OT: Kentucky's 2013 basketball recruiting class
Kentucky added a commitment from Julius Randle today. That gives them seven incoming freshmen next year. That includes 6 of the top 20 players in the country for next year. They are also one of the favorites to land the top player in the country for next year (Andrew Wiggins).
I just don't see how Calipari can fit all of these kids onto a team that is definitely not losing 7 (or 8) players going into next year. I'm guessing he's going to pull some SEC magic and either "medical hardship kids", or "let kids know there is no playing time for them".
Isn't it time for the NCAA to actually step in and do something? It's bad in football, but in basketball, they could potentially bring in twice as many kids as they have room for. It's getting to be just ridiculous
They had a lot of attrition last year, right. Are they running under currently? That may be the difference. Either way, Calipari is a snake, so he'll slither around until he finds some way to make it happen I'm sure.
I just looked it up and it looks like they have 2 extra scholarships available this year. They also have 2 seniors leaving after this year - that opens up 4. I'm assuming Noel will go. If Archie Goodwin and Poythress both leave as well, that gets them to 7 scholarships available which would fit their current needs. If they get Wiggins they're still one short.
I understand that the talent he is bringing in is unreal, but is that kind of turnover good for the team anyway? Look at Michigan this year - the Freshmen all struggled the second half (save McGary) as they lost their legs. Cal might have the most talented team next year, but I'm not sure they're going to win it all without some upperclassmen.
It might be tougher to fit them in now after the loss to Robert Morris.
http://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2013/3/20/4127138/alex-poyth…
Not official yet, but Goodwin and Poythress say they are staying.
are all projected first rounders, and Calipari usually advises players to leave if they'll be taken high.
I'd take Noel or Cauley-Stein in the first round, no doubt. However, guys like Poythress and Goodwin are a dime-a-dozen in college. 6'4" to 6'7" guys who are good athletes? That's basically any high major college foward. Those two haven't proven anything. I'd be pissed if my GM took either in the draft.
simple as that, he needs to make room for all these top players and clearly doesn't want a lot of the players from a nit first round team back onto the roster, he will basically force them to transfer
Whenever you see amazing unbelievable recruiting dominance it almost always turns out to be illicit after the fact. I don't have any direct suspicions of any kind, but when you see it over, and over, and over again I have a hard time imagining this guy is doing it any differently.
I don't doubt that there are some shady things helping Kentucky recruit, which Calipari's previous schools have gotten in trouble for, but they also have a dream setup for the basketball team.
I don't know if you ever seen this video (link) but if I was a 17-19 year old kid looking to spend one year in college before going pro, it would be tough to find a nicer place to do it.
Wow, can't argue with that. "Everything in here is built for 7-footers." That place is pretty amazing! Yep, if a kid doesn't really care about (typical) college life and is about to go pro after a year, this is the spot.
Watching Calipari give this tour reminds me of Crazy-Eyez Killa giving Larry David the tour of his crib. "Over here you got some chairs and sh#t"
Calipari has, as we all know, a history of violations. He won't stop this until the NCAA, riiiight, does something about it...such as banning him from coaching any college in the nation.
“We’ve gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking and that’s why I’m glad I’m not coaching,” he said. “You see we’ve got a coach at Kentucky who put two schools on probation and he’s still coaching. I really don’t understand that.” - Bobby Knight
And this link is even three years old...
http://www.bareknucks.com/john-calipari-is-compromising-the-integrity-of-college-basketball
With the list of NCAA violations that Calipari has.
...history of SUSPECTED violations. i.e. Marcus Camby accepting gifts (subsequently the university having its 4 Final Four games stripped) and Derrick Rose faking his SAT score, but Calipari was already at Kentucky before it was announced. But you're right...it's all just very circumstantial and not worthy of consideration.
Do u consider him a cheat?
but he does have a tremndous amount of pressure on him to perform year in, year out. At least Sa(t)an gets 3 years to mold and shape a kid at Alabama, Calipari gets one. Granted he has all the talent in the world coming in but with so many young kids it has to be like hearding chickens.....chickens that have 44" verticals
read an artical yesterday (maybe someone else read it after the loss and can remember the site) that essentially quoted him as saying he will evaluate all of the current players after the season as well as incoming recruits and make decisions for team personnel going forward. It definitely came across as guys being released and put into the Free Agent market if he does not see a place for them on the team next year.
Calipari pretty much advertises UK as a preferred destination for one-and-dones. I don't think it's much of a stretch to project that a lot of money changes hands down in Lexington to get them there, either. The only really cool thing about this is that Calipari is shrinking Ohio State's pool of one-and-dones, and making them develop their program on a level playing field with everyone else.
They lost to Robert Morris
A kid I know played at Kentucky last year (Doron Lamb) and is now playing in the NBA. I think he left early not because he was ready to go but because Cal needed the room. Had he stayed he would have been a junior this year and lead that team to the tourney and probably upped his draft stock. I wonder if the players feel like Cal pushing them toward the league even when there not ready will ever hurt his recruiting at some poing.
Most seem to think they'll be ok, assuming they pull a walk-on scholarship, a few guys go pro, and 1-2 guys either transfer or don't receive a 5th year. I wouldn't call shenanigans just yet. It's not like they're obviuosly going to pull the scholarship of a former 3-4 star guy just so they can bring in the next big thing. Not renewing for a 5th year and pulling a walk-on's scholarship are on the up-and-up. Telling an unutilized guy that he's not going to get any PT, so he may want to think about transferring is a bit more negative, but not sleazy, but it's not gaming the system like Saban seems to be doing with the preponderance of medical hardships coming out of that program.
^ This, I live just outside of Lexington and Cal will more than likely show Harrow the door and "pull" Paulsons scholarship (walk on, who was given a 1 yr scholly because they could).
Combine that with Noel going pro, and they could get 5 scholarships lickety split. Now, I'm not well versed in their scholarship situation to know if they have 2 walk ons that they could pull scholarships from but they could make it work by the normal SEC way.
Is the 5/8 rule not in effect anymore?
Ya its gone. They repealed it in 2004.
Money does actually buy happiness for some
Let's be honest, if Michigan could get 6 - 7 of the top 20 players, probably most Michigan fans would be thrilled. I personally like what Beilein has done, and wouldn't want to emulate Calipari and Kentucky. To each their own: I just don't want to buy championships, made of hired guns with zero allegience to Michigan.
ESPN wrote about the class, saying on paper it is "the best recruiting class of all time" and surpasses Michigan's Fab Five class of 1991.
The addition of Randle also steers Kentucky into unprecedented recruiting territory. The Wildcats have assembled, on paper, the No. 1 recruiting class of all-time. This group of Wildcats is comprised of six top-20 recruits, four of whom are the No. 1 player at their respective position. Previously, Michigan's 1991 "Fab Five" class had been the standard bearer for recruiting classes. UK's group is larger, deeper and more talented.
the NCAA might as well cancel next basketball season and give the trophy to Kentucky.
March 21st, 2013 at 10:06 AM ^
Who would have guessed this year's Wildcats would go on to lose to Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT? Not me. But I'm damned happy about it. Clearly, even John Calipari can't simply put a bunch of NBA-projected 19 year olds on the court and win a title. He managed it last year, but flopped this year. I for one will wait to see how his next crop of 'student-athletes' does.
but until you can have 7 or 8 players on the court at a time, it still has less of an impact than most sports. Especially in a college atmosphere in which you need to have cohesiveness in order to play well as a team. Hell, Calipari hired someone this year for the sole purpose of trying to get his team to gel together better. I thought the coach was supposed to unite a team and get them to work together, but I guess when your bringing in 5 new guys every year to a 13 man squad you spend your time recruiting instead of coaching.
This has been the conversation of the day at work since everyone I work with knows I'm a Michigan man and they are all a part of big blue nation. Once the kid committed, all work ceased for the day. Seriously. Anyways, the question was asked repeatedly to me, "Is this class better than the Fab Five?" My feelings then are the same as now. From a talent perspective, UK's 2011 class probably ranks more talented than the Fab Five and this class trumps 2011. I think what makes the Fab Five such a milestone is the fact that they changed the culture of college basketball and took it to a level no one thought possible and made street ball mainstream. For that, no... this class is and never will be in the same stratosphere as the Fab Five.
Also, UK would have to start and play 5 freshmen for the latter half of the season, entire tourney AND at minimum, reach the national title game.
Anybody who thinks these one-and-done kids are paying even minimal attention to their History of Basketball 101 courses during their single year in school is beyond naive. It's a farce.
I think that's why Calipari has been so successful a recruiter after the NBA put in the 1-year out rule. He's open with players that it's a farce, essentially telling guys who would be going straight to the NBA out of high school that he will concentrate on preparing them for the NBA and allowing them to play on a good team playing a fun style.
That UK players went 1-2 in the past draft probably doesn't hurt this pitch much, though interestingly, none of his guys from Kentucky have really lived up to their hype to this point in the NBA.
That is true, and half of them are floating around in the D-league... yet they're making the guaranteed $1.7 million for this year and next.
But I do think what he is doing is what the system allows, and also what many high school basketball players want. He works within the rules framework, and uses it to maximum benefit.
The sad thing, in my mind, is that so very, very few players truly have the skill level to go to the NBA after a year in college. They all are very big fish in small ponds, but the reality is that talent on the level of LeBron or MJ or Magic or Bird or Rose is very rare. Honestly, I love Burke, but I have misgivings about how far he'll go in the NBA. There are far too many players who are "the man" who never succeed. Let's face it, very few people want to study: who wouldn't rather be playing sports? But having a degree does give someone something to fall back on if they are in the (large) group that doesn't make it.
Also the NBA needs to receive some of the blame. The one and done is a joke and they only made things worse by giving guaranteed contracts to those drafted in the first round.
March 20th, 2013 at 11:55 PM ^
But at least the contracts are now on a pretty strict salary scale and the teams control the back ends of the deals, so you don't have guys getting max deals straight out of college.
....but seriously, it's all going to be vacated
They'll just lose to Robert Morris again LOL. Out of all the places these players can go and they choose Kentucky? I would be going down South to Miami for my one and done year LOL.
I will be interested to see how his strategy of one and one plays out here over the next few years. He managed to get two phenomenal talents in Davis and MKG along with a few holdovers from previous years and won a National Championship. Then this year with 4 talented freshman he doesn't make the tournament (may have just made it if Noel stays healthy).
Can he ever mold a bunch of talented freshman into a National Championship team again, or was it just one year of good luck? I personally don't think you can win with any consistency with that strategy, but he has already proven the doubters wrong once.
It's in your face in just about any area outside of Louisville. UK fans are the closest comparable entity to Ohio fans.