An Announcement on the Future of KSR

It is with great excitement that I am happy to announce that the website KentuckySportsRadio.com has been acquired by Stuart McWhorter and we will be partnering with him and his team to grow our University of Kentucky sports coverage.

Stuart McWhorter was one of the founding investors and directors in 247Sports prior to its acquisition. Stuart and his team have industry expertise, and are committed to helping KSR maintain and grow its place as the preeminent site for UK sports coverage and the most powerful sports media entity in the state.

The decision for me to sell KSR was not an easy one. I started this site 15 years ago and along with my partner Andrew Jefferson, we have slowly built it from a blog created out of our basement and populated mostly by our friends into the most read independent college sports team site in the United States. KSR has been a massive part of my life over these 15 years and watching it grow and develop, while harnessing the careers of our amazing writers and content producers has been one of the greatest joys of my life.

But in today’s media landscape, one either grows, adapts and expands or they are left behind in the future. And now is the time for KSR to take the next step. Over the next couple of years, you will see the results of our partnership and KSR will remain not only the most popular UK site but also become the most modern, revolutionizing how college athletics are covered in ways that I never could have dreamed, all the while keeping true to the roots of a site that started as a way to talk about the Cats with our friends. Stuart has built the perfect team to help make this transition happen and I cannot wait to get started working with them on the next generation of KSR.

As for the Kentucky Sports Radio that you are used to reading and the people involved with the site, nothing has changed. I have signed a long-term deal with McWhorter and his team to continue to oversee the site and help it keep the spirit of this blog that began 15 years ago in place. In addition, Tyler Thompson, Drew Franklin, Nick Roush, Jack Pilgrim, Maria Taustine and Freddie Maggard have all signed multiple year deals with the new company and will remain the core writers and content producers of the site going forward. We will continue to use all of our current contributors, including longtime writers Adam Luckett, Chris Tomlin, Aaron Torres and Bryan the Intern, and we plan on expanding our roster in the coming weeks and months to add new and diverse voices to the KSR family.

For those that know me, they know that giving up complete control of this company is difficult. Selling the KSR website was something I always knew would happen, but with the day finally here, it will definitely be a transition. But I truly believe this is the best move for the future of KSR, its writers and our readers, to help us become the model for college sports coverage across America. I plan on being even more active in the day to day workings of the site than I have been in recent years and am committed to seeing our new venture realize all its possibilities.

This will in no way affect the KSR Radio Show, which is not part of this deal, and will still keep its place on iHeart Radio. Ryan, Shannon and Drew and I will continue our daily show and hope to continue to entertain for many years to come. It also will not have any effect on all the podcasts that have been part of our KSR Network and that will not only continue, but also expand into other areas in the coming months.

I want to take a moment to thank all of the dozens of KSR writers who have been a part of this venture over the years. From our editors since its inception, Thomas Beisner, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson to the initial writers who helped start the site, including Rob Gidel, “The Intern” John Wilkinson, Chris Mosley, Duncan Cavanah, the Turkey Hunter and Chris Tomlin (the only writer left on the site who was with me on day one). They and everyone who followed, from the interns of KSR College to our full-time writers of today, made KSR the go-to place for UK sports coverage and the greatest place to work on a daily basis that I could have imagined. A huge thank you goes out to Drew Franklin, who decision to leave his “Horace Grant Halftime Report” and join KSR was possibly the single most important moment in the history of the site. His uniquely hilarious writing and personality made the site explode, while his friendship made the eleven years spent traveling across America together as fun as you can imagine. Tyler Thompson’s ascension from a contestant in our blogger contest to editor of the site helped KSR reach a level of professionalism and success I could have never imagined and I will forever be grateful to her for her amazing abilities and leadership. Maria Taustine began as a volunteer intern answering the phones for the KSR Radio Show and ended up our CEO, taking the site to a level of financial success that made this day possible. Without her we would not be here and I am so proud of what she has and will accomplish. A special thanks goes out to Andrew Jefferson, one of my best friends in the world, who has been with me from day one and has helped navigate this crazy process with me. We have spoken daily for over 15 years building to today and this moment is one that we always dreamed of actually seeing. I can’t think of anyone I would have rather gone with on this journey.

Finally, a special thanks to all the fans of KSR. You folks have been part of a community that is simply unmatched anywhere in the world of college athletics. This site has taken us places that I could have never dreamed and I thank you for always being in our corner. KSR has been more than a media outlet…it has been a community and as we move into this new era I can’t wait to help it grow and reach new heights, while holding true to the unique mentality that made it special.

I look forward to what is to come….KentuckySportsRadio.com and KSR are about to hit a new level of coverage that I would have never dreamed possible. The growth of KSR over the next couple of years will be something that will help fans get UK coverage in ways they never would have imagined. I can’t wait to be part of the new era of KSR and I hope you folks are as excited as we are about the future.

Go Cats