KSR Today: Caleb Wilson Decision Day, Kentucky WBB at Texas A&M, Mark Pope previews Vandy
Good morning, friends. Today is a big day on several fronts. First, the No. 11 Kentucky Women’s Basketball team takes its undefeated SEC record to College Station for a big game vs. Texas A&M. Secondly, a five-star recruit shares his college decision after months of speculation. Thirdly, we’ll hear from Mark Pope ahead of Kentucky Men’s Basketball’s trip to Nashville to play Vanderbilt.
Let’s start with recruiting because tonight, we’ll finally find out where Caleb Wilson will play college basketball. The top-ten prospect is down to Kentucky and North Carolina (he confirmed to Joe Tipton this morning that Ohio State is out of the running). The Cats were considered the frontrunners until this past weekend when the tide started to turn in favor of UNC. Given the Tar Heels’ struggles this season (Tuesday’s loss to Wake Forest dropped them to 12-8, 5-3 in the ACC), that’s a little confusing. What gives?
During a special edition of “Here Comes The Boom,” On3 national basketball reporter Joe Tipton said that Wilson may have had a change of heart after considering the potential of playing alongside North Carolina guard Elliot Cadeau, who is expected to return to Chapel Hill next season; however, this being recruiting, Tipton said that nothing is set in stone.
“To be quite clear, I’m not entirely ruling out Kentucky here until he says where he is choosing,” Tipton said. “However, I do think UK’s chances have fallen significantly as we enter this final stretch.”
Kentucky’s 2025 recruiting class (4-star SG Jasper Johnson, 4-star C Malachi Moreno, and 4-star PG Acaden Lewis) currently ranks fifth in the country. Should Wilson choose North Carolina, Tipton believes Mark Pope’s staff will “immediately pivot” to five-star small forward Nate Ament, the No. 4 prospect in the class. You can hear that and more below.
Jack Pilgrim also shared what he’s hearing on KSBoard, including another angle as to why the Tar Heels have surged ahead. We’ll know for certain when Wilson reveals his decision tonight on NBA on TNT following the Boston Celtics vs. the Los Angeles Lakers, which tips off at 10 p.m. ET. That’s plenty of time for Pope to make his final pitch and Wilson to change his mind, right?
No. 11 Kentucky WBB vs. Texas A&M
The No. 11 Kentucky Women’s Basketball team (16-1, 5-0 SEC) is riding a name-game winning streak and off to its third-best start to SEC play in program history. Tonight, they’ll put that 5-0 mark to the test at Texas A&M (7 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
The Aggies are 9-8 this season, 2-3 in the SEC. All three conference losses have been to ranked opponents (No. 15 Tennessee, No. 2 South Carolina, No. 10 Oklahoma). They most recently beat Georgia at home 68-63. Because of the midweek bye, Kentucky is also coming off a win over Georgia, 78-64, in which Clara Strack and Georgia Amoore combined for 49 points. The Cats have won each of their first five SEC games by at least 14 points, a first in program history.
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Kentucky needs just two more wins to tie its best start in program history. Odds are good they’ll get one of them tonight, but you never know on the road.
Kentucky WBB at Texas A&M: How to Watch, Listen
- Time: 7 p.m. ET
- TV: SEC Network (Eric Frede, Christy Thomaskutty)
- Home Radio: UK Sports Network – 630 WLAP, iHeart Radio (Darren Headrick)
- Online Radio: iHeart
- Live Stats: StatBroadcast
You can also follow the game via our LIVE BLOG on the website, which will begin an hour before tip-off, or join the conversation on KSBoard.
Mark Pope previews Vanderbilt
Kentucky Men’s Basketball won’t be back in our lives until Saturday’s game at Vanderbilt, but today we’ll at least get to hear Mark Pope talk about it. Pope will sit down with reporters at noon ET for his weekly press conference. During it, we hope to get an update on Lamont Butler (shoulder) and Andrew Carr (back), whose primary focus this week has been getting healthy. We’ll have a recap of that conversation on the site this afternoon, or you can catch the entire replay on the KSR YouTube Channel.
The football team has started workouts and is wearing “Blue Collar” t-shirts
We’ve even got a Kentucky Football note to include in today’s rundown. Based on these pictures from the team’s Twitter account, the team has started winter workouts. They’re also wearing new t-shirts with the phrase “Blue Collar” on them, Mark Stoops’ old motto. Step one of manifesting a culture change is t-shirts, right?
Another crazy night in the SEC
There’s never a dull moment in the SEC. Last night, South Carolina almost knocked off No. 5 Florida in Columbia. The Gamecocks led by as many as 14 points in the second half but Florida’s Will Richard hit the game-winning bucket with 4.8 seconds left to give the Gators the 70-69 win. There was another game-winner in Oxford, where Texas A&M’s Manny Obaseki hit a go-ahead three with 13 seconds left to beat the Ole Miss Rebels 63-62.
Even Arkansas got in on the fun, coming back from 15 points down to beat Georgia at home, John Calipari’s first SEC win as the Razorbacks’ head coach. Adou Thiero was the star, rebounding his own miss at the free throw line to hit a layup to give Arkansas the win. He finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Say what you will about John Calipari, but seeing Adou Thiero celebrate with his teammates was pretty cool.
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