Kentucky
Miss Kentucky pageant returns to Bowling Green
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – The Miss Kentucky pageant returns to Bowling Green for the fifth time, with contestants gathering for the scholarship competition.
Pageant director, Regina Webb, and several contestants previewed the event ahead of the competition.
The Miss Kentucky Scholarship Foundation has awarded more than $45 million in scholarships, ranking it among the largest scholarship providers for women in the world.
“I know I’ve heard one young lady who was a former Miss America, and she said that she won $80,000 over her time being in preliminaries in her state pageant and then won Miss America,” Webb said.
Contestants share personal growth
Contestant, Bella Franklin, said three years ago, she never would have imagined being part of the Miss Kentucky organization.
“I was a shy little girl. I didn’t even have a community service initiative. And being involved in it now, just saying yes to that one opportunity to compete in a prelim changed my life for the better. Now I’m so much more confident in myself. I’m able to talk to people and just overall the experiences that I had are truly amazing,” Franklin said.
Bowling Green resident and contestant, Madison Taylor, said she is proud to show off her hometown to contestants from across the state.
“I think Bowling Green is the perfect location for this pageant because it has everything that you could possibly need. And I’m excited for all of my friends across the Commonwealth to come and experience all the things that I love about my hometown of Bowling Green,” Taylor said.
Webb said, pageants are often misunderstood, and she wants audiences to see the women as more than their appearance.
Franklin and Taylor said, contestants are defined by far more than a crown and a sash.
“Obviously sometimes it’s hard to hear what they think, but truly just showing them that pageant girls are so much more than just the crown on the sash. We’re educated. We know how to use our voices,” Franklin said.
“These girls are smart and they have service initiatives where they’re going out into the community and making a difference. It’s really about sharing your message and making a difference in our community and our state overall,” Taylor said.
The Miss Kentucky pageant runs June 10-13 at SKyPAC in Bowling Green. The pageant can be streamed on Pageant Vision.
Copyright 2026 WBKO. All rights reserved.
La Familia has added another familiar face to its roster, as former Kentucky point guard Quade Green is set to make his debut with the Wildcats alumni team in the 2026 edition of The Basketball Tournament (TBT).
Green will be participating with La Familia for the first time as the program enters its third summer competing in the $2 million winner-take-all event. He joins a roster already featuring Kentucky alumni Andrew Harrison, Archie Goodwin, Kahlil Whitney, Reid Travis, and Willie Cauley-Stein.
In addition to the former Wildcats, three non-Kentucky players also appear on La Familia’s official roster: guards James Mainor-Bell and Chase Audige, along with forward Chris Coffey. While the trio has not been officially announced by the team, each is currently listed on La Familia’s website.
Green arrived at Kentucky in 2017 as a 5-star recruit and McDonald’s All-American. During his freshman season, he averaged 9.3 points and 2.7 assists while starting 13 games and helping lead the Wildcats to the Sweet 16. As a sophomore, he averaged 8.0 points before transferring midway through the season.
Following Kentucky, Green continued his career at Washington before playing professionally overseas. He most recently competed internationally after beginning his professional journey in Europe.
With another experienced playmaker now in the backcourt, La Familia continues to strengthen its roster ahead of another run at the TBT championship. Green’s addition brings veteran leadership, scoring ability, and another former Wildcat eager to represent Big Blue Nation this summer.
Kentucky
Secretary of State launches statewide Kentucky Time Capsule Project commemorating America's 250th
In the dog days of the summer, there’s not a whole lot going on across college athletics. We are currently receiving some fun, short clips highlighting the upcoming team practices.
One recent piece of news that caught our attention is that all the main recruiting sites have updated their high school rankings recently. 247 Sports updated their rankings a few weeks ago, while ESPN and Rivals updated theirs on Monday.
Several notable names for Kentucky have moved around slightly, so let’s take a look at where they are now.
Kentucky’s lone commit in the 2027 class to this point comes in at No. 20 on ESPN, No. 19 on Rivals, and No. 12 on 247 Sports. He was also bumped down to 4-star status at ESPN and Rivals.
Hampton has been a polarizing player: Some are very high on him and think he could be the best scorer in the class, while others believe he will be a project piece and has some big-time growing to do before he gets anywhere close to his ceiling.
It appears Hampton will need a strong end to the AAU season if he wants to regain 5-star status at Rivals and ESPN.
Spears is the cousin of Kentucky commit Ryan Hampton, son of an NFL great, and a highly sought-after forward in this class. He’s still slotted at No. 1 on ESPN and 247 Sports, but shockingly, Rivals dropped him down to No. 7 overall as a 4-star prospect. Their new rankings only have a pair of 5-star prospects.
Still, Spears is one of the players that people are most confident in overall and see a pretty high ceiling for. With the 6’9 frame and a super versatile offensive bag, Spears Jr. is being pursued by almost every coach and program in the entire country so far.
Remember the guy that Mark Pope and Mikhail McClean went fishing with? Well, here he is. Rosser, similar to Spears with position and size, is a big-time target for the entire country. He’s 6’9 with a strong build and is very capable of translating right away at the next level with his physicality.
Rosser is now No. 4 on ESPN, No. 1 on Rivals, and No. 3 on 247 Sports.
Kentucky cast a pretty wide net for this class of 2027, across many positions. Some other notable names that Mark Pope and this staff have reached out to and talked to are PG Beckham Black (No. 2 on ESPN, No. 3 on Rivals, and No. 2 on 247 Sports), SF Demarcus Henry (No. 3 on ESPN, No. 5 on Rivals, and No. 5 on 247 Sports), CG Adan Diggs (No. 5 on ESPN, No. 2 on Rivals, and No. 4 on 247 Sports). That’s just a few of the top names that Kentucky has shown interest in, and has gone to watch play a time or two.
It’s only July, but the recruiting never stops, especially in Lexington.
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