EDIT OT: Kentucky lose 5 starters to NBA draft
http://espn.go.com/nba/draft2012/story/_/id/7825727/kentucky-wildcats-s…
Pretty crazy. Vitale says Kentucky will just reload but does anyone think that the reloading will be national championship worthy? Has this ever happened before with a team, to just lose all starting five to the draft?
EDIT: Don't want B/R, Freep type headlines. Thanks to MgoSuh for pointing out my mistake
April 17th, 2012 at 11:20 PM ^
I just want to know how they aren't going to have APR problems...They just had five go two years ago and Knight last year...and thats just from memory
April 17th, 2012 at 11:37 PM ^
Im not sure how APR is calculated but Knight probably kept there APR up he had something like 60 college credits and 4.0 after his one year.
If they leave in good academic standing, they are not an APR hit.
Fab Melo at Syracuse however, will be an APR hit since he's leaving in an academically inelligible state.
EDIT: I think this is why you really don't hear about hoops programs getting APR'ed much (sans UCONN). I'm sure most of them try their hardest to make sure kids are academically in good standing for the Winter semester due to that being where the bulk of the hoops season is. Then the folks who leave early, leave at the end of that term.
Whereas in football, kids don't usually decide to leave until the Winter term has already started, then they have to do all their pre-draft workouts and combines and crap during the Winter term, which results in them just saying "F School," flunking a term, becoming an APR hit.
April 18th, 2012 at 11:44 AM ^
I thought they are an APR hit if they leave, but just not as bad as if they leave while in poor academic standing.
IIRC, this won't actually come up until after their would-be senior year, though.
April 17th, 2012 at 11:19 PM ^
It wasn't their whole starting five, but Kentucky lost 4 of 5 starters plus a key backup in the 2010 draft. Four freshmen and a junior: Eric Bledsoe, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton (backup center), and Patrick Patterson. They clearly have the ability to quickly reload.
April 17th, 2012 at 11:20 PM ^
Who needs to stick around and build a program when you can win a championship and cash in your chips at the NBA draft? Then again that's how the world works and geld ist geld.
April 17th, 2012 at 11:23 PM ^
Get money, get paid. When Cal gets yet another school in trouble when he bolts for the NBA can we all stop talking about how great he is? The guy is the dirtiest recruiter in sports and it's not even close. UK sold their soul for relevance.
April 17th, 2012 at 11:26 PM ^
Kentucky basketball sold its soul long before Calipari got there.
April 18th, 2012 at 12:51 AM ^
before the rest of college athletics even figured out how to do it.
I agree that UK "sold its soul years ago," but it wasn't quite as obvious as it is this time. The convergence of UK and John Calipari has the potential to be one of the most entertaining fiascos in the history of college basketball.
Calipari is quite clever for trying to become THE destination for one and dones. He is getting so many that he is making Ohio State look honest in comparison. If he is able to get to another Final Four by simply reloading after losing his entire starting lineup, the NCAA will have to seriously investigate how he is getting this much talent to go there.
Maybe this will be the situation where Calipari doesn't escape in time to avoid the consequences of his actions. Or not. Either way, there is a lot of popcorn potential here.
April 17th, 2012 at 11:26 PM ^
UNC lost a starting five or something close in 2005 but that's all i can think of
In 2005, UNC had 3 starters and a backup drafted in the top 14: Marvin Williams (2), Ray Felton (5), Sean May (13), and Rashad McCants (14). However, Felton, May, and McCants were juniors, so their turnaround wasn't quite as quick as Kentucky's one-and-dones.
April 17th, 2012 at 11:30 PM ^
well there projected starting lineup next year
PG NC state transfer Ryan Harrow.. he was a 5 star
SG 5-star archie goodwin
SF 5-star alex polythress
PF- kyle wiltjer bench guy was a 5-star
C- number one overall prospect Nerlens Noel
so yeah... they're bound to own the SEC again.
April 18th, 2012 at 12:19 PM ^
April 17th, 2012 at 11:36 PM ^
April 17th, 2012 at 11:44 PM ^
I am also currently living in Kentucky, been here since August and I am near Louisville and its insane how much people praise him. He is like Jesus down here. I'm so happy im moving back to Michigan on saturday.
Ha you think Lousivlle is bad try living by Lexington. Its impossible to have a rational conversation with any Cat fan as they A. Believe Calipari is a walking deity and B. that next year they are just going to do it all over again.
On the other hand it, this was our 1st basketball season down here and when you show up @ BW-3's 3 1/2 hours before game time and are told your not getting a table until after the game...well thats commitment right there.
April 17th, 2012 at 11:57 PM ^
What's your proof? That he made two offenses? Until you can prove that the guy is cheating currently, this point is nonsense. Or, should we just assume everyone who is not proven guitly is guilty?
Recruiting a great class after winning a national championship isn't news dude.
stop complaining to the board! If you have proof or suspicion, give it to the NCAA, or better yet, a private detective agency. Then, find the facts, and tell us. Until then, don't harangue the board. Gracias!
April 18th, 2012 at 12:05 AM ^
How was UK recruiting in the 5 years before Cal got there? They have tradition, sure. But so does Indiana, MSU, hell Michigan had tradition, but the thing is you don't come out of nowhere and get 3 of the top 5 nationally ranked players. Look at Providence and St. Johns right now. Everyone knows it's dirty. You don't just do that in a year. It takes years of coaching kids up to get into kids heads that they should come play for you. Look at our coach. He put in time of recruiting kids that nobody else wanted and making them special before you get the big time althetes. That is the way things are. Unfortunatley basketball and the AAU circuit breeds shady tactics. Cal has gotten right in there and literally everywhere he has been he has been found to be a cheater. It will come to light again. No question.
April 18th, 2012 at 12:33 AM ^
There's the AAU dirtiness, which reaches far beyond Kentucky into a weird shadowy world of shoe company reps, pseudo agents, coaches getting paid by both, and people betting on high school level games. That's the world of high level basketball that exists and far more people engage it than just Calipari.
I think Calipari's actually found an ideal spot. He's recruiting with a pitch that goes like, 'I know the NBA rules that you have to go to college is ridiculous. I will focus on preparing you to go pro. I will get you on TV, and find a way for you to do the minimum amount of work you need to do academically in the one semester you need to go to class." He's posing himself as on the side of the players and against the ridiculous NBA rule. He did the same thing at Memphis, but to get kids to go to Memphis, he had to be shadier. He's such a good recruiter, at such a good spot to recruit to, that he is pretty easily able to cover up his deficiencies as an in game coach.
In short, I doubt he's doing the same things he did at his previous spots, because he doesn't have to. It's the administration at UK that should be ashamed of themselves for allowing their university to be used as such a transparent farce (ie the idea that you should enroll students who have no intention of pursuing degrees), but given his success, no chance of that happening.
Growing up Kentucky , North Carolina and Indiana where all I remember as basketball power houses. All 3 basketball programs fluxated in the past few years but, Indiana and North Carolina have to care how they appear academically. I'm not going to say any school is a joke academically but, the players at Kentucky know why they are there and it's not to graduate.
Until the NCAA can punish players after they have gone pro they won't care about destroying a program with scandal
Sure, the university is blatantly enrolling a few students who have no intention of pursuing degrees. But studies have shown that when a college's major sports team wins a championship, applications go up in the next few years, potentially allowing the school to be more selective in its admissions.
Could it be that enrolling these few pseudo-students actually helps the university's academics in the aggregate?
We had 2 of the top 10 when we had the fab five. We cheated. Therefore, everyone who has top 10 recruits cheats. (No?) WTF dude?
If you dated a girl who cheated twice, would you date her? Better yet, if you cheated on a girl twice in your life-time would you say "aw dude, I'm a cheater. Therefore, I must never date again?" Come on man.
Better yet, ever known someone to commit a real felony? And then grow up from it? The point IS: What motivation does Calipari have? He's got the #1 school in the nation right now. Why the hell would he cheat? Money? He'd lose it if he were found out (Op. Cost: he wouldn't be able able to be hired again.) Winning? He's already done that.
/Still think we're all jealous, but Rant Over. Rebut if you must.
April 18th, 2012 at 12:42 AM ^
Vandy loses their starting 5 as well as their 6th man too. John Jenkins, their leading scorer the past 2 years announced he was going pro, and then the other 5 are all seniors and have used all of their eligibility.
I too am a die hard Michigan fan living in Lexington, KY. I have for 13 years now and even attended UK, for its conveniance, but never have had any allegiance to the team. Growing up around these fans made me absolutely despise the cats, now that they got Coach Cal, I can't stand them that much more......they truly do treat Calipari as the second coming of Christ, and it's disgusting (if you have ever lived in Lexington, you will notice it is one of the most novelty towns on the planet, always cashing in on trends, then forgetting about them just as fast and moving to the next...kinda like South Park). They are the most annyoing sports fans on the planet, acting as if no other sports even exist other than UK basketball (they are similar to Bama football now, the cool team to like on twitter and such)....and they pretty much are gave themselves the 2013 national championship when Nerlens Noel commited. I need places like this to vent about them, because Lord knows if I ever speak my sports mind to a UK fan he/she will turn the conversation around and act like I am on crack for not being a fan. It's been like this since I was 10 years old when I moved here. I could go on all day and give a mile long list of reasons why I cannot stand UK. SInce the Calipari era, they have moved into the ranks of hatred with OSU, MSU, and the evil powerhouse football teams of the SEC......with all that said, I do actually like Lexington and its people outside the cats.........
oh plus, they stole the NY Jets J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets cheer, just to show how
April 18th, 2012 at 10:25 AM ^
Why not just play for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants for a year or two, and get a 5-series BMW out of the deal?
That's like saying, why appear in a blockbuster when you can appear in a B-movie? Being a college player brings way more notoriety.
April 18th, 2012 at 11:37 AM ^
I give Coach Cal alot of props his teams play great D and they play together as a team, that could be the hardest thing to do with 5 star talent at every position and having guys be one and done.
April 18th, 2012 at 12:35 PM ^
Team defense on that team was incredible. I would imagine it would be very easy to check out mentally if you are virtually guaranteed a lottery pick but he did a good job motivating those guys.
April 18th, 2012 at 12:48 PM ^
That just means they'll have a lot of room under the salary cap.
April 18th, 2012 at 12:50 PM ^