John Clay's Sidelines

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’

Winston Guy talked to the media today about his bet with Danny Trevathan about which UK defensive player would finish the year with the most tackles. A dinner is involved in the payoff.

Also, Nick Melillo on Kentucky trying to keep the momentum going after its 30-13 win over Ole Miss. And Ronnie Sneed speaks on what it’s like coming into watch film on Sunday after a win.

Here are the videos.

Continue reading ‘Videos: Guy, Melillo and Sneed have smiles on their faces’

Kentucky tight end Nick Melillo talking to media today.

Victoria Dunlap (H-L photo/David Perry)

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

• Eloy Vargas will not be with basketball Cats in Canada, reports Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader.
• Jennifer Smith of the H-L reports that Victoria Dunlap has been added to Player of the Year watch list.
• Karen Sypher’s lawyer argues that ex-husband was behind plot, reports Andrew Wolfson of the Courier-Journal.
• Travis Kircher of WDRB in Louisville blogs extensively about the Sypher trial.
• A new Anthony Davis story by the Chicago Sun-Times’ Michael O’Brien.
• Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports on the Anthony Davis decision and Chicago Sun-Times mess.
• An Anthony Davis commitment would lock up title of best recruiting class for Kentucky, writes Garry Parrish of CBS Sports.
• Kentucky Sports Radio, which gets a lot of its information from newspapers, never misses an opportunity to bash newspapers.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Lots of basketball news on the eve of football’

Big Blue Links for Thursday:

Max Smith

Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader on Kentucky picking up a quarterback commitment from California:

Smith was in Lexington last weekend and committed to UK shortly after his visit. Smith will be grayshirted, which means he will delay enrollment until January and count toward the 2011 class. “I’ve always been fascinated with SEC football, and Kentucky seemed like a good place with a lot of tradition,” he said. “Plus their system really seemed to fit with the way I play.”

Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal on decision day for Marquis Teague:

The 6-foot-2 Teague, considered the top point guard in the Class of 2011, is expected to make an announcement at 1:30p.m. at Pike. Teague’s list includes Cincinnati, Indiana and Purdue, but he is expected to pick either Kentucky or Louisville.

Kyle Neddenriep of the Indianapolis Star on Teague’s choice:

Kentucky and Louisville basketball fans want him. Indiana fans hope for an upset. Pike High School junior guard Marquis Teague will announce his college decision today at the school’s freshman center, putting an end to months of speculation and scrutiny. He listed his final choices as Cincinnati, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville and Purdue.

Card Chronicle asks what is it that Rick Pitino is supposed to do?

There will be LOTS of Pitino bashing, but other than “try harder” or “he should have said X or Y” what exactly could Pitino have done to get this kid? The current college basketball recruiting landscape for the very top subjects heavily favors Kentucky now. I know his dad played for Pitino, but why is that necessarily a lock? Calipari (and if rumors are to be believed, WWW and Lebron) are tough people to recruit against, and it’s not just Pitino losing guys to him/them.

Mary Meehan of the H-L on the 58 percent jump in UK football parking rates:

A week after the University of Kentucky increased the price of football tickets, fans took another hit to the wallet: Parking lot permits will cost $100 more this season than last. The 57 percent increase pushed the price to $275 for fans in the blue, purple, orange, green and red lots. All other parking passes are going up as well.

Continue reading ‘BBL: Day of decision for Marquis Teague’

Big Blue Links for Tuesday:

Chip Cosby of the Herald-Leader on UK linebacker/defensive end Ridge Wilson:

But Wilson’s early progress was derailed when he was charged with fourth-degree assault for punching a woman in the face last September. Wilson saw his Wildcat career flash before his eyes, but then-UK Coach Rich Brooks, citing Wilson’s previous track record as a solid citizen, reinstated him to the team.

Wildcat Blue Blog on Marquis Teague:

The future of the 2011 class takes a big step forward when Marquis Teague makes his college decision known. He will make his decision at 1:30 PM Thursday and this has evolved into a Kentucky vs Louisville decision. Now that Michael Chandler has de-committed from the Cardinals. Pitino desperately needs a win in the recruiting department. Getting Teague will obviously get Calipari further toward a monster 2011 class, but it has become apparent that the top talent in the 2011 class is actively seeking out Calipari and making their pitches to be recruited.

Straitpinkie on UK recruiting suspense:

With the upcoming decisions of Marquis Teague, Terrence Jones, and CJ Leslie, I think that predictability is about to go out the window and those those gluttons for surprise are about to get their fix. Over the next two to three weeks, I expect all three of these prospects to make public commitments with UK prominently involved, and when they step to the podium, I think you are going to have people in the know and out of the know guessing multiple ways and potentially even throwing their arms up in the air and saying “I have no idea”.

Ryan Clark of the Kentucky Enquirer on Marquis Teague:

That brings us to Thursday, when we are supposed to hear of the decision of 2011 point guard Marquis Teague of Indianapolis. A bit of history here: UofL set its sights on Teague way back in 2009 or 2008, and they began their recruiting push at that time, even hiring one of his coaches to their staff. Teague is generally regarded as not only the best point guard in the class, but possibly the best player, behind only UK commit Michael Gilchrist. For two seasons now, the Cards have displayed mediocre point guard play, only to point to the future and say Teague is on the way (which, by the way, I’d like to point out that Teague is also, in all probability, a one-and-done player).

Continue reading ‘BBL: What’s up with Marquis Teague?’