KSR Today: NBPA Top 100 Camp rolls on; Wallace, Toppin meeting with media

ZGeogheganKSR

Good morning, folks! I’m writing you from Orlando, FL where Jack Pilgrim and I are at the NBPA Top 100 Camp. It’s very hot down here. Like, sticky hot — step outside and your upper lip immediately starts to sweat type of hot. But luckily for us, we’re spending the majority of our days surrounded by sweet, sweet air conditioning. Wednesday saw day one action of the event with Thursday following the same schedule. We’ll have two sessions of games this morning before a lunch break then two more sessions in the afternoon.

There is a livestream available through the link here to watch all the games, although I was told by some trying to watch yesterday that there were technical difficulties. Hopefully, that gets straightened out today. If not, you’ll just have to keep visiting Kentucky Sports Radio dot com for all of your updated coverage. The roster is loaded with the best of the best across the country and the Kentucky coaching staff rolled four deep because of it.

In case you missed everything that happened on Wednesday, here’s what we’ve already rolled out from yesterday’s games.

Make sure you’re following us on Twitter (@ZGeogheganKSR and @JackPilgrimKSR) for updates throughout the day.

Cason Wallace and Jacob Toppin meeting with the media

Around lunchtime, Kentucky men’s basketball is allowing the media to talk with a pair of Wildcats for the 2022-23 season: freshman guard Cason Wallace and senior forward Jacob Toppin will face the cameras and answer all of our burning questions.

Wallace was actually made available for a media opportunity on Wednesday, where KSR’s Drew Franklin traveled to Frankfort for a free ProCamps youth clinic at Frankfort High School. Sahvir Wheeler and Antonio Reeves were also there, but Wallace was the “host” of the camp, so it was his turn to answer some questions.

He already seems pretty likable, too. Wallace apparently took one rebound away from unanimous Player of the Year Oscar Tshiebwe and has been letting the big fella know about it ever since.

“I talked trash for a whole week,” Wallace revealed.

What practice stories will he entertain us with today?

Mookie Cook back on the market?

Out of nowhere, five-star ’23 small forward Mookie Cook shocked the recruiting world when he told On3’s Joe Tipton of his desire to de-commit from the Oregon Ducks late last night. Considered the No. 13 overall prospect in the class, per the On3 Consensus, Cook had been locked in with Oregon since March, picking the Ducks over the likes of Kentucky, Gonzaga, and others. Immediately, the Big Blue Nation began to wonder if Cook would be an option once again for the ‘Cats. As a potential added bonus, he and current Kentucky freshman Chris Livingston recently filmed roles in an upcoming basketball movie together where they go head-to-head as rivals.

It’s absolutely possible, but I would look for the professional route to stick its nose into this one.

Oh, and as a semi-related note, Emoni Bates transferring to Eastern Michigan over Louisville was just as big of a shock as the Cook news. Bates is originally from Ypsilanti, MI, which is where EMU is located.

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UKFB 2022 roster and jersey numbers

The Kentucky football roster is almost set. Although the roster has not been completely updated on UKAthletics.com, there is a PDF file featuring all of the new numbers for the Cats added to this year’s roster. Aside from new numbers, there are a few noticeable takeaways from the late-June roster.

By KSR’s count, the Wildcats have 84 scholarship players on the roster. That number is 85 if P Colin Goodfellow plays on scholarship this fall.

Newcomer Jersey Numbers

DB Keidron Smith: No. 1
WR Barion Brown: No. 2
DB Alex Afari: No. 3
WR Dane Key: No. 6
WR Tayvion Robinson: No. 9
DB Zion Childress: No. 11
WR Jordan Anthony: No. 13
QB Destin Wade: No. 15
DB Kobi Albert: No. 16
Edge Keaten Wade: No. 20
DB Andre Stewart: No. 21
RB Dee Beckwith: No. 21
DB Jordan Robinson: No. 28
DL Tomiwa Durojaiye: No. 33
Edge Tyreese Fearbry: No. 42
DL Darrion Henry-Young: No. 50
DL Deone Walker: No. 51
Edge Noah Matthews: No. 55
OL Grant Bingham: No. 65
OL Nikolas Hall: No. 70
OL Kiyaunta Goodwin: No. 78
TE Josh Kattus: No. 84
DL Quentel Jones: No 97

Number Changes

The freshmen don’t get to have all of the fun. A few experienced Cats will be rocking new numbers this fall. In a shocking twist, DeAndre Square will keep No. 5 after changing his number every offseason in Lexington.

WR DeMarcus Harris: No. 4, previously No. 86
DB Jalen Geiger: No. 4, previously No. 34
TE Izayah Cummings: No. 8, previously No. 84

NBA free agency begins at 6:00 p.m. EST

Even though deals have already been reported as done over the last few days, NBA free agency doesn’t officially begin until later today at 6:00 p.m. EST, where hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent in the first few hours. Big-name players such as James Harden and Bradley Beal will be in play for massive contracts. In Beal’s case, he’s likely to garner close to $250 million over a five-year deal. Wowza.

A couple of former Wildcats, Wenyen Gabriel and Trey Lyles, have already had their team options picked up this week, meaning they won’t be dealing with the free agency frenzy. The likes of Kevin Knox, DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo, and Malik Monk will all be free agents and can sign with whichever franchise they would like. I previewed what to expect for those one-time ‘Cats about a week back, which you can check out here.

That’s all the news and notes I have for you this morning. It might actually be a decently busy news day considering everything we’ve talked about above. But before all hell potentially breaks loose, make sure to tune into KSR in an hour as Shannon The Dude and Billy Rutledge take over the radio waves as today’s hosts.