Mark Story: Was Damien Harris unfairly snubbed in Mr. Football voting?

Fast-break points from the Cameron Diaz wedding:

21. Damien Harris. Had the Madison Southern star running back not been injured midway through his senior season, he was a cinch to win Kentucky's 2014 Mr. Football award. But he sprained an MCL and played in only seven games.

20. Opening the door. Harris might have nevertheless claimed Mr. Football based on career achievement had there not been another top tier candidate in the current senior class.

19. Elijah Sindelar. The Caldwell County quarterback set state career records with 144 touchdown passes and 41 straight games with a TD toss. The Purdue commitment finished second in Kentucky high school football history with 12,637 passing yards. He, too, got hurt this season (torn ACL), but his injury came in the playoffs.

18. The right choice. I feel bad for Harris, but those who vote for Mr. Football (that does not include me) were right under the circumstances to choose Sindelar.

17. Harris' college choice. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound running back, rated the 11th best college prospect in the country by Rivals.com, will announce his college destination — Kentucky, Ohio State or Alabama — Friday at 1:15 p.m. at Madison Southern.

16. A familiar admonition. Whatever choice Harris makes, it's his life. He has every right to do what he thinks is best for him. No one has any business using social media to direct abuse toward a high school kid.

15. Vince Marrow. Kentucky football's state-of-Ohio recruiting ace turning down a chance to work for Jim Harbaugh at Michigan is a "win" in the perception game for Mark Stoops.

14. Wired into the Buckeye State. Since Stoops hired his fellow Youngstown product, Marrow, away from Nebraska, UK has signed or holds commitments from 21 prospects from Ohio.

13. Glass half full or half empty? Is it a sign of UK program strength that Marrow said no to Harbaugh? Or is it a sign of program weakness that Kentucky seems so reliant on one assistant coach in recruiting?

12. Trading Georgia for Ohio. In the three recruiting classes before Stoops and Marrow, Kentucky signed 22 players from Georgia and five from Ohio. With Stoops and Marrow, the past three UK recruiting classes have had 21 Ohio products vs. three from Georgia.

11. Bob Stoops. If media reports are accurate, the Oklahoma head coach is planning a staff shake-up after the Sooners — who began the season ranked No. 3 in the country — finished 8-5 by getting blasted 40-6 by Clemson in the Russell Athletic Bowl.

10. The "Stoops brand." If Bob Stoops finds himself coaching in adversity, does that negatively impact his younger brother at Kentucky?

9. Women's basketball mecca. The commonwealth has three women's hoops teams ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 this week — No. 6 Louisville, No. 10 Kentucky and No. 25 Western Kentucky.

8. State history. According to WKU women's hoops publicist Robert Sampson, this is the first time UK, U of L and WKU have all been in the AP women's basketball poll in the same week.

7. SEC strength. Combining men's and women's basketball, there were seven remaining unbeaten teams nationwide as of Sunday. Three of them, the Kentucky men (13-0) and the women's teams from South Carolina (14-0) and Mississippi State (17-0), are from the SEC.

6. South Carolina basketball rising. Frank Martin's men's Gamecocks (9-3) have won seven straight, including victories over Oklahoma State, Clemson and then-No. 9 Iowa State.

5. Two shots at Kentucky. The No. 1-ranked Wildcats will visit Columbia Jan. 24. The Gamecocks make a return visit to Rupp Arena on Feb. 14.

4. South Carolina basketball rising II. Dawn Staley's women's Gamecocks are ranked No. 1 in the country, and already have seven wins over "power five conference" foes.

3. Two shots from Kentucky. The UK women will visit Columbia Sunday (Jan. 11) at 1 p.m. South Carolina will make a return visit to Memorial Coliseum on March 1.

2. Women over men. The South Carolina women, with an average home attendance of 10,842, have so far outdrawn the South Carolina men (10,381).

1. Snapping "The Streak." Don't want to get carried away, but I find myself increasingly optimistic that John Calipari and the men's basketball Wildcats will snap their streak of two-straight seasons of double-digit losses.

This story was originally published January 5, 2015 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Mark Story: Was Damien Harris unfairly snubbed in Mr. Football voting?."