NEWSSTAND (8/9): Deep dive on recruiting; buy or sell summer hoops hype?
In-depth with Kentucky's director of football recruiting operations Dan Berezowitz on a range of topics, from a drone at Monday's practice to Chipotle recruiting thanks to NCAA rules changes.
Should fans buy the hype on Wenyen Gabriel and Shai Gilgeous Alexander?
UK basketball wins another attendance title and much more.
MAKING THE GRADE
The recent arrival of players like Lynn Bowden and Michael Nesbitt means that for the second consecutive year every player who signed with Kentucky in February made it into the program for their first semester.
That’s an accomplishment and something that a lot of other programs certainly can’t say.
High schools are doing a better job of preparing student-athletes to stay on course with their eligibility, UK director of football recruiting Dan Berezowitz told CatsIllustrated.com, but there’s no question that Kentucky’s coaching staff and athletics department deserves a solid amount of credit for a feat like that.
LINK: For the second straight year all of Stoops' signees have made it to campus
CHIPOTLE RECRUITING
When a high school athlete takes an official visit to a school a university’s staff has a wide range of things at their disposal to show the player a good time on campus or around town.
But until recently, coaching staffs had their hands tied when it came to showing recruits what the town was like outside the campus.
A recent NCAA rule change is being welcomed by Kentucky’s football coaching staff with open arms.
LINK: How Chipotle and an NCAA rule change could help UK recruiting
LAYING THE FOUNDATION
What’s Kentucky’s recruiting staff up to this time of year? Recruiting never slows down, no matter what terminology the calendar uses.
According to the NCAA's recruiting calendar for FBS schools, August is a recruiting dead period. For the NCAA, that means college coaches are forbidden from having in or off campus contact in person, but it doesn't forbid other types of communication.
In other words, recruiting never really stops, and that pedal to the metal recruiting philosophy is one reason Kentucky's football program has successfully executed its plan, year after year, during the Mark Stoops era.
LINK: Kentucky's recruiting staff is laying the foundation for their 2019 class
GABRIEL PREVIEW
Cats Illustrated is previewing every scholarship player on the 2017-2018 Kentucky's basketball roster.
Part two of the series is on sophomore Wenyen Gabriel. The 6-foot-9, 213-pound forward had an up-and-down rookie season at UK. Consistency will be key in 2017-2018 for Gabriel.
DRONE ASSIST
Drones are used by military, law enforcement and ... Kentucky's football program.
On Monday, Mark Stoops' staff got creative with an unmanned aerial vehicle in their latest effort to market their program and provide a new angle for themselves as well as for fans and prospective student-athletes.
PRACTICE REPORT
Kentucky’s 10th practice was completed at the Joe Craft Football Training Center on Tuesday. Offensive coordinator Eddie Gran met with the media after practice. Here were the main takeaways.
THE WAR ROOM!
In this Tuesday morning edition of The War Room, CatsIllustrated.com brings you the latest on top targets and miscellaneous notes that keep you ahead of the game.
CARTER ADVANCES
Kori Carter, who serves as a volunteer assistant coach on the Kentucky track and field staff and trains under UK head coach Edrick Floréal’s tutelage having competed collegiately for Stanford, continued the string of world-class performances by the talented pool of professionals who train at the UK track on Monday.
The United States bronze medalist advanced to the women’s 400-meter hurdles final, while UK Class of 2015 alumna Leah Nugent – a finalist at the Olympic Games representing Jamaica a year ago – was knocked out of the Championships on Monday.
Carter placed a comfortable second in the first of three semifinal heats, running a time of 54.92Q – fourth fastest of the finalists.
ATTENDANCE TITLE
College basketball’s proudest, most passionate fan base flexed its muscles in 2016-17, leading the country in average home attendance once again.
UK led all schools in the NCAA with an average of 23,461 fans per home game, according to national attendance figures released by the NCAA on Tuesday. It’s the 19th time in the last 22 seasons Kentucky has led the country in average home attendance. Since Rupp Arena opened for the 1976-77 season, UK has ranked either first or second in average home attendance every season.
The Wildcats have averaged more than 23,00 fans at Rupp Arena in seven of John Calipari’s eight seasons at Kentucky.
LINK: UK men's basketball led the nation in home attendance ('16-17 season)
For the 14th straight season, the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team ranked in the top 25 nationally in average attendance, sitting 14th overall with 5,213 fans per home game during the 2016-17 season. Overall in 20 homes games – including one inside Rupp Arena – Kentucky amassed a total attendance of 104,252, which ranked eighth nationally in 2016-17. The season marked the sixth straight year the Wildcats have surpassed 100,000 in total attendance.
LINK: Women’s Basketball Ranks Top 25 in Attendance For 14th Year
BIG DIFFERENCE
While his left shoulder healed from offseason surgery, C.J. Conrad spent a lot of time watching his own tape.
So the Kentucky tight end is an expert on his own problems, his own flaws.
LINK: UK's Conrad sees 'night and day' difference after shoulder surgery
BUY THE HYPE?
For a Kentucky basketball fan stuck in the middle of a hot, hoops-less summer, the tweet came like an invigorating breeze.
It was a pair of tweets, actually, from Jon Rothstein, college basketball insider for CBS Sports as well as host of the College Hoops Today podcast. A basketball junkie with coast-to-coast connections, Rothstein begins each morning with a Twitter torrent of roundball news.
LINK: UK's Gabriel and Gilgeous-Alexander earn summer raves, but does that matter?