KSR Today: SEC Baseball Tournament begins, Kentucky Football on Commitment Watch
Good morning, friends, and welcome to what is shaping up to be another busy Tuesday in the world of UK sports. Today, the Kentucky Baseball team starts its postseason run, the football team could land another four-star recruit, a current Cat holds his NBA pro day in LA, and a former Cat starts his quest for an NBA ring.
Let’s start in Hoover, where the SEC Baseball Tournament gets underway.
SEC Baseball Tournament begins
Kentucky’s NCAA Tournament resume is looking better after Friday night’s win over Arkansas, but the Bat Cats are still on the bubble. They can do themselves some favors this week in the SEC Tournament, starting today vs. Vanderbilt.
No. 12 seed Vandy vs. No. 13 seed Kentucky is the second game of the day, taking place 30 minutes after Ole Miss vs. Missouri wraps up. That’ll be sometime around 2:00 p.m. ET. Vanderbilt won the regular-season series in Lexington 2-1 last month. The Vandy Boys finished the season 32-24, 14-16 in SEC play. They’re at risk of missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2006.
Today’s game will be in Quad 2 on Kentucky’s team sheet, meaning a loss wouldn’t hurt the Cats, but a win could certainly help them get off the bubble. The winner faces No. 5 seed Florida on Wednesday. Neither team has announced a starting pitcher, but with this much on the line, don’t be surprised if Jaxson Jelkin takes the mound. Kentucky’s ace came in during the eighth inning to help the Cats win their first — and only — game vs. Arkansas last week. He was also on the mound for Kentucky’s lone win over Vanderbilt.
Adam Luckett previewed the game last night and broke down Kentucky’s current NCAA Tournament resume. He’s on the way to Hoover to cover all the action for us. The SEC Baseball Tournament hasn’t been very kind to KSR writers over the years, so cross your fingers that his stay in the Magic City isn’t too short.
Here is today’s schedule and the bracket. All games will air on the SEC Network.
- Game 1: No. 9 Ole Miss vs. No. 16 Missouri (10:30 a.m. ET | SEC Network)
- Game 2: No. 12 Vanderbilt vs. No. 13 Kentucky (2 p.m. ET | SEC Network)
- Game 3: No. 10 Tennessee vs. No. 15 South Carolina (5:30 p.m. ET | SEC Network)
- Game 4: No. 11 Oklahoma vs. No. 14 LSU (9 p.m. ET | SEC Network)
Commitment Watch: 4-star CB Miles Brown
Will Stein and the Kentucky Football staff are on a roll on the recruiting trail, with the 2027 class up to 15 pledges and No. 16 in the Rivals team rankings. Today, the Cats could add another four-star player to the mix in cornerback Miles Brown. The 6-0 180 lbs. Martin, Tennessee (Westview) native is down to Kentucky, Ole Miss, Louisville, and Tennessee, and will announce his college decision today at Noon ET on the Rivals YouTube Channel.
Kentucky is the overwhelming favorite for Brown, with Nick Roush and Chad Simmons logging predictions for the Cats in the Rivals Recruiting Prediction Machine. Brown is a three-star prospect in the Rivals Industry Ranking, but a four-star in Rivals’ rankings, the No. 30 cornerback and No. 233 overall player in the class. UK cornerbacks coach Allen Brown has visited him a few times in the last two weeks, and he has an official visit to Kentucky planned for June 19, along with trips to Louisville and Ole Miss.
It sounds like good news is coming at lunchtime, although, as Stein reminded fans earlier this spring, recruiting never stops, not even with a verbal commitment. As Nick Roush outlined last night, more announcements are on the docket this week: three-star safety Heizkiah Kelley on Friday, May 22, and three-star running back Mason Ball on Saturday, May 23.
Malachi Moreno’s Pro Day in Los Angeles
It’s a big day for Malachi Moreno, who will showcase his skills at GSL Sports Group’s Pro Day in Los Angeles. Moreno (and Kentucky target Milan Momcilovic) continues to test the NBA Draft waters ahead of the May 27 early entrant withdrawal deadline. He went through measurements and athletic testing at the NBA Draft Combine last week, but elected not to scrimmage. Today, teams will be able to get a better look at his game.
So far, Moreno has worked out for the New York Knicks and met with four teams at the combine: Los Angeles Lakers (No. 25), Miami (Nos. 13, 41), Boston (Nos. 27, 40), and Portland. He reportedly has a workout with the Lakers scheduled for this week, too. BBN is anxious for a decision, but with just over a week until the deadline and a Pro Day and workouts scheduled, there is still plenty in this process to see through.
High school offers rolling out
It was a busy Monday on the recruiting front, with Mark Pope’s staff handing out six offers after the first live period of the recruiting season. The most intriguing of those is to Yann Kamagate, Kentucky’s first offer in the 2028 class. The seven-footer is not currently ranked by Rivals, but his stock is rising quickly, with some saying he’s the best high school player regardless of class. A few hours later, Kentucky offered another 2028 prospect, five-star guard Adan Diggs, although he could reclassify to 2027.
Here’s the complete list of new offers:
- 4-star C Caleb Ourigou (2027)
- 5-star CG King Gibson (2027)
- 4-star PG Cayden Daughtry (2027)
- 4-star C Darius Wabbington (2027)
- 7-foot C Yann Kamagate (2028)
- 5-star G Adan Diggs (2028)
Last night, Jacob Polacheck and Jack Pilgrim convened for a special crossover edition of Here Comes The Boom and Sources Say to recap their trip to Memphis, everything they saw, the new offers rolling out, and Jamal Crawford saying he is still considering joining Mark Pope’s staff.
- 1Breaking
Holiday Hoops?
UK in talks for new, high-profile MTE
- 2Breaking
UK-Gonzaga series
is over
- 3Hot
Miles Brown
4-star CB picks UK
- 4
Early Exit
at SECT for Bat Cats
- 5
Savo Drezgić
UK in contact with former UGA guard
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In case you missed it early this morning, Jacob reported that Kentucky has reached out to Savo Drezgić, a Serbian guard who played at Georgia during the 2024-25 season before going back overseas to play for Mega Superbet last season. He appeared in eight games at Georgia, averaging 2.9 points and 1.1 rebounds in 6.8 minutes per game.
Tonight, Jack Pilgrim will go live again on a new episode of Sources Say to dig deeper into the intel on the recruiting trail, Malachi Moreno and Milan Momcilovic’s draft decisions, and other roster rumblings. The show starts around 8 p.m. ET, so make sure you’re subscribed to the channel with your notifications on to get an alert the minute they go live.
Game 1 of Cavs vs. Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals
Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals was a classic, with San Antonio outlasting defending champs Oklahoma City 122-115 in double overtime. It was the best game yet by Victor Wembanyama, who finished with 41 points and 24 rebounds. Wemby was in cheat code mode, tying the game at the end of the first overtime with a ridiculously long three, and then sealing the win in double overtime with a pair of dunks in the final minute. He isn’t fair.
Tonight, the Eastern Conference Finals tip off at Madison Square Garden, with the New York Knicks hosting Zack Geoghegan’s Cleveland Cavaliers. The Knicks are coming off over a week of rest, while the Cavs have a very short turnaround after beating Detroit in Game 7 on Sunday. In turn, New York is a 7.5-point favorite.
The Knicks lost to the Pacers in last year’s Eastern Conference Finals, but have looked dominant so far in this year’s playoffs, winning seven straight games and outscoring Atlanta and Philadelphia by a combined 194 points. This may be the most expensive conference finals ticket in history, with the get-in price over $500 and the average ticket price over $1,000. Plenty of stars will be in the house to see Karl-Anthony Towns and New York chase a ring.
The game tips off at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Nashville is expected to get a Super Bowl
Dan Patrick was the first to report that Nashville will host the 2030 Super Bowl last month. Yesterday, the rumblings got louder and louder, and today, the news is expected to become official with a vote by NFL owners at the annual spring league meeting in Orlando.
It will be Nashville’s first time hosting the big game, a feat made possible by the construction of the new Nissan Stadium, set to open next year. The $2.1 billion venue is coming along nicely, and by the time 2030 rolls around, the East Bank district surrounding it should be complete, making for quite a showcase for Music City. In turn, I’ll be taking offers to rent my house out that week.
Peter Burns on KSR
Drew Franklin is on Dad Duty today, so Matt Jones is bringing in some help. ESPN’s Peter Burns will co-host today’s show alongside Matt. Tune in one hour from now to hear his thoughts on the Kentucky Football program after spending a few days with Will Stein, the Bat Cats, and more.
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