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Men's Basketball

DJ Wagner Giving Back to the Community, Hosts First Youth Basketball Camp

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Kentucky freshman DJ Wagner hosted his first annual Impact Procamp for youth back in his hometown of Camden, NJ.
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Kentucky basketball Freshman DJ Wagner may only be 18 years old, but he has already started giving back to his community and understands the impact that he can have.

Back in June, Wagner donated donating $75,000 to he and his family’s alma mater, Camden High School, in partnership with DICK’S. This week, he hosted his first annual Impact Procamp, where he gave back to the youth in his community of Camden, New Jersey. Teammates Kareem Watkins and Grant Darbyshire were also helping at the camp.

Wagner will also be hosting a school supply drive in Camden on August 21st before returning to Lexington.

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John Calipari’s philanthropic influence on his players cannot be overstated. It seems that he is already instilling that into this team with a number of players who have been active in the community recently. That’s a good sign for not just team chemistry, but connecting with fans and the BBN as well.

Men's Basketball

Kentucky Basketball Has “Pure Hoopers That Love the Game” According to Former Kentucky Guard

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Tyler Ulis coaching Robert Dillingham during GLOBL Jam.
UK Athletics | Chet White

In recent seasons, Kentucky has struggled to find players to make plays when they need it most. That hasn’t always been the case, some examples of players that had the ability to make a play to secure a win include: Tyler Ulis, Jamal Murray, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and John Wall among others.

Well speaking of some of the players I just mentioned, former Kentucky guard and current student assistant Tyler Ulis recently joined the Sources Say podcast and talked about how great this team can be this upcoming year.

Ulis calls this year’s team “pure hoopers”.

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“They’re basketball players. Hoopers. Pure hoopers, all of them. And they love the game,” Ulis said. “How me and Devin (Booker) were in the gym, me and Zay (Briscoe), me and Jamal (Murray), that’s what these guys are doing. They all want to get better — scared to fail, scared not to make it. That’s what shows they want to be great.”

As what defines a pure hooper, according to Ulis. “Anyone can make a play, anyone can get in the lane, anyone can knock a shot down,” Ulis said. “We have so many options and so much depth, it’s hard not to have fun with this team.”

With the new roster and additions to the coaching staff, the goal is for Kentucky to make a deep run into the NCAA Tournament this year. As for Ulis, he is excited to see what this year’s team can do.

“I can’t say it enough: I’m extremely excited to see how this goes. We’re deep with a lot of players, and they’re skilled.”

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Men's Basketball

Texas Women’s Basketball Takes A Shot at Kentucky Basketball

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entucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari reacts in the first half against the Providence Friars at Greensboro Coliseum.
© John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier this week the Kentucky basketball team caught an unexpected shot. From who? The Texas women’s basketball team. On Tuesday, the Longhorns’ social media team tweeted a video of Drake, a professed Kentucky fan, coming to visit campus and the team.

However the caption is what caught people’s attention, “we don’t have to go to Drake’s house… he comes to ours,” Clearly trying to throw a shot at Kentucky for visiting Drake’s Toronto mansion back in July, during the team’s trip to Canada for GLOBL Jam.

It didn’t take long for the Big Blue Nation to respond, as just 12 minutes later the Tweet’s caption was edited to say “thanks for stopping by🤘”.

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That being said, let’s not act like Drake made a specific trip just to visit the Texas Longhorns, he was in Austin for a stop in his music tour. Not to mention that Drake has attended multiple Kentucky games and events.

Texas will soon be in the SEC, and maybe Drake will be there in Kentucky gear to set the record straight.

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BB Recruiting

Top Kentucky Target Tre Johnson Pushes Decision Date To Spring

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UK Athletics

One of the top players in the class of 2024, Tre Johnson recently made the move to Link Academy in search of high-level competition on a big stage, which is a reason he says is why he will wait until the Spring before making a decision.

The top five guard possesses all of the scoring tools, and is a player that Kentucky really wants. He still has a few visits to take, with Alabama and Arkansas visits coming soon, plus another visit to Kansas, and another visit to Baylor. Johnson previously visited Kentucky back in late January.

Johnson has a final list of Kentucky, Baylor, Texas, Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, and pro options. The Wildcats are rumored to be a top-three option long with Baylor and Texas. This delay may give Kentucky a better chance. With that said, he is not in a big rush to decide, as he is more focused on getting acclimated to his new home at Link Academy, as well as improving as a player.

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Tre Johnson is one of the best pure scorers in all of high school basketball, and is certainly being prioritized by multiple top schools. Current intel suggests that Baylor and Kentucky are the top contenders, but with him pushing back his decision, there is more time to tell.

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