MediterraneanGrocery Wholesalers in Louisville, KY

Brooks Holton

The rivalry is on between Louisville men's basketball head coach Pat Kelsey and Kentucky's new leader, Mark Pope.

The Cardinals on Thursday landed a transfer commitment from Aly Khalifa, who in his lone season playing for Pope at BYU was the best passing center in the country.

There's a catch, though. The 6-foot-11, 270-pound Egyptian plans to redshirt during the 2024-25 season.

In reporting Khalifa's entry into the NCAA transfer portal last week, Jeff Hansen of Cougar Sports Insider, a 247Sports affiliate that covers BYU, said the junior big man played on "a hurt knee that could require offseason surgery."

Khalifa visited U of L on Thursday. It was one of his three options for his final year of eligibility; the others being following Pope to Lexington or returning to the Cougars for another go-around.

Khalifa is Kelsey's fifth transfer addition to a haul that was seventh on 247Sports' national rankings before his pledge.

He joins Colorado senior guard J'Vonne Hadley, James Madison wing Terrence Edwards Jr., a redshirt junior, and two players from Kelsey's final Charleston team — junior guard Reyne Smith and freshman forward James Scott.

The Athletic considered Khalifa the 129th-best transfer available as of Wednesday, although the news of his redshirting could affect his stock.

An Alexandria, Egypt, native, Khalifa appeared in 29 games (26 starts) for BYU during the 2023-24 season, his first with the Cougars. Combined with the two years he spent at Charlotte, he has appeared in 94 games at the Division I level, starting all but four.

As a junior, he averaged 5.7 points per game on 38.6% shooting — 29 for 92 (31.5%) from 3-point range — and grabbed 3.7 rebounds across 19.4 minutes per contest.

His best game of the 2023-24 season from a scoring standpoint was his 21-point performance during a Jan. 20 loss to Texas Tech. From an all-around standpoint, it was when he had 14 points, seven rebounds and as many assists to help BYU upset then-No. 11 Baylor on Feb. 20 in Provo, Utah.

What stands out the most about Khalifa's game is his playmaking ability. It's a big reason why college hoops statistician Evan Miyakawa's formulas rated him among the 35 most-impactful players in the country on the offensive end.

Khalifa finished second on the team in assists with 115, averaging right under four per game, and turned the ball over just 32 times. That gave him the best assist-turnover ratio (3.6) in the Big 12 — and the best in the country for a center.

"We talk about processing speed all the time," Pope said during an interview with BYU Sports Nation in January. "I don't really know how to coach processing speed and make huge inroads. You can always help people a little bit; but Aly just sees this game at a different speed than all the rest of us."

BYU finished the 2023-24 season with a 23-11 (10-8 Big 12) record and reached the NCAA Tournament for just the second time dating back to 2016. As a No. 6 seed, the Cougars were upset by No. 11 Duquesne in the first round.

Khalifa was held scoreless, with only two rebounds and an assist, across 16 minutes of run in March Madness.

U of L will be Khalifa's third stop in his collegiate career; which began with him being named Conference USA Freshman of the Year during the 2021-22 season at Charlotte.

Across his three DI seasons, he's averaging 8.5 points per game on 47% shooting (35.3% from 3) to go along with 4.8 rebounds, a 2.2 assist-turnover ratio while playing 24.3 minutes per contest.

Khalifa prepped for the college game at NBA Global Academy in Canberra, Australia. One of Kelsey's assistants, Michael Cassidy, is an Aussie with ties to the program; which is located in his hometown.

As of Thursday, all of the Cards' scholarship players from the 2023-24 season had entered the portal, which is open through May 1.

At the time of publication, four had found new homes: Skyy Clark (UCLA), Tre White (Illinois), JJ Traynor (DePaul) and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (N.C. State).

Aly Khalifa highlights: Watch Louisville basketball transfer portal commit

Reach Louisville men's basketball reporter Brooks Holton at [email protected] and follow him on X at @brooksHolton.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – A group of West End residents is suing in a bid to stop a massive tax increment financing district it claims violates the Kentucky Constitution.

The lawsuit, filed last week in Jefferson Circuit Court, seeks to have legislation that created the public subsidy program in 2021 declared unconstitutional and be stopped immediately.

If a judge agrees, it would prevent the West End Opportunity Partnership, the public corporation formed to manage a portion of tax revenues generated in a 12-square-mile area in western Louisville, from receiving that money.

The tax increment financing (TIF) district stretches across nine neighborhoods and would be the largest in Kentucky once it takes effect. The lawsuit was filed by residents of seven of those neighborhoods and a business executive with an office in another neighborhood.

The plaintiffs include two outspoken opponents of the TIF – Martina Kunnecke of Shawnee, president of the Neighborhood Planning & Preservation Inc. advocacy group and a former candidate for Louisville mayor in 2023; and Ameerah Granger of Chickasaw, who ran for Metro Council in 2022.

The lawsuit alleges that the TIF legislation is unconstitutional because it violates a section on special legislation targeted to “a particular individual, object, or locale”; diverts property taxes away from public schools; creates a debt to the state of more than $500,000 without voter approval; and didn’t follow General Assembly rules before being passed.

In particular, the lawsuit claims that the final version of the bill establishing the TIF area and the partnership didn’t receive the required three readings on the floor of each chamber.

Kelly Parry-Johnson, the residents’ attorney, said the lawsuit wants “accountability” for the legislative process that resulted in the TIF.

“They're well aware that oftentimes TIFs don't serve the people that they claim to serve. Instead, they serve the corporate interests, they serve the moneyed interests, the investors,” Parry-Johnson said in an interview. “And so, when examining this bill in detail, these neighbors uncovered that there was a lack of process and accountability on this legislation from the very beginning.”

She also noted that the bill didn’t carve out school property taxes from the broader category of property taxes.

The West End TIF involves a “baseline” amount of taxes that include local property and occupational taxes, as well as state property, income and sales taxes, generated in the TIF area prior to this year. Then, for two decades, 80% of the annual tax revenue generated above that amount would go to the partnership to spend on yet-to-be determined investments.

Amy Cubbage, counsel for the West End Opportunity Partnership, said in a statement that the claims made in the suit “all display a profound misunderstanding of how the legislation creating and governing the Partnership works, as well as a misunderstanding of how the cited constitutional provisions work.”

She noted that the lawsuit does not accuse the partnership of acting improperly and focuses on the legislative process instead. “Nevertheless, the Partnership plans to defend the legislation vigorously. The Partnership is proud to serve its neighbors in West Louisville, and it will not be distracted from its important work by this frivolous and ill-founded litigation.”

Concerns over rising property values and the potential to displace residents long have been among the chief complaints of neighbors fighting the proposal. Its supporters argue the TIF revenue will help parts of Louisville where investment has lagged behind other areas for years.

WDRB News reported in 2022 that the TIF district would be the largest in Kentucky. The state had limited those districts to no more than three square miles, but legislators changed that when they wrote new TIF statutes for the West End project.

The measure that approved in the final hour of the 2021 General Assembly also didn’t include the state oversight and approval that usually apply to TIF proposals with state taxpayer dollars, such as an independent consultant’s report.

The bill also didn’t require data “demonstrating that the projected benefits outweigh the anticipated costs,” as was mandated at the time for TIF districts using state taxes.

The lawsuit also names Louisville Metro government and the Kentucky Department of Revenue as defendants.

A revenue department spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The Jefferson County Attorney’s Office, which represents Louisville Metro government in legal matters, generally does not comment when lawsuits are filed.

A dispute over internal partnership board rules governing its membership spilled over into the state legislature this year. Before adjourning last week, the General Assembly approved a bill that lets the board oust some members who don't follow bylaws.

This story may be updated.

Copyright 2024 WDRB Media. All rights reserved.

In 2019, when Joseph Tidd was 19 months old, he was in the stands at Inter & Co Stadium in Orlando with his family, cheering as he watched his favorite player, Carson Pickett, play with the Orlando Pride.

He was lucky enough to catch Pickett's attention because they not only shared a love of soccer, they both had partially-formed left arms, a rare limb defect that affects nearly 2,300 babies born each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The pair formed an instant connection and a photo of the two tapping arms went viral, touching hearts across the nation and garnering nearly 19,000 likes on Instagram since its posting.

Almost five years later, Pickett, who currently plays for Racing Louisville FC, had no idea she was in for a surprise reunion with her "lucky fin friend," as Joseph, who goes by Jojo, made an appearance as her interviewer for a story on ION Television ahead of the team's match against the Portland Thorns FC in March.

In the video, Jojo is seen with his father, Miles Tidd, as they head to Lynn Family Stadium in Louisville to surprise Pickett. The pair spent the afternoon together reconnecting and Pickett reminded Jojo that even though he may not have one of his hands, he can still accomplish anything he wants to do in life.

"Trying to think of things that I just feel like I can't do ... but there's not many because we can do everything, right?" Pickett said to Jojo. "You can dream as big as anyone else with two hands."

Jojo, who continues to share his journey through social media, told Pickett that when he sees his "lucky fin," it reminds him of her. She said she feels the same way because Jojo is the first person she has met who is also missing an arm.

"We can always be lucky fin friends for life," Pickett said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - The fireworks came early for the fans who decided to watch Thunder Over Louisville from Lynn Family Stadium as Racing Louisville put up five goals against the Utah Royals to earn first-year head coach Bev Yanez her first career win.

It was the first time a professional soccer match heralded in the fireworks showcase on the Ohio River and the first NWSL match in league history to pit two former players against each other as head coaches, with the Royals under the leadership of former US Women’s National Team regular Amy Rodriguez.

But it was a historic day for Racing in more ways than just those, as they set a number of club records en route the 5-1 win.

That five-goal mark is the best in club history and the 11,365 fans on hand to witness that bit of history made club history themselves, breaking the previous attendance record by more than 1,000 fans.

“It feels amazing for this group,” Yanez said. “They work so hard every single day to be the best that they can be, and to be able to have this breakthrough, obviously it’s something we’ve really wanted and we’ve been yearning for. Having that here at home in front of a record-breaking crowd is the most special moment for all of us.”

The win improves Racing’s record to 1-0-4, keeping them among the league’s unbeaten teams alongside Orlando and Kansas City. The three points in the win move Racing to seven points on the season and into fifth place in the league standings.

Savannah DeMelo made Racing history herself with her first goal of the season making her the club’s all-time leading scorer with 11 to pass Nadia Nadim.

A pair of rookies, Emma Sears and Reilyn Turner put themselves in the Racing record books as they each notched their first career goals in the win. Marisa DiGrande and Carson Pickett contributed with their first assists in lavender.

Uchenna Kanu continued to be a steady presence for Racing Louisville as she vies for the NWSL Golden Boot, putting her fourth goal of the year into the back of the net as she opened the scoring with a goal in the 26th minute via a header off a Lauren Milliet cross.

“We knew we’d have so many fans here, and we just really wanted this for the whole staff, for the community, and I think we just put on a show,” DeMelo said. “I’m so proud of the girls.”

“It was super special,” Sears added. “Obviously, it was a record-breaking crowd, so the intensity of the environment was something that was super fun to play in.”

Copyright 2024 WAVE. All rights reserved.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The official start to Derby season is underway!

RELATED: Everything you need to know about Thunder Over Louisville 2024 | FULL GUIDE

Thousands of people flocked to the riverfront in southern Indiana and Louisville to witness the wonderful sight that is Thunder Over Louisville.

It's a staple that dates back to 1988. It's dubbed as "the nation’s largest annual fireworks event" and "one of the top five air shows in the country." This year's theme is all about "Celebrating Derby 150."

The air show starts at 3 p.m., with fireworks following right after at 9:30 p.m.

All TARC routes will be fare-free for the whole day of Thunder Over Louisville. For all of those details, click here.

Uber and Lyft are also partnering with a local law firm to give people free rides after the event. Click here for more information.

NOTE: Organizers said aircraft and times are subject to change on show day.

RELATED: WHAS11 gets behind-the-scenes look at how pilots prepare for Thunder Over Louisville's air show

RELATED: Road, bridge closures for Thunder Over Louisville; What drivers should know

Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.