Vilarino out of Derby Festival, DeMarcus Cousins in?

JERRY TIPTON – Former Kentucky signee G.J. Vilarino has dropped out of the upcoming Derby Festival Game, organizer Dan Owens said Monday night.

Vilarino, a 6-foot point guard from McKinney, Texas, was the first player to commit to UK when Billy Gillispie became coach. He reluctantly severed his ties with UK after speaking to new coach John Calipari last week.

The Derby Festival Game, which is Saturday, will feature UK signees Daniel Orton and Jon Hood.

One of the Memphis signees in limbo, Nolan Dennis, is also scheduled to play in the game. He committed to play in the game long before Calipari left Memphis to become UK coach, Owens said.

Heralded prospect DeMarcus Cousins, who had committed to Memphis, is expected to announce his college choice later this week, Owens said. If the choice is Kentucky, Owens hopes to persuade Cousins to play in the Derby Festival game.

This goes hand in hand with the buzz we’ve been hearing about a Cousins decision coming this week. There are a couple issues surrounding a possible Cousins commitment to UK: 1) Would a Cousins commitment drive Daniel Orton to look elsewhere? 2) Will Cousins qualify?

Nobody really even knows if Cousins has taken the SAT or ACT (it would be pretty amazing if a kid who’s been tabbed as a blue chip prospect since 8th grade hasn’t taken the test yet), let alone whether he has a qualifying score.

Also, a quick update on John Wall. I mentioned in passing last night that UNC was lurking behind the scenes for Wall. Even though a father figure to John Wall, Brian Clifton (he heads the summer league in which Wall plays), absolutely hates Roy Williams, there is some thought that Wall may end up there if Ole Roy puts on the blitz, which he may already be doing. Ty Lawson is likely to skip his senior season, leaving a void at point guard in Chapel Hill.

This looks like it will come down to UK, Duke, and UNC, and UK losing Wall’s main recruiter, Josh Pastner, can’t help things.

If UK does lose out on Wall, Eric Bledsoe is not to be forgotten about. Bledsoe was being recuited by Coach Cal at Memphis, and just recently named UK as one of his finalists. Issues of qualifying are still pressing, but he retook his ACT this past weekend, so hopefully they will be cleared up soon. He has always named Duke as his dream school, but he’s likely not qualifying there. Florida and UAB have been in the game along with UK and Memphis, and Anthony Grant at Alabama could very well make him priority number one. Regardless, he’s a pretty solid plan B if Wall doesn’t work out.

**UPDATE**DeMarcus Cousins has committed to UK!!!