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Kentucky Wildcats Quickies: Camp Cal Edition

John Calipari is whipping his players into shape, down goes Sparty, Mark Stoops gets his men, Chip Kelly gets the boot, Bam vs. De'Aaron, and more!

By James Streble
Frank Victores-USA TODAY Sports

The Kentucky Wildcats are in the middle of the annual Camp Cal. This week the team is dedicated solely to practicing basketball as there are no classes to attend and there isn't a game in sight until Saturday. This is a critical juncture for this team as they are coming off of a huge win over Louisville and are getting ready for SEC play.

There is plenty to work on for the Wildcats and some of that was evident even in a win. Skal Labissiere still needs a lot of work, the offense still stagnates at times, Jamal Murray needs to realize what to do against a zone, Tai Wynyard needs to learn the system, among other things.

Metz Camfield from Coachcal.com gives us New Years Resolutions for this basketball team. I guarantee much of what he is talking about gets addressed this week.

Tweet of the Morning:

Bam already looks like a grown ass man. And De'Aaron ain't too bad either. Bam had 26 points and 14 rebounds while De'Aaron had 29 points. Not bad.

Kentucky Football:

ICYMI it was a pretty big day for Mark Stoops and his staff. Eddie Gran was named the new assistant head coach, co-offensive coordinator, and running backs coach while Darin Hinshaw was named as the co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Chad Scott, who was previously the running backs coach, will take over as the wide receivers coach. I think these are as close to homerun hires as Stoops can get. He has not had a true quarterbacks coach since he's been at UK and he needs one more than ever this season as he will live or die with Drew Barker. Gran is a veteran and will bring much-needed stability to a unit in turmoil.

Drake Jackson is excited. Getting the new guys on board is key.

There have been rumors swirling that other programs are again interested in Kentucky uber-recruiter Vince Marrow. For what it's worth, Marrow again stated his commitment to Mark Stoops and the Wildcats.

Kentucky Basketball:

If you are a recruit trying to make a name for yourself, don't try it against De'Aaron Fox. He will burn you every single time. Don't underestimate your hunger vs. his.

Will the nation lose interest in the Kentucky vs. Louisville rivalry if it continues to be so one-sided? Only time will tell. If things go down with the NCAA and probation the way some think, Louisville isn't going to be winning this game any  time soon.

Kentucky assistant Tony Barbee was in attendance to watch 2018 five-star big man Naz Reid.

The Kentucky Wildcats took the top two spots in the top 20 college basketball games of 2015. I bet you can guess which two. And number one still makes me vomit.

Other Kentucky Sports:

Wildcats sports programs have achieved the goal of a cumulative 3.0 GPA.They combined for a 3.149 GPA.

Sports Around the Country

The Clemson Tigers are going to be without three key players in their bowl game against the Oklahoma Sooners as they have all been sent home after failing drug tests.

Bad news for Eric Bledsoe and the Phoenix Suns. The former Kentucky guard will miss the remainder of the season due to a torn meniscus.

Ben Simmons dropped 21 and 12 but the LSU Tigers again fall, this time to Wake Forrest. Simmons continues to waste his talents in losing efforts.

Chip Kelly was finally shown the door by Jeffery Lurie and the Eagles after an extremely disappointing season in a very weak division. Kelly enjoyed great success at Oregon but floundered in the NFL. So why didn't the experiment work? I go back to the fact that Kelly wanted to run the Eagles like a college program as the Supreme Leader and that just does not work with professional athletes.

The Iowa Hawkeyes destroyed the Denzel Valentine-less Michigan State Spartans 83-70. TomIzzo's team is just a different group without one of the best players in all of college basketball. It was just a matter of time before this happened.

Leonard Fournette scored 5 touchdowns in LSU's route over Texas Tech 56-27.












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