Wildcats

LEXINGTON - He made a big impression with his play as a true freshman, but now Kentucky safety Daron Blaylock says he is even better because he is picking up a new system even faster than he anticipated. “The scheme is great. I am picking it up real fast, so I am better prepared now,” said Blaylock, who played in 11 games and had 14 tackles last year. “I didn't really understand as much last year as I do now. The more I understand now, the better I play.” The sophomore-to-be has moved to the top of the depth chart at safety, where coach Bradley Dale Peveto is taking a look at about 10 players this spring.

CHICAGO - After she failed to make the USA Basketball tryout roster, Marion County's Makayla Epps figured she had no chance to be a McDonald's All-American. “I thought maybe I just wasn't good enough and when I did get picked, it meant so much to me. Knowing I get this opportunity means the world to me,” said Epps. She's here now to play in the McDonald's All American Game on Wednesday (7 p.m. on ESPNU) at the United Center. “I know a lot of the players. I have seen them in AAU tournaments and their names are real big out there,” Epps said.

ATLANTA (AP) - Kentucky coach John Calipari says sophomore point guard Ryan Harrow is transferring to Georgia State. Calipari says he supports Harrow's decision to be closer to his family in Atlanta. Calipari says the health of Harrow's father played a role in the decision. Harrow averaged 9.3 points per game as a freshman at North Carolina State in the 2010-11 season before transferring to Kentucky. He sat out the Wildcats' 2011-12 national championship season. Harrow averaged 9.9 points in 29 games, including 24 starts, for Kentucky last season.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -   The seventh-ranked Kentucky women's basketball team finds itself in a familiar territory when it meets third-ranked Connecticut on Monday, April 1 in the Bridgeport Regional Finals. Game time in the Webster Bank Arena is 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPN and UK IMG Sports Radio Network.   For the second straight season, the second-seeded Wildcats will meet the top-seeded Huskies with a trip to the Final Four on the line. Last year, UK fell 80-65 in the Elite Eight as UConn shot 51.1 percent from the floor, compared to UK's 31.1 percent, and outrebounded the Cats 40-26.

LEXINGTON - With the largest crowd ever for a Kentucky Blue-White Game expected on April 13, new UK coach Mark Stoops is now extending a plea for fans to make sure they come to Nashville Aug. 31 to watch the Wildcats open the season. The Wildcats will play the first game of the Stoops era against Western Kentucky at LP Field, home of the NFL's Tennessee Titans, in Nashville and tickets are now on sale. Ticket prices in the official UK sections are $63 for club level, $43 for lower level sideline and $38 for lower level end zone.

LEXINGTON - On a day where the defense got to see the “angry Mark Stoops,” Kentucky's offense showed a continued sense of urgency in the second week of spring practice. Stoops, who has stressed tempo since his time began here in Lexington, was disappointed with the lack of effort put forth by the defense in its Monday morning practice. “They know what's going on now,” he said. “Now it gets back to habits. Now it gets back to, 'This is Day 5, Monday morning. I'm going to go back to my old ways and just get out here and BS around and mill around for a few periods and then we'll play a little bit.' “It's not good enough.

Kentucky got its second verbal commitment for the 2014 recruiting class when linebacker Dorian Hendrix of Huber Heights, Ohio, committed during an unofficial visit this weekend. The 6-1, 215-pound Hendrix is rated as a three-star prospect and the nation's 59th best outside linebacker by Scout.com and had scholarship offers from Illinois, Indiana, Bowling Green, Ohio and Toledo. He was also receiving interest from Michigan, Ohio State and West Virginia but did not have offers from those schools.

Former Kentucky high school coach Maurice Dixon is glad to see that Kentucky is interested in Dante Sawyer, a defensive end he now coaches at North Gwinnett (Ga.) “Dante is upper echelon. He is a legit big-time player,” said Dixon, a former coach at Hazard who is now the defensive coordinator at North Gwinnett. “My talk to him is keep your mind open and see this Kentucky offer as an opportunity, and I think he is very interested in Kentucky. Being from Kentucky, I would love to see some of our kids get a chance to go to UK. “Kids down south have a lot of opportunities, and they just don't know about Kentucky unless they get a chance to go and see the facilities.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky offensive coordinator Neal Brown said the Wildcats may have their new offense in by the end of the week. But getting it down may take a while, and a lot of that will be on the players. “We'll have everything put in for the most part by Friday. And the guys, that's the number one thing they've got to learn, probably, they've got to learn how to prepare,” Brown said Wednesday after Kentucky's second practice of the spring. “You're not just going to go out here and be a winning team.