KSR Today: Kentucky Basketball meets Kevin Costner, Murray State is a Cinderella
Good morning, friends. Even though it’s been over two months since Kentucky Basketball’s season ended in the Sweet 16, and much longer since the football season ended with the loss to Louisville, yesterday felt like the first day of the true offseason. Kentucky Baseball’s NCAA Tournament run is over, basketball roster building is seemingly complete, and now, all we can do is wait for pictures and stories to trickle out of the practice facilities as football and basketball players report to campus for summer workouts.
Monday did provide some fodder. Last night, Murray State upset Ole Miss to advance to its first super regional in program history in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. Congrats to the Fighting Steven Peakes! A few hours earlier, Mark Fox tweeted out a picture of himself with Mark Pope and Kevin Costner, of all people, at what appears to be a private airport. Is the former Yellowstone star in Lexington? Are Pope and Fox in Montana? All I know is I need to know more.
What does today have in store? Let’s go through the rundown.
Football summer workouts are underway
Yesterday marked the first day of summer workouts for the Kentucky Football team. The squad gathered in the Nutter Training Facility, all wearing the “Blue Collar” t-shirts we saw during spring practice. Coaches have two hours per week to work with the players in June and July.
The staff is also in the midst of official visit season. The Cats hosted several recruits this past weekend, and more arrive this week and weekend, including three-star wide receiver Prince Jean, who told Jacob Polacheck he starts his official visit today. Kentucky only has one commitment in the 2026 class, so this is a crucial stretch. Jacob and Adam will be sharing interviews and intel as the week goes on over on KSBoard, so come check it out
Basketball players also report to campus this week
What about the basketball team? They’re all expected to arrive in Lexington this week ahead of Mark Pope’s Father/Son and Father/Daughter camps this weekend. Hopefully, that means we’ll get some sightings at the airport or around town soon. With Otega Oweh’s return official, expectations are high for Mark Pope’s second season. On Monday, ESPN and The Athletic both bumped the Cats into the top ten of their preseason rankings.
BBN is excited for the team to arrive on campus, but I’m sure Jayden Quaintance is too. After moving in on May 21 to work on his ACL rehab, the big man must be getting pretty lonely.
New episode of Sources Say
Tonight, you’ve got a new episode of Sources Say to look forward to, as Jack Pilgrim and Shawn Smith preview summer workouts and share the latest in basketball recruiting as the Pangos All-American Camp gets underway in Las Vegas. Several of Kentucky’s top targets in the 2026 class will be there, including Christian Collins and Ikenna Alozie, Nos. 3 and 10 in the new On3 2026 rankings. Wildly, there’s even a Kentucky football target participating, 2026 four-star wide receiver Jasen Lopez, a two-sport star who picked up an offer from Mark Stoops in May 2024.
Sources Say will go live around 8 p.m. ET on the KSR YouTube Channel. If you miss it live, you can watch the replay whenever you like or catch it on podcast.
ICYMI, we had a new KSR Happy Hour
Speaking of the KSR YouTube Channel, have you checked out our newest show, KSR Happy Hour? Every Monday at 4 p.m. ET, a rotating cast of KSR writers breaks down the news of the day while enjoying a cold County Boy brew. Yesterday, Drew Franklin, Nick Roush, and I talked about the sad end to Kentucky Baseball’s season, the latest football recruiting news (or lack thereof), and Drew turning 40 next week. The conversation just got sillier as the hour went on, so add it to your queue if you want some fun on a slow Tuesday. The audio version will drop on our podcast feed a little later today.
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Six Wildcats compete at USA Swimming National Championships
The lone University of Kentucky sports event today is the Toyota USA Swimming National Championships in Indianapolis, where six Wildcats are competing this week. Maddy Hartley, Carson Hick, Grace Frericks, Ryan Merani, Devin Naoroz, and Levi Sandidge will represent Kentucky at the long course competition in a variety of events through June 7. Here’s the list:
- Maddy Hartley: 200 butterfly
- Grace Frericks: 200 backstroke
- Carson Hick: 800 freestyle, 1500 freestyle, 200 freestyle, and 400 freestyle
- Ryan Merani: 200 IM, 200 butterfly, and 100 butterfly
- Devin Naoroz: 50 backstroke and 100 backstroke
- Levi Sandidge: 1500 freestyle, 800 freestyle, 400 IM, and 400 freestyle
Competition begins at 10 a.m. ET each day. You can keep up with live results here as the meet goes on.
Murray State advances to first-ever Super Regional in NCAA Tournament
Kentucky’s run in the NCAA Baseball Tournament may be over, but there’s still one in-state team left to cheer for (obviously, Louisville doesn’t count). As I mentioned in the intro, Murray State advanced to its first super regional in program history last night, beating Ole Miss 12-11 to clinch the Oxford Regional.
It was the Racers’ third game against the Rebels in the last four days. On Friday, Murray State upset Ole Miss, its first NCAA Tournament win since 1979. On Saturday, the Racers beat Georgia Tech but lost to Ole Miss 19-8 on Sunday night, setting up last night’s winner-takes-all showdown. Murray State took control of the game in the middle innings, going up 12-3 headed into the seventh inning stretch. Ole Miss responded, but the Racers held them off to advance to face Duke in the super regional.
An in-state Cinderella and a chance to root against Duke? Steven Peake, pull the bandwagon over here and let’s all get on.
KSR is in studio today
I’m sure the radio crew will celebrate Murray State’s big win on today’s show, which will take place in the iHeart studios. In case you missed it on Monday, KSBar and Grille is closing temporarily this summer to take care of some renovations and needed upgrades ahead of football and basketball season. I’m sure Matt Jones will discuss the decision on the show, so don’t miss out.
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