John Clay's Sidelines

Big Blue Links for Saturday:

The New York Times report on NCAA investigating Eric Bledsoe’s senior year in high school:

Brenda Axle, the landlord for the house where Bledsoe and his mother moved for his senior year of high school, said that Bledsoe’s high school coach paid her at least three months’ rent, or $1,200. By moving there, Bledsoe was eligible to play for Parker, which he led to the Alabama Class 5A title game. Maurice Ford, the coach, denied paying the money.

ESPN.com follows up on the Bledsoe story with more information:

ESPN.com reviewed copies of Bledsoe’s transcript after his sophomore and junior year, as well as his senior year at Parker High School. Though coaches projected Bledsoe as a non-qualifier entering his final year, he performed markedly better in the classroom as a senior with a college basketball scholarship on the line, taking a heavier workload that included a night school class and an online course to improve an earlier grade.

His grade-point average improved significantly after scoring an A in an online biology course, which replaced a D from his sophomore year. And, after failing to achieve an A in his first three years, Bledsoe scored two others in his senior year at Parker — Algebra 2 and Algebra 3, the latter taken in night classes.

Matt May of the Cats Pause on the NYT story:

The outlet did not indicate Kentucky had any involvement or knowledge of the issues, which are being investigated by the NCAA. A source at Kentucky told The Cats’ Pause the athletics department has not received a letter of inquiry from the NCAA and had no prior knowledge of any investigation into Bledsoe’s past.

Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal on the New York Times story:

The story said that because the NCAA does not discuss ongoing investigations, the scope of its efforts was not known. But the NCAA has sent investigators to inquire about Bledsoe in at least three places in Alabama. But The Times said that its interviews with people connected with Bledsoe had turned up several potential NCAA violations.

Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News on the Bledsoe situation in Alabama:

Ward and Moore told The Birmingham News that NCAA officials said they also spoke with the Alabama High School Athletic Association. AHSAA Associate Executive Director Joe Evans, who handles eligibility and investigations for the association, declined to comment. Moore identified one of the NCAA officials he spoke with as Abigail Grantstein, NCAA assistant director of enforcement. Grantstein works with the NCAA’s Basketball Focus Group investigating Division I men’s basketball enforcement issues.

Clay Travis of Fanhouse thinks Kentucky should cut the cord with Calipari:

And I’ll tell you why. First, Eric Bledsoe only came to Kentucky because John Calipari arrived there and recruited him. That was, oh by the way, before he was “qualified” to play basketball. Prior to arriving at Kentucky, Cal was also recruiting Bledsoe to Memphis so don’t buy the arguments that somehow Kentucky’s former coach is to blame for this. Read that recruiting article here. In May 2009, when Bledsoe committed to Kentucky he said, “If Cal had stayed in Memphis, I would have signed with Florida. I wanted to play in the SEC.” Somewhere Billy Donovan is slowly exhaling.

Cat Scratches thinks UK could be a lock for NCAA Baseball Tournament:

Believe me, that headline would have screamed crazy earlier this week. But as we head into the final few days of conference tournaments and the NCAA selection committee prepares to meet, the chances that the UK baseball team makes the NCAA Tournament is looking more and more likely.

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Derrick Rose tells Scott Powers of ESPNChicago he thinks Cal should stay at UK:

Q: Would you be interested in playing for John Calipari again?

A: No, he’s in a good fit [at Kentucky]. I don’t think he should leave. He could start his legacy there, so I don’t see why he would leave.

Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger on the Bledsoe situation:

Just as critics and/or skeptics started predicting the day John Calipari came to Kentucky, the NCAA is investigating Kentucky. Actually, the NCAA is checking the academic history and recruitment of Eric Bledsoe, according to a report by the New York Times Friday.

Becky Schlikerman of the Southtown Star on Antoine Walker declaring bankruptcy:

The former NBA All-Star has filed for bankruptcy, just days after being slapped with a $2.3 million foreclosure lawsuit on his mother’s mansion in Tinley Park’s tony Odyssey Club, according to court records. In the bankruptcy filing, the former basketball star – who reportedly earned $110 million in his 13-year career – lists his liabilities as $12.7 million against $4.2 million in assets, which include a $20,000 watch and a $6,000 Miami Heat NBA championship ring.

(Hat tip to Bluegrass State Basketball.)

Zagsblog says Bledsoe story could expedite Calipari going to NBA:

Will the NCAA’s investigation of former Kentucky guard Eric Bledsoe send John Calipari packing for the NBA? At least one NBA agent says Yes.

“Obviously, if something’s going to go down at Kentucky, that would be the third school [that Calipari's impacted].

“I would think that that would expedite something.”

Aaron’s UK Football Blog talks to football prospect Ryan Smith.

Alan Cutler of WLEX says Daniel Orton is getting a raw deal from some UK fans:

Daniel Orton is getting ripped by some True Blue Fans and media. It not only hardly seems fair, but it makes no sense. There are those who are asking questions because Orton didn’t play much at UK, when obviously he could have logged a lot of minutes at just about any other school. And, inspite of the fact that he spent most of the season on the bench, many expect to see him picked in the first 15 in the upcoming NBA Draft.

Ryan Clark of the Kentucky Enquirer says Bledsoe was a Billy Gillispie recruit:

But here’s the deal: Even with the revelation of their latest attempt at getting to Cal – the investigation into Eric Bledsoe’s high school grades – what has been found? That maybe Bledsoe’s high school coach was a less than reputable guy. Is that Calipari’s or UK’s fault? No. Once again, we have an issue of the NCAA approving a player and now seeing that they may have been wrong to do so. This is a slippery slope again. How can a coach be responsible for knowing what every player has or has not done in their past? It is impossible.

Wildcat Blue Blog believes the Bledsoe story is a non-issue:

First and foremost, the timing of the story is a bit suspicious. I have found that there is usually a hidden agenda whenever a big story is released late on a holiday weekend. Most people are going to be absorbed by the holiday, so if an organization breaks the news, it is usually something that they hope most people won’t notice or pay a lot of attention to. Now if it is a slander piece, as I suspect, it gets the most legs releasing it late into the Holiday as university administrators, coaches, and the athletic staff have all left for the long weekend and there is really no way to get an official statement from UK until Monday, if not Tuesday. But the damage has already been done for Calipari and the speculation and rumor mongering will continue through the weekend.

Straitpinkie on the New York Times report on NCAA and Bledsoe:

I’m not panicking by any means, because there is a great deal of information still to be gathered, but this is the kind of news I think we’ve all had in the back of our heads and hoped would never materialize. John Calipari has never done anything wrong by the NCAA, but his players and people around them have. The fact that multiple situations like this have popped up is a very troubling trend, one that I hoped would stop when Calipari arrived at UK because he no longer needed to recruit marginal prospects and because of UK’s superior support staff.

Kentucky Sports Network on basketball prospect Taylor Barnette.