LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kentucky has hired Florida State defensive co-ordinator Mark Stoops as the Wildcats football coach. Stoops replaces Joker Phillips, who was fired on Nov. 4. Phillips went 13-24 in three seasons at Kentucky and the Wildcats were 0-8 in the Southeastern Conference this year. Kentucky made the announcement on Tuesday and the 45-year-old Stoops will be introduced here at a news conference on Sunday. No. 13 Florida State (10-2) plays Georgia Tech Saturday in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game. Terms of Stoops contract with Kentucky were not released. His salary with the Seminoles was $550,000 a year. He should definitely receive a raise in his new position; Phillips annual salary was $1.7 million. Stoops hiring concludes a quicker-than-expected coaching search by the university. After Saturdays season-ending loss at Tennessee, Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart said he had no timetable to find a replacement for Phillips. But it didnt take long for Barnhart and the Wildcats to make a move. The decision makes Stoops a head coach for the first time in his career. "I want to thank (Kentucky) President Eli Capilouto and Mitch Barnhart for this opportunity," Stoops said in a statement. "I promise the faithful of the Big Blue Nation I will be focused and driven to create a positive, winning atmosphere for the program and an environment that all of Kentucky can be proud of." Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said after the Seminoles practice Tuesday that Stoops will coach Saturdays game but that he hadnt talked with him about coaching through a bowl appearance. Stoops did not talk to reporters after the workout. Stoops becomes the third brother in college footballs famed coaching family to lead his own program. Older brother Bob Stoops is the head coach at Oklahoma and Mike Stoops is the Sooners defensive co-ordinator. Before joining the Oklahoma staff this year, Mike was the head coach at Arizona. "Hes earned it," Bob Stoops said of his brother. "Hes done really well everywhere hes been. I know hes really prepared for the job." Bob said his advice to Mark is to trust his instincts. "When you get one of those positions, everybody wants to tell you what to do," the OU coach said. "Thats how it was for me. I didnt let anyone hurry me. I took it at my own pace, trusted my guy and my instincts on what I wanted to do, and fortunately it worked out." Mark Stoops has been the Seminoles defensive co-ordinator the past three seasons. Florida States defence was ranked 108th when he took over and he has turned the Seminoles into one of the nations top defensive teams. The Seminoles have the nations second-ranked defence, giving up 249.4 yards per game. Kentucky allowed 391 yards a contest this season and ranked 11th in the 14-team conference. "Our desire to get better defensively and continue to expand our recruiting base helped guide us to Mark," Barnhart said. "He comes from a coaching family and has been in big games and big atmospheres throughout his career." Now Stoops challenge will be making Kentucky competitive in the conference that has won the last six BCS national championships. The Wildcats are coming off their third straight losing season and second without a bowl appearance. Seven of their eight conference losses this season were by margins of at least two touchdowns, including a 40-0 blowout at home to Vanderbilt on Nov. 3 and a 37-17 season-ending loss at Tennessee on Saturday. Stoops has a proven track record of rebuilding defences, which represents a philosophical shift from the offence-minded Phillips. Before joining Fishers staff, Stoops resurrected an Arizona defence with similar issues that Kentucky experienced. Arizona was 109th in total defence before his arrival; the defence was ranked in the top 25 in his final two seasons and Arizona earned consecutive bowl bids. Stoops leaves a Florida State program poised to claim a BCS bowl bid if it wins the ACC championship on Saturday. The Seminoles enter the ACC title game with the nations seventh-ranked scoring defence, allowing 15.1 points per game. Fisher said its a compliment to the defensive players at Florida State that Stoops "got the shot because of how they played and how he coached them." "Im very proud of him. Very happy for him," Fisher said after Florida States practice Tuesday. "He got an opportunity to go on and further his career and its something he wants to do. ... We wanted Mark to stay here for a long time until he got what he wanted to do. Our players are very elated. They know that thats part of this business." Florida State defensive end Bjoern Werner said the players are also happy for Stoops. "Everybody knew he wanted a head coach job," Werner said. "Everybody was happy for him. Nobody was like sad that he was leaving. ... He did everything he could. He turned a great defence into an even better defence." The search for Stoops successor will begin next week and Fisher hinted that it could be an internal hire. "There are possibilities of that all the time," he said. "We have some great coaches underneath." ------ AP Freelance Writer Bob Ferrante in Tallahassee, Fla., contributed to this report. cheap jerseys from china . -- Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Clint Session is preparing for the worst. nfl jerseys china .Y. -- Buffalo Bills receiver Stevie Johnson is scheduled to have what his agent described as "very minor" surgery to repair a groin injury that nagged the player for most of last season. http://www.chinanfljerseyswholesal... . The Raptors know first-hand what Lin can bring to the table in terms of attendance and excitement. Lin scored 27 points and hit the game-winning three-pointer in a win over the Raptors in front of a big crowd at the Air Canada Centre on Valentines Day. The Raptors would likely attempt to back-load any offer they make to Lin, a restricted free agent this summer, by paying big money over the last few seasons of a deal. [url=http://www.chinanfljerseyswholesale.com/]wholesale jerseys from china . Schussler was crowned the new womens 3,000-metre champion with a time of four minutes 9.51 seconds. The Winnipeg native placed ahead of Christine Nesbitt of London, Ont. wholesale nfl jerseys . First up, the Vancouver Canucks. The Vancouver Canucks, on paper, are by far Canadas top team and the best hope to contend for the Stanley Cup, but even coach Alain Vigneaults talented club has a long list of questions heading into training camp.(Sports Network) - Toronto will continue a five-game homestand tonight as they host the Miami Heat. Catch the game live on TSN2 starting at 6:30pm et/3:30pm pt. The team recorded a 105-96 triumph over Denver on Wednesday behind Andrea Bargnanis 26 points and 17 from DeMar DeRozan. DeRozan had missed the previous two games with an ankle injury. Linas Kleiza chipped in 15 points and Jose Calderon recorded his 10th double- double of the season with 10 points and 10 assists. Calderon has recorded 10 or more assists in four consecutive games. "It was fun out there tonight," said Bargnani. "I had so many open threes and I hit a couple of tough ones too." Bargnani became the fourth Raptor to score 6,000 career points (6,013). He is averaging 14.3 points and 5.0 rebounds this month (12 games). The Raptors, who won for only the second time in the past seven tries, opened the homestand with a loss to Orlando and are 9-16 at Air Canada Centre this season. They will also host Washington and Charlotte up north. The Raptors dropped a 95-89 decision at Miami on Feb. 5 this season and are winless in the past six meetings between the teams. Toronto has won six of the previous nnine encounters as the host, however.dddddddddddd The Miami Heat seem unstoppable at home and will leave the friendly confines of AmericanAirlines Arena to take on the Toronto Raptors tonight north of the border. Miami has won 15 in a row as the host and improved to 21-2 in south Florida following last nights 106-85 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in a rematch of last years NBA Finals. LeBron James and Chris Bosh both scored 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds, while Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem contributed 16 points apiece. The Heat snapped a two-game skid in their return home from a three-game road swing (1-2) and won for the fifth time in seven tries. "You always want to defend your home court. Hopefully this will give us a bit of momentum," said Bosh. "As long as we keep elevating our play day by day, we will be in the right spot come April." Seeded second in the Eastern Conference, the Southeast Division-leading Heat will play back-to-back road games against the Raptors and Celtics. They have lost two in a row away from home and are 15-11 as the guest this season. James is currently dealing with a finger injury and should be good to go Friday. ' ' '