Kentucky Wildcats 5 for Wednesday: Archie Goodwin gets tongues wagging as we enter the July recruiting period

Today marks the beginning of the summer evaluation period in recruiting as John Calipari and staff starts to rack up the frequent flyer miles en masse.  On July 4th, the 2012 recruit caused a stir amongst the BBN when he sent out a tweet that said:

“For anyone who thinks I’m going to be the first person to commit to Kentucky. You are 100% wrong so stop thinking that. #wasteoftime”

Yesterday, he clarified matters somewhat by sending out the following tweets:

Speaking of recruiting, Matt Norlander of CBS thinks it is a major coup for Calipari the fact that up to 17 former Cats currently in the NBA could be headed back to Lexington to train during the NBA lockout.  I tend to agree and not many schools could put on this display of sheer awesomeness and star power:

Because there is no more progressive coach in college basketball than John Calipari, of course. Cal’s got himself quite a great situation right now, what with coaching at Kentucky and having the most passionate, emotional fanbase in college basketball fawn at his feet. He’s brought in five-star talent into UK the past three years, and now, with no huge recruit locked in for 2012, what’s a man to do?

Simple: Invite back all of his former players — those players who are currently earning NBA money, most notably. With the lockout only just beginning, Cal saw an opportunity. A business move as transparent and legal as it was brilliant and obvious.

Calipari also has the task of figuring out how to make sure that Anthony Davis is on the floor as much as possible next year.  Last year, Kentucky had the luxury of August practice time with their Canadian trip. Andy Katz noted that Duke gets that advantage with their China trip this year, but Mr. Katz managed to fit UK talk into a Duke story.  Got to love that: 

Kentucky coach John Calipari, who spent the holiday weekend away from Lexington, is still trying to figure out how he wants his team to play next season. The one certainty he has seen is this: Anthony Davis has to be on the court.

Davis, a 6-foot-10 power forward from the Perspectives Charter School (Ill.), is expected to be a starter and an impact player from the outset. “He has to play and be on the floor,” Calipari said. “We’ll figure out how we’ll going to play against zone and overall offensively.”

Like Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, Calipari will have a core group of veterans in Terrence Jones, Darius Miller and Doron Lamb to go along with an impact freshman class. Davis will play. Marquis Teague will likely be the point guard. Michael Gilchrist will be a major factor on the wing, and Kyle Wiltjer will deliver much-needed shooting. Calipari has to figure out how to put everyone together.

Gamers and football fans know that NCAA FOOTBALL 12 releases on Tuesday, and no, Danny Trevathan will not grace the cover … this year.  Danny is on the watch list for the  Bednarik Award, which goes to the nation’s top defensive player.  If Danny can have another huge season and snag some postseason hardware, he chances get a bit better of making that 2013 cover.  Or Kentucky fans can keep making their own NCAA Football covers and pretend he’s on the cover. 

We know that the NBA lockout is in full effect, but John Wall set off his own Fourth of July fireworks, scoring 41 points in a DC streetball league game.  DeMarcus Cousins also played and scored 29 points, but got more attention for getting a technical and kicking the ball.  Oh, that Boogie. 

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