UK BIG 7 set to make Waves This Year in SEC Football

Here are 7 players that methinks might be difference makers for this year’s UK squad, in no particular order, except for the #1 slot. I’m sure you have your own 7, more or less, so feel free to add or subtract….:)

7. Danny Trevathan: From his coach Chuck Smith, “Trevathan is athletic, fast, and physical. He looks to be a future star. He’s not started a game yet, but once he gets a taste of SEC play and progresses like I think he will, he has a chance to be one of the great linebackers at Kentucky.” Danny runs very fast and hits very hard, two attributes that a LB must have. Danny returned a kick 31 yards in Spring Game…A linebacker!

6. Winston Guy: A physical specimen who said that he really did not understand what it took to be an SEC type player when he arrived on campus last fall. Rich Brooks has called Guy the most talented defensive back he’s signed at Kentucky. Guy looked the part this spring at free safety. He is doing the work now and the possibilities are there for him to be one of the “Greats” at UK before he is done. Has that rare combination of size, 200+ lbs, and speed 4.4 forty… Back at his natural position at Safety he should make big waves this year.

5. Micah Johnson: Micah was Coach Brooks first high-profile recruit at UK. A bigger hitter at the middle spot you will not find. Just a man-child waiting for his draft numbers to go up. Had 11 tackles in the spring game.

4. Chris Matthews: Some of us like the outrageous numbers he has put up, not only catching a football, but his raw athletic ability. Has great hands, and just outruns people catching the football. He is going to make the UK QB job much easier. Caught 80 balls last year and is the second rated Juco WR by Rivals, behind Halo Carpenter…., AND, from a raw athletic standpoint…, How many 6’5 210lb receivers will UK have this year who run 4.4 forties? Nuff Said.

3. Dequin Evans: I had Jeremy Jarmon here, before it has been ruled that he is ineligible to play this year. This makes it even more important that someone from our stable of players at the Defensive End postion step up and make a big splash at that spot. Dequin has all the tools. Evans (6-2, 275) is rated the No. 15 junior college prospect in the nation by Rivals.com as well as one of our 4 Star athletes. He was a teammate of Chris Matthews. Did I mention he ran a 4.6 forty according to Scout…That is truly smoking for a man his size!

2. Randall Cobb: Talk about Mr. Everything, what can you say about him that has not been said? Joker says “If he is on the bus, you got a chance”. Look for him to excite the fans once again this year, as we break out the “Wildcat Package” and snap a few balls toward Randall. Remember he has a gun for a left arm, and out there in the flats he can see exactly where he is throwing.

1. Trevard Lindley: The quiet man. He lets his game speak for itself. Probably would have been selected before Jeremy and Micah in the NFL draft, he choose to come back for his senior season. Coach Rich Brooks says he is one that you can just “leave on an island” out in coverage and not worry about him.

Will UK’s Defense Rise to the Occasion Without Jarmon?

The Bad News. UK really could not afford to lose Jeremy Jarmon at his DE position…Now we have no one with experience at his position. We could ill afford to lose him. Someone is going to have to step up big time…. The dbs are going to be tested severely if the player(s) replacing Jarmon don’t perform. If the pass rush is not there, then the opposing QB can pick us apart in the secondary. We don’t have a single player that has made a tackle at that Defensive End position. That is the bad news.

The good news is we have several young kids that have an opportunity to step up and play. I’m thinking Dequin Evans and Chandler Burden in the fall… We’ve lost Paris, Minton, Stafford, and now Jarmon for various reasons the last couple of years at that Defensive End position.

This just means somebody/everybody HAS to step up that is already on the roster at the DE position, (Ukwu, Wyndham, Burden, Evans, Rumph etc.) There won’t be a size drop-off or manhandling Chandler Burden, at 6’4 295, or Evans the 4-star JUCO at 275lb, but will they bring the speed and talent that Jarmon did?

Jeremy Jarmon Ruled Ineligible to Play at UK

Jeremy Jarmon, the senior defensive end, has tested positive for a substance banned by the NCAA. The NCAA denied UK’s appeal of their decision which ends Jeremy’s career at UK.

Here is a kid who made an honest mistake, and one who was not trying to gain a competitive advantage by getting “bigger, stronger, and faster”. He was merely trying to lose some weight. After he was told to stop taking the supplement, he tested negative, but it was too late according to the NCAA. The NCAA could be much less stringent when a case like this one arises…The need to punish has overruled the need for compassion, and a desire by the athlete to comply.

Jarmon met with the media on Saturday morning at his own request. It was a tearful end to a great career here at UK, as he read a statement explaining how his positive test came to be. He explained how he purchased dietary supplements from a local retailer with the intent to reduce his body fat.It’s a sad day for UK football all around, because Jeremy was a stand-up guy and a leader on the field and off. He will be missed by all.

This from Mitch Barnhart: “Let me be abundantly clear, this guy has been a model of discipline for our program. He has never had a disciplinary action and he has never even come close to failing the test before. It has never been an issue. This is a three week isolated deal that is very unfortunate. He has been unbelievable for the University of Kentucky. Do not lose sight of that. I don’t know anyone that could represent this program better than he has in a lot of different ways and I am thankful for that and that he knows that.”

UK Goes to The Wall!

What does John Calipari do with his # 1 ranked class in the country to enhance his recruiting season? Well, he goes out and lures the #1 player in the class to UK. Late last night, Slam Magazine confirmed that John Wall had selected UK among Miami, Florida, and Duke.

I can’t begin to express how ecstatic the UK fan base is now, what with the job that Calipari has done already in recruiting, and now landing Wall. Described by Dave Telep as, “The nation’s single most unguardable player”, Wall joins a class already loaded with 5- star recruits, Eric Bledsoe, Daniel Orton and DeMarcus Cousins. I foresee us fans talking UK basketball all summer.

There were some who believed that our signing Eric Bledsoe recently would affect John’s decision. It appears it had nothing to do with it. ““I’ve been thinking about it for the last couple of weeks. I sat down and prayed and thought about it. Last night we had a meeting and I just came out and told Brian “(Clifton).

It hasn’t been that long since some of the SEC coaches have said that UK’s dominance of the league was over…Well, that is about to change and change very quickly.

Coach Calipari’s Press Conference

The more you listen to Coach Calipari the more impressed you become with him. The man truly understands that it takes more than good players to get Kentucky back to the top.

• He knows the importance of getting the brand out there. He wants to take it one step further and get UK games on tv in china where he said there were over 11,000 7 footers but that he would settle for a point guard.
• He understand how important former players are and that getting them back on campus to finish their degree helps not only them but the school.
• He understands that with todays players who have grown up in the information age he has to use all the new tools in recruiting them.
• He understands the importance of communicating with the media and most importantly the fans.

He said that recruiting should only be allowed in-season for high schools and not allowed during summer and that basketball should have a month off like football.

He feels that Orton is a very skilled player and that both Orton and Cousins can play together at the same time.

He wants to have a fantasy camp for guys over 35. They would stay at the lodge and play against former players. He mentioned maybe having Issle and Riley as coaches.

He is going to have a kick ass website in a couple of weeks but didn’t offer me the job as manager.

Quite a switch from the last two coaches conferences.

Why Wall Might Go To Miami

Looks like well rounded football and I can see why Wall might want to go to Miami. The players are definitely touch football material and as someone on the forums said tight ends coach will be the best coaching job.

Looks like well rounded football and I can see why Wall might go to Miami.

Calipari Gets His Man – Eric Bledsoe

UK filled a huge need for a point guard yesterday, when Eric Bledsoe announced he would play his college basketball for UK…The recruit from Birmingham, averaged 20.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 11.5 assists, per game last season for The Class 5A runner-up.

Bledsoe, is rated a 5 star pg, and 3^rd best in the class according to Rivals. ““It’s a dream come true for my son,” said Maureen.

The last year of Bledsoe’s life has felt like a dream. Seven months ago, nobody knew much about the 6-foot point guard from Parker. The only colleges who wanted him were UAB and Ole Miss — fine schools with fine coaches, but not exactly on the same level as Duke and UConn and Florida and Kentucky and Memphis.

“I was nervous (at not signing in November),” Bledsoe said. “Coach (Maurice Ford) told me if I waited, that a lot of schools were going to want a point guard. But I wasn’t sure. It wasn’t easy to wait.”

It was quiet in December and January. And then, almost out of nowhere, the phone started ringing. Jim Calhoun of UConn. Billy Donovan of Florida. Mike Krzyzewski of Duke. John Calipari of Memphis before he became John Calipari of Kentucky.

For the betterment of the sport.

For the betterment of the sport the NCAA needs to look at increasing the scholarship limit to 15. Not to make sure we have a better team next year but for the simple reason that if there are 15 on a team like Kansas, NC, Duke or Kentucky its entirely possible that the number 14 or 15 player might decide to play for a team like Butler, Gonzaga or Nevada rather than sitting behind a stream of one and I’m out of hears.

I’m looking at this from a guys point of view sorry lady’s. But come on if a guy could increase his stable to 15 from 13 does anyone think Britney Spears is gonna stay around as number 15 when she could contribute to another team.

Increasing the stable err scholarship limit to 15 will defiantly help the sport to grow stronger besides I’d really like to see a major underdog win the NC before I go on to the big court in the sky.

Brooks to Retire? Waiting On Two Young QB’s ?

Who knows when Rich Brooks will retire? He certainly deserves to stick around a few years to reap the spoils of what he has wrought. He took a team on probation and build it into one that has been to 3 consecutive bowls. No small feat in UK football history. Now, we would all loved to have done more, but realistically the sheer numbers of great players it takes to play in the SEC was lacking. That is what Brooks, Joker and Co. have done…Built up the player base to be competitiive.

Now, I am seeing that on the recruiting trail. With the two big-armed freshmen coming in, and the amount of publicity that has had on the recruiting trail, we are seeing 4-Star players use one of their visits to come to UK…Once we get them here, from all accounts I have read both that the UK staff have a lasting impression on them, not to mention the state-of-the-art facilities.

Joker has divided the country finding recruits in states that we weren’t that strong in before. He is mostly responsible for making inroads into LaGrange Ga. where such great ones as Wesley and Braxton came from, as well as a couple this year. Joker is slowly building a great relationship in SC where we snagged Cartier Rice, Gene McCaskill, Matt Lenz, Taylor Wyndham and others

Joker and Chuck Smith snatched the best player out of the state of Indiana, the 4 Star QB, Morgan Newton, 6’5″ 220 4.5, and took the best running back in the state for good measure, Dakotah Tyler 200lb 4.4 forty…..Joker and the boys are definitely going after the great athletes, and they are getting some looks. Recruiting has gotten progressively better, and I think Rich Brooks wants to stick around a couple of years, to see how his freshmen QB’s do and beat UT and some others on our hit list…

Surprise winner or not?

From fourth in the Sunland Derby in El Paso to first at the Kentucky Derby. Mine That Bird a $9,500 horse won the Derby as a 50-1 long shot. Not only did he win it he won it in a fashion that will be remembered for a long time coming from the back of the field in spectacular ride by Calvin Boreal to win it with ease. Mine That Bird was horse the 2 year old champion in Canada and his sire won the Belmont in 2004 and grandsire the Derby in 1996 so it shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that he won but it is to the experts.

I got a big laugh out of the owners being reminded that Kentucky is the horse racing capital of the world. New Mexico is the quarter horse racing capital of the world and the the All American Futurity was the first million dollar horse race and currently is over a two million dollar purse for a 20 second horse drag race that thoroughbreds couldn’t in compete in because they are way to slow.

Looks like there won’t be a triple crown winner again this year or if there is it will be a bigger surprise than this race.

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