Big Blue Linkapalooza: NBA Draft 2011 Edition

Today is NBA Draft Day for 2011.  Tonight starting at 7:00 PM, former college basketball players who have declared for the draft will have an opportunity to see their dreams realized.  It is a big day for these young men, and Kentucky has four draft hopefuls -- Enes Kanter, Brandon Knight, Josh Harrellson and DeAndre Liggins looking forward to who wants them.

These links will be updated as the day progresses.

Here are today's links:

• Kentucky Sports Radio :: Cats land Nolan Jones
• Rupp Arena Accessible Seating Construction Plan Approved
• Video: Cal 'excited, but nervous' for tonight's draft

• NBA Draft 2011: A roundup of mock drafts | NJ.com
  USA today thinks Kanter #2, as does HoopsWorld. CBS sports thinks Knight will drop out of the top five, but they are the only ones.

• Sources: Cavs seeking third lottery pick - TrueHoop Blog - ESPN
  Kind of interesting. For some reason, I doubt this will happen.

• Rush The Court " Blog Archive " RTC NBA Draft Profiles: Brandon Knight

  Best Case Scenario: The best thing that could happen to Brandon Knight is for him to end up on a team with an experienced point guard so he can be brought along more slowly. He’s going to have a nice NBA career, there’s no doubt about that, but if he’s forced into playing too many minutes for a bad team early on, he won’t become the complete player that he has the potential to be. He’d be best served to play for a team that will allow him to get meaningful minutes as the second fiddle for a few years before handing him the keys.

  I think this is usually the ideal scenario, particularly for point guards.

• Calipari's method of selling draft readiness is not unique, but his honesty is | University of Kentucky Sports News | Lexington Herald-Leader

  "John's out front (with) 'We want to prepare you to be a pro,'" Bilas said. "Nothing wrong with that. Kids want to be pros. It's OK to pursue that dream."

  I think Bilas is 100% right about this, and yes, Calipari does use it as a recruiting tool.  It's just about the best recruiting tool there is.

• Wayne Selden reportedly has an offer from UK

• NBA Draft: Primed To Tumble - Basketball News & NBA Rumors -

  Enes Kanter

  An honorable mention needs to go to Kanter because he has been talked about as a possible number one overall pick. However, it's quite possible he could fall all the way to the Wizards at six.

  This is a real possibility if the word we are getting is accurate about the Cavaliers wanting Valanciunas.

• The perfect blend? Next year's basketball team has both experience, youth

  "Be careful because, (as) you're looking over your shoulder, those (new) guys are running," Calipari said. "It's not a year ago. We're not playing six guys. All of a sudden we have six, seven, eight, nine guys we can play. We don't have a program that's based on 'my turn.' "

  Indeed.

• Brian Adams Loves Doing It All At Kentucky | LEX18.com | Lexington, Kentucky

  Forget about it. You can't replace Randall Cobb. Not happening. But that doesn't mean someone else can't step up to the plate and be a home run hitter.
  
  That person could be Brian Adams. After catching two touchdown passes in the Blue-White game this spring, True Blue Fans got a chance to see what he can do on the football field. They also got a chance this spring to see him in the outfield for the Bat Cats.

  I'm excited about Adams.  He has good size and good potential.

• Former Aggie football coach Hal Mumme working on yet another turnaround - Las Cruces Sun-News
• Marquis Teague at Deron Williams Skills Academy

• NBA scouts, coach offer their take on 40 draft prospects - Seth Davis - SI.com

  Josh Selby, 6-3 freshman guard, Kansas. He shouldn't have come out. He didn't give himself a fair chance. He's worth taking a flyer on in the second round, but he's not a first-rounder. Is he a point guard? Will he make your team better? I don't know. We're digging in deep to his background, but when you talk to him, he seems like a good kid. I've never been a real fan because I think he plays with blinders on. Shelvin Mack would kick his butt 10 out of 10 times.

  There's some stuff in here about Kanter and Knight, too, but nothing really surprising.  This surprised me.

  For such a highly-touted prospect coming out of high school, playing for Bill Self did not help Selby.  I wonder if other up and coming players will notice?

• New Highlights of Kyle Wiltjer and Michael Gilchrist
• UK fan in Tennessee glad he brought grandson to Calipari’s camp :: Vaught'sViews.com

• Leftovers from Thursday's Calipari interview

  - In regards to Kentucky's current roster and the possibility of future additions, Calipari said, "Right now, we're sitting where we are." Calipari acknowledged that he still has a couple of scholarships to use should he choose to, but he said he would probably use them for the walk-ons.

  There's really nobody left.  I think that's a good strategy.  We have what we need for next year, although we can't withstand much injury.