Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: Julius Randle Edition

Today is Julius Randle day. The news is just stuffed with stuff about Randle, and it's all worth a read.

Tweet of the Morning:

Big Blue Madness campout begins soon. Please be respectful of each other when jockeying for position to set up your tents.

— Mitch Barnhart (@UKMitchBarnhart) October 2, 2013

Yes. Please do.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Connor Shaw healthy enough to play against Kentucky, but may not start.

• Drew Barker looks great in blue. We need to offer #25 while we're at it. [Hank]

  I've never seen a player, particularly a quarterback, use the stiff-arm to such amazing effect. [Glenn]

• 17 things about the Florida-Kentucky game. This is an interesting read, particularly the bits about what Kentucky did.

• The play that Daryl Collins muffed was actually a great play. Too bad he didn't throw the ball. [Hank]

• It has become obvious that Stoops & Company took over a team that had a lack of SEC talent. There are exceptions and Avery Williamson is one... [Hank]

• Donte Rumph is not real comfortable in aircraft, and not for the reason you might think.

• D.J. Eliot talks about going against Steve Spurrier.

• Mark Stoops very encouraged about how the Wildcats are responding after losses.

• Mark Stoops says that the only answer for Kentucky is hard work. I think that's right — plus a little more talent. Help is on the way.

Kentucky basketball

• Dikembe Dixon from Thomas Nelson High in Bardstown was apparently contacted by Kentucky recently. Hat tip: AllkyHoops

• Forcing UL basketball fans to face reality. Bahahahah. [Hank]

• More Julius Randle.

• Coach Cal asks the Big Blue Nation gathered outside Rupp Arena for Big Blue Madness tickets to remember to act with decorum and be respectful of others.

• Heh.

  "On a lot of recruiting, a lot of coaches were like, ‘All right, you will be that guy. You’ll be the guy to score 50, and you’ll be the most dominant player ever,’ " [Marcus] Lee said. "And here they [Calipari and Kentucky] were like, ‘OK, well you’re going to play against the best people in practice, win games, and your life will suck because you have to go against Dakari and Willie (Cauley-Stein).’

  "I was like, ‘Ah, man, that sounds great.’ "

  Marcus Lee is a character. He's becoming a favorite of mine.

• Wow, indeed:

  Calipari describes this team as a group who can play 15 different ways. The strongest he's ever had at UK. They'll be led by freshman Julius Randle who Calipari describes as a 6'9" Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. If that's true, wow.

• Dakari Johnson is happy to be a center, and not a "forward." I like a self-aware man who rejects modern convention.

• Preseason Q&A with John Calipari:

  • Part 1
  • Part 2

• Still more Julius Randle:

  How tough [is Randle]? Let fellow Kentucky freshman Marcus Lee explain.

  "Going against Julius Randle is probably the hardest thing I have ever had to practice-wise or scrimmage-wise. I have never gone that hard for a scrimmage. With him, you don’t have a choice," Lee said. "Julius will knock me down, look at me crazy on the floor and then keep going, which is awesome. I wouldn’t expect anything different from him.

  "But he is also the guy after he knocked me down and is walking back down the court, he will say, ‘This is what you did wrong, and don’t do it again.’ And I wouldn’t do it again, which is awesome. It is a great learning experience about how to defend people like him better."

• Some Kentucky recruits highlight the Ohio Showcase in January.

• Okay, who ya got? Stephan Van Treese or Willie Cauley-Stein/Dakari Johnson? Easy one for me.

• Still more Randle.

  "He had great relationships with everybody at school here. Talk to anybody, including the headmaster, and they cannot stop talking about how great a kid he was. I knew the hype and hoopla would not change him. He has great character, a great mom. He’s very well grounded," Mayberry said.

  Still more Randle here.

Links posts

• The Leach Report — Wednesday Wildcat Links

• John Clay's Big Blue Links

• John Clay's SEC Links

College football

• The Lane Kiffin saga continues. [Hank]

• Tennessee fans finally react to Kiffin's firing. [Hank]

• Mike Leach (11:10 mark) and the Popcorn guy...LOL. [Hank]

• Six Florida high schools are ranked in the USA Today Top 25 this week. [Hank]

College basketball

• Rush The Court — Morning Five

• Seven players with pressure to perform this season, including Alex Poythress of Kentucky.

Other sports news

• Mark Price helps Michael Kidd-Gilchrist work on his shot.

• Marquis Teague is ready to contribute in Chicago.