College football and basketball are in the news. The NBA playoffs are forging ahead. High school football in Kentucky is gearing up.
There's plenty to discuss, so here are some Thursday thoughts for your reading pleasure.
North Hardin-Frederick Douglass is going to be a good one
It's finally starting to feel like fall is around the corner. We've got college football and just as important, for many, we've got high school football.
Other states have been playing for a week, two, or even three in a couple of cases, but Kentucky's just getting cranked up this weekend.
And what a way to start the year. North Hardin-Frederick Douglass should be an excellent way to start the Friday night season in the Commonwealth. Cats Illustrated's Jeff Drummond will be on hand and PrepSpin plans to stream the game for the many people who might want to watch but will not be able to (only family members of players are allowed to be in general seating).
Jager Burton, Dekel Crowdus, La'Vell Wright, and Jordan Lovett are the four Kentucky commitments who are expected to contribute in the game but there are a number of underclassmen who are also expected to be on hand.
Watch along and join in as we post our scouting observations. It will be the best chance to watch several future Wildcats on one field all season long.
Billy Donovan's future after OKC
There are already reports that Donovan is going to be a prime candidate to coach the Philadelphia 76ers now that it's known he won't be returning to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
And while a program like Indiana might love to snatch up Donovan, or a Duke or UNC would love him to replace their current legend, he's likely to remain in the NBA where he has proven himself to be very capable after making the transition from college.
I must admit to feeling as though it will be a little disappointing if Donovan, now 55 years old, eventually retires without ever being the head coach at Kentucky.
While the recently deceased Lute Olson reportedly had a couple of chances to coach Kentucky, Donovan was even more coveted and it would have been a perfect fit.
Fortunately for Kentucky, the Wildcats have had an incredible decade-plus under John Calipari and the program will be okay as long as he's the coach. Don't take this as saying it would be ideal for Donovan to replace Calipari, unless it's after Calipari decides to hang it up.
Calipari is barreling toward a much longer career in Lexington than I expected he might enjoy when he was hired.
ACC coaches propose all-inclusive NCAA tournament
Jeff Goodman, Jon Rothstein, and others reported on Wednesday that a group of ACC coaches is announcing a proposal for an all-inclusive 2021 NCAA tournament. In other words, everyone would be invited to the party.
When I first read that the first thing that came to mind was: "Why? What are they trying to achieve?"
Turns out, there doesn't seem to be a very good answer. Apparently Duke's Coach K was the ringleader of the proposal, intending it to be a "celebration" of college basketball. Perhaps they thought the sport needed something like that after having one tournament canceled and given the likelihood of a much-amended '20-21 season as well.
To me, it comes across as patronizing, especially coming from Coach K and ACC coaches. Self-appointed gatekeepers of the sport, the "haves", telling people grinding at the bottom of the totem pole that there's room at the table this year. It's just not based on anything you might achieve.
Goodman later reported that a mid-major coach told him that it makes them look like "clowns".
The proposal is so odd to me on a number of levels. As Goodman also noted, why didn't the league try to gather support from other coaches before issuing this independently? That makes it seem like it's less a serious proposal and more about publicity (shocking, I know). And for a sport that's always working, struggling even, to garner attention for the regular season (granted, in the non-conference portion, and that's up in the air this year), this would diminish the significance of the regular season.
College basketball fans generally believe March Madness is the best, most magical postseason format in all of American sports. It seems more fitting to restore it in its authentic form after a full cancellation of the '20 tournament rather than mess with it two years in a row.
