Monday Download and UK by the Numbers – 3/8

It’s been an unexpectedly busy Monday with plenty of news and rumors of varying ridiculousness floating around. Before we get to the weekly numbers, here’s what’s going on:

-Lots of buzz on the recruiting trail after UK hosted Enes Kanter, Quincy Miller, Michael Gilchrist, and Deuce Bello. The visits, by all accounts, went very well. While decisions from Miller, Gilchrist, and Bello (who is marginal UK prospect) are a long way away, you cannot say the same for Kanter.

The Turkish big man is reportedly sky high on UK with some pointing to a commitment in a matter of days. I personally think we will have to wait longer than that, but he’s worth it. Word is that UK also leads for five star prospects Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones. Knight is likeliest of those two to make a decision soon, but quite honestly, there aren’t three 2010 kids I like more than Knight, Kanter, and Jones. No matter what happens, this class won’t be as well publicized as last year’s, but it could be excellent if things play out as planned.

With the positive news on Knight, it seems that UK is fading with Josh Selby. Selby was a late scratch for his visit to Lexington this weekend and to me it just feels like it will be Kansas.

-Outside of the good word on the trail, things have been alarmingly negative for a team that just finished a 29-2 regular season. A report on a LEO blog made the rounds today saying that violations by John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins were soon to emerge, as two major outlets were pursuing a story about illegal payments. The credibility of the report was questionable at best, but we will obviously monitor the situaiton.

Also, popular opinion following UK’s win over Florida is leaning toward UK being too young and not focused enough to live up to their talent and win a title. In all honesty, the more mainstream this opinion becomes, the better. The “nobody believes in us” phenomenon is one of the most powerful motivations in sports. For a team that struggles to motivate itself at times, hearing this kind of talk can be very beneficial. It allows John Calipari to band his team closer together and point them in a common direction.

Individual Stats

John Wall – 6.2 assists per game (6th nationally)
1.8 steals per game (t-89th nationally)

Patrick Patterson – 58.4% field goal shooting (44th nationally)

DeMarcus Cousins – 10.1 rebounds per game (20th nationally)
1.8 blocks per game (76th nationally)

RPI

With a 2-0 week and a loss by Syracuse to Louisville, the ‘Cats moved back up to number three according to RealTimeRPI.com. UK’s RPI and regular season accomplishments have them in all but guaranteed one seed position.

Ken Pomeroy

UK moved up a spot to ninth in Ken Pomeroy’s rankings this week. UK was pretty solid offensively this week, but a little below par on defense, which is the reason for the lack of upward movement according to KenPom.