Mike "Radar" Pratt's Thursday News and Views

If you noticed a drop in the number of posts on the site on Wednesday, it was because we here at Kentucky Sports Radio were playing in the Friends for Michael Charity Golf Tournament to benefit spinal cord research. It was a great event, honoring the life of former Cats Pause writer Michael Brent and there was a heavy UK presence there, as fans, TCP posters and former UK basketball players were in attendance. Guys like Kenny Walker (who looked smooth in his hoop earring and golf attire), Jeff Sheppard, Bobby and Mike Pratt spent time helping promote the tournament and lending themselves to the cause. Team Kentucky Sports Radio had a good day, shooting a 60 as Johnny "The" Bruce won the long drive contest and Mike Pratt hit a couple of key long putts, earning the nickname "Radar" by sinking some clutch putts to keep us in the game. We ended up finishing two back, but the man they called radar helped us finish strong. I am a big fan of Mike's both on and off the microphone as I think he (and Tom Leach) do a great job on the UK radio broadcasts. But Mike is an even better person off the court and as I have gotten to know him over the past year, I have never seen him be anything but cordial to the many people who come up and speak to him on a daily basis. Mike is a truly great ambassador for the program and a good person to have being one of the radio voices for UK basketball.....and he aint a bad putter either. To the news.... (1): The big news of the day is the somewhat breaking news about UK football commitment Qua Huzzie. There were some reports today that Huzzie had potentially de-committed from UK, or at the very least was considering taking further visits as the year went on. After the story came out, Huzzie called our own KSR football recruiting guru Beisner to say that he was NOT taking any more visits and that his commitment to UK was still solid. This news has to be considered positive for UK as Huzzie is a truly explosive talent and part of the pipeline that continues to flow to Rich Brooks and company. (2): As we talked about earlier today, Rich Brooks was NOT happy after practice today. His biggest gripe was a lack of effort from the team, a though echoed by Steve Brown on the defensive side of the ball. The problem for both coaches is that going into the game against MTSU, there is a severe worry that the Cats are set up for a letdown against a team that has the ability to pull an upset. MTSU beat Maryland last week and has the speed to contend with UK. Now the Cats are more talented and have a vastly superior defense, but if they let MTSU hang around, the game could get scary. The coaches know that and are trying to grab the team's attention.....an attempt that has not yet been fully successful. They hope that the difficulties expressed today will be the key to focusing the group for Saturday. (3): Expect to see Aaron Boyd's role increase this week, further expand against Western Kentucky and potentially become one of the top four receivers by the Alabama game. The staff has been nothing but high on Boyd's potential and were privately very discouraged by his sickness and the time it caused him to lose. However the recovery has been somewhat quicker than expected, Boyd's athleticism is still through the roof and he has picked up the UK offense a bit quicker than most of his Freshmen counterparts. Expect to see his playing time and importance continue to increase week after week. (4): In the basketball world, the big story is the beginning of in-home visits, which actually started Tuesday, but have continued all week. Gillispie has been to see Daniel Orton, GJ Vilarino and will see Jon Hood, likely on Friday. I was told that there were "2 or 3" other visits that have also occurred, although I am not certain to who or where they have taken place. Gillispie is currently in El Paso, where he will attend the Don Haskins memorial service tomorrow, and then head back on the road afterwards. (5): Speaking of Jon Hood, I cant overstate how impressive he was on Saturday during the pickup games. There are many things you cannot tell in pickup basketball....but one you can is a guy's comfort level, confidence and athletic ability. Hood showed all in spades. The knock on Jon was that he might have to be a system player and might struggle against faster and better athletes in college. He showed to me that the worry is not of importance as it pertains to him. He is quick off the dribble, aggressive in getting to the basket and still a solid shooter. His defense needs work, but his athletic ability is such that you can see him reaching good, even if not great, defensive status. He will be a special one for UK and fans should be excited to follow his Senior year. More throughout the day as we give you an update on a recruit, Beisner talks about his latest "Beisner-esque" interview with Jon Hood and MTSU is dissected and fried. All that and we are back to our regular schedule, so stay tuned.........