John Clay's Sidelines

(H-L photo/Jonathan Palmer)

News and notes from Georgia’s 44-31 win over Kentucky:

• You can’t turn the ball over four times and win. Not in the SEC. UK was a +4 in the turnover department last week and rallied from a 28-10 deficit to beat South Carolina. It was -3 tonight and could not rally from a 28-10 halftime deficit against Georgia.
• The Cats turned the ball over three times at Ole Miss, and lost that game 42-35. UK was a -3 in the turnover department in Oxford.
• Mike Hartline, LaRod King and Donald Russell all lost balls on fumbles.
• Kentucky punted just once the entire night, yet lost the game 44-31.
• Kentucky allowed 290 yards. It was the fewest yards UK has given a team in any loss since Georgia gained 283 in 2007, and won 24-13 in Athens.
• Kentucky outgained Ole Miss by 123 total yards (424-301) and lost. Kentucky outgained Georgia by 133 total yards (423-290) and lost. Again, back to the turnovers.
• Mike Hartline completed 27 of 43 passes for 353 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. His passer rating was 157.8. Hartline’s 353 yards is a career-high, surpassing the 349 of last week.
• In SEC games, Hartline is 132 of 201 for 1,481 yards, with 14 touchdowns and four interceptions. His passer rating is 146.6.
• Kentucky has scored at least 30 points in four straight SEC games, for the first time since 1999.
• Danny Trevathan had 11 tackles, his fourth consecutive game of double-digit tackles. The last UK player to do that was Jeff Snedegar in 1997.
• Freshman Raymond Sanders ran hard, gaining 79 yards on 16 carries. He also caught seven passes for 77 yards.
• Georgia coach Mark Richt: “Well, this game in particular, let’s face it, was it three or four turnovers in the first half? I mean, that’s hard to overcome for any defense. Our field position was tremendous. It’s hard to keep people out of the end zone when you have such a short field to defend. And seven points was a kickoff return for us. It’s hard to start fast defensively when that many turnovers are happening.”

(AP photo)

Big Blue Links for Saturday:

• Mike Hartline’s senior year is stacking up well, writes Mark Story of the H-L.
• Cartier Rice is ready for a rematch with A.J. Green, writes Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader.
• Parity rules in SEC East, writes Rick Bozich of the Courier-Journal.
• Kentucky wants a fast start against Georgia, reports Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal.
• Georgia is looking for its first road win of the season, reports Tim Tucker of the AJC.
• Georgia is glad to still be in the division hunt, writes Scott Adamson of the Anderson Independent Mail.
• Kentucky a true test for Georgia’s new-look secondary, writes Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald.
• A Kentucky-Georgia scouting report, by Matt May of the Cats Pause.

SEC links for Saturday:

• Dana O’Neil of espn.com writes that the Bruce Pearl case is more about toleration than termination.
• Pearl’s infractions could be viewed as major by NCAA, writes Mike Griffith of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• There’s no shock to Pearl and Calhoun dealings, writes George Robinson of the Leaf-Chronicle.
• Florida tells Mississippi high school it can no longer use Gator head as logo, reports the AP.
• Cameron Newton’s optimism has rubbed off on Auburn, as Tigers prepare for LSU, writes Jay G. Tate of the Montgomery Advertiser.
• LSU is bracing for Newton, writes Glenn Guilbeau of the Shreveport Times.
• Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News says that Tennessee-Alabama is still a great rivalry.
• Arkansas aiming for its first win over Houston Nutt, writes Robbie Neiswanger of the Arkansas News.
• Vanderbilt gets a chance at redemption against South Carolina, reports Jeff Lockridge of the Tennessean.

Bruce Pearl

As Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News points out, the letter Tennessee sent Bruce Pearl informing the basketball coach his contract has been terminated, lists several charges of violations, etc., over the past three years.

But not to worry, Pearl is getting a new contract.

And, according to DeCourcy, Mike Hamilton and the administration added to the deception.

An excerpt:

As a means of supporting that declaration, the letter – obtained by Knoxville’s WBIR-TV – presents a series of episodes from Pearl’s previous three years of employment that involve allegations of NCAA rules violations, coercion, false statements and other apparent misdeeds that are summarized by the assertion Pearl “engaged in gross misconduct, including dishonesty and other acts involving intolerable behavior.”

And then, the next day, the man who signed this letter (Michael E. Hamilton, Director of Men’s Athletics), another who received a CC (Dr. Jimmy G. Cheek, Chancellor) and the one who was its recipient (Bruce Pearl, Head Coach, Men’s Basketball) sat at a news conference in Knoxville and engaged in what might be described as gross misconduct, including dishonesty and other acts involving intolerable behavior.

All of them.

In other words, Tennessee privately told Pearl one thing, then told the public something else.

Among the charges against Pearl in the letter:

- That in September 2008 Pearl “knowingly violated NCAA rules by hosting, at your house during a team cookout, three prospective student-athletes making unofficial visits and their families. At your house, you admitted to the unofficial visitors and their families that their presence at your house was a violation of NCAA rules. You also told the unofficial visitors and their families that you were not going to tell anyone about the NCAA rules violation, and you asked that they not tell anyone, either.”

Rick Stansbury (AP photo)

An interesting sidelight to this John Calipari-Rick Stansbury debate over the Enes Kanter-Dee Bost comparison comes in the statement Calipari put on CoachCal.com.

“I love what the NCAA did with Dee Bost. Dee Bost decided to put his name in the NBA draft; stayed in the Draft – meaning he was then a professional and could not come back and be an amateur. Yet, they looked at it, and said, wait a minute, common sense says, we’re going to let him play, sit him out some games and let him play.”

So is Calipari admitting that Kanter was a professional when he played on his club team in Turkey?

You almost have to wonder if Kentucky knows something here, that the NCAA is not going to just rule Kanter eligible. Given Cal’s comments about how the NCAA is not working against UK, but with UK, it’s almost as if the coach is employing a be-nice strategy in hopes that the NCAA takes a sympathetic look at Kanter’s situation. And Kentucky’s.

On the one hand, Stansbury’s implication that Kentucky gets special treatment – “Everybody is probably waiting to see (if) Kentucky gets something, is it because, with Kentucky, something’s maybe different than another school.” – is consistent with the Mississippi State coach’s whiny, and tired, persona.

On the other hand, not sure I see the Bost/Kanter comparison. Bost never played a game for a professional team. He put his name in the draft, waited past the deadline, didn’t get drafted, then wanted to come back. It’s similar to what former UK center Randolph Morris did a few years back. In that case, the NCAA allowed Morris to return to the Cats, but only after a 14-game suspension. And only after UK appealed the original one-year suspension. (At the time, Dick Vitale wrote, “Santa Claus came early to Lexington . . .”)

Cal is absolutely correct on one thing. The NCAA has a tough decision to make, one that will have long-range affects on young Europeans who want to come to the United States to play college basketball.

* – On Insight in state of Kentucky.

Links from SEC Basketball Media Day:

• Calipari says NCAA ruling will affect far more than Enes Kanter, writs Jack Carey of USA Today.
• Calipari understands the NCAA delay on Kanter, says Jon Solomon of the Birmingham News.
• Calipari is trying to play nice with the NCAA, blogs John Pennington of Mr. SEC.
• Billy Donovan says Georgia may be “clearly better than everyone,” reports the AJC.
• Trio of West teams hope to get back to NCAA Tournament, writes Ron Higgins of the Memphis Commercial Appeal.
• Tennessee supporting Pearl through turmoil, writes Kevin Brockway of the Gainesville Sun.
• Pearl expects to keep coaching, and winning, writes Higgins of the Commercial Appeal.
• Pearl speaks early and often about his fall from grace, writes Bill Bryant of the Huntsville Times.
• Experienced Georgia likes its fiery coach, writes Jacob Carpenter of the Birmingham News.
• Alabama’s Green gears up for leadership role, reports Tim Gayle of the Montgomery Advertiser.
• Green has bulked up, as well, writes Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News.
• Elgin Bailey is hungry at Mississippi State, reports Brandon Marcello of the Clarion-Ledger.