Kentucky Wildcats Mark Stoops Embraces the Rivalry at the Governer’s Cup Luncheon while Jarrod Polson serves in Ethiopia

February 12, 2013; Gainesville, FL, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Jarrod Polson (5) dribbles the ball against the Florida Gators during the second half at the Stephen C. O

What is never lost on Coach Calipari is his and his team’s responsibility to be good stewards of their opportunities afforded by being associated with the University of Kentucky Wildcats Men’s Basketball Team and he goes through great lengths to instill that same sense of responsibility to his players.  One such player is Jarrod Polson, who is in Ethopia on a service project with seven (7) others.  During his time there, he’s written a bit about it.

"We started our journey to Ethiopia around 10 a.m. ET on Monday morning. We drove to the Cincinnati airport where we took off for Washington, D.C., arriving around 430 p.m. After checking into the hotel near the airport, we had the wonderful privilege of taking a three-hour tour around D.C in the “fun van,” as our driver called it. We were able to see most of the famous attractions including the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Memorial and even got a glimpse of the White House. During the tour, we were fed both a countless amount of information and some cheese puffs that were out of this world. Once done with that escapade, we proceeded to partake in the “last supper,” as we liked to call it. We chose to go to the Cheesecake Factory and were not disappointed. Knowing that we probably wouldn’t have an American meal for at least a week, we took the honor of each ordering an appetizer, an entree and a dessert. After stuffing our faces, we came back to the hotel and rested up for the journey ahead. The next day we woke up around 6:30 a.m. so we could catch our 9:15 a.m. flight. After purchasing a comfortable neck pillow and a hearty bagel breakfast, we boarded the plane and began our 13-hour flight to Ethiopia.  Fortunately, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting. The seats were pretty spread apart and after watching three movies, taking a few naps and reading a little bit, we finally landed in Africa promptly and safely. It took a while to get out of the airport because we had to go through customs. Once the particulars were done, we checked into the Addis Guest House. It didn’t take long to see such a culture change from America to Ethiopia. One of the big things that I wasn’t even expecting was the driving. Ethiopia is actually a very busy place to drive, and it doesn’t help that there are hardly any lines on the road and people literally are walking in and out of traffic, even on the “highways.” We quickly learned that it is kind of a free for all, as drivers do not stop for pedestrians, even if they are literally a few feet away from them. I also should mention that I heard more car honks today alone than I have in my entire life. Anyways, after getting settled into our rooms we ate a quick breakfast right there at the guest house and got ready for the day. We drove to one of the poorer areas in Ethiopia and helped out with covering a woman’s house with plastic as it wasn’t keeping the rain and wind out very effectively.  A few of us went into the house and that’s when it really hit me how underprivileged some of the people are. This house was about the size of a bedroom and was occupied by a few sheets and blankets for a bed, some old pots and pans and that’s about it. It was hard not to feel bad for the woman, but the crazy part was just how joyful she seemed to be and thankful for what we were doing. Talk about a wakeup call! My favorite part of the day by far was getting to meet my new buddy Alamiyoo. Funny story: As I was hammering some nails into the wood to keep the plastic up, a little 10-year-old boy came up to me and pretty much showed me how it was done. I’ll be honest, I was a little mad at first because he was showing me up and making me look pretty worthless, but we soon became really good friends. I got to play a lot of “games” with him (mainly raising my hand up and seeing how high he could reach it or teaching him how to do the “Dougie”) . Alamiyoo and all the other children we got to play with really taught us a good lesson. Here they are living in houses with dirt floors and plastic walls, hungry and thirsty most of the day, and they were some of the most joyous people I have ever met. I can think of so many times where I complain about the littlest things, and these kids have nothing and still have huge smiles on their faces. Today as a whole was very shocking, and I’m certain that the people of Ethiopia are going to help us out way more than we could ever even think of helping them, simply through the joy they show in the worst of circumstances."

The Nike Global Challenge was last week and Adam Zagoria has generated a Top 10 list of players from that challenge and there are a few of note that should interest the Wildcat faithful because they have all received an offer from John Calipari: Stanley Johnson, Kelly Oubre and Tyus Jones.

"STANLEY JOHNSON, 6-6 SF, Santa Ana (CAL) Mater Dei Johnson was named Co-MVP of the event after leading the USA West team to the title by posting 25 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in a 98-95 win over USA South this past Saturday. He is considering seven schools – Kentucky, Kansas, Florida, Oregon, Arizona, UCLA and USC – and will take official visits to the first five. NBA Scout’s Take: “Really showed something bringing the ball up the floor. His perimeter game is improving, which is really going to help him big-time because he’s very good around the basket. With the perimeter game, his upside is much better than the first night I saw him. He’s got a real chance also. He understands how to play. He’s a winner.” KELLY OUBRE, 6-5 SG, Henderson (NV) Findlay Prep Some scouts actually like Oubre over Johnson on the wing, and Oubre’s stock has certainly risen this summer, as evidenced by a recent offer from Kentucky. He is also considering  Kansas, Florida, Kentucky, Georgetown, Louisville, Oregon, UConn and UNLV. NBA Scout’s Take: “Long athletic lefty. Highly skilled. Really can shoot the ball from the perimeter. Hits big shots. Unafraid. Only weakness is at times he loses focus.” TYUS JONES, 6-2 PG, Apple Valley (MN) A top-five player in the Class of 2014, Jones wants to attend college with his close friend, 6-10 Chicago big man Jahlil Okafor. Some believe the duo is headed to Duke, but the two are also considering Kansas, Kentucky, Baylor, Ohio State and Michigan State. Minnesota is trying to keep Jones at home, too. NBA Scout’s Take: “Great head, great vision, understands how to play. A coach’s dream. Needs to improve his jumper from the perimeter.”"

Kind of on the periphery is Montaque Gill-Caesar who some have, perhaps a bit prematurely, likened him to Andrew Wiggins, is receiving interest from Cal though no offer has been made.

"MONTAQUE GILL-CAESAR, SF, Huntington (WV) Prep The junior wing has drawn comparisons to Wiggins because they attend the same high school, are both Canadian and have similar mannerisms. While that comparison is probably unfair to Gill-Caesar, he has already received interest from Kentucky and a slew of high-major offers. NBA Scout’s Take: “Very active. Inside-outside game. Shoots the ball well. Has had a terrific tournament.”"

And finally, in a blast from the past, former Bat Cat Sawyer Carroll has been signed to the Arizona Diamondbacks AA Mobile club from the Laredo Lemurs of the Independent League.  Carroll played at Kentucky from 2007-2008.

"Henryetta graduate Sawyer Carroll signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night and has been assigned to Double-A Mobile, where he will be a teammate of Broken Arrow’s Archie Bradley. Arizona purchased Carroll, an outfielder, from the independent Laredo Lemurs, where he was batting .310 with four homers, 21 doubles and 41 RBIs in 59 games. Carroll played for San Antonio in the Texas League from 200-11. Carroll’s Laredo teammate, former University of Oklahoma infielder Garrett Buechele, has bounced back from a slow start and is hitting .262 with two homers and 17 RBIs. Carroll is the third player with local ties that Arizona has acquired from Laredo this year. During the winter, they picked up former Drillers pitcher Chaz Roe, who made his major league debut this summer. And this summer, they signed former Oral Roberts pitcher Mark Serrano, who is 3-0 with a 1.84 ERA at Mobile."