Kentucky Wildcats Afternoon Quickies: Football Week One Edition

Week one of football practice is in the books, and if we don't consider yesterday's open practice for fans, Mark Stoops was mostly happy.

Tweet of the day:

Will Jr follow Daddy's footsteps @ UK or will he decide to be a Hoosier? @tomcrean @UKCoachCalipari @KySportsRadio http://t.co/Svcz6yN1LW

— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) August 10, 2013

We'd love to steal him. No doubt about that.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Bud Dupree likes the new vibe around Kentucky football. Well, who doesn't?

• Well, the rain may have dampened the crispness yesterday at the UK Fan Day practice, but not the enthusiasm. Stoops:

  "Overall, just a very average day. It was the first practice I could walk off and be disappointed because I just don’t think the energy was great. I don’t think our concentration was great. I don’t think we executed as well as we have. We dropped balls. Just overall sloppy."

• Some video from Fan Day over at Cat Scratches.

• How do you like this? Incoming freshman defensive back Jaleel Hytcheye did research on Mark Stoops and his coaching staff before committing to Kentucky.

• Coach Stoops gets a nice present from a fan. Via Sam Henson

• Mark Stoops and Charlie Strong discuss paying players. Strong thinks it will happen. Stoops was a lot more reserved and equivocal on the issue.

• More on Kentucky Fan Day yesterday from the Kentucky Kernel.

Kentucky basketball

• The Marshall County Hoopfest is loaded with Kentucky targets again, including Emmanuel Mudiay, Cliff Alexander and Trey Lyles.

• Well, I asked if Calipari would be interested in offering James Blackmon Jr., who recently decommitted from Tom Crean and the Hoosiers, a scholarship. Now, I have my answer.

  It's hard to really measure the delicious schadenfreude if we were to land both Trey Lyles and Blackmon. We could gig IU fans with that one for a long, long time.

• Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones are unhappy with the ongoing rumor that Duke leads for their services:

  "It's disappointing. It's taking the fun out of the process for the two boys," Okafor's father, Chukwudi Okafor, said by phone on Friday. "That's a shame. Let the kids go through the process. I just want them to enjoy it, not the media, not Twitter, not the coaches, not the AAU coaches. Those kids are highly intelligent. They know what to do. Let it play out, and I think the world is in for something special."

  Welcome to the reality of modern college basketball recruiting, Mr. Okafor. I feel you, but you have to just get used to it. Your plea is going to fall on deaf ears. Via Aaron's blog.

• Naturally, Kentucky isn't the only suitor for newly decommitted James Blackmon Jr.

• 2014 Dante Exum from Australia now 50/50 on entering the NBA draft. I don't think Calipari is counting on him being available.

Links posts

• John Clay's Big Blue Links

• KSR's Saturday Morning Links

• The Leach Report — Saturday Wildcat LInks

College football

• The official SEC football schedules could be out next week, according to John Clay. About time.

• The Vanderbilt scandal has exploded, and not at all in a good way. For ex-Commodores have been charged with a total of five counts of aggravated sexual battery.

  Vandy's squeaky-clean reputation just took a major broadside. This will reflect negatively on James Franklin, but he did act quickly in the matter and that will mitigate any potential damage. But he has to make sure this doesn't become a frequent occurrence. Just ask Urban Meyer.

  Anchor of Gold has more, and this:

  These charges will add new life to the worst scandal to ever rock Vanderbilt football and confirm our worst fears about what may have happened that summer night. Anchor of Gold would like to express our sympathies to the victim. Hopefully these charges will begin to bring some closure for her.

  Indeed.

• Land Grant Holy Land looks at who may be under- or over-rated in the B1G.

• Corn Nation wonders if the "high character" reputation of Nebraska football is hurting their recruiting.

  Personally, I don't think having high character, as a program, can ever be a negative.

• So let me get this straight — there is no NCAA investigation of Johnny Football despite reporting from ESPN?

  Well, I don't call Bristol Barad-dûr for nothing ...

College basketball

• Big Ten Powerhouse looks at Richard Pitino's first few months as the head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, and tries to detail what B1G fans should expect.

  Do you think he ripped off "The Kentucky Effect," though? :-)

• Ex-UTEP player proclaims himself an Islamic Jihadist?

• More P.J. Hairston tomfoolery?

• Rush The Court — Morning Five

• Seth Davis sits down with Travis Ford, Josh Pastner, Mark Few and Steve Alford, and Cuonzo Martin.

  I found this interesting:

  The Volunteers made quite a bit of noise down the stretch last season, at one point winning nine out of 10 games, but fell just short of making the NCAA tournament. Besides seniors Skylar McBee and Kenny Hall, who were part-time starters, the Vols also bade farewell to 6-2 junior point guard Trae Golden, who transferred to Georgia Tech. Martin wouldn't come out and say it, but he didn't exactly disagree when I suggested that losing Golden would be addition by subtraction. [my emphasis]

Other sports news

• NCAA's request for an expedited hearing in the O'Bannon case was denied.

  I wouldn't read much into this. It's just routine procedural maneuvering.

• Tim Tebow sighting! Unfortunately, he failed to impress.

• Where do you come down on sleeved jerseys for basketball? Myself, I couldn't care less.

• Heh. Flip Saunders threatens Shabazz Muhammad with D-League, sports world snickers.

Other news

• SB Nation's own Trei Brundrett is a cover model; just not in the way that description might make you think.