KentuckySports.co Rival Kentucky Sports Blog

        They say a picture is worth a thousand words. If that is the case, then this is my greatest writing achievement. Cartoonist Joel Pett's cartoon portraying John Calipari's trophy shelf made its premier in the Lexington Herald Leader of all places. Several Cat fans have become very upset with their hometown newspaper. Here are some examples from the Herald Leader's comment section:

One guy wrote: I'm going to subscribe to the Herald Leader just so I can call and cancel.

       Bobby Rainey and Derrius Brooks were picked up by NFL teams after not being selected in the NFL draft. Rainey, running back, signed with the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday night. Derrius Brooks, defensive back was picked up by the Cincinnati Bengals.

       Rainey ran for 1,695 yards and 13 touchdowns his senior season, breaking the WKU season rushing record. He also is the all-time rushing leader for the school with 4,523 yards and 34 touchdowns in his career at Western. “It feels great,” Rainey said of becoming a pro. “A sigh of relief.”

        Brooks said after signing with the Bengals, "This is a dream come true."  The 5'10 defensive back ran a 4.29/40 yard dash during the teams Pro Day. He has 33 tackles and 4 interceptions last season for the Hilltoppers.

Thanks to Mike Rutherford of the CardChronicle for finding these great photo's of what could have been for the Final Four teams Kansas, Ohio State and of course the Louisville Cardinals. These are t-shirts and hats that were made in advance for the 2012 NCAA Champion(UK) and I can't help but smile a little when I look at them and I'm sure the song I leave you with Card fans should hit the nail!

According to Ty Duffy at TheBigLead.com, Arkansas has hired another former Louisville head coach in John L. Smith. They approached Smith with an interim deal to take over for the 2012 season in which he accepted knowing that this team will be very good considering he was the special teams coach from 2009-2011 under recently fired Bobby Petrino.

He led U of L to two Conference USA titles and one Top 20 finish during his tenure in Louisville from 1998-2002. He then headed to Michigan State where he only won 14 games from 2004-2006 before being fired but now actually has a legit shot at a BCS Bowl bid.

CBSSports.com had updated their Top 25(and one) now that a few people have decided where they are gonna play they're college ball and the three region teams are a top of the list. Jeff Goodman and Gary Parrish have put Kentucky, Indiana and Louisville as there 1-3 ranked teams for next season which could end up being one of the greatest seasons around this area considering there could be 3 final four teams that are hated rivals.

Here is what was said about the three teams and to read the full article, GO HERE!

1. Kentucky
Last season: 38-2 (won the national title)
Notable players definitely gone: Darius Miller, Eloy Vargas
Others expected to leave: Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones, Marquis Teague, Doron Lamb
Notable players expected to return: Kyle Wiltjer
Notable newcomers: Nerlens Noel, Archie Goodwin, Alex Poythress, Willie Cauley, Ryan Harrow (N.C. State)
Other likely newcomers: Anthony Bennett

2. Indiana
Last season: 27-9 (lost to Kentucky in the Sweet 16)
Notable players definitely gone: Verdell Jones, Tom Pritchard, Matt Roth
Others expected to leave: None
Notable players expected to return: Cody Zeller, Christian Watford, Jordan Hulls, Victor Oladipo, Will Sheehey, Maurice Creek
Notable newcomers: Yogi Ferrell, Hanner Perea, Jeremy Hollowell

3. Louisville
Last season: 30-10 (lost to Kentucky in the Final Four)
Notable players definitely gone: Kyle Kuric, Chris Smith, Jared Swopshire
Others expected to leave: None
Notable players expected to return: Gorgui Dieng, Peyton Siva, Russ Smith, Chane Behanan, Wayne Blackshear, Mike Marra
Notable newcomers: Luke Hancock (George Mason), Terry Rozier

The Kentucky-Louisville football game that was scheduled for September 1st has been moved back to the 2nd and will be aired on ESPN. This is a good thing for both programs to get the early national coverage to start the season. So we will see the rivalry game here in Louisville at Papa Johns Cardinal Stadium at 3:00pm Sept. 2nd.

In what was a offensive show from both teams last night in Freedom Hall for the Kentucky Derby Festival Basketball Classic, the White Team prevailed over the Black Team 130-127.

TJ Warren led the way for the White Team with 27 points with Louisville commit Terry Rozier had a good night by adding 16 points, 12 rebounds and showed what Card fans will be raving over in the coming years. We also had the opportunity to speak to Terry on our 1450am The Weekend Sports Buzz show this morning(9-11am Saturday's) and he told us he is very excited to come play at Louisville with Peyton Siva and Russ Smith and that he is willing to do whatever Pitino asks him to do to help the ball club win games.

There was also the Indiana trio of Perea, Hollowell and Patterson combining for 31 points in front of what may have been a pro IU fan base. Speaking of the crowd, it was down compared to past years, they were loud at time, especially for Rozier but in general I was a little disappointed in the output but I'm sure there only being one Louisville guy and no Kentucky commits playing in the game probably caused a lot of folks to stay home

As for the Black Team, they had a potential UK recruit lead the way with 26 points in Amile Jefferson, Chicken Knowles added 15 while 4 other guys scored in double figures in the losing effort. And for the one's wondering, Rozier did not win either the 3pt or Dunk championships as those were swept by future OSU Cowboys Phil Forte(3pt Champ) and acrobatic Marcus Smart(Dunk Champ)

Yes, Kentucky won the National Championship and I know you are craving more basketball as I am already so why not get out to Freedom Hall tonight for the 37th edition of the Kentucky Derby Festival Basketball Classic?

The game will showcase some of the top high school seniors around the country, including future Louisville Cardinal guard Terry Rozier who will give Card fans plenty to cheer about as he will take place in the 3-pt Championship AND Dunk Contest Championship at half-time. Joining him on the White Team is a trio of Indiana commits in Jeremy Hollowell, Ron Patterson and Hanner Perea and this may be the first time in years that a Kentucky commit will not be in attendance as 7-footer Willie Cauley-Stein could not make it, but you may want to cheer on Amile Jefferson, Cat fans, as it seems that UK may be picking up his recruitment.
 
The game tips off at 7:00pm and there are probably still some tickets left at the door so get out there and enjoy the classic as it is usually a fun night!

White Team
Steve Adams C 6’11”/230 Pittsburgh
Semaj Christon PG 6’2”/175 Xavier
Sam Dekker SF 6’7”/190 Wisconsin
Jeremy Hollowell SF 6’7”/200 Indiana
Danuel House SG 6’6”/175 Houston
Ron Patterson SG 6’3/180 Indiana
Hanner Perea PF 6’8”/190 Indiana
Terry Rozier PG 6’1”/170 Louisville
Jakarr Sampson PF 6’7”/195 St. Johns
TJ Warren SF 6’8”/230 North Carolina State

Black Team
Jordan Adams SF 6’5”/205 UCLA
Robert Carter C 6’9”/245 Georgia Tech
Phil Forte PG 5’11”/165 Oklahoma State
Amile Jefferson PF 6’9”/200 Undecided
Tyler Lewis PG 5’11”/165 North Carolina State
Devonta Pollard SF 6’7”/195 Undecided
Winston Shepard PF 6’8”/200 San Diego State
Marcus Smart SG 6’4”/200 Oklahoma State
D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera SG 6’3”/210 Georgetown
Andrew White SF 6’6”/205 Kansas

Good news coming out of Murray State today that junior guard and sharp shooter Isaiah Canaan has announced that he will come back to the Racers in hopes of making another NCAA Tournament run.

The Racers' season came to an end after being beaten by Marquette in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament. They ended the year with a 31-2 record and Canaan led the way with 19 points, 3.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game.

      Not that it completely matters but USA Today and ESPN released their final Top 25 Coaches Poll today. Kentucky of course finds it self at number one after winning the national championship game. Louisville ends up at number 4, which they were ranked in several preseason polls. The best story maybe of the entire year was Murray State who was 31-2 on the season; they ended up at number 16.

Former Louisville Cardinals Football HC and current Arkansas Razorbacks HC Bobby Petrino crashed his motorcycle on Arkansas Highway 16 in Madison County, Arkansas near the Community of Crosses. The details of this story are still very minimal as no representative from Petrino’s “camp” are releasing any statements regarding the Coach's current condition or even which hospital he was taken to.

Kentuckysports.co wishes Petrino a full and speedy recovery.

Here is the story from espn.com

There's been a lot of smack talk this week between Cards and Cats fans, but it's time to put this whole thing into perspective and come together for a common cause: talking about how awesome the Commonwealth of Kentucky is and how we own college basketball.

As a Kentuckian, I got pretty annoyed a couple weeks ago when ESPN wouldn't shut up about how all four Ohio teams made it to the Sweet Sixteen. I applaud them for their accomplishments, but I was waiting for the Buckeye State to implode because I knew the whole time that Kentucky would win out. Xavier and Ohio lost in their regional semifinals and Ohio State beat Cincinnati, leaving them as the only team remaining. Kentucky took the lead immediately by having two teams push their way into the Final Four. How awesome is it that 50% of the Final Four is comprised of teams from the Commonwealth? Pretty awesome. At least better than the 25% that Ohio had in the Sweet Sixteen.

      Russ Smith and Darius Miller are completely different players when they come off the bench. Russ is small, quick and isn't afraid to dribble inside on anyone. Miller is the most consistent player for Kentucky; he shoots good shots and is strong on defense. Louisville needs Russ to help force Kentucky to make turnovers. Kentucky needs Darius to be the senior leader for the young Wildcats.

Russ Smith Player Info and Stats:

     Saturday, March 31st @ 6:09pm

Mercedes-Benz Superdome

New Orleans, La.

CBS

    This is the match-up the world will be watching. Gorgui Dieng struggled on the offensive end during the first battle in December but did have 6 blocks, his foul trouble was the biggest issue for him last time and it will be the major issue on Saturday. Davis is the best player in college basketball, not even Cardinal fans will argue with that. But Dieng is playing a lot better on both ends of the floor, Davis and Dieng are similar sizes and have a gift for blocking shots. This could be the best match-up of the entire tournament.

Gorgui Dieng Player Info and Stats

Height/Weight: 6-11/235

Birthdate: 01/18/1990

The match-up between UK and UL back in December was not the prettiest for shooting guards Doron Lamb and Chris Smith. Lamb did score in double figures, getting to the ten mark but 8 of those were free throws while he shot a dismal 1-7 from the field, 0-3 behind the arc and chalked up 4 turnovers. As for Smith it was much of the same, he went 2-10 shooting, 1-3 three pointers and knocked down both his free throws to end the game with only 8 points, he did not turn the ball over and grabbed 3 boards.

I'm sure both of these guys are ready to come out and continure to play well as they have during the NCAA Tournament and most of March. I expect this to be a big key to the Kentucky-Louisville game Saturday because if one or the other is knocking down three's, it could lead them to a date with either Kansas or Ohio State Monday night in the National Championship.

    In the first match up in December Kidd -Gilchrist owned the game scoring 24 points and 19 rebounds. Kyle Kuric on the other hand struggled to even get shots, shooting 1-4 for 2 points. Kuric will need to fight hard to get good shots and keep pressure on Gilchrist, the key is to not let Gilchrist get offensive rebounds. Kidd-Gilchrist is a talented player who is a lot more skilled then Kuric, Kuric must play smart.

Kyle Kuric Stats and Player Info: