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.

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…

Receivers Need to Step It UP

Most folks will tell you that a football team with a Big-Armed QB and a couple of good receivers can beat you on any given day…Such was the luxury that the UK Wildcats enjoyed when they had the arm of Andre Woodson, throwing to the arms of receivers such as Keenan Burton, Dicky Lyons and Stevie Johnson.

Given that UK has two big arms coming in the fall, there is a possibility that could happen again, given the circumstances. I don’t think circumstances will present themselves until the Florida game. Let’s face it, Florida is the favorite to win the National Title this year, notwithstanding the SEC. They return their Entire Defense, not to mention terrible Tim Tebow. Mike Hartline should perform well enough to have us at 2-0 going into that game, but this is the one where I think we see Rich Brooks making some moves…

If the Florida defense is swamping Hartline, Rich Brooks will want to put in someone who can move in the pocket, AND see over it…That would be Morgan Newton. Regardless of how he plays, I think this will be a pivotal moment for UK football next season. UK will not play an opponent better than Florida all year and this game time experience will do wonders for Morgan’s confidence. Nothing against Mike Hartline, but I think that Brooks wants to have both Morgan and Randall in the same backfield before the season plays out. Mike Hartline is entering his second year as starter and has a wealth of experience. That will win games, but his arm is not strong enough to stretch SEC defenses.

In order for any QB to excel, one of the following needs to join Randall Cobb and catch some passes: Aaron Boyd, Eric Adeyemi, Gene McCaskill, Kyrus Lanxter, Matt Roark, E.J. Fields. If they don’t I expect these 2, along with Cobb, to be our receivers in the fall.

Nick Mellilo, a walk-on, has already shown he can be a force during the spring game and remember, it only takes a couple of good ones to make a difference. His play was not an anomaly, he had a great spring.

Chris Matthews, at 6’5” and a recent 4.4 forty under his belt, is impossible to cover man-to-man according to his JUCO coach. He can step right off the JUCO fields, where Rivals has him a 4-Star WR, and onto the one at Commonwealth, given his skill set, and the state of our receiving corp….UK coaches are more that excited about the incoming junior college wideout, given he is rated in the 9^th best JUCO out of the top 100!

That makes three receivers, Cobb, Mellilo and Matthews, and these are my picks to catch the football this fall. What are yours?

Fidler leads Blue Team to Win over White….28-23

Randall Cobb caught four passes for 70 yards, and his 26-yard TD reception on the game’s first drive, set the tone for the Blue team, which held off the White 28-23 at Commonwealth Stadium. “If that guy is on the bus you’ve got a chance,” UK offensive head coach Joker Phillips said.

The UK staff has been disappointed that none of the young receivers have stepped up this spring, but a “walk on” made the most significant contributions for a squad that has been thin on kids who can catch a football.

Nick Melillo, made a name for himself yesterday…The 6’2”, 215 lb, former Trinity star, caught 4 passes, 2 of which went for touchdowns, to help keep the game close. Rich Brooks was effusive in singing his praises, “One guy stepped up from nowhere and made some plays and that was Melillo, so guess what, he’s going to move ahead of some scholarship players right now. He deserves a look and deserves to move up the depth chart.”

Mike Hartline had a sub-par performance missing on 8 of his first 9 passes, but in all fairness, the Blue Team was stacked with such defenders as Jeremy Jarmon, Trevard Lindley, Micah Johnson, and Danny Trevathan, and the offense had Cobb. Between missing the long passes, and seeing the short ones dropped by the receivers, Mike had a difficult day with his playmaking, even though he would wind up with superior numbers on paper to Fidler…

Will Fidler, the oft forgotten backup to Hartline/Cobb, had his best day ever as a wildcat, leading the Blue team on a 12 play 93 yard scoring drive on the Blue’s first possession, that set the tone of the game, and contrasted with the difficulties that Hartline was having completing a pass early on, even though Fidler competed only 4 more passes the rest of the way.

Brooks reportedly had a meeting with the Newton family this weekend, whose son, Morgan, is one of two high profile QB’s recruits the cats have signed for the fall. Brooks is said to have stated: “GET READY” when speaking to Morgan and his dad, which indicates that Rich has no problem throwing the freshman signal caller into the thick of the QB race.

Brooks told the Newtons that Morgan absolutely had a chance to be the starter in the fall.

PLAYER STATISTICS:
RUSHING
White – A. Smith, 18-67; Conner, 10-33; Bowland, 1-4; McCaskill, 1-minus-11
Blue – Allen, 16-96; C. Williams, 7-56, TD; Cobb, 1-6

PASSING
White – Hartline: 17-33, 208 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
Blue – Fidler: 10-24, 110 yards, 2 TD, INT

RECEIVING
White – Melillo, 4-43, 2 TD; A. Smith, 3-54; Drake, 3-22; Bowland, 2-17; McCaskill, 2-17; Conner, 1-29; Adams, 1-18; Boyd, 1 -8
Blue – Cobb, 4-70, TD; Grinter, 2-26; Roark, 1-9, TD; Bogue, 1-7; Allen, 1-0; C. Williams, 1-minus-2

JON CALLS JOHN- Hood to Wall

As gifted as Jon Hood is, he knows it would be great if UK could garner even more talent to go with the recent signing of John Calapari as his new head coach…That is why Jon called John Wall about coming to UK…. The Raleigh, N.C., senior is rated by Rivals.com as the No. 1 point guard in the class of 2009”. Wall listed Memphis, formerly coached by Calipari, as his top collegiate choice even after visiting Duke last weekend. He’s also considering Baylor, North Carolina State, Kansas and Miami.

“Me and John were real close over the summer. We played against each other a few times, exchanged phone numbers, kept up with each other,” Hood said. “I talked to him some, not a lot. But I kind of urged him. … I said, ‘Hey, buddy, why don’t you come over to the Bluegrass and play with us?’

“He said, ‘I don’t know. We’ll have to see. I’m still going to look, see what happens.”

Hood, a 6-foot-7 Madisonville guard, will be presented with the award as the state’s Mr. Basketball, and the No. 1 jersey, as the top player in the state, at a news conference in Madisonville at 2:30 p.m on Wednesday afternoon.

JON HOOD

Status: Signed with Kentucky

Position: Guard/Forward

Rivals: No. 32 overall, No. 7 SG

Scout: No. 36 overall, No. 8 SF

Last school: Madisonville (Madisonville, Ky.)

Height, weight: 6-6, 185

2008-09 stats: 29 ppg, 13 rpg

UK GETS THEIR MAN

The “highest profile” coach in the country finally met up with the school with the greatest need, at least in our fans minds. This only happens every decade or so nationally, and has every reason to be called a “Grand Slam”. Most of us will tell you that the last great basketball era we had here at UK was during Rick Pitino’s heyday, and we are headed back in that direction in my humble opinion.

Yes, John Calipari is every bit the coach Rick Pitino is, and the fact that he changed his offensive philosophy recently, shows he is flexible as well. He is a great recruiter securing what is being called the number #1 class this year…He plays with the best, and he will be able to get the best at UK. He did it at Memphis and he will do it here and do it better. UK goes from now being an NIT calibre team this year, to a potential final four next; such will be the stockpile of talent here once “CAL” gets settled in.

“ You can now put Kentucky with NC, Kansas, Duke, all the elite from this point forward” Andy Katz ESPN.com

UK called a news conference for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday to formally introduce Calipari, who has been with Memphis for 9 seasons. Calipari also becomes the highest-paid coach in college basketball.

Now, maybe UK fans can rest easy this summer, knowing that next year when basketball season starts, UK will once again be AT THE PULSE of COLLEGE BASKETBALL, the head and not the tale, if you will, and the only back seat we take in college basketball will be the one we ride in to the FINAL FOUR…

CALIPARI MAY BRING COUSINS, HENRY TO UK WITH HIM…IF

He comes….

AND…. Gary Parrish, of CBSSports.com, is reporting that ESPN #1 overall 2009 recruit Xavier Henry has a clause in his Letter of Intent that requires Memphis to release him without stipulations, if Calipari leaves the Tigers. Henry is a 6’6″, 210 lb shooting guard from Oklahoma.

AND…Demarcus Cousins?

Who is this man-child, and how much would it improve UK’s team to have him? Well the 6-foot-9, 250-pound Cousins is rated the No. 1 power forward, and No. 2 prospect in the country. He considered UK early in the recruiting process while attending one of Gillispie’s summer camps, but ultimately gave a surprising verbal commitment to UAB which he rescinded to pledge to Memphis and Calipari.

How much he would improve a front line loaded with Patrick Patterson, Matt Pilgrim, Orton, Perry Stevenson, et al, is anyone’s guess, but can we say bulls on the boards? That’s what we’ll have if we add the beast Cousins to the mix….

Now that John Calapari is courting the job at UK, Demarcus’ mom was ask how they were taking the sudden news: “The things that have developed over the last 24 hours or so, he is not too aware of,” Ms. Cousins said. “He’s at the aquarium today with the (McDonald’s All-American) group. I’m sure if they had any down time, that someone has mentioned it to him. Right now, we haven’t talked about it.”

On John Calapari:

“He likes the way he motivates his players, said Ms. Cousins. “He has watched Coach Cal for a long period of time. He is the type of coach that is very up-front. There’s no gray area. You know right away that his way is the way it is. You learn and he pushes you, and that is what DeMarcus likes about him.”

Kenny Walker, former UK star and NBA player, seemed ecstatic over the possibility of John Calipari joining the Wildcats as head coach:

He has a very charismatic personality. He’s a great communicator. He’s a great motivator. He’s a proven recruiter. Those are all things you need at the University of Kentucky,” said Walker. “He really has all the qualities you need for this job. He’s very good with fans and the media. He relates well to the players. He is the complete package.”

“All I have heard about Calipari is how much fun it is to play for him and that’s what college basketball is about. Get an education, get some exposure for yourself and have fun. Then take it to the next level if you can. “He will get guys to do that and make it pleasant experience for them, and I don’t think that has been the case at Kentucky the last two years.”

Donovan Says “NO”! ORESTES MEEKS SPEAKS!

“Billy Gillispie’s tenure as head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats ended yesterday after a two year record of 40-27, one NCAA appearance and one NIT appearance. At this moment, UK is without a basketball coach. Apparently, that will not be Billy Donovan.

“In response to the rumors circulating about my interest in other jobs, I wanted to address this as quickly as possible. I’m committed to the University of Florida and look forward to continuing to build our program here.” So says Billy Donovan about his interest in the vacant University of Kentucky job.

So says Billy Donovan, who was the second part of the persistent rumor that swirled around Billy Gillispie — that he would be fired and Billy Donovan would be the replacement. Now, we see that the administration had no coach in the wings, and the firing was what it is. A desire to remove Gillispie based on “philosophical differentness and “UN-FIT” circumstances.

Now I have no doubt, after careful consideration, that Billy C. Gillispie did nothing to ingratiate himself to the boosters, media, or the HEAD MAN. He was a hard driving basketball junkie who loved the game and hated the spotlight. This is plenty enough to get you fired in the real world, yet this isn’t the real world. This is no marriage, there was no contract. This was no agreement; there was none, perhaps an understanding, but those are very flimsy, as we can see now.

This is a basketball team with young men hanging in the balance of their careers, and a program tethering on the brink of instability. A strong recruiting class coming, whose parents want to know what is going on. Those things are paramount in considering anything in relation to the men’s basketball program. Having a man in place who appreciates what the University of Kentucky basketball program is all about is a no-brainer. Mitch should have thought of that two years ago when he introduced us to Billy Clyde as the saviour of UK basketball.

Now, we are left to twist in the wind while we look for a basketball coach. Experienced coaches are turning us down now, first Donovan, now Calipari. Never say never, and some may reconsider but, A “home run” hire is necessary soon to address the need to retain the recruits we have coming in. The search is on……

Mike Decourcy, The Sporting News, weighs in, “The guy’s been there two years. If you’re firing somebody after two years, with one NCAA appearance and an NIT, I’m not sure the failure belongs to the coach.”

“You need a special guy…I think that John Calapari…Rick Barnes….Travis Ford…” Vitale offered these names, and we know these. We will be needing NO help from Dicky V. I’ll take Travis. Thank You.

Orestes Meeks, Jodie’s father, had some very unflattering things to say about Billy Gillispie. “They got worse as the season progressed. I don’t know why that was. To me, that is a leadership issue. There is a lot of behind the scenes stuff that went on. Some of that stuff was self inflicted (by Gillispie). I couldn’t understand a lot of the stuff they tried to do.” After UK’s loss at Florida, a Florida player said Jodie Meeks told him he was told by Gillispie to quit shooting. Gillispie denied that later as did Jodie Meeks. However, Orestes Meeks said it happened in other games this year as well. “He was telling him that all year about shooting,” Orestes Meeks said. “When he hit 7 3’s against Tennessee State in the first half and he was 8-for-11 from the field and he told him, ‘Why do you have 11 shots. You are shooting too much.’ “I think Coach had a problem with Jodie doing as well as he did. We do not have a relationship. I do not talk to him. When the school started the (national player of the year) promotion for Jodie (in February), he benched him (at South Carolina). He took him out and told him not to shoot even though he just had made a shot. He just told him to sit down. How does that make sense?” Indeed Orestes, it makes no sense, and if this is true, we did make the best move…

UK Dismisses Billy Gillispie

After two tumultuous years at the helm of the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team, Billy Gillispie is out. Kentucky’s top choice two years ago when Gillispie was hired, Billy Donovan, is rumoured to be the replacement.

Billy Gillispie arrived at UK with a reputation as a hard-nosed grinder who overachieved. He had four conference Coach of the Year awards in his pocket to go with it. Some said that Billy was too much of a task master, that he wore his players down, but it CANNOT be said that he did it HIS WAY, since he never got the chance, given only a two – year tenure.

Billy Gillispie had a 40-27 record in his two year at UK. He took over for Tubby Smith who left to go to Minnesota. This year UK missed the NCAA for the first time in 18 years. Reports are that UK is reaching out to representatives of Billy Donovan.

UK ENDS SEASON FALLING TO IRISH 77-67

Notre Dame hit 12 big three pointers Wednesday night, and held off a charging UK team. The Irish displayed a variety of offense in dispatching the Wildcats. Not only did the Irish light it up from 3 land, hitting over 50% of their shots, they also got a great game from Luke Harangody who went for 30 points and 11 rebounds…All and all, it was too much for a Kentucky team that had struggled all year to guard the three point shot…

Jodie Meeks scored 18 of his 21 points in the final 12:18 as the Wildcats (22-14) used a 17-5 run to cut the lead to 67-62 on a slam dunk by Perry Stevenson with 2:42 left. But the Irish were 8-of-8 from the free-throw line over the final 1:29 to end the game on a 10-5 run to hang on.

Ramon Harris suffered a mild concussion in the first half, and his defense was missed on the three point shooters for the Irish. UK, as they have all season, had trouble guarding the 3 point shot. “That’s what inexperience can do…we just had a couple of bad stretches” were among the post game comments of Billy Gillispie…

UK’s fans are left in a “waiting pattern” waiting to see who the next coach might be, and for many, what the reason is IF the one we have is dismissed.

Kentucky closes out its season at 22-14, while Notre Dame moves on to Madison Square Garden to face a Penn State team (25-11) in New York.

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