Good morning, BBN!

This has been one of the most devastating yet exciting offseason that Kentucky Basketball has ever seen.

While the departure of John Calipari was unexpected and, in most Kentucky fan’s minds, in bad taste, it seemed to have left open an opportunity to unify the fan base – which is exactly what new hire Mark Pope has done.

A true “Kentucky guy” is back in control of the Cats, and one of his first moves was ensuring Kentucky-native recruit Travis Perry would stay home and flipping another Kentucky-native recruit, Trent Noah.

A lot more has happened since then that has continued to bring this fanbase and program together. Field of 68 graded everyone’s offseason, here are their grades; Rob Dauster gave Pope a B- while Jeff Goodman handed down a B+.

It’s close, but because of the unity Pope and his staff have brought, along with the very short timeline he had, I think Pope deserves an A.

It was an interesting 30-minute watch where they broke down their reasoning, so check it out this morning if you have time.

And saying this, how would you grade Mark Pope’s first offseason with the Kentucky Wildcats? Let us know in the comments section!

Tweet(s) of the Day

Olympic Cats are balling!

SOON.

Headlines:

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone Advances to Olympic Final in 400m Hurdles – UK Athletics

She’s the GOAT!

Kentucky Wildcats 2024 Olympic Games HQ – UK Athletics

Get caught up on all things Olympic Cats.

Kentucky Football Notebook (Aug. 6) – UK Athletics

Getting so close you can feel it.

Kentucky’s Chip Trayanum Named Preseason Candidate for Doak Walker Award – UK Athletics

Hopefully he can prove it on the field, but this is a great sign!

Jonathan Owens returns to Bears training camp after supporting Simone Biles at Paris Olympics – Yahoo Sports

Despite social media trying to tear him down, Owens did a great job supporting his wife at the Olympics.

Who will USWNT play next? USA soccer to go for gold vs. surprise finalists Brazil at 2024 Paris Olympics – CBS Sports

The USWNT has had a lot of close games this circuit, but Gold is well within reach.

Joel Embiid laughs off jeers, leads U.S. rout into Olympic semis – ESPN

Embiid silencing the haters.

Charles Barkley changes mind on retirement, reaffirms ‘long-term commitment’ to TNT Sports – Yahoo Sports

Glad Chuck is changing his mind here.

Brandon Aiyuk trade: 49ers have framework in place with Patriots and Browns, Steelers back in mix, per reports – CBS Sports

Been a wild few weeks with Aiyuk, but could be coming to an end as you’re reading this.

Calf injury to keep 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey out for preseason – ESPN

Scary for Niners fans…