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?)

Speaking in Richmond, Kentucky last night, UK coach John Calipari was asked about the possibility of scheduling Duke at some point in the future.  But the coach said that’s not going to happen:


“They will not play us.”


Naturally, that short comment has pro-Kentucky and pro-Duke blogs firing barbs back and forth.  DukeBasketballReport.com claims that they know of no contract talks between Duke and UK and they suggest Cat fans still aren’t over Christian Laettner’s buzzer-beating shot in the 1992 NCAA Tournament.





Not to be outdone, the pro-UK blog ASeaOfBlue.com reports that they have no knowledge of Duke-UK negotiations, either, but that they “are inclined to take Coach Calipari at his word.”  And they believe it was Christian Laettner’s chest-stomp of Aminu Timberlake in the same game that stands out to Wildcat fans.





We’ll wait to see if Mike Krzyzewski will chime in on this one.

Ryan Harrow is transferring from North Carolina State to Kentucky.

“I am a Kentucky Wildcat!” Harrow posted on twitter. He also considered Georgia, Louisville and Texas.

Harrow will have to sit out the 2011-12 season. He will be eligible to play in the fall of 2012.

“I have to work hard and play to my full potential,” Harrow said. “By recruiting me, Coach (Calipari) thinks I can be one of the premier guards.”

Harrow averaged 9.3 points and 3.3 assists per game as a freshman at N.C. State last year.

Content provided by A Sea Of Blue.

Mother of Kentucky coach John Calipari dies after battling cancer