Am I still dreaming?  No?  Kentucky’s 2014 recruiting class still remains atop the Rivals.com rankings.  This is crazy!

UK’s lead could possibly grow once 3-star wide receiver TV Williams makes his college decision.  He plans to announce on July 9th.  Can Mark Stoops get another Yahtzee!?  Let’s sure hope so!  Come on down to #BBN.

While we’re discussing recruits, let’s take a look at the new UK cornerbacks coach, Derrick Ansley.  Ansley has been very helpful on the recruiting front since arriving to Lexington.  Not only can he recruit, but he has also sent big name corners to the NFL recently.  Ansley joins the #BBN after coaching the past few years at Alabama, where he coached the likes of first-rounders Dre Kirkpatrick and Dee Milliner.  Now he’ll have the privilege of turning the boys in blue into future NFL draft picks.  If I was Cody Quinn, JD Harmon, Nate Willis, or Jaleel Hytchye, I’d be super excited to have Coach Ansley as my mentor.

#StoopsTroops

@KoryHenryKSR

While everyone spent last week discussing how easy Merion Golf Club was going to play due to the wet conditions, I spent my weekend watching golfers succumb to the dangers of Merion and begging for mercy as Merion fought back with vengeance. It’s so short, so simple, yet so, so difficult. Sure, birdies were possible. But if you missed the green? Good luck saving par. Miss the fairway? You make bogey. Maybe double.

I watched the greatest player in the history of the sport shoot his worst score in US Open history. I watched more players miss a 98-yard green than I can count. I saw some of the best players in the world shank shots into the crowd. Like I said, Merion was 6900 yards of fury. And boy, was it fun to watch.

I experienced a lot during my three days at Merion. Everything from heartbreak to triumph. From an unbelievable hole-in-one to a plethora of missed two-footers. One thing remained, though. Merion won. By a lot. Here are my thoughts:

- First things first, last Wednesday I wrote a US Open preview where I looked at sleepers, contenders, and even made a winner prediction. That winner, you may ask? Justin “I’m going to go out and prove Ben right” Rose. So yeah, this is me rubbing it in a little bit because picking a winner in golf is really, really hard. Rose used his consistency to navigate his way through Merion’s temptations en route to his first of probably a few majors. Like I said in my preview, Rose is statistically the best player on tour and I don’t see that changing now that he’s loaded up on some confidence.

- The main story of the weekend wasn’t Rose, though. It wasn’t even Tiger. It was the resurgence and heartbreak of Phil Mickelson. In case you don’t remember (and you probably don’t), Rose wasn’t my only accurate prediction. I also predicted that Mickelson would falter down the stretch on Sunday. Well, Phil did just that by going 3-over on his last six holes to finish two shots behind Rose. One of those bogeys was a really, really bad one, too. Just two holes after eagleing the par-4 10th hole, Mickelson missed the 98-yard par 3 green and made an atrocious bogey. That hole set the tone for Phil down the stretch and Phil now stands in the runner-up circle for the sixth time at the US Open. Poor Phil.

- Even when Tiger Woods struggles, people still really enjoy following him around. I mean he was about 12 shots off the lead when I watched him play Sunday and he still had the largest gallery by far. I guess that’s what 14 majors will do for you. It’s kind of annoying though because a lot of the people following him know absolutely nothing about golf and just complain about how Tiger “sucks” (people really have no perspective). Whatever though, it’s all good.

- The course was very muddy all week and to be honest, it kind of sucked to walk around in. I wore white shoes the first day without thinking of the muddy conditions and needless to say, they are no longer white. Also the most clutch things of the week were the complementary radios they provided for us. Want to know how Tiger did on hole three while you watch on hole seven? Done. Very useful and very thankful that they had them.

Well, that about sums up my US Open experience, can’t wait for the British Open next month and I’ll definitely preview it!

Peace.

@BWardKSR

According to Chris Fisher of 247sports.com, Malik Newman, the top ranked point guard in 2015 by 24/7 Sports, has received an offer from the University of Kentucky. Newman is a 6’4″ point guard out of Jackson, Mississippi. He also has offers from Kansas, Mississippi State, Duke, NC State, and Ole Miss. Newman was one of the leaders for the USA U16 team that won a gold medal in Uruguay last week. He joins Skal Labissiere, Stephen Zimmerman, and Charles Matthews as the only players with an offer from Kentucky in the 2015 class.

@JayHochKSR

The momentum that the Wildcats have had the last six months has been a pleasant change of pace for the program. In recent years Kentucky has fallen short to other SEC schools and haven’t been any type of competition. That has all changed. Kentucky has 18 commits who want to make their mark in the Bluegrass. With talent like Mike Edwards and Drew Barker coming in Kentucky’s football program may become the next powerhouse in the SEC.

Many people have been discussing the recent change of pace for the Wildcats. Trying to figure out how we’ve been able to land some of the nation’s most elite talent. Well, it’s not hard to come to the conclusion that Mark Stoops & Co. have completely turned this program around. With 8 of the 18 commits coming from Ohio it’s also obvious that he’s cracked the code to recruiting in our neighboring state.

Check out this awesome edition of ESPN’s, ‘Tales From The Road.’

On this day in 1983, Ben Haggerty, also known as Macklemore was born in Seattle. The musician holds a bachelor degree from Evergreen State College and facilitated musical workshops called “Gateways for Incarcerated Youth” focused on education and cultural identity to reach kids. His hit single “Thrift Shop” has been viewed on YouTube over 300 million times, sold more than 2.2 million copies, and became the first song since 1994 to reach #1 on the Billboard charts without the support of a major record labor. You either love or hate Macklemore and his Thrift Shopping ways. But one thing is for sure; because of his love of Goodwill he is now rolling in dough. Its time to pop some links (see what I did there):

First things first, Kentucky currently holds the top 2014 recruiting class in the nation. Here is the screenshot to prove it:

Kentucky also snagged two recruits yesterday. It was announced that the Davis twins, Demitrious and Chris, will transfer from Pitt to play for the Big Blue and Derrick Kelly, Jr. came along for the ride as well.

Which Kentucky players will be under the most pressure in the upcoming season? Bleacher Report answers this question.

We are all anxious to see the football team debut on August 31st (72 days!), but there is a slight air of mystery around the team as well. SB Nation tells us the three things we know and don’t know about Stoops’ Troops.

As of right now, UK commit Karl Towns stands at 7’1″ and 250 lbs. Now, he is looking to add even more muscle to improve his game.

Bud Dupree and Avery Williamson were named to the 2013 College Football Performance Awards Defensive Watch List after their strong season last year.

Also, the Kentucky football program is embracing the High Performance revolution.

In celebration of Macklemore’s Thrift Shopping ways, I leave you with this video of him singing (rapping?) his hit live. Spoiler? He jumps around. A lot:

The greatest recruiting class of all-time.

40-0.

No. 9.

Those are some lofty expectations– especially for 18- and 19-year-old kids.  But in Lexington, KY, aspirations like that are nothing out of the ordinary.

John Calipari’s Wildcats bring in ESPN’s top-ranked recruiting class in the country for the fourth time in five years. Despite a disappointing 2013 campaign, the 2012 Kentucky starting five consisting of three freshmen and two sophomores proved that Coach Cal can win it all with young talent. The Big Blue Nation has tasted trailblazing glory and it is hungry for more.

Is it possible for Cal’s ‘Cats to bring home the school’s ninth national championship (and second in three years)? Absolutely. Is it within Kentucky’s bounds to complete college basketball’s first ever 40-0 undefeated season? In a word, yes– UK’s 38-2 (16-0 SEC) 2012 squad was close. But which of these goals should be realistically expected?

If the Wildcats perform poorly and are ousted in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, such as the fate of the John Wall-led 2010 team, is the season deemed a disappointment? If the blue & white makes its way to the Final Four only to fall in the national semifinals like the overachieving Brandon Knight-led 2011 Wildcats once did, is 2014 a letdown?

The NBA’s Miami Heat are currently in the midst of a similar dilemma. LeBron James and Chris Bosh took their talents to South Beach almost three years ago in hopes of winning “not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, not seven…” Larry O’Brien Championship Trophies. Coming into today, the Heat trail the San Antonio Spurs 2 games to 3. Even after three straight NBA Finals appearances in as many years together, most basketball followers can agree: a 1-2 record is a failure.

What say you, Big Blue Nation? What are your expectations for 2013-2014? Of how many lofty expectations do these young ‘Cats have to fall short to be considered failures? I’m only asking the questions– I want you decide the answers.

Derrick Kelly from Havana, Fl. and a three star offensive lineman committed to the Cats today. He measures in at 6’5″ 268 lbs and is ranked by 247Sports at 82nd in the nation in his position. He chose UK over East Carolina, Florida, A&M, Florida Atlantic, and Florida International.

#Stoops

********UPDATE (10:39 pm)***********

This just happened everyone:

The San Antonio Spurs lead 3-2, everyone knows this. Game 6 is tonight in Miami, again redundant I know. Danny Green is a major candidate for Finals MVP, common sense right? If you were to ask any person who claims to have some knowledge of the NBA who they thought would be MVP coming in, it would have been the same three names. LeBron James. Tony Parker, or Tim Duncan all would have been the favorites. LeBron gets the nod because he is the best player in the world, Parker because he is the catalyst that has accelerated this offense all season, and Duncan because he is simply Duncan.

One more victory makes the Spurs 5-0 in the NBA Finals, which is second best all time to Michael Jordan’s Bulls. When the Spurs have guys like Danny Green and Gary Neal shooting lights out you are probably thinking it has to be over right? Technically this series was destined for seven before it even started. There are no stats that support this claim, but you just feel like you don’t want it to end, because it is simply that good of a series. Look at what has transpired so far, obviously the series tally is 3-2, but look closer at the individual games.   Game 1 was a close one and the Spurs won by 4 in Miami, 92-88. Stealing a game in Miami was crucial for the Spurs, allowing them  to not have to win 3 games in a row at home. Game 2 in Miami was a blowout, with the Heat winning 103-84. The bounce back game from the Heat came as a shock to no one, because if the Heat had gone down 0-2 the series would have been over. Calling Game 3 a blowout would be an understatement, as the Spurs dismantled the Heat by 36, with a final score of 113-77. Game 4 was again a blowout, as the Heat were again able to bounce back and win 109-93. By now you should be able to recognize a pattern here. No matter the score, each team wins the next game following a loss, so why would tonight be any different? Game 5 was a little closer on Sunday, with the Spurs winning 114-104. Sunday nights game had plenty of intriguing story lines, like Manu Ginobilli actually contributing with 24 points and 10 assists.    Other Headlines from Game 5:

-Danny Green broke the record for 3s in a Finals series with 25, and Ray Allen is not happy. Green broke the former record of 22 (Ray Allen did it in the 2008 Finals in 6 games). Danny Green is now 25-38 from downtown in this series, and no that is not a typo. I’ll reiterate, Danny Green is shooting 66 percent from the three point line in this series.  -The Spurs shot 60 percent from the field, while the Heat only shot 43 percent. -Box score of Spurs starting five:

-Box Score of Heat starting five:

The Heat are on the brink of elimination, and to add to the pressure an interesting photo leaked today of LeBron’s new shoes that are coming out. In the shoe it clearly states 2-time champion, claiming that LeBron won NBA Titles in the 2011-2012 season, and the 2012-2013 season. If this weird Illuminati type prediction is to come true, the Heat have to win the next two games. I think they win tonight simply for the fact that no team has won two consecutive games in this series, but then that would mean the Spurs would have to take game 7. Essentially if the Heat come back and rattle off two wins we can all rest assured that the Illuminati is still alive and well, and still pulling strings.   @LittleNicky_KSR

Chris and Demitrious Davis will transfer to the University of Kentucky as walk-ons. They are both wide receivers, hail from Ohio, and originally went to Pitt. They were red-shirted last season as freshman and will have three years eligibility left for UK to work with.

Go Cats. Go twins.

One visit from Terrell Owens and a week later, Chad Johnson is being released from jail. The reason? He said I’m sorry to Broward County Circuit Judge Kathleen McHugh for butt-tapping his attorney in celebration during a hearing for a probation violation. McHugh accepted the apology which was released via the AP:

I just wanted to apologize for disrespecting the court last time. I apologize. I did have time to reflect on the mistakes I made in this courtroom.

Johnson’s original sentence for the butt-tapping incident was 30 days, an extra three months of probation, and 25 hours of community service plus 2 counseling sessions per week, but as of now (7 days later) he is being set free.

The moral of this story? Don’t slap your attorney’s butt in a courtroom. But you’ll probably only spend a week in jail for it anyway.

Today, we are celebrating Kentucky’s momentary reign as the number one recruiting class in the nation. Right of this moment, Kentucky has the top recruiting class in the SEC with Tennessee in a comfortable second followed by A&M and Bama. Without Stoops we would not be celebrating this glorious achievement. It’s June 18th and instead of counting down the days until Big Blue Madness we are overwhelmed in the constant football news. Does this make us a football school now? Or can we have a happy medium? Onto the links:

Yesterday, 247Sports.com named Kentucky target Matt Elam a five-star recruit and the 10th best recruit in the nation.

The Medina Gazette says there isn’t very much middle ground on Nerlens Noel, especially concerning where he will go in the draft.

Remember Michael Avery? He’s the 8th grader that committed to Kentucky under Billy Clyde. Mark Story of the Lexington Herald compares him (and other young BCG recruits) to Jairus Brents, the seventh grader that Stoops recently offered.

Cal offered two players in the 2015 class yesterday; Skal Labissiere the 6th best player in the class and Stephen Zimmerman, a seven footer who is the #2 player for 2015.

Calipari sent out a few tweets yesterday explaining what exactly what the mythical “Wildcat Code” is. Oh, and his tweet also included “LOL.”

Bleacher Report lists the four things we have learned about the team that will run for nine.

Kentuckysports.com has a UK recruiting quiz that you can take. Test your knowledge!

And finally, today is Blake Shelton’s 37th birthday. The man is not only married to Miranda Lambert and is a coach/judge on the NBC hit The Voice, but he also sings my dad’s new favorite song:

Excuse me, Mr. Shelton. Kentucky boys do dougie… just ask Jarrod Polson.

Yesterday for a few glorious minutes, according to Rivals, Kentucky football was indeed number one. It was short-lived, but emblematic of the impact Stooooooops has had in such a short time at the healm in the Commonwealth. Yet I was interested to see where the Cats 2014 class stacks up in the other major recruiting services rankings that we have been neglecting. Take a look below.

Scout has us at #6 overall and #3 in the SEC behind Texas A&M and Alabama, but just above Tennessee and LSU (still sounds absurd).

ESPN has the Cats class at #11 overall, good for sixth in the SEC behind Alabama, Texas A&M, Tennessee, LSU, and Florida.

Still sounds pretty darn good BBN.

@BrennanKSR

Although Kentucky has a center for the recruiting class in Karl Towns Jr., Calipari has stressed that he wants depth in all areas from this point forward. Calipari experienced what life is like with one big post player on the roster this season, and I cannot see him wanting to experience that ever again. Insert Goodluck Okonoboh into the picture. Okonoboh is from the same high school (Tilton) and AAU Team (BABC) that our flat topped friend Nerlens Noel played for. He visited this season for a UK game and to pal around with his close friend Noel. If Dakari Johnson leaves for the NBA, Okonoboh could become a priority for Calipari in 2014.

SCOUTING REPORT:

6’9″ 225 lbs

Center

Interested Schools (in bold if offered): Indiana, Duke, Uconn, Missouri, Syracuse, Maryland, Kentucky

Strengths: Okonoboh may be smaller than Noel, but he has a very similar game on the defensive end. He is a serious shot blocking threat with more muscle to defend post up players. He has great athleticism which helps him perform at a high level despite being an undersized center. Okonoboh has a great sense of positioning on rebounds. Combined with his strength and quickness, he is one of the best rebounders in the class.

Weaknesses: Like Noel, Okonoboh has needed improvement in his offensive arsenal. While he has developed range as he progresses, it is still a work in progress to be a reliable mid range option. Another deficiency in his game is distributing the ball. Okonoboh is tough to run an offense through because he lacks court vision with the ball in his hand. If he develops a better skill at finding the open man, the rest of his offensive game should blossom as defenders will not key on his attacks to the basket as much.

@JayHochKSR

While writing posts for my The Ones That Got Away series I usually have to go back and look at where players were projected pre-season in order to get a feel for whether their 2013 season panned out. Thanks to the magic of WayBack Machine, an amazing website that allows you to see how websites looked in the past, doing so is pretty easy. One thing that stood out to me while doing research for the posts was that, before the season, Ryan Harrow was actually projected in the lottery in several mock drafts. This got me thinking: How accurate are NBA Mock Drafts and how much do they change after the season has been played? So, with the magic of the internet, I went back and checked several of the biggest Mock Draft sites and compared their preseason (October/November) mock drafts to their current ones (which can be seen below).

NBAdraft.net 

Draft Express

CBS Sports

Well in case you did not know, last night was the 2013 Miss USA Pageant. So as is the case with these types of pageants, one contestant usually ends up biffing an answer during the Q&A session. Pretty normal occurrence you are probably saying right? Well unfortunately for Utah’s own Marissa Powell, she ended up becoming an overnight sensation for what is arguably one of the most incoherent things ever said on TV and then typed up on this site (which is a big deal). Now the question Powell was asked was about the male-female income disparity in this country, to which she gave us this gem of a reply below:

“I think we can relate this back to education and how we are continuing to try to strive to (awkward pause) figure out how to create jobs right now. That is the biggest problem and I think, especially the men, are um, seen as the leaders of this and so we need to try and figure out how to create education better so we can solve this problem.”

Now while it’s easy to jump on the bashing train, you have to realize that the question she was asked was a kind of difficult one for her to have answered on-the-spot. However, I still think she could have articulated something a little more coherent than that above quote. I mean come on, the phrase “figure out how to create education better” was dropped, which in no form of English makes any sense. You’re better than this Miss Utah.

My top 4 in no order! . #SCarolina. #UofL #UK #OleMiss .

— Ghost.™ (@KingOfEights_8) June 17, 2013

Blake Bone, the 47th best WR in the nation and a four-star recruit, just cut his list to four via twitter and as you can see from the tweet above, the Cats made the cut.

Come be a hero.

This is not a test. Kentucky’s 2014 commit Ryan Flannigan just got his Rivals’ recruiting ranking and as a result, Kentucky momentarily had the top recruiting class in the nation. Guys, I think I just saw a pig flying by my window. They have now moved back to two as a result of Rivals taking Tyre Brady’s committment off of UK’s board (again). But either way, Cats fans can officially say we had the number one recruiting class (for about 10 minutes at least). Kentucky will probably move back up once they put Brady’s committment back up.

#StoopsThereItIs.