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
Survey: Kentucky children’s dental decay rates surpass national average
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 7, 2024) — The University of Kentucky College of Dentistry’s 2023 Kentucky Early Learners’ Oral Health Surveillance Project survey found dental decay rates for Kentucky children ages 2 through 5 are significantly higher than the national average.
The survey, funded by the Kentucky Department of Public Health, evaluated the prevalence of dental decay and treatment needs among children and identified populations most at-risk in the Commonwealth. This is one of the largest state-level oral health surveys of children in Pre-K and Head Start programs ever conducted.
“The oral health of young children is essential to health equity as it not only sets the trajectory for oral health across the lifespan but also influences an individual’s overall health and development,” Stein said.
Project team members screened 6,660 kids across 106 Kentucky counties. Local dental hygienists were hired to serve as screeners and coordinate project efforts at the regional levels. Screeners contacted daycares and Head Start programs in their area. If the daycare or Head Start facilities agreed, screenings were scheduled for the children.
The screeners were trained to standardize their identification of treated decay (cavities that already had fillings) and untreated decay. If a child was identified to have untreated decay the screener classified the severity of decay and determined the urgency of when the child should receive treatment.
Each child’s screening results were documented on a report card and sent to their parents/guardians. All report cards contained referral information for local dentists and contact information for the regional coordinator for parents to contact for assistance if their child was identified as needing dental care.
The project team concluded that dental decay rates for Kentucky children ages 2 through 5 are considerably higher than the national average and were comparable to the highest risk group in the U.S. which is children living at or below 100% poverty.
Multiple, interconnected demographic, geographic and social factors influence tooth decay rates among the children screened. Region was the strongest association for untreated decay followed by age, facility type and rural location.
Additional findings show race, ethnicity and fewer economic resources compounded risk for dental decay. Higher decay rates were found in children attending rural Head Start facilities and Black children in poor ZIP codes in Jefferson County.
The data from this survey should impact the dental care of young Kentucky children in the future. At a state-wide conference to discuss survey findings on Nov. 1, community and health leaders from across the state discussed strategies to reduce the level of dental decay in our youngest Kentuckians.
“The University of Kentucky College of Dentistry has a statewide mission to increase oral health care access for all Kentuckians,” said Jeff Okeson, D.M.D., professor and dean of the College of Dentistry. “The survey’s findings can help guide and refine our continued efforts in reducing dental disease in children as a part of that mission. It’s just as important to educate everyone about good oral health practices as it is to improve access to oral health care.”
The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) recommends that children see a pediatric dentist and get established when the first tooth appears, or no later than their first birthday, and continue every six months with preventive care.
However, most children start going to the dentist too late, and it usually is due to complaints of pain associated with decay. Although dental decay is a preventable disease, it remains the most common chronic childhood disease, approximately four times more prevalent than childhood asthma.
Other data collected from UK Dentistry’s mobile programs for preschool-aged and school-aged children have seen tooth decay rates decline over the years and could be an effective early intervention toward improved oral health that necessitates further examination.
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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