KSR Today: Calipari in New York, Levis signs with Titans, and The Basketball Tournament

Good morning, folks! It’s another slow summer weekend around the KSR headquarters. After four basketball games in five days then a multi-day stretch at SEC Media Days in Nashville, the content well is already beginning to dry up. But that doesn’t mean we won’t have a full day’s worth of Kentucky-related news coming your way.

We’ll start with men’s basketball head coach John Calipari, who was in New York this weekend where he made sure to catch a Yankees game from GM Brian Cashman’s private box, where he was even able to take some pictures on the actual field.

Calipari posted pictures from the trip on his social media. It looks like assistant coaches Orlando Antigua and Bruiser Flint also joined Calipari on the excursion to the Big Apple.

Had a great time yesterday at Yankee Stadium – in Brian Cashman’s box for the game and on the field afterward!! pic.twitter.com/Q4vAtFJqxB

— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) July 23, 2023

Great time today at Yankee Stadium!! pic.twitter.com/BlgQ1tJXTU

— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) July 22, 2023

Now let’s dive into the rest of this morning’s news and notes.

Levis is officially a Titan

Will Levis fell hard on Draft night, but slipping into his landing spot with the Tennessee Titans might have been a blessing in disguise. Although that drop cost him some serious coin, the former Kentucky quarterback should be put in a position to thrive without the pressure of having to perform from day one like the QBs that went in the top 10. The Titans backed that up by officially signing Levis to a four-year standard rookie deal with the franchise, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Titans reached agreement on the standard rookie four-year contract with second-round pick Will Levis.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) July 22, 2023

According to Spotrac, Levis’s deal will net him just under $10 million ($9.54 million) over the next four seasons, which includes a $3.94 million signing bonus.

While Levis might not be the Titan’s starter in Week 1, he’s already being lauded as the QB of the future. Just ask former NFL wide receiver Dez Bryant, who is high on the Levis Bandwagon.

“[Will Levis is] going to end up being the starter,” Bryant said as noted by Personal Corner. Tennessee currently lists Levis as the third quarterback on the depth chart behind legacy starter Ryan Tannehill and Tennesee’s third-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft, Malik Willis.

Burkes is BACK for the Bat ‘Cats

After a breakthrough season, Nick Mingione and the Kentucky baseball program have continued the good vibes in the offseason through the transfer portal. But the Bat ‘Cats might have just gotten the best news for the program when it comes to player movement.

Star catcher Devin Burkes will be returning to Lexington for his redshirt junior season, it was announced on Saturday.

The 6-foot-3, 210-pound catcher will now spend a fourth year in Mingione’s program. The Florida native played in 61 games for Kentucky last season slashing .291/.423/.502 with 28 extra-base hits (nine home runs), and 53 RBI in 223 at-bats. The Florida native was superb in this past year’s regional going 6-of-13 (.462) with four extra-base hits and seven RBI.

Marcus Lee in TBT Sweet 16

The 10th edition of The Basketball Tournament, an annual summer basketball event that features a winner-takes-all grand prize of $1 million, is fully underway across the country — and a handful of players with Kentucky connections are taking the floor.

Most notably, Marcus Lee, who spent three seasons at Kentucky before finishing up his college career at California, will continue his TBT run later today. Suiting up for the Aftershocks — a team comprised mostly of former Wichita State players — Lee will play in the round of 16 at 5:00 p.m. EST on ESPN+ against Team Arkansas. This will be Lee’s third game of the event so far. In the first two games, the 6-foot-11 big man posted six points and four rebounds in 16 minutes then two points, four rebounds, and one block in 13 minutes.

Lee isn’t the only Wildcat in the event though. Former Kentucky guard Archie Goodwin is back at TBT for the third time and will play for Eberlein Drive, which plays its first game on Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. EST in Lousiville at Freedom Hall. Elsewhere, future Wildcat, class of 2024 center Somto Cyril, will play for Team Overtime. OTE’s first game is Wednesday at 6:00 pm in Dayton and will also air on ESPN+.

Deone Walker is a freak (in the best way possible)

One of the newest media members to join the On3 family, Andy Staples, sat down with the Stat Cat, Clark Brooks, during SEC Media Days for an incredibly insightful session aptly titled SEC Freaks. As you might have inferred from the name, Clark lists his top-5 freak athletes in SEC football, and as you most certainly predicted, Deone Walker made the cut.

In the Extra Point segment of Staples’ Media Days video, Clark speaks highly of big number 0 for the Kentucky Wildcats. Just from a pure size perspective, at 6-feet-6-inches and 345 pounds, Walker would rank in the 95th percentile among NFL prospects at the defensive lineman position.

“It is safe to say [Deone Walker] is a hoss and he is a boss. Not only is he an interior [lineman] who can occupy space, but what UK did last year was…use him at edge during pure passing situations. So if [the defense] is trying to use a tight end to block him, it’s probably not going to go so well against that bull rush. And, of course, he is 6’6″, and that really does disrupt passing lanes.”

Clark Brooks | On3

Ahmad Nowell decision day

A highly-ranked four-star recruit with plenty of Kentucky interest in announcing his college decision later today, but don’t expect the choice to be the Wildcats. Ahmad Nowell, the No. 40 overall prospect in the 2024 On3 Industry Ranking, is down to a list of finalists that includes UConn, Kentucky, Georgia Tech, and Tennessee.

While Kentucky was at one point viewed as a serious contender for Nowell, who plays his high school ball at Imhotep Institute in Philadelphia, the same school that current UK freshman Justin Edwards went to, all signs are pointing towards Nowell landing with the defending champion Huskies.

Nowell, a 6-foot-1, 185-pound shooting guard, will announce his commitment live on 247Sports’ YouTube page at 2:00 p.m. EST.

Final day of the 151st Open Championship

The final day of the 151st edition of the Open Championship in England teed off earlier this morning. The majority of the field has already wrapped up fourth-round play, but the leaders are still in action as the event begins to wind down. All of the final round play can be found on NBC.

As of the time this article was posted, American Brian Harman is currently in the lead at -11 (through three holes), five strokes ahead of Rory McIlroy, who has charged up the leaderboard on Sunday to put himself in position to contend for the title. Sepp Straka, Jon Rahm, and Cameron Young are also five back of Harman.

Harman has surprised many with three consecutive rounds under 70 to give himself the lead heading into Sunday. The 36-year-old Georgia alum owns two career PGA Tour wins and can probably bring home his first major championship title if he can play par golf over the weekend. So far, he’s +1 on the day. Rory is lurking.