KSR Today: Andrija Jelavić is here and Mark Stoops is happy after scrimmage No. 2

Good morning, folks! After a long wait, the time has finally come: the final piece to Kentucky men’s basketball’s 2025-26 roster arrived in Lexington this weekend.

Croatian stretch forward Andrija Jelavić was spotted at the Cincinnati Open on Saturday sitting next to Wildcats head coach Mark Pope. KSR’s Jack Pilgrim broke news earlier this week that the expectation was Jelavić would finally make his way to the Bluegrass State sometime this weekend. Those sources were spot on as the 6-foot-9 freshman has seemingly jumped through all the necessary hoops to be deemed fully eligible. Already 21 years old with two years of professional basketball under his belt, there is hope that Jelavić can step in right away and make immediate contributions for the ‘Cats.

He’ll have to wait a few more days to see most of his new teammates, though. On August 7, Pope sent everyone off on a two-week summer break (although Jayden Quaintance has already returned to continue ACL rehab). Players will report back on August 21, the fall semester begins August 25, and practice officially picks back up in September.

The season is much closer than it might seem…

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Recapping Kentucky football’s 2nd scrimmage

We’re officially less than two weeks away from the start of Kentucky’s 2025 season.

On Saturday, Mark Stoops and the boys conducted their second and final scrimmage ahead of the opener against Toledo on August 30. Although some players were held out due to minor injuries, there is no long-term injury concern whatsoever from Stoops as the season inches closer. WR Kendrick Law was notably back on the field after missing last weekend’s scrimmage, but the top two RBs — Seth McGowan and Dante Dowdell — were once again sidelined.

Stoops spoke with reporters after the scrimmage to talk more about what went down. Overall, he seemed pleased with his team’s performance. The defense was much improved in the second scrimmage. Zach Calzada continues to perform like QB1, but Cutter Boley‘s name keeps popping up. To learn even more about Saturday’s scrimmage, dive into Adam Luckett’s top takeaways and the post-scrimmage interviews in the video below.

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UK women’s soccer hosting Senior Day

After opening the 2025 season with a 4-0 win over Jackson State on Thursday, Kentucky women’s soccer (1-0-0) returns to the Bell today. The Wildcats will host West Georgia (0-1-0) as part of Senior Day, with kickoff scheduled for 1:00 p.m. ET on the SEC Network+. Kentucky will look to defend its 15-match winning streak at home, which dates back to Oct. 2023.

Seven Kentucky seniors will be honored an hour ahead of opening kick: Dana Dahm, Maddie Eastman, Mallory Glass, Sophie Harlan, Skye Leach, Thalia Morisi, and Catherine Rapp. Gates open at 11:30 a.m. ET to allow fans an opportunity to enjoy pregame festivities.

Kentucky target named Curry Camp MVP

Deron Rippey Jr. will officially visit Kentucky in early October, but before the 6-foot-2 point guard makes his way to campus, he was winning MVP honors at the Curry Camp this week in California. Rippey, ranked No. 12 overall in the 2026 recruiting class, received the MVP trophy from Steph Curry himself. Current Kentucky freshman Kam Williams was working out with Curry at this camp, as well.

Rippey’s stock has blown up this summer and Kentucky has been all over him as a priority target. But Pope has plenty of competition. Below is Rippey’s official visit schedule for the coming months. As you can tell by the schools on his list, he’s a popular recruit.

• Miami (August 27-29)
• North Carolina (August 31-September 2)
• Alabama (September 12-14)
• Texas (September 19-21)
• Syracuse (September 26-28)
• Kentucky (Oct. 3-5)
• Indiana (October 17-19)
• Duke (Oct. 21-23)
• Tennessee (October 25-26)
• Kansas (November 1-3)
• NC State (November 7-9)

The Big Ten wants an expanded CFP

A handful of top college football reporters are hearing that the Big Ten is cooking up an idea to expand the College Football Playoff to include as many as 24 or even 28 teams. Ross Dellenger says the format could feature seven automatic qualifiers for the SEC and Big Ten, five for the ACC and Big 12, two from the Group of 6, and two at-large bids. It would likely remove conference title games, too.

That seems like a massive leap from the current 12-team format. Fans already hate the idea of adding more teams to the college basketball tournament — this one doesn’t seem like it will go over well, either. Luckily, talks are all in the very early stages. Let’s keep them there for now.

A couple of NFL preseason games

And we should see some former Kentucky Wildcats take the field, too. Up first, the Saints host the Jaguars at 1:00 p.m. ET on the NFL Network. New Orleans rosters OL Landon Young, while Jacksonville will roll out DE Josh Hines-Allen and OL Luke Fortner. You’ll get a nice break after that with game two kicking off at 8:00 p.m. ET (FOX) between the Bills and Bears in Chicago. Buffalo has a trio of former ‘Cats: RB Ray Davis, DL Deone Walker, and CB Maxwell Hairston, although Hairston suffered a recent injury that has him week-to-week.