Even sans Andrew Wiggins, Kentucky Wildcats Basketball is ranked preseason number one

Drew Barker has been a Wildcat for less than a week and he is already making his presence known as one of the lead recruiters for the 2014 class.  Need proof?  Barker is behind the twitter account above which launched yesterday and already has more followers than a similarly themed Tennessee page that had been around for a while.  The account has grown so fast that it has triggered the automatic spam detection procedures by Twitter and it is currently suspended.

The fact that the account was suspended has caused some rumors that it is a recruiting violation, but I do not believe it to be the case.  Basketball commits frequently go on Twitter to recruit other players to come to their school all the time, so I don’t see a violation here.  It’s clearly run by the recruits but the only change I may see is maybe removing the UK logo so it does not look like it is affiliated.  I’m not Sandy Bell, so it’s just speculation.  But we should clearly realize that Drew Barker is the man.

Dec 2, 2012; Lexington , KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats Athletic director Mitch Barnhart spoke to reporters during a press conference introducing Mark Stoops as the new football coach at Kentucky in the Nutter Field House. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

We have not discussed this in a while, but there has been some news (kind of) of the stadium renovations of Commonwealth Stadium and other projects. The UK Athletics Committee met yesterday and Rival’s Ben Jones shares some details on the football projects:

"Here are the highlights of the meeting: –Barnhart and the athletic department continue to look at details for the $110 million renovation to Commonwealth Stadium. He said the athletic department will examine designs for the next 4-5 months while discussing specifics for the renovation. “Not bids so much as just looking at the process and what we’re trying to achieve, what’s the goal,” Barnhart said. “We’re going to take a combination of the coaches’ input and their thoughts and what we’re doing for our fans � It’s just massive detail.” UK athletics is currently looking at designs for a renovation to Commonwealth Stadium before moving ahead with building plans and timelines, Barnhart said. The process includes talking to Mark Stoops and his staff about changes they’d like to see. “(The coaches) are fired up,” Barnhart said. “Obviously, they’re looking for stuff that helps players. They want stuff that helps the fan experience, but they also want stuff that helps bring players to Kentucky. Stuff where players say ‘That’s cool. I like that.’ For coaches, it’s about recruiting and getting the best you can and what gives them the best chance to get better.” After looking through designs, Barnhart said the next steps would be to stage construction plans and establish a more firm timeline for the renovation. –A new baseball stadium remains a top priority for Barnhart, but there’s not much new to report on that front. A new stadium was discussed when baseball coach Gary Henderson received a contract extension in July 2012. “We’re working our way through the master plan for the university,” Barnhart said. “Our goal, and I think where it’s trending, is building it over there by soccer, up on top. Once we finally finalize that piece of ‘where,’ then we can say ‘OK, when?’ I’m excited about doing that. It’s very much an absolute premium for us.”"