Team Usa

During his 18 days practicing and playing with Team USA in the Under 19 World Championships in Austin, Texas, Kentucky commit Jacob Hyde of Clay County did his best to share all the good news he could about the Wildcats. “We had a lot of good players on our team. It was surprising how much talent there was surrounding me,” said Hyde, a defensive lineman and UK's only in-state commitment in the 2013 recruiting class. “I talked all I could about the university. Most guys were interested in what I had to say about UK. I was trying to do all the recruiting I could.” Team USA beat Samoa 27-6 in its first game and routed Austria 70-7 in the semifinals before falling 23-17 to Canada in the championship game.

The more international basketball he got, the better Julius Randle figured it made his overall game. He averaged 14.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game - both team highs - and shot 54 percent from the field in five games during the  2012 FIBA Americas Under 18 Championship to help Team USA win the gold medal in Brazil.  He proved that was no fluke by scoring 19 points on 9-for-17 shooting, pulling down a team-high eight rebounds and blocking one...

Spencer Perrin feels like he's found both financial security for his family and the perfect place to play basketball now that he has signed a three-year guaranteed contract worth about $1 million to play in Australia with the Geraldton Buccaneers. “I leave this Friday and can't wait,” said Perrin, a Boyle County graduate and former player at Eastern Kentucky University. “It's the most tropical part of Australia. It is its own island in the western part of Australia and the best possible place to go there to play basketball.

Nicholasville Special Olympics swimmer Collin Lutz was placed in an incredibly fast final heat of the 100-meter freestyle June 28 at the 2011 World Summer Games in Athens, Greece, placing eighth in the second of his three events at the games. Lutz swam the 100 in a time of 1:23.80 in the race that was won by Ecuadorian Byron Chiliquinga. Lutz won a silver medal last week in the 4x100-meter medley relay. Swimming with teammates from Illinois, South Dakota and Washington, Lutz helped Team USA to a 6:37.83 time, 48 seconds behind the gold medalists from Israel and 21 seconds ahead of the Costa Ricans, who took the bronze.

LEXINGTON - Tayshaun Prince said he doesn't have a specific role with Team USA, which will try and bring the gold back to the United States at next month's Olympics in China. "What I bring is versatility," said the former Kentucky star, who said he could see time at four positions on the floor. "There will be times when I'll be bring the ball up the court. It doesn't really matter. I don't have a position, and there are lots of guys on this team who don't have a position. "We're guys you can put on the floor and we're able to do things no matter where we are on the floor.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky coach John Calipari may have completed another No. 1 recruiting class this week when Dakari Johnson, Julius Randle and Dominique Hawkins all signed to play with the Wildcats and joined fall signees Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, Marcus Lee, Derek Willis and James Young to form the consensus top-ranked class in the nation. “The thing I like most about this group is its competitive spirit and its will to win,” said Calipari in a statement from Kentucky. “These guys are All-Americans and award winners, but more importantly they're world champions, national champions and state champions.

Centre College junior linebacker Adam Hay and senior safety Tyler Moody picked up their second postseason award each as the two defenders were named to the D3football.com 2007 All-South Region Team. Hay, who was named to first team All-Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, was named to the first team, while Moody, also an All-SCAC first team pick, was named to the third team. Hay led the Colonels and the SCAC in total tackles with 138, including 79 solo tackles and 59 assisted.

LEXINGTON ? Darius Miller may not have the build of the traditional power forward physique, but he did play that spot at times for Team USA last summer and drew praise from his coaches for the versatility he gave the team by doing that. Could he do the same for coach John Calipari at Kentucky this season? "I think I could, and if Coach wants me to do that, I would be perfectly fine with that. I wouldn't have a problem at all. Maybe we will do that sometimes," Miller said. He says his Team USA experience in the under-19 world championships should make a noticeable difference in another area of his play.

Darius Miller tries to be a positive, optimistic person and player. Yet the Kentucky sophomore forward has to admit that last year's season under coach Billy Gillispie was not much fun for him or his teammates. "It was pretty tough at times. The hardest part was when we lost games. That was the toughest part for all of us. Nobody likes to lose," Miller said. While the team often looked like it was not having fun, Miller said that all due to losing more than being emotionally and physically worn out by some of Gillispie's methods.

Kentucky recruits Marquis Teague and Michael Gilchrist are not easily impressed considering they are ranked as two of the nation’s best high school players and have each received numerous honors during their prep careers. However, both players were impressed that Kentucky coach John Calipari came to Hamburg, Germany, to watch them play two games in the FIBA under 17 World Championship, “I knew he was coming. We both knew that,” said Teague, a point guard from Indianapolis.

The more international basketball he got, the better Julius Randle figured it made his overall game. He averaged 14.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game - both team highs - and shot 54 percent from the field in five games during the  2012 FIBA Americas Under 18 Championship to help Team USA win the gold medal in Brazil.  He proved that was no fluke by scoring 19 points on 9-for-17 shooting, pulling down a team-high eight rebounds and blocking one...

LEXINGTON - Kentucky coach John Calipari may have completed another No. 1 recruiting class this week when Dakari Johnson, Julius Randle and Dominique Hawkins all signed to play with the Wildcats and joined fall signees Aaron Harrison, Andrew Harrison, Marcus Lee, Derek Willis and James Young to form the consensus top-ranked class in the nation. “The thing I like most about this group is its competitive spirit and its will to win,” said Calipari in a statement from Kentucky. “These guys are All-Americans and award winners, but more importantly they're world champions, national champions and state champions.

Spencer Perrin feels like he's found both financial security for his family and the perfect place to play basketball now that he has signed a three-year guaranteed contract worth about $1 million to play in Australia with the Geraldton Buccaneers. “I leave this Friday and can't wait,” said Perrin, a Boyle County graduate and former player at Eastern Kentucky University. “It's the most tropical part of Australia. It is its own island in the western part of Australia and the best possible place to go there to play basketball.

During his 18 days practicing and playing with Team USA in the Under 19 World Championships in Austin, Texas, Kentucky commit Jacob Hyde of Clay County did his best to share all the good news he could about the Wildcats. “We had a lot of good players on our team. It was surprising how much talent there was surrounding me,” said Hyde, a defensive lineman and UK's only in-state commitment in the 2013 recruiting class. “I talked all I could about the university. Most guys were interested in what I had to say about UK. I was trying to do all the recruiting I could.” Team USA beat Samoa 27-6 in its first game and routed Austria 70-7 in the semifinals before falling 23-17 to Canada in the championship game.

Two friends and neighbors from Nicholasville will represent the state and the nation when they travel to Beijing this weekend for an international triathlon competition. Mike Elder and Melinda Drake will compete in the 2011 International Triathlon Union's world championships after qualifying for the event in the United States. Elder said the two started running together in recent years to get into shape but that it got old. “That was a little boring, so I said, 'You know what?

Purdue coach Matt Painter was impressed with Kentucky's Darius Miller two years ago when he helped the United States win the gold medal at the under 19 world championship. However, Painter is even more impressed with the UK¿senior now and is glad to have him on the USA team he's coaching in the World University Games. “You can tell he has definitely worked on his body. His body is a lot better,” said Painter, who was an assistant on the United States team two years ago, after practice at the team's training facility in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Purdue coach Matt Painter was impressed with Kentucky's Darius Miller two years ago when he helped the United States win the gold medal at the under 19 world championship. However, Painter is even more impressed with the UK¿senior now and is glad to have him on the USA team he's coaching in the World University Games. “You can tell he has definitely worked on his body. His body is a lot better,” said Painter, who was an assistant on the United States team two years ago, after practice at the team's training facility in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Purdue coach Matt Painter was impressed with Kentucky's Darius Miller two years ago when he helped the United States win the gold medal at the under-19 world championships. However, Painter is even more impressed with the UK senior now and is glad to have him on the U.S. team he's coaching in the World University Games. “You can tell he has definitely worked on his body. His body is a lot better,” said Painter, who was an assistant on the U.S. team two years ago, after practice at the team's training facility in Colorado Springs, Colo.

e's not made the team quite yet, but Kentucky senior Darius Miller is one step closer to playing on a team representing the United States for the second time. USA Basketball announced Sunday that Miller is one of 14 players, among the 20 invited to training camp in Colorado Springs, Colo., that had been named a finalist by the USA Basketball junior national team committee for the 12-player USA World University Games team. The final 12-player roster will be announced prior to Aug. 8 when the team departs for China.

Nicholasville Special Olympics swimmer Collin Lutz was placed in an incredibly fast final heat of the 100-meter freestyle June 28 at the 2011 World Summer Games in Athens, Greece, placing eighth in the second of his three events at the games. Lutz swam the 100 in a time of 1:23.80 in the race that was won by Ecuadorian Byron Chiliquinga. Lutz won a silver medal last week in the 4x100-meter medley relay. Swimming with teammates from Illinois, South Dakota and Washington, Lutz helped Team USA to a 6:37.83 time, 48 seconds behind the gold medalists from Israel and 21 seconds ahead of the Costa Ricans, who took the bronze.