Today, Julius Randle will announce his NBA intentions at 1:30. I think most of us believe that this is a foregone conclusion and that the news conference is mostly pro-forma, but that's fine — he has earned the attention.
Tweet of the Morning
Consider: Mark Stoops and Co. are recruiting better than at any point in UK history off back-to-back 2-10 seasons. Imagine if they win.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_CJ) April 22, 2014
Imagine, indeed.
Your Quickies:
Kentucky football
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In case you missed it, Kentucky landed a big football recruit yesterday — 4-star linebacker Eli Brown. In this battle, the Wildcats won out over Ohio State.
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Ira Combs talks about the big weekend coming up for Kentucky sports.
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C.J. Johnson is a JUCO transfer and early enrollee who will play defensive tackle for Kentucky next season. Ashley Scoby has an interview with him over at Vaught's Views.
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Monday's practice was better, but injuries have hurt lately:
UK's already thin receiving corps has been hit hard, the latest blow coming as sophomore Jeff Badet twisted an ankle on Monday. The Cats have been without Javess Blue and Alexander Montgomery throughout the spring, while Ryan Timmons, Thaddeus Snodgrass and Joey Herrick are contending with minor injuries.
Kentucky basketball
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2015 commit Charles Matthews welcomed John Calipari to his home in Chicago on Monday.
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What Barry Rohrssen brings to Kentucky basketball. As a native Brooklynite, Rohrssen has connections up in the New York area and in other places around New England. He's known as a good recruiter and has head coaching experience at Manhattan. He was fired from the Manhattan job after the 2009-10 season, and it looks to me like he is a very good assistant, but not a great head man. Since we need an assistant, that's a good thing.
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Kentucky Sports Radio reports that some random opposing college coach told a recruit that John Calipari "forced" Willie Cauley-Stein to return to the program. To bad we don't know who that coach was, so we could roundly mock him. Pity.
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Anonymous NBA scout disses Alex Poythress:
Teams just like don't even talk about him anymore. But I thought the way he changed his game, I really liked how he played in the tournament, kind of like a junkyard dog type. I like that, I think it's a good style for him, but teams aren't talking about him.
Well, two things. One, I don't think anyone's talking about him because he's an undersized four man right now. The second is that he isn't getting major minutes. It's important that Alex develop a perimeter game to go with his prodigious athleticism.
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Taylor County's Quentin Goodin, a 2016 prospect, got a visit from John Robic yesterday.
Other Kentucky sports
Links posts
College football
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I'm not buying this line of reasoning, but it is at least reasoning. For one thing, colleges should not be admitting student athletes who are at vast intellectual distances from their peers. The argument here that doing so significantly reduces the value of the education and therefore more compensation is warranted may sound convincing, but the reality is that colleges should not admit sub-standard students just because they are good at football. I am also not necessarily sold on the idea that the education of a sub-standard student becomes essentially valueless, but it is an argument that deserves consideration.
College basketball
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Donnie Tyndall, former coach at Morehead St. and recently head coach of Southern Miss, is tapped to succeed Cuonzo Martin at Tennessee. I think this is a pretty good hire for the Vols.
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Kenny Payne's name has been mentioned in connection with the Southern Mississippi job. Hat tip: Aaron's blog
Other sports news
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DeAndre Liggins has been named the NBA Development League defensive player of the year. Congratulations to DeAndre, I hope he's about ready to move on up now. Hat tip: Aaron's blog
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Everything you need to know about the latest goings-on at the NCAA.
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Rick Bozich says Colin Cowherd should apologize to John Wall, and now would be a really good time.
You remember the Cowherd rant. He essentially said that the Washington Wizards had wasted the first pick of the 2010 NBA Draft on Wall. Cowherd then wrote off Wall’s character and career, in part because Wall introduced himself to the league by performing "The Dougie," during a pre-game intro.
"Before the game started, he spent 34 seconds doing "The Dougie," Cowherd said. "That tells me all I need to know about J-Wow. Then he opened his mouth and confirmed it – not a sharp guy. All about him."
Is it still all about him, Colin? If so, maybe it should be.
Other news
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Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir will be helping out with NBC's derby day coverage. Interesting choices to cover horse racing.
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Katy Perry apparently doesn't subscribe to the ancient Greek aphorism to "Know thyself."
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Will the Supreme Court change the way we watch TV? Well, not technically, but they may change the way programming is delivered. Interesting case.