(AP photo)
Big Blue Links for Friday:
UK women beat Georgia: Jen Smith of the Herald-Leader reports from Athens, “Sixth-ranked Kentucky doesn’t care how it looks as long as the end result is a win. That’s what they got Thursday night, a 69-64 victory at No. 15 Georgia despite a 10-point second-half deficit and the Bulldogs making UK’s press look silly at times . . . The win, the Cats’ sixth in a row, helped UK remain unbeaten and stay atop the Southeastern Conference. It was the Cats’ fifth win this season over a top-25 team.”
Kentucky football loses a commitment: Jacoby Glenn, a defensive back from Alabama has de-committed from the Cats and committed to Central Florida, reports the Orlando Sentinel. Rivals rated Glenn the 34th best prospect in Alabama. He committed to the Cats in August.
Cats outlast short-handed Dawgs: Roger Clarkson of the Athens Banner-Herald writes, “Georgia started Thursday’s game without injured point guard Jasmine James. But the Lady Bulldogs’ depth situation went from bad to worse when it lost a backup forward before the game and another forward picked up her fourth foul late in the first half. Kentucky’s pressing defense eventually wore down Georgia as the Lady Wildcats erased a double-digit second-half deficit and won 69-64 on Thursday at Stegeman Coliseum.”
Derek Willis will announce choice today: Mike Fields of the Herald-Leader previews the prep junior’s announcement today. Most of those in the know are betting Willis will pledge allegiance to the Cats.
Next Cats special report: Ben Roberts of the Herald-Leader has put together an analysis of the top 10 recruiting classes over the last five seasons.
Shabazz Muhammad update: The consensus No. 1 will visit Kansas. “A lot of people have it wrong about Shabazz,” Muhammad’s father, Ron Holmes, told the Kansas’ Rivals website Jayhawkslant.com. “A lot of people have no idea what’s going on. We’re going to officially visit Kansas, and I’ve said that many times. If it works out, I’m going to bring my entire family to Kansas. I always knew Kansas was a great school, but the in-home visit really opened my eyes.”
Anthony Bennett update: Ray Brewer of the Las Vegas Sun reports that UNLV is still very much in the hunt for Bennett. “The coaching staff is real cool. They are playing that up-tempo style and getting out running,” Bennett told the paper. “That is my style and how I want to play.”
UK basketball ahead of schedule: Keith Taylor of the Winchester Sun writes, “Darius Miller has endured many peaks and valleys in his four-year career at the University of Kentucky. He remembers the Wildcats’ bumpy ride in the Southeastern Conference last season, a trek that resulted in a 7-6 record in the first 13 games. Although the conference tour wasn’t pretty, Kentucky won 10 of its last 11 games at the end of the season, including the SEC¿Tournament, before losing to eventual national champion Connecticut 56-55 in the national semifinals. An overtime loss at Arkansas last year resulted in the team’s successful finish.”
UK rifle staying the course: Guy Ramsey of Cat Scratches writes, “For the majority of his adult life, Harry Mullins had spent the offseason as head coach of Kentucky’s rifle team trying to figure how to get the team over the hump. The Wildcats were clearly one of the elite programs in the nation, stacking successful season on top of successful season, but they had always fallen short of winning a national title. It was a particularly helpless feeling for Mullins because of his belief that he and his team had done everything in their power to accomplish their ultimate goal.”
