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Kentucky men’s basketball coach John Calipari considered last season a learning curve. Even though Calipari won his first national title as a coach two years ago, he experienced more growing pains as a coach last season. What did he learn? “First of all, you have to have more than eight scholarship players. You may ask …

Tags: Big Blue Nation, College Basketball, John Calipari, Kentucky Basketball, Kentucky Wildcats, University of Kentucky

May 15

Calipari likes Hawkins’ ‘will to win’

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Kentucky coach John Calipari talked about Madiso Central senior Dominique Hawkins during his press conference Wednesday. Calipari watched three of four games during Madison Central’s successful run in the boys state tournament in March. Hawkins was named Kentucky’s Mr. Basketball after leading the Indians to a 32-5 record and the school’s first state title last …

Tags: Big Blue Nation, College Basketball, Dominique Hawkins, John Calipari, Kentucky Basketball, Kentucky Wildcats, Southeastern Conference

May 02

SEC, ESPN reach new TV deal

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ATLANTA (AP) — The Southeastern Conference and ESPN have announced a 20-year agreement to operate a SEC network that is scheduled to debut in August, 2014. SEC Commissioner Mike Slive said Thursday the SEC network will produce 1,000 live events each year, including 450 televised on the network and 550 distributed digitally. Slive says the …

Tags: ESPN, SEC Television, Southeastern Conference

Uncategorized, Winchester sports

Apr 28

Burkhead happy to be a Bengal

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Nebraska running back Rex Burkhead was drafted as the 190th overall pick in the sixth round of the NFL Draft Saturday. Burkhead, son of former George Rogers Clark and Eastern Kentucky University standout Rick Burkhead, has ties to Winchester. His mom Robyn, also is a graduate of GRCHS and his grandparents still reside in Winchester. …

Tags: Cincinnati Bengals, Rex Burkhead

Apr 19

College Basketball: Midnight Madness could start earlier this season

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Midnight Madness could begin earlier than usual this fall after the NCAA’s Legislative Council approved a new rule. One change would allow teams to hold up to 30 days of practice in the six weeks leading up to their first regular-season game. Previously, teams had only four weeks to get those practices …

Tags: Big Blue Nation, College Basketball, John Calipari, Kentucky Wildcats, NCAA Basketball, University of Kentucky basketball

Apr 08

Pitino reflects on decision to take job at Louisville

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Before he decided to take the men’s basketball job at Louisville in 2000, he had accepted the Michigan job, which also was vacant at the time. Pitino revisited the path that led him back to Kentucky during a press conference at the Georgia Dome Sunday. The Cardinals will take on Michigan for the NCAA title …

Tags: Louisville Cardinals, Michigan Wolverines, NCAA Tournament, Rick Pitino

Apr 01

Pitino: Louisville survived ‘death bracket’ to reach Final Four

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Louisville is the only No. 1 seed to advance to this week’s Final Four. The Cardinals defeated N.C A&T and Colorado State, followed by wins over Oregon and Duke to make a return trip to the national semifinals in the NCAA Tournament. Louisville coach Rick Pitino, whose team lost to eventual national champion Kentucky in …

Tags: Big Blue Nation, Kentucky Basketball, Kentucky Wildcats, Louisville Cardinals, NCAA Final Four, NCAA Tournament, Rick Pitino

UK sports, Winchester sports

Mar 11

Verizon delivers during first phase of March Madness

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Whether I’m covering a game at Rupp Arena or in tiny Carlisle, Kentucky, sometimes I need a wireless connection to help deliver the scores and news to our readers. That’s where the Verizon Lumia 822 came in handy during the past three weeks. Whether it be by posting scores to twitter or writing a story …

Tags: George Rogers Clark Cardinals, University of Kentucky Wildcats, Verizon Wireless

Mar 05

Finalists for Mr and Miss Basketball named

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Uncategorized

Finalists for Kentucky Mr. and Miss Basketball were announced this morning. The boys’ list includes: Dominique Hawkins (Madison Central), Omar Prewitt (Montgomery County), Darryl Hicks (Trinity), Rusty Troutman (Bullitt East) and Derek Willis (Bullitt East). The girls’ list features: Larryn Brooks (Madison Central), Chiina Dow (Christian Academy of Louisville), Makayla Eps (Marion County), Kyvin Goodin-Rogers …

Tags: Derek Willis, Dominique Hawkins, Kentucky High School sports, Kentucky Miss Basketball, Kentucky Mr. Basketball, Kyvin Goodin-Rogers, Makayla Epps, Omar Prewitt, Prep Basketball

Mar 04

Boys Sweet Sixteen tidbits

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Uncategorized

Tags: 10th Region boys basketball, 11th Region boys basketball, 40th District boys basketball, Kentucky boys state tournament, Madison Central Indians, Montgomery County Indians, Sweet Sixteen

Received this tidbit from reader John Lovell after the Madison Central Indians defeated Lexington Catholic to win the school’s fourth 11th Region title last weekend at Eastern Kentucky’s McBrayer Arena. “Ken-Jah Bosley is the grandson of the first African-American to play basketball on an integrated high school team in Richmond. Kenard Bosley was a junior …