Big Blue Links: South Carolina basketball rising as Kentucky visits Columbia
Big Blue Links for Friday:
▪ Kentucky is next obstacle in South Carolina’s long journey to relevance, reports Jerry Tipton of the Herald-Leader. In his fourth year as the Carolina coach, Frank Martin has produced a breakthrough season.
▪ SEC basketball is getting interesting, writes Mark Story of the Herald-Leader. Kentucky-South Carolina on Saturday shapes up to be a pivotal game in the league race.
▪ South Carolina is more than a basketball opportunist, writes Gene Sapakoff of the Charleston Post and Courier. South Carolina hasn’t been to an NCAA Tournament since 2004.
▪ New NBA Draft rules could have opposite effect to what NCAA intended, reports Ben Roberts of the Herald-Leader. Ben talked to Jonathan Givony of Draft Express.
▪ This top recruit really wants an offer from Kentucky, reports Ben Rohrbach of USA Today. Advanced Prep International junior forward Billy Preston is waiting on an offer from UK.
▪ Kentucky needs a stronger inside attack, writes Dick Gabriel of Big Blue Insider. The Cats need more from the post to make a deep tournament run.
▪ Kentucky still has unfinished business, writes Josh Ellis of the Kentucky Kernel. Big Blue Nation is still anxious about this team.
▪ Billy Gillispie keeping mum about his juco success, writes Jamie Vaught of KyForward. The former Kentucky coach has a 21-4 record at Ranger Junior College.
▪ Shannon Dawson to join Jay Hopson’s staff, reports Patrick Magee of the Biloxi Sun-Herald. The former Kentucky offensive coordinator is one of three new hires at Southern Miss. And, yes, Southern Miss opens its 2016 season at UK.
▪ Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has a torn labrum for the second time, reports Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer. The former Kentucky star, now playing with the Charlotte Hornets, was injured Wednesday night.
▪ LSU mulls missed opportunities in loss to South Carolina, reports Sheldon Mickles of The Advocate.
John Clay: 859-231-3226, jclay@herald-leader.com, @johnclayiv
Kentucky at South Carolina
When: Noon, Saturday
Where: Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC
TV: ESPN with Tom Hart, Kara Lawson and Kaylee Hartung
Radio: UK Network with Tom Leach and Mike Pratt
This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 8:31 AM.