KSR Today: Kentucky prepares for the YSU Penguins

Mark Stoops better have his guest bedrooms dusted with clean sheets and air mattresses blown up throughout the house. Ready or not, the Youngstown family reunion is here.

Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats are set to take on the Youngstown State Penguins at Kroger Field on Saturday, a homecoming of sorts for the head coach, along with the likes of associate head coach Vince Marrow, inside linebackers coach Mike Stoops and safeties coach Frank Buffano — all Youngstown natives.

Practically every friend and family member will be making the six-hour trip down to Lexington, with Marrow putting the estimated number at 200 to 300 special guests coming to town.

“They’ll have a good time, that’s for sure,” Stoops said Thursday. “There will be a lot of people here from Youngstown. They’ll fit right in.”

On the field, it’s a chance to move to 3-0 on the season as a top-10 program — the first time the Wildcats have played a game inside the top 10 since 2007. They’ll be taking on a Missouri Valley program ranked No. 67 overall in FCS in scoring offense (24.7 PPG) and No. 108 overall in scoring defense (35.4).

What does Stoops think about the matchup? He broke it all down Thursday afternoon:

10,000 commemorative Mark Stoops posters will be available Saturday

Kentucky’s matchup against Youngstown State will be the school’s first opportunity to honor Stoops at home following his 61st career victory last week to become the program’s all-time winningest head coach. Part of the celebration? Commemorative posters distributed to fans at Kroger Field — 10,000 of them, to be exact.

Central Bank and Kentucky Farm Bureau Insurance are partnering together to distribute the posters, which will be available at Gate 6 starting at 9 AM ET Saturday morning.

Make sure you arrive early to snag one.

Thanks @centralbankKY & Kentucky Farm Bureau Insurance, 10,000 Commemorative Mark Stoops posters will be available at Gate 6 of Kroger Field starting at 9 am Saturday morning. Congratulations to @UKCoachStoops on becoming the All-Time Winningest Coach in @UKFootball history! pic.twitter.com/gaL6K5BXJP

— UK Sports Network (@UKSportsNetwork) September 14, 2022

Joe & Kelly Craft donate $7.5 million for football upgrades

It’s not just a cake Stoops was rewarded with for his historic win at Florida. The Kentucky head coach is also finally getting his long-awaited renovations to Nutter Field House following a $7.5 million donation from Joe and Kelly Craft.

The donation will also go toward the construction of a new indoor track facility, with both projects approved earlier this year.

Before, football and track shared the indoor practice facility, with the track rounding the football field and cutting off the corners of the end zone in the process — a serious injury risk for players. Kentucky was the last SEC football program without a full indoor field to itself, even falling behind Vanderbilt in that regard.

Now, the 29-year-old facility is getting a much-needed facelift — one that will allow Kentucky’s standout track program to receive its own facility, a well-deserved development.

$20 million will be needed for the track facility, while football upgrades will cost roughly $5 million. Recently, $5 million was spent on Kroger Field upgrades, as the university installed larger video boards at both ends of the stadium.

Not a bad gift for becoming Kentucky’s all-time winningest coach.

Did you know Vince Marrow was a hooper at Youngstown State?

As the Wildcats prepare to host Youngstown State, did you know Vince Marrow was once a Penguin himself?

Before he was a Big Dawg on the football field, he was a hooper at YSU.

“We’ve got a lot of respect for that program,” Marrow said this week. “People don’t know, I played college basketball there too. That’s a little insight. I’m always pulling for them, but not this weekend.”

During his time at Youngstown State (1988-89), Marrow averaged a smooth 7.4 points on 51.0% shooting and 80.4% from the line to go with 2.9 rebounds, 0.7 steals and 0.5 assists in 14.2 minutes per contest.

Tennessee to retire Chris Lofton’s jersey vs. Kentucky

Switching gears to basketball, Maysville’s own Chris Lofton will have his jersey retired at Tennessee this season.

And the ceremony will take place against, you guessed it, the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday, January 14.

Chris knew something was up… pic.twitter.com/iiPbLHf2F0

— Tennessee Basketball (@Vol_Hoops) September 15, 2022

Lofton earned AP All-America honors during his sophomore, junior and senior seasons at Tennessee and was named the 2007 SEC Player of the Year. He scored 2,131 career points during his four seasons as a Vol—a mark that still stands as the fourth-most in program history.

A former Mason County Royals star who led his team to a state title in 2003, Lofton was inducted into the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 2014. He was not recruited by Kentucky or Louisville out of high school, leading him to Knoxville for his historic college career.

Now, the Wildcats will be present for his jersey retirement celebration.

K.T. Turner: For the love of the game

Kentucky basketball’s newest assistant is in Lexington because of his love for the game.

K.T. Turner, who joined the coaching staff this offseason, is the latest individual featured in UK’s “For The Love Of The Game” series.

“I just love the game,” he said. “I love being around the players, the competitiveness about it, playing together to reach a goal.”

"I just love the game. I love being around the players, the competitiveness about it, playing together to reach a goal."@CoachKTTurner – coaching for the love of the game 🏀 pic.twitter.com/9vFZnUlHmM

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) September 15, 2022

Enjoy your Friday, Big Blue Nation.