Kentucky Men’s 2007-08 Basketball Schedule

The University of Kentucky men’s basketball team released their schedule for the upcoming 2007-08 season. As usual they will be appearing on television quite a number of times. (as many as 17 times)

It’s not as strong as year’s past, but they will face challenges with the strong conference match-ups. Depending on how the ‘EA 2K Sports College Hoops Classic’ plays out, we could also face some quality competition.

Around the Web: Kentucky Style

Series continuation
A Sea of Blue continues their series ‘Kentucky Basketball 2007: Finding the Way Back’ with Part III — The Lost Boys.

Previously in the series…

• Part I — From Kansas to Relevance
• Part II — The Body and Bones

Open House
Do you want a look at that snazzy new Kentucky practice facility everyone has been raving about?

Here’s your chance, because UK Athletics will be hosting an open house of the Joe Craft Center.

Dates: Friday, Aug. 10 from 5-8 p.m. and Saturday, Aug. 11 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.

Basketball practice courts, locker rooms, meeting rooms and weight and training rooms will all be on public display.

The WebDump
Here’s a Video: 2007-2008 Kentucky Basketball Preview from a UK fan chronicling the events since Kentucky’s tourny loss to Kansas.

Just a short, biased video I made to pay homeage to the Wildcats. Go Big Blue!

Sweet Dreams
a pudge is a sandwich describes growing up to be Ron Mercer. This after Mercer’s recent ‘Stripper and Bouncer‘ trouble.

Professional athletes and strippers …These guys somehow can’t stay away from the dancing women.

Filling it Up
2009 Kentucky commit Dakotah Euton was on a scoring spree in Las Vegas at the adidas Super64 Tournament.

I sort of copied the shooting style from Larry Bird and Scott Padgett,” said Dakotah, “those were two pretty tall guys that could shoot pretty well.”

I need to work on my foot speed and my leaping ability.” “I know that. And defense. Coach Gillispie has stressed to me many times that I have to play really strong defense.”

It’s Hump Links

Not Quite Yet
Despite reports, Kentucky spokesman Scott Stricklin says that Kentucky and Billy Gillispie have not hired a third assistant.

As mentioned yesterday, WLEX-TV was reporting that Gillispie’s former assistant at A&M Alvin Brooks was added to the staff.

If this is indeed true, an official word will probably be made soon.

Day 3 Update
Scout.com provides an update on some UK recruits from the summer AAU tournaments out in Vegas.

He says that Mason Co. High School’s Darius Miller is the real deal. and a must get for the Cats.

Also we get a probable new target in Quincy Acy, a 6-8 forward out of Texas, who says Kentucky is getting involved.

Another possible target is Michael Snaer, a 6-3 guard out of California. (It’s unlikely he will have strong interest in the Cats, he’s likely a UCLA lean.)

Cat Fan Interview
Sports for Sports Fans’ Blog has an interview from a Kentucky fan, who is a CatsPause.com member, and also living in North Carolina.

You can’t grow up in Lexington without becoming a UK fan. It doesn’t seem to matter whether you are a boy or girl, sports fan or not. You will love the Wildcats (a little like Carolina in that way). I suspect the water supply in Lexington has some sort of Big Blue compound in it.”

Excited
Jody Demling has a piece on Wildcat to be G.J. Vilarino.

Vilarino is excited and can’t wait to get to Kentucky.

I just can’t wait to be there.” “I was excited when I committed, and I am still excited now. It will be fun to be able to get there.”

Also of note is 2008 target Brandon Moore, who says he still likes both the Cats and Cards.

A Tuesday Update

New Assistant
John Clay says that according to WLEX-TV, Billy Gillispie has hired Alvin Brooks to complete his coaching staff.

Brooks was an assistant with Gillispie at Texas A&M. He also served as Houston’s head coach from 1993-98.

Attention Getter
UK recruit is Olek Czyz is attracting major attention from some of the top programs in the nation.

Czyz played in front of the likes of Billy Gillispie, Rick Pitino and Mike Krzyzewski.

His thoughts from a visit to Kentucky during the Elite Camp.

It’s really an amazing area of the country.” “The coaches there are all wonderful and the facilities are great. The whole state is fascinated with basketball.”

On Kentucky’s practice facility…

I was shocked really. I mean, I have never seen anything like that,” Czyz said, “I had no idea something like that would even exist on a college campus.”

The Kentucky fans…

The fans of Kentucky are crazy about basketball I can tell,” he said, “they are not shy. They will just walk right up to me and start talking about my game. It’s amazing how much they know.”

Uniforms Win Championships
The Extrapolater explains how the colors of Blue and White absolutely kills in college basketball.

Since 1990, Duke and UNC alone have given us five blue/white victory parades. Throw in two each from Kentucky and UConn, and the evidence is overwhelming: it pays to go classic on the hardwood.

Is shorter better?
Best of the SEC Blogs links to a post from an Alabama blog about the SEC fielding shorter lineups this year. They look at Kentucky.

Recruits
Jody Demling provides some tidbits on some UK targets.

He notes that Mason County star Darius Miller is drawing a crowd.

Eloy Vargas, a 6-10 forward reeled off a list of schools interested in his services. They include UK, UL, Indiana, Florida, among others. (He says that there is no favorite.)

Also we get…that Courtney Fortson isn’t worried about Kentucky’s plethora of guards.

He still rates Kentucky high on his list…and says he likes competition.

The New Week

Rotnei Clarke narrows his list
Kentucky recruit Rotnei Clarke has narrowed his list of schools down to 10. Kentucky made the list, along with Arizona State, Arkansas, Gonzaga, Kansas, Memphis, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oral Roberts and the University of Tulsa.

Clarke made an unofficial visit to Kentucky last month.

It was pretty amazing. Incredible facilities and fan base,” Clarke said. ”You get treated like a king down there. I was there during a father-son camp. Coach Gillispie and I went down to the practice gym, where the camp was, and everybody started cheering and clapping and telling me to come to Kentucky. It was crazy.”

He expects to sign a letter of intent some time in November.

Cooling Off?
Rivals says that Rotnei Clarke may have cooled off on Kentucky because of his teammate Willie Warren (Another UK recruit).

Many have felt that the two may be a package deal, and Warren is leaning toward Oklahoma.

Youth Movement
A hot topic of debate lately. It’s Another story on the ‘Never Ending’ recruiting of young players.

This one is by Jody Demling (Courier-Journal), on the heels of the biggest week of the high school basketball recruiting season.

Some quotes from the article:

Scout.com national recruiting analyst Dave Telep…

It’s spinning completely out of control”

Auburn coach Jeff Lebo…

I didn’t even know how to go to the bathroom in the eighth grade, so I don’t know how I could have made a decision on college”

Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie…

If you are going to recruit, you have to recruit early and intensely, and, as soon as you see guys that in your estimation are able to make a difference in your program, that’s when you start getting involved in the recruiting process.”

University of Louisville coach Rick Pitino…

There are so many factors involved, and so many things can change.” “What happens is that it turns out not being in the best interests of the player.”

“In the year 2000″
Tru over at A Sea of Blue looks into the future with his ‘The Gillispie Honeymoon‘ post.

How long will Wildcat fans give Gillispie to get the program back to the top?

I know it’s early to be looking at this, but as Tru mentions, some are already suggesting that Billy Gillispie doesn’t have long.

He takes a look at possible scenarios, which include players such as Patterson leaving early and back-to-back dud seasons.

If Gillispie doesn’t get a team in the Final Four within 5 years, I expect some serious dissatisfaction around the Big Blue Nation.

I would definitely agree with this. Of course there will be some ticked if we don’t get to a Final Four within 3 years.

Comment on this: What’s your take? How long do you give Billy Gillispie?

A few Kentucky items

After some nasty weather yesterday, the power is back on. (I hate storms)

Anyway…here’s a few little Kentucky items to look at.

Smart Cats
38 UK athletes were named to the SEC Honor roll.

Those included Kentucky Men’s Basketball players:

• Mark Coury - Pre-Management
• Jodie Meeks - Undergraduate Studies
• Dwight Perry - Undergraduate Studies
• Michael Porter - Pre-Finance
• Perry Stevenson - Undergraduate Studies

Congrats! to them.

From Rivals…Patrick Patterson may be asked start immediately due to a severe lack of front court depth.

I think Patrick is a very mature player, maybe more than most freshmen I’ve been around as far as handling everyday life and classes.”

Part II
A Sea of Blue has ‘Part II — The Body and Bones‘ up in their series ‘Kentucky Basketball 2007: Finding the Way Back’.

In case you missed it: Part I

Hump Links: Go Cats!

Yes, it’s that time of the week again.

Here’s this week’s edition of ‘Hump Links‘.

Prince of the Palace
NBA Champ and Former Kentucky Wildcat Tayshaun Prince joined East Kentucky Miners Coach Kevin Keathley on the Kenny & Kenny Sports Show Plus, for a taped segment.

Keathley commented…

I have a great amount of respect for Tayshaun Prince.” “Tayshaun is one of the greatest University of Kentucky basketball players of all-time. When thinking of Tayshaun, I fondly remember Kentucky’s game against North Carolina in 2001 and the tremendous effort he gave, hitting five consecutive three-pointers and scoring 31 points.”

The upcoming show will air on many radio stations around the state July 20-22. For participating stations and air dates for this week’s show visit www.sportsshowplus.com.

Wayne Turner
Yes, the guy is still playing. What a GEM he was for the CATS!

There was a mention of Turner in a story on Beau Bauer, who had a two-game exhibition audition with the Sydney Kings of Australia’s National Basketball League against former Kentucky star Wayne Turner.

Bauer was trying to make the Australian professional basketball team.

Greatest Game Ever?
Sports Illustrated writers share their memories from the best game they’ve ever seen.

Alex Wolff goes with ‘Duke-Kentucky in ‘92‘.

The best game I’ve ever seen has to be Duke’s 104-103 defeat of Kentucky in the final of the 1992 NCAA East Regional, the game in which Christian Laettner took that baseball pass from Grant Hill and torqued home the winning jumper.”

Buzzzzz
A Sea of Blue’s Tru has more on the buzz about the SEC teleconference earlier this week.

Link-a-poodle
Aaron’s UK Blog links to news on a UK recruit, also some coach Billy Gillispie comments about Patrick Patterson.

Dookie V
The Wildcat Blog took a look at the new ‘March Madness ‘07″ for the 360. He found a surprise and was none to happy about it.

Early Tuesday Update

Creating a BUZZ…Jealousy ensues
Some SEC coaches are upset over the recruiting of young players.

This was one of the topics discussed at Monday’s SEC coaches teleconference.

However, one coach is not….Billy Gillispie.

We have created a little bit of a buzz, and that’s important,”

We didn’t go at it trying to create a buzz,” he said. “We were trying to improve the program. A byproduct is maybe a little buzz. You can gain momentum in recruiting. You can gain momentum by getting specific players. Guys can recognize certain players, and a lot of times they want to play with them.”

Related Buzzz…..and more teleconference coverage

• UK’s Gillispie already making waves in SEC
• SEC coaches sound off on diaper dandies
• SEC Summer Teleconference Notes, Part I
• Gillispie gets serious heat from peers
• SEC Summer Teleconference-Billy Gillispie
• SEC hoops coaches pick Tennessee to lead Eastern Division
• No downtime for UK’s Gillispie

You can find some audio files of Billy Gillispie’s Comments from the teleconference over at John Clay’s blog.

What could of been
If things had gone according to plan: Billy Gillispie at Arkansas, Billy Donovan at Kentucky, and Pelphrey to ?.

Kentucky Night
UK Alumni Association will be hosting a UK night at Louisville Slugger Field this Thursday night, July 19, when the Louisville Bats take on the Durham Bulls. The first pitch is at 7:05 pm and there will be an autograph session before with three of the famed Rupp’s Runts from 5:30-6:30 pm. Scheduled to be in attendance are Louie Dampier, Tommy Kron and Thad Jaracz.

goodmanonfox’s ‘Random Thoughts’
Jeff Goodman (foxsports.com) praises coach Gillispie on landing Alex Legion and Patrick Patterson for this season and DeAndre Liggins in the Class of 2008, but is not sure why he took commits from K.C. Ross-Miller and G.J. Vilarino.

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