North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes was the first freshman ever named to the preseason Associated Press All-America team. In hindsight, that appears to be a mistake, but there are some rookies playing at a level that could earn them that kind of honor by season’s end.
One of them is Kentucky’s Terrence Jones.
“What I admire most about his freshman season, to this point, is that with Enes (Kanter) being unavailable, there has become so much pressure on Terrence as a rebounder, as a productive offensive player,” Sporting News college basketball writer Mike DeCourcy said in an interview on “the Leach Report” radio show. “He had to do more than what he what he would have been asked if Enes were there from day one, and instead of reacting badly to that, being overwhelmed, perhaps making more mistakes than one can accommodate, he has actually flourished. “With responsibilities thrown on him, he has actually done better and that is a mark of true greatness. I will be honest with you: I loved his skill and I thought his ability was high, but I didn’t know him enough as a person to know that he could do that and I don’t think Kentucky knew that (either). I think they loved his ability and saw a talent that could fit well into their circumstance and fit well into their system, but I don’t know if they saw enough of him or anyone saw enough of him because of where he played to know what kind of champion is inside Terrence Jones.”
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Count former Wildcat and now Big Blue Sports Network radio analyst Jeff Piecoro among those applauding the hiring of Rick Minter as a co-defensive coordinator. Piecoro works in the Cincinnati media market and covered Minter as coach of the University of Cincinnati Bearcats.
“I think it’s a fantastic choice for Joker,” Piecoro said. “Rick is a great defensive coach and he was really the one who turned UC’s football program around. He’s very aggressive defensively. They will pressure you. If you watch the Ohio State defense today, that’s what (he) preaches.”
Piecoro said Minter focuses intently on getting his defensive units to play a physical brand of football.
“This will be back to the days of the 70s and 80s when, even if Kentucky lost, the Herschel Walkers and Bo Jacksons would say, ‘Boy, you guys beat the heck out of us,” Piecoro said. “He’s coached at Cincinnati, he’s coached at Notre Dame, so he knows this area. He can make some in-roads into this area. I think that’s maybe one reason why Joker was so sold on Rick Minter. You’re going to get all your speed down south, but when you need those big guys, you probably have to come into Ohio, Pennsylvania and up north and I think Rick helps him do that.”
Minter could make an impact in Ohio, a hotbed for high school talent.
“Last year, in Cincinnati alone, there were 44 three-, four- and five-star recruits,” Piecoro said. “In the whole state of Kentucky, there were only 14. There are so many more people in this area and they play great football, especially when you add Northern Kentucky. There’s plenty of talent up here to go around and you can say, ‘Hey, you can play in the SEC.’ That’s a huge draw for some of these guys.”
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Don’t look for any major changes in the Kentucky offense for the BBVA Compass Bowl just because Morgan Newton will be replacing Mike Hartline as the starter. “We are who we are,” Phillips said after Sunday’s practice session at the Nutter Field House. “We have been practicing what we do, even with the young guys all year, so we have to see how much they can handle of it and go out and play. We have plenty of experience around them so we need to just go out and play. A year ago I would say Morgan was young and we had to protect him, but we didn’t have much experience last year (either), especially at the skill positions. We feel like we need to do what we do and what we have been doing all year.”
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The largest halftime deficit the UK men’s basketball team has ever overcome to win a game is 16 points — and it’s happened twice.
First was the “Mardi Gras Miracle” at LSU in 1994. We celebrate the anniversary of the other one Saturday.
On Dec. 18, 2004, the Cats spotted archrival Louisville a 16-point halftime lead at Freedom Hall before coming back to win 60-58. Kentucky was carried by Patrick Sparks, whose three free throws in the final seconds won it for UK.
