Good morning, friends. After a week off to celebrate a very big birthday, I returned to the keyboard on Monday to catch up on everything I missed. It was a lot. From two football commitments to a Mark Pope press conference, the NBA Draft, and Rick Freaking Pitino calling into KSR, you guys sure kept busy. Let’s hope the news continues to flow today.
A very big week for Kentucky Football recruiting kicks off in earnest in a few hours with the first of four planned announcements. At 11:30 a.m., four-star defensive lineman Javeon Campbell will reveal his college decision. The Western Hills (Frankfort) star is the highest-ranked player in the state of Kentucky and a rising star in the 2025 class (No. 167 overall, No. 14 DL), recently taking official visits to Alabama, Auburn, and Miami. Can Vince Marrow and the Cats keep Campbell home? We’ll find out soon enough.
As mentioned, Campbell’s announcement is one of many this week. Tomorrow, three-star wide receiver Samari Reed announces his decision. Three-star offensive tackle Jermiel Atkins is celebrating July 4 by sharing his college destination on Thursday. On Friday, four-star cornerback Dawayne Galloway will keep the party going. There could be others who decide to do the same.
Kentucky’s 2025 class is currently No. 25 in the On3 Industry Rankings with 14 pledges; it’ll be interesting to see where it sits after the dust settles on a very big week. For a complete rundown, I’ll direct you to Nick Roush’s primer and Adam Luckett’s updated 2025 big board over at KSR+, the latter of which includes some intel that is well worth the price of admission.
Want more Kentucky football recruiting intel? Join KSR Plus for the most comprehensive coverage of the Cats on the internet. With a KSR membership, you get access to bonus content and KSBoard, KSR’s message board, to chat with fellow Cats fans and get exclusive scoop.
A new name is in play for Kentucky Basketball’s 13th scholarship
On the basketball recruiting front, a new candidate emerged last night for Kentucky’s final 2024-25 scholarship. 2025 four-star guard Jeremiah Fears backed out of his pledge to Illinois on Monday and reopened his recruitment with the intent of reclassifying to 2024. The first team to reach out? Kentucky.
Fears is the No. 26 overall player in the 2025 class in the On3 Industry Ranking. After reclassifying, he’ll be the top available high school prospect in the nation. Something to keep an eye on as Mark Pope and his staff try to find the perfect final piece to the 2024-25 puzzle.
It’s Kentucky Takeover Day on the SEC Network
Now that Texas and Oklahoma are officially part of the SEC, the SEC Network is getting back to its regularly scheduled programming. Today, that means 24 hours of UK sports replays from the 2023-24 sports seasons. Already today, we’ve seen Reed Sheppard drop 32, including a game-winner, vs. Mississippi State. During your lunch break, you can see the football team’s thrilling Governor’s Cup upset and the football team’s victory over Florida, which also gets the “SEC Inside” treatment.
Here’s the complete schedule (all times ET):
- 12:00 a.m. – Women’s Basketball vs. Florida
- 2:00 a.m. – Baseball at South Carolina
- 4:00 a.m. – Women’s Soccer vs. Alabama
- 6:00 a.m. – Men’s Basketball at Mississippi State
- 8:00 a.m. – Gymnastics at Alabama
- 9:30 a.m. – Softball vs. Alabama
- 11:30 a.m. – Football at Louisville
- 2:30 p.m. – Volleyball vs. Florida
- 4:00 p.m. – “SEC Inside” – Football vs. Florida
- 4:30 p.m. – Baseball vs. Vanderbilt
- 7:30 p.m. – Gymnastics vs. Georgia
- 9:00 p.m. – Football vs. Florida
Kerr Kriisa is savage
Videos continue to trickle out of the Joe Craft Center from Kentucky’s summer workouts. In the latest, the players share who would win in a game to 21, them or Mark Pope. All of the Cats are confident about their chances against the 1996 team captain, but the best answer belongs to Kerr Kriisa, who deadpans, “I thought he played soccer” into the camera.
Reed Sheppard arrives in Houston
A week ago, Reed Sheppard’s dream came true when he was selected No. 3 overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2024 NBA Draft. Today, the dream starts to become reality when Reed and his family arrive in Houston. We’ll share whatever pics and videos come out of Reed arriving in H-town once they’re available; until then, enjoy this video of Reed mic’d up on draft night, which includes an embrace with John Calipari and his table singing “Happy Birthday” to his mom Stacey. It’s pretty adorable.
Jack and Maggie join Drew on KSR
Drew Franklin is home alone on radio this week as both Ryan Lemond and Shannon the Dude took off on vacation. Yesterday, Myron Medcalf helped carry the load. Today, Jack Pilgrim and Maggie Davis will join Drew at KSBar to break down the news of the day, including Javeon Campbell’s decision. Hopefully, we’ll get to hear LeAnn Rimes’ “Commitment” around 11:36 a.m.
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