Kentucky's first super regional game in program history takes place today at noon. Here's all the reading you need to get you ready for the big series between the Cats and Cards.
Also, a huge number of Mid-Atlantic football prospects are visiting UK soon, the top football recruiting storylines of the summer, Calipari/Team USA news and the latest scuttlebutt with the draft.
STARTING GAME ONE
"Freshman Zack Thompson will start game one of the super regional between UK and Louisville. Thompson, a lefthander, earned his eighth win of the season after throwing a career-high seven innings against Indiana in the Lexington Regional.
Thompson started both games against Louisville earlier in the season. He earned the win on April 18 after allowing four earned runs in five innings. He only lasted 2.2 innings in his start against the Cardinals. Louisville won the game 5-1."
PRESSURE'S ON LOUISVILLE
"Louisville baseball has made three appearances in the College World Series.
Kentucky has never been.
Louisville is playing host to its fifth consecutive NCAA super regional.
This is Kentucky’s first.
“You guys have been around me long enough to know I believe in brutal honesty,” Kentucky Coach Nick Mingione said on Thursday. “Their program is in a different place than ours.”
LINK: NCAA baseball super regional pressure on Louisville, not Kentucky
CATS, CARDS EYE OMAHA
"While this Louisville squad is an overall No. 7 seed with Super Regional experience and a home field advantage, don’t go using the F-word around Cardinals coach Dan McDonnell.
“It’s hard to say favorites when you’ve seen the parity in college baseball,” he said. “It’s whoever throws strikes, makes all the plays and gets some timely hits.”
Strikes and timely hits will most certainly be a key with both teams hitting well. Louisville has some big hitters in Jeffersonville product Drew Ellis and Baseball America Player of the Year Brendan McKay."
ENHANCING THE RIVALRY
"When Kentucky faces Louisville this weekend in an NCAA baseball tournament super regional, the Wildcats and the Cardinals could do more than determine which in-state school will send a team to Omaha, Neb., for the College World Series.
Depending on how the games play out, the 2017 Cats and Cards baseball teams could fundamentally alter the nature of our state’s defining sports rivalry."
LINK: It’s not The Dream Game, but UK-Louisville baseball showdown can enhance rivalry
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HUGE 'DMV' CROWD VISITING
"The second annual Fasttrack Recruits & Champion Road Scholars exists to allow recruits from the DMV (the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia) the opportunity to visit schools they otherwise might not be able to get to.
This year the group includes more than 30 players from the Mid-Atlantic, and they'll be on the road visiting colleges from June 11-18. They're at Kentucky on June 16.
Here's a look at who will be coming."
LINK: Breakdown of the nearly three dozen DMV prospects visiting UK on a bus tour
LAKERS SPLIT
"Per ESPN's Chad Ford, the Lakers are still leaning in Ball's direction but are giving serious consideration to the other two players:
'I also think it reflects a genuine split within the organization about whom the best long-term candidate is. Ball was a clear favorite of the prior administration run by Mitch Kupchak and still has his fans within the organization. But the Lakers also took note on how Fox outplayed Ball in their head-to-head matchup in March. And Jackson has always been another favorite in the organization.'"
LINK: Lakers Rumors: Execs Split on Drafting Lonzo Ball, De'Aaron Fox, Josh Jackson
STANLEY TALKS FAVORITES
"Thought primarily as a high-flying athlete, Cassius Stanley has taken the next step with his game this spring. A 6-foot-4 shooting guard that can play all three perimeter positions, a handful of well-known college basketball programs have begun to prioritize the five-star sophomore.
Arizona, Alabama and UCLA are the most aggressive programs in pursuit of the top -15 prospect, though Stanford, Duke and Kentucky are also in the mix. ..."
Read what Stanley said about Kentucky and others.
USA TRYOUT LIST
"CBS Sports Gary Parrish released the list of the USA U19 National Team that will play in the 2017 FIBA World Cup in Egypt.
John Calipari will coach the team and tryouts will take place this month in Colorado. 28 players were included on Parrish's list but only 12 will make the final roster.
The list include three UK freshmen- Hamidou Diallo, Kevin Knox and P.J. Washington."
KNICKS: WORKING MONK OUT
"That’s not exactly a surprising revelation, but it’s one that comes with a healthy dose of intrigue.
Monk measures at somewhere between 6’3″ and 6’4″ with a 6’6″ wingspan and a 197-pound frame. He’s one of the quickest guards in this draft class, as well as an explosive leaper—see: his 42.0″ max vertical leap."
Link: New York Knicks expected to work out NBA Draft prospect Malik Monk
BASEBALL CENTER STAGE
"Even Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops said it didn’t feel right talking about football with such a big baseball weekend ahead.
“It seems odd to be promoting football when we should be promoting baseball,” Stoops told the crowd at the Governor’s Cup Luncheon on Tuesday.
Yes, for a state so keen on basketball and football, baseball is coming around too. Louisville and Kentucky will meet in the super regionals this weekend at Jim Patterson Stadium. It’s the first time the Wildcats have ever played in a super regional. Louisville, on the other hand, has been to the College World Series three times and will be making its fifth straight super regional appearance."
SUMMER STORYLINES
"CatsIllustrated.com takes a look at the five biggest summer football recruiting storylines facing Kentucky with the camp circuit about to heat up."
From Michigan recruiting to the Cats' top Ohio targets, from the 2017 arriving class to summer camps, CatsIllustrated.com takes a look at big stories to monitor.
