Kentucky
Sunday Headlines: Justin Edwards Ascension
Greetings BBN.
The Kentucky Wildcats did just enough to win Saturday’s thrilling shootout with Arkansas to avoid what would have been a really bad loss. The Cats remained scorching hot on offense, and while the defense did struggle much of the way, they did just on that end down the stretch to pull off the 111-102 victory, their 21st of the season.
Antonio Reeves led the way with 22 points, but it was the freshmen who won the game down the stretch. DJ Wagner had 19 points in arguably his best game of the season, while Rob Dillingham had 15 and was money down the stretch offensively.
Zvonimir Ivisic had 12 points and a career-high nine rebounds, while Justin Edwards and Reed Sheppard each had 10.
For much of the game, it didn’t appear Edwards was going to do anything. With five minutes left, he hadn’t even hit a shot while notching two points on two free throws early in the first half, but he was just as important as any other Wildcat was in carrying his team to victory.
Edwards ended up with eight points and three steals in the final 4:46. It wasn’t quite his 10/10 performance in last week’s demolition of Alabama, but it was another major step forward for a guy who looked well on his way to being out of the rotation by the time the postseason arrived.
Also, that 3 he took and made was BALLSY.
Edwards deserves a world of credit for keeping his head down, shutting out the noise, and becoming a major impact player for a Kentucky team that may just be capable of making a deep NCAA Tournament run.
Tweet(s) of the Day
The official results for the 2024 linebacker combine class are in.@UKFootball‘s Trevin Wallace earned the top athleticism score at his position (86) with top-3 marks in the broad jump (10’7″), vertical jump (37.5″) & forty-yard dash (4.51). pic.twitter.com/W7gdj4fPGl
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) March 1, 2024
A great NFL Combine showing for Trevin Wallace.
Wild.
Love.
Headlines
Seven Double-Figure Scorers Lead No. 16 Kentucky Past Arkansas – UK Athletics
It was the first time that Kentucky had seven double-figure scorers since Feb. 19, 2005 in a win against Mississippi State.
Wildcats Conclude Regular Season at No. 9/7 LSU on Sunday – UK Athletics
Ajae Petty, an All-SEC caliber forward, continues to lead the team in scoring (14.4) and rebounding (10.3).
Kentucky beat Arkansas with a slew of individual player runs – KSR
In Kentucky’s win over Arkansas, just when you thought it was going to be a certain guy’s night, someone else stepped up and went on a run.
2024 Kentucky season: Aging John Calipari or his fountain of youth? – Cats Pause
With its ups and downs, is the 2023-24 season keeping John Calipari feeling young or aging him rapidly? The coach tackles it head-on.
Coffel Ties UK Home Run Record in 8-0 Run Rule Win Over Gophers – UK Athletics
Senior Erin Coffel hit her Kentucky Softball record-tying 61st-career home run as one of four homers on the day for Kentucky as the Wildcats run-ruled Minnesota 8-0 in six innings.
Trevin Walalce among early NFL Combine winners – 247
Wallace tied for the third-fastest 40-yard dash time among the linebackers with a 4.51 and posted the second-highest vertical jump at 37.5 inches, as well as the second-longest broad jump at 10 feet 7 inches.
Dom Day: Dominic Niman Shines in Kentucky’s Run-Rule Victory – UK Athletics
Dominic Niman provided the best outing of the season by a Kentucky starting pitcher and Emilien Pitre led an offensive barrage with four RBI as the Wildcats run-ruled Lipscomb 16-1 in seven innings on Saturday afternoon at Kentucky Proud Park to claim the weekend series.
Transfer Jamon Dumas-Johnson Wants to Prove the Doubters Wrong – Your Sports Edge
JDJ was a finalist for the Butkus Award awarded to the nation’s top linebacker in 2022 and was named a first-team All-American by the Sporting News and ESPN.
NFL tested optical tracking devices for line-to-gain rulings during 2023 season – NFL
The league tested optical tracking in two stadiums this past season — and during Super Bowl LVIII at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium — for line-to-gain rulings, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported on Thursday, citing league officials.
Texas WR Xavier Worthy’s 4.21 40 fastest ever at NFL combine – ESPN
Texas receiver Xavier Worthy made NFL combine history Saturday, clocking the fastest 40-yard dash at 4.21 seconds.
Earn Credit From J. Crew by Helping Them Recycle Your Old Swimwear–Keeping Clothes Out of Landfills – GNN
J. Crew has partnered with a recycling firm called SuperCircle to help gather up and properly dispose of unwanted or broken swimwear.
Italian-Made Exoskeleton Gets Disabled Users Walking and Standing — GNN
Motors located at the knee and hip joints power normal motion based on three different modes, Walk mode, Retrain mode, and TwinCare mode.
Which teams need to nail the NBA Draft the most?
Listing the teams that can least afford to mess up this year’s NBA draft.
LEXINGTON — Otega Oweh will begin his NBA career on the move.
The Miami Heat drafted Oweh in the second round of the 2026 NBA Draft on Wednesday, June 24. Oweh was the No. 41 overall pick (and the 11th selection of the second round).
But he won’t remain in Miami: Oweh reportedly is part of a trade that will send him to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Oweh starred for Kentucky basketball the past two seasons. He was a primary component of the first and second squads of coach Mark Pope’s tenure at UK.
Here’s what to know about Oweh, the Wildcats’ newest draft selection:
Oweh began his time as a collegian at Oklahoma, where he spent two seasons. He played in 32 games (28 starts) for the Sooners in 2023-24, averaging 11.4 points, 3.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1 assist per outing.
But he was a revelation at Kentucky, inarguably the team’s top player the past two seasons.
During his debut in 2024-25, Oweh paced the Wildcats in points per game (16.2) and double-digit efforts (33 times in 36 games). He started the season scoring 10 or more in the team’s first 26 games, which was the longest streak by a Kentucky player since Malik Monk did so 30 times in a row in 2016-17.
After going through the draft process and returning to UK, Oweh entered the 2025-26 campaign as the SEC’s preseason Player of the Year.
He wound up being every bit as consistent as in Year 1, scoring 10-plus points in 35 of the Cats’ 36 games. Oweh, who was named to the All-SEC Second Team by the league’s coaches, averaged a team-high 18.6 points per game.
He finished his Kentucky career with 1,255 points, the most ever by a player in his first two seasons with the program.
Along with his scoring prowess, Oweh also set single-season personal bests for rebounds (4.8), assists (2.7) and steals (1.8) per game.
Despite his standout two-year career with the Cats, Oweh was not a highly touted transfer portal prospect following the 2023-24 season. He was 31st according to 247Sports, while ESPN ranked him 59th and On3 didn’t even include him in its top 100.
Hailing from Blair Academy in New Jersey, Oweh was unanimously rated as a four-star prospect in the 2022 class, earning that ranking from Rivals, 247Sports and ESPN.
Oweh was slightly taller than 6-foot-4 (without shoes) at the NBA Draft Combine. During that testing, he weighed 216 pounds. That’s nearly identical to Oweh’s figures on Kentucky’s official 2025-26 roster, where he was listed at 6-4 and 220 pounds.
NBAdraft.net wrote that Oweh’s most logical pro comps are the Harrison twins — ex-UK greats Aaron and Andrew — and Josh Okogie.
Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.
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.
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