John Clay's Sidelines

Kentucky target Alex Poythress tells the Memphis Commercial Appeal that at this point in the recruiting game, he doesn’t have a favorite.

“All five schools are still there,” he said.

The 6-foot-8 Tennessee native is considering Kentucky, Florida, Duke, Vanderbilt and Memphis, which had its in-home visit this week. He has already had in-home visits from UK’s John Calipari and Florida’s Billy Donovan.

Poythress is expected to be at Big Blue Madness on Oct. 14 along with UK commitment Archie Goodwin, Shabazz Muhammad, DaJuan Coleman, T.J. Warren and Willie Cauley.

Kentucky received a commitment from Goodwin on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Kansas prep star Perry Ellis turned down UK on Thursday to commit to Kansas.

Just because Randall Cobb fumbled a kickoff return last week against Carolina doesn’t mean the Green Bay Packers want the former Kentucky star to be a little more careful in the future. In fact, Packers special teams coach Shawn Slocum chastised Cobb for not returning the next kickoff.

Excerpt from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:

“The one-hopper off the ground? I thought he should have taken that out,” Slocum said on Monday. “It was a great opportunity to hit it. The ball was not in the air long and he caught it cleanly.

“He was going a little sideways and I think that’s why he decided to keep it in the end zone. “

The Packers are putting a lot of faith in Cobb because they showed what he could do with his 108-yard return against New Orleans. On his two kickoffs against Carolina he averaged 24 yards per return.

Cobb currently ranks second in that category league-wide among players with at least two returns, averaging 45.8, just under leader Percy Harvin’s 52.5.

The 2-0 Packers are at Chicago this Sunday.

Ex-Kentucky defensive tackle Myron Pryor has had his third year with the New England Patriots come to a premature end.

Pryor, a four-year starter for UK, was placed on injured reserve by the Patriots on Wednesday after suffering a shoulder injury.

From the Boston Herald:

The moves thin out the Patriots defensive line, as Pryor was an interior rusher on third-down and nickel situations. The three-year veteran and former Kentucky product had a half-sack against the Dolphins, and he was replaced on the roster when the team signed Landon Cohen yesterday.

Bill Ransdell vs. Florida in 1986. (H-L photo/Tom Woods II)

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

• Former Kentucky quarterback Bill Ransdell talks to Gainesville Sun columnist Pat Dooley about the last time Kentucky beat the Gators. The year was 1986, by the way. And the two teams have played every year since.
• Kansas and Bill Self beat out the competitors, including Kentucky, and keep Perry Ellis at home, reports Paul Sullentrop of the Wichita Eagle. Ellis is ranked as the 24th best basketball prospect for 2012 by Rivals.
• Everyone, including Joker Phillips, says that Florida’s punt block tactic is a legal play, reports Chris Low of espn.com. SEC director of officials Steve Shaw says it does not qualify as an illegal “pull-and-shoot.” (I’m not buying it.)
• Michael Grant of the Courier-Journal also writes on Florida’s punt-block skills.
• Bad blood appears to be left from the days Kentucky defensive coordinator Rick Minter and Florida offensive coordinator Charlie Weis worked together at Notre Dame. Minter doesn’t want to talk about it, says my Thursday column.
• Weis wants the Gators to start finishing drives, reports Tom Green for the Orlando Sentinel. The Gators have scored nine touchdowns in 16 trips inside the red zone.
• After scoring six touchdowns in Florida’s win over Kentucky last year in Gainesville, the now-sophomore won’t take the Cats by surprise on Saturday, writes Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader.
• Ethan Levine of the Kentucky Kernel also writes about Trey Burton Round 2.
• Remember Pittsburgh coach Michael Haywood? Or Haywood would have been Pitt’s coach in the BBVA Compass Bowl against UK last year, but was fired after a domestic assault arrest. Haywood still wants his Pitt money, reports Dr. Saturday.

SEC links for Thursday:

• In advance of Saturday’s “Hot Seat Bowl,” Rick Cleveland of the Clarion-Ledger writes that these days the pressure rises with the coaches’ salaries.
• What if Alabama and Tennessee didn’t play ever year? asks David Paschall of the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Conference expansion could do a number on traditional scheduling.
• Ohio State transfer Duron Carter will redshirt this year at Alabama, reports Izzy Gould of the Birmingham News. Carter is the son of ex-NFL receiver Cris Carter.
• Arkansas’ wide outs carry confidence into matchup with tough Alabama secondary, reports Robbie Neiswanger of the Northwest Arkansas News.
• Auburn is ready to drive behind running back Michael Dyer, writes Jay G. Tate of the Montgomery Advertiser. The sophomore is averaging 119 rushing yards per game.
• Georgia’s offensive line facing more difficulties as Bulldogs prepare to travel to Oxford, reports Chip Towers of AJC. Starting right guard Chris Burnette injured his knee in practice.
• Bob Shoop has Vanderbilt’s defense right on schedule, says Chris Low of espn.com. Shoop came from William and Mary and has the Commodores leading the nation in interceptions with 10.

Dajuan Coleman

John Calipari was at Kentucky’s football practice this morning, but last night the UK basketball coach was doing his in-home visit with New York prep star Dajuan Coleman.

Zagsblog talked to Coleman:

“It was good,” Coleman told SNY.tv by text. “He was telling me about the past players he developed. And he said he liked the way I play and he can bring the best out of me because he knows I can do multiple things on the court.

“It was a really good meeting.”

Ohio State, Kentucky and Syracuse are the three top schools on Coleman’s list.

He is scheduled to visit Big Blue Madness at Rupp on Oct. 14.

Related links:

• Ellis chooses Kansas, but Kentucky off to a good start with Goodwin
• Shooting guard Goodwin commits to Kentucky
• Kyle Anderson’s commitment not likely to sway Shabazz Muhammad

Video clip here of Joker Phillips talking to media after today’s practice. Some highlights:

• Phillips the team “improved today, but we need to improve even more tomorrow.”
• All five of the projected offensive line starters are finally practicing together, but Phillips said he will probably start true freshman Darrian Miller at tackle and bring Billy Joe Murphy (sprained MCL)  in. He said center Matt Smith (ankle) will start, backed up by Jake Lanefski. “We’ll try to play seven guys,” Phillips said.
• Asked about Randy Sanders comment that last Saturday there were at least three instances in which the plays he called in the coaches’ box upstairs did not make it onto the field. “You can’t have that type of miscommunication,” Phillips said. “It can’t happen. It cannot happen.”
• Asked about keeping his team from negative feedback, Phillips said, “It’s hard nowadays. We were 0-10-1 and I don’t remember anybody saying anything. You had different stares when you walked to class. . . . Now it’s so hard, with internet access right at your fingertips. It becomes really hard.”
• The coach said they still want to get the ball more to freshman Demarco Robinson.

Perry Ellis (Wichita Eagle photo/Fernando Salazar)

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

Big news overnight is that Kentucky basketball finally picked up its first Class of 2012 commitment in Arkansas five-star shooting guard Archie Goodwin. He had long been thought-of as a Kentucky probable, though Goodwin did throw some doubt on that recently by saying he might wait until the spring to make a commitment.

Goodwin tweeted last night: “Ill always rep ARK. I got it tatted on my chest!! But I had to do what i Had to do. Point Blank Period”

Another Kentucky target, Perry Ellis, will announce his choice at 3:45 p.m. today. The favorite, according to Paul Suellentrip of the Wichita Eagle, is Kansas. But you wonder if Goodwin’s commitment will have any effect on the 6-foot-8 Kansan.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Kansas leads for Ellis, but will Goodwin have effect?’