Joel Justus makes ESPN coaching list; UK football transfers pick destinations
Random links:
▪ UK basketball assistant coach Joel Justus was named one of the 40 best college basketball coaches under the age of 40 by ESPN. Writes Myron Medcalf, “When he first joined Kentucky’s staff for the 2014-15 season, he was an analytics coach who put together detailed profiles of each player on the roster. Now, he’s one of the nation’s top assistant coaches and a rumored candidate for multiple jobs that could open in the coming year or two.”
▪ According to David Cobb of CBS Sports, Kentucky is one of 10 college basketball programs that needs a transfer eligible this upcoming season. You can guess who that transfer might happen to be.
▪ Former Kentucky football defensive lineman Cavon Butler is transferring to Toledo.
▪ Former Kentucky football defensive lineman Davoan Hawkins is transferring to Tennessee State.
▪ Former Kentucky quarterback Amani Gilmore is transferring to North Texas State.
▪ Kentucky volleyball coach Craig Skinner is hoping to show off his No. 1 recruiting class sooner rather than later.
▪ Scott Rabalais of The Advocate in Baton Rouge, tweeting a quote from LSU Athletic Director Scott Woodward: “We were the first ones to get our staff back in football. We’re getting ready for Phase II, which is to get our student-athletes back. I see some time in June our S-As getting back to campus and us being able to take care of them better at home.”
▪ LSU has added Western Kentucky to its 2025 home football schedule for a price tag of $1.8 million.
▪ Auburn President Jay Gogue says, “We’re going to have football this fall.” Gogue made the remark in a video for the school’s incoming freshmen.
▪ Colin Cowherd has tweeted that he’s hearing Alabama-USC won’t happen this season. But Alabama AD Greg Byrne told Cecil Hurt of the Tuscaloosa News that the game is still on. USC AD Mike Bohn confirmed that.
▪ Former Kentucky quarterback commit Mac Jones is trying to take the next step at Alabama while working out in a park in his home state of Florida.
▪ Bruce Feldman of The Athletic makes the case that former Louisville coach Howard Schnellenberger should be in the College Football Hall of Fame for winning the national title at Miami. “With his ‘State of Miami’ recruiting mantra, drawing an imaginary line across the state from Tampa to Orlando and labeling everything south of it “Cane Country,” Schnellenberger changed the dynamic of recruiting in Florida, and therefore in college football. He beat out blue blood programs from the Big Ten to keep home local stars Alonzo Highsmith and Melvin Bratton, a pair of brash, charismatic, big backs, selling them on how they — the 1983 ’Canes recruiting class — would change everything. And they did.”
▪ First it was Matt Haarms, now Nojel Eastern is leaving Purdue as a graduate transfer. Purdue head coach Matt Painter is not pleased. He told Dan Dakich, “We’ve got a lot of great things going on at Purdue, and it’s (Eastern’s) loss,” Painter told Dakich. “When you walk out the door and you turn your back, you’re not thinking clearly about the big picture and what Purdue can do for you.”
▪ Georgetown’s Mac McClung is expected to be one of the most sought-after college basketball transfers on the market now that he has pulled out of the NBA Draft.
▪ Billy Gillispie and Tarleton State will play UCLA basketball next season.
▪ Georgia basketball and Cincinnati will play a home-and-home series.
▪ Alabama State named ex-Alabama and ex-NBA point guard Mo Williams as its new head basketball coach.
▪ UNLV grad transfer Jonah Antonio has committed to Steve Forbes and Wake Forest.
▪ Forbes tells the Wichita Eagle he owes everything to Wichita State Coach Gregg Marshall for his hire at Wake Forest.
▪ Senior Bowl director Jim Nagy on Florida quarterback Kyle Trask: ”Studying QB Kyle Trask. Incredible how slow the game happens for a guy that hadn’t started since ninth grade prior to last fall. Has the poise of a guy that’s played ton of football. @ktrask9 is on our @seniorbowl board in exact same spot that Joe Burrow was last summer.”
▪ NFL star Von Miller recounts his frightening coronavirus experience. ”Not being able to breathe. I got asthma, but it was past the asthma attack — like my lungs were constricting. My asthma nebulizer helped, but it still didn’t feel like it was supposed to. That was the most frightening part. Just going to sleep knowing that my oxygen level could drop and I could wake up and have to go to the hospital.”
This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 8:35 AM.
