The birds are chirping and the sun is shining (it’s actually storming and gloomy as I type this, but just pretend for me) on our Old Kentucky Home, where football season is here for Mark Stoops and the Wildcats. Fall camp kicked off this week at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility, day three set to take place on Friday. That overlaps with the much-awaited Media Day, a chance to hear from Stoops, Bush Hamdan, Brad White and the entire football team in Lexington to open the season.
We’ll get any and all injury updates, player standouts, guys needing a kick in the tail — Stoops is typically good for one of those each year — and Cats flying under the radar. It’s a field day for the dozens upon dozens of local and national media members in attendance looking to soak in all things Kentucky football before the season kicks off on August 31 vs. Southern Miss.
Oh, and the media will get to check out practice a bit, so expect some on-field breakdowns amid all of the quotes and content to come throughout the day.
It’s like Christmas morning for us media nerds, so come along for the ride with us. Let’s have a Friday.
Fan Day scheduled for Saturday
Looking for your taste of the Wildcats ahead of football season? Stoops isn’t saving all of the fun for the media. Big Blue Nation is invited to Fan Day on Saturday, August 3 (otherwise known as tomorrow), a chance to hang out with the players and coaches a few weeks before the season opener.
Like always, the event will include an open practice at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility outdoor fields next to Kroger Field. Parking and admission is free. Fans can begin entering the facility at 10 a.m. ET at the practice field gate in the plaza outside Gate 12 of Kroger Field. The workout begins at 11 a.m. ET will run to 12:45 p.m. ET before the gates close.
#BBN, we want YOU to join us for Fan Day!! 🫵 Come watch @UKFootball have their first on-field practice of their fall camp Saturday, August 3 at 11 a.m. P.S. Admission is FREE! 😸
There will be concessions with bottled water and pre-packaged snacks with free Kentucky football posters also available at the event.
If inclement weather arrives (and we hope it doesn’t), Kentucky’s Fan Day will unfortunately be canceled. We’ll keep you updated here at KSR leading up to the event, but as things stand, the forecast looks pretty solid — 85 degrees and partly cloudy during the day.
Brock Vandagriff finds Barion Brown deep
What might we see at the open practices for Media and Fan Days? Hopefully a whole lot more of this.
QB1 Brock Vandagriff hit star receiver Barion Brown down the right sideline on Thursday, finding him where only he could come down with it over junior defensive back JQ Hardaway. It was a thing of beauty that deserves a second, fifth and tenth viewing.
Love to see it. pic.twitter.com/mpgznKuh0R
— Kentucky Football (@UKFootball) August 1, 2024
And how about a couple of other still shots from day two of fall camp? UK Athletics provided some of those, too.
Day 2⃣✅ pic.twitter.com/xwUga0Byvx
It’s almost here, folks.
Nate Sestina ruled out for La Familia ahead of TBT Final Four
Excited for La Familia’s matchup against Carmen’s Crew on Friday in Philadelphia? We are too. It’s a chance for Kentucky’s alumni squad to advance to the TBT championship on Sunday, just two wins away from that grand prize of $1 million.
Nate Sestina, however, will not be suiting up for La Familia in the Final Four, a crushing blow coming off his 22-point effort against The Ville at Freedom Hall. The team announced Thursday the versatile shot-making forward had a “previously scheduled family obligation” that will hold him out of Friday’s game. The team is “hopeful,” however, he will return for Sunday’s championship if they win the semifinal round.
Tipoff against Carmen’s Crew is scheduled for Friday at 9:00 p.m. EST on FS1 inside Daskalakis Athletic Center at Drexel University. Win it for Sestina.
Lexington’s own Lee Kiefer makes history
The most dominant women’s fencer in the world hails from Lexington, graduated from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School and is currently a medical student at theUniversity of KentuckyCollege of Medicine.
Oh, and she just won her third gold medal in the Olympics — including her second in Paris, making history by leading the United States to its first-ever gold medal in women’s team foil.
The U.S. won gold with a 45-39 win over Italy in the finals, a group comprised of Kiefer, Laureen Scruggs, Jackie Dubrovich and Maia Weintraub. They previously defeated Canada 45-31 to advance to the gold medal round.
Overall, the U.S. women’s foil fencing team becomes the first to win an Olympic gold medal — men or women — while Kiefer becomes the first U.S. woman to win two gold medals in fencing at a single Olympics and the first U.S. fencer to claim three golds in history.
Cats in the Olympics
Friday, August 2
- WOMEN’S 3×3 BASKETBALL — 7:00 AM: USA (Rhyne Howard) vs. France; Pool Round; USA, Peaco*ck
- MEN’S 5×5 BASKETBALL — 11:15 AM: Canada (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Trey Lyles, Jamal Murray) vs. Spain; Group Phase – Group A; Peaco*ck
- WOMEN’S 3×3 BASKETBALL — 12:00 PM: USA (Rhyne Howard) vs. Canada; Pool Round; NBC, Peaco*ck
