Kentucky

Kentucky families describe reconnecting with their kids in Asheville, NC

Published

3 months ago

September 30, 2024

Kentucky families describe reconnecting with their kids in Asheville, NC

LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Kentucky family is hugging their son a little tighter tonight after he got home from Asheville, North Carolina, following the deadly flooding that pushed through the mountain city.

Once the Sajadi family’s son, Will Sajadi, was back in their arms, safe, it was like a breath of relief.

Will attends Asheville School as a junior. He explains how storms began Wednesday night, picking up speed on Thursday. “When you started to see the trees kind of swaying. Then branches started flying off and then as I saw yesterday. A solar panel flew off the roof of one of the buildings.”

As winds picked up speed and flash floods set in, Will lost all contact with his parents as cell towers and power lines were downed. This was all from the remnants of Hurricane Helene, which forced floodwaters into the mountain city.

Will says there was no power, little food, two 16-oz water bottles, and no cell service for three days. Will says the toilets stopped working, and nobody could shower. The only way to make a toilet flush was to dump a bucket of water down it.

The only building on campus with a generator is the student service center. The student center offered food and activities for the students as well as the only building with cell service to contact loved ones. Will explains how the school was not flooded as badly as other areas because it sits on a hilltop. However, nobody had a way in or out of the city, and access to food and clean water was hard to find.

A majority of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee remain flood-striken. Trapping dozens of people within its cities and providing supplies by helicopter. As of Sunday, nearly 30 people have been killed in Asheville from the storm.

“It bothered me that I couldn’t tell them what was going on and that I was okay, but I knew that I was gonna be okay,” said Will.

“Saturday morning when we woke up and we hadn’t heard from him since two and we saw I-40 had collapsed,” recalls Kristin. “I was very nervous. I was ready to just start walking. I was like I don’t care if our car won’t get there, I want to get there.”

By a miracle, a random woman reached out to Kristin to let her know she will attempt to drive to Asheville to pickup her kid and would bring Will home too.

Cell service didn’t return for Will until he was two hours outside of Asheville when he could text his mom, “I’m okay.”

“Sense of relief. Just confirmation we knew he was safe. I don’t want to cry but it was a lot of relief. And stress for the people who aren’t able to get to safety like we were fortunate,” explains Kaveh, Will’s dad, and Kristin.

Both parents thank the school for keeping their son safe and going above and beyond.

Another Kentucky mom, Allison Tucker, whose daughter is still at the University of Asheville, also thanks her daughter’s school for keeping her safe. She says her daughter was able to hunker down with food and water before the storm wiped out everything. Now, one of the biggest issues is a low amount of fuel in the area.

Allison Tucker, daughter is still in Asheville, North Carolina

“Having that no communication over that time period. Not knowing, I know she was fine, but not knowing where are you, stay put just trying to get that message to them of stay put do not leave,” explains Tucker.

It’s unclear when the roads and areas will be safe again, but agencies ask that people stay off roads so they can clear them faster.

Asheville School is set to resume classes Sunday, Oct. 6.

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Kentucky

Aaron Bradshaw got the last laugh against his former team

Published

3 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Aaron Bradshaw got the last laugh against his former team

For the first time since November 19, Aaron Bradshaw jogged over to the scorers table for Ohio State, checking in at the 17:46 mark of the first half. As his name was announced over the loudspeakers, though, a roar of boos echoed inside Madison Square Garden. Splitting up with Kentucky seemingly on good terms this offseason during the coaching change, the reaction was a bit of a surprise, but you never know the true emotions of a fanbase until they experience it in real time.

The former Wildcat’s response? Two quick buckets in two minutes, followed by the sixth 3-pointer of his career in the final segment of the first half. Bradshaw would close out with 11 points good for third on the team, shooting 5-6 overall and 1-2 from three with two rebounds, one assist and two steals in 18 minutes.

Given the circumstances and opponent, it was one of the best performances of his career — and undoubtedly a special one for him personally.

What was it like getting Bradshaw back in the lineup for the Buckeyes?

“Missing a 7-footer is always going to hurt,” Bruce Thornton, who finished with a game-high 30 points, said of Bradshaw. “Not a lot of people who are 7-foot are able to make tough shots in the mid-range. His energy and his passion, it’s very contagious. It rubs off on us. We’re just very thankful that he’s back.”

Bradshaw is now averaging 8.4 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 22.3 minutes per contest for the Buckeyes. He returned alongside Ques Glover, who had been previously dealing with an ankle injury and had been out since Nov. 15.

Those two were different-makers in Ohio State’s win with the Buckeyes’ bench outscoring the Wildcats 26-11 on Saturday.

“I thought it was a significant boost,” Jake Diebler said. “We felt like going into this year depth was going to be a real strength for us, and we haven’t had an opportunity to play with that depth much of this year. It’s also impacted practice and building because there’s still a lot of newness in this program, new staff, new players, new system, and it’s impacted our growth a little.”

You can see just how much that one meant to Bradshaw by watching OSU’s postgame celebration from the floor at MSG.

He wanted this one bad, and to his credit, he was a big reason for the win.

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Kentucky

Aaron Bradshaw will suit up against the Kentucky Wildcats

Published

11 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Press Room

Aaron Bradshaw will suit up against the Kentucky Wildcats

The Kentucky Wildcats are in New York City about to tip off against Ohio State in Madison Square Garden, and they will be facing a former Wildcat Aaron Bradshaw, who is taking the floor for the first time in a month. The Buckeyes get some much-needed help on the glass as a team that struggles rebounding.

The Buckeyes are a great shooting team, and getting Bradshaw back on the floor really helps compliment that by adding some size. Bradshaw has been held out since November 19 due to personal reasons. The Wildcats will still be without backup guard Kerr Kriisa, but last game out, a boost from starting point guard Lamont Butler in his return really helped.

Bradshaw will be coming off the bench for the Buckeyes, and may even play limited minutes given it will be his first game back. Kentucky will need to keep playing good defense against the threes on Saturday, as that and rebounding will be major keys. If the Buckeyes want to hang around, they will need to knock down shots.

It will be interesting to see how Bradshaw meshes in his first game back in month, and it’s clear they have been a little off without him. Mark Pope and the Wildcats will look to get a win on a big stage in Madison Square Garden on Saturday. Bradshaw will look to give Ohio State a major boost down low on the glass.

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Kentucky

KSR Gameday: No. 4 Kentucky vs. Ohio State in Madison Square Garden

Published

19 hours ago

December 21, 2024

Press Room

KSR Gameday: No. 4 Kentucky vs. Ohio State in Madison Square Garden

Good morning, folks! It’s Gameday once again for the Kentucky men’s basketball team. On today’s schedule? A matchup against the Ohio State Buckeyes (7-4) up in Madison Square Garden as part of the CBS Sports Classic. The No. 4 ranked Wildcats opened as a 5.5-point favorite on Friday but have since been bet up to an 8.5-point favorite. Considering Ohio State fans have a football team playing at home in the College Football Playoff this evening, MSG should be nothing but a sea of blue.

A key for Kentucky will be running Ohio State off the three-point line. The Buckeyes are 4-1 this season when hitting 10 or more made triples (the lone loss in overtime) and just 3-3 when under that mark. OSU hasn’t made at least 10 threes since Nov. 29. Freshman John Mobley Jr. is one of the best outside shooters in the country (53.6% on 5.1 three-point attempts per game) though. Bruce Thornton (14.8 PPG) and Devin Royal (15.6 PPG) will be tough to slow down.

But Ohio State is without Meechie Johnson (9.1 PPG) and Aaron Bradshaw‘s status is still uncertain as of this morning. The former Wildcat hasn’t played since Nov. 19. Kentucky will be the better team regardless of whether he plays or not though. Our Staff Predictions are nothing but double-digit wins for the ‘Cats across the board. Lamont Butler‘s ankle had another full week of good rest.

Make sure to enjoy this game a little bit more, BBN. Kentucky won’t play again for another 10 days after this one. Let Kerr Kriisa get you excited for what should be a fun night of hoops “in Big Apple”.

Time: 5:30 p.m. ET
Television: CBS (Brad Nessler, Bill Raftery, Jenny Dell)
Streaming: Paramount+
Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Tom Leach, Goose Givens)
Online Radio: iHeart
Satellite Radio: Sirius 158 or 191
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

You can also follow the game via our new LIVE BLOG on the website, which will begin an hour before tipoff, or join the conversation on KSBoard.

3 new portal commits

It was another busy day in the world of the transfer portal. Kentucky football received three commitments yesterday, two of them happening back-to-back. Alabama WR Kendrick Law (1 year of eligibility), Nebraska RB Dante Dowdell (2 years), and Wyoming DT Jaden Williams (1 year) will all join the program in 2025.

All three are quality additions to the roster. Law is a former Top 100 high school recruit with track athlete speed, Dowdell ran for 614 yards and 12 touchdowns this past season as a sophomore, and Williams committed to UK despite having a Georgia visit lined up for this weekend. Not a bad Friday haul in the portal for the staff.

That puts Kentucky at 11 committed transfer prospects so far this offseason, a group that ranks 12th in the country and fifth in the SEC, per On3.

OG Josh Braun
OT Alex Wollschlaeger
OL Wallace Unamba
LB Landyn Watson
EDGE Sam Greene
WR J.J. Hester
QB Zach Calzada
TE Henry Boyer
WR Kendrick Law
RB Dante Dowdell
DT Jaden Williams

Belmont gives Kentucky WBB a scare

It was a Christmas-themed night in Memorial Coliseum on Friday, but Belmont was trying to bring some coal to Kentucky women’s basketball this holiday season. Belmont even led 39-33 at the break. But a 20-point second half from star point guard Georgia Amoore fueled the No. 16 Wildcats (10-1) past the Bruins 84-78. She finished with 23 points, five assists, and five rebounds while shooting 7-13 from deep.

Amelia Hassett (16 points, 11 rebounds), Dazia Lawrence (15 points, five assists, five rebounds), Teonni Key (12 points, five rebounds), and Clara Strack (12 points, five rebounds) all finished in double-figures for the ‘Cats. UK shot 49.2 percent from the field and 40 percent from deep, both the second-highest marks of the season.

Click here for a full recap. Make sure to check out KSR’s Rapid Reaction from the win while you’re at it.

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.

Andrew Carr gets a New York slice

One of my favorite bits from The Office is early on in the show when Michael Scott visits New York. He hypes up his favorite “local” pizza joint, only for the camera to pan to him running towards a Sbarro. A classic moment. Kentucky forward Andrew Carr recreated that hilarious scene while in New York with his teammates.

Flawlessly executed, Andrew.

After Notre Dame took care of Indiana 27-17 last night in the first-ever College Football Playoff game, we’ve got three more on the schedule today. The FCS Championship semifinals are also on the docket if you’re a true football sicko. But the CFP is all any will be talking about today (other than a big Kentucky basketball win, of course).