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KSR Today: Pope, Lowe, Hawthorne, Quaintance and the Bat Cats

Jack PIlgrimby:Jack Pilgrim•05/23/25
Mark Pope at a press conference at the NCAA Tournament - Mont Dawson, Kentucky Sports Radio
Mark Pope at a press conference at the NCAA Tournament - Mont Dawson, Kentucky Sports Radio

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, folks! Festivities start Friday and continue through the holiday itself on Monday, honoring those who have died in military service for the United States while also marking the unofficial start of summer. The weather is turning with the grills slowly firing up and the tops of cold beverages popping, a quiet time for UK Athletics but a loud time for everything else.

We’ve got you covered on the former while you take care of the latter, plenty to discuss after a hectic Thursday leading to another busy Friday. Let’s look over some of the highlights, shall we?

Mark Pope’s interview on KSR was a hit

It was quite the day at KSR HQ, overwhelmed by Mark Pope content thanks to the head coach’s hour-long interview with KSR’s Matt Jones, recorded Wednesday and aired Thursday. They talked about everything, ranging from Pope’s first year in Lexington and the history that team made, falling short of those championship goals, scheduling, Travis Perry’s departure, incoming talent, the Louisville rivalry, tornado relief efforts and, well, KSR.

Did you know John Calipari told him he wasn’t allowed to mess up the culture the Hall of Famer had established over 15 years at Kentucky?

“Cal is down there at Arkansas, he’s like, ‘Don’t you ruin my program. Man, that’s the best program in all of basketball,'” Pope said of his conversation with his predecessor.

It’s the longest interview for a head coach on KSR ever, and the juice was certainly worth the squeeze. Take a look:

Braydon Hawthorne signs with Kentucky

Almost immediately after Pope’s interview wrapped up, he was ready to announce the addition of his newest four-star wing, Braydon Hawthorne. The 6-8 prospect out of West Virginia committed to Kentucky on Tuesday, and then on Thursday, he put pen to paper with the Wildcats.

And his next head coach is excited about his future.

“Braydon Hawthorne probably has the steepest trajectory of anybody in the class of 2025,” Pope said. “He is a great learner, a 4.0 student and highly skilled. His ceiling is incredible, and he really wants to be here at Kentucky. I love the fact that he wants to come and compete and that he’s dying to get better every single day.”

Jaland Lowe withdraws from the NBA Draft

Worried about an NBA team scooping up Kentucky’s projected starting point guard following a standout performance at the G League Elite Camp? Jaland Lowe isn’t going anywhere, the Pittsburgh transfer announcing he would be pulling his name out of the draft ahead of the May 28 withdrawal deadline to suit up for the Wildcats in 2025-26.

“Can’t miss out on this opportunity,” he wrote. “See yall soon BBN.”

Pope compared Lowe’s situation to Lamont Butler’s at San Diego State before making his way to Lexington, forced to make hard plays and hurt his efficiency in a push to win games. With better talent around him, the hope is we see the best version of his game at Kentucky.

“He was in the 90th percentile in the country — the top 10 percent — of taking the highest percentage of shots that are in the bottom 20 percent of shot quality,” Pope told KSR. … “He was making the hardest plays over and over and over again.”

Up next? Otega Oweh, the final piece of the puzzle. He has until Wednesday to pull his name out of the draft.

Jayden Quaintance begins rehab in Lexington

Speaking of the 2025-26 roster in Lexington, one of the core pieces is already there getting a head start on the competition — and it’s a big one. Sources tell KSR that not only is Jayden Quaintance taking his official visit to Kentucky as we speak, he’s also combining that with the move-in process to begin his career as a Wildcat.

Coming off surgery to repair a torn ACL, the Arizona State transfer wanted to get to Lexington early to start the rehab process in hopes of being ready for the season in November. That begun Thursday, Quaintance working with the strength and conditioning staff to get rolling at the UK facilities.

His father and little brother were there for Quaintance’s first rehab session as a Wildcat.

You love to see it.

Bat Cats have to wait and see

Kentucky is in an uncomfortable spot entering the NCAA Tournament Selection Show, losing four straight — including a sweep at Vanderbilt to end the regular season, followed by a one-and-done effort at the SEC Tournament, losing 5-1 to Oklahoma in the first round. The Bat Cats were seemingly one win away from locking up a bid entering those trips to Nashville and Hoover, but now, they must wait till Monday to find out if they’re officially in. It’s likely, but not necessarily a guarantee.

Thursday didn’t help as No. 14 seed Texas A&M beat Auburn after a win over Mississippi State, leading to a quarterfinals battle with LSU on Friday. The Aggies would not only have to win that one, but likely advance to the championship on Sunday — and maybe even win it — to overtake Kentucky with an RPI difference of No. 36 (UK) vs. No. 50 (A&M). Still, though, the announcers said on the broadcast that the second-round result was ‘nightmarish’ for the Bat Cats, giving the Aggies a 13th conference win to tie the blue and white in the standings.

“It’s going to be hard to envision 14 teams out of the SEC getting into the field of 64,” the announcers said. “Two 13-win teams, I think it’s an either/or.”

Kentucky is still projected to be a No. 3 seed in the Clemson Regional, but this is what happens when you leave it to chance. The Bat Cats didn’t take care of business down the stretch, and now, they’re at the mercy of potential bid stealers and the selection committee. BBN should be rooting for No. 3 seed LSU on Friday to shut down any funny business in Hoover.

OKC, SGA go up 2-0 as KAT looks to even ECF series

Just a day after earning league MVP honors, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander went nuclear once again, going for 38 points on 12-21 shooting and 13-15 at the line to lead the Thunder to a 118-103 win to move to 2-0 in the Western Conference Finals. Julius Randle went for just six points on 2-11 shooting with five rebounds and five assists in the losing effort while Rob Dillingham was a DNP-CD.

Tonight, Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks will look to even the series in the Eastern Conference Finals after a disastrous choke job vs. Indiana on Wednesday. That game will tip off from Madison Square Garden at 8 PM ET on TNT.

Enjoy the start of your weekend, folks! Happy Memorial Day!

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2025-05-24