Benny Snell, Mekhi Becton, Bill Clinton and an Indiana high school hoops tragedy
Sunday news and notes.
Benny Snell, Joe Burrow, Mekhi Becton and the NFL Draft
We have a real live sporting even this week (sort of) with the NFL Draft, which starts Thursday night. Instead of scheduled spot Las Vegas, however, the draft will be held virtually, minus the crowds, the green room and the booing.
And there was a bit of draft news on Saturday. According to the NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Louisville offensive tackle Mekhi Becton was one of multiple players who had their drug tests flagged at the NFL Combine. Becton is considered a possible top-10 pick in Thursday’s draft.
▪ Joe Burrow picked Jordan Palmer, younger brother of Carson Palmer and a career backup, to prep him for the draft. Ben Baby of ESPN writes.
“They watch tape on anyone from Case Keenum to Aaron Rodgers, break down hypothetical blitz scenarios and evaluate current draft prospects. It’s like book club or Bible study but if John Steinbeck or John the Baptist could squeeze a slant route into zone coverage.
“More often than not, the Wednesday night session stretches past the designated 10 p.m. cutoff, sometimes running closer to midnight. Most everyone drinks some variation of red wine. (‘These guys don’t know s--- about wine,’ Palmer says.) Burrow, of legal age but on a draft diet, says he opts for yogurt and berries.”
▪ DK Pittsburgh Sports does a deep dive on the former Kentucky running back as the Steelers get ready for Thursday’s draft. Hunter Homistek writes:
“No, seriously. Did we all forget about Benny Snell?
“Furthermore, did we all forget what happens in Year 2 with recent Steelers running backs?
“Tempting as it may be to take LSU’s Clyde Edwards-Helaire or Ohio State’s J.K. Dobbins or Wisconsin’s Jonathan Taylor in the 2020 NFL Draft — and they’re excellent prospects, no doubt — the answer to the Steelers’ running back woes might just be right here, on the roster as it’s currently constructed.”
▪ Former ESPN analyst John Clayton thinks there’s a good chance Lynn Bowden won’t get drafted.
▪ Josh Moore and yours truly will have more NFL Draft coverage this week. That will include a podcast on the Bengals and local products.
▪ Meanwhile, my Sunday column is on how the uncertainty surrounding the 2020 college football season might affect Kentucky. With many returning starters, Mark Stoops team is primed for another bowl season, but will there even be a season? When might it start? What might it look like?
▪ Earlier I took an April stab at what Kentucky football’s win total will be for 2020.
Kentucky basketball past, present and future
▪ President Bill Clinton will be John Calipari’s guest Monday n “Coffee with Cal.” You can find those shows on the John Calipari Basketball Fantasy Experience page on Facebook.
▪ Kentucky added Rhode Island transfer Jacob Toppin this week. If you’re a college basketball fan, you’ve heard of his brother.
▪ Ashton Hagans, Tyrese Maxey, Immanuel Quickley, Nick Richards and EJ Montgomery are all headed to the NBA Draft. That’s drawn mixed reactions from an ESPN analyst, according to the H-L’s Jerry Tipton.
▪ We’re running the game stories from UK basketball’s eight national titles. The most recent one we posted from the Cats’ 1996 title win over Syracuse.
Here are the previous ones we’ve posted:
1949 - Kentucky 46, Oklahoma A&M 36
1951 - Kentucky 68, Kansas State 58
1958 - Kentucky 84, Seattle 72
A terrific and cautionary coronavirus story
Kyle Neddenriep of the Indianapolis Star wrote an outstanding, if harrowing, story about an Indiana high school basketball sectional game on March 5. Of the people who attended the game, five have died of the coronavirus and many others have tested positive for COVID-19.
“It was the hottest ticket in the state for high school basketball. Four great teams. An electric atmosphere was guaranteed for the night of March 6 at Lawrence Central, where 2,800 fans would pack the gym for the sectional semifinals.
“But early on that Friday afternoon, the calls started coming in to Lawrence Central.
“It was revealed by state officials at 11 a.m. that the first person in Indiana had tested positive for coronavirus at Community Health North, four miles from the school.”
You can pull your driver out of your bag again
▪ Lexington will reopen its five public golf courses on Wednesday, April 22. There are new social distancing requirements. One person per cart.
▪ If you missed it, the Barbasol Championship has indeed been canceled this year. The PGA says it will be on the schedule for 2021.
Some WNBA Draft notes from Friday
▪ Louisville had two players selected in Friday’s WNBA Draft. One after the other. By the same team. Jazmine Jones went to the New York Liberty with the 12th pick in the draft. Kylee Shook went to the Liberty with the 13th pick.
▪ Bella Alarie, the daughter-in-law of former Duke forward Mark Alarie, was taken with the fifth pick in the WNBA Draft. Alarie was a player for Princeton. Why not her father’s alma mater? According to John Feinstein, Duke had no interested in Bella.
▪ As expected, the New York Liberty made Oregon’s Sabrian Ionescu the first pick in the draft.
More opinions on the viability of a 2020 college football season
▪ SEC Network analyst and former Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy told ESPN’s “Golic and Wingo” on Thursday that, “Right now, football has to be played,” he said. “Literally, it has to be played. So, they are going to play it come hell or high water. It’s going to happen. It’s just we’re not sure exactly when it’s going to happen. Because if it’s not, college athletics will literally implode.”
▪ And if there is not a college football season? Florida State Athletics Director David Coburn told FSU’s board of trustees on Friday, “I would just say God help us if that is the scenario.”
▪ Earlier this week, conference commissioners told Vice President Mike Pence they did not see football games being played without campuses being open this fall.
▪ SEC commissioner Greg Sankey isn’t ruling out football season without all conferences. Mike Griffith of Dawg Nation reports,
“Sankey, appearing on Knoxville radio station WNML (990 AM, 99.1 FM) on Friday afternoon, said there’s no reason to get into too many hypothetical discussions with so much time left before the start of the season.
“’We’re being told that by 30 days from now, you’re going to have better information,’ Sankey said on WNML. ‘So be careful about decision-making, give yourselves time, football season is roughly 135 or 140 days away.’”
▪ We recently polled 55 media members to see if they thought the college football season will start on time, be delayed or be canceled.
College basketball comings and goings
▪ North Carolina point guard Cole Anthony announced Friday he will enter the NBA Draft.
▪ South Carolina’s Jair Bolden is transferring to Butler.
▪ I plan to put together a long list of college basketball transfers later this week.
NBA not sure when it will start back up again
▪ The NBA’s board of governors met Friday, but Commissioner Adam Silver said he doesn’t know when the 2019-20 season will restart and if there will be a delay starting the 2020-21 season. “We are not in any position to make any decisions and it’s unclear when we will be.”
▪ The NBA playoffs were scheduled to begin Saturday, April 18.
Happy birthday and more from horse racing
▪ Go for Gin, the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner, celebrated a birthday on Saturday. Christy Cassady wrote about the 1994 Derby winner’s celebration.
“Gin enthusiastically enjoys his job as an ambassador at the Kentucky Horse Park,” said Rob Willis, manager of the Hall of Champions. “Of our eight champions, Gin is still the most vibrant and active. He greets thousands of visitors yearly of his own volition.”
▪ Ce Ce won the Grade 1 Apple Blossom Handicap on Saturday at Oaklawn.
▪ Jockey Channing Hill suffered a broken vertebrae in a spill at Oaklawn Park on Friday.
This story was originally published April 19, 2020 at 8:19 AM.
