Uncle Luke's Wednesday News and Views

Good morning and happy Wednesday to you, sweet KSR reader.  You’ll have to excuse the mess.  We had a little bit of a celebration last night with a good friend and he told us he’d pick up all the ones and the NCAA infraction letters when the evening ended.  Obviously, Uncle Luke didn’t live up to his end of the bargain.  That’s right, everyone’s favorite foul-mouthed rapper and NCAA nemesis, Luther Campbell, turns 50 today, officially making an entire generation of people feel old.  After carving up the Hip-Hop charts with a variety of songs my mother would prefer my not name here, Uncle Luke has settled into the second half of his life nicely and forged the type of career that would only seem possible if Marc Maggard was telling you that it was what Matt Jones aspired to attain.  Campell was featured in a short-lived reality show on Vh1, hosts a sports show in Miami with Terry Kirby, did some work on Grand Theft Auto and even went public with his entertainment group (shares currently sell for a penny).  But, he’s mostly known now for sparring with Gregg Doyel on Twitter and continuing to linger around teenage football players.  So, happy birthday, Uncle Luke.  May you have another 50 years ahead of you and may the world continue to love you long time. 

Now onto some UK notes…

 – When Kentucky enters into their rare (or annual) afternoon game Wednesday, they will again do so without Enes Kanter, who continues to sit quietly on the bench in a variety of Undertaker shirts.  We could spend some more time talking about how we heard nothing from the NCAA on Tuesday, but you already know that.  We could say that some still believe there will be a decision by Christmas, but you know that too.  Instead, we’ll just keep writing some words so it appears to those not taking the time to read the whole post that there is some significant information here.  There’s not, though.  No one knows what’s going to happen.  So, we wait.  But, we wait together.  And that’s all that matters.

 – After mentioning the word “sue” Monday night in regard to the possible options for Kanter should be determined ineligible again by the NCAA, Coach Cal softened on the subject a bit Tuesday, saying that he was just talking out loud and that he just thought it could be an option for Enes and his family.  Calipari said that they could get an injunction possibly, but that doesn’t seem to be too likely.  It would be tough for the Kanters to prove the NCAA violated their own institutional rules in declaring him ineligible, according to some lawyer working for CBS.  So, to save everyone trouble, the NCAA should just let him play.  Sounds good to me.  I’m sure you agree.

 – Coach Cal also spoke publicly on another situation and it took a twist that hit a little too close to home.  In speaking of the possibility that he would take over the Dominican national team, Calipari denied having spoken to anyone and said he didn’t know until his daughter Megan came downs stairs and said, “Well, it’s all over KSR.”  Gulp.  First of all, Coach, you should be very pleased that your daughter has such fine tastes.  Secondly, c’mon, man.  Can’t the new guy catch a break?  To our credit, after denying it, Calipari spoke about how much of an honor it would be to be under consideration, but said he didn’t know if they were interested.  Why wouldn’t they be?  I mean, you’re so talented and charming and handsome, aren’t you, Coach?  And you put out the best Lexy messages.  Is the sucking up working?

 – Again on Tuesday, not much changed in the world of Trevor Lacey and DeAndre Daniels.  We did get confirmation that Calipari’s recruiting trip between practices was to visit Lacey at his high school.  Shout-out to the happiest science teacher on the planet.  Also, DeAndre Daniels set up a visit to Texas on December 27, which seems to be getting a little close to the deadline to enroll in a college early.  But, what do I know?  My jumper is garbage.

– If you didn’t get a chance to check it out earlier, make sure you scroll down the page and take a look at some of the details of the new Wildcat Coal Lodge basketball dorm.  It appears to be quite the upgrade over the current facility and, thanks to a cool $1 million donation after the price went up after a few tweaks, should be ready to go in the spring of 2012.  I hope they left room for that extra replica banner inside.

 – Over at ESPN, SEC blogger Chris Low ranked the SEC coaches on their 2010 season and placed Joker Phillips’ initial campaign as the conference’s eighth-best performance.  I can’t say I disagree.  While the season wasn’t a total disaster, had you told me at the beginning of the year that the team would finish 6-6 against a schedule where only two teams (Auburn and South Carolina) were better than they were last year, I would have called the season a disappointment.  Now, if you factor in the way Mike Hartline emerged and the near 2-0 record against the SEC ‘s Championship Game combatants, it’s hard to argue that it was what it could or should have been.  It’s not writing off the Joker Phillips era, but it certainly leaves room for improvement in year two.

 – In other SEC news, Tennessee lost again, this time to USC in the NCAA Violations Invitational.  It’s the third consecutive loss for a Vols team that is now winless under this new KSR regime.  If you want to point a finger at a specific culprit, look no further than Kentucky’s own Scotty Hopson, who averaged 17.8 points in the Vols’ 7-0 start and is now putting up 9.3 since I started renting out space in his head.  Fear not, though, Vols fans.  Only four more games until you get to play 8 of 9 without that clown on the bench.

 – In the time it took to post the news earlier until the time another post went up, Renardo Sidney’s suspension was downgraded from “indefinite” to “one game”.  Rick Stansbury, I have reason to believe that you’re reading this.  If so, that was a real Pitino move on your part.  And that’s not a compliment.

– In other basketball news, UNLV knocked off Kansas State in Manhattan as Wildcat starters Jacob Pullen and Curtis Kelly sat after receiving a discount on clothes at a department store, according to Jeff Goodman.  Still, though, no ramifications for the Gator Discount.

 – Finally, don’t forget that Michael Gilchrist will be on ESPNU Wednesday night.  Thanks to a 34 point outing Tuesday night, his St. Patrick’s team will face Milton (Ga.) at 9:30 pm.  Milton features three four-star 2011 prospects who are committed to Ohio State, Vanderbilt and Georgia Tech.  Should be a good one.

That’s it for now.  Stay tuned throughout the day for the Winthrop afternoon basketball extravaganza.  Matt will be by for a Live Blog at 12:30 and we’ll spend the rest of the day on Enes Watch.  It could be a big Wednesday around these parts.  Make sure you stick around.  In the meantime, make sure you keep your ankle elevated…

See you in a few…