Posts Tagged ‘kentucky’
From the Wire: Monday Links
Today’s best from college newspapers around the country:
Michigan State has come a long, long way since getting whomped by the Tar Heels in December
– Alex Altman, The State News
ALSO: The Spartans look to knock off a third No. 1 seed; MSU fans are in full force
Will North Carolina be able to dictate the tempo once again? — David Ely, The Daily Tar Heel
ALSO: Detroit rallies behind the Spartans
Arizona strikes out once more, this time with Xavier’s Sean Miller
– Lance Madden, The Arizona Daily Wildcat
By nearly leaving USC, Tim Floyd reminded us coaching is all about money, power and ego
– Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, The Daily Trojan
Oklahoma‘s Blake Griffin capped his brilliant season with a well-deserved Naismith Award
– Eric Dama, The Oklahoma Daily
From the Wire: Friday Links
Today’s best from college newspapers around the country:
Michigan State is playing for Big Ten basketball fans everywhere
– Rich Mayor, The Daily Illini
Dante Cunningham, Wayne Ellington, Goran Suton and Jeff Adrien are key X-factors for their respective teams — David Namm, The Vanderbilt Hustler
At least Ford Field gets to host something other than a Detroit Lions game — Kevin Duffy, The Daily Campus
Don’t be so sure this weekend will play out as we expect — Geoffrey Miller, The Indiana Daily Student
Tom Izzo and Jim Calhoun have proved again they are the best coaches in college basketball
– Greg Carey, The Daily Athenaeum
Calipari: Day 2
It’s John Calipari’s world. We’re just living in it.
Putting the Final Four on hold for a few more days, the college basketball world is buzzing about the brash, successful coach’s lucrative leap from Memphis to Kentucky.
On the scene
In Lexington, the Kentucky Kernel has another batch of piping hot news and analysis:
UK’s president and athletics director say they looked into every black mark on Calipari’s record and are confident he’s an upstanding citizen.
Cal says he’s always wanted to coach at Kentucky. When the Wildcats were looking for a coach two years ago, he asked his wife every day if they had called yet. (I bet Memphis is thrilled to hear that.)
Nothing to see here. Move along. Calipari and Rick Pitino don’t hate each other.
Coach Cal takes the reins at Kentucky
Photo by Brad Luttrell, Kentucky Kernel
The Kentucky Kernel has blanket coverage of the first day of the John Calipari era, from last night’s official word to an examination of the biggest contract in college basketball and a report on the elite recruits who could follow him from Memphis.
For his part, Calipari downplayed some of the hoopla at his introductory news conference this morning. “I don’t walk on water,” he said. “I don’t have a magic wand. I’m not the emperor.”
The Kernel also has reaction and analysis from its stable of columnists. Kenny Colston, for one, was impressed:
[T]his time, UK did everything right. They got a coach that is proven, understands who to appeal to and how to handle criticism. As Calipari said it himself, in Memphis if he didn’t beat Conference USA teams by 20, people thought something was wrong. A loss was unspeakable.
Sounds familiar.
From the Wire: Monday Links
Today’s best from college newspapers around the country:
No Michigan State player pushed harder to reach the Final Four than Travis Walton — Alex Altman, The State News
ALSO: MSU clinched its fifth Final Four berth in 11 years; Thousands of fans welcomed them home
Pitt isn’t ready to think about whether DeJuan Blair will come back next season — Mike Gladysz, The Pitt News
ALSO: The Panthers are not accustomed to losing close games
Danny Green came up big for North Carolina with Tyler Hansbrough and Wayne Ellington struggling — David Ely, The Daily Tar Heel
ALSO: The Heels have bigger goals than reaching the Final Four
Upsets are great, but top-quality matchups are better — Jonah Braun, The Badger Herald
Oklahoma‘s guards just couldn’t match their UNC counterparts — Joey Helmer, The Oklahoma Daily
ALSO: Mistakes got the Sooners sent home early
Kentucky picks up the pieces
The Kentucky Kernel has full coverage of UK’s decision to fire Billy Gillispie after two contentious seasons, starting with reactions from fans and current and former players and a timeline of Gillispie’s 30-year journey to this point. They’ve also got video of Friday’s news conference with athletics director Mitch Barnhart and university president Lee Todd:
The chemistry just wasn’t right.
That was what UK Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart said about UK and former men’s basketball head coach Billy Gillispie, who will not be brought back after two years in Lexington.
“This is not a place I thought we would be in or where I want to be,” Barnhart said during a Friday news conference. “I’d like to thank Coach Gillispie and his staff for their two years here, but we have decided not to bring him back.”
From the Wire: Friday Links
Today’s best from college newspapers around the country:
UConn‘s Craig Austrie came up big after slumping recently — Kevin Duffy, The Daily Campus
ALSO: A quick start helped the Huskies go from Sweet to Elite
Duke‘s big three — Gerald Henderson, Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer — had no answers for Villanova
– Sabreena Merchant, The Duke Chronicle
ALSO: Lapsing in all phases of the game, the Blue Devils went out with a thud
Missouri sure knows how to make things exciting
– Lenny Goldman, The Maneater
Memphis, like Kansas, did well to make it this far after so much offseason turnover — Kelly Breckunitch, The University Daily Kansan
Pitt‘s Levance Fields lived up to his “Mr. Big Shot” nickname
– Michael Gladysz, The Pitt News
From the Wire: Wednesday Links
Today’s best from college newspapers around the country:
Syracuse forward Kristof Ongenaet is from Belgium, so this whole March Madness thing is new to him — Zach Schonbrun, The Daily Orange
Marquette matches up well with Utah State and (fingers crossed) Missouri in the second round — John Borneman, The Marquette Tribune
Antonio Anderson and Robert Dozier have left a legacy at Memphis as part of the winningest class in NCAA basketball history — Joseph Russell, The Daily Helmsman
ALSO: Tigers head West as No. 2 seed; a primer on Cal State Northridge.
Greg Paulus is getting nearly no playing time these days, but Duke will need him in the NCAA tournament — Meredith Shiner, The Duke Chronicle
