Kentucky Wildcats: Morning Quickies - Miami Allegations Edition

Miami University and former Miami basketball coach Frank Haith both received their notice of allegations from the NCAA yesterday. Miami has been charged with lack of institutional control. Haith apparently did not get the dreaded "unethical conduct" charge, contrary to prior reporting.

In other top news, the Wildcats take on Vanderbilt tonight in Rupp Arena in the first game of a 3-game home stand.

Tweet of the Morning:

So ... Aaron Harrison did this Tuesday night. Yikes instagr.am/p/V8mHJ3vnU9/

— Ben Roberts (@NextCats) February 20, 2013

Click on the link. Wowzers.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Kentucky football notebook: Mark Stoops says he won't change
  Stoops, and Kentucky generally, have done a great job of seizing the moment. That's how they were able to land Jason Hatcher and make such a big impact on recruiting at Kentucky.

• FAN REVIEW: Kentucky Fans––Pretty women, ugly football // Capstone Report

  Commonwealth Stadium is a great place to watch a football game, and not just for the women…who for some reason look incredible in blue and white. It’s just another one of those throw-back stadiums, seating under 70,000 for an intimate afternoon of football. But unless you’re wearing different colors, entering the stadium on a fun road trip with your team, it’s hard to imagine why you’d go.

  This is actually a fun article I think you will enjoy. I have a feeling, though, that things are about to change...

Kentucky basketball

• Video: Calipari talks UK on Katz Korner // ESPN
  Cal talks about Vanderbilt, Nerlens Noel, and what is a head for the Wildcats.

• Calipari on the Cats’ road to recovery // Kyle Tucker – UK Beat

  "You know what’s amazing? I’m like (chairmen of the FED Ben) Bernanke, the President, I make a statement and it’s like oh, my gosh, the stock market starts moving. We have to close down borders if I make a statement."

  Heh.

• Calipari says Kentucky could be story of the year if players choose to do that // vaughtsviews

  "We can make what we want of this season. Whatever we want to make of this season, we can do. We could be the story of the year — of recovery and all that," said the Kentucky coach

  Tonight is their first chance to prove they have what it takes.

• UK-Vanderbilt notes: Pressure to win part of equation for Cats now | Basketball: Men | Kentucky.com

  "I don't like to have the mind-set of our backs against the wall," [Julius Mays] said. "If you play with that much pressure, you're liable to play bad. I want guys to play with a free mind (while) knowing we have work to do."

  I think this is exactly right, Uncle J. Don't put pressure on yourself, there's plenty of pressure already.

• Calipari looking for players to take charge // Kentucky.com

  Taking charges has been a rarity for Calipari's UK teams. As a complementary strategy, the Cats have not gambled for steals.

  In the last four seasons, UK ranked in the top four nationally in blocks, and outside the top 100 in steals. As of Tuesday, the Cats ranked No. 2 in blocks (7.3 per game) and No. 230 in steals (6.3 per game).

  I suspect we may see that steals effort change also.

• John Clay's notes: UK basketball has more worries than Shows' calls // Kentucky.com

  You think Kentucky lacks much of a bench without Nerlens Noel, Mississippi State will have five scholarship players available for its game against Alabama on Wednesday. Losers of 10 straight, the Bulldogs suspended Roquez Johnson indefinitely on Monday.

  And you think Kentucky has problems. Talk about Team Turmoil!

Other UK sports

• UK divers pushing through pain heading into SEC Championships - Kentucky Wildcats

  "We're not exactly tapering for SECs," said Hautau. "We're shooting for NCAAs. I just told the team early on before the season that we're going to train through SECs. That doesn't mean I don't think we can perform well there; they perform well every week. So I expect they'll do well at this meet."

  Sounds like another coach I know.
• Baseball Cats impressive, but unproven // The Kentucky Kernel

• Softball Moves Up Rankings in Both Polls to No. 20/21 // UKAthletics.com
  They may be even better than that, but we'll have to wait and see.

• No. 8 Baseball Ventures to Caravelle Resort Invite // UKAthletics.com

  Off to a quick start to 2013, No. 8 Kentucky will travel to Myrtle Beach, S.C., for the Caravelle Resort Invitational, hosted by Coastal Carolina at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Park. UK will face Kansas State on Thursday at 4 p.m. ET, Elon on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET and the Chanticleers on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET.

Links posts

• Tom Leach // Wednesday Links
• John Clay's Big Blue Links // John Clay's Sidelines
• The Morning Mix // Troy Machir, CollegeBasketballTalk

College football

• Source: Miami receives NCAA notice of allegations // SI.com

  Miami finally received its notice of allegations from the NCAA, which accused the school of having a "lack of institutional control" for not monitoring the conduct of a booster who provided thousands of dollars in cash, gifts and other items to football and men's basketball players.

  Now, it gets really interesting.

College basketball

• Missouri back on track after beating Florida // ESPN
  Well, if Kentucky can pull the upset of Mizzou on Saturday, we can beat Florida by proxy. That's probably as close as we'll get this year unless we can pull off a shocker when the Gators visit Rupp.

• Haith says NCAA report does not allege unethical conduct : Sports

  Mizzou coach Frank Haith acknowledged Tuesday night that he received a notice of allegations from the NCAA but said the document did not include a charge of unethical conduct as was reported last month.

  There will be much more about this later, I'm sure.

Other sports news

• Okay, you have to admit this is pretty darn cool:
  

• Midseason grades: Is John Wall a franchise player? // Bullets Forever

  He added, "I think maybe they thought it was gonna be John Wall – maybe they still think it is. I think there’s a lot of people in the league – I’d certainly be one that would share this opinion – I don’t think John Wall’s good enough to be the guy that you build around. I think he’s got great speed and quickness, but point guard is a decision-making position. That’s what makes you great as a point guard, is your decision-making. I haven’t seen any indication that John Wall is a great decision-maker."

  I actually agree with this. John depends an awful lot on his physical ability and less on his understanding of the game. The great point guards make their living more on the understanding of the game, and making the right decisions in the right situation.

• Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau lauds Hornets rookie Anthony Davis - chicagotribune.com

  A lot of sights in New Orleans make visitors go "wow." For Chicago Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, it’s Anthony Davis.

  "Geez ... he’s just incredible," Thibodeau said Tuesday morning before his team’s shootaround at New Orleans Arena. "His skill set is so unique. His timing, shot-blocking, athleticism.

• Not enough AD? Here's more from NBA All-Star weekend: