There's as much game week content as you can read with UK-USM just days away. Football and basketball recruiting notes, Karl-Anthony Towns has a wide-ranging interview out and John Wall is organizing help for Harvey victims.
SLOWING DOWN ITO
Kentucky's a solid favorite heading into Hattiesburg if you believe what the oddsmakers and bettors to date are saying. But anyone who watched USM's 44-35 win over Kentucky last year knows there's plenty of reason to take the Golden Eagles seriously.
First things first. Kentucky has to find a way to slow down Ito Smith and the Southern Miss stable of backs. That's something the Cats weren't able to do last year, especially in the second half meltdown that left the Big Blue Nation wishing they could watch a do-over.
So how does Kentucky stop, or at least slow down, Ito Smith? It won't be easy, but here's a look at just how it can happen.
FINAL SEVEN
Five-star shooting guard Romeo Langford has settled on seven final schools for his college decision.
The 6-foot-4, 185-pound New Albany, Ind., native, who played for John Calipari and USA Basketball this summer, included the Cats in his list of seven schools.
HARD LESSONS
A year removed from one of the most disheartening season openers in program history, Kentucky is trying to put a positive spin on lessons learned from its 2016 loss to Southern Miss.
The Wildcats appeared to be on their way to a blowout last September at Commonwealth Stadium, racing to a 35-10 lead just before halftime. But the Golden Eagles took advantage of a defensive breakdown just before the half and seized permanent control of the momentum.
Thirty-four unanswered points later, Southern Miss left town with a stunning 44-35 victory. The lingering effects carried over into Week 2 as the Cats were pummeled 45-7 at Florida.
LINK: Cats learned hard lessons from last year's opener vs. Southern Miss
MCCALL LOCKED IN
Oak Park, Mich., offensive guard Marquan McCall made a decision for Kentucky this past spring, but camped with other schools over the summer. The four-star says his commitment to the Wildcats heading into his senior season is as strong as ever.
DEPTH CHART TALK
Kentucky's game week depth chart was released on Monday and there were some surprises.
Cats Illustrated takes a look at 10 things that stand out from the two-deep with Southern Miss just days away.
LINK: 10 takeaways from one of the more surprising depth charts in recent UK history
THE WAR ROOM!
The season is everyone's focus and rightfully so but there are some big recruiting development that need to be put under the microscope.
In this edition you'll get the scoop on a USF commit offered by Kentucky. He's a pass rush specialist in the mold of Denzil Ware and visited over the summer. You'll also find out why Meechi Harris and Dominick Watt are such important recruits, and you'll read about another big-name 2019 quarterback who has scheduled a trip to Lexington.
Here's the latest exclusively for Cats Illustrated subscribers.
INSIDER NOTES
It's been a busy week for UK basketball and there were plenty of updates on the recruiting front.
The Monday Insider Notes take a look at the latest with UK recruiting. The Cats hosted a visitor last week and September will be a busy month for John Calipari and his staff.
GAME WEEK BLOG
This is your one-stop location for all significant updates leading up to the Kentucky-Southern Miss game. It will be periodically brought up to speed based on information coming from Hattiesburg or Lexington.
The blog will be heavy on opposition research since you can find all your Kentucky information at Cats Illustrated daily.
LINK: Stay up to date in advance of UK-USM with our Game Week Blog
MISMATCH METER
Cats Illustrated took a closer look at each position in the UK-USM game late Sunday.
Now, we present a new weekly feature in advance of each Kentucky football game: The Mismatch Meter.
What are the biggest advantages for both/either team(s) in the upcoming game? What parts of the game look like a push on paper? That's what we're doing below.
LINK: Mismatch meter measures advantages for each team going into Saturday
YOUTH MOVEMENT
With so many starters returning on offense and defense, there weren’t a ton of surprises on the Kentucky depth chart released on Monday.
Perhaps one of the more interesting question marks that remain is just how many true freshmen will see the field this season from a class that Coach Mark Stoops has been praising since their signing.
LINK: As many as nine true freshmen could play against Southern Miss
GOOD WORKS
As Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston over the weekend, Washington Wizards players John Wall and Bradley Beal decided to help. The pair reached out to teammates through a group text message, leading the effort to raise money for people affected by the hurricane and historical flooding in Southeast Texas.
By Monday, the players’ donations had reached $250,000 with more dollars expected. According to a team source, Markieff Morris and Otto Porter Jr. were two of the first players to respond to the group message and give money, and the players’ impromptu fundraising has spread throughout the Wizards organization. Majority team owner Ted Leonsis, President Ernie Grunfeld and Coach Scott Brooks also have personally donated money to the American Red Cross, and the organization over the Wizards, Capitals and Mystics’ charities — MSE Foundation — has contributed to the players’ amount.
LINK: John Wall, Bradley Beal organize Wizards’ fundraising for Hurricane Harvey relief
TOWNS ON SEVERAL TOPICS
Karl-Anthony Towns has been keeping plenty busy this offseason. The centerpiece of the Minnesota Timberwolves has popped up at the popular E3 Conference, on the red carpet reading KD’s old tweets at the ESPYs, running around with new teammate Jimmy Butler, hitting the beach with D’Angelo Russell to play volleyball, hooping in Kentucky, and, most recently, making his voice heard on the events that took place in Charlottesville, VA, earlier this month.
Over the weekend, KAT was active once again, taking part in a livestream for the latest Call of Duty: WWII video game. Once he hopped off the sticks, we spoke with the star about the Mayweather-McGregor fight, the new-look T’Wolves, Hoodie Melo, his appearance in the latest Katy Perry video and more.
Read more at http://www.slamonline.com/nba/karl-anthony-towns-interview-new/#PMY4UTwKAHkLxKxe.99
LINK: Karl-Anthony Towns on Mayweather-McGregor, Timberwolves, Hoodie Melo and Call of Duty
MONK MAILBAG
The Charlotte Hornets have had terrific chemistry the past two seasons.
I’ve covered the NBA since 1988. I’ve seen locker rooms full of players who cared for each other, and others with a toxic mix of personalities. This Hornets group has been terrific in being vested in each other’s success.
I believe that’s a reflection of leadership, particularly from Kemba Walker, Marvin Williams and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Will that hold up in the 2017-18 season? That’s one of the questions Hornets fans asked in this week’s mailbag.
LINK: Charlotte observer writer addresses Malik Monk questions in mailbag
NOEL'S GAMBLE
Restricted free agency has become a boom-or-bust market, and Nerlens Noel played a losing hand.
The 23-year-old former lottery pick reportedly turned down a four-year, $70 million offerfrom the Dallas Mavericks on the opening day of NBA free agency and instead sought a contract in excess of $20 million annually. By the time Noel replaced the agent who negotiated that deal with LeBron James’ business partner, Rich Paul, who quickly learned a max offer would never come, the Mavs had rescinded their offer, and Noel was forced to sign his $4.1 million qualifying offer, per reports.
LINK: Nerlens Noel and the NBA's new restricted free agency gamble
