Notes: Billy Gillispie proposes tournament with former Kentucky basketball coaches
Monday’s random notes:
▪ New Tarleton State coach Billy Gillispie has proposed a four-team round robin tournament at Rupp Arena with Kentucky, Tarleton State, Iona and High Point. Rick Pitino is the new head coach at Iona. Tubby Smith is the head coach at High Point. This will never happen, by the way.
▪ Louisville football signee Dexter Rentz Jr. was shot and killed in Orlando, Florida, late Saturday night. Rentz was just 18 years old. Rentz was a 5-foot-9, 164-pound receiver.
▪ Look for some Mark Stoops tweets late Monday morning. The UK football coach has a Zoom video conference scheduled with the media at 11 a.m.
▪ The H-L’s Jared Peck writes on former Kentucky quarterback Shane Boyd in our “We Meet Again” series. Boyd has played 14 seasons in various professional football leagues.
▪ Tennessee is making some football recruiting news in the state of Alabama. The Vols picked up a commitment from Handley defensive end Dylan Brooks. Recruiting site 274Sports ranks Brooks as the No. 1 senior recruit in Alabama. UT has five commitments from the top 30 players in the state.
▪ Georgia football had six offensive players taken in the NFL Draft, yet finished 49th in scoring offense last season. That’s one reason James Coley is no longer Kirby Smart’s offensive coordinator. Former Southern Miss head coach and NFL assistant Todd Monken will call the Bulldogs’ plays next season.
▪ The Bengals earned a B+ for itheir 2020 NFL Draft, according to the Washington Post. “The Bengals should have improved their roster considerably, given the picks they had, and that’s what they did.”
▪ Bengals second-round pick Tee Higgins, wide receiver from Clemson, said he had no problem with ESPN’s graphic which referenced his mother’s addiction problems. “I have no problem with them showing that my mom is a true fighter,” he tweeted.
▪ David Murphy of the Philadelphia Inquirer thinks the Eagles using a second-round pick on Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurt was as “silly as it seemed.” The Eagles reportedly want to use Hurt the same way the Saints use Taysom Hill.
▪ According to Mike Florio, 20 more NFL teams are starting virtual offseason programs on Monday.
▪ I wrote about the SEC’s NFL Draft dominance for my Sunday column. The league ended up having 63 players drafted.
▪ Everyone is watching “The Last Dance” on ESPN. But Will Leitch writes for the Washington Post that the Michael Jordan/Chicago Bulls documentary has one problem. Jordan is “an extremely unreliable narrator.”
▪ Is star recruit Makur Maker an option for Kentucky? That’s a question Ben Roberts of the Herald-Leader is asking. The 6-foot-11 center was going to jump straight to the NBA, but is now voicing second thoughts.
▪ Florida sophomore Andrew Nembhard and freshman Tre Mann have both declared for the NBA Draft. Both are leaving open the option of returning to school.
▪ South Carolina guard A.J. Lawson has declared for the NBA Draft. Lawson will not hire an agent and could return to school. He led the Gamecocks in scoring last season.
▪ Tulane guard Teshaun Hightower, a transfer from Georgia, was charged with a murder that took place April 8 in Stockbridge, Georgia. Hightower declared for the NBA Draft last week.
▪ Another Tennessee women’s basketball transfer has picked another SEC school. Zaay Green is transferring to Texas A&M after her sophomore season in Knoxville. Green is a former Texas high school star.
▪ NBA teams can open practice facilities on Friday in states that are relaxing COVID-19 restrictions. That doesn’t mean that the league is about to resume its season, stresses ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
▪ Twenty-two horses were entered into the Arkansas Derby, which was split into two divisions. The point breakdown for each division will be 100-40-20-10 for the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby. The race was pushed back from April 11 to May 2 after the “Run for the Roses” was pushed back to Labor Day weekend.
▪ NYRA says it plans on Saratoga running this summer even if Belmont Park and Aqueduct do not re-open. Saratoga is where the racing organization makes most of its money. Racing may be done there without fans.
▪ Legendary Los Angeles Dodgers’ play-by-play announcer Vin Scully has been released from the hospital after falling at his home. His hospitalization was not COVID-19 related. Scully is 92.
This story was originally published April 27, 2020 at 8:04 AM.
