(AP photo)
Morning notes and links for a Friday:
- Look for Randall Cobb to be picked at the NFL Draft tonight.
- Brandon Knight tells some Winchester middle school students that he’s 50-50 on staying in the NBA draft, reports Keith Taylor of the Winchester Sun. (I’m a Conkwright Middle alum, by the way, but back then they called it “junior high.”)
- Trevor Lacey makes a surprise visit to Auburn, reports All Ky Hoops.
- UK went on the defensive yesterday, using its Cat Scratches blog to basically strike back against a Herald-Leader story from last month saying that the UKAA gives only $1.7 million of its $80 million budget to the academic side. That is an crease of only $200,000 since 1988, and pales in comparison to other schools in the SEC.
The Cat Scratches post uses charts and graphs to make it case, that it gives more than what was said, that its costs have gone up, etc.
But what it did not say was that it employs the highest-paid coach in college basketball, has the highest recruiting budget in college basketball, has the highest attendance in college basketball, and just awarded its athletics director an annual $125,000 raise.
It also failed to point out that it at the BBVA Compass Bowl in January, it outspent its SEC allowance by $253,396.
No wonder the academic side was upset when it learned the athletics department wanted to “borrow” money for a new video scoreboard and improvements to Commonwealth Stadium.
- And now, the UKAA has announced it will find other ways to pay for the new goodies.
- Mark Story of the H-L leads his notes column with a UNC-UK basketball comparison.
- UK puts 30 on the SEC Academic Honor Roll.
- Kentucky baseball blows a 4-run lead and loses to LSU in Baton Rouge. Randy Rosetta of The Advocate has the details.
- Zagsblog says John Calipari would be crazy to coach the Dominican Republic team.
- Calipari will hold an NBA Combine next Monday and Tuesday for league scouts.
- Bleed Blue Kentucky has the details on some more UK football offers.
I’m glad that UK is one of 14 self-supporting intercollegiate athletic departments in the country. That’s a good news.
However, that fact should not allow UKAD to borrow money from cash-strapped UK. It’s about accountability.
If it could raise private money in the first place, why need to borrow? Did it try to borrow money simply because it could?