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Transcript of Joker Phillips’ signing-day press conference today:

Opening statement

COACH PHILLIPS: This past season has been a really good season and I say “season” past year, because this thing started a year ago. We didn’t just all of the sudden begin to recruit. Recruiting is year‑round these days, and this staff did an unbelievable job of recruiting. The (recruiting) staff is made up of the coaching staff, their families, their wives did an unbelievable job, our support staff, the people in this building, and across the campus.

That includes Mitch Barnhart, Dr. (Eli) Capilouto, and Coach “Cal” (John Calipari), who did an outstanding job of ‑‑ very few big‑time Division I coaches in men’s basketball are willing to open up their locker room at the 30‑minute mark and let some high school football recruits come in and address them, and I appreciate Coach Cal for doing that.

And Dr. Capilouto and Mitch Barnhart, when we got those guys in front of our prospects, they did an outstanding job of selling our vision and where we are as a football program, and it was a good chance for us to ‑‑ for the recruits to hear from our administration, the support that we have here at Kentucky. This is a strong recruiting class, and the class got stronger in the last 48 hours when a couple of kids decided to join us.

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Audio of Joker Phillips press conference today to discuss the players signed by the Kentucky football staff.

• Click here for the first part of Joker Phillips’ press conference today at the Nutter Training Center. (18:45)

• Click here for the second part of Joker Phillips’ press conference today at the Nutter Training Center. (21:03)

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

Kentucky football coach Joker Phillips held a teleconference today with the local media to talk about the 2011 season, recruiting, staff personnel and who will or won’t be ready for spring drills.

• Click here to listen to the Joker Phillips teleconference (19:50)

Video from the Joker Phillips press conference after Kentucky’s 10-7 win over Tennessee, the Cats first victory over the Volunteers since 1984. Phillips started with, “The injury report? There is none. What an amazing game. How many — if we lined up the last 26 years, how many quarterbacks have we had, probably 15? Who would pick out Matt Roark as the guy who broke the streak?”

And: “I was asked earlier about how much it meant to me to break the streak as the head coach. It doesn’t mean much to me, it doesn’t, to break the streak. What means more to me is the joy that those seniors, the memories that those guys will have, so that’s what means more than anything.”

Kentucky football coach Joker Phillips speaks to media after this morning’s practice at the Nutter Field House. He talks about the quarterback situation.

Post-practice video today of UK coach Joker Phillips, who gives the injury report, talks about the quarterbacks and his tight ends. Kentucky plays visiting Tennessee at 12:21 p.m. on the SEC Network at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday. You may have heard, Tennessee has beaten UK 26 straight years in football.

Jarnell Stokes

Touted Memphis basketball prospect Jarnell Stokes, who has taken an official visit to Kentucky, doesn’t have a place to play his senior high school season. His hardship appeal was denied by the Tennessee high school athletics association board of control on Monday. He had been ruled ineligible after transferring from one school to another.

The  Memphis Commerical Appeal quotes Stokes’ father, Willie, as saying it is possible his son might graduate from high school early and enroll in college in January. ”It’s an option,” said Willie Stokes. “He’s an honor student; he’s been taking honors classes all this time. We haven’t seriously discussed him to college mid-year but that is a possibility. We will discuss those things (Monday night).”

• Jarnell Stokes ineligible for senior season, reports Memphis C-A.
• Calipari building a Hall of Fame resume, writes Ron Chimelis of the Republican.
• Chris Thomas has Kentucky among his top three, reports Zagsblog.
• Kentucky only team that can stop Kentucky, writes Brendan Prunty of Star-Ledger.
• Kentucky football has losing streak on brain, reports Jen Smith of H-L.
• For Joker, it’s all about Tennessee, says Mark Story of H-L.

The future was at least part of the discussion at Kentucky’s weekly football press luncheon today. There were questions about whether there is talent inside the program to turn things around. With Randall Cobb, Mike Hartline, Derrick Locke and Chris Matthews all departed from last year’s team, UK had to know that finding playmakers might be a problem. But did Phillips think it would be this much of a problem?

“We definitely don’t have the speed that we had the past couple of years to stretch the field,” Phillips said today. “But we’ve gotten behind people, too. You don’t have to have great speed to get behind people. We have made some plays down the field. The thing that we are lacking is the guy to throw screen, or a five-yard play to and he turns it into a 50-yard play. That’s what we’re lacking.

Continue reading ‘Phillips on UK’s lack of playmakers, plus player videos’

It was a newsy post-practice session with Kentucky football coach Joker Phillips on Thursday. He said the injured Ridge Wilson would probably not make the trip to Vanderbilt on Saturday. He confirmed that quarterback Morgan Newton is in Indianapolis getting a second opinion on his injured shoulder and high ankle sprain. Newton was scheduled to be back in Lexington on Thursday afternoon. Phillips was also asked about the firing of Joe Paterno.

Here’s the video.

Continue reading ‘Video: Phillips on Ridge Wilson and Morgan Newton’