Enes Kanter

LEXINGTON - No one benefited more from Enes Kanter being declared ineligible by the NCAA than Kentucky senior Josh Harrellson, who emerged as one of the Southeastern Conference's top rebounders and a reliable starter for UK's Final Four team. Harrellson often credited practicing against Kanter, who is also his roommate, for his rapid rise, and he shared these thoughts about Kanter now that UK’s season is over: Question: What are your feelings now that the season is over about Kanter not being allowed to play this year?

The Big Blue All-Stars lost to the Villains 152-149 in overtime Monday night at Rupp Arena. The cast of former Kentucky players included Rajon Rondo, Brandon Knight, Josh Harrellson, Keith Bogans, DeMarcus Cousins, Chuck Hayes, Enes Kanter and others. The Villains were coached by former Duke star Christian Laettner. The Big Blue team was led by former Kentucky standout Rex Chapman.

Chris Dortch has followed Southeastern Conference basketball closely for years as editor of Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, considered the nation’s most informative college basketball preseason publication. Now he’s also a writer for NBA.com and recently had a story about Enes Kanter’s draft potential. Dortch was also one of the first to embrace John Calipari’s move to Kentucky and predicted it would immediately put the Wildcats back in the national championship chase, as it has the last two years.

It was no secret even with Enes Kanter, depth could be a problem for Kentucky this year. Without Kanter, it’s a huge problem — and almost certain defeat when four players foul out like they did in Saturday’s 75-73 loss at North Carolina. The biggest bright spot for Kentucky in the loss was the play of freshman Doron Lamb, who continues to show that he could be this year’s Eric Bledsoe in the freshman class. He was considered a good player coming into Kentucky, but he’s turning into a great player.

Kentucky has passed the biggest hurdle on the non-conference portion of the schedule. The team’s next three games, starting with tonight’s contest against Mississippi Valley State at Rupp Arena, aren’t reminiscent of the past three encounters, but will give Kentucky coach John Calipari and his staff a chance to implement some last-minute changes over the Christmas break and examine who’s in and who’s out when...

HOUSTON – The rumors have been swirling since Kentucky lost to Connecticut in the Final Four last Saturday at the Reliant Center. The biggest question is whether or not freshmen Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones will return next season with one of the top recruiting classes set to arrive on campus this fall. The answer to that question largely depends on whether or not the NBA’s owners will force a lockout and adopt new rules as part of a new collective bargaining agreement. The new set of rules could possibly require players to remain in college for at least two years before declaring for the draft.

The NBA¿Draft is becoming a tradition in Kentucky. A¿year ago, Big Blue Nation watched as five players — four of them freshmen — were drafted in first round of the league’s annual event. One of those former Kentucky players — John¿Wall, was the top pick, a first-ever feat for a program that rightfully prides itself as the “Greatest Tradition in College Basketball.” Usually the summer months aren’t heaped with an abundance of news on current and former players, but the draft provides a relief for the summertime blues when it comes to discussing Kentucky basketball.

ATLANTA — Before the season started, college basketball analyst Joe Dean Jr. said he could envision a scenario where Kentucky could finish fifth in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division if Enes Kanter was ruled ineligible. Kanter was ruled ineligible, but the Wildcats managed to finish second in the East and earn a first-round bye in the SEC Tournament. However, with a week to go in the regular season, Kentucky could have dropped to fifth if it had lost a home game and then lost at Tennessee.

Josh Harrellson’s senior campaign will come to an end during the Final Four. He just hopes Kentucky is one of two teams playing for a national title Monday night in Houston. Harrellson couldn’t pinpoint his favorite game this season, but has one in mind, an obvious no-brainer. “Hopefully my favorite one will be Monday night if we make it that far,” he said earlier this week. Harrellson has had a big hand in Kentucky’s successful ride in the NCAA Tournament. The Kentucky averaged 14.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game in Kentucky’s four games in the Big Dance, a tour that includes wins over Princeton, West Virginia, top-seeded Ohio State and North Carolina.

Two years ago Friday, John Calipari was introduced as the men’s basketball coach at the University of Kentucky. At the time of his hiring, the program was coming off a rare appearance in the NIT and a rocky two-year tenure under Billy Gillispie. With Gillispie at the helm, the Wildcats went 40-27 and appeared to be headed in the wrong direction and failed to return to the forefront on the collegiate scene. Calipari wanted the job when Gillispie was hired in 2007, but waited two more seasons before the Kentucky administration took a chance on him. Calipari, known as a fearless recruiter, with a reputation of landing the nation’s top prep players, rebuilt the program in a matter of months.

MOON, Pa. - Three Kentucky freshmen who have been projected at times as possible NBA draft lottery picks all indicated they are learning to coming back for their sophomore seasons. Kentucky lost 59-57 to Robert Morris in an NIT first-round game Tuesday, and Archie Goodwin, Alex Poythress and Willie Cauley-Stein will not have long to decide what they want to do about next season. However, Goodwin made it clear he thought he would be back. “I don't know if it's a question whether I'm going (to the NBA)

Before the season started, Kentucky had three freshmen - Nerlens Noel, Alex Poythress and Archie Goodwin - already projected as lottery picks in the 2013 June NBA draft. Not long after the season started, freshman Willie Cauley-Stein did enough on the court to put himself into the same type of lofty draft status even though he didn't make his first start until Saturday after Noel was lost for the season due to a knee injury. The expectations were nothing new for UK freshmen. Back in 2010, Kentucky had four freshmen - John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton and Eric Bledsoe - all picked in the first round.

Kentucky junior guard Jarrod Polson has played in 28 games the last two seasons at UK and got into his first NCAA Tournament game last season. Still, he's got off just nine shots in the 28 games, a far cry from the type of offensive exploits he was used to during his high-school career at West Jessamine, when he averaged 18.2 points, 6.4 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game as a senior and helped the Colts win a state-tournament game. He finished his high-school career with 1,884 points.

Does John Calipari have to win a national championship to keep University of Kentucky fans happy? If you listen to some national media members, or even some in Kentucky, the answer is yes. But why? Calipari has a 98-14 record in three years at Kentucky going into Friday's NCAA Tournament South Regional semifinal matchup with Indiana. His first team went to the Elite Eight and was upset by West Virginia. Calipari somehow revitalized the Kentucky program from the depths of the Billy Gillispie debacle immediately by bringing in a recruiting class headed by John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins.

LEXINGTON - In 26 games this season, Eloy Vargas has played just 173 minutes - an average of 6.7 minutes per game. Three games the senior center has not even played for Kentucky . However, Kentucky coach John Calipari insisted Monday that not only is Vargas a dependable player, but he's good enough to play professionally next season despite his limited playing time at UK. “Eloy has been fabulous and a great teammate....

The Big Blue All-Stars lost to the Villains 152-149 in overtime Monday night at Rupp Arena. The cast of former Kentucky players included Rajon Rondo, Brandon Knight, Josh Harrellson, Keith Bogans, DeMarcus Cousins, Chuck Hayes, Enes Kanter and others. The Villains were coached by former Duke star Christian Laettner. The Big Blue team was led by former Kentucky standout Rex Chapman.

LEXINGTON - Former Kentucky standout Tayshaun Prince is not the kind of person to be critical or take verbal shots at others. Still, Prince couldn't help but express his appreciation for the way current UK coach John Calipari has treated former players that made it clear former Cats had not always felt nearly as comfortable coming back to UK as they do now. “It is a great feeling. That's one thing we (former players) talk about now. We have a coach here now who really appreciates not just the players he has here now, but the players who have gone,” said Prince during the John Calipari Pro Camp last week at UK. “He always stays in contact with us during the season and throws in a text here and there to see how we are doing and let's us know things going on in the summer.

The NBA¿Draft is becoming a tradition in Kentucky. A¿year ago, Big Blue Nation watched as five players — four of them freshmen — were drafted in first round of the league’s annual event. One of those former Kentucky players — John¿Wall, was the top pick, a first-ever feat for a program that rightfully prides itself as the “Greatest Tradition in College Basketball.” Usually the summer months aren’t heaped with an abundance of news on current and former players, but the draft provides a relief for the summertime blues when it comes to discussing Kentucky basketball.

John Calipari not only thinks Kentucky will have four players picked tonight in the NBA draft, but he agrees with Enes Kanter that the center should be the first overall pick, just as former Wildcat John Wall was last year. Kanter was deemed “permanently ineligible” at Kentucky and never played for the Wildcats last season, even though he practiced with the team and took classes both semesters. He’s told media members that if he had played, he would be in line to be the top pick instead of maybe only going in the top five choices tonight.

Analyst Matt Kamalsky of Draftexpress.net knows a lot could still change between now and Thursday night’s NBA draft. Yet he’s fairly confident Kentucky fans are going to see Brandon Knight and Enes Kanter going early in the draft. “As of today, Knight No. 3 to Utah, a good spot for him, and Kanter 6 to Washington. Kanter is an absolute no brainer for both parties, an incredible fit,” Kamalsky said. Knight left UK after his freshman year when his point guard play led UK to the Final Four.