Kentucky
Kentucky’s governor clears schedule for Harris VP announcement, stoking speculation
Andy Beshear, the governor of Kentucky, canceled a planned appearance in the western part of his state on Friday with no official explanation, intensifying speculation over whether Kamala Harris might choose him as her running mate.
Beshear’s schedule change is far from a guarantee that Harris will select him considering that Pennsylvania’s governor, Josh Shapiro, another name on the shortlist of potential running-mates, also canceled a fundraising trip planned for this weekend.
Shapiro is widely viewed as a frontrunner in the veepstakes, as Democrats hope he could help deliver the key battleground state of Pennsylvania, but Beshear’s supporters insist he is best positioned to sway independent voters in the presidential race. According to a recent Morning Consult survey, Beshear has the highest approval rating of any Democratic governor in the country, with 67% of Kentuckians holding a favorable impression of him.
Beshear’s popularity is all the more astounding given the political leanings of his state. In 2020, Donald Trump defeated Joe Biden by 26 points in Kentucky, and no Democratic presidential candidate has carried the state since 1996.
Despite those significant hurdles, Beshear won re-election to a second term last year by five points, besting the then Republican attorney general, Daniel Cameron. The victory came four years after Beshear defeated a deeply unpopular Republican incumbent, Matt Bevin, by just 0.4 points. The surprise victory was made possible in part because of Beshear’s high name recognition, as his father, Steve Beshear, served as Kentucky’s governor for two terms.
Beshear’s strong performance last year was credited to his consistent leadership of the state through the coronavirus pandemic and multiple natural disasters. The governor pitched himself as a hard-working executive capable of rising above politics to do what is right for his state, an argument that he has reiterated at Harris campaign events in recent days.
At a rally in Georgia last weekend, Beshear contrasted himself with Republican vice-presidential nominee JD Vance, who grew up in Ohio but touted his family connections to Kentucky in his memoir Hillbilly Elegy.
“I mean, there’s a county that JD Vance says he’s from in Kentucky – and I won it by 22 points last November,” Beshear said.
While Beshear emphasized his experience as he sought re-election last year, he also cast a spotlight on one of the social issues that may decide the presidential race: abortion access. A year after Kentucky voters rejected a ballot measure stipulating that the state constitution did not protect reproductive rights, Beshear capitalized on his opponent’s anti-abortion views in a searing campaign ad.
The ad featured a woman named Hadley Duvall, who shared that she was raped by her stepfather when she was 12. Duvall condemned Cameron’s support for an abortion ban as a severe threat to Kentuckians.
“Anyone who believes there should be no exceptions for rape and incest could never understand what it’s like to stand in my shoes,” Duvall said in the ad. “To tell a 12-year-old girl she must have the baby of her stepfather who raped her is unthinkable. I’m speaking out because women and girls need to have options. Daniel Cameron would give us none.”
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Even though Beshear leaned into the issue of abortion access during his campaign, reproductive rights groups have questioned his record. They note that Beshear often focuses on pregnancies involving rape or incest when he discusses abortion and that his lieutenant governor, Jacqueline Coleman, previously described herself as “a pro-life compassionate Democrat”. (Coleman has more recently endorsed Harris and condemned the overturning of Roe v Wade.)
Speaking to reporters in Georgia last weekend, Beshear forcefully rejected any suggestion that he was weak on reproductive rights. He reminded them of his multiple vetoes of anti-abortion bills, even though some of those proposals were enacted anyway because of the Republican supermajority in the state legislature.
“I’m the first Democrat in Kentucky that has ever run an abortion ad during an election,” he told reporters. “I’ve stood up every single time, knowing that it would be one of the No 1 attacks on me.”
Questions over Beshear’s stance on abortion could play an important role in Harris’s deliberations, as she has placed a heavy emphasis on the issue since formally launching her campaign last week. But if Beshear joins Harris’s ticket, he will probably follow the example of his predecessors by embracing the agenda of the presidential nominee.
Harris’s announcement is expected no later than Tuesday, when she will appear at a rally in Pennsylvania with her new running mate.
Kentucky
Top knee doctor confident Jayden Quaintance’s injury not a long-term concern, but clean-up procedure possible
One of the nation’s top knee doctors shared a positive diagnosis with former Kentucky forward Jayden Quaintance going into the 2026 NBA Draft, revealing that his knee is not expected to be a long-term concern, KSR has learned.
That may include a second procedure to officially put the injury suffered in February 2025 behind him, however.
Dr. Riley Williams III — head team physician and orthopedic surgeon for the Brooklyn Nets and famous for performing surgery on Paul George’s gruesome open tibia-fibula fracture with USA Basketball in 2014 — gave a second opinion on Quaintance’s injured right knee that limited him to four games in Lexington and recommended a follow-up procedure that could keep him off the floor for six months. The 6-foot-11 prospect’s ACL remains fully intact and his knee can be maintained at its current state, but a clean-up is preferred for a permanent resolution.
Medical concerns led to his slide in final mock drafts — he was projected to go No. 27 overall to the Boston Celtics, according to ESPN — before ultimately landing with the San Antonio Spurs at No. 20. This procedure could lead to a delayed start to his rookie season, but the long-term reward of a healthy 15-year career in the NBA is the prize on the table. It kept teams in the lottery and late teens intrigued, despite rumors of a potential fall to the second round. Sources close to Quaintance felt San Antonio at No. 20 was a backstop for the talented forward going into draft night, an educated hunch that proved to be accurate.
Quaintance worked out for the Dallas Mavericks (No. 9, No. 30), Milwaukee Bucks (No. 10), Oklahoma City Thunder (No. 12, No. 17), Chicago Bulls (No. 15), Toronto Raptors (No. 19), San Antonio Spurs (No. 20) and Boston Celtics (No. 27) ahead of the draft, but the Thunder and Spurs were the most aggressive throughout the predraft process, sources tell KSR. Once OKC snagged Michigan’s Aday Mara at No. 12 overall, it opened the door for a move to San Antonio for the former Wildcat.
There was disappointment in Quaintance’s absence on draft night after failing to receive a green room invite, but receiving confirmation of no long-term knee concern was the biggest priority — and that came after meeting with arguably the nation’s top knee doctor before the 2026 NBA Draft began in Brooklyn on Tuesday.
Quaintance was not the top-five pick he was expected to be going into his lone season at Kentucky, but he found himself in a perfect winning situation in San Antonio next to the future face of the NBA in Victor Wembanyama, even if that includes a short-term setback.
The Kentucky Wildcats are getting ready to start a new era of their football program. In his 13 seasons as head coach, we have all become accustomed to seeing Mark Stoops teams at Kentucky play a certain way. This has been both on defense and on offense, the Wildcats have had a similar blueprint of winning games and finding success. Now, both sides of the ball will look a lot different in terms of scheme, so we will start on the defensive side and what differences you will see in 2026 under new coach Will Stein.
Old: Conservative 3-4
Mark Stoops and defensive coordinator Brad White had a lot of success in their 3-4 defense with a conservative play style, but it had plenty of weaknesses as well. With a nose tackle head up on the center and two defensive lineman playing on the inside shoulder of each offensive tackle, the defense would create pressure but couldn’t consistently finish to make them sacks. This defense required a guy like Joshua Hines-Allen to win one-on-one blocks on the edge in a dominant fashion to thrive as a defense. Since 2020, Kentucky finished top five in total sacks in the SEC just once, in 2023; every other team finished ninth or less in the conference in team sacks.
This conservative 3-4 defense allowed Kentucky to stay in similar personnel throughout the game. The conservative nature had a bend-don’t-break philosophy of keeping everything in front and making tackles. Kentucky rarely switched things up and rolled the dice with blitzes or had pre and post snap coverage rotations on the back end. It was cover 3 and cover 4 heavy, while not disguising coverages and typically sending four pass rushers at the quarterback.
New: Aggressive 4-2-5
The new scheme under defensive coordinator Jay Bateman will be the entire opposite of the old regime. This scheme will be primarily out of an even front, and we have highlighted current players on the team that will benefit from a change in technique. Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace will switch to a traditional edge rusher lining up outside of the offensive tackle, whereas Tavion Gadson will move to a true three technique on the outside shoulder of the offensive guard and both of these players played in the same technique in the previous scheme. Both Humphrey-Grace and Gadson should have more production moving to techniques they more accurately fit.
Kentucky’s defense will utilize five defensive backs for a majority of snaps, which is beneficial with most offenses living in 11 personnel with three wide receivers on the field. This scheme’s success in year one will heavily rely upon the experienced safety duo of Ty Bryant and Jordan Castell. Coach Bateman will have a lot more safety rotations in this scheme and switch up coverages a lot, disguising a particular coverage pre-snap before switching it post-snap. This defense will have a ton of eye candy to try and keep offenses off balance.
This aggressive scheme will not only roll the dice more on passing downs, playing more man coverage. However, it will also be more aggressive in terms of blitzing the quarterback or sending simulated pressures. Simulated pressures are shown as four defensive lineman rushing, but one will drop into coverage with a back seven player blitzing, still sending four at the quarterback while finding creative ways to do so. This amount of disguise and blitzing can create more havoc in the passing game, but it can also allow players to get out of position in the run game.
This schematic change will greatly benefit Kentucky against pass heavy teams, but it remains to be seen how that will be a benefit or a detriment to the run defense. In theory, this scheme should be able to create more havoc plays like sacks and tackles for loss, which can also provide more turnovers. Will Stein mentioned in a press conference, as an offensive minded coach, he wants to steal possessions on defense to get the ball back for his offense. This aggressive style is built towards a common theme of the new regime, which is they will try to win football games on offense rather than on defense.
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