NASHVILLE — Jaland Lowe’s mind is existing in two places right now.

The present: Kentucky basketball’s 2025-26 season, which continues Friday in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals.

But it’s also on the future.

As it stands, he anticipates being back with the Wildcats next season.

“That’s the plan,” he told The Courier Journal following UK’s 78-72 win over Missouri in Thursday’s second round at Bridgestone Arena. “I don’t think about leaving the team or leaving the coaching staff. I’m really here right now, present with these guys. But the plan has always been to come back. And if that happens, that happens.

“And I’d be happy with that.”

Lowe, a junior, was Kentucky’s starting point guard before he underwent season-ending surgery on his shoulder in January. A Texas native, Lowe said he’s doing everything he can to be helpful from the sideline as UK gears up for what it hopes is a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

Yet he can’t help but think about the 2026-27 campaign.

“My mind’s always thinking about that,” he said. “Being out, I always think about just playing next season, just getting as healthy as I can to allow myself to have that chance.”

UK and Florida are slated to tip off at 1 p.m. ET Friday at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

• TV channel: ESPN
• Livestream: Fubo (free trial)

The game between the Wildcats and Gators will air nationally on ESPN.

Authenticated subscribers can access ESPN via TV-connected devices or by going to WatchESPN.com or the ESPN app.

Those without cable can access ESPN via streaming services, with Fubo offering a free trial.

Stream Kentucky vs. Florida

Kentucky is an 11½-point underdog (-110) on DraftKings, which set the over/under at 159½ points (-110). The moneyline is Kentucky +575, Florida -850.

Tom Leach (play-by-play) and Jack Givens (analyst) will have the UK radio network call on 840 AM in Louisville and both 630 AM and 98.1 FM in Lexington.

You can also listen online via UKAthletics.com.

All times Eastern

Wednesday, March 11

First round

Game 1: No. 9 Kentucky 87, No. 16 LSU 82 (Click here to read the story from the game.)

Game 2: No. 12 Auburn 79, No. 13 Mississippi State 61

Game 3: No. 15 Ole Miss 76, No. 10 Texas 66

Game 4: No. 11 Oklahoma 86, No. 14 South Carolina 74

Thursday, March 12

Second round

Game 5: No. 9 Kentucky 78, No. 8 Missouri 72 (Click here to read the story from the game.)

Game 6: No. 5 Tennessee vs. No. 12 Auburn, 3 p.m., SEC Network

Game 7: No. 7 Georgia vs. No. 15 Ole Miss, 7 p.m., SEC Network

Game 8: No. 6 Texas A&M vs. No. 11 Oklahoma, 9:30 p.m., SEC Network

Friday, March 13

Quarterfinals

Game 9: No. 1 Florida vs. No. 9 Kentucky, 1 p.m., ESPN

Game 10: No. 4 Vanderbilt vs. Game 6 winner, 3:30 p.m., ESPN

Game 11: No. 2 Alabama vs. Game 7 winner, 7 p.m., SEC Network

Game 12: No. 3 Arkansas vs. Game 8 winner, 9:30 p.m., SEC Network

Saturday, March 14

Semifinals

Game 13: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 1 p.m., ESPN

Game 14: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, 3:30 p.m., ESPN

Sunday, March 15

Final

Championship game: Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner, 1 p.m., ESPN

SEC Tournament games will air on ESPN and SEC Network.

You can stream ESPN, and SEC Network on Fubo, which offers a free trial.

Authenticated subscribers can access ESPN, ESPN2 and SEC Network via TV-connected devices or by going to WatchESPN.com, the WatchESPN app or ESPN+.

Around this time last year, not long after the transfer portal opened, Western Kentucky women’s basketball coach Greg Collins started to feel a little unsettled.

Josie Gilvin, the Hilltoppers’ second-leading scorer and a potential future contender for Conference USA Player of the Year, had entered the portal on the first day of the window (and eventually landed at Kentucky). After her departure and some player graduations, Western Kentucky needed to rebuild the roster.

Coming off a 23-win season in 2024-25, Collins had several promising portal prospects interested in his program as he looked ahead to this season. But he kept running into the same hurdle when those targets asked about the financial piece of the puzzle and what Western Kentucky could offer from name, image and likeness and revenue share standpoints.

“That conversation kept coming up,” said Collins, who has worked in women’s college basketball for 24 seasons. “I wasn’t able to get it answered in a way where they still came to school here. That’s when the first red flag came up. I was like, ‘All right, this isn’t going the way it’s always gone in the past.’”

In a season Collins described as unlike anything he’s ever experienced before, the Hilltoppers went 8-21 — the worst record of his eight-year span as Western Kentucky’s head coach.

Collins and athletic director Todd Stewart are determined for things to go much differently next season. And they’ve already set the wheels in motion to make sure that’s the case.

In statements released over the weekend, Stewart announced that the program would be retaining Collins, who revealed he will be donating part of his own salary to the program’s NIL fund. A source familiar with the donations said he’s giving 10 percent of his salary. Donors — who made it clear they wanted Western Kentucky to retain Collins — have stepped up, too.

Statements From WKU Director Of Athletics Todd Stewart & Women’s Basketball Head Coach Greg Collins pic.twitter.com/jenudxmHuS

— WKU Women’s Basketball (@LadyTopperHoops) March 7, 2026

The early returns?

After working with just a $25,000 NIL budget this season, the Hilltoppers said they will be well over $100,000 for next season, and they expect more money to roll in during the fall as fundraising efforts continue.

“We started doing a thorough analysis of the program and really what became obvious was we just didn’t have the NIL resources that you need today in women’s basketball to compete,” Stewart said. “And that had not really impacted, at least our program, until this current year.

“But players that we would’ve had in the pre-NIL era, we weren’t getting. And the reason was they were simply going elsewhere for money.”

Collins said he ran the idea of donating part of his own salary to the program’s NIL fund by his wife, Rae. He and Stewart met about two-and-a-half weeks ago, when they collectively decided on the idea for Collins to chip in, which in turn has already sparked other donors to follow suit.

“We’ve got to do what the other schools are doing and we’ve got to be able to compete for the players that we want through NIL,” Collins said. “And so I think if we’re asking other donors to donate their money — and they have kids and bills and retirement plans and things, too — if they’re doing that, then … it felt like a good thing to do would be to also do that and show them that we’re all in this. We’re all trying to achieve a similar goal. It’ll take a commitment from everyone.”

Collins has finished with a winning record in five of his eight seasons at the helm and is known in basketball circles for his ability to develop under-the-radar players. He has coached double-digit all-conference players (including six on the first-team) and has had two Freshman of the Year winners, despite coaching only one former high school All-American. When Stewart was looking for a new coach, former players encouraged him to make the obvious decision and hire Collins, who had been a top assistant on staff.

Before NIL came into the picture, Collins could rely on relationship-building and developing underrecruited talent to build his rosters. Part of the reason donors were so passionate about keeping him on board for next season, Stewart said, was because of the way Collins carries himself.

But it’s a new era in college sports, where money rules the roost. That’s why the program has made a quick plan to beef up the Hilltoppers’ NIL packages.

“Nobody would sit here and try to rationalize 8-21. But I think our donors saw beyond that and looked at the reasoning and probably more important than the reasoning, the solution,” Stewart said.

“(They) just felt like it wouldn’t be fair to make a change based on this year when he was fighting with one hand tied behind his back so to speak. Let’s give him the resources, and even try to exceed those resources that other people have and see what he can do with that. … We were very thankful that was the way they felt.”

Collins, after not qualifying for the NCAA Tournament, now has a longer offseason to get a jump start on evaluating talent. He said he now feels indebted to fans, supporters and the community “in a whole different way.”

With the beefed up resources, he’s actually looking forward to the transfer portal this year — a far cry from how he felt just 12 months ago.

Now it’ll be his job to turn those funds into wins.

“I’ve had a lot of people that have said, ‘Hey, how can I help you?’ and that didn’t happen this time last year,” Collins said.

“If that’s what it takes for everybody to chip in, then great. Let’s do this thing, get back to where we want to be.”

• President Donald Trump is visiting Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District on March 11.
• The visit follows public disagreements between Trump and Massie on various issues.
• Trump has endorsed Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein to run against Massie in the Republican primary.

President Donald Trump will be in the Bluegrass State on March 11, visiting a congressional district he’s had his eye on for some time.

Trump is set to speak at a Verst Logistics facility in Hebron, Kentucky, near Cincinnati. Doors to the event open at 1 p.m., with Trump expected to speak just before 5 p.m., according to information sent to registered guests.

The visit will take place in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District, where U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie has built a loyal following since taking office in 2012.

That following is now being put to the test as Trump attempts to oust Massie from office, following months of public disagreements over Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” and America’s involvement in Iran. The pair’s feud hit a fever pitch in fall 2025, when the congressman helped lead the push for the release of millions of files related to the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump personally courted Ed Gallrein to run against Massie in the Republican primary, endorsing the Navy SEAL even before he launched his campaign.

Trump is scheduled to stop by Thermo Fisher Scientific in the Cincinnati suburb of Reading before heading to Northern Kentucky.

Follow updates through the day below:

Traffic could be disrupted during Trump’s visit, with a spokesperson for the U.S. Secret Service saying residents and visitors near Hebron and Reading can expect “intermittent road closures and parking restrictions.”

Boone County Sheriff’s spokesman Lieutenant Anthony Theetge recommended motorists avoid the area near the event if possible.

Massie challenged primary opponent Gallrein to a debate and said Trump could moderate it, during a Campbell County Republican Committee meeting March 9, where he was the guest speaker.

Massie said he did not plan to attend Trump’s event in Northern Kentucky, according to reporting from the Cincinnati Enquirer, but he was “actually glad to see the president in our district and paying attention to local issues. I suspect he’s also going to try to help my opponent but that’s really all my opponent has going for him.”

More: Donald Trump to visit Kentucky. About conflict between president, Thomas Massie

A pre-program for Trump’s event in Hebron is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., with remarks from Trump at 4:50 p.m., according to information sent to registered guests.

Trump is scheduled to make two stops in the Greater Cincinnati area on March 11.

He’ll first visit Thermo Fisher Scientific, a pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, in Reading, Ohio, to discuss TrumpRx.gov, a new prescription drug website.

Later, he’ll head to a Verst Logistics contract packaging facility in Hebron, Kentucky. The purpose of that visit was not disclosed in an invitation for the event.

Trump has been in Kentucky at least five times since he first campaigned for office in 2016. That year, he stopped at the Kentucky Exposition Center during his “Make America Great Again” campaign tour and returned two months later for a convention of the National Rifle Association.

He last visited the commonwealth in 2022 to attend the Kentucky Derby, where he received mixed reactions from those in the crowd.