Noon Kentucky Wildcats Update: Injuries Are Bad, And So Is Renardo Sidney

Some unfortunate news on the injury front from KSR.  Freshman wideout Daryl Collins has sustained a knee injury that will keep him out for the 2011 season and force him to take a medical redshirt.  Collins was a very bright spot among the freshmen wide receivers and was expected to make an impact this year from the slot position.

Fortunately, UK has some depth and experience in that position with E.J. Fields and Gene McCaskill, who is coming off a knee injury.  Injuries do happen in football, and all we can do is hope that the rash of injuries that have cropped up in the summer camp abate once we get to the season.  This is the first really major injury I am aware of, which is fine, but there have been some minor ones, mainly to the offensive line.

[UPDATE] Guy Ramsey reports on Collins' injury.

In other injury news, Eric Lindsey has an excellent article over at CoachCal.com about the way Jon Hood is handling his torn ACL.  One of the things that really makes me sad is that the article reveals that Hood was making major progress this summer correcting some flaws in his shooting form. 

We also discover that one of the reasons Hood has seen such little time over the last two years is that he just wasn't determined enough, and that translated to too few hours in the gym.  Those of us wondering why he hasn't risen faster now have at least part of the answer, but Hood addressed that problem and was putting in serious practice time before the injury:

On a trip home to visit his family and friends, Hood started to work out with his father. After two shots, the one person who has seen him sink 95 percent of his shots was able to pinpoint a couple of bad habits that had begun to plague his shooting technique.

"He nitpicked my shot," Hood said of the mechanics his father pointed out (specifically, the spin off his release, the position of his elbow and his footwork). "He nitpicked it and nitpicked it and nitpicked it. He said, ‘If you were in the gym enough, this wouldn’t have happened.’ "

Jon's father was right, and Hood took it to heart.  Be sure and read the whole thing, it is a very good article.  I hate to lose Jon and I know he hates to miss a year, but this could be a very good thing for him.  Once he's back on his feet, he can get in the gym and get his game ready to make an impact next year, where he is likely to be badly needed.  This year, he would have struggled for playing time.

Finally, we turn to Renardo Sidney.  There was much scratching of heads when it was discovered that Sidney did not make the trip overseas with the rest of the Mississippi St. Bulldogs basketball team, and instead wound up in Houston at John Lucas' place, ostensibly to work on his attitude and his game.

Many had speculated that this was Sidney's decision, but Matt Norlander reports today that it was not -- it was Rick Stansbury's.

Matt is right that Stansbury has stuck his neck out a mile for Sidney over the last couple of years, and this development is not encouraging.  If Sidney winds up on the outs with the team or the coach at MSU this year, Stansbury's seat could start to get uncomfortably warm.  The MSU coach has invested a ton of credibility and time in this mercurial kid, and I hope Lucas can help him get his mind right.