– Kentucky football great Randall Cobb is one of 25 prospects who will be in attendance at Thursday night’s NFL Draft in New York. The draft, which will be televised on ESPN, is set to begin at 8 p.m. The second and third rounds will take place Friday night, and rounds four through seven are scheduled for Saturday. Cobb, who set the career touchdown mark at UK, is projected anywhere from the late first round to the third round.- UK baseball still has a big hole to climb, but it at least began the process this weekend by winning two of three games with No. 12 Arkansas, a series that was dominated by rain delays, postponements, time restrictions and even confusing scoring changes. Yeah, it was that kind of a series. But the important thing for Kentucky is, after strong pitching performances from Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week Alex Meyer and Corey Littrell, UK can at least entertain thoughts of a comeback for the SEC Tournament. As we’ve detailed on this blog multiple times in the past week, only the top eight teams make it into the league tournament. Kentucky is still in a tie for last place but has closed the gap to four games for the all-important eighth spot. While the chances still aren’t great, UK has at least given itself an opportunity with 12 conference games remaining.- Interesting piece by Luke Winn of SI.com on the decisions of the NBA Draft underclassmen on Monday. On a list of teams with the most to lose or gain by the decisions of their underclassmen, Winn lists Kentucky as No. 1. Here is what Winn had to say (by the way, those players have until May 8 to withdraw from the draft as long as they don’t sign with an agent):
Freshmen Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones have yet to hire agents, but they’re close to gone. Knight’s mother said it would take “something unexpected” to keep her son out of the draft, where he’s projected to be either the second or third point guard off the board, and be taken in the top 10. Jones, also a lottery pick, is a long shot to return. In the unlikely event both players contract lockout-itis and opt to stay in Lexington, the Wildcats would overtake North Carolina as 2011-12’s preseason No. 1.
Coach John Calipari has a better shot at keeping junior defensive stopper DeAndre Liggins, who’s fishing for a guaranteed contract. “He’s a mid-to-late second-rounder right now,” one NBA scout said of Liggins, “but he could be a find for someone, because he has offensive talent that he hasn’t been able to fully show while playing with ball-dominating guards, like John Wall, or [Eric] Bledsoe, or Knight.” Liggins would be playing with another ball-dominating guard (incoming freshman point Marquis Teague) in 2011-12, but could elevate his profile by serving as the key veteran on a national title contender.
– The ninth annual CATSPY Awards, celebrating the 2010-11 athletics year at UK, are Monday night at Memorial Coliseum. Tickets are still available to the public. Tickets are $5 each and may be purchased in advance at the UK Athletics Ticket Office (Joe Craft Center) or by calling 800-928-2287. There won’t be any coverage on the blog Monday night (I’m going strictly to enjoy the event), but we will have a release of the winners on the front page of UKathletics.com after the show, and I’ll have a post Tuesday on Mitch Barnhart’s speech to the student-athletes.
