Entries from May 2011 ↓

Kentucky sophomore-to-be Terrence Jones will not try out for the USA team that plays in the Under 19 World Championship this summer.

Jones will attend summer school at UK, USA  Basketball’s Sean Ford said Tuesday.

Earlier this season, three of UK’s incoming freshmen chose to attend summer school rather than try out for the USA team. The three were Michael Gilchrist, Marquis Teague and Anthony Davis.

Ford is a long-time friend of UK Coach John Calipari. After UK’s freshman trio declined a chance to try out, Ford said he would ask if Jones would participate.

The tryouts are scheduled for June 17-24 at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Under 19 World Championship will be played June 30-July 10 in Latvia.

The NCAA announced Tuesday that tickets for the 2012 NCAA Tournament will go on sale in October. That’s for all games prior to the Final Four. It’s part of what the NCAA calls an “enhanced ticketing system.”

Fans can buy the best available tickets for all price ranges and seating levels.

Tickets will be available by visiting www.NCAA.com/mbbtickets. The 2012 tournament begins with the First Four, played the Tuesday and Wednesday after Selection Sunday.

Second- and third-round sites include Albuquerque, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Portland, Columbus, Greensboro, Nashville and Omaha.

Regional sites are Boston and Phoenix Thursday and Saturday, March 22 and 24, and in Atlanta and St. Louis Friday and Sunday, March 23 and 25.

UK announced Thursday afternoon it had hired Chris Woolard as Associate Athletics Director of Basketball Operations. He will act as Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart’s liaison to John Calipari’s program.

“UK is unique in that you really need someone like Chris who has experience at the highest level to be a part of our men’s basketball program,” Calipari tweeted. “He’ll be involved (with) all aspects of our program (and) will have an active role as a liaison for me in regards to our campus (and) the Commonwealth.”

Woolard had been working for the  Conference USA office since July, 2004. Since 2008, he had been Associate Commissioner for Sports Services, a job in which he administered the men’s basketball program and acted as director for the annual men’s basketball tournament.

“We have had a strong working relationship in the past and Iook forward to our future at UK,” Calipari tweeted.

Prior to joining Conference USA, Woolard spent a year in private business after working eight years as a college basketball coach. He was on the Murray State staff from 1997-2003.

Woolard began his collegiate coaching career as a student assistant coach at UCLA. During his two years at UCLA, he was involved in recruiting, summer camps and also assisted with practice drills and scrimmages.

A native of Carbondale, Ill., Woolard earned a bachelor’s degree in History from UCLA in August, 1997.

During meetings of the UK Athletics Association Board of Directors and Finance Committee, questions about the support given football and the school’s academic mission seemed to touch a nerve.

Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart raised the subject of questions about whether UK supports the football program adequately. He said UK is on a par with other SEC schools in terms of support for the football program.

“We’re very competitive,” he told members of the Finance Committee. “Are we going to be first? Certainly not. . . (But) We’re not in the position that everybody has made us out to be.”

Barnhart added at the full Board of Directors meeting that UK would provide $10 million in support  “specifically for student-athletes that fans don’t see.”

Barnhart and UK president Lee Todd noted the support given the school’s academic mission exceeded the $1.7 million annual donation given for non-athletic scholarships. That included an additional $2.1 million generated by licensing fees and another $1.8 million payment for the use of UK offices and services.

“For some people, it’s never enough,” Todd told the board. “We’re doing things that just aren’t appreciated.”

Barnhart said that the athletic department’s donations were “significant” and totaled anywhere from $12 to $15 million over “the last few years.”

Said Barnhart, “That’s a brand new facility for us, if you look at it that way.”

The UK Athletics Association Board of Directors learned at a Thursday meeting that the revenue from licensing fees of athletic merchandise skyrocketed in the last two years.

The money generated by licensing fees increased by 43 percent this school year, the board was told. That revenue increased from $2.6 million in 2009-10 to $4.2 million. Of that total, the athletic department gave $2.1 million to the school.

Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart noted that UK had moved its athletic merchandise to “more of an exclusive end” of the retail market. That helped increase the revenue produced, he said.

So did the success of UK teams, which included the men’s basketball team reaching the 2011 Final Four, the football team advancing to a fifth straight bowl and the current enthusiasm generated by the women’s softball team advancing to a Super Regional.

The UK Athletics Association Board of Directors approved an $83.6 million operating budget for 2011-12 on Thursday.

The budget will put UK squarely in the middle of the pack among Southeastern Conference schools:  behind Alabama, Auburn, Florida, LSU and Tennessee, on par with Georgia and ahead of Arkansas, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, South Carolina and Vanderbilt.

In response to a ESPN story, Kentucky issued a clarification Thursday about DeAndre Liggins’ eligibility.

The story said, “Because of initial eligibility issues related to his recruitment, the NCAA held Liggins out of nine games in the 2009-10 season.”

Not entirely accurate, UK said in a statement.

“It was the University of Kentucky’s choice to withhold DeAndre Liggins from competition at the start of the 2009-10 season while eligibility questions were being resolved,” spokesman DeWayne Peevy said in a statement. “Once they were resolved the number of games we voluntarily withheld him from was considered sufficient. The original withholding was not mandated by the NCAA.”

Kentucky Coach John Calipari said he took “great joy” in the basketball team’s Academic Progress Rate score, according to his website. That score allowed UK to join Vanderbilt atop the Southeastern Conference.

“This is a reflection of what teamwork throughout our program and within our exceptional athletic department is capable of producing off the court,” Calipari said on the posting. ” It truly is as important as our on-court success over the past two seasons (trips to the Eilte 8 and the Final 4).”

Calipari noted UK athletics’ tutorial service and Mike Stone, the liaison to the basketball team.

“When we talk about being the gold standard for college athletics, this emphasis on academics is another vital element of how UK maintains its status among college basketball’s elite programs,” Calipari said in the posting.

Dick Vitale just sent out the word that last weekend’s fund-raiser met its goal of raising $1 million for cancer research.

Coaches John Calipari of Kentucky and Roy Williams of North Carolina were two of the honorees at the fund-raiser.

“It was a night I will always remember,” Vitale said in a posting. “The most important aspect was raising money for cancer research as the V Fondation continues its fight against this dreaded disease. You can help out by calling 1-800-4-JIMMY-V.

“Next year, we will honor Jay Wright, Gary Williams and Lou Holtz and it should be another special event.”

Kentucky trumpeted its showing in the latest Academic Progress Rate report released by the NCAA on Tuesday.

All 22 UK sports teams surpassed the NCAA cutoff score, and 16 surpassed the national average for public universities in their sports, UK announced.

The women’s tennis team led the way with 992 points out of a possible perfect score of 1,000, followed by women’s cross country (988), softball (987) and men’s golf and women’s swimming, both of which came in at 984, UK noted in a news release.

The latest APR scores covered the 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years. The APR measures academic eligibility and keeping eligible athletes enrolled.  The NCAA cutoff score for each sport is 925.

The 16 Wildcat teams that exceeded the national average among public universities in their sports included the five teams listed above, along with baseball (970), men’s basketball (974), women’s basketball (976), men’s cross country (983), football (948), women’s soccer (980). men’s swimming (968), men’s tennis (972), women’s indoor track (981), women’s outdoor track (983) and the combined men’s/women’s sport of rifle (983).

“I continue to be pleased with the consistency of our scores,” UK Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart said in the release.  “Our student-athletes should be commended for their performances. Our coaches and support personnel are doing a good job adjusting to the requirements of the APR and we will continue to work toward more success.”

Because of the scores, no UK teams will be subject to penalties, such as scholarship reductions or post-season bans.  None of UK’s 22 teams have incurred a penalty during the seven-year history of the APR.

UK men’s basketball coach John Calipari‘s contract calls for a $50,000 incentive bonus when his team posts an APR score over 950.