In addition to the aforementioned Tayshaun Prince former Kentucky Basketball greats Mike Casey and Billy Ray Lickert will be entering the UK Athletics Hall of Fame. All very appropriate picks. Whether Prince will now get his jersey retired remains to be seen, but the first part of the requirements is satisfied. Five years after entry into the Hall of Fame, he will be eligible for a retired jersey. I’m not sure how likely that is though as Kentucky went through a pretty ugly time losing nine games in his freshman season and ten in each of his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons. It was this stretch that earned the Tubster the nickname, Ten-Loss Tubby.
John Calipari’s pro camp will feature DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall and Eric Bledsoe on July 29, 30 and 31 respectively. That’s pretty awesome and I imagine these guys will have some interesting things to say while here as they will no longer be so closely watched and restricted by UK media rules. Could we hear Eric Bledsoe claiming that he will get sh@t right in the NBA? You know I sure hope so.
In spite of the fact that Michael Gilchrist, current UK commit and number one player in the 2011 class being hailed as the best player in all of high school as a junior, talk is that he may lose his number one spot to Anthony Davis Jr. a likely UK commit. He currently lists Kentucky, Ohio State, Syracuse and North Carolina as his top four. Consider for a moment. If Davis Jr commits to UK, that would mean that John Calipari got the number one player in the country twice, in the same year.
And finally, there’s been a little hubbub today about Darius Miller using the “F” word in his Twitter account. Some people didn’t like it and inevitably the usual, well “you don’t have to follow his tweets” discussion came about. Dumb. Look, call me one of those prude squares or whatever, but I’m one of those that thinks there’s no need for filthy language on a UK basketball player’s Twitter account. Yes I know people don’t have to follow his account and he’s just a kid and blah blah blah. That’s really not the point of all this. The point is always that as a UK basketball player you represent the university both as an athlete and a student. It’s a pretty privileged life to be a Kentucky basketball player. With those privileges come certain responsibilities. Yes, Darius can swear on his account (until of course the university tells him otherwise), but the question here is not whether he can, but whether he should.
People who get offended at foul language are not ignorant as to how people talk or how kids communicate with their friends. They’re not people that live inside churches and only come out for groceries and to follow Darius Miller’s tweets. They’re just people that would prefer that people used clean language. Saying someone is young and that’s how young people talk is not a reasonable excuse. That’s like saying oh young people drink and drive all the time. You just have to understand that. Obviously the severity is nowhere near the same, but the logic is.
I have met Darius Miller on several occasions in press conferences and walking around campus. I even played a little cornhole with him. I will tell you that he is a stand up kid with a good attitude from a good family. Using the “F” word is not and should not be taken to define his character. He just said a naughty word. My own personal advice would be to not follow him or well any other athlete if you don’t like the language, but the fact is still that Darius also has an obligation to represent the university in a wholesome way, indeed a way that reflects who he really is, a really good kid. A saint? Of course not, but a really good kid. I hope he cleans it up, and I hope everyone else refrains from thinking less of him over a swear word or two.
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