Harrison Twins Know They Have Unfinished Business

Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Conventional wisdom is that the key to Kentucky’s 2014-2015 season is the play of the Harrison Twins. And there is every reason to believe they will be the dominant force most expected them to be as freshmen. Jason King writes:

"“Aaron Harrison appreciates the praise and pats on the back, but they haven’t made the past few months any easier.Any time a fan congratulates Harrison for the last-minute three-pointers he made to beat Louisville, Michigan and Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament, the Kentucky shooting guard has the same thought.‘We still ended our season with a loss,’ Harrison told Bleacher Report. ‘The compliments are nice, but it’s never a good feeling to go out losing. We didn’t get that last one. We didn’t accomplish our goal.’”"

Seemingly everyone has a mock NBA Draft these days. College basketball fans and NBA fans alike have an opinion where this year’s draft class end up. Resident ESPN draft guru Chad Ford spoke to Kyle Tucker about Julius Randle and James Young. Kyle Tucker writes:

"“On Randle’s NBA draft stock right now: ‘I think his (draft) range is 6-10. His range is probably even a little narrower than that: six to eight. I think he’ll get a long look in Boston. I think he’ll get a long look in L.A. I think he’ll get a really long look in Sacramento. If he slides to Charlotte, even though they drafted Cody Zeller, they’re very different players and I think they would take a look. And I can’t imagine Philly, that really doesn’t even have a power forward, letting him get past them.’On being able to see Young sneak into the lottery then: ‘Yeah, I think so, because not only is he a possibility in Philly, he’s a possibility in Denver, he’s a possibility in Orlando depending on what they do with their first pick. I know Minnesota, particularly, really likes him and that’s a very strong candidate. I know Phoenix really likes him. And Atlanta likes him. And then Chicago likes him. There’s a string of teams there from 10-16 where he’s in the mix with every single team. So you just start doing the math and he may not win all of those head-to-head competitions at the end of the day, and a team might pick someone else, but eventually his competition is coming off the board. And all of those teams could use wins that can shoot the basketball. So he’s a likely Green Room candidate and I’d be really shocked if he’s there past the 19th pick – and probably pretty shocked if he’s there past the 16th.’”"

Last week, former North Carolina basketball star Rashad McCants implicated UNC in numerous allegations of academic fraud, serious academic fraud (is there any other kind?) that would likely result in UNC having their 2004-2005 NCAA Championship vacated and several years of very severe NCAA sanctions. As one would expect, Coach Roy Williams has denied those allegations. But on Wednesday, McCants shot back. ESPN.com writes:

"“On Wednesday, McCants also stood behind an allegation he made directly about Williams: That, when he was possibly headed toward ineligibility during the 2004-05 national championship season due to grades, Williams told him in a meeting that a summer session could be swapped out with a failed class to improve his GPA.Williams adamantly denied Saturday that he ever discussed swapping any classes with McCants; further, he said he did not recall such a meeting ‘at all.’But on Wednesday, McCants said: ‘Maybe he’s getting a little old. You know, that’s something that I can’t … I don’t have any control over what he remembers. All I know is the truth. And I’m not up here to lie about anything.’”"

On Wednesday, former Kentucky football head coach Joker Phillips resigned as wide receivers coach at the University of Florida. And, Phillips may have done so because he broke the rules. Brett McMurphy writes:

"“Florida wide receivers coach Joker Phillips resigned because of possible recruiting violations, a source told ESPN.Phillips, a former head coach at Kentucky, was replaced by former UF quarterback Chris Leak as UF’s new wide receivers coach.”"

More than twenty years ago, Bosnia & Hercegovina was being destroyed by war in the worst ethnic and sectarian violence, fueled by the collapse of Yugoslavia, seen in Europe since World War II. On Sunday, BiH will play its first World Cup match in its history. And in St. Louis, the largest community of Bosnians in the United States will be watching. John Eligon writes:

"“The whiteboard propped on the sidewalk read ‘Sretno Zmajevi,’ or Good Luck Dragons, referring to the nickname for the Bosnian national soccer team. And the message rippled down the street.A semitruck trailer painted with the blue, yellow and stars of the Bosnian flag sat in a parking lot, and music bumped from speakers nearby. People milled about the street in blue-and-yellow jerseys and scarves. An old restaurant that closed down because of a kitchen fire had been converted into an apparel shop selling hats, vuvuzelas and all manner of Bosnian fan mementos. Conversation was loud inside Coffee Bar Skala, where smoke filled the air under a disco ball that rattled from the Bosnian country music set to a techno dance beat that vibrated through the dim, narrow space.”"