The hottest name in the coaching world today is Shaka Smart.  VCU’s second-year coach has his Rams all the way through to the Final Four.  It’s a near-miracle run for a team that most ESPN pundits pointed to as the least deserving at-large team in the field.

But while America gushes over Smart’s run — and we at MrSEC.com quietly murmur a warning: “Stan Heath” — some credit should be given to the guy who built the VCU team with which Smart is excelling. 

When Anthony Grant takes his Crimson Tide into its NIT semifinal game against Colorado tonight, Bama’s coach can know that he’s had a hand in two Final Four runs this year.  He built the roster for VCU’s journey and he’s coaxed 24 wins out of the roster he inherited — to a large degree — from Mark Gottfried.

At VCU, Grant recruited the Rams’ current juniors and seniors.  Here’s what Kansas Bill Self had to say about them after Sunday’s loss to VCU:  “You can usually tell who can really recruit, what programs do the best job recruiting, because they’re playing with the guys that you look at them when they’re juniors and seniors and think, ‘How in the world did they get them?’  VCU’s program has done that.”

Kevin Scarbinsky of The Birmingham News takes that comment, combines it with Grant’s record in his second year at Bama and says UA’s young coach will have the Tide in an NCAA Final Four “sooner rather than later.”

At Alabama, the only current starter signed by Grant is excellent freshman point guard Trevor Releford.  The rest of the main pieces were left behind by Gottfried.

“He left behind a nice nucleus, which Anthony has molded into his image defensively and intensity-wise and grittiness,” said ESPN analyst Fran Fraschilla.  “It’s all Anthony Grant basketball now.”

Yes, it is.  And way things have played out might be even more impressive than had the coach built and taken one squad to a Final Four.  Grant showed that he can build a high-caliber roster at VCU.  Then he moved to a new school and has shown that he can coach-up the pieces he inherited.

We at MrSEC.com aren’t ready to declare Grant to be one of the nation’s elite coaches yet.  At some point, he’ll have to take a team he’s built and coach it deep into the NCAA tourney.  And we also remember that John Pelphrey and Trent Johnson got off to fast starts in the SEC, too, only to cool quickly.  There are no guarantees.

But when it comes to Grant, there’s no denying that his work at Bama and his previous work at VCU certainly suggest the Crimson Tide program is headed in the right direction.

Next step: Tonight at 9pm ET versus Colorado at Madison Square Garden.

Basketball prospect Kevin Ware is still requesting a release from the national letter of intent he signed with Tennessee in November.

“Yes I am,” Ware told the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

The AJC’s story, which was posted at 3:15 eastern time on Monday afternoon, stated that Ware had not yet spoken to new Tennessee coach Cuonzo Martin. Ware told the AJC he missed a call from Martin on Monday morning and then left a message with Martin when he missed Ware’s call later in the day.

Martin said Monday afternoon during his introductory press conference at about the same time that he had spoken to both Ware and point guard Chris Jones, who is UT’s other signee for the class of 2011.

It’s unclear if Martin and Ware have actually been able to speak. Both made it be known that they would like to speak soon, and Martin said on Monday that he would meet with Ware and Jones next week after the Final Four takes place in Houston.

Ware’s release doesn’t appear to have been granted to this point. He told the AJC that UT officials would like him to meet with Martin before a decision is made on Ware’s request for a release. Jones indicated the same last week during a conversation with MrSEC.

Ware has appeared anxious to find out more about Martin.

“He’s a good guy from what I’m hearing … good reputation, good background,” Ware told the AJC.

It’s been a while, but basketball royalty is returning to a familiar castle.  For the first time since 1998, Kentucky is headed to the Final Four.

Yesterday’s 22-point effort from an ever-improving Brandon Knight helped lead the Wildcats past North Carolina 76-69 to set up a national semifinal date with UConn in Houston next Saturday.  “We got Kentucky back,” said senior Josh Harrellson.  “A lot of people doubted us.  A lot of people really didn’t think we’d be the team we are.  We really pulled it together as a team, and we’re back now.”

DeAndre Liggins might have had the biggest impact on yesterday’s game with three steals, four assists, 12 points and a key three-pointer with 35 seconds remaining.

Two years ago when UK took a risk and a PR hit by bringing in John Calipari and his reputation — fairly earned or not — the high-hopers in the Bluegrass State would have told you they expected Elite Eights and Final Fours.  That’s just what Coach Cal has given them in his two years in Lexington.  And he’s done it quickly.

“I thought he was building toward it,” said outgoing UK president Lee Todd.  “But I didn’t think this was the year.”  The fact that Kentucky lost so much from last season — an entire starting line-up to the NBA, for example — makes this Calipari’s best-ever coaching job.  His team has gotten better as the season has rolled along.

(We pause here to remember all the crying and whining about UK’s tourney seed two weeks ago.  If your team is hot, the difference between a #3 seed and a #4 seed is microscopic.  As we said at the time, thank you very much.)

This trip will be Kentucky’s 14th to the Final Four.  Only UCLA (18), North Carolina (18) and Duke (15) have more.  It’s Calipari’s third — scratch that — first trip to the Final Four.  His previous trips in 1996 with UMass and in 2008 with Memphis were later vacated due to NCAA issues.

Congrats to the Cats for carrying the SEC banner all the way to Houston.


Some links:

This writer says Coach Cal has proven that he’s more than just a recruiter.

Calipari has convinced UK’s president that if a banner goes up in Lexington this year, it won’t come down.

Kentucky’s coach says he and UConn’s Jim Calhoun aren’t the best of buds.

The end of UK’s Final Four drought came with great emotion.

A number of notable Cat fans chimed in about the victory on Twitter.

Rapper Jay-Z and William “Worldwide Wes” Wesley were waiting for Calipari in UK’s lockerroom after the game.

John Calipari won his 500th game as a college head coach when Kentucky knocked off Florida on Saturday.

Sort of.

While Calipari has indeed left a college basketball court a winner on 500 occasions, not all of those wins still go on his resume.  Gary Johnson, the head of Division I men’s basketball statistics has told The Lexington Herald-Leader that Coach Cal is actually 42 wins shy of 500 in the NCAA’s eyes.

Calipari’s final UMass squad was forced to vacate four postseason wins in the 1995-96 season (costing the Minutemen a Final Four appearance).  The coach’s final Memphis squad was forced to vacate 38 victories from its 2007-2008 season (costing the Tigers a Final Four appearance).

Add it up and you get 42.  Which means UK jumped the gun a bit when it presented Calipari with a gameball celebrating his 500th victory on Saturday.

But hang on to it, folks.  It shouldn’t take too long for Calipari to record another 42 wins in Lexington.

1.  East beat West again, but Florida had to struggle in an ugly 45-40 win at Auburn.  Very ugly.

2.  For the game, Florida shot 28% from the floor, but an 8-0 run at game’s end sealed the victory.  (The Gators’ shooting performance was reminiscent of Kentucky’s 24% effort against Georgetown in the ’84 Final Four.  It was painful to watch.)

3.  Stacy Searels’ move from Georgia to Texas is official.

4.  John Calipari expects Kentucky to be in a lot more close games this season.

5.  UConn’s Jim Calhoun should be very familiar with Bruce Pearl’s system when Tennessee visits Hartford tomorrow.

Content provided by The Slophouse.

FAYETTEVILLE - Scanning a half-empty (or was it half-full?) crowd made it easy to spot some famous people at last night’s Arkansas-Oklahoma basketball game at Bud Walton Arena.

In attendance were Sidney Moncrief, Ron Brewer and Jim Counce from the 1978 Final Four team, and Clint McDaniel from the Razorbacks’ 1994 national championship team.

Scotty Thurman, who hit the shot to give Arkansas the lead for good in the 1994 national championship game, was on the bench in his first year as director of player development. Thurman was partially responsible for gathering the legends at the game, he said Wednesday while speaking to the Northwest Arkansas Tip-Off Club in Springdale.

Arkansas coach John Pelphrey said following the game it was important to have former players attending games and being around the program.

“Those guys are a huge part of what make it special to be a Razorback,” Pelphrey said. “We are so proud of our past and we celebrate it. I’m glad those guys were here. I’m certainly glad we could perform well enough to get a win. Those guys set a standard pretty high and we all try to live up to it.”

Now, the University of Arkansas needs to take it a step further and recognize the players by hanging several of their jerseys in the rafters of Bud Walton Arena. There are currently no jerseys hung at the arena, though Moncrief’s No. 32 and Corliss Williamson’s No. 34 have not been worn since they left the program. Others like Thurman, Brewer and Todd Day are among those deserving of such an honor from the school.

With Arkansas’ history in basketball and showcase of an arena, it’s shame this hasn’t been done already. Kentucky’s Rupp Arena, Duke’s Cameron Indoor Arena, North Carolina’s Dean Smith Center and UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion have rafters littered with jerseys from the past. While Arkansas doesn’t quite meet the standards those programs have set, it does have a rich basketball history with six Final Four appearances and a national championship trophy.

Not to mention, a ceremony celebrating one of the Razorbacks’ legends of the past would sell tickets – something the school desperately needs with crowds filling less than half the arena this year.

But for now, just having them back is a nice starting point. Here’s to hoping it is taken a step further, and soon.

For more visit WholeHogSports.com. You can follow Matt Jones on Twitter @NWAMatt.