John Clay's Sidelines

Aaron Boyd

(Videos after the jump.)

In now his fourth year on campus, Aaron Boyd has caught all of five passes. Saturday, when Central Michigan comes to Commonwealth Stadium, and with UK’s receivers suffering a chronic case of the drops, Boyd will get to add to that total.

A four-star recruit out of Henry Clay High School in Lexington, the brother of former UK quarterback Shane Boyd has been a disappointment. He has good size for a receiver, but not separation speed. His attitude has been questioned, something that prompted Rich Brooks to sit Boyd down for the entire 2009 season.

He returned last season, not that you would have noticed. Boyd played in just four games and did not catch a pass. When the first depth chart came out for 2011, the junior was nowhere to be found among the two-deep. But with UK receivers growing butterfingers last Thursday, former receivers coach Joker Phillips and current receivers coach Tee Martin are ready to give Boyd a shot.

Click the continue line to see videos of Boyd and Martin talking after today’s practice.

Continue reading ‘Aaron Boyd will get a chance to turn it around Saturday’

UK basketball seniors Ramon Harris, Mark Krebs and Perry Stevenson throw out first pitch at last night's UK-U of L baseball game. (H-L photo/Charles Bertram)

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader reports that Elisha Justice tells UK no thanks:

Despite 11th-hour recruiting interest shown by Kentucky Coach John Calipari, Kentucky Mr. Basketball Elisha Justice has decided to stick with his commitment to walk on at Louisville. “They followed me all year,” Justice said of Louisville on Tuesday. “I know they’ve been loyal to me. I feel I was wanted more there.”

ESPN.com’s Chad Ford says Daniel Orton is moving up draft charts:

But as we first reported several weeks ago, Orton has caught the attention of a number of NBA GMs, the most prominent of which is the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Sam Presti. According to a source close to the process, the Thunder are sending signals that if Orton is in the draft, they’d take him with one of their two first-round picks. Currently that would put Orton in the early 20s. However, a few other GMs have told ESPN.com that they’d consider taking Orton even higher.

(Hat tip to DailyThunder.com and Spam’s Wildcat Page.)

John Canzano of the Oregonian reports that Terrence Jones is waiting on Oregon:

Terrence Jones, the McDonald’s All-American who plays at Jefferson High School, has narrowed his finalists to a list of five (UCLA, Washington, Oregon, Kentucky and Oklahoma). And, given a reason, he’d like to stay close to home. Said Jones on Tuesday: “I’m waiting to see who the coach at Oregon is going to be.”

(Hat tip to Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)

Kentucky Sports Network sent along this video of an interview with Doron Lamb:

Continue reading ‘BBL: Justice, Jones, Lamb, Orton and more UK news’

UK football coach Rich Brooks said after practice today that sophomore wide receiver Aaron Boyd will redshirt, and that senior middle linebacker Micah Johnson is nursing a strained foot. Brooks said x-rays did not reveal any breaks in Johnson’s foot, but that it is sore and his status is uncertain.

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

• Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader writes on UK receiver Aaron Boyd and his brother Shane.
• Bulldogs Blog does a Q&A with Chip about this year’s Kentucky football team. (Hat tip to A Sea of Blue.)
• Jerry Tipton reports in the Herald-Leader that John Calipari’s assistants will receive academic incentives.
• Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal writes on UK defensive tackle Myron Pryor.
• Dawson and Jody Demling of the C-J report that Memphis signee Darnell Dodson is “seriously looking” at Kentucky.
• Ryan Aber of the Oklahoman reports that Xavier Henry and his brother C.J. will pick Kansas.
• KU Sports will have a livestream of the Henry press conference, scheduled for 11:15 a.m. CDT.
• Zagsblog cites sources saying Manhattan coach Barry Rohrssen is mulling an offer to join Calipari’s staff.
• Same Zagsblog story says that ex-Memphis signee Nolan Dennis has committed to Baylor.
• The Wilmington Star-News writes that Gerald Henderson’s decision could impact John Wall’s decision. (Hat tip to Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)

Continue reading ‘BBL: Spring football, plus some recruiting links’