https://jensmith712.journoportfolio.comRSS Feed for Jen SmithenTue, 24 May 2022 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/article212104024.htmlTue, 24 May 2022 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/article212104024.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/article212104024.htmlTue, 24 May 2022 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/article212104024.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/article212104024.htmlTue, 24 May 2022 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/article212104024.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/article212104024.htmlTue, 24 May 2022 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/article212104024.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article156560119.htmlTue, 24 May 2022 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article156560119.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article156560119.htmlTue, 24 May 2022 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article156560119.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/article215423480.htmlLaShae Halsel was playing with friends on a day off from school when she saw a shiny car pull up in front of her house just down the street. “Two men in uniform got out,” she recalled. “I just stopped. Then I started running to the house.” By the time her 9-year-old legs got Halsel to the front door, the men were gone and she found her older brother, Donovan, there in tears. The men had come to speak to their mother, but she was at work. “He said the men were crying. He knew,” Halsel said ofSun, 05 Aug 2018 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/article215423480.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article214744765.htmlIn a multitude of minuscule ways, Josh Allen has been training his entire life to be an outside linebacker. Rarely has there been a direct path, or a path of least resistance in front of him. The Kentucky senior always has had to twist and turn, to contort his body to get around a 320-pound guy — whether real or metaphoric — standing in the way of his desired destination. Allen, whose name is being mentioned among potential first-round NFL Draft picks next year, has had plenty of bypasses andFri, 13 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article214744765.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/article214326339.htmlEarlier this summer, Mitch Barnhart balked at the rising cost of college athletics. “We’re growing faster than we have in the past and a lot of that is things we can’t control,” the Kentucky athletics director said in an interview with the Herald-Leader. He rattled off a list of logical culprits: “Travel expenses have become difficult (and the) cost of higher education has become significantly more.” And then Barnhart mentioned one new operating expense that isn’t getting a lot of attention,Thu, 05 Jul 2018 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/article214326339.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article213652299.htmlLandon Foster didn’t have time to think about the wave of reactions sure to come from making his personal story quite public. He was on a deadline. “That was a busy day,” he said of Wednesday. “I was looking at a lot of comparable farm properties in Arkansas.” Foster is many things: a former punter at Kentucky, a soon-to-be graduate student in finance at Vanderbilt, a gay man who just came out on a national platform. And an intern for LandFund Partners. It was his role there that kept him frFri, 22 Jun 2018 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article213652299.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/article212104024.htmlIf the University of Kentucky gets key items on its Memorial Coliseum renovation wish list it will cost the school about $15 million, according to documents released to the Herald-Leader. A feasibility study commissioned by the UK Athletics Department says that renovating the 68-year-old building at the center of campus could have a big price tag. Updating the aging facility probably will be an important part of the university’s upcoming capital campaign, which has not kicked off yet. “I don’Tue, 29 May 2018 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/article212104024.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article177047671.htmlA little more than a week ago, Dalton Green was just like any other kid. He did normal 11-year-old boy things: soccer practice, corny jokes, Nerf gun wars with his dad and quiet moments zooming Hot Wheels across the floor. “He’s one of those kids that loves to talk,” said Doug, Dalton’s dad. “And I would beg him, ‘Please, please, please just be quiet for five minutes.’ “I will never ask him to be quiet again.” A silent, unresponsive Dalton in that big bed at the pediatric intensive care unitWed, 04 Oct 2017 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article177047671.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/article166555287.htmlWalk with Kentucky’s athletics director through the concourses of Memorial Coliseum and you will see the past. Not in the dated trophy cases or the yellowing, cracking ceiling tiles. No, the past would be present on brand-new, state-of-the-art video screens side by side with trophies dating back decades to great moments in University of Kentucky history. “A walking tour of the building,” Mitch Barnhart offers. “How cool would that be? Really cool.” In his mind, Barnhart sees history come toThu, 10 Aug 2017 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/article166555287.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article156560119.htmlThe blue shag carpet just couldn’t contain the thuds and thumps of four rambunctious boys at bedtime. “It was quite the rumpus,” said Dee Stoops, a mother of six, including the four brothers who were creating the clatter reminiscent of a Barnum & Bailey circus — elephants included — in their shared upstairs bedroom. “Their dad would march up the steps and they’d know they were in trouble,” she said, laughing. “He was stern.” But by the time Ron Stoops Sr. would get back down the stairs of theFri, 16 Jun 2017 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article156560119.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article149373039.htmlIt was like a magic act performed on campus last week when officials yanked a sheet off a large picture of Commonwealth Stadium to reveal the rendering of the new name: “Kroger Field.” But it takes quite a bit more than that to formally alter the name of a 44-year-old venue that sits in a conspicuous place in the city and on campus. There’s quite a bit of physical, emotional and digital magic still to be done. “Obviously there’s a lot of roads to go down, but we’re doing our best to figure ouMon, 08 May 2017 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article149373039.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/article134383109.htmlAnthony Epps knows the crazy that is Kentucky basketball. He lived it and breathed it during his four years in a Wildcats uniform. The former UK point guard smiled widely as he left Memorial Coliseum on Sunday and witnessed the crazy again. Crazy came this time in the form of a line that went on for what he called “forever and ever” to get an autograph from his daughter Makayla, a star senior on the women’s team. The younger Epps hadn’t even scored her final basket in the Cats’ victory overThu, 23 Feb 2017 00:00:00 +0000https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/article134383109.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/article124005119.htmlEven before they became lifelong friends, Pat Summitt lumped them together. The Tennessee coach had heard in the breeze that one of her players might have been spotted at the football dorm, a no-no for the Lady Vols. So instead of summoning Kyra Elzy for an old-fashioned talking-to, the coach grabbed teammate Niya Butts instead. “Coach Summitt comes to me and was like, ‘If she does anything else and gets in trouble, you’re going home,’” Butts recalled with a laugh some 20 years later. “I lookSat, 31 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/article124005119.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article122937994.htmlThe roar of the jet engine helped drown out the overwhelming silence. The quiet ride gave Kentucky’s football players and coaches plenty of time to absorb the loss they’d just experienced at Florida. “They beat us bad; they beat us so bad,” said UK wide receiver Alexander Montgomery, who was on the sideline for the 45-7 loss at The Swamp on Sept. 10. “That was embarrassing for all of us. They embarrassed us on CBS.” It was the second straight week of angry, long faces in the Cats’ locker roomSun, 25 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article122937994.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article121339453.htmlWith his fingertips, he gently traces the discolored lines. Some are older wounds guarded by hardened, darkened tissue. Some are wounds still soft from his most recent surgery. These raised dots and lines — scars from five surgeries in three years — tell the story of how Alexander Montgomery’s college football career ended. But there are other scars, ones that can’t be so gently traced, that have shaped who he is and who he will become. Those scars tell the story of a lifetime of isolation,Fri, 16 Dec 2016 00:00:00 +0000https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article121339453.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article98161852.htmlHe stood on the sidewalk outside of a Burger King. His quivering hands matched only by his quivering lips, the 11-year-old boy held a cup with a few coins in it. He quietly asked for spare change as people went in and out the glass door. A car across the parking lot idled nearby with his father inside. Cory Love adored his son, but he had to teach him a lesson. “You might as well start practicing now,” the former U.S. Marine had just finished telling Courtney, his son. “He cried and cried.Fri, 26 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article98161852.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article97246017.htmlCenter Jon Toth learned toughness from his momTue, 23 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article97246017.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article91531787.htmlWhen Kentucky unveiled its plans for renovations at Commonwealth Stadium in 2013, the goal was to give the aging football venue a new personality. As long as he’d been the athletics director, Mitch Barnhart never felt as though the massive structure had much of a Southeastern Conference stadium feel to it. A $126 million renovation that included premium seating and new luxury suites on the south side of the stadium has changed the way Barnhart — and many others — view Commonwealth Stadium. “WSun, 24 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article91531787.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/article78064802.htmlThe resignation letters of two assistant coaches offer little insight into the turmoil within the Kentucky women’s basketball program the past few months. In fact, the letters submitted by assistant coaches Tamika Williams-Jeter and Camryn Whitaker and acquired by the Herald-Leader via an open records request are friendly in nature. Whitaker’s resignation letter, dated three days after Mitchell announced the assistant coach planned to seek other employment, thanked the head coach for offering Tue, 17 May 2016 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/article78064802.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/article78064802.htmlThe resignation letters of two assistant coaches offer little insight into the turmoil within the Kentucky women’s basketball program the past few months. In fact, the letters submitted by assistant coaches Tamika Williams-Jeter and Camryn Whitaker and acquired by the Herald-Leader via an open records request are friendly in nature. Whitaker’s resignation letter, dated three days after Mitchell announced the assistant coach planned to seek other employment, thanked the head coach for offeringTue, 17 May 2016 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/article78064802.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article76313787.html#:~:text=One%20of%20Cats%E2%80%99%20key%20coaches%20is%20a%20guy,a.m.%20to%20spend%20plenty%20of%20time%20with%20players.Close your eyes and imagine a football strength and conditioning coach. Imagine the backward hat and the whistle around a thick neck, nose centimeters away from the player’s nose, obscenities flying. That is not Kentucky’s Corey Edmond. That is the opposite of Kentucky’s Corey Edmond. “Everybody’s trying to make YouTube videos, trying to pump up what they do,” he said of the strength coach archetype. “I’d rather be here doing what I do.” And what he does is quietly make a difference. In EdSat, 07 May 2016 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article76313787.html#:~:text=One%20of%20Cats’%20key%20coaches%20is%20a%20guy,a.m.%20to%20spend%20plenty%20of%20time%20with%20players.https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article76313787.html#:~:text=One%20of%20Cats%E2%80%99%20key%20coaches%20is%20a%20guy,a.m.%20to%20spend%20plenty%20of%20time%20with%20players.Close your eyes and imagine a football strength and conditioning coach. Imagine the backward hat and the whistle around a thick neck, nose centimeters away from the player’s nose, obscenities flying. That is not Kentucky’s Corey Edmond. That is the opposite of Kentucky’s Corey Edmond. “Everybody’s trying to make YouTube videos, trying to pump up what they do,” he said of the strength coach archetype. “I’d rather be here doing what I do.” And what he does is quietly make a difference. In EdSat, 07 May 2016 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article76313787.html#:~:text=One%20of%20Cats’%20key%20coaches%20is%20a%20guy,a.m.%20to%20spend%20plenty%20of%20time%20with%20players.https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article76313787.html#:~:text=One%20of%20Cats%E2%80%99%20key%20coaches%20is%20a%20guy,a.m.%20to%20spend%20plenty%20of%20time%20with%20players.Close your eyes and imagine a football strength and conditioning coach. Imagine the backward hat and the whistle around a thick neck, nose centimeters away from the player’s nose, obscenities flying. That is not Kentucky’s Corey Edmond. That is the opposite of Kentucky’s Corey Edmond. “Everybody’s trying to make YouTube videos, trying to pump up what they do,” he said of the strength coach archetype. “I’d rather be here doing what I do.” And what he does is quietly make a difference. In EdSat, 07 May 2016 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-football/article76313787.html#:~:text=One%20of%20Cats’%20key%20coaches%20is%20a%20guy,a.m.%20to%20spend%20plenty%20of%20time%20with%20players.https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/jen-smith-on-basketball/article74179052.htmlUniversity of Kentucky women’s basketball coach Matthew Mitchell spoke with the Lexington Herald-Leader on Wednesday morning about the season-long spate of player and coach departures that have plagued the program and led to doubts about incoming recruits. Mitchell, contrite and quiet in the interview, has watched three assistant coaches and two players depart in recent weeks. He rehired friend and former assistant Kyra Elzy on Wednesday and expects more familiar faces to return as he attempts Wed, 27 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/jen-smith-on-basketball/article74179052.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/jen-smith-on-basketball/article74179052.htmlUniversity of Kentucky women’s basketball coach Matthew Mitchell spoke with the Lexington Herald-Leader on Wednesday morning about the season-long spate of player and coach departures that have plagued the program and led to doubts about incoming recruits. Mitchell, contrite and quiet in the interview, has watched three assistant coaches and two players depart in recent weeks. He rehired friend and former assistant Kyra Elzy on Wednesday and expects more familiar faces to return as he attempts Wed, 27 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/jen-smith-on-basketball/article74179052.htmlhttps://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/jen-smith-on-basketball/article74179052.htmlUniversity of Kentucky women’s basketball coach Matthew Mitchell spoke with the Lexington Herald-Leader on Wednesday morning about the season-long spate of player and coach departures that have plagued the program and led to doubts about incoming recruits. Mitchell, contrite and quiet in the interview, has watched three assistant coaches and two players depart in recent weeks. He rehired friend and former assistant Kyra Elzy on Wednesday and expects more familiar faces to return as he attempts Wed, 27 Apr 2016 00:00:00 +0100https://www.kentucky.com/sports/college/kentucky-sports/uk-basketball-women/jen-smith-on-basketball/article74179052.html