John Clay's Sidelines

It’s been an interesting training camp for offensive line coach Mike Summers. His unit is expected to be the strength of the offense, yet four of the starters have missed a good part of camp because of injuries. Here, Summers talks about the return of Stuart Hines, who has missed time with an MCL sprain, and how the unit has done to this point.

Still nursing a sprained MCL, UK offensive guard, and now permanent co-captain Stuart Hines, returned to practice today for a few repetitions. He talks here about how that went.

Just back from the World University Games, UK senior Darius Miller talked about the trip to China in a meeting with the media.

Continue reading ‘Video: Darius Miller talks about his trip to China’

Here’s video of UK football coach Joker Phillips announcing the injury to Daryl Collins after practice today.

After this morning’s practice, Kentucky football coach Joker Phillips announced that freshman wide receiver Daryl Collins is out for the year with a torn ACL. Though Phillips has stayed away from naming individual freshmen who will contribute this season, most felt Collins was in the mix for playing time at that position.

Here is wide receivers coach Tee Martin talking about the loss of Collins, a 5-foot-11, 203-pounder from Gadsen, Alabama.

We wrap up our second week of our UK fan twitter spotlight feature with Wayne T. Hunter II.

On twitter he is @hunteriiwayne.

Tag line: “Christ follower, Husband, Father of 2 beautiful girls. C-A-T-S CATS CATS CATS!!! Am for any team against UL, UT, UF, UNC, and dUKe! #BBN”

He has 2,456 tweets to his credit. Here’s a recent one: “Umbilical cord just fell off of our newborn girl. #ThingsYouDontExpectToSeeWhenCheckingDiaper”

(He’s a new father, as you can see from the pic and from his bio below.)

Wayne’s requested bio reads:

I was born and raised in Winchester, KY, where I still live. I’m married to a beautiful woman, AnnE (@AnnEAHunter) and we have two gorgeous daughters, Stella (Ellie) Marie (almost 3) and Emery Clair (5 days). I love being outdoors whether I’m playing sports stalking prey through the woods or dropping a line in the water.

Continue reading ‘Spotlighting UK fans on twitter: @hunteriiwayne’

Meant to do this chart when Jen Smith’s story on UK’s kicking game was published, but better late than never.

Here’s a look at how UK’s field goal kickers have done the past 10 years.

Walter McCarty

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• Coaches say defensive end Collins Ukwu has a shot at a breakout season, writes Jen Smith of the Herald-Leader. “He just plays hard every play,” says defensive coordinator Rick Minter, which is high praise in his book.
• Joker Phillips reports that Nile Daniel is not eligible, reports Smith. The true freshman wide receiver is expected to be on campus when he becomes eligible but will not play this year.
• Among his 10 reasons to pay attention to football in the Commonwealth, Mark Story says Morgan Newton could sure make Joker Phillips’ job easier. He calls it Morgan’s moment of truth.
• Matthew Mitchell is optimistic about Amber Smith, reports Smith. In fact, the UK women’s coach said he could not have been more pleased after watching  his point guard, who missed all of 2010-11 with a knee injury, work out at the start of school.
• Gene McCaskill is UK’s Mr. Reliable, writes the Courier-Journal’s Kyle Tucker of the wide receiver who is coming off knee surgery. McCaskill sat out the entire 2010 season.
• Chris Briggs, former graduate assistant at UK under Tubby Smith, was named head basketball coach at Georgetown College, replacing Happy Osborne, reports Herald-Leader’s Mark Maloney.
• Former UK star Walter McCarty will demonstrate his musical talents tonight at the Lexington Opera House, reports Rich Copley of the Herald-Leader.

Les Miles (AP photo)

SEC links for Friday:

• LSU wide receiver Russell Shepard has been suspended indefinitely, reports Jim Kleinpeter of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “The violation stems from the relationship between Houston native Shepard, LSU and Houston-based scouting service owner Willie Lyles,” says the report.
• Meanwhile, details are emerging about that fight and LSU quarterback Jordan Jefferson’s infamous kick to the face of one victim, reports Glenn Guilbeau of the Shreveport Times.
• Texas A&M served official notice to the Big 12 that it is looking into changing its relationship status, reports Mark Passwaters of Aggie Yell.
• Star basketball signee Trevor Lacey is eligible and ready to play at Alabama, reports Greg Ostendorf of the Tuscaloosa News. Lacey had been considering UK in the recruiting process.
• Urban Meyer put the pressure right on his successor, Will Muschamp, by saying the Florida Gators are “loaded this year,” reports Rachel George of the Orlando Sentinel.
• Rick Stansbury insists it was his decision for Renardo Sidney to go to Houston instead of Europe with Mississippi State basketball team, reports Brandon Marcello of the Clarion-Ledger.
• David Climer of the Tennessean writes that Tennessee made the right move booting talented defensive back Janzen Jackson from the squad. “You don’t rebuild a program around players you can’t count on from one day to the next.”
• Paul Finebaum is suing the company that carries his popular radio show, reports Bob Carlton of the Birmingham News. At same time, Cox announces it will start 24-hour sports station and is interested in running Finebaum’s show.
• Alabama coach Nick Saban hints there has been progress made in getting former Ohio State receiver Duron Carter on the Tuscaloosa campus, reports Izzy Gould of the Birmingham News.
• Hard knocks have motivated Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray to beef up this season, writes Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald. He’s added about 10 pounds of muscle.

A roundup of today’s posts:

• UK volleyball and soccer open seasons on Friday
• Video: Steve Brown talks about UK secondary
• UK football target denies he’s committed to Ohio State
• Infamous street agent goes after U of L football
• Bruce Pearl hosts a Bar-B-Q, this time for the media
• Video: Matthew Mitchell talks Summitt, Smith
• Pitino says Kevin Ware has not been cleared at U of L
• From Rex Chapman “Boy King” to street musician
• Spotlighting UK fans on twitter: @acrphoto
• BBL: ESPN tells soccer star Arin Gilliland’s story
• SEC: Reaction to NCAA ruling on Pearl, Tennessee