What were the top 10 most-read sports stories of 2018 on Kentucky.com?
Lists are fun. Can you guess what might have been the top 10 most-read sports stories on Kentucky.com in 2018?
The breakdown might surprise you.
Kentucky basketball stories are a given, but not the game stories you might suspect. The furor over Benny Snell’s ejection from the Music City Bowl also makes an appearance.
Here’s a rundown of some of the most-read stories we published in 2018.
10. UK basketball: What’s next, Part 1
“Whatever happens, happens.” A look at who’s likely to go, who might stay on this UK basketball team,” by Ben Roberts.
The first question after Kentucky basketball season ends is always “What will the team look like next year?” Roberts offered this run-down of each of UK’s most-likely candidates to go pro, including Kevin Knox, Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Jarred Vanderbilt, PJ Washington, Hamidou Diallo and Wenyen Gabriel.
None of the players offered any confirmation of their plans following the tough loss to Kansas State, but of the potential pros, only PJ Washington eventually returned. The Cats also ultimately said good-bye to Sacha Killeya-Jones and Tai Wynard over the summer.
9. Bad blood
“Kansas State players angry that UK didn’t shake hands after game. See what Calipari said,” by Staff.
This controversy over a perceived slight after UK’s NCAA Tournament loss went viral on more sites than Kentucky.com after a Kansas State player complained about the apparent slight in his postgame comments.
Video of the postgame clearly showed UK players lining up to shake hands after the buzzer while Kansas State players mobbed together on the court in celebration. The controversy quickly simmered down.
“They were turned and celebrating, so I walked off,” Calipari said of the controversy. “There was no disrespect for anything. It’s just that they were celebrating, and I was happy for them.”
8. Kids these days
“What’s wrong with the next wave of college basketball stars? ‘Very few of them give effort,’” by Ben Roberts.
The effort displayed by some of the nation’s top high school basketball recruiting prospects on the spring all-star circuit drew jeers from a number of NBA scouts and other observers in 2018. The discontent seemed to peak around the Hoop Summit, where standouts wearing a Team USA jersey lost to the World Select Team by double digits.
“No fight whatsoever from this US group, who easily could have lost by 20,” tweeted ESPN analyst Jonathan Givony.
Whether those initial reactions prove to be true will play out over their careers. Note that Duke’s Zion Williamson was nursing an injury during this time. He seems to have gotten better.
7. A fan favorite passes
“Former Kentucky player Bret Bearup dies suddenly at age 56,” by Jerry Tipton.
Bret Bearup played for Joe B. Hall’s UK teams in the early 1980s. The 6-foot-9 forward was a fan favorite even though his production at UK did not, perhaps, live up to expectations he had coming out of high school.
“He was a terrific prospect,” Hall recalled. “But he had trouble getting in the flow of the action. But he was a great athlete. One of the best ones I had.”
6. UK basketball: What’s next, Part 2
“Decision day over. Here’s how Kentucky’s 2018-19 roster looks now,” by Staff.
The last day for prospective pro players to keep their name in the NBA Draft was May 30 in 2018. With all the speculation of who would stay and who would go running rampant, this story topped the Kentucky.com charts for more than day. This roster noted Ashton Hagans was expected to reclassify and join the 2019 class.
5. Football love story
“Eagles quarterback proposes to girlfriend at Kentucky Castle,” by Mike Stunson.
OK, OK. This is not “technically” a sports story, but readers sure did eat up the fact that Philadelphia’s Carson Wentz proposed to his Central Kentucky girlfriend Maddie Oberg at CastlePost outside Versailles just after the Super Bowl.
Wentz was injured for the Eagles’ run to the championship, but apparently used his time well in securing Oberg’s hand in marriage.
4. Don’t eject Benny
“Kentucky’s Barnhart sends strongly worded letter to Pac-12 about bowl officiating,” by Jennifer Smith.
The bizarre ejection of Kentucky football standout Benny Snell from the Music City Bowl by a Pac-12 referee did not sit well with fans, commentators or UK Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart.
“We feel great disappointment that what was supposed to be a quality bowl experience for our young people and our university was marred by these incidents,” Barnhart wrote to the Pac-12.
Snell missed the second half after the referee ejected the star running back for touching him, even though it appeared the ref initiated the contact. Regardless, UK went on to lose to Northwestern in overtime. Having the SEC’s leading rusher in the second half would have probably helped.
3. Flipping recruits
“DJ Jeffries backs out of UK basketball commitment. More bad news could follow,” by Ben Roberts.
When Memphis hired Penny Hardaway as head coach, it almost immediately spelled change was coming for two highly regarded prospects UK had targeted. Both players had ties to the former NBA player and AAU coach. The first basketball shoe to drop was 6-foot-7 forward DJ Jeffries’ decommitment from the Cats. Jeffries later committed to Memphis.
Hardaway ended up getting both UK targets from his AAU squad when five-star center James Wiseman committed to the Tigers shortly after an unofficial visit in November.
2. Derby power
“Baffert’s Justify thunders to victory in rainiest Kentucky Derby ever,” by Jared Peck.
Being among the first to post the relevant details of a major event has its benefits. This story ran wild as soon as the 144th Kentucky Derby was in the books. Justify merited all the attention, going on to become only the 13th Thoroughbred ever to win horse racing’s Triple Crown.
1. Sour grapes
“Losing owner calls for investigation into tactics used in Belmont Stakes,” by John Clay.
Justify’s Triple Crowning moment did not come without controversy at the Belmont Stakes.
Mike Repole, the co-owner of Belmont fourth-place finisher Vino Rosso, complained of how Justify stablemate Restoring Hope was run in the race by jockey Florent Geroux. Both horses were trained by Bob Baffert.
“It definitely seemed to me he was more of an offensive lineman than a racehorse trying to win the Belmont,” Repole told the New York Post after the race, “and Justify was a running back trying to run for a touchdown.”
Repole emphatically called Justify a “super horse” deserving of the Triple Crown, but nevertheless wanted stewards to review Geroux’s ride. New York stewards reportedly did speak to Geroux about the race, but no details were released. Geroux told The Daily Racing Form he did nothing unusual.
This story was originally published December 31, 2018 at 10:17 AM.