http://bleacherreport.com/articles/197170-university-of-kentucky-wildcats-basketball-down-to-scholarship-limit
News hit this morning that the University Of Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball program finally brought the scholarship amount down to the limit set by the NCAA.
Unfortunately, a few of my fave players will not be returning, along with some of my not so fave players. The following players will be on the team, and using the aforementioned scholarships;
Jodie Meeks, Patrick Patterson, Perry Stevenson, Ramon Harris, Darius Miller, DeAndre Liggins, Josh Harrellson, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton, Darnell Dodson, Jon Hood, Eric Bledsoe.
If, Jodie Meeks withdraws from the draft. That means, Kevin Galloway, and Matt Pilgrim will not be returning, sources say.
I am a HUGE UK fan, but not one that i see on blogs and message boards everywhere saying we're gonna be nat'l champs next year. I simply do not believe we can grasp that offense in one season.
Maybe, but i say give us at least two seasons before everybody starts saying we'll be champs again.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Monday, June 8, 2009
UK owns the SEC in basketball
http://www.secsportsfan.com/top-all-time-sec-basketball-program.html
By almost all statistical measures, the University of Kentucky men’s basketball program must be considered the best in the history of the Southeastern Conference, and by most of those measures it really isn’t even close.
First a little perspective as far as where UK stands nationally. Among all NCAA men’s basketball programs, Kentucky ranks #1 all-time with 1,948 career victories (the University of North Carolina is second, with 1,914 career victories). With an all-time record of 1948-608, Kentucky is also #1 all-time in winning percentage, at .762. This marked success most definitely has carried over into SEC play as well.
The University of Kentucky basketball program has been in existence for 101 years, although among all current SEC programs, it actually only ranks 2nd in longevity, behind Vanderbilt University.
However, over the course of those years, Kentucky has significantly distanced itself from Vanderbilt, and all other SEC programs for that matter, in total number of wins. As of the close of the 2005 season, UK had won 1904 games all-time, nearly 500 more than 2nd place, a tie between the University of Arkansas and the University of Alabama (1409).
When only considering regular season SEC performance, consider this. From 1933 to 2005, UK had won 823 games against only 217 defeats, which amounted to a winning percentage of .791. The next closest teams according to all-time SEC regular season winning percentage are the University of Alabama at .577 (674-495 overall), the University of Arkansas at .559 (123-97 overall), and the University of Tennessee at .555 (598-480 overall).
Another telling indicator of the dominance that UK has had over their SEC rivals has been its head to head record vs. other individual SEC programs. UK has a winning percentage of at least .667 against every other SEC program, in most cases, that winning percentage is comfortably higher. The most one-sided match up is probably UK vs. Ole Miss, in which UK is 91-11 all-time (.892).
Another possible measure of SEC basketball greatness is the number of regular season SEC championships that each program has won. From that same period, 1933-2005, UK won 43 SEC championships. Tied for 2nd, well back at 8 SEC titles, are Tennessee and LSU. Alabama currently stands in 4th on the list with 7.
UK also stands alone at the top when considering total number of SEC Tournaments won. UK has won 25 SEC Tournament Championships. To put that number in some perspective, the remaining SEC teams have won 20 combined. Of those teams, Alabama has the 2nd most SEC Tournament Championships with 6, and Tennessee stands 3rd with 4 SEC Tournament Championships won.
And looking beyond the SEC, to the NCAA Tournament, only reaffirms the idea that UK is in fact the best all-time program in the SEC. UK has won 7 NCAA Championships all-time. The only other SEC program with more than one is the University of Florida, who just won their two in 2006 and 2007. The only other SEC program with an NCAA Championship is the University of Arkansas, who won in 1994.
By almost all statistical measures, the University of Kentucky men’s basketball program must be considered the best in the history of the Southeastern Conference, and by most of those measures it really isn’t even close.
First a little perspective as far as where UK stands nationally. Among all NCAA men’s basketball programs, Kentucky ranks #1 all-time with 1,948 career victories (the University of North Carolina is second, with 1,914 career victories). With an all-time record of 1948-608, Kentucky is also #1 all-time in winning percentage, at .762. This marked success most definitely has carried over into SEC play as well.
The University of Kentucky basketball program has been in existence for 101 years, although among all current SEC programs, it actually only ranks 2nd in longevity, behind Vanderbilt University.
However, over the course of those years, Kentucky has significantly distanced itself from Vanderbilt, and all other SEC programs for that matter, in total number of wins. As of the close of the 2005 season, UK had won 1904 games all-time, nearly 500 more than 2nd place, a tie between the University of Arkansas and the University of Alabama (1409).
When only considering regular season SEC performance, consider this. From 1933 to 2005, UK had won 823 games against only 217 defeats, which amounted to a winning percentage of .791. The next closest teams according to all-time SEC regular season winning percentage are the University of Alabama at .577 (674-495 overall), the University of Arkansas at .559 (123-97 overall), and the University of Tennessee at .555 (598-480 overall).
Another telling indicator of the dominance that UK has had over their SEC rivals has been its head to head record vs. other individual SEC programs. UK has a winning percentage of at least .667 against every other SEC program, in most cases, that winning percentage is comfortably higher. The most one-sided match up is probably UK vs. Ole Miss, in which UK is 91-11 all-time (.892).
Another possible measure of SEC basketball greatness is the number of regular season SEC championships that each program has won. From that same period, 1933-2005, UK won 43 SEC championships. Tied for 2nd, well back at 8 SEC titles, are Tennessee and LSU. Alabama currently stands in 4th on the list with 7.
UK also stands alone at the top when considering total number of SEC Tournaments won. UK has won 25 SEC Tournament Championships. To put that number in some perspective, the remaining SEC teams have won 20 combined. Of those teams, Alabama has the 2nd most SEC Tournament Championships with 6, and Tennessee stands 3rd with 4 SEC Tournament Championships won.
And looking beyond the SEC, to the NCAA Tournament, only reaffirms the idea that UK is in fact the best all-time program in the SEC. UK has won 7 NCAA Championships all-time. The only other SEC program with more than one is the University of Florida, who just won their two in 2006 and 2007. The only other SEC program with an NCAA Championship is the University of Arkansas, who won in 1994.
UK to go for Fourth Bowl in Football
http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2009/6/8/899106/sec-2009-kentucky-goes-for-four
FOURTH IN A SERIES :: The 2008 Kentucky Review
Kentucky is a bit of a black sheep within the conference, given that it's the lone basketball school. Others around the conference have had successful roundball programs from time to time, but UK is far and away a basketball school and no one else really is. Just take A Sea of Blue, SBNation's outstanding Wildcats blog, for instance. Its traffic actually declined slightly at the start of the 2008 football season, but it went supernova when Billy Gillespie got canned. The site's favicon is a basketball, for goodness' sake.
Despite all that, Kentucky has perhaps found a black swan to run its black sheep program. Rich Brooks came out of several years of retirement to coach in Lexington, and after a few dismal years, he's put Kentucky into three straight bowls. The last guy to do that? Some chump named Bryant who went by a nickname that Stephen Colbert would disapprove of.
As I mentioned though in my analysis of Bobby Johnson, just because a guy has done something, it doesn't mean no one else could. Just as I think Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, and Mark Richt could get Vandy to a bowl, I think they all could get Kentucky to three straight. Either way, Brooks is the guy who did it, and he deserves a lot of credit given that most had him as a dead man walking prior to the 2006 season.
That said, Kentucky was hardly a convincing bowl team last year. UK won all four non-conference games over an underwhelming lineup (Louisville, MTSU, Western Kentucky, and I-AA's Norfolk State) but managed just two victories within the conference over the dregs of the West (Arkansas and Miss St.). That put the Wildcats officially last in the East, just behind Tennessee and its three SEC wins.
There is plenty of room for improvement to say the least, and the burden for that improvement lies squarely on the person who is the future of the program: offensive coordinator Joker Phillips.
The head coach in waiting presided over an offense that managed just over three touchdowns a game. That's not a disaster, but it's not great either. They got those points, though, on just 299 yards per game, which was good enough for 106th in the nation.
Randall Cobb provided some highlights at quarterback, but that role is now firmly in the hands of Mike Hartline as Cobb was moved to receiver this spring. His improvement is vital to the team's success this season as he's surrounded by some nice pieces in Cobb, Alfonso Smith, and Derrick Locke. If he can't improve his game, which landed him at 100th in the country in pass efficiency, then there will be some grumbles for change by midseason.
The defense should still be good, though losing Jeremy Jarmon hurts. Brooks is a defensive guy and that has paid off on that side of the ball. It wasn't too long ago that "Kentucky defense" was an oxymoron, so credit Brooks with a big turnaround there.
Kentucky has built its recent success on thinking differently, and that continued when it became the first SEC program to name a coach in waiting. That's even moreso the case since, at the moment, Phillips stands to become just the second African-American head coach in conference history. Thinking different hasn't always worked out—the words "Hal" and "Mumme" come to mind—but at least UK has shown a willingness to find its own way.
I don't know if the offense or the schedule will allow Kentucky to make a fourth straight bowl, but that's not overly important. The fact of the matter is that UK is in position to make a fourth straight bowl, something that was inconceivable in its days as a doormat just a half-decade ago.
Calipari Mania will eventually eclipse anything the football team does this fall, and in many ways it already has. The notion of the team being irrelevant though is, as its head coach is wont to say, bulls--t.
FOURTH IN A SERIES :: The 2008 Kentucky Review
Kentucky is a bit of a black sheep within the conference, given that it's the lone basketball school. Others around the conference have had successful roundball programs from time to time, but UK is far and away a basketball school and no one else really is. Just take A Sea of Blue, SBNation's outstanding Wildcats blog, for instance. Its traffic actually declined slightly at the start of the 2008 football season, but it went supernova when Billy Gillespie got canned. The site's favicon is a basketball, for goodness' sake.
Despite all that, Kentucky has perhaps found a black swan to run its black sheep program. Rich Brooks came out of several years of retirement to coach in Lexington, and after a few dismal years, he's put Kentucky into three straight bowls. The last guy to do that? Some chump named Bryant who went by a nickname that Stephen Colbert would disapprove of.
As I mentioned though in my analysis of Bobby Johnson, just because a guy has done something, it doesn't mean no one else could. Just as I think Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, and Mark Richt could get Vandy to a bowl, I think they all could get Kentucky to three straight. Either way, Brooks is the guy who did it, and he deserves a lot of credit given that most had him as a dead man walking prior to the 2006 season.
That said, Kentucky was hardly a convincing bowl team last year. UK won all four non-conference games over an underwhelming lineup (Louisville, MTSU, Western Kentucky, and I-AA's Norfolk State) but managed just two victories within the conference over the dregs of the West (Arkansas and Miss St.). That put the Wildcats officially last in the East, just behind Tennessee and its three SEC wins.
There is plenty of room for improvement to say the least, and the burden for that improvement lies squarely on the person who is the future of the program: offensive coordinator Joker Phillips.
The head coach in waiting presided over an offense that managed just over three touchdowns a game. That's not a disaster, but it's not great either. They got those points, though, on just 299 yards per game, which was good enough for 106th in the nation.
Randall Cobb provided some highlights at quarterback, but that role is now firmly in the hands of Mike Hartline as Cobb was moved to receiver this spring. His improvement is vital to the team's success this season as he's surrounded by some nice pieces in Cobb, Alfonso Smith, and Derrick Locke. If he can't improve his game, which landed him at 100th in the country in pass efficiency, then there will be some grumbles for change by midseason.
The defense should still be good, though losing Jeremy Jarmon hurts. Brooks is a defensive guy and that has paid off on that side of the ball. It wasn't too long ago that "Kentucky defense" was an oxymoron, so credit Brooks with a big turnaround there.
Kentucky has built its recent success on thinking differently, and that continued when it became the first SEC program to name a coach in waiting. That's even moreso the case since, at the moment, Phillips stands to become just the second African-American head coach in conference history. Thinking different hasn't always worked out—the words "Hal" and "Mumme" come to mind—but at least UK has shown a willingness to find its own way.
I don't know if the offense or the schedule will allow Kentucky to make a fourth straight bowl, but that's not overly important. The fact of the matter is that UK is in position to make a fourth straight bowl, something that was inconceivable in its days as a doormat just a half-decade ago.
Calipari Mania will eventually eclipse anything the football team does this fall, and in many ways it already has. The notion of the team being irrelevant though is, as its head coach is wont to say, bulls--t.
Monday, June 1, 2009
U of L - We Love the 80's
I named this article this for a simple fact; this is all U of L's basketball team has. You take away the 1980's and what is U of L basketball? Let me answer that for you. They are Western Kentucky. Don't believe me? Let's look at their stats.
WKU has won 1602 games to U of L's 1594. WKU has a winning pct of .673 while U of L has a .656 winning PCT.
Take away the 1980's and U of L has no National Championships, which is equal to WKU!!
UK vs. U of L - unequal rivalry
I'm not even sure we can call this a true rivarly since UK is so much better than second hand U of L. Below are the facts -
Wins - UK #1 all time with 1988 - U of L only has 1594
Winning PCT - UK #1 all time with .758 - U of L has .656 (over 100 points lower!)
UK has 13 Final Fours - U of L has 8
UK has 7 National Championships - U of L has 2
And btw, who leads the rivarly by a ten win margin? Oh, that too would be UK.
Wins - UK #1 all time with 1988 - U of L only has 1594
Winning PCT - UK #1 all time with .758 - U of L has .656 (over 100 points lower!)
UK has 13 Final Fours - U of L has 8
UK has 7 National Championships - U of L has 2
And btw, who leads the rivarly by a ten win margin? Oh, that too would be UK.
UK to sue DUI drunk, Billy Gillispie~!
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4213096
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The University of Kentucky countersued fired men's basketball coach Billy Gillispie on Thursday, claiming it doesn't owe him pay because he never signed a contract.
The employment dispute escalated when the university filed a lawsuit in Franklin Circuit Court in Kentucky, one day after Gillispie filed his own claim in Dallas, asking for $6 million in lost salary and undisclosed punitive damages, attorneys' fees and court costs.
Gillispie, who was fired March 27, was working under a seven-year memorandum of understanding but hadn't signed a formal contract during the two years he coached the Wildcats.
A call to Gillispie's attorney, Demetrios Anaipakos, was not immediately returned.
UK's lawyers are asking the court to rule that the two-page memorandum of understanding Gillispie signed after his hiring in 2007 was not the equivalent of a full contract. Gillispie says it is and that he is entitled to $1.5 million a year for four of the five years left on the deal.
"UK contends that the [memorandum of understanding] is not an enforceable long-term contract of employment, and that it owes no damages to Gillispie, having paid him for each basketball season in which he coached," the lawsuit says.
Gillispie's claim accuses the school of fraud and breach of contract, saying it never intended to sign him long term. However, the school claims the coach turned down at least six versions of a full employment contract, quibbling over the language involving what actions would constitute dismissal without pay.
University attorneys also argue that Kentucky, not Texas, is the proper place for any litigation between the two sides. They also claim that Gillispie's lawsuit wrongly targets the UK Athletics Association, which the school says is a "nonprofit supporting foundation that was not his employer."
"The decision to terminate Mr. Gillispie's employment was a university decision," UK's attorney Stephen Barker said in a statement. The athletics association "will vigorously seek the dismissal of the Texas lawsuit. The university is the proper party to any suit."
Gillispie's attorney, however, said on Wednesday there was a contract. "There's a public misconception that Coach Gillispie did not sign a contract with the University of Kentucky athletic association," Anaipakos, said. "He absolutely did. They drafted it. He signed it. They signed it and their board approved it. Whether you're in Kentucky or Texas, a deal is a deal."
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- The University of Kentucky countersued fired men's basketball coach Billy Gillispie on Thursday, claiming it doesn't owe him pay because he never signed a contract.
The employment dispute escalated when the university filed a lawsuit in Franklin Circuit Court in Kentucky, one day after Gillispie filed his own claim in Dallas, asking for $6 million in lost salary and undisclosed punitive damages, attorneys' fees and court costs.
Gillispie, who was fired March 27, was working under a seven-year memorandum of understanding but hadn't signed a formal contract during the two years he coached the Wildcats.
A call to Gillispie's attorney, Demetrios Anaipakos, was not immediately returned.
UK's lawyers are asking the court to rule that the two-page memorandum of understanding Gillispie signed after his hiring in 2007 was not the equivalent of a full contract. Gillispie says it is and that he is entitled to $1.5 million a year for four of the five years left on the deal.
"UK contends that the [memorandum of understanding] is not an enforceable long-term contract of employment, and that it owes no damages to Gillispie, having paid him for each basketball season in which he coached," the lawsuit says.
Gillispie's claim accuses the school of fraud and breach of contract, saying it never intended to sign him long term. However, the school claims the coach turned down at least six versions of a full employment contract, quibbling over the language involving what actions would constitute dismissal without pay.
University attorneys also argue that Kentucky, not Texas, is the proper place for any litigation between the two sides. They also claim that Gillispie's lawsuit wrongly targets the UK Athletics Association, which the school says is a "nonprofit supporting foundation that was not his employer."
"The decision to terminate Mr. Gillispie's employment was a university decision," UK's attorney Stephen Barker said in a statement. The athletics association "will vigorously seek the dismissal of the Texas lawsuit. The university is the proper party to any suit."
Gillispie's attorney, however, said on Wednesday there was a contract. "There's a public misconception that Coach Gillispie did not sign a contract with the University of Kentucky athletic association," Anaipakos, said. "He absolutely did. They drafted it. He signed it. They signed it and their board approved it. Whether you're in Kentucky or Texas, a deal is a deal."
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Crybaby Gillispie "sues" Kentucky
Gillispie, who couldn't win at Kentucky, is upset because he was fired. People daily get fired over not performing at work. Get over it.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i6tKn2Hc8WGbEkNXHqpxJ7NoRSxwD98ETQE00
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Former Kentucky men's basketball coach Billy Gillispie sued the school Wednesday, seeking at least $6 million he says he is owed on his deal after being fired without cause.
Gillispie, who was dismissed last spring, was working under a memorandum of understanding but hadn't signed a formal contract during the two years he coached the Wildcats.
He contends that under that memorandum, he should be paid $1.5 million a year for four of the five years left on the deal. The suit also asks for an undisclosed amount of punitive damages, attorneys' fees, court costs and interest.
The lawsuit filed in federal court in Dallas contends the school's athletics association is in breach of contract and has committed fraud because the university never intended to honor the agreement.
"Rather than honor its written, signed deal with coach Gillispie, defendant prefers instead to pretend as though no deal was ever reached," the lawsuit says. "Unfortunately for defendant, its make-believe world is just that."
University attorneys expressed surprise over the lawsuit.
"The university was continuing to negotiate a separation in good faith and his counsel had asked for more time," they said in a statement.
Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart, reached Wednesday at the Southeastern Conference meetings in Destin, Fla., said he had no comment.
"I just got off the phone with our attorneys and I can't say anything," Barnhart said.
Jimmy Stanton, a spokesman for University of Kentucky President Lee Todd, also declined comment because the matter involves pending litigation.
Much of the 24-page lawsuit highlights the 49-year-old Gillispie's biography, describing him as an up-and-coming coach who resurrected a Texas A&M program before leaving to lead Kentucky, the nation's all-time winningest college basketball program. It also says he was negotiating a new contract with Texas A&M and that Kentucky officials interfered.
"He resigned a promising, successful position as head-coach with a rapidly ascending program at Texas A&M," it says. "He did so because he believed (the university's) false representations to him during his negotiations."
In three seasons with the Aggies, Gillispie was 70-26, making the NCAA tournament twice including the Sweet 16 in 2007. The previous three seasons before Gillispie came on board, A&M was 20-22.
Gillispie went 40-27 in two seasons with the Wildcats, including a 22-14 mark last season that tied for the second-most losses in the program's 106-year history. A stumble down the stretch left the Wildcats out of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1991.
He also was criticized for failing to properly represent the school as an ambassador and occasionally being prickly with the media, including two halftime clashes with a female ESPN reporter.
His one-page termination letter concluded Gillispie was not a "good fit" for the school, and it specifically cited his failure to come to an agreement on a full employment contract.
During a news conference the day after he was fired, Gillispie maintained he was due the full $6 million buyout as stipulated in the memorandum of understanding.
"That's what it says in the contract, that's what it looks like to me," he said. "I don't know all the details and all those kind of things. I just know we signed a contract. It was a shorter version than maybe some."
Gillispie's attorney, Demetrios Anaipakos, said Wednesday that Gillispie prefers to let the lawsuit speak for itself for now. He said it was appropriate that it be filed in Texas rather than Kentucky.
"This lawsuit belongs in Dallas because that is where the University of Kentucky contacted coach Gillispie," he said. "That is where they negotiated their deal, and that is where parties reach the understanding he would be a new head coach."
Gillispie still has a home near Lexington. He is not coaching right now.
Former Memphis coach John Calipari agreed to an eight-year, $31.65 million deal in April to succeed Gillispie as Kentucky's head coach. Barnhart stressed at the news conference introducing Calipari that it was a full employment contract and had been signed.
Calipari has already attracted some of the top high school recruits in the country to Lexington, including securing two star players Gillispie had recruited.
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