SEC Basketball

The University of Kentucky has added another top recruit John Wall to their 2009-10 class. Wall will announce later today that he is attending UK according to SI.com.

In his short stint so far as head coach, Calipari has signed 5 star recruits Wall, Bledsoe, Cousins, and 4 star Dodson. He was able to hold on to Gillispie's recruits 5 star Orton and 4 star Hood. UK adds a total of 6 new freshman:

***** - John Wall - PG
***** - Demarcus Cousins - PF,C
***** - Eric Bledsoe - PG
***** - Daniel Orton - C
**** - Jon Hood - SG,SF
**** - Darnel Dodson - SG,SF

What a week for the University of Kentucky. Going from firing Gillispie to hitting a Grand Slam with hiring Calipari. I must admit this is a fabulous hire for the Wildcats if everything works out. They needed a leader who is well spoken and can serve as an ambassador to the program and Calipari can certainly sell the media along with the fans. As a long time UK fan, this hire allows me to reminisce back to the days of Pitino. Calipari has similar attributes as Pitino, they both are slick talking New Yorkers. They could sell a ketchup popsicle to a kid with white gloves.

Three SEC were invited to this years Big Dance. Below is a preview of the teams and how I presume their success will be in the tournament.

Miss. State

In a must win situation for the Wildcats, Meeks with 25pts led Kentucky past Ole Miss 71-58. Patrick Patterson had a nice all around game with 15pts, 14reb, and 3 blocks. Miller stepped up and chipped in 12pts. Yesterday Patterson came out and said he was returning for his junior season and most people believe Meeks will return as well. fans hope Patterson rejuvenated Kentucky yesterday with his announcement. The Cats seemed to play much better than they had been the last 4 games.

I can remember at 12:45 p.m on April 6, 2007, sitting in my chair eager like a kid in a candy store while Billy Gillispie was announced as the 6th basketball coach in UK's history. He stood and addressed the crowd, said all the desirable words, told us he would cut down some nets, and brought a vigor to the program that lacked the past few seasons. After all this was a man responsible for leading the most lucrative turnaround of two NCAA programs in two consecutive seasons.

Tonight the Gators battle 18th ranked LSU Tigers at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU enters the game conquerors of 8 straight and rests atop the conference at 11-1. The Tigers look like a lock for an at large NCAA bid, however at 21-6 (8-4 SEC) are the Gators on the bubble?

Kentucky has been searching for a third scorer all year. The focal point of opposing teams defense has been Patterson and Meeks. This has caused them to force up ill advised shots since no one will shoot the basketball. With Kentucky's already horrendous offensive sets it's imperative someone step up and help out the dynamic duo. There hasn't been consistency from game to game. Some games have had Stevenson, Liggins, Harrellson, and even Galloway put up an excellent game only to disappear the next.

With all the talk this year that the SEC is down I still have to believe they will get five teams into the big dance. However, I would be oblivious to the fact, if I didn't think the SEC is having a substandard year as compared to years in the past. The media outlets are (to use the proverbial saying) "kicking them while their down" this year but I say let the talking heads have their "hoopla" and ballyhoo and continually show the SEC disrespect because it's about to change and it starts next year.

While most of the country was entrenched in the Duke vs. North Carolina matchup (and rightfully so) they missed out on what was the game of the night. Led by Tasmin Mitchell's 41 points and 11 rebounds, LSU defeated Miss. State 97-94 to take sole possession of first place in the SEC.