A memorial service will be held for Mike Pratt on Aug. 5 at Memorial Coliseum.
The service is set for 1 p.m. at Memorial Coliseum and guest speakers will be Pratt’s former teammates Dan Issel and Jimmy Dan Conner and Kentucky coach John Calipari. In addition, Pratt’s brother Patrick and step-daughter Christina Stone also will speak at the memorial service. Tom Leach, the Voice of the Wildcats, will serve as the master of ceremonies for the memorial service.
Pratt, a former player and color analyst on the UK Basketball Network died on June 23 at age 73. Pratt (1967-70) was inducted into the UK Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009, the Kentucky Sports Hall of Fame in 2010 and the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame in 2019. He was a second-team All-America selection in 1970 with the Wildcats and finished his career with 1,359 points and 718 rebounds.
Schedule Update
Calipari provided a hint into what the team’s preseason schedule will look like on Friday and the Kentucky coach said he’s “still working on it.”
“You know in non-conference we have Michigan, Michigan State, UCLA, Louisville and Kansas,” he tweeted. “I’m also seeing what other opportunities are available for us. We also know in conference play, we will have home-and-home with Tennessee, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia and Vandy.
“We’re on the road at Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi State and Mississippi. We’ll have home games with Auburn, Texas A&M, LSU and South Carolina. At the end of the day, it will be a top 5 schedule and I can’t wait to compete with these guys.”
Kentucky will take on UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York for the first time on Dec. 17. The Classic, which also features North Carolina and Ohio State, was extended for three years this week and will continue through the 2026. The annual event began in 2014.
Kentucky has compiled a 4-4 record in the yearly event.
Bahamas Tour update
Kentucky’s four games in the Bahamas will be televised on the SEC Network. The Wildcats will take on the Dominican Republic National Team on at 7 p.m. on Aug. 10.
The Wildcats will meet Tec De Monterrey at 7 p.m. on Aug. 11, followed by Carleton University at 7 p.m. and will conclude play in the tour at noon on Aug. 14 against the Bahamas National Team.
“(I had) individual meetings with our players (and) what a group,” Calipari said earlier this week. “They are all bought in to us. Now I get to practice with this them. Talk about being blessed.”
Calipari’s tour across the state at select Kroger locations was a success and the Kentucky coach raised for Western Kentucky tornado victims.
“What a state we live in,” he said. “Unbelievable support. Kroger stepped up to make a donation earlier this week and Coca-Cola just donated $7,500 to help western Kentucky tornado victims with immediate needs like gas, food, household supplies, etc.”
If you would like make a personal donation, you to donate to the tornado relief fund by texting GIVE to (859) 955-8173. If your business would like to help, email @tjbeisner at tj.beisner@uky.edu.”
Keith Taylor is the sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at Keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com and via Twitter at keithtaylor21.
