-  As expected, Louisville assistant Walter McCarty made a trip to Pike County last week and observed Shelby Valley’s Elisha Justice in open gym. The Cardinals are considering Justice as a first-season walk-on with the opportunity to earn a scholarship in the second season.

-  The rumor is still out there that Louisville is interested in bringing in Scott County’s Ge’lawn Guyn. The interesting side note is that the Cardinals supposedly want Guyn in the 2011 class, which would mean he would have to reclassify.

-  2010 forward J.J. Moore is currently on an official visit to Louisville; Moore is a 6-6, 3-star forward that is described by Rivals.com as an “athletic swing man.” Moore ranks #107 on the Rivals150 List for 2010 and is also considering Florida, Pittsburgh and St. John’s. In addition, he has picked up offers from UConn, Marquette, Providence and Rutgers.

-   Jesse “The Takeover” Morgan has verbally committed to Seton Hall. The 6-foot-4, 180-pound combo guard from Philly committed after a weekend visit to campus. Louisville had an offer out to Morgan, but the Cardinals were late in the game on his recruitment.

Kentucky:

-  The basketball portion of the John Calipari era is officially underway as Kentucky launched the season with Big Blue Madness at Rupp Arena last night. The event was one of the more explosive UK events in recent memory (despite what Jerry Tipton might tell you).

-  Several recruits that were present at Big Blue Madness were 2010 forward Tobias Harris, 2010 point guard Kyrie Irving, 2011 forward Achraf Yacoubou and 2011 junior Michael Gilchrist.

-  2010 forward C.J. Leslie was expected at the event, but was not there; I have been told from an unverified source that there is more to this story and I am working hard to find out more. Let me say this – if this rumor is indeed true, the Big Blue Nation will be very surprised when they find out were Leslie was last night.

-  The aforementioned Ge’lawn Guyn was in the crowd at Big Blue Madness last night according to post on Twitter by Peegs.com (Indiana site). Guyn was expected at Indiana’s madness, which has to be disappointing for Hoosier fans.

-  There was a rumor that 2010 big man Adreian Payne had narrowed his list to Kentucky and West Virginia but I am now told that this is false and his recruitment is still wide open.

Let’s take a quick look at some of hot spots for good info that I have run across:

-John Clay’s Blog – Our friend John Clay has been updating his blog all day long with great videos. Clay spoke with most of the UK players and has posted interviews with them. If you are like me and you didn’t get to go to Media Day, this is probably the next best thing.

-UKAthletics.com – Here you can find transcipt of quotes from each UK player, video interviews with the 5 projected starters, and a video of Coach Cal’s media session.

-USA Today – Ed Reinke talks about the high expectations for the team and how they are facing them.

-Jerry Tipton writes about the Big Blue Madness show promised ‘Cats fans by Coach Cal at Media Day.

And a show it will be. I don’t think every Big Blue Madness is going to be like tomorrow, but this one is going to be fun, and I’m not sure if anything would surprise me.

Coach Cal has talked about famous performers, guest coaches, dunk contests, and special videotaped messages, so there’s plenty to look forward to. Regarding the performers and guest coaches, some word has emerged today regarding who could fit the bill. According to Larry Vaught, Rajon Rondo and Tayshaun Prince are candidates for those guest coaching roles. Also, Vaught puts in print the name that has been widely rumored to be the performer making an appearance: Drake.

The one thing Coach Cal has not mentioned about Big Blue Madness, simply because he can’t according to NCAA rules, is the massive positive it will be for recruits in attendance. Obviously, nothing replaces seeing a group of talented players playing a style that prepares them for the next level for a coach that every one of them loves. UK has that covered, but when you add in the fact that UK is the hottest name in the game, associated with musicians like Drake and NBA stars like LeBron James, that’s just another plus.

So, who are the guys who will be in attendance to see the spectacle?

2010

Kyrie Irving – PG
Tobias Harris – PF
CJ Leslie – PF/C (although his visit is not yet set in stone)

2011

Michael Gilchrist – SF
Quincy Miller – PF
Achcraf Yacoubou – SG

This is a phenomenal group. 5 of these 6 are currently rated as 5 star players by Scout and the only one who isn’t (Yacoubou) is a fast rising sharpshooter.

Tomorrow night is going to be a fun night, whether you are one of the lucky 18,000 to make the pilgrimage to Rupp, watching it on TV, or reading about it after the fact. I am one of the lucky ones, so make sure you are following the Pinkie on Twitter for real time updates.  I’ll also have extended thoughts late tomorrow night or early Saturday morning, so keep an eye out for that.

Here are some highlights of Gilchrist:

The two are also best friends that are considering the possibility of playing together in college. UK is thought to be in excellent shape for Gilchrist, but may be behind Indiana for Irving, even though Irving’s godfather is UK assistant Rod Strickland. Even so, UK is the one school that the two really have in common, so it has the best shot of nabbing both.

ZagsBlog has an article today about this very subject:

Kyrie Irving and Michael Gilchrist have already teamed up to lead Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick to the New Jersey Tournament of Champions title.

Could they be pairing up together in college, too?

“We’ve considered it. We’ve talked about it,” Irving said in a recent interview. “We’re trying to do it but right now we’re just open in our recruiting process.”

And what school might the dynamic duo wind up at?

“Me and Mike, we talk about Kentucky mainly,” Irving said. “Coach Cal [John Calipari], he’s a great coach. And the whole coaching staff when I got to know them at Memphis, I have a great relationship with them. It’s just a top program.”

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Irving is the No. 4 point guard in the Class of 2010 according to Rivals.

He transferred to St. Patrick from Montclair (N.J.) Kimberley prior to last year and helped the Celtics win the New Jersey TOC. He and Gilchrist became fast friends.

“We became best friends when I transferred in,” said Irving, who along with Gilchrist, will be at the LeBron James Skills Academy beginning Sunday. “When we played in the first tournament together, I just got to know him and things developed from there.”

Irving’s complete list looks like this: UConn, Georgia Tech, Duke, Indiana, Seton Hall, Texas A&M, Notre Dame, Florida, Marquette and Kentucky.

He has taken unofficials to UConn, Indiana and Texas A&M and says he plans to take more in August.

Kentucky has connections to both players. Assistant Rod Strickland is Irving’s Godfather and William Wesley, aka “Worldwide Wes,” is a very close family friend of Gilchrist and his parents, and is also close with Calipari.

The 6-6, 190-pound Gilchrist is the consensus top player in the Class of 2011.

His mother, Cindy Richardson, emphasizes that her son is still young and not thinking about the recruiting process.

She said in a text message that it’s “not true” that Irving and Gilchrist are thinking of playing together.

St. Patrick coach Kevin Boyle confirmed that Gilchrist is still open.

“I’ve talked to mom about Mike and the recruiting recently,” Boyle said. “When he was young he said he was going to Memphis and a lot of people automatically have him going to Kentucky now.

“She’s adamant that that’s not true and that he’s open to schools of high quality who have interest in him. It’s a little early I think.

“Now you have a lot of people calling, asking ‘Do I have a shot? Obviously, anybody would take him if they can get him.”

Boyle said Villanova coach Jay Wright, Georgetown coach John Thompson III and West Virginia coach Bob Huggins are among those who have expressed the strongest interest in Gilchrist and Boyle said he also needed to speak more with North Carolina coach Roy Williams.

Kentucky remains a strong player as well.

“Kentucky and Coach Cal, without question, are going to make a strong play for him,” Boyle said.

Could Kentucky land both players?

“I don’t know,” Boyle said. “Kentucky is recruiting both of them so that’s not an impossibility there. I do think Kyrie does want to go somewhere that he’s going to have a chance to get the ball and run the offense his freshman year.

“Will Kentucky have that available? I don’t know. You might have John Wall there a year or two.”

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!