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It's Derby Festival Time!

By Glenn Logan

Before I get started with the main post, I want to thank each and every person who contributed to the post just below this one.  

One of the best things about this particular blog is the extremely high quality comments we get.  I feel it is important to let all of you know how rewarding it is to get such cogent, well reasoned commentary from our readers.

So to all of you who participated in the discussion, thank you, and well done!  To those of you who have left comments that I haven't responded to yet, don't worry - I'll get there.

Now, on to Saturday.  Today is the day for the Derby Classic basketball game here in Louisville, and even though I won't be attending in person due to illness, I know it will be televised locally and I will be watching our recruits.

Some interesting things have emerged from yesterday, when some preliminaries were apparently held:


  • AJ Stewart scored the only perfect "10" in the slam dunk prelims

  • Steffphon Pettigrew qualified for the 3-point shooting finals, notable because this part of his game was considered by many to be a weakness rather than a strength.

  • Mike Williams has spoken with Billy Gillispie and likes him.  He was apparently worried about the coaching change.

  • DeAndre Jordan didn't participate in the preliminaries due to the stomach flu, but he is expected to play tonight.

  • Michael Beasley, 6'10" power forward committed to Kansas State, won the 2-on-2 competition and had the highest score in the 3-point shooting preliminary round.  This kid is awesome.

Rick Bozich tells us in his Courier-Journal blog that Glynn Cyprien is going to be a member of Gillispie's staff.  Why is this important?  Apparently, not only is Cyprien a great recruiter, he was an assistant when his brother John was at Oklahoma State during their final four run, and has a strong relationship with the Lucas family.

Speaking of Lucas, he is visiting Florida this weekend.  If he comes back uncommitted, I think our odds of getting him go up dramatically.

Last, but by no means least, Billy Gillispie has made serious inroads in the recruitment of one Willie Warren, a 5-star out of Fort Worth, #13 overall by Rivals.  According to the Lawrence, Kansas Journal-World:

Warren told Rivals.com he has a top three of KU, Kentucky and Texas, but is wide open after this week re-opening his recruiting. The sweet shooting guard, who averaged 23 points a game his junior season, also has Texas A&M, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Wisconsin, Indiana, Arizona and UCLA on his list.

"I just got off the phone with coach Gillispie (Billy, Kentucky), and he's making it even tougher on my decision," Warren told Rivals.com. "We've opened back up, so we don't really have a list, but it's hard to turn down Kentucky, Kansas and Texas right now. I am not sure when I will decide."


Go get 'em, Billy Clyde!

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