KSR Today: Kentucky Basketball and Football updates and the Pirate sails away

Good morning, KSR reader. It’s great to see you here on the world wide web today and we thank you for making KSR one of your landing spots online. If you’re here for news or because you’re browsing the internet to put off work for a few more minutes, below you’ll find a morning rundown of things to know as we head into this Tuesday, December 13. It’s National Ice Cream Day and the 98th anniversary of Kentucky Basketball’s 28-23 victory over Cincinnati in the first game ever played at Alumni Gymnasium, so that’s neat.

Now for some current topics, beginning with a very, very, very sad one.

Mississippi State announced the passing of Mike Leach

Moments ago, Mississippi State announced the news we’ve all been dreading: Mike Leach passed away. According to the school, the Pirate sailed away Monday evening following complications from a heart condition, a day after he reportedly suffered a massive heart attack at his home in Starkville and was airlifted for medical attention. He was 61 years old.

In a statement, Leach’s family said: “Mike was a giving and attentive husband, father and grandfather. He was able to participate in organ donation at UMMC as a final act of charity. We are supported and uplifted by the outpouring of love and prayers from family, friends, Mississippi State University, the hospital staff, and football fans around the world.  Thank you for sharing in the joy of our beloved husband and father’s life.”

We’ll have more on Leach’s life and legacy to come.

Yahtzee: Khamari Anderson joins UK’s 2023 class

Kentucky Football picked up a Monday commitment from Khamari Anderson, the 26th-ranked tight end in the country in the On3 Consensus rankings for the Class of 2023. A former Cincinnati commit out of Detroit–where he attends the same high school that produced DeAndre Square and Deone Walker–Anderson announced his intentions to attend the University of Kentucky fresh off an official visit to the school over the weekend.

BIG BLUE NATION LETS WORK!! 🔵⚪️🔵⚪️ Enough said. pic.twitter.com/mZbInGl56w

— Khamari Anderson (@espn_mar05) December 12, 2022

Anderson is the 15th commitment in Kentucky’s 2023 recruiting haul and a 2023 Under Armour All-American Game selection.

Read more on his game in the KSR Film Room.

Mark Stoops announced new RB/ST coach and took him shopping in Nashville

Also on Kentucky Football’s Monday timeline, Mark Stoops and the program announced the hiring of Jay Boulware, the Cats’ new running backs coach and special teams coordinator.

“I’m thrilled to add Jay to our staff at Kentucky,” Stoops said in a press release. “I’ve known Jay from his time with my brother, Bob, at Oklahoma. I’ve always been impressed with him and his work ethic. He brings a wide range of experience coaching running backs and in recruiting, along with his expertise and success with special teams. That’s what I was looking for in this position and Jay is well-regarded in all those areas.”

Boulware said, “I want to thank Coach Stoops for giving me this amazing opportunity,” Boulware said. “I’ve known and worked with the Stoops family for many years, and I’ve followed Mark’s career for a long time. I’m honored to be on his coaching staff as I have the utmost respect for him and the work he’s done at Kentucky. I’m looking forward to helping him continue the success he’s built here in the Bluegrass.”

To celebrate, Stoops and Boulware went to Nashville to meet with Ray Davis, the former Vanderbilt running back seeking a new home for his game after a 1,000-yard season in the Music City. Davis recently said his decision is coming soon.

@UKCoachStoops @CoachJ_Boulware Family 🤞🏽💙 appericate it pic.twitter.com/gno9xvybPK

— Re'Mahn Davis (@MrHeisman7) December 12, 2022

Read more on Boulware’s career before he accepted the job in Lexington.

Former NC State quarterback Devin Leary to visit Kentucky today

Add former NC State quarterback Devin Leary to the list of quarterbacks to keep a close eye on as Kentucky hits the open market for a new QB1. Leary will be in Lexington today to see what UK has to offer before he makes a decision on where he will play out his final season of college football in 2023.

Earlier this year, Leary was named the ACC’s Preseason Player of the Year for his 3,433 yards and 35 touchdowns thrown in 2021. However, an injury limited the 6-foot-1, 215-pound quarterback to half of a season with the Wolfpack in 2022. He appeared in six games until a torn pectoral muscle ruined his junior year.

Leary is the top-ranked quarterback and the No. 3 player overall in the On3 Transfer Portal Player Rankings. He has a long list of interested schools, including LSU and Alabama.

More on Leary’s candidacy.

Justin Edwards vs. Reed Sheppard at Kentucky Play-By-Play Classic

Over in Kentucky Basketball’s recruiting world, two of its commits, Justin Edwards and Reed Sheppard, showed out in Louisville over the weekend at the Kentucky Play-By-Play Classic. John Calipari and Orlando Antigua were in the building to watch Edwards and Sheppard go head-to-head and KSR was there to see it all.

Read Jack Pilgrim’s written recap of the game and watch KSR’s highlight video below.

Kentucky Basketball in the new AP Poll

Before Kentucky heads to the Big Apple to play UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic, the Associated Press gave the Wildcats a bump up to No. 13 in its updated Top 25. The three-spot climb matches UCLA’s three-spot climb in the rankings where the Bruins moved to Kentucky’s old spot at No. 16, setting up a meeting between the 13th and 16th-ranked teams in Madison Square Garden.

Purdue is the new No. 1 in college basketball at 10-0. Not far behind, the SEC has three top-10 teams in Alabama at fourth, Tennessee at sixth, and Arkansas at tenth. Mississippi State and Auburn are also ranked at 17th and 19th. The Southeastern Conference will be a grind this year.

Kentucky hosts eighth-ranked Kansas, too.

College Basketball on TV tonight

While Kentucky continues its once-a-week December stretch, you may be looking for other basketball games to occupy your time. Tonight there are three ranked teams in action, beginning with former No. 1 Houston seeking a bounce-back win at 8 pm, followed by Arizona and then Alabama, the team that beat Houston, hosting Memphis in an exciting matchup in Tuscaloosa.

(5) Houston (-31.5) vs. North Carolina A&T | ESPN+

(9) Arizona (-23) vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi

(4) Alabama (-6.5) vs. Memphis | ESPN2

Mitch Barnhart keeps saying all the wrong things

Yesterday we were reminded why Mitch Barnhart rarely speaks to the media because, once again, he said all of the wrong things about Kentucky’s alcohol policy, its collectives, and game day experience.

In an interview with The Lane Report, Barnhart said there’s nothing other schools are doing that Kentucky isn’t on the NIL front (not true). Regarding collectives, which UK was VERY late to promote, Barnhart said, “The collectives have gotten attention because that’s where everyone thinks there are large buckets of money. Those buckets of money are only as effective as the fan base saying we want to put money into this collective.”

On the topic of alcohol sales at Kroger Field, Barnhart kept up the divide by saying, “Some are very vocal about their desire to have alcohol sales. Less vocal are the folks—many, many of whom stop me to say, “We hope you don’t sell alcohol because we won’t feel comfortable bringing our family to games.

“You try to find what serves everyone best. There are people who say you have clubs where alcohol is available and for people who desire to have a drink, that is the place they are able to purchase an opportunity to do that. There is a separation for those who don’t want that as part of the fan experience. It will continue to be a conversation at an institutional level and we’ll continue to think our way through it.”

It’s too early for me to be mad, but those are maddening comments for the common fan. Does he even know what it costs to buy club seats at Kroger Field?

This is a wild one, too:

“Our financial goal is to have resources meet expectations. When you come into a venue, you want to see the lights on, the scoreboard working properly and enough heat and air conditioning. It’s always about having resources meet expectations.”

Mitch, it’s almost 2023 and fans expect a lot more than functioning lights and HVAC in a stadium.

Read the whole story from The Lane Report.

Matt Jones to host KSBar and Grille’s Wednesday trivia night

If you need something to do tomorrow night in the Lexington area, Matt Jones returns to KSBar and Grille to host the weekly trivia night. Always a good time for everyone, this week’s winners will be part of a much larger contest for $5,000 at a later date.

Plus it’ll be Wingsday and everyone wins at Wingsday. Get in there.

DeMarcus Cousins gave us a shoutout

You can imagine my surprise when I hit play on DeMarcus Cousins’ appearance on the “Outta Pocket” podcast and heard a KSR plug within the first two minutes of the conversation. Cousins was asked how he earned the nickname Boogie and he credited KSR for putting “Boogie” on the internet map while he was at Kentucky.

It’s funny to hear him say “you had to go type in this joint to go read the blog” in the pre-Twitter and social media days.

And I might’ve geeked a little when Josiah Johnson said KSR is “baller” and “that’s the spot.”

That’ll do for now. This Mike Leach news has me rocked.