KSR Today: Mark Pope, Chaz Lanier, Trent Noah, and Gavin Wimsatt
Good morning, folks! Now that things are slowing down in the transfer portal world, do we think Mark Pope has found any time to catch up on some shut-eye? If his schedule on Tuesday was any indication, he might still be running on low energy levels.
When he’s not camping out at airports or driving to different states in the middle of the night, Pope takes some time to connect and meet with the people of the Bluegrass. Among those people is Lexington Mayor Linda Gorton, who stopped by Pope’s office on Tuesday to talk about the city. Pope also had a meal at Malone’s with the Alliance Coal Mine Rescue Team.
He’s a busy, busy guy these days.
Chaz Lanier trending toward Kentucky
From the moment North Florida transfer Chaz Lanier entered his name into the transfer portal on April 24, the Nashville native was viewed as a Tennessee lean. But as the days have passed, Kentucky continues to gain momentum for the Top 10 portal prospect. In fact, they might just be the team to beat.
“North Florida’s Chaz Lanier — who’s not a big-time name, but he’s being sought-after by big schools and it’s looking like that might be Kentucky. And if it’s not Kentucky, it’s Tennessee. And if it’s not Tennessee, it might be BYU,” Matt Norlander of CBS Sports said on the Eye On College Basketball podcast.
Landing Lanier would be HUGE for Pope and Co. He was arguably the most efficient scorer in all of college basketball last season, just a hair above Antonio Reeves.
The 6-foot-4 Lanier averaged 19.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 0.9 steals in 33.4 minutes per outing in ’23-24 on shooting splits of 51 percent from the field, 44 percent from deep, and 88 percent from the line while starting 31 of 32 games played. He was tabbed ASUN First Team All-Conference as a result. He’ll have one year of eligibility remaining at his final college stop.
Gavin Wimsatt finally makes it to UK
Gavin Wimsatt nearly committed to Kentucky when he was a senior at Owensboro High School all the way back in 2021. After spending the last three seasons at Rutgers (the final two as a starter), the 6-foot-2 quarterback is finally coming home.
Wimsatt, who was ranked No. 220 overall as a class of 2021 recruit, announced his intentions to transfer to Kentucky on Tuesday. He expects to fill in as a gadget player and will be featured in designed run plays behind starting quarterback Brock Vandagriff. Wimsatt led Rutgers to a 7-6 record this past season, including a bowl win.
“We are excited to add Gavin to our program,” Head coach Mark Stoops said in UK’s press release. “Game experience is extremely valuable at quarterback and this is a unique opportunity to add talent and experience to the room.”
Wimsatt was able to generate wins, but his individual stats weren’t all that flashy. In 2023, he completed just 47.8 percent of his passes for 1,735 yards, nine touchdowns, and eight interceptions. That being said, he did rush for another 11 touchdowns and 581 yards.
Trent Noah is available…
Could Mark Pope bring in not one, but two in-state recruits for the upcoming season? He’s already got Lyon County’s Travis Perry locked up. Now it’s time to reel in Harlan County’s Trent Noah.
Noah, a 6-foot-6 class of 2024 shooting guard ranked No. 122 by On3, was granted a release from his National Letter of Intent (NLI) with South Carolina, which he announced on Tuesday. Notably, in his announcement post on social media, Noah expressed a desire to pursue “basketball opportunities closer to home”.
Originally committing to South Carolina and head coach Lamont Paris back in October, Noah chose the Gamecocks over the likes of Dayton, Saint Louis, Stanford, Richmond, Western Kentucky, Butler, and Seton Hall. As a senior for the Black Bears this past season, Noah averaged 29.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game on shooting splits of 56/43/88.9. He finished his high school career among the top five scorers in the history of the state.
Kentucky, Louisville, Tennessee, and Western Kentucky are all expected to be involved, but this one will be the Wildcats’ to lose.
Softball knocked out of SEC Tournament
In the play-in game of the 2024 Southeastern Conference Softball Championship in Auburn, Alabama, the 12-seeded Kentucky softball team came up short against the 13-seeded Ole Miss Rebels, falling 7-2.
Ole Miss struck first, taking a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the third inning before Kentucky was able to tack on both of its runs. But the Rebels controlled momentum the rest of the way, adding another run in the fifth and three more for insurance in the sixth.
KSR’s Katelyn Perkins has a recap of the loss coming to the website later this morning.
While Kentucky’s first postseason run came up short, they’ll have the chance for redemption. The 2024 NCAA Softball Selection Show is this Sunday at 7:00 p.m. EST on ESPN2. The Wildcats expect to receive the program’s 15th-straight at-large bid.
No suspension for Jamal Murray (just a big ole fine)
I’ll be totally honest, when I learned that Jamal Murray threw multiple objects onto the floor during Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals, I thought for sure a suspension was incoming for the Denver Nuggets point guard. But in that sense, he got lucky, avoiding the fine entirely, but his pockets still took a hit.
Murray was fined $100,000 for his acts of defiance during Monday night’s 106-80 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, which put Denver in a 2-0 series hole with the venue shifting to Minnesota for the next two games. Murray got caught on camera throwing a heating pad onto the hardwood twice. Directing a money sign taunt towards the refs probably didn’t help his case, either.
Murray should count himself lucky that he’s not sitting out Friday night’s must-win Game 3 scenario. Even though the Nuggets lost the first two games at home, a comeback attempt would be nearly impossible without the former Wildcat on the floor.
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