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
LIVE BLOG: Kentucky at Tennessee
Kentucky is trying to avoid its first four-game losing streak since 2015 when they take the field Saturday night at Neyland Stadium to play the seventh-ranked Tennessee Volunteers. Kickoff is at 7:45 pm EST on the SEC Network.
It’s going to be a raucous Saturday night in Knoxville. A sell-out crowd is on hand as the Vols go into Dark Mode. They’re 4-0 in blackout games and Josh Heupel is 20-0 outright as a home favorite. His teams have scored a touchdown in five plays or less every time they’ve faced the Wildcats. However, they have been scoreless in the first half of each of their last three games. That’s one trend Kentucky will need to remain consistent to have a shot at knocking off another Top 10 team.
Check back here throughout the night for live updates. You can also join the conversation on the KSBoard Game Thread. Join KSR+ today and get seven days for $1.
Stay Classy, Tennessee Fans
11/2/2024, 9:24:36 PM
Tre’vonn Rybka was banged up on the bottom of the pile. Tennessee fans believe every injury is fake, so the student section chanted something the broadcast probably wishes they could’ve edited out.
Fourth Down Scramble Helps Tennessee Score
11/2/2024, 9:13:38 PM
Kentucky was oh so close to preserving a shutout. On fourth and 5, Kentucky rushed four. Nico Iamaleava broke contain to his left and scrambled for a first down. A few plays later, he found a wide-open tight end downfield to get the ball inside the 10. The defense didn’t go down without a fight, but the Vols punched it in from the 1-yard line.
Freshman Peyton Lewis scored the first touchdown of his career. It’s the first Tennessee touchdown in the first half since September. Kentucky will get the ball back with 4:45 left until halftime. Vols will receive the ball first in the second half.
Penalties Kill the Kentucky Drive
11/2/2024, 9:01:47 PM
Tennessee was the primary penalized, flagged four times early in the game. It finally bit Kentucky. Brock Vandagriff scrambled to regain a bunch of yards lost by a sack, but it was all for not. A holding penalty, followed by a false start, backed up Kentucky inside their own 5-yard line.
Fortunately, Aidan Laros’ leg bailed out the Cats. The Kentucky punter bombed it 56 yards. The Tennessee return man couldn’t catch it cleanly, recovering the muffed punt right away. Tennessee starts the drive on their own 36.
ANOTHER TENNESSEE MISSED FIELD GOAL!
11/2/2024, 8:57:41 PM
The Kentucky defense came up with two huge plays in the red zone. Tennessee had a touchdown until Jordan Lovett absolutely rocked the tight end to jar the ball free. On third and long, Nico got hit by three UK defenders before Tyreese Fearbry recorded the sack. The 40-yard field goal was missed, keeping the Vols off the scoreboard, still trailing 7-0.
Entering tonight’s game, Max Gilbert was perfect on field goals of 45 yards or less. He has two misses from inside that distance tonight.
Barion Brown Sidelined with a Rib Injury
11/2/2024, 8:50:12 PM
The Kentucky wide receiver picked up 15 yards on a screen pass. When he was tackled he took a shot to the ribs. Dick Gabriel reports he left the injury tent with ice on his side. Consider him questionable to return.
First Quarter Stats: Kentucky Leads 7-0
11/2/2024, 8:44:06 PM
Tennessee has gone four straight first quarters without scoring a point.
This was not a penalty?
11/2/2024, 8:39:53 PM
Prior to Brock Vandagriff’s interception, he scrambled out of bounds. A Tennessee player standing on the sideline didn’t try to catch the Kentucky QB. He stuck his hands out and knocked Vandagriff to the ground. The official was looking right at this, but no flag was thrown. Why?
Kentucky Takes it Back!
11/2/2024, 8:38:00 PM
Two plays after the Kentucky interception, Keeshawn Silver ripped the ball from Dylan Sampson’s hands and Jamon Dumas-Johnson recovered it. This game is approaching Banana Land.
Another Tip-Ball Interception
11/2/2024, 8:33:31 PM
If Brock Vandagriff throws a pick, there’s a good chance it happened after it hit one of his players. He tried leading Hardley Gilmore inside, away from the defense. The freshman reached out and it slipped through his hands and into the Tennessee defender’s. Vols’ ball at the Kentucky 45-yard line.
Tennessee Drops a Touchdown
11/2/2024, 8:27:48 PM
It looked like Kentucky made a costly penalty. A facemask wiped away a Tennessee 3rd and 14 and moved the chains for the Vols. Nico saw the matchup he wanted and dialed up a deep ball to Chris Brazzell. It was a beautiful pass and looked like a 49-yard touchdown, but the transfer from Tulane could not survive the impact of the ground. The ball was dropped and the Cats were able to take down Nico on third and long to give Kentucky two straight stops.
Look at that Tight End Touchdown
11/2/2024, 8:23:19 PM
Throwing it more to the tight end actually worked.
Explosive Offense?!?! Kentucky Scores First!
11/2/2024, 8:18:32 PM
Benching Brock Vandagriff lit a fire under the worst passing offense in the SEC. He connected with Hardley Gilmore for a 25-yard gain to start the drive, then hit Dane Key on third and eight for a gain of 17. They finished the drive by going five-wide and NOT running a QB draw. They threw and Josh Kattus was wide open for a 27-yard touchdown.
Kentucky can’t score in the red zone, so they’re scoring from outside of the red zone. What a time to be alive.
Kentucky Defense Holds Up to Force a Missed Field Goal
11/2/2024, 8:11:37 PM
Tennessee was rocking and rolling. It looked like things were going to get out of hand until Tennessee native Tre’vonn Rybka came up with a second down sack to put the Vols behind the chains. On third and long, Kentucky stopped the Vols about six yards short of the line to gain.
Rather than letting them kick the field goal from there, Mark Stoops accepted a Tennessee holding penalty. A great tackle on a screen pass forced a 43-yard field goal. Max Gilbert hit a low line drive and missed it, just his fourth miss in 16 attempts this season.
Another Empty Red Zone Possession
11/2/2024, 8:02:19 PM
It wasn’t the 2-yard line, but it is the fourth straight week Kentucky has gotten the ball inside the 10-yard line and came away with zero points.
The second down pass into the end zone was tipped into the air and nearly intercepted. Kentucky escaped by a hair and a Brock Vandagriff QB draw made it 4th and 2. Instead of taking the points, Mark Stoops chose to go for it. The play-action play design was creative, but Tennessee blitzed and played man. Nobody got open, resulting in a turnover on downs. We just can’t have nice things.
An Explosive Play?!?!?!
11/2/2024, 8:01:08 PM
Kentucky did not have one run for 30+ yards this season. On the first play from scrimmage, Jamarion Wilcox went 50 yards right through the heart of the second-best run defense in college football. Kentucky is inside the red zone three plays into the game.
“Vols” signage is absolutely gigantic
11/2/2024, 7:55:33 PM
Tennessee athletic director Danny White brought back the “VOLS” letters at the top of the stadium after fans had been clamoring for them for years. I can’t understate how big they arm. In a monstrosity of a stadium, they stand out in a ridiculous way.
Tennessee wins the toss and defers
11/2/2024, 7:54:08 PM
Josh Heupel has decided to let his defense go on the field first after winning the toss. This game will begin with Kentucky getting the football. All signs point to Brock Vandagriff getting the start.
Can Kentucky avoid another slow start? The Vols have jumped out early in every game since Heupel took over in Knoxville.
Beer Barrel Back?
11/2/2024, 7:46:44 PM
The Beer Barrel was traded back and forth for decades until the DUI tragedy that killed a Kentucky Wildcat one week prior to the 1998 matchup. The original still sits in the Tennessee equipment manager’s office. One Vol fan has created his own version of the Beer Barrel and even had mugs made for the occasion.
Packed House at Neyland
11/2/2024, 7:42:28 PM
Even though Erik Ainge and other UT hacks were describing this game as a CFB Playoff Dress Rehearsal, you couldn’t tell that by the way the fans are treating it. Tennessee fans filled most of the seats in the stadium more than 35 minutes before kickoff. They are not lacking any juice for this Dark Mode game.
Last-Minute Player Updates
11/2/2024, 7:37:29 PM
Daveren Rayner plans on using his redshirt this year. He has one game to retain his eligibility and Mark Stoops tells Tom Leach he will use it tonight. We may even see him some at Jack LB to spell JJ Weaver.
Brock Vandagriff will start at quarterback for Kentucky. Gavin Wimsatt will still be used from time to time.
How To Watch/Listen
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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