SouthEastern Wildcat Review

To begin with, I didn't plan on making another post today, as I am busy trying to do some research for a story post like the one I did about Pat's and Daniel's trainer in San Francisco. However, during the course of searching the internet for infomation, compiling the links for Thursday's post, and just generally screwing around I found the pic posted below. Obviously it's been photoshopped, but in light of the reports that LeBron and Nike confiscated video tapes to make sure nobody saw Jordan Crawford dunking on King James, I thought I would go ahead with a quick post with today's info and share this pic.

Before I continue, I just want to say that, if the report is true, my overall opinion of Lebron has dropped a little. To me, he was always that one NBA superstar that would be above this sort of thing. I mean really, if the video were to get out, how would it hurt LeBron? So he got dunked on, BIG DEAL. Jordan Crawford is the one whose name really would have gotten some press for this, and I guarantee that now he will get even more as the story circulates. SOMEBODY has video or pics that got overlooked during the roundup of proof. And after King James refused to shake hands with the Orlando Magic following their loss in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, I hope they surface quickly. (and brother Joe still wants to see the tape)

That being said, LeBron is still one of my favorite NBA players, my first draft choice if I were building a team from scratch, and I love the fact that he and Coach Cal are close friends. The pics posted on Twitter today (see below) will be a great recruiting tool for a coach that frankly doesn't need a whole lot of assistance in landing the players he covets.

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One of the names being thrown around a ton at the LeBron camp would be that of Marquis Teague. The 2011 recruit and brother of ex-Wake Forest guard Jeff has been getting rave reviews from everyone who has seen him perform this week. Over the last few weeks uncertainty reigned as no one knew as to whether or not UK had offered the talented point guard. Now it appears that an offer by the UK staff has been extended to Teague. He said that if offered, Kentucky would be in his top five with others who have offered like: Louisville, Ohio State, Purdue, Wake Forest, Indiana, and Cincinnati. Word is that Tom Crean and IU will be hard to beat, along with Pitino and Louisville. Preliminary reports are surfacing that Teague is playing like he is the best player there.
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Some more recruiting news, Jody Demling has a complete wrap-up of day two from the Adidas Take5 Tournament in Cincinnati.

Former BCG era commitment Dominque Ferguson talks about his offers and message board haters.

The biggest attraction of the Take5 Classic, Fabricio de Melo, speaks about the attention he is getting.

I know Renardo Sidney is a great talent, and Mississippi State will be a team to be reckoned with this fall, but is he going to be worth the NCAA investigation that is coming?

More observations about the Take5 tourney from LCJ beat writer Brett Dawson.

And a morning session wrap-up from the LeBron James Skills Camp in Akron.

The only thing that would have made this better is if Coach Cal and Michael Gilchrist were standing there.
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For all of those people who think that Jodie made the wrong decision by keeping his name in the draft, it worked out perfect for him as the Bucks today signed him to a three-year guaranteed contract. Congratulations to Mr. Meeks and to the wonderful future he has in front of him. Hopefully there will be many all-star games in his future.
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Calling on all of Big Blue Nation: please click this here link, then click "Because We Felt Like It," and vote Coach John Calipari for the best coach in the nation. Come on and let's let our voice be heard!! Moving on to more good news, Darius Miller had ten points, three rebounds, three steals, and two blocks in USA's 76-69 victory over Lithuania. It is great to see his continuing contributions to the success of the team.
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And finally for a little on the lighter side, Owensboro has apparently started up an adult kickball league. I guess that's OK, after all at least it is some form of exercise, even if it is a game most adults quit playing around the time they quit pulling a girl's hair to let her know she was pretty. But for the love of God, don't let your teams wear uniforms like this:

Happy Independence Day to everyone!! Hope you all have big plans, big parties, and big fireworks displays to attend to today. The family and I will probably do our normal, sit around all day, wait for dusk, then find a good spot to park along Hwy 192 and enjoy the best display of firecrackers that Laurel County has to offer.

As the picture of Tim Couch above may lead you to believe, today's edition is going to start off discussing the football 'Cats. A quick thought about Tim, who I have known since we were little kids, (his grandmother lived 4 houses up the road from me growing up in Letcher County), I think he takes a really bad rap from the talking heads on tv/radio when they discuss his NFL career. He was brought in the be the frontman and future of a brand new franchise, something hard enough to accomplish when you have a decent offensive line, let alone what he had protecting him. He was thrust into the starting job the second game of his rookie season, and even in the face of all the adversity, in 2002 he threw for almost 3,000 yards, had 18 touchdowns passes, and led the Browns to the playoffs. Couch spent 5 years as the starter and is still the Browns all-time leader in completion percentage at 59.8%. He also ranks 7th all-time in touchdown passes (64), 6th in QB rating (75.1), 4th in passing attempts (1,741), 3rd in completions (1,025), 5th in passing yards (11,131). Couch still holds the franchise single-game record for pass completions (36 vs. Tennessee in 2002) and several rookie single-season passing records including pass attempts (399), pass completions (223), passing yards (2,447), touchdowns (15), and QB rating (73.2). He was the Browns' leading passer from 1999-2002. So all in all, while it wasn't a standout career, it was a fine one that served him well, and I bet if he were asked, the money he collected from the Browns was more than enough to make everything he went through worth every minute.

Now on to the current gridiron 'Cats....

Athlon's 2009 College Football Preview profiled Rich Brooks and company. Pretty fair article I would have to agree. Hartline has a lot to prove, Cobb must transition to wide receiver full time, Alphonso Smith needs to have the breakout season many have predicted, and the D-Line must replace Jeremy Jarmon. But overall their preview is a very good read and very informative. Five years ago, wouldn't Wildcats fans have been pleased if their football team was ranked anywhere in the top 50 to start the season? I know I would have been. Well, Rivals has the Commonwealth Crushers ranked 43rd in the country. Very fair ranking in my opinion, and with the weak non-conference schedule and a couple of upsets, UK has a better than average chance of playing on New Year's Day. Big thinking I know, but I am the eternal football optimist.
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Now, while I am not naive enough to believe that this is actually Steve Kragthorpe's real Twitter account, wouldn't it be great if he had actually said this? In reality, getting a "W" in Commonwealth this year will go a long way towards saving Steve-O's job. Of course nothing will save it if they have a repeat of last season, beating their hated in-state rival or not. What a monumental fall from grace the 'Cards have suffered ever since Petrino bolted for Atlanta. I love it!!
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Two more football links before we move on to hoops:

Jeremy Hillman of Southern Pigskin ranked the stadiums of the Southeastern conference from one to twelve. The four criteria he used were stadium capacity, noise level, aesthetics, and home-field advantage.

Tim Griffin of ESPN tells us who the winner would be if Kentucky of the SEC and Missouri of the Big 12 were to play each other. He has each team ranked 8th in its respective conference, and this will be an ongoing column until he gets to the two number one ranked teams. Good idea, like the SEC-Big 12 challenge, except in football instead of hoops.
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Perry Ellis, the consenus #1 player in the class of 2012, was recently offered a scholarship from Coach Cal and the UK staff. Now while this may harken back to the BCG era of recruiting players still in daipers, I believe this kid will be the real deal. His offer list is impressive and steadily growing. Cal is not known for offering anyone this early on in the process, so he must really believe in this kid's potential. Ellis is also a Kansas native, wouldn't it be grand to steal such a highly ranked recruit from under Bill Self and KU's nose? He visited Memphis Friday and Kentucky Saturday on his way to Lebron James Skills Camp in Akron, OH.
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Doron Lamb, #1 on Coach Cal's shooting guard wish list now that Will Barton committed to Memphis a couple of weeks ago, spoke with Jim Tirey of The Cats' Pause regarding his unofficial visit recently. Maybe I'm off base here and I hope that I am, but I didn't get the vibe that UK was his #1 choice like has been reported. Still a long time to go on his recruitment however, and for some reason I'm not 100% convinced that Barton won't end up a Wildcat.
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Some more recruiting news......UK targets Kyrie Irving and Michael Gilchrist have been talking about playing together at the next level. The staff has been heavily recruiting Irving, and Gilchrist has long been thought to be a heavy Kentucky lean. All this according to Adam Zagoria's blog.

Not only did Rivals #1 and Scout #2 prospect John Wall decide to play his (probable) only college season with the 'Cats, but he has been trying to persuade C.J. Leslie, a teammate of his at Raleigh Word of God H.S., to follow him to Lexington. Leslie is ranked 13th overall by Scout and 34th by Rivals. Jody Demling spoke with Leslie and told 'Cats fans to watch out if they've never seen Wall play because....."You will see him and you will be amazed."
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Have read a few reports saying Darnell Dodson is having trouble getting all his credits to transfer to UK and that is the reason he hasn't made it to campus yet. Calipari isn't worried about it and supposedly summer school can fix the problem.
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NBADraft.net released its new list of the Top 100 prospects for the 2010 NBA Draft yesterday. Check out Nos. 1, 14, 22, and 45. Great time to be a 'Cat fan.
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Another piece complaining about the high salaries paid to college coaches, John Calipari being the headline of this one. I don't have much to say about this, as I would take their pay in a heartbeat were I to offered it. I did like the statement that Bruce Pearl made saying he should thank Cal for getting him a raise. And I also agree with what the UT coach had to say about capping salaries. "I would say if you do that, give me tenure," Pearl said. Great idea considering the tenuous amount of job security coaches at BCS schools have nowadays.
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Darius Miller had his best game for Team USA during their 112-55 blowout of Egypt in the final round robin game before the elimination tournament starts. He nearly had a double double with nine points, nine rebounds, one assist, and one blocked shot. I believe Miller will greatly benefit from this experience and show us much more than what we saw last season.





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More from the "My Favorite Train Wreck Department:" In light of the report coming out that the UKAA was actually BCG's employer instead of the university itself, Demetrios Anaipakos, Clyde's attorney, has asserted that either UK lawyers lied to the Dallas and Franklin County courts or the UKAA lied to the I.R.S. I just love everything about this case and the fact that it is completely playing out in the media before our eyes. It stuns me that Clyde is persuing it so hard when he HAS to be smart enough to know it will kill his career. Not that he shouldn't get paid, he should, Barnhart and Todd made that bed and now they will have to lay in it. I'm just enjoying the entertainment resulting from it.
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Finally for your entertainment:

"Rowdy" Roddy Piper was arrested for D.U.I.

Fansided's list of athletes who need to retire.

A Minnesota sports writer with a little egg on his face.