Well that turned out to be quite a busy Tuesday. Between a surprise unveiling of UK’s new black uniforms for Saturday’s matchup with Mississippi State and preparations for Wednesday’s Blue/White Scrimmage, there was plenty going on around the world of UK Athletics.With everything that did go on yesterday, there are a few stories that we didn’t quite get to, so let’s catch up:
- First of all, for those of you looking to make plans for how to watch, listen to or keep track of the Blue/White game, there are a number of options. Fox Sports South and the UK IMG Sports Network will both be carrying the game live at 7 p.m. The UK IMG Sports Network will also be broadcasting the game on the radio. Online, UK Athletics will be providing coverage through a live blog, live audio, Gametracker and Wildcat Alerts. Check out this link for complete coverage information. Tickets to the Blue/White Game are still available online at Ticketmaster, as well as single-game tickets for regular season games.
- I’m sure many of you watched the HBO documentary Prayer for a Perfect Season that debuted Tuesday night. The feature documented the 2010-11 season of the St. Patrick Celtics, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s high school team, in their quest for an unbeaten season and a national championship. Kidd-Gilchrist was at the center of the documentary and, though his team ultimately lost in the state tournament, there was a great deal to be learned about UK’s star freshman. We all knew how much he has been through in his young life and about his unselfishness as a teammate, but the documentary allowed us to see exactly what makes Michael Michael. His family is clearly the most important thing in his life and they have helped him persevere through challenges I cannot even imagine. I already was looking forward to seeing him suit up for the Cats this year and watching him on the small screen only serves to increase my anticipation. UK is lucky to have him.
- This news appeared on our home page and Twitter account, but it bears mention here as well. The NCAA released its annual graduation report on Tuesday and UK student-athletes turned in record marks in both the Graduation Success Rate (GSR) and Federal Graduation Rate (FGR). UK’s GSR of 77 percent was a three-percent improvement from a year ago and was UK’s best in the seven-year history of the measurement. UK’s FGR of 58 percent was also a school record.
- Preseason SEC media picks for women’s basketball were announced yesterday and UK Hoops was picked to finish third in the league behind only Tennessee and Georgia. Junior guard A’dia Mathies was voted First Team All-SEC.
- Former UK softball star Molly Johnson won a gold medal at the Pan American Games earlier this week and last night it was baseball’s Andrew Albers winning one. He made the start in the gold medal game for Canada, pitching his team to a 2-1 victory over Team USA with 6.1 innings of one-run ball. He struck out eight and allowed just six hits in picking up the win.
- Before regular football availability this morning, volleyball head coach Craig Skinner will be addressing the media ahead of another big weekend for his team. The Cats currently sit within a game of first place Tennessee and a half-game of Florida with two games coming up on Friday and Sunday. On Friday, UK will play host to South Carolina before the No. 13 Gators come to town in a match with major SEC title implications. Skinner will be discussing both matches and we’ll have coverage of his comments this afternoon.
- Tomorrow, both men’s and women’s basketball will be participating in SEC Media Day. I will not be in attendance for the festivities, but will hopefully be providing whatever coverage I can from home.