ESPN’s Joe Schad is reporting Colorado will today announce its intentions of joining the Pac-10 conference. This will be the first of many dominoes to fall and could potentially spell the end of the Big XII conference.

3:22 Update – Now TMZ.com is reporting that Oklahoma State is bolting for the Pac-10. Look for Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Texas A&M to follow suit to form a super conference.

• Chapter 1: Diamond in the rough
• Chapter 2: Not in the Cards
• Chapter 3: Like roller coasters?
• Chapter 4: Eye of the beholder
• Chapter 5: The Green beginning
• Chapter 6: Rookie’s rude awakening
• Chapter 7: The untouchable
• Chapter 8: The Rondo trade rumors
• Chapter 9: Rondo runs it
• Bonus Chapter: Cousy to Rondo

Well, with UK firmly in the basketball limelight, ESPN’s Outside the Lines apparently felt like it was about time to bring it up:

Outside the Lines (Sunday, 9 a.m. ET, ESPN)

When John Calipari became Kentucky basketball coach this summer, he inherited a roster put together by his predecessor, Billy Gillispie. But Calipari needed roster room for his own recruits, including sensational freshman John Wall, and six of Gillispie’s players say they were encouraged to leave. Since athletic scholarships are renewed on an annual basis, the players had little recourse but to leave if they actually wanted to play, so they left. Some players tell Outside the Lines Calipari told them that they were unlikely to get much playing time in his system if they stayed. Several players said the dramatic roster turnover at Kentucky is an example of how coaches have little loyalty to returning student-athletes, especially when a new coach is hired. Kentucky officials say Calipari just wanted players who fit his style of play. Outside the Lines’ Tom Farrey examines Kentucky’s roster turnover under John Calipari.

“I thought I was going to finish my career there, graduate from UK.” — Kevin Galloway, guard, who left Kentucky after meeting with new coach John Calipari

“It hurt because I abided by the rules. I did everything I was supposed to. … Kept up a good GPA, went to class every day, didn’t fail any tests. …. I feel like just for following my part of the contract, they should follow theirs.” — Matt Pilgrim, forward, on feeling pressured to leave UK

“He was very clear and very honest that (some) may not fit this dribble-drive approach. …It’s a decision that they jointly made, that they might find more playing time elsewhere.” — Dr. Lee Todd Jr., president of the University of Kentucky, on what Calipari told players who eventually left

“If you talk to the average scholarship athlete, they believe they’re on a four-year scholarship or maybe a five-year scholarship. …. But the reality is, there’s no such thing as a four or five-year scholarship. There’s only a one-year renewable.” — Ramogi Huma, head of an advocacy group that lobbies the NCAA and government on behalf of athletes.

John Clay, in the above linked post, correctly points out that UK and ESPN haven’t exactly seen eye to eye as of late, with multiple ESPN talking heads taking shots at UK, namely Jemele Hill and Bob Knight. UK and ESPN are bound together by the SEC media contract, but it doesn’t look like they will be getting along any time soon.

Now that’s messed up and I don’t think Trebek would be pleased.

“This is from a Sports Fix Insider who has knowledge to the recruiting of Fab Melo and said there is always a chance this could go the other way. The Insider went on to say you never know what is going to happen with recruits and other schools putting on the full court press, but the insider does feel that this is a done deal.

…We should find out by lunch time if my source, and thus myself, was right on Fab De Melo committing to play bball for SU next yr.!”

Previous reports had Louisville as the front runner to land the Brazilian big man.

We’ll try to confirm whether or not this 10am presser is going to take place, and if so try and find a live feed of the announcement for you. Keep it locked on the Pinkie.

This really has become the latest summer story that just won’t die. First it was the stupid LeBron James-Jordan Crawford dunk-gate, now the Erin Andrews thing.

The thing that sucks about this one though is that Erin Andrews has to deal with all this crap. It’s clear from what you hear above that she has a pretty high level of self awareness and it’s good to hear she’s trying to keep at least a little bit of a sense of humor about this (“I did nothing wrong and they’re treating me like Britney Spears”).

I think she’s just as dumbfounded as everyone else that this is getting so much attention.

After a couple seconds of silence, Mike Patrick says, “that’s how I hurt mine”. Referring to his back.  Sorry Mike, but  you saying you had any type of contact with Erin Andrews that would cause back pain is kind of like saying Billy Clyde is a hell of a basketball coach.  You couldn’t get the opportunity to hurt your back with Holly Rowe, much less EA.

Mike Patrick is a moran, Erin Andrews is ridiculously hot and Zach Cox went to my alma mater, Louisville Pleasure Ridge Park. Cox hit .274, with 13 home runs and 39 RBI as a freshman, and led the Hogs to the CWS.  That’s what former PRP Panthers do.  They strait squad up!

Anyways, the video below is why we are really here. 

Click here to check out more of Erin Andrews.

Kentucky, Memphis Chasing Top 2011 Prospects  (MoonDog Sports)

Show Your Neckwear From Home On Your Necktie At Work (9 To Fried)

Otters Make Me Feel Inefficient (Blog Of Hilarity)

That’s What She Said Detention (Next Round)

The 10 most entertaining NBA players of all-time (Epic Carnival)

Jeffersonville’s “Lawyer Passed Out In A Trash Can” Photo (Tasty Booze)

Probably The Best Use Of A Male Nipple Ever (Don Chavez)

I’m Keith Hernandez (Hugging Harold Reynolds)

Bats Split With The Braves (Louisville Bats Examiner)

John Calipari’s Hypothetical Weaknesses (Danny Jett)

All You Need To Know Bout ESPN’s ’09 NBA Draft Coverage (Awful Announcing)

Do Jockey’s Matter? Jockey-less Horse Wins Race (The Big Lead)

Egyptian Soccer Team Robbed By Hookers. (Sports by Brooks)

Stan Van Gundy Has No Problem Stealing Your Offense. (No Guts No Glory)

William and Mary Changing Mascots…Considering Veggie Side Dishes. (Steady Burn)

Darth Vader Donald Fehr retiring. (Pacman Jonesin)

Panda Watch: Trouble In Pandadise (Major League Jerk)

Top 10 Lessons Sports Help You Teach Children. (Five Tool Tool)

First of all, it will actually give everybody a chance to look forward to what is shaping up to be a fun football season. Look for the Pinkie to start stepping up its UK football coverage in the next few weeks as the season approaches. Second, just because basketball is out of season does not mean there’s nothing to write about and talk about. One topic that I will never tire of and that I don’t imagine UK fans will ever tire from is Coach John Calipari.

In some ways, it seems like John Calipari has been our coach for years and that Billy Gillispie as UK coach is nothing more than a distant memory. In other ways, though, the past 2 1/2 months have flown by and John Calipari’s introductory news conference seems like yesterday.

The reality is that John Calipari has barely had a chance to catch his breath since April Fools Day. He can’t afford to sit around and rest this summer because there’s more that he would like to do than he could ever begin to wrap his head around. So, like any busy person, John Calipari has to prioritize the important things. Without becoming a John Calipari stalker site, let’s take a look at what I imagine John Calipari will be looking to get done this summer:

Get situated in Lexington – To my knowledge, Calipari has yet to move his family into his recently purchased new house next to campus. Most of the time, when people relocate for work, the first thing they do is settle themselves in their new home…John Calipari has not had that luxury.

He now needs to complete the move, get comfortable in the house and in Lexington, and get his two youngest kids to that same comfort level. Calipari has made it clear how important his family is to him, so this is clearly an important task for him.

Another important part of that is to get his footing in the community. His involvement in the Memphis community was something that really mattered to him, so he will definitely be looking to duplicate that in Lexington.

Get to know his new team and conference – Per NCAA rules, Calipari has limited access to his team during the offseason, but he will be looking to do everything he can to familiarize himself with his new players. When he can’t spend time with his players, he will be doing things like reviewing game tape.

Heading into the first day of practice, Calipari will want to have an idea general team roles and team chemistry, so that will be a key.

Calipari will be looking to get up to speed in the SEC. I’m sure he’ll be watching more game tape on those teams to figure out what he’s up against and also trying to get his feet in how recruiting works in the SEC.

Recruit – Obviously, this is what we will all be following most closely this summer. I never really was much of a recruiting junkie, that is until John Calipari took over. How can you help but not follow recruiting when UK is the hottest name in the game?

UK has a bunch of scholarships to give out after this season, probably in the 5-7 range. At this point, UK has no 2010 commitments, so there is a bunch of work to do. I’m sure UK will have a TON of unofficial visitors this summer and will attend a bunch of AAU events, which Calipari will use to gauge interest and figure out which guys he wants to go after full steam. I would guess he wants to nail down a verbal or two before the school year starts, so keep an eye out for that.

Calipari will also be getting himself set for the class of 2011. There won’t be as many rides to go around for that class, but Calipari will be looking to land a couple program changers. You will begin to hear a lot of names as AAU play unfolds this summer, foremost among which will be Michael Gilchrist. Many think Gilchrist is already the best player in high school right now and that UK is the leader in the clubhouse due to his relationship with the infamous Worldwide Wes. Also remember names like LaQuinton Ross, Rakeem Christmas, and Wayne Blackshear and look for some bios on them here on the Pinkie in the coming months.

Michael Gilchrist, remember this kid

Maintain and build the UK brand – The UK brand was one of the biggest attractions of the job for Calipari. He now is leading a brand that gives him the platform he has always wanted.

If you’ve been keeping up with Coach Cal’s Twitter, you know that he’s been meeting with heavy hitters non-stop (and probably with the Heavy Hitter himself as well) and networking like crazy. He’s going to continue to do that all summer and will likely cultivate some high level corporate partnerships on top of those that UK already has. He’ll be making appearances all over the country and also working follow up from his trip to China.

Finalize the 2009 schedule and plan the season - John Calipari made it clear how deliberately he puts together his team’s schedules keeping mind RPI and Tournament resumes. He hasn’t finalized the schedule yet, so he will be looking to do that with some good opponents.

Also, Calipari will be planning with the Athletic Department the logistics behind Big Blue Madness. That event will serve as UK’s coming out party as a reestablished power on the national stage. I imagine we will see national TV coverage even if the event doesn’t take place at Commonwealth, likely ESPN, who will want to show off its new precious commodity.

I’d say all that should give us plenty to discuss!

Earl Clark, Jodie Meeks and Terrence Williams’ NBA workout (along with the rest of the combine participants) in Chicago will be broadcast on ESPNU at 2pm today (Thursday 5/28). The workout will also be shown at 10am EST Friday morning.

This is one of the largest NBA workouts and is an invitation only camp. There are not going to be any “games” played…just drills being ran (from what I’ve been told).

PLAYER – COLLEGE/CLUB
Jeff Adrien Connecticut
Rodrigue Beaubois Cholet (France)
DeJuan Blair Pittsburgh
Jon Brockman Washington
Derrick Brown Xavier
Chase Budinger Arizona
Nick Calathes Florida
DeMarre Carroll Missouri
Omri Casspi Maccabi Elite (Israel)
Dionte Christmas Temple
Earl Clark Louisville
Darren Collison UCLA
Dante Cunningham Villanova
Stephen Curry Davidson
Austin Daye Gonzaga
DeMar DeRozan USC
Toney Douglas Florida State
Wayne Ellington North Carolina
Tyreke Evans Memphis
Jonny Flynn Syracuse
Taj Gibson USC
Danny Green North Carolina
Blake Griffin Oklahoma
Tyler Hansbrough North Carolina
Luke Harangody Notre Dame
James Harden Arizona State
Gerald Henderson Duke
Josh Heytvelt Gonzaga
Jordan Hill Arizona
Jrue Holiday UCLA
Joe Ingles Melbourne South Dragons
Damion James Texas
James Johnson Wake Forest
Gani Lawal Georgia Tech
Ty Lawson North Carolina
Eric Maynor VCU
Jack McClinton Miami
Jerel McNeal Marquette
Jodie Meeks Kentucky
Patrick Mills Saint Mary’s
BJ Mullens Ohio State
Jeff Pendergraph Arizona State
AJ Price Connecticut
Tyler Smith Tennessee
DaJuan Summers Georgetown
Jermaine Taylor Central Florida
Jeff Teague Wake Forest
Hasheem Thabeet Connecticut
Marcus Thornton LSU
Greivis Vasquez Maryland
Terrence Williams Louisville
Sam Young Pittsburgh