Current Kentucky coach John Calipari responds to a question during a news conference at the 2008 Final Four when he was still coach at Memphis.

UK no KU, OK?

The University of Kentucky basketball program took a publicity hit this week following the Lexington Herald-Leader’s revelation that first-year coach John Calipari’s Wildcats had a cumulative grade-point average of 2.025 for the fall semester.

“I was disappointed,” UK President Lee T. Todd told the newspaper, which filed an open-records request to obtain the figures.

The 2.025 was the worst GPA of all 20 UK athletics teams.

“I don’t know if this story was meant to embarrass me, but with my background, I don’t think that happens,” Calipari said at a Monday news conference. “My job is to make sure there’s growth academically and they’re on line to graduate. It’s pretty obvious I’ve done that over my career as a coach.”

He pointed out that he graduated 19 of his 23 players at Memphis and had an 80 percent graduation rate at UMass.

Kansas University, meanwhile, has been riding a wave of positive pub concerning its recent men’s basketball academic achievements. The Jayhawks recorded a 2.95 GPA for the fall semester after recording a 3.00 in the spring of 2009.

What’s more, the Jayhawks garnered national headlines this past March by winning Insider Higher Ed’s Academic Performance NCAA Tournament.

KU held the top Academic Progress Rate score of any of the 65 teams participating in the 2010 NCAAs. In the mock tourney, KU won each of its matchups, then defeated BYU in the national semifinals and Duke in the mock NCAA academic final.

“It all starts with coach (Bill Self). He is clear with everybody that comes here that this is important, and we’re going to take care of business on the court and in the classroom,” said Scott Ward, KU’s associate athletic director/academic and career counseling.

Each of the seniors who played for KU in the seven-year Self era has graduated. It’s expected KU senior Sherron Collins will graduate this month.

Junior Cole Aldrich, the men’s basketball Academic All-American of the Year, will need just 12 hours of coursework over the next school year to achieve his goal of graduating in May of 2011.

Jones saga continues

Terrence Jones, a 6-foot-8 senior forward from Portland’s Jefferson High who held a news conference Friday announcing his plans to attend Washington, has told Rivals.com he’s torn between Washington and Kentucky.

“I’m still not sure yet who I’m going to sign with,” Jones told Rivals.com. “I just wasn’t sure and basically picked on the spot. My mom said I needed to think about it some more.”

Jefferson coach Pat Strickland told the Oregonian that he believes Friday’s news conference was premature. Jones reached for a Kansas University hat before putting the Washington hat atop his head.

“I know a lot of people in the (Jefferson) gym wanted Terrence to go to Washington, and he felt a lot of pressure,” Strickland told the Oregonian.

Nellie remembered

One of KU’s greatest sports fans in history, Bob Nelson, died on April 9. A memorial wake for the man affectionately referred to as “Nellie” and “The Old Jayhawk” was held on April 24 at KU’s Alumni Center.

“The University of Kansas over time lost maybe its greatest fan ever in Bob Nelson,” Self said. “What a great guy. Until his health failed him, he’s a guy who traveled everywhere with Kansas in football and basketball to see his Jayhawks play. I was really fortunate to get to know Bob and Eleanor (wife) well. This was a big loss to the KU community.”