Isiah Thomas' Monday News and Views

You arent going to believe this, but it is true. College basketball starts tonight. Seriously, the college basketball season begins in earnest this evening with the Coaches vs Cancer Classic on ESPNU. The first game involves the defending national champions North Carolina, taking on the team with one of the more interesting hires in recent college basketball history, Florida International. In the Spring, Florida International hired Isiah Thomas, who fresh off ruining the CBA, Toronto Raptors, Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks, decided that a new endeavor was required. After beginning his first attempt at the college basketball world, Isiah made a bit of a splash this summer, getting some quality recruits, including Dominique Ferguson who at one time was a Kentucky commitment under Gillispie. Isiah has attempted to make Florida International power for the two years he coaches there before he (a) gets bored and quits or (b) finds a better job and leaves. And tonight, we will get our first look at what an Isiah Thomas coached team looks like. In addition, Syracuse will be hosting Albany (thank goodness its not Lamoyne) and Kentucky's own Murray State is at California. College basketball, only the greatest sport in the land, begins for real tonight...and it is time to hit the ground running. To the news... (1): Being Kentucky, everything about the college basketball program will be dissected and focused on, no matter how trivial. With that in mind, the topic that I kept getting asked about all weekend was what is going on with DeAndre Liggins. Liggins of course sat out all of Friday's game, and was on the bench in a different outfit than the rest of the team, suggesting that he never expected to actually play during the game. When a player does not get in during a 65 point rout, it makes one wonder what is going on and understandably, Calipari was asked about it after the game. Calipari said he would not comment on players not playing and then said that he didnt want to "throw a kid under the bus" with a public comment. That has led many to speculate and the rumors surrounding Liggins have been allowed to flourish on many message boards. Here is what I do know....very little. No one around the program is talking about the Liggins situation and it is one of the more close-mouthed issues I have seen. All I have been told is to expect to know more about it later this week. But for now, the mystery of Liggins is still one leading to fan speculation. Heres hoping it gets resolved before the season, and the influx of national media for Friday's opener, arrive. (2): I have said this a lot before, but it bears repeating now...it is amazing just how mature John Wall is at this stage. After the game Friday night, Wall met the media for the first time following a game, and he was a complete pro. He answered every question calmly, deflected the attempts of some media members to create a story on the game he will miss and was as polite to fans and those around the arena as any player you will see (absent the king of that type of thing, Patrick Patterson). His talents on the floor are obvious and watching him on Friday was unbelievable. But what makes him have that "it" potential is how, like Lebron James, he is a master of the talents off the floor and in the locker room. Along with Patterson, UK could not ask for a better top duo to lead a team back to prominence. He will make UK basketball proud. (3): On the football end of things, expect Randall Cobb back for the Vanderbilt game this week. Cobb was a surprising scratch during the game Saturday (which doubled as one of the most boring games that I have ever seen in person), and his injury even took the UK staff off guard. Coach Brooks expected Cobb to be able to go, but a sprain (or as my grandmother would have called it a "stubbed thumb) became so sore that Cobb couldnt catch the ball without it aggravating the pain. The decision was made to sit him out and with X-rays showing no break, they expect him to be fine this week. The bigger question is the bomb dropped by Brooks at his press conference that Mike Hartline might be ready for the game in Nashville. He will practice this week and may or may not go, depending on how the week plays out. (4): In the realm of former UK players in other places, two guys made debuts of note. Jodie Meeks went for 19 points after being activated by the Bucks this week. Jodie hit four threes and opened up the offense for Milwaukee, insuring according to Coach Scott Skiles, more playing time for the kid that would have made this UK team transcendent. And Matt "Beast" Pilgrim made his debut in an exhibition game at Oklahoma State by putting up 14 points and 13 rebounds. It is very likely that UK nation follows the play of the Beast all year as he and Travis Ford join Marshall Moses at UK Southwest. Finally, if you are looking for something to listen to, a couple of options. The Herald Leader has some "audio one-on-ones" with UK players that led to answers in their college basketball preview section today. IF you saw the hard copy paper today (both of you), you would have seen Patrick Patterson say that the website he reads most is Kentucky Sports Radio...which made us way too happy. Here is his whole interview, complete with Jerry Tipton laughs in the background. And, we released Episode 2 of the KSR Podcast, this time with a packed house including Keenan Burton Kenny Walker Woo Turkey Hunter Drew Franklin It was a great episode hosted from the UK Delta Tau Delta house, with tales from Walker about Melvin Turpin, Burton on a very interesting incident with Rafael Little at a Vandy road game from the past and Woo on John Wall. If you would like to host a future episode, email me at [email protected] and let me know the details. You can listen below and Subscribe on Itunes by searching for "Kentucky Sports Radio". [podcast]/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/DTD_PodCast.mp3[/podcast] More all day, including Turkey Hunter's coverage of the Clarion game, the announcement of the Georgia football game time and more. Stay tuned....