Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: Washington Wizards Edition

Last night the Washington Wizards surprised most NBA watchers and took game 1 from the favored Indiana Pacers in Indianapolis. John Wall and Bradley Beal are becoming the new NBA Dynamic Duo.

Tweet of the Morning

There is only one SEC Team without a 1st Round NFL Pick over the last decade: Kentucky (0) Calipari compensates in hoops. (Most: Ala,LSU-14)

— Jim Dunaway (@jimdunaway) May 6, 2014

More than compensates, I'd say.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Elite 2015 defensive end recruit Darius Fullwood announced that UK is one of his top five schools. That's awesome. Perhaps we'll become known as "defensive end U."

• New UK receiver commit Alex Stump gets the highest possible 3-star ranking.

• Larry Vaught talks about walk-on wide receiver Ryan Kendall.

• Damien Harris tells Larry Vaught that his friends "...don't put him on a pedestal..." That's good.

• Mark Stoops' recruiting prowess is impressive:

  You really can not say enough about the job that Coach Stoops has done on the recruiting front. For a program coming off back to back 2-10 seasons, to have a near top 25 recruiting class currently (according to most services), and to be coming off a consensus top 25 recruiting class is simply mind boggling.

  I agree.

• Randall Cobb talks Mark Stoops and Kentucky. Hat tip: Nation of Blue

Kentucky basketball

• With no May or June live evaluation periods, John Calipari is giving himself two months to recover from his hip replacement. There will be a three week July evaluation period this season. Hopefully, he'll be able to get around some by then.

• New video of 6'2" leaper Seventh Woods. Man, that kid can fly. His vertical must be David Thompson-esque. Hat tip: NextCats

• Missed this Courier-Journal piece on Karl-Anthony Towns Jr. Lots of praise from elite talent evaluators. Hat tip: NextCats

• C.L. Brown at ESPN has this to say about Andrew Harrison:

  He ranked 241st in assist-turnover ratio last season. He’s not what you would call a pure point guard. But Kentucky doesn’t reach the final game if not for Harrison’s development down the stretch of the season. When he looks to distribute more than he looks for his own shot, the Wildcats are a different team. No one can question his toughness. Harrison endured much criticism last season but didn’t wilt under the pressure. By deciding to put off the NBA and return for his sophomore season, Harrison could again have Kentucky playing for a national title.

Other Kentucky sports

• Senior discus thrower Andrew Evans earns National Athlete of the Week by the US Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches association.

• Kentucky softball begins SEC Tournament play tomorrow vs. Mississippi St.

• Men's golf selected for Raleigh regional in NCAA Tournament play.

Links posts

• The Leach Report: Tuesday Morning Links

• John Clay's Big Blue Links

• John Clay's SEC Links

• Rush The Court: Morning Five

College football

• Johnny Manziel, Teddy Bridgewater highlight the NFL Draft's quarterback mystery. Bridgewater's stock has reportedly fallen significantly, but I still think he's a nice player, and shows off much better surrounded by a team than individually.

• Fake or real? Looks real to me. Very impressive, if so. Mark Stoops, your office on line 1.

• Alabama's AD says that his first reaction to Lane Kiffin "wasn't very positive." What went wrong, then?

• Auditing the SEC's talent producers. Interestingly enough, Kentucky is not at the bottom. In fact, it's ahead of three other schools and just behind Auburn.

• NFL teams love drafting SEC players.

• Ranking SEC teams by spring practice. Kentucky's not last.

College basketball

• Luke Thompson says that the new coaches must elevate SEC basketball. I say that it's not just them. Guys like Mark Fox and Anthony Grant, who are the "old" new coaches, need to raise their game, and that right soon.

• Rape investigation at Oregon, three players reportedly involved.

• After the NCAA Tournament, the Pac-12 looked a lot stronger than it does now.

• Tennessee grants release to two commitments after the coaching change.

• Ben Howland may be the top choice for Oregon St. basketball, but he's heading into a major rebuilding effort and a rape investigation if he takes that job. I think he should hold out for better.

• Kansas grabs a replacement for Nadir Tharpe in the late 2014 class, a former Appalachian St. commitment.

• Ol' Roy to the Lakers?

Other sports news

• Former UK assistant Dwane Casey gets a new 3-year deal for the Toronto Raptors. Congratulations to him on an outstanding playoff series. I really thought they were going to pull off the win.

• John Wall and the Wizards take game one of their series with Indiana. Check out this Wall rejection, and the sweet assist to Nene.