With tuesday marking the beginning of in-home visits for college coaches across America, the coaches of this area's Big 3 (IU, UL, UK)  have been quite busy so far this week. Here are a few quick updates:

- Rick Pitino has been on the road all week, one of his first stops being Long Island to visit junior Tobias Harris.

- Billy Gillespie has already been to see 2009 prospects Daniel Orton and GJ Vilarino, and is likely to visit Jon Hood on Friday. Matt Jones speculates that there are 2 or 3 other visits that  already have or will be taking place soon.

- Tom Crean pretty much locked up his 2009 class with his fifth commit, Christian Watford, making it official on Tuesday. Crean may try to add one more player to the class, but my guess is he will turn his attention now to the 2010 and '11 classes. We know one player on Crean's radar for the 2010 class, none other than Louisville Jeffersontown High School's Aaaron Cosby. According to Jody Demling, Cosby visited Indiana last week, and he's also visited Miami (OH) and will visit Dayton soon.

Well folks, we have officially hit the wall as far as relevant news goes for the Bluegrass Hoops Report. The beginning of football season always marks a slow period in the prep basketball-news category. And since I know the lack of posts is just killing all of you loyal BHR readers out there, I decided to venture away from the Kentucky high school basketball stuff and do a little “State of the Program” for the top college programs from the state of Kentucky. We will do two a day, starting today with the big two.

KENTUCKY WILDCATS

’07-08 Record: 18-13

Returning Contributors: Jr. SG Jodie Meeks, So. PF Patrick Patterson, Jr. PF Perry Stevenson, Jr. SF Ramon Harris, So. PF A.J. Stewart, Jr. PG Michael Porter, Sr. C Jared Carter

Newcomers: Fr. SF Darius Miller, Fr. PG DeAndre Liggins, Jr. G/F Kevin Galloway, So. F/C Josh Harrellson

Recruiting Class of 2009: 4* G/F Jon Hood (Madisonville (KY) North Hopkins), 3* PG G.J. Vilarino (Mckinney (TX) Mckinney)

State of the program: Billy Gillespie seems to be the right man for the job. He orchestrated a phenomenal turnaround last season, bringing the team together during SEC play and leading them to surprise NCAA berth. Coach Clyde has also brought some much-needed momentum back to the UK recruiting machine, starting with the commitment of Patrick Patterson last year and continuing with commitments from 2009 Kentucky Mr. Basketball favorite Jon Hood, Class of 2012 California man-child Michael Avery, and Class of 2010 elite PF Dominique Ferguson, among others. Gillespie has also been going  hard after 2009 PF Daniel Orton, a consensus top-20 prospect, and UK seems to be well in the lead. If Billy can keep this type of talent coming into Lexington, UK will be back at the top of the college basketball world in the next three years.

LOUISVILLE CARDINALS

’07-08 Record: 27-9

Returning Contributors: Sr. G/F Terrence Williams, Jr. SF Earl Clark, Jr. PG Edgar Sosa, Jr. SG Jerry Smith, Sr. PG Andre McGee, So. PG Preston Knowles, Sr. SG Will Scott

Newcomers: Fr. F/C Samardo Samuels, Fr. SF Jared Swopshire, Jr. SG Reginald Delk, Fr. PF Terrence Jennings, Fr. SF George Goode

Recruiting Class of 2009: 4* PF Rakeem Buckles (Miami, FL), 4* PG Peyton Siva (Seattle, WA), 3* SG Mike Marra (Northfield, MA)

State of the Program: Rick Pitino has the Cardinal program at arguably the strongest it has been since he arrived in Louisville. With an experienced and athletic group of returning starters (Clark, Williams, Sosa, Smith) and a highly-touted freshman in Samardo Samuels to fill the void left by the graduation of David Padgett, the Cards should be poised for a Big East title and a deep run in the NCAA tournament. Add to that the fact that next year’s recruiting class is even better than 2008, and it is quite evident that Ricky P has his program on the right track to compete with the best for years to come.