(from UKathletics.com)
Pre-season honors are beginning to roll in for UK linebacker Avery Williamson, as well as other Wildcats (Photo by Chet White)
Senior linebacker Avery Williamson, junior defensive end Alvin “Bud” Dupree and sophomore punter Landon Foster have been honored by Phil Steele’s College Football as Preseason All-Southeastern Conference selections, it was announced by the publication on Tuesday.
Williamson, who had a career year last season for the Wildcats, was selected as a second-team linebacker, while Dupree was named as a fourth-team defensive lineman and Foster a fourth-team punter.
Williamson had a breakout junior season in 2012, earning All-SEC honors from Phil Steele’s College Football and CollegeSportsMadness.com. The native of Milan, Tenn., is the returning starter at middle linebacker after finishing second in the SEC and seventh nationally in tackles last season. Williamson, who has played in 37 career games, started all 12 games for UK last season, posting eight double-digit tackle games, including a career-best 20 against Vanderbilt. The physical linebacker had a streak of four games with a least 13 tackles, becoming the first Wildcat to do so since Randy Holleran in 1990. Williamson also had 4.5 tackles-for-loss, three sacks, four pass breakups, two fumbles caused, a fumble recovery and an interception last season.
Dupree, who is slated to play defensive end this season after splitting time at defensive end and linebacker his first two seasons, had a great sophomore season in 2012. The native of Irwinton, Ga., earned Sophomore All-America Second-Team honors by CollegeFootballNews.com, while Phil Steele’s College Football and CollegeFootballMadness.com named him an All-SEC performer in 2012. Dupree finished top 10 in the SEC in tackles, quarterback sacks and tackles-for-loss last season, starting all 12 games. Overall, Dupree had 91 tackles in his sophomore season with 12.5 tackles-for-loss and 6.5 quarterback sacks. The junior set a career-high in tackles last season vs. WKU with 12, while he had double-digit tackles at Tennessee with a career-best three tackles-for-loss.
Foster had an immediate impact for the Wildcats last season as a true freshman handling all of the punting responsibilities and posting a 42.9 yards-per-punt average – the best mark ever by a UK freshman punter. The strong season led Foster to Freshman All-America honors by Scout.com and CollegeFootballNews.com, while SEC coaches tabbed Foster a Freshman All-SEC performer. The native of Franklin, Tenn., averaged a season-high 50.7 yards in UK’s win over Kent State, while his longest punt was a 58-yard blast against Arkansas. In all, Foster trapped UK’s opponents inside their own 20-yardline an impressive 13 times last season.
(from UKathletics.com) MEMPHIS, Tenn. – University of Kentucky men’s golf sophomore Will Bishop won a three-way playoff with four-time PGA Tour winner Ben Crane and Jack Newman on Monday at the U.S. Open Sectional Qualifying to advance as a second alternate in the 2013 U.S. Open at the Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, Pa. Bishop, [...]
TEMPE, ARIZONA — The season ended where it began for the University of Kentucky softball field – at Farrington Stadium, on the campus of Arizona State University. The Wildcats lost to ASU in February and again on Sunday in the finals of the NCAA Super Regional, but in between, they grew up. The Cats, with [...]
TEMPE, ARIZONA – “And then softballs began flying out of the ballpark.” Your faithful correspondent knew there was a chance he would be typing those words in that order after Kentucky’s opening-round game at Arizona State in the NCAA Super Regional. Only, he didn’t think they would pertain to the Wildcats. After all, the [...]
Following is from Keeneland’s GD Heironymous, who picked winners for us throughout the Keeneland spring meet AND picked Orb in Kentucky Derby 139: 138th Preakness (G1) This race has traditionally been stronger than the Derby when it comes to identifying a future stallion prospect thru the likes of Bernardini, Curlin, Big Brown, Lookin At Lucky and [...]
When the Kentucky baseball Wildcats open play in Columbia, Missouri Thursday night in their final regular season series, head coach Gary Henderson will turn in a lineup card with nine names on it. You could understand if he submitted one with just two: Jekyll and Hyde. The won-loss record his team has fashioned in 2013 [...]
(From UK Athletics): Coming off a midweek win over No. 15 Indiana, Kentucky will conclude its 2013 regular season with a three-game series at Missouri, with first pitch of the series opener slated for 7 p.m. ET on Thursday at Taylor Stadium. The series will resume on Friday at 7 p.m. ET and conclude [...]
(from UK Athletics) Micheal Thomas led off the seventh inning with a game-tying home run and A.J. Reed singled with two outs to driving in the go-ahead run and lift Kentucky to a 5-3 comeback win over No. 15 Indiana,on Tuesday night at Cliff Hagan Stadium. Kentucky (29-22) entered the bottom of the seventh trailing 3-2 [...]
For the fifth consecutive season the University of Kentucky softball team has received an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament with the selection committee naming Kentucky as the No. 12 national seed and one of 16 regional host locations for the first time in program history, it was announced Sunday. The double-elimination regional, which [...]
Here are the Kentucky Derby picks from GD Heironymous, who picked horses for us during the Keeneland spring meet (with some success, I might add). GD says his key horses will be Revolutionary (#3) and Orb (#16) and he will play them over some combination of Normandy Invasion (#5), Palace Malice (#10), Lines of Battle [...]
