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 sheriff charged with fatally shooting judge deposed in rape-related case days earlier
A Kentucky sheriff charged with fatally shooting a judge inside his chambers on Thursday was accused in a lawsuit earlier this week of failing to investigate claims that a local deputy was sexually assaulting women who were under house arrest.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Stines, 43, was deposed in a lawsuit filed Monday by two women, one of whom alleged that a deputy forced her to have sex inside the same judge’s chambers where the shooting took place. The woman claims the deputy repeatedly sexually assaulted her for six months in exchange for staying out of jail.
The lawsuit accuses the sheriff of “deliberate indifference in failing to adequately train and supervise” the deputy.
KENTUCKY POLICE BELIEVE BODY FOUND BY LIVESTREAMING COUPLE IS MAN WHO OPENED FIRE ON MOTORISTS
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Stines in his booking photo. Stines is charged with one count of first-degree murder in relation to the shooting death of District Judge Kevin Mullins. (Leslie County Detention Center via AP)
The deposition came just three days before District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, was shot multiple times at the Letcher County courthouse following an argument with Stines in Whitesburg, Kentucky State Police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Stines was taken into custody at the location without incident and was charged with one count of first-degree murder, police said. He is being held at nearby Leslie County Detention Center, two counties away.
It is unclear what the pair were arguing about or if it was in any way related to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit stems from a case involving the now-former deputy sheriff, Ben Fields, who pleaded guilty in January to raping a female prisoner while she was on home incarceration.
Fields, who formerly worked as a deputy jailer, was sentenced this year to six months in jail and then six and a half years on probation for rape, sodomy, perjury and tampering with a prisoner monitoring device, The Mountain Eagle reported. Three charges related to a second woman were dismissed because she is now dead, having died from a drug overdose.
KENTUCKY INTERSTATE SHOOTING ADDS TO STRING OF HIGHWAY VIOLENCE THAT HAS US DRIVERS ON EDGE
District Judge Kevin Mullins, 54, left, was allegedly killed by Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines, 43, in his judge’s chambers, authorities said. (Kentucky Court of Justice; Letcher County Sheriff’s Office)
Prisoners under house arrest are required to pay for electronic monitoring, and the women claimed Fields told them he would not make them pay for the monitoring if they would do him “a favor,” per the outlet.
Fields disabled the women’s devices and told the monitoring company that bail conditions had been changed, so the devices were not required. He then used threats of arrest to force the women to have sex with him, according to The Mountain Eagle.
The killing of the judge sent shock waves through the tight-knit Appalachian town. Whitesburg is the county seat of government with about 1,700 residents located about 145 miles southeast of Lexington.
Lead county prosecutor Matt Butler described an outpouring of sympathy as he recused himself and his office from the investigation, citing social and family ties to Mullins.
“We all know each other here. … Anyone from Letcher County would tell you that Judge Mullins and I married sisters and that we have children who are first cousins but act like siblings,” Butler said in a statement from his office to the Associated Press. “For that reason, among others, I have already taken steps to recuse myself and my entire office.”
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The judge was killed Thursday at Kentucky’s Letcher County Courthouse. (Google Maps)
Mullins served on the bench in the 47th Judicial District where he oversaw juvenile matters, city and county ordinances, misdemeanors, traffic offenses, arraignments, felony probable cause hearings, claims involving $2,500 or less, civil cases involving $5,000 or less, voluntary and involuntary mental commitments and domestic violence cases, according to the court website.
He has served as a district judge in Letcher County since he was appointed by former Gov. Steve Beshear in 2009 and elected the following year. Mullins promoted substance abuse treatment for people involved in the justice system and helped hundreds of residents enter inpatient residential treatment, according to a program for a drug summit he spoke at in 2022.
Fox News’ Louis Casiano and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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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