Archive for April, 2009

I received a phone call just minutes ago that it is likely that Harrelson will not be back on the UK team.  I will have more on this today once I am able to confirm that it is in fact that  Harrelson was dismissed.

Donald Williams will not return to UK next season which is no surprise to anyone at all.  He has not even been talked about very much because everyone was so sure that he was not going to be around.  I wish him the best with the next school that he ends up at.  The question is who and how many will be next?  Who really even knows the time frame for any more roster moves will be.

Everyone is watching to see what will happen with John Wall and Eric Bledsoe.  I a firm believer that we might not see any more decisions until we see what will happen with those two recruits.  The other part of the equation is the academic status of some of the players.

Andy Katz was a hot topic for UK fans today saying that he would be shocked if UK was not on the top of his list.  He also commented how it would not be a bad idea if Patterson and Meeks returned to UK.  With all of the talk that has been surrounding Meeks and Patterson as well as some other possible early entries we can only hope that they will listen.  They may also be getting different information that we are hearing as well.

If it is across the board by the scouts and the NBA Execs then I firmly believe Patterson and Meeks are much smarter than Morris was when he tried to make the jump.  I feel these two kids have great heads on their shoulders and they have great support systems with their families.  I mean none of that in disrespect to Morris, he just made a bad decision.  We do also have to support any decision they make because they will have their personal goals and reasons in mind when deciding.

I love the whole twitter thing with Calipari right now…I know some people are knocking him for it, but he is embracing the new age of communication and social networking and it is pretty cool to see.

As most people are reporting…Josh Harrelson will be on the UK roster next year according to his facebook post.

Tarheel Blog

The post thinks Wall will make some sort of announcement today, this not what Wall has said to anyone that we know of.

One negative fan posts on another blog….

My impression is that Mr. Wall is negotiating for more from whoever will pay it. Not sure what it is (jobs, money, playing time guarantees, room assignments, assistant coaches with fat pay checks). It appears that Roy Williams is uninterested, that Mike is less than impressed, that Billie would do unnatural things for him, that Miami is still next to a very bad neighborhood and has no team, and that Cal has not said what Wall wants to hear yet. Otherwise, why hasn’t this kid pulled the trigger yet?

Next thought:

Where are we if Cousins, Liggins, Bledsoe, Pilgrim and A.J. fail to qualify and Jodie and PPat sign with the draft, and Wall goes elsewhere? That could be a very bad thing if the rumors are true. We are left with

Orton, Harrelson (abused feeling), Stephenson, Miller, Harris, Hood, Galloway, Dobson, and….no point guard.

If you are following Calipari’s twitter you can see he is having a lot of fun with it and there seems to be a competition between him and Tom Crean. As it stands right now Calipari has 8,917 followers…not sure what the Hoosiers has right now, but I am sure it’s not even close.  Looks like they are having fun with this rivalry.

Rondo had yet another triple double yesterday in their loss to the Bulls bringing the series even at 2-2.  I hope the Celtics can pull that series off so Rondo has more opportunities for triple doubles.
UK had three players get picked up by teams yesterday in the draft.  Myron Pryor was drafted by the Patriots and Marcus McClinton was picked up by the Patriots as well.  Tim Masthay was picked up by the Colts.
The UK baseball team dropped another game, but they did have one bright spot with Freshmen Alex Meyer struck out 11.
The only news on the recruiting front is that Wall is going to take more time to cut his list down instead of doing it early this week.  In several interviews he would not say whether he would keep UK on his list and he was not willing to give any real information.  This will likely be longer than we originally thought, but who knows, this recruiting season has been pretty crazy.
Also, on a side note for recruiting…it would not be surprising at all to see Lance Stephenson end up at Arizona or somewhere totally unexpected.  How about Renardo Sydney, looks like this kid can not decide where he wants to go, and I would love to see him at Mississippi State and the match ups between our bigs and him.

Yesterday’s Blue White game was a good one with Micah Johnson showing us that he is going to be a BEAST next season.  The big question mark is with the wide receivers who had many dropped passes and did not look very impressive.  I have not heard an official word on how many fans were in attendance but I would guess between 15,ooo and 2o,ooo.  That is a great showing of support from the UK faithful.  If you look nationally it was said that Louisville had around 15,000 and Ohio State had 95,000, which is a national record.

The baseball team dropped their game against Alabama in a game that looked like they had a great chance to win.  This Tuesday Jodie Meeks will be throwing out the first pitch against Louisville.

The Celtics will be playing today at 1:30 and Rondo will be the player to watch as he has absolutely torn it up this series.  His numbers are sick and he is playing at a very high level.

I just returned home with two warn out kids from the first half of the Blue White game.  The Blue team was working the White team pretty good and Will Fidler was pretty good.  Hartline on the other hand did not look all that great.  It was a very fun atmosphere and there was a pretty good sized crowd although I do not know what the official estimate is at this time.

More on the game later today.

Gerald Henderson is planning on announcing his entrance into the NBA draft, which probably should not surprise too many people.  This is something that some have considered to be a factor in the Wall recruitment.  I am not sure how this will change anything, but some think it will.

I have had many conversations with many different people and it seems to be a general consensus that Wall will be at UK.  I say this with extreme caution because we know how easily these kids are swayed.  I have learned that going into to Wall’s visit to Miami, UK is definitely the leader.  I have also been told by countless sources that it would be a long shot to see Wall anywhere but UK.

I know how this game works and I know that these same sources had Donovan coming to UK.  Which I can honestly say I am very happy that Donovan did not come to UK.  However, while everything points to Wall coming to UK it can change very easily.  Many teams are watching players leave for the draft and that changes everything.  Florida might lose out on Wall due to the fact that Calathes might end up back at Florida.  Calathes seems to be a late 1st rounder at the best, so he might be better off going back to Florida.  UNC might have improved their stock by Lawson leaving.  Duke is Duke, but they are not UK (not to sound too arrogant).

I was told that Wall will commit to UK sooner than later.  Don’t be surprised if he commits by Wednesday at the earliest, but it could also happen Derby weekend.  I am not going to be sold on him coming to UK until he signs his letter of intent and passes his qualifying tests.

Okay…Now to the Blue White scrimmage.  If you missed the trash talking on the news tonight it was great.  I am pumped and ready for this game.  12:00 tomorrow the gates open and there is should be some great deals on UK apparel and different things.  The game will start at 1:30 and the weather is still looking to be good.  Support your Football Cats tomorrow!

After I received the phone call telling me that Florida is now the leader, I decided to do some research and see what the different blogs and media outlets are saying in regards to where they think Wall will end up.  Everyone has an opinion and I think it boils down to everyone just hoping that Wall comes to their school.

Duke Rivals…..

Tarheel Times….

Miami Herald….

Sun Sentinel….

Bozich….

That is not even the start of it, but that should give you an idea of what some of the different people out there are saying.  Wall will definitely break some hearts when he makes his decision.

Kelly Kline

Wall update from a source, probably not the most reliable source but still a source considered by some people. According to this source who has some ties to the University of Florida…they feel that they are now the leader for John Wall. There is expected to be more contact between Donovan and Wall within the next week. Wall will be cutting his list down after his visit to Miami, but expect the list to read…Florida, UK, Duke and possibly UNC, that is from this “source”. All indications other than the person who called me, point to Wall going to UK.
But with the previous meetings between Wall and Donovan there may be some validity to these rumors. Wall did say that he liked what Florida had to offer and that he liked how Calathes was used in the offense with the pick and roll and that would fit his game nicely.
Lets hope this is a false rumor and that Florida is not going to land him, but they do look be gaining ground as a very very late entry the John Wall sweepstakes. I feel that if he really wants the opportunity to win a National Championship then there are only three schools that can offer that…UK, UNC and Duke are the only schools he is considering that even have chance. The rest of the schools would need a miracle run. Wall has made it clear that he wants to win a NCAA Championship, so lets hope he feels UK is the best place to do that.

The Blue White game is tomorrow at 1:30, the gates will open at 12:00 and the weather is expected to be beautiful for the game. There is also a lot for the fans to enjoy if attending. Parking and admission to the game is free. This will be a great opportunity for UK fans to get a look at how the team has practiced so far this spring. There will be various sales of apparel and used equipment for those who are interested.
The weather report for tomorrow is 83 degrees and windy. Should be a great day to get the family out to watch some free football.

A quick John Wall note…KSR is reporting that John Wall is UK’s to lose as of today and that anyone following the recruitment knows this to be true. Only time will tell, hopefully they have it right.