April 9th: On this date...

... in 2007, Unforgettable John Pelphrey was named the head coach at Arkansas. Before being named Arkansas coach, he was an assistant under Billy Donovan and head coach at South Alabama. Twice, Pelphrey was considered a darkhorse candidate for the open Kentucky job.

Late Night Roundup

Highlights of April 8th - Links below if you need to catch up:

• DeMarcus Cousins commits to UK.
• I tried calling out our reader(s) for not commenting enough.
• Daniel Orton asks for a release from UK.
• Daniel Orton's father says he is still committed to Kentucky.
• Nolan Dennis, former Memphis recruit, will play in this Derby Classic All-Star game this weekend. He will also take a visit to Lexington.
• Joe B. & Denny talk to UK's newest coach John Calamari.
• Coach Cal conducts one of the last few practices of the year. Darius Miller is awesome.
• Chapel Hill does its best Middle East impersonation.
• Jeff Keppinger is starting the season off on fire with the Astros after the Reds traded him (due to being loved by Reds fans). Eddie Encarnacion still isn't good. Reds 0-2.

Good night or good morning.

Extremists Overtake Chapel Hill -- Rename it Beirut

Franklin Street: The Celebration from The Daily Tar Heel on Vimeo.

Practice Report

About 20 media members were given access to the most recent basketball practice today at 3:15 pm. Eric Lindsey at Cat Scratches gives us 10 of his observations from one of the few remaining practices this spring.

•Layups continue to be a theme as well as a problem. Too many easy layups are being missed, much to the dismay of Calipari. He said he doesn’t want to hear excuses about getting bumped or getting fouled if they miss a layup. “If you can’t play through bumps, it’s going to be hard for me to play you on the court,” he said.

Hopefully Jodie and Pat will look to come back to improve their draft status. From all the info out there about Coach Cal's practices, it seems these two and Miller are tailor-made for this system.

Cal doing more press...

Calipari hasn't gotten tired of the media yet. He spent some time talking with Joe B. and Denny. It almost hurts your ears to hear Joe B. and Cal talking. Talk about a contrast of styles.

Cal has some great ideas. He mentions scheduling a big name game in Louisville for the UK fans up there, or even going down to Atlanta and playing a regular season game in front of 70k. Again, Cal seems to be a perfect breath of fresh air.

Here is the link. You have to wait on it. It takes a while to download.

More Recruiting News...

Stuff is happening fast...

Nolan Dennis, a 6'5" 4-star shooing guard, has asked out of his letter of intent with Memphis and is rumored to be heavily favoring UK. He is ranked the 11th best shooting guard in the 2009 class by Rivals.com.

Jerry Tipton says it ain't over yet for Xavier Henry. Kansas may still be the favorite, but it doesn't look like Memphis is being considered.

The decision may hinge on older brother C.J. Henry's basketball future, the players' father, Carl Henry, said.

C.J. walked on at Memphis last season. His college education is being paid for by the New York Yankees, who drafted him in baseball. The Henrys are waiting to see if C.J. must sit out a season as a transfer or be immediately eligible at a second school because he was a walk-on.

If C.J. must sit out a season as a transfer, he will remain at Memphis, his father said. If he can be eligible immediately, he will go with Xavier to either Kansas or Kentucky.

Daniel Orton asks for release from UK

So much for the comedy of the thread below. Daniel Orton upstages our comment party. Scout.com and Jody Demling are reporting/confirming the decommitment. Best of luck to Daniel in his college endeavors. We had to see this coming, right? Too many things were going right with the new coach, not to mention he would've been splitting minutes with other big time frontcourt guys.

Kentucky Ink just talked to Larry Orton, Daniel's father, and he denies this report.

Party = Over

With all the varying opinions on Big Blue Booyah these days, Clay and I have decided to put restrictions on comments. Some of the comments are getting out of hand and Big Blue Booyah is no place to air your dirty laundry. Fans of BBB have been coming outta the woodwork to let their voices be heard -- you can scroll down and look! Sometimes we get up to 2 comments!

Here's what I need you to do. I need you to post a comment in this thread to show your true fanhood. If not, you are only a poser.

And if anyone wants to write a commentary for the site, send it to me and I'll throw it up. You can never have too many opinions on UK. You can make it on anything (Coach Cal, basketball, football, horses). Thank you for your continued support.

Demarcus Cousins commits to Cats

DeMarcus Cousins has decided to end his recruitment as he will follow John Calipari to Kentucky. Rivals has Cousins as the #1 power forward and #2 overall in the class of 2009. Cousins coming means someone has to leave, probably Donald Williams or A.J. Stewart.....................or Pat Patterson. My guess is Daniel Orton or Pat will not be here next year. Because if all three are here, along with Pilgrim, Stevenson, you'd have to think that might be the deepest frontcourt in the history of the world.

Cousins in the house

Porter No Mas?

Anyone giving me odds this was a miss?

Matt May of the Cats Pause is reporting Michael Porter will forego his senior season to concentrate on his life outside of basketball. My guess is the decision really didn't go down like that, especially with Calipari around, but he is married now with a baby on the way. No one can deny he put it all on the line this season. He tried to do what he was asked to do, simply against better competition. You kinda hate to see it go down like this to an upcoming senior, but ultimately the decision is up to Calipari him. Best of luck to Michael and his new family.

Larry Vaught also confirming Porter will leave.

However, his father quickly noted that his son was not forced to quit playing or did not have his scholarship taken away by Calipari.

“I would have been up in arms if that had happened,” Gary Porter said. “They didn’t do anything to force him out. This is strictly his decision.

Kentucky Derby 135

It's never too early to start looking toward the Kentucky Derby. As crazy as it sounds, the 135th running is less than 25 days from today. Most prep races are either completed or will be by this coming Saturday night with the only exception being the Lexington Stakes April 18th at Keeneland. Here is a look at one site's Top 10 Derby 135 contenders. Churchill Downs also has a few experts look at their top contenders.

My favorite was The Pamplemousse until he got scratched for the summer. The Breeder's Cup Juvenile winner last year, Midshipman, is also hurt and out of the Triple Crown picture. Easily the most impressive prep race was conducted at Aquaduct for the Wood Memorial last weekend. I Want Revenge stumbled at the start and came from dead last to win with ease.........without the whip coming out...............................with 19-year old hot shot jockey Joe Talamo. Very impressive.

April 7th: On this date...

... in 1992, Kentucky fans crammed Rupp Arena yet again to watch the Unforgettables (Richie Farmer, Deron Feldhaus, John Pelphrey, Sean Woods) hang their jerseys in the rafters. The University brought the seniors in for a tribute to their wonderful season as a thank you for everything they had done. The program had been stomach-punched by probation and these seniors capped off their careers with an Elite Eight run. As the seniors stood at mid-court with their families, the #32, #12, #34, and #11 jerseys were unveiled. None of them knew the jersey hanging was coming. Richie Farmer told an ESPN production crew member, "it's something you don't dare dream about."

So Long Jodie?

Jodie Meeks is entering the NBA Draft. This could've been expected, but still kinda hurts to hear. He will not hire an agent, so it's not all bad. One would have to expect Pat Patterson to do the same in the coming days. At least we're still in the headlines, right?

Uh Oh.

With Memphis hiring John Calipari's top recruiter Josh Pastner to become their new head coach, the recruiting situation in Memphis may be looking better. Pastner will be hiring Xavier Henry's father, Carl, to be director of basketball operations, thus keeping Xavier and brother C.J. on the Memphis roster. After these developments, you'd have to think the other recruits might be staying as well. When it comes down to it, this was the only hire Memphis could make to keep their program from going down the crapper. Prepare yourself for our roster not changing much next year (worst case scenario). If it does change -- good, grand, great.

April 6th: On this date...

... in 2007, this happened. Immediately followed by (insert rumor here). Enough said. Moving on...

Jon Hood cleared to play

Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal said the younger guy in the picture above has been given a green light by his doctor to resume playing basketball. He had been unable to go for over a month due to a stress fracture in his right foot. This is news because Hood is scheduled to play in this week's WazooSports.com Kentucky Derby Festival Classic at Freedom Hall. Brian Hood, Jon's father, said he wasn't for sure how much he would play due to being out-of-shape from the stress fracture.

Yesterday April 5th: On this date...

... in 1998, the older man above, along with Scott Padgett and Wayne Turner were honored at Rupp Arena following their NCAA title run. More than 20,000 fans came to Rupp to show their appreciation for the Comeback Cats. The Tubby Smith led Wildcats beat Utah in the championship game 78-69, giving Kentucky its seventh and most recent championship. The fans that couldn't make it to Rupp Arena to see the event later celebrated by littering Tubby Smith front lawn with For Sale signs!

In case you missed it

John Calipari was the Sunday Night Conversation on SportsCenter last night.

Long John Holmes comes up short

UK grad J.B. Holmes came within a whisker of making the 2009 Masters field Sunday. He made a valiant run at the Shell Houston Open only to lose on the first playoff hole to Paul Casey of England. Holmes went out early and posted the low number (-11 for the Tournament) and watched everyone else struggle in the afternoon winds. By the time Casey finished his round, J.B. had waited over two and a half hours at the clubhouse and driving range. Needless to say the Kentucky boy was not in a groove when the playoff started. He drew honors on the playoff hole and hooked his drive into the water, thus ending any hope of a win. Holmes needed the victory to gain an invitation in the invitation-only Masters.

A very unfortunate turn of events for J.B. He has only made the Masters field once since turning pro in 2006, finishing in a very respectable tie for 25th in 2008. His game is suited perfectly for Augusta but has simply fallen short in qualifying. This was his fourth Top 30 finish in just nine starts so far in 2009.

Sources say he was last seen wielding a 3-wood at patrons in the clubhouse bar shortly after chucking his golf bag into the lake on 18. Must've been the whiskey from the two and a half hour wait.

T-Minus 5 and counting?

After tonight's victory over Villanova in the 2009 Final Four, your University of Kentucky Wildcats are only five wins ahead of North Carolina in the race to 2000 wins. Kentucky currently stands at 1988 to North Carolina's 1983. With a win Monday night, it moves to four. With an early season meeting next year, it could move closer. Does Calipari put us over the top being on the sidelines for the first team to eclipse the 2000 win mark? No time to waste, everyone get out your Izzo gear! If Michigan State wins, the Detroit economy rebounds and the terrorists lose!