The Kentucky Wildcats are again at house after securing a sloppy victory on the highway at Ole Miss. The Florida Gators come to city as we speak after an enormous victory over Tennessee in Gainesville earlier within the week.
Each Kentucky (31) and Florida (41) want to climb within the NET and assist safe their spot within the NCAA match, a precarious process for each groups. The successful crew can really feel higher a couple of match berth whereas the loser can have little or no, if any, wiggle room left for the remainder of the season.
The sport itself is huge however a good greater occasion is occurring as we speak in Rupp Enviornment: the retiring of Mike Pratt’s jersey.
It’s a singular and hard-earned honor to get one’s jersey retired up within the rafters of historic Rupp Enviornment. Mike Pratt deserves the respect as each a participant and a broadcaster. He performed alongside the legendary Dan Issel for Adolph Rupp within the late sixties and was first crew SEC in 1969 and 1970. After his time at UK, he had a run within the ABA with the Kentucky Colonels once more together with his good friend Dan Issel.
After his time within the ABA he coached at UNC Charlotte from 1978 to 1982. He returned to Kentucky as the colour analyst for the basketball video games for twenty years. He was inducted into the Kentucky Basketball Corridor of Fame in 2009.
I obtained to know Mike via my work at ESPN Louisville. He was type, humorous and all the time fast with a joke. He carried his friendship with Dan Issel over to sports activities discuss radio on ESPN 680 on their present “Sports activities Speak with Dan Issel and Mike Pratt.” Dan nonetheless does the present every day from 10-12 with new co-host Louis Rabaut.
Pratt richly deserves this honor as a lot for his time as a participant as his time on the radio. He carried the banner for BBN all over the place he went and was instrumental in convincing Mitch Barnhart to rent John Calipari. Cal and Mike turned good associates.
Tweets of the Day
Win this one for #22.
His progress continues to encourage and amaze!
Headlines
Two Wildcats set to play in senior bowl | Cats Pause- Chris Rodriguez and Keidron Smith will play within the 2023 Senior Bowl. The sport is at 2:30 PM on the NFL Community should you’re searching for one thing to look at earlier than the basketball sport.
Kentucky vs. Florida: Massive Blue Preview | UK Athletics- A pleasant breakdown of the sport and Mike Pratt’s jersey ceremony.
Cats vs. Gators predictions | Cats Illustrated- A win right here appears probably however I feel it’s going to be very shut and can come all the way down to the wire. Can Kentucky get stops and hit huge pictures down the stretch the best way they weren’t in a position to in opposition to Kansas?
Aaron Bradshaw and DJ Wagner wow in Bluegrass debut | KSR- John Calipari alongside together with his gamers and workers watched Bradshaw rating 21 factors and Wagner rating 18 factors in a blowout win for Camden. They had been additionally there watching recruit Billy Richmond.
Faculty basketball high 25 picks | CBS- It’s a significant day in school basketball groups as high 25 showdowns are abound throughout the nation. In fact Duke and North Carolina are featured as the one non-top 25 matchup. Due to course.
Austin Rivers and Mo Bamba amongst a number of ejected gamers | ESPN- And it’s a second straight night time with a brawl within the NBA. This time the Wolves and the Magic had been concerned as Mo Bamba and Austin Rivers initiated the bench clearing struggle. 5 gamers complete had been ejected and the Wolves went on to win the sport 127-120.
Behind the messy exit of Texas and Oklahoma | SI.com- Texas and Oklahoma had been anticipated to affix the SEC by now however it appears as if the groups is not going to be a part of the convention till the 2025 season.
Rating the highest 25 rivalries in school sports activities | SDS- Kentucky and Louisville is criminally low on this checklist at #11. There isn’t a extra bloodthirsty rivalry when the groups are at their peak however sadly Louisville has been the pits in each soccer and basketball for a number of years in order that they’re not precisely holding up their finish of the discount. The fixed overrating of Duke/UNC is gross.
Be a part of me after the sport as I break down the motion and take your telephone calls and texts on the Kentucky Fish and Wildlife UK Postgame Present.