John Clay's Sidelines

As we continue the long wait until 9 p.m., some 5:00 notes and links:

- Officials tonight for Kentucky-Mississippi State, via @jerrytipton, will be Doug Shows, Ted Valentine and Bert Smith. That’s TV Ted Valentine. This is the third game Valentine has worked this season, but first SEC game. He also worked the Indiana and Arkansas-Little Rock games. This is the sixth UK game Shows has worked this year. The first five: Kansas, St. John’s, Loyola-Maryland, Alabama and Tennessee. This is Bert Smith’s third Kentucky game this year. He worked the Samford game and then the South Carolina game in Columbia.

- Word is there could be as many as 20 NBA scouts at Humphrey Coliseum tonight.

- USA Today talked to Anthony Davis, who says the team is not bothered by the pressure of being No. 1. ”We like the attention, but at the same time, we know we have to get out there and focus to win ballgames. There are always a lot of people at our practices. We don’t get bothered by it. (Calipari) always tells us, like when we had practice on ESPNU, ‘It’s just practice. We’re still running through all we do like it’s a normal practice. There’s no point in trying to do anything fancy or out of character just because there’s a crowd here.’”

- Willie Cauley talked to Nation of Blue about sharing a visit to UK with Nerlens Noel last weekend. A highlight quote: “”We can land Nerlens, Shabazz Muhammad, and Anthony Bennett for sure. We may could get another one, too. I think Kentucky will bring in four more players, but I think at least three.”

Continue reading ‘TV Ted Valentine, Willie Cauley and (not) Jimmy’s Jet’

Live from the Atlanta airport as we wait to change planes on way to the Golden Triangle Airport in Columbus, Mississippi. (I always wanted to spend my birthday in Starkville.) Should post the daily links later in the day. But there is time for a couple of quick thoughts.

I’m not buying Rick Stansbury’s “out of context” excuse for his Twany Beckham remarks. What he really means is that he did not intend them to be printed. Stansbury’s has been a coach for a long time. He’s no rookie dealing with the media. The mistake is on him.

Good win for the UK women, getting back on track by beating Vanderbilt. The 9 p.m. ESPN2 start was good for exposure, but bad for the crowd. TV wins again.

Speaking of TV, it’s Jimmy Dykes again tonight when UK plays MSU at 9 p.m. on ESPN.

I do agree with John Calipari about tonight. If State plays to its capabilities tonight, the Bulldogs can give Kentucky a game.

Some lunchtime notes:

- Kentucky basketball has a media opportunity today at 2 p.m. to preview Tuesday’s game at Mississippi State. Check the blog for video, notes, etc.

- Off to a 2-0 start, Kentucky baseball plays USC-Spartanburg today at 2 p.m. WGNV-1580 has the radio coverage with Neil Price, who because of weather is still in South Carolina. Dick Gabriel will be doing the radio play-by-play on the women’s basketball game against Vanderbilt at 9 tonight.

- Drew Deener did not like Saturday’s Van Halen concert in Louisville, which prompted quite the debate on Facebook.

- Happy Birthday to Charles Barkley, who turned 49 today.

Continue reading ‘UK baseball, Van Halen and some other lunchtime notes’

Stuart Hines

Random notes for Tuesday night:

- Jeff Washburn of the Journal-Courier of West Lafayette tweeted that Gary Harris has eliminated UK and will decide between Purdue and Michigan State. Kentucky was/is the only non-Big 10 school that the Indiana guard was/is considering. (Hat tip to All KY Hoops.)

- On a list of states, Yahoo ranks Kentucky as playing the 23rd-best high school football in the nation.

- UK senior offensive guard Stuart Hines is a finalist for the Wuerffel Trophy, given for community service and leadership.

Continue reading ‘Did Gary Harris eliminate UK? More Tuesday night notes’

Some late-afternoon random notes:

- Terrence Jones is a first-team pre-season All-American, according to ESPN. Anthony Davis is second-team.

- Alex Poythress announces his college choice on Thursday and the only school of his final four that is thought to be a longshot is Florida. Memphis has gained steam at the end and could be the leader. It would not be a total shock, however, if Poythress picks the Cats.

- Amile Jefferson is visiting Stanford this weekend. Many think Mark Gottfried and North Carolina State are leading for Jefferson’s services at this point. UK is believed to be still in the mix.

- If you are a Sirius subscriber, you probably thought you only had Howard Stern to look forward to each day. No more. Apparently, Bruce Pearl will now have a show on satellite radio. Doubt he will have a barbecue to mark the occasion.

Continue reading ‘Afternoon notes: Terrence Jones an ESPN All-American’

UK quarterbacks Maxwell Smith and Morgan Newton. (H-L photo/Charles Bertram)

Saturday morning notes and links:

ON TAP – UK Football Fan Day is today at Commonwealth Stadium. From UK:

Gates for the event will open at 5 p.m. ET with the open practice, which will consist of offensive, defensive and special team drills, beginning at 6 p.m. ET. Parking will be available in the green, red or blue lots surrounding Commonwealth Stadium.

“We changed the format of the event last year and I think the fans really liked it,” Phillips said. “I think it is important for the fans to see what we do on a daily basis and understand how hard our players work on the practice field. Fan Day is a great chance for our fans to meet our players and our staff and it is something we enjoy doing.”

The open practice will run until 8 p.m. ET and be followed by an introduction of the players and an autograph session. Players and coaches will sign autographs before a fireworks show closes the event. The fireworks are scheduled to take place at approximately 9:30 p.m. ET.

Continue reading ‘UK Fan Day today — Tarczewski puts UK in his final four — Miss Ky — SEC stuff — Tix available for Yum Center game’

Some post-lunch random notes:

1. Steve Kragthorpe stepping down at LSU

LSU head coach Les Miles announced that the former Louisville coach is stepping down as offensive coordinator because of Parkinson’s Disease. The former Louisville coach will still be on staff.

2. Kentucky picks up commitment from Morgan Newton’s little bother

Only he’s not so little. Langston Newton, the 6-foot-5, 240-pound defensive end out of Carmel, Indiana announced via twitter that he will be coming to UK next fall. He did so on the same day that his brother and teammates are to report to UK for this season.

3. College football coaches poll is out

Eight teams from the SEC made the top 25. Alabama is at No. 2, LSU at 4, South Carolina at 12, Arkansas at 14, Auburn at 19, Mississippi State at 20, Georgia at 22, Florida at 23. Tennessee got some votes. Kentucky, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt did not.

And, as Rick Bozich pointed out on twitter, Kentucky plays five teams in that top 25 — LSU, South Carolina, Mississippi State, Georgia, Florida. Louisville plays zero.

Continue reading ‘Steve Kragthorpe steps down at LSU and other notes’

(H-L photo/Matt Goins)

Notes and links for a Sunday morning:

- Terrific story by John C. Cotey of the St. Petersburg Times on the late Desmond Allison.

An excerpt:

By now, everyone knows the tale, of how Desmond, a wonderfully gifted and silky-smooth sophomore starter on the Wildcats’ NCAA-bound basketball team, was pulled over on March 12, 2000, and arrested for DUI and drug possession.

He blew a 0.113, just over the legal limit of 0.10. He later pleaded guilty to the DUI, and the drug charge was dropped.

But his scholarship was gone, despite his pleas. He had begged coach Tubby Smith for a second chance. He cried, and Desmond never cried and may never have cried since.

Continue reading ‘UK policy and Desmond Allison, plus more Sunday notes’

Monday morning notes and links:

- Technically, I’m on vacation this week, but will be updating the blog periodically. Did the same last week. Instead of going to Sparta on Saturday, the wife and I went to see Midnight in Paris at the Kentucky for our 28th anniversary. No traffic. No lines. No left turns. Ate at Alfalfa’s afterward. Enjoyable evening.

- By missing the race I did miss the video above.

- Kentucky not the only elite school courting T.J. Warren, reports Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal. “Warren rejoined his team with new scholarship offers from Kentucky and North Carolina. He previously said he had narrowed his choice to the Tar Heels and the six other schools that had offered him a scholarship: Louisville, Georgetown, Florida, N.C. State, Kansas and Texas. But now, Warren said he’s open.” Orlando Antigua was in Louisville keeping a close eye on Warren.

- John Calipari and Kenny Payne were in Atlanta on Sunday, probably tracking adidas Invitational MVP Kasey Hill, a top 2013 prospect.

- Calipari called Brandon Ashley last week and told him UK remains very interested, reports Zagsblog.

Continue reading ‘Hillybilly Hot Tub, perfect cross and more Monday notes’

Some lunchtime notes:

- I’m back on WVLK-590 AM in Lexington tonight from 6-8 subbing for the sunbathing Larry Glover. I’ll have scout.com’s Evan Daniels on to talk about the upcoming basketball camp season. Jeff Drummond from the Cats Pause should also be making his nightly appearance.

Thanks to my guests last night, Mark Story of the Herald-Leader who talked LeBron and NASCAR; Drummond who talked Reds and football recruiting; and Ben Roberts of the H-L who talked about his Next Cats summer recruiting supplement that was in the paper.

- Chris Low of espn.com ranks Morgan Newton as the 10th best quarterback in the SEC. There are only 12, remember.

- And among, the 11 SEC coaches at public universities, Joker Phillips is 11th in pay. Before the paranoid football fanatics start bashing Mitch Barnhart, Joker’s pay seems about right. Remember, he had never been a head coach before. And he went 6-7 in his first season. You can argue that Will Muschamp had never been a head coach before and is making a cool $1 million more. But Florida is a bigger job. I was surprised that Steve Spurrier is sixth on the list. And he still wants to give players money out of his own pocket. What a guy.

Continue reading ‘Newton picked 10th among SEC qbs and more notes’