When Mark Pope announced that he would be taking questions directly from BBN, we all knew things could get interesting. But honestly, it turned out pretty good; you had some honest questions and some good answers. Sure, there were sarcastic questions that just were never going to be answered, but Pope did address the GM situation. While it wasn’t the answer a lot of people hoped for, at least there is now a clear hierarchy within the basketball front office. Let’s break it down.
Kentucky
Kentucky by Heart: Exploring the Commonwealth's rich history through books, videos and museums – NKyTribune
By Steve Flairty
NKyTribune columnist
As previously mentioned here, I’m not a historian by profession, but I love to learn all I can about Kentucky history. I do it generally by reading books and articles, as well as viewing videos and documentaries. Occasionally, I visit museums or historical sites.
For 2024, I set a goal of spending 200 hours in history study of our state, and I log my time daily. That works out to an average of about thirty-four minutes per day to stay on pace, and the process helps keep me motivated.
Some of what I cover in informal research is less than interesting, but much is fascinating. I thought it would be fun to share some of the better sources I’ve recently read or viewed. Hopefully, a few might pique your interest in the state’s past. It seems like my interest stays piqued. Below are some source ideas that may interest you.
The best way I can describe Steven Walker’s book, Kentucky’s First Senator: The Life and Times of John Brown, 1757-1837 (Butler Books, 2022) is that it is a well-researched tome about an important early figure in the state’s political history. By tome, I mean big — to the tune of 936 pages, plus it has over a dozen pictures of portraits in frames.
Though the endless details can become tedious at times, it’s chockful of events surrounding the birth of America’s government and the transition of a part of Virginia to the fifteenth state, Kentucky. And through those adventurous times, John Brown is shown to be an able and character-driven person for both his country and new state. For students of the Commonwealth’s heritage, this should be a resource worth keeping close by for reference.
The Incident at Otter Creek (Acclaim Press, 2023), By Ed Ford, is an interesting bit of fiction that actually gives a nice overview of 1700s Kentucky before it became a state. The book’s author tells the story from the point of view of a contemporary Central Kentucky physician who mysteriously is sent back to the historical period of Daniel Boone, early Boonesborough, and war with hostile Shawnees. It only takes a bit of the reader’s imagination to drop oneself into the flow, with elements of romance, adventure, and people acting bravely and for each other in standing up to danger and hardship.
Online videos of Kentucky history have been a focus of mine for the last year or so. The Kentucky History Channel, is a favorite. Here are some of the site’s offerings I’ve recently watched:
• “Did Native People Live in Kentucky?” with Gwynn Henderson (27 min.)
• “First 5 Towns of Kentucky” (9 min.)
• “The Shawnee in Kentucky,” with Dr. Stephen Warren (44 min.)
• “The Top 5 Frontiersmen of Kentucky” (13 min.)
• “A History of Isaac Shelby” (3 min.)
• “What if… Kentucky Joined the Confederate States?” (32 min.)
There are, I’m guessing, hundreds of videos at the Kentucky History Channel available for viewing, and new ones are continually being created.
I also enjoy archived episodes of Kentucky Educational Television’s Kentucky Life that deal specifically with the state’s history. A wonderful selection I recently watched was a program of interviews with the state’s World War II veterans.
Another historical source of archived interviews of Kentuckians is The Louis Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky, online at kentuckyoralhistory.org. It’s a goldmine of information for those looking for “they were there” individuals in historical events. Topics are: veterans/conflicts, Appalachia, agriculture, communities, diversity, education, gender, quilts, politics/public policy, and others. I’ve recently been listening to a lot of World War II veterans interviews and look forward to using the resource for other topics, too.
If possible, getting out of the house and visiting places in Kentucky should certainly be a big part of one’s history research. Here is a site that lists what they call the “top 50 best museums in the state”. Though I don’t necessarily agree with their specific billing, it gives plenty of ideas for places to explore. My favorite is the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History, headquarters for the Kentucky Historical Society Foundation. For local history centers, I like the Bluegrass Heritage Museum, in Winchester, the Cynthiana Harrison County Museum, and the Pendleton County Historical & Genealogical Society, in Butler. I’m embarrassed to say that I haven’t visited Covington’s Behringer-Crawford Museum, but certainly have heard good things about it.
Studying our state’s heritage gives a good baseline to compare to present-day Kentucky to measure our progress as a society, plus it gives intelligent perspective to our opinions about important issues.
Warm and humid weather for Preakness Stakes this weekend
The second race of the Triple Crown is May 16 in Laurel, Maryland. Conditions at Preakness Stakes are expected to be warmer with humidity. There could be a spotty thunderstorm after the race.
Golden Tempo won the Kentucky Derby. He won’t be at the Preakness. And that’s becoming a familiar story.
This marks the second straight year and the third time in five years that the Derby winner has decided not to compete in the Preakness Stakes despite having a healthy horse. The reason is almost always the same: two weeks isn’t enough time.
Trainer Cherie DeVaux made the call quickly after Golden Tempo’s dramatic last-to-first Derby victory on May 2.
“Golden gave us the race of a lifetime,” DeVaux said in a statement. “We believe the best decision for him moving forward is to give him a little more time following such a tremendous effort.”
DeVaux and Golden Tempo are focused on the June 6 Belmont Stakes instead.
The pattern is pretty clear.
From 1997 to 2018, every Kentucky Derby winner ran the Preakness, keeping the Triple Crown path intact. That streak ended with Country House, who won the Derby on the disqualification of Maximum Security, was scratched from the Preakness. The sport has been wrestling with the question ever since. Maryland’s racing leaders have considered moving the Preakness one week later, from the third Saturday in May to the fourth, though no change has been made.
Of the 14 horses entered in the Preakness Stakes at Laurel Park on May 16, just three made the trip from Churchill Downs. None of them won the Derby. One nearly caused the biggest upset in recent memory.
Ocelli (Post 2, 6-1)
The most intriguing Derby returnee. Ocelli finished third at 70-1 odds on May 2, giving trainer Whit Beckman and jockey Tyler Gaffalione a surprise ticket to Laurel Park. He was the lone maiden in the Derby field and remains a maiden heading into Saturday. Nobody expected him to be here.
Incredibolt (post 12, 5-1)
The morning-line co-favorite among Derby runners. Incredibolt finished sixth at Churchill Downs and trainer Riley Mott moved quickly to point him to Laurel Park. Jockey Jaime Torres won the 2024 Preakness aboard Seize the Grey. The connections believe the 1 3/16-mile distance suits Incredibolt better than the Derby’s mile and a quarter.
Robusta (Post 4, 30-1)
The longest shot of the Derby trio is Robusta, who finished 14th of the 14 in the Derby. The question with any horse coming back this quickly after a tough Derby is how much the race took out of him. At 30-1, it seems the market has answered that question.
COVINGTON, Ky. (WKRC) – A Northern Kentucky man is in jail, accused of sexually abusing a 14-year-old girl who’d been reported missing.
Matthew Wade, 40, faces charges, including sexual abuse, unlawful transaction with a minor and assault.
Covington Police say they found the teen at Wade’s home on Highway Avenue on Monday. According to the police report, he was knowingly hiding her, knew she was missing and had cut her ankle monitor off.
Investigators say the teen was given alcohol, marijuana and magic mushrooms.
The girl told police wade slapped her and choked her.
Officers also say they found guns in the home.
Mark Pope has confirmed that no official GM position will exist for at least this season, and most likely won’t exist going forward. Why? Because he has the responsibilities spread out across 4 different people, and believes that is the best way forward.
“In this ever-changing college basketball dynamic, everybody is trying a different solution. For us, instead of hiring a singular GM, we’ve gone with a more comprehensive general management team approach. We have four members of the team. Keegan Brown is a data analysis and roster construction expert who’s worked in both college and the NBA. Nick Robinson is our salary cap strategy and management specialist. Kevin Sergent is our compliance officer, and he deals with all of our contracts and legal language. Kim Shelton is our JMI liaison, and she does all of our NIL contracts that deal with corporate sponsorships. That’s our four-person general management team.”
But who is each one of these people, and what makes them qualified?
Who’s doing what in the Kentucky basketball front office?
Well, Keegan Brown has been a video coordinator in the G-League. That essentially means he would go and watch all the videos on league opponents and potential prospects, and come up with data-backed scouting reports for the coaching and front office teams. Pope has worked with Brown at BYU, so there is some familiarity there.
Nick Robinson also worked with Mark Pope in Provo, being an assistant coach from 2019 to 2024 and following Pope to Lexington. He has been on staff all 3 seasons now, and is being tasked with handing out Kentucky’s money and setting a budget for each player.
Kevin Sergent is not new to Kentucky; he has been in Lexington since 2020. But this is his first time handling compliance on his own; his official title is Senior Associate AD for Athletic Compliance. He handles all the rules, applying for waivers, basically making sure the entire staff is doing everything the right way.
Kim Shelton is a UK alum who was more known for soccer than anything else. She was part of the very first Kentucky women’s soccer team and is a former CEO of Lexington Sporting Club. She worked for Kentucky when Commonwealth was renamed as Kroger Field, and played a role in setting up naming rights for Kentucky Proud Park. Right now, she is kind of the bridge between Kentucky and JMI, specifically handling BBNIL Suite.
If you don’t remember what BBNIL suite is, it’s essentially the opt-in program where student athletes agree to only work with deals through JMI. They find offers, broker deals, and help athletes make money. It is, of course, optional, but if players decline, they will not be able to use the University of Kentucky logos in their NIL marketing.
Trent Noah is probably the most successful NIL athlete who opted out. The Kentucky native is handling his own NIL, and by the amount of ads and cardboard cutouts I see littered around the state, he seems to be doing pretty well.
Seeing JMI integrated again into Kentucky Basketball is probably going to make some of you uneasy, and I get that. But everyone who has worked with them who has officially gone on the record says they are a pleasure to work with.
And that’s how Mark Pope wants it done. There is a theory out there that he wants a GM, but JMI won’t let him. Considering he has chosen 2 of the 4 people personally, I highly doubt that’s true.
What do you think of his explanation, and what do you think of how he is handling the GM role?
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