Kentucky
KSR Today: Transfer Portal opens, Gonzaga aftermath, Kentucky WBB vs. Queens
Good morning, friends. Everyone catch up on the sleep they lost on Saturday night cheering for the Cats? Despite a very busy Sunday, I certainly tried. We’ve got another busy week ahead of us with more departures coming for the football team now that the transfer portal is officially open, the men’s basketball team preparing for games vs. Colgate and Louisville, and the volleyball team taking on Missouri in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in Pittsburgh. It’s also gameday for the Kentucky Women’s Basketball team, which hosts Queens.
Lots to do, so let’s get to it, starting with the most chaotic item on the agenda.
Announcements have been coming out for almost a week, but starting now, the transfer portal is officially open for business. It won’t close until Dec. 28, meaning players have 20 days to tell their current schools they’re interested in leaving; beyond that, they have however long they like to commit to the school of their liking.
So far, 15 of Kentucky’s scholarship players have announced they intend to enter the portal. There will be more; Nick Roush estimated that 35 players from the 2024 roster will enter the portal when all is said and done.
- DL Keeshawn Silver
- DB Avery Stuart
- LB Jayvant Brown
- LS Walker Himebauch
- TE Tanner Lemaster
- TE Khamari Anderson
- TE Jordan Dingle
- OL Courtland Ford
- OL Ben Christman
- DL Tommy Ziesmer
- WR Dane Key
- WR Barion Brown
- WR Anthony Brown-Stephens
- EDGE Tyreese Fearbry
- EDGE Noah Matthews
Who will Kentucky pursue in the portal? That will be changing by the new minute as new players go in, but Roush outlined Kentucky’s biggest areas of need in his Transfer Portal preview last night. If you’re a KSR+ member, you can go even deeper with Adam Luckett’s scholarship distribution breakdown.
To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. Keep closer tabs on the Cats with our staff-only sticky thread on KSBoard, which will have updates on departures and targets throughout the offseason.
Jon Sumrall is staying put at Tulane
One more quick football note: despite being one of the hottest names in the coaching carousel, Jon Sumrall is staying put. According to Pete Thamel, Sumrall will not pursue any of the open jobs this offseason, electing to stay at Tulane. Sumrall has had a wildly successful first season with the Green Wave and was mentioned as a candidate for the North Carolina job, but instead, is going to sit this cycle out, leaving the dream of him returning to Kentucky one day on the table.
The biggest news on Sunday was that Kerr Kriisa will be out indefinitely with a foot injury suffered vs. Gonzaga. Kriisa came up limping after a turnover with about eight minutes to go in the second half vs. the Bulldogs. At the time, it appeared to be just cramps, but Kriisa never returned to the game and afterward, was captured in a locker room video in some pain. He underwent testing on Sunday, and according to Jeff Goodman, has a Jones fracture in his foot, the recovery from which has a timetable of 3-6 weeks. He is scheduled to have surgery in the coming days.
Lamont Butler was close to returning vs. Gonzaga after suffering a knee injury in the Clemson game. With Butler and Kriisa out, Jaxson Robinson stepped in at point guard and led Kentucky to the comeback win vs. the Bulldogs. The Cats host Colgate on Wednesday night. The Raiders are 2-8 and No. 272 in KenPom, by far the worst team left on Kentucky’s schedule. Even if Butler is capable of playing Wednesday, I’d expect to see a healthy dose of Robinson and Travis Perry at point guard.
We’ll hear from Mark Pope on his call-in show
With football season and the Early Signing Period officially over, Mark Pope’s radio show will move to its normal Monday night home of 6 p.m. ET. Tune in tonight for the latest on Kriisa and Butler, Pope’s reflections on the Gonzaga win after a day of film study, and much more. The show airs on 630 WLAP in the Lexington area, UK Sports Network affiliates across the state, and on iHeart Radio. We’ll have a recap of the big talking points on the main site and live updates as they happen on KSBoard.
Join KSR Plus! With a KSR Plus membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.
Where will Kentucky land in the new AP Poll?
It was another wild week for AP top 10 teams. Tennessee will likely be the new No. 1 team in the country after Kanas and Auburn lost. What does that mean for Kentucky, which lost at Clemson but notched a huge resume win vs. No. 7 Gonzaga? We’ll see around lunchtime.
RANK
TEAM
RECORD
LAST WEEK
1
Kansas
7-2
Losses at Creighton and Missouri
2
Auburn
8-1
Loss at No. 9 Duke; Win vs. Richmond
3
Tennessee
8-0
Win vs. Syracuse
4
Kentucky
8-1
Loss at Clemson; Win vs. No. 7 Gonzaga
5
Marquette
9-1
Loss at No. 6 Iowa State; Win vs. No. 11 Wisconsin
6
Iowa State
7-1
Wins vs. No. 5 Marquette, Jackson State
7
Gonzaga
7-2
Loss to No. 4 Kentucky
8
Purdue
8-2
Loss at Penn State; Win vs. Maryland
9
Duke
7-2
Win vs. No. 2 Auburn, at Louisville
10
Alabama
7-2
Win at No. 20 North Carolina
Kentucky Women’s Basketball hosts Queens
No. 14 Kentucky WBB (7-1) is back in action tonight, eager to get the taste of last Thursday’s 19-point loss to No. 16 North Carolina out of their mouths. The Cats host Queens University of Charlotte tonight at 6 p.m. ET at Memorial Coliseum. The Royals are 5-3 this season, two of those losses coming to Ole Miss and LSU. They’re coached by Jen Brown, who used to play for Kenny Brooks and coached on his staff at Virginia Tech.
Tonight’s game will stream on SEC Network+ starting at 6 p.m. If you’re going to the game, the theme is Monday Night CATS, a spinoff of Monday Night RAW. Fans are encouraged to enter to win a Kentucky Wildcats World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Legacy Title Belt at the entrance; doors open at 5 p.m. ET.
Phoenix Stevens and Katie Hutchison will be there to capture the action. Follow their updates on the KSR LIVE BLOG starting at 5 p.m. ET.
Kentucky Volleyball on to the Sweet 16
For the seventh time in the last eight seasons, Kentucky Volleyball is headed to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament. The No. 3 seed Cats punched their ticket with a win over Minnesota on Friday night at Memorial Coliseum. On Thursday, Kentucky will face No. 7 seed Missouri at 1 p.m. ET in Pittsburgh. The Cats swept the season series vs. the Tigers this year, winning six of the seven sets played, including the match in Columbia Thanksgiving week, which clinched the outright SEC title.
If Kentucky wins, they’ll face the winner of Oregon and Pitt in the NCAA Regional final Saturday at 1 p.m. on ESPN2.
2024 NCAA Volleyball Championship
Pittsburgh Regional Schedule
Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024
- (3) Kentucky vs. (7) Missouri – 1 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
- (4) Oregon at (1) Pittsburgh – 30 minutes after (ESPN2)
Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024
- Winner match 1 vs. Winner match 2 – 1 p.m. ET (ESPN2)
In case you were under a rock, the field for the first 12-team College Football Playoff was set on Sunday. There was some drama, as the committee elected to give the final spot to SMU instead of Alabama. That leaves three SEC teams that made the cut: Georgia (No. 2 seed), Texas (No. 5 seed), and Tennessee (No. 9 seed).
All times Eastern
- First round (Dec. 20-21)
- Friday, Dec. 20: No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame | 8 p.m. | ABC/ESPN
- Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State | 12 p.m. | TNT/MAX
- Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas | 4 p.m. | TNT/MAX
- Saturday, Dec. 21: No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State | 8 p.m. | ABC/ESPN
- Quarterfinals (Dec. 31-Jan. 1)
- Fiesta Bowl: No. 3 Boise State vs. No. 6 Penn State/No. 11 SMU winner | 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 31 | ABC/ESPN
- Peach Bowl: No. 4 Arizona State vs. No. 5 Texas/No. 12 Clemson winner | 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1 | ABC/ESPN
- Rose Bowl: No. 1 Oregon vs. No. 8 Ohio State/No. 9 Tennessee winner | 5 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1 | ABC/ESPN
- Sugar Bowl: No. 2 Georgia vs. No. 7 Notre Dame/No. 10 Indiana winner | 8:45 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 1 | ABC/ESPN
- Semifinals (Jan. 9-10)
- Orange Bowl: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 9 | ESPN
- Cotton Bowl: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 10 | ESPN
- CFP National Championship
- 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 20 | ESPN
- Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia
SEC Bowl Schedule
Obviously, Kentucky isn’t going bowling. What about the rest of the league’s teams? As you know, Texas, Tennessee, and Georgia made the College Football Playoffs. From there, ten other teams from the league earned bowl invites, including Vanderbilt, who will play Georgia Tech in the Birmingham Bowl. Kentucky is one of just three SEC teams staying home this postseason alongside Mississippi State and Auburn.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF GAMES
- CFP First Round Game – Clemson at Texas (Austin) – Dec. 21 – 4 pm ET – TNT and MAX
- CFP First Round Game – Tennessee at Ohio State (Columbus) – Dec. 21 – 8 pm ET – ESPN and ABC
- Allstate Sugar Bowl (New Orleans) – Georgia vs. Indiana/Notre Dame winner – Jan. 1 – 8:45 pm ET – ESPN
SEC-AFFILIATED BOWLS:
- Union Home Mortgage Gasparilla Bowl (Tampa) – Florida vs. Tulane – Dec. 20 – 3:30 pm ET – ESPN2
- Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth) – Oklahoma vs. Navy – Dec. 27 – 12 pm ET – ESPN
- Birmingham Bowl (Birmingham) – Vanderbilt vs. Georgia Tech or Big 12 – Dec. 27 – 3:30 pm ET – ESPN
- AutoZone Liberty Bowl (Memphis) – Dec. 27 – Arkansas vs. Texas Tech – 7 pm ET – ESPN
- SRS Distribution Las Vegas Bowl (Las Vegas) – Dec. 27 – Texas A&M vs. USC – 10:30 pm – ESPN
- TransPerfect Music City Bowl (Nashville) – Missouri vs. Iowa – Dec. 30 – 2:30 pm ET – ESPN
- Reliaquest Bowl (Tampa) – Alabama vs. Michigan – Dec. 31 – Noon ET – ESPN
- Cheez-It Citrus Bowl (Orlando) – South Carolina vs. Illinois – Dec. 31 – 3 pm ET – ABC
- Kinder’s Texas Bowl (Houston) – LSU vs. Baylor – Dec. 31 – 3:30 pm ET – ESPN
- TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (Jacksonville) – Ole Miss vs. Duke – Jan 2 – 7:30 pm ET – ESPN
Mondays with Myron are back as the KSR crew travels home
The KSR Road Trip to Seattle was successful, culminating in a wild postgame show following Kentucky’s comeback win vs. Gonzaga. The gang heads home today, and while they travel, some familiar voices will fill in. Myron Medcalf and Billy Rutledge will host the show, while Jack Pilgrim will join Billy on the KSR Preshow. The fun starts now on 630 WLAP, affiliates across the state, or iHeart Radio.
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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