Kentucky

Kentucky basketball’s Koby Brea is a lethal shooter. But he wants to be more than that.

Published

1 month ago

December 15, 2024

Kentucky basketball’s Koby Brea is a lethal shooter. But he wants to be more than that.

LEXINGTON — Unlike so many players who populate college basketball rosters — particularly at Kentucky, which has signed an abundance of McDonald’s All-Americans and has had more players selected in the NBA draft (and more first-round products) than any program in the country — Koby Brea wasn’t a can’t-miss prospect at the beginning of high school.

In fact, during his freshman season at Norman Thomas High School in New York, he didn’t survive roster cuts to make the team. Brea used it as motivation after transferring to Monsignor Scanlan High School, located in the Bronx. His first season at Monsignor Scanlan, Brea helped the junior varsity team reach the final four of the city championship tournament. Later that year, he represented the Dominican National Team in the U-17 FIBA Centrobasket Championships in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Brea appeared in five games, averaging 9.2 points, 4.6 boards and 2.8 assists in 26.8 minutes per outing.

That propelled him into his junior high school season.

By then, he had moved up to the varsity.

His debut game with the varsity was against highly touted New York power Archbishop Stepinac, Brea announced his arrival on the national stage. Facing off against Archbishop Stepinac’s pair of McDonald’s All-Americans, R.J. Davis (now at North Carolina) and AJ Griffin (who went to Duke), Brea put on a show. He poured in 21 points in an 81-69 loss to its nationally ranked foe.

“That’s when everybody knew, like, ‘Yeah, this kid could really be different,’” Chris Florentino, Monsignor Scanlan’s JV boys basketball coach, told The Courier Journal.

Coaching hoops isn’t Florentino’s only job at the school, though. He’s also Monsignor Scanlan’s director of admissions and assisted Brea with his transfer into the school. It was a seamless transition.

“He was a quiet, mild-mannered kid,” Florentino said of Brea, who graduated in 2020. “Super pleasant to be around. People person. He was one of those guys everybody loved, to be honest. He wasn’t like a Hollywood-type of guy. He was humble. And I think that came from his family. … It was good to have him around.”

It’s the same thing UK and its fans have said since the 6-foot-7, 215-pound guard joined the program during the offseason.

Brea was the nation’s top 3-point shooter last season, sinking nearly half (100 for 201; 49.8%) of his long-range attempts for Dayton. But after four years with the Flyers, he entered the transfer portal. That set off a spirited recruitment that involved some of the country’s most storied programs. He wound up picking UK over a quartet of other blue bloods: Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and UConn.

His torrid shooting from distance hasn’t slowed down this season. Through the first four games of the Wildcats’ 2024-25 campaign, Brea had made a scorching 78.9% (15 for 19) of his 3-point attempts. Though he’s cooled off slightly, he’s still within striking distance of topping the national chart for the second time in as many seasons.

He shrugs off the title of “college basketball’s best 3-point shooter,” however, a callback to Florentino’s mention of his former pupil’s humility.

“I’m always focused on what I have to do as a player for my team to succeed, what we have to do as a team,” Brea said. “And I’m always just looking to win. And within that, I play my best. People free me up, and we all love playing with each other. So I know that any time I’m open, those guys are confident, and they trust in me a lot — and they’re willing to pass it. And as a shooter, that’s all you want: You want to have the confidence and trust of your teammates.”

They not only have faith in him. They’re in awe.

“Koby is one of a kind, man,” fifth-year senior forward Andrew Carr said. “It’s really special.”

Carr, a gifted shooter himself, wasn’t sure how Brea does it.

“I think it’s got to be a little bit of God-given touch and talent. He works super, super hard. We see that and just the way the ball comes off his hand. He thinks it’s going in; we all think it’s going in every single time.”

For all the praise he receives — and rightly so — for his shooting touch, Brea isn’t satisfied. He’s striving for more ways to frustrate foes. Even if those areas hadn’t been his calling card during the four-season run with the Flyers.

“Outside of his 3-point shooting, his statistical profile? He doesn’t really do much else,” Evan Miyakawa, a basketball statistician who runs the analytics website EvanMiya.com, told The Courier Journal last summer. “He doesn’t really rebound the ball much. He doesn’t really provide for teammates much. He was a middling defender, at best, for Dayton last year. So his value is 3-point shooting. That’s what it is. But there’s not a lot outside of that, and because of that, that’s why I don’t have him ranked as highly as some of UK’s other transfers.”

Brea is well aware of the criticism.

“That was something that I focused on a lot this summer: just U evolving from a shooter to an all-around player,” he said. “I continue to be labeled as ‘a shooter,’ and I want to be more than that, you know?”

That label — that he’s “just a shooter” — is bothersome to Brea.

“I know that there’s a lot more to my game,” he said, “but obviously that’s what I do best, so I understand why they might feel that way. But at the end of the day as a player, you just want to keep evolving and keep growing. I think I’ve been doing a pretty good job of that — and thanks to the coaches for that.

“It never stops. You’ve just got to keep going.”

Florentino has no doubt Brea will do just that. And Florentino can’t wait for Saturday, when Brea will be back in the Big Apple with the Wildcats. That day, UK takes on Ohio State at Madison Square Garden, part of this year’s edition of the CBS Sports Classic.

When Brea was in town with Dayton for previous matchups versus Fordham, all of Monsignor Scanlan’s teams — varsity and varsity B, JV and freshman — were on hand to support him.

He’ll have a sizable cheering section at “The World’s Most Famous Arena,” too.

“Being that he’s from Manhattan, he’s gonna have the Dominican crew in there waiting on his arrival,” Florentino said. “So I know he’s definitely gonna look to put on a show.”

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

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Travis Perry hit 'big shots' in 'high-pressure game' for Kentucky: “He's terrific, isn't he?”

Published

4 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

Travis Perry hit 'big shots' in 'high-pressure game' for Kentucky: “He's terrific, isn't he?”

Hard work has paid off for Travis Perry, starting as a summer legend knocking down 59 straight corner threes and 100 consecutive free throws on three days in a row — “I’ve never seen this at any level of basketball,” Mark Pope said of his freshman guard at the time. He hit a wall to open the regular season, starting with just seven points on 1-12 shooting overall through Christmas while struggling defensively and playing a bit rushed.

Then he shaved his mustache and it all clicked for him, scoring 18 points on 6-10 shooting in the five games since while adding four rebounds, two steals and one assist in 44 total minutes. His most recent effort was a career-high six points on 2-4 from three with a steal in 10 minutes. It was a performance that saw him miss his first three before drilling his next two, shots that helped push Kentucky’s lead from five to 12 and ultimately solidify the double-figure win over No. 11 Texas A&M.

Emerging as a strong backup point guard behind Lamont Butler, his head coach couldn’t have been more impressed in his performance against the Aggies among everything else we’ve seen from Perry since New Year’s Eve.

“TP, he’s terrific, isn’t he? Again, really complicated defense. This is not a really easy defense to figure out,” Pope said. “What our guys are pretty good at is they are pretty good at figuring out what they are seeing we are pretty good about coaching them. Things change as much as they do with Texas A&M and that’s the next step for us to be able to really change with the changes.

“But TP, you know I mean it was big shots, really big shots. Right? It made us feel a whole lot better. He’s got no fear. He’s just going out to play. It’s fun.”

It’s been slow, but sure progress since arriving on campus. What he’s doing now he couldn’t do then, just like what he’s doing now won’t compare to what we’ll see from him in the future.

The good news is the current product is enough to earn real minutes off the bench for the Cats.

“If you chart his trajectory you get to see these little steps that he’s taking, we all get to see it,” he continued. “It’s one of the great things about coaching and being fans that are really invested which is BBN is you get to actually see the beginning, the middle, and the growth that we get to prognosticate about where they are going and to see these guys grow is special and TP is definitely doing that.

“This is a high-pressure game. It’s a top 10 game against one of the best defenses in the country and he was terrific.”

What’s been working for Perry to get to this point?

“It’s a little bit of a mixture: the reps from the beginning of the summer until now,” Perry said. “I’ve had a lot of reps against the best point guard in college basketball, against some of the best defenders in college basketball, so that goes a long way. But it’s also getting more comfortable with the college game, understanding the pace. That’s starting to come to me — the feel and the reads.”

Everything moved in fast-forward for Perry early on, the freshman guard happy to admit he was drowning a bit when he first got started in Lexington. As the reps have ramped up and the staff and his teammates have made it clear he belongs, he’s been able to experience mini breakthroughs.

If they can believe in his abilities to contribute now, he can too.

“The game is slowing down for me, and that’s something that’s big,” he said. “And the confidence side of it, guys are really showing a lot of confidence in each other, that’s something we’ve had all season. When you know the bench and the coaching staff has confidence in you, that goes a long way.”

He’s getting the clean looks, and to his credit, he’s making them.

“I definitely felt more comfortable tonight,” Perry continued. “I got a little bumped there early and had a couple open shots and hit them. [I’m] definitely getting more comfortable.”

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Kentucky

Tackling Northern Kentucky’s housing shortage: New report lays out 50 potential solutions

Published

12 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Tackling Northern Kentucky’s housing shortage: New report lays out 50 potential solutions

FLORENCE, Ky. — The future of Northern Kentucky’s economic strength in later generations may depend on how seriously local leaders address the region’s housing shortage.

A study produced by the Northern Kentucky Area Development District in 2023 stated the following: “Communities need to plan for an additional 6,650 housing units (in the next five years) on top of new developments already in progress or planned.”

Those units break down to:

3,260 aligned with an income range of $15-25/hour (monthly housing costs between $500 and 1,500)
500 units aligned with very low-income households (monthly housing costs below $320)
4,220 units should be one- or two-bedroom

Read the full study here.

Local leaders from across the region on Tuesday unveiled a report full of solutions to address that shortage.

It outlines 50 diverse strategies aimed at “affordability, accessibility, and innovation, providing a framework for economic growth and community development,” NKADD wrote.

Campbell County Judge-Executive Steve Pendery said the stakes for the region’s economy are very high.

“Housing in particular is a huge roadblock that we are all committed to removing,” Pendery said.

Among the 50 solutions are 10 that are deemed most promising, including:

Stakeholder idea sharing
Proactive code enforcement
Expedited permitting process
Landlord property inventory
Development agencies education
Missing middle housing strategy
Creative zoning approaches
Regional housing trust fund
Development cost support
Small developer support

Read the full report here.

Some of the changes are fundamental shifts in the way housing has been historically planned, built and approved in Northern Kentucky.

Grant County Deputy Judge-Executive Colton Simpson suggested that the prospect of less expensive housing could encourage broader political support.

“If somebody said, ‘We are going to be able to decrease the price of housing,’ I think (government leaders are) more open to that than they have been in the last 10 or 15 years,” he said.

The need for income-aligned housing is about “offense” and “defense,” said Brent Cooper, president and CEO of the NKY Chamber of Commerce, utilizing a football analogy.

Communities that build more housing are not only able to attract more workers to support growing businesses (offense) but also keep individuals already living in the region from having to move (defense).

“I’ve got elderly parents, and they have to deal with steps,” Cooper said. “They want to downsize, but there’s no option for them to downsize that they can afford.”

The chamber president mentioned that companies often consider housing availability as a determining factor in their decision to remain or move to the area.

For companies based at or around the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, the demand for additional housing is real.

“As Amazon and DHL continue to hire folks, we need to really keep pace with that growth,” said Seth Cutter, Vice President of Public Affairs at CVG.

While there are several housing development projects in the works, he said it is insufficient to meet the rapid growth from the airport.

Leaders recognized that the report won’t provide instant fixes, but said they are optimistic about the potential conversations it may spark around change.

“This was about getting information to the decision maker,” said Judge-Executive Gary Moore of Boone County. “This isn’t just going to be solved by the large cities or the large counties. It’s really got to be a widespread effort.”

The Northern Kentucky Area Development District is encouraging its jurisdictions and local businesses to look at the resort and pick from the “menu of options” that best work for its communities.

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Kentucky

Kentucky Baseball will face six preseason Top 25 teams in SEC play

Published

19 hours ago

January 14, 2025

Press Room

Kentucky Baseball will face six preseason Top 25 teams in SEC play

The Southeastern Conference continues to shine as the nation’s premier baseball conference in 2025.

Nine of the top 25 teams featured in D1Baseball’s Preseason Top 25 Rankings hail from the SEC, including No. 1 Texas A&M, No. 3 LSU, No. 4 Tennessee, No. 5 Arkansas, No. 8 Georgia, No. 10 Florida, No. 16 Vanderbilt, No. 18 Mississippi State, and No. 19 Texas. Kentucky will face six of these nine teams in conference play this season.

Along with the nine teams ranked, other teams who were left out will likely be ranked at some point this season, including Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. Winning the conference or notching a top-four seed in the SEC Tournament will be an extremely hard challenge this season, especially with the inclusion of two more teams.

March 14-16: @ No. 8 Georgia

The Cats open SEC play in Athens, Ga. on March 14 at No. 8 Georgia. The Bulldogs, who were led by the No. 3 pick in the 2024 MLB Draft Charlie Condon, were swept by Kentucky last season in Lexington. That series served as Nick Mingione’s team’s coming out party, as the Cats outscored then No. 25 ranked Georgia 37-15 over the three game span.

This series will feature even more juice this season, as Kentucky will be facing former Cat Nolan McCarthy, who transferred to Georgia over the offseason. McCarthy spent three seasons at Kentucky (2021-2024), hitting for a .279 AVG with 13 home runs and RBI.

March 28-30: @ No. 1 Texas A&M

Following a home series against Auburn and two non-conference matchups against Murray State and Xavier, Kentucky heads to preseason No. 1 Texas A&M on March 28. These teams did not face off in the regular season in 2024, but they did meet in the Men’s College World Series. Kentucky fell to A&M 5-1, giving the Cats their first loss in the event.

April 11-13: vs. No. 19 Texas

Kentucky gets its first home series against a preseason top-25 team on April 11 when the No. 19 ranked Texas Longhorns travel to Lexington. The 2025 season will serve as the first in the conference for new head coach Jim Schlossnagle’s Longhorns. Texas is most recently known around the Kentucky program as the college Mitchell Daly transferred from before hitting the biggest home run in Wildcat baseball history.

April 18-20: @ No. 4 Tennessee

Although Tennessee lost some major stars from its 2024 Men’s College World Series winning team, Tony Vitelli’s Volunteers will open the 2025 season ranked at No. 4. Kentucky hosted Tennessee at Kentucky Proud Park in 2024 and lost the series two games to one. In 10 SEC series last season, it was just one of Kentucky’s two losses (Tennessee & South Carolina).

May 2-4: @ No. 18 Mississippi State

The road hits keep on coming as Kentucky travels to No. 18 Mississippi State on May 2 for a road series at Dudy Noble. The Bulldogs were the lone SEC team that did not encounter Kentucky last season.

May 15-17: @ No. 16 Vanderbilt

Finally, Kentucky closes out the regular season on the road in Nashville at No. 16 Vanderbilt. The Cats won the series over the Commodores in 2024, securing a share of just their second ever SEC Regular Season Championship in the process. It was Kentucky’s first series win over Vanderbilt since 2017.

Five of Kentucky’s six series against ranked teams are away from Kentucky Proud Park, where the Cats are 53-13 since the beginning of the 2023 season. Since the beginning of the 2023 season, Kentucky is 27-18 in games on the road.

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