UKmadness 2009 rankings, #20

#20, Brandon Paul - Committed to Illinois

Positives
- The best part of Brandon Paul’s game has to be his athletic ability. Paul is one of the premiere athletes in the 2009 class, and at only 6′2″ his athletic ability helps him make up for a lack of height. Because he is so athletic Paul is able to attack the rim with a purpose and is able to finish a great percentage of the time because he has the ability to hang in the air and the ability to adjust his shot mid-flight if need be. He is a bonifide scorer around the basket and is great at hitting tough shots around the basket.

- The other part of Brandon Paul’s game is something that I already touched on and that is his ability to just score. Paul has a scorer’s mindset when he has the ball, because whenever he has the ball his first thought is to score the basketball. Although he is not a bad passer Paul will usually look for his shot on a fastbreak and he will usually score. Paul is a rare type of player because even though he is only 6′2″ and plays shooting guard he goes strong to the basket and does not shy away from contact. When Paul drives the lane he forces the defender to either make a remarkable play or foul him and usually neither happens because he just scores.

Negative
- The biggest negative for Paul is one that he can not help, and that is his height. Paul is only 6′2″ and that might be great if he were a point guard but Paul prefers to play the shooting guard position rather than running the team. His game is modeled after a shooting guard as well, he is not a fabulous passer, has a shoot first mentality, and can score from all areas on the court. Paul needs to work on becoming an all around guard because the only guard his size or smaller that has succeeded in the NBA is Allen Iverson and no offense to Brandon Paul but he is not the next Allen Iverson.

Comparison
The player in the NBA that Paul is closest to attribute wise is Golden State Warriors shooting guard Monta Ellis. I believe this is a good comparison because both players have point guard bodies but a shooting guard skill set, both players are phenomenal athletes, and both players have the same frame, 6′2″ 175 lbs. Although Ellis a bit taller and more athletic there are definite similarities in their games.

Kentucky Greats;Greatest Team,1980’s

The voting has closed on the 1970’s UK poll. The top four vote getters were the 1971 team, 1975 team, 1978 team, and the 1979 team. Those four teams will be added to the bracket and now you can vote on the four best teams of the 1980’s. PLEASE VOTE AND VOTE FOR A MAXIMUM OF FOUR TEAMS!!

Late Web Wednesday Additions

* This just in: Jon Hood has committed to the Wildcats tonight and revealed that HE was the ‘mystery recruit’. Noted that he committed a month ago but wanted to keep it quiet because he had finals coming up and did not want the stress of everyone coming up to him. You can read the story on Catspause here. Hood becomes the second player from the 2009 class to commit to UK joining GJ Vilarino of Texas. Hood is the #39 prospect in the 2009 class but Rivals.com’s Jerry Meyer (Lead recruiting analyst for the #1 recruiting site in the nation) said in his article about Hood that he is “Presently ranked the No. 39 prospect in the class of 2009, Hood is knocking on the door of five-star status.”

** The second note is that JUCO guard Bobby Maze made the obvious choice and committed Tennessee today. While comparing UK and UT he said UT was like a ferrari and UK was only a Range Rover. Judging by that video I posted yesterday I did not want him anyway.

Big Brown wins the 134th Kentucky Derby

Well Big Brown became the first horse since 1915 to win the Kentucky Derby with 3 or less career starts and the first horse since the early 1920’s to win the race from the 20 position. Although in my opinion his win was overshadowed by the fact that the filly in the field had to be euthanized after breaking both front ankles in a post race trot. That will be the lasting memory for me of the 2008 Kentucky Derby which is sad within itself. Eight Belles was the name of the horse that had to be euthanized and sadly enough the horse also finished second in the race.

Once the results are released we will post them.

Web Wednesday (Only recruiting): 4/30/08

Recruiting Trail

• Dominique Ferguson, a 6′9″ 200 lb. forward from Lawrence North (IN) HS in Indianapolis (Same school that produced Greg Oden and Mike Conley and where Stephen Van Treese, a 2009 prospect currently goes to school), committed to the Cats following an unofficial visit over spring break in which he met the coaches and players. Ferguson becomes the third recruit to sign with Kentucky in the 2010 class joining K.C. Ross-Miller, a point guard from Texas, and Dakota Euton, a forward from Kentucky.

Here are a couple links to find out some information on Dominique Ferguson:

1.  Catspause article on Ferguson w/ quotes and updates
2.  Ferguson’s Rivals page

• Obviously the biggest news of the day was the signing of forward/center Josh Harrellson. Harrellson had been down to UK and Saint Louis before deciding to go to Kentucky, where he might get some starts at center with Patterson next to him at power forward.

LINKS:

1.  Josh Harrellson podcast (2008-04-29_josh_harrellson_commitment.mp3) from Kentuckyink.com, interview with Harrellson about UK (Before commitment)
2.  Harrellson interview with Catspause’s Jeff Drummond after his commitment
3.  Harrellson’s Rivals page

• Chris Wright, the freshman from Dayton University, WILL NOT be transfering to UK or any other school it looks like. There was a rumor floating around the other day that he was looking to get out of Dayton and was a big UK fan growing up (Which was actually true.
•  Another recruiting note is that Maurice Sutton, the FORMER UK target has been quoted as saying he is “Pretty much over them (UK)”, so it looks like he will not be coming. Personally I did not want him even before these comments because we already have one 6′10″ rail thin forward in Perry Stevenson and no need for another. Some people might think I am holding a grudge against him but in my honest opinion I would not consider UK if I were him because he has been Plan C or D for some time now and it would be better for him to go to a school that really wants him.
•  Yet another recruiting tid bit about a young high school player. Vinny Zollo (No not Vinnie), a freshman who is 6′8″ kid already, he lives in Ohio and doctors have told him he has a chance to grow to 7′0″ tall. He has a polished game and is getting some interest from some top schools such as UK, Tennessee, & West Virginia. Zollo appears to be a UK fan because he has attended Kentucky’s basketball camp since the 5th grade.

LINKS:

1.  Zollo’s Rivals page
2.  Catspause story on Zollo (From February)

Recruiting Update: Dominique Ferguson

 

Dominique Ferguson, a top 10 player for the class of 2010, has committed to the Cats. He is ranked #8 overall by Scout.com and is already 6′9″ 200 lbs. He plays for Lawrence North (IN) which is where Greg Oden and Mike Conley played and where 2009 standout Stephen Van Treese currently plays. this is a huge get for the Wildcats and it looks like Billy G is putting together a phenomenal string of talent for the 2010 class. That is now two top 10 players in the nation along with K.C. Ross-Miller.

This has been a phenomenal day in recruiting for UK who have commits from Josh Harrellson and Dominique Ferguson and it appears Evan Anderson will decide in a few days, one chose is UK, and Vinnie Zollo looks to be heading to Kentucky, two more 2010 prospects ranked in the top 50.

Check out Catspause.com or Scout.com for more info.

Kentucky Greats: #23, John Pelphrey

John Pelphrey might be the most cherished Kentucky player of all-time, he stayed at UK through the roughest times in the history of the program in the early ’90’s when UK was put on probation after recruiting violations were found. Pelphrey and the other members of the team that stayed are still known today as “The Unforgettables”. Pelphrey was not a bad player either, ranking in the top 30 in UK history in many categories including scoring, steals, assists, free-throw attempts, free-throws made, three-pointers attempted & three-pointers made. He is the only player in school history with those statistics. Pelphrey also improved every year he played at UK, he improved in minutes played, field-goals made, assists & total points each season he played for the ‘Cats, something that many players at any school can say. Pelphrey also has his jersey retired because of his achievments and how beloved he was in his playing career. When the Wildcats hosted Arkansas, Pelphrey is the head coach of the Razorbacks, yesterday Pelphrey got a great standing ovation from the Big Blue faithful even though he coaches Kentucky’s rival. Some of Pelphrey’s accomplishments include:

•  Pelphrey ranks 30th in UK history with 1,257 points
•  He is 7th all-time with 173 career steals
•  He ranks 11th on the all-time assists list at UK with 327
•  Made the All-SEC 1st team as a sophmore
•  Made the All-SEC Tournament team as a junior
•  Had his #34 jersey retired

For any player these stats and accomplishments would make you a fan and crowd favorite but it means more to the Big Blue Faithful that it is John Pelphrey that did this. Pelphrey never gave up on a play and always played smart and to his full ability, not many players at any program can say they got absolute most out of their potential like Pelphrey did. For all of his accomplishments John Pelphrey was inducted into the Kentucky Wildcats Hall of Fame in 2005, a very big honor for UK athletes that contains many of the all-time greats that wore the Blue and White.

No UK/Ark Preview

Sorry you guys but there will not be a UK vs. Arkansas preview today. I have some family matters to attend to so I can not write it today. Sorry.

Kentucky Greats: #24, Derek Anderson

Although he only played two years at the University of Kentucky after transfering from Ohio State, Derek Anderson still displayed greatness on the court and was a flat out star. Anderson scored 674 points in his career, 337 in each season despite only playing half the year as a senior. Anderson had a rare combination of athleticism and the ability to play under control. Most freakishly athletic guys like Derek Anderson do not know how to harness their gift and make the most out of it, Derek Anderson was different, he could burn you with the three just as easily as he could pump fake you and go around you for a poster worthy jam. Anderson was a winner in his tenure at Kentucky racking up 34 wins against only 2 losses as a junior on the ‘95-’96 Wildcat team that many consider to be the best college basketball team of all-time and a team that won the national title, and going 17-2 as a senior on the national runner-up team. Overall Anderson was 51-4 in games that he played in, a winning percentage of 94.4%. Here are some of Anderson’s career achievments, some that I have already talked about:

•  Scored 674 career points, 101st all-time at UK, despite only playing one and one half years
•  Anderson’s 94.4% winning percentage is top 10 in UK history, had he played the full season in ‘96-’97 he would be #1 all-time in wins per year at UK
•  Anderson averaged 17.7 ppg as a senior at UK, number two on the team at that time (Ron Mercer)
•  All-NCAA Regional Team in ‘95-’96 on the 34-2 Kentucky Wildcats that eventually won the national championship
•  In ‘96-’97 Anderson was voted 2nd-team All-SEC by the coaches and 3rd-team by the AP despite playing in only 5 SEC games the entire year

One reason there are not many achievments listed is because of the injury Anderson suffered mid way through his senior season, had he played a full season he would be near the top in many single-season records at Kentucky including: points, free-throw attempts, free-throws made, three-pointers made & minutes in a season. Anderson is one of the first players to be named any time anyone says anything about UK basketball in the ’90’s. Even though Anderson’s stats are not as impressive as some players that made the list I stated in the update before the Kentucky Greats began that how the team does is a major part of the selection process and there are not many players (Almost none) that can say they went 51-4 in their career’s.

Videos of Derek Anderson

LINK TO ANOTHER VIDEO: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=467743

Kentucky Greats: #25, Chuck Hayes

Chuck Hayes was one of the most beloved players in UK history in his four years as a Wildcat between 2001-2002 through 2004-2005 for his hustle and determination to win. Hayes was a very smart player who always put his team before himself, he did whatever it took to win, even if that meant risking himself to do so. Hayes ranks 25th on our list because he always hustled and represented the Wildcats well, his teams were very good while he was there, and he had the accolades that rank up there with the best that have ever donned the Blue and White.

• Hayes ranks 7th on the Kentucky Wildcats all-time rebounds list with 910 rebounds in his career
• Ranks 36th all-time in points with 1211 career points
• Hayes was a member of the 2003 team that went 32-4 for the season including 16-0 in the SEC, one of the only UK teams to go through their conference undefeated
• Hayes was 109-25 in his career at Kentucky, an 81% winning percentage
• Hayes ranks 8th on the school’s all-time steals list with 169, 3rd among all non-guards
• Was a Parade All-American and California Mr.Basketball in 2001