Retired sports columnist. johnclay21@gmail.com
Lexington, KY
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John Calipari says all of Kentucky's players have received the booster shot. Said some did not want to do it, but did it for their teammates and their families. #BBN #ukbasketball
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Rick Pitino just beat the "best coach in the f-ing sport."
Correction: Rick Pitino is the best coach in the f-ing sport.
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Asked if Oscar Tshiebwe should be Player of the Year, Sahvir Wheeler says Oscar should be "Person of the Year." #BBN #ukbasketball
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Kentucky’s Amari Williams celebrated his birthday with 15 rebounds and 4 assists in huge win at Tennessee. #BBN #ukbasketball
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Rex Chapman says Lee Anne Pope, wife of @CoachMarkPope, bakes cookies for the opposing team. “Who does that? Mark Pope’s wife does that.” #BBN #ukbasketball
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Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said today he's received texts from Tubby Smith, Rick Barnes and Tom Izzo, among others, telling him to "win one for the old guys." #finalfour2025
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Calipari says at one point he walked down to sub Jacob Toppin in for Keion Brooks and Jacob said, "Leave him in. Don't take Keion out. Leave him in." #BBN #ukbasketball
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Some personal news. After 44 years at the Lexington Herald-Leader, I am retiring at the end of the month. I've enjoyed every minute. Thanks to @JonHale_HL. kentucky.com/sports/college/…
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Moment of silence for victims of tornadoes in Kentucky before today’s UK basketball game at Notre Dame. #BBN
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After watching Kentucky beat Duke last night, my 86-year-old mother asked me if Jay Bilas went to Duke?
“Yes, he did,” I said.
“I thought so,” she replied.
#BBN #ukbasketball #ChampionsClassic
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Mark Pope signing autographs after win at Tennessee. #BBN #ukbasketball
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UK coach John Calipari and Stacey Reed after the Cats’ win over Tennessee. Reed Sheppard scored 27 points in UK’s 85-81 victory. #BBN #ukbasketball
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Dontaie Allen on what he's going to do this summer: "I'm going to work to exhaustion." #BBN #ukbasketball
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My column: Mark Pope might not be the basketball coach Kentucky fans wanted, but he could be the coach UK needs. #BBN #ukbasketball
kentucky.com/sports/spt-colu…
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My farewell column after 44 years at the Lexington Herald-Leader. kentucky.com/sports/spt-colu…
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Possibly overlooked: Kentucky's Alex Raynor made 10 of 11 field goals on the regular season, including a 46-yarder Saturday. Raynor was 9-of-9 inside the 50-yard line. #BBN #ukfootball
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Saw Jacob Toppin leaving Starbucks this morning. Unmasked. Looking good. #BBN #ukbasketball
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Travis Ford is sitting to my left. Except he is rarely sitting. And he lets the officials know when he disagrees. #BBN #ukbasketball #SECTourney
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Calipari says he will have individual meetings on Monday where he will go over each player's role on the team. "Be a star at your role," he said. #BBN #ukbasketball
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Calipari: "I think if you have eight scholarship players and a coach you must play the game." #BBN #ukbasketball
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Mike Repole, owner of Kentucky Derby favorite Fierceness, was asked this morning if his friend Rick Pitino is coming in for the race. “He doesn’t come to Louisville,” Repole said. “He’ll come to Lexington now that Mark Pope’s there.”
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Kentucky basketball reacts to being the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region of the NCAA Tournament. #BBN
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Twenty-five years ago, if you had told me one day Paul Stanley of KISS would be quote-tweeting Rex Chapman, it would have blown my mind.
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Kentucky’s Collin Chandler after loss to Tennessee: “It’s gut-wrenching to know it’s the end.” #BBN
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After the 84-75 win over Illinois, Kentucky’s players were very complimentary of the scouting report put together by Mark Pope and his staff. Ansley Almonor explains. #BBN #ncaatournament
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Louisville was a 3-point favorite, right? #BBN #ukfootball
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Remember, Kentucky has not won at Allen Fieldhouse since 1983. #BBN
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Looks like Kentucky basketball coach Mark Pope is sitting in Novak Djokovic’s box at the US Open. #USOpen2024
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Blame ESPN for the way it time slots games, but also blame the game itself. Need to reduce the number of timeouts for each team. That'd be a start. Cut back on reviews, etc.
Kentucky-Oklahoma still not on SEC Network at 9:42 p.m. -- tip was 9:10 -- because of Vandy-Texas A&M.
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Oscar Tshiebwe in UK locker room after NCAA loss. Scored 25 points and grabbed 18 rebounds.
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Sahvir Wheeler credits Jacob Toppin's energy. "He was talking. (With the mask), you could barely understand him but you knew he was saying something." #BBN #ukbasketball
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Keion Brooks: "We wanted to see how good we were and we went in and made a statement tonight." #BBN #ukbasketball
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ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky: “Will Levis was the best player on the field tonight.” #BBN #ukfootball
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UK's Kellan Grady on Oscar Tshiebwe: "He's really one of my favorite people that I've ever met." #BBN #ukbasketball
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Crowd at Rupp Arena one hour before Mark Pope press conference as new Kentucky basketball coach.
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Kentucky center Oscar Tshiebwe sporting a "Jesus Loves You" hoodie on this morning's Zoom call. #BBN #ukbasketball
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SEC East conference records 2017-21
Georgia 32-5
Florida 24-14
Kentucky 20-18
Missouri 16-20
South Carolina 14-23
Tennessee 12-25
Vanderbilt 5-30
#BBN #ukfootball
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It’s the longtime UK football fans who appreciate the job Stoops has done #bbn #ukfootball kentucky.com/sports/spt-colu…
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Hey, John Calipari and Mark Stoops: This year, Kentucky is a baseball school kentucky.com/sports/spt-colu…
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Calipari says this was the first game his dad has been able to attend in five years. #BBN
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SEC defenses by yards per play
Georgia 3.60
Kentucky 4.61
Florida 4.80
Auburn 4.84
Tennessee 4.87
Alabama 5.00
Texas A&M 5.01
Arkansas 5.10
South Carolina 5.21
Miss State 5.36
LSU 5.47
Ole Miss 5.63
Vanderbilt 6.71
Missouri 6.84
#SEC #ukfootball
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Keion Brooks on the loud Kentucky fans inside Memorial Gym: "That was pretty dope." #BBN
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Davion Mintz: "I don't want people to stop believing in us. We're going to figure this out." #bbn #ukbasketball
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Former Kentucky coach Tubby Smith is here. He's up in the stands taking pictures with fans. #BBN #ukbasketball
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Dillingham on Calipari: "Since Canada to now, our relationship has grown so much. . . . He lets me be me."
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Kentucky football stat of the day
1,000-yard rushers under Mark Stoops
Lynn Bowden, 2019 - 1,468
Benny Snell, 2018 - 1,449
Benny Snell, 2017 - 1,333
Boom Williams, 2016 - 1,170
Benny Snell, 2016 - 1,091
#bbn #ukfootball
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Kentucky 70, Tennessee 62 with 1:13 left.
I've seen some gutty Kentucky basketball efforts in my day, but this one has to rank up there.
No matter how it ends up.
#BBN #ukbasketball
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Ten reasons why Kentucky football was better before Mark Stoops took over #BBN #ukfootball kentucky.com/sports/spt-colu…
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Kentucky women's volleyball are national champions! UK defeats Texas 3-1 for title. #NCAAVB #ukvolleyball #BBN
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Ex-Kentucky running back Ray Davis is Buffalo's emergency kicker. He just booted a successful extra point for the Bills.
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TyTy Washington on UK going 22-of-26 at the foul line: "They're free. Who doesn't like free points?" #BBN #ukbasketball
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Hot take: Mike Hartline was an underrated UK quarterback. #bbn #ukfootball
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Andrew Carr says Kentucky basketball likes the fact it is the underdog against Illinois on Sunday. #BBN #ukbasketball #ncaatournament
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Mark Pope on Amari Williams after win over Tennessee. #BBN #ukbasketball
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If you can figure out what Kentucky is trying to do in its half-court offense, please let me know. #BBN #ukbasketball
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UK officially announces that offensive line coach John Schlarman has passed away. Heartbreaking. Covered John during his Kentucky career and as a coach. You will not meet a better person. Condolences to his family. RIP, John. #bbn #ukfootball
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Happy Birthday to the class act that is Tubby Smith. The former UK and current Hight Point coach turns 68 today. #bbn #ukbasketball
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As @tomleachKY informed me today, Mitch Henderson went to Tates Creek Middle School with Darrin Horn and Kevin Willard. All 3 are head coaches in the NCAA Tournament.
In 1996, Mitch Henderson led No. 13 Princeton to an upset over No. 4 UCLA as a player.
In 2023, Mitch Henderson led No. 15 Princeton to an upset over No. 2 Arizona as a coach.
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Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said UK’s Liam Coen was in Cincinnati yesterday. Gave him a tour of Bengals’ facility upgrades. #BBN #ukfootball
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My column: Saturday night belonged to John Calipari, but I'd still rather have Mark Pope as Kentucky's basketball coach. #BBN #ukbasketball kentucky.com/sports/spt-colu…
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Nice moment on video board at Rupp Arena. Clara Strack looked up at video board to see who the crowd was cheering. Saw the cheers were for her and said, "Oh my gosh."
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Saint Peter's deserved to win this game.
And Kentucky deserved to lose.
That simple.
#BBN #ukbasketball
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Oscar Tshiebwe blames the UK loss on the slow start. "If we could have started like we finished" would have won the game. #BBN #ukbasketball
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Show of hands: How many of you watching the Kentucky basketball game have hit the mute buttons on your television? Or wanted to?
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Fun fact: Kentucky's win over Duke was the first time since March 7, 2020 in which UK rallied from a 9-point deficit or more for a victory. The Cats were 0-12 in those games since rallying from a 10-point halftime hole to beat host Florida 71-70.
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Top 5 teams SEC basketball three-point percentage:
1. Kentucky 39.2
2. Florida 37.5
3. LSU 35.9
4. Alabama 34.9
5. Missouri 34.6
#BBN #ukbasketball
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By the way, there should not be 9 p.m. starts in the Eastern Time Zone.
kentucky.com/sports/spt-colu…
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Don't tell Scott Satterfield,, but UK fan on video board here at Rupp just gave the Ls-down sign.
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Calipari says Shaedon Sharpe can be a No. 1 draft pick. "How do I know he's a No. 1 pick? Because I've had four of them!" #BBN #ukbasketball
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We saw Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street Band last night in Columbus. My 24th Bruce show and one of the best shows I’ve seen. Three hours. 30 songs. At age 74. Amazing.
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Congrats to former Kentucky assistant Sonny Dykes on coaching TCU to the CGP National Championship game. You can bet Mike Leach is smiling on the other side. #CFP
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Kentucky SEC total defense ranking under Mark Stoops:
2013 - 13th (427.2)
2014 - 11th (406.9)
2015 - 13th (394.2)
2016 - 9th (436.8)
2017 - 8th (426.9)
2018 - 2nd (333.2)
2019 - 4th (324.4)
2020 - 4th (380.7)
#BBN #ukfootball @UKFootball
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Beating No. 9 Louisville is Kentucky’s highest-ranked win in Mark Stoops era. #BBN #ukfootball
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As you might guess, UK is No. 1 nationally in total defense after allowing ULM a scant 87 yards Saturday.
The top 5:
1. Kentucky 87
2. Buffalo 97
3. South Carolina 109
4. TCU 137
5. UAB 155
Source: @cfbstats
#BBN #ukfootball
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Just showed Tubby and Donna Smith on the video board here at Alamodome. This was the sight of Tubby's 1998 national title at Kentucky. #BBN #FinalFour
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When asked this morning about Georgia, Kentucky basketball's opponent Tuesday night, CJ Fredrick said he first wanted to say his thoughts and prayers are with the Georgia athletic department after the tragic deaths over the weekend. #BBN #UGA #UGAfootball
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What can you say about Reed Sheppard?
Seriously, what can you say?
#BBN #ukbasketball
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John Calipari says he asked Dontaie Allen if he wanted to go into the game with the walk-ons and Dontaie said he didn’t. Cal said he was perfectly fine with that. #BBN
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UK is playing its best basketball of the season. Do we owe John Calipari an apology? #BBN kentucky.com/sports/spt-colu…
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Despite tweaking his back, Kentucky center Amari Williams says he’s good to go against Illinois on Sunday. #BBN #ukbasketball #NCAAtournament
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"In his first nine months on the job, Mark Pope has shown a reverence, appreciation and enthusiasm for the job, and for what Kentucky basketball is all about, that has been accurately described in many circles as a breath of fresh air."
kentucky.com/sports/spt-colu…
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Calipari says Davion Mintz "was the difference-maker in the game." Mintz had 10 points and 8 rebounds in 30 minutes. #BBN
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Kentucky football wide receiver Ja’Mori Maclin has some special-made decals for his thigh pads. #ukfootball
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Kentucky beat North Carolina 98-69 in Las Vegas on Dec. 18. North Carolina is in the Elite 8.
Kentucky beat Kansas 80-62 in Lawrence on Jan. 29. Kansas is in the Elite 8.
It's March that matters.
#BBN #ukbasketball
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ESPN announces SEC Nation will be in town next week for the Kentucky-South Carolina football game.
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As for those criticizing John Calipari for his "All coaches are 30 days from bankruptcy" comment today, he didn't mean it literally and I didn't take it that way. It's an old saying among coaches about the tenuousness of the job. Any coach can be fired at any time.
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My column: If you’ve turned off this Kentucky team for using its voice, you’re missing out #BBN #ukbasketball kentucky.com/sports/spt-colu…
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