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Good morning.
Today marks 51 days from Vanderbilt football’s season opener against Middle Tennessee. #51 on the roster is Brett Starr. Who is Brett Starr? He’s a 6’0”, 230-pound redshirt freshman linebacker from Montgomery Bell Academy who wasn’t on the team last fall but joined the team for spring drills. That’s all I know about him. If anyone wants to find a highlight tape from MBA, go for it.
Vanderbilt announced on Wednesday that three players — QB Kyle Shurmur, safety LaDarius Wiley, and OL Justin Skule — will join Derek Mason at SEC Media Days next Thursday in Atlanta. Shurmur, the quarterback who’s been the starter for two and a half seasons, was an obvious choice, and Wiley, the putative senior leader of Vanderbilt’s 2018 defense, seemed likely as well. Skule is a bit of a surprise; while he’s a three-year starter at offensive tackle, Bruno Reagan seemed like a more likely pick if you were going to bring a lineman.
Women’s track added a new recruit for 2018-19 in Taiya Shelby, the Missouri high school state champion in the 800 meters.
Off the West End
Well this isn’t a good look for Notre Dame, which seems to have told recent commit (and Nashville-area recruit) TJ Sheffield that his offer wasn’t valid.
Papa John stepped down from the University of Louisville Board of Trustees after some more, ahem, comments came to light.
Croatia, a country with about as many people as Kentucky, is in the World Cup Final.
Rob Dauster has your July recruiting period primer. Nashville native James Wiseman, now at Memphis East, is one of the top prospects in the country and though he has Vanderbilt on his list, his decision seems to be between Memphis and Kentucky.