Memorial Day has come and gone, marking the unofficial start of summer. Even though it’s the “offseason” for football and basketball, there’s still a ton happening in the world of UK sports, chiefly Kentucky Baseball’s run in the NCAA Tournament. As the Bat Cats strive to reach the College World Series for the first time in program history, football and basketball players will also start arriving on campus for summer workouts.
That’s just June. In July, basketball recruiting heats up at the Peach Jam, The Basketball Tournament (TBT) comes to Lexington, and football talking season kicks off in Dallas at SEC Media Days, the first with Texas and Oklahoma in the fold. Before you know it, we’ll be at Kroger Field for Kentucky Football Media Day and the countdown to the 2024 season will officially be on.
As we celebrate the start of summer, let’s look at the calendar to see what’s ahead. More is happening than you might think.
<center>JUNE</center>
May 31-June 3: Lexington Regional
The Lexington Regional of the NCAA Baseball Tournament is currently underway at Kentucky Proud Park. Should Kentucky beat out Western Michigan, Indiana State, and Illinois, they will host a Super Regional for the first time in program history. There, they would face the winner of the Corvallis Region, which consists of 15-seed Oregon State, Tulane, Nicholls, and UC Irvine.
June 2: Football Sunday Showcase Camp
Football camps will be happening throughout June. The Sunday Showcase camp will draw the most talent, and, potentially a glimpse at current Cats who decide to attend. KSR will have several boots on the ground at Kroger Field to bring you all the sights and sounds.
June 2-4: Pangos All-American Camp
Starting on Sunday, the 120 best high school basketball players will be in Las Vegas for the Pangos All-American Camp. Coaches can’t attend but recruiting news should trickle out as prospects share what schools are in pursuit and we get a better look at the cream rising to the top ahead of the Peach Jam in July.
June 3: Football Summer Workouts Begin
Football players are arriving on campus as we speak for summer workouts, which start on Monday. As Nick Roush outlined on Friday, coaches now have two hours per week to work with their players in June and July. Get ready for lots of pictures and videos of Mark Stoops’ squad as they settle in, including new(ish) faces like Brock Vandagriff and Chip Trayanum and returning stars Deone Walker, Barion Brown, and Dane Key.
June 4-6: Will Riley’s official visit
Kentucky has one scholarship left following the addition of Jaxson Robinson. Who, if anyone, will use it? Will Riley? The 6’9″ 180 lbs. five-star small forward is in the 2025 class but could reclassify. He will take an official visit to Kentucky next week and is considered one of the top scorers in high school basketball, ranking fifth in the EYBL in points per game (21.9). Riley is also looking at Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, and the NBL in Australia. With the big pieces of the roster in place, why not use the final scholarship on a young, elite talent?
June 7-9: Super Regionals
If you think this weekend is fun, wait until next weekend if the Cats win the Lexington Regional. The first-ever Super Regional at Kentucky Proud Park could be a landmark moment for the program, especially if the Cats advance to the College World Series, which would be another first.
June 8-13: NBPA Top 100 Camp
Next weekend, the top recruits in the country head to Orlando, Florida to show off their skills at the NBPA Top 100 Camp. There is an evaluation period during the camp, so college coaches will be allowed in. This will be our next look at who Mark Pope and his staff are targeting and another opportunity to see Pope and John Calipari cross paths.
June 9: Football OL/DL Mega Camp
The second biggest Kentucky Football camp of the summer. As the name suggests, it’s “mega” and focuses on the guys in the trenches.
June 10: Men’s Basketball Players Report to Campus
The 2024-25 Kentucky Basketball team will finally assemble in Lexington on Monday, June 10. If Will Riley likes what he sees, will he just stick around or make a quick trip back to Canada to get his belongings? Either way, the excitement for Year 1 of the Mark Pope era will reach a fever pitch once the team is finally on campus.
June 14-20: Men’s College World Series
If Kentucky goes to Omaha, KSR is going to Omaha. Fingers crossed I can stress out about the travel budget for the Bat Cats’ first-ever trip to the College World Series. The finals take place June 22-24.
June 14-15: Mark Pope Father/Son Camp
Mark Pope and his staff will hold two basketball camps this summer, starting with a Father/Son camp June 14-15 on UK’s campus.
June 14-16: Football Official Visit Weekend
June is a critical month for football recruiting and the staff will host camps and official visitors throughout. There are two big official visit weekends, June 14-16 and 21-23. As of now, Kentucky has six commitments in the 2025 class: 4-star RB Marquise Davis, 4-star S Martels Carter, 4-star WR Quintin Simmons, 3-star QB Stone Saunders, 3-star QB Brennan Ward, and 3-star IOL Tucker Kattus. If things go according to plan, that number will rise as the month goes on.
June 15: Club Blue “New Era” Men’s Basketball Team Meet & Greet
Club Blue has raised over $1 million in annual pledged NIL donations since Mark Pope was hired. As a thank you, Club Blue and Pope are hosting a “New Era” event in which donors can meet the new team. To attend, you must have subscribed to Club Blue before May 15. If you didn’t, don’t worry; we’ll have plenty of coverage of the event on KSR.
June 16: Mark Pope Father/Daughter Camp
One day after the Father/Son camp wraps up, the girls get their day in the spotlight at Mark Pope’s inaugural Father/Daughter Kentucky Basketball Camp. I have a feeling Taylor Swift will be on the playlist.
June 17: Men’s Basketball Summer Workouts Begin
Practice reports are just around the corner. At the SEC Spring Meetings, Mark Pope told Paul Finebaum that his team will begin summer workouts on June 17, one week after players arrive on campus. Men’s and women’s basketball teams can do eight weeks of weight training, skill instruction, and development each summer, with a limit of eight hours per week. Only four of those hours can be spent on skill-related instruction, aka, practice. KSBoard will be the place to be as we overanalyze all the rumblings coming out of the Joe Craft Center.
June 21-23: Football Official Visit Weekend
The second big official visit weekend of the summer, aka Big Dog Season.
June 26-27: NBA Draft
This year, the NBA Draft takes place over two nights, with the first round happening on June 26 and the second on June 27. Right now, both Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham are projected to go in the top 10, possibly the top three in Reed’s case. Justin Edwards is a trendy late first round pick in recent mock drafts and Antonio Reeves was No. 58, the last pick in the draft, in ESPN’s latest projections.
It won’t quite be the “Graduation Night” of years past now that John Calipari is gone but still a special one as BBN tunes in to see Reed, Rob, Justin, and hopefully Antonio achieve their dreams.
<center>JULY</center>
July 13-21: EYBL Peach Jam
The biggest recruiting event of the year. All of the Nike EYBL teams are expected to gather in North Augusta for the event, which will draw coaching staffs from across the country. Kentucky sill doesn’t have a commitment in the 2025 class, so this is a big week for Mark Pope and his new staff.
July 12- 22: NBA Summer League
We could get our first look at Reed Sheppard, Rob Dillingham, Justin Edwards, and potentially Antonio Reeves as pros in the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, along with fellow former Cats fighting for training camp spots.
July 15-18: SEC Media Days in Dallas
What better way to welcome Texas and Oklahoma to the SEC than taking the biggest off-field event to Dallas? SEC Media Days is headed west this summer to kick off talking season, the first without Nick Saban. Mark Stoops and Kentucky’s representatives will take the podium on Thursday, the final day of the event. KSR will be in the house to see if everything is bigger in Texas, including the spectacle that is Media Days.
- July 15: Brian Kelly (LSU), Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss), Shane Beamer (South Carolina), Clark Lea (Vanderbilt)
- July 16: Kirby Smart (Georgia), Eliah Drinkwitz (Missouri), Brent Venables (Oklahoma), Josh Heupel (Tennessee)
- July 17: Kalen DeBoer (Alabama), Billy Napier (Florida), Jeff Lebby (Mississippi State), Steve Sarkisian (Texas)
- July 18: Sam Pittman (Arkansas), Hugh Freeze (Auburn), Mark Stoops (Kentucky), Mike Elko (Texas A&M)
July 19-23: The Basketball Tournament (TBT) Lexington Regional
Rupp Arena will host a regional of the The Basketball Tournament (TBT) this summer and an impressive Kentucky alumni team will be among the squads vying for the grand prize of $1 million. So far, nine former Kentucky players have signed up for “La Familia,” which is managed by fellow former Cat Twany Beckham: Willie Cauley-Stein, Doron Lamb, Eric Bledsoe, Reid Travis, Marquis Teague, Andrew Harrison, Daniel Orton, Kellan Grady, and James Young. Kentucky hasn’t had good luck with alumni teams in the TBT in the past, but hopefully, this year is different. July basketball!
July 26-August 11: Summer Olympics
A former Kentucky Wildcat is expected to be one of the stars of the Summer Olympics in Paris. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone has dominated the 400m hurdles, winning gold in Tokyo and breaking her own world record three times. For the past year, she’s been focusing on the 400m flat and even won the 200m at the LA Grand Prix earlier this month. Sydney has yet to announce which events she’ll run in Paris, but my money is on her to bring home gold in whatever she does. Go Syd Go!
Late July/Early August: Football Media Day
Talking season culminates with the football team’s annual media day. Dates/details are still TBD but expectations are high for Year 12 of the Mark Stoops era, which features new offensive coordinator Bush Hamdan and quarterback Brock Vandagriff.
<center>AUGUST</center>
Early August: Football Fan Day, Fall Camp begins
Bring on the practice reports.
August 5: Matt Jones’ first show back
Matt Jones just started his two-month European vacation. His first day back on the airwaves is August 5. There will be a lot of catching up to do on both sides.
August 31: Kentucky vs. Southern Miss
Football season comes a little earlier this year. Kentucky’s season-opener vs. Southern Miss will kick off at 7:45 p.m. ET on Saturday, August 31 at Kroger Field, great news for tailgate enthusiasts. If you can’t be there, you can watch live on SEC Network.
Soon enough, it will be Football Time in the Bluegrass.
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