Mark Stoops & Co Winning Recruiting Battle in Kentucky

Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Unlike football-talent rich states like Texas or Florida, there usually isn’t a plethora of FBS-level talent in Kentucky high schools. So, it’s important to recruit the state well and get the guys who are talented enough to play at a high-major program. And for the Kentucky Wildcats, under Mark Stoops, is doing just that. Ben Roberts writes:

"“In the less than two years that Stoops has led the program, 15 players in the state of Kentucky who are considered top-five prospects by Rivals.com have announced commitments. Eleven of those players have chosen the Wildcats, while two have picked Louisville and two have committed to out-of-state schools.UK landed commitments from four of the top five in-state players for the class of 2014, the first time that had happened since Rivals.com started publishing state-by-state rankings in 2003.”"

Two weeks ago, Missouri went to Gainesville and beat Florida 42-13. 5 weeks ago, they lost, at home, to an Indiana team that is 3-4 on the season. So which team is Kentucky likely to see on Saturday? Kyle Tucker writes:

"“Still, it is an undeniably inconsistent team. Missouri was penalized 14 times for 100 yards — with many of the flags coming against the offensive line — in an uninspiring 10-point win over lowly Vanderbilt last week at home. That same line, inexplicably, had no trouble with the rowdy crowd in Columbia, S.C.”"

John Calipari is committed to the platoon. Whether it’s because he genuinely believes it is in the best interest of his players or because he wants to do something few believe can actually be done or a combination of both, the platoon system will be used this season. But do the two platoons need to be tweaked? Does Calipari have the wrong combinations? Matt King writes:

"“And that’s a big however because the answer is not just “do a platoon” and leave it at that. How Calipari uses his platoons and the combinations he chooses to use are going to make all the difference in the world. Cal has his most experienced team yet, but the platoon itself has the ability to bring back the uncertainty of having a totally new team.Kentucky and Calipari have a brand-new, shiny toy to play with this season. The temptation is going to be there to play around with it for a while before settling on the best solution as the season goes on. But like the infamous tweak last season, the answer would have been staring them in the face the whole time.”"

On Tuesday night, Julius Randle suffered a season-ending broken leg during the Laker’s opener versus Houston. Randle is considered by many to be the future face of Los Angeles but that future will be furthered delayed as Randle rehabs his leg. J.A. Adande writes:

"“The present is now paused for the future of the Lakers. Randle is the only player on the roster to whom the Lakers have rights in 2018-19. He and Nick Young (currently sidelined with a thumb injury) are the only players on the books for 2016-17. In sports, hope is the only tolerable alternative to expectations, and at the moment, the Lakers don’t have a grasp on either.At the moment, the only reason for optimism in Lakerland is they could actually be bad enough to get a top-five draft pick, which would enable them to retain one of the picks they’d traded to the Phoenix Suns for Steve Nash (the same Steve Nash who has been declared out for this season because of a lingering back injury). One NBA observer I talked to was ready to proclaim the Lakers the worst team in the Western Conference.”"

Jimbo Fisher says and does a lot of head-scratching things, like proclaim his Seminole football team is full of high character guys on and off the field. Nevermind that his starting quarterback has been accused of sexual assault, shoplifted crab legs from a grocery store, and was suspended for yelling a sexual obscene Internet meme in the Florida State student union. And there was the New York Times piece detailing all the incidents Seminole football players have been involved in around Tallahassee and were able, thanks to a football loving police department, to get away with. But on Wednesday, Jimbo’s head-scratching ways reached a new level when he tried to hold a private football practice in a public Louisville park. Adam Himmelsbach writes:

"“There was quarterback Jameis Winston. There was coach Jimbo Fisher. And there were Florida State staff members, sort of guarding the perimeter so they wouldn’t be disturbed. A security guard asked me to step off the edge of the grass and onto the sidewalk, and I did.Then I took out my phone to take a picture, and two FSU staff members started freaking out.‘No pictures!’‘Put that away!’I calmly told them that this was a public park, and that anyone can take pictures at a public park. They told me they had reserved the field. I said that I wasn’t trying to use the field they had reserved. I was just taking a picture of it.They told me to talk to the police, and then pointed me toward a Waterfront Park staff member, who was clearly not a policeman. I explained my situation to him, and he understood. He just asked that I stay back from the practice, and that was reasonable.”"