KSR Today: Big Z updates, Ray Davis, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Good morning, folks! Happy Humpday to everyone. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we need more University of Kentucky sports in our lives right now. This having to wait a week or longer in between basketball games is getting real old, real quick. There’s no more football to tide us over, either. We’re stuck in limbo.

Luckily, that will all change this weekend when No. 6 Kentucky begins Southeastern Conference play on Saturday in Gainesville against a very solid Florida Gators team. Tipoff is set for 12:30 p.m. EST and will be played in front of a sold-out Exatech Arena (and the orange-out that comes with it). A betting line hasn’t been announced yet, but you can bet it’ll be on this here website the moment it is.

Kentucky women’s basketball also begins SEC play this week on Thursday. Kyra Elzy’s team is riding a three-game win streak that pushed the Wildcats back to .500. Up first? A date with Arkansas (12-3) inside of Rupp Arena at 7:00 p.m. EST. We’ll have a preview of that one coming to the website within the next 24 hours.

In the meantime, let’s dive into the rest of this morning’s news and notes.

Big Z is on campus. Will he ever play?

Your guess is as good as ours. But the “good” news is the NCAA Eligibility Center reopened on Tuesday. Hopefully, Zvonimir Ivisic‘s case is sitting at the top of that stack of papers the NCAA has probably completely forgotten about at this point.

But even if he’s cleared by the time this article goes live, don’t expect him to suit up for the Wildcats anytime soon. Ivisic is still well behind the rest of his teammates when it comes to conditioning, game reps, etc. It’ll be a process getting him ramped back up once/when the NCAA finally decides to do its job.

Ray Davis invited to NFL Combine

Ray Davis became the first former Kentucky player to receive an invite for this year’s NFL Draft Combine. The star running back announced the news via his Instagram page on Tuesday and surely won’t be the last Wildcat to do so in the coming weeks, even if this could be a light year for Kentucky players getting drafted.

This year’s NFL Scouting Combine will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium during the first week of March. Davis and the rest of the prospective running backs will be the last to take the field on Sunday, March 5.

We’ll miss you, Ray. Go be great.

Jasper and Dennis Johnson joined Sources Say

Now maybe I’m biased since I was co-hosting the interviews alongside Jack Pilgrim, but I loved every minute of last night’s Sources Say. Five-star class of 2025 point guard Jasper Johnson joined the show to answer way too many of our questions about his life, basketball, and recruitment. We then brought on Jasper’s dad, Dennis, who was a former Kentucky football linebacker and is currently the head football coach of Woodford County. We peppered Dennis with just as many of our questions and he happily answered every single one in detail.

The reason for all of this? Aside from Jasper being recruited by John Calipari and the Wildcats, he’ll be back in Lexington this weekend for a special showcase event at Woodford County that will honor his grandfather, Alvis Johnson, who passed away in 2023. Jasper and his Link Academy (MO) squad will take on fellow five-star prospect Darryn Peterson and Huntington Prep (WV) at 6:00 p.m. EST on Sunday.

Tickets are available here if you would like to watch the show in person. If you need some more convincing, just listen to Jasper and Dennis talk about the event and what it means to them that it will honor Alvis. The full episode of Sources Say can be found below.

More Kentucky News and Views on the KSR YouTube Channel

Kentucky Sports Radio has expanded its coverage of the Wildcats in the most ridiculous manner possible on our YouTube Channel. Here you will be able to find interviews with coaches and players, as well as commentary from the KSR crew. From Rapid Reactions following big events to our lengthy lineup of live shows, subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel to stay up to date on everything happening around the Big Blue Nation.

Caitlin Clark’s game-winner is insane

Talk about range. Iowa women’s basketball superstar Caitlin Clark showcased her greatness once again on Tuesday night. The presumed No. 1 pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft drilled a logo three-pointer literally right at the buzzer to lead No. 3 Iowa past Michigan State 76-73. The triple capped off Clark’s casual 40-point explosion. She’s special.

CAITLIN CLARK pic.twitter.com/Qwfe70ElpN

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) January 3, 2024

Seriously, SGA can win MVP

I wrote about this last night, but after Shai Gilgeous-Alexander‘s performance in a 127-123 win for the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Boston Celtics, it needs to be mentioned again: SGA can win the league MVP this season. The former Kentucky point guard posted 36 points, six rebounds, and seven assists on 14-22 shooting in 36 minutes during OKC’s win.

The Thunder is now 23-9 on the season, second-best in the Western Conference. Boston came in with the NBA’s best overall record at 26-6 before SGA caught fire and made it seven losses. Gilgeous-Alexander’s big night came not long after he was tabbed the Western Conference Player of the Week. Now, he holds the third-best odds to win the league’s MVP as of this morning at +400 over at FanDuel.

For those keeping track at home (I am), former Wildcats now make up 33 percent of this year's "Conference Player of the Week" awards (6 out of 18).

De'Aaron Fox (twice)
Tyrese Maxey
Devin Booker
Julius Randle
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

No other school has more than two winners. https://t.co/OoIyZdEn16

— Zack Geoghegan (@ZGeogheganKSR) January 2, 2024