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Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: Big Jorts Edition

News and commentary from around the Big Blue Internet. Josh Harrellson, former Wildcat, gets 2-year deal with the Detroit Pistons. Mark Stoops picks two QB finalists. Wildcats to dominate SEC television for CBS Sports. More.

By Glenn Logan

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Bringing the pain.
Bringing the pain.
Andy Lyons

Congratulations to Josh Harrellson, who is now a member of the Detroit Pistons with a 2-year contract. I think the Pistons will not regret their decision.

Tweet of the Morning:

Okay, coach Phillips, where was all this Twitter enthusiasm when you were here? Not trying to beat you up, just askin'.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

  • Roll 'Bama Roll gives us a preview of the game between the Crimson Tide and the Wildcats this coming season. At least they pay proper homage to the basketball team, but you won't find a lot of respect for our football team there.

  • Mark Stoops said that he embraces the hot and sticky weather that's now upon us. John Clay looks at UK's four August 31st openers, and various and sundry other UK football topics. Also, I totally agree with John here:

    ESPN says that defensive end Bud Dupree is UK's most indispensable player. Personally, I'd pick linebacker Avery Williamson, a senior leader and the best player at a position that is a real question mark.

  • Whither Patrick Towles? John Clay wonders if he'll stick it out, or bail on UK.

    Towles' father is the key to this one. He made serious transfer noises last year, but most of that may have been on Joker Phillips, as it was pretty clear the elder Towles was less than pleased with the old regime.

    Will he have more patience with Stoops & Co.? Not sure.

  • What a turn-around for Eric Dixon — from academic near-ineligibility to a 4.0 this summer! And we need him, oh yes we do.

Kentucky basketball

  • USA Today ponders the fairly unlikely event that Kentucky might go undefeated next year:

    Add sophomores Alex Poythress and Willie Caulie-Stein [sic] into the mix — considered elite recruits themselves a year ago. If Calipari can get these guys to play unselfishly and play together, this Kentucky team could give Calipari his second national championship.

    Getting ahead of ourselves? Perhaps. But some folks are going further, predicting an undefeated season or something close to that. Let's take a look at the five teams most likely to put an end to any talk of a perfect season.

    Read the piece for the list. I'm sure you really don't need them to tell you, though. Via HoopsWorld

  • Former UK coach Tubby Smith discusses his leave-taking from Kentucky with none other than Jerry Tipton.

    "You don't want to be where you're tolerated," he said, "but where you're celebrated."

    There is little doubt that after the 2006-07 season, Smith was not being celebrated in the Bluegrass. "Barely tolerated" would be more accurate. I think he did the right thing for him, and for us.

  • So Florida will be making as many national television appearances in basketball next season as Kentucky, eh? Why does the conspiracy theorist in me think that has something to do with the SEC establishing UK and UF as "permanent" home and home rivals? Damn, this tinfoil hat is scratchy ...

  • This headline made me laugh.

  • Wow, Emmanuel Mudiay and Stanley Johnson are 1-2 in the latest 247Sports rankings. I like UK's chances for both these guys, and the last time we had a 1-2 punch at UK, we won it all.

  • In case you missed it in the schedule post, the tip time for Kentucky-Louisville is 4PM. The Card Chronicle thinks that's significant. I don't give a crap about the time of day, I just want to beat the tarnation out of them.

  • Wildcats dominate CBS airwaves.

Other Kentucky sports

  • Consider:

    Despite five straight classes ranked the best in the country, Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari might not even be the best college recruiter inside New Circle Road. At least in terms of volume shopping, that distinction belongs to Edrick Floreal.

    Kentucky is well on its way to becoming a track and field powerhouse in the SEC. Mark my words.

Links posts
College football
College basketball

  • Naturally, this news provoked outrage from all corners of the Internet. Nobody really cares what the NCAA's rules say, most of the NCAA's most vocal critics just want every possible excuse to show how they are "compassionate" and the NCAA is "draconian." It is, in my view, the purest form of hypocrisy.

    The NCAA has no provision in their bylaws to allow a hardship waiver automatically for this circumstance, much like it didn't have the authority in its rules to grant the former Marine a waiver at MTSU. The appeals committee, however, is capable of providing a waiver for circumstances outside the text of the rules, and they did so for Steven Rhodes.

    This wasn't a case of the NCAA going back and re-evaluating. Rhodes was evaluated, and found to not meet the requirements for a waiver. He appealed, and the committee with the authority to grant the waiver without the NCAA rules' explicit authority did so.

    But the faux outrage based on a desire to hate on the NCAA, deliberate ignorance of their rules, and an unwillingness to let the "due process" they so often demand play out really galls me. Nobody really cares if the NCAA is doing their job in accordance with their rules, they only care that every case that might generate an emotional response be handled according to their wishes, process be damned.

    There is a lot wrong with the NCAA, but the critics should really check out that big, fat Sequoia-sized log in their own eye before trying to poke out the NCAA's.

  • Andy Katz' 3-point shot.

  • Dez Wells files a lawsuit against Xavier University, according to a report:

    According to Wetzel, Wells alleges in the suit that Xavier failed to follow their own policies when they expelled him following a false allegation of a sexual assault.

    Based on what has been reported about this incident, I think the suit has a chance to go to trial. The Musketeers should be thinking about a number for a settlement — and I'd be thinking seven figures.

  • Let's be honest, with their off-season attrition, Vanderbilt needs the help. Bad.

Other sports news

  • Boston pitcher Ryan Dempster suspended five games for plunking Alex Rodriguez.

    Okay, those of you who love professional baseball, tell me what you think about this: Is it okay to throw a ball at a batter in baseball if you are trying to send some kind of message, or is it worthy of a suspension?

    I have read at least one opinion from a long-time baseball fan that hitting batters (never above the shoulders, though) with pitches is a time-honored baseball tradition that became more of a penalty after the designated hitter rule, whereby the pitcher could not be thrown at because he never batted. The idea being, of course, that if a pitcher was hitting batters, he was going to be a target when he came up to bat.

    Being unfamiliar with this thinking, I throw it out to you MLB fans — is throwing at a batter ever okay? I get that A-Rod is a cheater, but does that make it okay?

  • Oh, cool! Big Jorts is a Piston. This has been rumored, but I'm glad to hear it's no longer a rumor. Bring the pain, Josh. SB Nation has more on the story here.

  • NCAA asking for delay in O'Bannon suit. This thing is becoming a monstrosity. I don't know when it will be resolved.

  • Walter McCarty is now an assistant with the Boston Celtics. Great news for Walter.

Other news

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