Quick hitters from Bold and Bossy’s wild weekend:
21. Mark Stoops. The Kentucky football coach took the appropriate action in holding out of football activities for now the six UK players charged last Thursday with burglary arising from an alleged confrontation at a March party.
20. The disciplinary end game. Just as a general rule, if a college athlete were proven to have pointed a gun at someone in a threatening manner or to have physically struck a female during a melee, disciplinary reaction from that player’s program should be substantial.
19. The presumption of innocence. We should also recall, however, that in the United States one is innocent until proven guilty. And, in the particular case of the six UK football players, we have not heard both sides of the story yet.
18. Second chances. Where young people are concerned, the operating principle should be to look for ways to provide another opportunity when circumstances make that possible.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5ljn2sG8Lc
17. An angry head coach? If I were Stoops, what happened last week would only make me more upset with the grownups working for the Kentucky football program who had been charged earlier this summer with breaking the law.
16. Jovon Bouknight. The UK wide receivers coach pleaded guilty to driving with an open alcoholic beverage and driving 25 mph over the speed limit in Kenton County after a DUI charge from May 8 was dismissed.
15. Dan Berezowitz. The Kentucky football chief of staff was charged with fourth-degree assault after allegedly being observed in a video in a physical altercation with his wife on June 27. The charge was subsequently dismissed by a Fayette County attorney on Aug. 20.
14. A UK football image problem? It is those prior interactions with law enforcement by adults in the Kentucky program that made last Thursday’s player arrests feel like part of a pattern.
13. Eli Cox. The former West Jessamine High School offensive lineman was one of the lower-ranked recruits (a three-star prospect with a 5.5 rating by Rivals) in Kentucky’s 2019 signing class.
12. One Power Five offer. Other than UK, Cox’s scholarship offers came from Army, Austin Peay, Ball State, Cincinnati, Cornell, Eastern Kentucky, Georgia State, Liberty, Marshall, Ohio, Toledo and Western Michigan.
11. Claiming a spot in The Big Blue Wall? Yet in both the UK football practices open to the media in recent weeks, the 6-foot-4, 301-pound Cox was running first team at right guard for the Wildcats.
10. Liam Coen. Of Cox, the new UK offensive coordinator says, “Eli, pound for pound, is one of the strongest guys on our team. He gets his hands on you, … he’s smart, he does all the right things.”
9. Eric Wolford. Of Cox, the new UK offensive line coach says, “Eli is strong. He works at it. The guy has a tremendous work ethic. (Football is) important to him. When you have those traits, you’ve got a chance to be pretty good.”
8. Darian Kinnard. Kentucky’s All-America candidate returned for his senior season rather than enter the 2021 NFL Draft with the idea of shifting from right tackle to left tackle. In the pros, the latter position has historically been the most lucrative position along the offensive line.
7. Back to right tackle. With the arrival to UK of transfer Dare Rosenthal, LSU’s starting left tackle last season, Kinnard has returned to his former position. “Darian’s a team-first guy,” Wolford says. “… That move was best for the football team and that’s what we care about.”
6. Kentucky volleyball. Craig Skinner’s Wildcats officially open defense of their NCAA title with a match against Texas State on Friday morning at 10:30 in the Dayton Tournament in Ohio. UK will face the host Flyers on Friday at 7:30 p.m. and conclude the event by playing Cincinnati on Saturday at noon.
5. Impact of a championship? How has the popularity of the Kentucky volleyball program grown since the Cats claimed their first national title? One sign is there has been a “UK volleyball recruiting” thread on a premium Kentucky sports Internet message board all summer.
4. John Pelphrey. The former UK men’s basketball standout says one of the benefits of becoming head coach at Tennessee Tech is that his daughter, Grace, followed and is now a player on the Golden Eagles’ women’s hoops team. “My office looks out over the court, so I can just turn around in my chair and watch her play or in practice,” Pelphrey says. “That’s been pretty neat.”
3. The Unforgettables. Pelphrey, along with classmates Richie Farmer, Deron Feldhaus and Sean Woods, earned a lasting place in UK basketball lore by sticking with Kentucky through harsh NCAA penalties and becoming cornerstones in Rick Pitino’s early-1990s rebuilding job.
2. An Unforgettables reunion? Pelphrey says Feldhaus is trying to organize a get-together for the ex-UK folk heroes. “Deron is adamant about us getting together sooner rather than later,” Pelphrey says.
1. An enduring link? I have always wanted to believe The Unforgettables are bonded for life. “You don’t have to worry about that,” Pelphrey says. “Those guys, those are my brothers.”