Jerry Tipton on UK basketball

The Associated Press has asked me to be the representative from Kentucky to vote on its weekly top 25 college basketball poll this season. There are 72 voters with at least one representing 41 states. The nine states not represented this year are Alaska, Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming.

The vote in Kentucky alternates between various media outlets. This season it returns to the Herald-Leader.

The deadline for the pre-season ballot was Monday. The ballot I turned in on Sunday included Kentucky at No. 15.

I voted North Carolina No. 1 (will anyone not vote for the Tar Heels No. 1?). Rounding out my top five were Connecticut, Louisville, Michigan State and Duke.

Other SEC teams on my ballot were No. 16 Tennessee, No. 19 Florida and No. 22 Alabama.

The AP also asked for a five-man All-America team by position. My ballot was:

F — Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

F — Blake Griffin, Oklahoma

C — Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina

G — James Harden, Arizona State

G — Stephen Curry, Davidson

Feel free to disagree and submit your own choices.

I’ll try to keep you informed on my weekly ballot.

Sports commentator Dick Vitale just called. He wanted to protest — nicely — about something in the Sunday UK Notebook.

Vitale didn’t like the reference to his list of the top 50 players in college basketball since 1979. That list, along with the top 50 moments, are the basis for his new book, “Dick Vitale’s Fabulous 50 Players and  Moments in College Basketball.”

What Vitale didn’t was my mentioning that he picked eight players from Duke before getting to No. 48 Kenny Walker. That fostered the misconception that he favors Duke.

Vitale noted that all eight players had been a National Player of the Year. “How do you keep them off?” he said. “Facts are facts.

“People don’t want to hear honesty,” added Vitale, who then praised Duke’s accomplishmenets. “If I’m not fair to others, you question yourself. I’m always fair, so that doesn’t bother me.”

ESPN announced its plans for television coverage of Midnight Madness. It’s four hours of celebration on Oct. 17.

Of course, Kentucky’s doing its Madness on Friday. That doesn’t mean UK will be absent from the ESPN plan. Spokesman Michael Humes said that ESPN will have a “campus connection student” doing a report from Kentucky’s Madness.

That report will be pre-packaged and used as part of ESPN’s coverage on Oct. 17.

Here’s the heart of the matter on ESPN’s announcement:

ESPNU will televise four hours of Midnight Madness coverage beginning at 9 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 17, expanding its coverage 30 minutes from last season and showcasing more schools. The network will present extensive whip-around coverage of several Midnight Madness events, including those at Davidson, Kansas, Georgetown, Gonzaga and Indiana, which will be the five primary men’s basketball programs highlighted. Several of ESPN’s top men’s college basketball analysts will be on hand at each of the sites, such as Jay Bilas, Fran Fraschilla, Bill Raftery, Stephen Bardo and Steve Lavin, providing practice coverage, analysis, and courtside interviews with the head coach and key players from each team.

Kentucky will not have the opportunity to stage an early Midnight Madness celebration of basketball after this year, a NCAA official said on Tuesday.

David Berst, the vice president for Division One, said he expected the NCAA Board of Directors to ban early Madness celebrations in the future. The board could take that action at its Oct. 29 meeting.

“I’d be surprised if we didn’t have that (ban) after Oct. 30,” Berst said.

Kentucky, Illinois, West Virginia and Marshall are among the schools doing Madness celebrations prior to Oct. 17, which is the official date college teams can begin practice.

The schools circumvented the Oct. 17 date by taking advantage of another rule which allows schools two hours of team practices per week from Sept. 15 to Oct. 17. UK will save its two hours this week and use them Friday night at Madness.

The early Madness gives schools a near monopoly of attention in the basketball world. With few competing attractions, a school like Kentucky has a better chance of attracting recruiting prospects to visit the campus on this Madness.

The NABC opposes the early Madness because it gives critics ammunition to thwart the coaches’ desire for expanded practice opportunities in the summer, executive director Jim Haney said last week. Critics can say the early Madness celebrations show coaches aren’t interested in furthering their players’ skills as much as looking for recruiting or promotional advantages, Haney said.

Berst echoed that observation and said a ban on early Madness celebrations would solve the problem.

Kentucky better enjoy staging its Big Blue Madness a week earlier than almost all other programs because it seems UK won’t be able to circumvent the rule on starting pre-season practice in the future.

The National Association of Basketball Coaches has told the NCAA that it would support a ban on early Madness celebrations. Jim Haney, the NABC executive director, said on Wednesday that he expects the NCAA to mandate that all Madness celebrations begin on the same date beginning next year.

Pre-season practices can begin on Oct. 17 this year. Kentucky circumvented that rule by manipulating another rule which allows coaches to work with their teams for two hours each week from Sept. 15 to Oct. 17. After getting permission from the NCAA, UK decided to save its two hours next week and use them as part of a Madness celebration on Oct. 10.

Illinois also will stage its Madness on Oct. 10, Haney said.

The earlier date gave Kentucky and Illinois an exclusive chance to impress recruiting prospects.

The problem is the early Madness could be used by opponents of another coaching wish being promoted by the NABC. The organization wants to persuade the NCAA to allow coaches to work with players in the summer. But, Haney said, critics to use the circumvention of Madness rules as a reason not to grant coaches more access to players.

“They’d say it’s an example of coaches being not all that interested in working with kids,” Haney said. “This is about recruiting.”

Haney termed the NABC’s opposition to early Madness celebrations as looking out for the best interests of the game.

The NABC position on Madness marks the second time this year that the organization has opposed an action by Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie. Earlier this year, the NABC called for its coaches not to offer scholarships to prospects in the ninth grade or younger. This call came after UK accepted a commitment from eighth grader Michael Avery.

When asked what should be read into the NABC twice objecting to Kentucky’s actions, Haney said, “We have to find a better way to communicate (to make sure) we’re all on the same page.

“I don’t think anybody’s trying to label Billy as a bad guy or doing bad things. The (NABC) board is looking at what’s in the best interest of the game.”

Kentucky fans have almost a 50-50 chance of being within an easy drive of an upcoming Final Four.

The NCAA announced on Thursday the 10 cities bidding for a Final Four between 2012 and 2016. Those 10 cities include Atlanta, Detroit, Indianapolis and St. Louis.

Here’s the NCAA news release:

The NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Committee elected to keep all 10 cities that submitted bids for the right to host the 2012-16 Men’s Final Fours under consideration, designating them all as finalists. The committee received bids from Atlanta, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, New Orleans, North Texas, Phoenix, San Antonio and St. Louis in June.

Sites are scheduled to be awarded in November.

“Quite honestly, our committee has been overwhelmed and impressed by the creativity and attention to detail in the bids received from the bid cities,” said Mike Slive, commissioner of the Southeastern Conference and chair of the committee. “Each of these cities can be proud that they have been well-represented. The written presentations were outstanding with each city showcasing a unique vision of hosting this event. It is exciting to see the growth of the Final Four, both in the venue and throughout the region where events are held. Over the past few years, the growing variety of Final Four events has attracted millions of fans of all ages, and last year’s championship was viewed by more than 150 million people worldwide. The responses we have received confirm that the excitement is shared among our bid cities.  We feel it is only appropriate to keep all under consideration – they have most certainly earned it.”

The bid process began earlier this year and meetings were conducted until bids were submitted in June.  Site visits will be conducted over the coming weeks leading up to in-person presentations by each city prior to the committee’s final decisions in November.

Kentucky freshman-to-be Darius Miller was among 25 players invited to the 2008 USA Basketball Men’s Under-18 National Team Trials, which will be July 1-3 in Washington, D.C.

USA Basketball announced the invitees on Tuesday. After leading Mason County to the state championship, Miller was named Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball.

The trials will be held at Verizon Center. The Men’s Collegiate Committee will announce the 12-member USA U18 National Team roster, plus alternates. The selected finalists will remain in Washington, D.C., for the July 4-10 training camp. The USA squad will depart for Formosa, Argentina for the 2008 FIBA America’s U18 Championship for Men on July 10. Competition is July 14-18.

 Here’s the news release by USA Basketball:

The 25 players selected include: Isaiah Armwood (Montrose Christian H.S. / Rockville, MD); Kenny Boynton (American Heritage H.S. / Plantation, FL); Dominic Cheek (St. Anthony H.S. / Jersey City, NJ); Drew Gordon (Archbishop Mitty H.S. / San Jose, CA);  JaMychal Green (St. Jude H.S. / Montgomery, AL); Kenny Hall (Redan H.S. / Stone Mountain, GA); Matt Humphrey (Hales Franciscian H.S. / Chicago, IL); Ryan Kelly (Revenscroft H.S. / Raleigh, NC); Sylven Landesberg (Holy Cross H.S. / Flushing, NY);  Malcom Lee (John W. North H.S. / Riverside, CA); Leslie McDonald (Briarcrest H.S. / Memphis, TN);  Darius Miller (Mason County H.S. / Maysville, KY);  Reeves Nelson (Modesto Christian H.S. / Modesto, CA);  Mason Plumlee (Christ H.S. / Arden, NC); Travis Releford (Bishop Miege H.S. / Shawnee Mission, KS); Lance Stephenson (Lincoln H.S. / Brooklyn, NY); Ari Stewart (Wheeler H.S. / Marietta, GA); Dexter Strickland (St. Patrick H.S. / Elizabeth, NJ);  Hollis Thompson (Loyola H.S. / Los Angeles, CA); Terrell Vinson (Montrose Christian H.S. / Rockville, MD); Kemba Walker (Rice H.S. / New York, NY);Maalik Wayns (Roman Catholic H.S. / Philadelphia, PA); David Wear (Mater Dei H.S. / Santa Ana, CA); Travis Wear (Mater Dei H.S. / Santa Ana, CA); and Wesley Witherspoon (Berkman H.S. / Lilburn, GA).

The coaches for the USA team are Bob McKillop of Davidson College who will serve as head coach. The assistant coaches will be VCU’s Anthony Grant and Georgetown’s John Thompson III. Collegiate head coaches who will serve as trials’court coaches include Cornell’s Steve Donahue, Kevin McCarthy of the State University of New York at Cobleskil, Joe Niland of the University of Mobile and Gary Stewart of the University of California at Davis.

Nine of the 25 trials participants will be college freshman in the 2008-09 season, and the remaining 16 will be high school seniors in the class of 2009. Among those college freshmen are Gordon and Lee who have both been signed by UCLA, Green at Alabama, Humphrey at Oregon, Landesberg with Virginia, Miller at Kentucky, Walker with Uconn and Releford at Kansas. The release stated five of the players, including Alabama’s Green, were 2007-08 Gatorade Boys Basketball state Players of the Year in their respective states in a list that included Green for the state of Alabama, Releford for Kansas, Miller for Kentucky, Landesberg for New York and McDonald for Tennessee. The release also said that Rivals.com ranked six of the seniors among its top 50 players, while the remaining three seniors rounded out the top 100. Walker listed No. 14, Green placed No. 21, Witherspoon was No. 34, Miller  ranked No. 43, Gordon at No. 46, Lee was No. 48, Landesberg at No. 66, Releford listed No. 70, while Humphrey ranked No. 95. It said 11 of the rising juniors rank among Rivals.com top 50 players in the class of 2009. Stephenson lists No. 7, Cheek is No. 11, Strickland is No. 16, Armwood is No. 23, Wayns at No. 24, Nelson ranks No. 30, McDonald is No. 32, Plumlee ranks No. 40, Hall lists No. 41, Kelly is No. 44 and Thompson is No. 46. Four additional juniors also listed amongst Rivals’ top-65: Wear (David) ranks No. 54, Wear (Travis) lists No. 55, Stewart is No. 59, while Vinson ranks No. 61.

The NCAA announced on Monday its plans for ticket availability for the 2009 Final Four.

The on-line process runs through May 31.

Here’s the NCAA news release:

INDIANAPOLIS—Ticket applications for the 2009 NCAA Men’s and Women’s Final Fours will be available online through May 31, 2008.

The 2009 Men’s Final Four will be held at Ford Field in Detroit.  The all-session ticket prices are $170 for upper-level sideline, and $140 for upper-level behind the basket, and will admit the bearer to the national semifinals Saturday, April 4 and the national championship game Monday, April 6.  The 2009 Women’s Final Four will be held at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.  The all-session ticket price of $162 will admit the bearer to the national semifinals Sunday, April 5 and the national championship game Tuesday, April 7.

Ticket applications are available online only and can be accessed at www.ncaa.com, the NCAA’s official championship Web site.  The ticket application process will end at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on May 31, 2008.

Individuals may complete only one ticket application, but the online application program will permit applicants to enter their application up to 10 times. Only one entry may be selected per applicant and/or per household.  There is a $6 non-transferable handling fee for each entry.

The NCAA will conduct a random, computerized drawing in July to determine the Men’s and Women’s Final Four ticket recipients, and those individuals selected to receive tickets will be notified by the end of August.

Individuals not selected to receive the Men’s and Women’s Final Four tickets will receive a full refund, less the $6 non-refundable handling fee per entry, by the end of August.

Individuals selected to receive Men’s and Women’s Final Four tickets will receive a partial refund, less the $6 non-refundable handling fee per entry, by the end of August if there is any remaining balance from multiple entries or if the application was successful for a lower price level than initially paid.

If you have any questions regarding the 2009 Men’s and Women’s Final Four general public ticket application process, please call 877/368-7002.

Men’s and Women’s Final Four tickets may not be offered as a prize in a promotion, sweepstakes or contest, or auctioned for fundraising purposes unless authorized in advance by the NCAA.

The NCAA reminds fans that purchasing tickets from secondary unauthorized vendors may result in fraudulent purchases.  Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets from NCAA member institutions and companies authorized by the NCAA to sell or resell championship tickets.

The Men’s Basketball Rules Committee, which met recently, did not recommend any major rules changes for the 2008-09 season, the NCAA announced on Monday.

The only change mentioned in a news release was a tweak to goaltending. A ball that hits the backboard above the basket cannot be touched, or it will be goal tend.

Any change must be approved by the Playing Rules Oversight Panel, which will meet by conference call June 5.

The Rules Committee considered instituting a block-charge arc near the basket like the NBA has and widening the lane. Both ideas were tabled.

Points of emphasis will be on illegal contact on screens, palming, bench decorum and the coaches’ box.

The University of Kentucky could feel good about when the NCAA on Tuesday released its latest findings on academic performance by athletic teams.

All 22 of UK’s teams surpassed the NCAA target score, and 13 teams exceeded the national average for public universities in their sports.

Therefore, UK will not be subject to any penalties. The latest findings, in the Academic Progress Rate, cover the school years of 2003-04 through 2006-07.

Here’s a portion of the UK news release:

The women’s swimming team led the way for UK with 986 out of a possible 1,000 points, followed by women’s soccer (985), men’s outdoor track (976), women’s outdoor track (976), men’s indoor track (973) and women’s basketball (972).  The marks are a four-year composite, covering the 2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06 and 2006-07 school years, that measures academic eligibility and retention of student-athletes.  The NCAA target score for each sport is 925.

The 13 Wildcat teams that exceeded the national average among public universities in their sports included baseball (940), men’s basketball (941), women’s basketball (972), men’s cross country (970), football (943), rifle (966), women’s soccer (985), women’s swimming (986), men’s tennis (958), men’s indoor track (973), women’s indoor track (971), men’s outdoor track (976) and women’s outdoor track (976).

“We’re proud of our student-athletes and coaches, who are committed to academic success, and we’re happy to see their hard work pay off,” said Mitch Barnhart, UK Director of Athletics.  “One of our core principles is to provide student-athletes with the best possible experience.  Academics, obviously, are a key component of that experience.” 

Two UK teams posted perfect 1,000 scores for the most recent year surveyed (2006-07), men’s basketball and women’s tennis. 

With each team exceeding the NCAA target score, no Wildcat squads are subject to penalties, such as scholarship reductions or postseason restrictions.