Jalen Whitlow’s Father Speaks Out
By Brian Smith
Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
On Wednesday, news broke that Jalen Whitlow would be leaving the University of Kentucky football program. Whitlow, who started 15 games over two seasons, decided to transfer after the coaching staff informed him they wanted him to switch positions to wide receiver. Adam Himmelsbach at the Louisville Courier-Journal talked with Whitlow’s father about his son’s decision. Himmelsbach writes:
"“‘When you’re 2-and-whatever and hadn’t won an SEC game in a couple years, it’s tough to fight off public opinion,’ Mr. Whitlow said. ‘Jalen was dealing with added things. Drew is an in-state popular guy, and the Kentucky fan base likes Kentucky players.’”"
Should Aaron Harrison decide to enter the NBA Draft, UK will be quite thin at shooting guard. But could a new name potentially be on the horizon? Jack LeGwin at Zagsblog.com reports that Ahmed Hill, a 4-star shooting guard, has decommitted from Marquette:
"“Ahmed Hill has decommitted from Marquette, and has reopened his recruitment.The No. 60 ranked player in the class of 2014 by 247Sports put out a tweet with a note explaining the reasoning behind his decision to decommit from Marquette.”"
Cuonzo Martin, as Gary Parrish at cbssports.com points out, is a lot of things. but the one thing he is not—Bruce Pearl—is why he ultimately, and abruptly, left Tennessee for California:
"“Cuonzo Martin is a lot of things.Tough. Smart. Respected. Accomplished.But Cuonzo Martin is not Bruce Pearl, and that’s basically why Martin is no longer the coach at Tennessee and suddenly the coach at California, because he was never going to be BP in the eyes of UT fans, and he was smart enough to know it. The best example of this came this season, when fans started an online petition designed to encourage the administration to fire Martin and rehire Pearl. Roughly 40,000 folks signed the petition before Pearl took the Auburn job last month, and this all happened while Martin was in the middle of a season that would culminate with a trip to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.”"
The Kentucky State Legislature failed to come to an agreement on state financing for the Rupp Arena renovation project. But Lexington Mayor Jim Gray is confident the project will move forward. Beth Musgrave, in the Lexington Herald-Leader, writes:
"“‘The plan is solid,’ he [Gray] said. ‘Modernizing Rupp isn’t an option, it’s just a matter of time. To stay competitive, Rupp must be modernized, and a totally new convention center must occur.’”"
Qatar is scheduled to host the 2022 World Cup. Aside from the issues with corruption and bribery, and the fact that a Middle Eastern nation is scheduled to host an international soccer tournament in the middle of the summer heat, reports are beginning to emerge over the increasing number of workers—generally migrant workers from Nepal, India, and Bangladesh—who have died while working on stadium construction. Writing in the Washington Post, Terrence McCoy has this to say:
"“The men die, say critics. They’ve died by the hundreds — and soon, they many die by the thousands. That was the conclusion of a report released last month by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) Since the World Cup was awarded to Qatar in 2010, it said, more than 1,200 men have died in preparations. It projected that if things don’t improve dramatically by 2022, more than 4,000 could die.”"