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Mark Stoops is a fan of Kentucky QB Terry Wilson’s planned tribute to Jared Lorenzen
By Andrew Olson
Published:
July got off to a rough start for Big Blue Nation with the news of former Kentucky QB Jared Lorenzen’s passing. Wildcats fans perked up, however, when current Wildcats QB Terry Wilson shared that he planned to wear Lorenzen’s jersey number (No. 22) for UK’s season-opener against Toledo on Aug. 31.
Thursday at SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama, Kentucky coach Mark Stoops shared that he’s on board with Wilson’s planned tribute.
“Terry called me right away or texted me right away and asked me what I thought about that, my immediate response was, that would be a great idea to honor him, to recognize him, to wear his number in the opener. So I’m all for that,” Stoops said.
If you’re curious how Wilson, who normally wears No. 3, will look in No. 22, the SEC Network tweeted a mock-up:
For Jared. pic.twitter.com/MS1C5U37yT
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) July 18, 2019
The SEC Network also shared a video of the Wilson-Lorenzen question. Stoops’ answer transcribed, via ASAPsports, can be found below:
“That would be a great idea to honor him … to wear his number in the opener.”
– @UKCoachStoops on Terry Wilson wearing Jared Lorenzen’s No. 22 pic.twitter.com/kTwML0zqdr
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) July 18, 2019
Q. Coach, I just wanted to touch on the loss of Jared Lorenzen. I know Terry said that he’s going to wear his number the first game of the season. Has there been any extensive talks of doing something to commemorate his loss?
MARK STOOPS: Thank you. That was a tough loss for all of us. Jared was a remarkable man. I didn’t know him as well personally. I knew him. Of course, he was around the program some. But he was beloved throughout our community, the Big Blue Nation. He was a person and father, and that was a big loss to us.And when Terry called me right away or texted me right away and asked me what I thought about that, my immediate response was, that would be a great idea to honor him, to recognize him, to wear his number in the opener. So I’m all for that. And we have talked about it, and we will continue to work on that and what we’ll do to recognize him as the season gets closer.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.