Welcome to another weekly update on all things Blue Chips!
Last week UK unveiled the official details about this years Bahamas tour, in which our 2022-23 team will compete against professional and international college teams. The NCAA allows schools to take a tour of this nature every four years. This time around, Kentucky will be at Baha Mar in Nassau from August 9 thru August 15. The Cats will play four games against four different opponents – the Dominican U22 National Team, a professional team TBD from Mexico’s Monterrey League, Carleton University from Ottawa, and the Bahamas National team.
The most intriguing opponent for Kentucky will be Carleton University. Since 2003, the Ravens have won 16 National Championships in Canada, and are notorious for taking down D1 Colleges in exhibition games. Notable schools that Carleton has beaten in recent years: Wisconsin, Cincinnati, Baylor, Wichita State, Alabama, Providence, Memphis, and many more. This will be the third time Kentucky has participated in the Bahamas tour, and it’s clear this early season experience pays dividends – the 2014-15 team ended up making the Final Four and going 38-1 on the year, and the 2018-19 went 30-7 and made the Elite 8. Although they may not have gone to the Bahamas, the 2010-11 team took an international tour to Canada and made the Final Four at the end of the year. All games will be broadcast on the SEC Network.
The newcomers for this year’s team arrived on campus over the weekend and moved into the Wildcat Lodge. UK posted a welcome video for freshmen Cason Wallace, Chris Livingston, and Adou Thiero – as well as for transfer Antonio Reeves. The new guys got acquainted with the returners from this past year’s team with a pool party at Coach Cal’s house.
Oscar Tshiebwe is back from his trip home to the Congo! After two weeks abroad, Tshiebwe has returned and is back in the lab with the rest of the team – Coach Cal recently posted an Instagram Picture of all the guys getting their summer conditioning in at the newly remodeled Joe Craft Center. The 2022-23 Revenge Tour is officially underway!
