It looks like John Calipari is inheriting the perfect situation at Kentucky.

John Calipari has a team full of talented players, including John Wall — the No. 1 prospect in the nation.

First, Patrick Patterson withdraws from the NBA draft and decides to return to school. Then John Wall, the nation’s number one recruit and lighting-quick point guard, decides to sign with Kentucky.

I’m guessing that Coach Cal is chomping at the bit to get the 2009-2010 basketball season underway.

Even though Kentucky already signed Eric Bledsoe, another talented point guard, Wall is excited to compete for the starting position.

“Being able to play against Eric (Bledsoe) is a big plus,” he said, according to Rivals.com.

Duke, Miami and Florida were also at the top of Wall’s list. But playing for Coach Cal and the situation that has opened up for Kentucky is what ultimately swayed his decision. Wall joins No. 2 ranked prospect DeMarcus Cousins, No. 22 ranked prospect Daniel Orton, Bledsoe (No. 23 overall) and four-star prospects John Hood and Darnell Dodson. (As well as returning star, Patrick Patterson.)

Does anyone really want to question Coach Cal’s move from Memphis to Kentucky at this point?

Visit Rivals.com for John Wall’s scouting report.

Image: Zuma

Patrick Patterson has ultimately decided that he’d rather return to Kentucky to compete for a NCAA Championship and finish his degree in three years rather than jump to the NBA.

John Calipari couldn’t be happier, especially since this will be his first go-round as Kentucky’s head coach — a position that is largely viewed in a fishbowl, with everyone (fans, trustees,the administration, etc.)  watching and scrutinizing the coach’s every move.

Patrick Patterson decided to return to Kentucky to play for John Calipari for his junior year.

The move comes as a bit of a surprise, since Patterson was projected as a first-round pick in the June 25th draft.

“I want to help Kentucky compete for a national title, and even more than that win its eighth national championship,” Patterson said in a statement released by the school. “I’m also really excited about playing for coach Cal and developing my game in the dribble drive offense.”

Image: Newscom

7′3 junior Hasheem Thabeet

25 points, 20 boards, and 9 swats in Saturday’s win over Seton Hall. Though Connecticut could be in trouble further down the road (actually as soon as Monday vs. Pitt) with Jerome Dyson out for the season. A.J. Price and Craig Austrie (Dyson’s replacement) were a combined 4-20 from the field. If UConn is to stay on top, Thabeet, along with Jeff Adrien (14 points and 15 boards on Saturday), are going to need to be sensational in every way imaginable. Losing Dyson is bigger than pundits seem to be leading on.

6′10 sophomore Blake Griffin

In 31 minutes against Texas Tech on Saturday scored 40 (16-23 fg), grabbed 23 boards, and basically had a whole segment of Sportscenter all to himself. Is it just me or is he the next Amar’e Stoudemire?

6′4 junior Jodie Meeks

Against Arkansas on Saturday poured in 45 (17-24 fg), hauled in 7 boards, and swiped 3, all without the services of Patrick Patterson (sprained ankle). Averaging over 25 ppg while being the number one target on opponent’s scouting reports. Made a disgustingly difficult shot to beat Florida on Tuesday. Do you believe the hype?

6′5 junior Joseph Harris

In a 3 point win over VMI on Saturday, the Coastal Carolina forward notched 33, grabbed 22 boards, and chipped in with 6 feeds. The win propelled the Chanticleers to 5-9 in the Big South while dropping VMI to 2nd place at 11-3.

Tennessee is supposed to take the cake.

secsports.com

Tennessee was predicted to defend its 2008 Southeastern Conference men’s basketball championship in a voting by a select panel of both SEC and national media members. Each SEC school selected two media members that cover their team and six additional writers from across the nation were selected by the conference office to form the 30-member voting panel.

The Volunteers are coming off an appearance in the Sweet 16 of the 2008 NCAA Tournament and a school record 31 wins. They earned 23 first-place votes, topping Florida’s five votes and Kentucky’s two as the SEC Champion. Tennessee returns six letterwinners, including starters Tyler Smith and Wayne Chism.

Tennessee was the media’s favorite to win the East with 172 total points (23 first-place votes), ahead of second-place Florida’s 143 points (five first-place votes). Florida returns four starters, including seven of its top eight scorers, from last year’s 24-win team. Kentucky, Vanderbilt, South Carolina and Georgia round out the top six.

In the West, Alabama’s 151 total points (11 first-place votes) were slightly ahead of LSU’s 147 points (11 first-place votes). Ole Miss received eight first place votes and were picked third with 136 points. Alabama returns a total of nine letterwinners from last year’s squad. LSU returns 10 lettermen and a total of five starters for new head coach Trent Johnson while Ole Miss brings back three starters from last year’s team that advanced to the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament. Mississippi State, Auburn and Arkansas round out the top six in the West.

Tennessee junior forward Tyler Smith was the choice of the media for SEC Men’s Basketball Player of the Year with 17 votes, followed by nine votes for Kentucky sophomore Patrick Patterson. South Carolina junior guard Devan Downey received two votes while LSU senior guard Marcus Thornton and Florida sophomore guard/forward Nick Calathes each garnered one vote.

Smith, Patterson, Downey and Calathes were joined on the All-SEC First Team by Vanderbilt sophomore center A.J. Ogilvy.

LSU’s Thornton led All-SEC Second Team honors and was joined by Mississippi State junior forward/center Jarvis Varnado, Alabama senior guard Ronald Steele, LSU junior forward Tasmin Mitchell, Ole Miss sophomore guard Chris Warren and Alabama senior guard Alonzo Gee.

Just imagine if Marresse Speights had returned to Florida.

Tennessee would then have some legit competition for the SEC crown.

Have fun sitting on the bench in Philly Marresse!

To ensure that your college hoopin one track mind stays up to date, we will gladly provide you with pleasing golden nuggets of wisdom that you can, eh, change the world with. We’ll see.

**Oh, make no mistake about it, Nuss is revved about WSU basketball.

“He bulked up a little last year, but holy crap has he bulked up this year — the guy looks like he ought to be playing tight end tomorrow, not shooting guard in a month. Sheesh.”

**6′11 center from Ghana says he’ll play for Indiana in 09/10.

“Muniru is ranked the 111th best player in his class by rivals.com. He also has offers from Louisville, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, UAB and Auburn, and was being recruited by Kentucky.”

**The first Korean born DI player hopes to qualify for 08/09 eligibility at Maryland.

“The biggest question about Kim is what will Gary do with him? Kim has a great stroke and can stretch defenses with his 3-point shooting ability but he’s also only 180 pounds, so he needs to hit up the weight room in a hurry. Also, Kim was initially suppose to be a 09 commit, but is trying to reclassify for 08.  Does that mean MD will redshirt him, which allows him to get accustomed to Div 1 basketball life, put on some pounds in the weight room, and get in some practice before starting his college career?”

Video of Jin Soo Kim via Testudo Times

Kim has impressive passing skills but the muscle mass of Shawn Bradley.

**Bench All-Stars.

**Tyler Hansbrough vs. Patrick Patterson, from Ken Pomeroy.

“Here’s what I see.  Hansbrough is taller, heavier, and stronger, and nearly impossible to bully out of his post defense.  With that size comes the fact that he is not quite as quick as Pat, nor do I think he passes quite as well.  I would say that the physical comparison is a wash, or at worst a slight edge to Patrick, with a nod toward his superior athleticism.”

**Not too many guys out there more likeable than Stephen Curry.

“Curry’s unassuming nature is of a piece with the Davidson Way. A college of 1,700 students 23 miles north of Charlotte, Davidson is the kind of place where almost nobody locks their doors, and (shock of shocks) the basketball players take all of their classes with the rest of the undergrads.” ‘”If you had a roster of every student, I probably would know a little something about each one of them,” Curry says. “’After a game we’ll go to the student union and just walk around. Everyone will be talking about the game, and it’s not random people you’ve never seen on campus. You know their names. That’s a special thing.’”

**Brian Butch and Shawn Pruitt couldn’t hold Michael Ruffin’s jockstrap.

Happy Monday

The Kentucky Wildcats, who are only one game behind Tennessee in the race for the SEC Eastern Division title, suffered a major injury blow on Friday when stud freshman Patrick Patterson was diagnosed with stress fracture in his left ankle. Patterson will miss the rest of the season.

Patterson, the leading freshman scorer in the SEC, was the Wildcats’ second leading scorer (16.4 points per game) and leading rebounder (7.7 rebounds per game). His loss will definitely hurt the chances of Kentucky making the NCAA tournament.

Kentucky’s next game will be against #1 Tennessee on Sunday.