Some Tuesday Recruiting Notes

With little news that has not already been disposed of on the site (scroll below) and our writers basking in the glow of all the women that are now approaching them following the Sporting News nod, we are left with three basketball recruiting notes to fill us with gladness on a Monday night: (1): The talk of the last few days has centered around comments made to Kentucky Ink's Chris Fischer by Terrence Boyd, a 2009 recruit from San Diego. Boyd, who has been highly ranked at various points during the recruiting process, told Fischer that on his next visit to Kentucky, he could very well commit to the Cats. Boyd is a Small Forward that is very skilled and would be a welcome addition to any team. Over the last couple of days, I have spoken with some folks around the program, all of whom were taken a little aback by Boyd's comments. Boyd is at this point a long shot to qualify to play next year. His grades are less than stellar and most assume he will not be eligible absent a heroic Senior year in the classroom. Some have even suggested that UK hasnt even issued a full offer due to these grade issue. Regardless, we are scheduled to talk to Boyd on the show, potentially on Wednesday, and hopefully will know some more. But if one were to listen to Boyd himself, they would think that there is a possibility for a quick UK commitment in the coming weeks. Whether he will actually wear Blue and White remains a very open question. (2): Also burning up the Kentucky Ink website was today's story by Victoria Sun that suggests that UK may have decided to pull out of the Deniz Kilicli race. The basis for this decision was his desire to attend the West Virginia Midnight Madness instead of the UK version, thus potentially putting West Virginia in the driver's seat for his services. On Friday, Kilicli's coach suggested to me that Kentucky was still involved, but reports this weekend suggested that Deniz's decision had the effect of making UK pull out. It also raises questions as to whether the decision to move Madness back ended up being a positive one, at least for the 2009 class. With both Kilicli and Wall bowing out, the guys that were supposed to come due to the early date have decided not to make the trip. Daniel Orton is still coming, but it is likely that he would have come anyway, thus making the decision to move Madness up likely to have the added effect of allowing him to attend the Kansas Madness as well. While it is surely the case that some 2010 recruits will be on campus that may not have been able to attend otherwise, at least for 2009, the decision hasnt paid huge dividends. (3): And in the news of names of yesteryear, Shawn Kemp Jr., has committed to Alabama. Both Tubby Smith and Billy Gillispie recruited Kemp at some point and there was a time that Clyde seemed to have real interest in the former Cat commitment's son. However Alabama ended up getting the commitment, another solid get for the "Man Who Can Recruit, but not Coach", Mark Gottfried. As with all Shawn Kemp references, my thoughts immediately go to one of the legendary UK stories that involves Kemp, an attorney and uriniation in a potted plant in a law office. One day when little is going on the site, I will recount it in detail, but suffice to say, I have never looked at the elder Shawn Kemp the same way again. Good luck to his son at Alabama and we shall see him in the years to come. More throughout the day, including the Intern's SEC Slant, more Blogger contestants and a look at the best thing South Carolina has to offer.....