John Clay's Sidelines

(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.”

The Martin Luther King Holiday makes for an elongated and interesting day of televised basketball today.

On the college side, Louisville travels to Marquette for a rare Monday afternoon 3:30 start on ESPN. The day’s marquee game comes tonight at 9:30 when Baylor takes on Kansas.

But of more interest to Big Blue Nation may be the afternoon of high school hoops being televised on ESPNU. Shabazz Muhammad leads Bishop Gorman (NV) against DeMatha (MD) at 1 p.m. in the Hoophall Classic in Springfield, Mass. Anthony Bennett leads Findlay Prep (NV) against Jabari Parker and Simeon (IL) at 3 p.m.

Continue reading ‘Check out UK basketball targets today on ESPNU’

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• Jeff Eisenberg: Birch’s arrival could help UNLV land Bennett, Muhammad
• Dick Vitale: Terrence Jones will play key role in Kentucky’s title chances
• Jerry Tipton: Anthony Davis emerging as last line of a great defense
• Mark Story: Joker Phillips’ seat will still be hot next season
• Evan Woodbery: Auburn’s Tony Barbee signs contract through 2017
• Kyle Tucker: Kentucky ready to take its basketball act on the road
• CoachCal.com: Calipari ups the intensity level as Camp Cal comes to a close
• Tom Leach: The key storyline was Marquis Teague
• Larry Vaught: Early upsets show Calipari it will be tough to win on the road
• James Pennington: Twany Beckham adjusting to life at UK
• Aaron Smith: Inside the play — breaking the press
• Cat Scratches: Kentucky notes, Calipari and the road in the SEC
• A Sea of Blue: The whining from non-SEC fans is ridiculous
• Sporting News: Calipari defends Teague from criticism
• Ira Combs: Ready or not, Cats hit the road

(H-L photo/Joseph Rey Au)

Big Blue Links for Monday:

• Kentucky women hit 14 three-pointers, reports Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader.
• Women get back to “Kentucky basketball” writes Guy Ramsey of Cat Scratches.
• Herald-Leader photo gallery from the UK win Sunday at Memorial Coliseum.
• Bennett trims his list, reports Zagsblog.
• Tony Parker information page, by Next Cats.
• Poythress wanted to put on a show, reports Mike Marsee of the Advocate-Messenger.
• Marquis Teague is managing great expectations, reports Eric Lindsey of CoachCal.com.
• Is Terrence Jones back? asks Glenn Logan of A Sea of Blue.
• DeMarcus Cousins scores 16 points and grabs 10 rebounds, reports the Sacramento Bee.
• Wizards get a taste of what might have been had they taken Ricky Rubio instead of John Wall, reports Michael Lee of the Washington Post.

Taylor Bern of the Las Vegas Sun has a story on former Pittsburgh freshman Khem Birch, who is deciding where he wants to go after deciding to transfer from the Panthers. UNLV and Florida are considered the front-runners.

But here’s the interesting thing: Birch’s decision could affect where Kentucky target Anthony Bennett ends up.

Continue reading ‘Khem Birch’s decision could influence Anthony Bennett’

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• Louisville might put Kentucky point guard Marquis Teague to the test.
• To beat Kentucky, Rick Pitino says Louisville must do “everything.”
• Watch Kentucky targets Bennett and Randle in action tonight.
• Mike Krzyzewski was watching Shabazz Muhammad on Thursday.
• Sizing up the big battle between Kentucky and Louisville basketball.
• Kentucky’s Michael Kidd-Gilchrist is growing up fast.
• But Kidd-Gilchrist needs to avoid that early foul trouble he has been experiencing.
• U of L’s Chane Behanan battling history in game against Kentucky.
• A Kentucky basketball fan talks recruiting.
• Darius Miller says UK must avoid the hype and prepare for physical game.

According to ESPNU’s Dave Telep, Kentucky is one of 10 school that has survived the cut for Canadian power forward Anthony Bennett.

Telep tweeted: “Anthony Bennett’s 10 schools: Kentucky, UConn, West Virginia, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Florida, Missouri, Arkansas, Ohio State, Washington”

Dave later issued a correction saying that UNLV was actually among the 10, while Arkansas is not. Bennett attends Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nevada.

ESPNU ranks Bennett as the 12th best player at his position and the No. 46 overall. Rivals is much higher on the 6-foot-8 forward, ranking him as the seventh-best prospect overall.

Bennett recently scored 20 points for the Canadian team in the finals of the Nike Global Challenge. Fellow UK target Archie Goodwin led the winning team with 23 points.

Tuesday notes and Big Blue Links:

THE CALIPARI CONTRACT EXTENSION – More money, more pressure. Rick Bozich of the Courier-Journal writes: “Money will buy you headlines, such as the ones that the University of Kentucky stirred Monday by agreeing on an eight-year, $36.5 million contract with John Calipari. You’ll fly on more private planes, sign more recruits with five stars attached to their resumes and play in a Ritz-Carlton practice facility. You’ll have advantage after advantage after advantage. Then March will arrive – and Morehead State will outplay the University of Louisville and its $3 million-plus coach, VCU will thump Kansas and its $3 million-plus coach and Butler will outlast Florida and its $3 million-plus coach. It happens – and it’s going to keep happening.”

- If Calipari ever leaves for NBA, it won’t be about the money.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL’S MOST OVERPAID COACHES – Jason King of Yahoo Sports gives his list of the sport’s luckiest coaches in terms of dollar signs. Ex-UK guard and current Oklahoma State coach Travis Ford makes the list. Jason writes: “The former Kentucky guard is making $1.8 million per year in Stillwater, where he recently concluded his third season with a second-round loss in the NIT. Oklahoma State made the NCAA tournament the previous two seasons under Ford but failed to advance past the first weekend. From 2005-08 Ford was the coach at UMass, where he failed to lead one of his teams to the Big Dance. So tell me: Does two NCAA tournament trips in six seasons justify $1.8 million? I don’t think so either.”

Continue reading ‘BBL: As Calipari gets raise, Ford among most overpaid’