KSR Today: Calm before the portal storm

It’s all quiet for Kentucky in its offseason search to reload the roster following a successful debut campaign for Mark Pope in Lexington — maybe a little too quiet. After a hurricane of names connected to the Wildcats came flooding in to open portal season 11 days ago, there has been one commitment to show for it in Tulane’s Kam Williams with several others lurking as top priorities potentially in the closing stages of their recruitments. It feels like the calm before the storm with a few big fish nibbling on the line, Pope with his trigger finger ready to reel ’em in.

The catch — no pun intended — unfortunately? It’s currently the dead period, meaning no face-to-face contact from April 3 to April 10. Kentucky can’t currently host recruits on campus, nor can the staff visit potential transfers across the country. Those restrictions will be lifted on April 11, exactly one week from today. Until then, it’s limited to Zoom meetings, FaceTimes, phone calls, text messages and direct messages — all forms of digital communication. Plenty of ways to get in contact, just no handshakes and hugs to celebrate commitments.

Who should you be keeping a close eye on as BOOM season arrives for the Cats? Kentucky made two visits right before the dead period buzzer on Wednesday, starting with Pittsburgh transfer Jaland Lowe and finishing with Jacksonville State transfer Jaron Pierre Jr., KSR first reported Thursday. They’ll continue exploring those two — along with the other thousands of names in the portal, just to remind folks how many available names are out there with the list growing by the day. Another was added while typing this, actually, as Princeton’s Xaivian Lee — a First-Team All-Ivy League member who averaged 17.7 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.4 assists per contest while shooting 37 percent from three — hopped in the portal this morning.

We were still three days away from Coach Cal reaching an agreement with Arkansas this time last year. Pope’s first portal commitment didn’t come until April 21 in the previous cycle, and we saw how that turned out.

Friendly reminder to those pocket watching what others are doing across the country, particularly our rival down I-64W: banners aren’t hung in the offseason. Remember the offseason champions last cycle, guys like Kansas, Indiana and Kansas State? How’d they do this year after being crowned the new kings of NIL? It’s okay to be excited and antsy for the next additions, ready to see what this staff has up its sleeve. Impatient and freaking out that Kentucky won’t be able to field a competent roster on April 4, though, is absolute insanity and taking a chill pill or three is necessary.

We’ll be fine.

Here are some of the targets on Kentucky’s radar still on the board — again, one that continues to grow:

• Yaxel Lendeborg – UAB – 17.7 PPG, 11.4 RPG, 4.2 APG, 52.2 FG%, 35.7 3PT%
• Alvaro Folgueiras – Robert Morris – 13.8 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 3.1 APG, 54.4 FG%, 41.5 3PT%
• Jaland Lowe – Pittsburgh – 16.8 PPG, 5.5 APG, 4.2 RPG, 37.6 FG%, 26.6 3PT%
• Jaron Pierre Jr. – Jacksonville State – 21.6 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 3.8 APG, 42.4 FG%, 38.2 3PT%
• Xaivian Lee – Princeton – 16.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 5.5 APG, 43.9 FG%, 36.6 3PT%
• Mackenzie Mgbako – F – Indiana – 12.2 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 1.1 APG, 43.7% FG, 32.9% 3PT
• Taylor Bol Bowen – F – Florida State – 8.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 0.8 APG, 47.7% FG, 41.4% 3PT
• Jaron Pierre – Jacksonville State – 21.6 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 3.8 APG, 42.4 FG%, 38.2 3PT%
• Vyctorius Miller – G – LSU – 8.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 1.2 APG, 44.7 FG%, 31.8 3PT
• Ja’Kobi Gillespie – Maryland – 14.7 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 4.8 APG, 45.3% FG, 40.7% 3PT
• Reed Bailey – Davidson – 18.8 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 3.8 APG, 47.7 FG%, 41.5 3PT%
• Rodney Rice – Maryland – 13.8 PGG, 2.2 RPG, 1.2 APG, 43.4 FG%, 37.4 3PT%
• Abdi Bashir Jr. – G – Monmouth – 20.1 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 2.2 APG, 37.7% FG, 38.3% 3PT
• Elijah Moore – G – Syracuse – 5.2 PPG, 1.5 RPG, 6.4 APG, 39.1% FG, 31.5% 3PT
• Elyjah Freeman – F – Lincoln Memorial (DII) – 19.3 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 2.4 APG, 57.8% FG, 46.3% 3PT
• Frankie Collins – G – TCU – 11.2 PGG, 4.4 RPG, 4.4 APG, 42.2% FG, 26.1% 3PT
• Lamar Wilkerson – G – Sam Houston – 20.5 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.1 APG, 47.7% FG, 44.5% 3PT
• Alex Steen – F – Florida Southern (DII) – 17.9 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 2.5 BPG, 56.2 FG%, 28.6 3PT

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Catching up with Spring football

The portal has taken over the world, but there are some pads popping over at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility with spring practice well underway for the Cats.

KSR got to soak in some of the sights and sounds this week during an open period while also catching up with some of the most important names in the program right now:

How about some analysis and behind-the-scenes insights? KSR’s got you covered there, too, with Nick Roush and Adam Luckett breaking down everything they saw and learned this week on the latest episode of 11 Personnel. Tune in:

Who wants a Bat Cats doubleheader?

In case you haven’t checked outside lately, it’s been a disaster with rain and tornado activity all week, particularly over the last 24 hours. That’s why the Bat Cats were left with no choice but to postpone their series opener vs. No. 9 Ole Miss on Thursday. The good news? It opens the door to a heck of a Friday with a doubleheader scheduled for this afternoon, starting at 3 PM ET — both games being a full nine innings.

Kentucky lost its first two SEC series of the season, but won two of three at Texas A&M. This group enters this weekend series among the last four in in D1Baseball’s Midseason Field of 64 Projections, so a big-time resume boost would be useful.

Who ya got in the Final Fours?

It’s time for a monster weekend of basketball for both men and women, starting today. The women will get Final Four festivities started with No. 1 Texas taking on No. 1 South Carolina at 7 PM ET, followed by No. 1 UCLA vs. No. 2 UConn at 9 PM ET — both games on ESPN. Those matchups will take place in Tampa, with the championship scheduled for Sunday at 3 PM ET.

From there, it’ll be No. 1 Florida vs. No. 1 Auburn at 6:09 PM ET in San Antonio on Saturday, followed by No. 1 Houston vs. No. 1 Duke at 8:49 PM ET. Those games will be broadcast live on CBS, with the championship scheduled for Monday at 8:50 PM ET.

Seven No. 1 seeds out of eight total teams in both Final Fours. High-level hoops is guaranteed all weekend long, and we are very much here for it.

Enjoy it, folks. Go Cats.