KSR Today: Kentucky basketball has one more huge transfer visitor

Recruiting is hot as the summer rolls on in the Bluegrass. For John Calipari’s Kentucky basketball program, the Wildcats will get one final shot at closing on a potential transfer before leaving for Canada in just a few weeks.

West Virginia forward Tre Mitchell is officially in the transfer portal following the dismissal of head coach Bob Huggins. The former UMass and Texas player spent one season in Morgantown and averaged 11.7 points and 5.5 rebounds in 30.0 minutes per game (34 games, 32 starts). Mitchell has shot at least 52 percent from two-point every season of his collegiate career, is a career 34.7 percent three-point shooter on 2.9 attempts per game, and has 1,398 career points entering his final season of college eligibility.

Kentucky is hopeful that Mitchell’s fifth year will be spent in Lexington. The Big 12 transfer entered the portal on Friday and immediately scheduled a visit with UK for this weekend. Now the Cats will look to wrap up this recruitment. We should probably expect things to happen quickly since time is running out as we’re about to enter the last week in June.

Mitchell could give Kentucky some much-needed veteran experience along with another quality body for Calipari to use in the frontcourt. This could be a big late addition.

Oscar Tshiebwe inks deal with Indiana Pacers

Oscar Tshiebwe went undrafted on Thursday night. The former Naismith Player of the Year became the first winner of the award to not hear his name called in the NBA Draft. The value of the good college big man does not often translate to the pros as stars Adama Sanogo and Drew Timme joined Tshiebwe as undrafted free agents.

Kentucky’s star five-man did not have to wait long to find his new home. The Indiana Pacers quickly inked Tshiebwe to a two-way deal on Friday. The former All-American finished his second season in Lexington averaging 16.5 points and 13.7 rebounds in 33.6 minutes per game while shooting 56.0 percent from the floor. Tshiebwe will look to continue those numbers will translate to the next level.

The former West Virginia transfer will join a rebuilding franchise in the Eastern Conference and likely spend a good amount of time in the G League next season.

Kentucky football caps off a successful recruiting week

The Big Blue Nation was waiting anxiously for some good news to occur on the recruiting trail after getting blue-chip quarterback Cutter Boley in the fold a month ago. Despite a bunch of official visits, things were moving at a crawl outside of a commitment from three-star linebacker Antwan Smith.

That all changed this week.

Greenwich (Conn.) Brunswick School offensive guard Jadon Lafontant joined the class on Monday. Billings (Mont.) West kicker Jacob Kauwe committed on Tuesday. Davie (Fla.) Western tailback Tovani Mizell and Macon (Ga.) Westside defensive back Jiquavious Marshall both jumped in the boat on Wednesday. The flurry of commitments would then end when Covington (Ky.) Catholic tight end Willie Rodriguez pledged to the Wildcats live on KSR.

Let’s work!! pic.twitter.com/ZPkbN1L0Fj

— Willie Rodriguez (@w_rodriguez10) June 23, 2023

Kentucky now has nine commitments in the 2024 class ranking No. 44 in the On3 Industry team rankings and No. 40 in average star rating. It is worth noting that both Kauwe and Lafontant are unranked at the moment and that should change soon. The Wildcats have closed the gap but there is more work to be done. EDGE Brian Robinson and wideout Hardley Gilmore figure to be the next big targets that UK will attempt to close on.

However, there is also some important work being done in the 2025 class. Four-star quarterback Stone Saunders hinted at a potential recruiting development on Friday. The Harrisburg (Pa.) Bishop McDevitt quarterback has taken multiple unofficial visit trips to Kentucky, Nebraska, and Texas A&M. Offensive coordinator Liam Coen has built a strong relationship with Saunders, and the Cats could be tough to beat. Getting a QB in the fold early would be a nice change of pace. Saunders could decide to end his recruitment sooner rather than later.

For the first time this cycle, Kentucky has some real momentum on the recruiting trail. QB recruiting is operating at the highest level of the Mark Stoops era, and Kentucky has more than a fighting chance for multiple blue-chippers. Stay tuned for more updates, and join the party at KSR Plus to catch up on intel and view the latest in our recruiting notebooks.

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Elly De La Cruz is a king

What’s better than an 11-game winning streak? A 12-game winning streak. Despite falling in a 5-0 hole early against the juggernaut Atlanta Braves, the Reds bats got hot, and we perhaps all witnessed the game of the year on Friday night at Great American Ballpark.

Joey Votto hit two home runs and his second big fly gave the Reds a lead they would not relinquish, but rookie Elly De La Cruz was once again the story of the night. The switch-hitting phenom became the first Reds player to hit for the cycle since 1989.

THE MOST EXCITING 10.83 SECONDS IN SPORTS ⚡⚡⚡@ellylacocoa18 pic.twitter.com/3lJjyhWRkc

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 24, 2023

In the 11-10 win, De La Cruz logged all four hits possible, knocked in four runs, stole second, and now owns a slash line of .361/.418/.656 after just 15 games in the big leagues with 10 extra-base hits (three home runs), 10 RBI, and seven steals. Cincinnati has the most entertaining man in baseball and may have the most entertaining team.

The Reds enter Saturday with a 41-35 record and a 1.5-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central. Game two against Atlanta is scheduled for a 4:10 p.m. ET start. They are doing all of this with some very subpar starting pitching. It feels unsustainable, but this ride has been thrilling for a fanbase that is starving for a consistent winner.

Can this team get the winning streak to a baker’s dozen?