Josh Harrellson

[kevinfootes]

And that past is really nothing but a quagmire of mediocrity. It's convinced me that the only way SLU's bb program ever becomes relevant is if a new admin comes in and recognizes that a note worthy hoops program provides benefits beyond just Chaifetz arena.

+1

I've posted before that Biondi's positives for SLU by far outweigh his negatives, but the negatives are real and he's blind to many of them.

[jjray]

I agree all of these topics should be fair game. All sports fans talk about woulda, shoulda, couldas. BTW, who is Upchurch, I see him referenced frequently.

6'8" forward out of St. Louis who committed to SLU but had a learning disability and the university balked at admitting him. I want to say he came out of high school in 1985 but not positive. They told him that if he went to summer school and passed that he would be admitted. Craig did so but at the end of the summer the university inexplicably denied him admission. This was in August just before school started. Upchurch went on to star at Houston then played in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks.

[WVBilliken]

Craig Upchurch was a 6'8" player out of St. Louis that Rich Grawer recruited, I think around the time Bonner was playing. He was a big catch for SLU but the SLU Administration denied him entrance at the school because of academic concerns. I think he want on to star at the University of Houston.

With Upchurch, SLU likely would have made the NCAA tournament in the Grawer era.

[MusicCityBilliken]

Its interesting that we have a new verb> 'upchurched'.

I always thought we got over Upchurch when we made the efforts to get Tatem qualified. Will see on Monday if Willy and KM are at practice this Monday.

[ACE]

The reporter should have asked Josh if Lexington Kentucky is closer to home than Macomb, Illinois.

Good question, but probably not one that Josh's fan club here would want to hear.

[ACE]

Craig Upchurch was a 6'8" player out of St. Louis that Rich Grawer recruited, I think around the time Bonner was playing. He was a big catch for SLU but the SLU Administration denied him entrance at the school because of academic concerns. I think he want on to star at the University of Houston.

With Upchurch, SLU likely would have made the NCAA tournament in the Grawer era.

Thanks. That was before my time. There certainly is a long history of struggle and near misses. This 2010-11 season is one we'll also still be talking about 25 years from now.

[dlarry]

Thanks. That was before my time. There certainly is a long history of struggle and near misses. This 2010-11 season is one we'll also still be talking about 25 years from now.

If WR and KM are both readmitted, even if they redshirt this year, I think NCAA appearances the next two years will quite the 2010-11 frustration. This season may be lost but if SLU does the right thing, and the wins start to come I wont be thinking much about this wasted year.

[AlumniFan]

Its interesting that we have a new verb> 'upchurched'.

I always thought we got over Upchurch when we made the efforts to get Tatem qualified. Will see on Monday if Willy and KM are at practice this Monday.

Redshirts can practice with the team, correct?

[Westy03]

Redshirts can practice with the team, correct?

That is correct

[kevinfootes]

Thanks. That was before my time. There certainly is a long history of struggle and near misses. This 2010-11 season is one we'll also still be talking about 25 years from now.

We don't mind sharing our war stories with everyone. We'd all prefer more stories about big wins in March, but that's part of being a Billiken. Newcomers should know our history as well.

[kevinfootes]

Its interesting that we have a new verb> 'upchurched'.

I always thought we got over Upchurch when we made the efforts to get Tatem qualified. Will see on Monday if Willy and KM are at practice this Monday.

That's even better than "Munsoned"!

[kevinfootes]

6'8" forward out of St. Louis who committed to SLU but had a learning disability and the university balked at admitting him. I want to say he came out of high school in 1985 but not positive. They told him that if he went to summer school and passed that he would be admitted. Craig did so but at the end of the summer the university inexplicably denied him admission. This was in August just before school started. Upchurch went on to star at Houston then played in the NBA for the Atlanta Hawks.

For what it's worth, I don't think Upchurch ever made a regular season roster in the NBA. I know he was in camp with the Hawks, but didn't quite get there. Can anyone verify this?

That said, we've only had a handful of guys make it that far in my lifetime, and Upchurch was a heck of a college player.

[STL Hoops Insider]

Harrellson in the news again today

http://espn.go.com/blog/CollegeBasketballNation/post/_/id/20460/enes-who-harrelson-stars-as-uk-rolls

Throughout November and December, even as their young team was making impressive strides in a difficult nonconference schedule, Kentucky fans had a singular refrain: "Free Enes."

After Friday's resounding 78-63 win at Louisville, perhaps Big Blue Nation should adopt a new slogan for their arena signs, t-shirts and message board signatures: "Enes Who?"

As Kentucky waited for word in the inexorably NCAA eligibility case of highly rated Turkish prospect Enes Kanter, Josh Harrelson -- Kentucky's occasionally maligned would-be backup center -- proved that maybe the Wildcats don't need Enes after all.

Harrelson went 10-of-12 from the field, scored 23 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and led Kentucky to an easy victory at the KFC Yum! Center. Thanks in large part to his effort -- which even saw the big man drain a 3-pointer, Harrelson's second make (and third attempt) of the season -- Kentucky rolled over an offensively impotent Louisville team hurting from the loss of forward Rakeem Buckles to injury.

Rivalry implications aside, the win solidifies Kentucky's progress before the start of SEC play. The Cats didn't need a quality nonconference victory, but after losses to Connecticut in Maui and North Carolina in Chapel HIll, it was clear UK's freshman-oriented lineup as currently constructed (read: without Kanter) still had plenty of improvements to make if it planned to put together a deep tournament run in March.

The Wildcats have made many of those improvements. After an uneven start, Brandon Knight showed why he was such a cherished prospect. His ability to run Calipari's show while stretching the defense with outside shooting (Knight scored 25 points on 7-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-6 from 3) is a rare luxury few teams in college basketball have. If Knight is this good, Kentucky doesn't need fellow stud freshman Terrence Jones to carry nearly as much of the scoring load. Jones (12 points, eight rebounds, 5-of-11 from the field) is perfectly capable of that, of course, but Calipari's dribble-drive motion offense works better when it has balance. Kentucky found that balance Friday.

Facing that daunting defensive task, Louisville couldn't keep up. The Cardinals have been a vastly improved defensive team this season thanks in large part to Pitino's tactics, which has seen the classic run-and-gun coach ramp up his pace and create gobs of turnovers in the full-court press. Kentucky kept the turnovers to a minimum and made enough shots, but the real problem for Louisville came on offense.

The Cardinals suffered a six-minute, halftime-straddling drought that left them stuck at 24 points until the 18:30 mark of the second half. After Preston Knowles broke that streak with a breakaway dunk, Louisville scored only four points over the next four minutes. Kentucky built its lead to 44-28 and never looked back, leaving Louisville and its rabid fans in the proverbial dust.

It's a big win for NCAA tournament seeding purposes, of course; any true nonconference road win over a top-20 team qualifies as big. But far more important is what the win means to the rivalry in the Commonwealth.

In nearly every facet of college hoops -- on-court success, recruiting, national profile, media attention -- Kentucky has overtaken Louisville in the two years since John Calipari's arrival in Lexington. Pitino has weathered this storm with varying degrees of success; last year's extortion circus was a black mark, to be sure, but Pitino managed to land a top recruiting class for 2011 despite his travails. This season, he revamped the Cardinals' style and saw them streak to unexpected early-season success, an imprint of his ability to affect the game with X's and O's.

All of these things were positive signs for Louisville fans, indicators that Pitino wasn't about to let his personal and professional rival take over the Commonwealth that easily. All the Cards needed was a win. Instead, Calipari's supreme young talent -- with an assist from an obscure-until-now senior like Harrelson -- took over.

As of today, Kentucky still owns the Commonwealth. And it didn't need Enes Kanter to do so.