I went into this week expecting Monday to be a slow one as we settled even more into the offseason now that the Kentucky Derby had come and gone. Wrong! It was a super newsy day, with a football commitment, a basketball commitment, TBT roster additions, and even some quotes from Mark Pope. I don’t think Tuesday can top it, but we’re about to find out.
Let’s start with the biggest news from Monday, the addition of Lexington native Reece Potter to the 2025-26 Kentucky Basketball roster.
Reece Potter is a Cat
Last week, Mark Pope said he was “scouring the planet” in search of one or two more pieces for next season’s roster; turns out one was in his backyard. Seven-foot-one center Reece Potter committed to Kentucky on Monday, becoming the sixth addition from the transfer portal and 13th member of the squad.
The Lexington native and former Lexington Catholic star spent the first two seasons of his college career at Miami (Ohio), originally committing to Xavier to play for Travis Steele, and decommitting to follow Steele to Miami. Last season, he averaged 6.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 0.7 blocks per game, playing 17.1 minutes per contest. He shot 46.6% from the field and 36.7% from three-point range, totaling 22 threes.
Potter is a depth piece as far as next season’s roster is concerned, but he was in demand, fielding interest from UNC, Washington, Louisville, and UConn, among others. He’ll especially be useful as Jayden Quaintance continues to work his way back from ACL surgery. Depth haunted Kentucky this season as the injuries piled up; Pope’s work this offseason shows he’s determined not to let that happen again.
Jacob Polacheck caught up with Potter last night to talk about his commitment. As you might expect, it’s pretty cool for a kid from Kentucky to be going to Kentucky.
“The commitment was a crazy ride. A couple of months of recruiting. Coach Fueger reached out a month ago, and it was a surreal moment,” Potter said. “I honestly didn’t believe it when I saw Coach Fueger and Kentucky Basketball reach out. It was mind-boggling for sure.”
Jacob will share more from their conversation today; if you want more Potter talk, hit play below to hear me, Nick Roush, and Zack Geoghegan discuss the addition to start the KSR Happy Hour, the newest addition to the KSR YouTube Channel. In addition to all the basketball news, we talked about Monday’s Kentucky Football commitment, UCF tight end transfer Elijah Brown, the Derby, and the NBA Playoffs.
Three Kentucky Basketball quick-hitters
As I said, Monday was newsy. Here are three more Kentucky Basketball things you need to know:
- Lamont Butler receives invitation to G League Elite Camp: Lamont Butler was a late add to the G League Elite Camp, which will take place May 9-11 in Chicago. He’ll join fellow former Cat Amari Williams and current Cat Jaland Lowe at the event, all with hopes of earning a spot in the NBA Draft Combine, which starts on Sunday. Otega Oweh and Koby Brea are already slated to participate in the Combine, which lasts through May 18.
- Kentucky announced the addition of Andrija Jelavic: Andrija Jelavic is officially a Cat. Kentucky announced that the Croatian big man signed with the program in a press release, complete with quotes from Mark Pope. The release also included the correct pronunciation of his name: An-dree-ah Yell-uh-vich. We’ve got plenty of time to practice that one.
- Harrison Twins join La Familia for TBT 2025: The Harrison Twins are running it back for another year of TBT, joining Willie Cauley-Stein, DeAndre Liggins, and Doron Lamb on La Familia’s roster. Tickets for the Lexington Regional go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. today, or you can get in on the presale right now by using the promo code 2025TBTLEX at tbthoops.com/lexington. The first host team to sell 4,000 tickets gets home court advantage for every single game, including the quarterfinals, semifinals, and the $1 million championship games.
Kentucky Softball’s run in the SEC Tournament begins
The postseason starts today for the Kentucky Softball team at the SEC Softball Tournament in Athens, Georgia. The No. 13 seed Cats will face the No. 12 Georgia Bulldogs at Georgia’s Jack Turner Stadium (1 p.m. ET, SEC Network). This is the first meeting between the two teams this season, with the winner advancing to play No. 5 seed Arkansas on Wednesday around 1:30 p.m. ET.
Rachel Lawson’s squad has had a tough few weeks, losing ten of the last twelve games, most recently being swept by No. 5 Texas in Austin. Hopefully, they embrace the road dog mentality on the Bulldogs’ turf to extend the season.
No Kentucky Basketball midweek game
Tuesdays usually also include Kentucky Baseball games, but it’s finals week at UK, so the Bat Cats are off today. They could use the opportunity to regroup. After climbing as high as a No. 2 seed in most Field of 64 projections, the Cats (25-20, 10-14 SEC) are now back near the NCAA Tournament bubble. Four straight losses (a midweek game at Western Kentucky and series sweep at Mississippi State) resulted in a 12-spot drop in the RPI rankings since April 27 (No. 29 to No. 41).
There’s still time to improve the resume, but it won’t be easy. This weekend, Kentucky hosts No. 17 Oklahoma, and next weekend, it closes the regular season at No. 11 Vanderbilt. As Daniel Hager noted on Monday, the Cats will need to go at least 3-3 in those six games to reach 13 conference wins, an important benchmark. Since 2000, only three SEC teams have made the NCAA Tournament with fewer than 13 conference wins. No pressure!
NBA Playoffs
It was an exciting night in the NBA playoffs, with both Game 1s in the East and West Semifinals featuring double-digit comebacks and upsets. In the East, the New York Knicks rallied from 20 down to beat the Boston Celtics 108-105 in overtime, and in the West, Aaron Gordon hit a game-winner to push the Denver Nuggets past the OKC Thunder 121-119.
Let’s start in Boston, where Karl-Anthony Towns had 14 points and 13 rebounds while battling foul trouble. The Knicks, 8.5-point underdogs, trailed by as many as 20 in the second half before coming back to force overtime and take Game 1. In Oklahoma City, the No. 4 seed Nuggets came back from 14 down to take Game 1 from the No. 1 seed Thunder, who were 10.5-point favorites. Nikola Jokic had a ridiculous 42 points and 22 rebounds, and Jamal Murray had 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists, but Aaron Gordon was the hero, hitting the game-winning three with 2.8 seconds left.
Here’s tonight’s schedule:
| Time (ET) | Matchup | Game # | TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7:00 PM | Indiana Pacers (Isaiah Jackson – injured) at Cleveland Cavaliers | Game 2 (IND leads 1-0) | TNT / TruTV / Max |
| 9:30 PM | Golden State Warriors (Kevin Knox) at Minnesota Timberwolves (Julius Randle, Rob Dillingham) | Game 1 | TNT / TruTV / Max |
KSR at the Bet Gala in Scottsdale, Arizona
Today’s radio show should be a fun one. Matt Jones, Drew Franklin, and Mario Maitland attended the Barstool Sports Bet Gala in Scottsdale, Arizona last night. I’m still not entirely sure what that was, but it looked like fun on social media. I’m sure we’ll hear plenty about it on today’s show, but here are some pictures and videos from social media to keep you entertained until then.
BetGala here we are!
pic.twitter.com/EUXysrqST2
— Mario A Maitland (@MarioMaitland_3) May 6, 2025
@danabeers pic.twitter.com/Of5gYzNWVU
— Drew Franklin (@DrewFranklinKSR) May 6, 2025
The post KSR Today: Reece Potter is a Cat, SEC Softball Tournament begins, Bet Gala Recap appeared first on On3.