Here is the latest for interested UK fans from Jerry Tipton at The Herald Leader. Thanks to Big Ben for earlier posting that tipped me onto this story:

Gillispie: Jasper is ‘homesick'

Published by jtipton on April 17, 2008 in Derrick Jasper.

UK Coach Billy Gillispie acknowledged the possibility that sophomore guard Derrick Japser might transfer.

"He's a little homesick," Gillispie said at a Thursday news conference.

Gillispie noted how much UK wanted Jasper to return next seaason. "He'll be an all-SEC type player next year," the UK coach said.

Kentucky is trying to convince Jasper to stay. Gillispie declined to say what points he'd made to try to persuade Jasper to stay. "That's personal stuff," the UK coach said.

Gillispie suggested that Jasper's homesickness isn't anything unusual. UK's high-profile program made it more of a public issue, he said.

Gillispie said he was not sure if Jasper will stay or leave.

OK, no jokes about the title of this posting ... we all question if there has ever been any strategy in the Bengals war room. But, if they did have a strategy, here is my suggestion for this year's draft for round one.

A defensive lineman is a must, preferrably a defensive tackle who can plug the middle up and you can build your pass rushers around. But if we can't get that tackle, we must have a defensive lineman. There are three consensus top 10 defensive linemen - Dorsey, Ellis and Gholston. So the Bengals goal is to get one of those three. Now, they could get lucky and one of those three will drop to them. Most mock drafts are projecting Ellis will be there at 9 for the Bengals and that would be great. But the Bengals can not afford to trust luck. History tells us there is no luck for the Bengals in the draft. They have the extra picks this year to get the player they want and need, plus make a statement to their fans that they are going for it.

So here is the strategy - Start talking to the New York Jets (6) and the New England Patriots (7) today. Begin laying groundwork for a deal on draft day. Watch the first five picks and see how it flows. The Falcons and Raiders are critical picks. Will they take defensive linemen or not? If only one of the three targets is left when the Jets come up, then it is time to make a deal with the Jets. However, if the player left there is Gholston, the Jets will take him. No one has Ellis going in the top 5 so it is very unlikely both Ellis and Dorsey are gone and Gholston left. If 2 of the 3 are left when the Jets pick, let them take their pick. That brings us to the Patriots. If only one of the three is left when the Patriots come up, make a deal. If the Bengals don't make a deal, the Patriots or Ravens are going to make a deal with the Saints so they can jump ahead of the Bengals and take Ellis. So then there sit the Bengals picking Mendenhall, another running back, and the defense (and the team) is in the cellar again in 2008. The fans will really be ticked off if the Bengals get snookered like that.

On the other hand, if the Bengals make the move and trade up to get the tackle, Bengals fans everywhere will be pumped. Finally....the Bengals do something besides sitting there and just taking what is left...."the best player available". Making this move will not only help the team on the field, but sell tickets and improve team morale. And we all know the morale needs a big time boost.

Make the move. Get the defensive lineman Bengals!!!

First up - The Masters

Was that the worst Masters ever? I heard the comment last week (on Cutman's show, I believe) that Lee Trevino once said everyone "chokes", and the person who chokes the least wins. That was the perfect description of the Masters. No one could make enough good shots to win and Immelman managed to make the fewest bad shots. Flesch...when he left the birdie putt on 11 about 3 feet short, I said he is done. That putt was so bad it was clear to me that he was tightening up. Then he goes to 12 and hits it in the drink. Great tournament for Flesch but you hate to see it end the way it did for him over the final 9 holes. Tiger hit some good shots but could not make the putts to convert. Still, another top 2 finish continues the legend of Tiger.

The Reds

Swept in Pittsburgh!!! So what? Are you really going to panic over that?! I am not saying it blow it off completely. But if they go to Chicago and take 2 of 3, it is all forgotten. Now, if you want to shake up the lineup, here is what I would day - flip flop Dunn and Patterson. Dunn's OBP is, and has always been, good enough to bat leadoff. Let him wear out some pitchers at the top of the order and get some better pitches to hit. Patterson has enough pop in his bat to hit 5th. His speed could lead to some cheap runs from the lower part of the order. And by just flip-flopping those two, you don't throw everyone else into different slots. I would love to see that for a few games and see how it goes. But everyone (including the "baseball guys) are totally hung up on Dunn's power so they think he must bat 3-4-5. Think out of the box once in a while.

I picked Kansas. That makes it 4 of the past 5 years I have picked the champ (and not one dollar to show for it). I am not tooting my own horn, I am going to make a point here. All you have to do is follow the talent. Before the tournament, I check NBA mock draft boards and find which teams have the most players who will be drafted. Narrow your list of possible champs to those teams and it gets a lot easier to pick the champion. There are usually only 5 or 6 teams that really have a chance to win the title each year. Kansas is loaded with NBA guys. The recent champs have been similar. The only champ I missed in the past 5 years is in 2006 I had U Conn (4 NBA 1^st rounders on the team) winning instead of Florida. Every NCAA champion since Bobby Knight's 1988 Indiana team has had at least 2 NBA players on the team. The recent champions have 3 or 4 NBA guys.

With that said - IS THE NCCA TOURNAMENT GETTING TOO PREDICTABLE?

It really is all about the talent on the floor. How many teams really had a chance to win this year? The teams with the most talent win. Want to win it all? You better recruit some NBA players. Look at the rosters of this year's Final Four. In fact, look at the two dark horse teams that had the most success - Davidson and W. Ky. Davidson has Curry, an NBA player for sure. W.Ky. has Courtney Lee, who most expect to be drafted at the end of round one. I picked both those teams to win two games because of that, and so did many others. So how big of an upsets were they really? Even the dark horses had at least some NBA talent to pull off the "upsets". Go all the way back to this year's Sweet Sixteen and look at the seedings of the teams playing there. It is all the top seeds, for the most part. Obviously, this isn't infallible but .... 

And now there is a proposal that players must spend two years in college before being eligible for the NBA draft. You know what that means? The big name schools get to keep their top talent an extra year and they win even more. Recruiting wins NCAA championships more than coaching. If you want to win a title, get a coach who can bring in the talent and you are 80% there.