Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
So I just got back from my vacation with the in-laws and couldn’t have had a better time. When you can find a girl that means everything to you and she has a family that feels like your own, you should count yourself lucky, and I do. When I arrived back I noticed that the KSR meeting hall was empty and I thought to myself, “What better time to take complete control of the site and do the nightly news?” So here I am, and there you are, are here’s the nightly news roundup, brought to you by Kentucky’s finest Chris Knight. Knight is from Slaughters, KY and also attended Western Kentucky University. John Prine, whom one Matthew Jones is absolutely gaga over, is also the idol of Mr. Knight and was the artist whose songs Knight used to teach himself how to play guitar. His music is very old school country, contains clever and straight-to-the-point songwriting, and is perfect to listen to on long road trips (like the one I took today back from sunny South Carolina). Knight is always spinning on my road trips back home to Louisville so if you ever see a black Chevy Z71 cruising down I-71 with a guy screaming lyrics at the top of his lungs, that’s probably me and the song is probably Knight’s. I included a couple videos/songs of his at the bottom, so feel free to give a listen while you read the news of the day.
- First, we learned today that the rumors of an addition to the 2009 roster are probably a little off. Coach Calipari hinted to WKYT, during his participation in the UK women’s basketball “5k for 5 k” run, that not only is the team probably not going to have any additions this season but could also lose another scholarship player. “Right now, we have 12 scholarship players. We could have 11 by the time the year starts. You just don’t know,” said Calipari. There is plenty of speculation on who the cut player could be. You can refer to Aaron’s post below for a little more insight on the situation.
- That leads into our second bit of news. We found out Saturday, via Gary Parrish of CBS Sports, that Matthew Pilgrim will be visiting Memphis on Sunday, most likely. Of course, former UK assistant Glynn Cyprien is now an assistant at Memphis and would provide a familiar face for Pilgrim. Parrish also speculates that Calipari could be steering Pilgrim to Memphis in order to make the transition a smooth one. Calipari’s backing of Pilgrim’s move could, according to Parrish’s sources, lead the NCAA to grant Pilgrim a release so that he could play immediately.
- Also from CBS and Gary Parrish, comes the news that former Duke guard Elliot Williams has notified the staff at Memphis that he would like to join their team. Williams had formerly named Kentucky, along with Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Memphis, as a possible destination upon leaving Durham. Kentucky’s name quickly lost steam when the schematics of the situation were further inspected. Williams was transferring in order to be closer to his ailing parent and, in order for the NCAA to grant a release, he would probably have to move a little closer to his hometown of Memphis than Lexington.
- Now on to my bread and butter, a little recruiting news. Word spread late Friday night that John Calipari has officially offered 2012 prospect Perry Ellis. He is from Kansas and is consistently named as one of the top 5 players in his class, many even putting him as numero uno. Memphis, while under Calipari’s control, had offered Ellis, so the continuing interest by the UK staff comes as no surprise. He also holds a third offer from Kansas. He will be the lone 2012 prospect attending the Lebron James Skills Academy, which I will also be at, so I’ll try to get some more information on his interest in UK while in Akron.
- Adam Zagoria had the opportunity to speak with Brandon Knight’s coach, who told Zag that Knight took unofficial visits to Connecticut and Yale on Saturday. UCONN has consistently been on Knight’s list of schools but Yale is a bit of an enigma (Knight is very smart so it sort of makes sense). His coach, who is living in Connecticut during the summer, also added that Knight is seriously considering Duke, Syracuse, Miami, Florida and Kentucky as well. Don’t expect a decision from Knight anytime soon though. He would like to “let the process play out” so that he can make a good and firm decision, according to his coach.
- Kentucky Ink had the opportunity to speak to Doron Lamb. Lamb was able to meet with the staff, as well as Kentucky players, including John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins. He also said that Calipari “definitely wants me there and it would be a good fit.” The New York City and Oak Hill product spoke about his familiarity with the rest of the coaching staff as well, which includes Oak Hill grad and New Yorker Rod Strickland and another New Yorker in Orlando Antigua. Lamb did do his best to fight the flaming internet rumors of a weekend commitment by adding “It was a good visit, but I don’t know yet. I’m going to take more visits.” Of those other visits, Lamb included Oklahoma and Kansas as possibilities.
- Lastly, on somewhat Kentucky related news, Homer Bailey pitched pretty well for the Reds, earning a W over the Cleveland Indians during his return to the majors. It is his first win since September of 2007, which isn’t exactly what the Reds had in mind when they selected Bailey as the #7 overall pick in 2004. Here’s an interesting KSR fact for ya: The Cincinnati Reds is also the topic that gave me my first start with scouting for Matt Jones. In a move that is VERY MUCH unlike me, I was riding home from work in Louisville a few years back and actually called into Matt’s radio show, the only time I’ve ever called into any radio show, to offer my input on Josh Hamilton. I had the opportunity to view the new Red’s Rule 5 draft pick before they selected him and told Matt and Rob that Josh had all the tools to be a superstar if he could just screw his head on straight and get off the drugs. I included that little bit of scouting on my KSR resume and here I am.
- More coming Sunday as the rest of the non-vacationing KSR crew tries to keep the house tidy for the triumphant return of our leaders, Matt and Thomas. I’ll have a post about some of the recruits that were in limbo during the coaching carousel and I’m sure there will be plenty of other stuff to keep your UK appetite sass-uh-fied.
The mid-song dancing/high fiving, along with the drunken commentary at the beginning, is absolutely priceless. Adults listen close, kids…earmuffs:
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June 27th, 2009 at 11:12 pm
Love Chris Knight, saw him dozens of times and he never disappoints. One of the best songwriters out there today.
June 27th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
How do we know one of the Bledose,Wall or cousin maybe not quailty.
June 27th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
2) that thought (worry?) crossed my mind too…sure hope that’s not the case…I’d be very disappointed if any of our newcomers didn’t qualify…especially after losing Meeks, I think we need our entire arsenal for a Title run this coming season…we’re gonna be very, very good no matter what…but I just hope for no disappointments between now and start of the season…
June 27th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
If you really think that Bailey pitched pretty well with 5 IP 3 Hits 3 ER and 7 BB you need to stick to basketball. That translates to an ERA of 5.40 and a WHIP of 2.00. I would like to see Homer do good as well and it was nice to for him to get a win but if he keeps that up he will be back in Louisville pretty quick.
June 28th, 2009 at 12:00 am
I just wanna put this out there, because im sure he will eventually read this.
SAVEUK- with all due respect, your opinions/predictions arent worth a velvet painting of a whale and a dolphin getting it on!
June 28th, 2009 at 12:25 am
#2 according to Scout.com Wall has officially qualified. And from what I understand Cousins will qualify easily, and Bledsoe is expected to qualify as well.
http://www.kentuckyink.com/index.php/ki-blogs/doron-lamb-update.html
This is a link to the Doron Lamb article. . .
And #4 Gomer Bailey will be headed back to AAA IMO. He did look better in the 5th inning, but 7 walks is ridiculous. Hopefully he will be a regular Major League pitcher one day, but sadly today is not that day.
June 28th, 2009 at 12:38 am
It could be Dodson…Cal said he’s not on campus yet cause he’s workin on stuff.
June 28th, 2009 at 12:42 am
1. We had better get used to only having 11 on scholarship. If we keep getting one and done players, I believe that hurts our APR which would eventually limit our scholarships.
2. I said when Pilgrim was let go that the tell tale sign would be if Memphis comes calling. Cyp watched him everyday and if he truly is a “beast” then Memphis would contact him. If they didn’t, then he was overrated.
3. Perry Ellis? Really. I know Cal likes nice suits but why recruit a designer to your team. He is a bit older and not likely to keep up with todays fast paced game. Maybe it is Cal working his magic to get the Kentucky “brand” out there.
June 28th, 2009 at 1:01 am
^^^^Oops, sorry Perry Ellis died in 1986 so I guess this is just as good as wasting a scholarship. Also, it will be hard for him to sign an LOI in the shape he is in.
June 28th, 2009 at 1:21 am
I guess Josh Pastner was not such a bad hire.. Memphis may have an incredible class after all if the NCAA lets Pilgrim and Williams are allowed to play in 2009-10.
Now let’s see if he can coach..
June 28th, 2009 at 1:29 am
10- The only problem there will be depth…even with Pilgrim and Williams they’ll only have 10 players.
June 28th, 2009 at 1:41 am
Chris Knight is king… by far, my favorite Kentucky boy
June 28th, 2009 at 2:08 am
Maybe Someone is having personal problems and they dont know if they will return.
June 28th, 2009 at 2:38 am
No reason to speculate on a player leaving the team. If you replay the video you’ll see Calipari didn’t say it to be interpreted that way. He’s just throwing out there that it’s not uncommon for him to have less than 13 scholarship players. So common in fact that he may even only have 11.
He gives the reason. He tells kids the truth. Some kids don’t want to hear it.
IMO he’s pointing out that regardless of how honest you can be with the players (in his experience) your going to have kids who will think they can earn a spot and won’t be happy when they don’t. He’s trying to prevent that.
How on earth could you have 13 players, especially of the calibur he recruits that would be happy with sitting the bench? Or to make the point even more evident, more than 9?
Real playing time won’t come to 4 of the kids on his roster. He’s saying don’t be the one who can’t control yourself when February rolls around and you are unable to continue to control yourself in a role of waiting your turn.
Speculate on who’s going to leave is a waste of time. Cal didn’t offer up that information in that way.
June 28th, 2009 at 4:23 am
You lost me as soon as you said “very old school country” Lol
June 28th, 2009 at 7:19 am
Saw Chris Knight at the Master Musician Fest a couple of years….I wasnt impressed at all.
June 28th, 2009 at 8:46 am
I liked him on the Brady Bunch, and that reality show on VH1
June 28th, 2009 at 8:49 am
When has any coach had 13 players recieve the amount of playing time they felt was deserved. No way can you keep all players happy. Rick and Tubby had a set lineup of only 8 players.
June 28th, 2009 at 8:53 am
Chris Knight is a poor substitute for Steve Earle. You wanna hear a good KY Americana artist (and one who has an endorsement from John Prine, Emmylou Harris, & Lucinda Williams), check out Hayseed: http://www.hayseedsings.com. I have good information that says Hayseed is a HUGE fan of UK basketball as well as a KSR reader!
June 28th, 2009 at 9:21 am
seen Chris about 17 times in concert, mostly at the Dame…..probably my all time favorite artist. doesnt get any better.
June 28th, 2009 at 9:24 am
19) you are smoking CRACK. the same kinda crap that earle was smoking when his albums started to completely blow (jeresalem and everything after). Chris has FAR surpassed earle in americana. He’s better than Steve ever dreamt of being, and didn’t change his music into shitty, government bashing techno kinda garbage just to sell some records. touring with pearle jam was steves downfall, hes never been good since.
June 28th, 2009 at 9:31 am
Homer Bailey is starting to look like a bust. I have yet to see a solid game from him, he throws beach balls most of the time.
June 28th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Dustin, thanks for the heads-up on Chris Knight. Keep up the good work.
June 28th, 2009 at 10:04 am
I thought good news was coming out next week….everything I am hearing is not good news. No Xavier Henry (which I didn’t expect to happen anyways), no Doron Lamb (which I was really hoping for), and we could be losing one for next year (which even though I expect Deandre,still makes me worrie about our recruits). All I can say is with all this saiid I’m hoping good news is that all recruits are cleared for next season
June 28th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Get up in the morning, fall out of bed
go down to the basement, cook up a little meth
all the young folks love it, comin back for more
ain’t good to be working, get your foot in the door.
June 28th, 2009 at 11:51 am
the good news this week is that lance (born ready) stephenson will sign with Cincinnati(maybe). it will signal the end in the biggest recruiting joke in recent history. this is a time for every program to celebrate with the exception of one…..Cincinnati.
http://www.zagsblog.com
June 28th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
BCO: Chris Knight is an “ok” artist with a few good songs. I first saw him at his big showcase opening for Joe Ely at Ace of Clubs in Nashville back in the ’80s. His singing style has always been a poor imitation of Earle’s. His songwriting style is a shallow version of Steve’s storytelling. He has no real identity of his own. If Steve Earle never released another record, his “Copperhead Road,” “Train A Comin’,”, “El Corazon,” “Guitar Town,” “Exit 0,” “The Mountain,” and “I Feel Alright” make a body of work Knight can only dream about. But you go on thinking that he’s a big boy.
Hell… he’s not even half as good as Madisonville’s own Tommy Womack!
June 28th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Chris Knight is not for everybody. It’s hard to argue that there are many better songwriters out there than him. I agree with BCO, Earle lost out when he started to change from his actual storytelling to songwriting with some kind of strange (and slightly annoying) agenda.
#20. Chris Knight at the Dame was always an awesome show. I hate it that it can’t happen anymore. The last time I saw him in concert was at a little bar in Henderson, KY. He did a show for a hometown guy that he knew. It was a great show, right by the riverfront.
June 28th, 2009 at 9:28 pm
CK is in my top three artists. Listen to Trailer Tapes and you will know why.