The Big Blue Daily Mail -- Derby Festival Classic Edition

Lots of good stuff today from the DFC to the Nike Hoops Summit.

• GatorBait.net - Meyer's Mailbag: Change at top of Rivals150?

  Jerry Meyer makes some very astute, and very fair observations about John Calipari. I pretty much agree with every point he makes.

  I hope he's wrong about Leslie, though.

• Andy Katz: Catching up on the coaching carousel - ESPN

• Vaught's Views: Patterson inspires loyalty in UK fan base: AMNews.com

  However, it will make for an interesting time when Patterson does decide he’s NBA-bound and has a chance to share his feelings on his career and the confusion the UK release created.

  I'm holding fire on this until the whole story comes out.

• UK Basketball: Wall ahead of pack in draft: WinchesterSun.com

Much more after the jump.

• Cats Ready for First Major Scrimmage - KENTUCKY OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE

  Defensive end DeQuin Evans, who incurred a sprained knee last Saturday, will not participate in the scrimmage but hopes to return to practice Monday. Fullback Moncell Allen, offensive lineman Jake Lanefski and defensive end Taylor Wyndham are being withheld from contact all spring while they rehabilitate injuries.

  We don't want to rush Evans back UK is already thin at his position.

• Lakers stumbling into playoffs - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

  One NBA general manager said there appears to be a growing consensus that some order of John Wall, Evan Turner, DeMarcus Cousins, Derrick Favors and Wesley Johnson will form the top five picks of the June draft. He predicted Greg Monroe, Al-Farouq Aminu, Ed Davis, Cole Aldrich, Patrick Patterson and Ekpe Udoh as other likely lottery picks.

  No Patrick Patterson?

• Hansen: Real changes needed for college basketball | Standard-Examiner – Ogden, Layton, Brigham, Weber, Davis, Top of Utah News

  Tinkering with the Big Dance's symmetrical perfection fulfills the NCAA's fundamental urge to re-do its basketball TV contract and thereby generate so much money that it can pay for its Division II women's lacrosse championships, and 87 others, without worrying about the per diem.

  Sooner or later, they are going to do real harm to the tournament.  Sooner may be now.

• Another day, another hit piece. - The Crimson Quarry
  Indiana having buyer's remorse over Crean? Unbelievable. Crean took over a catastrophe, he should get a longer leash than this.

• Kentucky Wildcats basketball news and rumors and Kentucky Wildcat football news and rumors: Tracking the "NBA Cats": Orton yet to hire an agent, Bledsoe may be staying in draft

• Warford could become dominant player | Vaught's Views
  We need this kind of news on the O-line.

• Cal and 2011 Class
  Two rival coaches, and several others, have told me they expect Calipari to get an oral commitment from Marquis Teague, the point guard from Indianapolis Pike.

• Ex-Cat Rajon Rondo Receives Red Auerbach Award
  Congratulations to Rajon!

• " BBL: Enes Kanter shines at Nike Hoops Summit John Clay’s Sidelines
  John Clay's Big Blue Links.

• Louisville Kentucky Derby Fun - Videos | The Courier-Journal
  Some cool videos here of the Derby Festival Classic.

• Patterson won't rule out return to Kentucky - College basketball- nbcsports.msnbc.com

  Patterson called the decision on whether to leave or stay for a senior season "a tie," adding that he hasn't signed the paperwork to enter the NBA draft so "technically I haven't declared."

  Fascinating.  No matter what, a Patrick Patterson return would really help the prospects of next year's team.

• Saturday morning nuggets

  UK coach John Calipari has visited C.J. Leslie and Doron Lamb in recent days and expect the coach to be visiting Terrence Jones, who is playing tonight in the Nike Hoop Summit in his hometown of Portland, Ore. Knight is also playing in the game.

  Didn't know about the visit to Lamb.

• BamaOnLine.com - Tide falls short at Kentucky, 7-6

  The University of Kentucky used a two-out rally to score four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning en route to a 7-6 come-from-behind win over No. 19 Alabama in the Southeastern Conference series opener at Cliff Hagan Stadium on Friday night.

  So the Bat Cats have defeated #19 Alabama and #7 Louisville in the last week.  Sounds like we are headed in the right direction.

• UK football notebook: Defense looking for a leader | KentuckySports.com

  The UK offense dominated the early part of the scrimmage Saturday, and while the defense was more stout in the latter stages, the final numbers didn't look good. Quarterbacks Mike Hartline and Morgan Newton each threw a pair of TD passes, and Ryan Mossakowski added another. Tailback Jonathan George ran for 127 yards on 13 carries, including a 73-yard TD jaunt. Randall Cobb took the rest of the afternoon off after catching TDs on the first two drives, and Derrick Locke sat for the majority of the scrimmage after carrying four times for 27 yards.

  This is all very encouraging, but we have a long way to go until the season.  Hartline seems to be gaining some separation at quarterback.

• UK Football: Larry Warford made big impression quickly: AMNews.com

  "Most big guys — and he was at least 20 pounds heavier at that point — can’t move with the ease and footwork that he showed. He is a natural knee-bender and rolls his hips and has great feet. That’s why he picked things up so well and got into the lineup."

  We need all the good news we can get from the O-line.

• Offense, Hartline Shine In Cats First Scrimmage Of Spring
• Gators draw about 50,000 for spring football game
• Bat Cats win game, series vs. #24 Alabama
• Walter's Wildcat World " Video: Kentucky recruit Brandon Knight talks about John Wall and Enes Kanter
• Kentucky’s mass exodus not deterring Calipari - College basketball- nbcsports.msnbc.com

• Gilchrist tops in '11

  The 6-foot-7 Gilchrist (photo) is a forward from Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick and has been considered a Kentucky lean since John Calipari took the job last April.

  Reloading in progress ...

• Hartline has edge at QB | courier-journal.com

  And when he had his turn on the field, Hartline ran the offense with precision, his experience separating him — at least through the first two weeks of spring practice — from sophomore Newton and redshirt freshman Mossakowski.

  This won't be good news for some people, but if Hartline is the best, he should get the nod.  Simple as that.

• The C-J's Sunday College Basketball Notebook | courier-journal.com | The Courier-Journal

  "They [the UK freshmen] were a ball to coach," he told the ESPN Radio hosts, but their inexperience was a challenge. It's a challenge Calipari likely will face again next season.

  No doubt true.

• Teel time - dailypress.com

  Afterward, Miller answered questions from reporters covering Kentucky and Duke. He projected himself as a Kyle Singler-type player for the Blue Devils, scoring inside and out. He raved about Wildcats coach John Calipari’s warp-speed offense and embrace of the one-and-done concept.

  No matter what, UK is getting a lot of attention.

• Husky Men's Basketball Blog | Kanter Stars In Nike Hoops Summit; Jones Not Too Shabby | Seattle Times Newspaper

  Both players had pivotal roles in tonight's game, but no one shined brighter than Kanter, the 17-year-old Turkish phenom who up until this point had been something of a urban legend and YouTube sensation.

  Looks like Calipari has a good one in Kanter.

• Vaught's views: Orton finishing classes, no agent yet: AMNews.com

  Originally, Larry Orton indicated his son was dropping his classes to go to California to train. However, he said now that Daniel Orton will finish his class work while in California. "He is doing his school work. They worked it out for him at UK," Larry Orton said. "Daniel and Kentucky got that worked out. All I can tell you is that he is working on his school work. He only has about three weeks of school left, and he had good grades."

  This is very encouraging.

• Favors bolts for NBA | The Augusta Chronicle

  Favors becomes the team's second key player to leave school early, following junior forward Gani Lawal . The duo helped Georgia Tech reach the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game and second round of the NCAA Tournament, and their early departures leave a big hole in the frontcourt for the 2010-11 season.

  Where is the anger at Paul Hewitt for recruiting all these early-out players?  No double standard here, no sir ...

• SEC Lookahead: Don't Be Blue, Kentucky -- NCAABB FanHouse
  Clay Travis manages to write a very decent look at next year's SEC without saying anything stupid. Color me surprised.

• Kentucky freshman gets my vote for Wooden award - Daily Times Herald - Carroll, Iowa

  1). John Wall, Kentucky — I went with the one-and-done freshman sensation because of his instant impact on the Wildcats. He and his fellow newcomers helped first-year coach John Calipari make UK relevant again and earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament before bowing out to West Virginia in the Elite 8 game. The versatile Wall finished the regular season averaging 16.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game.

  Thank you, Nate.

• Where will Wall Land? - Operation Sports

  Any NBA general manager in his right mind will know exactly what to do with the number one overall pick in this year’s draft. Yes, Evan Turner is awesome and he fits in well with many of the lottery-bound teams -- perhaps even better than Wall would -- but Wall is the best talent in this year's NBA Draft. Simply put, there is only one name and one player. There is only one John Wall.

  Indeed.

• NBA.com: Turner, not Wall, could end up as Draft's top pick

  "I wouldn't say it's necessarily like Blake Griffin last year, where 30 teams would have taken him No. 1," the executive said of Griffin, last season's No. 1 overall pick. "Evan Turner is a hell of a player. You could certainly say he'd be a better pro right away [than Wall]."

  You could.  But in my opinion, you'd be wrong.

• Quitting was Lentz's 'hardest decision' | KentuckySports.com

  Lentz first had problems with concussions in high school and had three last year, the last of which came during UK's loss to Clemson in the Music City Bowl.

  I'm so sorry to see Matt Lentz have to give up football.  He made the right call, but I am saddened by it.