Entries from April 2009 ↓
April 30th, 2009 — SEC
Former UK standout John Pelphrey sent a two-page letter to Arkansas fans who bought season tickets for next season. Pelphrey, who will be entering his third season as Arkansas coach, wanted the fans to know he appreciated their support.
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette sportswriter Bob Holt quoted fans as saying they couldn’t remember a coach making such a gesture.
Pelphrey said the letter was not sparked by the Razorbacks’ 2-14 SEC record last season. That marked the program’s worst conference record since 1971.
“I don’t think it was something specifically last year in terms of wins and losses,” Pelphrey told the Democrat-Gazette. “I just think it’s important that everybody knows we’ve got a plan and we know what we’re doing and we’re excited about it and working hard.
“We understand who we are and where we’ve got to go and where we want to be some day. We’re committed to that.
“I want them to understand just how appreciative we are for all they do for us as a university and in particular as a basketball program. And I wanted to keep everybody updated on what’s going on.”
April 28th, 2009 — Uncategorized
UK just said it will announce on May 7 this year’s recipient of the scholarship endowed by former All-American Jamal Mashburn.
After leaving UK in 1993, Mashburn donated $500,000 to start a scholarship in his name.
Here’s some details from the UK news release:
The recipient, along with the scholarship finalists, will be recognized in a ceremony at 8:30 a.m. at the King Alumni House on the corner of Euclid Avenue and Rose Street in the Hall of Distinguished Alumni.
The student will be the latest participant in a program started by the former Kentucky basketball All-American 17 years ago. After the recipient completes his/her high school requirements and meets UK standards for admission, he/she will receive full tuition to the University of Kentucky or Bluegrass Community and Technical College in Lexington for each year he/she meets the outlined program requirements.
Since the program was established, more than two dozen students from Fayette County high schools have participated in this scholarship program. Applicants for scholarship had to meet a multitude of requirements including grade-point average, educational achievement and financial need.
April 28th, 2009 — Uncategorized
Columnist Bob Ryan of The Boston Globe wrote of former UK point guard Rajon Rondo as one of two rising young sports stars in Boston. The other is Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury.
Ryan wondered if Rondo, starring for the Boston Celtics this NBA playoff season, and Ellsbury could excel at the other’s sport.
“Not only can I visualize it, I have seen it,” Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge told Ryan. “When we drafted (Rondo), we brought him into Boston and we had a company softball game. You cannot believe how far he hit the softball with those long arms and that great leverage. And in center field, he had a gun.
“There is no question he’d be a great center fielder, or a shortstop, for that matter. I mean, he had a cannon for an arm.”
April 27th, 2009 — Recruiting
John Wall’s hometown newspaper, The Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer, reported late Monday morning that the highly regarded point guard prospect had not yet reduced his list of college choices. Wall was expected to reduce the list to three or four schools as early as Monday.
Here’s the posting from the News & Observer:
John Wall, the Raleigh Word of God basketball point guard, said Monday morning that he had not narrowed his list of schools yet.
Wall, the top-ranked high school senior point guard in the country, made an official visit to Miami last weekend and was in school at Word of God on Monday.
He said he enjoyed his visit to Miami and that he had not narrowed his list of schools yet.
Wall had planned to trim his list of schools to three or four early this week.
Wall is expected to trim his list from N.C. State, Baylor, Duke, Memphis, Kentucky, Miami, Florida and Kansas.
April 27th, 2009 — Recruiting, Uncategorized
Former Kentucky signee G.J. Vilarino committed to Gonzaga, according to a text message Monday morning from his father.
Vilarino was the first
prospect to commit to UK when Billy Gillispie was coach two years ago. After UK fired Gillispie this spring, Vilarino re-opened his recruitment after speaking with new coach John Calipari. Calipari told Vilarino that the coach preferred bigger guards.
Vilarino made an official visit to Gonzaga this weekend.
Vilarino’s parents lived in Spokane, Wash., where Gonzaga is located. His mother attended Gonzaga.
April 24th, 2009 — Uncategorized
A legal fight in Minnesota over the public right’s to know and an individual’s right to privacy has become informally known as the Tubby Smith Act. Here’s the story from Friday’s editions of the Minneapolis Star Tribune:
Outside earnings and freebies for public officials and employees could become secret if the so-called Tubby Smith Act becomes law.
Inspired by a college newspaper’s efforts to publicize the Gophers basketball coach’s side deals on things such as shoe contracts and summer camps, government agencies and public unions are pushing for changes in public information laws that would keep everything from police officers’ off-duty moonlighting to U researchers’ contracts with drug companies out of public view.
Public employee unions and other groups, particularly the Minneapolis Police Officers Federation, are lobbying for the change. Opponents, who have offered a competing proposal that would keep the information open, say the public has a right to know about potential conflicts of interest among workers in often sensitive positions of public trust.
The debate pits the public’s right to know whom public workers might be beholden to against those workers’ desire for privacy. Much of the information in question had been considered available to the average citizen and the press for almost 25 years — until a state ruling last year.
DFL Rep. Joe Mullery of Minneapolis said public workers’ privacy is important. “I don’t think that everybody, because they become a public employee, has to give away everything,” he said.
But attorney Mark Anfinson, who represents the Minnesota Newspaper Association, said it also is important to be able to scrutinize such things as a high-level government regulator doing contract work for a private business, or a police officer working security for a downtown hotel who must then answer a call at the location while on duty.
“The context of knowing what Tubby Smith or what [University of Minnesota men's hockey coach] Don Lucia make in added compensation, while interesting, isn’t the most vital thing in the world. But if this is broadly adopted, there are implications that are more consequential,” Anfinson said.
April 24th, 2009 — Recruiting
Former Kentucky signee G.J. Vilarino is making an official visit to Gonzaga this weekend.
Vilarino was the first prospect to commit to UK when Billy Gillispie was coach two years ago. After UK fired Gillispie this spring, Vilarino re-opened his recruitment after speaking with new coach John Calipari.
Vilarino’s parents lived in Spokane, Wash., where Gonzaga is located. His mother attended Gonzaga.
Vilarino also has recruiting visits planned for Oregon and Virginia Commonwealth. He’s also considering Cincinnati and Georgia.
April 24th, 2009 — Uncategorized
Basketball star Jodie Meeks will throw out the first pitch at UK’s baseball game on Tuesday.
Here’s the UK news release:
UK men’s basketball All-American Jodie Meeks will throw out the first pitch of Tuesday’s baseball game between the Wildcats and the Louisville Cardinals at Cliff Hagan Stadium.
The ceremonial first pitch is scheduled for approximately 6:25. Fans are encouraged to arrive early.
Kentucky won the previous meeting with the Cardinals in Louisville on April 14, 8-7.
April 24th, 2009 — Recruiting
Junior college player Darnell Dodson signed with UK, the school announced on Friday.
Dodson originally committed to Memphis, then followed John Calipari to Kentucky.
Here’s the UK release:
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 en 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.
The late signing period runs from April 15 through May 20.
April 23rd, 2009 — Uncategorized
At a news conference announcing Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington would enter this year’s NBA draft, North Carolina Coach Roy Williams was coy about whether he would pursue mega point guard prospect John Wall.
“We’ll have to wait and see what happens with it,” Williams said.
Wall and his mother are considered North Carolina fans. They live in nearby Raleigh, N.C.
Here’s an excerpt from a story in the Raleigh News & Observer:
“Now, Williams can’t mention a recruit by name, but if he was not pursuing Wall, he could have said definitively he was done with the class of 2009. His answer left the door open for another chapter in the three-ring circus that is Wall’s recruitment — started by N.C. State, later joined by Duke and the rest of the free world.
“Even if UNC’s dalliance with Wall never gets past the phone stage, Williams has what is considered the best recruiting haul in the country. The Heels have signed power forward John Henson (ranked No. 4 in the country by Scout.com), shooting guard Dexter Strickland (No. 33), forward David Wear (No. 54), forward Travis Wear (No. 55) and shooting guard Leslie McDonald (No. 52).
“All but McDonald, ironically, were McDonald’s All-Americans.”
