Our women's basketball program has never been to a Final Four. And has lost to Louisville 7 games in a row, absolutely inexcusable.

Our baseball program is the only team in the SEC that has never been to the college World Series. The other 13 soon to be 15 teams in the conference has all been there at least 5 times each

Our baseball & women's basketball coaches are like the Pope or a supreme court justice, once they get the job, they've got it for life regardless of the results.

WR Raymond Cottrell

** Grew up a fan of Florida because his father was a big Gator fan.
** Surfaced as a recruit in 2020 early in his HS career and couldn't travel much because of COVID restrictions
** First offers were from Tennessee & Florida State before he even started high school
** Was teammates with then-Auburn commit Marquis Robinson and took some visits with him
** Big guy who could conceivably play outside or inside WR
** Played very high level of competition in HS (Florida 6A) and posted big receiving numbers but also was effective passing/running
** Cottrell played some QB for his HS team and that cut into his receiving numbers some years
** Was known as HS prospect for having good hands and ability to fight for contested catches
** Better speed than you assume from someone that size and did run track in HS
** Then-Rivals analyst Ryan Wright wrote, "Because of his size, Cottrell can go across the middle, go over corners and safeties, and can create mismatches with linebackers if lined up on the inside.
** Was very drawn to FSU HC Mike Norvell because he's a religious guy, Noles were definitely a factor in HS
** Visited UGA for their G-Day spring game and that's when they emerged as the favorite. Was first time a school started to stand out
** When Florida offered Cottrell shed tears because it was his dream school
** Happening simultaneously midway through Cottrell's HS career: Dream school offers (UF), UGA blows him away (spring game visit), and got very close to Norvell
** UK fans may remember UF WR Jacob Copeland. Seemed like he may transfer to UK couple of years ago. Cottrell knows him, from same area
** The emotional/historical connection to UF won out early as he committed to the Gators after attending Friday Night Lights in Gainesville
** Talked about being excited watching Florida run some tempo offense with Emory Jones, probably happy UK will want to go more tempo moving forward
** He flipped to UGA during the Bulldogs' first national title run under Kirby Smart after a "deep conversation" with his father
** Have to remember UF and UGA were (and are) in two totally different places as programs as Cottrell was thinking about those schools
** When Cottrell flipped from UF to UGA, asst coach Hankton was a big reason for that. Hankton was hired by LSU and the Tigers started pursuing him
** Around this time in '22 Cottrell took an official visit to Texas A&M so this is when the Aggies were heavily involved
** While committed to UGA took an OV to Miami with '23 teammate and QB Emory Williams, who signed with the Canes. That was the week after his A&M visit
** Cottrell did not sign with UGA in the early signing period. In that period between the early and late signing periods he was the only player UM was targeting
** At the time, Cottrell seemed to want to sign early, not sure why he did not. Previously he had talked about signing early. So either he wanted to and was asked not to or the offer to UGA depended on his ability to enroll early, or he was completely torn. There is some unknown there. We do know UGA brought in several other '23 receivers
** As a senior teaming up with Miami QB commit Emory Williams had 46 catches for 651 yards and 9 TD. Rushed 38 times for 279 yards and five scores. Was 7/15 for 74 yards and 2 TDs as a passer
** Had 63 catches for 985 yards and 8 TD as a junior
** A&M writer Passwaters confirmed after flip to Aggies that Cottrell had quietly taken several visits to the school preceding the flip even while he seemed strong with UGA
** WR was definitely a bigger need at that point in the recruiting cycle for A&M than it was for UGA
** Passwaters scouted Cottrell: "The four-star receiver is a chain mover who can beat up on smaller defensive backs with his size and strength. He has good speed on the outside and will be able to beat SEC jams off the line. Cottrell is a matchup nightmare for most corners and safeties."
** Cottrell had 2 catches for 22 yards in the A&M spring game.
** After the spring game Jimbo singled Cottrell out for praise, saying he had a dinged hip and would have done even more if he were 100%
** Was the first Texas A&M player to enter the transfer portal on Nov. 13, during the season but after Jimbo Fisher's firing

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?

GBB!

I need an update

Any clue where the team is staying in Atlanta. My girls would love to go cheer for them as they are arrive.

Because I’m too lazy and too broke to pay for the premium board, can someone give us a rundown of who we are still after in the portal and also if we can expect any more players currently here to enter the portal? Like to see Baron and that LB from Georgia added to our roster..

Poor Vietnamese kids don’t even want them now. What a joke of a program and fanbase.

BRUISER FLINT Q&A:

* You always get excited when you play not only UNC but in these type of events and the kind of energy and excitement that will be in the arena. "If the coach has to motivate you for these type of games, you're in trouble."

* On Ugo... Not sure what to expect, but he's been pretty good in practice. Having played last year, he's got a good idea of what they'll ask him to do. Brings a little bit more physicality and defense to the table.

* It's going to take some time to adjust having the big guys back available, but they're excited about having them. Bradshaw got his feet wet in the first game, played well in the second game, got a little tired but did well, so they kept him out there on the floor. Extra week of practice helps him understand what they're trying to do as well.

* Bacot is a big guy, very powerful. Gonna do his thing around the basket, "mush you" a little bit. Not a big guy like Dickinson who will step out and shoot 3s on you, but he runs the court better. Will get out on you in transition if you're not careful.

* Biggest thing on Saturday is looking to see how they play with a different roster. Gotta adjust some things. I think we're going to play a little bit different in terms of our speed. Got more of a post presence. You guys love it because we've been shooting all these 3s, but you've got to have balance to score inside and outside. Gotta be better defensively, too, which the big guys should help on rim protection.

* On 3s going down the last couple of days... Sometimes you have to give the other team credit. Teams have been trying to keep them out of transition and run them off the 3-point line. But this is a good shooting team, and if the shots are there, we're going to shoot 'em. We can score the ball at any position on the floor.

* On the guards handling less minutes as new big guys enter the mix... If you want to win, you sacrifice. Cal talks about that all the time because he's always got talent on his teams.

* On Justin Edwards... Media looks at Justin different than coaches do. Bruiser sees him as a "Swiss Army Knife." His strength should be his versatility. Can't just focus on being a scorer. Look at his total box score. Want to see him with rebounds, assists, and defending the other team's forward he matches up with.

* On Tre Mitchell's role moving forward... Tre's gonna be Tre. You can move him around. Not a big adjustment for him. He's comfortable playing where you need him, whether its 4 or 5. We'll still run offense through him because he's so smart.

* On playing games like this and what kind of appreciation it gives him for being in this program... He used to laugh when Cal would say "Everybody's Super Bowl." Then he came here to work for him, and he realized that was true. Added that players love playing in those environments, though. He's played in some places where there's only 500 people there. That's no fun for a player.

UK is off to a very nice start in the portal rankings. Just looking at 247 and On3 on where they have current portal commits and recruits rank I like where UK is at and likely heading through the first portal wave. I dont know how serious UK is with all of these but there has at least been some contact according to the recruiting services or on Twitter

247 Rankings (recently updated their rankings)
#22- WR M. Golden - although likely heading to Texas
#23- RB R. Brown
#25- QB B. Vandagriff (commit)
#20- WR J. Fleming - although likely heading to Penn St or Nebraska
#39- WR R. Cottrell (commit)
#40- WR D. McCulley - likely Michigan or UK
#63- RB C. Trayanum (commit)
#110- OT C. Smith - likely Ole Miss or UK
#111- WR J. Maclin- seems like hes about to commit to UK
#209- QB B Allen (commit)

UK is 3rd in the transfer rankings on 247 only behind Colorado (7 commit) & ASU (8 commits). Vandagriff, Cottrell, Trayanum are all 4* transfer & Allen is a 3*

Tyler Baron not currently ranked as a transfer on 247 but would think at top 40 player easily.

On3 Rankings:

#19- Edge T. Baron
#30- WR J. Maclin
#33- WR M. Golden
#50- QB B. Vandagriff (commit)
#70- WR D. McCulley
#105- WR J. Fleming
#120- RB C. Trayanum (commit)
#124- OT C. Smith
#171- WR R. Cottrell (commit)
#252- RB R. Brown

On3 has UK at 6th overall in the portal rankings with 3 commits (they havent added B. Allen yet & not currently ranked)

DeCarlos Nicholson is currently unranked as a transfer in both.

On the theory that Stoops teams' worst two games are (1) game after the first loss, and (2) game after an off week, this is a great schedule!

The most likely first loss is Georgia. We play Ohio at home the following week.

We have two off weeks. The games following those are Vandy at home and Murray State at home.

In all, Kentucky can go through the Stoops slump for all of those and still win them—though with some fan base grumbling. (Alternatively, if the first loss is to USC, the next week is Georgia, so a slump won't be too costly. And if the first loss comes later than Georgia, well ...)

Which way you guys thinks Stoops goes with this hire any educated guesses? GO BBN!

Certainly sounds like UK is making him think hard

Any names to watch for this weekend?

From Harvard 😂

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1. DeaMonte Trayanum is the next Ray Davis at Kentucky.​

Farrell’s take: FACT​

I love Trayanum’s upside as a big and physical runner, and while he’s not as explosive or shifty as Davis, he can be an elite one-cut runner for Kentucky and amass over 1,000 yards next season. Davis was a huge transfer get for Kentucky as a feature back from Vanderbilt while Trayanum was overshadowed a bit at Ohio State, so they are different situations, but I think this is a perfect fit based on what Davis did at Kentucky.


Mike Farrell was the Rivals national recruiting director for like 20 years and clearly knows talent. He likes some Chip Trayanum

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4 star LB from last year leaving WVU

Per Pilgrim

Login to view embedded media Or maybe cal how about you just don’t play two bigs at once, that’s the answer to your question right there

Links to the full interview at bottom of the tweet. I'm glad Chuck is with UK now. He seems very likable.
Login to view embedded media Full episode;Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chuck-martin-on-the-giving-nature-of-this-kentucky-team/id1168024844?i=1000638462011…Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/29wGrF1T0YvRlb5FeBHx7m?si=j0pZVd9-SkqqL5yHyKkxig…Online: https://ukathletics.com/audio/#/episode/302137…Watch: https://facebook.com/UKRadioNetwork/posts/pfbid02nY5YfxLzVVCAM3KicJWGH9Uhq7UzXs8kns7MtvjyJatBYMJwhygqLQZhzZyfZKakl

Not a lot of details to sink your teeth into from the weekend but here are some snippets that I've heard. Always possible there's more to be said and things are changing very quickly.

** Heard UK made a strong impression on Ja'Mori Maclin when it comes to his role in the offense and how Kentucky could maximize his skill and prepare him for the next level. He is supposed to officially visit LSU next weekend. Sense from some was UK needed this to be a very good visit. Heard it was good, but good enough? We shall see.

** Some folks don't believe that OSU WR Julian Fleming is likely to happen. Will be interesting to see if he does visit early this week. Lot of good options either way though. There's now a report out from the Nebraska Rivals site that Fleming is supposed to visit Nebraska this week along with OSU QB Kyle McCord. That would not be a huge surprise as Nebraska is a school I heard mentioned not long ago.

** Very good news with DB Quaysheed Scott canceling his planned official to South Carolina on the heels of this UK trip. He told me today - "It went amazing. Ready to suit up." Kind of like Addison from last year, though a very different kind of player - not the highest ranking in the class, but someone who the staff is very bullish on. Pretty big deal to beat out USC for an SC kid they really want.

** Have heard good things about UK's standing with DB De'Carlos Nicholson from the very start. You know he was mentioned here very quickly. No details on the visit this weekend but I would be very surprised if he ends up somewhere else. The question after that is does Kentucky add another defensive back, IMO.

** Also still expecting OSU's Chip Trayanum to end up at Kentucky.

** Also still expecting Beau Allen to be back at Kentucky.

** Has been mentioned here multiple times by folks asking but yes, the Houston WR coach Daikiel Shorts, is the one that we have in our sights. Not the only guy we have heard about but one to know for sure.

** Going into the weekend there was growing confidence on the Georgia Tech side re: former Mizzou safety Cam Dooley. Remember that location was becoming a big factor there and GT is a lot closer to Valley, Ala., than Lexington, Ky. So if that one ends up going the other way (TBD), keeping Scott turns out to be pretty big. Apparently Georgia Tech is going to have an in-home with Dooley this week and I would assume Kentucky will also. He is tentatively supposed to visit GT this coming weekend, so that's the thing to watch. If he goes, maybe not a great sign. If he doesn't, good sign.

So to recap, it looks very good with RB Trayanum and DB Nicholson. Huge deal to lock in Quaysheed Scott before Signing Day. Important piece for the future of the secondary.

** There has been some talk that OL Carter Smith could officially visit UK this next weekend. I have heard about efforts at making this happen but it was relayed to me in the sense that they'll have to battle to make sure he follows through because there's some demand.

** 2024 HS OL Reese Baker told me that he visited UK for the Alabama game but hadn't heard much from Kentucky after that, had mentioned him and just giving an update.

I don't have details on the WR situation as of the tail end of these visits. Going in my understanding was Ja'Mori Maclin, Matt Golden (remember, Shorts is his WR coach), and Donaven McCulley were among the top difference-makers UK was targeting there, with probably a need to get a couple more guys after the Cottrell commitment (and Cottrell should be regarded about like Porter, in terms of size, play style, remaining eligibility).