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Matt Elam day here in the Big Blue Nation. Basketball goes on hold until noon today when the big guy announces his decision.
Tweet of the Morning:
Today Is The Day The Day We All Be Waiting For !! Who Will It Be ? 🙌😎 #Bama #UK #RTR #BBN
— Matt Elam™6⃣9⃣ (@FballIsLife69) January 30, 2014
Who, indeed?
Your Quickies:
Kentucky football
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Mr. SEC says "Kudos to Kentucky for backing Mark Stoops." Consider:
It’s not a guarantee of success, mind you, but Mark Stoops’ chances of succeeding will most certainly go up once UK spends $45 million to build a new football training center and practice fields.
I think this is right. Next week, we'll have the chance to prove it by adding the highest-ranked UK recruiting class ever.
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Jeff Sentell of AL.com's take on Kentucky's most recent commitment. Consider this:
The prospect gets snowed in at his school. Incoming recruiters push their rental car to the limits going about 20 miles in treacherous snowy roads to reach him.
It takes a pair of Kentucky coaches about six or seven hours to reach Spain Park's Jervontius Stallings at that snail's pace.
Their rental is allowed to travel no further about a mile or two away from that recruit's high school. So they cover the rest of the ground between a health insurance policy for their future quarterbacks on foot.
Hell of a story. You should read the whole thing. Via Hank.
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Alabama fans are confident they'll get Matt Elam, and I would not bet against them. Just as Alabama didn't get DeMarcus Cousins, I fear the same holds true for football and Kentucky. But you never know — Stoops and Co. have worked really hard. Sometimes, hard work pays off even when all the advantages are with the other guy. Via Hank
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For those asking ... I've been predicting Matt Elam to UK for months. Sticking with that prediction. We'll find out at noon.
— Ben Roberts (@NextCats) January 30, 2014I hope he's right.
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Steve Jones at the Courier-Journal has more on Matt Elam.
Kentucky basketball
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More on the Kentucky signees for 2014. I really like how things are developing for next season, even though it may be at the expense of this one.
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Well, you knew this was coming. Every game we lose is always an indictment of Calipari's system. You think people would get tired of being obtuse about this, but you'd be wrong.
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KSR nit-picks a Dan Dakich comment. C'mon, guys, don't throw away the moral authority you built up when Dakich went nuts on Twitter at you. There is a point of diminishing returns, you know.
Other Kentucky sports
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Speaking of UK hoops, they're on the road to Georgia tonight.
Links posts
College football
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Vanderbilt's recruiting class is falling apart. I have the feeling James Franklin's name will be taken in vain in Nasville next season. This is the peril of making a great coaching hire when you are a poor historical football program — it is a double-edged weapon.
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Tennessee beats out the Head Ball Coach for a big recruit.
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Bobby Petrino's sleaze is not a fit for Devin Pike. Louisville is down to 17 commitments. Via Hank.
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Louisville's recruiting classes:
Heh. Via Hank.
College basketball
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There will be three unbeaten teams going into February this season.
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So Rick Pitino wasn't consulted about the Bobby Petrino hire?
Despite his local stature and national reputation, Pitino is not the czar of Floyd Street. U of L athletic director Tom Jurich is not obliged to seek Pitino’s blessing before selecting coaches in other sports. Yet since it was obvious from the outset that hiring Petrino as the Cardinals’ football coach could create some collateral damage for Pitino and his family, Jurich probably should have broached the subject beforehand.
He had to know that there would be some moral outrage and mean-spirited humor as a result of the messy extramarital scandals of his two highest-profile employees, and he should have braced Pitino for that backlash before the coach was told Twitter was "going crazy with Petrino/Pitino jokes."
Heh. Indeed. Tim Sullivan goes on to reprove Jurich for being ham-handed and insensitive to poor Ricky P's family. I get the feeling that there is a whole lot more friction on Floyd Street than meets the eye, and I have a feeling this won't be the last we hear of it.
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Florida's highest-ranked recruit, Chris Walker, finally cleared by the NCAA. This could make the Gators better, but often, mid-season additions disrupt the rotation and chemistry. We'll have to see.
Other sports news
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Mark Story asks media members to guess who will win Sportsman of the Year. Mark Stoops is one, a couple of horse trainers, and some others.
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Stadium Journey ranks only Phog Allen Fieldhouse over Rupp Arena as a college basketball venue. It's really close, too.
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Royce White is the NBA draft's "worst first-round pick ever," according to the man who picked him.
Ouch. Tough old world in the NBA.
Other news
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Wild Weasel sent me this the other day. It's worth the time to watch if you ever had dreams of going into space, like me.
