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Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: Mitch McGary Edition

News and commentary from around the Big Blue Internet. Kentucky softball and baseball have huge series this weekend at Tennessee and vs. Ole Miss respectively. Spring football game happens this Saturday at Commonwealth Stadium. More.

By Glenn Logan

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Michigan's star center Mitch McGary tested positive for marijuana during the NCAA tournament, even though he was injured. He will declare for the NBA Draft rather than face a one-year suspension at Michigan.

Tweet of the Morning

From former UK player and professional golfer, Steve Flesch.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

  • More on Kentucky's wide receiver problem.

  • Vince Morrow. This is absolutely priceless. Tell me you wouldn't hit somebody for this guy!

    Absolutely awesome. This is, by far, the best coaching video I have seen.

  • A.J. Stamps is going to experience a whole new level of passion here at Kentucky:

    In high school and then at East Mississippi Community College, he doesn't think he ever played in front of more than 2,000 people.

    "I'm hearing 40,000, and I'm like, 'Whoa!" Stamps said with a smile on Wednesday. "I've never played in front of thousands of fans."

  • Braylon Heard saw a great opportunity at UK, and as a bonus, it was closer to home:

    "At Kentucky, I just saw a great opportunity, and it was closer to home," Heard said.

    The Youngstown, Ohio, native played his high school ball at Cardinal Mooney, the same school that Stoops and fellow Kentucky assistant coach Vince Marrow attended back in the day. At Kentucky, he's close enough to home that his mother can drive to games instead of flying.

    Can't wait to see this kid play.

  • Chris Low on Bud Dupree:

    With 16 career sacks, Dupree is one of the most accomplished pass-rushers returning in the SEC. Coming out of Irwinton, Ga., as a high school senior, he was ranked as the No. 48 tight end nationally and picked Kentucky over Georgia Tech. He wasn’t offered by Georgia.

Kentucky basketball

  • Publisher's weekly best-seller list places Calipari's new book at #6 in hardcover non-fiction.

  • Tyler Ulis receives his fifth star from Rivals.com (#21), and Karl-Anthony Towns moves up to #5. Trey Lyles drops a bit to #13. Devin Booker is a 4* and #29. Here's the Rivals 150.

  • The State-Journal thinks Julius Randle may be even better in the NBA. It's certainly possible, he handles the ball almost as well as Terrence Jones. Calipari agrees:

    "I truly believe that Julius will be an even better pro than a college player," said UK coach John Calipari Tuesday, via twitter, undoubtably referring to the fact that Randle was double and triple teamed most of his season with Kentucky. "He was Shaq’d (Shaquille O’Neal) all year, in every way. I really appreciate all he did for this program, and how he represented all of us throughout the entire year. I cannot wait to watch him shine at the next level."

  • Do the Harrison twins stay, or risk the D-League? Consider:

    "Why would these guys want to leave Kentucky?" one source asked. "I hear they have a nice dorm to live in. I’m sure they eat well when they travel. They charter everything. They’re going to get really good coaching from John Calipari and his staff, every bit as good or better than you will get in the D-League.

    "Why would you risk the D-League when you can be coached by Calipari, who has a bunch of guys in the league?" the source said. "Be a college student and live the good life."

    This is an interesting point, one that is perhaps lost on prospects who wind up on the margins of the guaranteed NBA money. There are pros and cons to both decisions. Of course if you're a first-round pick, you still get the guaranteed money and stints in the D-league are short, but if you're a second-rounder, you could languish there for a while making subsistence.

  • If you missed this during the NCAA Tournament, you should really watch it. It is truly heartwarming.

  • Jerry Meyer of 247Sports thinks Karl-Anthony Towns Jr. is the best big man in the 2015 class. Take that, Jahlil Okafor:

    He described Towns as "the most complete package for a post player in the class" and said he "just looks like an NBA center."

Other Kentucky sports
College football
College basketball

  • Could Chane Behannan's decision-making go from bad to worse?

  • Mr SEC says that Tyndall will do fine at Tennessee until he loses that first game to a Pearl-coached Auburn team. Heh.

    Seriously, if Pearl can make Auburn competitive in college basketball, then he is a bona fide genius. That place has zero support for the program, weak facilities, terrible fan participation in basketball and is just generally the armpit of the SEC when it comes to hoops. It would take a miracle:

  • Uh-oh. Mitch McGary potted up while at Michigan, flunked a drug test, and is now facing a full season suspension. I guess that new NCAA marijuana legislation just didn't get here fast enough. He will declare for the NBA draft rather than rest on the bench another season. Also consider:

  • So now, we've got people blaming the NCAA:

    C'mon, man, he knew the rules. Good or bad. By the way, it is, last time I checked, against the law to smoke weed in Michigan, whether you or I agree with it or not. Just saying. Even if the rule is lousy, the kid broke the law. There has to be some consequence for that.

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