Around the SEC: Saban takes heat off Kiffin?

UT coach Lane Kiffin has been taking a pounding from fans — and administrators — around the SEC for his mounting public gaffes in the last few weeks.

But the pressure finally left Kiffin a little bit when Alabama coach Nick Saban came under scrutiny [1] for his recruitment of Memphis high school star junior Keiwone Malone. Malone has already committed to Alabama and made comments indicating he talked at length with Saban about his future role with the Tide.

Then Memphis Commercial Appeal columnist Ron Higgins pointed out that Saban may have spoken with Malone during a time when coaches aren't permitted to speak with juniors. So far, there has been no response from Alabama, the SEC or the NCAA about this situation, but there's bound to be something happening on this front sooner or later.

Alabama runs into recruiting problems in Memphis. Hmmm. I think I've seen this show before.

Kiffin again: Kiffin didn't exactly get out of the woods this week without incident. (I know, contain your shock.) In an otherwise pretty interesting Sports Illustrated article [2] about Kiffin working tirelessly to bring UT back to the top of the football world, Kiffin claimed he fired someone in the UT football office for not sending someone to pick him up at the airport in a timely fashion.

Oops. Apparently, Kiffin didn't actually fire the guy [3]. According to Tennessee officials, he wanted to, but found out he didn't have the authority.

Still, you'd have to think the message has been sent. I can't imagine working in Knoxville would be very fun if the UT football coach called you out in a national magazine.

Stone on the watch list: Maplewood junior offensive lineman James Stone is already being listed as one of the nation's top 250 prospects by Rivals.com. Stone, a 6-5, 297-pound tackle, lists Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Alabama and LSU as the SEC schools he's interested in. He's also reportedly interested in academic powerhouses Duke, Stanford and Notre Dame.

Vanderbilt has only had a few big time players from Metro Nashville Public Schools in recent memory, and no doubt the Commodores would like to have more. Stone has a 3.8 GPA and a 23 on the ACT. Could he join fellow Metro standout Jamie Graham at VU?

Uh, sorry coach: Prior to last season, if you talked to any University of Kentucky fan, chances are you would hear blistering criticism of former UK coach Tubby Smith. Smith was essentially attacked for not winning enough national titles, but he came under specific criticism for not recruiting well enough.

Well, the Lexington Herald-Leader's Mark Story says that now that looks silly in retrospect [4].

After all, Smith recruited Wildcat point machine Jodie Meeks and he laid the groundwork to get Patrick Patterson. Just UK's two leading scorers.