KSR Today: Transfer portal madness, a Yahtzee, the Final Four field, and more

Good morning, Big Blue Nation. The NCAA Tournament moved on without Kentucky over the weekend, setting the stage for the 2025 Final Four in San Antonio. This year’s Final Four participants are all No. 1 seeds for only the second time ever, with Auburn, Florida, Duke, and Houston remaining from the field of 68.

The tournament was chalk all weekend. The favorites won all 12 games in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight for the first time since 1985.

For the first time since the field expanded in 1985 all 12 Sweet 16 and Elite 8 games were won by the favorite. The previous high was 11 in 1997.

— Chris Fallica (@chrisfallica) March 31, 2025

An updated look at Tennessee’s Final Four tally

Zero. Still zero. 116 years of basketball and zero Final Fours.

Thank you, Houston.

Transfer Portal Tracker

Mark Pope didn’t have time to mourn Kentucky’s Sweet 16 loss to Tennessee before recruiting the transfer portal. Pope and his staff had a busy weekend looking for the next crop of talent to bring to Lexington. They added Kam Williams from Tulane on Friday before the NCAA Tournament run ended, with another long list of targets on the board. Here are some names to know on Monday morning and the news around Kentucky’s place in their recruitment.

• Silas Demary Jr. (Georgia) – Pope paid a spontaneous visit to the former Georgia point guard on Saturday night. Demary has a long list of suitors. He’ll visit St. John’s today and UConn tomorrow.
• Magoon Gwath (San Diego State) – Kentucky is reportedly in serious contention for the former SDSU freshman, who was the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Michigan and a return to San Diego are also in play for Gwath, along with the Wildcats.
• Vyctorious Miller (LSU) – A one-and-done guard at LSU, Miller had a Zoom call with Kentucky to discuss his next steps in college basketball. Miller is a 6-5 shooting guard who averaged 8.9 PPG as a freshman.
• Alvaro Folgueiras (Robert Morris) – Kentucky still has eyes on the 6-9, 19-year-old sophomore from Spain. However, no visit has been scheduled because Folgueiras is currently in Spain.
• Treyson Eaglestaff (North Dakota) – Eaglestaff is no longer on UK’s board. The former North Dakota Fighting Hawk committed to South Carolina.
• Abdi Bashir Jr. (Monmouth) – Kentucky is setting up a Zoom with the 3-point sniper from Monmouth, whose list also includes Kansas, Arkansas, Michigan, and others.
• Keyshawn Hall (UCF) – The Big 12’s leading scorer has a Zoom meeting scheduled with Kentucky on Monday. The 6-foot-7 small forward sees the No. 1 fan base in college basketball in Lexington and was impressed by Pope’s first year following John Calipari.

Mark Pope will pause recruiting for his call-in show

Mark Pope is a busy man these days but not too busy for his Monday evening call-in show. Tonight, Pope will go live with host Tom Leach to wrap up the season on the coach’s show. Tune in via the UK Sports Network from 6-7 p.m. to hear from Pope about the end of the road and more.

Happy Birthday, Brandon Garrison

It’s BG time on Monday. Garrison turns 21.

Yahtzee: Kentucky Football landed its first 2026 commit

Kentucky Football is busy with spring practice on campus but not too busy to land a commitment on the recruiting trail. On Sunday, Jarvis Strickland from Paducah Tilghman pledged his commitment to the Cats. The 2026 offensive tackle prospect is the first commit in UK’s 2026 class. Strickland is the No. 2 player in the Bluegrass in the 2026 On3 Industry Rankings.

Strickland told KSR, “Honestly, the trust I have with the coaching staff and still being close to home is what made me choose Kentucky.”

[Jarvis Strickland becomes Kentucky’s first commit in 2026 high school cycle]

UK Baseball won its series at Texas A&M

Kentucky Baseball (17-9, 4-5) won its rubber match in College Station on Sunday to take the series over Texas A&M, the Wildcats’ first SEC series victory this season. Kentucky’s 10-5 win was called after eight innings due to the SEC’s curfew rule that wouldn’t allow another inning to begin after 5:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. central), which led to some fireworks between the two dugouts over the pace of play.

We’ve got drama in College Station! pic.twitter.com/M8GkVs7yxZ

— Daniel Hager (@DanielHagerKSR) March 30, 2025

Still, shouting aside, Kentucky got the job done against the Aggies, led by the left-hander Ben Cleaver on the mound. Cleaver gave up only three hits in 5.2 innings as the Cats’ starting pitcher, with plenty of run support from his teammates. Tyler Bell, Hudson Brown, and Luke Lawrence each scored two runs, including Brown’s first home run of his career.

Up next: Kentucky hosts Ole Miss for a three-game series at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington, beginning Thursday at 7 p.m.

[Cleaver leads Kentucky to 10-5 rubber match win over Texas A&M]

UK Softball swept at No. 14 Arkansas

The weekend wasn’t as kind to Kentucky Softball (21-15, 5-7), losers of three straight games at 14th-ranked Arkansas. The Wildcats lost Sunday’s game 2-1 in Fayetteville, marking a fourth-straight loss for Rachel Lawson’s club. Freshman pitcher Carson Fall gave up only two runs in five innings, her best SEC start to date, but Kentucky needed more than Ally Hutchins‘ solo home run to help her out.

Kentucky heads to Louisville on Wednesday to face the Cards, playing to snap out of its losing streak before hosting Auburn in Lexington over the weekend.

[Kentucky Softball Winless in SEC Series Against No. 14 Arkansas]

Where to find KSR this week

KSR’s radio crew is back home in Lexington after March Madness travels. Today, you can find the show at KSBar and Grille from 10 a.m. to noon. The show will broadcast from the iHeart studio tomorrow and Wednesday, then back to KSBar and Grille on Thursday and Friday. Tune in, and Go Cats.