Kentucky Wildcats: Morning Quickies - The Return Edition

The Quickies return after a brief hiatus due to the Nerlens Noel injury.

Tweet of the Morning:

Kentucky...Calipari....McDonald's All-Americans.... Rinse and repeat. It never gets old.

— Ally Tucker (@AllyTuckerKSR) February 14, 2013

No. It really doesn't.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Denzel Ware, 2014 defensive end recruit scouting report: versatile edge defender // SBNation.com
  So it says here that Kentucky has him, but strongly suggests we won't keep him. Truthfully, it's always tough, just ask Nebraska.

• UK Football: Vince Marrow says Kentucky will not take a backseat to any school in recruiting - centralkynews.com

  "We had six weeks to do this. Giving us a whole year, it’s going to be pretty special, pretty interesting. I’m very fired up. I know everybody else is fired up. Like I said, we’ve already got some of the top 10 guys on board that want to come now (next year). So it’s going to be a good thing," said Marrow.

  Cocky. I like it.

Kentucky basketball

• This is one of the great rants you'll ever see by South Carolina coach Frank Martin. In fact, calling it a rant is a little unfair. It is a brutal exposition of his team, delivered dispassionately and without rancor. If I were a Gamecock player, I'd have to wonder if I could go out in public again.
  
  But what's really cool is that he mentions Jodie Meeks, and -- get this - Gimel Martinez in extremely flattering ways. It's long, but it is well worth the time investment to watch. Chilling, and moving at the same time. Hat tip: Matt Norlander at CBS.
  

• How Florida's offense (and Casey Prather) befuddled Kentucky's defense // Alligator Army

  It isn't so much what Florida did, but what Kentucky did not do. This is a perfect example of where an experienced player would do the right thing, but an inexperienced player gets confused and does the wrong thing.

  Andy incorrectly diagnoses that Poythress did the right thing. We were switching all pick and rolls against Florida, and when Murphy sets the pick, he becomes Poythress' man. Kyle did the right thing, and Poythress was out of position.

• 3-point shot: Kentucky's seeding slides // ESPN

  1. Kentucky's NCAA tournament fate is probably closely related to what happened to Purdue in 2010, when the Boilermakers were headed toward a No. 1 seed before Robbie Hummel tore his anterior cruciate ligament in a late-February game at Minnesota. The Boilermakers ended up dropping to a No. 4 seed. Kentucky isn't that high, but the seeding, more than an actual selection, is probably going to take the biggest hit following Nerlens Noel's season-ending knee injury.

  I think we'll worry about the things we can control, not the things we can't. We can't control what the committee does. We can control what we do facing our next opponent, which happens to reside down in Knoxville.

• Calipari says Noel could return to UK

  UK coach John Calipari said on his radio show Wednesday night Nerlens Noel will have options. Noel's season ended Tuesday night with a torn ACL but the injury is not career ending. Calipari said he could enter the NBA draft in June or choose to return to UK.

  It is certainly possible, but that decision is several months off.
• One thing that bothers me about Young's game is that he is very, very left handed. You don't see a single right-handed finish in here. That has to change, as Terrence Jones can tell you. Hat tip: Sam Henson.
  
  

• Let's do everything we can to take care of our kids - CoachCal.com

  Could a reason for coaches wanting kids go straight to the NBA out of high school is because they can’t get them and don’t want to compete against them? My hope is that we are bigger than that, but I don’t know. Are educators really thinking that these kids don’t deserve to be in school? Or that if they are good enough to leave early, they don’t want to be there so they shouldn’t be? Please tell me that’s really not true. Do we not have any feelings about stopping cycles within families that lack higher education and changing generational cycles?

  Calipari makes a strong, albeit imperfect, argument against allowing players to go to the NBA straight from high school.

• Noel Nerlens’s Injury Raises Questions About Insurance for College Stars - NYTimes.com

  "It’s not as if they’re being given something," Haagen said. "The attempt not to allow that reasonable accommodation, or not permitting the schools to provide them with a variety of long-term care insurance, that just seems to me inappropriate, shortsighted, wrongheaded."

  I agree. Let others help with insurance. Vet them for connections to NBA agents and such, but if fiends, family, or the schools want to provide the cost of coverage, let them.

Other UK sports

• Cumbess, Nunley Pitch UK to Wins over Cal Poly, San Diego St. // UKAthletics.com
  Softball continues Western swing, and continues to impress.

• Scout.com // Baseball Cats open season on Friday
  I have never been more excited about a baseball season opening day. Omaha is a lofty goal, but I think it is finally realistic.

• Men’s tennis readies for National Championships // The Kentucky Kernel

Links posts

• Morning Five: 02.15.13 Edition // Rush The Court
• The Morning Mix // CollegeBasketballTalk
• Tom Leach // Friday Links
• John Clay's Big Blue Links // John Clay's Sidelines
• John Clay's SEC Links // Sidelines
• Wakeup Call: The best tourney buzzer-beaters, all in one place // CBSSports.com

College football

• Report: NCAA revealed misconduct to Miami prior to going public // CollegeFootballTalk
  Interesting. Why does it surprise me that Miami sat on it?

College basketball

• No. 12 Louisville outlasts St. John's 72-58 // Yahoo! Sports
  You mean Louisville won a Big East game in which they didn't struggle?

• Arizona Wildcats at Colorado Buffaloes // CBSSports.com
  Wow, surprising Colorado.

• Gophers revive their season with OT win
  I was beginning to wonder about them.

Other sports news

• Katherine Webb, girlfriend of Alabama's A.J. McCarron, thanks Brent Musberger for fame // Knoxville News Sentinel

  Katherine Webb is grateful to Brent Musburger for helping launch her career during Alabama's 42-14 BCS Championship game win over Notre Dame, even if it did come about in an odd way.

  All's well that ends well.

• Agent David Falk slams John Wall, Washington Wizards // The Washington Post
  I'm not sure what bee flew into David Faulk's bonnet, but frankly, I think he comes off looking petty and even a little stupid.

Other news

• BBC News // Meteor strike injures hundreds in central Russia
  The universe is an untidy place. So is our solar system, unfortunately ...