Wildcats

What impact will it have on Kentucky now that Andrew Wiggins, the nation's No. 1 recruit, has announced he will not play for the Wildcats? Instead, the Huntington (W.Va.) Prep star announced Tuesday that he was going to play for Kansas and not UK, North Carolina or Florida State. “I think not getting him takes away another weapon that Kentucky could have fielded, but Kentucky still will be overwhelming physically,” said Sporting News columnist Mike DeCourcy. “I think it forces (UK signee)

Has it been 15 years? A decade ago, the Kentucky men’s basketball team ran the table on the hardwood, winning the NCAA championship, fulfilling a promise former coach Rick Pitino made when he took over the program just seven years earlier. Guided by a mixture of veterans and a cast of talented newcomers, the Wildcats finished with a remarkable 34-2 record and captured the school’s sixth national title. The successful run completed a long climb back to the pinnacle in college athletics for one of the most storied programs in the history of college basketball.

Kentucky will be seeking revenge today when it plays host to Georgia at Rupp Arena. The Wildcats (15-4, 3-2) haven’t played since a 67-58 win over South Carolina last weekend in Columbia, S.C. The Bulldogs (14-5, 3-3) suffered a 104-91 loss in double overtime to Florida earlier this week. Kentucky is undefeated at home this season and Georgia will be looking to get back into the hunt in Eastern division of the Southeastern Conference after losing three of their past five games.

       Kentucky freshman Nerlens Noel is getting used to the early-morning conditioning program known as “Camp Cal.” “ It is tough, but we know it is going to pay off for us, especially with conditioning, it will help us keep the tempo of the game up,” he said Friday. “Getting up is not that tough - I mean it is tough, but you just got to work through it.” The conditioning program, geared toward improving the team's stamina, features a variety of exercises from running to “a lot of push-ups” and “toe touches.” “ It feels like its boot camp,” Noel said.

Kentucky coach John Calipari says despite UK’s five road losses in close games, it’s not time to panic and write off the season. “This team is 14th in the RPI and 10th in strength of schedule. We lost five games, and we could have won them all. We are going on the road, and are not quite finishing games and making some errors. That’s what a young team does,” he said Monday. “At the end of the day, I’m worried about where this team finishes, not where we are right now. “Other than the top five or six, seven teams (in the country)

ESPN college recruiting director Paul Biancardi believes Kentucky coach John Calipari certainly has a recruiting class he can work with next year to produce another successful team. “Stacey Poole can look up to Eric Bledsoe and try to surprise everyone like Bledsoe did. Doron Lamb could be the scorer Bledsoe was. Brandon Knight can play where John Wall played. Enes Kanter could be the next DeMarcus Cousins or Daniel Orton,” Biancardi said. “At the end of the day, those four guys coming in do not have to prove anything to anybody.

Junior safety Winston Guy has 37 solo tackles and 36 assists and his 73 total tackles are second on Kentucky’s defense behind only linebacker Danny Trevathan, who leads the Southeastern Conference with 110 stops. Guy also has a team-high two interceptions. Kentucky coach Joker Phillips says Guy has “gotten better” this season. “The thing we've asked our safeties is to show up a little faster. What I mean by show up, when they're running to the ball, we are only showing up close to the line of scrimmage.

LOUISVILLE - Louisville guard Peyton Siva wasn't surprised when Kentucky made a run at the Cardinals during the second half of an 80-77 triumph over the Wildcats Saturday night at the KFC Yum! Center. The fourth-ranked Cardinals, favored by many to end a four-game losing streak to Kentucky, built a 51-34 advantage with 14:33 remaining, but the Wildcats bounced back with a 10-0 scoring spree, sparked by back-to-back 3-pointers by Kyle Wiltjer that prevented a runaway rout by the hosts on their own home court.

Rick Pitino didn't gain any satisfaction in Kentucky's tumble from a national champion to a first-round flameout in the National Invitational Tournament. He wasn't all smiles or marveled in excitement after the Wildcats lost to Robert Morris Tuesday night in Moon Township, Pa. The loss ended a roller-coaster season for Kentucky, which closed the season with four losses in its final five games. It's not in Pitino's nature to wish bad  omens against any program, most notably the Wildcats, the school that, to this date, has given Pitino his only national championship as a college coach.

Kentucky missed out on Andrew Wiggins earlier this week, but John Calipari hasn't changed his mind about next year's team. Wiggins, considered the top prospect in the nation, chose Kansas over Kentucky, Florida State and North Carolina. Calipari said during a press conference Wednesday he's “as confident before and after his decision.” “I wish him well,” the Kentucky coach said. “He's a great kid, and he's going to be a terrific basketball player. It didn't change me any. I was confident in this team and the group that we had before and after.” Although Wiggins isn't part of a group of newcomers who will be arriving on campus this summer, Calipari's incoming freshmen class featuring twins Aaron and Andrew Harrison, Dominique Hawkins, Dakari Johnson, Marcus Lee, Julius Randle, Derek Willis and James Young is considered one of the top classes in the country.

Kentucky has added another football commit as three-star Maryland safety Kobie Walker (@BeyondBelief on Twitter) announced on Twitter Monday night that he was joining the Wildcats. One Kentucky source called him a "big-time linebacker" and indicated there would be more commitments coming soon. The 6-3, 205-pound Walker is one of the players that Conner quarterback Drew Barker said he planned to call after he verbally committed to UK last week. Walker plays at Our Lady Good Counsel High School in Olney, Md., one of the top football programs in the nation most years.

What impact will it have on Kentucky now that Andrew Wiggins, the nation's No. 1 recruit, has announced he will not play for the Wildcats? Instead, the Huntington (W.Va.) Prep star announced Tuesday that he was going to play for Kansas and not UK, North Carolina or Florida State. “I think not getting him takes away another weapon that Kentucky could have fielded, but Kentucky still will be overwhelming physically,” said Sporting News columnist Mike DeCourcy. “I think it forces (UK signee)

Andy Murray was a fierce competitor when he played fullback at the University of Kentucky and remains a hard-core UK fan. That's why he's become a huge Mark Stoops' fan already and believes that Conner quarterback Drew Barker will pick the Wildcats over South Carolina and Tennessee Friday when he announces his college choice. “He is a lock in my opinion. Kid is a blue blood,” said Murray. Because Murray's son plays at Simon Kenton, he's not been able to get out in northern Kentucky to see Barker play.

Mississippi guard Devin Booker says he has “always heard about” Kentucky basketball, especially after the arrival of coach John Calipari four years ago. “I know everybody in Kentucky loves the game. That's the kind of spot where you want to play where people love the sport and pay attention to it. Some schools are only about football and don't care about basketball. At Kentucky, it's strictly basketball,” the 6-5 shooting guard, considered one of the top 25 players in the 2014 recruiting class, said.

NBADraftblog.com's Ed Isaacson correctly predicted that two of Kentucky's freshmen (Archie Goodwin and Nerlens Noel) would put their name into the NBA draft and two (Willie Cauley-Stein and Alex Poythress) would return to UK for their sophomore seasons. Now he's had a chance to watch Kentucky coach John Calipari's next No. 1 recruiting class that includes six McDonald's All-Americans and he offers his insights on those players and their futures: Question: Could you just give me your impressions of each future Wildcat?

Long before he made his verbal commitment to Kentucky, Ohio receiver Thaddeus Snodgrass knew he was going to be a Wildcat. “It was the academics, the fan base and the coaches. I knew way before I announced my decision what I was going to do because I loved Kentucky,” said the Springfield, Ohio, receiver. “It's the SEC. You get to play in the best conference in college football and go against major competition each week.” Snodgrass, a four-star recruit, is the highest ranked receiver ever to commit to UK, and he's already working on helping bring more talent to the 2014 recruiting class.

While Mark Stoops isn't content with just having Kentucky positioned well with 2014 recruits. The Kentucky coach also wants the nation's best 2015 recruits to know he's paying attention. Kentucky has offered cornerback Von Davis, a sophomore from Mount Dora, Fla., a scholarship. It was the first offer for the 6-0, 175-pound Davis but won't be his last, as Florida, Florida State, Louisville and South Carolina are just some of the schools also interested in Davis. “It was a huge surprise to get the Kentucky offer,” Davis said.

Kentucky will renew a traditional rivalry and honor the late Bill Keightley next season. The Wildcats unveiled the non-conference portion of their men's basketball schedule Wednesday, a slate that includes contests against Michigan State, Baylor, North Carolina, Providence and defending national champion Louisville on Dec. 28 at Rupp Arena. “It's once again an elite schedule, but that's the standard here,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said on his Facebook page Wednesday. Kentucky coach John Calipari's squad will officially open the campaign on Nov. 8 against UNC-Ashville and then will play Northern Kentucky University on Nov. 10 in two straight home games to begin the season.

I'm a fan of the Kentucky High School Athletic Association, but not in favor of the organization's decision to play the boys and girls state basketball championship games on Sunday beginning next season. The KHSAA is top notch when it comes to supporting and honoring high school student-athletes its coaches, administrators and the tradition of high school sports in Kentucky, but made a bad call earlier this month by moving the finale to Sunday, simply based on the results of last month's state finals that was moved to Sunday to accommodate a scheduling conflict with the University of Kentucky and Rupp Arena.