Could Kentucky Wildcats land package deal of Justise Winslow, Tyus Jones and Jahlil Okafor?

Jul 13, 2013; North Augusta, SC, USA; Houston Hoops player Justise Winslow (20) drives to the basket while being defended by Texas Titans player D.J. Hogg (8) during the Nike Peach Jam at the Riverview Park Activities Center. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

As we know, John Calipari offered Justise Winslow last week. But could that offer have been a game changer?

It has long been assumed that Duke would land the duo of Tyus Jones and Jahlil Okafor, but could the offer to Winslow set Kentucky up for a three player package deal?  

"Winslow also said that he has been speaking with Tyus Jones and Jahlil Okafor about playing together at the next level, but he’s not concrete on the idea.Many in the industry believe Jones and Okafor will land at Duke, but the Kentucky offer to Winslow raises the possibility that all three players could potentially land in Lexington.“It would be great for that to happen. But I’m on a different path, so are Jahlil and Tyus,” Winslow said of the package deal in general. “But if all of those pieces fall together, that would be great. It’s something that we are talking about, but I’m not 100 percent on it like they are.”Houston Hoops coach Tim Schumacher told SNY.tv of the potential package:“Here’s what happens, I mean Justise and Jahlil were roommates on the 19-and-under team this year and then last year Justise and Tyus and Jahlil all were on on the 17U team and they’ve just become really close,” Schumacher said.“And if you talk to those kids, they all have the same temperament and the same personalities, I mean you could understand how they get along. And they play the game a similar style. They all are smart and they play together and they really like the way they play, so I think it makes a lot of sense for them to be that way because they do have such similar personalities and similar type games.”"

Mar 15, 2013; Nashville, TN, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari watches his team play against the Vanderbilt Commodores during the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament at Bridgestone Arena. The Commodores beat the Wildcats 64-48. Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-USA TODAY Sports

Keeping with the Justise Winslow theme, he cut his list down to eight teams last night and Kentucky made the cut. Winslow dropped UNC, Houston, and Baylor from his list and is down to an elite eight of UK, Duke, Florida, Kansas, Arizona, UCLA, Texas A&M and Stanford. Also 2014 PF Abdul Malik Abu released a list of ten schools which includes UK, along with Florida, UConn, Kansas State, N.C. State, UCLA, St. John’s, Providence, Iowa State and Miami. Keep in mind that Abu does not have a UK offer yet, but UK is evaluating him.

As for Winslow, he looks to make his decision in the early signing period:

"“I’ll try and cut it to five in the fall so that I can determine which schools to officially visit,” said Winslow. “I want to go ahead and sign in the early period if possible.“I want to find a place where I’m comfortable. I need to be comfortable with the players, coaches, academics, just the whole experience.”"

Apr 4, 2013; Atlanta, GA, USA; NCAA president Mark Emmert speaks at a press conference in preparation for the men

On Wednesday morning, I talked about Mark Emmert and the fact that he is under tremendous fire. While the NCAA executive board meets on August 8, I don’t expect them to make any big changes regarding the future of Emmert. However, Emmert seems to know that the heat is on and is saying that there will be “fundamental change” in how the NCAA governs.

"The NCAA’s leadership — the executive committee and the D-I Board — will meet Aug. 8 in Indianapolis and begin discussing models for a drastically different way to govern the 348 schools in the association’s top division. Emmert said he expects significant changes to how the NCAA operates to be adopted within the next year.At issue is the ability of the richest athletic programs — which attract the massive television rights fees — to set policy without the smaller D-I programs stopping them because of financial concerns.“There’s one thing that virtually everybody in Division I has in common right now, and that is they don’t like the governance model,” Emmert said. “Now, there’s not agreement on what the new model should be. But there’s very little support for continuing things in the governing process the way they are today.”Within the past week, Emmert sent a letter to all D-I presidents, athletic directors, commissioners, faculty athletic representatatives and senior woman administrators asking them to save the dates of Jan. 16 and 17 for “an important milestone in which your participation is crucial.” The meeting will be held at the same time as the NCAA’s annual convention in San Diego."

Jul 17, 2013; Hoover, AL, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach Mark Stoops talks with the media during the 2013 SEC football media days at the Hyatt Regency. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

Mark Stoops has quite the task in front of him this year, and the folks at Saturday Down South posed the ultimate question: Can Stoops take UK to a bowl? The answer was doubtful due to Kentucky’s depth as taking this team from 2-10 to 6-6 (with this schedule) would be one of the best coaching jobs in the nation. However, the folks at SDS do seem to like Stoops in general and the job he has done with UK. They had this to say:

"4. Air RaidKentucky wants to throw the rock around the yard 40 times per game under new OC Neal Brown. I love the offense and the hire by Mark Stoops, making the Air Raid tough to prepare for week-in and week-out. Ironically, they may not have the depth at receiver to have that type of offense, but the Cats do have a bevy of depth at running back with Raymond Sanders, Jonathan George and Dyshawn Mobley. So, it will be interesting to see the identity of the Wildcats’ offense in 2013, knowing the player personnel that will be plugged and played.SDS takeaway: Everything about Mark Stoops’ seven-month presence has been impressive. There’s momentum within the program that hasn’t been there in a long time, and the players seem to believe they can accomplish something special this season. I love where the program is headed. The over/under is set at 3.5, and I’m taking the over. I’m a believer. I’ve bought into Big Blue."

Season ticket sales for Kentucky football are up, and if you are one of those not getting season tickets, you can still catch the Cats. The following is the UKAA release on single game ticket sales:

"LEXINGTON, Ky. – Single-game tickets for the upcoming 2013 University of Kentucky football season are on sale now for season-ticket holders and will go on sale to the general public beginning Wednesday, Aug. 7 at 9 a.m. ET, it was announced Thursday.Season ticket holders are currently in a priority window to purchase up to eight single-game tickets for all 2013 home games in advance of the public sale. The priority window will close on Thursday, Aug. 1. Ticket holders can order online through My UK Account by selecting the “Football Single Game Offer” invoice posted to their account. Seats will be assigned in priority rank order after the Aug. 1 deadline.Single-game ticket sales for the general public will begin Wednesday, Aug. 7 at 9 a.m. ET. Tickets may be ordered online at Ticketmaster.com, by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000, or through the UK Ticket Office. Tickets are $45 for the Miami and Alabama State games, $60 for the Florida, Missouri, and Tennessee games, and $75 for the Louisville and Alabama games.The UK Ticket Office is located in the Joe Craft Center and is open Monday-Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fans can also call the UK Ticket Office at (800) 928-2287. For more information on tickets to all of UK’s sporting events, follow @UKTix on Twitter.Season tickets for the 2013 Kentucky football season are still available. For more information, fans can visit ukfootballtix.com or call 1-800-928-2287.For the latest on Kentucky football, follow “@UKFootball” or “@UKCoachStoops” on Twitter and Instagram or “like” Kentucky Football on Facebook."