Jones does it all as Cats beat ETSU, 88-65.

It's been awhile since I've last posted, and a lot has happened.

• UK won their two exhibition games easily as expected
• This Wednesday, Marquis Teague, Michael Gilchrist, and Kyle Wiltjer all signed their national letter of intents to play for the Cats on the first day of the signing period.
• On Thursday, there was bad news. Enes wasn't freed, and was declared permanently ineligible by the NCAA for receiving $33,000 more than "necessary expenses".
• This afternoon, we have found out that $20,000 of that was used for education, which could be a major implication in the appeal process later this month, leaving only $13,000 to be re-paid or accounted for.
• And tonight, without Enes Kanter, the Cats took care of business and beat ETSU 88-65.
  

East Tennessee State isn't one of the best teams the Cats will play this year, but they were a veteran team that made the NCAA Tournament a year ago and a major upgrade in talent from Pikeville, Dillard, and the Canadian teams that they have played this summer. They were a very good test for a young team in their opening game. I expected the young Cats to fall behind early in this one, but eventually come back to win rather easily. I thought the new guys would be overwhelmed by the difference in talent compared to what they've faced in the preseason. I expected a similar sloppy performance as what we were accustomed to early on last season with a young team. I was wrong.

It was an all around excellent opener, and I must say, they're ahead of where they were a year ago. They're also a much better shooting team than a year ago as they shot 50%, 13 of 26, from the field. Brandon Knight made 4 0f 7 from behind the arc, Doron Lamb made 3 of 5, DeAndre Liggins and Darius Miller each made three, and even big man Terrence Jones, the star of the game, made 2 out of 3 three point attempts. It's safe to say that this team probably won't shoot like this every game, but they probably won't ever go 0-25 from 3 ever again, either. Jones finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 3 steals. There didn't seem to be anything that he couldn't do. The other scoring leaders for the Cats were Lamb (20), Knight (17), and Liggins (14).

Darius Miller also had 8 points and Josh Harrelson played well in limited playing time. Harrelson started the game and grabbed the first rebound and scored the first basket for the Cats but was called for 2 quick fouls which put him on the bench the rest of the 2nd half (one of those fouls seemed questionable). Harrelson also picked up a third foul early in the 2nd half and finished with 2 points and 7 rebounds in just 16 minutes to play. With the absence of Kanter and Harrelson on the bench, Eloy Vargas had to fill the void but was unable to get into the scoring books. It didn't really matter because Terrence Jones did just about everything, inside and out. Jon Hood, who came off a 17 point performance in the previous exhibition game, only got into the game for 6 minutes and scored 2 points.

With or without Enes Kanter, this is going to be a very good team. It's not life or death on this decision. He'd be a huge addition, but they've been preparing all off season to play without him and they will be just fine without him. Kentucky fans need to have perspective. Remember Billy Ball? This team will be, at worst, the 2nd best team we've had in 5 years. Then, next year, we'll be even better and perhaps even better than last year. I don't expect this team to accomplish everything that happened a year ago; but they are a better shooting team, they are playing better early on than they did last year, and I do believe they could go further into the tournament. "Enjoy the path", as Calipari says, it's going to be another great year!

The Cats take the football field tomorrow in a must win game against Vanderbilt. Bowl eligibilty and momentum going into Knoxville are on the line. It's been reported that, finally, Derrick Locke will play.

(Photo Courtesy of UKathletics.com)

Blue dominates White: Knight scores 37, Jones scores 29

With only ten players eligible to practice upon the eligibility ruling of Enes Kanter, tonight's Blue/White game required every player to play for 40 minutes straight with no subs. It had to be a great experience physically for ten guys to all play 40 minutes and they all seemed conditioned pretty well for it. Brandon Knight had cramps in the final remaining seconds, but his legs were good enough for him to score 37 points and only turn it over 2 times in 40 minutes. Terrence Jones, who played very little in the Canadian exhibition trip because of a nagging ankle injury, had a good showing of his post skills and athleticism for the first time in front of Big Blue Nation with 29 points! The projected starting players were primarily on the blue team, and that combined with 40 minutes of play for everyone may have increased production numbers; however, Calipari had the players switching jerseys and getting accustomed to playing with different guys throughout the game.

Other statistics of note include 26 rebounds by Josh Harrleson combined with 16 points for a double double, Eloy Vargas was also just one rebound short of a double double, and I believe Jarrod Polson scored in double figures as well (but official stats are not yet available). After not seeing hardly any action from Jones or Vargas in Canada, Harrelson was the primary big man. Despite the improvement of Harrelson and the solid play in Canada, the thought of how the team might shape up in the post without Enes Kanter was concerning going into tonight's scrimmage. It's hard to make much of these scrimmages, but tonight certainly showed that the Cats are still very talented in the post with or without Kanter. The Terrence Jones we saw tonight was the Jones we can expect to see in the season, and not the injury plagued Jones that we saw in Candada. All and all, tonight was a tremendous effort and an entertaining display of action tonight for a sub-less ten Wildcats who all gave the fans a good show and some good hustle for 40 minutes straight. We've got another pretty darn good team, folks!

P.S.- tonight at midnight marks the 1 year anniversary of Wildcat Wrap.

A year ago, inspired by Big Blue Madness and the excitement generating around John Calipari's first season in Lexington, I started this site in the early morning/late night hours of October 27th, 2009. The idea just suddenly came to me, and I immediately jumped on it. I didn't even wait until the next morning to get it going. I started it up right then when the idea came to me that night, and here I am a year later.

Who would have thought that writing on this blog would have led me to a new career path? I've discovered I really like to write and am pretty good at it. I'm currently taking a stab at a journalism career, covering sports for the Xavier Newswire. I'm also at Xavier for my Masters of Secondary English Education and if a journalism or sports information career doesn't pan out, I plan to teach English and Journalism and get into sports administration at the high school level. Because of all these changes, I won't be able to update the site regularly anymore, but I will check back and write some stories here and then. Thanks to everyone for all of the support throughout the past year.

Sincerely,
John

Canada Trip Concludes with Most Consistent and Complete Effort Yet

(Darius Miller pictured above, Courtesy of the Cats Pause)

On Tuesday morning, all 8 of the undermanned Wildcats scored. All 3 nights of the trip, Darius Miller and Brandon Knight performed exceptionally well. Doron Lamb had a sluggish outing in his opener, but followed that up with 2 straight 20 point performances. Miller, Knight, and Lamb combined for 74 points on Tuesday. Hood, Liggins, and Harrelson delivered with strikingly consistent numbers all 3 nights. But Tuesday was the most complete effort of the trip, as the Cats led big the entire duration of the game. They went into halftime with a 22 point lead and never gave in on route to a 104-75 victory over Windsor.

The most impressive statistic of the 3 day trip, especially after only having 10 practices previously, was that Kentucky only turned over the ball 14 times each game. It shows an incredible consistency and focus, especially given the fast paced offense that they run. The same consistency and focus wasn't always present last season in early November games. This is a different team than we will see at Big Blue Madness on October 15th, but the additions of Enes Kanter, Terrence Jones, and Eloy Vargas will only make the Cats' a more complete and balanced team from an already pretty good team that we saw in these 3 days.

Here's a recap of everyone's numbers:

Darius Miller 24 pts, 3 reb, 3 assts
Stacey Poole 2 pts, 1 steal
Jon Hood 8 pts, 8 rebs, 4 assts
Brandon Knight 27 pts, 5 rbs, 9 assts
Doron Lamb 23 pts, 3 rbs
Jarrod Polson 2 pts
Deandre Liggins 10 pts, 2 rbs, 6 assts
Josh Harrellson 8 pts, 19 rbs, 4 steals

And yes, that is correct...Josh Harrelson really had 19 rebounds.

Basketball in August: Cats invade Canada.

Never has August been more fun around these parts. The Cincinnati Reds are tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for 1st place in a very wild and incredibly tight NL Central race, Terrell Owens has joined fellow endzone diva Chad Ochocinco with the Bengals, and Sports Illustrated has picked Joker's first UK football team to finish 2nd place in the SEC East, tied with Georgia and just behind Florida.

If all of that wasn't enough to excite local sports fans, John Calipari has brought his Kentucky basketball squad to Canada for Big Blue basketball...in August! In the middle of all of this madness of football season approaching and the Reds fighting for their first playoff birth in 15 years, we will get to see a very early summer's glimpse of the Cats' upcoming basketball team for 3 straight days this Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. The games can be seen on FSN South and FSN Ohio in 14 states, or online anywhere in the world at http://www.ukathletics.com/. They can also be heard on the radio on any of the flagship stations of the Big Blue Network. Basketball in August. This is fun, isn't it?

Unfortunately, freshman Center Enes Kanter will not make the trip as UK is still waiting for a word back from the NCAA regarding his amateur eligibility status after his participation with "Club teams" in his home-nation of Turkey. But fans will get to see a good look at returning players Josh Harrelson and DeAndre Liggins. Harrelson and Liggins have shown a marked improvement according to Calipari and he looks for the two to step up in starting roles, along with fellow returnee Darius Miller. Besides Kanter, the other freshman who will play big roles this year that WILL be making the trip to Canada are Brandon Knight, Doron Lamb, and Terrence Jones.

I appologize for a slow summer here on the site, but I'm ready for football season to begin and I'm equally excited for these summer basketball games in Canada. The site will pick things up right where we left off last March and will grow to be even bigger with more features than ever before.

Tomorrow will be a fun day. The Reds look to sweep the Marlins tomorrow afternoon and the Bengals will be playing their home preseason opener. But, of course, I won't be watching the Bengals because at 7:00 the Cats will tip it off vs. Windsor University and we'll wrap up all the action right here at Wildcat Wrap!

Comparing the '09 and '10 Classes, and looking forward to 2011.

2009 Class (Rivals.com National rank and # of stars)

PG John Wall (1)*****
PF DeMarcus Cousins (2)*****
C Daniel Orton (22)*****
PG Eric Bledsoe (23)*****
SG Jon Hood (40)****
SF Darnell Dodson (JUCO)****

2010 Class:

Overall rankings

2009: Wall (1), Cousins (2), Orton (22), Bledsoe (23), Jon Hood (40), and a top JUCO transfer in Dodson

2009 AVERAGE RANK PER PLAYER: 17.6

2010: Kanter (3), Knight (6), Jones (13), Lamb (21), Poole (33), and a top JUCO transfer in Vargas (and possibly one more addition).

2010 AVERAGE RANK PER PLAYER: 15.2

The 2009 class may have had the 2 best players with the most NBA superstar potential, but the 2010 class looks to be more deep and a better overall class, and Cal might not even be finished yet! This class features three top 15 recruits as opposed to two last season, and depending on who you ask, Knight is ranked as high as #1 by some experts and Jones is thought to be in the top 10 by many as well. Hood and Dodson return from last year's class and Poole and Vargas are expected to return as well for the 2011/2012 season. All four of these guys should join would-be Seniors Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins in 2012, while Josh Harrelson stands alone as the only Senior in 2010/2011.

With it being a relatively weak overall class nationwide (there's at least no superstars of the calibur of Wall or Cousins this year), there isn't really a definitive "one and done" player in this class, either. Kanter, Knight, and Jones are likely "one and done", but are not currently guarenteed lottery picks as Wall and Cousins were. Doron Lamb finds him in the same situation as Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton a year ago. He is not expected to be ready after a year and does not expect to leave, but we'll just have to wait and see how he progresses under Cal. I believe that Stacey Poole and Eloy Vargas are ultimately what will make this class better than last year's. I see both of these players contributing much more than Jon Hood did, and maybe more than Dodson did as well as a Freshman, and they'll be very important returnees along with Liggins, Miller, Dodson, and Hood on the 2012 team.

Not only will the 2012 team feature veterans Liggins, Miller, Dodson, and Hood, along with Sophomores Poole, Vargas, and maybe more...but Cal will be bringing in an EVEN Better recruiting class than his first two classes at UK.

Here's how the 2011 Class is stacking up:

Rivals.com National Rank and # of stars

F Mike Gilchrist (1) ***** (committed)

G Marquis Teague (2) *****(committed)

F Lebryan Nash (4) *****(considering KY)

F Quincy Miller (8)*****(KY at top of his list)

That's potentially FOUR top 10 recruits, with 3 of the top 4 overall. Also, keep in mind that Teague will be complemented by senior guards Miller and Liggins. They should also have enough experienced returning players for Calipari to not have to go after an additional two or three guys. Depending on how Lamb develops as a Freshman, Calipari might actually already be done with this class. I certainly think that UK is a viable National Championship contender in 2011, but in 2012 it's hard to imagine them not being the unanimous pre-season favorite.

Cal does it again!

A week after making a definitive statement that he will be returning to Kentucky next season and "finishing what he started", and ending all reasonable speculation that he would take a job in the NBA and possibly coach Lebron James next season, Calipari has added another 5-star recruit in Terrence Jones and possibly has surpassed the massive recruiting class that he brought in a year ago in his first few months on the job. Last year's class was looked at as a "once in a generation" recruiting class, and perhaps even "the best ever". In just his 2nd year at Kentucky, Calipari might have done the unthinkable of actually surpassing the recruiting class that included John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Eric Bledsoe, and Daniel Orton- whom all are expected to be drafted in the 1st round of the upcoming NBA Draft. The really scary part of all of this (for the rest of college basketball) is that next year's class looks to be even better. In the coming days, I'll take a look at the incoming 2010 class as well as the 2011 class and compare them both to last year's class that revitalized the Commonwealth to a 35-3 season in the extraordinary start to the John Calipari era.

Also, I've got to give much deserved "shout outs" to John Wall for his 3.5 Spring GPA and for learning his fate as a Washington Wizard, Rajon Rondo for continuing to lead his Boston Celtics as the MVP of this year's NBA playoffs so far, and the UK baseball team for SWEEPING defending National Champion LSU last weekend in what might have been enough to clinch a spot in the SEC Tournament!

(Photo courtesy of mostlyuclahoops.blogspot.com)

Great day for UK, College Basketball!

In the first ever Pitino vs. Calipari recruiting battle since Coach Cal took the UK job, Marquis Teague admitted the race was neck and neck. Pitino had coached Teague's father way back in his younger days at Boston University and was recruiting the younger Teague for about two years now. He had attended a countless number of his games and even offered an "associate" of Teague's a job on the Louisville staff. I wonder if that offer still stands? Teague entered his press conference wearing a red polo shirt, but ended up putting on a blue UK hat. This was a great addition for the Cats, but an even more crushing blow to Louisville.

(Photo Courtesy of ESPN.com)

The 2010 class is currently shaping up quite well, but with the addition of Teague to the 2011 class, the Cats have the possibility of creating the best recruiting class in the history of college basketball. I thought that last year's class was impossible to top, but it looks like I could be wrong. They have already signed the nation's #1 player, Michael Gilchrist, and Teague is ranked 3rd. Last year's class featured the country's two best players, but the 2011 class could feature the #1, 2, 3, 9, and 10th ranked recruits nationally, according to Rivals.com. Simply Unbelievable.

Three of the top remaining targets in 2010 include Terrence Jones, CJ Leslie, and Marcus Thornton, the former Clemson commit. Jones will be making his selection on April 30th and selecting among Kentucky, Washington, Oklahoma, and Oregon (seems like a pretty easy decision to me). Leslie is picking between the Cats and his hometown team, NC State. The Cats also hope to get a commitment from West Jessamine star Jarrod Polson, who was offered a preferred walk-on spot with the Cats.

Yes, it was a great day for Kentucky, a horrible day for Louisville, and a fantastic day for all of college basketball as the NCAA has elected NOT to expand to 96 teams, but only to 68. They will simply be adding a play-in game in each region instead of just one. This expansion will allow heartbreaking snubs (like Mississippi State last year) to make the tournament. At the same time, however, the regular season will still have significance and a .500 North Carolina squad wont be sneaking into the field of 96. It also allows the 16 seeded teams to actually have a chance to win a game before getting blown out by a #1 seed. The NCAA also got their new TV contract with CBS/TNT/TBS. It's a win-win situation for all parties involved. Thank you to the NCAA for not screwing up the greatest tournament in sports!

Best of Luck to all Wildcats' in tonight's NFL Draft! It's almost that time of year again, and the Blue/White Spring game is this Saturday. I'm ready to ring in the Joker Phillps era with Operation Win!

Lamb signs with Cats, who's next?

Doron Lamb is the newest Wildcat, joining Stacey Poole, Enes Kanter, and Brandon Knight in John Calipari's 2010 recruiting class. Lamb made his decision during a timeout of the Jordan Brand All-Star game Saturday night in Madison Square Garden. Lamb, a shooting guard, joins Brandon Knight in a backcourt that will try to live up to the show that John Wall and Eric Bledsoe put on this past year.

I actually believe that Knight and Lamb could possibly be a better combination that Wall and Bledose were. Instead of two point guards playing with each other next year, the Cats will have Knight running the point, and they will have a traditional spot-up, "catch and shoot" Shooting Guard in Doron Lamb, something that had been missing since the loss of Jodie Meeks. Lamb, a good outside shooter with a fantastic mid range shot, can also put the ball on the floor and is a tremendous defender. He seems to fit every quality of a player that excels in Calipari's system.

Knight is also a much better outside shooter than Wall, and displayed his clutch ability a few weeks ago when he nailed down the winning shot in the McDonald's All American game. Neither player may be quite as flashy as Wall or Bledsoe, and neither may be a "one and done" player, either. It's actually probable that one of them, along with Stacey Poole and Enes Kanter, will return for another year. These are very good college players, but not freakishly as good as what we had last season.

However, this class looks to actually be better in some aspects than last season's class, which was probably the best recruiting class in the history of college basketball. They probably won't guide this team to a 35-3 record, but they may bring some strengths to the table that could make this team more suitable to reach the Final Four. Two of three losses last season were because of horrendous three point shooting. Those kinds of shooting performances will likely not occur from this bunch next season. The likelihood that every one of them will most probably not be leaving after a year is what could ultimately make this year's class more successful.

If just a few of them come back for their sophomore seasons (which is expected to happen), this class could certainly be more productive if they join would-be Seniors' Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins in 2012, as well as top 2011 recruit Michael Gilchrist and possibly Marquis Teague. Teague is choosing between UK and UofL and will make that choice on Wednesday. If Teague picks the Cats, it would almost certainly make Kentucky the pre-season favorite to win the 2012 National Championship and would be a MAJOR letdown for Rick Pitino and the Cardinals.

After Teague makes a decision on Wednesday, the next two players to look at in the next few weeks are Terrence Jones and C.J. Leslie, both of this year's class. Leslie looks to be choosing between N.C. State and Kentucky, but Terrence Jones seems to be a lean towards the Cats. He recently spoke very highly on the fans and excitement around the UK program, his chance of winning a National Championship here in Lexington, and the ability of John Calipari to develop NBA talent. If all the domino's fall, Calipari will bring in another #1 recruiting class to Lexington. Stay tuned.

And also don't forget about Spring Football. Mike Hartline seems to be leading the way this spring and we'll let you know how all three quarterbacks look in the inaugural Blue/White Scrimmage of the Joker Phillips' era this Saturday.

What's Next for the Cats?

First off, I would like to address a small portion of Kentucky fans, but mostly the group of non-Kentucky fans and their opinion on "one and done" players and those whom may question Calipari's recruiting strategy.

Before Kentucky fans worry (or rival fans get excited) about Kentucky being a one year stop for the NBA, consider this:

In Calipari's 20+ years of coaching, up until this season, he has recruited a total of FOUR "one and done" players. That's it. Just 4 (which actually ties the number of this season's team). This season was an incredibly unique situation and Kentucky fans do not need to worry about this happening on a consistant basis. At Memphis, Calipari's best teams were veteran teams. He mixed one or two talented freshman in with 3 and 4 year veteran players and went to Final Fours. Soon enough, that will also happen at Kentucky. With what was left here for Calipari, he had no choice but to have a freshmen led team this season.

It took a very talented and special recruiting class (maybe the best of all-time) to bring the excitement back to Kentucky basketball.

Mission accomplished.

Now, that the excitement is back and the program is back to the national level that we expect it to, Calipari can now build this program like he has been doing for over 20 years: with a good mix of veteran and young, talented players. They'll have that next year with the return of Darius Miller, DeAndre Liggins, and Darnell Dodson mixed in with Stacey Poole and Enes Canter (4 and 5 star recruits whom have already signed with the Cats) as well as hopefully Brandon Knight (an "A" student and #1 recruit in the country), Josh Selby, Marquis Teague, Terrence Jones, C.J. Leslie and Doron Lamb.

The upside to this year's batch versus last years is that none of these guys look like automatic lottery picks next year, besides maybe Brandon Knight and Josh Selby. Last year's class was special, but will not be the norm by any means here under Calipari. Do not expect another mass exedus like this, probably ever again. What you can expect is for a couple of talented 3 and 4 year guys to emerge out of this year's recruiting class and for current Cats' Darius Miller and DeAndre Liggins to have a Senior Day ceremony at Rupp in 2 years from now (and maybe Dodson too if he stays put). The 35-3 season that we enjoyed in 2009-2010 is only the beginning of the Calipari era, and I'm incredibly excited for the next group of guys to come in and continue right where we left off this season.

Brandon Knight is planning on making his decision exactly one week from today, on April 14th. When it's all said and done, I believe Calipari will have a top 15 team again next year on just his 2nd year on the job. Best of luck and much thanks to Demarcus, Patrick, John, Daniel, and Eric for bringing back the excitement of Kentucky basketball. When this program gets back to the Final Four and wins a National Championship, we will not forget the efforts of these young men and their part in the miraculous turnaround of Kentucky basketball in 2010. You will be missed and your time here was very appreciated.

Early Season Notes: On the court and on the recruiting trails.

#1 Kansas barely escaped Memphis in Josh Pastner's head coaching debut in an ugly shooting, offensive struggle for both teams.

#2 Michigan State almost lost as well, at home to Gonzaga.

#3 Texas won big, but only against Western Carolina.

And of course, #4 Kentucky squeaked past a smokin' hot-shooting Miami (Oh) team at the buzzer.

The only conclusion that I can come up with at this early stage of the season is that there aren't any dominant teams at this stage. There is no team that will dominate an entire season like North Carolina did a year ago as the pre-season #1 and eventual National Champion. Kansas and Kentucky obviously both have the talent to be very dominant towards the middle and end of the season, but they aren't there yet. I do not think the rankings should change that much, however, until these teams lose a game. They're all up there for a reason: their talent. No, Kentucky hasn't proven anything. But nobody has proven anything at this point of the season, so talent is all you can really go by.

Most impressive teams early on: Tennessee and Memphis

Why UT? Because anytime you win 124-49 in a regular season game, it raises eyebrows, even against UNC Asheville. The Vols could be a legit National Championship contender.

Why UM? Because not only did they almost knock off the #1 team in the nation in Pastner's first game, but on the very next day....Pastner signed the #1 recruiting class in the country so far in the early signing period for 2010. Memphis will remain a national power. A disciple of Coach Cal at Memphis, Pastner could be the game's best young coach and also a phenomenal recruiter. To put things into perspective of how young Pastner is, he was a walk-on player for the 1997 Arizona team for Lute Olson that defeated Kentucky to win the National Championship. Just think, Pastner being a head coach for a major D-1 program would be like Ron Mercer already being a big time head coach.

Speaking of recruiting, the Cats did not sign any additional players this week and are not expected to anytime soon. Rivals.com 4-Star Forward, Stacey Poole, remains the Cats' lone commitment at this point. However, the top 4 unsigned players in the nation are all strongly considering the Cats (Brandon Knight, Josh Selby, C.J. Leslie, and Terrence Jones). C.J. Leslie comes from the same high school as John Wall. Likely, all of these guys will wait to see which Wildcats end up staying or going to the NBA next season, before making their ultimate choice.