Good morning, folks! We’ve got plenty in store for you all today here at Kentucky Sports Radio dot com. And we’ll start our Thursday talking about an important series to close out the regular season for Kentucky baseball.
The Bat Cats will be in Nashville over the next three days to take on Vanderbilt for the final SEC series before the postseason. Kentucky is coming off a 6-1 win over NKU on Tuesday, which was preceded by an impressive three-game sweep of a top-15 Oklahoma squad. Once thought to be on the outside looking in of the NCAA Tournament just seven days ago, UK is now projected as a two-seed by D1 Baseball.
The Commodores were recently projected as the No. 5 overall national seed in the upcoming NCAA Tournament. If the Bat Cats can steal this series, their postseason resume will receive another timely shot in the arm. Below is this week’s schedule for Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt. KSR’s Daniel Hager will have a full preview of this matchup coming to the site later this morning.
- Thursday, May 15, 2025 (Hawkins Field – 7:00 p.m. EST) SEC Network+
UK: RHP Nate Harris (4-2, 3.65 ERA, 49.1 IP) vs VAN: LHP JD Thompson (4-5, 3.88 ERA, 72.0 IP) - Friday, May 16, 2025 (Hawkins Field – 7:00 p.m. EST) SEC Network+
UK: RHP Nic McCay (5-0, 4.06 ERA, 64.1 IP) vs VAN: RHP Cody Bowker (2-4, 4.76 ERA, 58.2 IP) - Saturday, May 17, 2025 (Hawkins Field – 3:00 p.m. EST) SEC Network+
UK: LHP Ben Cleaver (6-3, 3.30 ERA, 71.0 IP) vs VAN: RHP Connor Fennell (5-0, 3.19 ERA, 42.1 IP)
NBA Draft Combine scrimmages: Day 2
It was an up-and-down first day of scrimmages at the 2025 NBA Draft Combine in Chicago for a pair of Kentucky Wildcats. Both Otega Oweh and Koby Brea got off to great first-quarter starts in their respective 5-on-5 games, but neither could keep it up the rest of the way despite their teams coming out with wins.
Oweh posted 10 points on 4-8 shooting (2-2 FT), three assists, three rebounds, two steals, one block, and one turnover in just 21 minutes of action. In the game after, Brea went for five points (2-8 FG; 1-7 3PT), two rebounds, one assist, and three turnovers in 25 minutes. Not the best overall outings from either, but they were able to make some standout plays along the way.
But the most notable talking point for the Big Blue Nation out of yesterday’s scrimmages was this quote to ESPN from Oweh, who is still debating now whether or not to return to Kentucky or turn pro.
“The main thing for me is just finding the best situation,” Oweh told ESPN. “Obviously my goal is to play in the NBA. If I go through this whole process and I’m getting great feedback and I can go all the way, then I’ll do that, 100 percent. But either situation I’m in, it’s a great situation. I just got to thank God for it. I’ve got a good situation back at Kentucky if I do choose to go back. Either way, I’m just thankful to be here.”
Oweh and Brea will be back on the floor again this afternoon for the second and final round of scrimmages. Game 1 begins at 2:15 p.m. ET and Game 2 at 4:15 p.m. ET. Live coverage will be available on ESPN+ — with a recap coming soon after to KSR.
Tyran Stokes postpones Kentucky OV
Tyran Stokes, the number one recruit in the 2026 high school class, was originally scheduled to visit Kentucky this weekend. But Jacob Polacheck of KSR+ reported yesterday that trip is no longer happening — at least not right now. A new date has yet to be rescheduled, but the expectation is he’ll make his way to Lexington later this summer.
Considering the recruiting live period begins on Friday, it makes more sense from Kentucky’s side to bring in Stokes for a visit when the entire staff can dedicate all of their time to him. Head coach Mark Pope and assistant coach Jason Hart have spent several months cultivating a relationship with Stokes. If Stokes is truly serious about considering Kentucky, he’ll find his way to campus for a visit in the coming months.
New Sources Say (with Reece Potter!) and 11 Personnel
Need some entertainment in your ears as we begin to close out the work week? We’ve got a couple of fresh KSR podcast episodes in your feed to help you out.
You’ll want to start with Sources Say, as Jack Pilgrim and Shawn Smith were joined by newest Kentucky MBB commit (and Lexington native) Reece Potter. Jack and Shawn also broke down Mark Pope’s 30-minute offseason press conference from earlier this week. After that, make sure to dive into 11 Personnel with Nick Roush and Adam Luckett. The guys answered plenty of burning listener questions about this year’s football team.
Julius Randle is going to the Western Conference Finals
The Minnesota Timberwolves closed out their series against the Golden State Warriors last night, winning 121-110 to secure a 4-1 series victory. Julius Randle, who has been excellent so far in these playoffs, was once again at the top of his game in a close-out opportunity for the Wolves. He went for 29 points, eight rebounds, and five assists on 13-18 shooting. This will be his first-ever appearance in a Conference Finals. Minnesota (which is 30-6 in the last 36 games Randle has played in) will now wait to learn its next opponent as the Thunder and Nuggets continue to duel it out.
On the other side of the bracket, Karl-Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks could have finished off the now Jayson Tatum-less Boston Celtics. But Derrick White’s 34 points had other plans as Boston took Game 5, but still trails the series 3-2. Towns finished with 19 points and eight rebounds on 5-11 shooting last night.
UK hosting SEC Outdoor Championships
For the first time in 11 years, the University of Kentucky will host the SEC Outdoor Championships. The Wildcats track and field team will welcome all 15 participating SEC programs to Lexington for three days of competition. Events begin today at noon ET and continue through Saturday night. A full schedule can be found here.
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