Himmelsbach | UK fans celebrate; Chane Behanan to the NBA; Kentucky Derby pick

1 - Well, the NBA's early-entry deadline has finally passed, and after much stressing, Kentucky fans certainly have plenty to celebrate. Somehow, six players who could have been drafted decided to return to the Wildcats. Lastly — and most important — were guards Andrew and Aaron Harrison. UK will be the nation's preseason No. 1 team next year, and it should be unanimous.

2 - So does this signal a shift in the way coach John Calipari operates? I don't think so. It was almost a perfect storm, in the sense that while UK had six players who probably would have been drafted had they left — the Harrisons, Willie Cauley-Stein, Alex Poythress, Dakari Johnson and Marcus Lee — they were mostly viewed as second-round picks. Cauley-Stein was the lone player with surefire first-round talent, and his ankle injury would have set him back on a lot of draft boards.

3 - Former Louisville forward Chane Behanan, who had been taking online classes at Colorado State in hopes of joining the Rams next season, announced that he would instead enter the NBA draft. Behanan, who has faced several off-court issues and was dismissed from the Cardinals this winter, is not likely to be selected. Let's hope he makes sure he is surrounded by the right people as he makes the transition to the professional level somewhere, even though it probably won't be in the NBA.

4 - With the assumption that starter Jalen Whitlow would be back and hotshot freshman Drew Barker would be as good as advertised, raise your hand if you saw redshirt sophomore Patrick Towles taking the early lead to become UK's quarterback. Whitlow, of course, is going to transfer, and at Saturday's spring game Towles got the start with the first team and completed 11 of 15 passes for 126 yards. There's a long way to go, but he still has a chance to live up to the hype that once surrounded him here.

5 - OK, let's make a too-early Kentucky Derby pick that's sure to be wrong. Here at Take 5 we don't like jumping onto bandwagons with favorites, so we'll leave California Chrome alone. Let's go with Hoppertunity, the Bob Baffert-trained colt who likes distance and placed second at Santa Anita.