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

Trump takes his war against Thomas Massie straight to his home Kentucky district

Published

6 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Trump takes his war against Thomas Massie straight to his home Kentucky district

WASHINGTON — President Trump will use his stop in Kentucky on Wednesday to try to get his congressional nemesis out of office.

His target is Rep. Thomas Massie, a seven-term congressman who the White House has named the “Democrats’ favorite member.”

Trump endorsed Massie’s primary opponent, Ed Gallrein, who will be at the event in Hebron, Ky., per his campaign. The president will also be making a stop in Ohio.

President Trump will campaign in Kentucky on Wednesday against Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) AFP via Getty Images

Hebron is located in Boone County, Ky., just south of Cincinnati.

The White House made its feelings on Massie clear.

“You can have differences, but you have to be constructive. He is not constructive. In fact, he’s the Democrats’ favorite member,” a senior administration official told The Post.

Massie has outraged the White House on multiple occasions: he refused to support Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill,” which was the president’s signature domestic policy agenda; he criticized Trump’s foreign policy and accused him of executive overreach on the attacks on drug boats and Iran; and he led the charge on demanding the Justice Department release all its files in the Jeffrey Epstein case.

Now Trump is going to Massie’s district along the Ohio River to campaign against him, with the primary election just a little more than two months away, on May 19th.

Massie won’t be there.

US Representative Thomas Massie questions US Attorney General Pam Bondi at a House Judiciary Committee hearing. — Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) has outraged the White House on numerous occasions AFP via Getty Images

“Congressman Massie will not be attending as he has a previously scheduled official event,” his campaign told The Post.

Trump has railed against Massie as “the worst Republican.”

He took a swipe at his biggest naysayer when he spoke to House Republicans at their retreat at Trump Doral on Monday.

“The Republican Party has fantastic spirit, the level I don’t think has been seen before,” Trump said. “We have to get a couple of people on board, which at least one case is virtually impossible. I wonder who that might be, sick person.”

It’s believed he was talking about Massie, who was not seen in the audience.

In contrast, Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL, has praised Trump, his policies and his handling of the war in Iran.

For his part, Massie has been posting Trump’s videos and comments attacking him, hoping to turn the criticism from the president into support from voters.

The May primary will be a test of Trump’s power with Republican voters. It’ll also be seen as a barometer of Trump’s messaging on the economy.

The White House has argued the cost of living is down but rising gas prices – from the attack on Iran – have dominated the news. Still, the president will tout his work on the issue.

“President Trump will visit the great states of Ohio and Kentucky on Wednesday to tout his economic victories and detail his administration’s aggressive, ongoing efforts to lower prices and make America more affordable,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston told The Post.

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Northern Kentucky Norsemen claim Kentucky state hockey championship

Published

18 hours ago

March 9, 2026

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Northern Kentucky Norsemen claim Kentucky state hockey championship

Northern Kentucky brought home the Kentucky High School Hockey league state championship once again.

The Northern Kentucky Norsemen defeated Owensboro in dominant 5-0 fashion on March 8 to hoist the trophy. The Norsemen, comprised of players from schools across Northern Kentucky, earned their fourth state title since 2017. The Norsemen previously won in 2017, 2019 and 2023.

After entering the tournament as the top-seeded team, two wins brought the Norsemen to a 27-12-2 final record.

The Norsemen’s defense was in peak performance in the finals. Despite Owensboro getting off over 30 shots, senior goalkeeper Chase Bender kept a clean sheet.

On offense, junior Trevor Bauwens led the Norse, finishing the season with 35 goals and 12 assists. Other key offensive performers were seniors Mitchell Kirby and Samuel Mouser. Kirby ended the year with 19 goals and 22 assists, while Mouser had 16 goals and a team-best 30 assists.

Northern Kentucky is now set to represent the state in the USA Hockey High School National Championships. The tournament be held March 18-22 in Plymouth, Minnesota.

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Data centers, election changes and other bills moving in Kentucky

Published

1 day ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Data centers, election changes and other bills moving in Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky. — If the current legislative session was the Kentucky Derby, we’d be coming around the final turn and entering the stretch.

Feb. 9 marks the 42nd day of the 2026 Kentucky General Assembly, with 18 to go. Lawmakers will continue to meet daily for the next three weeks until the veto period begins in early April, with two more days at the Capitol after that for legislators to vote on overriding potential vetoes.

The filing deadlines for new bills were last week, and many pieces of legislation are moving quickly in Frankfort. Here’s a quick look at bills that advanced last week that will be worth watching:

SB 8 — A reworked PSC

Senate Bill 8 would change the member requirements for the Kentucky Public Service Commission — which regulates more than 1,100 utilities operating statewide — and add two new members who would be appointed by the state auditor, effectively diluting the governor’s power or oversight of PSC membership.

Under the bill, the chair of the commission would be elected amongst the commissioners, not appointed by the governor. The chair’s salary? Also determined by the commissioners.

Sen. Brandon Smith, R-Hazard, the bill’s sponsor, said the legislation will help support Kentuckians in reviewing utility rate cases and hopefully hasten the process.

Critics of the bill raised concerns about a section that would make the attorney general the sole representative for customers, requiring advocacy groups to prove a “special and unique” interest in the case — likely cutting advocacy groups out of the picture and preventing them from intervening in cases.

While on the floor, Smith introduced an amendment removing that section and creating a framework to allow advocates and organizations with legitimate interests to intervene.

Although the bill has passed the Senate, it will likely receive pushback from the governor’s office. In a Team Kentucky press conference, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear criticized the bill and the Republican-led legislature’s attempts at moving power from the governor’s office to the state auditor.

“They’ve done these shenanigans for six straight years,” Beshear said. “This is my sixth session as a governor, four as attorney general and a couple of special sessions. I’ve never seen them try to move something from a Republican officeholder to a Democratic officeholder, but I’ve seen them try to move a whole lot in the other direction.”

The bill passed 30-5 through the Senate on March 6. It now heads to the House.

SB 199 — Pesticide warnings

Senate Bill 199, sponsored by Sen. Jason Howell, R-Murray, would make any pesticide registered with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture or the Environmental Protection Agency that has an EPA-approved label automatically fit Kentucky’s warning label requirements. If passed, that would make it much more difficult for Kentuckians to sue pesticide manufacturers for adverse health risks later on.

Although it might not seem controversial at first glance, the bill united both hardline Republicans and Democrats on the Senate floor, with many raising concerns about the health risks of pesticide use. Several Republicans, including Sen. Lindsey Tichenor, R-Smithfield, Sen. Philip Wheeler, R-Pikeville, and Sen. Shelly Funke Frommeyer, R-Alexandria, spoke against the bill and questioned the lobbying power of chemical companies that manufacture pesticides.

Wheeler brought up previous chemical agents that were found to be major causes of cancer, including DDT and Agent Orange, as well as the $7.25 billion proposed settlement from Bayer to resolve thousands of lawsuit that claim its weedkilling product Roundup caused cancer.

“If we give immunity in these cases, we’re essentially saying, if these claims are later proven to be true, and some of them are in pending litigation, we’re basically saying that these Kentuckians don’t matter, these Kentuckians don’t deserve to collect,” Wheeler said.

The bill passed through the Senate on March 5 with a 23-13 vote and will head to the House.

HB 534 — Elections omnibus

House Bill 534, from Rep. DJ Johnson, R-Owensboro, drew significant scrutiny before passing through the House. The elections legislation with several notable changes to current law moved to the Senate on a 53-40 vote on March 5, with several Republicans joining Democrats in opposition.

Some of the bill’s notable provisions include:

● Monthly reviews of noncitizens on Kentucky voter rolls, with a requirement to remove names of ineligible voters and notification sent to the state’s attorney general, along with authorization for the State Board of Elections to work with the federal government to identify noncitizens who are registered to vote;

● Removing names of individuals convicted of a felony whose cases are currently on appeal from voter rolls;

● Allowing candidates for judicial office to publicly discuss their political party affiliation;

● And allowing Kentucky politicians who currently hold elected federal office to be a candidate for two different federal offices in one election, if one of the offices is decided by the United States Electoral College. The only office that applies to is U.S. president.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican who has not hesitated at times to vote against President Donald Trump’s policies, has not shut the door on speculation he may make a run for the White House in 2028. He would also be up for reelection that year as a U.S. senator, a role he’s held since early 2011. State Rep. Joshua Watkins, D-Louisville, was the only representative to speak out against the provision during the March 5 vote on the House floor.

Other Democrats spoke up with concerns about disenfranchising voters appealing felony convictions, in the event the verdicts against them were to be later overturned. And multiple party members were critical of the provisions pertaining to noncitizens, with Rep. Adrielle Camuel, D-Lexington, calling them “another example of a nonproblem” aimed at riling up voters to be concerned about “a very major situation that isn’t actually happening.”

The bill advanced on a relatively narrow margin and is pending in the Senate.

HB 593 — Data center energy costs

House Bill 593 was filed by Rep. Josh Bray, R-Mount Vernon, with a group of five co-sponsors that includes House Speaker David Osborne, R-Prospect. The legislation would take steps to ensure companies hoping to build data centers in Kentucky are legitimate and are able to take on additional energy costs instead of dropping them on consumers.

The bill from Bray, who previously co-chaired the legislature’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force, includes several clauses regulating data centers, which are critical for AI usage but often require huge amounts of energy, a hurdle that frequently draws community criticism.

The legislation requires a nonrefundable application fee of at least $75,000 — Senate President Robert Stivers, R-Manchester, said the clause could help scare off “cowboy developers” who buy large amounts of land in hopes of building a data center on the property but are unfamiliar with the development process — and requires the company to pay for an electric supplier study, with provisions aimed at ensuring the data center does not drive up service rates for non-data center customers.

The bill is on its way to the Senate after passing in the House on a 90-4 vote on March 4. It has not yet been given a committee assignment.

Reach Keely Doll at kdoll@courier-journal.com. Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com. Reach The Courier Journal’s politics team at cjpolitics@courier-journal.com.

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