Calipari is the true snake oil salesman
What kind of money is he throwing around down in Kentucky?
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/recruiting/news/story?id=4298168
Does Calipari think he will not be heavily investigated if this happens?
I'd say I can't believe it, but I can.
Sampson at Indiana..these guys just dont know any better, all they know how to do is cheat and when they get caught they just move on, leaving the program they left in shambles. At least with Sampson, he will not be allowed to coach in college again for 4 years, I mean its somewhat of a punishment but he should never be allowed to coach in college again.
So did these kids not sign a LOI to go to Kansas? I don't get it.
Xavier Henry signed one with Memphis but was let out of it when Calipari left for Kentucky...by ncaa rule you cannot sign another one, no matter what school you choose
Amazing. I am still surprised Henry didn't follow straight to UK
for a couple months...
Thankful we have Belien. Michigan is on the cusp of being a perennial top program again and I would love to get a shot at Kentucky in the NCAA Tourney.
Perennial top ten? I wouldn't go that far. I am glad that we have Belien though to keep us out of these types of messes. I get frustrated when I think back to what happened to us when we cheated and what happens (or rather doesn't)to these schools when they cheat.
Maybe not top ten, but then again why not? Great school, great tradition, great coach, great talent pool, meh facilities.
And the facilities are getting better. The locker room, weight room, recruiting center and academic center are all new, and the practice facility should be finished in 2011.
that's not snakeoil, its liquid gold...
if this comes to pass, Calipari will have assembled a class so talented that the Fab Five would pale in comparison. Oh my god, this is like USC-level recruiting in basketball, except even less space to play all those kids.
The idea of MULTIPLE one and dones at one school is frightening. Ohio State made it to the 2007 NCAA Championship Game with just Oden and Conley, like we made it back in 1991 and 92.
Kentucky will roll through college basketball on a tear this winter.
Actually, OSU had three one-and-dones in 2007: Oden, Conley and Daequan Cook.
said he is going to Kansas, end of story. Take that for what it is worth.
Wow. I agree, this class is absolutely ridiculous. This is like Video-game level recruiting. He's GOT to be doing something illegal right? If not the man makes Zook look like a child in recruiting. How does a coach get the top 2 PG's in a class and convince them that there will be playing time for both. His backup PG is one of the best in the class. His BACKUP. They might as well not waste their time hanging banners for whatever accomplishments they achieve, they'll just be taking them down in a few years.
Given all that, I'm sure Calipari is upset with this class. He's been getting a lot of heat because Middle Kentucky State has been dominating the in-state recruiting as of late. He's gotta step it up.
I agree that Calipari has cheated pretty much everywhere he has gone, and the tendency of the rabid Kentucky fanbase to "help" players once they get to Lexington pretty much speaks for itself. After all, you can't spell "Bunko Squad" without UK.
That being said, Calipari the salesman is still pretty talented. And he does have one edge that is legitimate. His main pitch seems to be that his street ball offense doesn't really lack structure, but is purposely designed to allow the player to best use his individual talents.
So, while every other coach in the country appeals to a player's parents and "higher" instincts saying "it's all about the team" and "it's all one big family here," Calipari is saying "in my offense, if you've got the talent, it's all about you." If I were a seventeen year-old, I would tell my parents Duke or Kansas or UNC or whoever was a great program, but my heart would be pulling me to the coach who told me it would be "all about me" when I got there.
So, it gets him a lot of great players who win a lot of games for him, but when they run into a team with talent close to theirs that plays like a team, they look rudderless and lose.
I think Calipari will do great at UK, but will eventually leave: six months before the violations are uncovered.
For me, though, it is intriguing to wonder if he can finally put so much talent on the court that his street ball offense can figure out a way to win the title without self-destructing in the Final Four. I would love to see matchups with Duke, UNC, and Kansas. Eventually, I would love to see UM be one of "those" teams that would give him trouble, too.
Basically, matchups like the ones I mentioned above will make for great theatre: discipline versus playground, teamwork versus individuality. I hope he doesn't get caught for a few years. I also hope coaches like Williams, Self, Coach K, and even Billy Donavan are able to frustrate him when it counts.
Calipari is going to get what's coming to him eventually. Nobody can be that greasy and expect not to leave a trail.
Personally, I'm not expecting it to come from the NCAA. You think a guy that dirty only makes trouble with the law?
I pretty well expect to see him one day with broken knees and a horse head in his bed.
I don't disagree. He seems so much dirtier than merely "win at all costs." He is the Omega Dirtbag.
Basketball badly needs a rule like baseball has. Either you go pro straight out of high school or you wait until after your junior year. The guys who have zero academic interest wouldn't have to waste schools' (and their own) time going through this charade for a year.