KSR Today: Kentucky vs. Louisville Baseball, McDAAG, Spring Practice

For a Tuesday in early April, a lot is happening in the world of UK sports, the biggest of which requires some cooperation from Mother Nature. Tonight at 7 p.m., the No. 12 Kentucky Baseball team is scheduled to host Louisville in the Battle of the Bluegrass; for that to happen, we’re going to need this line of storms to push through the area sooner rather than later.

The Cats vs. the Cards is just one of many events on the docket for today, and where we’ll start this morning’s rundown.

No. 12 Kentucky hosts Louisville (weather permitting)

Kentucky Basketball (24-4, 8-1 SEC) is on a heater, winning 12 of its last 13 games, including a three-game sweep of Ole Miss in Oxford this past weekend. The Bat Cats are ranked as high as No. 12 in the polls (Perfect Game) and sit atop the SEC East standings at 8-1. Tonight is the first of two games this season vs. the Cards, who won last season’s only meeting 7-0 at Kentucky Proud Park.

Louisville is 17-11 this season, 3-6 in ACC play, and coming off a series loss at Florida State. Even though they beat Kentucky last season, the Cards lost 22 of their final 35 games to fall short of an NCAA Tournament at-large bid. Nick Mingione knows they’ll bring their A-game to Lexington.

“They didn’t have the year they wanted to last year, you knew they were going to be hungry this year. They’re a good team. They are extremely well-coached, they’re offensive, when they’re going best, they’re pitching at a high level. They’re going to be hungry.”

Speaking of Nick Mingione, he will preview the game with Matt Jones and Drew Franklin on today’s radio show. As for the weather, UK will monitor it throughout the day and adjust plans if needed. Given the forecast, I have a feeling a cancellation/postponement is on the way.

We are monitoring the weather forecast for Tuesday's game and if there are any changes we will communicate those accordingly.

— Kentucky Baseball (@UKBaseball) April 1, 2024

If the show does go on, first pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Tickets are still available, with free “Viper Style” sunglasses to the first 1,000 fans. If you can’t make it in person, you can watch live on the SEC Network or listen on UK Sports Network (98.5 locally). Looking ahead, there are even more cool giveaways planned for this weekend’s series vs. Alabama.

Three (or more?) future Cats in the McDonald’s All-American Game

The McDonald’s All-American Game is tonight and three future Cats will represent the program at the Toyota Center in Houston. Signees Jayden Quaintance and Boogie Fland will play for the East Team, while Karter Knox, who committed last month, will play for the West Team. Also on the East squad: Liam McNeely, the Indiana decommit who is now the highest-rated uncommitted prospect in the class.

McNeely, a 6’7″ 205 lbs. small forward, told reporters yesterday that Kentucky is among the schools contacting him the most lately, along with Kansas, UConn, Houston, and Michigan. For now, he’s focusing on the all-star games, not which school he’ll attend this fall.

“Right now, I’m focused on McDonald’s and then later this week, Chipotle Nationals,” McNeely told KSR+ yesterday. “So I’m not really worried about recruiting right now.”

Here’s more coverage of Media Day, which took place on Monday:

• 4-Point Play: Kentucky pledges flash in McDAAG scrimmage
• Karter Knox blessed to follow in brother’s footsteps at McDAAG (and to Kentucky)
• Jayden Quaintance hopes to improve Kentucky’s defense alongside Somto Cyril
• Boogie Fland on fan backlash following Kentucky’s loss to Oakland: “Their reaction was the right reaction.”
• Liam McNeeley Lists Kentucky Among Top Schools, “Not Worried” About Recruitment (KSR+)

If you want to scout McNeely and the three surefire future Cats, the McDonald’s All-American Boys Game tips off at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

Spring Practice updates from the Offense

Over at the football training center, the Kentucky Football team is holding its seventh spring practice. We’ll hear from offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan and offensive players after it’s over, so check the site later this morning for updates and the KSR YouTube Channel for the full interviews. While you wait, you can catch up on Saturday’s interviews with Mark Stoops, Brock Vandagriff, and Maxwell Hairston.

Subscribe to the KSR YouTube Channel for press conferences, interviews, original shows, fan features, and exclusive content.

Kentucky Basketball Stay or Go Announcements?

Monday came and went without any stay-or-go news on the Kentucky Basketball front. So far, the only player to announce anything is Adou Thiero, who entered the transfer portal last week and will also test the NBA Draft waters while keeping a return to Kentucky on the table.

We did get a little news on who Kentucky is pursuing in the transfer portal yesterday. According to On3’s Joe Tipton, Kentucky is among the schools showing interest in South Carolina transfer Meechie Johnson, along with Ohio State, Arkansas, and Texas A&M. The 6’2″ guard started his career at Ohio State and has one season of eligibility remaining. Aaron Gershon reports that Kentucky has also contacted Virginia Tech transfer Tyler Nickel, who shot 39.9% from three last season. He has two years of eligibility remaining.

The Women’s Final Four is set; Kentucky WBB news on the horizon?

Caitlin Clark is headed to the Final Four. Last night, Clark scored 41 points and dished 12 assists to lead Iowa past Angel Reece and LSU 94-87 for a spot in the semifinals in Cleveland. The Hawkeyes will play UConn, which beat USC 80-73. South Carolina and NC State advanced on the other side of the bracket on Sunday. Both semifinals take place on Friday night, starting with South Carolina vs NC State at 7 p.m. and then Iowa vs. UConn at 9 p.m.

If you didn’t watch Clark vs. Reece last night, you missed out. Even Jason Sudeikis was in the stands:

📹 | jason sudeikis and caitlin clark after iowa hawkeyes' win tonight! pic.twitter.com/sYtHzJI3Pv

— Jason Sudeikis Updates (@SudeikisNews) April 2, 2024

Caitlin Clark appreciation post:

(🎥 @Frankie_Vision)

pic.twitter.com/hTbRVS65UZ

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) April 2, 2024

Back in Lexington, Kenny Brooks continues to settle into his new role as Kentucky Women’s Basketball coach. That included an interview yesterday on KSR. Brooks shared his excitement over taking over the “sleeping giant” that is Kentucky WBB and stressed how important Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) will be for the program moving forward.

He couldn’t talk particulars, but one player Brooks is surely trying to bring to Lexington is Georgia Amoore. The Virginia Tech point guard entered the transfer portal yesterday and most believe she will follow Brooks to Lexington, with ESPN’s Holly Rowe going as far as to say she “would be shocked” if it didn’t happen. Amoore averaged 18.8 points, 6.8 assists, and 2.6 rebounds for the Hokies last season, earning Third-Team All-American honors. Five-star guard ZaKiyah Johnson from Sacred Heart, a top-five player in the 2025 class, also has Kentucky back on her list, along with teams like UConn, South Carolina, and LSU.

Again, due to NCAA rules, Brooks couldn’t talk about recruiting, but he said a lot of other great stuff in his KSR interview. Check it out below.

KSR’s big week of guests continues

Yesterday was Kenny Brooks. Today is Nick Mingione. Mitch Barnhart may be later this week and Matt even has a request into UK to speak with John Calipari. With Ryan Lemond and Shannon the Dude out, Matt Jones and Drew Franklin are filling up the radio show’s dance card to entertain the Big Blue Nation this week.

The main show starts in an hour but the fun begins right now on the KSR Preshow, where Adam Luckett is sitting in with Billy Rutledge to talk a little football. Join them by turning your radio dial or streaming device to 630 WLAP/iHeart Radio.