New University of Kentucky Athletic Director J Batt is considered to be one of the best fundraisers in college athletics. In a college landscape where the dollar reigns king, and Kentucky ranked 15th of 16 teams in athletic donations, they needed help in that category.

When you are asking more than you ever have as a university, you most importantly have to give fans a winning product, but you also have to give them incentives to give and make their opinion feel valued. The best way to do the latter is to meet Big Blue Nation and interact with them face to face.

Less than two weeks into his tenure, Batt isn’t waiting for games to meet the fans. He first met some fans at an event at Kroger Field on July 30th, and this past Saturday, joined Kentucky Football head coach Will Stein during tailgate setup day.

Batt and Stein drove around in a golf cart with donuts, surprising fans who were at Kroger Field in the early morning setting up their tailgates ahead of Stein’s first season. The excitement is real, as some fans arrived the night before to make sure they were prepared to set up.

“I want everybody in Big Blue Nation to hear from me directly. They matter the most,” said Batt in an interview soon after accepting the AD position at Kentucky. “This place is special because of them and because of the people, and we’re really lucky to be here.”

Some stories in sports are bigger than the sport itself, as is the case with former Wildcat Ray Davis.

Transferring to Kentucky from Vanderbilt for his senior season of college football in 2023, Davis ran for more than 1,100 yards and set the UK single-season touchdown record with 21 TDs. That included one of the best single-game performances in program history against Florida, where he ran for 280 yards (3rd most in school history) and 4 TDs.

His impact on the field made his story that much more inspiring. Being a part of the California foster care system at the age of 8, facing homelessness at the age of 12, Davis beat the odds to get where he is today, a Pro Bowl selection this past season for the Buffalo Bills.

That is a story made for Hollywood, and now Hollywood is making it.

Officially reported by the Hollywood Reporter on Monday, “Breakaway Ray”, a movie on Davis’ early life, is in development.

The film will focus on a 9-year-old Davis growing up in San Francisco, navigating poverty with a mother battling addiction and a father behind bars. A poster for Big Brothers Big Sisters changes everything. After Davis makes the call, he gets paired with a young Google employee named Patrick Dowley, and a brotherhood begins that will shape the rest of their lives.

The talent attached to the movie is no afterthought. Gary Fleder, the director behind Runaway Jury, The Express, and Reacher, is set to helm the project from a script by W. Peter Iliff, the screenwriter of Point Break and Varsity Blues. Blue Fox Financing is backing the project, which carries the support of both the Buffalo Bills and Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

Fleder emphasizes that the film won’t be a “glossy Hollywood version of a sports legend.” He explains, “It needs grit, urgency and rawness. This film will capture both the harsh realities Ray faced and the quiet power of someone simply showing up.”

“I never would’ve thought in a million years I’d see my story on the big screen,” Davis wrote on X when the news broke. “I’m so grateful to share it on this platform, and this project holds a special place in my heart mentally and emotionally. Beyond excited to see it come to life. All glory to God.”

The film’s team hopes to give attention to the more than 300,000 children currently in the U.S. foster care system. The project will also highlight the importance of mentorship through programs like Big Brothers Big Sisters, which has partnered with the NFL since 2019.

“Breakaway Ray” is scheduled for release in February 2027.

Last year, Champions Blue LLC, the LLC created for UK Athletics, announced the plan to build an entertainment district near Kroger Field to create a new revenue stream. Earlier this week, the school made the next step before the district’s construction, choosing one of four proposals.

On Tuesday, Kevin Locke, UK’s Associate Vice President of planning, design and construction, informed the Champions Blue Board of Governors that the school is moving forward with the “Cooper Connector” plan. This proposal is based on similar districts created near arenas for Ohio State University, Arizona State University, the Green Bay Packers, and the Atlanta Braves.

As an effect of this plan, Bluegrass Community and Technical College will vacate from the school’s original home on Cooper Drive by the end of 2026, a spokesperson told the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Despite BCTC still holding classes, Kentucky originally took control over the property with an agreement in 2008, after BCTC built a new campus at the former site of Eastern State Hospital, which moved to land owned by UK on the Coldstream Research campus.

The “Cooper Connector” plan includes retail and a hotel conference center, but dining will serve as the anchor, as Locke explained to the board on Tuesday.

“Food and beverage, that would serve as the anchor use for this scheme,” Locke said. “This location needs genuine energy, with multiple retail spots creating critical mass, rather than an isolated, one-off destination. And with the right mix of food, entertainment, and access, this corridor will come alive and attract private investors as well as become an asset for the university, staff, and surrounding community.”

With the plan, there are still some final decisions to be made over the coming weeks, including the precise location for the hotel conference center.

Perhaps the biggest decision will be whether to include a multi-use facility that would include a new basketball practice facility into the Kroger Field entertainment district or as part of a district to be built near Historic Memorial Coliseum that will include retail, housing, and parking. A conversation study is needed, set to be complete this summer.

Also posted on A Sea of Blue.