SEC
Southeastern Conference's teams, coaches, style of play.
Plenty of fan bases – Kansas, Duke, Indiana, UNC – go nuts for their schools. But I’m with The Dagger on this one: Kentucky fans just go above and beyond.
Big Blue Madness, the school’s annual midnight scrimmage, is set for Oct. 16. Tickets go on sale Oct. 3 at 6 a.m. ET. Fans are camping out en masse for those tickets – and have been for days.
Wow. That’s equal parts devotion, excitement and a little bit crazy. Even new coach John Calipari is blown away by the number of tents filled with fans.
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Tennessee isn’t messing around when it comes to Emmanuel Negedu’s basketball career.
Regardless of what the Vols need on the court – like a promising 6-7 forward – docs must have told coach Bruce Pearl just how serious hypertrophic cardiomyopathy can be.
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It’s not summer heat John Pelphrey’s feeling in Arkansas. That’s good ol’ fashioned job pressure.
Any grace Pelphrey earned during his first season in Fayetteville (a 23-12 record and NCAA tourney berth) is quickly disappearing. His team dropped to 16-14 last season – ending on a 2-15 skid! – and has dealt with some serious attrition issues.
More fuel for the fire came when former guard Patrick Beverley said he had a paper written for him while in school. And, earlier this season, the NCAA notified the program that its academic-progress rate was too low.
The latest mess?
Three players were recently investigated for allegedly raping a woman at a party. They won’t face any charges, but it’s the kind of news that only hurts a team, especially when it has other issues.
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Say this for Kevin Stallings: he’s a man of principle.
The Vanderbilt coach passed on a $100,000 raise to fund his team’s 10-day trip to Australia earlier this month. The school had made cuts of up to 20 percent this spring, leaving the trip in jeopardy. But Stallings decided the money would be better spent on his team.
I’d like to think most coaches would do the same, but I’m not sure. That’s a chunk of change. But maybe Stallings just understands how money should be spent.
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Jarvis Varnado may be the ultimate team player, what with his help defense and shot blocking.
And what had been a memorable summer – making Team USA for the University Games and being listed as a preseason Wooden Award candidate – got even better because it could ensure Miss State having a big season in 2009-10.
He’ll pay his own tuition this year so another Bulldog player can have his scholarship.
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The revamped SEC is hardly a secret anymore. Even if John Calipari wasn’t a Tweeting machine, the conference will assuredly be a far cry from its 2008-09 version that saw just three teams earn NCAA tourney berths.
Except, that is, for Arkansas.
It just doesn't seem possible given the turnover John Pelphrey has to deal with.
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The SEC’s basketball woes are over – even if you’re not a Kentucky fan.
Little by little, the league everyone loved to kick around last season (including me), caught some nice breaks this spring. Kentucky’s recruiting class grabbed most of the attention, but the players withdrawing from the NBA draft are just as crucial and should help the SEC at least double its number of schools in the NCAA tournament from 2009.
Never too early for a little hyperbole.
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Simple question: Is John Calipari now the biggest name in college basketball?
Thanks to his recruiting prowess, non-stop Twittering and general media onslaught (a dream for those of us dreading the summer doldrums), Coach Cal’s owned the college hoop headlines every since the NCAA tournament ended.
But how long can that go on?
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Whoa, we’re to this point again? Already?
Didn’t we just do this dance with Billy Donovan and a handful of other coaches two years ago? How did Billy Gillispie wear out his welcome so fast in Lexington?
Can things really be this bad in Kentucky?
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Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie likes to say he has the best job in the world. He might be right.
The Wildcats’ tradition, facilities and devoted fan base is like few other programs in college hoops. They’re the reason the state bleeds blue.
The flip side: It might be the toughest job in college hoops, too.
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