KSR Today: NBA Draft Week, Holland's Five, CWS, and Turtle Power

Good morning and Happy belated Father’s Day to all you dads out there. I hope your kiddos and family made yesterday all about you by leaving you alone so you could watch the US Open finish in peace. Your yard looks great by the way.

Sunday was also Juneteenth, the anniversary of that June 19 day in 1865 when a proclamation in Texas effectively ended slavery in America. Though celebrated for years, Juneteenth is now a federal holiday signed into law last year to commemorate the emancipation from slavery. Many of you have the day off in recognition of Juneteenth. Enjoy it. Your bank will be closed.

As for things to know about Kentucky sports today, it’s a very quiet time of the year but there’s always something. Here are this morning’s somethings:

NBA Draft Week

It’s NBA Draft week for two former Kentucky Wildcats and their classmates in the 2022 NBA draft class. At some point today or in the very near future, TyTy Washington and Shaedon Sharpe will travel to New York to begin preparations for the 76th annual NBA Draft, scheduled for this coming Thursday night. Both Washington and Sharpe are invited to the draft’s green room and the pre-draft festivities.

Before the weekend, Sharpe said he doesn’t regret sitting out while at Kentucky. “So I guess I did something right,” he said in a pre-draft interview. For more exciting updates like that one, stick around as we track Sharpe and Washington in the days leading up to Thursday night.

The draft will air on ESPN at 7 PM.

Ron Holland named Kentucky among his top five

In recruiting news, Kentucky target Ron Holland kept the Wildcats around when he trimmed the list of schools he is considering down to five on Sunday. Holland announced he has narrowed his decision down to Kentucky, Arkansas, UCLA, Texas, or the NBA G League.

A 6-foot-8 power forward out of Texas, Holland is the No. 5 overall player in On3’s consensus rankings. He visited Kentucky for the first time last week on an official.

“He lets his dudes rock out,” Holland has said of John Calipari.

College Baseball World Series

Need sports to watch on this Monday off? There are two games on the schedule at the College World Series, beginning with an elimination game between Auburn and Stanford later this afternoon. The Tigers and Cardinal are set for 2 PM on ESPN.

Then tonight in Omaha, two more from the SEC will meet when Ole Miss and Arkansas play in the day’s second game. Ole Miss and Arkansas each won their opening games against Auburn and Stanford, respectively, to advance in the double-elimination format, so their game is not an elimination situation.

Your current College World Series bracket looks like this:

Also from collegiate baseball, last week it was announced Kentucky will keep Nick Mingione.

Max Duffy’s USFL career ended on Sunday

Yesterday was the final day of the USFL’s regular season, thus the end of the road for Max Duffy in 2022. Duffy’s Pittsburgh Maulers finished the year at 1-9, not quite good enough to play on in playoff competition.

It’s unclear if the USFL will have a 2023 season.

Loved my time being a @USFLMaulers didn’t go the way we wanted but just thankful to be back out on the field competing💜🧡 Football is fun pic.twitter.com/5OuxwFyKVe

— Max Duffy (@Max__Duffy) June 19, 2022

Up next for Duffy: The KSR road trip to Pennsylvania, perhaps?

“Top Gun: Maverick” lived up to the hype

Since we’re low on sports talk, let’s talk movies. I finally got around to seeing the new “Top Gun” over the weekend and it met expectations. I was worried all of the high praise since its release had set the bar too high, but it really is one of the best movies to come out in a long, long time. Best sequel since “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze” for me and I hold Turtles 2 in very high regard.

Today’s show is a replay episode

Kentucky Sports Radio’s morning radio show has the day off for Juneteenth. Tune in to a replay show today at 10 AM or come back tomorrow for a live show with a full house.

Go Cats.