Wednesday Night News and Views

With all the talk of soccer in the news lately, I thought this picture of a Kentucky fan at an Arsenal game would be appropriate. For those of you who need a fix of the beautiful game, don't worry; the Women's World Cup starts this weekend. I'm going to do my best to keep up with it, if only because I bought so much American flag stuff last summer for the men's World Cup. Anyways, cheers, Audrey. We hope you're enjoying your vacation in England. Get some hobnobs. Trust me. *****************

Mark Stoops faced off with Bobby Petrino at the Governor's Cup Luncheon

[caption id="attachment_179625" align="alignnone" width="527"] Jeff Brohm, Bobby Petrino, Billy Reed (so that's what Billy Reed looks like), and Stoops (Photo @gregbrohm)[/caption] Today was the annual Governor's Cup Luncheon, and even though their teams don't face off for about six more months, Bobby Petrino and Mark Stoops attended. Apparently things between Petrino and Stoops were a little tense, but no brawls broke out. We sent Freddie Maggard to cover it, and his tweets were ten times better than any other media member: https://twitter.com/FredMaggard/status/606133687843876864 https://twitter.com/FredMaggard/status/606131401386164224 https://twitter.com/FredMaggard/status/606139799976579072 I'll take that over actual news any day. Speaking of news, there was a little...

Stoops said Towles has the leg up on Barker right now

I think we all assumed this, but Stoops confirmed that Patrick Towles is the leader in the quarterback race; however, Stoops wasn't ready to shut the door on Drew Barker just yet, telling the crowd the competition will go into fall camp. "I think obviously you guys can read between the lines: Patrick Towles did some very good things a year ago, has the experience," Stoops said. "He probably has the leg up right now, but we'll see moving forward. Again, we're certainly going to leave that open to compete throughout the summer and throughout fall camp."

Stoops also expects his team to be "significantly better"

We're headed into year three of the Mark Stoops era, which, according to the sleep-creep-leap timeline, means it's time for results. Stoops knows that, and expects to see a better product on the field. “We’ll be significantly better, as we should be,” Stoops said. “You expect to be better. That first year is always difficult; just trying to get the players, the coaches, the people and the community to understand your expectations and what you demand of them. The second year, it’s a lot about self awareness, the players understand what they can do. This third year, as we move forward, I think what the nice thing is the players clearly understand what we expect of them.”

Speaking of football, it was picture day for the rest of the team

https://youtu.be/GDabu0z-dNE Looking good, boys.

Your word of the day: "Process"

I do not have a Jamal Murray update; however, John Calipari did subtweet Murray this afternoon: https://twitter.com/UKCoachCalipari/status/606149997185351681 Don't get it? Murray's most recent tweet after his trip to Lexington famously included the phrase "enjoying the process": https://twitter.com/BeMore27/status/601526083306000385 Cal is scheduled to speak with the local media tomorrow and will also appear on "The Dan Patrick Show." If you have the day off and feel like partying, drinking every time Cal says "process" should get the job done.

Jayson Tatum is down to two schools

...and unfortunately, he didn't tell us which ones. The five-star wing's final four was Kentucky, Duke, UNC, and St. Louis, so odds are they're two of those. Rumor has it on the interwebs that he's down to Duke and St. Louis, his hometown school and father's alma mater. He's expected to announce his decision this month or next.

Dakari Johnson worked out for the Memphis Grizzlies

It was Dakari's second team workout, and Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace had some very high praise for the big man.

"Dakari is a real student of the game and as conscientious a young man as I've ever encountered in a workout setting," Wallace said. "We took him out to eat last night. He's locked in to both myself and Ed Stefanski. He understands this is a long journey for success in the NBA."

The Grizzlies have the 25th pick of the Draft. Could Dakari jump into the first round?

We may need to become Jay Bilas Sports Radio

As we knew he would, Bilas the Trillest absolutely rocked his guest host appearance this morning. Bilas and Shannon teamed up for what will surely be a "Best of" show one day, covering topics like 38-1, Matt's vacation spots, and "The Big Lebowski," Bilas' favorite movie. Bilas, always honest, said that even though Kentucky made history by going 38-1, he still believes they were underappreciated:

One of the things I said throughout the course of the year that I thought was absolutely true, was, what do we want from a college basketball team that Kentucky didn’t display? Why did we see so many that wouldn’t really embrace the great things about that team. They were incredibly unselfish; they played really, really good defense together; they played that old cliche ‘play for the name on the front of the jersey instead of the back’ and all that stuff. I thought it was extraordinary what those guys did as a unit and as a team, and they didn’t seem to get the credit for it. If somebody else had done it, we would’ve been throwing ticker tape parades for all of the team stuff that they did.

Painfully true.

Bilas also interviewed Paul Biancardi about UK's 2015 recruiting class

Few people know the game and recruiting better than Biancardi, who sang the praises of UK's underrated 2015 class, especially Skal Labissiere. "This guy has as much, if not more upside than Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram in the class," Biancardi said of Skal. "Legitimate 6-11 and shoots the three-point shot easy. Shoots midrange jumpers easy. A much better pick-and-pop guy than a post-up guy. But I will tell you this, he can get on the block and get to a smooth jump hook." He also praised Isaiah Briscoe, whom he called "the most battle-tested and physically ready" of the three signees, and Charles Matthews, whom he envisions will play a Darius Miller/DeAndre Liggins style role for Kentucky.

Next up? The UK Football coaching staff

It won't be easy to follow Jay Bilas, but the UK Football coaches are definitely capable. Tune in to hear DJ Eliot, Shannon Dawson, Vince Marrow, and Ryan Lemond talk the oblong ball. DJ Eliot tweeted tonight that he "can't wait." The feeling is mutual, coach. Here's the rest of the guest host schedule:

Thursday, June 4: UK Football Coaching Staff Friday, June 5: Tim Couch and Jared Lorenzen

Monday, June 8: Jon Rothstein Tuesday, June 9: Matthew Mitchell Wednesday, June 10: Josh Hopkins Thursday, June 11: Seth Greenberg Friday, June 12: TBD

See you in the morning.