When Northern Kentuckian and former Newport High star Taylen Kinney makes his national announcement on his college choice Sunday, Sept. 28, on the CBS Sports College Basketball YouTube Channel, it’s looking like the five-star combo guard will much more likely choose KU – Kansas – over UK, and his native Kentucky.
That’s the latest intel from the folks at Rivals.com who have upped their Kansas pick to 60 percent confidence for Kinney, now listed as 6-foot-3 as he enters his second year at Atlanta’s Overtime Elite program. Also missing out will be home-state Louisville, another finalist program that was near the top of Kinney’s list for a time.
The announcement will be live at 1:15 p.m. on the 28th. And while UK has stayed involved with Kinney, the sense is that the Wildcats are more interested in another five-star guard, Deron Rippey Jr.
More ‘local’ than you’d ever know
When the Louisville Courier-Journal highlighted the play of a pair of starting UK tight ends last weekend, they called Josh Kattus and Willie Rodriguez “locals” as in Greater Cincinnati guys – Kattus from Cincinnati Moeller and Rodriguez from Covington Catholic and Taylor Mill.
But now that the Kattus family (father is former Cincinnati Bengal Eric Kattus) has moved to Newport, the “local” for UK’s starting duo represents an all-Northern Kentucky tight end that combined for five catches and two touchdowns in UK’s 48-23 win over Eastern Michigan. The senior Kattus (6-4, 247) had three catches for 61 yards and a TD while Rodriguez, a 6-4, 252-pound sophomore, had two receptions for 28 yards and his first college TD.
The Courier-Journal quoted Kattus on Rodriguez’ TD: “Oh, I was so happy for him. That’s my guy. You know, I actually hosted him on his official visits, and to see him progress as a man and as a player, he’s doing really good, and it’s always something you’ll remember — one of your first touchdowns — so I’m glad I got to be a part of that and support him and hype him up.”
One more tight end last weekend
Great to see another former CovCath tight end – and Notre Dame All-American – Michael Mayer back with the Las Vegas Raiders and catching a pass in the Monday Night Football game against the LA Chargers. Mayer caught two passes for nine yards in the Raiders’ 20-9 loss to LA.
Ready for some end-of-summer baseball?
There’s a new team in town
Former Cincinnati Reds’ player/coach Billy Hatcher and former NKU baseball coach Todd Asalon are joining Todd Reams’ Riverfront Baseball for a fall baseball clinic, Saturday, Sept. 27, at Covington’s Bill Cappel Sports Complex, 4305 Decoursey, Latonia, from 9:30-12 noon that will focus on teaching the fundamentals of fielding, throwing and base-running.
“We are looking to build up our program,” says Riverfront Baseball Pres. Todd Reams of the revamped, renamed baseball organization. Spots are limited, Reams says, with a cost of $65 that gets the participant a t-shirt and a gift voucher. Call 859-512-4236 for further information. Registration deadline is Sunday.
Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @dweber3440.