Kentucky
Key dates and a possible sneak peek for Kentucky Basketball fans
During his recent radio show, Pope offered a sobering reality check regarding the timeline for the rest of his staff overhaul.
“We’re going through a little bit of a hiring process that will be ongoing—probably for the next six weeks,” Pope explained. “We could have some closure on some things quickly, but I can’t really talk in detail about anything until it gets through the whole HR process.”
In a vacuum, a six-week HR timeline is standard corporate procedure. But in the modern landscape of college basketball, that timeline is a massive hurdle because of the newly accelerated Transfer Portal window instituted by the NCAA.
The 15-Day Transfer Portal window
Players cannot officially enter their names into the Transfer Portal until April 7th. However, anyone paying attention knows that backdoor deals are already being orchestrated, and agents are prematurely announcing their clients’ intentions to leave. It is an unregulated mess, but it is the reality of the sport.
That April 7th opening is the first major date to circle on your calendar.
Once the portal opens, it remains active for exactly 15 days. When that window slams shut, no new names can enter. There are no graduate exemptions or special loopholes for late decisions. If a player plans on transferring, they must formally notify their current school before that 15-day window expires on April 21st at 11:59 PM. If they miss the deadline, they are stuck.
Mark Pope has to have his staff aligned, his evaluations complete, and his recruiting pitches perfected before that window opens. It is indeed a very short clock as the coaching staff looks to change drastically.
Once the dust from the transfer portal finally settles, the new-look Wildcats will quickly hit the floor.
Official mid-June practices will tip off the summer schedule, but Pope recently hinted that an international offseason trip is currently in the works. Per NCAA rules, college basketball programs are only allowed to take these foreign exhibition tours once every four years.
If the trip gets finalized, BBN will get a highly anticipated, early look at this brand-new roster competing against actual opponents long before Big Blue Madness in the fall.
Needless to say, it is going to be an incredibly busy, high-stakes few months in Lexington.
Any guesses on where Pope and company plan on going? And do you like the new Transfer Portal window?
WASHINGTON COUNTY, Ky. (LEX NEWS) — One person died and several others were injured when an EF-2 tornado tore through Washington County on May 30, 2025.
A year later, Emergency Management Services Director Kevin Devine is now reflecting on the scene left behind.
“It looked like a bomb went off in several houses,” Devine said.
The tornado left widespread destruction in its path.
Covering Kentucky
Community mourns Ron Hill, victim of Friday’s Washington County tornado
“It was just trees mangled, a house blew off, windshields, vehicles cracked and moved,” Devine said.
The tornado touched down on Long Run Road, a rural one-lane road. Crews used chainsaws to cut through debris to clear a path for ambulances.
Access to the area proved difficult for emergency responders.
“It had rained a lot so if you got off the road a little bit you had a chance of getting stuck,” Devine said.
Devine, who has served as director of Emergency Management Services for more than two decades, called the response his toughest experience in that role.
“It was a challenge getting in and out and getting people in and out because everybody’s trying to go both ways,” Devine said.
The search and rescue operation took nearly 100 volunteers from multiple counties.
Now, as the county plans for future severe weather events, Devine said he does not see Washington County adding to its six warning sirens already in place — outside of some additional communication efforts with neighboring communities.
“We’re such a rural county, we can’t really put them next to every house,” Devine said. “With the news the way it is you now can get your warnings on your phone pretty easily.”
At the site on the hill above Long Run Road, recovery has taken a personal shape. Tonya Orberson lost her fiancé, Ronnie Hill, in the tornado. According to Devine, she now has a new home, complete with a basement.
Devine credited the community for making that recovery possible.
“They really pitched in and helped,” Devine said.
Jim Obergefell talks LGBTQ+ rights 10 years after Supreme Court ruling
Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage nationwide, looks back on its impact 10 years later.
Happy Pride Month!
About 9% of U.S. adults identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or something other than heterosexual, and some places are safer for and more welcoming of those in the LGBTQ+ community.
Here’s how Kentucky ranks compared to other states.
How Kentucky ranks for being welcoming, safe for LGBTQ+ members
Kentucky ranks No. 35 out of 50 states for being welcoming of the LGBTQ+ community, according to Out Leadership’s State LGBTQ+ Business Climate Index. While the commonwealth has climbed eight spots since 2019, it earned about 41 out of 100 possible points, receiving a B- grade.
The report comes as national scores continue to decline. The average state score has fallen for four consecutive years and now sits at 53.1, with 26 states scoring below 60, Out Leadership founder and CEO Todd Sears told USA TODAY.
The index suggests acceptance of LGBTQ+ people in the U.S. has declined in recent years, reversing progress that once improved the well-being and safety of LGBTQ+ communities, Sears said.
“When we started this index eight years ago, the goal was to show Americans the issues that were still live but invisible — HIV criminalization, conversion therapy, where state legislators actually stood — because once marriage equality passed, a lot of people assumed the work was done. It wasn’t,” Sears said. “What we’ve documented since is a genuine regression.”
This year, Out Leadership added 12 new indicators measuring the effects of policies affecting LGBTQ+ people, including restrictions on bathroom access, pronoun and name use and gender-affirming care for adults. Sears said the additions were made to better capture policies that have increasingly affected LGBTQ+ residents and their families.
“For the last several years, we simply weren’t capturing forces that were already hitting LGBTQ+ citizens and their families,” Sears said.
SafeHome.org also ranks Kentucky on the lower side for LGBTQ+ safety. The state ranks No. 27 out of 51 jurisdictions, including Washington, D.C., and received a score of 80.7 and a B- grade.
The rankings are based on a score that combines state laws affecting LGBTQ+ residents and hate crime data. Researchers evaluated laws across several policy areas using input from a survey of more than 1,000 LGBTQ+ people and paired the results with FBI hate crime statistics before calculating the final scores.
Contributing: Jessica Guynn, USA TODAY Network. Reach Marina Johnson at Marina.Johnson@courier-journal.com.
Kentucky got consecutive home runs from Jayce Tharnish and Tyler Bell to take a 9-6 lead over West Virginia. Chase Alderman and Nile Adcock combined to record five consecutive scoreless innings. The Bat Cats were three outs away from reaching — and hosting — a super regional.
West Virginia had other plans.
Free passes, a balk, and a three-run home run from Paul Schoenfield plated five runs in the ninth. It was absolute chaos in Kendrick Family Ballpark. Kentucky snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.
That sets up one final game between the Wildcats and the Mountaineers again, but this one could sting for some time. Jeff Drummond and myself are reacting to the crushing loss by taking a look at what went wrong, how it got off the rails so quickly. and what could be on the horizon for tomorrow.
Smash that play button.
More Kentucky News and Views on the KSR YouTube Channel
Kentucky Sports Radio has expanded its coverage of the Wildcats in the most ridiculous manner possible on our YouTube Channel. Here you will be able to find interviews with coaches and players, as well as commentary from the KSR crew. From Rapid Reactions following big events to our lengthy lineup of live shows, subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel to stay up to date on everything happening around the Big Blue Nation.
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KSR has been delivering UK Sports news in the most ridiculous manner for almost two decades. Now, you can get even more coverage of the Cats with KSR+. Now is the perfect time to join our growing online community. Subscribe now for premium articles, in-depth scouting reports, inside intel, bonus recruiting coverage, and access to KSBoard and House of Blue, the most vibrant message board communities in Big Blue Nation.
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