KSR Today: NFL Preseason, Fall Camp, MBB wraps up summer and Nike

The kids are going back to school and football is ramping up as the basketball teams head home following summer workouts. As crazy as it sounds, it’s almost fall, y’all.

Camp is in full swing for Mark Stoops and the Wildcats, with the season opener now just 22 days away. Talking season is over with SEC and UK Media Days behind us, along with vanilla Fan Day and media open practice opportunities coming and going. Now, the pads are popping at the Joe Craft Football Training Facility and we’re getting a feel for what to expect in 2025.

That’s overlapping with real-life games being played in the NFL where many former Wildcats are either trying to make rosters or preparing for key roles this season. After the Hall of Fame Game last week, we got three matchups on Thursday with three more on the schedule Friday evening.

We’ll start there as we get you ready for the weekend today on KSR.

Cats in the NFL Preseason

Four former Cats took the field on Thursday, including one taking extended reps at quarterback for the Ravens. How’d they all look to open preseason action?

Baltimore Ravens def. Indianapolis Colts 24-16

• Devin Leary (BAL) – 3/12, 43 yards and 1 INT

Seattle Seahawks tie Las Vegas Raiders 23-23

• D’Eryk Jackson (SEA) – 5 TKL (2 solo)
• Quinton Bohanna (SEA) – 1 TKL
• Lonnie Johnson (LV) – Injured

Philadelphia Eagles def. Cincinnati Bengals 34-27

• Darian Kinnard (PHI) – Backup RG

Friday Schedule

Detroit Lions at Atlanta Falcons

• Josh Paschal (DET)

Cleveland Browns at Carolina Panthers

• Brenden Bates (CLE)

Washington Commanders at New England Patriots

• Chris Rodriguez Jr. (WAS)

Jelly Roll inspires Kentucky comeback season

The Wildcats are looking to a Grammy-nominated artist for inspiration in their own comeback story following a disappointing 4-8 season in 2024. Brad White said Thursday that he showed the team a video of Jelly Roll’s speech to the Tennessee Titans about his own struggles and overcoming adversity, along with the importance of building strong relationships to reach your goals.

“I showed that to the guys just because, man, you can’t just build that consistency for an hour or two on the football field,” White said. “Or an hour or two in the locker room. It’s gotta be all the time. So we’ve been pushing that because there has been a fair amount of turnover.”

Elsewhere, defensive line depth, standouts and leaders were all top talking points, with DL coach Anwar Stewart, DL Kahlil Saunders, LB Alex Afari, LB Landyn Watson and DL Mi’Quise Humphrey-Grace all joining White in the media availability.

Take a look at all 26 minutes of interviews below:

Kick off the 2025 Kentucky football season with KSR Plus! We’re giving you behind-the-scenes intel you won’t find anywhere else. Join the most vibrant online community in BBN ahead of a pivotal season for Mark Stoops.

Basketball Cats leave for summer break

As the football team ramps up, the basketball teams are cooling down. On campus since the start of June with eight weeks of NCAA-permitted practices, things wrapped up at the Joe Craft Center on August 7 with the gym locked up and the kids sent home.

They’ll return ahead of the start of the fall semester with classes starting on August 25 — joined by Croatian sensation Andrija Jelavic, he confirmed this week.

After the final practice of the summer session on Thursday, the UK Sports Video department shared some highlights to replay over the next few weeks while we wait for official preseason practices to begin.

Kam Williams? Splash.

Collin Chandler? Bang.

Jasper Johnson? Southpaw. Butter.

Malachi Moreno? Pick-and-roll assassin.

Hopefully we get a full summer recap highlight clip in the coming days, but these will certainly scratch the itch until then.

Checks over stripes, that’s what we like

It was reported back in late July that Kentucky and Nike will extend their apparel partnership together, continuing a decades-long relationship that’s only getting sweeter with time. KSR confirmed pen was on the cusp of hitting paper on the new long-term deal on July 21, and now, we have the details of that contract.

Jon Hale of the LHL obtained the deal via an open records request, reporting that it is a 10-year extension through the 2034-35 school year worth at least $76.5 million. Beyond the base pay, which more than doubles Kentucky’s earnings this year ($2.125M to $7.5M), there will also be a lucrative royalty rate of 15 percent on all products with a UK logo and 5 percent rate on all shoe sales, guaranteeing a minimum of $4M in royalties over the life of the contract.

Nick Roush shared all of the details on the website this morning.