Virginia Cavaliers fans rushed the court after upsetting the Duke Blue Devils last night. There were near-incidents, and this is another reason, together with what happened to Kentucky at Indiana last year, that this practice needs to be stopped or modified to protect the visiting team.

Tweet of the Morning:

Getting to work today with the guys!Excitement in Nutter. Recruit and Develop #STOOPSTROOPS twitter.com/UKCoachStoops/…

— Mark Stoops (@UKCoachStoops) March 1, 2013

We share your excitement, coach!

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• 2014 LB Greg Hoyd III, Vista Murietta HS, CA // deepsouthrecruiting

  Hoyd is unranked by Rivals, but given his offer list, must have some skills. Via Hank.

• 2014 LB Jaboree Williams, Ft. Lauderdale HS, Florida // deepsouthrecruiting

  Another unranked recruit that has an impressive list of schools recruiting him. Via Hank

• Ohio State recruiting: State Secrets, 2/26 - Hood, McDowell, & more - Land-Grant Holy Land

  Some of the Buckeye faithful out there have been calling Gary, Indiana native and West high school athlete Lonnie Johnson a Buckeye lock, but in the immortal words of Lee Corso, “not so fast, my friend”. The Kentucky Wildcats have offered the 6’3 190 pounder, adding to a list that includes the likes of Ohio State, Illinois and Nebraska. From the sound of things whatever Big Blue Nation is cooking, Johnson seems to want a plate:

  Okay, when we start beating out the Ohio St. Buckeyes for recruits, even a little bit, this thing has gotten serious.

Kentucky basketball

• Kentucky basketball recruit Dakari Johnson found haven in Lexington // courier-journal.com

  This is a very long, and interesting article about Dakari Johnson, Kentucky’s 2013 center recruit. He and his mom lived for a while in Lexington before she lost her job and moved down to New Jersey. So there is a strong connection to the state of Kentucky. I did not know that.

  But when Dakari reached eighth grade, Makini lost her job. She didn’t want to uproot her children again, so she found part-time work and stayed in Lexington so Dakari could at least finish middle school. After he graduated, the family moved to Newark, N.J., to live with Makini’s sister.

  The fact that he was mentored by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist as a young player couldn’t have hurt when it came to choosing a school, either.

• This is far, far, too awesome for words. Via Kentucky Sports Radio:
  

• An Outsider’s Trip to the Heart of Big Blue Nation // Rush The Court

  Kentucky’s intro video is long. It’s not even the only intro video — there’s a hipper version that plays right before the public address announcer introduces the Wildcats’ starters. The first one isn’t as hip, though. It’s nostalgic. It’s a full two minutes (possibly an NCAA record for intro videos) of grainy, black-and-white video from the Dark Ages set to the tune of Bittersweet Symphony.
  
  It is awesome. As the shots move at lightning speed from frame to frame to frame to frame, you see Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall, Pat Riley, Jamal Mashburn, Patrick Sparks, Tayshaun Prince, Frank Ramsey, Tony Delk, Sean Woods, Kenny Walker, Dan Issel and all the other Kentucky legends this state has embraced for almost a century.

  Read the whole thing, it’s inspiring, and it isn’t written by a Kentucky fan.

• Wiggins mum after his official visit to Kentucky // NextCats

  There’s a popular narrative in recruiting circles that Wiggins is already sold on Kentucky and that this week’s trip was about selling his parents on the Cats.
  
  Fulford didn’t dismiss the theory.

  I’m not really sanguine about that, but I hope it’s true.

• Good 'N Plenty: Cats-Heels iffy, but would be great First Four matchup // CBSSports.com

  Bah. I think a UNC/UK match up in the “first four” would be stupid, and I don’t think either team would relish that.

• Ex-Cat Anderson an experienced adviser for Noel on ACL // Kentucky.com

  When asked about Noel’s mood in their talks, [Derek] Anderson said, “He was very excited. Very upbeat. We started talking and we became like brothers in a sense. He was like looking up to me.”

  Great to hear, and it was really inspiring to hear Derek Anderson support Pitino’s decision not to play him in 1997. That had to be tough on both men, because I think with a healthy Anderson, we win back-to-back titles easily.

Other UK sports

• Kentucky 90, Mississippi 65: Cats roll, Mitchell ties record as UK women's winningest coach | Basketball: Women // Kentucky.com

Links posts

• Tom Leach // Friday Links
• Wakeup Call: Welcome to MARCH // CBSSports.com
• Morning Five: 03.01.13 Edition // Rush The Court

College football

• Another example of why storming the court, or rushing onto a football field, is a really bad idea. Via @KevinScarbinski:
  

• AP Source: NCAA found $170K in Shapiro benefits - Yahoo! Sports

  It seems that the NCAA only listed a small amount of the money that Nevin Shapiro claims he spent on the Miami football team, but that sliver is still a lot. Via Hank.

• AP Source: 3 former Miami coaches want case tossed // Yahoo! Sports

  ‘’[Louisville assistant football coach ] Clint [Hurtt] is due his due process,’’ Jurich said. ‘’I think that’s the only fair thing that we can do as a university. Clint’s side of the story is much different than the allegations are so I think we wait the 90 days and see how it unfolds then.’’

  I actually think this is a very fair decision by Louisville, and I applaud them for it. It is always possible that the NCAA allegations are wrong in some significant particular, and Hurtt certainly deserves a chance to defend himself. Via Hank

College basketball

• Coach K, Devils confronted by fans after loss

  Virginia rushed the floor last night after defeating Duke, and in a scene somewhat reminiscent of the court-rushing by the Indiana Hoosiers last year, the situation was nearly explosive. Fans came down shouting profanity at Coach K, the Duke players and assistant coaches. They had to push and shove their way through the hostile mob to get off the court.

  “Do you know how close you are to… Just put yourself in the position of one of our players or coaches, and I’m not saying any fan did this, but the potential is there all the time. But they can just go up to you and say, ‘Coach, you’re a …’ or push you or hit you or whatever. What do you do?”

  I totally agree with Krzyzewski here. This practice needs to stop, or be managed better. It is unacceptable, and somebody is going to get hurt. We should have learned this by now. Hat tip: Hank.

• Florida clears Will Yeguete to return Saturday against Alabama // CollegeBasketballTalk

  Good. That means Florida will be at or near full strength when they meet us for the season finale in Rupp.

  I know we need that win, but I hate to play teams with injured players.

• Mark Story: Will this be the year a No. 16 seed finally beats a No. 1? // Kentucky.com

  Could be. The #1 seeds look pretty weak to me this year.

• Virginia's mysterious run continues // ESPN
• Catholic Seven could begin play as early as next season // SI.com

Other sports news

• Nets’ Keith Bogans Works From a Corner Office // NYTimes.com

  Keith Bogans likes to joke that he has lived in the corners beyond the 3-point arc his entire professional career. That is where he has made most of his success in 10 years in the N.B.A., he said, with something of a self-deprecating tone.

  Keith is not the first player to do that, nor will he be the last – remember Bruce Bowen, the Spurs’ defensive specialist who make a living on corner 3’s?

  Players who can find themselves open in the corner and make that shot are always valuable to any team.

• Wizards’ John Wall remains in a funk

  “When he’s in a zone, he’s hard to get to sometimes,” rookie Bradley Beal said. “But that’s just the type of player he is. I’m kind of like that. I get frustrated and upset. You probably won’t hear from me about it, but it’s a learning process for him. It’s a learning process for me and everyone else. Sometimes, the older guys don’t have good games and we tell them to stick with it. They’ll either listen or not. It’s up to the player. You can tell him, but you can’t make him.”

  C’mon, John. Snap out of it!