BREAKING NEWS: Zvonimir Ivisic of the Kentucky Wildcats has terminated his employment with the team following a background debate with management over…
A total of 122 current and former University of Kentucky student-athletes are on track to complete academic requirements this week or in the summer term.
The graduates will take part in the University’s Spring Commencement ceremonies Friday and Saturday in Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center (see information here).
Adding the 41 student-athletes who graduated in December, UK Athletics is expected to have 163 graduates during the 2023-24 school year.
Included in the graduates are 18 Wildcats who are completing their master’s degrees – Brennan Canada from men’s basketball, Michael Bernard, Ramon Jefferson, Chance Poore and Jack Varga from football, Alex Goff from men’s golf.
JensenCastle, María Villanueva Aperribay and Marissa Wenzler from women’s golf, Maria Castaldo and Stephanie Stull from women’s soccer, Jaden Vickers from softball, Tori Orcutt from women’s swimming and diving, Maialen Morante from women’s tennis.
Beck O’Daniel from men’s track and field/cross country, and Katelyn Hutchison, Sydney Steely and Iantha Wright from women’s track and field/cross country.
Three Wildcats – Zack Brown and Riley Mahan from baseball and Enzo Mauriz from men’s soccer – are expected to graduate after finishing their undergraduate work as part of UK Athletics’ Post-Eligibility program.
Also known as the Cawood Ledford Scholarships, UK Athletics pays for tuition and books for scholarship student-athletes who return to school after completing their eligibility. Since its inception in 1989, more than 160 Wildcats have returned to graduate through the program.
UK’s graduating class also has excelled in the arenas of competition.
While at Kentucky, the graduates have been part of three team NCAA Championships, 11 conference regular-season championships and seven conference tournament championships.
A total of 11 graduates have earned All-America honors while at Kentucky and 19 have gained all-conference recognition.
The leadership of this class sparked UK Athletics to a school-record No. 9 final ranking (among 358 Division I schools) in the 2022 NACDA Directors’ Cup all-sports standings. In 2023, UK finished 18th in the NACDA Directors’ Cup.
“Graduation is the culmination of years of dedication and I’m proud of another strong group of graduates,” said Mitch Barnhart, UK Director of Athletics.
“In addition, I’m thankful for the guidance provided by our staff at CATS (Center for Academic and Tutorial Services) and the encouragement and support given by our coaches.”
Wildcat fans will continue to see many of these graduates on their respective fields of play in 2024-25 as numerous student-athletes have remaining eligibility and will return to represent UK while attending graduate school or completing additional undergraduate certifications.
