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As John Calipari suggested on Thursday, freshman Eric Bledsoe was not going to play against Clarion.

Bledsoe sprained an ankle in the exhibition against Campbellsville. Calipari did not want to risk further injury against Clarion. UK needs Bledsoe in the opening game against Morehead State next Friday, Calipari said.

The other freshman guard, John Wall, must sit out the Morehead State game as punishment for having recruiting expenses paid by an agent, his AAU coach, Brian Clifton.

Clarion plans to honor Kentucky Coach John Calipari before Friday night’s exhibition game.

Clarion’s crackerjack Sports Information man, Rich Herman, said that the school would present a framed No. 21 jersey to symbolize the uniform Calipari wore for Clarion in the early 1980s.

The jersey will be presented by Calipari’s coach at Clarion, Joe DeGregorio, and Calipari’s high school coach, Bill Sacco.

After not playing sophomore DeAndre Liggins against Campbellsville, Kentucky Coach John Calipari hinted at more benchings against Clarion on Friday night.
When asked if all the players would play against Clarion, Calipari said, “Probably not.”
He did not say what players might get pine time.
With a smile, Calipari noted how any coach would enjoy wielding the power over playing time.
“That’s the greatest thing about being head coach,” he said.

Perhaps sensing a team beaten down from the previous two seasons or wide-eyed newcomers, Kentucky Coach John Calipari tried to be good cop.
Sensing that didn’t work, he became the bad cop on Wednesday, He instituted a curfew, called for two-a-day practices (the first beginning at 6:15 a.m.) and generally whyen from Camp Cal counselor to Parris Island drill sergeant.
“It’s a new Coach Cal,” freshman DeMarcus Cousins said. “Intense and focused. It’s not the laid-back, chilled Cal no more.”
Calipari attributed the change to what he saw in Kentucky’s opening exhibition game against Campbellsville. Although Uk won, the coach did not like how the players went about it. Fatigue set in, causing the coach to question the team’s conditioning. Few took the initiative and drove assertively to the basket, the trigger mechanism for Calipari’s dribble-drive offense. Defensive intensity waned.
Calipari likened the situation to a scrimmage performance by his Memphis team last year against St. Louis.
“I saw right there the team was not tough enough, not in condition and the attentijon to detail wasn’t there,” he said. “When I saw the same thing against Campbellsville, I went to sleep with what I call blood sweats.”
Calipari all but promised a better performance against his alma mater, Clarion, in Friday night’s exhibition or a continued effort to get there.
Noting his own new exercise routine (reflected in the sweat-soaked t-shirt he wore to practice), Calipari said, “Either they catch up to it or get dragged through glass.”

Calipari noted that he’s been counseled to stay patient. It’s only early November.

“The problem is we’re opening the season against a NCAA (Tournament) team,” he said in reference to the Nov. 13 opener against Morehead State, which played in the NCAA Tournament last March.

Kentucky freshman John Wall, who must sit out Monday’s exhibition game against Campbellville doesn’t look torn up about it.

Wall just appeared on the court as his teammates warmed up. Wearing a gray UK sweatsuit, Wall had a broad smile on his face as he munched a cookie or a snack chip of some type (hard to tell). He and UK’s other freshman point guard, Eric Bledsoe, exchanged smiles and a brief converation before Bledsoe resumed shooting.

Wall will be eligible to play in the second exhibition against Clarion on Friday. Then he must sit out UK’s opener against Morehead State.

Wall must sit out two games — and make good on $787.58 in recruiting expenses paid by his AAU coach, Brian Clifton, who was also a FIBA agent at the time — as punishment for associating with Clifton.

When the media arrived for Sunday’s interviews, reporters saw a player or manager wearing a blue T-shirt that had three large words printed on the back:

Coal

Cats

Calipari

That alliterative sequence surely would not please critics of UK’s approval last week of a project to build a new dorm for the team and call it Wildcat Coal Lodge. About 30 protesters had to shout to make their voices heard at a UK Board of Trustees meeting last week. Most trustees left the room while the protesters tried to convey their objections.

The protesters said that the burning of coal was damaging to the environment in multiple ways and a symbol of the past.

After the protesters were removed from the board room, the trustees returned and approved the name. Booster Joe Craft collected $7 million in pledges for the construction of the new lodge. But the money was contingent on the name Wildcat Coal Lodge being used.

As for the coal t-shirts, UK spokesman John Hayden said they were a gift from IMG, the radio and television rights holder for UK football and basketball. The shirts were distributed to the students who attended a recent practice opened only to students.

Kentucky Coach John Calipari just tweeted that freshman John Wall has been cleared to play this season. But Wall will have to sit out two games and repay expenses in order to regain full eligibility.

Wall will miss UK’s first exhibition game against Campbellsville on Monday and also the season opener against Morehead State on Nov. 13, Calipari said in a tweet.

The University of Kentucky planned to stage an open practice Sunday in Louisville’s Freedom Hall. It’s been cancelled.

The Kentucky Exposition Center announced the cancellation and declined to explain.

UK Coach John Calipari issued a statement several hours after the announcement.

“We originally planned a practice at Freedom Hall on Sunday afternoon to give our guys a chance to practice in an arena that we will compete in later this season,” Calipari said. “The passion of our Kentucky fans in Louisville made it impossible for the word not to get out about the practice at Freedom Hall. Due to the publicity created by several media outlets, we will no longer be able to conduct a preseason practice off campus this weekend. We will schedule an open practice at Freedom Hall and make sure all our fans in Louisville know about it.”

NCAA rules prohibit schools from publicizing a pre-season practice. Such open practices can be publicized during the season.

So why was the practice cancelled?

Perhaps UK feared that the publicity surrounding the practice could be viewed as a possible rules violation.

The University of Louisville could have blocked the practice. U of L’s women’s team has an exhibition game Sunday afternoon against Northern Kentucky University. By contract, that game gives U of L the rights to Freedom Hall the entire day and night.

But U of L did not block the UK practice. “Louisville had nothing to do with this,” U of L spokesman Kenny Klein said.

Here’s another possible factor. The Kentucky Fair & Exposition Center has a crowded schedule of events on Sunday. There’s the Kentucky Flea Market in the West Wing. There’s a Kenny Woods Gun & Knife Show in the West Hall. There’s an International Construction and Utility Equipment Expo. And the Kentucky Kingdom amusement park has its Halloween Fright Fest from noon until 8 p.m.

Concerns about crowd control led to a request that UK move its practice from 6 to 7.  Instead, UK decided to cancel the practice.

UK spokesman DeWayne Peevy said the cancellation led to angry calls to the school. But UK wanted to get the word out on the cancellation to prevent fans from going to Freedom Hall expecting to see the Wildcats practice, he said.

UK just announced that tickets remain available for the Blue-White Game on Wednesday, the two exhibitions and the opener against Morehead State.

Here’s the release:

Tickets can be bought at the UK ticket office from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. during the week or by calling 1-800-928-2287 or 859-233-3535. Tickets can also be bought at UKathletics.com, Ticketmaster.com or Ticketmaster outlets.

Tickets to the Blue-White Game cost $10.

The exhibition games are against Campbellsville (Nov. 2) and Clarion (Nov. 6). UK opens the season against Morehead State on Nov. 13.

There will be a fund-raiser on Friday for Mark Krebs’ mother, Terri, who is battling cancer.

The fund-raiser will be at the Ft. Thomas Pub beginning at 9 p.m. Admission is $5. There will be live music and items to be auctioned.

Mrs. Krebs, 48, has been battling cancer for eight years. Her son, a senior guard for Kentucky, said that she had undergone more than 340 chemo treatments. She’s also had two surgeries in the last six months.