Courtside with the Kentucky Wildcats
Neither Kentucky nor Southern California wanted to let Leonard Washington join their team at mid-season. So the power forward prospect has decided to put off his college choice until the spring.
The delay gives Washington more time to gain his initial academic eligibility. That process might have delayed him taking the court until mid January, the player’s advisor, Roy White, said Friday.
“Nobody knows what kind of shape he was in,” White said. “He’d probably play only eight or nine games. So he would have been using one year (of eligibility) for eight or nine games.”
Washington, a 6-foot-6 power forward, is attending the Thurgood Marshall School in Compton, Calif., in hopes of gaining his eligibility. He attended a prep school in Simi Valley, Calif., in the 2006-07 year. He played high school basketball in Louisiana was originally a senior in the class of 2006.
Washington had narrowed his choices to UK or Southern Cal.
“I really thought he was going to Southern Cal,” White said.
Now Washington will entertain recruiting pitches from more than those two schools, the advisor said. But, White expects the choice to remain Kentucky or U.S.C.
“He’s a loyal guy,” White said.
Before he makes a decision, White plans to make an official visit to Kentucky. The advisor was not sure when that visit would take place.
Wherever Washington plays college basketball, he will bring a reputation for having a short temper and knack for getting involved in what recruiting analyst Jerry Meyer called a “littany of episodes.”
Those incidents include refusing his high school coach’s order to re-enter the state championship game, instigating a fracas last summer that police had to quell with pepper spray and getting ejected from amother game for elbowing an opponent.
Forward prospect Leonard Washington intends to choose either Kentucky or Southern California by Saturday and hopes to play for the team by the end of the fall semester, his advisor said Wednesday.
Washington, whose reputation for having a short temper includes incidents of insubordination and incitement of a mass scuffle, will choose between Kentucky and Southern California.
“I know which way he’s learning,” the advisor, Roy White, said. “But he’s going back and forth.”
Kentucky Associate Coach Jeremy Cox had led UK’s recruiting effort, White said. UK’s interest started hot, cooled for a period and has recently intensified, the advisor said.
Washington signed with Southern Cal a year ago, then had to attend a prep school in an attempt to gain academic eligibility. That process continues with Washington attending the Thurgood Marshall School in Compton, Calif.
Marshall principal Ernie Carr said that Washington had not yet gained eligibility, but was close. White said the player expected to gain his eligibility by Dec. 1.
Washington, who first attended a high school in Louisiana, is a 6-foot-6 power forward. He hopes to be playing for UK or Southern Cal after the fall semester ends.
That scenario was “very likely,” White said.
When asked why Washington was so eager to begin playing college basketball, White said, “I think he’s tired of watching guys play he beat up on over the years.”
Two whole weeks ago, Kentucky lost to Gardner-Webb. Now the Cats play again — finally — Wednesday night against Liberty.
“That hurt,” forward Perry Stevenson said of the loss and the wait that followed. “Two weeks of being embarrassed. I don’t think I’ve been embarrassed for more than a couple minutes.”
Those mini-moments of embarrassment come when you trip or stub your toe. “You hope no one is watching,” Stevenson said.
Of course, the whole country had the opportunity to watch UK lose to Gardner-Webb.
“To hear it on ESPN and all those stations, it wasn’t fun at all,” Stevenson said. “I heard one guy compare it to Appy State and Michigan. That hurt.”
Stevenson predicred a better UK team will play Liberty.
“As a team, we’re embracing getting better a whole lot more,” he said.
Stevenson explained that by saying the Cats are accepting the tough practices better.
“Sometimes you have that I want to get out of here,” he said. “I don’t think any of the guys are thinking that anymore.”
The popular assumption would be these two weeks of practice have been rough and tough with plenty of screaming and yelling.
Not so, Stevenson said.
“It wasn’t anything compared to bootcamp,” he said. “Just normal intense practice.”
UK Coach Billy Gillispie noted how the Cats had had “a lot of good practices” and made improvement. Seniors Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley had better accepted the weight of responsibility.
But Gillispie said there remains plenty of room for improvement. For instance, feeding the low post and posting up stronger. And the calendar gives UK plenty of time to improve.
After the Gardner-Webb game, Gillispie spoke of the need for an attitude adjustment. A winning effort required more than a belief in the name on the front of the jersey, he said.
The coach stopped short of saying that problem had been cured. “I’m not big on talking,” he said. “I don’t make bold statements.”
Along those lines, Gillispie noted that UK will not play a perfect game against Liberty. “We’ll make a bunch of mistakes,” he said. “Hopefully, they’ll be mistakes of commission.”
The UK coach acknowledged how the loss make the players mad. So what?
“Just because we lost the last game doesn’t ensure success the next game,” he said.
Sophomore guard Jodie Meeks acknowledged that he’ll have to be careful about when to return from a stress fracture in his pelvic area.
Meeks’ high threshold of pain makes a quick return from the injury possible. But if he comes back too fast, he’ll risk re-injury.
Doctors estimated his recovery time being four to six weeks.
“I’ll try to come back as soon as possible,” he said. “At the same time, I’ll try not to risk it.
“It’s frustrating sitting on the sideline and wanting to be out there and helping your teammates. At the same time, the coaches told me to try to be a cheerleader and try to help them when they mess up.”
Meeks isn’t sure exactly when the injury happened. It’s believed it happened during one of the falls he took against Seattle in UK’s second exhibition game.
“I just thought it was soreness or maybe a bruise,” he said.
As the pain increased, Meeks decided something was wrong after the Gardner-Webb game. “I told the coaches, ‘I’m hurting a little more than I thought I was,’ ” he said.
Meeks said he’s not targeting a specific game for his return. He’ll settle for “as soon as possible,” he said.
Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie was mostly mum about what type of lineup he’ll start with against Liberty Wednesday night.
He did rule out the four-guard alignment, if for no other reason than three possible perimeter starters are sidelined with injuries: Jodie Meeks, Derrick Jasper and Ramon Harris.
Liberty took the, uh, Liberty, to project a starting lineup for Kentucky. It its game notes, Liberty suggested Mark Coury and Patrick Patterseon at forward with Joe Crawford, Ramel Bradley and Michael Porter at the guards.
Jasper, who is sidelined indefinitely after underdoing microfracture knee surgery in June, ran on the side during practices Monday and Tuesday, Gillispie said. “He’s stilll a pretty good ways away,” said the UK coach, who again declined to speculate about a possible redshirt status for Jasper.
Perhaps Gillispie doesn’t want to give Jasper an excuse to embrace a redshirt and thus scale back his efforts to return this season.
Harris, who has a stress fracture in his left foot, can begin working out on a limited basis on Sunday, Gillispie said.
Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie is operating in an unprecedented manner. He does not have a formal contract. His deal is the Memorandum of Understanding Offer he signed “in the middle of the night,” as his attorney, Stuart Campbell, said.
Gillispie signed it the night he arrived in Lexington to discuss the UK basketball coaching job.
When asked Tuesday how comfortable he is with a deal that includes vague terms for a buyout, Gillispie said, “My first year at (Texas) A&M, I think I signed my contract in January. It really hasn’t been such a big thing.”
Gillispie made it clear he did not want to talk about the memo, which UK unilaterally declared a contract as negotiations about the buyout bogged down.
“It’s a personal matter,” he said. “I’m not going to comment on any of the details.”
When asked if he felt he’d eventually sign a standard contract, Gillispie said, “I anticipate, yeah.”
Soon?
“I don’t know,” he said.
The ESPN Networks, which includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN Classic, will televise all 31 games of the Postseason National Invitation Tournament (NIT), the NCAA announced Tuesday.
Teams for the 71st annual NIT will be selected on March 15th in Indianapolis. NIT Committee Chair C.M. Newton (the former Kentucky Athletic Director) leads a group comprised of Rudy Davalos, Don DeVoe, Eddie Fogler, Gene Keady, Reggie Minton, Jack Powers and Carroll Williams.
The first three rounds of the 2008 NIT will be played at campus sites with the semifinal doubleheader and championship game to be contested at New York’s Madison Square Garden, on April 1 and 3rd.
UAB will be without one of its key players when it plays Kentucky in Louisville on Dec. 15.
UAB point guard Paul Delaney III will miss the rest of the season because of a knee injury. He led the team in scoring last season.
Delaney, an All-Conference USA player last season, injured his left knee while driving to the basket during Saturday’s loss to Georgia Southern. An MRI exam Monday revealed a torn anterior cruciate ligament.
“Losing Paul for the season is a big blow to our team,” UAB coach Mike Davis said in a report by The Associated Press. “At this point in time, Paul just needs to work on his rehab and get healthy. We are praying for him and our team will support him throughout this process.”
Delaney, one of only two seniors on the team, started every game last season and averaged team-highs in points (15.4), minutes (37.1), assists (5.2) and steals per game (1.9).
Davis signed two point guards before the season, freshman Aaron Johnson and junior college transfer Ed Berrios.
Jerry Tipton of the Lexington Herald- Leader has covered Kentucky basketball since the 1981-82 season. That time includes five coaches, five Final Fours, four athletic directors, two interim athletic directors and many memories. Before coming to Lexington, Tipton worked eight years for the Huntington (W.Va.) Herald-Dispatch. He covered Marshall’s basketball team for two seasons before coming to the Herald-Leader.