Kentucky Sports Radio

This is normally the spot where we do our review of the news of the weekend, but in this case the weekend has provided us little. The UK Softball team won its regional in Lexington (for only the second time in school history) and is now headed to the Super-Regionals with a chance to make its first ever College Softball World Series. But besides that good news, UK land has provided us with little news as the Andrew Wiggins’ decision has officially closed the book on 2012-2013 and has set us on the path to one of the most highly anticipated school years in the history of UK Athletics. With the door having finally closed on this past year (one of the worst in the last 25 when looking at football/basketball collectively), it is worth noting what we learned from last season that can best be applied to next. We will start tonight with basketball and five lessons John Calipari has taken from the NIT disappointment that he will apply in future years. In some way Calipari has addressed each of these and they will be important trends to follow in the years to come:

1. Calipari Must Have a Talented, Hard-Nosed Point Guard:

There were a number of problems on last year’s team that if fixed, could have guaranteed a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Last year’s group was riddled with at least a dozen deficiencies that if they had been corrected, could have helped win or two more games and ultimately snuck the Cats into March Madness. But at Kentucky the standard is much harder and ultimately last year’s season was doomed by the decision to install Ryan Harrow as the starting point guard. This conclusion of course can only be made in hindsight, as most of the early signs for Harrow were very good. Even though many NC State fans and media questioned the kid’s toughness, when he came to Kentucky he looked up to the task for a better part of a year. He held his own daily in practice, going against a national championship team and often rising to the challenge. Going into the season, he said all the right things, was utilizing his tremendous athleticism and looked ready to make the leap to the Wall/Knight/Teague level of UK point guard leadership. But once the bright lights went on, Harrow went south. He was never able to handle the UK spotlight or the focus by Calipari on his play. From early on, his struggles became the team’s struggles, leading to a time in which he left the team and a number of behind-the-scenes issues that plagued last year’s group. Harrow is still a good kid but is an example that what Calipari always says, mainly that Kentucky isn’t for everyone, is certainly true. And more than any other person, the requirement that a player have extreme confidence in himself and top-notch ability, must apply to the point guard position. Calipari teams will go as far as the point guard takes them. He can either be a transcendent star (Rose/Wall), a great college scorer (Knight) or a solid all-around player with upside leading a great team (Teague). But what he can’t be is someone who can’t fit into Calipari’s system and is intimidated by the UK spotlight. Calipari learned in 2013 that he can’t turn every player, even those with talent, into a viable starting point guard for him at Kentucky. Judging mental and physical toughness will now be a prerequisite for all future selections at the position.

2. Toughness Must Be a Majority Quality:

Nearly every basketball team has a player that struggles with confidence or is more comfortable playing a supporting rather than a leadership role. John Calipari said on our show this week that such players are almost required, because a team full of “alpha males” may simply not work. But the 2013 team proved that even if a few of those players exist in the locker room, for a team to be a contender, toughness must be a quality possessed by the vast majority of the group. Over the years, John Calipari has been possessed by great players who not only were talented, but had the confidence and desire to dominate. Wall, Cousins, Patterson, Bledsoe, Knight, Lamb, Liggins, Davis, MKG and others all believed that even if they were playing poorly, on the next possession they could score on you and then stop you on the defensive end. This team simply didn’t have that. Archie Goodwin possessed supreme self-confidence, but his eyes were often bigger than his talent at key moments. However Calipari had to live with Archie’s aggression, because without it, he had no players willing to put it on the line and take the big shot. By the end of the season, the player who should have been the sixth man, Julius Mays, was taking the big shots because no one else had the courage to attempt them. Passive play became the norm and Kentucky withered against teams with far less talent. The old adage about a “crazy” player in the NBA now also applies to a Calipari team and toughness at Kentucky. You can have one guy, maybe two, that struggle with toughness…but any more than that and it infects and plagues your team.

3. You Must Have a Bench:

John Calipari has generally always believed that you find 7-8 guys and you stick with them as a rotation. Even though UK might go 11 deep next year, I would still expect at any given time to only see 8 or so get significant minutes during the course of the year. But Calipari learned this year that a bench is required, even if not to get huge minutes in games, but to push the players you do have to perform. When Kentucky saw players such as Alex Poythress and Archie Goodwin make mistakes of a significant nature, Calipari often had to leave them in as he had no viable options coming off the bench to replace them. If Poythress was not mentally into the game, he still had to stand in the corner on offense, because there was simply no one who could even do an adequate job replacing his defense. If Wiltjer wasn’t shooting well (and then not rebounding or guarding either), Calipari couldn’t yank him without losing nearly all ability to have a consistent second three point option. The bench was so thin that even in practice, a player who wasn’t even on the team when the year began (Tod Lanter), was forced to run against the first team and try to replicate its opponents. That doesn’t happen this year. No matter who the player is for Kentucky, if they are unable to perform, there will be a replacement on the bench that can have success. This will hopefully drive all the starters to reach higher levels and competition will make the strong either survive or sit…an option that Kentucky had at no points during last season.

4. UK Must Have Guys Who Can Hit Outside Shots:

From moment one of last season, outside shooting was a concern of mine and the problem ended up being worse than I would have imagined. While Alex Poythress provided some surprising help (he was much more effective from behind the three point line than anyone imagined), those expected to open up the offensive end by making threes were disappointing. Kyle Wiltjer went through long slumps as he was the focus of the defense for the first time of his career. Virtually any team that made stopping Wiltjer a focus (and increasingly more teams did) was able to neutralize his shooting and he was unable to find other ways to contribute. Archie Goodwin shot poorly nearly all season from three point land and Ryan Harrow’s inconsistent shooting followed his overall play. Julius Mays hit big shots during the season, but because he was unable to create his own space, he was forced to make them off the moves of others. Calipari did not have the “knockdown” three point shooter that he had with guys like Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb. The shooting was even worse than his first year, when the athleticism of Wall/Bledsoe often overcame some inconsistent outside looks (at least until the West Virginia game). With no one except Julius Mays seemingly willing and able to make open threes on a consistent basis, UK’s offense grew stagnant, teams packed the lanes and the penetration of Goodwin/Harrow/Poythress became ineffective. One more three point shooting threat and this would have been solved. That is why so much of this season will depend on if the trio of Aaron Harrison, James Young and Kyle Wiltjer can provide those consistent shots. With Andrew Harrison and Julius Randle taking people off the dribble, these three will get open looks. Calipari has learned from last year, that making those shots will be crucial to the team’s success.

Other lessons exist as well, but Calipari sees these four as takeaways that I think will have a major impact on recruiting going forward. He won’t get caught again in a situation like he had this past season. A good week of radio begins tomorrow and we will have Patrick Patterson, Matthew Mitchell and the “Biggest UK Fan Couple” contest though the course of the week. Until then, watch a singer named Miguel (he isn’t big enough to just have one name in my view) accidentally kick some poor woman in the head as his jump comes up just a bit short at the Billboard Awards:

A hot topic around SEC football recently is whether or not the SEC will expand to a nine-game schedule. Mitch Barnhart and Kentucky oppose the SEC schedule expanding to nine games for obvious reasons, but Nick Saban is all for it and so are all the parties that would benefit from the extra money and television spots on the new SEC network. If the SEC does expand to nine games, there’s a good chance Louisville could be dropped from Kentucky’s schedule to create some breathing room for the Cats. With an eight-game SEC schedule, Kentucky already has what some are calling the toughest schedule in the nation next season. If you add another SEC game to an already brutal schedule, it may give Kentucky no other option than to drop the annual home and away series with its in-state rival in order to be competitive and position themselves for regular appearances in bowl games. It would be unfortunate to lose the Governor’s Cup series, but it could be a harsh reality given the circumstances of a possible expanded SEC schedule.

If Kentucky does drop Louisville from the football schedule, it will be important to fans that the game is replaced with another program that will generate fan excitement. Replacing Louisville with a MAC opponent every year is not what fans want to see. The key may be to find another regional school that fans would be excited about playing, but at the same time, a program that Kentucky can defeat on a regular basis. Throughout the history of the UK-UofL series, Kentucky HAS beaten Louisville on a regular basis, but a Charlie Strong-coached, ACC-member Louisville team may be too much to handle after adding a ninth SEC opponent. If you don’t replace Louisville with another potential regional rival, than Kentucky should at least keep the schedule flexible for the chance to occasionally add a BCS-level opponent on a one or two year basis, potentially at a neutral site. The first program that comes to mind as a replacement for Louisville as an annual opponent is Indiana. The next school that comes to mind is Cincinnati.

Renewing the Indiana football series, an easier game to win against a regional BCS opponent, makes the most sense for Kentucky if Louisville would be dropped. The argument against playing Indiana would be that it’s not the most exciting choice, even if it is a game you can count on for wins on a regular basis. Cincinnati would be a much more entertaining option, but may be a tougher game to win. However, if Cincinnati’s program declines as many expect it will in the American Athletic conference, the Bearcats could be the perfect scheduling alternative for Kentucky. A major advantage of playing Cincinnati is the opportunity to show off the program to more Ohio prospects once every two years, and if the away game is moved to Paul Brown Stadium, lots and lots of blue will get in.

If Kentucky would not replace Louisville with an annual opponent, then it must strategically schedule games against other BCS programs on occasion. By “strategically”, I mean that Kentucky should schedule a “Stoops Bowl” against Oklahoma or a one-time meeting with a traditional regional power such as Ohio State or West Virginia only in years that Kentucky is expected to be good and able to handle such an opponent, while also in a season when the Cats have a softer SEC West schedule. Perhaps, you could even try to continue to play Louisville every once in a while, but not on an annual basis. These are games that could be one-time neutral site meetings in Cincinnati, Indianapolis or Nashville. On years that Kentucky is expected to struggle or face a tough SEC West slate, they could welcome MAC or FCS schools to Commonwealth in those seasons.

If you were in Mitch Barnhart’s chair and had to make such a decision, would you drop Louisville if the SEC expands to nine games?

If you do drop Louisville, how would you replace them on the schedule?

A. Renew Indiana game

B. Begin rivalry with Cincinnati

C. Keep the schedule flexible for an occasional big game

D. Schedule all non-conference cupcakes every season

E. Begin annual rivalry with (insert team name here)

Sound off in the comments section.

The above video can be tough to watch. As Archie Goodwin struggles with his jump shot, the ESPN announcers break down his game and…well it isn’t all that pretty. They give him some compliments, but there are also a lot of tough remarks. It wasn’t a pretty week for Archie in Chicago, although he is still projected in the first round. But he will have lots of work to do…

Well, it’s the off season. As if you couldn’t tell by the two posts about softball earlier (if you’re reading this, ladies, I am only kidding – congrats). Since we’ve got you here, let’s take a look at some more-or-less off topic yet interesting news stories I’ve come across today. The UK basketball and football realms have been pretty quiet, but the world goes on.

- First thing’s first: the UK softball team will play Arizona State in Tempe next week for the Super Regional. Sounds like some beautiful weather may help them in making school history.

- We’ve been following the hoops recruiting world intensely this year. Let’s start off with the obvious – Rivals ranked UK’s 2013 basketball recruiting class at No. 1. This surprised approximately zero people, despite losing Wiggins. The last remaining big name on the board makes his decision this week. Theo Pinsonn closes out the recruiting season for the 2013 class with his Wednesday decision.

- Amongst the college basketball world, there has been some hoopla over this LA Times piece.  Steve Alford honeymoon at UCLA has been incredibly short-lived. As expected. He inherited a semi-torn team despite Bazz’s nice season, but the controversies from the past now have people keeping an extra close eye on Alford from the get-go. Give it a read.

- You know what’s not smart? Hating on Derrick Rose. A UF product did a very Florida-esque thing recently: Rookie Brad Beal dissed Derrick Rose, calling him “scared” and saying he’d lose respect for him if Rose were his teammate. Be thankful you aren’t his teammate, Brad. Rose is coming off a major injury and he needs to think longterm for his own sake. Poor form.

- I heard a hilariously story from a friend regarding RG3 at the Derby this year. I am not going to retell it, but I thought you should know. Anyways, Robert Griffin III has been receiving incredible amounts of wedding gifts from fans via his registery.  The interesting part is that these fans are getting hand-signed (read: autographed) thank you letters. Genius and also shows the love fans have for this guy in D.C. However, do NOT do this for UK players, you guys. That’s a no-no.

UL fans are happy about their title…how do we know? Well they are flaunting their fandom like never before. Both of these pictures were sent to me this weekend by KSR readers….and both are #L1CAwesome. The tattoo is my favorite however…mainly because I am not sure which of the two she will regret more later in life:

I know we are all a bit bitter about the recent decision by the nation’s number one high school recruit to attend a different school, but this is quite the interest look at how the situation developed. Check out this piece from the Topeka Capital-Journal on the “wild chase” leading Andrew Wiggins to pick Kansas. This piece is reminiscent of what Matt said after the decision – Kansas came on strong as the non-FSU replacement of UK after spots filled up.

There are a few interesting facts and a nice timeline of events in this piece. The centerpiece of it all was the commitment of Julius Randle to Kentucky. As Matt said, once Randle came on board, KU replaces UK as the championship caliber school on Wiggins priority list. Amongst the interesting facts: (1) Wiggins barely told anyone anything (even his coach, Rob Fulford) and mostly communicated via text and (2) Kansas coaches didn’t know where Wiggins was going as of Tuesday morning. This echoes how much of the internet perceived the situation, apart from that fact that many thought it was FSU outfront until the end.

Overall, this is a solid read to see the trajectory of this mysterious recruitment of arguably the best high school player since LeBron. While it is still TBD on whether Bill Self can actually utilize one-and-done talent in a manner remotely as beneficial as Calipari, this will be as interesting and as highly scrutinized of a freshman season we’ve ever seen. Best of luck to him.

- Kelsey Nunley an Lauren Cumbess talking to the media -

After a disheartening loss this morning, the Hittin’ Kittens stepped it up and closed out the Lexington Regional with a victory. The UK softball teams advances to the Super Regional with a 1-0 Game 7 victory of Virginia Tech. The Super Regional is the precursor to the Women’s College World Series.

This marks the second time in school history that the squad has made it this far. Kelsey Nunley turned in a wonderful pitching performance, along with Second Team All-Region Lauren Cumbess. Congrats to these ladies! Follow up on the action @UKsoftball and @UKCoachLawson. It’s been a great season for this team and it gets to continue at the Super Regional. Go Cats!

If you are not currently watching the NBA playoffs, you are probably getting your Sunday Funday on, aka the Drew Franklin Special. Or maybe you were watching UK softball on ESPN. However, if you are tuned into the NBA, you are witnessing the last remaining Wildcat currently alive in the most exciting time of the year for pro hoops.

As we speak (okay…type), Tayshaun and the Memphis Grizzlies are currently  facing off against the San Antonio Spurs on ABC. The Spurs started off hotter than Tony Parker’s ex-wife. In typical Grizzly fashion, they made a third quarter run. But that was quashed. Hopefully Z-Bo and company make this game really interesting in the fourth quarter.

I am personally on the Grizz band wagon – no player is more fun to watch then Z-Bo in the fourth and you have to pull for ex-Cat Prince. I’ll be torn if it comes to a Grizzlies-Heat final, but that’s what I want to see. Tune into ABC to see Prince try and bring Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.

UPDATE: The Grizz failed at making it interesting, losing 105-83. Ouch. Onto Game 2.

Last night John Calipari tweeted out this picture of him and Mark Stoops hanging out on a Saturday night at their friends’ Joey and Jennifer Palumbo’s house. As you can see, both men are just hanging as good friend would do, wearing denim and enjoying a Saturday night BBQ. But the picture is also representative of the two men’s growing relationship with each other as both have become close in the last few months. Mark Stoops has utilized John Calipari as a recruiting weapon, taking most of his top recruits to meet the coach when they are in town for visits and Calipari has been very generous with his time on those recruiting trips. But the two men have also become friends, socializing together and working on projects to help the overall UK Athletics community. As Mark Stoops recently said to me on radio, “we have one of the best to coach any sport on our campus. I would be silly not to try and work as closely as possible with him.”

In five years, if Mark Stoops does what we want him to do here and John Calipari has added a couple more banners to the walls, this picture will be one to remember.

- game photo via our fearless leader -

After a brilliant performance yesterday to beat Virginia Teach and come within one win from a Super Regional appearance, the Hittin’ Kittens (as they have apparently become known around these parts) fell short in the early game today. The UK softball team fell 2-0 to VA Tech in Game 6 of the Lexington Regional.

The ladies only grabbed three total hits in the shutout. VA Tech’s pitcher kept the game in check, while Kelsey Nunley followed up her one-hitter from yesterday with a loss. However, a much more rested UK team has another chance. The deciding Game 7 just kicked off in Lexington, with VT’s Jasmin Harrell going up against UK’s Lauren Cumbess on the mound. Winner goes to the Super Regional, the last round before the World Series level.

(Photo by Regina Lexi Rickert)

The 2013 Southeastern Conference baseball Tournament will feature 12 teams for the first time. Much to the chagrin of the Kentucky Wildcats, who wouldn’t have made the cut had it been any other year. In 2012 the SEC expanded to include 10 teams, up from eight from years past, in an effort to prepare for the conference realignments which welcomed Missouri and Texas A&M to the SEC. Now with 12 of the 14 possible teams in the tournament, the bracket gets messy in a hurry.

The top four teams get first-round byes and a pass into the double-elimination format of the bracket. Vanderbilt, LSU, Arkansas, and South Carolina at the top teams in the SEC and will each await a Wednesday game.

Eleven-seed Kentucky will compete in the play-in versus 6-seed Ole Miss Tuesday morning. The Cats won two out of three during the regular season, but the Rebels have beaten plenty of teams the Wildcats couldn’t touch late in the season.

The steep fall from grace for UK has come as a shock for those around the program. After the first two months of the season Kentucky was sitting pretty with a 22-6 record and well represented in the national polls. Then they reeled on a 7-18 mark, posting an abysmal 4-16 record in conference.

The Cats enter the tournament with the No. 38 RPI and 13 wins against top-50 RPI teams. But the uphill climb may still be too much.

A chance at an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament is basically nonexistent. The Wildcats only real hope for making the post-season is winning the SEC Tourney. That is going to be quite a feat. Kentucky reached the semifinals of the SEC Tournament last year before falling to the eventual-champion Mississippi State.

You can see the Wildcats play the Rebels on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. on Fox Sports Network.

Four-star safety from Ohio, Darius West has been a near-lock for Kentucky for weeks. The 6-foot, 196 pound bruising defensive back has been high on Wildcats ever since Mark Stoops arrived in Lexington. West is ranked 13th at his position nationally, and holds offers from Penn State, Louisville, Illinois, and West Virginia, among many others.

But the race is not over yet. Saturday, Hugh Freeze and Ole Miss extended a scholarship offer to West, sending a ripple into his plan to commit on May 30. West told ESPN he could take an official visit to Ole Miss before his commitment date, at this point still set for the end of the month.

He had narrowed his list to Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan State, and Wisconsin. We will have to wait and see what impact Ole Miss has on his final four. Getting into the recruiting game so late cannot be a good look.

#StoopsTroops

(Photo by Regina Lexi Rickert)

Virginia Tech played 20 innings of softball Saturday. Hokies No. 1 pitcher Jasmin Harrell tossed 13 innings in the elimination-game victory over Marshall to keep the team alive in the tournament; a single game that lasted nearly four hours. Over the entire three-game weekend, Harrell has pitched 19.1 innings amassing 246 pitches. Virginia Tech has to be running on fumes. If the Hokies want to advance, they will need to win not once – but twice today – against a much more rested Kentucky team.

In their first matchup on Saturday, the Wildcats jumped on the Hokies early thanks to a Lauren Cumbess two-run homer in the top of the 1st inning. Virginia Tech answered in the 2nd, capitalizing on a pair of Kentucky errors, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch. It resulted in two runs for VT, but was not credited to Kentucky pitcher Kelsey Nunley’s earned run average.

The Wildcats picked up a run in the 3rd, and another in the 4th off the bat of Krystal Smith making it 4-2, before finally tacking on two more in the 5th thanks to a Hokies error. If it weren’t for a sloppy 2nd inning, Nunley would have been looking at a near-perfect game. Her final line against VT was 7 innings pitched, 1 hit, 0 earned runs, 2 walks, and 5 strikeouts, all while keeping her pitch count sub-100.

The Wildcats are playing in only their third ever regional final, also accomplishing the feat in 2009 and 2011. Only once has the softball program made a trip to Super Regionals; losing to California in Lexington, just one win away from a trip to the Women’s College World Series.

Starting pitching and lineups have yet to be announced, but my guess is Kentucky will send out pitcher No. 2 to start game one, Lauren Cumbess, while the Hokies will counter with whatever Harrell has left in the tank. It’s a desperation move, and the Wildcats are in the drivers seat right now. Nunley could see a relief spot if the game is close with a UK lead late. If not, save Nunley for all of game two when the Hokies really have nothing left.

The game starts at 1 p.m. and can be found on ESPN3.com. This is a seriously fun game to watch, and the Wildcats are very good at what they do. Tune in and I think you’ll enjoy.

Well twitter ill miss you for the next 2 months going to be playing in China! Won’t have access to much while there! Have a good summer

— Josh Harrellson (@BigJorts55) May 19, 2013

Former Kentucky center Josh Harrellson is leaving for greener pastures. At least that’s what we he has told us. After being released by the Miami Heat in January and playing for Brujos de Guayama in Puerto Rico, Harrellson is packing up for two months and heading to the land far far away. He was not waived by the team, but is leaving for a better opportunity.

Good luck, Jorts. We got your back.

Kentucky softball is one win away from reaching the Super Regionals for the second time in the last three years. The Wildcats have won the first two games of the Lexington Regional and now have to win one of the next two against Virginia Tech, a team the Cats beat Saturday afternoon to bump into the loser’s bracket.

The win marked the 40th of the season, tying the school record for most wins in a season from 2011.

The MVP this weekend has been freshman pitcher Kelsey Nunley. She has pitched the full 15 innings for the team in this tournament and posted an extraordinary 0.47 ERA with 10 strikeouts. Opponents are hitting just .140 against her.

We’ll have more on the softball team as they gear up for Virginia Tech later this morning. But for now, here’s to you ladies!

**********

– In the Lexington Regional, Virginia Tech fell to the loser’s bracket by way of a loss to Kentucky Saturday afternoon. They came back and played a mind-numbing 13 innings versus Marshall to stay alive. They have a tough hill to climb today.

– Marshall starting pitcher Andi Williamson threw 216 pitches in 12.2 innings versus the Hokies. And the game before that, she threw 118 versus Notre Dame. That is more than 330 pitches in one day. Hats off to you, Ms. Williamson for an outstanding effort.

– Kentucky baseball salvaged a win on the road against Missouri. But it’s too little too late for the Cats. Only hope for a bid in the NCAA Tournament is to win the SEC.

– The baseball team drew an 11-seed for the SEC Tournament and will play 6-seed Ole Miss Tuesday in a single-elimination game. The winner will face 3-seed Arkansas in the double-elimination portion of the bracket.

– Jerry Tipton (Yes, Jerry Tipton) writes a good column about social media and recruiting. If you tweet players nasty messages, you are part of the problem. You are not a keyboard warrior; you are a scourge of the Big Blue Nation.

– Everyone knows future Kentucky hoops star Marcus Lee as a tall, lanky forward on the court. But did you know he is a volleyball star too? He helped his school win its first state title Friday to cap off his senior year.

For those of you who wanted to finally witness a Triple Crown, my condolences on your loss. For those of you who are still sobering up from the Derby and have no idea that the Preakness went down today, *high five*. The Commonwealth’s very own Orb could not capitalize on step 2 of the Triple Crown path. Calumet Farm’s Oxbow crossed the finish line in first place today at the Preakness, stomping out everyone’s hope for a Triple Crown run. After studying the tape (read: I did not watch a second of the race), it was clear that Derby-winning Orb succumbed to the pressure of the racing world watching with hope. Or something like that.

Oxbow is the first Calumet Farm Preakness winner since 1968, when Forward Pass won. D. Wayne Lukas (trainer) won his 6th Preakness and his 15th Triple Crown race, the most in history. Also, the guy has a sense of humor: ‘‘I get paid to spoil dreams. Unfortunately we go over here and you can’t mail ‘em in. It’s a different surface and a different time. You gotta line ‘em up and win ‘em.” Oxbow impressively led wire-to-wire and went off at 15-1. In contract. In contract, Orb started off on the rail in the No. 1 position and could not overcome.

In other news:

- Some Wildcat ladies had a great day – the UK softball team won their 40th game of the season today against Virginia Tech. This record-tying win came thanks to freshman pitcher Kelsey Nunley’s one-hitter. The UK squad now advances to the Regional final, taking place Sunday in Lexington. The No. 12 ranked Hittin’ Kittens are still kicking.

- One young future-Cat received quite an honor. Today was officially deemed Dominique Hawkins day in Richmond. Don’t believe me? Just ask the mayor! (Keep scrolling for more.)

- Photos from the set of Will Ferrel’s upcoming cult sequel have been leaking out. These pics have shown that a Wildcat/Calipari favorite will be in the film – Drake will in Anchorman 2. He was spotted on set with a huge afro as part of his get-up.

- The UK baseball team beat Missouri today 5-1, avoiding a sweep. The boys will open the SEC Tournament on Tuesday as the No. 11 seed at 10:30 a.m. ET vs. No. 6 seeded Ole Miss.

- The NBA playoffs continued tonight with the New York Knicks vs. the Indiana Pacers, including former … wait, what? There were no former Wildcats in tonight’s NBA action? That’s rare these days. Don’t get used to it.

- Speaking of the NBA, former poster-child for domestic advice (and Pacer) Lance Stephenson put a clinic on as he destroyed the Knicks down the stretch. Mind. Blown.

- I am still in disbelief about our flat top feller’s injury, but there is a night at the end of the tunnel. Nerlens Noel plans to return by Christmas. Yes, that may be after the NBA season starts. But hopefully it leads to a longer career.

- the tonight’s KSR Waddy Werewolf campout has been cancelled. No worry – Matt and the gang shall reschedule because this great state does not deserve the torture of such a beast.

Enjoy your Saturday night, folks. Stuart Hammer will be in bright and early to the office tomorrow, and I’ll return in the afternoon to give you a ride home from Sunday Funday. See you then.