Of course, I’m talking about Jodie Meeks and the answer is no. You can’t blame him. You can’t blame Jodie Meeks for opting to leave his name in the NBA Draft pool. Here’s why you can’t blame him, and I’ve put it in list form for everybody’s convenience.

1. The 2009 NBA Draft sucks.

The talent pool in this draft is as weak a pool as I’ve seen since 2000, when Kenyon Martin went #1, Jamaal Magloire went late in the first round and I can’t remember where anybody else went. Hasheem Thabeet is going to go to either Memphis at #2 or Oklahoma City at #3. This is a universally accepted fact. Can you believe that? I’m not trying to defecate on the ability of Thabeet. He’s as dominant a defensive player as I’ve seen in college ball since Tim Duncan. But he’s horrific on offense. In most drafts, he’s a mid-to-late first round pick. In the 2009 draft, he’s a top 3 pick. That should give you an idea of how bad the 2009 draft will be, and don’t even get me started on Stephen Curry probably ending up at #8 to New York. The thought of this causes my brain cells to overheat and spontaneously combust, resulting in WHY DOES EVERYTHING TASTE LIKE BACON momentary periods of craziness. Sorry about that.

Also, the 2010 draft is slated to be particularly strong, especially with so many guys pulling their names out of the 2009 draft. Even if Meeks had decided to come back to Kentucky with the intent of improving his draft status, there’s a good chance that three of his teammates – DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson and John Wall – would be selected ahead of him. The 2010 NBA Draft will just have a lot more talent than the 2009 Draft, so I can understand if Meeks feels like there’s no better chance than now to make it, especially when he did so well in the combine. I don’t know what will happen because NBA personnel executives are as unpredictable as the weather in Kentucky. Stephen Curry tested out well. He benched more than super-athlete Gerald Henderson. And now he’s probably going to parlay that into a MONKEY MONKEY CHEW THE BUTTER contract with the New York Knicks. You know, they probably make a medication for my brain cells dying because of the inevitable draft pick, but it probably makes for a more entertaining column when I go crazy.

2. College basketball has been a cruel, cruel mistress to Jodie Meeks.

Look at it from his perspective. He gets recruited to play at Kentucky for Tubby Smith. He doesn’t get enough playing time his freshman year and the team sucks. Smith bolts for MinneFavreolis without telling anybody about it – not even Bobby Perry. So now Meeks is in limbo because he signed up to play for Smith. Billy Gillispie comes into the fold and Meeks suffers a stress fracture in between the first exhibition game and the first regular season game. This effectively ends his sophomore year, plus his team sucks. This isn’t his fault, but it’s just the way it is. The next year, Meeks has the best individual season at Kentucky since Jamal Mashburn in 1993…and it’s the worst Kentucky team since 1989. I know the 1990 team had a worse winning percentage, but they’d have beaten the crap out of this past year’s team. Again, not his fault, but that’s just how things work.

Also, it turns out that his coach buckled under the pressure of the Kentucky basketball coach’s responsibilities and allegedly lost his mind. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but once things started to go sour after the 54-point game, Gillispie may or may not have kicked Meeks off the team about a dozen times. It had to have made Meeks miserable. Now enter John Calipari and the #1 recruiting class in the history of all mankind. I’m sure Meeks would have loved to be a part of a great team and receive passes from John Wall and Eric Bledsoe instead of Mike Porter and Ramel Bradley (loved Ramel, but I always felt like he tried to decapitate people with passes). But when you think about it, this would have been his third coach in four years. How much can a man take? Everybody has to have a breaking point, and I think it happened with Meeks this season.

Plain and simple, Meeks deserved better treatment from college basketball than what he got.

3. Meeks’s stock would have gone down on the 2009-10 Kentucky Wildcats.

First things first, this roster probably has more talent than the combined talent of the three rosters Jodie Meeks played on this season. Not that his minutes wouldn’t go down significantly, but there are just more offensive threats on this year’s team. He wouldn’t have had to go for 40+ to ensure a win ever again. Sure, John Wall would have been the point guard and Meeks would have been on the receiving end of better passes, giving him the most open looks of his career. But you can say the same thing for Darius Miller, Patrick Patterson, DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton, Jon Hood, Eric Bledsoe, Darnell Dodson and do I really need to keep going? That the list was that long clearly means that Meeks would have taken fewer shots in the offense. He wasn’t going to average 24 points a game for John Calipari.

Also, and this might be the most important part, the skills of emphasis in the dribble-drive motion offense are the biggest weaknesses of Jodie Meeks – ball handling and passing. Meeks struggled his entire career to dribble into the lane and make good things happen. He either barreled in like a bull in a china shop and charged or got stripped. It was as if his hands suddenly lost all strength once he got into some traffic. This is not to say Meeks wouldn’t have been able to adjust to the DDM offense and still thrive – far from it. But I can picture a game where Meeks plays poorly and turns it over a bunch while ESPN, Jerry Tipton and every Kentucky message board wonder what’s wrong with Jodie Meeks or wondering why Jodie Meeks only averages 17 points a game. Even if he were actually playing well, it might seem like underachieving because he wouldn’t be averaging 24 a game. And that doesn’t even take into account the possibility of injuries in his senior season. So, going back to the first now, there probably isn’t a better time for Meeks to leave than now, for his own good.

I think the team will get through the season just fine without him. They won’t be better – don’t misunderstand me. With Meeks, this team is preseason #1 in all the land and I don’t care what Kansas fans have to say about it. Without Meeks, Kansas is #1 and Kentucky is battling for a top five spot with Michigan State, North Carolina, Texas and Villanova. They’ll still be an outstanding team and John Wall is a once-in-a-generation talent. Make no mistake about it, the empire will strike back, and in a big way.

I harbor no ill will towards Jodie Meeks for this decision, and I hope that none of you who read this do as well. Don’t remember Jodie Meeks for declaring for the NBA after three years. Don’t remember Jodie Meeks for being on three bad teams. How much is he to blame for the lack of his teams’ success? Kevin Durant is one of the ten best players in the NBA and the Oklahoma City Sonics are terrible. Is that his fault?

I’ll remember Jodie Meeks for the good moments, as well should all of you.

I’ll remember him for his ability to jump the passing lane and use his ungodly north/south speed to break away for dunks.

I’ll remember him for making clutch free throws to beat Indiana as a freshman.

I’ll remember him hitting huge threes to avoid an embarrassing loss to Villanova in the NCAA tournament.

I’ll remember Meeks gutting out an epic performance on one leg in a loss against Houston when Patterson couldn’t go.

I’ll remember him setting the Freedom Hall scoring record. Of all the great players to play in Freedom Hall, nobody scored more points in a game than Jodie Meeks did. It doesn’t matter to me that it was against Appalachian State. That’s as impressive a record as you’ll see in college basketball.

I’ll remember him beating Arkansas by himself and setting the scoring record in Bud Walton Arena. It doesn’t matter to me that Arkansas had given up by that point in their season. Patterson was hurt and somebody had to answer the call.

I’ll remember the game winner against Florida. That was the best game winner I’ve ever seen in a Kentucky game, even better than Jeff Brassow’s tip, just because of the degree of difficulty and the karmic finish with Calathes missing the free throws.

Most of all, as a vehement Vol hater, I’ll remember 54. My dad was out of town that night and he didn’t think the game would get carried wherever he was staying, so he asked me to DVR it. Of course, Tennessee had just lost its record home win streak to Gonzaga and Memphis, so I feared for the worst because no matter how knuckleheaded Tennessee might play, they can’t lose three straight at home, can they? Then 54 happened. The best thing ever was when Bobby Maze had been trash talking Meeks all night long, Meeks goes to the FT line, scores his 50th point and you can see him mouth “fiddy” in the direction of Maze. This might be my favorite non-championship Wildcat moment ever. I’ve already put one of those “54 Witness” shirts on my Christmas list.

So I wish infinite success in professional basketball upon Jodie Meeks. I hope he gets drafted by a great team with a hole at shooting guard. I pray that he doesn’t get drafted by the Heat, Bulls, Nets, Pacers or Spurs, as all of those teams can go screw themselves, no matter how many Kentucky players are on their rosters. And once again, I hope all of you feel the same way about the situation.

Thanks for reading.

Just hear me out on this one. I hope to explain the argument in the same awesome way that Henry Fonda proved to the other jurors in “12 Angry Men” that the old man who witnessed the murder was too slow to actually witness the murder, minus the long limp around the table.

DeMarcus Cousins committed to Kentucky a week after John Calipari accepted the job. It was on a Monday, and I think the news broke some time between Leno and Conan. At that point, Kentucky’s recruiting class went from solid to great and the front court went from potentially great to potentially the best in all the land.

Then Eric Bledsoe committed.

Now, you loyal readers know all about how UK fans react to recruits committing. Even though Cousins was a higher ranked recruit than Bledsoe, and, by all accounts, a better player (all due respect to Eric, who is an outstanding player and will get some serious click this season), Bledsoe started to get the hype because he filled a gaping hole, and we didn’t know what John Wall was going to do.

Then rumor spread that Daniel Orton might end up at Kansas because of the coaching change.

Cousins was again put on the backburner. All the attention went to Orton, as Big Blue Nation begged, pleaded, and probably stalked Orton on his Facebook until he decided to stay. The recruiting class was tops in the country and Cousins was the crown jewel again.

Then John Wall committed.

I can’t stress this enough, holy crap holy crap holy crap, John Wall committed to my team. See? Even I’m doing it. I’m underrating Cousins. Wall is no doubt deserving of all of the praise given to him. Jerry Meyer said (paraphrasing) that of all the players he’s seen go to college, Wall was the best he had seen at the high school level. That’s high praise from somebody who has been a recruiting analyst as long as Meyer has. From a personal level, Wall is the second best high school player I’ve ever seen. LeBron James is #1, but he comes from Mt. Olympus, so if you want to disqualify that assessment, then Wall is #1.

Still, and this is going in all caps because it’s important stuff, DEMARCUS COUSINS IS THE #2 RECRUIT IN THE CLASS OF 2009. Thousands of kids across this country will play D-I basketball next year as freshmen, and based on potential, only one guy is better than DeMarcus Cousins. We just happen to have that guy. Meyer says that offensively, Cousins was the most developed total package he had seen among big guys ever, and that includes Amare Stoudemire. I’ve also seen comparisons to Al Jefferson, who will be a career 20-10 guy if he stays healthy and was the second most dominant big man in the NBA before his injury. Cousins is an amazing athlete, but he can also shoot, pass and block.

Here is some video.

The YouTube vault for Cousins material is thinner than i thought it would be.

Thanks for reading.

In list form, of course, because that’s how I roll

1. About my absence: I broke my leg in a car accident a month ago. Needless to say, I was incapacitated. The leg’s still broken, but I’m doing a lot better.

2. About John Wall: Holy crap. I had a piece up and ready to go about John Wall and the greatest recruiting class of all time, but then I proofread it and thought it was terrible. Needless to say, I’m excited, and I’ll try to revise it and post it next week.

3. About the site: Apparently it’s just me now. If you were a fan of KC and/or JP, they’ve taken an indefinite hiatus, so you’re left with little old me. If you guys really miss Kenny and Jared, I have their email adresses and I can beg on my knees (not literally, of course) for them to come back and do an occasional guest spot

4: About the Billy Gillispie lawsuit: This can’t end well for him, can it? Does he really want the alleged real reasons he was fired to get out into the open? It would be career suicide. He’d land on his feet at a program with traditionally good football and no pressure in basketball (I’m specifically thinking Texas Tech here), but if some of this stuff comes out, he’ll never work again.

5. About the allegations against Memphis: Don’t go running off to Wal-Mart for bread and milk. I don’t think this thing is going to be as bad as it seemed when the news broke last night and ruined an awesome Lakers/Nuggets playoff game. When I woke up this morning, I saw this statement issued by Kentucky.

STATEMENT FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

University of Kentucky

If you lost sleep over what was happening, you shouldn’t have. It wasn’t going to have any bearing on us anyway, and since Calipari was not named in the report, it shouldn’t have any effect on him at all. This news has been out in the open since January. Why it didn’t come into the forefront until the end of May is confusing to me, but that’s how things go sometimes. Sandy Bell is one of the strictest compliance officials in D-I. One has to believe she knew about this and still saw nothing screwy enough to prevent Mitch Barnhart from making the hire. Everything is going to be okay. The only thing this does to Calipari is fuel the fire of the fans of rival schools who claim shenanigans after every Calipari recruit, even though he has a SPOTLESS RECORD WITH THE NCAA.

6. About Jeremy Jarmon: What bull’s crap. I’m not saying the kid didn’t make a mistake. He did. He should have consulted with a trainer to see if he could take whatever he took. But the NCAA was borderline Draconian in how it decided to end Jarmon’s career. NFL players have done what Jarmon did. As a matter of fact, it happened last year with my beloved Minnesota Vikings and Kevin and Pat Williams. They took a weight loss supplement with a diuretic on the banned list and were suspended for four games. The suspension is still under appeal with the Minnesota state court and it is likely that it will be rescinded according to ESPN. So the pro guys lose four games and the college kid, never mind a high character kid that has been the epitome of what an NCAA student athlete should represent, a kid who has already graduated and was planning to study abroad were he not to make the NFL, gets an entire season taken away from him. The NCAA responds with the quickness to kill this guy’s season, almost tripping over their own feet because they were in such a rush, yet we’re still waiting for the inevitable slap on the wrist to USC for PAYING THEIR PLAYERS or to Tennessee for Lane Kiffin acting like a jackass on multiple occasions. Be consistent, NCAA. And be fair.

7. About the greatest sporting event in the world: Be sure to watch the National Spelling Bee this morning. Having participated in one of these things in 2000, I can tell you that the people to cheer for are the ones who go to public school, unless you’re the sympathetic type, in which case you cheer for the homeschooled kids, God help them. I did so badly at the National Spelling Bee that if I’m watching it at home and my dad walks in, I have to change the channel or hear the all too familiar “I got as many damned words right in that thing as you did.” I wouldn’t change a thing, though. The whole experience was just way too fun, and I got to come out of the dugout that Cal Ripken did when he broke the consecutive games streak.

If you’re still concerned about the Memphis stuff, don’t watch SportsCenter. They’re really spinning it against Calipari, never mind that HE WAS NOT NAMED IN THE REPORT, and neither was the phrase “lack of institutional control.” Until you see either his name or that phrase listed, everybody is in the clear.

Thanks for reading.

The Jordan Brand Classic was last night, and I recorded it. If you follow this stuff, you’ll probably find that the people behind this game are a better judge of talent than the McDonald’s All-American Game, with a couple of exceptions, namely Marcus Jordan. I guess when they name the event after your dad, you can be in it if you want. I don’t blame Marcus at all.

Of the Kentucky guys, either currently or potentially in the fold, the one that impressed me the most was DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins didn’t play a particularly strong game last week in Portland at the Nike Hoop Summit, but if you judged based on these games, he probably redeemed himself in your eyes. He’s extremely impressive. For whatever reason, the excitement surrounding Cousins has been lower than it usually is when Kentucky lands an elite player. Consider the signing of Patrick Patterson as the blueprint for this. Heck, there was probably more excitement among Big Blue Nation when Jon Hood signed. All due respect to Jon because he’s outstanding, but it is time to start getting excited about DeMarcus Cousins being a Kentucky Wildcat. He has great feet and tremendous athleticism. He’s a really good finisher at the rim, which is sometimes a problem for freshmen (Samardo Samuels ring a bell?). He just does anything you could hope for in a big man, at least offensively. He passes well. He can step back and hit the perimeter jumper if necessary. Get excited, people. He’s here.

Daniel Orton is awesome too. He didn’t get as much clock as some of the other guys in this game, probably because of his knee injury, but when he was in there, he made his presence felt. A basketball pet peeve of mine is when a big man doesn’t take advantage of his physical gifts and spends too much time jacking threes. You could go ahead and call this the Wayne Chism Principle, or, if you’re an NBA fan, the Antoine Walker Principle. Orton knows his role, and that is to rebound, block shots and dunk. He should find himself open under the basket all the time in the DDM offense. He’s relentless under the boards. Much like Patrick Patterson, if he can get one finger on the basketball, it’s his. Also like Patterson, he throws a mean outlet pass after a rebound. Taking the knee injury into account, his footwork is a lot farther along than you would think it would be. The other thing I like about Orton is his conditioning. Guys like Keith Gallon and Renardo Sidney are huge, and they sucked wind at the end of the game. Orton takes good care of his body. He and Sidney each weigh about 275 pounds. Orton is a lean 275. Sidney is not. Who do you trust to get a key rebound at the end of a game?

I’ll group John Wall and Xavier Henry in the same paragraph because they deferred to the other guys more than they did in the Nike Hoop Summit, where both guys excelled. The one thing I noticed about these guys was that they had really good chemistry with each other. Maybe it’s just because Wall is a talent that comes around once in a generation and could possibly have that kind of chemistry with everybody. Henry made cuts as if he knew passes were on the way, and Wall made passes as if he knew when the cuts were going to be made. You never want to make more out of these games than what they are, but it’s as if these guys were made to be teammates. And we all know that can only happen at one place.

Did you realize that if Wall and Henry were to sign with Kentucky, it would be a higher ranked class than the Fab Five? How crazy would it be to sign a five-man recruiting class where the “weakest” player is Jon Hood? Jon Hood can play for my team any day of the week. He’s terrific. This class already has the 2nd, 12th and 32nd ranked players in America. It could add #1 and #3. Have mercy.

Once again, it’s against NCAA rules for fans to actively recruit a player to a school. I talked about this last year with the piece on the “DANIEL ORTON: COME TO KENTUCKY AND PLAY WITH REECHIE” group on Facebook. Just let me say this: Did you see what Derrick Rose did to the Celtics yesterday? That was a John Calipari recruit tearing up the league’s best defensive team and one of the league’s best defensive guards in Rajon Rondo (who was also awesome). That wasn’t a Coach K point guard. That was a John Calipari point guard.

Just saying…

Thanks for reading.

I like the NBA and there isn’t a lot of UK news other than the addition of Scott Padgett and Tony Delk to the staff. This is a great move to get some of the Pitino guys on board, but not worthy of a column. The Jordan brand All-Star Game is this weekend, so if you want to watch Daniel Orton, DeMarcus Cousins, Xavier Henry and John Wall, they’ll all be there. As an NBA fan, the playoffs are the best time of the year because it finally means the regular season is mercifully over. Let’s see who the champion will be.

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (8) Utah Jazz

A few of the NBA guys are giving Utah a chance to extend this series to seven because of how good they are at home. Never mind that they’re the worst playoff road team in decades and they’re playing the infinitely superior Los Angeles Lakers. The Jazz should take one at home, but that’s all I’ll give them.

Prediction: Lakers in 5

(4) Portland Trail Blazers vs. (5) Houston Rockets

This is a tough one to call because of the wild card factor of Portland. None of these guys have ever been in a playoff situation. Houston has, even though they’ve lost every playoff series they’ve played in this millennium. On paper, the Blazers match up well with Houston because of their athleticism and depth, and provided all those young guys don’t all go spaz at once, they’ll win comfortably. If not, Houston takes it to seven and loses in Portland because they’ll get outcoached.

Prediction: Blazers in 5

(3) San Antonio Spurs vs. (6) Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs puzzle me. Bill Simmons brought up a good point about how they hardly ever put their five best guys on the floor (Jason Kidd, Jason Terry, Josh Howard, Dirk Nowitzki & Brandon Bass) at the same time. Well, in last night’s must-win game against Houston, that’s exactly what they did in the fourth quarter, and they seemingly scored at will. San Antonio is riding on the health of Tim Duncan, which is not good. He turned in a superhuman effort last night against the Hornets to win the division, but with Manu Ginobili out, how many of those does he have let in him?

Prediction: Mavericks in 6

(2) Denver Nuggets vs. (7) New Orleans Hornets

This is the hardest series to call in the west. Denver is bipolar. They’ve looked both better and worse than what was thought possible of them. New Orleans can’t shoot or rebound, have no depth and an injured Tyson Chandler. But they do have Chris Paul, and that might end up being all they need. As it stands, I think they’d have to win at least two games in Denver to pull it off, and I don’t see that happening unless Chandler heals quickly.

Prediction: Nuggets in 7

(1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (8) Detroit Pistons

Don’t the Pistons just look like they’re ready for this trainwreck of a season to be over?

Prediction: Cavs in 4

(4) Atlanta Hawks vs. (5) Miami Heat

Atlanta would have no trouble beating the 6, 7 or 8 seeds in the east for one good reason: None of those teams have Dwyane Wade. That’s how good he’s been. Miami has an awful homecourt advantage and Atlanta has a great one. Atlanta has more overall talent. They’re deeper. But they don’t have Dwyane Wade.

Prediction: Heat in 6

(3) Orlando Magic vs. (6) Philadelphia 76ers

I’ll give Philly this much benefit of the doubt. I don’t think their fans will let them lose the series on their home court. That said, whenever a team that can shoot is matched up against a team that can, call it my mockingbird intuition, but I like the team that can shoot to win the series.

Prediction: Magic in 5

(2) Boston Celtics vs. (7) Chicago Bulls

Losing Kevin Garnett hurts Boston in what was already going to be a tough series. Derrick Rose has John Salmons and Ben Gordon having excellent years and the Bulls have been extremely hot the last month and a half of the season. Fortunately for Boston, Chicago doesn’t have enough of an interior presence to have a field day in the absence of Garnett, and I like Doc Rivers going up against Vinny Del Negro in his first year. This will be an awesome series with tons of clutch shooting, and I like the home team in every game.

Prediction: Celtics in 7

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (4) Portland Trail Blazers

The Blazers have enough depth and athleticism to counter LA in that area. Both teams are shaky at point guard, but I think I like Portland a little more at the position. Would you take Steve Blake and Sergio Rodriguez over Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar? It would be close, but I think those guys fit their roles better. Portland should win all three home games, but I can’t see them beating the Lakers in Los Angeles with Andrew Bynum back and healthy.

Prediction: Lakers in 7

(2) Denver Nuggets vs. (6) Dallas Mavericks

Here’s a series where I think Denver matches up really well. Couldn’t you see JR Smith coming off the bench, shooting over the shorter Dallas defenders and hitting about eight threes? I know I could.

Prediction: Nuggets in 6

(1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (5) Miami Heat

Well, this series should be fantastic (but then again, so would Cleveland vs. Atlanta). Once again, Miami will be way behind in the talent department. Only this time, LeBron James is there to offset the superstar ability of Wade. Still, I think that both of these guys are good enough to win every home game, so that’s what I think will happen.

Prediction: Cavs in 7

(2) Boston Celtics vs. (3) Orlando Magic

Here’s where not having KG hurts. The Magic are one of the best road teams in the league and have the best shooting. I also happen to think they have one of the best coaches in Stan Van Gundy. Most importantly, they have Dwight Howard, and Boston doesn’t have the league’s most intimidating interior defender standing in his way. The Celtics/Magic games were already wars before the injury. I like America’s Team to take it.

Prediction: Magic in 6 (hate it for Rondo, though – he should own this series)

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (2) Denver Nuggets

I can’t believe I picked the Nuggets to win two series. That’s enough of that.

Prediction: Lakers in 4

(1) Cleveland Cavaliers vs. (3) Orlando Magic

Ready for an upset? I like the team play and offensive firepower of the Magic to beat Cleveland in Cleveland in game 7. Don’t ask me why. I just like the Magic. I call them America’s Team for a reason.

Prediction: Magic in 7

(1) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (3) Orlando Magic

Fun fact: Did you know the Magic swept the Lakers this season? Again, these are my picks. Truth be told, if it were anything other than Lakers vs. Cavs in the Finals, I’d be awfully surprised. But since they’re my picks, I thought I’d have some fun with them.

Prediction: Magic in 7

Listen to this song while reading this column. It will be worth it, and you can trust me on that. Make it your ringtone if you’re that technologically savvy.

“Calipari, Calipari”

DeMarcus Cousins is a Kentucky Wildcat? Get out of here. He’s the highest-rated recruit Kentucky has had since who? Keith Bogans? Ron Mercer? Rod Rhodes? When Cousins committed to UK on Monday night, John Calipari hadn’t been at the job for a week yet. Can you believe this stuff is happening this fast, this soon?

If you watched the McDonald’s All-American game, you saw a good glimpse of what Cousins can bring to the table offensively. He is everything you would want from a big guy at the college level. He has good range, good moves and a better handle than most people his size. He seems to be that perfect fit for the dribble drive offense in the same way that Joey Dorsey was for Memphis last season. Make no mistake about it, DeMarcus Cousins is the real deal.

However, that does leave Calipari and Kentucky with a quandary, and the situation is not in either party’s hands. What is going to happen to Daniel Orton? I’ve heard he’s staying. I’ve heard he’s leaving. I have no idea what to believe, but I really hope he stays put because he’d be a much better fit at UK than he would be at Kansas, the other school he has been considering since the coaching change. Kansas cut a couple of scholarship guys loose yesterday, so you can use your imagination as to why this happened. They either cleared up room for Orton or the Henry brothers. One rumor going around is that Orton and Xavier Henry don’t really care for each other, so if that’s the case, I’d imagine that if Henry goes to Kansas, Orton will stick around. There’s a good chance we’ll know more about this whole mess after the Derby Classic.

Let’s talk about Nolan Dennis. I really like this kid, and as long as Calipari can clear a little bit of room, I think the former Memphis signee will end up at Kentucky. UK fans unleash some of the most ridiculous player comparisons, comparisons that would even make Rick Pitino cringe. I’ve heard Dennis get compared to Glen Rice and Eddie Jones. Calipari loves big guards. Dennis is a wonderful shooter and scorer, but he’s probably not a one-and-done type of guy. ESPN even mentioned yesterday how Dennis was granted his release from Memphis and how his mother hinted that he’d be coming here. If you can find a negative to Nolan Dennis being on the 2010 Kentucky roster, tell me because I can’t come up with any.

Of course, the big recruiting war is with John Wall. Wall had originally narrowed his choices down to Memphis and Duke. After the coaching change, it was Kentucky and Duke. After the national championship, it’s now Kentucky, Duke and North Carolina. I guess the momentum of winning the title helps. It helped UK nab Tayshaun Prince and Keith Bogans. It’s against NCAA rules for fans to actively recruit for a university on the internet. So just call this thinking out loud. North Carolina and Duke have logjams at point guard. Carolina, assuming Ty Lawson goes pro (he has to, right?), has Larry Drew II and a freshman whose name escapes me, but he’s a ***** recruit. They also have another freshman lined up for 2010. It’s a lot easier to stack big men than point guards. If Wall goes to Carolina, he’d have to share minutes. Duke has Nolan Smith and Elliot Williams fighting for the position already, but I won’t go that route when it comes to why Wall shouldn’t go to Duke. If Wall wants to get to the league as soon as possible, Duke isn’t the best route. Since I’ve been watching basketball, two Duke point guards have left school early to go pro. Jay Williams would have had a great career were it not for a motorcycle accident. William Avery flopped as badly as any Duke bust in history. Now, look at Kentucky, and specifically at John Calipari and the dribble drive offense. Consider the last two point guards to play for Calipari. Derrick Rose was the #1 overall draft pick and ought to win Rookie of the Year for the Bulls this season. Tyreke Evans isn’t even a natural point guard. He just played it at Memphis because he was the best option on the roster. Memphis won 30 games this season and Evans is projected as a top five pick in this year’s draft. Nobody knows if Evans will fare as well as Rose has, but there’s a good chance he will do better than William Avery. And at Kentucky, there’s also a good chance that he would get as many minutes as he wants at the position.

I love the coaching staff. Jim Robic is the loyal friend and true that has followed Calipari wherever he’s gone. Orlando Antigua has playing experience and is supposedly a great recruiter. Rod Strickland was director of basketball operations at Memphis, so this is a promotion for him. He’s one of the most underrated NBA point guards ever and probably makes a great teacher of the position. The other thing about Strickland is that he’s supposed to be in really tight with Oak Hill Academy, which used to be a Kentucky superstar factory.

I never got to see Mike Casey play, but from the stories I’ve heard, I wish I had gotten the opportunity. He was one of the greatest Kentucky players ever, and he will be missed.

Thanks for reading.

I’m sure you’ve been watching the events of the last 48 hours unfold and saw Pat Forde come on SportsCenter and absolutely blast the hire of John Calipari. You might think sour grapes or strange agenda or whatever, but I’ve recently found out that it’s for a good reason.

If you saw the McDonald’s All-American Game last night, you no doubt heard the announcers speculating about where Memphis commitment Xavier Henry and Memphis verbal DeMarcus Cousins would end up going now that Calipari has left Memphis for Kentucky. It turns out that might be a violation of NCAA protocol in the case of Henry, since he has already signed his letter of intent. Forde caught it, and unless something has changed, he might start investigating the situation and digging deeper, especially with the news of GJ Vilarino opting out of his letter. Trust me when I say this, Forde wants blood, and he’ll do whatever it takes to get it. Why else would he be the only national sports journalist on the short list of Calipari detractors?

Folks, these are the risks you take when you make a hire like this. I don’t know if anything will come of it. We at UKWC could just be making a mountain out of a molehill, but it doesn’t sound good right now. You just know that the NCAA has an itchy trigger finger when it comes to Kentucky because of the point shaving scandal and the Emory scandal. I fear that they might jump the gun and create a giant media circus about this when it could very well not mean much in the grand scheme. It was unfortunate that Dave Pasch and Len Elmore had to keep bringing up the possibility of Henry to Kentucky, but then again, it isn’t like ESPN personalities know all of the NCAA rules when it comes to recruiting. Go back to the McDonald’s All-American game from two seasons ago where Dick Vitale announced and practically begged on his knees for Patrick Patterson to go to Duke. I know you remember it. It was disgusting. I’m not one to believe this conspiracy of ESPN having it out for Kentucky, but if they’re openly recruiting for Xavier Henry, they’re committing a violation. Sandy Bell is one of the best compliance officials in the country. She’ll get to the bottom of this, but consider Indiana last year. They imposed their own sanctions after the Kelvin Sampson fiasco, and I have no doubt that Sandy Bell would do the same if the NCAA were on the cusp of laying the hammer down.

So, to the people responsible for these incidents, to Pat Forde, to John Calipari, to Mitch Barnhart, Lee Todd, Sandy Bell and especially to you, the loyal readers of UKWC, I have one message.

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April Fools.

There are two things in life nobody expects. One is the Spanish Inqiusition. The other is an April Fool’s joke on April 2.

Yes, I am a prick.

I’m going to go jump out of a window now.

I’ve been gone for a while, and I heard some crazy stuff went on. Don’t know if that’s true or not, but here are my thoughts anyway.

* I can understand why the guys pulling the strings fired Billy Gillispie. I get it. I just think that the trigger was pulled a little prematurely, like maybe a year too soon. The only way I justify pulling the trigger after only two seasons is if there were things that went on off the court that the average fan such as myself did not have the ability to access. It had to go beyond the actual product on the court, which was clearly underachieving, but there was enough good stuff happening with recruiting to keep me excited for the future. With that said, if Mitch Barnhart can make the right hire, I’ll have no problem with how the Gillispie situation was handled. I thought Gillispie handled his press conference with class when it would have been an opportune time for another Jeanine Edwards moment. He didn’t leave kicking and screaming, so more power to him.

* Barnhart has to know that regardless of the success of all the other athletic programs that has occurred under his watch as AD, his future at his current gig depends on the hire he makes to replace Billy Gillispie. To be frank, I have no idea what’s going to happen, and absolutely nothing would surprise me. I mean nothing. Billy Donovan could announce today and it wouldn’t surprise me. I thought it was going to be Donovan until Anthony Grant, the natural successor to take over for Donovan at Florida, took the Alabama job. That, by the way, is the best basketball hire Alabama has made since Wimp Sanderson, and I expect similar success from Grant. He could take the current Bama roster (nobody ever said Mark Gottfried couldn’t recruit) and reach the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament. But Grant taking the Bama job threw a wrench into the equation, as I can’t see anybody but Grant taking over at Florida.

* Now, there’s some serious smoke surrounding John Calipari. If there’s enough smoke to put the story on ESPN, then this thing might really have some legs. I’m torn on Calipari. I think he would be perfect for the job from almost every perspective. He’s a smooth PR guy, an outstanding coach and arguably the best recruiter in the game. The only thing that would have anybody concerned about Calipari is his reputation as a shady guy. At the risk of alienating the reading audience with editorializing, I’m suspicious that there’s some really dirty stuff going on down at Memphis. They have a sweet deal with FedEx that might be crossing the line in terms of benefits. Worldwide Wes is a character that shouldn’t be allowed in the state of Kentucky if Calipari takes the job. I don’t know enough details about these situations to make a case either way, but knowing that these situations exist is enough to raise suspicion. There’s one theory out there that says that Calipari has been Barnhart’s choice for a long time, but Lee Todd put the kibosh on it because of the things I’ve mentioned above, but then again, these are just rumors and theories. If there’s smoke with this story, then somebody must have gotten to Todd. Of course, Calipari also recruited extremely well at UMASS!!!, and the only guy there who got into any kind of trouble was Marcus Camby, which we’ve since found out was his own fault and had nothing to do with Calipari.

* If Calipari were to take this job, you would see a reaping of benefits immediately. Do you remember when Kentucky courted Billy Donovan in 2007 and Nick Calathes said that he would follow Donovan wherever he went? Consider this: DeMarcus Cousins, the only ‘09 big man rated higher than the awesome Daniel Orton, backed out of his LOI at UAB and gave a verbal to Memphis. He hasn’t signed the LOI for Memphis yet. Now why is that? Could it be because he wants to follow Calipari wherever he goes and he doesn’t know where Calipari is going to be next season? And don’t even get me started on the pipe dream that would be John Wall. I talked about how I thought Calipari was doing some dirty stuff at Memphis, but I have a hunch that if he should take the Kentucky job, he might find recruiting to Kentucky easier than recruiting to UMASS!!! or even Memphis.

* My advice to you guys would be to prepare yourselves for a letdown, only because this Calipari stuff seems way too good to be true. If it turns out to be Calipari, that’s just awesome. If not, I’ve always thought that Travis Ford was the fallback plan, provided Barnhart can pull him away from T. Boone Pickens and his bottomless pit of money. I used to be dead set against Travis, but he grew on me during the tournament. If Oklahoma State had played two possessions of solid defense in the first half against Pittsburgh, their hot shooting would have been enough to put them away. As it stands, Ford plays the style that all Kentucky fans want to see, and being a former player should help him deal with the giant fishbowl situation that I believe doomed Gillispie. Travis would understand all the things a Kentucky coach would have to do off the court. Of course, so would Calipari, so if you want to keep your fingers crossed, be my guest.

* What happened to Louisville yesterday? Granted, any day where Louisville looks like complete garbage is a great day, but that shouldn’t have happened against Michigan State. I saw a lot of MSU because of Super Tuesday on ESPN, and I never saw a performance from them that would leave me to believe they were skilled enough on offense to beat Louisville. Oh, well – win some, lose some. I’m glad I lost this one. And just for fun, go back and check my tournament picks. For every borderline retarded pick I made (Akron? Mississippi State? Wake Forest?), I got all four Final Four picks right for the first time since I’ve started filling out brackets. Get some.

Thanks for reading.

In a world where men make millions of dollars to do something we’d all probably volunteer for, Kentucky basketball has fallen into its pit. Everyone wants the best coach at all times, so it becomes an increasing arms race to the top, where the arms are dollars. With the sailing price tags come soaring expectations. When a coach gets paid a space shuttle to simply lead a team into some type of organizational unit, there is so little room for error.

Those that have monitored the UK basketball situation of late can attest to that. But who is really to blame? Let’s review the players in this game: coach, team, fans, AD, and institution.

Coach: Billy Gillispie arrived two years ago to replace a maligned Tubby Smith, and attempt to fix an ailing program. No one questioned his coaching ability or his recruiting prowess, but his character was put to trial by multiple entities. Two years later, character remains an issue. Lee Todd is smack in the middle of the quest to become a Top 20 public university, and image is everything. How can one of, if not the, biggest faces of the university not be aligned with that image? That is the core of the issue. He’s proved he can coach in the past, he didn’t just lose it on the plane ride to Lexington. We all know he can recruit, whether you agree with a few of the chances he’s taken, the future still looks brighter than the present. But can he change WHO he is?

Team: The growing sentiment about these guys is that the majority have had a difficult time following orders. Any reason why is purely speculation, but it all comes down to it just not being the best mix of guys. I don’t know if it’s respect, intelligence, pride or immaturity - maybe a mixture of all those - but something is amiss and weeds need to be pulled. Veterans and newbies alike, the best thing for the future is to clean the cupboard of anyone not willing to follow faithfully. It’s funny, to me at least, how players are always so attacked in and between games, but then afterwards all is dropped. When did players lose all responsibility for their performance? Yeah, they’re just kids, but, no, they’re not. They’re off to college to learn how to be big boys and girls…for FREE!

Fans: UK fans have become less enthralled in their team and more in the power of their collective selves. Yes, you pay the bills and, yes, you’re overwhelming mass is what keeps this a special place. But maybe it is YOUR character that is flawed? Today’s world allows all to voice their opinion to the masses. Those with the strongest opinions and the loudest mouths tend to also be the more negative. When everything’s hunky dory, there’s not much to talk about, but when the Cats drop a loss, they seep through the cracks and quickly destroy everything like a flood. The Kentucky fanbase has licensed themselves to power like none other in the world, and that is NOT a good thing.

AD: Mitch has made some good moves; he’s made some bad. But when BG was hired, who protested? Many protested throughout the early Brooks regime… who will now? You win some, you lose some. Overall, Barnhart has won heads and heels above his losses. He’s an AD folks, not a BD. Some want him gone…why? Because he couldn’t pull Billy Donovan? Mitch combines integrity, intelligence, leadership, and vision like few can. Personally, I can’t think of one man I’d rather see in his spot. Disagree? Let’s hear it.

Institution: Is Lee Todd too involved? I don’t want to sound like a self-consumed jock here, but how much could the guy really know about the sports world. It’s like if Barack Obama tried to fill out an NCAA tourney bracket. Wow. LOL. Can you imagine? Anyways, it’s what Mitch is paid to do; let him handle it. When you see that UK Athletics is failing as a BUSINESS…you’re input may be useful. The fact that you always are in the middle of meetings with Mitch and his coaches tells dufus fans that he doesn’t have the University’s confidence. His hands are tied enough by the fans I believe.

So, who is the loser in this mystery? Who got pushed? And who pushed them? I vote fans pushed, Barnhart pushed. What say you? And how do we clean the mess? Can the pushed survive the fall? Can the pusher ever be forgiven?

I have thoughts on Kentucky, the NIT and Billy Gillispie, but I want to wait until that whole mess is over before I address these things. In the meantime, I still love the tournament. The Knicks haven’t won a playoff series since 2000, but I always watch the NBA Playoffs. Why would I stop watching the NCAA Tournament? It’s the greatest thing in all of sports.

MIDWEST REGION

(1) Louisville over (16) Morehead State
(8) Ohio State over (9) Siena
(5) Utah over (12) Arizona
(4) Wake Forest over (13) Cleveland State
(6) West Virginia over (11) Dayton
(3) Kansas over (14) North Dakota State
(7) Boston College over (10) USC
(2) Michigan State over (15) Robert Morris

(1) Louisville over (8) Ohio State
(4) Wake Forest over (5) Utah
(6) West Virginia over (3) Kansas
(2) Michigan State over (7) Boston College

(4) Wake Forest over (1) Louisville
(2) Michigan State over (6) West Virginia)

(2) Michigan State over (4) Wake Forest

Louisville would crush MSU, but if Wake survives a tough Cleveland State squad, I like that matchup for Wake. The West Virginia pick over Kansas comes down to experience vs. inexperience.

WEST REGION

(1) Connecticut over (16) Chattanooga
(9) Texas A&M over (8) BYU
(5) Purdue over (12) Northern Iowa
(13) Mississippi State over (4) Washington
(11) Utah State over (6) Marquette
(3) Missouri over (14) Cornell
(7) California over (10) Maryland
(2) Memphis over (15) Cal State Northridge

(1) Connecticut over (9) Texas A&M
(13) Mississippi State over (5) Purdue
(3) Missouri over (11) Utah State
(2) Memphis over (7) California

(1) Connecticut over (13) Mississippi State
(3) Missouri over (2) Memphis

(1) Connecticut over (3) Missouri

The only team that I believe matches up well with Connecticut is Memphis, but I just have a hunch about Missouri. Memphis has been coasting like they do every year. They haven’t faced adversity in two months. Missouri will take it to them. The Mississippi State pick is my SEC homerism of the year. I like the matchups with Washington and especially Purdue. Utah State is awfully good for an 11 seed this year, and Marquette has to be running out of legs with Dominic James gone.

EAST REGION

(1) Pittsburgh over (16) East Tennessee State
(8) Oklahoma State over (9) Tennessee
(12) Wisconsin over (5) Florida State
(4) Xavier over (13) Portland State
(11) VCU over (6) UCLA
(3) Villanova over (14) American
(7) Texas over (10) Minnesota
(2) Duke over (15) Binghamton

(1) Pittsburgh over (8) Oklahoma State
(4) Xavier over (12) Wisconsin
(3) Villanova over (11) VCU
(2) Duke over (7) Texas

(4) Xavier over (1) Pittsburgh
(3) Villanova over (2) Duke

(3) Villanova over (4) Xavier

Nova and X are my favorite teams in the tournament, so sue me. I always pick against Bruce Pearl and Leonard Hamilton. VCU vs. UCLA will be a great game and was a tough pick.

SOUTH REGION

(1) North Carolina over (16) Radford
(8) LSU over (9) Butler
(5) Illinois over (12) Western Kentucky…barely
(13) Akron over (4) Gonzaga
(6) Arizona State over (11) Temple
(3) Syracuse over (14) Stephen F. Austin
(10) Michigan over (7) Clemson
(2) Oklahoma over (15) Morgan State

(1) North Carolina over (8) LSU
(13) Akron over (5) Illinois
(6) Arizona State over (3) Syracuse
(10) Michigan over (2) Oklahoma

(1) North Carolina over (13) Akron
(6) Arizona State over (10) Michigan

(1) North Carolina over (6) Arizona State

And this is why my bracket will finish in last place in every pool I enter. Let me explain. I think Gonzaga and Illinois are weak 4 & 5 seeds. The MAC never gets the credit it deserves for being a solid conference. Akron is good. As for the bottom half, I like Arizona State because of James Harden and Herb Sendek. Syracuse probably is a bit overrated because of their amazing Big East run. I picked Michigan because I really like John Beilein, even though they shouldn’t get past round 1 on paper, much less Oklahoma. The Sooners seem to be missing something since Griffin’s concussion, even though he’s back. I’d pick them against North Carolina, but I don’t think they’ll make it that far.

FINAL FOUR

(2) Michigan State over (1) Connecticut
(3) Villanova over (1) North Carolina

(3) Villanova over (2) Michigan State

Can you tell I have a man crush on Jay Wright?