After reopening his recruitment in summer 2010, 6’9” junior Derek Willis has never lacked for options. Since setting foot as a freshman at Bullitt East, the dynamic forward has garnered attention from big time college coaches in both Kentucky and Indiana.
UK basketball coach John Calipari’s checklist for the week: Beat Lamar into the ground but not be happy about it…check (after the 86-64 win on December 28th, Calipari said he “wasn’t in a great frame of mind”). Next on the list: beat rival Louisville for a third straight time…check. Item #3…let’s see…stir up Big Blue Nation again with some off-the-cuff comments about breaking tradition…check.
After knocking off College of Charleston 69-62 Tuesday night at the KFC Yum! Center, UofL head coach Rick Pitino has decided to add another game before Friday’s scheduled meeting with Western Kentucky.
The opposing team will be comprised of Lebron James and the ghost of Wilt Chamberlain. Also, Artis Gilmore has perfected time travel technology and will send his 1974 self to 2011 to take part along with the three members of the Fab Five you can actually remember.
The Indiana Hoosiers garlic burped in the face of Big Blue Nation Saturday with a gutsy 73-72 win over the undefeated and top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats in Bloomington. Christian Watford’s last second three-pointer preserved Indiana’s perfect record (now 9-0) while bringing the young bunch of Wildcats back to Earth…at least momentarily.
If you were one of the 24,000 at Rupp Arena Saturday or one of the hundreds of thousands who watched the UK-UNC game on television, you saw a March-style game in early December. Top-ranked UK’s 73-72 win over the Tarheels will go down as one of the top-ranked wins in the young John Calipari era. Yet, if it’s up to Cal (unless he’s just trying to stir the pot. Never!), a game like that one could be replaced with yet another non-conference matchup with the Marists and Radfords of the world.
Fans across the bluegrass are scratching their heads trying to figure out how the #1 team in the nation’s head coach could or would say, “we are the worst offensive team in the nation. ” The comment came at the conclusion of the first half where UK led the Johnnies 31-20. Apparently Coach Cal was less than impressed with the first half offensive game, hitting 3 of the first 14 shots. Cal did comment on the defensive game, “we are playing defense.
So many (maybe too many) times the UK football team would take the field for its final regular season game against Tennessee with a lot riding on the outcome. Not only were the Cats seeking their first win over the Volunteers since 1984 but also trying to either become bowl eligible or increase the odds that the bowl they did attend was more beach than Birmingham.
This season, UK is 4-6 heading into Saturday’s match up with Tennessee at Commonwealth Stadium. No bowl hopes AND facing a down Vols squad that still has a shot at the postseason.
The only thing that makes some UofL fans happier than a Cardinal win is a UK loss so Saturday had to rank up there with one of the better weekends of this crossover football-basketball month for the Cardinal Nation.
UofL fans saw UK’s football team lose bowl eligibility with a closer than expected loss at Georgia while the UofL football team became bowl eligible with a 34-20 win at UCONN (the first win for the Cards in Storrs). That was followed with the basketball squad taking the NCAA Butler Bulldogs behind the fieldhouse for an early-season 69-53 whipping.
