Some place along the line the NCAA has reached the conclusion that they own college sports instead of administering college sports. Nothing shows it better than what happened to Memphis recently and what didn’t happen to Duke or what hasn’t happened to USC.

Occasionally they get something right like they did when the allowed Matt Pilgrim to play immediately for Oklahoma St. More often they get it wrong like they did with a bunch of players from Hawaii. Due to a error in not registering software schools in the state use to add kids to the clearing houses list by several high schools one or more classes weren’t submitted in a timely manner to the clearing house for a number of boys and girls. When the schools realized this they attempted to register the software and straighten the classes out with the NCAA but by that time the NCAA wouldn’t accept the classes.

So lets see the high schools made a mistake and tried to rectify it to the best of their ability. The clearing house refused to accept that and do what the colleges did by realizing it wasn’t the kids fault and accept the classes. It left a bunch of boys and girls with the choice of either going the JC route, paying for a year of college or sitting out a year of sports.

If the NCAA wasn’t so secretive aka the lawsuit against Fla. St and the NCAA there would be no problem finding other cases where kids suffer because of the NCAA’s general inflexibility.

How do you solve a problem like this. Its simple to sports fans you force the NCAA to reform. The biggest problem isn’t going to be getting the NCAA to reform its going to be getting college presidents to get together and do what was done a few years ago The CFA forced the NCAA’s hand on television rights when they had every major and mid-major school except for the PAC 19 and Big 10 schools ready to form a new organization to replace the NCAA. Now the schools are making money hand over foot so whats the percentage in upsetting the money cart.

The NCAA is very good at trying to convincing the average fan that collegiate athletics is nothing more than an extracurricular service being provided to enhance the lives of nerdish students who barely remember to go to practice. As a result, the NCAA earns more during its post-season than the NFL and the NBA earn in their respective playoffs, including the Super Bowl.

So the next time you hear the NCAA say the student athlete comes first don’t believe it. What comes first is money, then the NCAA’s reputation, then certain schools and coaches and finally you find the student athlete at the bottom of the pile.

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.”

This has been one of those zany basketball years in the history of UK basketball where accurate predictions regarding UK’s future success have been in short supply…Indeed, for one who loves to speculate about how good their beloved CATS will be; it’s been as difficult as herding cats. I am one who believes that it takes both the players and a good coach to win it all.

There is no more humbling game than basketball when things don’t work out. Consider that Billy Donovan may be making his second straight trip to the NIT, after winning back to back NCAA Championships! HE is a great coach and HE had great players to win it, but if you remove that team from his resume, he might be job searching right now! Since I like to give credit to the aforementioned players and coach when things go well, then I must assign the blame to BOTH the coach and players for a poor season. It’s only logical. You could have done better.

Given the players have backed their coach , especially Patterson, one must think that Mr. Gillispie Will return next year along with Patrick and Jodie Meeks.

BCG will bring the 14^th rated class to the table next year and I feel we will get some immediate help from the group in the form of Matt Pilgrim and Orton. I can see Patrick Patterson moving to the Power Forward with Orton managing the middle. Pilgrim brings a nice face up game that we don’t have on this current team. Jon Hood, state high jump champ, will provide another outside scoring threat, as well a his 6’6” length on the defense. G.J. will be the prototypical point with some things to learn about the college game.

The NIT offers the fans a chance to see the UK Wildcats play, and play right here at home. I dare say some fans may get a chance to see them that would not normally be able to…This alone makes a strong case for our backing the NIT, especially here in Lexington. From the players perspective it looks like 2Pat is the elder spokesman of the group when he says “LETS PLAY”!

GO WILDCATS!

One more year of life and maturity and this will be a completely different TEAM. Really, it will be, considering the players will be a year older, wiser, and better. The level of talent that we have coming in; which I feel is vastly superior to this year’s group, will bolster next year’s experienced squad. I expect UK to put three (3) new starters on the floor next year in additon to the BIG 2…They have too, in my opinion, to be competitive.

Matt Pilgrim and Orton will make a BIGGG difference in this program…Perry S. Would be well served to work on his game…Looking at Jon Hood film reminds me a little of a kid we had in here by the name of Rex…Really, the kid is a player and can shoot the basketball. Any contribution from him next year would be the icing on the cake.

Now as for Ole Miss, I look for UK to take this game rather handily using a strong defense on the point of attack which was our Achilles heel in the last game with Ole Miss. David Heurtas, their leading scorer is said to be “day to day” with a foot injury and UK is primed to bust O-U-T…

Let us not forget this is the same UK team that started this season at 5-0 and took #5 Louisville to the wire and the top twenty LSU team as well.

Having a lack of balanced scoring has been a hallmark of the team of late; that and an inordinate number o f turnovers have often been the catalyst for defeat. To secure a victory our Cats must cut back on the turnovers and find scoring from other sources. But, they can and will do it today by 13 points! One Game A t A Time~