Janoris Jenkins (AP photo/Phil Sandlin)
SEC links for Sunday:
- Zeke Pike’s Auburn commitment affects blue-chippers close to home, reports Doug Segrest of the Birmingham News. “Pike is rated the No. 2 prostyle passer in the country by 247 sports and No. 3 quarterback overall for the Class of 2012, according to Scout.com. Winston, out of Hueytown, is ranked No. 2. Winston has narrowed his list to four schools — Alabama, Auburn, Florida State and LSU. But Auburn’s commitment from Pike could change things.”
- Florida’s Janoris Jenkins is in trouble again, reports Rachel George of the Orlando Sentinel. “Florida cornerback Janoris Jenkins was cited for a second time this year for possession of marijuana. Jenkins, 22, was observed smoking a cigar in a vehicle in a parking lot at 104 N Main St., according to a release from the Gainesville Police Department. When Jenkins saw the officer, he exited the vehicle and began to walk away.”
- Cuonzo Martin commands respect at Tennessee, writes Patrick Brown of the Chattanooga Times Free Press. “Tracy Webster has had every possible kind of basketball relationship with Cuonzo Martin for more than two decades. Through playing against his new boss, Tennessee’s new head coach, in high school in Illinois, battling him in the Big Ten and coaching with him for a year and against him for another three, Webster knows Martin well.”
- If Alabama and Auburn have two quarterbacks, they have no quarterbacks, writes Mike Herndon of the Mobile Press-Register. “With spring in the books, the quarterback competitions between AJ McCarron and Phillip Sims at Alabama and Barrett Trotter and Clint Moseley at Auburn are both still too close to call and will continue into the summer and fall. Auburn coach Gene Chizik has said true freshman Kiehl Frazier will join the fray when he arrives on campus, but he’ll have miles of mental ground to make up despite playing in a similar offense in high school.”
- Alabama is not the only SEC team with quarterback issues, writes Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News. “Now is as good a time as any for an educated guess, as the league’s spring football wraps up. Kentucky played its Blue-White game Saturday in front of 4,000 fans, about the same number that stood in the barbecue-nacho line at Bryant Denny Stadium on A-Day. Most of the league’s 12 teams do have a clear-cut starter, or at least a front-runner. But there doesn’t appear to be a paradigm-changer like Cam Newton anywhere. To be fair, no one really knew everything Newton was going to mean to Auburn at this time a year ago.”
- Mississippi’s most ballyhooed high schoolers haven’t panned out, reports Rick Cleveland of the Clarion-Ledger. “Jerrell Powe and DeAndre Brown were two of the most highly rated football recruits in Mississippi history, physically gifted five-star blue chippers who were expected to make a three-year pit stop in college on their way to NFL millions. They were the elite of the elite. Consider: Since 2002, when Rivals.com and Scout.com began rating recruits on a one- to five-star scale, Powe and Brown are two of just 10 Mississippians to earn five-star ratings, two of only three to merit five stars from both Internet sites. Yet, here we are, the week of the 2011 NFL Draft, and neither is expected to be an early pick. Brown might not be drafted at all.”
- Derek Dooley pleased with Tennessee’s progress, reports Austin Ward of the Knoxville News-Sentinel. “The priority was clear from the moment Derek Dooley took over at Tennessee. The Vols coach had an exact plan in mind on how to make it happen as well. But specifically finding a way to gauge his ongoing effort to change the culture at UT isn’t quite as easy for Dooley as he heads into his second season with the program. There are no statistics to track the character of his players or polls that reflect the value of community service, but that doesn’t mean Dooley hasn’t been able to see some progress over his 15 months at UT. It just is hard to prove numerically.”
- Mississippi State upsets South Carolina 5-3, reports Brandon Marcello of the Clarion-Ledger. “Caleb Reed barely made it through his first question with the media before he was hit in the face with the celebratory shaving cream. His smile crept through the blue and white foam as he wiped his face clean after recording his seventh save of the season. Mississippi State, as it had done all season at home, somehow found a way Saturday to pull off an upset of a nationally ranked team with a 5-3 victory against South Carolina.”
- Vanderbilt whips LSU 10-1, reports Jeff Lockridge of the Tennessean. “”Even if it’s not a mathematical certainty, Grayson Garvin’s teammates contend that it is close. When the junior left-hander gets the ball on Saturdays, it means a victory for Vanderbilt. Garvin won his sixth SEC game in as many starts, and the No. 4 Commodores piled on the runs late to log another lopsided win over LSU, 10-1, before a sellout crowd of 3,541 at Hawkins Field.”
- Ole Miss baseball evens series with Auburn, reports Charles Bennett of the Anniston Star. “Ole Miss seemed to be coasting along Friday night against Auburn with the game seemingly well in hand before the Tigers reminded the Rebels that no lead is ever safe. Ole Miss scored eight runs through the first four innings, but ultimately held on to beat the Tigers 10-7 at Plainsman Park, evening the best-of-three SEC series at a game each.”
- Florida powers its way past Alabama, reports Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun. “After taking a 4-2 lead in the second inning against Alabama, for some reason frustration, instead of the expected momentum, started building for the Florida Gators on Saturday. Usually steady starter Brian Johnson struggled and battled on the mound and lasted only five tough innings. The Gator bats, which were booming in Friday’s night’s victory, fell silent. No. 5 Florida looked like it was intent on messing around and letting the Tide stick around in a crucial SEC game.”
- Georgia halts Tennessee’s win streak, reports Grant Ramsey of the Knoxville News-Sentinel. “Georgia kept getting two-out hits early, but it was a two-out hit in the top of the ninth that put Tennessee away for good Saturday at Lindsey Nelson Stadium. The Bulldogs scored three runs off five two-out hits in the first two innings, and Kyle Farmer’s two out, three-run home run in the top of the ninth put the game away as Georgia won 8-6.”
