Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: UK NBA Alumni Edition

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the Big Blue Nation, and welcome to the Tuesday Morning Quickies.

Something that many of us have dreamed of, a game between UK basketball alumni and other NBA superstars in a charity game is being talked about by John Calipari. Names such as James Harden and Kevin Durant were dropped, and I hope very much to see it happen.

In football news, Mark Stoops approval rating, at least among SECCountry readers, is looking pretty good at 97% approve or stronger. I have no idea how representative that is, but for the record, I strongly approve of him.

Tweet of the Morning

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Was Babe Parilli UK’s greatest football player ever? He’s certainly the name I most recognize.
• After breakthrough Season, Kentucky tries to avoid a letdown. The State is a South Carolina publication, and they have noticed Kentucky has won three straight against the Gamecocks:

A win over South Carolina, Kentucky’s third straight in the series, started a run of four wins in five games and the Wildcats were once again on the cusp of bowl eligibility, with Austin Peay later in the season. Forget a bowl – Kentucky was right there bidding for an SEC East championship!

• The Bastrop Enterprise opines on 2017 Kentucky football, noting that most of the Wildcats’ firepower is back from last year. To me, it’s the lines — they look to be improved from a year ago, even with the loss of John Toth and a couple of others.

Kentucky basketball

• Immanuel Quickley thinks that the time he spent in Egypt on the U-19 USA team definitely helped UK’s cause, and has been talking with fellow top-10 recruit Zion Williamson about playing together. Quickley also would love Cameron Reddish to be on his team.

Sounds great to me, guys. Come on down. Here’s video.

Also Cam Reddish.

• 5-star wing Keldon Johnson wants an offer from Coach Cal, but he’s not making demands or deadlines.
• Johnson, in case you don’t know, goes to Oak Hill Academy. Rivals has him ranked at #24. Johnson has something besides basketball in common with UK — he started a “breakfast club” this year starting at 5:30 AM to get into better shape ($$). Johnson is more of a slasher, finisher and bruiser than a finesse player, but he can shoot, as this highlight film shows:

• Thomas More (NCAA Division III) scored a gig to play the Kentucky Wildcats on October 27th, and they are very happy and appreciative for the opportunity. The Saints were a very solid team last year, and I expect them to give they young UK players fits at times.

Other Kentucky sports

• Former UK swimmer Daniell Gayler has been named an SEC Woman of the Year nominee. Congrats!
• In case you missed it: Randall Cobb and John Wall highlight 2017 UK Athletics Hall of Fame class.

Links posts

• The Leach Report: Tuesday Wildcat Links

College football

• 2017 Paul Hornung Award watch list. No UK players to be found there, although Louisville has representation in Jaire Alexander.
• Ohio State’s Chris Spielman is suing his school on anti-trust grounds for using his name and likeness on a series of banners around Ohio Stadium.

I have mixed feelings about this. I dislike these kinds of suits, but OSU shouldn’t use such images directly in connection with corporate sponsorships without permission.

• SEC Country has some All-SEC pre-season snubs.

College basketball

• Archie Miller seems to be recruiting very well at Indiana. It will be interesting to see if he and Calipari can agree to renew the series at a neutral site, but I predict that won’t happen as long as Fred Glass is the AD there.
• Mississippi State picks up a big 5-star basketball commitment: Reggie Perry. Perry decommitted from Arkansas recently, and UK was reportedly interested.

Other sports news

• Top rookies, surprises, and disappointments in the NBA Summer League.
• What OJ Simpson’s life has been like in prison:

During his years in prison, Simpson has passed the time playing fantasy football, coaching softball, and, at least in the beginning, eating lots of junk food, according to guards and an inmate who were there with him. A representative for Simpson declined CNN requests for comment.

Sounds okay to me. Maybe he should just stay there a few more years.

Nah, he should be paroled. His sentence was a travesty — not because he didn’t deserve it — he did — but because it was an obvious attempt by the judge to make him pay for crimes for which he was acquitted. That was wrong — justice is not suppose to be like that.

Other news

• Lawbreaking particles may point to a previously unknown force in the universe. Galactus smiles.
• Head-scratching headline of the day: The Universe itself may be unnatural.
• Oh, don’t I know it: Feeling “Hangry” is actually a thing.