John Clay's Sidelines

Anthony Davis

Within minutes of each other, Rivals and Prep Stars have released their player recruiting rankings for the Class of 2011.

Rivals ranks Duke signee Austin Rivers as No. 1.

PrepStars, which the 247 network and the Cats Pause is now using, ranks Anthony Davis at No. 1.

Click here for Rivals rankings, which puts Davis at No. 2, Michael Gilchrist at No. 3 and Marquis Teague at No. 5.

Click here for PrepStars rankings, which has Gilchrist at No. 2 and Rivers at No. 3.

Scout and ESPNU both had Anthony Davis at No. 1.

Check out Next Cats for all your recruiting links.
Continue reading ‘Rivals and PrepStars differ on just who’s No. 1′

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

• Tough night for Michael Gilchrist, writes Matthew Stanmyre of Star-Ledger.
• Amoeba defense gets the best of Gilchrist, writes Brandon Parker of ESPN Rise.
• A sweet moment for St. Anthony, writes Christopher Lawlor of Daily News.
• Memory of Georgia tornado still vivid at SEC tourney, writes Jerry Tipton of H-L.
• Twenty questions about the SEC Tournament, by me.
• Pelphrey says he’s building program the right way, writes Tipton.
• Martin Newton named AD at Samford, reports Daniel Pauling of Birmingham News.
• SEC tourney about seeding and pleading, writes Brett Dawson of the C-J.
• Joe Dean, Jr. picks Kentucky to win tourney, writes Larry Vaught of the A-M.
• Cats prepping for tourney time, reports Aaron Smith of the Kentucky Kernel.
• Lamb shifts his focus from scoring, writes Chandler Howard of the Kernel.
• Basketball reigns in Kentucky, writes Earl Cox for Voice Tribune.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Michael Gilchrist has an off night in big game’

Leron Black

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• John Calipari goes to Memphis to check out Leron Black, reports Pete Wickham of the Commercial Appeal.
• Brandon Knight receives high praise from Kevin Stallings, reports Jerry Tipton of the H-L.
• Knight is among the SEC Player of the Year candidates, reports Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal.
• Cats are growing up at just the right time, writes Tom Leach.
• Darius Miller is on a six-game roll, writes Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• UK women move on from a bittersweet SEC Tournament, writes T.J. Walker of the Kentucky Kernel.
• As predicted, the Cats did a reboot down the stretch, writes Ira Combs for Kentucky Sports Network.
• Texas Tech should at least talk to Billy Gillispie, says Mike Jones of the Ft. Worth Star.
• Odd timing of firing may work in Texas Tech’s favor, writes Jon Arnold of the Daily Toreador.
• Joe Lunardi of ESPN has the Cats and the Cards projected as No. 4 seeds.
• Rivals rates Michael Gilchrist as the No. 1 interior scorer. (Hat tip All Ky Hoops)

(H-L photo/Jonathan Palmer)

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

• UK women have evolved since first loss to Georgia, writes Jen Smith of the H-L.
• Kentucky hoops playing for seeding, writes T.J. Walker of the Kernel.
• The Jasmines clicking for Georgia women, writes Roger Clarkson of Banner-Herald.
• Dunlap’s family never far away on game day, writes Mark Story of the H-L.
• Kentucky on L.J. Rose’s list, reports Dime Magazine.
• Cal says Cats need to avoid late-game extremes, reports Jerry Tipton of the H-L.
• Cats having trouble with foes’ three-pointers, reports Aaron Smith of the Kernel.
• The numbers when it comes to guarding the perimeter, provided by Tailgate Review.
• Cats won Tuesday because they were home, says State-Journal’s Brian Rickerd.
• Mitch Barnhart bans the SkyCam, reports Tipton.
• Hopefully, that’s last we see of that camera, writes Jeff Eisenberg of The Dagger.
• Minutes are adding up for UK’s players, writes Richard Skinner of the Enquirer.

Continue reading ‘BBL: UK women at Georgia; UK men need to stop the 3′

(AP photo/Kerry Smith)

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

• Red-faced Mississippi State faces steep climb, reports Brandon Marcello of C-L.
• State’s will to be tested in Rupp Arena, writes Jim Mashek of Biloxi Sun-Herald.
• Calipari dismisses importance of meeting, reports Jerry Tipton of Herald-Leader.
• Ex-UK star Craig Yeast named coach at Bryan Station, reports Mike Fields of H-L.
• Steve Brown to UCLA picking up steam, reports Bleed Blue Kentucky.
• UK QB situation 10th-best in SEC, says Seth Emerson of the Ledger-Enqurier.
• Weaker bats fit Kentucky’s style, writes Ethan Levine of the Kentucky Kernel.
• Trevor Lacey scores 31 points in three quarters, says Next Cats.
• Kentucky could be looking at Braeden Anderson, says Kentucky Sports Radio.
• J.P. Tokoto narrows list to eight, reports Nation of Blue.
• Michael Gilchrist plays hard every night, reports Brian Nash of Fox Sports.
• Kings fine Cousins after altercation, reports Jason Jones of Sacramento Bee.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Steve Brown rumors, QB ranking, hoops recruits’

(H-L photo/Jonathan Palmer)

Click here for Herald-Leader photo gallery from UK-LSU women’s game.

Big Blue Links for Monday:

• Kings say Cousins is not suspended and altercation is under review, reports Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee.
• Without Cousins, Kings win at Phoenix, reports Jones.
• Brittany Henderson’s shot with 1.1 seconds left gives UK women 49-47 win over LSU, reports Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader.
• My column off UK-LSU says UK women have endgame figured out.
• Women’s game featured more fouls, timeouts and turnovers than total points, reports T.J. Walker of the Kentucky Kernel.
• John Calipari makes a trip to see Michael Gilchrist, reports Zagsblog.
• Eric Crawford of the C-J writes that the road is a bridge of the Kentucky men’s basketball team.
• Liggins’ decision-making hurt Kentucky at Vandy, writes Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• John Wall helps Wizards break 26-game road losing streak, reports Michael Lee of the Washington Post.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Cousins not suspended yet; UK women pull out win’

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

• Anthony Davis signs with UK, family says it still plans to sue Sun-Times, reports Jeff Vorva of the Chicago Tribune.
• Davis says it was a  wild ride that got him to Kentucky, reports Scott Powers of espn.com.
• Michael Gilchrist makes it official, reports Kevin Minnick of the Cherry Hill Courier-Post.
• Courier-Post photo gallery from Michael Gilchrist signing.
• Marquis Teague says UK freshmen-to-be trying to build a brotherhood, reports Kyle Neddenreip of the Indianapolis Star.
• John Calipari “jacked” as his 2011 UK signee class makes it official, reports Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader.
• Kentucky snagged four of the top 19 recruits, reports Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal.
• The stars aligned for John Calipari once again, writes Steve Jones for the Cats Pause.
• John Wall posts a triple-double for Wizards in win over Houston, reports Gene Wang of the Washington Post.
• As Kentucky prepares for Senior Day, Mike Hartline is deserving and then some, says my column.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Calipari gets his men on the dotted line’

(H-L photo/Joseph Rey Au)

Big Blue Links for Monday:

• Michael Gilchrist, expected to sign with Kentucky this week, is “extremely coachable“, reports Zagsblog.
• Kentucky women roll in their basketball exhibition game, reports Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader.
• Point guard an area of concern for UK Hoops, reports Smith.
• Joker Phillips plays up Kentucky’s bowl streak, writes Chip Cosby of the H-L.
• Phillips isn’t pointing fingers, writes Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.
• Brian Rickerd of the Frankfort State-Journal has a problem with Kentucky football logic.
• Kentucky’s new basketball recruiting class wants its own identity, reports Brett Dawson of the Courier-Journal.
• Cat Scratches has video from UK men’s soccer win over South Carolina.
• Eric Bledsoe is one tough competitor, writes David Lassen of the Riverside Press-Enterprise. (Hat tip to Aaron’s UK Basketball Blog.)
• Greg Alan Edwards of Wildcat Blue Nation got to spend a day in the press box.

Big Blue Links for Monday:

• My column saying UK’s next football game is also the football game.

• Banged-up Cats have one week to prepare, reports Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader.

• DeQuin Evans leads a young defensive line, writes Aaron Smith of the Kentucky Kernel.

• Evan Daniels of Scout.com says UK fans should not worry about Michael Gilchrist’s drop in the rankings, writes Larry Vaught of the Danville Advocate-Messenger.

• Trevard Lindley’s makes an exhibition interception with the Philadelphia Eagles:

(Hat tip to Kentucky Sports Network.)

Continue reading ‘BBL: “The Game” week is finally here’