Kentucky

Who is Nick Mingione? What to know about Kentucky baseball coach heading into NCAA super regional

Published

2 years ago

June 8, 2024

Who is Nick Mingione? What to know about Kentucky baseball coach heading into NCAA super regional

Kentucky baseball is in the midst of the most successful stretch in the program’s nearly 130-year history.

The Wildcats have made three NCAA tournaments in the past seven years in which the event was held and won their regional in each of those instances. The 2024 season has been the culmination of that climb, with Kentucky sporting a 43-14 record and a No. 2 national ranking.

If the Wildcats are able to win their best-of-three super regional series this week against Oregon State — which they’ll be hosting starting Saturday at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington — they’ll advance to the College World Series for the first time ever.

REQUIRED READING: Kentucky baseball vs Oregon State prediction, odds for NCAA tournament super regional

Though those achievements are the result of the hard work, talent and dedication of dozens, if not hundreds, of players, coaches and staffers over the years, there’s one man in particular who’s rightly identified as a key figure in the program’s ascent.

Since arriving in the Bluegrass State in 2016, Nick Mingione has ushered in a decorated new era of Kentucky baseball, helping the Wildcats become a viable and nationally relevant program while competing in college baseball’s deepest, most ruthlessly competitive conference.

As he has Kentucky on the verge of a historical feat, here’s a closer look at Mingione and his career:

REQUIRED READING: Men’s College World Series championship odds: Kentucky baseball among four favorites

Who is Nick Mingione?

Mingione is in his eighth season as Kentucky’s baseball coach, a post he assumed when he was hired by athletic director Mitch Barnhart on June 13, 2016.

“Nick Mingione is exactly the kind of coach we hoped to hire when we began our search,” Barnhart said in a statement at the time. “His passion, tactical mind and tireless recruiting efforts made him an important part of Mississippi State’s staff during some great years for the program. More than that, he is a man of substance who is committed not only to developing young men as baseball players, but as students and people.”

Mingione inherited a solid, if not strong, program, one that had won at least 30 games and finished with a winning record in each of the previous five seasons under coach Gary Henderson, who led the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament in 2012 and 2014 before resigning after the 2016 season, citing the all-consuming lifestyle of coaching in the SEC in his decision to step down.

It didn’t take Mingione long to achieve the kind of success many hoped he could upon his arrival.

In 2017, his first season on the job, Mingione guided Kentucky to a 43-23 mark, a nine-win improvement from the previous season, and an NCAA tournament appearance. Once there, the Wildcats won their regional, moving them on to the super regional round for the first time in program history. For his team’s efforts, he was named SEC coach of the year.

Though the program hasn’t cleared that kind of a historical barrier every season since, it has remained a steady winner under Mingione’s watch. Kentucky has finished with a winning record in six of his previous seven seasons and is assured of another above-.500 campaign this season. Even the lone exception to that run wasn’t particularly woeful, with the Wildcats going 26-29 in 2019. This season, Kentucky has reached the 40-win mark for the eighth time ever and the first time in consecutive seasons. Last month, Mingione earned his second SEC coach of the year award.

The Wildcats’ broader team success under Mingione has led to individual triumphs for their players. During Mingione’s tenure, 20 Kentucky underclassmen have been drafted or signed by MLB teams, earning them a collective $12.66 million in signing bonus money.

While Kentucky is his first college head coaching job, Mingione had plenty of experience, including in the SEC, before being brought in to lead the Wildcats.

For eight seasons, he was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Mississippi State under coach John Cohen. During that stretch, the Bulldogs had five NCAA tournament appearances, won three regional championships and made the CWS championship series in 2013, where they fell to UCLA.

His current stint at Kentucky is actually not his first at the school, either. For two seasons, from 2006-07, he was an assistant under Cohen with the Wildcats, who won their first SEC championship in 2006.

A native of Tarrytown, New York, Mingione graduated in 2000 from Embry-Riddle University, where he was a four-year letterman in baseball.

REQUIRED READING: When does UK baseball play again? Kentucky vs Oregon State NCAA super regional schedule

Nick Mingione coaching career

With his eighth season at Kentucky set to end some time in the next several weeks, here’s a look at Mingione’s various stops in his coaching career, in chronological order:

2002: Florida Gulf Coast, assistant
2003-05: Embry-Riddle, assistant
2006-07: Kentucky, assistant
2008: Western Carolina, assistant
2009-16: Mississippi State, assistant
2017-present: Kentucky, head coach

REQUIRED READING: Kentucky baseball tickets in Lexington Super Regional: Options for NCAA Tournament 2024

Nick Mingione record

Heading into this week’s super regional, Mingione’s career head-coaching record is 259-164, with all of those games taking place at Kentucky.

His 259 wins are the second most for a coach in program history, behind only Keith Madison, and his win percentage of 0.612 is the highest of any Wildcats baseball coach who was with the program for at least four seasons.

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Kentucky

Mark Pope updates injury status of Jayden Quaintance

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2 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

Mark Pope updates injury status of Jayden Quaintance

The Kentucky Wildcats had to return to the court Saturday night without their star center in Jayden Quaintance.

Coming back to the court from an ACL tear last season, Quaintance shined in his opening game against St. John’s and has eased himself back into game-play after nine months off the court. That is why it came as a surprise on Friday night when he was listed as out on the injury report.

Well, we got some more insight into why he was held out against Mississippi State in the pregame radio show. When asked about the injury, here is what Mark Pope had to say.

“He’s (Quaintance) just had a little bit of swelling, so we’re just kind of monitoring it,” Pope said. “And the most important thing is just his health. So, it’s going to be a little start and stop as we go. That’s just the process.”

So, for now, it doesn’t sound like anything that will keep JQ out for too long, though it’s unknown if he’ll return for either of next week’s games at LSU and at Tennessee.

The Cats have started to piece it together in the front court, but there is no denying the potential Quaintance has. When healthy, he is an NBA lottery pick. Now let’s hope he can get back onto the court soon to help the Cats make a run.

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Kentucky

Kentucky vs Mississippi State score today, UK basketball game updates

Published

14 hours ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Kentucky vs Mississippi State score today, UK basketball game updates

LEXINGTON — Two days after Kentucky basketball gave up a game-ending 15-2 run in a 73-68 loss to Missouri, Mark Pope was asked to explain what went wrong.

In a sense, Pope answered it with another question: What didn’t go wrong for his club in those final 4 ½ minutes?

“It was everything, actually,” Pope said during a news conference Friday. “It was so much misfortune. It was so much stuff in our wheelhouse that we inexplicably didn’t execute the way we normally do. It was some poor communication. It was some poor internalization of the scout. It was some missed shots. It was some coaching error.

“… (All) of those things lead to that terrible, terrible 4 ½ minutes.”

Stream Kentucky vs. Mississippi State

After falling to 0-2 in SEC play for the first time in two decades (2005-06), the Wildcats have no time to feel sorry for themselves. And Pope won’t allow it.

“I think everybody has mental fatigue everywhere right now — if you’re putting your whole heart and soul into it,” he said of his team (9-6). “But that’s our job: to not let that have any impact on today or yesterday or tomorrow. One of the things I love about sports is it teaches you that you have to. It doesn’t matter how bad things get. You can’t go back and rewrite what happened.”

Kentucky only can look forward, which begins with tonight’s matchup with Mississippi State at Rupp Arena. The Bulldogs (10-5, 2-0) enter on a six-game win streak.

Courier Journal sports reporter Ryan Black is at Rupp Arena and will have live updates throughout the game — here and on X, formerly known as Twitter — and complete coverage after. You can follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

Follow along with live updates from today’s game between the Wildcats and Bulldogs below:

TV channel: SEC Network
Livestream: Fubo (free trial)

The game between the Wildcats and Bulldogs will air nationally on SEC Network.

Authenticated subscribers can access SEC Network via TV-connected devices or by going to WatchESPN.com or the WatchESPN app.

Those without cable can access SEC Network via streaming services, with Fubo offering a free trial.

Stream Kentucky vs. Mississippi State on SEC Network

Betting odds: Kentucky is a 10 ⅟₂-point favorite (-112) on DraftKings, which set the over/under at 153 ⅟₂ points (-112/-108).

Tom Leach (play-by-play) and Jack Givens (analyst) will have the UK radio network call on 840 AM in Louisville and both 630 AM and 98.1 FM in Lexington.

You can also listen online via UKAthletics.com.

Oct. 17: Blue-White game (Click here to read takeaways from the intrasquad scrimmage.)
Oct. 24: exhibition vs. Purdue (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 78, Purdue 65
Oct. 30: exhibition vs. Georgetown University (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Georgetown 84, Kentucky 70
Nov. 4: Nicholls (Rupp Arena) ∣ SCORE: Kentucky 77, Nicholls 51
Nov. 7: Valparaiso (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 107, Valparaiso 59
Nov. 11: at Louisville (KFC Yum! Center) | SCORE: Louisville 96, Kentucky 88
Nov. 14: Eastern Illinois (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 99, Eastern Illinois 53
Nov. 18: vs. Michigan State (Champions Classic; Madison Square Garden, New York) | SCORE: Michigan State 83, Kentucky 66
Nov. 21: Loyola University Maryland (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 88, Loyola Maryland 46
Nov. 26: Tennessee Tech (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 104, Tennessee Tech 54
Dec. 2: North Carolina (Rupp Arena; ACC/SEC Challenge) | SCORE: North Carolina 67, Kentucky 64
Dec. 5: vs. Gonzaga (Bridgestone Arena; Nashville) | SCORE: Gonzaga 94, Kentucky 59
Dec. 9: North Carolina Central (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 103, North Carolina Central 67
Dec. 13: Indiana (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 72, Indiana 60
Dec. 20: vs. St. John’s (CBS Sports Classic; State Farm Arena, Atlanta) | SCORE: Kentucky 78, St. John’s 66
Dec. 23: Bellarmine (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Kentucky 99, Bellarmine 85
Jan. 3: at Alabama | SCORE: Alabama 89, Kentucky 74
Jan. 7: Missouri (Rupp Arena) | SCORE: Missouri 73, Kentucky 68
Jan. 10: Mississippi State (Rupp Arena), 8:30 p.m.
Jan. 14: at LSU, 7 p.m.
Jan. 17: at Tennessee, noon
Jan. 21: Texas (Rupp Arena), 7 p.m.
Jan. 24: Ole Miss (Rupp Arena), noon
Jan. 27: at Vanderbilt, 9 p.m.
Jan. 31: at Arkansas, 6:30 p.m.
Feb. 4: Oklahoma (Rupp Arena), 9 p.m.
Feb. 7: Tennessee (Rupp Arena), 8:30 p.m.
Feb. 14: at Florida, 3 p.m.
Feb. 17: Georgia (Rupp Arena), 9 p.m.
Feb. 21: at Auburn, 8:30 p.m.
Feb. 24: at South Carolina, 7 p.m.
Feb. 28: Vanderbilt (Rupp Arena), 2 p.m.
March 3: at Texas A&M, 7 p.m.
March 7: Florida (Rupp Arena), 4 p.m.

Record: 9-6 (0-2 SEC)

Denzel Aberdeen (guard, senior)
Collin Chandler (guard, sophomore)
Mouhamed Dioubate (forward, junior)
Brandon Garrison (forward, junior)
Braydon Hawthorne (forward, freshman)
Walker Horn (guard, senior)
Andrija Jelavić (forward, sophomore)
Jasper Johnson (guard, freshman)
Jaland Lowe (guard, junior)
Malachi Moreno (center, freshman)
Trent Noah (forward, sophomore)
Otega Oweh (guard, senior)
Reece Potter (forward, junior)
Jayden Quaintance (forward, sophomore)
Zach Tow (forward, senior)
Kam Williams (guard, sophomore)

Click here to view the Bulldogs’ complete schedule.

Want to learn the Bulldogs’ roster?

Click here for player bios and more.

Reach Kentucky men’s basketball and football reporter Ryan Black at rblack@gannett.com and follow him on X at @RyanABlack.

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UWM gets run off the floor in first half of 18-point loss to Northern Kentucky

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

UWM gets run off the floor in first half of 18-point loss to Northern Kentucky

That was rough.

An ugly first half from the Milwaukee Panthers led way to one of the most disheartening showings at home in recent memory Jan. 9, an 85-67 loss to the Northern Kentucky Norse.

Forward Kael Robinson poured in nine 3-pointers and a game-high 29 points as he and the Norse buried the Panthers with an onslaught of offense, especially early.

“We’ve got to have two things,” Panthers head coach Bart Lundy said. “We’ve got to make less mistakes and have more toughness.”

BOX SCORE: Northern Kentucky 85, UW-Milwaukee 67

No amount of positive moments from true freshmen Josh Dixon and Stevie Elam – they combined for 18 points in the second half and 30 on the night – could wash away the overall feeling of the night.

The Norse led by as many as 20 in the first half, which they ended with a 55-37 lead to ultimately handle the Panthers their worst home loss since coming up 36 points short against Northern Kentucky on Feb. 9, 2022.

Treacherous first half spells doom

The first 20 minutes may have been the worst half of the Lundy era.

Only once in the past four seasons were the Panthers outscored more in a half than the 18-point deficit they faced against the Norse – and that came on the road against the second-place finisher in the Horizon League. Their previous worst home loss under Lundy was a 13-point defeat to Longwood on Dec. 13, 2023.

Northern Kentucky had only four empty possessions in the first 11 minutes of the game, making six threes and grabbing six offensive rebounds. A putback dunk by x Dozier made it a 40-25 game and forced Lundy to use his second timeout of the game.

The Norse lead the nation in fastbreak points, averaging 18 per game and Milwaukee simply could not get back in transition, even after a made basket. The Norse had a whopping 20 points on the fastbreak in the first 20 minutes alone – and that doesn’t even include free throws courtesy of run-outs. Two of those transition trips to the foul line came in succession by Donovan Oday after made baskets for the Panthers, a rather inexcusable effort.

“A complete breakdown in our systems,” Lundy called it.

Oday had 16 points in the half – which wasn’t even a team-high as big man Kael Robinson had 17 and went 4 for 5 from three.

The Panthers went into the break down 18, but the largest lead was 20 on a Robinson triple to cap an 8-0 spurt across 59 seconds, forcing Lundy to take his third timeout.

The Norse finished with 11 offensive rebounds and generated 19 second-chance points. They scored on 23 of 34 possessions, averaging 1.618 points per possession.

“Give them all the credit,” Lundy said. “They were physical and tough and came up with every ball and outran us down the floor.”

Panthers slipping in Horizon

Milwaukee’s defense the rest of the way was solid – perhaps even good; Northern Kentucky shot 38.5% from the field percent as it scored 30 points in the final 20 minutes. It still wasn’t nearly enough to erase the disaster of the first half.

The Panthers now sit tied for sixth in the Horizon League having dropped three in a row after a 3-0 start.

Danilo Jovanovich exits game

Milwaukee’s active leading scorer Danilo Jovanovich played nearly 16 minutes in the first half, scoring only two points while appearing visibly hampered, but came out of the locker room in his warm-ups.

He continues to be bothered by a balky right shoulder, an injury that limited him to no contact in practice this week.

Jovanovich is day-to-day going forward, which could leave the Panthers without four projected senior starters at the beginning of the season: Jovanovich, Faizon Fields, John Lovelace and Seth Hubbard.

“I look down on that bench and I see all them dudes on crutches that are older and wish they were pretty available,” Lundy said. “…If you have Johnny Lovelace or Seth, that’s a whole different story. You’ve got length, athleticism, Faizon corrects a lot of things. What we have now on the floor, they’re talented but most of those guys have never seen Division-I basketball.”

(This story was updated to change or add a photo or video.)

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