John Clay's Sidelines

Net surfing for UK news:

• New: Bleacher Report gives stats to back up why UK should be ranked.
• Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog digs up a link saying Mark Coury is headed to Cornell.
• Joe Hickman of KY3 News reports that UK is still recruiting Trae Golden.
• Herald-Leader’s Chip Cosby writes on the new titles for key offensive staff members.
• Herald-Leader’s Jerry Tipton reports that freshman Darius Miller shed some frustrations at Tennessee.
• Tipton also reports that Billy Gillispie is a-ok with Patrick Patterson’s scoring dip.
• Herald-Leader columnist Mark Story wants to know where all the big scorers have gone.
• In the Kentucky Kernel, Bobby Reagan writes that Jodie Meeks was not always a big-time scorer.
• H-L reports has that starters star in road win for UK women’s team.
• In the Tuscaloosa News, Christopher Walsh reports that cold-shooting doomed Bama in loss to UK.
• C-J columnist Eric Crawford writes that UK football is up, U of L football down.
• Dick Gabriel on the Jodie Meeks’ eruption zone.
• Dick Vitale jumps on the Jodie Meeks’ bandwagon.
• AP reports that the New York Giants have signed Andre Woodson again.
• The Cat Scratches blog talks to Jeremy Jarmon about his NFL draft research experiences.
• Had overlooked this earlier, but Jeff Goodman gives love to Jodie Meeks, duds to Tennessee.

College basketball officially tips off tonight, which means that we are all soon to be within the sound of Dick Vitale’s voice.

Dicky V. penned a piece for espn.com in which he predicts that an “underrated” Kentucky could surprise some people this season.

A shriek-free excerpt:

I don’t hear a lot of people mentioning Kentucky. My friends, the Wildcats are going to be better than people believe. The team has finally become acclimated with coach Billy Gillispie and his system.

I really feel the ‘Cats will play hard on the defensive end. This year’s club will play at a faster pace. Kentucky does lose the scoring ability of Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley’s experience on the perimeter. Derrick Jasper decided to transfer to UNLV.

Sometimes you have addition by subtraction. I’m telling you, the chemistry is going to be a lot better. Look for Patrick Patterson to be a dominating force inside. A healthy Patterson in the low box will be one of the premier players in the SEC.