Courtside with the Kentucky Wildcats

Kentucky Coach John Calipari said again Wednesday that he would like to have a junior varsity team this coming season.

After the upcoming recruiting period in which coaches can have in-home visits with prospects, Calipari said he’d like to create a 10-game schedule for a JV team.

Such a team would enable the basketball program to grow closer to the student body, he said.

“How many would love to be on our basketball team?” Calipari asked the students. Many hands in the crowd of about 500 were raised.

During a question-and-answer session with UK students Wednesday night, Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari was asked if he had a prediction for the Wildcats’ football opener at Louisville on Saturday.

“Oh, we’re winning that ball game,” Calipari said with a light-hearted tone to his voice.

Many students applauded.

In speaking with UK students Wednesday night, Kentucky Coach John Calipari noted the possibility of former standout Nazr Mohammed working with the program in the future.

Calipari said that Mohammed might play a few more seasons in the NBA. Then Mohammed would need one more year of academic work to get a degree.

With a degree, Mohammed would be in position to join the UK staff, Calipari said.

Calipari’s appearance at Memorial Hall was part of the Student Activities Board’s Final Word Lecture series.

Kentucky  night, Coach John Calipari signed copies of his self-help book “Bounce Back” on Wednesday at the Barnes and Noble book store in Lexington.

The signing was part of a tour of Kentucky to mark the book coming out in paperback.

Calipari will be in Prestonsburg on Thursday, Middlesboro on Friday, Louisville on Saturday, Shelbyville on Sunday, Ashland on Monday and Frankfort next Wednesday.

The stop in Louisville is at Triton Stone, a counter top store.

More information on each stop is available at coachcal.com

ESPN reporter Erin Andrews will appear at UK’s basketball clinic for women, the school announced Tuesday. The clinic will be Oct. 6.

Registration for the women’s clinic will be at the Craft Center from 4:30 - 6 p.m. on Oct. 6. The clinic begins at 6.

Earlier registration is available at www.ukathletics.com/camps. More information is available at the Kentucky basketball office at 800-852-2875 or 859-257-1916.

High-level basketball prospect DeAndre Daniels is attending the IMG Academy this school year, his trainer Alex Parker confirmed Monday.

Daniels plans to attend a four-year college next year.

Daniels, who could have been part of the high school class of 2010, decided not to start college in the fall semester of this year.

Earlier this month, Parker said that Kentucky Coach John Calipari had tried to convince Daniels to join the UK team for this coming season.

Kentucky Coach John Calipari is scheduled to go on a book-signing tour of the Commonwealth this week. The tour comes in conjunction with his best seller, “Bounce Back — Overcoming Setbacks to Succeed in Business and in Life,” coming out in paperback.

The paperback version includes a new epilogue.

Calipari’s Lexington stop will come on Wednesday. He’ll sign copies at the Barnes and Noble store at Hamburg Place beginning at noon.

Former Alabama player and coach Mark Gottfried will play host to a charity golf tournament on Wednesday. Participants include two current SEC coaches, Andy Kennedy of Ole Miss and Mark Fox of Georgia, plus former Kentucky Director of Athletics C.M. Newton and former Auburn great Charles Barkley.

Proceeds from the tournament will be donated to the Gulf Coast communities to provide scholarships
to area youth recreational programs.

The Mark Gottfried Celebrity Golf Tournament will be played on Wednesday at the Peninsula Golf and Racquet Club.

Here’s a statement released by UK that has John Calipari’s comment on the 2010-11 schedule:

“This year’s schedule challenges us from game one and I hope it will prepare our young team for the battles we will face in March. Great job by John Robic and our athletic department in getting the schedule together. There should be lots for the Big Blue Nation to get excited over.”

UK announced its 2010-11 basketball schedule.

Besides the 16-game Southeastern Conference schedule, UK will play such non-conference opponents as East Tennessee State, Portland, Oklahoma, either Virginia or Washington, Boston, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Indiana, Mississippi Valley State, Winthrop, Coppin State, Louisville and Penn.

UK will play U of L on New Year’s Eve (noon tipoff).

In a renewal of an old traditional favorite, UK will play Notre Dame in its home-away-from-home game in Louisville. That game will be on Dec. 8. This game is part of the SEC-Big East Challenge. It is not the start of a revived UK-Notre Dame series in Louisville, Notre Dame spokes person Bernadette Cafarelli said.

In its two exhibition games, UK will play Pikeville and Dillard.

Dillard is coached by former UK player Dale Brown. The other game against a former UK player will be when Sean Woods brings Mississippi Valley State to Rupp Arena on Dec. 18.

From Monday, Aug. 30 through Friday, Sept. 3, the Joe Craft Center Ticket Office will be open from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m. to facilitate student season ticket pick up and basketball renewals.