Greatest Basketball Recruiting Class Ever
yahoo has a story up about UK having the best recruiting class ever put together. of course they throw in the other big ones including our beloved FAB 5. there is a poll in the article and it looks like UK fans have done a lot of voting. lets bring the FAB 5 back to where they belong. as # 1.
also what do you all think? is this class at UK really that good. i don't follow high school bball that closley.
http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news;_ylt=AsfeS3ULrRxpN1qK7hnDO…
Kentucky did not just kick 3 kids off the team and possibly 1 more if meeks decides to come back to fit in his class. Kentucky, to me, is a joke now because of Calipari. They'll be good for a while until the NCAA comes down on them again.
they are going to have a couple 1 yr players so youll never see that class at its ultimate.
... on how well they do once all of the players are enrolled at the school and the season begins.
at the start of your post could possibly be capitalized.
The Fab Five is simply legendary. I've had a couple of people tell me of a story in which the Fab 5 first showed up to campus, they went to the courts where the current Michigan players were practicing. The Fab 5 told the current players that the Fab 5 were better than them and would be taking all of their starting places. The current players laughed at and mocked the Fab 5, so Webber and Co. challenged them to a game. The winner would have the court for rest of the day. The Fab 5 then slaughtered the current players in the game, and the rest is history. Not sure if this story is true, but it sure adds to the legend that is the Fab 5.
West Texas - if you haven't already, pick up "Fab Five" by Mitch Albom. (And ignore the parts about how much it sucks that Chris Webber doesn't have enough money to pay for his lunch, but his jerseys sell out of the store; Bill Martin et al.).
The story you provided is reasonably close to what actually happened, but doesn't do it justice. I don't have the book in front of me at the moment, and I don't feel like typing the entire thing, but it's a fantastic story.
To be fair, however, the returning players on the team were just awful - it's not like they were going against Manny Harris and DeShawn Sims. It really shouldn't have been a surprise that the Fab Five would have beaten them.
The returning guys weren't that bad. In 1990-91, we went 14-14 in the regular season and then lost in the first round of the NIT. Four of those guys (Riley, Pelinka, Voskuil and Talley) went on to become key reserves during the Fab Five years, and a couple others might have gotten playing time if they hadn't transferred.
the Kentucky class is better. It includes, among others, the #1 and #2 recruits in the country). IIRC, they have two point guards ranked in the top 50 players in this class. Howvever, they will have to prove their superiority on the court. I doubt another team, starting all freshman (Fab Five), will ever reach the championship game again.
on paper, the fab five is better. chris webber, juwan howard, jalen rose, and jimmy king were all top 10 players nationally. ray jackson was also a top 100 player. fab five is better
Kentucky's top five recruits according to Rivals:
John Wall-- No. 1
DeMarcus Cousins -- No. 2
Daniel Orton -- No. 22
Eric Bledsoe -- No. 23
Jon Hood -- No. 40
The only info I can find on the Fab Five rankings comes from Bob Gibbons via Buckeye Commentary. It has:
Chris Webber -- No. 1
Juwan Howard -- No. 5
Jalen Rose -- No. 8
Jimmy King -- No. 18
Ray Jackson -- No. 48
Pretty close. KU fans will say five in top 40 vs. Fab Five in top 48. UoM fans will say four in top 20 vs. only two for KU.
The Kentucky class includes a sixth player, Darnell Dotson. He profile shows a fourth star, but he is unranked at his position. As only the top 105 players have a fourth star or higher, he should be a sixth top 100 player in this class for Kentucky. I think the fact that the KU class is six deep gives them the paper advantage.
KU = Kansas
UK = Kentucky
I live in SEC country and know better.
Including a 2009 class in this article is illogical. The value of a recruiting class can only be understood retrospectively. We did not know how good UM's class actually was until after a season. We will not know for a year or two how good the UK class of 2009 is.
I hate idiots.
When it comes to bball recruiting, how good a class will be. Kentucky's class, on paper, is ludicrously talented and might contain multiple NBA first rounders. It is not idiotic to speculate on the greatness of a recruiting class, because the entire process of recruiting is speculation about players abilities at the next level. In short, don't be so pissy Michigan is losing an internet poll on yahoo.
You are mixing types of comparisons Mr Tricks - one is based on retrospective data, one is based on speculation or prospective data. We can logically compare one prediction to another based on previous data, or one set of retrospective data to another, but you cant mix the two. Doing so is engaging in what is known as ontological oscillation (basically a mixing of versions of reality), and is frowned upon in academic circles. But then again, I am mixing my circles by arguing in this way about a Rivals article, so nevermind. You win.
frosh class START from day 1 ending up as the NCAA champs...will they be > Fab 5
I ain't buyin this...
Even if they were to duplicate what the Fab Five did, it wouldn't necessarily make them as good. The FF reached the title game in an era when most players stayed in school four years. College basketball is weaker overall now.