:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/34977187/180554412.0.jpg)
Yesterday's commitment of Darius Fullwood represents the 17th 4-star player Mark Stoops & Co. have recruited at UK. That's more than Joker Phillips and Rich Brooks combined.
Tweet of the Morning
Mark Stoops and Kentucky continue to recruit at a level the program had never seen before his arrival.
— Kyle Tucker (@KyleTucker_CJ) June 28, 2014
It is amazin', to be sure.
Your Quickies:
Kentucky football
Lots of reaction to Kentucky's "double Yahtzee" yesterday {Via Hank}:
-
Washington Post I found this interesting:
Greenwood had made up his mind for some time now and had no shame in showing it, wearing a blue-and-white Kentucky hat almost everywhere he went. But even after the close friends had agreed earlier this week to make their college commitments together and discussed the idea of playing at Kentucky, Greenwood strode into Fullwood’s Bowie residence unsure of if he was entering the home of a future college teammate or rival.
Hat tip: NextCats.
-
The biggest Tweet of all, IMO - (6.1) 5-star CeCe Jefferson to (5.9) 4-star DE George Brown {Hank}:
RT @cecejeferson7: @MADDAWG_G bruh we gotta hit #Kentucky up, its a must! #BBN
— Patrick Loney (@PatrickLoney) June 29, 2014 -
Coaching staff tweets {via Hank}:
Finished the week with a very competitive middle school 7 on 7. pic.twitter.com/a1NG4m30LV
— Mark Stoops (@UKCoachStoops) June 14, 2014What a GREAT day to be a CAT!!!! Can't tell u how proud I am to be apart of the #BBN Great people and only getting better. Go Cats!
— Tommy Mainord (@CoachMainordUK) June 29, 2014 -
Not to be lost in the shuffle......this could be Significant! {Via Hank}
This picture of me and my boys @D_Barker7 @Rimmons_5 and @FballIsLife69 is #BBN pic.twitter.com/SrKOLPo4Kf
— Damien Harris (@Damien_D1Harris) June 28, 2014
Kentucky basketball
-
John Calipari now focusing on the class of 2015:
UK's class of 2014 was completed by the first signing period in November. The 2015 class probably won't be locked up that soon, but it's already clear who Calipari's top targets will be.
Read the whole thing.
-
James Young talks about Brad Stevens, Rajon Rondo, and more.
-
Chad Ford has Karl-Anthony Towns Jr. as the #3 prospect in next season's NBA Draft.
Other Kentucky sports
- John Clay says it's about time to give Mitch Barnhart the credit he deserves. I agree completely.
Links posts
College football
-
Kevin Scarbinski asks if we can now start giving Les Miles, not Nick Saban, credit for LSU's sustained success. I think he has a point here. Saban was great at LSU, but Miles has been just as good.
College basketball
-
Nate Silver comes with evidence that staying to your sophomore year in college is beneficial to a college basketball career, but more for the NBA than the player:
Freshmen and high school draft picks have better careers on average. Through their first 10 NBA seasons, they produce about 15 percent more win shares than sophomores, and 70 percent more than juniors and seniors.
However, they can take longer to come into their own. The average sophomore draft pick has been slightly better than the average freshman through his first five NBA seasons.
But the slow development of a freshman can sometimes happen too late for the team that drafts him.
Everyone wonders why the NBA wants to extend the minimum draft entry age. This article explains why pretty well. I do think there is a bit of understandable bias here because the very best players almost always to after one year rather than two. Still, it's an informative and well-done piece by Silver. Hat tip: Real Clear Sports
-
Frank Martin is pleased with the improvement of South Carolina. That's good to hear, they have a lot of improving to do, even though they did beat us last season.
Other sports news
-
Daniel Orton has a chance to get back into the NBA playing for the Washington Wizards in the summer league. Good luck to him. He has been by far the least successful of Kentucky's one-and-done players. Hat tip: NextCats.
-
The L.A. Times Bill Plaschke likes him some Julius Randle. Consider this:
He was bypassed by two players who couldn't get their teams out of the first weekend of the tournament. He was bypassed by a chronically injured center who might not play for six months. He was bypassed by a kid guard from Australia who never played collegiately, an Oklahoma State guard who can't shoot, and an Arizona athlete who doesn't have a position.
When you put it like that, a lot of GM's sound incompetent. Hat tip: NextCats.
-
The Phoenix Suns are determined to pitch LeBrona and Carmello Anthony on a deal that would bring them together out west, according to the SB Nation.
-
Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh opt out of their contracts. This sets up a fascinating negotiation for the Heat.
Other news
-
A dying breed: The U.S. shopping mall. I don't think they're dying so much as having to rethink how retail works.