John Clay's Sidelines

Shelvin Mack

Seth Davis pens an NBA draft scouting report for SI.com in which the media dual-threat combines the opinions of several scouts into the voice of one scout, he calls Finch.

Of interest is what “Finch” has to say about some prospects of local interest.

Here is one line from each analysis:

• On Brandon Knight: “To be honest, I think his agent is playing it right.”
• On Enes Kanter: “You love the way he plays.”
• On Shelvin Mack: “I’m a big fan.”
• On Tobias Harris: “He should have gone back to school and lost some weight.”
• On Scotty Hopson: “I just keep waiting for him. Waiting and waiting.”
• On Chandler Parsons: “I watched Florida a bunch this year, and I didn’t come away liking any of them.”
• On Trey Thompkins: “Boy, is he soft.”
• On Josh Selby: “Sheldon Mack would kick his but 10 of 10 times.”

(Kansas City Star photo)

As Mike Miller of Beyond the Arc notices, the Enes Kanter eligibility story has garnered far more national attention than the Josh Selby eligibility story. That may be because of the European angle. That may be because of John Calipari. It may be because of Kentucky. It may be just, well, because.

But where does the Selby matter stand?

Kansas held its basketball media day on Tuesday, and Selby was allowed to participate, even though the NCAA has not made a ruling on his case yet.

J. Bradley McCullough covered the story for the Kansas City Star.

An excerpt:

Of course, there’s one problem: In the current Selby equation, he is a variable that could change at any moment and not a constant. Selby’s amateur status is currently being investigated by the NCAA, which is looking into his relationship with fellow Baltimore native Robert “Bay” Frazier, Carmelo Anthony’s business manager.

Selby has not yet been cleared to play in games during the 2010-11 season, and Self said Tuesday that he still has no timetable for when a decision will be reached.

He can only hope it will be soon because, as of now, the Jayhawks are proceeding as if Selby will be cleared. He’ll be unveiled at “Late Night in the Phog” on Friday night, and Self made him available for interviews Tuesday.

PROGRAM NOTE: DON’T FORGET TO CHECK BACK AT 10 A.M. FOR LIVEBLOG FROM UK FOOTBALL MEDIA DAY.

Big Blue Links for Friday:

• Michael O’Brien and the Chicago Sun-Times come right back with another Anthony Davis story, repeating earlier rumors, this time with UK’s response.
• Football Cats report and are itching for practice to start, writes Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader.
• APR numbers support John Calipari’s contention that he cares about academics, reports Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader. (Remember, the story that won’t be written.)
• Kentucky will play Oklahoma in Maui opener, before a possible dream match-up with Washington. This being Washington’s dream.
• “I hope we look bad,” says Calipari about Canada trip, reports Tipton in the H-L.
• Kentucky football team takes plenty of questions into camp, starting at quarterback, reports Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal.
• A small team with big strides to make, basketball Cats prepare for its trip north of the border, eh, reports Dawson in the C-J.
• It’s always something with Calipari, says the Cincinnati Enqurier.
• Get ready Ashland, John Calipari is coming your way Sept. 6, reports the Ironton Tribune. (Hat tip to Bluegrass State Basketball.)
• Mike DeCourcy of the Sporting News on UK basketball taking some media hits of late.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Sun-Times repeats rumors, acknowledges response’

Big Blue Links for Sunday:

Jerry Tipton has video from New York of Doron Lamb talking about his commitment to UK:

Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader was in New York to cover the Lamb commitment:

For Lamb, UK’s announcement earlier this month that five players planned to enter their names in this year’s NBA Draft seemed to validate Coach John Calipari as a prophet. “My eyes opened up,” Lamb said. “That’s what he told me before the season started. He promised me that, and that happened. So I believed what he says.

Tipton’s notebook leads with Calipari’s secret:

That translates into the perception that players are not restricted by a system. “The day of the dictator is over,” Smith said. “Guys don’t like that anymore. Not to say they don’t need a stern kick every once in a while. But players want to feel they have some freedom.”

One recruit’s father is critical of Calipari in the Tucson Citizen:

“You have to ask yourself, ‘Why did Kentucky hire Calipari?’” the elder Mayes told me. “They hired him to win national championships. That’s why they are paying him all that money ($31.65 million over eight years). So knowing that, what good did it do him to recruit all these guys who left after one year? How far did it get him this year? It didn’t get him a national championship. I think knowing that, I’d say his first year there was a failure, wouldn’t you?”

(Hat tip to Big Blue Nation.)

Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader on the Big Blue Arms Race:

The open competition taking place in spring practice among Mike Hartline, Morgan Newton and Ryan Mossakowski is not to determine who will run “Operation Future Development,” or “Operation Past Experience.” It’s about who Phillips believes will be ready to lead the team to its fifth consecutive bowl game this fall.

Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star on Lamb and Josh Selby:

If there’s two things that Josh Selby and Doron Lamb made clear they were looking for in a college choice, it’s the chance to win an NCAA title and the chance to get to the NBA quickly. Preferably both within a 12-month period. That pretty much eliminated joining rebuilding projects like Arizona coach Sean Miller’s.

Tipton has video of C.J. Leslie talking after the Jordan Brand Classic:

Continue reading ‘BBL: Doron Lamb’s commitment, C.J. Leslie video’

Big Blue Links for Friday:

Jerry Tipton of the H-L is in New York for the Jordan Classic, and talked to Brandon Knight:

Yet Brandon Knight, the latest fuzzy-cheeked savant to place his point guard skills in Calipari’s hands, shrugs. “I feel wherever you go, you’re going to be looked at as someone stepping in, I mean, if someone’s leaving,” he said here on Thursday.

Tipton also reports from the Big Apple that prospects have noticed UK’s recruiting coup:

Arguably the best players in the high school junior and senior classes committed to Kentucky on national television Wednesday, the first day of the monthlong spring signing period. If UK orchestrated that spectacle in order to command the attention of other prospects, it worked.

Luke Winn of SI.com thinks Kentucky’s recruiting impact is overstated:

I’m not as sure about Kentucky being in the top 10. Knight is a step down from Wall; Kanter is a step down from Cousins; and the Wildcats won’t have the same kind of depth as they did in ’09-’10. Might we be wasting a lot of breath on a team that will be just decent, but not nearly Final Four-level good, and then faced with the same, “figure out how many guys we’re gonna lose, and replace them” situation in the spring of 2011?

Jennifer Smith of the H-L reports that DeMarcus Cousins could have stayed at UK forever:

He said it was Coach John Calipari pushing him from the comfortable, feathery nest that is Kentucky basketball. “Cal’s pushing me away,” Cousins said on Thursday. “He said, ‘You’ve got to go.’

My column saying that Cousins benefited from the one before done:

Thing is, when critics knock one-and-dones, they knock them as a group, a faceless group that is not all for one as much as all for themselves. Then you see DeMarcus Cousins’ face. That goofy face. “I guess my goofiness became popular,” he said Thursday.

Video of Doron Lamb from New York:

Continue reading ‘BBL: More Kentucky recruiting news, links, video’

Josh Selby (Photo by Henry Ray Abrams)

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader on Oklahoma eliminating UK women in NCAA Tournament:

Kentucky was one win away from making a special season even more special with a trip to the Final Four. But Oklahoma and its speedy guard duo of Nyeshia Stevenson and Danielle Robinson ran away with a 88-68 win over the Cats on Tuesday night in the Sprint Center.

Mark Story of the H-L writes that there is still plenty of hope for the UK women:

An enchanted women’s basketball season that began with Kentucky picked to finish 11th in the SEC ended in the Sprint Center with UK one victory short of making its first-ever trip to the women’s Final Four. In spite of 31 points and 13 rebounds from SEC Player of the Year Dunlap, UK suffered its worst loss of the season, 88-68, to Oklahoma.

H-L photo gallery from Kentucky-Oklahoma.

Jerry Tipton of the H-L talks to Josh Selby:

When asked about recruiting talk that he’s waiting for Knight to sign so he can go to another school, Selby said, “That’s not true at all. (Knight’s choice) is not going to stop me. If we go to the same school, we’ll just have to fight for playing time.” Selby said he watched how Wall and Bledsoe prospered for Kentucky this season.

David Harris of the Dallas Morning News reports on a North Carolina star who has UK in his final five:

Luke Cothron, a 6′ 8″ forward from North Carolina, has changed his commitment from North Carolina State and has narrowed down his choices to five schools: Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Florida and Texas A&M.

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

Kentucky Sports Network sent along this video of Doron Lamb and C.J. Leslie talking Cats:

Continue reading ‘BBL: Selby, Leslie, Lamb and Luke Cothron updates’

(H-L photo/Mark Cornelison)

Big Blue Links for Friday:

Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader reports on UK women’s win over Florida: “Watkins was one of two UK role players that came up huge. In the past six games, Watkins and sophomore Keyla Snowden had combined to score just 30 points total. Thursday night, the dynamic duo put up 40 points in the win over the Gators, who lost their third straight.”

Cat Scratches has some post-game video from UK’s win over the Florida women.

Matt Bracken of the Baltimore Sun reports that UK is one of four schools remaining for Josh Selby: “On the court, the 6-foot-2, 185-pound senior has guided the No. 5 Lakers to a 12-3 record. Off the court, Selby has kept busy with a high-profile recruitment. Selby, Rivals.com’s No. 4 player in the 2010 class, recently narrowed his list of schools to four. ‘His four schools are Arizona, Kansas, Connecticut and Kentucky,’ said Maeshon Witherspoon, Selby’s mother.

Nation of Blue on John Calipari’s favorite Hoosier: “Earlier this week, my wife told me about John Calipari visiting high school sophomore Kevin Massey who was recently diagnosed with a brain tumor. At first you may think this is just another story about a coach and/or player who is visiting a sick kid, but this time it’s a little different. There weren’t any film crews, photographers or university reporters along for the visit, it was just our coach making a difference in someone’s life.”

Bill Mayer of the Lawrence Journal-World on the reaction to his UK tainted wins column: “It was delightful to watch the two camps hollering at each other. First time in 60-plus years I’ve ever seen anything like that. Some of the jibes were so harsh and tacky that a network referee refused to let them run.” (Hat tip to Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)

Jerry Tipton on Rick Stansbury’s jammed phone: “After the game, Mississippi State Coach Rick Stansbury said he got so many crank calls from the state of Kentucky that he disconnected his home and cell phones.”

My column on my participation on the NCAA Mock Selection Committee: “In an effort to be fair, the system is sometimes unfair. For example, Big 12 associate commissioner John Underwood and I represented actual committee member Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe. Thus we could not choose any Big 12 teams on the consideration list. Nor could we participate in rankings if a Big 12 team was involved. Whenever a Big 12 team was discussed, we had to leave the room.”

Continue reading ‘BBL: Kentucky is in Josh Selby’s final four’

As Zagsblog reports, self-imposed sanctions, and a commitment from another point guard, aren’t stopping Arizona from going hard after a pair of players, Josh Selby and Doron Lamb, who are thought to be high on Kentucky’s wish list, as well.

Various reports say that Arizona will inflict its own sanctions, which include the loss of one scholarship, in hopes of lessening the blow from the NCAA over violations involving retired coach Lute Olson and an AAU basketball tournament.

Plus, Arizona picked up a recent commitment from Westchester, California guard Jordin Mayes. The linked story claims Arizona has just one scholarship remaining. But Zagsblog’s source says Arizona would have enough scholarships available to sign both Selby and Lamb, plus high-level recruit Kadeem Jack.

Zagsblog says:

The 6-4 Lamb, a Queens, N.Y. native playing at Oak Hill Academy, recently cut his list to Arizona, Kansas, Kentucky and West Virginia. A McDonald’s All-American, Lamb is expected to announce after the NCAA tournament.

The 6-2 Selby, out of Lake Baltimore (Md.) Clifton, is considering several schools, including Arizona, Syracuse, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky and UConn. Sources indicate Arizona and Kansas lead.

Hat tip to Tom Leach’s blog.

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

• NPR’s Frank Deford works John Calipari into a screed on the turmoil in college sports.
• Andy Katz of ESPN on Calipari reaching out to John Wooden.
• Jerry Tipton of the H-L reports that some teams are sacrificing for SEC TV deal.
• Jen Smith of the H-L on UK women cracking the Top 25 in coaches poll.
• Rick Bozich’s blog reports that Rick Pitino doesn’t believe UK will go undefeated.
• Bozich also catches up with Tubby Smith.
• Bruce Pascoe of the Arizona Daily Star reports that Arizona’s Sean Miller is headed to look at Josh Selby. (Hat tip to Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)
• Metz Camfield of the Kentucky Kernel reports that young Cats are trying to stay focused.
• Billy Reed has some praise for Coach Cal.
• Fox Sports’ Jeff Goodman believes John Wall’s POY lead is shrinking.
• Kentucky Sports Radio has a rumor that Rock Oliver is returning to UK, this time for football.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Rick Pitino doesn’t see unbeaten Cats’

Big Blue Links for Wednesday:

Jerry Tipton of the H-L writes that Calipari gets frank as foes get formidable: “As he has said earlier, Calipari noted how there are more problems than patches at this early stage. He saluted the players’ willingness to improve, citing DeMarcus Cousins’ working to become a better free-throw shooter. Heretofore a 50-percent free-thrower, the freshman big man made eight of 10 from the line against Asheville.”

A Sea of Blue writes on the Cardinal logo foot-stomping incidents: “Well, I have seen UK recruits and U of L recruits do various things to the team logos in the Derby Festival Classic game, and little is said. Frankly, I think this is much ado about nothing and if the Louisville fans want to refer to the UK team as ‘thugs’ or blame it on Calipari’s lack of discipline, I say go for it. After all, it would be a shame if all that pent-up frustration caused some random UK hater to rob a convenience store at Uzi-point, or something equally unfortunate.”

Matt Scott of The Shiver reports on Josh Selby: “‘As far as Miami, I don’t think we are going to pursue them anymore,’ Witherspoon said. ‘We are trying to get the flight situation worked out to visit UK on the 2nd (Jan) or 9th.’”

Continue reading ‘BBL: That stomp-the-logo mini-controversy’