John Wall Eligible to Play Now

John Wall has finally been cleared to play!  The NCAA set out a small punishment for the Kentucky Wildcat Freshman.   Wall must sit out 2 basketball games and repay around $800 in expenses while he was conducting unofficial visits to colleges during his Junior year of high school.

John Wall will miss an exhibition game against Campbellsville as well as the season opening game against Morehead State.  The punishment stemmed from Wall’s involvement with a “so-called” agent during his high school years.  It is nothing to be concerned with and hopefully we can move forward now.  Is everybody ready for the season to start like I am?

Men’s College Basketball Pre-Season Rankings - USA Today/ESPN Top 25

The Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team come in at number 5 on this year’s College basketball pre-season top 25 (USA Today/ESPN Poll).  The entire preseason rankings can be viewed below:

1.  Kansas
2.  Michigan St.
3.  Texas
4.  North Carolina
5.  Kentucky
6.  Villanova
7.  Purdue
8.  Duke
9.  West Virginia
10.  Butler
11.  Tennessee
12.  California
13.  Washington
14.  Connecticut
15.  Michigan
16.  Oklahoma
17.  Ohio St.
18.  Minnesota
19.  Mississippi St.
20.  Georgia Tech
21.  Georgetown
22.  Dayton
23.  Louisville
24.  Clemson
25.  Syracuse

Men’s College Basketball Pre-Season Rankings - AP Top 25

The Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team come in at number 4 on this year’s College basketball pre-season top 25 (AP Poll).  The entire preseason rankings can be viewed below:

1.  Kansas
2.  Michigan St.
3.  Texas
4.  Kentucky
5.  Villanova
6.  North Carolina
7.  Purdue
8.  West Virginia
9.  Duke
10.  Tennessee
11.  Butler
12.  Connecticut
13.  California
14.  Washington
15.  Michigan
16.  Ohio St.
17.  Oklahoma
18.  Mississippi St.
19.  Louisville
20.  Georgetown
21.  Dayton
22.  Georgia Tech
23.  Illinois
24.  Clemson
25.  Minnesota

Kentucky Wildcats Men’s Basketball - Blue vs. White Game 2009

This year’s Kentucky Wildcats Men’s Basketball blue vs. white game was interesting to watch.  While the incoming freshman showed signs of greatness, it was also obvious that much more practice is needed before the season starts.  John Wall was a beast on driving the basketball.  He will definitely succeed in the dribble drive offense this season.

Patrick Patterson showed significant signs of improvement in his drive.  It seems that last year, he was more of an “under the basket scorer and rebounder”.  In the blue and white game, Patterson actually drove to the basket a few times with success.  Whether this would actually happen in a real game remains to be seen, but it was an eye opener on how much Patrick has worked in the off-season. 

Josh Harrelson was a big surprise to everyone.  He was hitting threes, hustling up and down the court.  He is showing that he wants to compete for a spot in the lineup.  Hopefully he can carry that motivation into the season and give us some much needed support off the bench.

Jon Hood was doing as expected with his range of shots.  He will probably be one of the perimeter shooters that UK will look for often in the “dribble-drive offense”.  In the blue/white game, he shot the ball well from mid-range and behind the arc.

Eric Bledsoe was really competing as well.  He really has under-rated quickness.  If he does or doesn’t start, Bledsoe will still be a huge asset to this year and our quest to a national championship.  The best thing about him is that he will probably be around after John Wall goes pro, “as expected”, after this year is over and done with.

DeMarcus Cousins was a beast on the inside!  He was doing as expected with his rebounding, put-backs, and dunking.  He looks to have a good medium-range game as well.  Cousins and Patterson will compliment each other well when they are on the court together.

The players that kind of disappointed me were Perry Stevenson, Daniel Orton, and Darius Miller.  Maybe their playing time wasn’t significant enough and that’s why it seemed that they didn’t contribute much in the game.  I still expect that all three will be contributing factors in the regular-season basketball games.

It’s still early and practice makes perfect.  When the regular season basketball games start, we should see a big improvement.  Calapari will have the players ready!  Let’s get ready for a fun and hopefully, memorable season!

Will John Wall be Ineligible for the Wildcat Opener? WHO CARES!!

Let’s be honest for a minute, even if John Wall is suspended due to this fiasco with the agent ordeal.  The truth of the matter is that the Kentucky Wildcats have enough talent to get by without him for the first 3 or 4 games.  The reason 3 or 4 basketball games are mentioned is because if he were to be declared ineligible, it would only be for 10% percent of the regular season games (3 or 4 at most).

So worst case scenario, we don’t have John Wall playing the first four games of the season.  The opponents for these first four games are Morehead State, Miami (Ohio), Sam Houston State, and Rider.  No disrespect to these programs, but they are not exactly the cream of the crop.  I think that we will be just fine if John Wall is suspended for these games.  He would be back in time for the bigger games on the schedule.

So, Kentucky Wildcat fans, breathe a sigh of relief!  We will be just fine and this situation will blow over.  Personally, I don’t know why this situation is getting blown out of proportion right now.  I guess all the haters need something to talk about, so they are digging as deep as they can.  Bring on Kentucky basketball, GO BIG BLUE!!

John Wall’s Eligibility is in Question?

 

According to sources, Southeastern Conference commissioner Mike Slive told ESPN.com that he believes the NCAA’s agents and amateurism group (not enforcement officials) are looking into the eligibility of Kentucky freshman “John Wall” and Mississippi State freshman “Renardo Sidney”. 

ESPN.com reported that Wall’s issues stem from his relationship with AAU coach Brian Clifton, who was a certified agent in 2007 and 2008. Wall made at least two unofficial recruiting visits to Kentucky during that period.

“Those are amateur issues that arose prior to their coming to our schools,” Slive said. “Those are strictly amateurism issues. As we told our people, somebody needs to determine if they are eligible. It’s not relative to you, it’s relative to them.”

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

What this means for Wall’s eligibility?

It’s not as bad as it sounds.  According to “the experts”, worst-case scenario is that Wall would have to pay back all monetary benefits accepted during the 2007 and 2008 period while affiliated with coach Brian Clifton and John Wall would probably be suspended for up to 3-4 games.  That would probably be the worst punishment that Wall could get for this incident.  I personally don’t see it as being that bad and will probably blow over or at worst, John Wall will have to come up with a little bit of funds to cover the pay-back of benefits received.  For Kentucky Wildcats fans, don’t worry too much and hopefully this will be the last time we have to deal with these implications.

GO BIG BLUE!!

Big Blue Madness 2009 - Kentucky Wildcats

Big Blue Madness 2009 was a great success!  It turned out to be an opportunity to see not only the Kentucky Wildcats Men’s basketball team, but also the Women’s team, the UK Cheerleaders, and the Kentucky Dance team. 

During the scrimmage game between “White and Blue”, the Kentucky Wildcat Men were very impressive.  The big men were hitting 3 pointers and the point guards were dunking with authority.  This team looks to be in good shape for the upcoming season.  The only problem that I can think of, is how will the minutes be distributed between all the talented players on the team.  I don’t even know if you can even call that a problem, but if it is, then it’s a good problem to have!

GO CATS!!

To get the full run-down, visit the following link:
http://www.ukathletics.com/sports/m-baskbl/recaps/101609aaa.html