KSR Today: Transfer portal madness, previewing Ohio State, and Moreno vs. Boozer

Good morning, folks! How is everyone on this fine Thursday? If you’re still waiting to get those last-minute Christmas gifts, now is the time to do it unless you want to brave going to a mall (or worse, a Target) the week before Santa’s big day. This is where two-day shipping can be your best friend.

But let’s talk some Kentucky sports, shall we? Just because there hasn’t been a basketball game since Saturday doesn’t mean we don’t have a TON to talk about this morning. The transfer portal is still on fire, Ohio State is on deck for this weekend, a future Wildcat plays in a huge high school game tonight, and so much more.

But we’re going to open today’s morning post by talking about Tyler Thompson’s latest feature, which focuses on fifth-year Jaxson Robinson and his journey to this point in his college career. It certainly wasn’t an easy path for Robinson to get to Kentucky, but it was a necessary one. His dog, Astro, played a huge role in that too. If you read one thing today (other than this excellent morning post), make sure it’s this one from Tyler.

How Mark Pope and a very good dog saved Jaxson Robinson’s basketball career

Mark Pope’s pre-Ohio State press conference

The Kentucky men’s basketball team will be in New York this weekend for a clash against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the CBS Sports Classic. This will be just the second-to-last non-conference game of the season before a hellacious SEC schedule takes over. Head coach Mark Pope sat down with the media yesterday to preview Saturday’s matchup and talk some hoops.

• Mark Pope says Lamont Butler is ‘kind of over’ ankle injury while Kerr Kriisa returns to weight room
• Mark Pope prepares for ‘epic clash in Madison Square Garden’ vs. Ohio State: “It’s what you live for.”
• How Chucky Hepburn’s defense allowed Lamont Butler to hit six 3s vs. Louisville
• Mark Pope had ‘very brief, casual conversation’ with Aaron Bradshaw before transfer to Ohio State

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LOTS of transfer portal movement

Kentucky football continues to work the transfer portal. Just the morning even, it was announced by On3 that Oklahoma transfer WR JJ Hester has signed with the ‘Cats. He caught 14 passes for 315 yards and a touchdown in six games played for the Sooners in 2024. Hester joins former New Mexico offensive lineman Wallace Unamba, who committed to UK on Wednesday as a depth piece, as the latest additions.

Unfortunately, the Wildcats missed out on Louisiana Monroe running back Ahmad Hardy, who chose Missouri over UK last night. Nebraska running back Dante Dowdell appears to be Kentucky’s next target at that position.

Kentucky now has six incoming transfers committed for 2025:

• OG Josh Braun
• OT Alex Wollschlaeger
• OL Wallace Unamba
• LB Landyn Watson
• EDGE Sam Greene
• WR J.J. Hester

On the flip side, UK has seen 20 former players exit the program through the portal after offensive lineman Dylan Ray did so on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, transfer tight end Jordan Dingle committed to South Carolina. Expect even more portal movement in the coming days and weeks. KSR’s Adam Luckett has been dropping portal notebooks with need-to-know information every single morning on KSBoard.

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Meet Kentucky’s new WR coach

After Daikiel Shorts left for Nebraska, Kentucky hired L’Damian Washington earlier this week to replace him as the school’s wide receivers coach. After spending the last two seasons at South Florida, Washington was introduced to the UK media yesterday afternoon. He already knows the exact type of players he’ll be targeting moving forward, as well.

“Fit. What does this receiver room need? Right now, we need to bring in hard, good working kids that have a mentality that no matter what they gonna come and put their head down and go to work,” Washington said. “We have to be blue-collar. We have to be gritty.”

The Journey dropped last night

The UK Sports Video team continues to pump out incredible content. We knew something special was in store following Kentucky’s win over Louisville last weekend, and they delivered by taking us into the pregame and halftime locker room speeches with Coach Pope. These videos are always must-watch for the BBN, but even more so after beating those dirty Cardinals.

Add another Carr to the BBN family

Scoop Ryan Lemond teased this news on Wednesday’s morning show, and by the afternoon, he was vindicated. The Kentucky volleyball program has added Lizzie Carr (yes, Andrew Carr‘s sister) for the 2025 season.

This isn’t just a case of family wanting to be closer to family though (okay, maybe just a little bit). Lizzie Carr is incredibly talented. She transferred to UK from a nationally-ranked Purdue team that beat the Wildcats during the regular season. Carr averaged 1.52 kills per set for Purdue, hitting .301 with 73 kills as the Boilermakers fell in the Sweet 16 to Louisville. Carr will be a key piece to next season’s UK squad, which will go into 2025 having lost in the Elite 8 to Pitt.

Kentucky football to be featured in Netflix doc

And it will surely be… interesting. Kentucky is one of several schools expected to be featured in Netflix’s SEC football docuseries. The show promises to provide “unfiltered access to coaches and players in college football’s most dominant conference and give an exclusive look at key matchups throughout the season.” It will be released in the summer. We know there was a big Kentucky emphasis surrounding the South Carolina and Louisville games, which didn’t end well for the ‘Cats.

Moreno vs. Boozer is TODAY

Kentucky signee Malachi Moreno and Great Crossing are in Florida this week for a massive opportunity. The Warhawks, ranked No. 2 in the state, will take on nationally-ranked Columbus and its two stars, the Boozer twins, in the City of Palms Classic.

Cameron and Cayden Boozer are both among the nation’s top high school recruits and are committed to Duke. Cameron (No. 2 in the class of 2025) is the one to keep an eye on though. The 6-foot-9 power forward will likely match up against Moreno throughout the game. It’ll be a terrific test for the future Wildcat.

Tipoff later tonight is set for 7:15 p.m. EST at Florida SouthWestern State College.

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