By LARRY VAUGHT
With speculation swirling about who will or will not be back on the Kentucky basketball team next year, ESPN’s Andy Katz recently projected what John Calipari’s 2013-14 roster would be.
“If everyone returns and no one else arrives (see: Andrew Wiggins), then Kentucky is set at 13 (scholarships). There are six returning players on scholarship in Nerlens Noel, Archie Goodwin, Alex Poythress, Ryan Harrow, Willie Cauley-Stein and Kyle Wiltjer. There are seven incoming freshmen — five are signed in Andrew and Aaron Harrison, James Young, Marcus Lee and Derek Willis — and two are committed in Julius Randle and Dakari Johnson,” Katz wrote on ESPN.com.
“The odds of Noel returning are slim, even with the torn ACL, freeing up at least one scholarship. There is always the chance someone else will transfer or decide to declare for the draft even with the prospects of making a team slim. This could actually work out for the Wildcats if the returning players accept roles and become mentors to the star-studded freshmen as rotation players in a year.”
All that goes along with what Archie Goodwin, Alex Poythress and Willie Cauley-Stein said about returning to UK for their sophomore seasons after the Cats lost to Robert Morris in the NIT.
But what about juniors Jon Hood and Jarrod Polson?
Polson came to UK as a walk-on player from West Jessamine. He’s been on scholarship the last two seasons, but even though he’s on track to graduate I don’t think he would have a problem going back to walk-on status to continue to be a part of the team.
Hood? That’s different. He came to UK on scholarship. He’s played in 73 games in three seasons — he was injured during UK’s national title season and redshirted — but has scored just 80 points and grabbed 62 rebounds in his limited playing time. By comparison, Polson had 101 points and 55 rebounds this season.
Still, would UK really yank Hood’s scholarship — every scholarship is technically renewable after one year — just to create roster space?
When a UK fan questioned Katz on Twitter about Hood not being a scholarship player, his reply was, “Reporting what UK says for ’13-14.”
Normally when Katz talks Big Blue, it’s golden because his information likely is coming straight from Calipari. However, this time UK says his information is not accurate.
“We have not announced any roster decisions for next season. Only discussed this year’s roster. Told him Polson and Hood are on track to graduate and neither has made a decision going forward or has it even been discussed with the staff,” said UK executive assistant athletics director DeWayne Peevy when asked about Hood’s status based on what Katz reported.
Hood likely will not play much next season with the recruiting class Calipari is bringing in. He may opt to transfer to another school where he could have a chance to play more since he’ll have his degree and could do that like Julius Mays did this season when he came to UK from Wright State as a fifth-year player and was eligible immediately. Maybe he would agree to stay on the UK roster as a walk-on in hopes of getting another national championship ring.
But here’s hoping he’s not cut. Calipari has done few things wrong since his arrival at UK, and he knows Hood is a fan favorite because he’s an in-state player who grew up loving the Wildcats. He’s always said all the right things during his playing time at UK and done everything right off the court. He was Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball in 2009 and was ranked as the nation’s 40th best high school player that year by Rivals.com. He picked UK over Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia.
Going through Senior Day at UK will be a huge deal to him, and it seems like he’s earned the right to get to do that and be part of the team for one more year if that’s what he wants to do. Calipari talks about running a players’ first program and being the gold standard for college basketball. If that’s right, then Hood deserves to have a chance to be part of the 2013-14 team even if he’s not a future NBA star because a players’ first program does what is fair and best for players.
Kentucky junior Jon Hood tried to help put UK’s NIT appearance in perspective before Monday’s practice.
On his first reaction about not making the NCAA Tournament …
“I’m disappointed just like anybody would be, to not get invited to play in the NCAA Tournament. It is a disappointment that we didn’t get in but we still get to play basketball.”
On if he thought Kentucky could have gotten in …
“Of course we were still hoping we would still get in. We thought that with everything that we had done, we deserved it a little bit more than some of the other teams, but the committee made their decision and we are going to the NIT. I mean we aren’t above anybody. We are going.”
On what an NIT title would mean to Kentucky …
“It means that you went out on the right note. You went out on a good note and you always want to do that. You always want to end your season with a win and there are two teams that get to do that. We want to be the second team. It stinks that we aren’t in the NCAA and we can’t do it there, but life goes on.”
On what the reaction was when it was final that you weren’t playing in the NCAA Tournament …
“(We were) Just kind of speechless for a while. Nobody really knew what to do. We had to wait around until 9 to see who we would play and we are just moving on.”
On what he thinks of his own play as of late …
“Me being pleased or not pleased with how I have played as of late doesn’t really matter because we didn’t win. If we would have won then yeah, everyone would have been pleased with the way they had been playing probably. But we didn’t win, so nobody is happy.”
Photos by Clay Jackson, and property of Schurz Communications, Inc., and vaughtsviews.com. All rights reserved; images may not be reprinted in print or online without permission of the owners. Reprinted images must be attributed to vaughtsviews.com and linked to the original site.
Photos by Clay Jackson, and property of Schurz Communications, Inc., and vaughtsviews.com. All rights reserved; images may not be reprinted in print or online without permission of the owners. Reprinted images must be attributed to vaughtsviews.com and linked to the original site.
Jon Hood (photo courtesy UK Athletics)
By LARRY VAUGHT
This could be the game Saturday at Tennessee where Jon Hood gets the chance he’s been waiting for since he got to Kentucky to make a dramatic impact on the game.
With Nerlens Noel out for the season, Kentucky coach John Calipari said again Friday that it “gives Jon Hood a chance” to play more.
“What we’ll do is we’ll watch the game and if there’s a noncompetitive guy out there, he’s coming out. Now you’ll have, ‘If I don’t compete he takes me out every time.’ You just say it. It ain’t about missed shots, it’s not about turnovers. It’s about competing. So Jon Hood in practice yesterday, he’s competing his butt off. So I can see him going in,” Calipari said.
“I said, ‘It’s not us believing in Jon, it’s Jon believing in Jon.’ But you’ve got to go on that court, demonstrated performance is the only way to build self esteem, self confidence. It’s not what I say. It’s not what we’re all saying to him in there. He’s got to go in the game and do it.”
Here is part of what Hood had to say before today’s practice:
On his thoughts about getting more minutes of playing time now …
“I will be ready to play just like I have always have been. I will come in and do what I am supposed to do, whatever that may be; defense, rebound, shoot an open shot. Whatever it is.”
On what he has told Noel after his injury and if he has seen him yet …
“Well, he met with Derek Anderson the other day and DA knows about as much as I do, if not more, about coming back really quick. I haven’t spoken to Nerlens. I have texted him saying I am thinking about you if you need anything, let me know. As far as going up to see him, I didn’t want anybody to come see me, so I haven’t gone and actually seen him yet. I saw him after the game.”
On why he didn’t want someone to come see him after his ACL injury …
“I don’t know. I think it was you don’t want that pity from somebody. The biggest thing is, yeah it happened, but now let’s not remember it. Don’t make me remember it again because it hurts. I saw the footage of him going down and my knee hurts.”
On what the team is thinking about going forward with the rest of the season without Noel …
“We still believe that this team can do very special things. There is still a whole lot of talent on this team. We just need to come together. That is all.”
Photos by Victoria Graff and the Associated Press, and property of Schurz Communications, Inc., AP and vaughtsviews.com. All rights reserved; images may not be reprinted in print or online without permission of the owners. Reprinted images must be attributed to vaughtsviews.com and linked to the original site.
Kentucky forward Nerlens Noel (3) leaps behind teammate Kyle Wiltjer (33) as he blocks a shot by Mississippi forward Murphy Holloway (31) in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in Oxford, Miss. Kentucky won 87-74. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
–Kentucky improves to 14-6 overall and 5-2 in SEC action. Ole Miss suffers its first loss in SEC play and drops to 17-3 overall and 6-1 in league play.
–The win is the 100th in the series for Kentucky over Ole Miss and UK improves to 100-13 all-time in the series. Today’s win snaps a two-game losing streak in Oxford with the last victory coming during the 2006-07 season.
–UK improves to 62-22 all-time when game is played in the state of Mississippi.
–The win is the first over a top-25 ranked opponent this season.
–Kentucky returns to action on Saturday, Feb. 2 when UK travels to College Station, Texas, for a rematch with Texas A&M. Game is slated for a 6 p.m. ET tip and set to air live on ESPN.
Team Game Notes
–UK used the starting combination of Archie Goodwin, Ryan Harrow, Julius Mays, Nerlens Noel and Alex Poythress for the fifth time this season. That starting combination is now is 4-1 when starting that lineup.
–Alex Poythress opened the scoring for UK and it’s the fifth time this season he’s scored first for the Cats.
–Kyle Wiltjer was the first sub off the bench for the Blue and White. He has been the first sub a team-leading seven times this season.
–Wiltjer connected on Kentucky’s first 3-point attempt of the game at the 10:58-minute mark of the first half to extend UK’s 3-point streak to 847 consecutive games which is a standard that ranks as the third longest such streak in the nation.
–UK went on a 22-12 run to open the second half to take a 59-50 lead with 14:23 remaining in the second half.
–Kentucky led by as many as 17 in the second half before the Rebels put together a 16-0 run over a six-minute span to pull to within one at 73-71 before Ryan Harrow connected on a 3-point basket with 4:05 to play for UK’s first field goal since the 10:18 mark of the half.
–Kentucky then ended the second half on a 14-2 run to seal the first win over a top-25 ranked team this season.
–Nerlens Noel set a new single-game school record with 12 blocked shots. Andre Riddick held the previous record with nine swats vs. LSU on March 13, 1993.
–With Kyle Wiltjer (26) and Archie Goodwin (22) both reaching 20-point scoring figures it marks the first time since two players did so since Goodwin teamed with Alex Poythress to achieve the feat against LIU Brooklyn earlier this season.
Individual Player Notes
#3 Nerlens Noel
–Registered his team-leading fifth charge drawn of the season in the second half.
–Has logged six or more rebounds in every game this season.
–Set a career-high with 12 blocks and now has six or more in six-straight games. The 12 rejections is a single-game high in UK history.
–Five of his school-record blocks game after drawing his fourth foul.
#10 Archie Goodwin
–Tallied double-figure scoring in 16-of-20 games this season with 24 in tonight’s game. It is his first 20-point effort since scoring 22 at Louisville.
–Has made multiple free throws in 10 consecutive games. Tonight’s total of 12 matched a career-high total which he also achieved against Morehead State.
–Dished out four assists which totaled the most in SEC play this season and the most since passing out four in a win over Lipscomb.
#12 Ryan Harrow
–Scored in double-figures in 10 of his last 11 games with 13 points.
#22 Alex Poythress
–Turned in a traditional three-point play at the 18:46 mark in the second half which was his fourth of the season.
–Reached double-figure scoring for the fifth time in his last six games with 15 points in tonight’s game.
#33 Kyle Wiltjer
-Scored in double-figures for the fourth time in the last five games with a career-high 26 points.
–Has hit multiple 3-pointers in three of his last five games with five in tonight’s game.
–Notched his fourth career dunk when he scored his 26th point of the game which resulted in a new career-high tally.
#34 Julius Mays
–Pulled in a career-high seven rebounds and has now garnered three or more boards in four-straight games.
–Has connected on at least one 3-point attempt in nine-consecutive outings.
By LARRY VAUGHT
Junior Jon Hood was coming off an 18-point performance in the Blue-White Game but he didn’t get into Thursday’s exhibition game until the final four minutes when
Calipari brought him and Jarrod Polson into the game together. However, after the game Calipari vowed that Hood would play more in Monday’s exhibition against Transylvania.
Calipari said he wanted to see how his top seven players would mesh in this game before going to Hood or Polson, another junior.
Now I’ve got to figure out if we can stick in Jon Hood, which I’m going to do against Transy. I told him and Jarrod (Polson) I’ve got to go with these seven, and I’ve got to go figure out stuff. We’re so far behind,” Calipari said. “But I told him, now seeing that Alex (Poythress) just didn’t have the energy to finish the game.
“That means that maybe we shove Jon Hood in there three or four minutes a half while we’re playing and that’s a rotation where he goes in, and we will look at that against Transy. And Jon Hood is way better, because he is playing within himself. He’s playing the way coaches tell him to play and the way I know he should play. So he’ll be fine.”
Calipari noted how he got a text earlier in the day from Eloy Vargas, who played sparingly on UK’s championship team last year but is now contemplating where to play professional basketball this year, wishing the Cats luck and thanking him for “everything” the coach had done for him. The text noted that he did not play a lot, but just being at UK “helped me to where I’m trying to go, and I just want to thank you.”
Calipari wants Hood to feel like that with his role.
“That means he (Vargas) knows, yes, I want him to play more, but we care about him, that this is more than just the guys who are playing. I want Jon Hood to feel that way. People around him might be mad he’s not playing more. That’s how it is. But I want him to know we care and that we’re trying to make him better.”
5 CommentsBy LARRY VAUGHT
Junior Jon Hood knows there is a long journey ahead for him and his most talented teammates before NCAA Tournament play starts in March.
“We know we are an October team right now. It’s still October. It’s early. We have a long way to go like he (Calipari) says. We are pretty good for where we are right now,” Hood said. “For being together for about two weeks in real practices, day to day, not the one hour deals. We have made big strides, but we have a long way to go.
“I really think the team has come a long way quicker than I thought. For the freshmen, four months ago they were in AAU playing and eating hot dogs before games and just worrying about themselves. We have a bunch of good guys that are worried about other people more than themselves and that takes a lot to learn and that’s asking a lot of young guys, especially early. Everybody obviously has a long way to go with that. Trust is the main thing. But we will gain it and be okay by March.”
Hood knows some will be way too quick to compare Calipari’s fourth team, which lost its top six players from last year, to the national championship team.
“It’s that type of thing where what have you done for me lately. Realistically, we have not done anything,” Hood said. “We just played a Blue-White scrimmage. That is about it. The team last year won a national championship. I have a big, fat ring that weighs my hand down. To compare us right now to that team that finished last year is unfair. You have to let us get there.
“We are really close together and that is one thing you can expect. That is probably the main thing you can expect. It is fun to watch in pick-up and in practice a lot of people get dunked on and a lot of blocked shots. We have a lot of speed so we are going to be fun to watch.”
By LARRY VAUGHT
At times it might have appeared junior Jon Hood was a big tentative in last week’s Blue-White Game. Considering he was coming back off knee surgery that forced him to miss all of Kentucky’s national championship season, that seemed easy to understand.
However, Hood explained there was a different in patience and hesitation after he scored 18 points in that intrasquad scrimmage.
“That is what it was. It is patience. Coach (John Calipari) told me to be patient. Other guys have told me. Other coaches on the staff have told me to be patient. I played well. But it was just Blue-White scrimmage. Don’t forget that,” said Hood.
Still, teammates were happy with what he did and the thought of him adding more depth to this year’s team.
“I didn’t realize he had 18 points. That is good for him,” freshman Willie Cauley-Stein said. “He has kind of been struggling in practice with his shot, not really his shot but his mindset about his shot. We all know he can shoot the ball. That’s why he is here. In practice he kind of lets his mind go. But that’s good (for him to get 18 points). That’s real good for him that he was scoring a lot.”
But scoring is not the primary thing on Hood’s goal as the forward tries to work his way into the playing rotation after last year’s redshirt season.
“It is hard to learn patience. It’s one of those things where you have to gain it and just one day sit down and say this is the way I am going to play. I was able to do that here in practice and it carried over to the game,” Hood said. “It feels really good to be playing again, especially when your team in the Blue-White scrimmage wins and you are winning from the beginning to end. That’s a lot of fun, but at the same time it is just a scrimmage. Here in about a week we are going to be sick of playing ourselves and need somebody else to play.”
That actually comes Thursday night in Rupp Arena when UK plays the first of two exhibition games by hosting Northwood.
“Whatever coach Cal needs me to do, I am going to try and do that. I will not be begging for playing time. I know since I have been here three years, I understand that it is ‘you get what you deserve.’ That is in basketball and in life; if you put in the work at basketball then you will get time. That is something I am ready for and I think I have put in enough time,” Hood said.
“Everybody is so much better than they were last year and the new guys are obviously amazing. (They’re) the number one recruiting class again for a reason. Sometimes in pick-up we look like the Atlanta Hawks playing in the ‘Highlight Factory’. It is just fun to watch.”
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