The semester is over and the grades are in...

The students of the University of Kentucky have packed their bags and started their journeys home for the holidays, hoping not to find any leftover surprises from the semester on @UKMakeouts as they settle back in with the family for a few weeks. Thanks to the continued advances in technology, many students head home for the holidays with their semester grades in hand/on iPhone/on Macbook screen. The students in the classroom are not the only ones who have been subject to evaluation by a critical eye all semester long. A number of teams, players, coaches and administrators have been in action throughout the fall semester as well. Now that the semester has concluded and we all regroup before the new year-- it's time to take a look at where everyone stands...  Kentucky Football Coaching Hire (A) On November 27th, Kentucky hired Florida State's defensive coordinator Mark Stoops as the new head football coach. Every day and every decision since that moment regarding Kentucky football has been positive. The fans are excited. The players are excited. The coaches are already hitting the recruiting trail hard. Kentucky will head into next season with the guy in charge of the #2 defense in the country this past season (Stoops) and the guy in charge of the #2 offense in the country this past season (Neal Brown). Kentucky football has managed to do the impossible: demand attention and a major buzz during the heart of college basketball season in the Bluegrass. It's hard to imagine that Kentucky could have done much better when it comes to the coaching hire they made in Mark Stoops. Teacher's Comments: STOOOOOOOOOOPS!  2012 Kentucky Football Season (F) The numbers don't lie. Kentucky football finished the season with a 2-10 record, including a winless SEC campaign. When the dust settled on the 2012 Kentucky football season, there were very few bright spots to grasp. You know it was a bad season when you have trouble pinpointing the lowest moment: an overtime loss to Western Kentucky? The 49-7 drubbing at Arkansas in a game that was ended early? The 40-0 shutout loss against Vandy...at home? Or the rather uninspiring end of the season loss to a winless in the SEC Tennessee team playing without a head coach? I hated to even bring it back up. Shall we move on? Teacher's Comments: Borderline truancy issues--Very poor attendance.    Mitch Barnhart (A-) Mitch Barnhart's credibility and reputation took a few hits during the end of the football season/beginning of the coaching search. Many fans found it hard to place faith in Barnhart to make the right hire, even questioning the perceived direction of the coaching search. To Barnhart's credit, he never cracked. Barnhart found a way to keep Stoops' name off the radar until the last minute before closing the deal on an overall excellent coaching hire. Stoops was received well by all Kentucky fans, who were at times very divided during the initial weeks of the coaching search. Barnhart has also shown a commitment to the football program by opening up the checkbook for Stoops to hire some of the best assistants in the country. Teacher's Comments: Made great strides from the beginning of the semester to the end of the semester. He was bullied a bit throughout the semester, but managed to ignore the negative attention and complete his work with precision.    Eli Capilouto (C) Oh, Eli. The relatively new University of Kentucky President hasn't necessarily made all of the right moves in his short tenure thus far. Capilouto gave off a bad vibe to students when he put a damper on the tailgating scene in the middle of the football season at a time when fan support and overall morale was already lacking. Capilouto was certainly part of the Mark Stoops hire and will hopefully be a part of the renovations and upgrades to the football facilities...but his personality doesn't exactly shine through in the public eye. Teacher's Comments: Hates music. Falls asleep in class.    UK Basketball All-Access Show (B+) The UK Basketball All-Access show as fun while it lasted. The production value on the show was great. The show, for lack of a better way to describe it, just looked good/well-done. The episodes gave us a few great gems, such as Calipari and the old men wearing gold jewelry and Joe B. Hall mapping out strategies at a local breakfast spot with ketchup and mustard bottles. We also learned that Ellen Calipari makes a great salad. Perhaps the show was a bit of a distraction for this young team, but it certainly provided an entertaining and up close look for the fans at the ins and outs of Calipari's practices and the program in general. Just when it started getting really good, it felt like it was over. Teacher's Comments: Created a lot of jealousy among classmates-- particularly Billy Donovan.    Kentucky Basketball-- Extra Curricular Activity (A+) Sometimes being in the position that the Kentucky basketball players and coaches are in is about much more than results on the basketball court. John Calipari made a special effort to use the power of the Big Blue Nation to help provide relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy's destruction in the New York area. Calipari's players helped man the phones during the tel-a-thon event. Nerlens Noel has followed the lead of his coach, individually going out of his way to reach out to many members of the Big Blue Nation who are in need. Noel reached out to the late Lane Goodwin, local nursing home residents and young children in local hospitals. Maybe more so than any player in recent memory, Noel has made an extra effort to connect with the fans that perhaps need a little "pick me up" more so than others. Teacher's Comments: Don't let anyone poop in your ice cream. Sean Woods included.    Ryan Harrow (I) Ryan Harrow is still making up for a bit of lost time earlier this season when he missed a few games and practices due to illness and family issues. Harrow fell to the 3rd string point guard at one point behind Archie Goodwin and Jarrod Polson. Harrow has methodically worked his way into the starting rotation, seemingly winning the position moving forward. Although he still has a ways to go, Harrow is steadily improving with each game in his role as this team's point guard. Only in the last 3 games has it really felt as if Harrow's play has been close to what he is capable of. In earlier games he was either still trying to define his role, or earn/work his way back into the rotation. Teacher's Comments: Hopefully Ryan will be ready for his first big test against Louisville.    Kentucky Men's Basketball Team (B) Kentucky sits at 7-3 to start the season after recently falling out of the Top 25 polls. Kentucky has suffered early losses to Duke, Notre Dame and Baylor. The team has been struggling to put together a full 40-minutes, especially against the better teams on the schedule. Alex Poythress and Archie Goodwin are still going through some of the struggles of young freshmen. Ryan Harrow is just now starting to fulfill his point guard duties, and Kyle Wiltjer was in a shooting slump for a long time until yesterday's game. Calipari is visibly frustrated with his team, noting that they do not communicate nearly enough and still have to work harder. Calipari knows it's still very early, but longs to see more improvement from his young team in order for them to reach their potential. Teacher's Comments: Grade awarded based on a curve due to recent national championship and inexperience/youth   Feel free to agree/disagree with the grades awarded.