Kentucky added a second marquee opponent to the exhibition schedule on Wednesday.
The Wildcats will face Georgetown on Oct. 30 at Rupp Arena. Kentucky will open the exhibition season against Purdue on Oct. 24.
The two teams haven’t played since the Hoyas defeated the Wildcats 53-40 in the NCAA national semifinals in 1984. Georgetown owns a 2-0 edge in the series. The game won’t count in the official record book, but Kentucky coach Mark Pope welcomed the addition of Georgetown.
“We want to play the hardest schedule,” he said. “We want to play the best teams. We want to win the most games. We want to have the best players. We want to have the highest net aisle. We have the coolest uniforms. We want to have the most media attention. This is Kentucky and we're going to do this the very best we can.”
New NCAA rules now allow college programs to play each other in exhibition games beginning this season. The contest will be Kentucky’s first against a Division I opponent.
HAWTHORNE COMMITS TO KENTUCKY
On Tuesday night, Pope and the Wildcats got a commitment from Braydon Hawthorne, a high school senior who was previously signed to play college basketball at West Virginia. He brings UK's roster count to 14.
Hawthorne is a 6-foot-8 small forward from West Virginia. Hawthorne is ranked by the 247Sports Composite as a four-star recruit and as the No. 101 overall prospect in the 2025 high school recruiting class.
Hawthorne, who played for Huntington Prep in West Virginia, made his new college choice in a live-streamed announcement with 247Sports on YouTube. He picked UK from a group of five finalists that included Duke, Kentucky, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech and West Virginia in full.
USA HOOPS
Pope, along with incoming freshmen Jasper Johnson and Malachi Moreno, will participate in the USA Basketball U19 National Training Camp in Colorado Springs beginning on June 14.
Pope will serve in a coaching capacity, while Johnson and Moreno will compete for a spot in the national team that will compete in the FIBA U10 World Cup in Switzerland. The roster will be finalized by June 21 and the World Cup is set for June 28-July 6.
Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd will coach the team.
WOODS TO COACH LA FAMILIA
Sean Woods will coach “La Familia,” the UK alumni team, in The Basketball Tournament that will be held July 18-22 at Memorial Coliseum.
Woods will coach a roster that currently includes Willie Cauley-Stein, Doron Lamb, DeAndre Liggins, Aaron Harrison and Andrew Harrison.
"I feel honored and privileged to be a part of La Familia for the second year," Woods said. After last year's terrific experience, I'm grateful that [La Familia general manager] Twany Beckham has asked me to be the head coach. We're looking forward to an even bigger and better experience than we did last summer. With the roster Twany has assembled, I'm very confident that we have a great chance of winning TBT and will continue to uphold Wildcat pride over the summer."
Woods was recently named the boys basketball coach at Scott County High School.
TORNADO RELIEF
Kentucky will be taking donations for victims of last Friday’s tornado, May 22-23 at Kroger Field. Donations will be accepted from 4-8 p.m. on Thursday and 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Friday at the Blue Lot adjacent to Alumni Drive.
Items that are needed include rakes and shovels, trash bags, cleaning supplies, paper goods, non-perishable foods and flashlights and lanterns.
AP file photo
