KSR Today: SEC Spring Meetings Day 3, NBA Finals begin

Good morning, folks! Destin, FL is the place to be this week if you’re an important figure in the Southeastern Conference. For the first time in three years, the SEC Spring Meetings are being held in person, which began on Tuesday. We heard remarks from Kentucky Men’s Basketball head coach John Calipari on Tuesday before athletic director Mitch Barnhart made some interesting comments regarding NIL on Wednesday.

Also of note from Wednesday’s conversations, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey mentioned that men’s basketball coaches have been encouraging a move of the conference tournament title game from Sunday to Saturday. A move to Saturday would allow the NCAA Selection Committee to factor in that game into the seeding process, which it currently does not do with the game being played on Sunday.

The Spring Meetings roll right along on Thursday, where the league’s presidents and chancellors will meet.

2022 NBA Finals start tonight

For the first time in four seasons, no former Kentucky Wildcats will grace the NBA Finals court, but this year’s matchup is still one you’ll want to pay attention to. The Golden State Warriors will look to bridge the franchise’s dynasty while the Boston Celtics will look to get theirs off the ground. A truly elite offense powered by Steph Curry will face a truly elite defense anchored by DPOY Marcus Smart.

Would we have liked to see Bam Adebayo or Devin Booker make it back to the Finals and take home the title? Of course. But as a die-hard NBA fan, I am very much okay with this matchup. Warriors in 7.

• Game 1: Thursday, June 2: Boston vs. Golden State, 9 ET, ABC
• Game 2: Sunday, June 5: Boston vs. Golden State, 8 ET, ABC
• Game 3: Wednesday, June 8: Golden State vs. Boston, 9 ET, ABC
• Game 4: Friday, June 10: Golden State vs. Boston, 9 ET, ABC
• Game 5: Monday, June 13: Boston vs. Golden State, 9 ET, ABC (If necessary)
• Game 6: Thursday, June 16: Golden State vs. Boston, 9 ET, ABC (If necessary)
• Game 7: Sunday, June 19: Boston vs. Golden State, 8 ET, ABC (If necessary)

Big Blue Bahamas Tour announced

Kentucky will play four games from August 8-14 at the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar resort in Nassau, Bahamas. Kentucky will match up against the Dominican Republic National Team on Aug. 10, a professional team from Mexico on Aug. 11, the Carleton University Ravens (Ottawa, Ontario) on Aug. 13, and the Bahamas National Team on Aug. 14. Tip times are still to be announced and all games will take place at the Baha Mar Convention Center.

If you plan on making the trip, hopefully you’ve been saving up some extra cash — it’ll be an expensive trip. Go to the website here to learn more.

Kentucky wants to keep 8-game SEC schedule

The University of Kentucky might be the SEC school that prevents a transition to a nine-game conference schedule.

According to The Athletic, Kentucky is leading a coalition, along with Arkansas and Mississippi State, to preserve the 8-game SEC schedule. The Wildcats’ motive? Preserving the Battle for the Governor’s Cup.

There are two proposals on the table. The SEC could move to nine conference football games with each team annually playing three rivals, then rotating the other six opponents every two years. The 3-6 formula preserves secondary rivalries and adds another lucrative game to the schedule. The other option is to keep the 8-game SEC schedule by playing one annual rival and rotating between the other seven teams (a.k.a. the 1-7 format). Each option ensures teams will play every member school in a four-year period. Adam Luckett projected who Kentucky may play in each format.

Mark Stoops has never been eager to grandstand about large-scale changes in the sport, with one exception. Stoops wants no part in playing a 9-game SEC football schedule. His boss, AD Mitch Barnhart, has his back and the two appear to be making headway in Destin.

“From our perspective eight (conference games) has worked out really well for us,” Barnhart said. “It’s something we’ve been able to schedule thoughtfully about how we have built our program. We have the Louisville game at the end of the year, which is always a part of our scheduling. So when you do eight plus that game is nine, and the ability for us to say that competitively and financially this is what works best for Kentucky is really, really important. And so for us, and I can only speak for me and our program, I think eight works well.”

CJ Fredrick nearing 100%

CJ Fredrick was in Louisville on Wednesday for his Players First Satellite Camp where he briefly spoke with the media to provide some updates on his health and the team. Following years of downright poor injury luck, Fredrick appears to be on the path toward 100 percent heading into the summer.

“The next steps for me, you know — I’ve been medically cleared to do anything in the weight room,” Fredrick told KSR. “I’m running, I’m jogging, I’m doing agility stuff, individual workouts. With me just getting back on campus, I’ve got some testing I have to do within the next week or so, and that’ll be the decider if I can get back out there and do five-on-five.

“The way I feel, I think those numbers are gonna be pretty good. I think I’ll be okay. I would say within the next couple of weeks, I’ll be good to go. We don’t start till next week anyway, so I’ll be right there with the other guys.”

New Sources Say is out

Following an eventful weekend of basketball in Louisville, I hopped on the Sources Say podcast with my good friend/coworker Jack Pilgrim. We had plenty to talk about, too.

• Robert Dillingham dominates on the big stage (with a decision coming in June)
• DJ Wagner thrives with Louisville building momentum
• Ron Holland underwhelms prior to official visit to Lexington
• JJ Taylor sits out, KJ Evans sees stock fall — Kentucky may be out on both
• What about Justin Edwards, Matas Buzelis and Milan Momcilovic?
• Who emerges from the group of wings?
• Aaron Bradshaw shines for the NJ Scholars

You can find all past and future episodes of the show by subscribing to the official Sources Say Podcast feed on iTunes right here.

Not on iTunes listener? You can also subscribe to the show on Spotify.

KHSAA Baseball State Tournament gets rolling

The Clark’s Pump-N-Shop KHSAA Baseball State Tournament starts this morning at Kentucky Proud Park on the University of Kentucky campus. The first rounds are scheduled for June 2 and June 3, with the quarterfinals scheduled for June 4.

The four semifinalists will reconvene at UK for the semifinals on June 10 and finals on June 11. First-round games begin Thursday morning at 10:00 a.m. EST. Troy Howell has a full preview of the tournament available here.

John Madden on the cover of Madden 23

John Madden hasn’t been on the cover of the Madden video game series since the 2000 edition that came out nearly 23 years ago. But that’s about to change. The late legendary football coach and commentator will once again grace the cover of the popular football game. Madden passed away in Dec. 2021 at the age of 85.

A trailer for the game actually comes out in 60 minutes You can watch it here at 10:00 a.m. EST.

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That’s all the news and notes I have for you this morning. We’ve got Matt Jones and the crew taking over the radio in an hour. We’ll see you then.