KSR Today: adidas 3SSB, Reed Sheppard, and Memorial Coliseum

Good morning from beautiful (and blazing hot) Rock Hill, South Carolina, folks! I traveled down south yesterday morning to attend my first-ever adidas 3SSB Palmetto Road Championship, which tipped off on Tuesday and runs through Sunday. As of Thursday morning, college coaches can now evaluate their top recruiting targets at this event, and there are plenty of Kentucky recruits taking the hardwood every passing hour.

Before we get into the rest of this morning’s news and notes (holy moly, Reed Sheppard), here are the targets that head coach Mark Pope, along with assistants Cody Fueger and Jason Hart, kept a close eye on throughout Friday. You can check out my in-depth takeaways here.

• 2025 Darryn Peterson (Phenom United) No. 3 overall
• 2025 Nate Ament (Team Loaded VA) No. 7 overall
• 2025 Mikel Brown Jr. (Team Loaded NC) No. 12 overall
• 2025 Malachi Moreno (Indiana Elite) No. 25 overall
• 2025 Braylon Mullins (Indiana Elite) No. 26 overall
• 2025 Kaden Magwood (Team Loaded VA) No. 52 overall
• 2026 Ikenna Alozie (Utah Prospects) No. 9 overall
• 2026 Moustapha Diop (Game Elite 16U) No. 13 overall
• 2026 Tay Kinney (Wildcat Select 16U) No. 33 overall

I’ll be heading back to the gym the moment I wrap up this post. We’ve got another full day ahead where UK coaches are expected to make another appearance to watch even more talented high school recruits. Make sure you’re following along on KSBoard for live updates from myself and KSR’s Brandon Ramsey.

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Reed Sheppard, you are a bad man

Let’s cut to the chase: Reed Sheppard is too good for Summer League basketball already.

The Houston Rockets No. 3 overall pick in this past draft made his NBA “debut” on Friday night in Las Vegas against Bronny James, Dalton Knecht, and the Los Angeles Lakers. So what did the kid from London, KY do in his first Summer League go? Oh, just drop 23 points (9-17 FG; 4-6 3PT), five assists, four rebounds, three blocks, one steal, and plenty of highlights (we’re looking at you, Dalton) in his 30 minutes of action.

Like, come on now…

He wasn’t the only former ‘Cat to make his NBA Summer League debut on Friday, although he certainly had the best performance. Rob Dillingham (Timberwolves) went up against Antonio Reeves and Keion Brooks (Pelicans) as well. Dillingham finished with four points (2-12 FG), five rebounds, and five assists while Reeves went for nine points (2-10 FG), three rebounds, and two assists. Brooks failed to score but did chip in four rebounds, two assists, and one block.

And oh yeah, Oscar Tshiebwe scored 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Indiana Pacers. His NBA opportunity is coming sooner rather than later…

Tubby Smith met with the team for Friday’s practice

Before Pope made his way down to South Carolina (that private jet is being put to hard work), he held practice on Friday morning where former head coach Tubby Smith made a surprise appearance.

Smith coached at Kentucky for 10 seasons from 1998-2007, guiding the Wildcats to their seventh title in 1998. Smith broke down the huddle for the Wildcats, who practiced at Rupp Arena for the first time this summer. Pope made an interesting comparison, too…

“Coach (Smith) did it his first year,” Pope said in reference to winning a national title. “He just rolled in here, he said, ‘You know what? I’m just gonna hang one in my first year, which is what we’re trying to do, right boys?”

"We talk about banner behaviors all the time. We talk about assignment No. 9. @CoachTubbySmith is one of these guys that gets to walk in this room and he gets to point up there at this banner."

🗣️ @CoachMarkPope pic.twitter.com/D86VUdw7g7

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) July 12, 2024

Mitch Barnhart gives us a peek inside Memorial Coliseum

Memorial Coliseum has been undergoing a much-needed $82 million renovation over the last year-plus, and construction is on track for the historic building to be ready by August for the start of the Kentucky volleyball season. The hope is it will be fully completed by spring 2025.

On Friday, UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart gave the media a sneak peek at how the remodeling has been coming along. Among the updates to Memorial include air conditioning, new locker rooms, a new ceiling, new flooring, new seating, a new court, a courtside club area, new restrooms, new concession stands, new lighting, and a new scoreboard.

The seating capacity will drop from 10,000 to around 6,500, but seats will now be closer to the actual floor and the hope is the home-court advantage will be even greater than it already was. UK also hasn’t forgotten why the building is named Memorial Coliseum in the first place, either.

“Memorial Coliseum is the name of the facility and we will never forget the people who helped us have the opportunity to play the sports and who we honor in this facility and that’s the veterans,” Barnhart said. “I think the staff and folks have done a really, really cool job of finding ways both outside the facility and inside the facility to honor our veterans and I think you’ll really enjoy the way that has all come together.”

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Bat Cats keep making moves

Kentucky baseball head coach Nick Mingione added a 16th offseason transfer portal piece on Friday by bringing in Campbell 1B Dylan Koontz. A rising senior, Koontz appeared in 35 games for the Fighting Camels last season where he made 129 at-bats. The North Carolina native hit .295 for the season, registering six home runs and 31 RBIs along the way.

For a full recap of the Bat Cats’ offseason efforts so far, check out Daniel Hager’s Roster Tracker here.