Classic the next big stage for Cats' NBA talent
DraftExpress.com reported Tuesday morning through a source that five weeks after the University of Kentucky's on-campus combine, the Wildcats' basketball practices are back open to professional scouts.
John Calipari's nine McDonald's All Americans, however, may not have a larger audience of NBA personnel than Tuesday's Champions Classic, which pits Duke vs. Michigan State at 7 p.m. before UK and Kansas play at 9:30 p.m. in Indianapolis.
Per ZagsBlog.com's Adam Zagoria, more than 60 NBA representatives are expected at Bankers Life Fieldhouse for the star-studded doubleheader which, in addition to the Cats' top talent, features players such as Duke's Jahlil Okafor and Kansas' Cliff Alexander.
In all, 11 of DraftExpress.com's projected top 30 NBA draft picks will take part in this season's Champions Classic. From UK, that includes Karl-Anthony Towns at No. 3, Willie Cauley-Stein at Nio. 10, Dakari Johnson at No. 19 and twins Andrew Harrison 26th and Aaron Harrison 28th.
Said Larry Brown in a USA Today story published last week: "If you take (UK's) first and second teams and split them up, they'd probably have the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation. … John should go 45-0 with that talent."
The Cats' preseason combine welcomed about 90 NBA scouts, also more than last year's Champions Classic in Chicago that featured eventual No. 1 overall pick Andrew Wiggings, as well as Jabari Parker and Julius Randle.
IN THE C-J
• Ahead of UK-Kansas, check out Calipari's full Q&A from his meeting with reporters on Monday, as well as video from Cats beat writer Kyle Tucker. Said Calipari: "If we play like we did in the first half last game, we'll get smashed." (http://cjky.it/1xzOazg)
• The Courier-Journal's Michael Grant started watching college hoops at 7 p.m. Monday and will still be tuned in through the final whistle of the UK-Kansas game, live-blogging ESPN's annual Tip-Off Marathon in which he's already dropped references to Ibn Green, traffic and weather. (http://cjky.it/1xSbNlh)
• Writing from U of L's rout of Jacksonville State on Monday night, columnist Tim Sullivan focused on the evolution of junior forward Montrezl Harrell's game to include a jump shot, saying "it's an idea still in development." (http://cjky.it/1uKDYSj)
AROUND THE WEB
• USA Today's high school preseason boys All-USA team includes a number of UK recruits as well as the two players who committed and signed last week: center Skal Labissiere and guard Isaiah Briscoe. (http://bit.ly/1uDPcbf)
• The SEC has started slow this basketball season and experienced another setback Monday night when a late Angel Rodriguez 3-pointer capped a Miami rally from 15 points down to upset No. 8 Florida in Gainesville. (http://es.pn/1Ac9FHt)
• Kristi Dosh, a sports business expert, dug into athletic department finances to produce a graphic representing the rich and poor of college athletics. For instance, Auburn's recruiting budget measures $2.7 million, while Louisiana-Monroe's is $122,000. (http://bit.ly/1xzOkGO)
Jonathan Lintner can be reached at (502) 582-4199. Follow him on Twitter @JonathanLintner.