John Clay's Sidelines

Ticketmaster is showing that a pre-sale of tickets will go on sale Thursday at 10 a.m. for a game between former Kentucky players and the Dominican Republic National Team.

Here’s the info on the site:

THIS EVENT WILL BE A BASKETBALL GAME BETWEEN THE DOMINICAN NATIONAL TEAM AND A TEAM MADE UP OF FORMER UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY BASKETBALL PLAYERS WHO ARE CURRENTLY IN THE NBA

The game is listed as a 7:30 p.m. start on August 15.

The pre-sale is listed as being from 10 a.m. Thursday to 10 p.m. Thursday night. But there is no information on who is eligible for the pre-sale.

Tickets will go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. on Friday, according to the site.

Tickets are listed as costing from $15 to $1,200.

John Calipari is coaching the Dominican Republic National Team. There have been reports that Joe B. Hall has been asked to coach the UK legends team.

Hat tip to Aaron Smith of the Kentucky Kernel who tweeted the information earlier.

John Calipari has spent a lot of time recently watching the Harrison twins, Andrew and Aaron, out of Houston. Both are 6-foot-4 guards out of Houston in the Class of 2013. Andrew is ranked as the No. 8 overall prospect by ESPNU. Aaron is ranked 16th. Here’s some video of the Harrison twins.

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Rumors and reports that former Kentucky running back Derrick Locke was headed to the St. Louis Rams may turn out to be false. Or maybe not. Either way, the undrafted Oklahoma native says he will make the announcement himself on his Facebook page this morning.

Locke was expected to go in the middle or late rounds in last spring’s draft. But a neck/shoulder injury that kept the speedster out of some games last season apparently was enough to scare off NFL teams, which left the Wildcat undrafted. Locke rushed for 887 yards last season on 166 carries. He also caught 34 passes for 318 yards.

With undrafted free agents unable to sign with teams because of the NFL lockout, Locke was expected to be one of the more sought-after names when a CBA was reached. That apparently has been the case. Locke said on his Facebook page, “I guess this is what heavy college recruiting feels like!!”

Continue reading ‘Derrick Locke will announce signing on Facebook page’

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• Desmond Allison murder came as result of a fight at apartment complex, reports WBNS-TV in Columbus.
• Allison had lived in Columbus and Akron, reports the Columbus Dispatch.
• J.P. Blevins reflects on the death of his former teammate, reports WKYT.
• Derrick Locke could end up signing with St. Louis Rams, reports RamsHerd blog.
• Alex Poythress excited by Kentucky’s scholarship offer, reports George Robinson of the Leaf-Chronicle. (h/t Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog)
• Poythress will be on ESPNU tonight, reports Walter’s Wildcat World.
• Shabazz Muhammad’s mom would like for Long Beach State to get in the mix, reports Yahoo Sports.
• Now that NFL lockout is over, life about to get busy for undrafted Wildcats, reports Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader.

Continue reading ‘BBL: More details on Allison murder; Locke to Rams?’

SEC links for Tuesday:

• Alabama has its own version of oversigning, writes Kevin Scarbinsky of the Birmingham News.
• Joe Medley of the Anniston Star on OVC coaches telling Mike Slive and reformers that it’s not that easy.
• Bruce Pearl’s attorney says Tennessee delayed information on photo in NCAA investigation, reports Mike Strange of the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
• Lane Kiffin was charged with failure to monitor by Tennessee, reports Patrick Brown of the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
• Mark Richt plans on having “a helluva year,” reports Mark Bradley of the AJC.
• It’s the last shot for a pair of Florida’s fifth-year seniors, writes Pat Dooley of the Gainesville Sun.
• Houston Nutt is breaking in more transfer quarterbacks at Ole Miss, reports Ivan Maisel of espn.com.

Continue reading ‘SEC: Bama’s oversigning; OVC differs with SEC on reform’

With the news tonight that former Kentucky basketball player Desmond Allison was shot and killed in Columbus, Ohio, former NBA star Tracy McGrady remembers his friend via twitter.

Reports from Columbus say Allison died after being shot in the chest earlier this afternoon.

McGrady also tweeted this picture of Allison from high school.

Continue reading ‘Tracy McGrady and Tampa remember Desmond Allison’

UK athletics reports that football coach Joker Phillips will be in Bristol, Connecticut along with other SEC coaches to do interviews on the various ESPN platforms. It’s called the “Car Wash” by ESPN.

Phillips will be joined by Alabama’s Nick Saban, Arkansas’ Bobby Petrino, Georgia’s Mark Richt, LSU’s Les Miles and Vanderbilt’s James Franklin of Vanderbilt.

According to UK, Phillips’ schedule includes:

• ESPN.com Chat at 2:15 p.m.
• ESPNNEWS SportsCenter at 3:20 p.m.
• Twitter.com/SportsCenter Chat at 3:30 p.m.

Continue reading ‘Joker Phillips will make ESPN tour of interviews Tuesday’

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I own much respect for the data-driven gang at Basketball Prospectus. Something of a stats nerd myself – certainly a nerd – I own a soft spot for analysis by numbers, which is what the studious folks at BP practice in spades. But the web site/publication has come out with its rankings of college basketball players for next season and Kentucky’s Terrence Jones is at No. 4.

Really, Terrence Jones, No. 4?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m a T.J. fan. I thought he was saddled with something of a bad rap last season by those who believed him selfish or immature or just a flat-out ball hog. Jones was good with the media, thoughtful, made an attempt to answer our questions. Truth be told, he was much easier to interview than the defensive and guarded Brandon Knight. And I think Jones has the potential to be an excellent basketball player. But any ranking that parks Jones in the top five for college hoops has to be based on potential.

Continue reading ‘Terrence Jones No. 4 in college hoops? Hold on now’

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Oh baby does Dick Vitale think the SEC is going to be a mother next season. And we’re not talking about shoulder pads, either. ESPN’s energy drink of a broadcaster has come out with his top 40 teams for next college basketball, and four of his top 12 are from the – cymbal crash – SEC.

Vitale joins most of the free world in ranking Kentucky No. 2 behind North Carolina. Here’s how good Kentucky could be next year: Vitale mentions four players, none of which is Marquis Teague.

Vanderbilt is No. 5 on the Vitale list. Lots of career Commodores are back. But you wonder if Kevin Stallings can hold the ‘Dores together down the stretch. Vandy has done quite the fade pattern the last few years.

Florida might be small next season, but Dickie V. expects Billy Donovan’s team to stand tall, anyway. He has UF at No. 10. The Gators will have many good guards, including newcomer Brad Beal. Patric Young will be the key underneath.

Continue reading ‘Dick Vitale thinks SEC hoops will be strong next season’

When questioned by NCAA investigators, Tennessee’s basketball coaching staff acted like a group of middle schoolers trying to keep from getting punished. They lied. They schemed. They conspired. They avoided answering questions. They tried to come up with anything they could think of to keep from admitting that yes it was Bruce Pearl’s house in the picture that included recruits Aaron Craft, Josh Selby and Jordan McRae at a Bar-B-Q.

Andrew Gribble of the Knoxville News-Sentinel detailed the NCAA interview in Sunday’s Knoxville News-Sentinel.

Sad is the fact that Pearl claimed to not even recognize a picture of his own assistant coach Jason Shay’s wife, Jana, in Pearl’s home.

But downright hilarious was UT assistant Steve Forbes, who kept telling the NCAA that he couldn’t rule out that the picture was Photoshopped. To bolster his case, Forbes told the NCAA investigator about internet pictures of Pearl with bikini-clad young women. Forbes said the pictures were actually of Pearl with family members, but that someone had Photoshopped in the young ladies.

Continue reading ‘Tennessee’s strategy: It was just like those bikini girls’