If we get Edgecombe in the next few weeks, it changes everything going forward.

[Son_Of_Saul]

It would mark just the second time since 2013 when we beat Duke for an RSCI top 5 recruit. The other guy in that span was BJ Boston.

In that same time, we've lost to Duke for RSCI top 5 guys such as:

Jahlil Okafor
Brandon Ingram
Harry Giles
Jayson Tatum
Marvin Bagley
RJ Barrett
Zion Williamson
Cam Reddish
Vernon Carey
Paolo Banchero
Dereck Lively
Kyle Flipowski

Once again, this is only RSCI top 5 guys who we've lost in head-to-head battles with Duke. In that same span, we only beat them for Boston.

That's a 1/13 conversion rate.

Edgecombe to Kentucky changes things significantly. It's one thing to beat out Tennessee for Justin Edwards or Louisville for DJ Wagner, but it's quite another when you beat Duke for a player they need and desire.

Don't underestimate this one if Edgecombe comes to Lexington. You put him with Quaintance, Fland, Thiero and Sheppard, and you've got another Final Four contender.

 

[SaltyCat25]

Jahlil Okafor -Bust
Brandon Ingram -Fringe All Star
Harry Giles - Bust
Jayson Tatum - Superstar
Marvin Bagley - Bust
RJ Barrett -Solid starter
Zion Williamson -All Star when he’s healthy
Cam Reddish -Bust
Vernon Carey -Bust
Paolo Banchero - Fiture All Star
Dereck Lively -Too soon
Kyle Flipowski

There are an awful lot of bust in this group for being the cream of the crop coming out of HS. I’ll never get why any big would choose Duke over UK at this point.

 

[HerrosHeroes]

He cometh

 

[Tampa_cat54]

It would mark just the second time since 2013 when we beat Duke for an RSCI top 5 recruit. The other guy in that span was BJ Boston.

In that same time, we've lost to Duke for RSCI top 5 guys such as:

Jahlil Okafor
Brandon Ingram
Harry Giles
Jayson Tatum
Marvin Bagley
RJ Barrett
Zion Williamson
Cam Reddish
Vernon Carey
Paolo Banchero
Dereck Lively
Kyle Flipowski

Once again, this is only RSCI top 5 guys who we've lost in head-to-head battles with Duke. In that same span, we only beat them for Boston.

That's a 1/13 conversion rate.

Edgecombe to Kentucky changes things significantly. It's one thing to beat out Tennessee for Justin Edwards or Louisville for DJ Wagner, but it's quite another when you beat Duke for a player they need and desire.

Don't underestimate this one if Edgecombe comes to Lexington. You put him with Quaintance, Fland, Thiero and Sheppard, and you've got another Final Four contender.

We didn't even truly recruit half of those guys.

Why would we want Okafor when we had KAT locked up and WCS coming back (plus Dakari Johnson and Marcus Lee).

Literally half of those guys we barely even touched on the recruiting trail, just like Duke barely touched Maxey, Fox, Monk, Bam, Wagner, Edwards, Bradshaw, Jamal Murray (who was top 5 btw), Tyler Ulis, SGA, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, Shaedon Sharpe, PJ Washington, Dillingham, etc. etc.

A lot of those guys weren't Top-5 but our staff identified them as being under-ranked and went after them instead. Look at Maxey, SGA, and Quickley in the league right now as PRIME examples

This whole narrative is bizarre. Kentucky and Duke have recruited different TYPES of kids for years now.

And our guys have been, by and large, more talented, and like it or not, Duke has not really had any more success than we have since 2016 (they had the one Final Four run but we had been better than them all year, besides that they have had disappointment after disappointment just like us, and we are kicking their ass so far this year again).

The weird Duke syndrome needs to stop.

Do you really want to line up their rosters vs. ours and tell us that they have gotten MORE talent than us since 2016???

Yeah....didn't think so.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

We didn't even truly recruit half of those guys.

Why would we want Okafor when we had KAT locked up and WCS coming back (plus Dakari Johnson and Marcus Lee).

Literally half of those guys we barely even touched on the recruiting trail, just like Duke barely touched Maxey, Fox, Monk, Bam, Wagner, Edwards, Bradshaw, Jamal Murray (who was top 5 btw), Tyler Ulis, SGA, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, Shaedon Sharpe, PJ Washington, Dillingham, etc. etc.

A lot of those guys weren't Top-5 but our staff identified them as being under-ranked and went after them instead. Look at Maxey, SGA, and Quickley in the league right now as PRIME examples

This whole narrative is bizarre. Kentucky and Duke have recruited different TYPES of kids for years now.

And our guys have been, by and large, more talented, and like it or not, Duke has not really had any more success than we have since 2016 (they had the one Final Four run but we had been better than them all year, besides that they have had disappointment after disappointment just like us, and we are kicking their ass so far this year again).

The weird Duke syndrome needs to stop.

Do you really want to line up their rosters vs. ours and tell us that they have gotten MORE talent than us since 2016???

Yeah....didn't think so.

I know you pride yourself on being a smug know-it-all but you need to be careful with this one and step back. All those guys were rsci top five guys and I looked them all up again today to make sure. So on that level you have no clue what you're talking about. Secondly we did recruit Okafor. You must have forgotten that Towns reclassified? Were you even watching back then? I can give you the links for every single one of these recruitments. So go back to whatever holiday party you were at and when you come back make sure you know what you're talking about because obviously you've been drinking too much spiked eggnog which has unfortunately disrupted your ability to research. I encourage you to tell me which of those guys we didn't recruit and I'll happily provide you with the links.

 

[Tampa_cat54]

I know you pride yourself on being a know-it-all but you need to be careful with this one and step back. All those guys were rsci top five guys and I looked them all up again today to make sure. So on that level you have no clue what you're talking about. Secondly we did recruit Okafor. You must have forgotten That Towns reclassified? Were you even watching back then? I can give you the links for every single one of these recruitments. So go back to whatever holiday party you were at and when you come back make sure you know what you're talking about because obviously you've been drinking too much spiked eggnog which has unfortunately decapitated your ability to research. I encourage you to tell me which of those guys we didn't recruit and I'll happily provide you with the links as I soak your argument with gasoline and light it on fire with links.

So you REALLY want to sit there and claim that Duke has had more talented rosters than us in recent years? You want to line up their players vs ours side by side and really make that claim?

I couldn't give two ****S what the RSCI says, I know what my eyes tell me you old ****.

And KAT reclassified as a sophomore....at which point we didn't speak to Okafor ever again. But you're probably too old to remember things like this.

No NBA GM on EARTH would claim that Duke has had more talent than us since 2016- but Son of Saul knows all I suppose. Morons around here I swear.

Sorry that I don't cower in the corner and be afraid of Duke.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

So you REALLY want to sit there and claim that Duke has had more talented rosters than us in recent years? You want to line up their players vs ours side by side and really make that claim?

I couldn't give two ****S what the RSCI says, I know what my eyes tell me you old ****.

No NBA GM on EARTH would claim that Duke has had more talent than us since 2016- but Son of Saul knows all I suppose. Morons around here I swear.

Your first sentence is all I need to respond to because it's disingenuous. Never did I make that case that Duke had better rosters. You're creating a straw man. Go back to my actual argument and try again. Until then I won't read past your first sentence, just so you know.

 

[Mike_Edwards]

I want VJ big time. The pissing contest getting ready to take place, not so much. Merry Christmas all!

 

[BigKari]

We didn't even truly recruit half of those guys.

Why would we want Okafor when we had KAT locked up and WCS coming back (plus Dakari Johnson and Marcus Lee).

Literally half of those guys we barely even touched on the recruiting trail, just like Duke barely touched Maxey, Fox, Monk, Bam, Wagner, Edwards, Bradshaw, Jamal Murray (who was top 5 btw), Tyler Ulis, SGA, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, Shaedon Sharpe, PJ Washington, Dillingham, etc. etc.

A lot of those guys weren't Top-5 but our staff identified them as being under-ranked and went after them instead. Look at Maxey, SGA, and Quickley in the league right now as PRIME examples

This whole narrative is bizarre. Kentucky and Duke have recruited different TYPES of kids for years now.

And our guys have been, by and large, more talented, and like it or not, Duke has not really had any more success than we have since 2016 (they had the one Final Four run but we had been better than them all year, besides that they have had disappointment after disappointment just like us, and we are kicking their ass so far this year again).

The weird Duke syndrome needs to stop.

Do you really want to line up their rosters vs. ours and tell us that they have gotten MORE talent than us since 2016???

Yeah....didn't think so.

Terrific insight on this. Great post!! 🫡

 

[Fox2monk]

It would mark just the second time since 2013 when we beat Duke for an RSCI top 5 recruit. The other guy in that span was BJ Boston.

In that same time, we've lost to Duke for RSCI top 5 guys such as:

Jahlil Okafor
Brandon Ingram
Harry Giles
Jayson Tatum
Marvin Bagley
RJ Barrett
Zion Williamson
Cam Reddish
Vernon Carey
Paolo Banchero
Dereck Lively
Kyle Flipowski

Once again, this is only RSCI top 5 guys who we've lost in head-to-head battles with Duke. In that same span, we only beat them for Boston.

That's a 1/13 conversion rate.

Edgecombe to Kentucky changes things significantly. It's one thing to beat out Tennessee for Justin Edwards or Louisville for DJ Wagner, but it's quite another when you beat Duke for a player they need and desire.

Don't underestimate this one if Edgecombe comes to Lexington. You put him with Quaintance, Fland, Thiero and Sheppard, and you've got another Final Four contender.

I don’t even remember recruiting Filopowski. All the others I do. I believe Lively, Zion, Cam, Taytum, Ingram, Giles, and Bagely we wanted for sure as a top Option.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Agree. I think it would be one of those "pinpoints" in the time line of Duke falling off and possibly kentucky stepping back into the kings chair.

Dukes freshman, and their team as a whole, is pretty meh. They aren't winning shit this year, and they are over recruiting their current team, so you're going to see quite a few transfers.

We on the other hand won't have that problem as Cals players almost always show out. It will suck to lose these guys to the NBA, but it's because they are THAT good. We are recruiting to replace them, not recruiting to force guys out.

 

[WallMashKyBall]

If only they had won on Boston.

 

[BBUK]

It would mark just the second time since 2013 when we beat Duke for an RSCI top 5 recruit. The other guy in that span was BJ Boston.

In that same time, we've lost to Duke for RSCI top 5 guys such as:

Jahlil Okafor
Brandon Ingram
Harry Giles
Jayson Tatum
Marvin Bagley
RJ Barrett
Zion Williamson
Cam Reddish
Vernon Carey
Paolo Banchero
Dereck Lively
Kyle Flipowski

Once again, this is only RSCI top 5 guys who we've lost in head-to-head battles with Duke. In that same span, we only beat them for Boston.

That's a 1/13 conversion rate.

Edgecombe to Kentucky changes things significantly. It's one thing to beat out Tennessee for Justin Edwards or Louisville for DJ Wagner, but it's quite another when you beat Duke for a player they need and desire.

Don't underestimate this one if Edgecombe comes to Lexington. You put him with Quaintance, Fland, Thiero and Sheppard, and you've got another Final Four contender.

Ya think....

 

[thedahc]

We didn't even truly recruit half of those guys.

Why would we want Okafor when we had KAT locked up and WCS coming back (plus Dakari Johnson and Marcus Lee).

Literally half of those guys we barely even touched on the recruiting trail, just like Duke barely touched Maxey, Fox, Monk, Bam, Wagner, Edwards, Bradshaw, Jamal Murray (who was top 5 btw), Tyler Ulis, SGA, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, Shaedon Sharpe, PJ Washington, Dillingham, etc. etc.

A lot of those guys weren't Top-5 but our staff identified them as being under-ranked and went after them instead. Look at Maxey, SGA, and Quickley in the league right now as PRIME examples

This whole narrative is bizarre. Kentucky and Duke have recruited different TYPES of kids for years now.

And our guys have been, by and large, more talented, and like it or not, Duke has not really had any more success than we have since 2016 (they had the one Final Four run but we had been better than them all year, besides that they have had disappointment after disappointment just like us, and we are kicking their ass so far this year again).

The weird Duke syndrome needs to stop.

Do you really want to line up their rosters vs. ours and tell us that they have gotten MORE talent than us since 2016???

Yeah....didn't think so.

This response is the correct one and actually factual.

We aren't getting Duke's leftovers, look at that list of gets, Cal is getting the guys he wants at a very high percentage.

 

[BigKari]

I don’t even remember recruiting Filopowski. All the others I do. I believe Lively, Zion, Cam, Taytum, Ingram, Giles, and Bagely we wanted for sure as a top Option.

We recruited all the players you named but Reddish, Tatum, Ingram, and Giles never considered Kentucky all that much and we were far from all in. Cal pushed for Reddish because he coached him on team USA but he was already sealed to Duke. We were all in on Bagley, Zion, and Lively for sure.

 

[FFWhite]

Ingram is terrible. Kerr got were he couldn’t play him on team USA this summer. Played every game like it was the 78th game on the season and they were 10 games out of the playoffs. Zion has tried to eat himself out of the league. Giles was killed by injuries. Tatum and Banchero are beasts. Okafor and Carey were massive under achievers. Bagley, Barrett and Reddish are very average. Other than Tatum and Banchero UK has not missed on much despite Team USA, Nike and ESPN pushing kids to the Polish crybaby

 

[YardCat]

Jahlil Okafor -Bust
Brandon Ingram -Fringe All Star
Harry Giles - Bust
Jayson Tatum - Superstar
Marvin Bagley - Bust
RJ Barrett -Solid starter
Zion Williamson -All Star when he’s healthy
Cam Reddish -Bust
Vernon Carey -Bust
Paolo Banchero - Fiture All Star
Dereck Lively -Too soon
Kyle Flipowski

There are an awful lot of bust in this group for being the cream of the crop coming out of HS. I’ll never get why any big would choose Duke over UK at this point.

The Brotherhood and bags of money!!!

 

[K_TIME]

We didn't even truly recruit half of those guys.

Why would we want Okafor when we had KAT locked up and WCS coming back (plus Dakari Johnson and Marcus Lee).

Literally half of those guys we barely even touched on the recruiting trail, just like Duke barely touched Maxey, Fox, Monk, Bam, Wagner, Edwards, Bradshaw, Jamal Murray (who was top 5 btw), Tyler Ulis, SGA, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, Shaedon Sharpe, PJ Washington, Dillingham, etc. etc.

A lot of those guys weren't Top-5 but our staff identified them as being under-ranked and went after them instead. Look at Maxey, SGA, and Quickley in the league right now as PRIME examples

This whole narrative is bizarre. Kentucky and Duke have recruited different TYPES of kids for years now.

And our guys have been, by and large, more talented, and like it or not, Duke has not really had any more success than we have since 2016 (they had the one Final Four run but we had been better than them all year, besides that they have had disappointment after disappointment just like us, and we are kicking their ass so far this year again).

The weird Duke syndrome needs to stop.

Do you really want to line up their rosters vs. ours and tell us that they have gotten MORE talent than us since 2016???

Yeah....didn't think so.

Uk without a doubt recruited Tatum, Bagley , Barrett, Zion , Giles, Reddish, Lively To argue since some of those guys didn’t live up to expectations in NBA so it wasn’t a big deal is sort of goofy

But to the point….feels like tides are changing. Uk is winning way more recruits last two years since got rid of Barbee, Justus, and back to Chin and Orlando

I’d also add if Welch is the source of offense uptick….UK is going to be a place kids want to play and showcase more then Scheyer can appeal

 

[know1]

Some of you all have been brainwashed to just care about recruiting. Others want on court results.

Nevermind that we have a really good team this year. Yet there are people already looking at recruiting for next year.

 

[bluefaithful]

VJ will be a Cat!!

 

[Tampa_cat54]

Uk without a doubt recruited Tatum, Bagley , Barrett, Zion , Giles, Reddish, Lively To argue since some of those guys didn’t live up to expectations in NBA so it wasn’t a big deal is sort of goofy

But to the point….feels like tides are changing. Uk is winning way more recruits last two years since got rid of Barbee, Justus, and back to Chin and Orlando

I’d also add if Welch is the source of offense uptick….UK is going to be a place kids want to play and showcase more then Scheyer can appeal

That's why I said about half of those guys we didn't truly recruit.

Exactly my point- and there were guys that WE landed who Duke recruited as well, but then abandoned when they realized they weren't in the drivers seat, just like we have done.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

That's why I said about half of those guys we didn't truly recruit.

Exactly my point- and there were guys that WE landed who Duke recruited as well, but then abandoned when they realized they weren't in the drivers seat, just like we have done.

You're basically saying that I made up the names that I included on that list, so once again I'm asking you right now this very simple question that you've refused to answer up until this point: who on that list did we not recruit?

Name them.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

That's why I said about half of those guys we didn't truly recruit.

Exactly my point- and there were guys that WE landed who Duke recruited as well, but then abandoned when they realized they weren't in the drivers seat, just like we have done.

You keep creating a secondary argument that I've never argued. The debate isn't on whether or not Duke's players have uniformly turned out better than Kentucky's alternatives. The point is that Duke has dominated in landing top 5 RSCI recruits that we've gone head to head against them for since 2014.

You don't want to acknowledge that, which is strange because it's factual. Why deny the reality that we faced when going up against Duke? I don't expect a lot of fans to back me up on this from an emotional standpoint, but I have seen that no one has been able to dismiss my position in this entire thread, including you. Why? Because my position is factual.

The ultimate point is that landing VJ Edgecombe would be huge in setting a potential new precedent, one that I've been optimistically anticipating for some time.

 

[cats2010]

Jahlil Okafor -Bust
Brandon Ingram -Fringe All Star
Harry Giles - Bust
Jayson Tatum - Superstar
Marvin Bagley - Bust
RJ Barrett -Solid starter
Zion Williamson -All Star when he’s healthy
Cam Reddish -Bust
Vernon Carey -Bust
Paolo Banchero - Fiture All Star
Dereck Lively -Too soon
Kyle Flipowski

There are an awful lot of bust in this group for being the cream of the crop coming out of HS. I’ll never get why any big would choose Duke over UK at this point.

Forgot to list the one we got Boston- BUST!!!!!

 

[caneintally]

We didn't even truly recruit half of those guys.

Why would we want Okafor when we had KAT locked up and WCS coming back (plus Dakari Johnson and Marcus Lee).

Literally half of those guys we barely even touched on the recruiting trail, just like Duke barely touched Maxey, Fox, Monk, Bam, Wagner, Edwards, Bradshaw, Jamal Murray (who was top 5 btw), Tyler Ulis, SGA, Tyler Herro, Keldon Johnson, Shaedon Sharpe, PJ Washington, Dillingham, etc. etc.

A lot of those guys weren't Top-5 but our staff identified them as being under-ranked and went after them instead. Look at Maxey, SGA, and Quickley in the league right now as PRIME examples

This whole narrative is bizarre. Kentucky and Duke have recruited different TYPES of kids for years now.

And our guys have been, by and large, more talented, and like it or not, Duke has not really had any more success than we have since 2016 (they had the one Final Four run but we had been better than them all year, besides that they have had disappointment after disappointment just like us, and we are kicking their ass so far this year again).

The weird Duke syndrome needs to stop.

Do you really want to line up their rosters vs. ours and tell us that they have gotten MORE talent than us since 2016???

Yeah....didn't think so.

Tampa literally nailed it . Couldn't say it better. The OP reeks of Duke envy when there is factually zero reason for such. UK and Duke have been equals for the last 6-7 years . Sometimes great sometimes average ( like Duke is this season and we were last) and sometimes bad like we both were ( and understandably so in both cases ) during the covid season.

BUT when it comes to talent we have blown them out of the water . LOOK at the NBA. THE sole true complaints all the Cal bashers have that I agree with. We should have 1 more title at least when we have had 2x as much talent as EVERYONE including Duke. rankings are and always will be pointless. Hell this season our freshmen are backwards. Dilly and sheppard the 2 lowest ranked guys are LITERALLY THE BEST AND 3RD BEST freshmen in the country with the baylor kid at 2.

Cal is and has and always will be the single best eye of talent in college basketball history . No one could ever convince we otherwise. He saw what SGA , Fox , Booker , Towns and many others would be . Literally the best the NBA and the world have to offer.

 

[HagginHall1999]

Re: Boston...Interesting comment by Leach when chatting with DeCoursey this week. They were on topic of Edwards and Leach commented that his situation reminds him of Boston in the sense that BJ wasn't ready for the game physically but the team he was on demanded him to produce immediately. He didn't have luxury of what Edwards has now as his team doesn't need him to be the guy immediately.

Regarding topic at hand; there is a difference between being a hat on a table recruit vs a real recruit. Several of these guys were hat on the table recruits. Never visited UK: Bagley, Tatum, Reddish, Filipowski. JMHO, but if a recruit never visits campus there is no interest, therefore it is a hat on the table offer.

Since 2015 UK class ranking has been better that Duke's by a count of 5-4. Of note though, in that same time period Duke has landed one more 5 ⭐ than UK. That said, we've lost plenty of head to head battles with Duke for guys outside composite Top 5 over the years. Also, many of the composite Top 5 losses were real battles and we lost major recruits- Zion, Banchero, standing out the most.

Like most things it seems that the truth lies somewhere in the middle.

 

[SaltyCat25]

Forgot to list the one we got Boston- BUST!!!!!

Yeah, I’m not big into going out of my way to tear down Kentucky players so I just went with the ones listed.

 

[chroix]

To anybody saying Duke had less talent than us… would you trade with them for their results over the last five seasons? If so they either recruited better than us or got more out of what they had which is evidence our coach has underperformed. If not there is something wrong with you.

 

[CalCat57]

Kevin Knox?

https://amp.newsobserver.com/sports/college/acc/unc/article149116614.html

 

[Aike]

Jahlil Okafor -Bust
Brandon Ingram -Fringe All Star
Harry Giles - Bust
Jayson Tatum - Superstar
Marvin Bagley - Bust
RJ Barrett -Solid starter
Zion Williamson -All Star when he’s healthy
Cam Reddish -Bust
Vernon Carey -Bust
Paolo Banchero - Fiture All Star
Dereck Lively -Too soon
Kyle Flipowski

There are an awful lot of bust in this group for being the cream of the crop coming out of HS. I’ll never get why any big would choose Duke over UK at this point.

Cam Reddish is starting for the Lakers. Probably too early to label him a bust.

 

[Cowtown Cat]

I know you pride yourself on being a smug know-it-all but you need to be careful with this one and step back. All those guys were rsci top five guys and I looked them all up again today to make sure. So on that level you have no clue what you're talking about. Secondly we did recruit Okafor. You must have forgotten that Towns reclassified? Were you even watching back then? I can give you the links for every single one of these recruitments. So go back to whatever holiday party you were at and when you come back make sure you know what you're talking about because obviously you've been drinking too much spiked eggnog which has unfortunately disrupted your ability to research. I encourage you to tell me which of those guys we didn't recruit and I'll happily provide you with the links.

We recruited some also that you didn’t even mention. Believe we recruited Tyus Jones and Winslow as well.

 

[Fox2monk]

Cam Reddish is starting for the Lakers. Probably too early to label him a bust.

I can’t believe he’s shooting under 30% from 3. He was a dead eye shooter coming out of HS. He just hasn’t put it together yet.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

This response is the correct one and actually factual.

We aren't getting Duke's leftovers, look at that list of gets, Cal is getting the guys he wants at a very high percentage.

We were from like 2016 to 2021. It started with Taysom and Giles. They got their pick of the recruits for those 4 or 5 years. And I outlined in another threads, We really only got guys like Knox and EJ because there was no room at Duke.

Now that said, they did no better than us on the court during that time, and I'd argue our "2nd tier" recruits did just as good, if not better. And further, Cals recruiting has surged back, and it's Dukes that looks like it's starting to falter.

 

[SaltyCat25]

Cam Reddish is starting for the Lakers. Probably too early to label him a bust.

I was speaking bust in reference to his ranking coming out of HS. He averages 9.9 points 2.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists for his 4 year career on an abysmal 39.9% shooting.

 

[Aike]

I can’t believe he’s shooting under 30% from 3. He was a dead eye shooter coming out of HS. He just hasn’t put it together yet.

He’s a mess offensively but is starting to develop a presence defensively. Of course his ties to Lebron have probably helped him hang on, but it might give him the time he needs.

 

[Disappointed Cat]

It would mark just the second time since 2013 when we beat Duke for an RSCI top 5 recruit. The other guy in that span was BJ Boston.

In that same time, we've lost to Duke for RSCI top 5 guys such as:

Jahlil Okafor
Brandon Ingram
Harry Giles
Jayson Tatum
Marvin Bagley
RJ Barrett
Zion Williamson
Cam Reddish
Vernon Carey
Paolo Banchero
Dereck Lively
Kyle Flipowski

Once again, this is only RSCI top 5 guys who we've lost in head-to-head battles with Duke. In that same span, we only beat them for Boston.

That's a 1/13 conversion rate.

Edgecombe to Kentucky changes things significantly. It's one thing to beat out Tennessee for Justin Edwards or Louisville for DJ Wagner, but it's quite another when you beat Duke for a player they need and desire.

Don't underestimate this one if Edgecombe comes to Lexington. You put him with Quaintance, Fland, Thiero and Sheppard, and you've got another Final Four contender.

No, it does not change the coaching problem....just look at what Cal has done with top rated recruiting classes the past 9 years...that should temper your enthusiasm.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

We didn't even truly recruit half of those guys.

This. That list is a who's who of all the players Nike bought for Duke. Joel sucked for sure but losing those particular guys was beyond our control.

It was all the other guys he lost that was the issue.

 

[CRZ4UK]

We recruited all the players you named but Reddish, Tatum, Ingram, and Giles never considered Kentucky all that much and we were far from all in. Cal pushed for Reddish because he coached him on team USA but he was already sealed to Duke. We were all in on Bagley, Zion, and Lively for sure.

Cal never would have given Zions family a house he owned. That’s the difference between the two programs. You may argue that Duke gets the higher ranked players. Maybe true. We don’t buy our players tho. That still means something. Kids come here to play for Cal and Kentucky. Kids go to Duke for Nike money, houses for their parents and that lifelong bullshit support promise.

 

[BigKari]

Cal never would have given Zions family a house he owned. That’s the difference between the two programs. You may argue that Duke gets the higher ranked players. Maybe true. We don’t buy our players tho. That still means something. Kids come here to play for Cal and Kentucky. Kids go to Duke for Nike money, houses for their parents and that lifelong bullshit support promise.

Understand that “all in” for Cal doesn’t mean the same as “all in” for Duke/Nike. You’re right, we didn’t offer Zion a house, but I don’t think it was known during recruitment that it was what we were up against. You’re preaching to the choir, tater.

 

[chroix]

I can’t believe he’s shooting under 30% from 3. He was a dead eye shooter coming out of HS. He just hasn’t put it together yet.

I think this is always going to be the report on Reddish.