MrSEC » Kentucky

SEC Headlines 4/28/12

Josh Ward — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 14:46:27 +0000

1. The NCAA chose not to add on to South Carolina’s self-imposed penalties.

2. Once highly-touted quarterback Phillip Sims has decided to transfer from Alabama.

3. Another Alabama defender, this time Courtney Upshaw, went quickly in the NFL draft on Friday.

4. Recruits were paying attention to Alabama’s success in the draft on Thursday night.

5. Here’s a look at the SEC defenders selected in the NFL’s first round.

6. Tony Barnhart of CBSSports.com believes Nick Saban’s team is helping provide hope to Tuscaloosa.

7. One writer believes former Gator Janoris Jenkins – taken by St. Louis - will be the next Pacman Jones.

8. Outside of Jankins, Florida saw its draft drought continue into the second day of the draft.

9. Here’s a preview for Texas A&M’s upcoming spring game at Kyle Field.

10. We’ll get a new look at Texas A&M’s defense on Saturday.

11. Mark Wiedmer of the Chattanooga News-Free Press shows us a nice side of Tennessee coach Derek Dooley.

12. Bill Belichick believes former Arkansas defensive end Jake Bequette will be productive in New England.

13. Arkansas hasn’t had any receivers selected in the draft. That will change today.

14. Matt Hayes of Sporting News believes it’s time for college football to finally land a commissioner.

15. The LSU Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved an expansion of LSU’s Tiger Stadium.

16. SEC coaches can use the NFL draft as a three-day recruiting tool.

17. Former Georgia offensive lineman Cordy Glenn will help where needed in Buffalo.

Extra:

18. Here’s a look at the conference champion only idea for the future BCS.

19. Here’s another preview of Missouri’s offense as it enters the SEC.

20. Vanderbilt coach James Franklin will surely use Casey Heyward’s drafting in recruiting.

UK Ready To “Shock The World”

John — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 17:31:14 +0000

The folks in Lexington are optimistic. About football.

Well, at least the football team is optimistic. Take these comments from sophomore linebacker Alvin “Bud” Dupree:

“We’re going to be a surprise team. People don’t really expect Kentucky to have a good football team, but we’re going to work hard this spring and in the offseason. We’re going to get bigger, faster, stronger. … We’re going to be a good team and shock the world, shock the fans.”

My first thought after reading that quote was of the movie “Patton.” When an underling tells Field Marshall Erwin Rommel that he’s “optimistic” about the Germans’ chances against combined US and UK forces, Rommel replies coolly: “You can afford to be an optimist. I can’t.”

But in UK’s case, head coach Joker Phillips — while not quite so exuberant as his young linebacker — also promised improvement.

“Don’t give up on this football team,” he said when asked what he would tell Wildcat fans. “We’ll battle; we’ll fight; we’ll scratch; we’ll claw. Just don’t give up on this football team.”

Got that, Cat fans?

UK’s Team Goes Pro; How Will They Be Remembered?

John — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 13:41:43 +0000

In the end, there was just a smidge of suspense. John Calipari sitting with his five prize underclassmen at a press conference last evening told the media: “Let me just say that Anthony (Davis) and Doron (Lamb) and Terrence (Jones) have decided to put their names in the NBA draft, so they will do that.”

And then a pause. UK fans’ hopes rose. Until Coach Cal spoke up again…

“And Michael (Kidd-Gilchrist) and Marquis Teague have also decided to put their names in the draft. I was trying to scare some coaches out there, that’s all I was doing.”

Ha-ha.

With a national title and Banner #8 captured and hung, Wildcat fans are probably in such a good move that Calipari could have said, “They’re all staying… psyche!” and they would forgive him.

So the five underclassmen expected to turn pro will now do just that. Saying goodbye, they hit all the right notes of togetherness — “We wanted to do it together like we did everything together” — and family — “I’m going to miss playing with these guys… it’s a brotherhood we created.”

And the talk will now turn to two other things. First, whether all five youngsters plus senior Darius Miller will somehow find their way into the NBA’s first round. Two years ago Calipari said UK landing five first-rounders was the best day in the history of Kentucky basketball. (Here’s guessing a few Cat fans disagreed with that sentiment.) What will he say if a full one-fifth of the NBA’s first-round draft picks come from Lexington?

Second, what about next year? Well, already Davis is saying that next year’s UK team could be as good as his squad. But Calipari is downplaying such talk:

“On this team, we had Terrence Jones, Doron Lame and Darius Miller. All players with Final Four experience coming back. Next year, we have one guy (Kyle Wiltjer) with any experience. That’s it. Everybody else either hasn’t played or played very little.

For some reason, we’ll be ranked very high.”

For some reason. Yeah, like an Elite Eight team, a Final Four team, and then a national title-winning team all built in the same general fashion. Next year’s Cats should be dominant, high-flying, and fun to watch once more.

But what about this just-departing bunch that The Louisville Courier-Journal has tabbed “The Farewell Five.” This team of so many underclassmen who’ve entered the UK scene, stayed there for less than a year, won a championship, and then bolted… how will they be remembered?

And that’s the downside to Calipari’s way of doing business. If you happen to view it as a downside.

There are no long-term strings attached. Yes, Cat fans got their crown back and they love the guys who brought it home, but how much love can you feel for players who come and go so quickly? It’s the college basketball version of professional free agency. It’s tough to connect to what amounts to a rent-a-player.

Let me be very clear, I’m not talking about right now in the immediate afterglow of a championship. I’m talking about the year 2032, for example. Will Kentucky fans be able to easily recite the names and numbers of the 2011-12 title Cats?

Old-timers can tell you all you want to know about the ’96 and ’98 teams. They watched those guys over the course of multiple years. There were “The Unforgettables,” four mostly homegrown products who over the course of their careers led Kentucky basketball from the NCAA doghouse back to center stage. Richie Farmer, Deron Feldhaus, John Pelphrey and Sean Woods were all seniors in ’91-92 by the way.

Ask the real Kentucky bluebloods and you’ll hear tales of Joe B. Hall’s squads and Adolph Rupp’s.

But what of the Calipari era? Kids are coming and going at a pretty brisk pace. As the mists of time cloud memories over the next couple of decades — and trust me, those mists do make things a lot more cloudy — will folks in the Commonwealth remember that John Wall was on this team and Marquis Teague was on that team?

UK backers know Pelphrey’s exploits because they heard of him for four years and they literally watched him grow up. Davis, Kidd-Gilchrist, Brandon Knight, DeMarcus Cousins… they all came and went quickly.

This is not an indictment of Calipari’s system, mind you. The goal is to cut down nets and he’s already cut down quite a few nets in his three years at UK. But I do wonder if all these guys won’t start running together in the collective memory of Kentucky hoops fans down the road.

That could be the give that goes along with all the recent taking in Lexington.

UPDATE — The national columnists are tackling UK’s long list of departees. Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com writes that this bunch of one-and-doners have ended some myths and created a big legacy. Meanwhile, Pat Forde of Yahoo! Sports says a new group of stars is ready to take their place. Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News says next year’s bunch will have a vastly different look. And ESPN.com’s Dana O’Neil pens the obligatory “don’t blame UK for the one-and-done rule” piece.

Kentucky Players Will Announce Plans Tuesday

Josh Ward — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 21:18:12 +0000

Five Kentucky basketball players will announce their plans regarding the NBA draft at a press conference on Tuesday at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

Sophomores Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb and freshmen Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague will all attend the press conference. So will coach John Calipari.

All five players are expected to announce they’re leaving Kentucky, according to Gary Parrish of CBSSport.com. Each player, along with departing senior Darius Miller, has a chance to be drafted in the first round.

As Kyle Tucker of the Louisville Courier-Journal pointed out, the fact that all five players are announcing together could be a sign of their plans.

Not out of the question, but sure is harder to imagine any one of UK’s five guys saying, “I’m staying!” sitting beside all others leaving.

— Kentucky Sports – CJ (@KyleTucker_CJ) April 16, 2012

And if all five players decide to leave, Calipari will be just fine with it.

Report: UK’s Jones To Declare For NBA Draft

John — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:59:34 +0000

This year’s NBA draft is expected to be littered with Kentucky underclassmen. Today, Dan Rieffer of Lexington’s WTVQ-TV is reporting via Twitter that Terrence Jones will be the first Wildcat to make his plans officially known:

“Not that we don’t already know, but ABC 36 had confirmed Terrence Jones will declare for NBA draft. Announcement could be as early as tmrw.”

If Jones does declare, we’ll have more coverage tmrw. (What hath Twitter and texting done to Shakespeare’s English?)

Calipari’s Latest UK Class Thinks They Can Win A Title, Too

John — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 17:49:54 +0000

During John Calipari’s remarkable three-year run at Kentucky, we have praised him repeatedly for his ability to take the blue chip stars off of high school teams and quickly create in them a team-first mentality and work ethic.

He draws praise because that’s just not an easy thing to do. Which means sooner or later it’s likely that UK’s coach will land a group that doesn’t believe in unity or doesn’t understand the work it takes to earn a title.

And his current group of all-star signees are already talking about titles and success.

Alex Poythress: “You’re following in the footsteps. They’re setting the standard high, so you’ve got big shoes to fill. And I feel that we can fill them.”

Nerlens Noel: “Just the success (UK has) had with younger players going out there and winning a national championship, that’s not easy with five or six freshmen. Just seeing what they did with that, and what Coach Calipari dos is real successful, and I think I can go there with Archie (Goodwin) and Alex and Willie (Cauley) and be successful the same way they were.”

Archie Goodwin: “We’re going to be able to work together. I know we are because (Noel is) a team player and I’m a team player and Willie’s a team player. There are going to be a lot of amazing things that happen.”

For now, the smart money is on Calipari to turn this crew into another Elite Eight or better squad. But eventually, the odds are he’ll sign one or more players who aren’t team-first guys. Chemistry is important. This year’s UK team had it. An eighth championship banner was captured.

But whether the next wave will have that chemistry remains to be seen. (And before any Cat fans email to point out that Goodwin said they were all team players, have you ever known anyone to say, “I’m a me-first” player?)

ESPN’s Knight Gigs UK Fans

John — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:20:15 +0000

In his role as an ESPN analyst, ex-Indiana coach Bobby Knight spent most of the season ignoring Kentucky. He failed to list them among his weekly list of America’s five best teams. He would call them “that team from the SEC” until finally cracking and calling them by name late in the year.

Speaking to a group of Indiana fans this weekend, Knight fired another shot at the Wildcats, specifically at their fans:

“Kentucky managed to get irritated over that because I mentioned them as the SEC team rather than Kentucky. Well, they might not have known that Kentucky was in the SEC. I thought that was always a possibility with them.”

Knight also called the current one-and-done rule — which has so benefited the Cats — a “disgrace.”

Whenever I see or hear Knight three words come to mind regardless of what he’s saying or doing: Miserable Old Coot.

Three UK Defenders No Longer With Football team

John — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 18:21:50 +0000

Two left on their own. One was shown the door. But overall, Kentucky is down three players from its defense today.

According to The Lexington Herald-Leader, defensive end Justin Henderson and linebacker Tim Patterson left of their own free will. Henderson played in four games last season as a redshirt freshman. Patterson was running as a third-team linebacker this spring.

Delic was given the heave-ho by Joker Phillips for the dreaded “unspecified violation of team rules.” Like Patterson, he did not play last season for the Wildcats.

Henderson was listed as a second-string end.

Writer, Izzo Says Race An Issue With Anti-UK Backlash; Both Are Wrong

John — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 16:09:47 +0000

Yesterday, William Rhoden of The New York Times examined the “outrage” that has followed Kentucky’s winning of the national championship in basketball with a team featuring several one-and-doners. Personally, while I have seen and heard debate about whether or not the one-and-done system is good for college basketball, the term “outrage” seems a bit strong to me. But Rhoden took things much further than that word:

“If the core of the Kentucky team had been made up of white players with phenomenal athleticism and acumen at every position — operating in the context of a largely black sport — we would not be hearing the complaining. Their success would not be seen as a debasement. The team would be celebrated and feted — as Butler was, as Gonzaga used to be.”

Since this is a family site, let me just call “poppycock” on that one (but a stronger word is bouncing around my skull).

This writer doesn’t deny the existence of racism in the United States today. It’s real. Sadly it will always be real. This nation will never, ever completely wash away the stain of its great original sin — slavery.

Some blacks will always mistrust whites and see persecution even where none exists. Some whites will always mistrust blacks and claim America to be racism-free or — even more ridiculously — racist against the white men of our nation.

But the one-and-done issue has absolutely zip to do with race. The one-and-done rule is a bad rule. Period. So says NBA commissioner David Stern. So says the man who’s prospered the most by it — Kentucky’s very own coach, John Calipari, who said last week he’d like to see it changed.

Butler and Gonzaga are ridiculous examples for Rhoden to use in his argument. Those schools weren’t applauded because they had more caucasians on their rosters. They were cheered because they are tiny schools that most people never hear of outside the month of March. Gonzaga has an enrollment of just 4,700 undergraduate students. Butler — in whose gym the film “Hoosiers” was shot — has an undergraduate population of only 4,000. Butler and Gonzaga were the Davids trying to take down the Goliaths of the hoops world.

But more importantly — and this renders Rhoden’s comparison totally moot — Butler and Gonzaga didn’t build their programs with three consecutive classes of one-and-done athletes. He’s comparing apples to oranges. Lumping Butler and Gonzaga into a comparison with Kentucky is absurd. And Rhoden — a brilliant writer — must know that.

Unfortunately, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo went along with Rhoden’s black/white nonsense. When asked “if he thought a highly talented, highly athletic team of white players would be viewed differently,” Izzo said:

“I want to answer that as honestly as I can. I think it would be different. I hate to say that. It’s sad for me to say, but it’s probably the truth.”

That’s hardly a definitive answer.

If there is outrage over Kentucky’s winning of the national title — and again, I’ve seen nothing I would call “outrage” against UK — it likely has more to do with these two facts:

1. Kentucky is the winningest program in college basketball history. Many fans don’t like dynasties.

2. Calipari is about as popular outside the Bluegrass State as Hepatitis-C. There aren’t many college basketball fans who root for Coach Cal, fair or not.

The system is the issue here, not the color of Kentucky’s players’ skin.

A year ago, Connecticut won the NCAA Tournament. Their biggest star was Kemba Walker who left school following his junior year and entered the NBA draft. Their other stars last year were freshmen Jeremy Lamb, Shabazz Napier, and Roscoe Smith and sophomore Alex Oriakhi. All were black, but all except Walker returned to school. Do you remember outrage over UConn’s title? Neither do I.

Black athletes winning and then leaving early is an issue. Black athletes winning and then staying in school is not an issue. Clearly, the trouble is the leaving early part, not the black athletes part.

The one-and-done system is bad for basketball. Race has nothing to do with it. Shame on Rhoden for trying to marry the two.

Oriakhi Free To Play Immediately… Somewhere

John — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:50:51 +0000

Yesterday the NCAA nixed UConn’s appeal of a 2012-13 postseason ban and that opens the door for transferring forward/center Alex Oriakhi to play somewhere immediately. If that somewhere is in the SEC, he’ll also have to get a waiver from the league because he has just one year of eligibility remaining… but that looks to be a forgone conclusion.

The folks in Missouri — one of Oriakhi’s final four choices — believe he “could flourish” playing alongside point guard Phil Pressey who was his teammate in AAU ball back in Massachusetts.

But Oriakhi told CBSSports.com that he’s already spoken to top high school prospect Nerlens Noel about teaming up at Kentucky, another of his final four choices (along with Duke and North Carolina). It was reported that the big man was scheduled to meet with John Calipari yesterday.

Oriakhi To Meet with UK’s Calipari Today

John — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 16:13:32 +0000

Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com tweeted earlier today that the first stop on the transfer tour of UConn big man Alex Oriakhi will be a date with the national champs:

“Kentucky’s John Calipari expected to meet with UConn transfer Alex Oriakhi today. Oriakhi has one year left and can play immediately.”

As previously noted, he could play immediately if he enrolls in a major not offered by UConn and if the SEC grants him a waiver. Both are likely to happen if Kentucky (or Missouri) is his final choice.

Oriakhi can play immediately because of NCAA sanctions against UConn.

Top Hoops Recruit Claims UK Fan Offered Wife

John — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:07:44 +0000

You’ve gotta hand it to Kentucky fans. Last week a Wildcat fan offered up his wife on craigslist.com in exchange for tickets to the Final Four.

Now, while doing a notebook for ESPN.com, top hoops recruit Nerlens Noel says that a Cat backer approached him on Bourbon Street and offered up his wife if the big man — presumably — would ink with his beloved Wildcats:

“I literally stopped hundreds of times and took dozens of pictures. The fans were showing me so much love out there, and I definitely have to say that most of the fans were from Kentucky.

Now of course that had a lot to do with the fact that they were playing there, but I’m always just shocked at how dedicated Kentucky fans are. One man asked me if I wanted to take his wife home with me, ha ha. I couldn’t believe it. I was like ‘Nah, I’m good,’ but that’s just how insane the fans were down there. Great atmosphere.”

Was Noel kidding? Was the fan kidding? When it comes to Kentucky basketball mania, I wouldn’t be so sure.

Noel will announce his decision next Wednesday on ESPN, choosing between Kentucky, Georgetown and Syracuse.

For more normal recruiting stories for all the SEC’s schools, always keep an eye on the work Josh Ward does over on our Recruiting Page.

UConn Transfer Oriakhi To Visit UK, MU

John — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:50:26 +0000

Last week we told you that UConn senior-to-be Alex Oriakhi was looking at three SEC school as possible transfer options: Florida, Kentucky and Missouri. This in spite of a rule the SEC made a big deal about launching last summer that would block one-and-doners — those on the back end of their careers — from entering the conference for a lone, hired gun type of season.

The SEC confirmed its policy to us which basically states that as long as the player signs up for a major not offered by his old school, the league could still grant a waiver allowing him to enter the SEC for just one season. Meaning that not a whole heckuva lot changed when the SEC put the new “rule” into effect.

Now comes word from The Connecticut Times that Oriakhi has narrowed his list of candidates — sorry Florida — and will visit four schools: Kentucky, Missouri, Duke and North Carolina.

That seems to provide further proof that the SEC will okay an Oriakhi transfer into the league… regardless of the widely-publicized policy it put in place last year.

Calipari Doesn’t Like The One-And-Done Rule… Or The Knicks’ Job For That Matter

John — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 13:34:30 +0000

John Calipari has for three seasons built dominant basketball teams at Kentucky thanks in very large part to one-and-done players. That doesn’t mean he’s in favor of the rule:

“I don’t think it’s a good rule. I hope we change it before this week’s out so all these guys have to come back. But it is a rule. It’s not my rule. It’s a rule we have to deal with.”

As we noted yesterday, NBA commissioner David Stern would also like to change the rule. He’s stated that he would be in favor of raising the NBA’s minimum age limit to 20 (or two years removed from high school).

For pro teams, they would have a better idea of the type player they are drafting/signing. They would also have to spend less time developing a first-year player. That means less risk on both fronts.

But the NBA Players’ Association is against such a move. Why? Because it means athletes have to stay in school longer — risking injury while not being paid.

The hold-up in this matter is not the NBA, the NCAA or Kentucky’s coach… it’s the NBA players’ union. Calipari says he’s met with the head of the union — Billy Hunter — “three times already”

“You’ve got to negotiate,” Calipari told The Lexington Herald-Leader. “We’ve got to go to Billy Hunter and say, ‘How do we get this done?’ Then you’ve got to get the NBA involved.”

If Calipari could keep his current batch of likely one-and-doners in school he’d have a better chance at catching UCLA in national championship banners, his new stated goal. The Bruins have 11 and UK now has eight.

Kentucky’s coach made that comment yesterday while nuking the annual Calipari-to-the-Knicks rumors that have emerged in the last week:

“Kentucky is the best job in basketball coaching. Why would I leave? We just won the national title. We’re chasing UCLA…

All of those (NBA) teams know I’m not doing anything. I’m not changing. I’m going to continue to see my friends who coach in the NBA and see my former players who play in the NBA. I’m going to continue to go to games…

I’ve always said I have more money than I can spend, than my children can spend. It’s not about that.”

Putting one last exclamation on the point, Calipari told ESPN: “No one is stealing our joy (with rumors). I’ve made statements that I’ve got the best job in basketball and I’m not going to change my lifestyle. I’m not leaving.”

(But that hasn’t stopped speculation over who might replace him in Lexington if he did leave.)

UK’s Calipari Defiant After Championship; Writer Says He’s Just Getting Started… We Agree

John — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 16:23:43 +0000

John Clay of The Lexington Herald-Leader doesn’t sound like a man who thinks John Calipari will be leaving for the NBA’s New York Knicks anytime soon. And it doesn’t sound like he believes Calipari’s first national title will be his last.

An excerpt from his column today:

“Outside (UK’s locker room on Monday night) stood John Calipari, weary and happy and a tad defiant.

‘There’s a lot of angry people right now, that said you couldn’t do it,’ the Kentucky coach was saying. ‘Tried to put the black hat on me and all that stuff. They’re not real happy.’

Those mad men (and women) better get used to it.

Monday night wasn’t the end of something, it was probably the beginning.

‘If this was 1985, I’d have all these guys back and we’d be trying to go undefeated next year,’ he said. ‘It’s not 25 years ago. It’s now.’

No one has figured out ‘now’ better than John Calipari.”

Indeed he has. UK could possibly lose its entire starting lineup to the NBA Draft this summer. We’ll know next Tuesday who all is a’ goin’ and who all is a’ stayin’.

But is there any doubt that Calipari will simply reload with five of the best recruits in the nation if/when that happens? And after three years of doing things his way, Coach Cal’s track record looks pretty good: Elite Eight, Final Four, national title.

Whether kids arriving, playing and leaving in seven-month intervals makes a mockery of “college” basketball or not, Calipari didn’t create the rule. He just knows how to win while using it.

Clay is probably right, SEC fans. Kentucky and Calipari are on a roll. Eventually the coach will land some kids who won’t have the attitude to buy into his team-first philosophy, but he hasn’t yet. (And if he has, they’ve made it at least as far as the Elite Eight anyway).

The only thing that can run UK off the tracks at this point is a Calipari departure or some sort of NCAA bust. And as we noted earlier today, Calipari’s never been caught doing anything wrong despite the fact that he’s the most-eyeballed coach in the country.

So get used to it. Just as Alabama will be the SEC favorite in most years so long as Nick Saban is in Tuscaloosa, Kentucky will be the league favorite in hoops just as long as Calipari is kicking around Lexington.

The league’s traditional powers both look as if they’re just getting started.

UK’s Calipari-To-The-Knicks? Yeah, Yeah. But What’s This About His Propaganda Push?

John — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 15:07:35 +0000

John Calipari says he wants to coach an undefeated team. That’d be a lot easier done in the college ranks (about 40 games) than in the pros (82 games plus umpteen rounds of playoffs). But that’s not stopping yet another Cal-to-the-Knicks story from making the rounds. Only this one has a funny sidenote included.

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports writes today that Calipari now has a collegiate title and the New York Knicks have “a vacancy, a big stage and a blank check.”

“Money matters to Calipari — matters a lot — and rest assured that Calipari will get Kentucky to push past his $5 million a season salary. How far does UK go, though? Six million? Seven? Kentucky doesn’t lose bidding wars, but it would lose this one.”

Then comes the obligatory mention of uber-agent William “Worldwide Wes” Wesley, his connections to Calipari and several NBA stars, etc, etc. We’ve all been down this road before.

But what’s really interesting is found right at the top of Wojnarowski’s story. According to the writer, Calipari grew so tired/worried about the daily talkshow ripping he took on New York radio as coach of the New Jersey Nets back in the ’90s that he had an intern start calling in for propaganda purposes.

“Anthony from Hoboken” would call into WFAN-AM — as ordered by Calipari — to defend Calipari from the criticism he took from other callers.

Do we at MrSEC.com doubt that story? No. Friends of coaches have long had their own agendas when it comes to talk radio. So it isn’t that far-fetched to think that an ego-driven coach — and most of them are very ego-driven — would put someone up to calling in on his behalf.

Vanderbilt’s James Franklin has gained a reputation for calling into Nashville’s WGFX-FM himself when he hears rival Tennessee getting too much positive publicity.

So we’ll bite on the “Anthony from Hoboken” story.

But not on the Calipari-to-the-Knicks bit.

UK Makes The Cover Of SI, But Not In The Way Many Expected

John — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:57:03 +0000

When John Calipari was hired to lead Kentucky’s basketball program three years ago, many of us in the media believed the marriage made for a dangerous blend.

Calipari had had a Final Four trip at UMass vacated. His reputation ranked somewhere between the Prince of Darkness and scurvy in most circles, fair or not. Within months of arriving at UK, that reputation took another hit when he had a second Final Four trip — this one while at Memphis — also vacated and stripped from the history books. (In neither instance was Calipari found guilty of anything… other than being the captain of the boat that struck the iceberg.)

At Kentucky, Calipari would be taking over a program that had wound up in the NCAA hoosegow a number of times over a number of decades. From a point-shaving scandal and impermissible financial aid troubles in the early-50s to an opened Emery Air Freight container — en route to a recruit — filled with cash in the late-80′s, UK had earned a reputation for often skirting the law.

For those reasons, many of us expected Cal + Cats to equal another “Kentucky’s Shame” Sports Illustrated cover at some point.

But not so fast.

Instead, UK has made the SI cover as national champions. And in just three short years. Calipari has turned Lexington back into the basketball capital of the world and despite the fact that everyone and his brother is dying to dig up dirt on the coach and his program, no one has.

Oh, there were questions about Eric Bledsoe’s grades in high school, but nothing came of them. The Chicago Sun-Times ran with a rumor regarding Anthony Davis being paid by UK boosters, but again, nothing came of the speculation.

To date, there’s been a lot more diamond than dirt when it comes to UK and Calipari. As far as dangerous blends go, a Maker’s Mark bottle bearing the coach’s name and likeness is about all that comes to mind.

Rival fans will taunt, heckle and, yes, pray that somebody in blue has broken some kind of rule somewhere. But for now, Wildcat fans are reveling in their new Sports Illustrated cover. And it sure beats the heck out of that cover from nearly 23 years ago.

Kentucky Headlines – National Championship Edition

John — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:51:43 +0000

1. Kentucky completed a dominant run through the NCAA Tournament by vanquishing Kansas last night.

2. The Wildcats did their work as a true team.

3. Point guard Marquis Teague showed poise beyond his years.

4. Doron Lamb came up big versus the Jayhawks.

5. Anthony Davis was dominant despite scoring just six points.

6. UK’s young team showed their maturity in the end.

7. John Calipari said he hopes “there are six first-rounders on this team.”

8. But the Cats were in no hurry to make NBA decisions last night.

9. Coach Cal says his next goal is to coach a team through an undefeated season.

10. Kentucky fans and AD Mitch Barnhart asked for glory… and Calipari delivered.

11. Now he’s ready to reload.

12. The Wildcat coach has already provided the blueprint for a new age of college basketball.

13. UK will hold a public celebration at Rupp Arena this afternoon.

Cats, Calipari Capture Crown Number 8

John — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 14:32:42 +0000

Something feels a bit more right with the world today. The reigning national champs in football and basketball are Alabama and Kentucky. Depending on your own fan allegiances that may be Heaven or Hell for you, but it does feel right. The two most tradition-rich programs in the SEC in their sports are atop their sports once more.

That hasn’t happened since UK won a hoops title under Joe B. Hall in 1978 and Bama won a football crown the following fall under Bear Bryant.

First, congrats to the Kentucky fanbase. Call them zealous or fanatical. Call them spoiled or snobby. But you must admit no basketball fanbase travels with and supports their team better than Cat fans. Kansas is the second-winningest program in hoops history yet the Superdome crowd was clearly pro-UK last night. And Lexington is only about 75 miles closer to New Orleans than Lawrence, Kansas is.

So to those Cat fans who weren’t shot or arrested in Lexington last night — imbeciles — MrSEC’s hat is tipped to you.

Now, some random thoughts rattling around the rim of this writer’s mind this morning:

* Ya think Mitch Barnhart feels pretty good today? Kentucky’s AD went all in with John Calipari. Five years ago, Coach Cal wasn’t on Barnhart’s list of job candidates. But after the complete failure that was the Billy Gillispie era, suddenly the Cats’ athletic director did consider Calipari. He hired a man who many view as dirty — though the NCAA has never found Calipari guilty of anything — to head up one of the most scandal-ridden programs in basketball history.

It was a risky move. For now, it’s paid off as Calipari has not only brought Kentucky its eighth national championship, but he’s made UK the hoops program in America again. He’s proved to be the perfect fit. He’s Pitino Part II and it doesn’t look like he’ll be jumping to the NBA anytime soon.

Barnhart took a lot of national heat when he hired Calipari. Today he must feel all the potshots were well worth taking.

* I guess we know now that a team largely built with freshman can win the NCAA Tournament. When Calipari began heading down the one-and-done road three years ago, there was debate as to whether a team built with youngsters could hang a banner.

No more. UK’s starting lineup last night consisted of three freshmen and two sophomores. Last year, UConn won the crown with three freshmen in its lineup also.

Put the debate to bed. In the transient sport of college basketball, the teenagers can indeed get it done on the biggest stage.

* But I can’t help wondering about Cat fans’ connection to their players. You can bet Kentucky’s national championship team will be adored in the Bluegrass State for years to come, yes. But if Calipari continues to bring in one-and-done types, will Big Blue fans even be able to remember one team from another 20 years from now?

In the old days — and I’m old — fans got to know their team. They watched individual players grow up over three or four years. It was easy to say, “Remember that ’83 team with Johnson, Smith, Davis, etc”

Kentucky fans have their eighth title. No one’s going to be complaining today. But come 2030 will fans remember who was on the ’10 team as opposed to the ’13 team? That we don’t know.

* Calipari’s coaching reputation has improved mightily at Kentucky. And not just because he won a tournament last night. Over the past three seasons, UK’s coach has three times taken a group of the nation’s best recruits and molded them into team-first, defense-first units. In itself that is a remarkable feat.

The players Calipari signs are the best of the best. They’re used to being coddled from middle school to high school to AAU ball to the recruiting process. Yet he continues to get them to buy into his team-first mantra.

Immediately after last night’s game, CBS’ Jim Nantz asked Calipari what the national title meant to him. “It’s not about me,” the coach quickly answered. And when Nantz began his chat with Davis — the tourney’s Most Outstanding Player — the young big man immediately gave credit to his teammates.

In addition to creating an air of selflessness, Coach Cal gets his players to focus on defense first. For the most part, these are young men who are used to being The Man in high school. You don’t get five stars by your name unless you’re putting the ball in the bucket. A lot. Yet Kentucky under Calipari has continued to worry about defense more than offense.

Whether you like or dislike the Cats’ coach, you have to respect the way he connects with his young players and gets them to put team over self, defense over offense.

* This Kentucky team was not The John Wall-DeMarcus Cousins Show, either. Davis was America’s best player. But he shot 1-for-10 from the floor last night and scored just six points. UK didn’t miss a beat in their 67-59 win.

Night after night, UK always found another player who would step up. Some nights it was Kidd-Gilchrist. Other times Terrence Jones would lead. Darius Miller was often the Cats’ saving grace. And last night Doron Lamb’s outside shooting helped propel UK to victory.

The point being — this year’s team was even “teamier” than Calipari’s previous squads. Is there any doubt that’s why this is the bunch that brought down the confetti?

* I couldn’t help thinking last night that it must have been a good time to be a Missouri fan. The Tigers had a terrific year and Frank Haith was named the National Coach of the Year, but a belly-flop to #15 seed Norfolk State brought their season to a bitter end. The only thing worse would have been to see hated rival Kansas claim a national title. Instead, it was an SEC foe — a team from Mizzou’s new conference — that broke the Jayhawks’ hearts. I’m guessing more than one Tiger fan took a little solace in that fact.

* Finally, you have your championship and you can yell, “Scoreboard!” til the cows come home, but UK fans should be prepared for the jibes and taunts of rival fans. Calipari has seen two previous Final Four teams stripped of their histories. You can bet the “this one will be vacated, too” remarks will be flying all over SEC messageboards and call-in shows today.

Auburn fans dealt with it after the Cam Newton mess. Alabama fans have heard it thanks to the T-Town Menswear story. It’s simply what we do in today’s society. Heck, the losing party in presidential elections no longer accepts the new prez as their own nation’s leader. No one unifies under the elected leader, they just continue to fight and undermine.

So be sure that those who detest UK will work long and hard to discredit and downplay this year’s national championship.

That just goes with the territory.

UK-KU National Championship Headlines

John — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 18:25:51 +0000

Here’s what’s being said about the truly blue-blooded NCAA Tournament final between Kentucky and Kansas tonight…

1. Tonight’s battle will be about as tradition-rich as you can get.

2. It’s a matchup of legendary proportions.

3. Fans of both teams have been cordial leading up to the game.

4. John Calipari is focused on tonight’s game, not past losses (like his Memphis team’s title-game loss to Bill Self and Kansas in 2008)…

5. But a win would end the biggest criticism of Coach Cal’s record.

6. For that matter, is everyone rooting against Calipari and Kentucky?

7. As usual, it’s being said plenty’s at stake for the Cats’ coach.

8. The closer Kentucky gets to the national crown, the less Calipari talks about winning one.

9. Kansas’ Self knows all about UK after losing to them back on November 15th.

10. Expect tonight’s game to go to the toughest team.

11. Kentucky’s freshman are continuing their amazing run.

12. This writer says a win would make them the best freshman class ever.

13. Don’t expect Calipari to apologize for building his team with one-and-doners.

14. In fact, this writer says you can blame the NCAA for one-and-dones.

15. UK’s Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has worked to overcome a speech impediment that’s plagued him since childhood. And he’s done so bravely. Good for him.

16. Terrence Jones looks to finish what he started last year.

17. Kentucky’s Anthony Davis and Kansas’ Thomas Robinson have been mighty impressive this season.

18. Davis has made the unibrow cool.

19. After an embarrassing night following UK’s win over Louisville Saturday, Lexington police are preparing for postgame nonsense.

20. All signs point to a Kentucky victory…

21. But if the Wildcats aren’t careful… upsets can happen.

22. A lot of people stand to cash in after tonight’s game.

23. And in case you’re wondering, no, you’re not the only one who thinks a 9:23pm ET tip time is flippin’ ridiculous.

UK To Go For Title #8 Tonight; SEC Looking To Continue Major Sports Dominance

John — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 15:16:17 +0000

It’s a big night in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and across the entire Southeast.

Kentucky is poised to finally reach the summit of the college basketball world once more. The Southeastern Conference is set to continue its dominance in the three biggest men’s sports.

When UK steps on the floor against Kansas tonight, the Cats will be playing for their eighth national title all-time, second only to UCLA. Fittingly, the winningest program in basketball history will have to best the second-winningest team in history for the title. With a victory John Calipari will get a King Kong-sized monkey off his own back while allowing his employer to hang its first NCAA championship banner since 1998.

But Kentucky is also representing the SEC tonight in New Orleans. Since the calendar turned to January 2006, the league has dominated college football, college basketball and college baseball:

Season	BCS Football Champ	NCAA Tourney Champ	College World Series Champ
2005-06	Texas	Florida	Oregon State
2006-07	Florida	Florida	Oregon State
2007-08	LSU	Kansas	Fresno State
2008-09	Florida	N. Carolina	LSU
2009-10	Alabama	Duke	S. Carolina
2010-11	Auburn	Connecticut	S. Carolina
2011-12	Alabama	???	???

A Wildcat victory tonight would give the SEC 12 national titles out of a possible 21. No other league has more than two in that span in that seven-year span.

So while Kentucky will be trying to usher in a new golden age tonight, the SEC will be hoping to keep its golden age rolling right along.

Despite The Talk, Tomorrow’s Not A Must-Win For UK’s Calipari

John — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 18:25:53 +0000

Fans and media love to overhype things. We enjoy making grand declarations. We want definitive answers. So anytime we can attach the words “once and for all” to something, we do so.

John Calipari has a chance to prove “once and for all” that he’s a great coach tomorrow in New Orleans. If his Kentucky team defeats Rick Pitino’s Louisville squad — and then wins again on Monday — he’ll be given a key to the Mt. Olympus of college basketball coaches.

If he loses? Then we’ll know “once and for all” he’s not worth the hype and praise he so often receives.

Folks across the SEC and that nation have been beating that drum all week:

“A loss here not only would be a loss with the best team with a national championship in sight, but a loss to Pitino, of all coaches, at Louisville, of all teams. It wouldn’t erase what Calipari has accomplished in three years, but it would leave those accomplishments receding quickly.”

– Eric Crawford, The Louisville Courier-Journal

“Bottom line: (Calipari) can’t lose this weekend. Not Saturday or Monday. Especially not Saturday. Not to Rick Pitino. Calipari has his own aura, but it’s in need of an upgrade that only a national championship can provide…

For all the games he’s won at different program, Calipari doesn’t have any national titles. It’s time to correct that oversight. It’s time to win the only game he’s never won. The one that matters most. The last one.”

– Kevin Scarbinsky, The Birmingham News

Personally, I like both of those writers’ work. And I obviously understand where they’re coming from. As noted above, we as a people love “all the marbles” type games.

But win or lose, Calipari’s career won’t end on Saturday or Monday. He’ll coach another season. And then another. And then another.

We want the race to be run yesterday. But to quote “Ben Hur,” the race goes on.

Take for example the 2009 Indianapolis Colts. As they were preparing to face the New Orleans Saints in the Super Bowl, the national ESPN-driven theme of the week went something like this: “If Peyton Manning wins his second Super Bowl he’ll be the best quarterback ever.”

But what if he’d gone back to the big game five more times and lost them all to finish with a 2-5 Super Bowl mark? Think folks would still be saying “best ever?”

Ask Tom Brady. He was 3-0 in Super Bowls and now, having lost two — one in the final minute and one on a failed Hail Mary pass — he’s written off as just another good quarterback.

But what if Brady reaches five more Super Bowls and wins them all to finish with an 8-2 Super Bowl record?

Granted, it’s doubtful Manning or Brady — as great as the are — will either one reach five more Super Bowls, but you get the point.

Calipari is in the same boat with Manning, Brady and every other player and coach in the country in this day and age — his last game is the ultimate decider. Win and he’s legitimized (until he falls short again). Lose and he’s a joke (unless he goes right back to the Final Four next year and wins a national title).

I get the size and scope of tomorrow’s game from the standpoint of fans in the Commonwealth. It’s huge. We’ve said that since Monday. Another game this is not. It’s massive.

But it’s not the final exam for Calipari that we in the media and on the messageboards and on talk radio want to make it out to be. Until he hangs up his thousand-dollar suits and his coaching whistle for good, he’ll still be writing his legacy.

That means next March many of the same folks talking about his legacy now, will be doing the same thing all over again.

UK-Louisville Headlines – 3/30/12

John — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:45:12 +0000

It’s almost time for the big Kentucky-Louisville showdown in New Orleans. We continue to give this monster game its own set of headlines…

1. Everyone in Kentucky is taking sides for tomorrow’s Final Four matchup.

2. This Cards-Cats game overshadows the rest of the weekend.

3. The players don’t feel the off-court hate that UK and U of L fans do.

4. John Calipari thinks it’s bad karma to root against a team.

5. Here’s a Calipari/Rick Pitino history lesson as told by coaches, players and more. Good stuff, ESPN. Good stuff.

6. For the uninitiated, the two coaches have a bit of an ongoing feud with one another.

7. Louisville wants to create chaos with its defense.

8. This year’s Kentucky team is different from Calipari’s previous squads.

9. Anthony Davis’ knee is 90% healthy. (He also won the AP’s Player of the Year Award today.)

10. In the end, reality is not on Louisville’s side.

UK-Louisville Headlines – 3/29/12

John — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:17:18 +0000

Here’s the latest on Kentucky basketball’s “Game of the Century” featuring the Wildcats and Cardinals in Saturday’s national semifinals:

1. Enjoy a comparison of John Calipari and Rick Pitino.

2. Players from the 1983 UK-Louisville NCAA tourney matchup say this one’s bigger.

3. Ex-South Carolina coach and Kentucky native Darrin Horn says both team will have to ignore the distractions this week.

4. Here’s what was learned from the Cats’ December win over the Cards.

5. Russ Smith is Louisville wild card…

6. While Kentucky’s Anthony Davis earns praise for his low-key style.

7. The fan battle in the Commonwealth is fierce and fun this week.

NBA Coach Says It’s “Absurd” To Think UK Could Beat A Pro Team

John — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 15:35:24 +0000

Former Maryland coach Gary Williams started it. He told a Washington, DC radio station that he believe Kentucky could win a one-game matchup with the NBA’s Washington Wizards at Rupp Arena.

A current NBA coach thinks the ex-college coach is daffy.

Stan Van Gundy of the Orlando Magic — a man who never has a problem speaking his mind — said flatly yesterday:

“Look, it’s absurd. I mean, people will say, ‘Oh, Kentucky, you know’s, got four NBA players. Yeah, well, the other team’s got 13.

Could anything happen on a one-night thing? I mean, I suppose, you have major upsets all the time. So, maybe, but it’d be rare and in a series it’d be a joke. It wouldn’t be close. That’s just the way it is. John Calipari’s got a lot of talent; he does not have 13 NBA players. He just doesn’t. And even if those guys all are, they’re all NBA rookies. I mean, when has that ever been a success in the NBA? So, no, they’re not going to win.”

Ah, but about that “you have major upsets all the time” comment?

UK-Louisville Headlines 3/28/12

John — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 16:18:10 +0000

It’s liable to be the most hyped game in the history of the NCAA Tournament. For that reason we’re dedicating a special headline section just to Saturday’s Final Four matchup between Kentucky and Louisville.

Here’s the latest:

1. John Calipari doesn’t expect the veterans on his team to be as wide-eyed at this Final Four as they were at last year’s.

2. Still, last year’s experience has the Cats wary of potential “land mines.”

3. Calipari makes things look a lot easier than they really are.

4. For UK’s coach, now is the time to hurdle Rick Pitino once and for all. (He’s 0-4 against him in postseason tournaments.)

5. Police in Lexington and Louisville are getting ready for the game and its aftermath. (But it’s just another game, right, Cal?)

6. Blue and red crazies are already making news across the Commonwealth. (But it’s just another game, right, Cal?)

7. Like the two rival fans who broke into a fight at a dialysis center. (But it’s just another game, right, Cal?)

8. Just as we wrote yesterday… of course, it’s not just another game in just another rivalry.

9. Finally, Tony Delk won a national title at UK playing for Pitino, but he’s also coached alongside Calipari.

Two Voters Keep UK’s Davis From Being A Unanimous All-American

John — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 16:36:42 +0000

Florida’s Billy Donovan called Kentucky’s Anthony Davis an “all-time great” this season. And yesterday he was named a first-team All-American.

But he wasn’t a unanimous pick.

According to Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com on Twitter, hoops writers Scott Reid of The Orange County Register in California and Scott Mansch of The Great Falls Tribune in Montana left Davis off their ballots.

Now, should people send them nasty emails and threats? No, because only an A-1, no-life, nutjob would care enough to do so.

And that’s why we’re posting on this topic. It’s an All-American list. It’s put together by voters and every single one them has his or her own criteria for deciding who’s worthy of the honor and who’s not.

Folks shouldn’t get bent out of shape over this stuff. Show me a statistical-based analysis – like the one we did right here — and I’m sure you’ll find that UK’s Davis was truly one of the five best players in the country.

As for a poll? Sorry, couldn’t care less.

Calipari Says Cats-Cards Rivalry Doesn’t Matter At This Point

John — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:58:08 +0000

John Calipari tried to sell a whopper yesterday and we’re not talking about a burger. In the run-up to what’s sure to be one of the most-hyped games in NCAA Tournament history, Kentucky’s coach tried to push the idea that Louisville’s position opposite UK on the bracket line doesn’t add any extra pressure:

“They want to make a big deal out of the rivalry — not at this time of the year; it doesn’t matter. If you win or lose, you’re going to feel the same whether it’s a team you’ve played before or never seen in your life, a team that’s 12 miles from you or a team that’s a thousand miles from you.”

For the coaches and the players, maybe. If they win, they’ll still have another game to quickly focus on and win if they want to hang a banner. If they lose, they’re going to feel like their hearts have been pulled out their rumps. Got it.

But try selling that “it doesn’t matter who it is” stuff to the fans of both teams. For them, this game could only be bigger if it were for the national title and not just a spot in the title game.

In a state crazy about basketball, the craziest fans will weep with joy or sorrow (or rage) come Saturday night. They’ll either be able to lord the victory over their neighbors in rival colors or they’ll have to live with a year’s worth — Hell, a life’s worth — of taunts and reminders.

As a boy growing up in Southeastern Kentucky, I remember Louisville winning the NCAA Tournament under Denny Crum in 1980. A poem became part of Cardinal fans’ celebration:

“Roses are red. Violets are blue. The Cards are in Heaven. But where’s the Big Blue?”

That was more than 30 years ago and I can still remember Louisville fans saying it and Kentucky fans stewing stewing over it.

We in the media overhype a heckuva lot of things. And so do you, you Twitter- and Facebook- and messageboard-lovin’ fans. That’s the world we live in.

But there’s no amount of overhype for Saturday’s matchup. From Lexington to Louisville, Middlesboro to Paducah, Seventy Six to 88, and from Shoulderblade to Mud Lick to Bugtussle… folks from every city and burg in the Commonwealth will be living and dying with this weekend’s result.

Calipari can say the opponent doesn’t matter to his team, but it matters to everybody else in the state. And you can take that to another Kentucky town — Fort Knox.

UK-Louisville Headlines – 3/27/12

John — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:40:24 +0000

It’s the biggest hoops game of the year so we continue to give the Kentucky-Louisville Final Four matchup its own headline section:

1. There’s plenty of pressure on Rick Pitino as he faces his old school.

2. Louisville’s coach says his team will have to play as Villanova did when it upset Georgetown for the national crown back in 1985 — perfectly.

3. By winning a second national crown this year — his first came with UK — Pitino would join a pretty select group of coaches.

4. Both coaches will get some nice bonuses for reaching this year’s semifinals.

5. And both schools will get plenty of pub… and more student applications as a result.

6. Kentucky is a massive favorite to bring home the national title. (Perhaps, too much of a favorite?)

Baylor’s Coach Says UK Is The Best, But They Are Beatable

John — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 18:42:00 +0000

Baylor basketball coach Scott Drew got a painful, up-close look at the Kentucky Wildcats yesterday. After his team was given an 82-70 heave-ho from the NCAA tourney — in a game that really wasn’t really that close – the coach was asked about UK’s potential for winning the national crown:

“I don’t think anybody wants to play Kentucky, right now. (Louisville is) probably more familiar with them, but Kentucky is the best team in college basketball, right now…

I think if Kentucky plays their best basketball nobody’s going to beat them. If Kentucky doesn’t have a good night, anybody can beat anybody for one game.”

Drew is correct. See: Chaminade versus Virginia, NC State versus Houston, Villanova versus Georgetown or Norfolk State/Missouri or Duke/Lehigh this season.

But at this point — or “right now” as Drew put it — it does appear that the only way Kentucky goes down is if the Wildcats are hit with an “on any given day” type of historical upset. They appear to be that good. And after the loss to Vanderbilt in the SEC Tournament finals, they appear to be that focused, too.

UK-Louisville Headlines – 3/26/12

John — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 18:07:08 +0000

With Kentucky and Louisville shaping up as the biggest story at the Final Four, we thought we’d give that game its own set of headlines today. Here goes…

1. Kentucky-Louisville is a dream matchup for Bluegrass State residents.

2. CBS’ Clark Kellogg says: “When you talk about Louisville and Kentucky playing, that goes to the stratosphere of intensity and history and tradition… This is way off the charts.”

3. Get ready for a week’s worth of pregame build-up.

4. While the media fuels up the hype machine, UK’s players will continue to enjoy the ride.

5. The roles have reversed for John Calipari and Rick Pitino (who faced each other in the 1996 Final Four with Pitino at UK and Calipari at UMass).

6. The Wildcats set up the matchup with a blowout win over Baylor…

7. And big-game Michael Kidd-Gilchrist came up large again for UK.

UK And Calipari To Meet Louisville And Pitino In Semis; How Great Would That Game Have Been In The Finals?

John — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 13:42:49 +0000

The NCAA Tournament — by its sheer design — creates wonderful storylines and incredible sideshows each and every season. For three rounds, small schools most folks have never heard of take down a few giants. Then over the last three rounds, the biggest fish swallow up the remaining guppies which leaves coaches to face their old schools, local rivals to meet, and feuding program-runners to do battle with one another.

Thanks to Louisville’s tight win over Florida on Saturday and Kentucky’s blowout victory over Baylor yesterday, all three of those things will occur in New Orleans at the Final Four:

Coach facing old school: Check. Rick Pitino versus Kentucky.

Local rivals meeting: Check. Kentucky versus Louisville.

Feuding coaches doing battle: Check. John Calipari versus Pitino.

The only downside to this Battle of the Bluegrass State? It’s slated for the national semifinals and not the actual final game. And let’s face facts, that would be an even bigger, even better storyline.

Kentucky’s run this season has been dominant. Calipari is looking for his first ever national title. What could be better for Cat fans than capturing their first national crown since 1998 against Louisville and ex-UK coach Pitino?

On the flipside, imagine the pain Kentucky fans would feel if their latest “best shot” at a title was undone by those same Cards and that same turncoat — in most Cat fans’ eyes — coach.

Even in a sport that gives us electric, emotional storylines every March, such a set-up would provide the potential for the greatest mood swing in modern sports history. Toss in the fact that there’s little love lost between Coach Cal and Ricky P and the finals would shatter television ratings records across the Commonwealth.

Don’t get me wrong, Saturday’s matchup will still be a doozy and one bitter rival will send the other bitter rival packing. Calipari or Pitino will still block the other’s pursuit of a title.

Oh, but if that Kentucky-Louisville game were still a possibility for Monday’s championship game? Bedlam. Complete and utter bedlam. Suicide hotlines would have to add extra staffing. Police in Louisville and Lexington would have to unbox their riot gear in preparation.

Saturday will be fantastic for basketball fans inside and outside Kentucky’s state lines. But a clash in Monday’s finals would have been seismic. If only those brackets could be redrawn today.

UK’s Calipari Pushes Assistant Payne For MSU Job

John — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:04:44 +0000

While Murray State’s Steve Prohm has been mentioned most prominently in connection with the head coaching vacancy at Mississippi State, the name of a current SEC assistant has also been kicked around a bit. Yesterday, John Calipari did some of the kicking.

Kentucky assistant Kenny Payne is a Mississippi native and Coach Cal thinks his aide would be a good fit at MSU:

“You’re not ready to be a head coach unless you’re ready to say no and ready to create discipline in these kids’ lives, and (Payne) is. He’s probably tougher on our kids than I am and recruiting speaks for itself. And he grew up there. He would be a good choice…

He’s going to have opportunities… Someone is going to say, you know what, we need this program to go to another level.”

Calipari already has a number of ex-assistants who’ve moved on to coach elsewhere. Bruiser Flint washed out at UMass but he almost got Drexel into the NCAA tourney this year. Josh Pastner did get Memphis to the Big Dance this year, though they washed out in the first round. And Tony Barbee is about to begin his third year of rebuilding at Auburn.

UK Hoping QB Smith Is Ready To Learn

John — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 16:54:30 +0000

At this time last year, Kentucky fans were worrying about the departures of Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke. The exit of quarterback Mike Hartline? Well, that was viewed as a positive by many.

But as Morgan Newton struggled mightily as the Cats’ signal-caller, Hartline’s work the previous year looked better and better by comparison. Eventually, UK turned the ball over to true freshman Maxwell Smith.

Against Florida, LSU and South Carolina, Smith was just 7-of-18 passing for 50 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions in get-your-feet-wet duty.

He didn’t play the following week against Jacksonville State the next week, but he did finish up his season — he missed the Tennessee finale with an injury — by completing 77-of-134 passes (57%) for 769 yards (192 per game) with four touchdowns and just two picks.

Clearly, offensive coordinator Randy Sanders finally someone under center who knew what he was doing. Just don’t tell that to Sanders:

“Max didn’t know anything last year. He knew just enough to survive for the most part…

The more he understands and the more he can anticipate, the more he can throw the ball accurately. We’ve got to get to where he understands enough that he can make everyone else’s job easier instead of everyone else trying to make his job easier.”

As for the man Smith replaced, Sanders was brutally honest. “Obviously, if you’re a quarterback and can’t throw in this offense, then you’re pretty limited. He’s got to do the best he can do with the mental reps and what’s going on, being able to see it and learn from other people’s mistakes.”

Newton won’t do any throwing this spring after undergoing surgery this offseason. So the #2 behind Smith will be Jacob Russell, a transfer from Eastern Kentucky.

Calipari Turns To Physiology; Says He Won’t Play Revenge Card When UK Faces Indiana

John — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 16:18:42 +0000

For Kentucky fans, Friday’s game with Indiana provides a shot at revenge. The Wildcats lost just two games all year and the first of those was on a buzzer-beater in Bloomington back before Christmas.

But UK’s coach is more focused on just getting his team through to the next round. Vengeance is never a card John Calipari pulls from the coaching deck:

“I don’t ever teach anger. Because the physiology of that is really close to fear. So if you try to make your team angry, and things don’t go right, it turns to fear withing their bodies. So I don’t do it.”

So Khan he is not.

Too bad.

‘Cause something like this from the NCAA podium would have been a lot more fun:

ESPN’s Vitale Says Baylor Could Keep UK From The Final Four

John — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 13:35:37 +0000

ESPN’s Dick Vitale isn’t worried much about Kentucky falling in the Round of 16 to Indiana… a team that beat the Wildcats in Bloomington back in December. In his view, the “biggest obstacle” to UK making the Final Four is Baylor:

“(Kentucky is) better than Baylor. I think they’ll beat Baylor. But Baylor has the athletes to match them athletically…

On a given night, they can really be a major dilemma.”

For now, UK needs to focus on Indiana while Baylor worries about Xavier. (As well as their own laughably garish uniforms.)

UK, VU Advance; Remaining SEC Teams Start Tourney Runs Today

John — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:59:50 +0000

Day One of the NCAA Tournament — sorry, we don’t count those ridiculous play-in games — was a dud if you’re a fan of upsets and true March Madness. But if you’re a fan of higher seeds like Kentucky and Vanderbilt, it was just fine.

The Commodores toppled Harvard 79-70 and wrapped up their first tourney win since 2007. The victory snapped a streak of three first-game losses for Kevin Stallings.

John Jenkins poured in 27 points as Vandy built a double-digit lead. When the Crimson — who were no doubt jinxed by wearing black instead of their actual school color — cut the lead to 70-65, VU got tough on the defensive end and pulled away at the charity stripe.

The #5 seed Dores will next face #4 Wisconsin tomorrow in Albuquerque at 6:10pm ET on TNT.

Kentucky — the tournament’s overall #1 seed — dispatched cross-state rival Western Kentucky with ease, 81-66 in Louisville. UK shot 61.5% in the first half and coasted — almost literally — to the finish line.

The Cats allowed the Hilltoppers to close the game on a 16-1 run. Whether that’s a bad sign or meaningless garbage time sloppiness depends on the beholder.

On Saturday, the Wildcats will face #8 seed Iowa State who knocked off defending champ UConn and blocked another John Calipari-Jim Calhoun bout. The Cats and Cyclones will tip at 7:45pm ET on CBS.

Today’s SEC action tips off at 1:40pm ET on TBS as #9 seed Alabama tangles with #8 seed Creighton in Greensboro. Anthony Grant’s athletic, defense-first squad should be tested mightily by the Blue Jay’s high-scoring, up-tempo style.

At 2:10pm ET on TNT, #7 Florida will try to kickstart its frontcourt game when it faces #10 Virginia in Omaha. Experience could play a role as the Gators make their third-straight NCAA tourney appearance while the Cavaliers are going dancing for the first time since 2007.

Earlier this week we took a stats-based look at each SEC squad’s path to the Sweet Sixteen. We had Vandy and Kentucky advancing, Florida and Bama coming up short. So far, so good.

Dores And Cats Start Their NCAA Runs Today

John — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 14:55:46 +0000

Two of the SEC’s four NCAA Tournament teams start their NCAA Tournament runs today. Here’s who’s playing and where you can watch them:

West Region: #5 Vanderbilt vs #12 Harvard, 4:30pm ET on TNT

South Region: #1 Kentucky vs #16 Western Kentucky, 6:50pm ET on TBS

Calipari Shoots Down Knicks Rumors Via Twitter

John — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 19:11:27 +0000

We must be closing in on April. There’s more daylight each day. My allergies are making me wheeze. And John Calipari is being mentioned in connection with an NBA job.

Talk about a story getting old.

Today, Mike D’Antoni resigned as the head coach of the New York Knicks. Each and every April it’s suggested that the Knicks — regardless of the status of their coach or GM — are about to make a run at Kentucky’s coach and offer him both roles. Calipari’s ties to agent William “Worldwide Wes” Wesley and — by extension — to Wesley’s big name NBA clients make it a natural fit. All in the Big Apple, basketball’s biggest stage.

But Calipari — as we say each and every spring — has to only look at Rick Pitino’s life to realize that he’s got it as good as it gets in basketball. Pitino left UK for the Boston Celtics, his dream job. That job turned into a nightmare, Pitino returned to the Bluegrass State as Louisville’s coach, and now he plays jester to the guy who’s currently seated on his old throne.

Coach Cal should know better than to leave Kentucky — where he’s the star — to move to the NBA where everyone on his roster would make more cash than him. Besides, he’s practically coaching an NBA team now.

The Wildcats coach took to Twitter today to let it be known that he’s not looking for any new challenges:

“As I’ve said before, I have the greatest job in basketball at any level. Why would I be interested in another job?

I love being the coach of the commonwealth’s team. To that #BBN & all the recruits that are coming or want to come, I will be at Kentucky.”

Coaches lie about jobs all the time, but in this case, we’re buying what Calipari’s selling.

AP All-SEC Team Filled With Wildcats, Naturally

John — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 14:22:08 +0000

When you complete just the third undefeated SEC basketball season since the 1950s, you’re going to wind up with a lot of awards and accolades. That’s exactly what’s happening for Kentucky. And rightfully so.

The Associated Press released its All-SEC squad yesterday and four Cats made the list:

FIRST TEAM

Anthony Davis, F, Kentucky
John Jenkins, G, Vanderbilt
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, F, Kentucky
Arnett Moultrie, F, Mississippi State
Dee Bost, G, Mississippi State

SECOND TEAM

Kenny Boynton, G, Florida
Jeffery Taylor, G/F, Vanderbilt
Bradley Beal, G, Florida
Terrence Jones, F, Kentucky
JaMychal Green, F, Alabama
Jeronne Maymon, F, Tennessee

HONORABLE MENTION

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, G, Georgia
Murphy Holloway, F, Ole Miss
Doron Lamb, G, Kentucky
Trevor Releford, G, Alabama
Erving Walker, G, Florida
BJ Young, G, Arkansas

In addition, the AP gave it’s three SEC awards to the Wildcats as well:

Player of the Year: Anthony Davis
Newcomer of the Year: Anthony Davis
Coach of the Year: John Calipari

Last week, we at MrSEC.com handed out our own “All-Complete” team which was based on offensive and defensive production. You can find that list here. From a stats-based perspective, LSU’s Storm Warren and Johnny O’Bryant deserved some mention on the above lists as did Vandy’s Festus Ezeli.

UK’s Calipari Disappointed By SEC’s Lack Of NCAA Bids

John — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 18:00:47 +0000

All season, Kentucky’s John Calipari has tried to pump up the reputation of the SEC. He’s said good things about one rival program after another. The simple explanation? Talking up the SEC helps his own program when it comes to national reputation and discussions of schedule strength.

But already in the NCAA Tournament as the overall #1 seed, there was no longer a need for Coach Cal to praise his leaguemates on today’s SEC coaches’ teleconference. But he continued to do so:

“I was sick to my stomach when Mississippi State lost, I was sick to my stomach when Tennessee lost, because then I felt Mississippi was gonna have to beat Vandy to get in. I felt Tennessee, if they had won that (Ole Miss) game, they would have been in. Some of it falls on us coaches, we have to take care of business, and there are games our teams have to got to win.

The things Tennessee did all year, I’m still convinced they are an NCAA team.”

When you’re so supremely confident that your program is the untouchable best in the SEC — and these past three years, Calipari’s has been — you can probably afford to speak very well of others. Let’s face it, he’s not had to worry too much about recruiting battles with his rival SEC coaches since taking over in Lexington. So there’s no reason not to pat ‘em on the back.

UK’s Calipari Not Exactly Pumped For SEC Tourney

John — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 17:03:16 +0000

Ho-hum. That’s John Calipari’s attitude toward conference tournaments. Reading his statements on this week’s gathering in New Orleans, you can almost imagine a pause for a yawn:

“Three games in three days doesn’t prepare you for anything. We just played a whole league schedule…

Fans spend their vacation money, their rent money, their cigarette money, and they go to this tournament. … You almost feel an obligation. Let’s go play.”

Well, if they’re blowing their money for smokes on getting to New Orleans, then ya gotta at least show up. Still, Calipari told The Lexington Herald-Leader that all this is just “prelude” to the NCAA tourney.

“For our league, (the SEC Tournament) has no bearing on seeding. We proved that last year. …

Maybe one team can play in (to the NCAA tourney, but) they had all season to play in…

Three games in three days is like nothing. It’s like playing in Maui (in November). It wears you out…

But we’ll be there.”

Mike Slive’s likely thought: “We’re trying to sell some tickets down here, fella.”

UK’s Kidd-Gilchrist Says He Wants To Come Back, But Calipari Says He’ll Take Some Convincing

John — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:55:37 +0000

John Calipari isn’t a fan of the one-and-done rule in college basketball (a rule that’s actually driven by the NBA’s age limit). But he does operate within that rule better than any other coach in the country:

“It’s not my rule. I don’t even like the rule, one-and-done. Whether it’s Carolina, Duke, Florida, we’re all in the same boat. If a kid plays really well and that’s what he chooses to do, you can either try to talk him out of it or the (other) option is, don’t recruit good enough players that can be drafted.

They all come back and say, ‘Man, I wish I could have stayed three or four years.’ But there are opportunities that arise.”

Over the weekend, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist — ranked as a consensus top five pick should he jump to the NBA after this season — joined those who’ve said they’d like to stay in the college game. After UK knocked off Vanderbilt on Saturday, the freshman said: “I’m graduating here. I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying at Kentucky.”

When reporters laughed, Kidd-Gilchrist said he was “dead serious” and that he didn’t know “why y’all laughing.”

Calipari’s take?

“I’ll be happy with him whatever he wants to do. Obviously, if he wants to stay, I’m going to be very happy. But in the same sense, it’s too early to tell what anyone is going to do right now. He says, ‘I want to get my degree from Kentucky,’ and I agree. I want him to also. Basketball-wise, he’s got to wait until the year is out and figure out where everything is.”

But…

“He has to come up with reasons why he’s coming back to convince me. Here’s why: What if he gets hurt, and I’m out there convincing him to come back?… It’s hard to live with yourself.”

Love him or detest him, it’s very hard to make an arguement that Calipari doesn’t put his players’ best interests first. Of course, being a multi-millionaire and coaching at the nation’s top basketball school help afford the man that luxury.

UK Dismisses Arrested LB Wilson

John — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:03:02 +0000

Joker Phillips has decided to go ahead and dismiss troubled linebacker Ridge Wilson from Kentucky’s football team. The senior-to-be was arrested on Sunday on felony drug trafficking charges after he was found with a bag of Xanax pills and $1,947 in cash in his possession in a questionable Louisville neighborhood.

As we noted yesterday, Wilson was arrested in 2009 as a freshman for allegedly punching a woman — believed to be his girlfriend — in the face. He was suspended for that fourth-degree assault charge, but then-coach Rich Brooks eventually allowed him to return to the team.

Wilson was set to be UK’s second-leading returning tackler this fall. Instead, he’s squandered a great opportunity to rise above the level of “town pusher.”

Sad. Stupid. Sad and stupid.

UK Linebacker Wilson Suspended After Felony Drug Arrest

John — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 15:59:15 +0000

Kentucky linebacker Ridge Wilson has been suspended indefinitely from the Wildcats program because he “broke the team rules,” according to a UK spokesperson. The rule in question? Don’t get busted trafficking drugs.

Wilson was arrested in Louisville over the weekend and charged with trafficking in a controlled substance. WDRB-TV in Louisville reports that Wilson was spotted by police in an area “known for drug trafficking and drug use.” When officers approached his car, Wilson appeared “extremely nervous” and “kept mentioning (that) he played football for the University of Kentucky.”

Apparently that didn’t go to far with the cop on the scene who searched Wilson’s car and found a pair of jeans in the back seat. In the jeans was a bag of Xanax pills. Oops. When Wilson was searched, he allegedly had $1,947 in the jeans he was wearing. Oops again.

Wilson recorded 47 tackles for Kentucky last season.

Will LSU Have A “Fat Cat” Quarterback In Liggins?

John — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:48:37 +0000

A decade ago, Kentucky was quarterbacked by just about the biggest man you’ll ever see behind center. Jared Lorenzen was 6-4 and his weight was listed as being anywhere from 285 to 315. From the “Fat Cat” to “Battleship Lorenzen” to “The Pillsbury Throwboy” (a personal favorite), UK’s jumbo-sized QB drew as much attention for his size as he did his record-setting success in the Bluegrass State.

Soon there may be a new quarterback casting a big shadow across the SEC.

LSU signee Jeremy Liggins is listed at 6-3, 270 pounds. But Les Miles says his future field general is a bit heftier than that number now:

“He’s probably closer to 280 than 270 right now. So if a defensive lineman rushing the passer came loose, he might want to bring a friend. He might not get it done by himself.”

Liggins high school coach says “his weight is an issue” but he believes the LSU staff can help with that. Liggins agrees.

“It’s not going to be as bad as people think,” he said of shedding some excess pounds. “I probably have to lose 10 or 15 pounds, but that’s not a problem. I’m talking to a nutritionist who’s telling me how to eat and keep running.” (Having just turned 41, I loathe those young pups who can add and drop weight so easily.)

In case you’re wondering just how big 6-3, 270ish is… Cam Newton has been listed at 6-5, 250. Former LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell was 6-6, 260.

And here’s a look at the aforementioned Lorenzen in action back in 2000:

UK’s Calipari Wants Officials To Call “Rough Play”

John — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:50:28 +0000

Since SEC play began, John Calipari has been goading his team to show more toughness in the face of physical play. While the Wildcats have opened league play with seven consecutive wins and grabbed the nation’s #1 ranking, Coach Cal still isn’t thrilled with Kentucky’s physicality.

Apparently it’s time to call in some help.

Calipari said yesterday that he wants officials to start calling more fouls lest there be an increase in flagrant, dangerous fouls league-wide:

“My whole point is if you don’t call rough play, that’s what it goes to. You’ve got to call rough play… We don’t want it to be a rough-house, win-in-the-weightroom game. That’s now how we play.”

Timing is everything. Kentucky hosts Tennessee tonight, a team that Calapari said out-physicaled his team in a close loss in Knoxville two weeks ago. The coach said he expects a “hand-to-hand kind of deal” from the Volunteers this time around. No wonder than that he’s already trying to get the officials to be on the lookout for that type of rough-and-tumble play.

Vol fans will claim Calipari’s being whiny. Cat fans will claim he’s being wise. But in reality, officiating probably won’t make that big of a difference tonight. On paper, Kentucky is third in SEC play in scoring defense while Tennessee is just 10th in SEC play in scoring offense.

If form holds, Tennessee will have to get Jason Bourne-style physical in order to make up for its lack of scorers.

Calipari Says #1 Kentucky Might “Need A Loss”

John — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:42:55 +0000

When you’re gliding through the third month of the regular season with but one loss on your resume, it’s easy to say, “We could use a loss.” Fact is, that’s pretty much just what John Calipari said yesterday. And here’s guessing guys like Darrin Horn, Mark Fox and Cuonzo Martin aren’t too moved by Coach Cal’s “troubles.”

“We probably need a loss. So we’ll come together and say, ‘We’re not losing like this.’ In other words, getting manhandled. ‘That’s enough!’…

My thing is, let’s take one on the chin. Now, what’s (the team) going to do? Is (the team) going to say, ‘It’s OK.’ I don’t think they’ll say it’s OK. That was my message. … IF this doesn’t start changing, we need to take a ‘L.’”

Kentucky’s coach is talking about his team’s tendency to get outmuscled at times. But that probably won’t be an issue tonight at Georgia. Granted, UK hasn’t looked good on the road this year — heck, no one ever looks good on the road anymore — but Fox’s Dawgs just don’t match up well with the Calipari’s Cats:

* Kentucky is first in the SEC in scoring offense, Georgia is last.

* Kentucky is first in the SEC in scoring margin, Georgia is last.

* Kentucky is first in the SEC in field goal percentage, Georgia is last.

* Kentucky is first in the SEC in field goal percentage defense, Georgia is last.

* Kentucky is first in the SEC in rebounding offense, Georgia is 11th.

* Kentucky is second in the SEC in rebounding defense, Georgia is 9th.

* Kentucky is first in the SEC in rebounding margin, Georgia is last.

* Kentucky is first in the SEC in blocked shots, Georgia is 11th.

Calipari’s “we need to take a ‘L’” talk is likely just a motivational tool for his team as it travels to meet an overmatched foe. For if UK loses tonight, Georgia will have pulled — at least on paper — one of the biggest SEC upsets you’ll ever see.

Kentucky Moves To #1; Missouri To #2

John — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:29:15 +0000

The Kentucky Wildcats are back atop the two national basketball polls today, but a team joining the league next season is nipping at their heels.

For all the talk of Missouri not being ready to compete in the SEC, the Tiger basketball program is currently #2 in both major polls with an 18-1 record. Mizzou has a veteran team so they might not be quite so tough when they come aboard next season, but there’s no question MU’s addition will help the league’s hoops reputation.

That’s a good thing, too, because Florida and Mississippi State are the only current SEC teams joining UK in the polls this week:

AP Top 25
1. Kentucky
14. Florida
18. Mississippi State

ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll
1. Kentucky
13. Florida
16. Mississippi State

In a roundball-related note, the SEC has named Ole Miss’ Terrence Henry as its Player of the Week and Tennessee’s Jarnell Stokes as its Freshman of the Week.

UK’s Jones Playing Better ‘Cause He’s “Not Thinking As Much”

John — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:08:29 +0000

Kentucky forward Terrence Jones didn’t get off to the start many expected this season. National media members wondered why a kid with so much talent didn’t seem to bring the same energy and emotion from night to night. Big Blue fans fretted.

John Calipari said that his All-American candidate simply needed to start having fun on the basketball court. And that has made all the difference. Jones came close within one rebound against Arkansas on Tuesday of recording his first double-double of the season (he had seven last year), and his play has improved overall in recent games.

Jones knows why:

“I’m just not thinking as much. Just being less conscious about my (injured) hand. Worrying about messing up because I wasn’t playing like I was (as a freshman). Just thinking too much about every little play.”

This season, Jones is averaging 11.8 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. In 2010-11 he averaged 15.7 and 8.8.