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SEC Coach Compares Rob Dillingham to NBA All-Star

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One SEC coach compares Rob Dillingham to an accomplished NBA All-Star.
Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports

You will be hard-pressed to find a more entertaining player in college basketball than Rob Dillingham, with opposing players and coaches saying as much throughout the season. Vanderbilt head coach, Jerry Stackhouse, is the most recent to do so.

Following a loss to Kentucky, where Rob Dillingham scored 23 points and 5 assists, Stackhouse complimented Dillingham and his style of play, even describing him as his “shifty”, the moniker he goes by on social media, ‘Rob wit da shifts’.

“I would say he is so shifty. I think that’s the word that I would describe him, and I saw him in high school,” Stackhouse said. “He’s the guy that’s capable of exploding and going for 25 or 30 on any given night. I think that’s why you’re seeing him projected on the draft boards and his own because he has that type of ability.”

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There is one NBA guard in particular that Dillingham reminds him of, former NBA All-Star and champion Kyrie Irving.

“Being able to play one-on-one, create off the dribble kind of Kyrie Irving-like,” Stackhouse said. “I think once he continues to grow as a defender, he’s going to be a guy that you try to pick on, but I think he has to that same shift in this that he has on offense he can apply that and become a good on-ball defender as well.”

Considering Stackhouse’s experience as an NBA All-Star caliber player, and now as an NBA/college coach for the last decade, his compliment holds value. That said, his praise didn’t stop there.

Stackhouse also mentioned that this Kentucky team is arguably the best he has seen since he started at Vanderbilt in 2019. “Kentucky is really good, talented offensive team,” Stackhouse said. “The best that I’ve seen I think since I’ve been here. …I think it’s time for a big run this year (for Kentucky).”

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Men's Basketball

How a Call with Mark Pope Led Denzel Aberdeen to Kentucky

After winning a national title at Florida, Denzel Aberdeen committed to Kentucky without ever visiting campus—thanks to a revealing three-hour call with head coach Mark Pope.

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Chet White | UK Athletics

As a junior, Denzel Aberdeen was a key part of Florida’s national title run. But a certain phone conversation convinced him to leave his home state and head north to Lexington in hopes of experiencing that feeling once again.

He had never set foot in Lexington before deciding to become a Kentucky Wildcat — and he didn’t need to. All it took was one phone call — three hours long, on Easter Sunday — with head coach Mark Pope to convince him that he belonged in blue and white.

“Our phone call lasted about three hours, to be honest,” Aberdeen said, meeting with the media in Lexington for the first time earlier this week. “A lot of it was just getting to know me and getting to know the school, the university, getting to know him (Pope), how their style was, a lot of film. Once I saw that, I was like this looks like a great guy to play for.”

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The two went on to discuss Aberdeen’s role at Kentucky in more depth, including how Pope envisions him fitting into Kentucky’s new system — a system that, according to Aberdeen, is very similar, if not better than the one he just left.

“We had a lot of great players at Florida, especially the tall bigs. Bigs that love to run there, and we have just as much here; our bigs love to run, they play defense, and they play at a fast pace. So I think the things that we’ve got here are just as good, or even better,” Aberdeen said.

Averaging 7.7 points and nearly 20 minutes per game off the bench for the Gators last year, it’s clear to see what Aberdeen brings to the team: experience, versatility, calmness in the backcourt, and championship pedigree. Pope’s phone conversation with Aberdeen wasn’t just impactful on the court — it also speaks volumes to what he is doing off the court in pursuit of the goal he laid out in his introductory press conference: to hang banners.

This phone call wasn’t just about Denzel Aberdeen. It was a glimpse into Pope’s player-first, transparent coaching approach, which could define his era at Kentucky — and potentially make this season a special one, with Aberdeen playing another key role in a deep NCAA Tournament run.

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“I know the goal is to win No. 9,” he said. “I know the fans want that, we want that, all the staff and coaches want that. That pushes us. We know what we gotta do when we come here and put on that Kentucky jersey. Just playing for the University of Kentucky is a big thing. Being here is a blessing, and I can’t look back.”

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Men's Basketball

La Familia’s Lexington Regional Bracket Revealed

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Israel Schill | KY Insider

Kentucky’s alumni team, La Familia, has officially unveiled the bracket for The Basketball Tournament’s (TBT) Lexington Regional.

The No. 1 seeded alumni will face off against Stroh’s Squad (Bowling Green) in the opening round on Friday, July 18 with a late 9:00 p.m. ET tip time.

The Lexington Regional will take place at Memorial Coliseum from July 18-22, where Kentucky will host a plethora of teams looking to grab some gold.

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Familiar teams, such as Eberlein Drive, who former Wildcat Archie Goodwin used to play for and who have been around since the beginning of TBT, will lead the bottom of the bracket. In the second round, Big Blue Nation may see a way-too-early SEC matchup, technically, with the Auburn Tigers’ alumni team, War Ready.

The name is definitely fitting, obviously a play on Auburn’s “War Eagle” call, but as a whole defines the type of play that the TBT unleashes against every competitor.

When asked about who the “alpha dog” will be on this year’s team, someone who is going to be ready to go to war, general manager Twany Beckham admitted he emphasized finding guys like that during the offseason.

“That was one thing, you know when we lost last year, I feel like that Ohio State team, I’m not gonna say punked us because our guys played extremely hard,” said Beckham before head coach Sean Woods budded in and said “they were more physical.”

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“When I sat down after the season was over last year I sad to myself, ‘I want nine to 10 dogs’, and I think we did that with this roster,” Beckham added.

The winner of the Lexington Regional will play the winner of the Louisville Regional in the quarterfinals on Monday, July 28, at 6 p.m. ET on FS1, the team also announced recently.

Below is the entire bracket for the 2025 tournament:

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Men's Basketball

Top Guard Prospect Taylen Kinney Takes Official Visit to Kentucky

Perhaps the most highly touted guard in the 2026-27 class, Taylen Kinney has begun his visit to Kentucky – Mark Pope is on the clock.

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Taylen Kinney takes his official visit to Kentucky.
USA TODAY NETWORK

Directly following his involvement with Mark Pope and Jasper Johnson at the USA U19 basketball camp, Taylen Kinney has taken an official visit to Kentucky.

One of the top guards in the nation, Kinney is a native of Newport, Kentucky. As a result, naturally, both Louisville and Kentucky are in strong pursuit — among pulls on both sides, one potential advantage Kentucky has over their in-state rivals is Kinney’s extensive past ties to the aforementioned Jasper Johnson.

The two blue bloods manned the backcourt together for the Overtime Elite RWE team during the 2024-25 season. With Johnson being the first to pull the trigger in taking on the blue and white, the onus is on Kinney to potentially rekindle the duo’s dominant guard play in a new setting.

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Given Jasper’s potential for multiple years in Lexington, the likelihood that he could impact Kinney’s recruitment is all the more tangible.

The 6-foot-2 floor general stayed firmly put in the 2026-27 class, despite rumors of a reclassification, ranking atop national lists across the board as arguably the best available at his position. And while a timetable for Kinney’s ultimate decision hasn’t yet shaken out, it’s clear that the blue and red rivals each hold a powerful stake in his recruitment.

Regardless of the rumors, if Mark Pope gets a guy on campus, there’s a solid shot the Cats can capitalize on a commitment. When one battle ends for Kentucky’s staff, the next begins — if nothing else, it’s clear that the team has already started working towards as solid a roster next season as they put together for the one that’s about to begin.

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