Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: New Year's Eve Edition

News and commentary from around the Big Blue Internet. Camp Cal in progress. Tyler Ulis named National Freshman of the Week. More.

By Glenn Logan Dec 31, 2014, 11:08am EST

It’s New Year’s Eve, ladies and gentlemen of the Big Blue Nation. I hope you all celebrate responsibly and safely the advent of 2015.

We are right in the middle of what I like to call Camp Cal.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) December 31, 2014

That’s what I like to hear!

Tell me if you’ve heard this one before:

He’s right that many of these kids don’t want to go to college. One of the major loopholes of the system is that these "student athletes" only have to pass their first semester of college. In fact, many don’t even attend classes the second semester. [my emphasis]

When are people going to stop repeating this fiction? It is extremely rare that this happens, and for good reason — the APR. If a player doesn’t go to classes his second semester, it means he leaves school not in good academic standing, and the school takes a huge APR hit. So it almost never happens, contrary to these people who apparently sit on their brains rather than trouble them with research.

Bob Knight, do you have a clone out there we don’t know about?
Antonio Blakeney to announce his school decision Friday. It would be a big coup if LSU landed him, and I think Kentucky favors Malik Newman at the moment. But don’t rule Calipari out — we all know the dangers of that.
Speaking of Malik Newman, Coach Cal watched him score 50 points the other night, and he’ll be watching Stephen Zimmerman tonight.
Tyler Ulis has been named national Freshman of the Week to go along with his SEC FOY. Congrats!

Georgia defeated Louisville last night in the Belk Bowl. At least the Cardinal fans can take solace that they beat us a lot worse. Of course, Georgia was operating without their offensive coordinator Mike Bobo.
Speaking of Georgia, Mark Richt is forced to deny rumors of his retirement. Richt is turning into the Tubby Smith of Georgia football — a guy who wins a lot, but not enough.
Barking Carnival says Jim Harbaugh is a high-maintenance hire for Michigan.

Florida falls again, this time to in-state rival Florida State on a last-second tip-in where the Gators beat themselves. Florida has a long way to go if they want to challenge Kentucky.
Gary Parrish says the Virginia Cavaliers are the "Rocky Balboa" of college basketball. I think the simile is fairly apt when comparing them to Duke or Kentucky this season.
Good official: Good block call here. The defender was inside the restricted area.
Bad official: What the fark?
Missouri is losing some really, really close games. This happens a lot with young teams with new coaches. Unless you’re John Calipari. Then, it almost never does.

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