James Young has proof of his Kentucky Wildcats Basketball eligibility

As is the case now. college athletes often break news themselves on social media. And yesterday afternoon, James Young seemed to post “proof” of his acceptance to the University of Kentucky on his instagram account. Young briefly posted the above acceptance letter before replacing it with a blurry image. Conspiracy theorists will point to the “Advising Conference Date” of May 1 and say that this was forged at the same time as the fake moon landing, but it looks like a pretty standard form letter that was held aside and just sent out on August 13.

Fall classes start on the 28th and if James Young and the Harrison twins are not spotted on campus by then, we can worry.  But all indications are that all players will be eligible and there does not seem to be any problems getting this class to campus by then.  But until there is proof, rumor mongerers and twitter trolls will prevail.

Hurry up and get here, boys.

The great Mike DeDecourcy addressed the issue of the missing players yesterday and does not seem to see any red flags about all the players becoming eligible:

"Of course, the team could be better. No one’s yet seen Kentucky’s full squad in any sort of action. Three of the team’s top recruits — guards Andrew and Aaron Harrison and forward James Young – did not attend summer school, though they’re expected for the start of fall classes. And thus they weren’t able to engage with their teammates and coaches in summer practices. There’s plenty of time for UK to assemble itself, especially now that the NCAA has allowed teams to stretch the start of regular practice into September."

The blurb was part of a larger piece by DeCourcy which coincided with the full release of UK’s 2013-14 schedule. In it, he listed the five obstacles in the way of a perfect season by UK. And despite the preconceived notions of the fan base to the West of Lexington, the Dirty Birds are not seen as one of the top two obstacles to a perfect UK season.

"1) The Champions Classic is tougher: When UK faced Kansas in the first edition of this made-for-TV doubleheader, the Jayhawks wer replacing six of the top nine players in its rotation and 71 percent of its scoring. Although Kansas turned out to be a fantastic team that extended their string of Big 12 titles, they knew so little about their potential that coach Bill Self spoke afterward of being pleased with how they’d competed. This year’s UK opponent in the Nov. 12 doubleheader at Chicago’s United Center, Michigan State, is Sporting News’ preseason No. 2 team and universally expected to contend for the NCAA title. The Spartans have nine of their top 10 players back from a year ago and nearly 80 percent of their point production. It’s a very challenging game for a Kentucky team that will, again, rely heavily on freshmen. 2) The North Carolina game is on the road: Even if P.J. Hairston’s situation is straightened out by Dec. 14, this group of Tar Heels will not be confused with the formidable bunch who visited Rupp Arena in early December 2011 and left with a loss only when All-America-bound Anthony Davis blocked their attempt at a final shot. But Carolina at full strength will be a capable team, with Harrison and forward James Michael McAdoo both NBA first-round talents. The Tar Heels do not lose often at the Smith Center. They almost never lose there to non-ACC opponents. They’ve won 63 consecutive non-conference games at the Smith Center — a streak that began in the 2005-06 season. Plus, that’ll be the first true road game for UK’s freshmen."

Mandatory Credit: Beth Hall-USA TODAY Sports

As if a 40-0 season is not a big enough goal, John Calipari could pull off a rare hat trick with his 2014 recruiting class. It’s so rare that Cal is the only person to have done it the previous two times and that is to land the 1-2 player in a recruiting class. Yet, with Emmanuel Mudiay and Stanley Johnson are ranked 1-2 by 24/7. And Tyus Jones and Jahlil Okafor are 1-2 in Scout and Rivals. So it appears likely that another school will pull off the elusive 1-2 punch. But it is a very rare occurrence.

"How often has that happened? Not very. The Recruiting Services Consensus Index (RSCI) has tracked and recorded class rankings from more than a dozen major recruiting services going back to the Class of 1998. In that time — a span of 16 classes — only twice has one school landed the top two prospects according to a major recruiting service. Both times, that school was Kentucky. In 2009, Rivals.com ranked John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, and both players ended up signing with the Wildcats. Two years later, the PrepStars recruiting service had UK signees Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist as the top two prospects in the Class of 2011. Sixteen years, several recruiting services, and those are the only two times that one school has pulled off a 1-2 punch at the top of the rankings. Will it happen again in 2014? We’ll have to wait and see."