As everyone knows, the Kentucky Basketball family lost a legend yesterday. Melvin Turpin was found dead in his home, apparently committing suicide. Melvin Turpin was not only known for his height and basketball ability, but was also known for his prowess of eating. Turpin, along with Sam Bowie, were the first to be known as the Twin Towers. Two 7 footers in the paint at the same time was a lethal combination vs. SEC opponents.
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The thing that hurt me the most about this very sorrowful situation is my ongoing friendship with Kiel Turpin. As most of you know, Kiel has been doing a recruiting journal for Nation of Blue and I have stayed in contact with him over the last 3 months. Kiel is an unbelievable kid. He is at the high point of his life, having many schools recruiting him and getting a chance to visit them has been very exciting for him. When I heard of Turpin’s death, I first thought of Kiel. Stay strong big fella, we are all praying for you.
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[*]Dallas Lincoln forward [B]LeBryan Nash,[/B] considered one of the top basketball prospects in the Class of 2011, helped the Dallas Mustangs win the 17s championship in the Adidas Invitational on Thursday at Indianapolis North Central. Nash is said to be high on Calipari’s list and he would be a great addition to the class. ([URL=”http://jodydemling.courier-journal.com/2010/07/lebryan-nash-leads-mustangs-to-17s.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+JodyDemling-RecruitingBlog+%28Jody+Demling+-+Recruiting+blog%29″]Source[/URL])
[*]I wonder if [B]Daniel Orton[/B] is ever going to get on track? He has almost been to the point of embarrassment in the Summer League. One thing he should be doing is rebounding on a consistent basis. He isn’t even doing that. Orton’s finished up his Summer League play today with 3 pts on 1-7 shooting, and 0 rebounds in 20 minutes. Daniel Orton’s final summer league stats (5 games): 3.2 points, 1.8 rebounds, 1.4 blocks; 4-29 FG (13.7%), 8-17 FT (47.1%)
[*]In contrast to Orton’s play, [B]Joe Crawford had a very good summer.[/B] Joe averaged 17.8 points per game for the Orlando Magic. What is funny is Orton scored 16 points total in the same amount of games.(hat tip to [URL=”http://twitter.com/jeffarcherwymt”]@jeffarcherwymt[/URL])
[*][B]Patrick Patterson[/B] plays his first game today on NBAtv at 6pm vs the Phoenix Suns. I am looking for him to hit mid range jumpers and rebound well. Patterson will need to be consistent around 15-17 feet to be a double figure scorer in the NBA.
[*]Looks like it doesn’t matter who coaches at Tennessee, they are always going to have thugs in the program. [URL=”http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/jul/09/vols-football-players-brawl-bar/”]If you haven’t heard, about 7 -10 Vols were in a bar last night and had a knockdown dragout[/URL]. The most interesting outcome of it all was the bar [B]owner admitted to NCAA violations for letting players in for free.[/B] Orange is such a perfect color for UT. I think they should go ahead and wear the jumpsuits during games too.
[*]LeBron has taken the hearts of Buckeyes everywhere as he has jumped to South Beach. The Heat has jumped to the favorite to win it all overnight and I just wonder if [B]Pat Riley[/B] will come back to the bench. I have always thought it will take someone with a lot of rings to coach LeBron, such as Phil Jackson hovers over Kobe. It might not happen, but Riley knows he could add another ring to his already vast collection if he goes back to the grind.
[*]It will not be long before we start hearing pads popping across the BlueGrass. High School practice starts July 15th, and Kentucky will be starting around the first week of August. It is almost[B] “Football Time in the BlueGrass!”[/B]
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