KSR Today: End of July

July is not the best month when it comes to the sports calendar, but it is an important one. When the Summer Olympics arrive once every fourth year, it does help to pass the time. But what always seems like the longest month of the year is starting its final week. August is coming, and that means the birth of restarts.

The NFL will begin preseason games, Kentucky will begin fall training camp, the kids return to school, and Kentucky will host the Big Blue Nation for a Week 1 contest for Kentucky vs. Southern Miss under the lights at Kroger Field to begin college football season.

Summer is almost over.

To wrap up the final weekend of July, KSR Today is looking at what happened in Paris on Saturday and what went on at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility as the Wildcats hosted a pair of 2025 prospects before another dead period begins in just a few days.

Shai-Gilgeous Alexander leads Canada to win over Greece

Team Canada might be Team USA’s toughest competition in men’s basketball at the 2024 Olympics. The Canadians opened pool play on Saturday with an impressive victory over Team Greece.

Canada does it // Le Canada l’a fait 😤🍁

The #SMNT grab their first win of #Paris2024 with a strong win over Greece; they start group play 1-0 // L’#ENSM remporte son premier match à #Paris2024 avec une victoire solide face à la Grèce; ils débutent la phase de groupe 1-0 pic.twitter.com/nFNu6zgtA6

— Canada Basketball (@CanBball) July 27, 2024

Former Kentucky one-and-done guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander finished with 21 points, seven assists, four rebounds, two blocks, and a steal in the victory over Greece and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Jamal Murray added eight points and three assists. Canada will face Australia in the winner’s bracket on Tuesday.

USA will begin pool play on Sunday, facing Nikola Jokic and Serbia at 11:15 a.m. ET/10:15 a.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on NBC.

Kentucky hosts multiple unofficial visitors

The Kentucky football program is gearing up for fall camp, but the Wildcats got some important recruiting work over the weekend before another dead period begins in August. Two offensive targets made it to campus.

Cincinnati tight end commit Mikkel Skinner appeared to enjoy his visit as he got to spend some one-on-time with Vince Marrow for the first time since Kentucky issued the four-star prospect a scholarship offer on July 10.

Had Great time in Kentucky!!! GO BLUE 🔵⚪️#kentucky Appreciate it big guy @vincemarrow pic.twitter.com/r8pN8IpVNC

— Mikkel Skinner (@kelzontop) July 27, 2024

Skinner was not the only 2025 prospect on campus. Clayton (Ohio) Northmont offensive lineman Jayden Clark canceled his scheduled camp workout and official visit to Kentucky in June but made a return trip to Lexington less than two months after that. The three-star prospect surprisingly made a trip down I-75 South this weekend.

Kentucky currently sits with 17 verbal commitments in the 2025 cycle and has the No. 21 overall class in On3’s team rankings. However, there is some more work to be done. Skinner and Clark are two prospects we will watch closely over the next few months.

The legend of Travis Perry continues to grow

Travis Perry set Kentucky’s all-time leading scorer mark in high school and led Lyon County to a state championship. The electric scorer then committed and signed with in-state Kentucky. Perry’s story is something out of a movie, but the legend only continues to grow.

In practice settings, the freshman guard has been lighting the nets on fire at the practice courts inside the Craft Center. Some veterans on Mark Pope’s first Kentucky team are now saying some remarkable things about the true freshman.

“People probably think we’re joking, but, no, we are being serious: his shooting numbers are crazy,” Drexel transfer Amari Williams said of Perry. “… I’ve seen a lot of great shooters in my four years of college, but when we’re doing our shooting test this week, Travis is going back-to-back days going 100 for 100 free throws? Doing that, then seeing how many threes he makes, it’s crazy.”

“Travis is phenomenal. I don’t know, I’ve had some pretty good shooters around me, but he’s definitely up there,” West Virginia transfer Kerr Kriisa added. “He’s very — and he works hard, man. He really does. He’s in the gym, yesterday he was in there four times. We get our massage and then he’s back in there after the massage. He’s just always in the gym and the results are showing.”

Perry made 100 consecutive free throws in consecutive days along with swishing 59 consecutive three-point attempts another day. Kentucky appears to have another true sharpshooter coming from the Kentucky high school ranks just one year after Reed Sheppard shot 52.1 percent from three.

The legend did not stop growing last week.

La Familia vs. The Ville

On Monday night in Freedom Hall, free caramel corn smells and a rivalry basketball game will take place. In the quarterfinals of The Basketball Tournament (TBT), La Familia will face The Ville in a different version of the Kentucky vs. Louisville rivalry.

Tickets are still available. Some “Go Big Blue” chants will likely occur in another Louisville arena. KSR will have plenty of pre-game content to get you ready for Monday night. Can’t make it to Freedom Hall? Join us at KSBoard for our live game blog.

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