John Clay's Sidelines

Update: Tweet from @UKCoachCalipari — Now, do I have to respond to these rumors too?

Big Blue Links for Monday:

Jerrance Howard

John Supinie of the Journal Star on UK talking to Illinois assistant Jerrance Howard: “When national power Kentucky comes calling with a fat checkbook, any coach has to listen. Kentucky contacted Howard on Friday about the vacant assistant coaching position. With Howard playing a key role in Illinois’ recent recruiting surge, the thought of possibly losing him sent Illini fans into a nervous frenzy.” (Hat tip Aaron’s Uk Basketball Blog.)

K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune says Calipari to NBA rumors still alive: “League sources said Sunday that noted NBA power broker William Wesley continues to work back channels to sell John Calipari and James as a package deal to franchises such as the Bulls, Nets and Clippers with coaching vacancies and salary cap room. Another league source confirmed that an unknown Calipari connection contacted Bulls management over the weekend.”

Mark Maloney of the Herald-Leader on UK baseball sweeping its way into SEC tournament picture: “With the top eight teams qualifying for the tourney, UK vaulted from 10th place on Friday and into a four-way tie for seventh Sunday with Alabama, LSU and Tennessee. The Cats (29-23, 12-15 SEC) finish league play with games at last-place Georgia on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.”

Fabian Lyon of the Miami Herald on Eloy Vargas: “Vargas’ decision will reunite him with Pine Crest star guard Brandon Knight, who is headed to Kentucky and played alongside Vargas and Florida guard Kenny Boynton Jr. on the 2007 AAU national champion Team Breakdown. Team Breakdown coach Kenny Gillion, who has stayed close to Vargas since he graduated from American Heritage, said Vargas was not able to show his true worth at Florida due to an ankle injury.”

Kadeem Jack talks recruiting:

Continue reading ‘BBL: John Calipari to NBA rumors just won’t die’

SEC links for Monday:

Kevin Scarbinsky reports that Bama’s Justin Knox has visited North Carolina: “Just got a text message from Darien Knox, the uncle of former Alabama basketball player Justin Knox. The text said Justin “really enjoyed” the first day of his two-day official visit to North Carolina on Sunday.”

Dave Hooker of the Knoxville News-Sentinel on Lane Kiffin’s HBO appearance: “”‘I never once told any of those players I would be there forever,’ the former Tennessee football coach told HBO’s Real Sports in an interview that will air on Tuesday. ‘I never made the statement ‘I was coming here; this is my dream job.’ ‘”

Ray Melick of the Birmingham News writes his good-bye column: “But that’s no longer the case. I have started imagining doing something else. And when I found myself suddenly afforded the opportunity to see what “something else” might be, I accepted.”

Evan Woodbery of the Mobile Press-Register on Auburn baseball taking series from Tennessee: “The Tigers (35-17, 17-10 SEC) lost Friday night’s opener to the Volunteers (29-23, 12-15), but then won the final two games by a combined margin of 27-2. Saturday’s game clinched Auburn’s first appearance in the SEC tournament since 2003, while Sunday’s victory gives the Tigers a chance to control their own destiny next weekend.”

Ron Morris of The State on the Murphy Holloway case: “Should we be surprised? Hardly. This is the state where only in the past decade have fans stopped waving the Confederate flag at Mississippi home football games. This is the school that until a year ago hung on to its mascot, Colonel Reb, a caricature of what appears to be a white antebellum plantation owner.”

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Bama’s Knox visits North Carolina’

Eloy Vargas

Evan Daniels of Scout.com is reporting that Eloy Vargas, 6-foot-11 center has committed to Kentucky this weekend.

Vargas is a 6-foot-10 center/power forward from Hollywood, Florida who played nine games for Florida in 2008-09, averaging 0.6 points per game, then left Gainesville and played at Miami-Dade College. Vargas was the conference player of the year at Miami-Dade after his team finished 12-14.

Here’s a post from the Orlando Sentinel’s Jeremy Fowler when Vargas left UF last August.

And a story from Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star when Vargas was supposed to visit Airzona.

Update with one more past link: Kevin Brockway’s story in the Gainesville Sun when Vargas left school.

(AP photo)

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

John Calipari was courtside in Cleveland last night, watching his man LeBron melt down in Cavs’ crushing 120-88 loss to Boston.

If this is the way James is going to play with Cal in the building, no NBA team will want him as coach.

But apparently some teams do.

This tweet from ESPN’s Ric Bucher:

@RicBucher: Two NBA teams fighting over Calipari. This belongs in SI’s “Sign of the Apocalypse” section. When did he become more than a great recruiter?

And this tweet from Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski:

@WojYahooNBA: John Calipari sitting near Cavs bench with agent, Leon Rose, who he shares with LeBron. I’m sure Mike Brown is thrilled to see Cal hover.

Cal’s own tweet:

@UKCoachCalipari: At the CLE playoff game with Tommy Mills and family. He won the bid on this package for Haiti telethon. Great guy with a great family.

Jeff Eisenberg of Yahoo Sports writes that Cal’s presence in Cleveland only adds fuel to the fire.

Marc Stein of espn.com on Calipari and Cleveland and Chicago and who knows who else:

But that exec makes a worthy point, given the stories in circulation this week about John Calipari’s desire to not only return to the NBA someday but also to coach LeBron James someday … and Cleveland’s unexpected struggles in its second-round series with Boston.

The exec asked: “What if Cleveland doesn’t win this series? If LeBron is a Calipari fan, why wouldn’t Cleveland go after him?”

A Sea of Blue is trying to figure out exactly what “I have no interest in leaving,” really means.

Meanwhile, Adam Miller of the Daily Collegian thinks Calipari is the best coach to utilize Derrick Rose with the Bulls.

Inner Circle has some fact/fiction about Calipari in the Cleveland crowd, witnessing his friend LeBron’s meltdown.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Calipari’s presence in Cleveland stokes the fires’

SEC links for Wednesday:

Best story of the day may be David Hooker’s piece in the Knoxville News-Sentinel on Aaron Douglas, the returning offensive line starter at Tennessee who decided to pack up and leave Knoxville. Douglas said he dealt with depression problems, saying, “”It was really tough there for four, five, six weeks,” he said. “I had no desire to really do anything. It’s hard to explain. It’s just like your self-esteem bubble has been popped. I tried to handle it the best I could.”

By the end of spring drills, new Vols coach Derek Dooley lost Douglas, running back Bryce Brown and quarterback Nick Stephens. No wonder some think Tennessee will struggle to get six wins this fall.

BTW, the Tennessee-Oregon game on Sept. 11 will kickoff at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

Also in the News-Sentinel, John Adams likes the idea of Phil Fulmer and Al Gore as commencement speakers.

Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger has a Q&A with new Mississippi State athletics director Scott Stricklin. As has been pointed out, Scott was associate athletics director for media relations at UK, but his dealings with sweethearts like me and other members of the local media did not deter him from earning the top job in Starkville.

Stricklin on his job:

“I think we’ve got to start dreaming. Twenty-five years ago we had 30,000 seats in our football stadium. This year, we averaged almost 55,000 people, 25 years later. I think we need to start coming up with a vision right now of what 75,000 football seats might look like at Davis Wade Stadium. We’re not going to get there overnight. It’s going to be a process. But once you have a long term plan, then you can start phasing it in. I think in short term, we’re going to need to add some seats there based on where the demand is right now.”

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Ex-Tennessee player admits depression’

With the deadline for withdrawing from the NBA draft having passed, here’s a look at UK’s 2010-11 basketball roster as it stands now:

(AP photo)

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• John Calipari tells ESPN’s Andy Katz he is thinking of going with a four-guard lineup next season.

• Dave D’Alessandro of the Newark Star-Ledger reports the New Jersey Nets are targeting John Wall.

• The Detroit Pistons could not pass on John Wall, writes Vince Ellis in the Detroit Free Press.

• Luke Winn of SI.com has Kentucky 12th in his post-draft power rankings. (Hat tip to Walter’s Wildcat World.)

• Ex-UK star Rajon Rondo has turned into an extraordinary pro, writes Mark Story in the Herald-Leader.

• A Sea of Blue is also giving Rajon Rondo his props.

• Unfazed Rondo is in great company, writes Julian Benbow in the Boston Globe.

• Mark Maloney of the Herald-Leader on ex-UK baseball star Chris Wade, who was back in Lexington to play the Legends on Monday.

• Brett Friedlander of the Wilmington Star-News on the UK/UNC battle over Kadeem Jack. (Hat tip to Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)

• Clay Travis of FanHouse on how the NCAA’s NBA withdrawal date hurts the players.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Calipari considering a four-guard lineup’

Les Miles

SEC links for Tuesday:

• Georgia’s Mark Richt and LSU’s Les Miles are headed for falls, writes Paul Finebaum in the Mobile Press-Register.

• Randy Rosetta of The Advocate doesn’t think NFL woes are fault of LSU football coaches.

• Alex Tyus’ return puts Florida basketball over the scholarship limit, reports Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun.

• Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs has answered his critics with results, writes Kevin Scarbinsky in the Birmingham News.

• Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger writes that milestones for Mississippi State baseball have not been good.

Continue reading ‘SEC links: Are Les Miles and Mark Richt headed for a fall?’

Eric Bledsoe (H-L photo/John Clay)

Daily randoms for a Monday:

No surprise that Daniel Orton and Eric Bledsoe are remaining in the draft. I agree with John Calipari. Did anyone think these two would be one-and-dones? John Wall, sure. DeMarcus Cousins, probably. You knew this was it for Patrick Patterson. But Bledsoe? He was supposed to move back to point guard once Wall bolted. Orton? The kid didn’t even start. But he’s big. An athletic. The NBA sees that as potential. The NBA drafts on potential.

Interesting to note that Orton has yet to have a single workout with an NBA team. Bledsoe has at least had two.

Looks like Lookin At Lucky is in the Preakness, with a different rider.

Don’t look now, but with Alex Tyus withdrawing from the draft, Florida basketball has all five starters back from a year ago, plus a couple of decent recruits. If Billy Donovan doesn’t show some progress in 2010-11, could the natives grown restless again in Gainesville? Or do they care enough about basketball to grow restless?

Congrats to Scott Stricklin, named athletics director at Mississippi State on Friday, one day before his 40th birthday. Stricklin was associate athletics director for media relations at UK before returning home to MSU to join Greg Byrne’s staff in Starkville. Scott was a pro’s pro here at UK, reasonable, with good judgment and a calming influence. I was pretty rough on Mitch Barnhart early on, and Stricklin bridged the gap between columnist and AD, arguing Mitch’s side, but never in an angry or accusatory tone. Plus, Stricklin listened. Best of luck to him as the Bulldogs’ new boss.

Continue reading ‘No surprises from Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton’

Big Blue Links for Monday:

Zagsblog on Kadeem Jack: “The Kadeem Jack Sweepstakes now includes two of the most storied programs in the history of college basketball. The 6-foot-9 Jack plans to visit North Carolina and Kentucky sometime in the coming weeks, although no dates have been set.”

Mark Maloney of the Herald-Leader on UK baseball’s series win over South Carolina: “Could these Kentucky Wildcats become the Comeback Cats? They looked the part Sunday, rallying to top No. 6 South Carolina 9-3.”

Mark Story of the H-L on how UK basketball recruiting might be too good: “On the floor this morning is this question: As long as the NBA’s rules ensure the existence of one-and-done players, is recruiting the elite high school players that are almost certain to turn pro after only one year the most likely way for a college program to make the Final Four?”

Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe on DeMarcus Cousins: “Cousins is the kind of big man that teams crave, and he doesn’t turn 20 until August. With the ability to create space in the paint, a nice shooting touch, and a mean streak, the Alabama native is tempting for teams seeking size. But the maturity issues are scaring teams, and instead of being talked about at No. 1, Cousins may be competing with Derrick Favors, Wesley Johnson, and Evan Turner for No. 2.” (Hat tip to Tom Leach.)

Continue reading ‘BBL: Kadeem Jack to visit Kentucky and UNC’