Thanks to Aaron Bradshaw, Kentucky basketball has a chance to replicate a strength

Random notes:

▪ John Calipari’s Kentucky teams have always ranked high in offensive rebound percentage — the number of offensive rebounds divided by that number plus the opponent’s defensive rebounds.

With Oscar Tshiebwe cleaning the glass, the Cats led the nation last season in ORP at 39.2. They ranked fourth in 2021-22, eighth in 2018-19 and 2017-18 and 2014-15.

The bad news is that UK ranks 232nd in that category this season. The good news is the Cats’ offensive rebounding has improved dramatically with 7-footer Aaron Bradshaw in the lineup.

In Bradshaw’s first start, the 81-66 win over Penn in Philadelphia, UK grabbed 33.3 percent of its offensive rebounding opportunities. That was a season-high. Then last Saturday in the 87-83 victory over North Carolina, the number improved to 40.9 percent as the Cats grabbed 18 offensive rebounds.

Now that fellow 7-footer Ugonna Onyenso is back on the floor, those numbers should at least remain consistent, if not improve.

“What did we need early? Size,” said Calipari after the win over UNC. “Now we’ve got a little bit.”

▪ Our friend Ken Pomeroy has Louisville losing every game but one the rest of the season. The exception is Feb. 21 against Notre Dame at the Yum Center. Pomeroy has Louisville losing to Kentucky 86-73 on Thursday night.

▪ By the way, Pomeroy currently has the SEC ranked as the nation’s second-best basketball conference, behind only the Big 12. Tennessee (6), Auburn (7), Alabama (8), Kentucky (21) , Texas A&M (22), Mississippi State (31) and Florida (36) are all in his Top 40.

▪ Cincinnati’s Zac Taylor won’t win NFL Coach of the Year, but he should at least receive consideration for keeping the Bengals afloat despite the loss of Joe Burrow. Taylor has done a terrific job with backup Jake Browning.

▪ Cleveland’s Kevin Stefanski should win Coach of the Year. The Browns are 9-5 despite having a higher percentage of their salary cap on Injured Reserve than any other NFL team.

▪ Here’s a crazy bowl story: Despite entering the transfer portal, Western Kentucky quarterback Caden Veltkamp traveled and dressed with the Hilltoppers for their Famous Toastery Bowl game against Ole Dominion. When WKU fell behind 28-0, coach Tyson Helton inserted Veltkamp, who ended up throwing for five touchdowns in a 38-35 overtime victory over the Monarchs on Monday.

▪ Speaking of bowls, former Sayre star Cole Pennington was outdueled by another son of a former NFL quarterback in the Frisco Bowl on Tuesday. The son of Chad Pennington, Cole was 15-of-33 passing for 258 yards in Marshall’s 35-17 loss to UTSA. Owen McCown, the son of Josh McCown, completed 22 of 31 passes for 251 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions for UTSA.

▪ Here’s a possibly surprising stat: Former UK guard Malik Monk is averaging 5.2 assists per game for the Sacramento Kings. The Kings lead the Pacific Division with a 16-9 record. Monk’s former running mate with the Cats and current running mate with the Kings, De’Aaron Fox, is averaging 30.1 points per game.

▪ During my trip to Atlanta for the Kentucky-North Carolina basketball game last weekend, Georgia fans I know there told me that new UK quarterback Brock Vandagriff was neck-and-neck with Carson Beck for the starting quarterback job through Georgia’s fall camp. Beck won the job and didn’t let go.

▪ Wednesday’s news that the Cats picked up another ex-Georgia player in the portal, linebacker Jamon Dumas-Johnson, might be even bigger than Vandagriff’s addition. Scouting services had Dumas-Johnson ranked as the No. 1 off-ball linebacker in the portal.

▪ Let’s be honest, the transfer portal has taken a lot of the hype out of the early signing period for college football. That may be a good thing.

▪ Tough loss for Morehead State basketball on Tuesday. The Eagles led Indiana at Indiana by 15 points with less than 10 minutes to go, but lost 69-68. Jordan Lathon scored 30 points for Morehead State in the loss.

▪ Morehead State has hired Fairmont State’s Jason Woodman as its new head football coach. Woodman was 60-47 in 10 seasons at Fairmont, including 8-3 last season.

There is one thing that can save Kenny Payne’s job at Louisville: Beating Kentucky

It’s a long season, but John Calipari has Kentucky basketball back to ‘Kentucky good’