Between the highlight reel dunks, table jumping hustle plays and freakish speed in the open court, it can be easy to forget Kentucky’s John Wall is a point guard.

The freshman sensation provided a record-breaking reminder on Tuesday night against Hartford.

Wall dished out a school-record 16 assists as the third-ranked Wildcats crushed the Hawks 104-61, a virtuoso performance that even left coach John Calipari a little stunned.

“He is a pleaser,” Calipari said. “He will defer to his team.”

And Wall’s coach will defer to his players. When told Wall needed two assists to break the mark of 15 set by Travis Ford 16 years ago, Calipari sent Wall back into the game and kept running set plays until the record was his.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin believes Eric Berry will play in the NFL next year.

“I want to focus on Virginia Tech,” he said.

Virginia Tech’s biggest concern is following Berry on the field. He has 14 career interceptions but the safety often plays in the middle of the defense like a linebacker.

“We’ve asked Tennessee to put a little red light on top of Eric and so we’ll know where he is all the time,” Virginia Tech offensive coordinator Bryan Stinespring joked Tuesday. “They haven’t really gotten back with us to let us know if they’re going to do that.”

Berry (5 feet 11, 203 pounds) is an effective run-stopper. He is second on the team with 83 tackles, including six for losses.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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Marcus Ginyard went from being the do-everything leader on a Final Four team at North Carolina to sitting out with an injury the following season while his teammates won a national championship without him.

He’s off to a fast start in proving he’s all the way back.

The fifth-year senior matched his career high with 17 points to help the Tar Heels (No. 4 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) beat North Carolina Central 89-42 on Wednesday night in the 2K Sports Classic, his second double-figure scoring output in as many games to open the season.

Deon Thompson scored 13 for the Tar Heels (2-0), who broke it open with 21 straight first-half points. North Carolina shot 69 percent in the opening half and 59 percent for the game, dominating the transitional Division I Eagles from nearby Durham in the first meeting between the schools.

Click here to read the full article – By Associated Press of ESPN.com

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Ole Miss senior defensive end Greg Hardy will finish his college career on the sideline.

Hardy has a fractured left wrist and is will miss the remainder of the season, Ole Miss coach Houston Nutt said Wednesday.

The injury first occurred earlier this season and Hardy planned to try and play through it. But he aggravated it last week in the Northern Arizona game, and X-rays revealed a fracture.

Nutt met Wednesday with Hardy and his mother. They decided Hardy would have surgery on Thursday in Jackson.

Hardy leads the Rebels with five sacks this season and has 26.5 for his career, but he’s never been able to stay completely healthy. He played in only nine games last season and was limited by a stress fracture in his foot.

Click here to read the full article – By Chris Low of ESPN.com

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Safety Janzen Jackson and receiver Nu’Keese Richardson, two of coach Lane Kiffin’s most prized signees from his first recruiting class, were among three Tennessee football players arrested early Thursday morning in Knoxville on charges of attempted armed robbery.

The third player arrested was also a freshman, defensive back Mike Edwards. It was not immediately clear if the players have attorneys.

According to a Knoxville City Police report, the arrests stemmed from an attempted robbery outside a convenience store near campus. A powered pellet gun was recovered in the players’ car after they were stopped by police near the Gibbs Hall dormitory on campus, where the Vols’ freshman football players live.


Click here to read the full article – By Chris Low of ESPN.com

Tennessee has lost its starting middle linebacker because of a season-ending injury for the second time this season.

Junior Savion Frazier injured his right knee in the third quarter of the Volunteers’ 31-13 win over South Carolina on Saturday. It’s the same kind of injury that knocked his predecessor, junior Nick Reveiz, out for the season.

Already woefully thin at linebacker, the Vols (4-4) are looking at different options of filling the role of defensive quarterback as they prepare for Memphis (2-6).


Click here to read the full article – By BETH RUCKER of The Associated Press

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It sounded almost like a replay with North Carolina State trying to straighten out its defense after two Atlantic Coast Conference football games.

Changes after a loss to Wake Forest will be followed by more changes after the Duke game.

“There’s holes in everything,” coach Tom O’Brien said. “But you have to understand where the holes are. … You have to go back, evaluate everything you did.”

But at this point, the finger pointing isn’t coming from the offense. Those players will leave it to the defense to sort out the shortcomings prior to Saturday’s game at Boston College.

“The defense will take care of themselves,” Owen Spencer said.

Of particular concern is the secondary, which has been torched the last two games.

O’Brien said the safeties did an acceptable job against Duke, but too many receivers were already running loose.

“They didn’t have to make tough catches,” said O’Brien, who praised the accuracy of Duke quarterback Thaddeus Lewis. “They were all on the money.”

Safety Clem Johnson the Wolfpack defenders are starting to ask more questions of the coaching staff in an effort to solve the problems.

“Get a better grasp of where we’re supposed to be and what the coaches want us to do,” Johnson said. “We’ve been kind of inconsistent when it comes to tackling.”


Click here to read the full article – By Bob Sutton of Thetimesnews.com

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Homecoming 2009, Oct. 11-17at the University of Alabama, concludes with the Tide hosting South Carolina on Saturday, Oct. 17. Don’t miss the traditionally popular bonfire blazing on UA Quad on Friday for the Homecoming Pep Rally. The following morning, the Homecoming Parade winds its way from downtown Tuscaloosa all the way to the UA campus.

Todd Selected as Grand Marshal

Former UA standout Richard Todd, who played for legendary Coach Paul Bryant, is 2009 Grand Marshal. Todd played quarterback for the New York Jets and the New Orleans Saints from 1976 to 1985.

The Tide welcome the Gamecocks of South Carolina to Bryant Denny Field with game time to be announced.

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The heavily favored Crimson Tide headed into week six at Mississippi Oct. 10 riding an undefeated season with its most recent win against the Kentucky Wildcats, 38-20 on the road at Commonwealth Stadium in Louisville. After another road trip to Oxford, Miss., to take on the Ole Miss Rebels, the Tide returns for Homecoming 2009 matching up against rival South Carolina.

Tough Tide Defense

In this third season under Head Coach Nick Saban, Alabama has been a stingy team, denying opponents late-minute opportunities by bringing a tough A-game defense in the closing quarter. This formidable “D” should provide a noticeable challenge to Steve Spurrier’s Gamecocks in both teams’ 2009 head-to-head meet. From the first game of the season, led by All-American candidate Rolando McClain, against a highly-ranked Virginia Tech offense, the Tide defense shut this opponent down denying any fourth-quarter points while UA’s offense rolled to 18 last-period points. During the contest against Arkansas, the Tide held highly-touted Razorback QB Ryan Mallet to a 12-for-35 completion record while picking him off for his first INT of the season.

Offensive Weapons Bring Success

The Tide’s QB Greg McElroy in the game against the Arkansas Razorbacks passed for his career-high outing of 291 yards with three TDs tossed. This included an 80-yard strike to Marquis Maze that was one of the longest pass plays in the Tide’s history. But, South Carolina is no stranger to playing in big games as was evident when they defeated the Rebels of Ole Miss in week three. Mississippi entered the week nationally ranked at No. 4 but walked away surprised at the defeat (16-10) handed to them by the Gamecocks. It was a big win for South Carolina who had not defeated a top five team since beating North Carolina in 1981. But, they will have to suit up against Saban’s formidable offense where McElroy enjoys being the sixth-ranked passer in the nation with a 165.48 passer rating completing 78-for-119 with nine TD tosses. Add to this arsenal RB Mark Ingram, SEC’s rushing touchdown leader with six on the season. Ingram is the Tide’s rushing leader with 487 yards so far on 83 carries. He is averaging 5.9 yards per touch with nearly a 100 (97.5) per game. Ingram exhibits an excellent hold on the ball having never lost a fumble in his 187 career runs and 17 catches where he has compiled 204 touches. He has 15 rushing scores in his Tide career.

South Carolina has its challenge of the season facing the Tide on their own turf when they meet at 3 p.m. Oct. 17 at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Chris Webb is a sports writer for www.sportsfantreasures.com. He would like to invite you to check out their Alabama Crimson Tide Merchandise and Texas Longhorns Merchandise.

Some football teams have one physical running back who bangs the ball inside and another fleet one who is an outside threat.

Alabama has Mark Ingram.

Some football teams have a running back who carries the ball on first and second down and another who comes in on third down as a receiving threat.

Alabama has Mark Ingram.

Some football teams have a running back who comes in on goal-line situations or goes out when protecting the quarterback is important or lines up for direct snaps in wildcat formations.


Click here to read the full article – By Don Kausler Jr. of The Birmingham News

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The Alabama Crimson Tide are entering the 2009 season with more optimism than they have had in a long time. Much of this is due to a surprising 2008 season where the season finished second in the ultra competitive SEC and were even ranked number one in the nation during week 10. Even though the Tide lost the conference championship game to Florida and went on to be upset 31-17 by the Utah Utes in the Sugar Bowl, the season can still be labelled a success because many people questioned whether or not the team would even win enough games to gain bowl eligibly. The program has now been completely revitalized under head coach Nick Saban and things are definitely looking up in Tuscaloosa this season. Pollsters have also noticed how good this team is, as the Tide were ranked fifth in the preseason rankings.

With starting quarterback John Parker Wilson graduating, the Tide will be looking towards Greg McElroy to lead them this season. McElroy, luckily, is not a green rookie, as got into eight games during his first two seasons as a backup. In his first start of the 2009 season, McElroy proved that the team will not miss a beat by leading the team to a 34-24 victory over the seventh ranked Virginia Tech Hokies. Beating such a highly ranked team so early will bode well for this team as the season progresses, although they still have several games against very strong teams left to go this season. The team is also returning eight defensive starters and three wide receivers, so their defence and receiving corps should be among the best in the country.

Playing in the SEC will be both a blessing and a curse for the Tide this season, as they will be faced with many tough match ups. While this does give them plenty of chances to impress voters, they will also be faced with many more chances for losses. Teams like Ohio State are constantly able to take advantage of a weak conference schedule, but the Tide will face teams like sixth ranked Ole Miss, LSU, Auburn, Tennessee, Mississippi State, as well as a potential conference championship game, which will likely be against Florida. No one has ever said that it would be easy, but this year’s Tide appear to be more readily equipped to keep the momentum going all season.

While this Tide team looks to have a very good shot at competing for a national championship, it should be noted that they will not surprise anyone this season. Everyone in the country knows that the Alabama Crimson Tide are one of the best teams in the nation and, therefore, everyone will be excited to play them. The games October 10th, which is at Ole Miss, and November 27th, which is at Auburn, will go a long way in proving just how good this team is. SEC teams face some of the toughest competition in the country, which can make it very difficult for these teams to get through the season undefeated.

Hastings Junkin is a sports writer for www.sportsfantreasures.com. He would like to invite you to check out their Alabama Crimson Tide Merchandise and Alabama Crimson Tide Apparel today!