KSR Today: Baseball bounces back, basketball silence, and out-of-nowhere Kyle Wiltjer

Good morning, readers of KentuckySportsRadio.com. Everyone back on their feet after Derby weekend? I hope you took it easy on Sunday, especially those of you who got into the Mint Juleps, or in Nick Roush’s case, the infield, on Saturday. Derby Weekend can be a grind, one that lingers a little bit past race day. But you’ve had time to shake it off by now, and hopefully, you walked away with a little extra cash in your pocket. If not, I hope your weekend was still extraordinary.

Today, we’re back to the Monday thing, beginning here on this website with ‘KSR Today.’ I got up extra early with a crying baby this morning, so I hope you’ll read it. Maybe you’ll even learn something. If not, I hope you have an extraordinary Monday anyway. Go Cats.

Kentucky Baseball won two of three vs the Vols.

Kentucky Baseball had already clinched its series against No. 24 Tennessee before Sunday’s Game 3 in Lexington, and the Wildcats nearly completed the sweep, only to come up just short in a late comeback effort. The Vols led 7-1 entering the bottom of the seventh inning, when Kentucky would go on to score four runs, then another run in the eighth, then three in the bottom of the ninth. Still, UK needed one more run to tie it, eventually falling 10-9 in the end.

Despite the Sunday loss, Kentucky improved to 29-16 on the season, with an 11-13 record in the SEC, and outscored the Vols 30-14 over the weekend. Up next: a trip to Gainesville to play Florida, starting Friday.

[Tennessee salvages SEC series at Kentucky behind Levi Clark’s clutch 9th-inning blast]

NCAA Baseball Tournament hopes are still alive.

Before winning two of three games against Tennessee over the weekend, Kentucky had lost six straight SEC series, dropping the Wildcats into bubble territory in the NCAA Tournament projections. Last week’s bracketology had UK among the “First Four Out,” following the series loss at South Carolina.

There is still work to be done, but Kentucky got back on the right track, up to No. 32 in RPI, by beating a top-25 opponent in Tennessee. They got Quad help from other results around the conference, too. Learn more about Kentucky Baseball’s tournament resume with two weekends to go here.

Trolling the Vols in Neyland Stadium.

As Kentucky beat up Tennessee in Kentucky Proud Park, the keyboardist for country superstar Luke Combs wore a Kentucky jacket during Combs’ show in Neyland Stadium in Knoxville.

@DrewFranklinKSR your boy @KoreyHunt19 going into enemy territory and still repping the colors! pic.twitter.com/2M7IglW6kc

— Keaton Jessie (@KeatonJessie_) May 3, 2026

That’s Caneyville, Kentucky’s own Korey Hunt, getting booed during his solo in Knoxville.

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A post shared by HAZEL + HUNT (@hazelandhunt)

The SEC Softball Tournament begins tomorrow in Lexington.

After going 1-23 against the SEC in the regular season, Kentucky Softball can rewrite its story this week in the conference tournament, conveniently located in Lexington, Kentucky. The No. 15 seed Wildcats play host to the SEC Softball Tournament, beginning tomorrow at John Cropp Stadium. Kentucky plays No. 10 Mississippi State in the second game of the day. It’s tentatively scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and will air on the SEC Network.

Former Wildcats begin NBA conference semifinal series tonight.

After the Pistons and Cavaliers clinched their first-round series on Sunday, two new NBA series begin tonight, featuring several former Kentucky Wildcats.

• Tyrese Maxey’s Philadelphia 76ers came back from down 3-1 to steal Boston’s spot in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Philadelphia heads to New York to play Karl-Anthony Towns’ Knicks in Game 1 of the second round tonight. Watch (3) Knicks vs (7) Sixers Game 1 on NBC/Peacock at 8 p.m.
• Julius Randle’s Timberwolves also pulled off an upset in the first round, and now play the San Antonio Spurs, featuring De’Aaron Fox and Keldon Johnson, in the conference semis. Watch (2) Spurs vs. (6) Timberwolves on NBCSN/Peacock at 9:30 p.m.

Louisville added another basketball player, Kentucky did not.

Pat Kelsey added even more size and talent to Louisville’s growing basketball roster for next season. On Sunday, the Cards were the talk of the college basketball offseason for the addition of Obinna Ekezie Jr., who will reclassify from the 2027 high school recruiting class to join Louisville right away. Ekezie was the No. 1 center and No. 4 overall player in 2027 until his announcement. Remember, Kelsey already has standout transfer center Flory Budinga from Kansas, so he’s stockpiling big-man talent.

Meanwhile, Mark Pope is still searching for a backup to Malachi Moreno. Michael Ruzic, a seven-foot Croatian who plays professionally in Spain, is a new name being mentioned as a UK target, along with Marcio Santos, whom Pope saw play in Israel last week. No matter who Pope has lined up, impatience is growing around Big Blue Nation.

Naming rights coming to Historic Memorial Coliseum, writes the Herald-Leader.

Over at the Herald-Leader, Jon Hale has a new story up about JMI searching for a partner interested in a deal for naming rights to Historic Memorial Coliseum. “JMI Sports President Paul Archey listed naming rights to Memorial Coliseum as one of seven unsold assets UK’s multimedia marketing rights partner is prioritizing pursuing deals for,” the story reads. Uniform patches are coming soon, too. Another sign of the times.

[Get ready for a new name for Memorial Coliseum as UK, JMI search for revenue]

Kyle Wiltjer asks, “Does Kentucky basketball have a GM?”

Former Kentucky Wildcat and 2012 national champion Kyle Wiltjer still plays professionally over in Italy, but thinks about his alma mater from time to time. Like, just now, when Wiltjer went to X/Twitter to ask KSR’s own Matt Jones, “does Kentucky basketball have a GM?”

@KySportsRadio does Kentucky basketball have a GM?

— Kyle Wiltjer (@kwiltj) May 4, 2026

The question seems out of the blue at 7:08 a.m. ET. Wiltjer sent it around lunchtime in Italy, so the Cats must’ve been on his mind. Maybe he’s interested in the job? Even better, Pope could use a player like Wiljter right about now.

KSR’s morning radio show has a Derby recap and more.

Coming up at 10 a.m. ET, tune in for another live edition of Kentucky Sports Radio. Matt Jones has stories from the Kentucky Derby, and Ryan Lemond watched the race from home, probably. Don’t miss all they have to say coming up on Monday’s show. I will be back with them on Wednesday.