Kentucky Wildcats: Morning Quickies - Catch Up Edition

I'm back in the saddle, ladies and gentlemen of the Big Blue Nation, after an eventful week in the South Carolina low country that saw some good weather, and some bad weather. Fittingly, I drove through rainstorms all the way home.

Today's edition of the Quickies will be kind of long, as I am catching up from the weekend.

Tweet of the Morning:

My dude Chen our translator came through clutch today and found us some snacks http://t.co/Eoa39ht0V4

— Kyle Wiltjer (@kwiltj) June 10, 2013

Kyle looks like he is enjoying his trip to China.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Here's one list of the Top 20 Running Backs:

  • #7 - Tony James, Gainesville, FL - UK recruit
  • #8 - Stanley "Boom" Williams, Monroe, GA - UK recruit
  • #11 - Jeff Jones, Minneapolis, MN - UK recruit - Minnesota commit
  • #12 - Mikel Horton, West Chester, OH - UK commit

  This time a year ago, would we have even offered one of the top 20? [Hank]

• Here's a great interview with one of our weekend visitors/campers. Hey, Georgia! We're back. Actually, we never left. [Hank]

• Larry Vaught interviewed Stanley "Boom" Williams. Very interesting. [Hank]

• Drew Barker defends football at USA Today. [Hank]

• This is camp week for UK. KSR claims over 300 in attendance at Commonwealth last night. Most were in-state kids. The big dogs are coming in later. Today, Tuesday and some others are coming in next weekend (no camp). Here is a partial list of attendees. [Hank]

• At least one camper was impressed. [Hank]

• This article on the UK fan base - for football, basketball and baseball - explains the optimism. [Hank] Consider:

  What we are seeing right now here in Kentucky is a stark example of a fascinating sports phenomenon. The "temperature" of a fan base seems based far less on the tangible factor of how their teams have performed in the recent past than on the intangible perception of how people think their teams will fare in the future.

  So instead of living in the past, we're embracing a hopeful future. I suppose I can live with that. [Glenn]

• Drew Barker was in Chicago for the Rivals Top 100 5 Star Challenge presented by Under Armour. This camp is an invitation only camp.

  Here's a roster list and other info. In addition to Barker, you'll see several players that UK is recruiting, including Lorenzo Carter, Johnnie Dixon, Clifton Garrett, Ricky DeBerry (2015), Marshone Lattimore, Josh Malone, Montae Nicholson, Barker roomie Artavis Scott, Dwight Williams and Isaiah Wynn. Didn't mention those we're still recruiting who've committed elsewhere and several other 2015 offers. [Hank]

• Here's some great advice for football campers and parents. [Hank]

• Top performers from the Under Armor Five-Star camp this weekend:

  • Quarterbacks
  • Running Backs
  • Wide Receiver
  • Tight End
  • Offensive Line
  • Defensive Line
  • Linebackers
  • Defensive Backs

• Defensive end ]Denzel Ware recommits](http://blogs.courier-journal.com/recruiting/2013/06/09/4-star-denzel-ware-apparently-recommits-to-kentucky/) to Kentucky. Hank kinda sorta predicted this might happen earlier noting:

  As you can see, Ware is at the bottom of the totem pole for Florida, but in Ware’s eyes Florida is a "better" prom date. You can’t really blame him. Florida is a contender and he is really a Florida kid. Kentucky, however, has offered him a committable offer and he IS a 4 Star. Therefore, Kentucky would be stupid to take the offer from the table. We can’t be picky…yet. Maybe that will change in a few years. My opinion is that it will be a while before Florida accepts his commitment, if at all.

  Since 2010, Florida has never taken more than four DEs. For Florida, there are a lot of prettier prom dates to choose from.

  More on Ware's re-commitment. [Hank]

• Interview with recent commits Shyquan Pullium and Ryan Flannigan. [Hank]

• Nice article about Mark Stoops. [Hank]

• Wildcats in some tall cotton in 2014 recruiting:

  

Kentucky basketball

• UK recruit Emmanuel Mudiay defends basketball at USA Today.

• Kyle Wiltjer helped Team Canada defeat Team USA, and had 17 points in the bargain.

Other UK sports

• Meade County's Morgan Turner is hearing from some big schools, but so far, Kentucky is not one of them. I wonder why? [Via Hank]

Links posts

• Rush The Court -- Morning Five

• The Leach Report -- Monday Wildcat Links

College football

• Mississippi St. gets off pretty light for some recruiting transgressions, although a former assistant coach got a "show cause" order for -- what else? -- unethical conduct. But it's only for one year, primarily because the coach in question owned up to his mistake and cooperated after being found out.

  What I like is how MSU got praised for helping the NCAA. To me, that says that they took it seriously, and for that, they deserve praise. This was a pretty serious case, and it looks like the school took it very seriously. Overall, this is the kind of outcome you'd like to see more of. [Via Hank]

• Some more Fulmer Cup points for Florida State.

• Louisville will need a lot of help to get anywhere near the College Football Playoff.

• Mind your trees; convicted Toomer's Corner tree-poisoner Harvey Updike gets out of jail today.

College basketball

• Hoosiers will be taking a step back next year. Last year had to be a major disappointment for Hoosier fans, and this year, they will be in rebuilding mode. [Via Hank]

• Andrew Wiggins will not participate in the Canada U-19 team.

• Teams working out Archie Goodwin see improvement in his jump shot.

• Raleigh News & Observer reporter not giving up on the North Carolina academic scandal. Hat tip: Rush The Court

Other sports news

• Louisville baseball headed to Omaha. Great year for them, lousy year for us, at least on the men's side. But better things are ahead.

• Uh oh. Looks like the Spurs pissed LeBron off. You don't tug on Superman's cape, boys ...

• Gamecocks back in Omaha. LSU as well.