Two more Kentucky players are leaving the program, according to various reports.
Matt Pilgrim and Kevin Galloway are on their way out, leaving the Wildcats at 12 scholarship players.
Pilgrim sat out last season after transferring from Hampton. He never played a game at Kentucky.
Galloway averaged 10 minutes and 1.9 points a game last year after transferring from Southern Idaho.
Guard Jodie Meeks has until Monday to pull his name out of the NBA Draft and reports indicate he may do so and remain on campus for his senior year.
If Meeks does return, Kentucky will be absolutely loaded, assuming its awesome recruiting class — led by John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins — gets qualified.
***This just in from the World Juniors Basketball Tournament in Douai, France…Rutgers guard Mike Rosario dropped 33 points Wednesday night as Puerto Rico beat the U.S. 105-90 in its first game.
Rosario made five 3-pointers and was 10-of-15 from the line in 29 minutes.
Rosario and Fordham guard Jio Fontan (9 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds) are playing for Puerto Rico in the event, a tuneup for the FIBA U19 World Championship next month in Auckland, New Zealand.
The U.S. team at this event is not the U19 National Team selected to play in New Zealand. Instead, it is the 2K Sports 2009 All-American Team.
Jared Sullinger led the U.S. with 21 points and 12 boards and Josh Selby added 15 points.
Check back for more later, and read my feature on Rosario that ran on SNY.tv.
In other International hoops news…
**Rutgers guard Mike Coburn (Mount Vernon High), Louisville big man Samardo Samuels (St. Benedict’s) and Providence guard Weyinmi Efejuku (Brewster Academy) will play for the Jamaican Senior Men’s National Team this summer. All are of Jamaican descent. St. John’s recruit Omari Lawrence may also play for Jamaica’s U19 team. Check back here for a bigger story on this later this week.
**Seton Hall Prep guard Sterling Gibbs made the U16 National Team. Sterling’s older brother, Ashton Gibbs, is a freshman at Pitt, but Sterling told Jerry Meyer of Rivals that Villanova is his leader.
The team departs for the FIBA Americas U16 Championship July 17-21 in Mendoza, Argentina.
“I guess you could say we’re all like brothers off the court. We just have that feel for each other. As soon as we met each other we all just connected, so it feels great,” Gibbs told USA Basketball.
**Speaking of Pitt, Panthers commit Isaiah Epps of Plainfield, N.J. will visit Hargrave (Va.) Academy this weekend. He must prep next year because he will be too old to play high school ball.
**Former Rutgers star Cappie Pondexter dropped 26 points as the Phoenix Mercury beat the Liberty 91-84 in Phoenix. Essence Carson, another former Rutgers star, had 18 for the Libs.
(Photos courtesy ScarletKnights.com, USA Basketball)
DiamondbackRuss / June 11, 2009
Can those Kentucky kids transfer to another school and receive athletic scholarships? Someone told me that you could only transfer once. Someone drop some knowledge please.
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jayhawkfan11 / June 11, 2009
Drop some knowledge? Calipari is a joke. In 3 years Kentucky fans will hate him and UK will be under NCAA investigation.
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pastaboy / June 11, 2009
If Meeks comes back …he may not even start …..If you’re not good enough for the NBA you’re usually not good enough for Cal . hahahaaa……. NUmber one in the country …Kentucky ….. final 4 potential .
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Parvenu1 / June 11, 2009
Calipari is a joke? Is that your bead of wisdom for today? Mental prowess on display for all to see…
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jayhawkfan11 / June 11, 2009
Bead of wisdom? what does that mean?
Well, Coach Cal has coached at two schools. After he leaves both schools are under NCAA investigation. Both schools might have to give back their Final Four banner. So, what would you call him?
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jayhawkfan11 / June 11, 2009
Pastaboy, easy on the number one in the country talk. Meeks hasnt made a decision and all the recruits havent qualified. Even if all of them play, KU will be Pre-Season #1 in the nation. collins and aldrich are pre-season first team all americans.
You dont put a team who didnt even make the NCAA Tourney last year as Pre-Season #1 silly.
Go eat some spaghetti.
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blasphemy / June 11, 2009
Didn’t Bill Self win a National Championship while on probation? Can’t seem to remember it too much because it wasn’t on ESPN too often. Oh, didn’t Bill Self also get a violation on his record from going to one of John Wall’s games? Oh, didn’t a Kansas player shoot at somebody with a bb gun? Hmm, I guess stuff that is proven is just not accurate enough! Let’s go the the Calipari rumor mill and see what we can dig up to try and to attatch to his name! Awesomeness!
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blasphemy / June 11, 2009
He might be trying to tell you that you’re not too bright……..lol
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blasphemy / June 11, 2009
Ya, preseason #1 is just way out of the question right? I mean having 4 potential NBA Draft first round picks makes for a horrible team. Oh, whats that? THIS JUST IN, having 4 potential NBA Draft first round picks DOES make you a legitimate preseason #1. That is suprising, I thought jayhawkfan11 was making a great argument.
(The rest is not facetious in its nature)
With that said, what could potentially be a knock on UK is not their talent. It’s also not their entire* experience. It is, however, the fact that some players will have to learn a 3rd system in their College Basketball careers. Also, no one will have Calipari’s system under their belt. BUT, given that the talent is there, it is by no means out of the question that they could be Final Four contenders, and they should* be considered final four contenders. The argument about whether or not they have enough talent is absurd, but the cohesiveness argument is a VERY legit one. With that said, the argument of, “Who should be ranked preseason #1?” is still up in the air until May 15th. Then, the question should be addressed. Until then, all speculation is just that, speculation. BUT, this is not to say that after the deadline that the debate about the said subject will be wholly cut and dry. I’m almost sure that several different polls will display multiple #1’s beyond Kansas and Kentucky. Mich. State is also a good choice. Although I’m not familiar with all the situations out there, I’m sure there will be other good choices. Thank you for reading.
(Sorry for spelling and huge grammar errors. I’m a dual math/physics major, not an english major.)
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JayJayPG / June 11, 2009
I can’t see why Meeks would want to come back at this point. It seems too difficult to really make a significant improvement in his draft status next season having to adapt to a new coach, learn a new system, and compete with a plethora of talented, potential OAD freshmen looking to pad their stats for NBA scouts (assuming they qualify). Not to mention all the hoopla that continues to surround “Controversial Cal”. I’d get the hell out of Dodge (in this case, Lexington) if I were Meeks.
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blasphemy / June 11, 2009
Ya, wouldn’t want him shooting anybody from a tower with a bb gun or piling up recruiting violations from visiting players’ games. Oh, wait, thats Bill Self’s problems. My bad.
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