By LARRY VAUGHT
His twin brothers, Daron and Zack Blaylock, came to Kentucky to play for coach Joker Phillips before he was fired after one season and then played sparingly for two seasons for coach Mark Stoops.
However, the brothers apparently still have a love for Kentucky according to their youngest brother, Ashton Woods, a top 400 prospect in the 2024 recruiting class. The 6-3, 210-pound linebacker from Marietta, Ga., has over 20 scholarship offers, including one he recently received from Kentucky assistant coach Anwar Stewart.
“I didn’t even know he was coming (to Walton High School) that day. Once we started talking I kind of thought maybe an offer was coming but it was still crazy to get it,” he said. “I still have pictures on my phone of me in a Kentucky jersey and helmet when I was 5 or 6 years old.”
He also recently added an offer from Southern Cal to go with ones he already had from Auburn, Arkansas, Boston College, Charlotte, Duke, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, Kansas State, Louisville, Mississippi State, North Carolina State, Nebraska, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Tennessee, Central Florida, South Florida, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest. He recently spent a weekend taking unofficial visits to North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest — all high level academic schools that appealed to him since he has a 4.0 grade-point average.
“Coach Stewart told me he liked the way I read plays and how physical and fast I am,” Woods said. “He said I have a good IQ for the game.”
He jokes he’s “smarter” than his other brothers, including Dom Blaylock, a receiver on Georgia’s two national championship teams who is now in the transfer portal.
“They were all tough on me. I would come in crying because Dom would beat up on me,” Ashton said. “Daron and Zack would protect me some but they could also be tough. However, they always had my back and would help me out.
He’s also planned visits to North Carolina, Tennessee and Auburn but also said Kentucky has a “legit chance” to sign him because of what his twin brothers told him.
“They said it was the best four years of their lives. Kentucky definitely would not be a bad choice based on all they said,” Woods said. “I want to see if I can find a time to go visit. There’s no reason not to. All my brothers do is rave about the Cats. They still bleed blue and sometimes maybe bleed blue a little too much.”
Ashton remembered going to a Kentucky-Georgia game and sitting in the Georgia family section to watch Dom play.
“Daron and Zack wore their Kentucky stuff under their Georgia stuff. They kept talking before we had to make sure they shut up about Kentucky in the Georgia section,” Woods said.
He says he has enjoyed recruiting and hopes to make his college choice this summer. He says having three brothers that were all high-level recruits has helped him.
“They have a lot of experience with recruiting. They see through some things and tell me what I should look for and what I should talk to coaches about to see if they are really interested in me or not.”
Former UK All-American Jack Givens, the 1978 Final Four MVP, sometimes can be extremely passionate when talking about coach John Calipari’s team on the UK Radio Network.
One of those times came after UK won at Vanderbilt and senior point guard Sahvir Wheeler contributed five assists, four points, one steal and one rebound in 22 minutes of play after barely playing in the three previous games.
“One thing about Sahvir is he is a very emotional player,” Givens said. “His body language just had not been great since the change in the lineup.”
Wheeler did not start or play at Tennessee because he was injured and UK won. The Cats won the next two games with Wheeler barely leaving the bench in the second half of both games.
Givens said he didn’t blame Wheeler for his disappointment over losing his job.
“He has been a starter and integral part of everything Kentucky has done since he got here,” Givens said. “Coach Cal saw the team could be better with a change (in the lineup) and it is up to the player to make the adjustment.
“He just has to adjust. It is that plain and simple. He did that tonight (at Vanderbilt) and did a great job running the show and that’s what he needs to keep doing.”
He played 14 minutes in the Kansas loss and went 1-for-2 from the field and had one rebound. He did not have a turnover or assist.
Tyler Stallons and his friend, Tyler Perry, took their sons, Cohen and Conner, to see Kentucky play at Vanderbilt last week in Nashville. It was the first UK game for both boys and a chance to see their favorite player, Oscar Tshiebwe, in person.
“My son had a sign made to take to the game but I told him there was a chance he might not be able to take it into the game and might have to throw it away. He didn’t want to take a chance since he put some time into making it, so he left the sign at home,” Stallons said.
The fathers had planned this outing a few months ago, so getting a ticket was not that difficult.
“We didn’t have the best seats but we were not in the worst spot, either,” he said. “After the game we decided to come down to the court. We knew we would have to wait in traffic to get home anyway. We figured if they (UK Radio Network) interviewed anybody it would be Oscar.
“The Vanderbilt staff was not very aggressive in trying to keep us from coming down to the lower level. We thought if we walked down the worse they could do was kick us out. The boys took off running because they were so excited.
Both youngsters wanted to meet Tshiebwe but Stallons also knew they couldn’t force the issue even when Tshiebwe did come out for the radio interview.
“We yelled, ‘Oscar,’ and pointed at the boys. He had two or three guys with him but he did a little head tilt that he wanted to come over,” Stallons said. “Oscar walks over and my friend goes to pick up his son but we were told he could not go on the court.
“Oscar walks up and grabs my son by one arm and pulls him up (on the court) and then gets his friend. I had the video ready and my friend got pictures. Oscar didn’t have to do any of that but it just shows how selfless he is.”
Stallons said on the drive home to Hopkinsville, he said had a smile on his face even after he fell asleep.
“He woke up the next morning and was so happy. He wanted to know if we were going to the next Kentucky game,” Stallons said.
The parents/children did not think about trying to get an autograph.
“We didn’t have any expectations when we went down to the floor. The boys just wanted to see him up close,” Stallons said. “Oscar has a larger than life personality. Even without an autograph, we were happy with the way everything turned out. What they got to do with him meant more than any autograph. It was just an awesome experience.”
Kentucky signee DJ Wagner is one of four McDonald’s All-Americans that will be joining coach John Calipari’s team next year. North Laurel standout Reed Sheppard is another one while point guard Rob Dillingham probably would have been but was not eligible for selection because he plays for Overtime Elite.
“I feel like we are all going to play together great. We talked about college already. I feel like we are going to have a lot of fun together. We are all winners,” Wagner said in an interview with Rivals.com Krysten Peek.
Wagner’s high school teammate, Aaron Bradshaw, is also a UK signee and McDonald’s All-American. They will be in Frankfort Friday night when Camden plays Combine Academy, the top rated high school team in North Carolina, at Kentucky State University.
Wagner said Bradshaw actually helped recruit him after he committed to UK first.
“That was another factor definitely to make me a lot more comfortable (at Kentucky). I have played with him a long time and knowing I could play with him again was big. He recruited me and we had a lot of conversations (about Kentucky),” Wagner said.
Wagner told Peek he is a “hard worker” who likes to win.
“I try to do whatever I can to win,” Wagner said.
He also told Peek he did not worry when UK had struggles earlier this season.
“It wasn’t like I wished I could be out there. I am still focused on high school. I would not say I am anxious to go to college. Coach Cal told me just to have fun and worry about college next year,” Wagner said.
To see Wagner’s full five-minute interview with Peek go to https://kentucky.rivals.com/
Camden beat Imhotep Institute of Philadelphia 60-57 last Saturday when Wagner had 22 points and Bradshaw seven points and nine rebounds. Kentucky signee Justin Edwards, another McDonald’s All-American, had 16 points for Imhotep.
Having a high school or college student do without his or her phone for an extended period of time is not going to be popular. However, Kentucky junior Lance Ware has had no problem with coach John Calipari taking players’ phones at 10:45 p.m. the night before games.
“I grew up with a phone. It might be easier for some older person to not have a phone because they spent half their life without one. But I’ve always had a phone,” Ware said. “But if you can get off it for a few hours before bed it helps you.
“The phones are a distraction. Everything is social media. You have people texting you or calling you. Sometimes if you don’t have that taken away from you, you could be up all night talking to somebody about something that’s probably not best for you to hear.”
Ware has even enjoyed staying in a team hotel the night before home games in Rupp Arena, something Calipari has not done previously at UK but tried to help snap the Cats out of their funk a few weeks ago.
“Hotel, I know what it is, just keep us together,” Ware said. “If we stay at the lodge, people are in your rooms. We just need to be together right now.
‘It was cool, it was different. The guys were chilling out and playing video games. Just hanging out, but that’s what we needed. Good team bonding.”
ESPN/SEC Network college football analyst Cole Cubelic knows Kentucky has a “lot of concerns” going into next season but sees “holes starting to be plugged” during the offseason.
He likes the addition of offensive coordinator Liam Coen and thinks he’ll use “dynamic receivers” Barion Brown and Dane Key much like he did Wan’Dale Robinson in 2021 to give transfer quarterback Devin Leary big play targets.
“The offensive line needs to improve. That group wasn’t good last year. Liam Coen can move the pocket, get stretch plays going. They have got to keep Leary healthy,” Cubelic said.
However, the college football analyst doesn’t think nearly enough attention is being paid to the addition of running back Ray Davis from Vanderbilt.
“Ray Davis will get it done. He’s tough, physical, big,” Cubelic said. “He doesn’t have super breakaway speed but he can get you explosive plays. He is exactly what they need in this system. He’s a little bit more physical, a little less shifty than Chris Rodriguez.
“He has not played in a system that allowed him to be successful. He will be big for Liam Coen’s offense and that could help keep Devin Leary healthy. I think Kentucky made a big hit getting Liam, you know about Leary but don’t forget about Ray Davis.”
Quote of the Week: “I know what it’s like not making the McDonald’s All-America Game … for those who didn’t make it use it as fuel let it make you hungrier!!! And remember not every McDonald’s All-American goes to the NBA,” former UK guard TyTy Washington on Twitter after the McDonald’s All-American Games roster was announced.
Quote of the Week 2: “We’re good. We took a tough loss, we made a few mistakes down the stretch that cost us the game, but we’re still together. We’re not going to separate now, we’ve been through worse,” Kentucky senior forward Jacob Toppin after loss to Kansas.
Quote of the Week 3: “It’s hard to project what a player will end up doing but I knew for sure she was an elite athlete and that she also loved the game of volleyball. She had all the tools and you knew she would put in the time. These players know about people in the past who played their position and what they are getting into. She wanted that challenge,” UK volleyball coach Craig Skinner on SEC Player of the Year Emma Grome playing the same position as national player of the year Madison Lilley.