KSR Today: USA vs. Canada, Willie Cauley-Stein, and practice highlights
Good morning, folks! The Fourth of July is behind us but that doesn’t mean you can’t still rock that American flag t-shirt today. You need it to root for Team USA and its trio of former Kentucky players later tonight in a pre-Olympic showdown against Team Canada and its trio of former Wildcats.
That’s right, six total Kentucky alums will represent either USA or Canada on the hardwood in this summer’s Paris Olympics (and that doesn’t include Wenyen Gabriel playing for South Sudan). Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, and Devin Booker are with the Americans while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jamal Murray, and Trey Lyles will suit up for the Canadians. These two talented squads will go head-to-head in an exhibition game tonight at 10:30 p.m. EST in Las Vegas on FS1.
This will be the first of five pre-Olympic games for a deeply talented Team USA squad before the real deal gets going on July 28 against Serbia and three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic.
Now let’s dive into the rest of this morning’s news and notes.
Willie Cauley-Stein TBT Media Day + new player announcement?
In the leadup to next week’s The Basketball Tournament, where Rupp Arena will host the Lexington Regional starting July 19, we’re getting the chance to hear from some members of the Kentucky alumni squad. After La Familia head coach Tyler Ulis took the mic on Tuesday, we’ll get to hear from Willie Cauley-Stein later today.
Now 30 years old, Cauley-Stein hasn’t played in the NBA since 2022, but this tournament is an opportunity to work his way back in. Got a question for WCS? Fans are being encouraged to send DMs to La Familia’s social media account (@LaFamiliaTBT) with anything you’ve been curious to ask the former All-American center.
Also, we’ll learn of a new addition to the La Familia roster at some point today. Any guesses? Here is the team as it currently stands:
- Willie Cauley-Stein (2012-15)
- Eric Bledsoe (2009-10)
- Daniel Orton (2009-10)
- Doron Lamb (2010-12)
- Marquis Teague (2011-12)
- James Young (2013-14)
- Andrew Harrison (2013-15)
- Aaron Harrison (2013-15)
- Reid Travis (2018-19)
- Nate Sestina (2019-20)
- Kellan Grady (2021-22)
Come get your practice highlights!
At this point, we’re all starved for anything basketball-related. The Kentucky social media team understands our hunger and thus provided us with a buffet of things to graze over in the form of practice highlights.
We’ve got plenty of made 3s from Kerr Kriisa, big-boy moves from Otega Oweh, a dunk from Amari Williams, and much more to choose from. Delicious.
KSBoard football Q&A
Starting at noon EST, the KSR football crew of Nick Roush and Adam Luckett will be taking and answering your questions over on KSBoard. With SEC talking season right around the corner, it’s about time we shift gears into football mode.
Have a question about Brock Vandagriff? What the secondary will look like? Recruiting takes? Anything is fair game as the guys prepare to take on Dallas next week for SEC Media Days. You can join KSBoard by clicking the link below. We’ll see you there.
Josh Allen is now Joshua Hines-Allen
The University of Kentucky continues to dominate the hyphenated name community. We can add Josh Allen to the list, as the former Kentucky EDGE rusher turned NFL Pro Bowler has changed his name to Joshua Hines-Allen.
Hines-Allen is coming off a career season with the Jacksonville Jaguars where he recorded 17.5 sacks in 2023, breaking the single-season franchise record. He used that feather in his cap to sign a five-year, $180 million contract to stay in Jacksonville. Now, he’s carrying on his family legacy even further with a name change.
Justin Edwards bounced back last night
Justin Edwards‘ NBA Summer League debut on Monday couldn’t have gone worse for the undrafted rookie. Although his 76ers squad came away with the 102-92 win, Edwards was the only player who failed to score a single point out of the 20 who touched the floor throughout the night in Salt Lake City.
But the former ‘Cat bounced back last night in attempt No. 2. In an 85-83 loss to the Grizzlies, Edwards finished with 14 points, three rebounds, one assist, two steals, and two blocks in 25 minutes. He shot 5-7 from the field and a perfect 3-3 from long range.
Much better.
Tre Mitchell also saw some brief action after receiving a DNP-CD on Monday. He posted three points and four rebounds in less than four minutes of play for the Thunder.
Kenny Brooks meet-and-greet
Are you in the Lexington area and have some free time this afternoon? If so, why not make a quick stop at the Brannon Crossing Kroger to chat with new Kentucky women’s basketball head coach Kenny Brooks?
Brooks will make an appearance at my preferred grocery store from 2-3 p.m. EST where you can meet the man in charge, ask him some questions, and maybe get an autograph and picture or two. You probably need more sandwich meat anyway, so kill two birds with one stone at head on over to Kroger.
Mike Gundy is saying a lot of things
I’ll close today’s morning post with some of the most tone-deaf comments you’ll ever hear from the mouth of a college football head coach — and that’s saying something.
Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy took an interesting route at Big 12 Media Days on Tuesday when attempting to defend his star running back, Ollie Gordon, who was recently arrested for suspicion of DUI. Instead of condemning Gordon’s acts, he flipped the conversation on its head, explaining that he’d give Gordon 50 touches in the season-opener as punishment while also proudly proclaiming that he’s done a little bit of drinking and driving a thousand times.
Very much an on-brand statement from the former 40-year-old man.
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