John Clay's Sidelines

(H-L photo)

Big Blue Links for Saturday:

• Adonis Thomas to cut his list down to five schools, reports Jason Smith of the Memphis Edge. (Hat tip to Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)
• Bryan Floyd of SB Nation Seattle on UK target Kyle Wiltjer reportedly making his announcement tonight.
• DeAndre Daniels will enroll at the IMG Academy, reports Zagsblog.
• Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader writes that the Kentucky football team is rallying behind Mike Hartline.
• Judge throws the book at Ed Davender, sentencing ex-UK basketball star to eight years in jail, reports Jennifer Hewlett of the Herald-Leader.
• Eloy Vargas has been cleared to play basketball at UK, says H-L staff report.
• Joe Mansour is getting a kick out of Kentucky, writes Ray Glier for the AJC.
• Ex-Boyle County star Jordan Aumiller has moved to No. 1 at tight end, reports Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• Future Cat football player Daylen Hall has a huge game for St. Xavier, writes Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal.
• Signing players is only half the battle, writes Rick Bozich of the Courier-Journal.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Adonis Thomas to cut list; Kyle Wiltjer to announce’

Big Blue Links for Friday:

Steve Kelley of the Seattle Times says Terrence Jones showed his immaturity:

But Terrence, you screwed up and you no longer can hide behind the excuse that you’re only 18 and just a kid. It’s time to start acting like a grown-up.

You jacked around a lot of people for a long time. You played an immature shell game with those six college hats you placed in front of you at the news conference you held at your high school last month.

Judging by your recent tweets, you still don’t understand the idea of a commitment. But let me tell you, when you picked up that black Washington cap at that charade of a news conference, you made a commitment.

John Canzano of the Oregonian questions Kentucky’s recruitment of Terrence Jones:

I’m not buying that Jones was motivated solely by the idea of a bigger national stage at Kentucky. Or the idea that the Wildcats are a better fit for his style of play. And I certainly wonder about the people who surround Jones today, including his summer coaches, because they feel a lot like a pack of guys sucked into the jet stream of grandeur they found drafting behind the kid.

We’re being told the chapter on Jones recruitment is closed. Nothing more to say. Nothing more to see. Move along, right? Except, Kentucky coach John Calipari is involved.

Mark Story of the Herald-Leader says that UK basketball 2010-11 has a lot of ifs:

Let us count the Ifs. This week brought reports that the basketball power broker William Wesley – the ubiquitous Worldwide Wes – is working back channels to NBA teams to package free agent LeBron James with UK Coach John Calipari. If this talk proves to be smoke, not fire (which I believe), then you can count on next season’s Kentucky roster to be robust.

Jerry Tipton of the H-L reports that Daniel Orton has not been happy with fan reaction to his decision:

Yet the passion that some fans typically bring to UK basketball led them to insensitivity in Orton’s case. Orton recalled a fan suggesting that he had used the death of his mother the previous year as an excuse for his low productivity.

“Using my mother as an ‘escape-goat,’” Orton said before making sure reporters heard him clearly. “He said, ‘escape-goat,’ not scapegoat.”

Kyle Veazey of the Clarion-Ledger reports that Arnett Moultrie could still end up at Mississippi State:

Valentine told us yesterday that UTEP wasn’t going to release Moultrie to Mississippi State – and that he wasn’t sure why, either. Today, he says some things may have changed on that front, which could lead toward a release to State. “Just clearing some things up,” Valentine said.

. . . Of course, there is this: Texas and Kentucky are also in the running for Moultrie’s services, Valentine said.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Pacific Northwest unhappy with Terrence Jones’

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

Sports Blog Nation’s Andrew Sharp writes about his trip to Rupp: “A game between the most successful program in college basketball’s recent history (and my favorite team in sports) and a program that looks primed to rule the immediate future. North Carolina and Kentucky. Two of college basketball’s titans for the past 30 years, going head-to-head on national television. A blockbuster event, sure, but given the context, it’d take a whole lot for the hoops to match the hype. I was prepared to come away a little disappointed. But that didn’t happen.” (Hat tip to A Sea of Blue.)

Jerry Tipton of the H-L reports that John Wall could be the SEC Freshman of Every Week: “The latest recognition made it necessary to find historical context to capture the start to Wall’s UK career. He became the sixth player to win the SEC’s Freshman or, as it was previously known, Rookie of the Week Award in back-to-back weeks.”

Chip Cosby of H-L reports on Randall Cobb’s SEC honor: “University of Kentucky sophomore Randall Cobb has been named first-team All-SEC by the Associated Press. Cobb, who has 1,656 total yards on the season, made the team as an all-purpose player.”

Metz Camfield of the Kentucky Kernel writes on one-and-dones: “In his introductory press conference Calipari said coming to UK presents him with the ability to recruit “the best of the best” and that’s one of the perks of coaching at UK. Bobby Perry, who played basketball for UK from 2003-2007, said coaches should take players regardless of whether they’ll leave after one year or not if the player is that talented.”

Wildcat Blue Blog on DeAndre Liggins: “It has been the great mystery this season: is DeAndre Liggins a victim of John Calipari’s doghouse or is his inactivity this season the result of something more nefarious? Truth be told, no one really know what is going on with Liggins except for Liggins, the team, and the UKAA.”

Continue reading ‘BBL: A North Carolina fan enjoys his trip to Rupp Arena’

Update at 5:40 p.m.: As expected Irving committed to Duke.

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

• Dan Wiederer of the Fayetteville Observer writes that Kyrie Irving only visited UK and Texas A&M as favors.
• Gary Parrish of CBS Sportsline thinks Irving will pick Duke today at 5:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
• Bob Herzog of Newsday reports that Tobias Harris will announce Nov. 19 on ESPNU.
• Ken Tysiac of the Raleigh News and Observer writes it’s going to be an interesting week for Duke.
• Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader writes on UK linebacker Danny Trevathan.
• Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal also writes on Trevathan.
• B.W. Jones of the Kentucky Kernel writes on running back Alfonso Smith.
• Larry Vaught of the Advocate-Messenger writes that UK has a true Kentucky offensive line.
• My column on the seventh-ranked UK volleyball team, which was upset by Tennessee last night.
• T.J. Walker of the Kentucky Kernel reports on Tennessee’s upset of the volleyball Cats.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Irving announces today; Harris to announce Nov. 19′

Compare UK’s top five players by average minutes per game last year to this year:

According to the Los Angeles Times, ex-UK star Joe Crawford will play for the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA’s Developmental League.

Crawford, a second-rick pick of the Los Angeles Lakers, was cut last month.

Writes Broderick Turner in the Times:

Rookie guard Joe Crawford, cut by the Lakers during training camp, today joined the team’s Los Angeles D-Fenders club in the NBA Development League.

Crawford, selected by the Lakers in the second round with the 58th pick, averaged 2.8 points in 7.3 minutes in six exhibition games with the Lakers.

The D-League held its draft Friday. The D-Fenders already have seven of the 10 players who are allotted.

When the D-League season starts Nov. 28, the Lakers probably will have rookie Sun Yue playing some games for the D-Fenders. Sun has been inactive in the first four Lakers regular-season games.

NBA players during their first two years in the league can be assigned to the D-League up to three times during the season.