KSR Today: Vanderbilt prep, Brad White, and Zvonimir Ivisic

Good morning, folks! We’re deep into game prep for Saturday’s noon EST road showdown in Nashville against the Vanderbilt Commodores. Already this week, we heard from Kentucky head coach Mark Stoops on Monday before offensive Liam Coen, offensive line coach Zach Yenser, and various players took the podium on Tuesday.

Today, it’s the defense’s turn. Defensive coordinator Brad White and a handful of players will speak with the media following this afternoon’s practice to talk ‘Dores vs. ‘Cats. As always, we’ll have full coverage on the site and our YouTube page. Stay tuned.

But before we look too far ahead, Coen and the offense had plenty to say on Tuesday. For starters, Coen talked about calling plays in the box, which he did last week following his medical incident after the win over Eastern Kentucky. The expectation is he’ll return to the box again this weekend, “There’s no question that calling plays is easier up top,” he said.

We also heard from former Vanderbilt running back Ray Davis, who talked about what it will mean to again play in the same stadium he did for the last two seasons. The Wildcats’ star tailback is approaching it like any other game but also admitted there will be some high emotions.

“It’s not Ray Davis versus Vanderbilt. It’s Kentucky football versus Vanderbilt,” Davis told reporters on Tuesday. “That’s the kind of mindset I’ve been able to have and just attacking like a normal game. Not trying to get too high, not trying to get too low, just staying on an even front.”

You can hear everything Coen and company had to say below. While you’re here, check out Adam Luckett’s Bio Blast of Vanderbilt here. We’ll also have a new live episode of 11 Personnel coming to our YouTube feed at 8:00 p.m. EST. Week 4 is almost here…

Liam Coen, Zach Yenser

Kentucky offensive players

Vanderbilt is battling injuries

Vanderbilt is 2-2 so far on the season, and it’s been a hard-fought 2-2. Following last weekend’s heartbreaking 40-37 loss to UNLV, the Commodores will welcome Kentucky on Saturday limping and down several key pieces. Head coach Clark Lea (somewhat surprisingly) went name-by-name during his Tuesday press conference of every player he says is dealing with an injury. Among the names he rattled off are significant contributors to the Vanderbilt defense, including starters De’Rickey Wright and CJ Taylor.

S (So.) Savion Riley – missed UNLV game with upper-body injury, has not returned to practice
DB (Gr.) Jaylen Mahoney – did not finish UNLV game, has not returned to practice
S (Sr.) De’Ricky Wright – banged up with ankle injury, expects to play
CB (Sr.) BJ Anderson – returned to practice following illness
ANCHOR (Jr.) CJ Taylor – banged up, expects to play
OL (Gr.) Junior Uzebu – doubtful, has missed last three games
OL (So.) Grayson Morgan – battling back injury, likely to be available
DL (Gr.) Christian James – has yet to make season debut

Sources Say talks Zvonimir Ivisic

Switching to the hardwood, there was plenty to talk about in this week’s episode of Sources Say. KSR’s Jack Pilgrim and Go Big Blue County’s Shawn Smith fired up the microphones Tuesday to talk about the never-ending saga that is Zvonimir Ivisic‘s eligibility status. Is Kentucky slowly gaining confidence in getting the 7-foot-2 Croatian on the team? Or will the plan ultimately burn out?

The guys also did some recruiting talk. They break down Kentucky’s recruitment of five-star point guard Boogie Fland (who officially visited two weekends ago) and four-star wing Billy Richmond (who officially visited this past weekend). Also, Sources Say has introduced the KSBoard Question of the Week — a new segment available exclusively to KSR+ subscribers.

Dive into everything Jack and Shawn discussed below.

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Rhyne Howard eliminated from WNBA Playoffs

Rhyne Howard made the WNBA Playoffs in just her second season as a pro, guiding the Atlanta Dream to the franchise’s first postseason appearance since 2018. Unfortunately, the path to winning a championship was cut off quickly. Atlanta was knocked out of the playoffs Tuesday night after dropping Game 2 of a three-game, opening-round series to the Dallas Wings, 101-74.

It was a disappointing end to the season for the Dream, but there is plenty of reason for optimism moving forward. Against the Wings, Howard was special in both games. She broke several records during Game 1, finishing with 36 points on eight made three-pointers. During the Game 2 loss, she wasn’t as efficient, but still managed to contribute 21 points, three rebounds, and two assists in 37 minutes.

Remember, Howard is only 23 years old. She’s been named a WNBA All-Star in both seasons and improved her numbers across the board from her rookie to sophomore campaigns. It was a quick exit this time around for Howard and the Dream, but they’ll be back.

Kentucky men’s soccer drops another one

Johan Cedergren’s squad is struggling right now. Coming off a 2022 season that saw the Wildcats post a 15-1-5 record, win the Sun Belt Conference, and enter the NCAA Tournament as a one-seed, 2023 has been anything but according to plan.

On Tuesday night in Columbus, Kentucky men’s soccer fell to 3-4-0 on the season after being shut out by Ohio State 3-0. The match was scoreless after 45 minutes, but the Buckeyes found goals in the 50th, 60th, and 62nd minute. UK finished with 11 shots fired, but only three on goal and none in the back of the net. Ohio State totaled 14 shots with eight on goal by the end of the night.

Despite starting the year ranked No. 3 in the country, the losses have quickly piled up for the Wildcats and led to them entering the game against OSU unranked for the first time in years. This is also the first time since 2013 that Kentucky is below .500 seven games into the season. They’ll look to turn things around with another road match on Sunday against Old Dominion.

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