Kentucky football officially announced the departure of Mark Stoops on Monday morning. In less than 24 hours, the position was filled.
Will Stein returns to his Old Kentucky Home and has become the head coach of the Wildcats as of late Monday night, per UK Athletics.
After an impressive stint as the offensive coordinator at Oregon, Stein is expected to bring a high-octane offense.
He played for Louisville but grew up an avid Kentucky fan. His dad played football for the Cats.
The blood runs thick.
Despite the last two seasons being a bust under Stoops, he is still the winningest coach in Kentucky football history. He has big shoes to fill. Stoops has nothing to hang his head about. It was just time for change.
With Pope coaching Men’s basketball, and Kenny Brooks at the helm now of women’s sports, a new era of Kentucky Athletics is among us.
Speaking of other sports, Kentucky Women’s volleyball is the SEC champion. If you didn’t get a chance to see their Finals win against Texas, you missed out.
Lady Cats volleyball made the NCAA tournament for the 21st year in a row and is this year’s overall No. 2 seed. They host Wofford Thursday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+. They are worth the watch.
As of writing, I am waiting on Pope’s Wildcats to take on North Carolina. Mo Dioubate is still out with an ankle injury, which hurts us.
Jaland Lowe is also still sidelined with a shoulder injury. I am not sure we will see Lowe until SEC play, and that is if we are lucky. Word is, he may require surgery and I do not see Coach Pope pushing him.
Jayden Quaintance has not participated in any contact during practice. I also do not see him playing at least until after the winter break.
He is a projected NBA lottery pick recovering from an ACL tear (which is a tough injury to recover from). Put JQ back out too soon and the Cats will never see him.
After a tough loss to Louisville and falling flat against Michigan State, fair-weather fans were calling for Pope’s head.
To be blunt, I think that is ridiculous.
We are down two starters who are critical to this team.
We lost to a mediocre Ohio State team by 20 points last season in the CBS Sports Classic at the same venue (Madison Square Garden). The Buckeyes did not even make the NCAA tournament.
We barely squeezed by Louisville and Duke.
If we get hammered by North Carolina and Gonzaga this week, I admit, it will not be fun. But we are down three starters against the Tar Heels, and depending on Dioubate’s timeline, maybe against the Zags, too.
Healthy, this team is bound for at least the Sweet Sixteen.
And quit hatin’ on my guy Otega Oweh. If he does not put up 25, people are shouting, “He’s not the same,” and “Might as well sit him on the bench.”
00 is the same consistent player. He has put up double digits in every game this season. That includes the Louisville and Michigan State losses for which fans were calling for his starting position.
The guy is still an absolute stud.
Calm down, Cats fans. We have three months of basketball left to play.
Shoutout to Collin Chandler for throwing down the nastiest dunk of the year. The guy is fun to watch.
Go Cats.