Kentucky

STARKVILLE, Miss. - Riley Benock, a 6-foot-5 guard from Meade County High School in Brandenburg, Ky., has signed a national letter of intent with Mississippi State University, as announced Friday by Bulldog basketball coach Rick Stansbury.

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The University of Kentucky men’s basketball program has added two assistant coaches, Jeremy Cox and Glynn Cyprien, head coach Billy Gillispie announced Monday.

“Both Jeremy and Glenn are great people and great coaches,” said Gillispie. “They are outstanding at developing relationships, with both current players and prospective students.”

Billy Gillispie must feel like he’s dreaming.

Just five years ago, he was stumbling through his first season as head coach at UTEP, on his way to a 6-24 record. Now, he’s preparing to sit in the same seat once occupied by Adolph Rupp, and lead a program that has “suffered” through back-to-back 22-win seasons. And he couldn’t be more excited.

“Was I the second choice?” Gillispie asked at his introductory news conference on April 6, in reference to UK’s public courtship of Billy Donovan. “If I was anywhere before seven and eight, I’d be happy.”

As a player, Billy Donovan will always be remembered as the pudgy point guard who willed his Providence team to the Final Four.

As a coach in 2000, Donovan earned the right to be remembered for going one step further than he did as a player.

And now, he will be remembered as being one of the greatest college coaches of all-time.

Donovan now has more rings than Lute Olson, Jim Boeheim, Tom Izzo, and even his mentor, Rick Pitino.

- Following Tubby Smith's lead, Randolph Morris bolted Lexington.. siging with uber-bad GM Isiah Thomas and the Knicks. Not a bad move by the Knicks, but better for Morris.. who turned not getting drafted into a 2 year 1.6 million dollar contract. Articles proclaim Morris is a solid addition for the Knicks' "playoff push", but I can pretty much guarantee Morris will have absolutely no impact on this year's playoff race.

"On behalf of the University of Kentucky, I’d like to express sincere appreciation to Tubby Smith, his family and his staff. Tubby has always put a priority on the growth of the student-athlete while representing the Commonwealth with class, and we thank him for that. We wish him the very best at the University of Minnesota. They are getting a solid coach and a great person.