LEXINGTON, Ky. – Terrence Jones and Eloy Vargas have both signed a financial aid offer to play basketball at the University of Kentucky, Head Coach John Calipari announced on Friday.

A senior at Jefferson High School in Portland, Ore., Jones ranks ninth on ESPNU’s Top 100, and 13th overall by Rivals.com and is rated eighth by Scout.com recruiting services.

“Terrence is perfectly suited for our dribble-drive offense,” Calipari said. “He’s a lefty that can score inside and out on the perimeter.  His ability in open space is what makes him a special player.”

The 6-foot-9 Jones averaged 30.0 points, 14.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists this past season at Jefferson High. The 2010 McDonald’s All-American tallied 14 points in the McDonald’s All-American game, teaming with fellow UK signees Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb to help lead the West team to a 107-104 victory.

Jones also participated in the 2010 Jordan Brand Classic All-American game along with Knight and Lamb, teaming up with Lamb on the West squad. He finished with 17 points and nine rebounds in helping lead the West to a 129-125 win.

A 6-foot-11 native of the Dominican Republic, Vargas averaged 25.0 points, 13.0 rebounds and five blocks as a sophomore at Miami-Dade Community College last season. He was named the 2010 Southern Conference Player of the Year, First Team All-Southern Conference and FCCAA All-State.

Vargas was rated the No. 26 prospect in the 2008 Rivals150 by Rivals.com, 41st by ESPNU and was rated a four-star top 50 recruit in 2008 by Scout.com recruiting service.

“Eloy is a long, big forward who is skilled both offensively and defensively,” Calipari said. “He immediately adds a shot-blocking presence and a versatile front-court player to our team next season.”

Vargas played one season at Florida (2008-09), but appeared in only nine games after suffering an ankle injury.

Jones and Vargas join Enes Kanter, Knight, Lamb and Stacey Poole Jr. in UK’s 2010 signing class.

‑ GO CATS -

Pikeville Coach Kelly Wells will lead his Bears against the U.K. Wildcats

PIKEVILLE – Pikeville College will face the University of Kentucky in an exhibition men’s basketball game at Rupp Arena during the 2010-11 preseason, Pikeville College Coach Kelly Wells confirmed earlier in the week. The preseason game is scheduled for Nov. 1.
Kentucky defeated Pikeville 99-64 in a preseason game in 2007. Pikeville concluded
the 2009-10 season 21-9 following a loss to St. Catharine College in the opening round of the Mid-South Conference Tournament at the Frankfort Convention Center.
The Pikeville College men’s basketball roster features Floyd County native Landon Slone, a former member for the University of Kentucky team.

Five Wildcats to Put Names in NBA Draft
UK has had 20 first-round selections in NBA Draft history

John Wall declares for NBA (Click image to enlarge)

Eric Bledsoe declares for NBA Draft (Click image to enlarge)

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kentucky freshmen Eric Bledsoe, DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton and John Wall and junior Patrick Patterson will enter their names in this year’s NBA Draft. All five players are projected as first-round picks.
 
It marks the second straight season a UK player has declared early for the draft. All-American Jodie Meeks decided to forego his senior season last year to turn pro.
 
Bledsoe averaged 11.3 ppg while hitting 49 three-pointers and shooting 38 percent from behind the line in his freshman campaign. Bledsoe finished sixth on UK’s all-time freshman scoring list (419), second on the three-point field goals made list (49) and fourth on the freshman assist list (107).
 
“I never thought I’d be in this position after one year,” Bledsoe said. “Coach Cal pushed us all to be the best we could be and he believes I’m prepared to take my game to the next level. I want to thank the fans for all their support this year.”

DeMarcus Cousins one of 5 Cats going pro (Click image to enlarge)

Cousins was second on the team in scoring, averaging 15.1 ppg while posting a team-best 9.8 rpg average, all in only 23.5 minutes per game. He destroyed the UK freshman rebounding record by nearly 100 rebounds and scored the second-most points by a UK freshman, behind teammate John Wall.
 
The Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year also led the Wildcats in double-doubles this season with 20, the most by a UK player since 1973 and the fourth most in a season in Kentucky basketball history.
 
“Coach challenged me to grow on and off the court this season,” Cousins said. “I believe my game expanded along with my maturity. This year was the most fun I’ve ever had playing basketball and a lot of it had to do with the support I got from our fans.”
 
Orton served as the Wildcats’ sixth man this season and finished averaging 3.4 points and 3.3 rebounds. He was second on the team in blocked shots with 53 and ranked eighth in the SEC in blocks per game (1.4).

Patrick Patterson one of 8 Wildcats that will end their U.K. careers (Click image to enlarge)

“Being at Kentucky allowed me to play with some of the most talented players in the country,” Orton said. “Battling with DeMarcus (Cousins) and Patrick (Patterson) every day helped improve my game. I want to thank the coaching staff for helping put me in a position to be drafted this year.”
 
Patterson ranked second in the SEC and 12th nationally in field goal percentage (.575). He recorded nine double-doubles this season, fourth most in the SEC, and 11 double-digit rebounding performances. He finished his junior season ranked 13th on Kentucky’s all-time scoring list (1,564) and sixth on Kentucky’s career double-double list with 30.
 
“I want to thank the fans who have supported me all three years,” Patterson said. “I also want to thank the coaches for putting me in a position to showcase other parts of my game as well as my versatility. Lexington and UK will always be a special place to me.”
 
Wall led the Wildcats in scoring (16.6), assists (6.5) and steals (1.8) while setting the school single-season assist record with 241. The Adolph Rupp National Player of the Year recorded five double-doubles on the season, three in points and assists, and two in points and rebounds, making him the first player in UK history to record double-doubles in points and rebounds and points and assists.
 
“I’m not the same player as when I arrived at UK,” Wall said. “I believe I’m ready for the next challenge as Derrick Rose and Tyreke Evans were the last two years under Coach Cal. I want to thank my teammates and the fans for all their support this year. I love them.”
 
“I’ve spoken with all five guys concerning the NBA and have encouraged them to put their names in the draft,” UK head coach John Calipari said. “They’ve all met individually with our compliance office to make sure they have a full understanding of eligibility rules and academic responsibilities. I’m so proud of these five young men, with everything they did for us on the court and the way they represented us off of it.
 
“It’s extremely unusual for four freshmen from the same team to have this opportunity, but it’s my job as a coach to prepare these young men for such opportunities.”
 
Underclassmen have until April 25 to declare for the draft and have until May 8 to withdraw their name from the draft.
 
The 2010 NBA Draft will take place on June 24.

Wildcat Patrick Patterson shoots a jump hook over Cornell Center Jeff Foote. U.K. beat Cornell by 17 points. (Photo by T.Hamblin - Click image to enlarge)

U.K. says, “We are not overrated”

“Overrated”, “overrated”, “overrated”.  Those were the chants from a very partisan Cornell crowd. The only problem was, the Cornell fans were making these chants before the game even started. Many times fans make the chant “overrated” when their team is about to upset an inferior team or if they have a big lead. It is quite another thing to irritate the top team left in the tournament. Cornell was this year’s Cinderella darling and a large contingent of Cornell fans packed in the Carrier Dome in Syracuse to cheer on the Big Red.

Just a few minutes into the game, it looked like the fans may be right as Cornell bounced out to a 10-2 lead over the Wildcats. Then the Wildcats rabid fans, which traveled roughly 750 miles, got their chance to cheer for their beloved Cats. U.K. went on a 12-0 to take a 14-10 lead. Kentucky put pressure on the Big Red and challenged every shot and closed out the half on an 11-0 run. All told, U.K. outscored Cornell 30-6 after being down 10-2.

U.K., despite shooting woefully from the free throw line, showed no signs of a letdown after dismantling East Tennessee State and Wake Forest earlier in the tournament. When asked after the game about the crowd response before the game, Freshman Daniel Orton stated,” “I think what really got to us was when they started chanting, ‘Overrated.’ It really shocked me because they started chanting before the game started. Most teams, you know, they do that when they figure their team is going to win. But they started before the game even started, so that was surprising.’’

In the second half, U.K. was tentative and looked like they were content with finishing the game as it was. The fire they had to close out the first half on a huge run was just not there. It did not help that some very questionable calls were made to start the half. With 10:00 minutes to go in the half, U.K. had 7 fouls, 5 of which were bare minimum contact fouls. “Touch fouls” if you will, while Cornell had 2 fouls. At one point, DeAndre Liggins was given a two handed shove in the lower back knocking him out of bounds, in plain view of the official, and no call was made. There was one play that exemplified the calls being made in the 2^nd half. DeMarcus Cousins made a drive to the basket when he was literally tackled to the floor by Cornell big man Jeff Foote. No attempt was made on the ball. Foote was called for a foul, but nothing more. It was clearly flagrant and between the two plays on Liggins and Cousins, it became a safety issue. To make matters worse on the ensuing Cornell trip, the Wildcats were immediately called for what can only be described liberally as a touch foul. The inconsistency from the officials kept U.K. out of their rhythm for much of the second half.

U.K. withstood the Cornell challenge that cut their lead to 46-40, before the Wildcats pushed the lead back to double digits. Kentucky won by the score of 62-45 and marked the third straight double digit win for the #1 seed Kentucky. I wonder if Cornell fans still think U.K.is overrated??

U.K. WIldcats did their partying on the court (All New Ortleans photos by Tim Hamblin - Click image to enlarge)

Fans kept Bourbon Street hopping while Wildcats kept opponents in disbelief

U.K. falls at Tennessee

U.K. gets even with South Carolina

U.K. defeats Vandy

Calipari (Click image to enlarge)

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 1, 2010) − Building on the past success of the Maker’s Mark/Keeneland charitable bottle series that supports projects at the University of Kentucky, Maker’s Mark and Keeneland are continuing the program with the celebration of UK basketball coach John Calipari, whose likeness will be featured on the bottle this spring.
 
The popular coach will team up with University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, Maker’s Mark and Keeneland to raise money for a unique extension program highlighting the performing arts for elementary school children throughout the Commonwealth.
 
“It’s an honor to team with Maker’s Mark and the university in this unique fundraising opportunity to help benefit the UK Symphony Orchestra Outreach Program,” said Coach Calipari. “I’m not sure the world is ready for my face on a bottle, but if it helps the university, I’m all for it. I hope all our great fans will support this worthy effort.”
 
Maker’s Mark will donate proceeds from the sales – estimated to be about $300,000 from 24,000 bottles – to an extension program that is bringing the UK Symphony Orchestra and students from the UK School of Music into public schools and communities throughout Kentucky. UK is in the process of securing matching grants that, if sales of the bottles are successful, may create funding for this unique program in excess of $1.2 million.
 
“This year we launched the outreach program, and have already performed for thousands of young people around Kentucky,” said John Nardolillo, director of UK Symphony Orchestra. “When we announced this program last year, we received dozens of requests from schools all over Kentucky, and when the famous fiddle player Mark O’Connor heard about it, he joined us for our first outreach concert, to Ashland, where we played for more than 1,000 schoolchildren.”
 
“The performances around Kentucky funded by this program will be tremendous for our students in the UK Orchestra, the children who will participate in the programs, and the communities who will hear the concerts,” added Nardolillo. “Maker’s Mark and Keeneland are doing something which will have a lasting impact at the university and around the Commonwealth.”
 
In a time when budgets do not allow for extensive arts programs in public schools, this  partnership is beginning its second year of a possible three years of support for music education outreach for third and fourth grade students throughout Kentucky.
 
Maker’s Mark President Bill Samuels Jr. said, “John Calipari brings so much excitement to Kentucky and he deserves to be honored for the phenomenal results he achieved with the men’s basketball program in such a short period of time. More important is his dedication to the betterment of the University of Kentucky as an educational institution and achieving Dr. Todd’s goals for UK. Cal’s enthusiasm is contagious and is a wonderful way to show how the success of his basketball program can support the greater good of the university and education throughout the Commonwealth.”
 
Born in Moon Township, Pa., Calipari played college basketball at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington and later Clarion, where he played point guard and led the team in assists and free throw percentage. He began his coaching career at the University of Kansas as a volunteer assistant and later served as an assistant coach at both Kansas and University of Pittsburgh.
 
In 1988, he took his first head coaching position at the University of Massachusetts, where he led the Minutemen to the Final Four in 1996. For his efforts, Calipari was named Naismith National Coach of the Year. Following a stint coaching the New Jersey Nets in the NBA, Calipari was named head coach of the University of Memphis in 2000, where his success there resulted in a second Naismith Coach of the Year award and an appearance in the National Title game in 2008. He is only the second coach to receive the honor multiple times. He was also named the 2009 Sports Illustrated National Coach of the Year. Calipari posted 252 wins — 28 wins per season — as the Tigers’ head coach, making him the winningest coach in Memphis history.
 
In spring of 2009, Calipari became the 22nd coach in UK men’s basketball history, and the seventh in the last 79 years. In his first season at UK, he has coached the Wildcats to their 2,000th win and their first No. 1 ranking since 2003. The Wildcats, who are currently 27-2 and first in the SEC east, have also garnered a league record in weekly awards this season from the conference. Currently the third winningest active coach in NCAA Division-I play, Calipari has also galvanized the Big Blue Nation to support several philanthropic endeavors, including the Hoops for Haiti fundraiser, which raised more than $1 million for Haiti earthquake relief efforts.
 
Since Nardolillo took the conductor’s podium of the UK Symphony Orchestra, it has enjoyed great success racking up recording credits, performing on prestigious stages at the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall and sharing the stage with such acclaimed international artists as Arlo Guthrie, Lynn Harrell, Gil Shaham, Mark O’Connor and Sarah Chang. Among its recording credits are: “In Times Like These,” recorded live with folk icon Guthrie in March 2006 at the Singletary Center for the Arts; the premiere cast recording of Thomas Pasatieri’s “The Hotel Casablanca” with UK Opera Theatre; “Music of the Horse,” a collection of equestrian-inspired music sponsored by UK School of Music and the Keeneland Foundation; and most recently a critically acclaimed recording of composer George Frederick McKay’s “Epoch: An American Dance Symphony” with the UK Women’s Choir. UK Symphony Orchestra is one of a very select group of university orchestras under contract with Naxos, the world’s largest classical recording label.
 
Maker’s Mark will produce 24,000 numbered, limited edition bottles honoring Calipari, and they should be available statewide Friday, April 2, opening day of Keeneland’s Spring 2010 meet. The bottle should retail for about $49 if retailers take their normal markup.
 
“We are very proud that Maker’s Mark, UK and Keeneland have come together on this very worthy project,” said Keeneland President and CEO Nick Nicholson. “Congratulations to Coach Cal for being this year’s honoree. This initiative underscores his willingness to donate his name and time to UK’s Top 20 mission and Kentucky’s future.”
 
A bottle signing, scheduled the day of the Grade-1 Maker’s Mark Mile, will be held Friday, April 9, trackside at Keeneland, with Calipari, Samuels and Nicholson. In an effort to better accommodate the growing legion of fans who attend the Maker’s Mark bottle signing at Keeneland, a few guidelines and a new ticketing procedure is being established. Details on the ticket procedure for the bottle signing will follow later this month from Keeneland.

            Kentucky opened the game with a Patrick Patterson three, followed by two DeMarcus Cousins baskets in the paint, building an early 11-2 lead.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be that easy for the Cats as South Carolina went on a run of their own to cut the lead to one with just over 13 minutes left in the first half.  Kentucky dominated in almost every statistical category in the first half, but only led 37-26 at break.

            The Cats started the second half much the same way as the first in building a 15 point lead before once again the Devan Downey show began.  Downey scored 17 of his 26 points in the second half to again cut the deficit to only 6 with 10 minutes left in the game.  After a television timeout, Darius Miller scored on a floater in the lane and Gamecocks wouldn’t get any closer.  Kentucky wins 82-61.

Welcome back Mr. Patterson, we’ve missed you.  Patterson has returned to his dominating form of his first two seasons, with three unbelievable games in a row.  On the night Patterson led the team with 23 points on 10-12 shooting while adding 8 rebounds.  Evidently Coach Calipari was pleased with the performance. “I am so proud of him. He is a monster. We needed him to play like this. I would like for have 25 points and 12 rebounds every game. I want him to shoot the ball.” 

Not to be outdone by Patterson, Cousins added 19 points and 11 rebounds to help Kentucky dominate the points in the paint 56-30.  The Cats also dominated the backboards 47-31, allowing only 11 offensive rebounds on the night.  Only 11 you say?  The last time these teams met South Carolina pretty much won the game because of the 20 offensive rebounds and follow-up baskets that followed. 

Darius Miller made his second consecutive start playing 32 minutes on the night, his most playing time in some time.  Miller had a great night scoring 7 points while adding 8 rebounds, and two blocks.  He played with great intensity on the defensive end of the court, which has been one reason he had seen his playing time decrease recently.  I truly believe the team is better when Miller is on the court, especially against zone defenses, with his ability to hit the three and midrange jumper. 

The best news of the night, other than the victory itself, was the fact that Devan Downey has finally played his last regular season game against Kentucky.  I’m sure I’d love him if I was a Gamecock fan, but I get tired of the officials allowing him to push off, travel, and get away with everything but murder during a game.  John Wall gets manhandled nightly and hardly ever gets a call.  Thursday night’s game was more of the same and you wonder if the officials are watching the same game.  You know that things are bad when Calipari talks after the game about how this Kentucky team is not getting the same “home cooking” that every other conference team gets at home. 

Who knew that a Kentucky basketball game would become a red carpet event for celebrities?  First Lebron and Drake, then Ashley Judd, and at the South Carolina game the team got a visit from one of my favorite NBA players of all time in Magic Johnson.  Johnson also made the famous trip to center court to be the Y in Kentucky and helped rile the crowd up.  Oh yeah, there was some quarterback from the Pittsburg Steelers there too, I think his name was Ben or something.  But I’m thrilled to report that the crowd greeted his appearance on the video screen appropriately with boos.  I’m a diehard Bengals fan you know. 

Next up for the Cats is the yearly trip to Knoxville to take on the sweaty, puke orange coat wearing Bruce Pearl and the Tennessee Volunteers.  Unfortunately Jodie Meeks is now playing in the NBA, but I’m sure Wayne Chism still remembers him.  This will be another tough road test and with a victory the Cats would be assured of no less than a share of the SEC Regular Season Championship.  Oh yeah, I really hate Rocky Top.  Go Cats!

            The most impressive part of the victory was the ability of the team to come through in the clutch when it seemed everything was going against them.  The shot of the night was DeAndre Liggins’ three pointer with Kentucky trailing 67-60 with less than three minutes to play.  If he misses that shot its game over.  Instead it goes in and the Cats are able to hold the Bulldogs scoreless for the rest of regulation while making big play after big play.  Coach Calipari said it best after the game, “We made plays. We made shots. We made blocks. We did enough to win the game and now we’re going to get out of here.” 

            Patrick Patterson had his best game of the SEC season with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks.  His aggressiveness almost single handedly kept Kentucky in the game at times, giving the team numerous second chances on the offensive end of the court.  Oh yeah, he also made the game tying shot to send the game to overtime and for the first time in a long time seemed like the dominating performer we have come to expect.

            DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall continued their amazing play making clutch play after clutch play throughout the game.  Cousins was absolutely dominating in the post and managed to foul out Jarvis Varnado.  How many years of eligibility did this guy get?  It seems like he’s been there forever and had completely dominated the Cats in every previous meeting.  It was nice to have the officials actually call a foul against him.  I guess they figured they should try it once before he graduated.

            Next up for the Cats is a trip to Memorial Gymnasium in Music City to face off against Vanderbilt in a game that will go a long way in determining the SEC regular season champion.  It’s no secret that Kentucky has struggled mightily in Nashville in recent years and the setup of the gym is something none of the newcomers have ever seen before.  This game is always the most challenging road game of the season and it will be very interesting to see how the team responds in this one.