UK Sports Info

While spending a lot of time reading up on all of the 2010 recruits and who might be interested in UK, I have found one thing that is starting to stick out. First with Will Barton and now with these comments from Harrison Barnes. Both players have commented on the state that Memphis basketball is in. I am 100% confident that Calipari did no wrong doing, but everything that has been brought to light is a great recruiting tool for other schools. In addition not renewing scholarships may be an issue as well, but I again support it 100%. I have already read some blogs that are going to point the finger at Billy Gillispie in some way. I am not sure what the infatuation with trying to blame everything bad on Gillispie and whenever something good happens it had nothing to do with Gillispie. The one thing I do believe is that we have the best coach that we have had for a while here at UK. Coach Cal will come through like he always does and more people like Dick Vitale will step up and speak out about Calipari.

We are very early in the recruiting season so don’t jump to any conclusions or get upset that players are talking about Memphis and Coach Cal’s past because they don’t have the facts. Give Coach Cal some time to focus on these kids and I am sure we will see the roster fill up with the Nation’s Best again next year. Will Barton is committed to Memphis and that is a loss that we will have to live with but don’t expect too many of those to get away.

I will be posting a lot of information regarding recruits and possible targets as the summer moves a long.  There are some big names out there so we will keep a close watch on them.  Brandon Knight, Harrison Barnes, Kyrie Irving, Josh Smith, Ray McCallum, Roscoe Smith, Dominique Ferguson, C.J. Leslie, Phil Pressey, Doron Lamb and Adriean Payne are some of the players that are going to be talked about in the coming months.  I can’t forget my man Fab Melo I am interested to see how he turns out in this class.

I have posted videos on several of these players already but here are a couple to refresh your memory…..

CJ Leslie…..

Joe Jackson…..

Vander Blue arguably one of the best names in class of 2010. Vander is from Madison, Wisconsin who is 6′3″ point guard with good scoring and passing ability. While Vander is considered a 4 star recruit at this point he has the ability to move up in the rankings. I would expect in the next few weeks we will see players start make some moves as the AAU tournaments and most of the big summer camps will be in full swing. I expect to see more videos and more information about Vander in the following weeks. Mr. Blue wears number 22 for Madison Memorial.

Here is what we have right now….

Noel Johnson, good shot which could offer another scoring option….

UK has a loaded roster that is interesting and exciting.  Harrelson and Liggins seem to be the two biggest surprises while the rest of the roster is just flat out impressive.

Here is the current roster that UK is looking at entering the 2009 season.  One thing that should be noted is that this will be the last season in which there are any Tubby Smith signed players left on the team.  As everyone is looking at the impact that Gillispie had on the Wildcats lets not forget what our roster looked like before he got here.  Perry Stevenson and Ramon Harris are the only two left. The interesting question is where and how does Liggins fit into the picture?

Perry Stevenson
Ramon Harris
Patrick Patterson
Josh Harrellson
DeAndre Liggins
Darius Miller
John Wall
Demarcus Cousins
Daniel Orton
Eric Bledsoe
Darnell Dodson
Jon Hood

Here are a list of players that are or have been highly ranked at some point during this past year.  These players are still looking for a destination for one reason or another.  Not that UK is actually looking at any of these players but anything can happen.

Derrick Williams (USC granted release)
Lamont Jones (USC granted release)
Roscoe Davis
Noel Johnson
Lance Stephenson (not sure if anyone wants this kid and his baggage)

Where will these talents end up?  Most likely none of them will end up at UK, but they are all good players so it will be something to watch.

There really is not much going on today as yesterday brought us the last major decision that we have all been waiting for.  It is sad to see Jodie go, but all we can do is thank him for all of the wonderful highlights that he provided us for 3 years.

Pick up games and rumors from the pick up games will be filling the message boards.  Speculation of sleepers out there will probably be a big topic as well.  Every year there are usually a few players who have not made decisions for one reason or another and they are just sort of out there.  With the roster being cleaned up you have to think people are going to talk about someone else joining the team.  I have not heard either way on whether UK will be looking to add any players or not, but my first guess would be that Cal is happy with our current roster.  While he is happy and content I would not be surprised at all to see him add someone if they are good enough.  This would not be the same type of move that most coaches would do.  If Coach Cal was to add another player it would not be to fill the roster it would be to make the team better.  This is a new era when we dont need players to fill the roster.

Here is a tribute to Jodie in appreciation for everything he did for the University of Kentucky….

Jodie Meeks has decided to take his game to the NBA.

Goodman…

Coach Cal’s Twitter….

Jodie called..He’s keeping his name in the draft. He’s excited and I’m excited for him. I wish I got the chance to coach him.10 minutes ago from txt

Jodie’s Comments, from WLEX18….

“I want to thank the fans and the city of Lexington. They have been great and I will always be a Kentucky Wildcat,” said Meeks. ”I feel comfortable with my decision and I’m confident in my ability. My family and I talked over the weekend and decided this was the best decision.”

Here are some of the latest reports as of yesterday…mostly opinions with one brief interveiw with Orestos Meeks.  Some good stuff here…

ESPN…

Bozich…

Cutler…

John Clay…

Find more videos like this on Kentucky Sports Network

Video from KSN

Today is the day and we are waiting patiently as Jodie will deliver a decision today sometime.  He has until 5:00 pm to make his decision.  Most people seem to feel very confident about Jodie’s return but there are a few who think that he is not going to turn the opportunity to go to the NBA.  Andy Katz from ESPN believes Meeks will return and most traditional media around Kentucky believe that Meeks will return.  There are a few people who believe that Meeks will not return.  Most of the people who believe Meeks will not return are being reported as someone “close to the program”.  While these sources are never revealed and always questionable they do pan out to be great resources for information on an occasion.  For now everyone seems to be holding any real information that they might have.

There are also reports of pick up games around campus with the new players.  The only thing that I have heard so far is that Wall plays like he is from another planet.  I have heard time and time again that there has not been a player to come out of high school this good since Lebron.  Don’t confuse this with me saying that he is as good as Lebron, but the people I am closest to say he is definitely the closest to that level of play since Lebron.  Wall is a special player and there will be outstanding reports all summer long.  I will have more on the rest of players that are on campus later today.

The Post-Gazette had a great article today of Coach Cal.  Excellent read for a Sunday morning or afternoon.

We have only received a couple video for the contest so far….I have decided what we are going to give away this time around. Get your videos in because you will not want to miss the chance to win this one. All you have to do is submit your favorite highlight video from UK basketball or football. Dig deep, find some highlights from the 1950’s, 60’s or 70’s.

1st place – UK tickets, 2 Calipari t-shirts, Calipari Autographed basketball
2nd place – UK t-shirt

Please send the videos to info@uksportsinfo.com….