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Wildcat Quickies: Charles Matthews Edition

Charles Matthews salute. Every Willie Cauley-Stein dunk as rookie. NBA draft musings. What kind of super teams UK could have had. Rick Pitino responds to John Calipari. More.

By Jason Marcum
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Charles Matthews was the first commitment of what turned out to be another loaded recruiting haul for John Calipari and co. in 2015.

Unfortunately for Charles, he ended up being one of the lower-ranked signees of that class and ended up struggling to even see the floor last year. Still, Matthews had his moments and at times gave the Cats a nice spark off the bench while helping UK win the SEC.

Though his days as a Cat are over, Matthews was still a fun player to watch give it his all to make an impact, whether is was one minute or 15 minutes. He seemed destined to become the kind of blue-collar worker that UK fans have adored, whether it was Chuck Hayes, DeAndre Liggins or Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Matthews may have never reached the level those guys did, but he still would have made that kind of impact had he stayed.

Hopefully, Matthews will continue to blossom while he continues his career in Ann Arbor.

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Your Quickies

Earthquake - The Players' Tribune
Former UK forward Skal Labissiere, who is projected to be a lottery pick in Thursday night’s NBA Draft, says he learned to take nothing for granted after the earthquake in his native Haiti in 2010. If you read anything on any NBA prospect this week, this should be at the top of your list, regardless of who your college team is.

Report: Kentucky's Charles Matthews transferring to Michigan - Detroit Free Press
Matthews played in 36 games for the Wildcats as a four-star freshman from the 2015 class, ranking as ESPN's the second-best player out of Chicago and the No. 42 overall recruit. Matthews is expected to have three years of eligibility remaining after sitting out the 2016-17 season, per college basketball transfer rules.

Kentucky's Ulis headliner of Sixers workout - philly.com
Former Kentucky point guard Tyler Ulis is the headliner of Tuesday’s 76ers predraft workout. The Sixers hold several picks in the late first round/early second round, and I don't anticipate he'll fall past those picks, regardless of how bad his hip is or isn't.

White, Beggs Named to National Gold Glove Team - UK Wildcats News
Kentucky first baseman Evan White and pitcher Dustin Beggs have been named to the NCAA Division I Gold Glove Team for defensive excellence. UK was the only school in the nation with two selections on the team.

Five UK basketball targets who impressed at Team USA camp last week - Lexington Herald-Leader
Herald-Leader recruiting writer Ben Roberts spent several days in Colorado Springs, Colo., last week, observing the Team USA U17 and U18 basketball training camps, which included 12 players with UK scholarship offers and several more that the Wildcats’ coaches are monitoring for possible offers. Here’s his list of five standouts, including UK target Hamidou Diallo, who is one of the most exciting players in the country.

The best college basketball teams of one-and-done era that never were - ESPN
It's been 10 years since the NBA's one-and-done rule was implemented. Imagine if the draft rules were different. Here are the eight would-be best teams if these players stayed a little longer, which features a pair of Kentucky teams that would have practically been NBA teams had they had a team of John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Brandon Knight, Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist.

Rick Pitino on Calipari’s scandal jabs: "Mind your own business" - Kentucky Sports Radio
Last week, John Calipari created quite the stir when he took some not-so-subtle jabs at Rick Pitino and Louisville for their latest sex scandal. Pitino responded Monday, saying "It’s just like the Duke thing last month. He says that’s not what he means. I don’t have time to find out what he meant or didn’t mean. If our paths cross this summer, I’ll question him on it. Outside of that, look, he — I take care of press conferences when I have to do them, I feel like it’s an obligation. I’m not looking to be in the press."

By the numbers: Commitments and decommitments in the Mark Stoops era - Rivals
Here is a great in-depth look at the numbers relating to commitments, decommitments, transfers and academic casualties in the Mark Stoops era.

Top 10 International Prospects - NBADraft.net
This year’s International class is probably one of the strangest that has come in years. Making it even more of an intriguing mystery is the fact that this is one of the weaker American classes in recent memory, which could lead to an abundance of players you've never heard of and can't hope to even pronounce correctly hearing their names called early and often in Thursday's draft.

Most regrettable NBA Draft picks in every first-round spot - Sporting News
The Sporting News goes through each of the first-round selections made during the lottery era and determined which was the poorest choice at every spot, from 1 to 30. Not every player was the weakest chosen in his spot. Sometimes, it’s even worse to select a mediocre player with a Hall of Famer just sitting there, like my Celtics have done a lot under Danny Ainge.

All-Star Game in Lexington boasts several famous names - Lexington Herald-Leader
Tuesday’s South Atlantic League All-Star Game at Whitaker Bank Ballpark will offer fans a chance to take an early look at several young players who could become household names in Major League Baseball. But MLB fans attending the festivities will likely already be familiar with several of the names on the Northern and Southern Division rosters.

Twitter launches Engage, a safer space for celebrities to tweet - The Verge
Engage, a new standalone app for influential Twitter users that takes some of the guesswork out of Twitter. The app, which is available today on iOS, is designed to help famous people interact with their fans and build a bigger following.

Kentucky Family Brings Battle For Pediatric Cancer To Capital Hill - LEX18.com
One Kentucky kid who took on stage four cancer, and won, is continuing his fight for others. This week, Paxton Bloyd and his mom are in Washington DC to meet with legislators about improving pediatrics.

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