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Today, two UK recruits, Skal Labissiere and Isaiah Briscoe will declare their college intentions.
There is a recent report that Labissiere’s guardian shopped him. That just adds to our collective worries about him, but if he does come here, I think we have to trust the process. It isn’t as if we’ve never seen this kind of thing before.
Interestingly, there are two subplots that are significant for these players. One is that Steve Lavin has sunk a lot of himself into the recruitment of Briscoe, and if he loses the recruit from Newark, he’s likely to come under fire.
All that pales in comparison to the pressure Josh Pastner is under. Memphis’ fan base is outraged at the loss last night to Christian Brothers University (who?) and desperately needs some good news to change the narrative. Nearby Cordova, Tennessee dweller Labissiere would be just such a balm.
Tweet of the Morning
Prediction: Kentucky will go two-for-two today and land both Skal Labissiere and Isaiah Briscoe.
— Evan Daniels (@EvanDaniels) November 13, 2014
Get ready for the "Uh oh, here comes the NCAA" talk again.
Your Quickies:
Kentucky football
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Bud Dupree talks about Tennessee:
"…We gotta stop being so selfish and just play." Yes, I think that’s a plan.
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Craig Naivar talks about special teams:
Well, he says the right things. Can he coach them? Not so far, but a good game against Tennessee would be a strong statement.
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Chad Scott talks about Jojo Kemp and Boom Williams:
Calls Williams "Very special" and "best overall back" he’s ever coached, talent-wise.
Kentucky basketball
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Who will Isaiah Briscoe pick? Steve Lavin has everything on the line in his recruitment, but Coach Cal, not so much.
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John Calipari makes Pat Forde’s list of "Most intriguing coaches." He’s #2 on the list. It’s hard imagining Forde putting Calipari at #1 on any list of positives. Consider:
Calipari will be at his blowhard best ("We’re trying to do something never done in college basketball") and paranoid worst ("We are going to have to be mentally tough enough to not be sabotaged"). It will not be dull.
Now tell us what you really think, Forde. And what would a Forde article be without some mention of Rick Pitino?
Other Kentucky sports
Links posts
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John Clay’s SEC Links
College football
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Jared, nobody detests Louisville more than me, but really? There are some things, no matter how you feel, that just aren’t appropriate to say.
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Baylor, TCU create first big CFB Playoff rankings controversy. I’ll bet it won’t be the last, though.
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1942 Rose Bowl trophy found in the trash. Hey, if nobody wants it, I’ll take it.
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Georgia welcomes back Tood Gurley. Dr. Saturday wonders if he will hurt team chemistry. He’s a Heisman candidate, dude! No. Next question.
College basketball
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Memphis loses to Division II opponent. Yikes. Shades of Billy Gillispie. At least somebody had heard of Gardner Webb before, but Christian Brothers University? Sucks to be Josh Pastner right now.
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Yeah, you knew this was coming. I really hope Tyndall isn’t caught up in this, but if so, I’ll feel a pang of pity for the Vols. They’ve been through a really rough patch lately.
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Most intriguing players in college basketball. Lots of Kentucky players represented here, especially if you take the "just missed" list into consideration.
Other sports news
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Consider:
I'm not an NBA guy but is it fair to ask the question: Is Davis the best player in the NBA right now?
— Justin Rowland (@RowlandRIVALS) November 13, 2014
Not quite. But his trajectory is very, very promising.
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The return of Rajon Rondo to his former self isn’t quite complete. He’s lacking one thing — people to pass to.
Other news
- SBNation says Taylor Swift is bad at sports. With all due respect to my fellow writers, there can scarcely be anything less relevant to sports than Taylor Swift.