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
Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky high school bowlers to watch in 2025-2026
The high school bowling season started last week in Ohio and Kentucky. Here are some top returners to watch for the season.
Who are the top returning boys bowlers?
Matthew Alvear, Lebanon – He was first-team All-Eastern Cincinnati Conference with a 206.9 average. He shot 629 in the sectional tournament.
Jace Amann, La Salle – The junior was co-bowler of the year in the Greater Catholic League-South. He averaged 208 with a high game of 298. He finished 15th in the state tournament with a 665, including a 269 game. He finished 23rd in the sectional tournament.
Tyler Blume, Simon Kenton – The senior finished as singles runner-up in the Region 5 tournament and finished seventh in the state tournament. He helped the Pioneers finish runner-up in the regional team tourney.
Jayden Brown, Elder – The senior was first-team all-league in the Greater Catholic League-South with a 216.8 average. He had a high game of 269 and a high series of 526 during the season. He finished 18th in the sectional tournament.
Michael Brown, Cincinnati Christian – The senior is the top returner in the Miami Valley Conference with a 195.3 average. He finished 11th in the sectional tournament.
Connor Copeland, Lebanon – The junior last year was the bowler of the year in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference. He had a 210 average including a perfect 300 game. He shot 641 in the sectional tournament to finish eighth.
Dylan Davis, Covington Catholic – The senior led the Colonels to the Region 5 team championship. He finished third in the regional singles tournament and placed ninth in the state tournament.
Tony Fox, Simon Kenton – The junior helped the Pioneers finish runner-up in the Region 5 team tournament and finished 15th in the singles tournament.
Peyton Frank, Reading – The senior was first-team all-league in the Cincinnati Hills League with a 211.6 average, leading the team to the league title. He had a high game of 268.
Drew Freeman, Mason – The senior averaged 205 last year and had a 278 game. He finished third in the sectional tournament with 638.
Maddox Kuryla, Boone County – He had the highest average in the regular season, 222. He won the Region 6 championship and finished fifth in the state tournament and led the Rebels to the second-best record behind Simon Kenton in the regular season.
Joe Mil, Deer Park – The senior was Cincinnati Hills League Player of the Year with a 216 average. He finished fifth in the sectional tournament and shot a 641 in the district tournament.
Ryan Monahan, Mason – The senior is second in the Greater Miami Conference among returning averages with 206.6. He had a 265 game last year.
Easton Pierani, Sycamore – The senior has the top returning average in the Greater Miami Conference with a 210. He shot 644 in the sectional tournament to finish seventh, 730 in the district tournament and 635 at state.
Jordan Rottinghouse, Elder – The junior was first-team all-league in the Greater Catholic League-South with a 213.5 average. He had a high game of 299 and high series of 558.
Tyler Sanders, McNicholas – The senior was the Greater Catholic League-Coed player of the year after averaging 200.3 with a high game of 258. He finished 18th in the sectional tournament.
Bryce Sargent, Campbell County – The junior finished fifth in the Region 5 singles tournament.
Gabe Schmidt, Reading – The senior was first-team all-league in the Cincinnati Hills League with a 207.7 average, helping the team win the league title. He had a high game of 299 and high series of 533. He finished fourth in the sectional tournament.
Carson Singleton, Northwest – The senior was the Southwest Ohio Conference player of the year with 215 average. He had a high game of 259 and high series of 514. He finished 27th in the sectional tourney.
Who are the top returning players in girls bowling?
Alyssa Bechtol, Notre Dame – The sophomore has transferred from Dixie Heights, where last year she was the Region 6 singles champion and helped the Colonels to the team title. She finished 14th in the state tournament. She started this year by breaking Notre Dame’s team records for high game (257) and series (466).
Ella Bohnert, Lakota East – The sophomore won a sectional title last year with a near-perfect 290 and 680 series. She averaged 179 in her first match this season.
Kree Brewer, Pendleton County – The sophomore won the Region 5 singles championship and led the Wildcats to the team title. She finished 19th in the state tournament.
Sophia Carazo, Summit Country Day – The senior is the top returning average in the Miami Valley Conference and finished fifth in the sectional tournament. She averaged 176 in the team’s first match this season.
Kendall Cook, Mercy McAuley – The junior was first-team All-Girls Greater Catholic League after averaging 185 with a high game of 251
Carolyn Edmisten, Georgetown – The senior had the highest average among Southwest Ohio DII bowlers with 202.5, helping her team win the SBAAC-National Division and sectional championships. She won the Cherry Grove sectional championship with a 638 and finished 15th in the district tournament with a 540.
Makayla Geer, Colerain – The junior is the reigning Greater Miami Conference player of the year after averaging 179 last season. She finished 14th in the sectional tourney and 32nd at the district tourney.
Taylor Hooks, West Clermont – The senior is the top returning bowler in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference after averaging 181 last year. She finished 20th in the sectional tournament.
Caitlyn Kober, Lebanon – The senior averaged 178 last year and is the second-best returning average in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference. She finished 14th in the district tourney and 18th in the sectional.
Jacelyn Lawson, Clinton-Massie – The senior is one of the top returners in the SBAAC with a 177 average. She finished second in the sectional tournament and 17th in the district.
Alex McDonald, Taylor – The junior was Cincinnati Hills League player of the year after leading the team to the league championship. She averaged 160 last year and finished 16th in the sectional tournament.
Hayley Pelstring, Notre Dame – She finished ninth in the Region 6 singles tournament.
Izzy Rhoads, Wilmington – The junior is one of three top returners with Kiley Comberger and Mackenzie Pyle for the Hurricane, who won the SBAAC-American championship. She averaged 185 and qualified for the state tourney after finishing eighth in the district tourney.
Abby Sargent, Campbell County – The sophomore finished third in the Region 5 singles tournament and 17th in the state tournament.
Meadow Williams, Indian Hill – The sophomore was first-team All-Cincinnati Hills League with a 155 average. She finished 22nd in the sectional tournament and 36th in the district.
Abree Young, Dixie Heights – The senior finished third in the Region 6 singles tournament and 16th in the state tournament. She helped the Colonels to the regional title.
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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