SEC Football

1. Former Tennessee defensive end and coach Chuck Smith has been working with Auburn linemen in order to help revive the Tigers pass rush.

2. The biggest surprise on Auburn’s post-spring depth chart? Slot receiver.

3. Biggest question at Arkansas this fall?  Backup quarterback.

4. Nick Saban on being inducted into the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame: “In the future, I’m going to be more committed in order to justify the honor you’ve given to me tonight.”

5. Clemson AD Dan Radakovich on what he learned from Saban at LSU.  ”With all the distractions around him, Nick stays focused on the things that are important for him and his program.”

6. Young LSU fans get to camp out at Tiger Stadium.

7. The SEC and the NFL draft – uptick can be explained by Alabama and LSU. “They have been pipelining athletes to the NFL far beyond what they’ve ever been able to do previously.”

8. South Carolina an 8.5 point favorite in the opener against North Carolina, Mississippi State a 6.5 point underdog vs Oklahoma State. Spreads for Week 1 are out.

SEC/College News

9. In Michael Adams’  16 years as president of the university, athletic department revenues at Georgia have climbed from $25.7 million to $92.1 milion. Barbara Dooley still upset how her husband was treated: “In my opinion, he has never said anything positive about Vince Dooley’s ability as the athletic director…I take personal offense to that.”

10. Mike Bianchi on linebacker Matthew Thomas who wants out of his commitment to Florida State and reportedly transfer to Georgia or Southern Cal.   “What sort of life lesson is Thomas learning if his first exposure to the adult world is the message that it’s OK to break promises and walk out on commitments?”

SEC Basketball

11. Alabama reportedly agreeing to a series with UCLA.

12. When Andrew Wiggins announced he was going to Kansas, fans started melting down on Twitter.  ”In 140 characters or less, they hoped he’d tear ACLs, be consumed by fire or die in a plane crash.”

Extras

13. O.J. Simpson planning a college speaking tour after he gets out of prison.

14. Questions surrounding Seton Hall’s softball coach -”Is this a coach out of control or overly sensitive players and parents?”

Just gotta pencil an SEC team into the Elite Eight of your office bracket?  Take a chance on Florida’s defense.

Looking for a potential Sweet Sixteen surprise?  Write in Ole Miss and hope that Marshall Henderson gets hot… or unnerves UM’s foes.

Think an SEC team will go out early?  Missouri’s been pretty shaky away from home.

Below is our thumbnail, by-the-numbers look at the SEC’s teams’ hopes for advancement in the NCAA Tournament.  Now, all it takes is one cold-shooting night or a well-timed foul call to make or break a bracket’s worth of predictions.  Knowing that, we won’t be placing any bets in Vegas based on the opinions you’ll find below.  But this is how we at MrSEC.com see things as of today.

And we’re just not wowed by the SEC’s chances.

Florida

Seed: 3

Region: South

First Games: Austin, TX

Projection:  Florida’s defense (#2 nationally in efficiency) should smother Northwestern State in the Gators’ opener.  But then will come a test.  UCLA and Minnesota both have SOS numbers that suggest they’ve been battle-tested.  But the Bruins are the more dangerous club, not Tubby Smith’s Gophers.  A UF/UCLA tilt would be fun to see.  The Gators ousted UCLA from the NCAAs in 2011 (2nd round), 2007 (Final Four), and 2006 (Finals).  In January, we’d have picked UF to reach this Final Four as well.  But the SEC looks weak in hindsight and Florida’s struggles late in the season have made them appear vulnerable.  With the potential of games against UCLA and Georgetown back-to-back, we now think the Gators will likely bow out before Atlanta.

We’d love to be wrong about that one, because we see no other SEC team capable of making a Final Four run.

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1. UCLA 97 – Missouri 94 (OT). Despite a school-record 19 assists from Phil Pressey, Tigers lose to Bruins in Pauley Pavilion. Video of one of the 19 assists – a no-look pass from Pressey to Laurence Bowers.

2. Missouri’s  December winning streak snapped at 25 games – UCLA Zombie Coach Doctrine?

3. LSU 75 – Houston Baptist 58.  Tigers win easily despite playing without an injured Johnny O’Bryant and a suspended Anthony Hickey.

4. Eleven points and 13 rebounds for Shavon Coleman – fourth double-double of the year.

Our Joseph Thompson recently caught up with New York point guard prospect Alvin Deas as part of his ongoing series of Q&As with future SEC hoopsters. Deas has heard from a pair of league schools already.

Joseph Thompson: Who is interested in you?

Alvin Deas: Ohio State, Auburn, Rutgers, Iona, Pittsburgh, West Virginia, Nebraska, Memphis, Penn State, UNLV and LSU.

JT: Do you have any offers?

AD: I have three offers from Boston College, Utah and Marist University.

JT: What teams did you grow up watching?

AD: I grew up watching UCLA.

JT: Who would you compare your game to?

AD: I will compare my game to like Bradley Beal that got drafted to
the Washington Wizards.

JT: What are you looking for  in a NCAA program?

AD: I’m looking for in a NCAA problem where they will make me better on and off the court and a place where I can fit in quick an play.

JT: Do you have a dream school?

AD: My dream school is Kansas.

JT: Do you have any visits planned?

AD: I’m working on visiting West Virginia and Temple right now.

JT: Do you think New York basketball should be mentioned along with Florida and Texas basketball?

AD: Yes I think it should cause we have an lot of tough players I just think a lot of people forgot about New York.

It’s a move that many people following his recruitment have expected: running back Derrick Henry from Yulee (Fla.) High School has decommitted from Georgia.

Henry, who was the first prospect to commit to the Bulldogs in the 2013 class, announced the decision Wednesday afternoon following a trip to Alabama last weekend. Henry issued the following statement:

“This has been a great experience getting to know so many great coaches and visiting some of the best college football programs in the country. Even though I’ve worked really hard to put myself in this situation, I know I’m blessed to have this opportunity. I’m very thankful for that.

“For me personally, this is one of the biggest decisions I’ll make in my life and probably the most important to this point. I want to be 100 percent sure I am making the best choice on where I go to college and to play football. I’m going to open up my recruitment and take some more visits, get as much information as I can, and then decide from there. I was probably a little too quick in making my initial decision and got caught up in the moment so I apologize for that. I’m still considering Georgia and I have nothing but great things to say about their program, but I want to be honest with everyone in the fact that I am going to go over all my options and do what is best for me and my athletic and academic career. 

“For the rest of the summer, I am focusing on helping my team have the best season that we can have and achieve our team goals. Please refer any questions about my recruitment to my head coach. I’m not sure when I’ll make a final announcement, but when I have no doubts at all about where I’m going, I’ll let everyone know.”

So where will Henry go? Alabama is certainly a team to watch now that he’s visited Tuscaloosa. He also took a trip to Tennessee in late March, and the Vols will continue to push as they look for a highly-touted running back in the 2013 class.

And then there’s Georgia, which had told prospects it planned to only sign one running back (Henry) in 2013.

The Bulldogs will likely continue to pursue Alvin Kamara from Norcross (Ga.) High School. There’s also UCLA running back commit Keyante Green, who tried to commit to Georgia in February and recently told MrSEC he still has interest in the Bulldogs.

Running back Keyante Green is still committed to UCLA but plans to visit other schools before he makes a final decision.

The standout from Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy in McDonough, Ga., told MrSEC he will visit UCLA on June 22 and plans to make trips to Vanderbilt, Purdue and Syracuse this summer.

Tennessee could enter the mix if the Vols decide to reach out to Green. He said he received a scholarship offer from Tennessee “a couple months ago” but hasn’t heard from the school since.

Green said he would call Tennessee if he could.

“I don’t really have any of their numbers so I can’t call them,” he said.

But Green was able to post a message about the Vols on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon.

“I said no matter what school I go to I’ll always be a Tennessee fan,” Green told MrSEC. “I always grew up a Tennessee fan. I like Tennessee.”

Green said he became a fan of the Vols after he moved from New York to Georgia when he was five years old. He had seen Peyton Manning play for Tennessee and decided that would be his favorite school.

“I grew up in New York with Syracuse fans and then moved down south and there were Georgia fans,” Green said. “I didn’t like Georgia when I was younger so I liked Tennessee.”

Green liked Georgia enough as a recruit to try to commit to the Bulldogs in February. But Georgia told Green it couldn’t accept his commitment because the Bulldogs had already accepted a pledge from Yulee, Fla., running back Derrick Henry.

Green, who’s considered the nation’s No. 21 running back by ESPNU, said he still has interest in Georgia but understands the school’s reason for not taking his commitment.

Vanderbilt will be another school to watch. The Commodores have a commitment from one running back in the 2013 class: Johnathan Ford from New Hope, Ala.

Green said he’s developed a strong relationship with Vanderbilt’s coaching staff.

“I like coach (James) Franklin a lot,” Green said. “They come to my school a lot. We have a good vibe.”

Kentucky’s basketball signing class for 2012 moved to No. 1 in the nation on Wednesday night when center Nerlens Noel from Everett, Mass., announced he would play for the Wildcats.

“It was the toughest decision of my entire life,” said Noel, who chose Kentucky over Georgetown and Syracuse.

Noel, who’s ranked the No. 1 player in the nation by ESPNU, helped move Kentucky’s class to the No. 1 ranking by ESPNU. Guard Archie Goodwin, forward Alex Poythress and center Willie Cauley signed with the Wildcats in the fall.

Noel said he noticed the recent success for young players at Kentucky under the guidance of head coach John Calipari.

“Coach Cal recruited me real hard,” Noel said. “He is a good person who cares about his players, he helps them reach their goals and the team’s goals. They play as a unit and are very unselfish. Also the fans were incredible on my visit. They are behind the program 100 percent.”

Kentucky’s 2012 class might not be 100 percent complete. Forward Anthony Bennett from Henderson, Nev., is still on the board and considering Kentucky. The Wildcats will have to battle Florida, Oregon, UNLV and Washington for Bennett’s services.

Evan Daniels of Scout.com/FoxSports predicted on Wednesday that Bennett’s recruitment will come down to an SEC battle.

The top uncommitted prospect is now Anthony Bennett. My take? It’ll come down to Florida and Kentucky. Visits soon.

— Evan Daniels (@EvanDanielscout) April 12, 2012

Wednesday wasn’t a complete success for Kentucky. The Wildcats lost out on forward Shabazz Muhammad, who announced he will play at UCLA. But that news shouldn’t be surprising when you consider the influence of Adidas, writes Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com.

Just check out this tweet from Jeff Goodman, Gary Parrish’s colleague at CBSSports, shortly after Muhammad made his announcement.

Adidas, um I mean UCLA, wins the Shabazz Muhammad Sweepstakes. Shabazz stayed loyal to adidas entire way.

— Jeff Goodman (@GoodmanCBS) April 11, 2012

Ah, college basketball recruiting.

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.)

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:

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.