Mar 26, 2012; Chicago, IL, USA; McDonalds High School All American forward Alex Poythress (22) does a dunk in the dunk contest during Jam Fest at the Gerald Ratner Athletic Center for the 35th McDonalds All American Game. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-US PRESSWIRE

Nerlens Noel is the #1 recruit in the country; Ryan Harrow is a junior that has had a year to adjust to John Calipari’s system; Archie Goodwin has explosive scoring ability; and Kyle Wiltjer is in his second year and looking to have a break out season; but the player that we may all be talking about the most by mid-season is Alex Poythress.

The 6’8, 215 pound forward out of Tennessee may be grossly under-ranked as the #8 player in the 2012 class. His offensive skills are honed and his size, length and athleticism are exactly what John Calipari covets for his system.

Maybe the reason Poythress is so underrated is that he is a quiet, unassuming young man. He worked at Wendy’s while he was in high school and doesn’t brag about his unbelievable skills. Alex has adopted the montra, “I let my game roar”, referring to letting his game talk for him.

CoachCal.com has an excellent profile piece on Alex that is a must read. Here are some quotes from Alex:

I don’t have to be loud or this big person to do the small things that matter.

If we come working hard from day one and we don’t take any days off, just trying to work hard every day, condition every day, listening to what Coach has to say in practice and just taking what he has to say (to heart), I really do believe that we’re going to have a chance to win a national championship.

I’m trying to be a matchup problem every game. I’m kind of big, strong. It’s hard for small people to guard me and it’s hard for big people to guard me too. I just try to be a matchup problem.

This kid might be picking up where Michael Kidd-Gilchrist left off.

Nov 26, 2011; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Joker Phillips does an interview after his team defeated the Tennessee Volunteers 10-7 at Commonwealth Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-US PRESSWIRE

Football coach, ice cream man, Volunteer slayer, the bane of Spurrier, expert diving board back flipper, and country music star. Joker Phillips is a bit of a renaissance man. Joker is currently the star bass player in country musc singer JD Shelbourne’s “Farmboy” video. Full disclosure: I absolutely DESPISE current country music. Give me Johnny Cash, David Alan Coe, Merle Haggard or Waylon Jennings over posers like Jason Aldean, Toby Keith and the like.

So, I’m not the best judge of this video. Take a look and see for yourself. You may like it. Go Joker. Go Cats. Go football:

Mar 30, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari during practice the day before the semifinals of the 2012 NCAA men

John Calipari dropped some atomic sized bombs yesterday with multiple announcements about scheduling games in 2013-2014.

First of all, the North Carolina series will be renewed as a home and home contest. Kentucky will alternate home games with North Carolina based on where they play Louisville. For example, if the schedule has the ‘Cats playing Louisville in Rupp Arena, then the ‘Cats will go to Chapel Hill to face UNC.

Second, Cal is in talks with coach K to begin an annual neutral site series in “the best facilities around the country”. Cal also mentioned that in 2013, the ‘Cats will be playing Michigan State in Chicago in the finale of the Champions Classic.

Third, the biggest game of them all will be a duel match up of Kentucky men’s and women’s teams against Baylor’s men’s and women’s teams in Cowboys Stadium, one of the largest sporting venues in the world. The women will play in the first game and the men will go at it in the finale.

Read all of coach Cal’s comments on his website. He explains that he doesn’t just want games for the fans, he wants experiences.

Hold on to your butts, 2013-2014 is going to be one wild ride.

Mar 31, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari reacts during the second half in the semifinals of the 2012 NCAA men

The fall-out from the Kentucky vs. Indiana debacle is still not over. As usual, John Calipari and the University of Kentucky are made out to look like the bad guys while Tom Crean and IU get a pass.

Radio talk show hosts, bloggers and even some respected journalists have blasted coach Cal and his program for “running scared”, despite the fact that Indiana and Crean made the final call to end the series, not the Wildcats.

The neutral site game was supposedly a verbal agreement between all parties involved but, as we found out later, that was not to be as the Hoosiers pulled out at the last second.

All of this prompted Cal to take to his website and get on his soapbox and preach a new axiom for the Big Blue Nation to digest: Kentucky is a Non-Traditional Program.

The Kentucky Wildcats 2012 national championship team will be honored at the White House by president Barrack Obama on Friday May, 4th at 4:40 PM.

Calipari had the following to say in his press release:

It’s one of those moments for these players that they have probably thought about without us even knowing that it was important to them. So I’m excited about the opportunity for them to meet the President of the United States, the Leader of the Free World and someone who is trying to make a difference in their lives.

Cal could run for president with words like that.

USA! USA! USA! USA!

Oct 29, 2011; Lexington, Kentucky, KY, USA; Kentucky WIldcats head coach Joker Phillips during the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Commonwealth Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-US PRESSWIRE

As we were still basking in the 2012 basketball National Championship team, the football version of the Kentucky Wildcats took the field on April 21st to hold their annual Blue/White Spring Game. Facing crowd the crowd drawing events of Keeneland and Thunder Over Louisville, as well as less than ideal weather, the scrimmage drew only 4,500 fans to Commonwealth Stadium.

Pictures of the sparse crowd were depressing to see as the football team had no doubt worked hard to prepare to put on a good practice for the fans. The people that did show up were treated to an exciting game with a final score of 35-28, favoring the first team over the second team. The crowd got to see Max Smith workout some growing pains and launch passes that were difficult for him to complete in his first year. They were also treated to a great performance by speedy sophomore Demarco Robinson.

The offense might be more explosive than we had originally thought with many returning specialty positions and the defense’s success last year is going to be tested by a younger unit.

But are fans willing to give this team a chance or have they already written them off?