Kentucky is a work in progress.

It's going to take time for this team to eventually become a Final Four-caliber team.

I can hear it now from those in Chapel Hill.

"Why do you make a judgment that Carolina isn't a Final Four team after three games when Kentucky just nearly got knocked off to Miami of freakin' Ohio?”

Well, these guys, unlike North Carolina, have all the pieces. They have a go-to guy who can get his shot whenever he needs to (if you need proof, watch the final play of the game), talented guards and an abundance of big men. Those who won't think they have a knock-down perimeter player need to watch Darnell Dodson.

Remember, none of these guys have played in John Calipari's, um, I mean Vance Walberg's dribble-drive motion offense.

As Morehead State coach Donnie Tyndall told me, it'll take them until after the New Year to start to develop into a dominant team. There will be flashes along the way, but there will also be lapses.

This was one of them.

John Wall, in his college debut after being suspended for the season opener, was solid for the first 39 minutes, 59 seconds – until the final second of the game when he buried a pull-up 15-foot jumper over the outstretched arms of a Miami (Ohio) defender with one second left to break a 70-70 tie.

Fellow frosh DeMarcus Cousins was non-existent in the first half before dominating throughout much of the second 20 minutes and finishing with a double-double.

Kentucky was down 18 points in the first half but battled back to avoid an upset to a team that had lost to Towson in its opening game.

It's certainly nothing to celebrate about, but then again, Billy Clyde Gillispie lost these games at Rupp Arena.

The Wildcats hardly had the look and feel of an elite team on Monday night, but the talent level on this roster is unmatched anywhere else in the nation. Wall is the frontrunner to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft, and Calipari likely has at least three more first-rounders on the team in Patrick Patterson, Cousins and Eric Bledsoe.

Maybe North Carolina fans are correct. Maybe it is too early to judge.

At least in Kentucky's case.

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Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel wasn't nearly as surprised by Willie Warren's 15-point, 11-assist performance in the season opener as I was.

I've seen Warren play for about five years now, so I know he's got as much God-given ability as any guard in the country not named John Wall. However, I've rarely seen him (a la O.J. Mayo) concentrate on making his teammates better before getting his own.

"I've seen it before – even though it hasn't necessarily shown up in the stats," Capel said. "I'd said it from the day we got him. Willie is a playmaker. He can really pass the ball, but it gets overshadowed because of his ability to score."

Capel said that Warren has bought into the fact that if he finds his young teammates such as Keith "Tiny" Gallon and Andrew Fitzgerald early in the season, it'll make his life easier late in games and down the stretch this season.

"He knows that if he gets his teammates involved and gives them confidence, it's going to be tougher for defenses to key on him," Capel said.

Capel said the key to his team this season will be on the defensive end.

"We have to defend," he said. "If these young guys buy into defending with a sense of urgency, we can be very good."

That's not always an easy task with freshmen.

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Just a couple days after Memphis hit the jackpot with the signing of yet another top 20 player, versatile guard Jelan Kendrick out of Georgia, Josh Pastner & Co. continued to win on the recruiting trail with the addition of local power forward Tarik Black.

The 6-foot-7 Black was looking at Marquette, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and Memphis, but the Tigers weren't really regarded as much of a player.

However, sources told FOXSports.com that Black – a blue-collar type of guy who does all the dirty work – took an unofficial visit to meet with Pastner on Sunday night and pulled the trigger.

I had Memphis as the No. 1 class – just edging North Carolina and Ohio State – prior to Black's signing.

The Tigers now have Will Barton (Scout.com, No. 8), Kendrick (No. 15), point guard Joe Jackson (No. 17) and Black (No. 72).

That's four top 100 kids to go along with underrated local wing Chris Crawford, under-the-radar forward Hippolyte Tsafack and Barton's brother, Antonio.

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Sean Miller's Arizona debut is in the books.

The Wildcats, with Hall of Famer Lute Olson watching from the stands, got past Northern Arizona over the weekend.

Miller admitted to being a little nervous.

"The exhibition game helped," he said. "I knew it was a big night, not for me, but for Arizona basketball. To see Coach Olson in the stands and think about all the great players and teams that played in McKale."

Miller said that Olson has been supportive since he took the job back in April.

"He's been fantastic," Miller said. "He's given me great guidance."

Miller's young team took a significant hit when freshman Kevin Parrom suffered a stress fracture and is expected to be out for the next month.

"He's played as well as any of our freshmen," Miller said. "It's going to hurt us."

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Now that the season has started, my plan is to update the blog multiple times during the day. Instead of going with one lengthy blog item in the morning, I'll try and break them up:

Count Morehead State coach Donnie Tyndall as a believer in the Kentucky hype.

"If John Wall is better than Eric Bledsoe, I think they'll be a Final Four team come January or February," said Tyndall, whose team came up short against the Wildcats in the season opener.

Tyndall, a long-time SEC assistant, compared Bledsoe – who ran the team in Wall's absence – to current Cleveland Cavaliers guard and former Alabama standout Mo Williams.

"He's really, really good," Tyndall said. "He's got a great body, is so fast and bouncy and he competes. He doesn't take plays off."

Tyndall also said he was impressed with the play of freshman big man DeMarcus Cousins.

"He's a monster," Tyndall said. "I was shocked at how hard he played since I had heard he was a dog."

Tyndall's team was one of the top rebounding clubs in the country a year ago and the frontline is anchored by Kenneth Faried (who isn't ready to leave early for the NBA), but the Eagles were dominated on the glass by Kentucky.

"They're huge," Tyndall said. "We were in the top five or six in rebounding margin. All we do is rebound and defend, but they out-rebounded us by 19. They just crushed us on the glass."

Tyndall, whose team played zone for the entire 40 minutes, echoed the sentiments of many when he said the biggest concern he'd have about UK is its perimeter shooting.

"If they don't make shots, they can get beat by less-talented teams," said Tyndall, who watched Kentucky make 4-of-19 from beyond the arc.

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