State-Journal.com - Cats stone-Wall the issue

Kentucky’s John Wall soars toward the basket for a dunk during the Blue-White scrimmage at Rupp Arena Wednesday. (AP/Ed Reinke)

LEXINGTON – The men’s basketball Kentucky Wildcats will no doubt be in the NCAA tournament come spring under new coach John Calipari. But right now the Wildcats are doing another kind of dance, as in dancing around the issue of when their future No. 1 NBA Draft pick, freshman guard John Wall, will be cleared to play for UK.

SEC officials said this past week that Wall and Mississippi State freshman Renardo Sidney will not be eligible to play until issues concerning AAU coaches are cleared.

In Wall’s case, his AAU coach, Brian Clifton, was a registered agent for a year while Wall was playing for him, which can be interpreted as Wall receiving improper benefits. So Wall may have to repay some expenses paid by Clifton when Clifton was an agent, and Wall may have to sit out some games when UK starts regular season play Nov. 13 at home against Morehead State.

UK officials are trying to stay mum on Wall’s eligibility, but after Wall wowed a Rupp Arena crowd of 14,060 with 25 points and 11 assists during the team’s Blue-White game on Wednesday night, you can imagine the kinds of questions Calipari and Wall faced afterward.

Calipari’s portion of the post-game press conference started like this:

Reporter: What about John Wall? How serious is it?

Calipari: John was good today. I thought he played well. The only thing I told him is he has to give it (the basketball) up a little earlier. At times he held on to the ball too long.

Reporter: Maybe I didn’t phrase the question the right way. On John off the court ... what can you tell us?

Calipari: Nothing. He’s in pretty good shape.

Reporter: You expect him to play?

Calipari: Yeah, I do. But, you know ... yeah.

Reporter: What is John’s status? Is he cleared to play or not?

Calipari: Yeah, he’s been cleared. He’s gone through the (NCAA) clearinghouse. All that stuff is good. Did anybody watch the game today?

Reporter: The (SEC) commissioner said his eligibility is being reviewed.

Calipari: That’s all stuff that’s a private matter. There’s probably 10 to 15 kids going through the same thing John’s going through. But he’s been cleared in every way, and the other stuff they are looking at, they’re looking at with a lot of kids.

Reporter: I just want a clarification. I talked to John yesterday and he said it’s up in the air and has been for several months as far as getting clearance on his eligibility.

Calipari: There’s all kinds of clearance, and like I said, there’s 10 to 15 players going through the same thing. Let’s talk about the scrimmage.

Calipari went on to talk about how much fun he and his players are having ... about how much of a thrill it is to wake up every day as the basketball coach at Kentucky. But if he and UK officials don’t handle this situation better than they are right now, I’m not sure how long Calipari’s job will be “fun.”

It’s one thing to simply no comment particulars about Wall’s AAU deal, but it’s another to just completely stonewall the issue, to talk as if everything is all well and good with Wall, the team’s most electrifying talent.

All Calipari and other UK officials have to say is that there are some (minor?) issues with Wall’s AAU experience and current eligibility, and as soon as something is known about the timetable for Wall’s regular season arrival in Blue and White, we’ll let you know.

That wouldn’t stop the questions, but it might give Calipari and the school some credibility. If Wall isn’t cleared to play against Morehead State, what will Calipari say then, that his star guard is on vacation?

I will give UK credit for making Wall one of five players to meet with the media following Wednesday’s Blue-White game, a very entertaining affair won by Patrick Patterson and Wall’s Blue team, 106-73, with pretty much everyone on the roster putting up big numbers and having a lot of moments to enjoy and brag about.

And you certainly can’t blame Wall for appearing just a tad uncomfortable as he faced pretty much the same questions Calipari had faced just minutes earlier.

Reporter to Wall: Do you expect to play against Morehead State?

Wall: Right now I’m not really focused on that (really?). I’m just focused on playing basketball and trying to be a student-athlete right now.

Reporter: You’re not thinking about it at all?

Wall: No sir.

Reporter: What’s the holdup?

Wall: Right now I have no comment. I’m just trying to focus on playing basketball. It is what it is ... something you have to deal with.

Indications from the Blue-White game are that Wall indeed is doing a fine job of focusing on basketball. UK fans should hope for a lot of reasons that Wall is on the court in game action soon (by the way, there’s no word, surprise, surprise, on whether Wall will play next week in the team’s two exhibition games – Monday vs. Campbellsville and Friday, Nov. 6, against Clarion), because Wall clearly has “it” – the star power to be great sooner rather than later.

And, for Wall’s sake, make no mistake about it, if he doesn’t play a minute for the Wildcats (which, don’t get me wrong, I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t), he WILL go in the first round of the NBA draft next spring, just like he would have this past spring if the NBA didn’t have the ridiculous age limitations. So if you hear any talk about John Wall maybe being a college player for two, three years ... forget that notion.

And, with Wall, I will be surprised if the Wildcats are not a Final Four team in the NCAA Tournament. Even if they don’t have him, I give UK a decent shot to get to that promised land.

The talent, though oh so raw right now, is a wonder to behold. That was clear Wednesday even though this was just a scrimmage.

Juco transfer Darnell Dodson led all scorers with 26 points. Patterson had 24, including two of four from three-point range. Josh Harrellson had 13 points and 14 rebounds. Harrellson had a double-double (10 points and 10 boards) in the FIRST HALF.

And while I had my qualms with Calipari on the issue of Wall, I love his approach with his players and basketball in general.

When asked about the record attendance for a Blue-White game Wednesday, Calipari replied: “I’m excited that they (fans) are excited. All I can tell you is I wake up every morning saying I am the coach at Kentucky ... is this the greatest thing ever? What we have to do is perform on the court now.

“What I do like is we have a good mix of players,” he added. “They are all good kids, trying to do the right things, playing off one another. And they’re very coachable. It’s all good stuff. I think they’re having fun.”

And Calipari appeared genuinely excited about Patterson’s newfound skills on the perimeter, including his 50 percent from 3-point range. I couldn’t help think that if Patrick Patterson had so much as looked at the basket from 3-point range in the past, former coach Billy Gillispie would have made Patterson walk back to campus.

But this is what Calipari said of Patterson after the Blue-White game: “Did you like seeing him shoot a couple of 3s? I mean, are you amazed at his skill out on the floor where he can catch it at 20 feet and drive it and shoot a layup and go by people? I mean, he’s talented.”

“Coach said, ‘You went 2-for-4 from three point range ... I like it,’” Patterson noted. “And I said, ‘I like it, too.’”

And what about Calipari’s philosophy about such a scrimmage as the Blue-White?

“For me this is about trying to figure out all of these guys,” Calipari said. “I talk to them a little bit about body language today. Some guys were getting mad at themselves, and I said, you just have to be more upbeat.”

And then there’s Calipari’s philosophy about early-season progress on the defensive end.

“We have a long way to go defensively,” he said. “But you have to understand the way I’ve always coached. I try to get the offense right, and then I go to defense. And it’s never really hurt my teams. And the main reason is I want my players to be confident offensively and not get demoralized because the defense is so far ahead of the offense, which usually happens. So you understand we have had only nine days of practice, and yesterday was the first day we really zeroed in on defense.

“So we always start with offense and then hopefully they’re having enough fun to where we’ll figure out how to guard and enjoy defense ... where you just love it.”

Hopefully.