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KSR Today: Another Week of Basketball Roster Speculation

On3 imageby:Tyler Thompson•05/22/23•

MrsTylerKSR

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Photo via UK Athletics

Good morning, friends. Welcome to a week that will be full of roster speculation, Kentucky Baseball’s run in the SEC Tournament, and possibly, some former Cats moving on to the NBA Finals. Drew Franklin normally gets us rolling on a Monday morning, but he’s enjoying some well-deserved time off in Colorado, so I’ll be your tour guide as we brace for another week in UK Athletics and beyond.

Lots to do, so let’s get to the rundown.

Roster Update: Keshad Johnson to Arizona, Lance Ware to Villanova

The weekend contained some news regarding the 2023-24 Kentucky Basketball Roster. San Diego State transfer Keshad Johnson committed to Arizona, picking the West Coast Wildcats over Kentucky, Oklahoma, Texas Tech, and USC. After striking out on two big portal prospects, Johnson and Hunter Dickinson, Kentucky will await upcoming NBA Draft decisions from Oscar Tshiebwe, Chris Livingston, and Antonio Reeves, and see what transfers are available once the NBA Draft withdrawal date (May 31) comes and goes.

The other news was that Lance Ware is headed to Villanova. The former Kentucky forward will have two seasons of eligibility remaining. Best of luck to Lance, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t concerned about the depth in Kentucky’s frontcourt. As of right now, it contains only Ugonna Onyenso and Aaron Bradshaw. If Oscar decides to return for a final season, that solves a lot of problems, but if not, Kentucky must land some pieces in the portal. Or, Adou Thiero needs to grow a few more inches.

Speaking of Bradshaw, it was cool to see our On3 colleague Joe Tipton’s graphic in the background of the five-star freshman’s sendoff party over the weekend:

Here’s where we stand with the 2023-24 roster with just nine days to go until the NBA Draft withdrawal date. Players report to campus in early June.

NBA Playoffs: Closer to a Heat-Nuggets Finals?

Are the Celtics and Lakers even awake? So far, the conference finals have been completely lopsided. Last night, Miami cruised to a 128-102 win over Boston to take a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat’s Gabe Vincent was the star of the game, with 29 points on 11-4 from the floor, including six threes, but Bam Adebayo had plenty of big moments of his own, finishing with 13 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and a block. This dunk over Grant Williams was particularly nasty.

Tonight, Jamal Murray and the Denver Nuggets have a chance to secure their spot in the NBA Finals. Game Four of the Western Conference Finals tips off at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN in Los Angeles and the Nuggets hold a commanding 3-0 lead over the Lakers. Sweeping the Lakers in LA to advance to the finals is a challenge, but Murray and Nikola Jokic seem capable. If it happens, it’ll be the first NBA Finals appearance in the Nuggets’ 47-year history.

Kentucky Baseball’s SEC Tournament run starts tomorrow

The Bat Cats ended the regular season with a series loss to No. 4 Florida over the weekend. With Saturday’s 5-2 defeat, Kentucky fell to the No. 8 seed in the SEC Tournament, which means they’ll play No. 9 Alabama Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. CT/5:30 p.m. ET. The first round is single elimination, so it’s win-or-go-home for Nick Mingeone’s squad in Hoover. The winner gets No. 1 seed Florida on Wednesday.

You may recall that the Crimson Tide’s season has been marred by scandal, as head coach Brad Bohannon (an assistant coach at Kentucky from 2004-2015) was fired for allegedly aiding in wagering Alabama games. Since Bohannon’s firing, the Crimson Tide are 8-2 with series victories over Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, and Ole Miss.

Kentucky finished the regular season at 36-17 (16-14) with its best conference winning percentage (.533) since 2017. Currently, the Cats are primed to host an NCAA Tournament regional for the first time since 2017.

First things first. Here’s the SEC Tournament bracket:

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Kentucky Softball’s season ended

It was a disappointing weekend for the Kentucky Softball team, whose season ended in the Evanston Regional of the NCAA Tournament. The Cats got off to a good start with a 9-1 win over Miami (OH), but they lost both their games on Saturday afternoon, falling to No. 12 Northwestern 10-8 and the aforementioned Redhawks 9-0. Rachel Lawson’s squad finished the season with a 31-22-1 overall record.

NCAA Men’s Singles Tennis Tournament begins

The Kentucky Men’s Tennis team lost in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, but for three Wildcats, the journey continues. Liam Draxl, Alafia Ayeni, and Joshua Lapadat will compete in the 2023 NCAA Singles Tournament, which starts today at the USTA National Campus in Orlando.

Draxl, ranked No. 13 in the most recent ITA singles rankings, faces Brian Cernoch of North Carolina (No. 43) in the first round at 4:30 p.m. ET this afternoon. Ayeni (No. 18) takes on Ohio State’s James Trotter at 6:30 p.m. Lapadat (No. 59) was a late addition to the field, getting into the draw as the initial first-alternate. He’ll play Presbyterian’s Dusan Milanovic at 6 p.m. 

You can stream all the matches on the Cracked Racquets YouTube channel.

Speaking of YouTube…

TL;DR? Catch up with the KSR Weekly News Update

If words aren’t your thing, hit play below and let Steven Peake catch you up on last week’s update on the KSR YouTube Channel.

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2025-02-03