Kentucky freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has been saddled with two early fouls in the past three games, but that hasn’t stopped coach John Calipari from putting him back on the floor.

"Normally when a guy gets two fouls, I will not play him the rest of the half," Calipari said. "The problem with this team is you need his toughness so bad, that I ended up shoving him back in there."

Calipari can’t afford to protect Kidd-Gilchrist for later in the game.

"I'm just getting better and better on the court, so he needs me out there," Kidd-Gilchrist said. "I think that's the reason he puts me back in."

Kentucky freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist likened his ability to win games to that of Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow.

"I'm like a Tim Tebow," Kidd-Gilchrist said. "I just want to win the games, and whatever it takes, I'm going to do it."

Kidd-Gilchrist is averaging 13.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and two assists per game, and has shown a willingness to lead even more veteran teammates.

"I'm ready to lead," Kidd-Gilchrist said. "I'm a freshman, but so what? I'm just ready to lead and win. I've always been that way."

Shabazz Muhammad is looking at Kentucky, Duke, UCLA, Arizona, Kansas and UNLV.

USC, the alma mater of Muhammad’s father, Ron Holmes, is apparently out, as is Texas A&M.

“I narrowed my list down actually to six,” he said at the City of Palms Classic. “I think it was a good thing for me to narrow them down to six because a lot of schools were calling that I wasn’t really interested in. So now I can stay grounded on the court and get ready and go through the season.”

Nerlens Noel could reclassify and become a member of the incoming college class of 2012. Noel is currently a high school junior.

“Yeah I’ve heard that one,” Noel said of the rumor. “I’m not gonna do that though. I’m 90 percent sure that I won’t reclassify. But the fact that those coaches think I can play now, definitely gives me even more confidence on the court.” 

Syracuse, Providence, Duke, Florida, Kentucky, Louisville, Georgetown and Connecticut are considered the leaders for Noel.

Noticing Michael Kidd-Gilchrist working out before breakfast, Wildcats coach John Calipari recounted how Michael Jordan organized early morning workout sessions with teammates, suggesting Kidd-Gilchrist persuade others to participate.

“I did,” Kidd-Gilchrist said. “It’s at 8:30 in the morning. It’s just lifting and shooting (before breakfast). We just want to get better.”

Gilchrist was soon joined by point guard Marquis Teague, sophomores Terrence Jones and Jarrod Polson, and finally fellow freshman Kyle Wiltjer and Anthony Davis. Taking a page from Jordan, the Wildcats refer to themselves as the “Breakfast Club.”

“I’m going to go tomorrow,” Teague said. “People will come on certain days. If they wake up early enough to go, they go. … Coach Cal just mentioned it. He talked about how Michael Jordan’s team did it. He just said it’s something we should take into consideration, and we just did it.”

By establishing an early morning workout regimen, Kidd-Gilchrist has evolved into one of the team’s best leaders.

“I want to be a leader now, so I just want to step into that role,” he said, noting that Calipari picked him to start it because he noticed “I’m always in the gym. I’m just getting better and better and, as y’all saw in the Indiana game and the UNC game, it’s just showing.”

Jarnell Stokes will announce his college decision on Thursday.

Stokes is one of the most highly recruited big men in the incoming college class of 2012. Stokes is a top-15 recruit in the entire class.

Memphis, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky and Tennessee are the expected finalists for Stokes.

Stokes graduated from Southwind High last week and will enroll in January.

Kentucky coach John Calipari says forward Terrence Jones is questionable for the Wildcats’ game Tuesday night against Samford.

Jones dislocated his left-pinky finger in Saturday’s win over Chattanooga. The finger on his shooting hand bent awkwardly at an angle in the first half of Kentucky’s 87-62 victory over the Mocs.

Calipari said that Jones wouldn’t practice Monday with the third-ranked Wildcats.

Shabazz Muhammad told Rivals.com that Duke, Kentucky, UCLA and UNLV are the four schools that stand out to him and that UCLA's struggles are affecting his recruitment.

"It affected it when UCLA was losing early," Muhammad said. "It had me thinking how I'd fit in. It's tough. I don't want to go to a school on the down turn. But I think they can turn it around."

Kentucky’s Terrence Jones is one of the top-rated forwards projected in the 2012 draft, but has struggled with a tendency to disappear against elite competition.

Will Purdue, a 13-year NBA veteran and current NBA analyst who also trains players for the draft, spoke with several NBA officials about Jones.

“Just so we’re clear, I haven’t had a single scout question me about his ability, about his basketball knowledge,” Purdue said. “I’ve just had scouts say, ‘How many times have you seen him play? And how many times has he had these instances where he’s just kind of disappeared for a while?’ Some of them are just questioning his aggressiveness and his mental toughness.

“The first half of that North Carolina game (this year), he puts it on the floor and dunks over two people. There’s not a lot of big guys in college that have that explosiveness off one dribble or the quickness to get by the initial defender and finish before the help-side defense gets there. Then all the sudden he disappears in the second half and doesn’t score. And now the Indiana game where, everybody has bad games, but what’s he doing on the sideline?

“Perception and reality can be very different, but right now there’s a perception that mentally for him, it’s not all there all the time. The scouts are all so confused.”

Terrence Jones had just four points on 2-for-3 shooting, six turnovers and one rebound in Kentucky's loss at Indiana on Saturday.

John Calipari sat Jones during the final minutes and the sophomore appeared visibly apathetic during a timeout.

Calipari's comments after the game suggest he isn't worried about what he is seeing from Jones.

"And we did it without Terrence Jones," he said. "He absolutely gave us a zero today, and that happens at times. But it's good to know that we can win without him." [...] "These guys are not machines, guys," answered Calipari. "They're not computers. They have bad games. You move on. Hopefully he plays better from here on. Maybe five games from now he has another bad game. You try to win without him." 

"That just shows it wasn't his day," Calipari said [of Jones's sixth turnover]. "That's when I said, 'That's it. I'm not even going to try you. We gotta try and win this game. I'll deal with you when we get home.'" [...] "I'm not mad at him," Calipari said. "The kid had a bad game. You have bad games."