- A few weeks after it was first reported that Kentucky and Indiana would end their annual rivalry, The Indianapolis Star reported that Indiana athletic director Fred Glass attempted one final time to continue the series. He offered up the idea of playing “the game in 2012 and ’13 at Lucas Oil Stadium, then Rupp Arena in ’14 and Assembly Hall in ‘15[. . .] Tom (Crean) and I had continued to talk after the thing had blew up in early May as to whether there was a way to save the series and at the same time keep our value of having a game at Assembly Hall,’’ Glass said. “That’s when we came up with the idea of going to a four-year rotation. Those ideas had come to us from random people writing in and people I know suggesting that. ’’
- As part of the SEC Spring Meetings, The Kansas City Star reported Thursday that Kansas City and the Sprint Center are in the running for a future men’s basketball tournament. The 2017 and 2018 tournaments are the first ones available as Nashville and Atlanta “I’ve had the opportunity to say we have two cities in the state of Missouri that are interested in hosting those championships,” Missouri Athletic Director Mike Alden said. St. Louis is also being considered for those two years. “People are really bidding on those things in a strong fashion, so it will really be important for St. Louis and Kansas City to step up and bring their ‘A’ game to get them.”
- Scheduling dominated the meetings earlier in the week. On Wednesday, word leaked of an 18-game conference schedule that would involve each school playing one another once, playing four rotating schools in home-and-home contests and playing one “permanent rival” home-and-home every year. The athletic directors will finalize the schedule on Friday, but the rumored rivals will be Florida-Kentucky, Tennessee-Vanderbilt, Auburn-Alabama, Georgia-South Carolina, Ole Miss-Mississippi State, Texas A&M-LSU and Missouri-Arkansas. The last of those rivals feature a twist of former Tiger head coach Mike Anderson now serving as Razorback head man. “I used to coach at Missouri and all that. Some of the kids I recruited still play there. But with that being said, it adds a little drama to it, especially for the media. I think” the hype is “more from the media than it is from fans.”
- Former Kentucky standout Anthony Davis made the media tours on Thursday after the New Orleans Hornets won the NBA Draft lottery. On the Dan Patrick Show, he “called out” Kobe Bryant leading to the following exchange. “You know, Kobe, he’s a monster,” Davis said. “So I want to just go out there and try my hardest. You know, there’s a lot of guys who can’t stop Kobe. So if I stop him, I’ll be one of them guys who can say, ‘I shut Kobe down.'” To which Patrick said, “Be careful what you ask for, Anthony. He listens to the show, and he’s got a great memory.” Davis replied with a laugh, “Tell him I’ll be waiting.”
- At long last, Devonta Pollard, ESPN’s highest remaining recruit, will make the college decision at 6 p.m. on Friday. Alabama and Missouri have long been tied to Pollard, but Missouri has no available scholarship. From that account, “According to mom, Devonta signed four national letters of intent on May 16. With the post-dated letters of intent, there’s a window to turn them into the clearinghouse and Pollard’s national letter of intent should bind him to the program of his choosing.”