Monday, October 28, 2013

Kentucky Men's Basketball: Preview 2013-2014 Guards Pt. 2

James Young courtesy of ESPN

Today we will continue our preview of the upcoming season by reviewing the rest of the guards on this Kentucky team. This group of players doesn't include anybody who will make a huge impact on this years team but players who will still be important both this year and in the future. And with that let's get started after the jump.

Resume


Rudy Salazar
2100 Oleander Dr.     Lexington, KY     40504     (785)204-2790     rjsalazar09@gmail.com

OBJECTIVE: Copy Editor Intern

EDUCATION

University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY
Bachelor of Arts, Journalism                                                          Anticipated May 2015

Wichita State University, Wichita, KS
Bachelor of Arts, Sport Management                                            Anticipated May 2015
GPA: 3.17

WORK EXPERIENCE

WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY, Wichita KS
Intramural Referee                                                                       October 2009-March 2011
     Referee events such as Flag Football, Basketball and Volleyball
·                   Set up events and take down
·                  Clean up work area at end of each night
·                  Serve as liaison between teams and Intramural Director

WICHITA STATE UNIVERSITY, Wichita KS
Marketing Intern                                                                       August 2009-February 2013
·               Run in-game promotions
·               Assists sponsors with any assistance
·              Write scripts to be used by PA and Production Crew
·              Assist with creation of in-game promotions

SKILLS

·      Microsoft Office                                             Fast learner    
·      Knowledge of Mac and PC                            Self-starter
·      Social Media                                                   Leadership
·      Skilled multi-tasker                                         Cooperative with others

REFERENCES

John Brewer                                                                               Jason Malay                                                          
Associate AD/Marketing & Strategic Communication     Assistant Director of Marketing/Game Operations          
Wichita State University                                                         Wichita State University
jbrewer@goshockers.com                                                       jmalay@goshockers.com
(316) 978-5497                                                                         (316) 978-5447

Buck Ryan
Associate Professor of Journalism
University of Kentucky
buck.ryan@uky.edu
(859) 257-4360

This I Believe is My Dream Job

Joe Faraoni/ESPN

This I believe is what my dream job will be. Hosting my own sport radio show on a major network such as ESPN, Fox Sports, etc. I love everything about having this type of job. Spending my days talking about subjects I'm interested in and listening to what other people have to say. I love everything about sports and since I can't play them professionally I want to spend the rest of my life covering them and giving out my opinion on them.

I went to college originally at Wichita State University to pursue a career working in sports and there I was able to obtain a degree in Sport Management. What I learned though after spending my time there working for the university while it was a good job and a good place to work I wasn't really all that interested in the business side of sports. I didn't really care about marketing a athletic institution or convincing season ticket holders to renew their tickets. I started to realize though that I was listening to 610 Sport Radio in Kansas City, Mo everyday. From there I realized that this is what I enjoy doing. My favorite moments are talking with my dad about what our favorite team should do or just about general sport topics in general.

I believe Kentucky gives me the best opportunity to achieve these goals. I had the chance to go to a lot of school such as Syracuse, Missouri and Kansas, which is the school I grew up rooting for but when visiting Kentucky there was just something about the place that spoke to me that didn't occur at the other schools where I truly believed this place would put me in the position to achieve my dream job one day.

This is something I want extremely bad. I know just by completing a program and getting a degree will not guarantee me any success that I must continue to work on my craft to achieve this dream but I will do whatever it takes to reach my goal and I believe I will be one of the more well known alums of the University of Kentucky when it is all said and done.

Kentucky Men's Basketball: Preview 2013-2014 Guards

Aaron and Andrew Harrison courtesy of USA Today Sports

With Big Blue Madness now done with and the season getting underway next week with the Blue/White scrimmage on Tuesday, Oct. 29th and an exhibition against Transylvania Friday, Nov. 1st what better time to do a preview of the players who will be wearing the blue and white this year. This will be a four-part segment with the Guards on this team being split up into two different segments. After the jump is the first part.

#1 James Young 6-6 215 FR Rochester Hills, Mich. (Rochester): It's not too often that a player ranked #11 by Rivals gets overlooked but that is the case with James Young but you can't really blame people with the amount of exciting players on this team. Somebody is going to get overlooked. Young though is already starting to make a name for himself though without even playing a minute by having an impressive offseason so far. What makes Young so intriguing is his ability to not only be a lights out 3-point shooter at 6-6 but also has the aggressiveness and willingness to drive to the basketball and use his height and athleticism. The only concern will be a lack of strength, which could limit him both defensively and rebounding but I don't see this being much of a problem. Expect Young to be one of the best 6th man's in the nation and take over games where other Kentucky players are struggling.

#2 Aaron Harrison 6-6 218 FR Richmond, Texas (Travis): While Aaron is considered to be the less talented of the twins he is still the top Shooting Guard prospect coming out of high school and expected to be a high pick in next years NBA Draft. Harrison's strength to this team will be his ability to shoot the three either moving or with his feet set as he can go through stretches where he will just simply not miss. Not the best of ball handlers but still good enough to combine it with his strength and craftiness to get to the basket almost whenever he wants. Only real weakness is just youth and lack of experience at the D1 level. Most of his weaknesses will be fixed as he gains that experience and learns the game.

#3 Jarrod Polson 6-2 182 SR Nicholasville, Ky. (West Jessamine): Jarrod is the local kid who chose to walk-on to the team instead of taking a scholarship to play at Liberty University. He is now a scholarship player at UK and while his playing time will be almost non-exsistent due to the talent ahead of him this is a senior who has been here for the high's (National Title) and lows (NIT loss) and will be able to help these talented freshman learn what it takes to win at this level and mental side to the game. Can be counted on for depth if injuries or fouls or just freshmen mistakes creep into a game. Player you can count on.

#4 Jon Hood 6-7 215 RS-SR Madisonville, Ky. (North Hopkins): Another local kid who was highly recruited coming out of high school as the #40th ranked recruit by Rivals and chose in-state Kentucky over Ole Miss, Tennessee and Georgia. Due to competing for playing time with NBA talent players hasn't had the opportunity to play the minutes he probably thought he would but has toughened it out and will provide a lot of leadership to this young team and a player who you can rely on if the situation rises up. Reliable three point shooter with size.

#5 Andrew Harrison 6-6 215 FR Richmond, Texas (Travis): Andrew is the more hyped of the two twins being that he is a 6-6 PG. You don't see point guards that big in college or even in the NBA that often. Andrew was listed as the #5 player in the nation and the #1 PG by Rivals. He is big and strong and takes advantage of his size to muscle his way past smaller guards into the lane to get easy buckets for both himself and his teammates. Andrew is exactly what your looking for in a point guard as his best ability is he is able to make everybody else around him better. This team will go as Andrew takes them. Point guard play was a problem for UK last year but this year expect Andrew to lead this team and be the leader even as a freshman.

Keep posted for the next part of this series tomorrow where I will tackle the rest of the guards on this UK Basketball team.