It is a beautiful Friday afternoon and spring sports are in full swing. Here are a few notes entering a packed weekend of UK sports:
– If you’re looking for something to do Friday evening in Lexington, your best bet is UK baseball’s series opener against No. 30 Auburn in Cliff Hagan Stadium at 6:30. The Wildcats (16-12, 2-7 Southeastern Conference) posted a 15-2 midweek win over Xavier and will send junior ace Alex Meyer to the mound.
In case you needed any extra motivation to head out to the ballpark, UK basketball student assistant coach and future NBA draft pick Enes Kanter will be tossing out the first pitch. They don’t play too much baseball in Turkey, but Kanter has been practicing before taking the mound.
– The last time Kanter was able to play in an actual basketball game was the Nike Hoops Summit in April of 2010. The 2011 edition of the game is at 10 p.m. ET Saturday in Portland, Ore.
Like last week’s McDonald’s All-American game, each of UK’s four signees in the class of 2011 will be taking the floor. Kyle Wiltjer, who holds dual citizenship in the United States and Canada, will suit up for the international team against Anthony Davis, Michael Gilchrist and Marquis Teague of Team USA.
The game will be televised on Fox Sports Net, so check your local listings for coverage in your area. Over the past two years, Kanter, Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins have played in the game and gone on to attend UK, so the event has turned into an annual must-watch for UK fans.
– UK softball is not in town this weekend, but we will be keeping close tabs on the No. 18 Wildcats (27-7, 11-3 SEC) as they trek to Athens, Ga. to face the No. 2 Georgia Bulldogs in a crucial conference tilt. UK swept highly ranked Florida last weekend and followed that up with back to back perfect games by Chanda Bell and Rachel Riley in a mid-week double-header against Austin Peay, so the Cats enter with momentum on their side.
– UK football is in the middle of spring practice, which I attended today to write this story on the return of Andre’ Woodson to the program. Today was the first day of spring practice that the weather really cooperated and coach Joker Phillips was happy with his team’s energy on Friday.
Phillips also said that Saturday’s practice will be an important one because it will be the first that the team will operate on the entire field.
“We have to put it all together tomorrow,” Phillips said, “because tomorrow we’ll put the ball down and play the whole field.”
Especially for the offense and quarterback Morgan Newton, it will be a telling day because the offense will be called upon to sustain long drives.
