KSR Today, presented by Eckrich: Kentucky MBB Pro Day and more Missouri prep

Eckrich is proud to present the $1 Million Challenge for Teachers! This 2023 college football season Eckrich, in partnership with Extra Yard for Teachers and Kroger, will invite a local teacher (and true hero) onto the field at the Kentucky vs. Alabama game on November 11^th. 

The selected teacher, randomly selected from a list of nominations, will have a chance to throw a football through a target to win up to $1 million dollars in donations to fund local classroom projects and resources in their school and community. Nominate a teacher here for a chance to throw! Make sure to nominate your teacher by October 26^th. 

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Good morning, folks! Crossover season is upon us. Tonight, we’ll be treated to the Kentucky Men’s Basketball annual Pro Day and press conference interviews with the Kentucky football defense, which continues to prepare for a critical home matchup against the Missouri Tigers this weekend.

We’ll start with Pro Day though, which will take place from 6-8 p.m. EST later this evening at Rupp Arena. KSR will have a few boots on the ground to soak in all the action (which means you’ll want to follow along with our live updates over at KSBoard) but you can also watch the event live on the SEC Network+. This year’s Pro Day is expected to provide “more coverage than ever before”. 

Representatives from all 30 NBA teams will be in attendance. Jimmy Dykes and Jack “Goose” Givens will be on the SEC Network+ call for that one. Additionally, Kevin Negandhi and Seth Greenberg will provide live hits on SportsCenter from 6-7:30 p.m. EST.

Speaking of Seth Greenberg, he teased the Big Blue Nation with some news about Kentucky’s most recent addition, 7-foot-2 Croatian big man Zvonimir Ivisic. Greenberg, who is already in Lexington, says that Ivisic will arrive on campus this Thursday — just in time for Friday’s Big Blue Madness. Does that mean Ivisic will participate in BBM? That’s still to be seen. But the sooner he gets on campus, the better.

Will be on campus Thursday. https://t.co/W78Nn3pzvY

— Seth Greenberg (@SethOnHoops) October 10, 2023

Moving on to this week’s football practice, we heard from the Kentucky offense on Tuesday where offensive coordinator Liam Coen and QB Devin Leary were among those who spoke with reporters. Leary has undoubtedly struggled so far this season, completing just 45.9% of his passes against SEC opponents for 5.4 yards per attempt. But Coen isn’t even close to giving up on his signal caller.

“I think it’s just sticking with him and working through it,” Coen said following Tuesday’s practice practice. “It’s not perfect right now. It’s not what any of us planned or hoped for. But at the end of the day, we got to get through it and we got to be there for him to be able to get through it.

“There’s some things when the bullets were flying on Saturday, things are happening in the pocket and just at the end of day he just needs to go out and play his game. Be confident and be Devin Leary because the Devin Leary that I know is a confident dude that comes out and can sling the thing and we need to get that guy going and I think he will.”

Kentucky will need the actualized version of Leary to show up at some point this season. Ideally, it happens this weekend when Missouri comes to Lexington (check out Adam Luckett’s Bio Blast breakdown of the Tigers here). Kickoff on Saturday is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST on the SEC Network.

But let’s not look too far ahead, as we’ll talk with defensive coordinator Brad White and members of the Wildcats defense following today’s practice. After White’s defense gave up 51 points to Georgia on Saturday, there was surely plenty to talk about in the film room.

Want more coverage of the Cats? Join the KSR Club.

KSR has been delivering UK Sports news in the most ridiculous manner for almost two decades. Now, you can get even more coverage of the Cats with KSR+. Join the club for premium articles, inside intel, in-depth scouting reports, bonus recruiting coverage, and access to KSBoard, our message board featuring thousands of Kentucky fans around the globe. Just $1 gets you one month of access, and with Big Blue Madness and the Missouri game coming up, we’re taking 50% off the annual price. Hurry, this offer won’t last long!

People are still talking about Mark Stoops’ comments

Mark Stoops made a bit of an “uh-oh” during his weekly radio call-in show on Monday night when he asked the Big Blue Nation to “pony up” so his program can afford the same kind of players that Georgia is able to recruit. He also threw his current group of players under the bus a bit, but it was the NIL comments that continued to reverberate through the college football world on Tuesday — and likely through the rest of the week.

Georgia head coach Kirby Smart was asked about Stoops’ remarks during the Bulldogs’ Tuesday post-practice press conference, but — considering he and Stoops are good friends — refused to take the bait and create a headline.

“No reaction. It’s much to do about nothing. I think Mark is truing to garner interest for money from his fanbase for his collective. We’re all trying to do the same,” Smart said. “Mark and I talked about NIL pregame and in our meeting. I’m not biting on that.”

Then, for some unnecessary reason I still can’t seem to understand, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer was roped into the conversation. Although I can’t say that his response to a question about it wasn’t close to being spot on.

“I did see that comment last night from coach Stoops,” Beamer said. “I can’t speak for his program. I can’t speak for the Georgia program, but NIL is certainly a major factor, not just in college football, but all across college athletics right now in every sport.”

“…Whether you agree with NIL, don’t agree with NIL, if you want to win at the highest level and you want to win championships like we do here at Carolina, we’re going to have to be very active from an NIL standpoint, a collective standpoint, and that is the Garnet Trust for us. We’ve got some people that have done some great things for our student-athletes. Thankful for them. Frankly, we need more of them as well, so absolutely I hear Coach Stoops and what he’s saying, and I’m grateful for our fans and every amount of money that they give to this university, to this football program, paying money to come to games at Williams-Brice Stadium.”

Luckily, this storyline will likely die as long as Kentucky beats Missouri this weekend.

We’ve got POSTERS!

With Big Blue Madness right around the corner, it’s that time of the year for some fresh team posters. The Kentucky men’s and women’s basketball teams unveiled their posters for the 2023-24 season on Tuesday. They’ll be available first for those who attend Big Blue Madness, then at Kroger locations across the state starting on Saturday morning at 8:00 a.m. EST.

UK Athletics will not have posters available on campus this year. Only Big Blue Madness and Kroger will provide the giveaway.

Kentucky Women’s Basketball 2023-24: ‘Til The Battle Is Won (50-Year Anniversary)

Kentucky Men’s Basketball 2023-24

Hear from Mizzou head coach Eli Drinkwitz

On Tuesday, Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz spoke with reporters to preview the Kentucky Wildcats. The Tigers are fresh off a tough 49-39 loss to LSU over the weekend, their first of the season. Drinkwitz is expecting a physical battle from the ‘Cats and talked about having to bounce back from LSU. He also broke down some injuries for a handful of Missouri’s starters. Most notably, running back Cody Schrader, who ran for 113 yards and three touchdowns on only 13 carries against LSU, is questionable to play this Saturday with a quad injury.

You can hear everything that Drinkwitz had to say below.

Kansas will get a slap on the wrist today

At some point today, the Kansas men’s basketball team will finally get hit with a punishment for past violations, although the word punishment will likely end up being used very loosely. Sports Illustrated’s Pat Forde reported on Tuesday that a ruling from the NCAA’s Independent Accountability Resolution Process (IARP) will come down at some point on Wednesday.

Stemming from a 2017 federal investigation of corruption in college basketball, Kansas was charged with five Level I violations (the most severe violations), which Forde says includes “a lack of institutional control charge, and an allegation that Bill Self failed his head-coach responsibility requirements for compliance within his program.”

We won’t be holding our breath that the IARP does the right thing here, but if the Jayhawks end up having to vacate some wins, it would play a factor in the all-time wins race. Kansas is the current leader with 2,385 total wins throughout program history while Kentucky is not far behind at 2,377.

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