KSR Today: SEC Baseball Tournament Week, UK Basketball Updates and More

Good morning, KSR readers. We have a fun week of sports ahead, with postseason baseball in the Southeastern Conference and an NBA game every night starting tomorrow. In Kentucky, a special visitor is on campus to check out the basketball facilities and meet with Mark Pope and UK’s coaching staff. Could we see another BOOM soon?

SEC Baseball Tournament Week

Kentucky Baseball celebrated a share of the SEC Championship over the weekend, winning two of three against Vanderbilt in Lexington to split UK’s second-ever league championship with the Tennessee Vols. Moving forward, the Wildcats are the No. 3 seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament, beginning Tuesday in Hoover, Alabama. However, Kentucky will play its first game on Wednesday, thanks to a bye into the second round. The Cats lead off Wednesday’s competition in the 10:30 a.m. time slot (9:30 a.m. in Hoover), playing the winner of No. 6 Georgia and No. 11 LSU.

Kentucky’s

Mark Pope was busy in Indianapolis and Texas

Mark Pope and his Kentucky staff spent most of the weekend on the road, building for the future. They were spotted at Nike EYBL Session III in Indianapolis. KSR’s Jack Pilgrim and Zack Geoghegan were also in attendance, as were other big names like John Calipari and John Wall. Zack’s photo of Calipari and Pope is fun to caption at home.

Pope and assistant coach Jason Hart also made an appearance in Texas. They left Cody Fueger and Alvin Brooks III in Indy to see the Adidas 3SSB event in Bryan, Texas, where even more targets were playing in a summer showcase.

Read more on UK’s divide-and-conquer recruiting strategy here.

Chaz Lanier visiting Kentucky today

After a long weekend of recruiting, Kentucky’s staff returned to Lexington to continue recruiting. Today, they host Chaz Lanier, one of the top remaining targets in the transfer portal, on a visit. Lanier’s Kentucky visit is sandwiched between trips to BYU and Tennessee. The high-scoring guard will head to Knoxville on Tuesday.

Over on KSBoard, Jack Pilgrim shared some late-night insight into Lanier’s recruitment and where the Wildcats stand with Jaxson Robinson, who has until May 29 to return to school. Pope is in a good spot to land at least one of them. Will Lanier fall in love with Lexington today and be the next boom? Monday is a critical day for his future.

KAT’s Wolves eliminated Murray’s Nuggets

Karl-Anthony Towns led Minnesota with 23 points and 12 rebounds in the decisive Game 7 against the Nuggets in Denver last night. Towns’ performance was enough to help his team eliminate the defending champs on their own floor, winning 98-90 to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

Jamal Murray led his team with 35 points, but Sunday marked the end of the road for Denver. Minnesota won the final two games of the series to advance, coming back from a 15-point deficit on Sunday.

Towns and Anthony Edwards were funny in their postgame press conference when a reporter asked about the importance of losing. (Language warning.)

"How much you want us to lose, gawd DAMN"
LMAOOOOOOOOOOO pic.twitter.com/Sd9zKRus8M

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) May 20, 2024

The PGA Championship delivered on Sunday

If that was Valhalla Golf Club’s final major championship, it gave us another thrilling finish on its way out. Xander Schauffele sank the final putt, a birdie, to win the 106th PGA Championship and its Wanamaker Trophy by one stroke in Louisville. Schauffele’s first major; he went wire to wire to win, setting a new record for the lowest score in a major with a 21-under-par.

The putt that made Xander Schauffele a PGA Champion! 🏆#PGAChamp pic.twitter.com/SjBehodFWu

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) May 19, 2024

They’re fightin’ in NASCAR

I know very little about NASCAR. I didn’t even know there was an All-Star race yesterday until a garage fight broke out between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Kyle Busch. Stenhouse Jr. thought Busch wrecked him, then cut their post-race conversation short with a right hook. Is NASCAR back?

PUNCHES THROWN AT NORTH WILKESBORO 👀 pic.twitter.com/jLCrcf1noA

— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) May 20, 2024

KSR is live from KSBar and Grille today

Matt Jones, Ryan Lemond and I will be there from 10 a.m. to noon for a new edition of KSR.

Go Cats.