We haven’t talked enough about John Wall, so today’s Quickies will lead off with a hype video:
Yeah, he’s pretty good. He was pretty good here as well. Let’s not forget.
Tweet of the Day
On reports that Bob Stoops wanted to play some of the lower tier SEC teams, Mark Stoops said: "Bring 'em on. Bring on the Sooners."
— Jen Smith (@jenheraldleader) July 24, 2014
Indeed. Bring ‘em on!
Stoops on Gov Cup lunch: "I apologize if I offended anyone. I'll take responsibility for any confusion" about him coming or not.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_CJ) July 24, 2014
That’s something, I guess.
Your Quickies:
Kentucky football
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Offensive lineman George Brown will be making the call tomorrow. According to Rivals.com, only two schools have a realistic chance at Brown — Florida and Kentucky. Brown is ranked well inside the Rivals 250 at #118, and getting him would be huge for the Wildcats.
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Mark Stoops at the Lexington Rotary Club.
Mark Stoops at the Lexington Rotary Club. He says the No 1 issue he inherited was a lack of leadership on his team. pic.twitter.com/xka3bVeLmw
— Steve Moss (@smosswkyt) July 24, 2014 -
Eric Crawford can’t get too worked up about Mark Stoops not showing up for the Governor’s Cup luncheon. I’m not worked up about it, I just wish he would’ve gone. But I also wish the governor himself would’ve gone, so there’s that.
Kentucky basketball
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For the second straight season, the Kentucky Wildcats were honored by the National Association of Basketball Coaches for Team Academic Excellence. Excellent! More here.
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Former NCAA managing director for development and investigations, Rachel Baker, now works for UK in the compliance department along with Sandy Bell. Consider:
"When I was at the NCAA, some of my best sources were ex-girlfriends. I talked to a lot of upperclassmen who were not playing because a freshman got their spot. I talked a lot to assistant coaches who got fired or were no longer coaches. It’s not as hard to get information sometimes as athletes wants to believe."
…
She joked that she often gets asked how she gets along with basketball coach John Calipari, who blasted the NCAA in his recent book. However, she said Calipari, football coach Mark Stoops and women’s basketball coach Matthew Mitchell and their staffs are all "very conscientious" about following rules.Read ‘em and weep, haters.
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Will LeBron James be playing at the annual UK Charity game? You never know …
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Could Andy Kennedy hire Skal Labissiere’s guardian, Gerald Hamilton, in order to coax Labissiere to Oxford? Well, it worked for Josh Pastern and the Lawson brothers. Hat tip: NextCats
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Jerry Meyer thinks Malik Newman will wind up at Mississippi State. It’s certainly possible, but I have my doubts.
Links posts
College football
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Fascinating article about Nick Saban’s personality, and how recruits view him as "most-intimidating." And it isn’t even close. Nobody said he was the "easiest to talk to." And then this:
One former Saban staffer who was heavily involved in recruiting said he’d heard of other programs using Saban’s reputation as ammunition against Alabama. He said one SEC school had gone so far as to cut up a video highlighting Saban’s on-field antics and showing it to recruits: Saban screaming at refs, throwing his headset, berating his players. Saban’s now-infamous slap on the behind of then-backup QB AJ McCarron in 2010 made the highlight reel as well
I wonder who that SEC school is? I sure would like to know, because I think that’s a dirty trick, unfair to everybody. Negative recruiting, in general, turns me off, but this one is really disgusting.
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The ACC wins a BCS title and suddenly they’re all that? Not likely.
College basketball
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Is playground basketball dying? According to Dana O’Neil and Myron Medcalf, it is. Consider:
There is no single cause. The best players, young and old, want to be inside instead of out; they want organized games to showcase their skills, not pickup games to earn street cred. Violence has chased people off playgrounds and out of parks, and NBA and NCAA rules limit when and where guys can play in the offseason.
I don’t know, perhaps. I still see a lot of outdoor basketball here in Louisville.
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Miles Turner went from a size 14 shoe to size 17 in two weeks. He’s at size 21 now. Wow.
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Two more big college hoops events will be held in Las Vegas next year. I wish UK would play at one of them, especially the Main Event, which coincides with my annual trip to Sin City.
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SB Nation ranks the ten best high school mix tapes of all time. I bet you’ll never guess who’s number one. Comment before you click.
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"Infrareds?" Seriously, color-blind Louisville fans (and players, and coaches), they’re orange. Not red.
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Mike Rutherford writing for SB Nation bemoan’s college basketball’s "shadiest loophole." Consider:
Memphis hired Milt Wagner before they landed DaJuan. Kentucky hired Simeon Mars, the high school coach of Jamaal Magliore, as an administrative assistant. Villanova hired Tim Thomas’ high school coach AND his cousin before Thomas signed with the Wildcats. Louisville hired one of Marquis Teague’s high school coaches and then fired him shortly after Teague committed to Kentucky. Bill Self hired Ronnie Chalmers before Mario committed, and Texas A&M hired John Reese to help get J-Mychal.
I didn’t know that Louisville did that. Now I do.
Honestly, I think Mike’s right. This needs to be somehow done away with — it looks bad, and has "the appearance of impropriety." I wish there were a way to stop this practice. I’m not mad at Pastener for doing it, everyone else has (nearly), but I wish it would stop.
Other sports news
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Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated says trading Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love is an easy decision. Hat tip: Real Clear Sports
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NFL player Ray Rice knocked his girlfriend out, dragged her unconscious body outside a casino elevator, and got suspended for two weeks. Clay Travis is incensed, and rightly so.
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Heh.
Name a coach under a cloud, ESPN will hire him. RT @BryanDFischer: Butch Davis joining ESPN - http://t.co/qmQJ30e7hH
— Gregg Doyel (@GreggDoyelCBS) July 24, 2014 -
God knows.
World is short on shame and long on assholes and mosquitoes.
— Spencer Hall (@edsbs) July 24, 2014 -
Bold predictions for the 2014-15 rookie class. Julius Randle gets a favorable mention.
Other news
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Apple "sternly" denies their software is "riddled with back doors" for the NSA. Hope to shout.
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Yes, your dog does get jealous. So be advised
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The search for habitable planets is coming up dry. This may be a good thing.
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Tylenol (acetopmenophen) may not help relieve back pain. In my experience, nothing helps relieve back pain except an injection of opiates, and all that really does is make you not care about back pain.