By LARRY VAUGHT
Rivals.com national basketball recruiting writer Krysten Peek, who is also a NBA draft analyst for YahooSports, has seen Kentucky signee Boogie Fland play a lot.
The 6-2 five-star point guard was a recruiting priority for coach John Calipari. He averaged 15 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game in 17 Nike EYBL games last summer.
Peek got to watch him at a USA Basketball camp this fall and liked everything she saw.
“He is a great kid off the court but he was amazing on the court at USA Basketball,” Fland said. “He was the top performer there and played really well in front of a lot of NBA scouts. He proved why he is a five-star point guard and was not bothered at all playing in front of all those NBA scouts.”
Peek talked to Bland about what he wanted to show NBA scouts at USA Basketball and said he gave her one of the best answers she’s ever heard from a high school player.
“A lot of times I get improved shooting mechanics and an impressive motor. But he had the most insightful answer I have ever heard,” Peek said. “He told me that when you get to the NBA you are not going to be the one shooting. That will be the veteran players. He said he wanted to show how good he was at the little things. For a 17-year-old kid to have that much insight really shows maturity.”
Peek knows Fland wants to play in the NBA and is projected as a future NBA player. However, she was surprised when he told her Calipari did not stress all the players he’s put into the NBA during his recruitment.
“He said Calipari talked more about how everybody was not built to be a guard at Kentucky and that they said they would do all the could to make him the best player possible and ready for the NBA but if you were not built for, don’t come to Kentucky,” Peek said. “I just figured Cal showed guys a rolodex full of guys he got to the NBA but apparently not. I know Indiana thought they had him but Kentucky’s track record with point guards is just hard to overlook.”
Peek likes the improvement she’s seen from Fland with his touch around the rim.
“He has the right mentality. At 6-2, he’s a smaller guard but he is so fast with the ball in his hands,” Peek said. “He seems to always make the right reads. He will make the extra pass. He has a more polished game than last year when he relied more on athleticism and just throwing his body around to score. He’s got more finesse now rather than just forcing things against bigger, stronger players. He knows he has to find a way to adjust his game to succeed at Kentucky and I think he will do great.”
Peek is also a Jasper Johnson fan. The former Woodford County standout has transferred to Link Academy in Missouri for his junior season and was also at the USA Basketball event where Peek got to see him in person for the first time. The 6-5 guard is a five-star, top 15 player in the 2025 recruiting class.
“That USA camp was stacked with top players and a lot were just out to get their own (points),” Peek said. “Playing at Link has already helped Jasper. He is learning to play off the ball on offense and defense.
“Not being a true point guard, and that is going away in the NBA, he needs to be comfortable on and off the ball and I think he is now from what I saw. He wasn’t forcing anything. He waited for the right moment to make things happen. He wasn’t just driving and shooting. He was patient in what he chose to do with the touches he got and he was very patient with his game.”
Former Kentucky football coach Rich Brooks and his wife, Karen, recently were back in Lexington for a ceremony officially named the field at the renovated indoor practice facility in their honor.
“Without a lot of great players and coaches none of this would have happened,” Brooks said about the honor. “It was a very special time with a lot of former players, coaches and athletic staff members and it was really great to see the families of former players and how they are doing in life and being successful raising their own kids. It was just a very special time for Karen and I.”
Brooks can also sympathize with the criticism Mark Stoops has received at times this season.
“I remember callers to my radio show saying they were tired of me after four straight middle tier bowl games and want to win the SEC,” Brooks said. “Fan expectations are high and should be. They support the school and want success. Coach Stoops is probably as frustrated as I was that we could not crack the upper echelon of the SEC and get to the SEC championship game.”
Brooks said Stoops having UK bowl eligible eight straight years is “remarkable” considering the SEC is a “meat grinder” for every team.
“Any Kentucky fan that does not understand that needs to do some research and look at how Kentucky football has fared over the years. What he is doing is remarkable,” Brooks said.
Former Kentucky basketball player Cameron Mills now works with the UK Sports Network and recently had the chance to do one-on-one interviews with each UK basketball player to give fans some insights into their personalities.
Mills said the player who surprised/impressed him the most was freshman Aaron Bradshaw, who remains out with a foot injury.
“He is just fun. He’s easy going, good hearted and goofy, and I mean that is the most complimentary way,” Mills, a key contributor to UK’s 1998 national championship team, said. “He was having fun with me. Some guys get nervous, especially freshmen, but he is full of confidence.”
Bradshaw said one thing that made a huge impression on Mills about Bradshaw’s perspective on basketball and how close this team apparently is.
“He said, ‘Can we be a close team when we lose?’ My eyes got big. We fans love talking about 40-0 and think the team should never lose,” Mills said. “He said we are going to lose a game and when we lose and adversity hits we will still be close.
“It sounded like I was talking to Mark Pope in 1995 when I played. He talked all the time about embracing adversity and whether you quit or double down harder. That’s one of the biggest things he brought to the 1996 (national championship) team and it carried over to 1997 and 1998. But to hear a true freshman say that was impressive and tells me he will be a team leader.”
National football signing day is about a month away but Kentucky coach Mark Stoops has a lot of roster management to do before he finalizes his incoming freshman players for the 2024 season.
He has to worry about losing players to the transfer portal and also which seniors might opt for a COVID year and return for an extra year.
“Internally you work on you and talk about it and look at it all year. There’s some things that are out of your hands, but you try to have the best fix you can,” Stoops said. “It’s on our radar.
“It’s something we look at. It’s something we think about internally. We don’t have any of those discussions with our players until it gets to be after the last game of the year. At least the schedule they have in place for us now allows us coaches to be on campus following our last game. That’s a change.
“I think last year’s the first year, but that’s a good thing to let us be here in-house and have meetings with our players and with our coaches and get a fix on our own roster before we start hitting the road and closing on guys for the December signing period.”
One of the least publicized freshmen on coach John Calipari’s team this season is Jordan Burks, a late signee known for his scoring last season in Overtime Elite.
“Burks is a guy no one ever thinks about as being a difference maker,” former UK All-American Jack Givens said. “He is one of those guys I used to hate to guard because he never stops moving. He has this knack for being around the ball.”
Burks is listed as a 6-8 guard on UK’s roster but he’s had to play inside a lot so far for coach John Calipari because three 7-footers are not available to play yet.
Givens is glad he did not have a player like Burks guarding him when he played for coach Joe Hall and helped the Cats win the 1978 national title.
“He is a player I used to guard that I called a bench player because if you are guarding him, coach Hall would have me on the bench,” Givens said. “Coach Hall hated if we gave up offensive rebounds and Jordan always finds a way to get there.
“He is always working around the glass. He is a bench player and would put me on the bench. He is quite a player that I think most UK fans probably do not fully appreciate yet.”
Freshman Shamar Porter of Nashville had offers from Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Penn State and a lot of others before picking Kentucky. The 6-3, four-star receiver was one of UK’s top players in the 2023 signing class but even when UK’s passing game was struggling this season, he did not play.
Offensive coordinator Liam Coen revealed recently Porter injured his ankle in preseason practice and that’s why he’s been behind other players this season. However, Coen has not lost confidence in Porter.
“Shamar Porter is going to be a guy down the road that can help us win football games, whether that’s over the next couple of weeks or going into bowl prep or going into the offseason,” Coen said. “We’re young but we’ve got experience right now.
“There’s not probably a ton of true freshmen or young guys that will emerge over the next couple of weeks. But there are guys that you’re looking forward to coming on once we get into that bowl prep and when you get into the offseason, that can help you move forward.”
Another freshman’s progress that Coen has liked even though he’s not been on the field is offensive lineman Malachi Wood.
“He’s transformed his body over the last year in the weight room. He’s dedicated himself to this program and he’s gotten better and better over the last couple of weeks,” Coen said.
Wood, a Madison Central graduate, knew he needed to add weight and become more physical. He expected to be redshirted and hopes to compete for playing time in 2024.
Quote of the Week: “Asia is a ‘baller’ and an elite competitor. She loves the game and will play hard 24/7. We can’t wait to coach her and see her explode at the college level,” Kentucky volleyball coach Craig Skinner on signee Asia Thigpen.
Quote of the Week 2: “I don’t know if there will be a faster player in the SEC this year than him. He just has elite speed,” SEC Network analyst Dane Bradshaw on UK freshman guard Rob Dillingham.
Quote of the Week 3: “It’s a whole new team so sometimes it just ends up different. It’s super encouraging to be on this side of the dogfight and that’s not the last one we’re going to be in. I think it’s a good lesson to know that we are going to be in situations like that and also against bigger, tougher opponents and we’ve got to be able to pull them out,” Kentucky senior guard Maddie Scherr after a comeback win over East Tennessee State.