MrSEC.com » Kentucky

Bledsoe: “If I make 3’s, nobody can touch us”

admin — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 11:51:33 +0000

By LARRY VAUGHT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — When opponents focus on stopping DeMarcus Cousins and Patrick Patterson inside, Eric Bledsoe knows his job is simple — make 3-point shots.
He did here Saturday, too, as he went 5-for-8 from 3-point range and had 17 points in a 74-45 victory over Tennessee that puts Kentucky into Sunday’s Southeastern Conference [...]
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Calipari: Cats need more intensity

admin — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:22:29 +0000

By TERESA M. WALKER
AP Sports Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — John Calipari only hopes his young Kentucky Wildcats’ first postseason game delivered the message he’s been trying to send — tournament time requires more intensity and desire than the regular season.
John Wall had 23 points, including seven straight in the second half to give the Wildcats [...]
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Please Don’t Cry About Awards

John — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:20:36 +0000

Ever notice how the fans of a school always feel that their coach is the most deserving of Coach of the Year honors? Or that fans of a school feel that their players are most deserving of postseason laurels?

Well, not every player and coach can take home a gold trophy when the season’s complete. And personally, I’ve never really understood why folks care so much about MVPs and All-Conference teams.

Still, in the last two weeks I’ve heard tell of at least five — yes FIVE — SEC East Division coaches that “deserved” to win Coach of the Year honors in the league.

Last week, Mark Bradley of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution suggested that UGA’s Mark Fox be honored.

A friend of mine covering the Florida-Tennessee basketball game two weeks ago told me that someone on press row told him that Billy Donovan should be the SEC’s COTY.

Vanderbilt and Tennessee fans have already emailed me to say: a) Why is everyone complaining that Kevin Stallings won the award? and b) Why didn’t Bruce Pearl win it? You can do the math as to which fans said what.

Now, folks in Lexington are upset that John Calipari didn’t get the award. DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall said they didn’t even know who Stallings is.

As I’ve previously stated on this site, I believe that any of those last three coaches mentioned could have easily laid claim to the COTY prize. And I don’t disagree with CBS’ Gary Parrish who suggested the other league coaches didn’t vote for Pearl or Calipari because they simply don’t like them.

But just to throw a little water on all the “how could our coach not win it” nonsense, let’s look at some of the reasons those five SEC East Division coaches might not have won:

John Calipari

Pros: Recruited a stellar cast of freshmen and then led UK to a 29-2 regular season record. He did a fabulous job of keeping a team of young egos together.

Cons: Easily had the best talent in the league. He should have had a great year. His own players were aiming for an undefeated season. The All-SEC team reads like a UK roster. The award goes to Coach of the Year, not Recruiter of the Year.

Bruce Pearl

Pros: Pearl had to abandon his usual style of play due to a major off-court issue (four players arrested on New Year’s Day) and numerous injuries. He used a variety of line-ups to somehow lead UT to an 11-5 conference record and upset wins over Kentucky and Kansas.

Cons: Who recruited the four players who were arrested on New Year’s Day? Oh, yeah. So you could say Pearl had to clean up a mess that was partially his own creation.

Billy Donovan

Pros: Well, to be honest, I have no idea how anyone could push Billy D for COTY this season. I guess he got as much out of a thin backcourt as could have been expected. Maybe?

Cons: The Gators lost their final three games when all they likely needed was one win to wrap up an NCAA bid. And UF’s guard depth was hurt when Nick Calathes — who Donovan couldn’t get along with — left for a Greek professional league early.

Mark Fox

Pros: Georgia was a tougher team — at home at least — than most folks expected. UGA upset Vanderbilt, Tennessee and Florida in Athens. Fox gave Bulldog fans reason to be optimistic about the future.

Cons: Georgia finished the season 13-16, 5-11 in the SEC. End of argument.

Kevin Stallings

Pros: Vanderbilt overachieved. Picked for third in the East, the Commodores hung close to league champion Kentucky for much of the season. The surprisingly consistent ‘Dores finished 12-4 in league play and were unexpectedly physical in doing so.

Cons: I can’t think of any. Really. There are no glaring holes. Nothing that could really be spun as a reason not to give Stallings the prize.

I know, I know, I’ve just ticked off four different fanbases. And Vandy fans will probably be mad because I wasn’t glowing enough in my praise of Stallings.

But again, I think any of those top three guys could have won the award. Plus, I don’t really understand folks’ fascination with these types of honors anyway.

And I’d be willing to bet that if Kentucky wins the national title, Calipari probably won’t be thinking about the SEC’s Coach of the Year award when he’s up on a ladder cutting down a net.

Calipari Says Immaturity Can Kill The Cats

John — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 15:31:55 +0000

Here’s the greatest fear of a Kentucky basketball fan:

Two-minutes to go in a game. UK trails someone in the NCAA tournament by two. DeMarcus Cousins is called for a foul and flips out. A headband flies, a curse is muttered… and a technical is called. The other team hits their free throws and pulls away. Season over.

Many Wildcat fans have fretted over their team’s “immature” behavior at times this year. Some have even referred to what they termed “thuggish behavior” in emails to Lexington sportswriters.

John Calipari has repeatedly said that things would be better by this time of year. And now he wants his team to prove that it has grown up a bit.

Coach Cal had a sports psychologist talk to his team this week about how a person should deal with temporary setbacks.

“There’s only one thing that can affect us in any of these tournaments,” Calipari said yesterday. “And that is us.”

Cousins heard the message. “I believe that was for me,” he said.

Cousins earned it. On Sunday he did not warm up with his teammates before the second half of UK’s game with Florida. Instead, he sat on the bench as one coach after another came by to speak with him.

Florida made a nice second-half run to get back in the game, by the way.

Cousins — in my view — has actually been the Player of the Year in the SEC. He’s banged away inside and dominated against players much more experienced than himself. But his short fuse continues to be a big concern.

Kentucky is as talented as any team in America. So was Calipari’s Memphis club in 2008. All season, the great fear for that team had been that its poor foul-shooting would prove costly at crunch time in an important game. As it turned out, that game was the national title game against Kansas.

History has repeated itself in part this season. UK has one flaw that its fans are most worried about. Just as in 2008, Calipari has said don’t worry, something else will cost us, not that. Perhaps he’s feeling a bit of deja vu, too, because his comments yesterday seem to show a bigger concern form the coach regarding this team’s immaturity.

Personally, I believe UK’s coach has done a bang-up job of keeping such a young team of all-stars together to this point. It might be his best job to date, in fact.

But as Calipari now seems to be acknowledging, all of the good from a 29-2 regular season can be undone in the tourney if the young Cats can’t better keep their cool.

Patterson praises parents

admin — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:53:47 +0000

By LARRY VAUGHT
He played high school basketball with current NBA star O.J Mayo and he’s playing now with John Wall, the likely No. 1 pick in this summer’s NBA draft. He was recruited by many of the nation’s best college coaches, played two years for Billy Gillispie and is finishing his first — and likely [...]
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Patterson may get two shots at hoop

admin — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 13:50:29 +0000

Junior forward Patrick Patterson will jump through a paper hoop and participate in Kentucky’s Senior Day ceremony on Sunday. Whether he’ll head out the door for good after this season remains unknown.

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The Most Surprising Thing About Kentucky

John — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:53:24 +0000

I’ll admit that I did not expect John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats to steamroll through the SEC the way his Memphis clubs used to slice through Conference USA.

Currently they sit at 13-2 in league play… not an undefeated season by any means, but still a little better record-wise than I would have predicted.

I’m not surprised by the Cats’ talent. We knew going into the season that Calipari had put together a recruiting class for the ages.

I’m also not surprised that Coach Cal has been able to keep all of the egos in check. He’s done that at previous stops, effectively mixing one-and-done youth with veterans.

No, what surprises me most about this Kentucky team has been its willingness to play defense. Look around the SEC each year and you’ll find that the youngest teams normally are the worst in the league defensively.

Players make their names in high school by scoring. Most aren’t ready to exert as much energy on the defensive end as they are on the offensive end when they arrive at college.

To me, that’s what makes Calipari a Coach of the Year candidate even though he’s been coaching the most talented team in the SEC. He’s still done a great job getting all that young talent to buy into his defensive desires.

Before the season, all the talk surrounded John Wall, Eric Bledsoe and the dribble-drive offense. Now, with another championship in their pockets, the talk is all about defense.

That’s the most surprising thing about this Kentucky club. And that’s what I believe Calipari deserves the most credit for. (Never end a sentence in a preposition, kids.)

Kentucky Locks Up Share Of SEC Title

John — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 13:41:42 +0000

Kentucky’s got another one. With their 80-68 win at Georgia last night, UK wrapped up a share of their 44th SEC regular season championship.

Need I point out that no one else even comes close to that mark? Didn’t think so.

The Wildcats can wrap up sole possession of the crown with a win on Senior Night Sunday against Florida (or with a Vanderbilt loss to Carolina Saturday). If the Cats lose and the Commodores win, Vandy would tie UK for the championship.

Georgia hung with Kentucky for much of the first half, but a 12-point surge early in the second half put the Wildcats ahead to stay and allowed them to coast to the finish line.

Perhaps more importantly, UK got hot from outside for the first time in several weeks. While UGA tried the zone approach, the Big Blue connected on eight three-point attempts… which made it one of Kentucky’s best shooting nights of the year.

The Wildcats were dominant on the defensive end, too, blocking a season-high 14 Bulldog shots.

“Fourteen blocks?” asked forward Jeremy Price. “They’re the biggest team in the country.”

The third-ranked Cats also made an impression on Trey Thompkins. “We’ve played some good teams in Tennessee and Vandy, but that team right there is talented at every position.”

“Their talent gets all the attention, but it takes away the fact that they’re the #1 defensive team in our league and the #1 rebounding team in the league,” said Georgia coach Mark Fox. “They are winning a lot of games certainly because they have good players; they’re winning maybe more because they’re a very good defensive basketball team.”

I’m not sure how this loss will affect Fox’s Coach of the Year chances. (And, yes, I kid.)

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Calipari On A Bottle Of Booze; UK’s Double-Standard

John — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:26:04 +0000

Starting in April, Kentucky fans will be able to pick up a bottle of Commonwealth-made Maker’s Mark bourbon emblazoned with the likeness of UK basketball coach John Calipari right on the front.

Maker’s Mark puts out a limited edition bottle for Kentucky fans just about every year. Last year it was then-football coach Rich Brooks’ face that appeared on the hooch bottles.

The bottles will sell for $49 a pop. A portion of the proceeds (expected to be about $300,000) will be donated to a UK extension program that will bring the school’s symphony orchestra and students from the UK School of Music into public schools and communities throughout Kentucky.

That’s a fine cause. And I’m no moralist so I have no problem with Kentucky raising money via alcohol. I also have no problem with Calipari autographing bottles at an event in early April. (For his part, Coach Cal said he doesn’t even drink bourbon.)

But I do believe that Kentucky officials are making an interesting choice to cozy up with Maker’s Mark.

Following the 1998 deaths of two Kentucky football players in an alcohol-related car wreck, UK pushed to retire one of college football’s most recognizable rivalry trophies — the Beer Barrel. Tennessee officials agreed with their counterparts to the north and in 1999 the Wildcats and Vols stopped playing for the blue and orange keg that had gone to the winner of their annual football game for 74 seasons.

So what’s changed?

In 1999, Kentucky officials considered alcohol-related imagery to be a bad thing.

In 2010, the same university is taking $300,000 from a bourbon-maker and allowing its coach’s face to be plastered smack dab on several thousand bottles of booze.

Seems to me that the only difference between the 1999 decision and the 2010 decision are those 300,000 green bills.

Is that really the message that UK wants to be sending?

Calipari Downplays Effectiveness Of Zone Against UK

John — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:19:07 +0000

Last week, John Calipari said that the two teams who had given Kentucky the toughest games this year — Vanderbilt and South Carolina — both used man-to-man defenses, not the zones that so many other schools are using against the Big Blue.

But Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl didn’t fall for the briar patch routine and used quite a bit of zone to lead the Vols past Cal’s Cats on Saturday.

But Calipari is sticking to his guns.

“It’s funny, because everybody has the ‘This is how you play them.’ Yeah, you hold your nose and close your eyes and hope we can’t make any shots. Yeah, that’s a good way to play. If we make shots — if we go 5-for-22, which stinks — we win going away.”

But Kentucky didn’t go 5-for-22. UK went 2-for-22. In fact, Kentucky’s outside shooting has been pretty awful for a couple of weeks now.

So if Calipari believes he can lure opposing coaches into playing his team in straight up man-to-man, well, good luck. Until Kentucky proves it can drop shots from outside, a rival coach would be foolish not to try and force the Wildcats to do just that.

Regardless of what UK’s coach pronounces.

It’s all child’s play for Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats

admin — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:10:50 +0000

After a couple of forgettable seasons, the Big Blue planet of University of Kentucky basketball seems to be spinning perfectly on its axis again.
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Calipari Wants His Players To Keep Their Cool

John — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:19:40 +0000

With some fans in the Bluegrass state worried about the “thuggish” behavior of some members of his team, John Calipari has opened up about his players’ ability to keep their composure.

The coach told the media Monday that he has spoken to his team about maintaining poise. He said that an immature player can compound an error by dwelling on a mistake… and making another.

“We have a lot of that on this team,” Calipari said.

He did say that his team will be calmer come tournament time, but the clock is ticking. If UK’s players have had a hard time keeping cool since November, I find it hard to believe that they’ll make a quick personality switch in the next couple of weeks.

“By the time March rolls around, we’re going to have less and less of this, hopefully. Or we’re not going to be the team we need to be.”

Indeed, one blow-up by DeMarcus Cousins or Eric Bledsoe during the NCAA tournament could be enough to scuttle an entire season’s worth of hard work.

Downey Expects Chilly Welcome In Lexington

John — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 15:00:11 +0000

Devan Downey, Wildcat Killer.

The SEC’s leading scorer is expecting a rude reception when he and his South Carolina teammates hit the floor at Rupp Arena tomorrow. That’s because Downey has had a hand in Carolina’s three-game win streak over Kentucky.

“I’m pretty sure I’m going to get a not-too-warm welcome,” Downey said. “I know it’s all in fun. But I’ve gotten my share of hate mail and Facebook messages from Kentucky fans.”

When asked about the messages, Downey said, “If I tell you some of the stuff I’ve heard, you might lose your job for printing it in the paper.”

And with further prodding, he did finally admit that there were some “ugly and racial tones” in some of the messages.

See Mississippi State fans, I call it both ways. Every SEC school has great fans. And every SEC school has a few morons pulling for them as well.

SEC Lead At Stake In Nashville

admin — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:12:34 +0000

Kentucky Coach John Calipari spoke of taking not one team, but two teams to Nashville for Saturday’s highly anticipated Southeastern Conference showdown with Vanderbilt.

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Cousins Says He’s Gotten Racist Calls From Mississippi

John — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 15:07:51 +0000

Good for DeMarcus Cousins… and I’ll tell you why in a minute.

Kentucky’s volatile freshman post player says he’s been getting text messages and voice mails on his cell phone from Mississippi State fans. Not coincidentally, Cousins’ number has been circulated on MSU messageboards since the weekend. It has also been posted around State’s campus.

This type of thing isn’t new. LSU fans famously dialed up Tim Tebow a couple of years ago. And it’s happened more often since.

But Cousins has found the proper way to turn the prank on its head. And it doesn’t hurt that he’s got the history of the state of Mississippi on his side.

True or not, Cousins says that the messages from “a lot of Mississippi numbers” have used the “N-word” quite often.

“That’s just showing their ignorance. It kind of made me mad at the beginning. Now I’m answering the phone and having conversations with them.”

A few thoughts:

1. This is a stupid prank and I hope stupid college kids are the only ones involved. Though I know better. Personally, I think I’d try to imagine what thousands of messages on my phone would be like… and that would keep me from annoying someone else in such a fashion. Life’s too short. Why mess with someone you don’t know?

2. What better way to respond than to say the calls are racist? I don’t doubt that some of them have been, but whether they were or not, why not reverse the prank? Force the coaches at the offending school to have to explain to recruits why their fans are sending racist messages to opposing players. If I were a black recruit, I don’t know that I’d be interested in playing for a school that’s tied to such moronic behavior.

3. I’m an underdog kind of guy. Normally, I’d be pulling for Mississippi State in tonight’s action simply because they’re the little guy. Not now. Just as I wanted Tebow to light up LSU a few years ago, I’d enjoy seeing Cousins get the last laugh tonight.

There are harmless pranks in the world. Duke fans who rattle keys and chant one-liners at opponents are A-OK in my book… as long as they don’t take their insults too far.

But there are always some clowns who do take things to far. You might remember the Arizona State fans who chanted “P-L-O” at former Arizona player Steve Kerr during a basketball game. Kerr’s father had been murdered by the Palestine Liberation Organization while in Beirut.

For the life of me, I’ll never understand why some fans take things from good-natured fun to cruel, ugly, mean and annoying… but some do. Not content to just enjoy the game and root for their team, they have to attack the players on the other squad.

We’ll see if Cousins gets some revenge tonight.

Liggins No Longer A Problem Child At UK

John — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:13:26 +0000

Back in October, if you’d mentioned the name DeAndre Liggins, many Kentucky fans would have said, “Why is he still on the team.”

As a player who never fit in under Billy Gillispie, Liggins was viewed as a disappointment, a bad attitude, and someone who should have been swept out during UK’s Cal-version last spring.

No more.

While the former hot-shot point guard prospect isn’t the player Big Blue Nation expected, he is someone that John Calipari has embraced. And that’s made all the difference.

“It was a guy who recruited me,” Liggins said of Coach Cal’s hire. “It was a guy I knew I could play for.”

Enter the new Liggins — a scrapper and a floor-diver. “There’s no such thing as a 50-50 ball with DeAndre,” said Calipari. “He gets them.”

Quite the turnaround for a guy many fans were ready to say “good riddance” too last April.

Wildcats stand guard as Kentucky tops Tennessee

admin — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 13:19:25 +0000

LEXINGTON, Ky. — At a roaring Rupp Arena on Saturday night, Eric Bledsoe and John Wall made the loud plays and DeAndre Liggins the quiet ones as No. 3 Kentucky silenced No. 12 Tennessee 73-62.

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UT-Kentucky rivalry stoked by coaches

admin — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 14:13:58 +0000

When John Calipari left Memphis to become Kentucky’s coach, one thing he didn’t have to leave behind was important matchups against Tennessee.
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Nets Interested In Calipari?

John — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 15:34:04 +0000

Sources have told The New York Daily News that Kentucky’s John Calipari is “on the team’s radar” when it comes to finding a new coach. Calipari coached the Nets in the late 90s — between his stints leading UMass and Memphis to Final Fours (or not).

The report also points out that with their current position in the NBA draft lottery, the Nets could be in a position to take UK’s John Wall. So would that fact help lure Coach Cal back to the swamps of Jersey?

I’m guessing not.

First, if ever a coach has found a perfect place for himself, it’s Calipari in Lexington.

Second, if Coach Cal even toys with the idea of heading back to the NBA, he should call his old nemesis Rick Pitino… who has also been mentioned in connection with the Nets’ gig.

Pitino was the last man to find Lexington as his perfect home. But he left for the Boston Celtics when it appeared that the C’s were a shoo-in to land Tim Duncan in the draft lottery. The Celtics rolled snake eyes, lost out on Duncan, and Pitino was left to point out that Larry Bird was not walking through the door.

Chances of Calipari leaving UK for the Nets: 1%.

I can’t picture it.

That said, I also once said there was no way Calipari would leave the cushiness of Memphis and C-USA for UK and the SEC in the first place. (‘Course, in my defense, I didn’t know he was about to have the NCAA swoop in at Memphis, either.)

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UK Fans Make A John Wall Snowman

John — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 16:10:18 +0000

There’s no arguing the fact that Kentucky fans are crazier about basketball than any other fanbase out there. To the point that a couple of them would spend hours in the snow sculpting a John Wall-shaped snowman that’s drawing national attention from websites across the country.

The snowman version is even doing the now-famous “John Wall dance.”

For a bigger, better look, click the headline of our story.

Vandy Wins A Big One; Kentucky Wins As Expected

John — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:46:49 +0000

This much was expected: Kentucky rolled past Alabama 66-55 last night in a game that really wasn’t as close as the score would indicate.

The surprise — though I don’t know that anything UK’s freshman do would qualify as a real surprise — was that both John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins logged double-doubles.

After the game, Bama’s Anthony Grant said Cousins (and his “bad blood”) were the difference. “It’s obvious on film how big he is. But what you miss is the skill level that goes with a guy that size.”

Down the road in Nashville, Vanderbilt swept by Tennessee for the first time since Bruce Pearl arrived at UT.

The surprise was just how easy the Commodores’ 90-71 win over the Vols was. Both Jeffery Taylor (26) and Jermaine Beal (20) poured in 20 points for Kevin Stallings’ team.

This was an important game for both the ‘Dores and the Vols. As we showed you yesterday, their resumes were very similar coming into the game… but not so much coming out. Vandy now holds the edge for seeding (and a bye) in the SEC tourney if the two teams finish tied in the East.

And if both teams play evenly the rest of the season, it’s likely VU would also hold a seeding edge in the eyes of the NCAA tournament selection committee. Big, big win for Vanderbilt.

UK Finally Makes Martin Hire Official

John — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:51:33 +0000

Joker Phillips finally made the hiring of new receivers coach Tee Martin official yesterday.

Martin joins offensive line coach Mike Sommers and defensive line coach David Turner as new additions on UK’s staff. He also once led UK’s biggest SEC rival to a national title… quarterbacking Tennessee to the 1998 BCS crown.

“I haven’t been on that side of (Neyland) Stadium — ever,” Martin said. “I don’t know how that’s going to feel. But now, I’m a Kentucky Wildcat, and we’re going to do our best to win every Saturday.”

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Kentucky Playing For A #1 Seed

John — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:56:47 +0000

John Calipari has said all year that his team is “playing for a #1 seed.” As it stands today, the Wildcats certainly appear to be in that mix.

John Clay of The Lexington Herald-Leader handicaps the race for top seeds in the NCAA tourney with this quick examination of UK, Kansas, Syracuse, West Virginia, Villanova, Georgetown, Michigan State and Duke.

Kentucky is currently 22-1 overall and 7-1 in the SEC. Their eight remaining regular season games are as follows:

Alabama in Lexington tomorrow
Tennessee in Lexington Saturday
at Mississippi State next Tuesday
at Vanderbilt next Saturday
South Carolina
at Tennessee
at Georgia
Florida in Lexington

How many potential losses do you see there?

Struggling Tigers still pose a threat

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 13:36:28 +0000

LEXINGTON, Ky. — John Calipari figured to spend relatively little time with his University of Kentucky basketball team discussing and dissecting Saturday’s opponent.

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Ranking college basketball’s one-loss wonders

admin — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:55:17 +0000

Mike DeCourcy, Sporting News

A month from now, it’ll be time to talk about which basketball teams look like potential NCAA champions. At this point, it’s more interesting to judge the four remaining one-loss teams according to the value in those records:

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Tee Martin headed to Kentucky

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:50:19 +0000

A source close to New Mexico quarterbacks coach Tee Martin told the Daily Lobo late Wednesday night that Martin will accept the wide receivers coach opening at Kentucky.

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UK’s Wall Trying “Not To Listen” To Calipari?

John — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:08:38 +0000

It’s the kind of quote that journalists love. It’s the kind of quote that makes a fan get a dull ache in his stomach. It’s the kind of quote John Wall made after Kentucky’s win over South Carolina on Saturday.

Last week, John Calipari said that Wall didn’t play well against South Carolina. Here’s the quote from Wall post-Vandy:

“I didn’t think I played that bad. I don’t know what to expect. He’s probably going to say I played bad today, too. I just try not to listen to him and go out and play basketball and try and help my team win.”

Wow.

He also went on to say, “To be honest, I really haven’t been having fun for the last two weeks. It’s just being frustrated and things like that, so I just got to figure it out before we go further in league play.”

John Clay of The Lexington Herald-Leader says that first quote is the kind of remark you get from a player who’s not used to be criticized. He also points out that SEC coaches are smart enough to keep making life tougher and tougher on the talented freshman.

On both fronts, Mr. Clay is absolutely spot-on.

At the same time, it’s important to remember that Wall isn’t as emotionally mature as his skills would suggest. He plays like a 25-year-old NBA vet. In reality, he’s a 19-year-old who’s just about 20 games removed from high school.

Being able to deal with adversity on the court and criticism off it isn’t easy. It takes time for a person to develop those skills. Certainly more time than it takes to learn the dribble-drive.

I don’t see Wall’s “I just try not to listen to him” comment as a sign that UK is anywhere near unraveling in the lockerroom. No one in Big Blue Nation should be looking for the panic button just yet.

That said, Wildcat fans would be wise to keep a close eye on Wall and his demeanor in the games ahead. If he does not quickly get back to the “greatest player ever” form he displayed early in the season, how will he respond?

And if Calipari dares to criticize him again, how will he respond to that?

SC Reporter Now Downplaying Cousins Incident

John — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 14:42:40 +0000

After going public with claims that he witnessed Kentucky basketball player DeMarcus Cousins strike a fan after South Carolina’s Tuesday night win over the Cats, a Columbia reporter is now wondering what the big deal is.

Uh, dude, you said a player punched a fan. That kind of thing makes news.

Bob Shields “expressed surprise” yesterday that he was still being asked about the incident in which he said he saw Cousins deliver “two quick underhanded uppercuts” to a USC fan who had charged the floor after the Gamecocks’ victory.

“Maybe I’m a slack journalist on this, but I don’t believe it’s a punishable offense,” Shields said. “If he wanted to, he could have destroyed (the fan). They were not haymakers. They were little blows. … I call them punches. They were little jabs: tap-tap.”

Neither South Carolina nor Kentucky officials have decided to dig further into the incident.

As I stated yesterday, when an on-court celebration takes place, there’s a danger of player-on-fan or fan-on-player violence. Mob scenes aren’t known for their civility. So if a kid got smacked around, I’m not surprised.

Apparently Mr. Shields agrees.

But I can’t believe he didn’t think his claims would make headlines. Heck, it’s probably done wonders for his radio show’s ratings.

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Did UK’s Cousins Strike A Carolina Fan?

John — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:52:59 +0000

Here’s a perfect example of why the SEC doesn’t want fans storming the league’s playing fields and courts — a television reporter in Columbia claims that he saw Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins strike a South Carolina fan after the Cocks’ win over the top-ranked Cats Tuesday night.

Bob Shields of WLTX-TV and WNKT-FM said that as fans stormed the court, one of them bumped into Cousins. Shields claims Cousins “popped the kid a couple of times in the cheek.”

USC spokesman Steve Fink said he was aware of the incident because reporters had called to ask about it. No one in the Carolina athletic department, however, has “brought it up at all.”

Shields said that he saw Cousins deliver “two quick little uppercuts” while the fan crouched down to slip past security.

On Shields’ radio show Wednesday, a man called in and claimed that he was the recipient of the “cold-cock” and that it knocked him “for a loop.”

Sorry, but I’m siding with Cousins on this one. Should a player ever punch a fan? Of course not, unless it’s in self-defense. But surrounded by thousands of celebrating idiots — some of whom are stupid enough to trash talk emotional players — who’s to say what a player thinks is self-defense.

I’ll use the old “Airplane!” line on this one — “they bought their tickets, I say let ‘em crash.” If someone is dumb enough to run onto a court next to losing players, he gets what he gets.

I understand celebrating a victory. I understand that college kids will storm fields and floors — as I wrote yesterday. But if I were going to run onto a court, I’d dang sure stay clear of any of losing players. That’s what they call “asking for it.”

If you’d like to see the scrap for yourself… good luck. This video makes the Zapruder film look down right pristine.

Memphis To Beg For Mercy; Cal Could Get A Final Four Back

John — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:03:22 +0000

Kentucky’s John Calipari is currently the only coach in NCAA history to have had to vacate two Final Fours. But if Memphis is effective in begging the NCAA for mercy tomorrow, he could get one of them back.

UM will plead for leniency before the NCAA’s Infractions Appeals Committee in Indianapolis. The hearing will be closed to the public.

The NCAA will not comment on their final verdict for at least a month after the hearing.

Memphis is arguing that the NCAA imposed “unprecedented penalties with improper reasoning” in wiping out 38 wins (and said Final Four berth) from the 2007-2008 season.

In this case, I have to agree with Memphis. Derrick Rose was initially okayed by the NCAA clearinghouse. Then after he departed for the NBA, the NCAA decided that their had been some hanky-panky committed on his college entrance exams. Therefore, Memphis got slapped (while Calipari darted out of town for Lexington unscathed).

But if the NCAA cleared Rose, how is it Memphis’ fault for playing him?

Unless, of course, the NCAA feels that Calipari and Memphis KNEW of the exam switcheroo and had tried to pull a fast one on the folks from Indianapolis. Judging from the severity of the penalties, that might be exactly what the NCAA believes behind closed doors.

Carolina Hands Kentucky First Loss, Welcomes Calipari To The SEC

John — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:38:31 +0000

The big story in Kentucky yesterday was South Carolina’s Devan Downey saying that whenever he steps on a court, he feels as though he’s the best point guard on the floor.

The Lexington Herald-Leader took that rather common thought (name me a player who doesn’t feel that way) and turned it into this headline: “Downey says he’s better than Wall.”

Well next summer John Wall will be the first player taken in the NBA draft. He’s an amazing talent. But last night, when they stepped on the court, Downey DID get the best of Wall.

South Carolina 68, #1 Kentucky 62.

Wall played 38 minutes, scored 19 points, grabbed four rebounds, recorded two assists and had one steal.

Downey — playing with less talent around him — also played 38 minutes, but he poured in 30 points (going 10 of 11 from the free throw line) with five rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Being that the #1 team in the country just lost its first game, we’ll have some massive coverage of the upset right here in just a few minutes.

But before we start bringing you coverage from around the country, let me just say this: Welcome to the SEC, John Calipari.

Undefeated seasons are a reality in Conference USA. And UK’s incredible 19-0 start was a thing of beauty that attracted the nation’s spotlight back to Wildcat basketball.

But in the grand scheme of things, the Cats are just five games into a 16-game league schedule. From that view, it really didn’t take UK very long to drop a conference game. And while they’re clearly the class of the league, it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone if they drop one or two more SEC contests before the season ends.

Going on the road in the Southeastern Conference is a lot more difficult than going on the road in C-USA. I’m guessing Calipari already knew that. Now his players do, too. And that might be the best thing for them.

South Carolina coverage

1. Here’s the game story from Columbia’s The State.

2. Ron Morris writes that Downey has now permanently stamped his name in the annals of Gamecock basketball.

3. Here’s video from the postgame comments of Darrin Horn and Calipari.

4. Downey took note that President Barack Obama told UK’s team earlier in the day that they “should be all right” in Columbia. But (jokingly) he said he was too scared to say anything bad about the Prez.

5. “This is a huge win for our program, obviously, for a lot of reasons,” said Horn. “Everyone in Gamecock nation deserves a win like this.”

6. Gene Sapakoff of The Charleston Post & Courier reminds everyone that Horn is a Lexington-native who has now started his career 3-0 against the Cats.

Kentucky coverage

7. Here’s the game story from The Lexington Herald-Leader.

8. John Clay writes that for UK, “it was that kind of night.”

9. As flashy as Kentucky’s freshmen were at times, their inexperience was apparent down the stretch.

10. Here are the observations from one UK fan/blogger. (And yes, he sounds very much like a disappointed fan.)

National coverage

11. Andy Katz of ESPN believes last night’s win could be a season-changer for USC.

12. UK’s #1 ranking will probably be a one-week thing.

13. ESPN’s Pat Forde provides his snap judgements on the game.

14. And ESPN’s Dana O’Neil writes that folks will closely monitor how Kentucky responds to its first loss.

15. Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com writes that UK’s loss proves that no one team will dominate the season. (I’d say 19-1 is still pretty close to dominating.)

16. President Obama told Kentucky’s team via phone (to thank them for their Haitian relief telethon): “… there is a tendency once you get to be #1 to start letting down a little bit. So you guys stay focused.” The Cats should have listened.

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Undefeated Kentucky Finally Grabs Top Spot

John — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:28:24 +0000

It took a while, but undefeated Kentucky has finally climbed to the top of both major basketball polls. The Wildcats have not been #1 in the nation since 2002-03… or a lifetime in UK fans’ minds.

The Cats were a unanimous pick at the top of both rankings.

Tennessee dropped all the way from #8 to #14 with their 15-point loss at Georgia this weekend.

Mississippi State fell out of the polls following their loss to Alabama on Saturday.

Below are the SEC programs ranked in the latest AP Poll:

1. Kentucky (19-0)

14. Tennessee (15-3)

18. Ole Miss (15-4)

21. Vanderbilt (15-3)

And here’s how things stand in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll:

1. Kentucky (19-0)

14. Tennessee (15-3)

20. Ole Miss (15-4)

23. Vanderbilt (15-2)

Kentucky shows why it should be No. 1

admin — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:33:41 +0000

By LARRY VAUGHT
LEXINGTON — All Kentucky had to do to climb to No. 1 in the national rankings was beat Arkansas.
Current No. 1 Texas lost at Kansas State and it was a given that a UK win would put the Wildcats back on top — something that seemed impossible last March.
However, Kentucky didn’t want to [...]
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Rupp attendance records nearing capacity

admin — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 12:59:39 +0000

Two record-breaking crowds already this season.

The chance for more in the offing because the next four home games, starting with Saturday’s contest against Arkansas, are already sold out.

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UK Makes Football Hires Official

John — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:29:02 +0000

Joker Phillips made the hires more than a week ago, but the behind-the-scenes paperwork at UK has only today been completed. So… finally… the hirings of offensive line coach Mike Summers and defensive line coach David Turner have been announced.

Summers is a Lexington native and the son-in-law of former Kentucky basketball coach Joe B. Hall. He comes to UK from Arkansas.

Turner also has UK roots. He coached on Bill Curry’s Wildcats staff (along with Phillips) in 1993 and 1994. Turner was hired from Mississippi State’s staff.

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Kudos To Calipari And Kentucky

John — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:42:29 +0000

John Calipari is the target of a lot of attacks. His recruiting methods have often been questioned. His loophole-finding ways with the NCAA rulebook have often been discussed.

But when a man does a solid, a man does a solid.

Yesterday afternoon, Calipari hosted a five-hour telethon to raise money for relief efforts in Haiti. While he fronted the show, his Wildcat basketball players manned the phones.

In the end, the telethon raised more than $1 million. And it was Calipari who pulled together the telethon in less than two days.

Red Cross officials said Sunday that they knew of no other coach or athletic team hosting a telethon.

In addition, Calipari and his wife donated $25,000 to the cause.

“I’ve been saying for months that the Big Blue Nation is full of ‘crazies.’ But after Sunday’s outpouring of support, I can call everyone something else: compassionate and generous. … It was beyond my wildest dreams.”

Calipari, his team, and the Kentucky fanbase deserve a great deal of praise for this one. No doubt some other schools and teams will copy this idea and that, too, is a good thing. And Coach Cal and the folks who put the telethon together deserve credit for that, as well.

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Liggins delivers solid defenseat key moment

admin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 12:08:04 +0000

AUBURN, Ala. — With Kentucky’s lead down to three points and Auburn looking for the equalizer from one of its three-point shooters, DeAndre Liggins came to the rescue.

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TV deal shrinks Auburn’s prep time for Cats

admin — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 14:00:05 +0000

Auburn Coach Jeff Lebo on his team’s David-and-Goliath game against Kentucky on Saturday: “Kentucky has at least five NBA players, maybe a sixth. They kind of remind me of the old Kentucky teams when I was at South Carolina (as an Eddie Fogler assistant) and (Rick) Pitino was at Kentucky. Five, six, seven NBA guys.

“Kind of scary to sit here and try to prepare for them.”

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The Joker’s Wild, Steals D-Line Coach From MSU

John — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:15:38 +0000

Over the weekend, new Kentucky coach Joker Phillips lured offensive line coach Mike Summers from Arkansas back to his home state.

Now Phillips has raided Mississippi State’s staff.

Defensive line coach David Turner will leave MSU to take over the same role in Lexington. Turner was a holdover from Sylvester Croom’s last staff in Starkville.

As with Summers, there’s a UK connection for Turner. He coached the Wildcats’ defensive ends in 1993 and 1994… while Phillips served as the Cats’ receivers coach.

This leaves State searching for both a defensive coordinator and a defensive line coach. Turner had spoken to Dan Mullen about the DC job, but clearly, didn’t land it.

Phillips still has one more hole to fill on his staff… replacing himself as receivers coach. Strong rumors indicate that former UK receiver and graduate assistant Gerad Parker is set to land that slot. He has spent the past two seasons coaching receivers at Tennessee-Martin.

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Bulldogs won’t roll over, Cal says

admin — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 13:31:51 +0000

Georgia received a last-place vote from every participant in the Southeastern Conference pre-season media poll. Such dismissive unanimity hadn’t happened to a team since at least 1997-98.

But Kentucky Coach John Calipari said that Georgia has climbed out of this 25-vote burial and become a “scary” opponent for the SEC opener on Saturday.

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Joker Is In Charge At Kentucky

John — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 15:20:41 +0000

I’ll bet you dollars to doughnuts that Kentucky’s PR department is already working on decks of playing cards and Batman posters (“Why so serious?”) to tie into new head coach Joker Phillips who was introduced in Lexington yesterday.

Phillips — who was emotional during the press conference — announced a plan for “Operation Win.” He said, “This means continuing to strive for excellence in every possible area of Kentucky football. This is not about Joker Phillips. This is about ‘we.’ There are many parts to a successful program and my job is to evaluate how we can turn it up a notch.”

(In announcing “Operation Win,” Phillips has now provided fans and media with easily-assembled snarky comments for anything that might go wrong: “Operation Fumble,” “Operation Dropped Pass,” “Operation Fourth Quarter Collapse,” etc. Wait and see.)

The former UK receiver and Kentucky-native has signed a five-year contract worth $1.7 million annually.

John Clay of The Lexington Herald-Leader believes that Phillips’ longevity at Kentucky might actually work against him in that fans are already familiar with him… and some have already come to dislike him as a playcaller.

Therefore, it’ll be important for him to adhere to the advice given to him by previous head coach Rich Brooks: “Don’t listen to the noise that’s out there.”

Phillips also knows what his top priority is: “The key is recruiting, make no mistake about that. We have to continue to work hard to recruit good players that can come in here and play now.”

Good luck to Phillips who I remember from his playing days when I was a boy growing up in Middlesboro, Kentucky. Who would have guessed that a quarter-century later, the receiver named “Joker” would become UK’s head football coach?

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Reaction To Brooks’ Retirement From UK

John — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:16:11 +0000

Here’s some of what’s being written about now former Kentucky football coach Rich Brooks this morning:

1. John Clay of The Lexington Herald-Leader sums up Brooks’ professionalism quite well:

“… pros put their head down, place one foot in front of the other, make one improvement after another, and leave a collegiate football program in much better shape than they one they found. That’s what Rich Brooks did at Kentucky.”

2. His former players (like Ricky Lumpkin below) are opening up about the fun side of their coach that few fans saw.

“Coach Brooks is real goofy. He likes to have fun with us; chest bump with us. He’d take us out to the pool during camp and swim with us, dive off the diving board, slide down the slide. He’s a kid at heart.”

3. Athletic director Mitch Barnhart says UK got what it wanted from Brooks.

“He absolutely contribute to this program what I want from a football coach. He put us in a position where we have a chance to go forward and do some pretty cool things.”

4. And now that he’s leaving, those fans with the “Ditch Rich” bumper stickers are sad to see him go.

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More On Brooks’ Retirement

John — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 18:04:10 +0000

Saying, “This is the end of the road of the old man’s coaching career,” Rich Brooks officially stepped down at Kentucky’s football coach this morning.

“I just felt it was time to make the change. The losses take their toll.”

Brooks leaves UK as the Wildcats’ fourth-winningest coach behind Paul “Bear” Bryant, Fran Curci and Jerry Claiborne.

“A younger person is in a better position to take the program forward,” the 68-year-old Brooks said. “This is a good time to change the leadership in the program.”

Regarding reports that UK hadn’t given him the full backing that he was looking for, Brooks said: “That was not the overriding thing.” He said that even if he had gotten everything he wanted, he still would have retired.

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Brooks Steps Down, Phillips Steps Up

John — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 16:16:06 +0000

Rich Brooks has made it official, saying moments ago that it is time for “me to step away” from Kentucky’s program.

That means former UK player and longtime assistant Joker Phillips will ascend to the Wildcat football throne.

Brooks, in a bit of an emotional press conference that is still going on, said that he regrets not being able to take Kentucky to greater heights and that he hopes the program can eventually reach higher ground.

Brooks said it was “Very frustrating to be close to something and not be able to grab it.”

We’ll have more on this situation shortly. Until then, let me just say that the SEC has lost a good, classy coach.

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Fallout From UK’s Roughhousing Versus Louisville

John — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:27:00 +0000

CBSSports.com’s Gary Parrish often writes about Kentucky basketball. He was one of the first in the nation to jump all over the possibility of John Wall being America’s next Lebron James — and he appears to have been right on that one.

Now he has focused on UK again. This time, he looks at the angry mess that almost got out of hand early in Kentucky’s win over Louisville on Saturday.

First, he writes that the combustible temperament of big man DeMarcus Cousins might be the Achilles’ heel of the Wildcat team.

Then he attempts to read the lips of John Calipari in the clip below.

In his view, Coach Cal yelled a little something to the Cardinals’ Reginald Delk after he got into it with UK’s Eric Bledsoe.

Mr. Parrish believes Calipari said that Bledsoe will “kick your ass after the game’s over” and that Delk is messing with the “wrong guy.”

Nice. See for yourself at about the 17-second mark of the clip above.

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UK’s Brooks Will Announce Plans This Morning

John — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:15:48 +0000

Will he retire or won’t he?

After the Music City Bowl loss, Kentucky’s Rich Brooks said that there was an 80% chance that he would step down in Lexington.

Rumors swirled that he wanted a bigger commitment to football from the UK administration. Athletic director Mitch Barnhart said that he didn’t believe that to be the case, but that he would do whatever was necessary to keep Brooks onboard. (One has to wonder what coach-in-waiting Joker Phillips thought of that.)

Brooks has met with Barnhart in the past week and it’s believed that funding for a new recruiting room and raises for assistant coaches were discussed.

At 11am ET this morning, Brooks will announce his plans.

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Kentucky and Louisville Switch Roles on a Stage of Parochial Passions

admin — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 14:30:03 +0000

When the Kentucky junior forward Patrick Patterson tells his younger teammates about his experiences playing against Louisville, he paints a picture of chaos on the Commonwealth’s biggest stage.

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Barnhart Trying To Talk Brooks Into Staying

John — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:23:04 +0000

Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart doesn’t want Rich Brooks to walk away from the Wildcat program just yet. He made that clear during an interview last night.

“I want him to be our football coach, I think he’s good for Kentucky. He’s good for our players. And that’s important.”

He also made it clear that he supports Brooks and the football program at every turn. “I’ve supported football, the department has supported football in a variety of ways. I supported Rich seven years ago. I supported him four years ago. I’m supporting him this year personally — from a very personal standpoint.”

Barnhart made the point that he does not believe Brooks is walking away due to frustration with UK’s facilities or his program’s second-tier status to basketball.

“The only frustration he can have is that recruiting room. Clearly that’s something we’d like to do as well, but it wasn’t without reason why that project got put on the back burner. When that project goes from $2 million intial costs to $7 million, what do you cut out?”

Hmmm.

“If there’s some things that (Brooks) says, “I really need to have happen for me to stay,” I’ll say, “Okay, we can do that.”

So is Brooks’ “80% chance of retirement” forecast simply a bluff to get more out of the UK athletic department? Or is he really coming to the point where his heart just isn’t in the game?

We all await the answer. As does coach-in-waiting Joker Phillips.

As I’ve made clear previously, I’m not a fan of the coach-in-waiting plan. One, there’s no telling how a coordinator will fare in his current job after he’s tabbed coach-in-waiting (see: Phillips and Jimbo Fisher at Florida State). Two, fans always want to see a nationwide search, not a promotion from within. And three… what’s happening at UK right now.

Go back and re-read Barnhart’s comments about Brooks. He almost sounds desperate to keep Brooks onboard. If you’re Phillips, how does that make you feel? Maybe Phillips wants Brooks to stick around for another year, too. Or maybe he believes the AD is going overboard to keep him.

We’ll never know. And it should be noted that Barnhart did say that he remains comfortable in turning the program over to Phillips if Brooks steps down.

But if UK didn’t have a coach-in-waiting at the moment, Barnhart’s comments would be seen only as praise for the last guy. With a coach-in-waiting, we have to wonder how those comments play to the next man in line.

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SEC Off To 0-1 Bowl Start

John — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 18:36:47 +0000

It didn’t take long for the national talking heads to gig the SEC for kicking off its bowl season with an 0-1 start.

From, “You can throw out talk of going 10-0″ to “The SEC could start 0-2 if Georgia loses tonight,” I’ve already heard two national radio hosts today jumping on the SEC’s less-than-stellar start to bowl season.

What wasn’t mentioned in regards to Kentucky’s 21-13 Music City Bowl loss to Clemson?

The fact that Kentucky had a 3-5 league record and was either the 7th or 8th SEC team selected by its bowl partners. (The Liberty and Music City bowls pick at the same time.) Clemson, on the other hand, was the Atlantic Division champion in the ACC (with a 6-2 conference record) and played in that league’s title game.

As I wrote last week, expect national pundits to kick the SEC hard if its teams stumble in their bowl games. Regardless of the fact that most SEC teams are matched against higher-finishers from other conferences.

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Brooks Stepping Down After UK Bowl Loss?

John — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:45:37 +0000

Lost amid the Urban Meyer flip-flop coverage is news that Kentucky coach Rich Brooks says he’s leaning “80 percent” toward retirement.

The coach said after last night’s 21-13 Music City Bowl loss to Clemson that “maybe it’s time” to step down. “I’m going to meet with my family. I’ll make a (final) decision in four to five days.”

Had UK beaten Clemson, Brooks could have gone out with an 8-win season and his fourth straight bowl win. As it stands — if he does leave — he’ll leave after a season that he termed “disappointing.”

John Clay of The Lexington Herald-Leader has video of Brooks’ post-game comments and he writes that Brooks’ decision to step down could be tied to the fact that “there is continuity now” in the UK program and “a sense of purpose and direction.”

UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart said, “He took this job when nobody else wanted to take it. He’s done a lot for Kentucky.”

Observations:

* A source close to the UK program told me nearly two months ago (as was reported here) that Brooks would be much more likely to walk away on a high note than on a down note. A fourth consecutive bowl trip, another winning season and a pair of streak-busting wins at Auburn and at Georgia probably qualify as a semi-high note.

* Wildcat fans can now start debating the merits of the coach-in-waiting plan. Joker Phillips is waiting in the wings and — according to Brooks — there’s an 80% chance he’ll be UK’s head coach next September. But will Cat fans be glad about that? I’m guessing no. Coaching searches are akin to baseball’s hot stove league. Rumors swirl, messageboards heat up, and Jon Gruden supposedly gets interested in every job in the country (if you believe the rumors and messageboards). There’s no doubt that plenty of Big Blue faithful would prefer a national coaching search for Brooks’ replacement. No offense to Phillips, but I agree. If Barnhart could interview some coaches he might find that Brooks has left Kentucky a much more attractive job than it was when he was hired. Barnhart might be able to land a surprisingly good coach to take over. Then again, he might find that Phillips is indeed the man for the job. But none of us will ever know. If Brooks does step down, the job is Phillips’. No ifs, ands or searches.

* Brooks will be missed if he leaves. He has made UK competitive on the field, but he’s also been one of the SEC’s best ambassadors off of it. He says what he thinks. He’s often entertaining in doing so. And he’s more self-deprecating than most of the ego-driven coaches in the league. Here’s wishing Brooks the best if he does step aside.

* You know who else might miss Brooks? All those fans who slapped “Ditch Rich” bumper stickers on their cars. Fans are never satisfied. They always want more. And every fanbase believes its school could and should rank #1 in every sport… every year. But I think UK fans who’ve complained about four straight bowl trips might soon realize that Brooks did a better job than they gave him credit for.

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