Grayson County, but as long as they end up serving somewhere in public health, we consider it a win.”

For Hagan, public health offered something she hadn’t found elsewhere — the opportunity to create ripple effects that improve the health and well-being of entire communities.

“I think it’s important to learn about health at a community level,” she said. “You’re not just learning how to treat one person. You’re learning how to impact everyone in a community, which I think is just so amazing and unique.”

Her time at the College of Public Health has given Hagan opportunities to grow both as a student and a leader. One of those experiences came when she moderated the Big Blue Public Health Illumination Seminar Series on Summer Safety and Emergency Preparedness, bringing together public health professionals and community leaders for a discussion on issues affecting Kentucky communities.

Hosting her first public health panel was intimidating, she said, but it quickly became one of her most rewarding experiences.

“Once the conversation got going, I found myself learning just as much as everyone else in the room,” Hagan said. “We had such a great group of panelists, and it really highlighted the work happening in rural communities.”

Among those panelists was Horton, who saw Hagan confidently guide conversations around the very work she’d experienced during her internship.

“To see her take what she learned here in Grayson County and then lead a panel discussing those ideas at the university was exciting,” he said. “It’s rewarding because it reminds us why we invest in students.”

This summer, Hagan has returned to Grayson County for her fieldwork portion of the Rural Public Health Scholars Program, continuing to build experience in environmental health — an area she now hopes to pursue professionally as a registered environmental health specialist.

Long term, she sees herself building a career in rural public health.

“I like being on the go,” Hagan said. “I like being out in the community, doing site visits, talking with people and making a difference.”

For Horton, that commitment reflects something deeper than career ambition.

“It takes a certain heart to stay in rural public health,” he said. “There are opportunities to go elsewhere, but people who choose rural communities do it because they want to serve. Hollie has that same heart.”

Looking back, Hagan never expected a high school job-shadowing experience and a food pantry volunteer position would lead her to public health. Now, she hopes other students discover the field just as she did.

“If you want to have a larger impact, come to the College of Public Health,” she said. “You’ll learn how to improve the health of an entire community.”

For Hagan, that community has always been Grayson County—and she hopes one day to return home and help it thrive.

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Kentucky

Exantus may be subject to involuntary hospitalization due to Kentucky law

Published

1 day ago

July 9, 2026

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Exantus may be subject to involuntary hospitalization due to Kentucky law

FRANKFORT, Ky. (WKYT) – The Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet has released new information regarding the release of the man convicted in the death of Logan Tipton.

Ronald Exantus, 42, will be released from the Kentucky State Reformatory on July 29. Still, before that, he may be subject to involuntary hospitalization due to his not being found guilty by reason of insanity on one count of murder and one count of burglary.

According to a letter sent on June 5 by the cabinet to Chief Circuit Court Judge Jeremy Mattox, Commonwealth’s Attorney Kelli Kearney, and Department of Public Advocacy Directing Attorney Josh Miller, the court has the opportunity to begin involuntary hospitalization proceedings against Exantus, as mentioned in the judgment against him.

READ THE LETTER BELOW

Per Kentucky law, when a defendant is found not guilty by reason of insanity, the court shall order an involuntary hospitalization; the court may also order a 10-day detention period to allow proceedings to be initiated.

The cabinet states in the letter that it does not have the authority to initiate the proceedings because Exantus was found guility but mentally on three counts of assault.

WKYT has reached out to the Woodford County Commonwealth’s Attorney and the Department of Public Advocacy to ask whether involuntary hospitalization procedures are being initiated in this case. We have yet to hear back.

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