October 25, 2012; Denver, CO, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Eric Bledsoe (12) shoots the ball during the first half against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-US PRESSWIRE

It was a busy day for your former Cats in the NBA. Anthony Davis is still out with a concussion, along with Austin Rivers, which meant that Darius Miller would start for the Hornets. Terrence Jones also did not play. And the Hornets finished with the lowest point total recorded in NBA history after losing 77-62.

Here’s how everyone finished:

Darius Miller (Hornets)- 5 Points

Anthony Davis (Hornets)- DNP

Patrick Patterson (Rockets)- 18 points and 5 rebounds

Terrence Jones (Rockets)- DNP

Enes Kanter (Jazz)- 9 points

Jodie Meeks (Lakers)- DNP

Doron Lamb (Bucks)- 2 points and 2 assists

Josh Harrellson (Heat)- 1 rebound

Keith Bogans (Nets)- 3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Bobcats)- 9 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks

Rajon Rondo (Celtics)- 18 points, 14 assists, 4 rebounds and 3 steals

Chuck Hayes (Kings)- 4 rebounds

DeMarcus Cousins (Kings)- 21 points and 11 rebounds

Brandon Knight (Pistons)- 21 points, 4 assists

Tayshaun Prince (Pistons)- 10 points, 3 rebounds

Eric Bledsoe (Clippers)- 15 points, 5 assists

Oct 24, 2012; Lexington , KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari watches his play during the Kentucky-Blue and White scrimmage at Rupp Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-US PRESSWIRE

I know exactly what your thinking, “Did I read that title correctly”. The good news is that you did. Jason King of ESPN threw up an article entitled “The gospel of Kentucky’s John Calipari”. This article literally means that John Calipari is almost everywhere now. He even met Charlie Sheen at a Cincinnati Reds game.

Photo via Twitter: @UKCoachCalipari

The Kentucky Wildcats basketball team is known being labeled as a dynasty. This Kentucky basketball program seems to always find a way to get things done, even when it comes to marketing.

John Calipari knows a ton of people, which is pretty apparent from the photo listed above. Whether it’s Drake, UK alumni, or any other famous or well-known person associated with the University of Kentucky, Calipari always seems to bring a fresh feel to every young player out there.

And Jason King apparently understands this.

“College basketball has never seen anything like John Calipari — or at least not this John Calipari, whose marketing savvy and reputation for molding gifted players into NBA millionaires has helped separate the Wildcats from the rest of college basketball’s blue bloods.”

To even further elaborate the stars that have had things to do with Kentucky, think about LeBron James. The NBA phenom visited Rupp Arena for a game back in Calipari’s first year at Kentucky. And don’t forget about Jay-Z being in UK’s locker room a year back.

Also, in spite of the Maryland game Friday, Calipari will still continue his relief efforts and telethon to gather money for Hurricane Sandy disaster areas. Many do not like Calipari ways, which mostly comes out of jealousy, but everyone has to agree that this is an amazing thing Calipari has put together. In the Haiti telethon for earthquake victims back in 2010, Calipari helped bring in more than $1 million dollars.

You still want to hate on Calipari? Then you may want to think once more. John Calipari is more than your average College Basketball coach.

Nov 1, 2012; Bloomington, IN, USA; Indiana Hoosiers forward Cody Zeller (42) waits to check into the game against Indiana Weleyan Wildcats at Assembly Hall. Indiana defeats Indiana Wesleyan 86-57. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE

It is time for the all mighty basketball season to roll around once more. As a part of the festivities, a few of the WBN  writers have voted and will put together a weekly College Basketball top 25 for your viewing pleasure. Indiana starts out the list as the top-ranked team in the nation. Louisville takes a small edge over Kentucky and comes in at number 2. Of course, that means that your Kentucky Wildcats have came in at No.3 on the list. NC State and Michigan rounded out the top 5. The Florida Gators also cracked the top ten, as the only other SEC team besides Kentucky, to make the top ten. The NC State Wolfpack also made it in at number 4, surpassing Michigan and Ohio State.

1. Indiana Hoosiers (6) – 246

2. Louisville Cardinals (2) – 215

3. Kentucky Wildcats (1) – 212

4. NC State Wolfpack – 176

5. Michigan Wolverines – 176

6. Ohio State Buckeyes – 174

7. Duke Blue Devils – 162

8. UCLA Bruins – 143

9. Florida Gators – 140

10. Kansas Jayhawks – 138

11. Syracuse Orange – 134

12. Arizona Wildcats – 123

13. North Carolina Tar Heels – 123

14. Michigan State Spartans – 118

15. Missouri Tigers – 87

16. Memphis Tigers – 77

17. Baylor Bears – 77

18. UNLV Rebels – 74

19. Creighton Blue Jays – 73

20. San Diego State Aztecs – 55

21. Gonzaga Bulldogs – 41

22. Notre Dame Fighting Irish – 31

23. Florida State Seminoles – 27

24. Cincinnati Bearcats – 18

25. Tennessee Volunteers – 14

Others:  St Louis (6), Texas (5), Wisconsin (4), Vanderbilt (2), Murray State (2)

The WBN Top 25 is published weekly and is compiled by WBN writers Jordan Bunch, Paul Jordan, Josh Kays, Wayne Hunter, James Streble, Lyndsey Gough, Brett Bibbins, Alan Smith, Daniel Solzman and Jason Marcum.

October 24, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Hornets power forward Anthony Davis (23) attempts a dunk over Houston Rockets center Omer Asik (3) during the fourth quarter of a preseason game at the New Orleans Arena. The Rockets defeated the Hornets 97-90. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

We have finally made it.

That’s what always comes to my mind as the basketball season begins. Of course, you’re probably excited about this year’s Kentucky squad, but what about some of the alumni?

The University of Kentucky has been a destination for top recruits and players to go. Therefore, we are seeing the NBA start to become full of former players who wore the Kentucky blue.

When we think of former Wildcats in the NBA, usually names pop out like Rajon Rondo, John Wall, and Anthony Davis. But these are just a few of the fantastic players that have came out of Lexington and ventured to the NBA.

With everyone having flooding thoughts about Anthony Davis and his rookie season, we have forgotten all of the first-rounders for Kentucky in the 2012 NBA Draft. Who can forget Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Doron Lamb, Darius Miller, Terrence Jones, and Marquis Teague?

That just highlights a few of my predictions today. Expect to see the Big Blue represented well, as the NBA season begins.

Oct 25, 2012; Hoover, AL, USA; Kentucky Wildcats basketball coach John Calipari during the SEC media day at the Wynfrey Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-US PRESSWIRE

As simple as it can be put, most likely if you’re not a Kentucky fan, that means your not a fan of John Calipari. Even though Coach Cal has arousing success with himself being the head coach at the University of Kentucky, we still find many of people who doubt his ability.

SLAM Online released an article that gave Calipari some praise.

The also compiled a list of three reasons why coach Calipari attracts recruits to come into Kentucky. That list follows:

1. Calipari exemplifies his players’ strengths

2. Calipari uses celebrities and star-status innovations better than anyone in college basketball history

3. Calipari uses player precedent to suggest to high school players that he can put them in the NBA too.

Oct 11, 2012; Lexington, KY, USA; A general view of the Kentucky Wildcats practice facility during basketball media day at Memorial Coliseum. Credit: Mark Zerof-US PRESSWIRE

As the Kentucky Wildcats 2012-13 campaign is set to start, Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News gave another team breakdown, this time the Wildcats were involved.

DeCourcy obviously likes Nerlens Noel, by comparing him to Bill Russell and Kenyon Martin.

C – Nerlens Noel, Fr., 6-10/228. He is a shot-blocker who, with his quick jumping and defensive intelligence, is reminiscent of Kenyon Martin and Bill Russell.

Those are pretty strong words. He does think that Cats have a few weaknesses though. He even stated that he isn’t a big fan of some of the starters for the Wildcats, and target Ryan Harrow and Kyle Wiltjer. “These Wildcats have one player (Ryan Harrow) who was a starter for a mediocre N.C. State team and one 12-minute player (power forward Kyle Wiltjer) who isn’t incredibly athletic.”

I find that a little offensive, but that’s his opinion. There isn’t any reason that we can’t prove him wrong. Wiltjer and Harrow have the potential to become a major factor the Calipari’s offense.

He also thinks that Kentucky’s five biggest games will be against- Duke, Notre Dame, Louisville, Missouri, and Florida.

I pretty much agree on that, but I do think that Baylor will pose a threat for the Wildcats. I am honestly not buying Missouri right now. There is absolutely no way that they will come into Rupp Arena and win, but that is just my thought. Expect  the Duke game to be one of the most action-packed games to start off the season. Not only that, we will see the Duke game follow our season opener against Maryland. That could very well be one of the toughest two-game stretches of the season.

It doesn’t look like we’ll see DeCourcy even think about betting against the Wildcats this upcoming season.

“With Kentucky, the thing to do is trust that Calipari has attracted enough talent to replace the truckload that just traveled out of the program. It’s also safe to assume he will find the correct formula to mix the players he has gathered into a championship contender. It’s conceivable the Wildcats eventually will hit a snag, and if ever that’s going to happen, it’s now, with a point guard who never was considered an elite prospect. But who’s betting against them?”

Oct 11, 2012; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats forward Willie Cauley-Stein (15) talks with reporters during media day at Memorial Coliseum. Credit: Mark Zerof-US PRESSWIRE

I’m sure at Big Blue Madness, you were impressed by a handful of players, two of those are Willie Cauley-Stein and Kyle Wiltjer.

For what it means, you have to look at Noel as a lock to be a starter. But a question may arise, -should it be Cauley-Stein or Wiltjer?

Although Wiltjer probably has the edge, CBS talked with John Calipari about the potential of Cauley-Stein.

“He is surprising,” Calipari said of the 7-foot Cauley-Stein, who is currently a freshman for the Wildcats. “What we ended up getting was a kid who never fully committed to playing basketball because he was always playing other sports. Willie’s a great athlete, he was a wide receiver when he played football. When he came here, he fully committed to hoops. He’s gained weight and strength.”

When you look at the possible lineups that the Wildcats may have, we could very well have one of the biggest teams in all of College Basketball. With the emergence of Willie Cauley-Stein, we could see a lot of height in Kentucky’s frontline.

“There’s going to be at least eight to ten minutes a game where those two guys play together,” Calipari said of Noel and Cauley-Stein. “Willie has made me think about a number of different things. He’s longer than Nerlens. There’s also Kyle Wiltjer who’s 6-10 and one of our most skilled guys. Do we play zone? If we did, that’s 7-feet, 6-11, and 6-10 across our front line.”

Who do you think the Wildcats should play? This has the potential to be a crazy season, so we could see a shakeup with the lineups by seasons end.

Apr 2, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Kentucky Wildcats players rub the head of head coach John Calipari as he holds the NCAA National Championship trophy after defeating the Kansas Jayhawks 67-59 in the finals of the 2012 NCAA men

As Adam Zagoria reported earlier, it looks like the Wildcats are getting a little help on the recruiting trail.

A division 1 “source” had plenty to say about this.

“They want it to be their team. They want it to be everybody followed us [to Kentucky].”

“Them playing with James Young, that’s good for James,” the source said.

 

Those are strong words. Players can also play a huge role in the recruiting front. As much as it means to you, I think they will play a role in the recruitment of James Young.

In other recruiting news, we also have an update on Andrew Wiggins. On the same night that the Harrison twins committed to the Wildcats, Calipari went back on the recruiting trail to see Andrew Wiggins.

Calipari has made Wiggins a priority for this recruiting class. This seems to hit into the direction of Wiggins being likely to reclassify.

Andrew Wiggins has been labeled as “the best amateur basketball player in the world” by many recruiting analysts.

Although it may be unlikely, could you imagine a class that consists of the Harrison twins, Julius Randle, James Young, and Andrew Wiggins? That would be a almost guaranteed championship team.

Calipari is making it felt that he isn’t going to stop with the twins. He keeps wanting as many talented players as he can get. You can expect us to be in route to a monster 2013 recruiting class.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you should know that the Harrison twins have committed to Kentucky. For some, you we’re surprised, but many of us were expecting the twins to pick UK. I personally was optimistic about the Cats  chances to begin with. So I might as well give a quick recap, and discuss all of the happenings that took place in the twin’s high school.

One thing that really struck me was the statement “We will spend our next 4 years at the University of Kentucky.” Is this wishful thinking? Probably. But I guess it may still be “possible”. I also have to give it to the twins’ father. He kept his lips sealed and kept us guessing at the end.

I’m sure that many of you were also hitting up Twitter during the announcement. Here is one tweet that is sure to strike your attention.

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/GoodmanCBS/status/253971444986441728"]

Of course there had to be a few people that were out on the verge to insult the UK basketball program. That comes normally, but I feel this is a step to far. “Nike” and “World Wide Wes”? That’s downright ridiculous.

Let’s back off of the announcement for a minute, and look ahead at how these guys can change our program. The most obvious thing is that they will probably be one of the best duos to ever step foot on the court. But they should also be the start of a fantastic recruiting class. The Cats are definitely going to be in the mix for another No.1 class.

Most of you know Ben Roberts. He had a few interesting tweets after the announcement.

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/NextCats/status/254013772786708480"]

[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/NextCats/status/253975296552865793"]

It’s good to hear that Young and the twins are willing to co-exist with each other, so that’s a good sign. Julius Randle also congratulated the twins after the announcement.

Here’s the video, in case you missed it.

Jan 15, 2012; Springfield, MA, USA; Tilton Rams center Nerlens Noel watches during the second half of a game against the Brewster Bobcats at Blake Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-US PRESSWIRE

Throughout the John Calipari era, we have grown a custom to seeing players being blown away by the fans and atmosphere. It looks like Nerlens Noel is no different. He described that, as he did a interview for UK Athletics.

“I knew a lot of this was coming, but you never really know at what level,” Noel said. “People say it’s crazy and you think it’s crazy, but you haven’t really seen crazy.”

Noel is a highly touted player, and that’s no secret. Many of us have seen players get blown away with our program.

Noel is finally starting to get that feeling that makes you a Kentucky Wildcat. Many players are overwhelmed with the magnitude of what goes on hear. From the Big Blue Madness camp-outs to the 24,000 fans that show up at every game, you can tell that this is a new thing to Noel.

Don’t lie, you’ve probably been wanting to know what he’s been doing on the court to get better.

“On the court, I’m definitely busting my butt, working hard, making sure I stay up on cardio and conditioning and the skill work,” Noel said.

If your worried about Nerlens, then stop. This kid will be just fine. He’s just now learning the system, but he still takes great pride in that.

Maybe we’ll get to see Nerlens get some lob dunks and blocks in Rupp Arena.