Kentucky Signs 2009 Junior College Transfer, Darnell Dodson

The University of Kentucky men’s basketball program has signed Miami-Dade Community College standout Darnell Dodson, Coach John Calipari announced on Friday.

Dodson, originally from Greenbelt, Md., attended Miami-Dade Community College last season where he helped guide the Sharks to a Southern Conference Championship and a 26-2 regular season record.  The 6-7 small forward averaged 15.7 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 76.7 percent from free throw line in route to “First Team All-Southern Conference” honors.

Dodson joins DeMarcus Cousins (Mobile, Ala.), Kentucky Mr. Basketball Jon Hood (Madisonville), and Daniel Orton (Oklahoma City, Okla.) as members of UK’s 2009 signing class.  Dodson is rated as a 4-Star recruit according to Rivals.com.

Nolan Dennis Chooses the University of Baylor

Nolan Dennis was a “backup to Xavier Henry” prospect for the University of Kentucky until he announced his verbal commitment to the University of Baylor.  According to Rivals, Dennis signed his Letter of Intent (LOI) with Baylor on April 22nd, 2009.  Nolan Dennis is a ranked guard in the top 60 of the 2009 recruiting class.

Xavier and C.J. Henry Choose Kansas

The wait is finally over from the Henry duo as they announced that the University of Kansas is their school of choice.  Xavier is rated as one of the top players in the 2009 recruiting class.  C.J. was a professional baseball player before coming back to college.  He sat out last year at Memphis.

Although this is somewhat of a blow to our 2009-2010 season, it really doesn’t hurt Kentucky that much because the Cats will be pretty set at the shooting guard position with Jon Hood coming in.  If Jodie Meeks decides to stay, then there shouldn’t be any problems at that position.  It would be very interesting if the Kentucky Wildcats were to play the Kansas Jayhawks this upcoming season.

Patrick Patterson to Test NBA Draft

Like Jodie Meeks, Patrick Patterson has put himself in the 2009 NBA draft class, but will not hire an agent.  As stated in Meeks’ situation, Patterson will be able to return to the Kentucky Wildcats basketball roster next season if he decides to pull his name out of the draft class by June, 15th 2009 and does not hire an agent.  If Meeks and Patterson decide not to pull their names out of the draft class by June 15th, neither will be able to return to Kentucky.

Just don’t be alarmed by both putting their names in the draft, it does not necessarily mean that either will go pro.  Both of them could just be testing the waters to see where they are ranked among the 2009 draft class.  Personally, I believe both need at least one more year of college to obtain more experience and with a different offensive schema could be beneficial to both.

As for draft predictions, I have seen Meeks going anywhere from the late first round to the early-late second round of the draft predictions.  Patterson is in the middle-late first round in many of the draft predictions.

Ex-Kentucky Basketball Star, Mike Casey Dies at 60

Former Kentucky basketball player, Mike Casey died from heart complications on Thursday at the Vanderbilt  Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.  He was 60 years old.

Casey was selected Mr. Basketball in 1966 and was the leading scorer of Kentucky as a sophomore in the 1967-68 season, averaging 20 points per game.  He was chosen to the All-NCAA Mideast Regional team in 1968 and the All-SEC team three times.  Casey sat out the 1969-70 season after breaking a leg, but returned the following year to finish his Kentucky career with 1,535 points, placing him as the school’s 13th all-time scorer.

Mike Casey lived in Shelbyville and was retired from a company that makes class rings and graduation products.

This month, Mr. Casey is to be inducted into the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Louisville.

In addition to his daughter, Mr. Casey is survived by a sister, Masha Miller of Shelbyville.

Arrangements were pending at Shannon Funeral Home in Shelbyville.

BBN’s hearts and prayers are with his family.

Nolan Dennis May Have Interest in Playing at Kentucky

It was reported by several internet sources on Wednesday, that Nolan Dennis wants out of his “Letter of Intent” at Memphis and may have the Kentucky Wildcats on his radar.  Nolan Dennis is ranked #46 overall and ranked as the #11 shooting guard in the country for the 2009 recruits by ESPN.

Carol Dennis (Nolan’s Mother) has been quoted as saying that Dennis and Calipari’s relationship was “Close”.  Carol Dennis was also quoted as saying, “We would love to go to Kentucky”, which is very good evidence that Kentucky will be one of the top schools on his list when he re-opens his recruitment.

The question that “Big Blue Nation” might ask is “Do we have room for Nolan Dennis?”.  Best guess would be , “Yes”.  Yes, since there are a lot of player’s futures at Kentucky currently up in the air.  We will just have to wait and see how everything unfolds.  Updates to come when they become available on this developing story.

Daniel Orton has not Decommitted from Kentucky

According to Daniel Orton’s father “Larry”, Daniel Orton has not decommitted from Kentucky and still plans to attend Kentucky.  There were earlier reports that after DeMarcus Cousins verbally committed to Kentucky, Orton decided he wanted out of his LOI to Kentucky, but was later reported as being an untrue statement.

There is probably a big question of playing time since the verbal committment by DeMarcus Cousins, but the Ortons plan to speak with Coach Calipari in the near future to see what his outlook would be with both Orton and Cousins playing side-by-side.  My guess is that Orton would turn out to be the full time center while Cousins and Patrick Patterson (if he stays) switch off at the power forward position.  Another option would be to move Cousins to the small forward position.  I’m sure Coach Calipari doesn’t want to lose Orton and will give him an approach that should be motivated in keeping Daniel Orton at Kentucky.  It will then be up to Orton to decide if Kentucky is still right for him.

Also, I have noticed a lot of fans on many blog posts just giving Daniel Orton HELL when they thought he had decommitted from Kentucky.  This is really unacceptable and those certain persons should be ashamed to call themselves a part of the “Big Blue Nation”.  Daniel Orton is a teenager who needs to make a big decision that might affect the rest of his life.  Show some respect and if Orton does decide to leave Kentucky, wish him well.

Michael Porter Will Not Play at Kentucky Next Season

According to Michael Porter’s father, Porter has decided to call it quits and will not play next season for the Kentucky Wildcats.  Michael Porter came off the bench his first two seasons before winning the starting point guard spot after Derrick Jasper transferred last season.  Porter averaged 4.1 points per game and 2.5 assists per game this past season.  Porter is set to graduate this year and reportedly has a baby due in the summer.

Although Porter quitting the team is not considered a good thing, there is something good that comes out of it.  This will free up a scholarship that will allow another recruit a spot on the roster.  As of today, Jared Carter was the only senior to leave this year, freeing up one scholarship.  With Porter leaving, this will free up the second scholarship, however, Kentucky has three recruits set to come in next season including Daniel Orton, Jon Hood, and DeMarcus Cousins.  Kentucky will need to free up at least one more scholarship to bring all three in unless one of them comes as a walk-on, which is highly unlikely.

There are more 2009 recruits out there that have Kentucky basketball on their radar including: John Wall, Nolan Dennis, Xavier Henry, Latavious Williams, Eric Bledsoe, Kyryl Natyazhko, and Glenn Bryant.  To allow for any more room on the roster, more players would have to leave the Kentucky team.  Right now, it is unsure of who else will leave or stay, but it is guaranteed that the Kentucky basketball roster will look a lot different coming into next season.

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