Darius Miller News

Kentucky created a buzz heard around the college basketball world by hiring John Calipari away from Memphis as coach and garnering the top recruiting class in the nation.

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- John Calipari knows exactly how he wants University of Kentucky basketball to feel, because he has felt it himself.

UK coach John Calipari said after Monday's relatively pedestrian 74-38 win over Campbellsville that he was no longer going to be Mr.

Almost everything, starting with the guy in charge. First-year coach John Calipari has brought in six new players and a fresh outlook to a program that has been floundering in recent years.

John Wall scored over Jamar Harrison in the first half as Kentucky played Clarion.

Patrick Patterson, left, joked with John Wall, who sat out the game. External Links The setting for his first game as Kentucky coach warmed John Calipari's heart.

Coach: John Calipari . Last season's record: 22-14 overall, 8-8 in SEC . Postseason: Lost in the quarterfinals of the NIT to Notre Dame .

During a scrimmage on Saturday, Kentucky freshman DeMarcus Cousins did something seemingly reasonable and unremarkable.

LEXINGTON -- On Sunday, 6-foot-10 University of Kentucky freshman Daniel Orton spoke almost longingly of the good old days of high school hoops, when his opponent in practice often was a 6-5 center.

We're not going with a typical, run-of-the-mill Top 25 rundown each day. Instead, we'll cut to the chase and tell you who will be left standing at the end of the year in the Elite Eight.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - John Wall floated toward the basket, then finished at the rim with power.

The pot has never really boiled around Kentucky's Patrick Patterson , at least not as fiercely as many thought it would.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - At many of the colleges that were recruiting him, Jon Hood would have been a prized freshman garnering a ton of attention.

SCOUTING THE NEWCOMERS: Where does one begin? Coach John Calipari could very easily start five of his six newcomers and compete very well in the SEC Eastern Division.

In recent years, many Kentucky fans have shared a common lament. UK basketball has been too much of a slow waltz.

It's time to party. On Friday night, Kentucky's 2009-10 men's and women's basketball teams will be unveiled at this year's version of Big Blue Madness.

The SEC got crushed last season - and for good reason. The league was "down," "weak" or whatever term you want to use to try and describe a conference that just didn't have enough experience, healthy bodies or talent to compete with the handful of other BCS leagues.

Kentucky Coach John Calipari, with son Bradley and wife Ellen behind him, signed a basketball for Rodney Branum of Lexington as the coach and the UK basketball team brought breakfast to the hundreds of fans camping out for Big Blue Madness tickets outside Memorial Coliseum on Thursday morning.

That's how I would sum up new University of Kentucky basketball coach John Calipari's spirited presentation last week to the largest gathering in history for the Southwest Indiana Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting and dinner.

When Scott Padgett visited Grayson County following his senior season at UK, he posed for picture number one with a young Aleshia Manion.