Oh, the uber-talented guard is practicing and with the Wildcats and impressing all who see John Wall play. It's just that the NCAA has suspended him for the first two games. Well, an exhibition and the season opener. So it is more like 1.5 games. Wall will miss the exhibition game against NAIA Campbellsville on Monday, November 2. He will also miss the season opener with Morehead State. That means his debut will be on November 16 against Miami (Ohio).
Wall's eligibility was called into question because his AAU coach/adviser/future entourage and hanger-on Brian Clifton had also been failing to be an NBA agent while Wall was being recruited as a high school junior. Clifton had helped pay for some of Wall's travel expenses for unofficial visits to schools. Wall also has to repay Clifton almost $800.
Somehow, Kentucky should be able to find a way to get past those first two opponents without Wall.
What a bombshell from the University of Memphis. It has exhaustively determined that it has found nothing to suggest Derrick Rose did not take his own SAT test. Just for good measure it has also concluded that even if -- somehow -- it did turn out that someone other than Derrick Rose took the SAT there was no way the school could have known. Therefore, in Memphis' humble opinion, there should be no punishment of Memphis.
The main thrust of the document (PDF) seems to be to make it clear that Memphis knew nothing. This should not be surprising since it will be a document that Memphis plans to submit to the NCAA as part of its defense.
It has really been a question of if, not when, some of the Memphis commitments would choose to follow coach John Calipari to Kentucky. DeMarcus Cousins was the most likely to do so first, since he has not yet signed a National Letter of Intent (LOI) with Memphis. His commitment was only verbal, so there was not even a formality of having to ask Memphis to release him from the LOI.
Xavier Henry did sign a LOI with Memphis, but has just received his release. He is not ruling out sticking with Memphis since his older brother will be eligible to play for the Tigers in 2009. He is, however, now deciding between Memphis, Kansas and Kentucky.
John Calipari may have to start his Kentucky career in search of a new leading scorer.
Kentucky guard Jodie Meeks, who paced the Wildcats with 23.7 points per game, will find out his standing in the NBA draft. He's not going to hire an agent, according to the story, but he will go through the draft process. Meeks was an All-American this year, and along with forward Patrick Patterson, was most of Kentucky's offense this past season.
Right now, the mock drafts have him as a second round pick, at best. Still, between Calipari taking over at Kentucky and being a junior, Meeks has every reason to find out what his options are with the NBA. And if not, he still can come back for his senior year with the knowledge of what he needs to improve. He would be a fool not to find out his status.
The Kentucky press conference to announce the hiring will not be until tomorrow. John Calipari, though, texted ESPN college basketball reporter, Andy Katz, to let him know that he would leave Memphis for the Kentucky job.
That Calipari is taking the job surprises no one. Despite Memphis reportedly offering him a more lucrative financial package to stay, it is not like Kentucky low-balled him.
Everyone keeps tuned to sports sites and ESPNews for the latest plumes of smoke from Memphis and/or Lexington regarding John Calipari and whether he stays at Memphis or goes to Kentucky. The flip side is that the move has paralyzed nearly every other coaching search as programs and coaches in-demand wait to see what happens.
The snubbed teams like St. Mary's, Creighton, San Diego State and Penn State will get their chance to make their argument that they were deserving of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament over Arizona, Minnesota, and well... that's about it.
The top four seeds in the NIT are San Diego State, Auburn, Creighton and Florida. The SEC packed the second tier tournament with four teams.
That there was enough discussion that Kentucky needed to win the SEC Tournament to get an NCAA Tournament bid was a testament to two things. First, that the national interest in Kentucky and fervor of their fans remains unabated despite its record (20-13). The other being that the SEC is down enough that it still seemed realistic that Kentucky could run through the SEC Tourney.
Kentucky led 2-0, and then never again. The Wildcats kept within striking distance of LSU most of the game, but could never get that next score, stop themselves from commiting a bad turnover, or fail to prevent LSU's inside players from getting another offensive rebound.
In the five stages of grief, the final phase is acceptance. While it is not clear whether the Wildcat fanbase is at that stage yet, the Kentucky athletic department is. They have told the NIT that they would accept a bid.
"We're still planning on making the NCAA tournament but if we don't, we told them on Friday we would play," athletic director Mitch Barnhart said.
Okay, maybe not full acceptance, but they are getting there. Kentucky has not missed the NCAA Tournament since 1991. Only Arizona and Kansas have longer current streaks.
In the five stages of grief, the final phase is acceptance. While it is not clear whether the Wildcat fanbase is at that stage yet, the Kentucky athletic department is. They have told the NIT that they would accept a bid.
"We're still planning on making the NCAA tournament but if we don't, we told them on Friday we would play," athletic director Mitch Barnhart said.
Okay, maybe not full acceptance, but they are getting there. Kentucky has not missed the NCAA Tournament since 1991. Only Arizona and Kansas have longer current streaks.
Oh, the uber-talented guard is practicing and with the Wildcats and impressing all who see John Wall play. It's just that the NCAA has suspended him for the first two games. Well, an exhibition and the season opener. So it is more like 1.5 games. Wall will miss the exhibition game against NAIA Campbellsville on Monday, November 2. He will also miss the season opener with Morehead State. That means his debut will be on November 16 against Miami (Ohio).
What a bombshell from the University of Memphis. It has exhaustively determined that 
It has really been a question of if, not when, some of the Memphis commitments would choose to follow coach 
John Calipari may have to start his Kentucky career in search of a new leading scorer.
The Kentucky press conference to announce the hiring will not be until tomorrow. 
Everyone keeps tuned to sports sites and ESPNews for the latest plumes of smoke from Memphis and/or Lexington regarding 
The snubbed teams like St. Mary's, Creighton, San Diego State and Penn State will get their chance to make their argument that they were deserving of an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament over Arizona, Minnesota, and well... that's about it.
That there was enough discussion that Kentucky needed to win the SEC Tournament to get an NCAA Tournament bid was a testament to two things. First, that the national interest in Kentucky and fervor of their fans remains unabated despite its record (20-13). The other being that the SEC is down enough that it still seemed realistic that Kentucky could run through the SEC Tourney.
In the 
