Next Year's Class Are Not top ten guys.

[dynastydreamuk]

Dj Wagner is no where near John Wall/Brandon Knight or Fox.

Rob Dillingham isn't even close to Eric Bledsoe IMO

And A. Bradshaw is definitely no Boogie Cousins, Towns, Julius Randle or Bam Adebayo.

Justin Edwards may be the only one that would actually be top ten in other previous recruiting classes.

2023 is a down year, possibly from 2 years of covid restrictions on athletic development on those young players.


really hope I'm wrong... used to love Cal, have no confidence in him anymore and this class next year is one of his slow start 10 loss freshman teams that aren't good till the end

 

[UK-chulo]

 

[cathouse]

No big deal. Cal's superior coaching and development will have them in top form by mid-February.....or March.

 

[65pacecar]

No big deal. Cal's superior coaching and development will have them in top form by mid-February.....or March.

June.

 

[bthaunert]

I'm not sure I understand. All classes are different. Compared to the other guys coming to college, they are top 10 guys.

 

[Smashcat]

Dj Wagner is no where near John Wall/Brandon Knight or Fox.

Rob Dillingham isn't even close to Eric Bledsoe IMO

And A. Bradshaw is definitely no Boogie Cousins, Towns, Julius Randle or Bam Adebayo.

Justin Edwards may be the only one that would actually be top ten in other previous recruiting classes.

2023 is a down year, possibly from 2 years of covid restrictions on athletic development on those young players.


really hope I'm wrong... used to love Cal, have no confidence in him anymore and this class next year is one of his slow start 10 loss freshman teams that aren't good till the end

I imagine if Cal suddenly retired at the end of this season, his replacement would tell these “not top 10” stragglers to find another school.🤦‍♀️

 

[HerrosHeroes]

OP turn in your fan card.

 

[UK-chulo]

OP is correct, but the thought is not original and didn’t need a thread as many have been stating this for months.

 

[Wildcats1st]

Dj Wagner is no where near John Wall/Brandon Knight or Fox.

Rob Dillingham isn't even close to Eric Bledsoe IMO

And A. Bradshaw is definitely no Boogie Cousins, Towns, Julius Randle or Bam Adebayo.

Justin Edwards may be the only one that would actually be top ten in other previous recruiting classes.

2023 is a down year, possibly from 2 years of covid restrictions on athletic development on those young players.


really hope I'm wrong... used to love Cal, have no confidence in him anymore and this class next year is one of his slow start 10 loss freshman teams that aren't good till the end

Every class from here on out will be relatively weak bc of Gleague, and reclassifications

 

[JFCats22]

Dj Wagner is no where near John Wall/Brandon Knight or Fox.

Rob Dillingham isn't even close to Eric Bledsoe IMO

And A. Bradshaw is definitely no Boogie Cousins, Towns, Julius Randle or Bam Adebayo.

Justin Edwards may be the only one that would actually be top ten in other previous recruiting classes.

2023 is a down year, possibly from 2 years of covid restrictions on athletic development on those young players.


really hope I'm wrong... used to love Cal, have no confidence in him anymore and this class next year is one of his slow start 10 loss freshman teams that aren't good till the end

Thanks for the info. We should probably tell them we don't want them anymore.

 

[TFCats11]

Dj Wagner is no where near John Wall/Brandon Knight or Fox.

Rob Dillingham isn't even close to Eric Bledsoe IMO

And A. Bradshaw is definitely no Boogie Cousins, Towns, Julius Randle or Bam Adebayo.

Justin Edwards may be the only one that would actually be top ten in other previous recruiting classes.

2023 is a down year, possibly from 2 years of covid restrictions on athletic development on those young players.


really hope I'm wrong... used to love Cal, have no confidence in him anymore and this class next year is one of his slow start 10 loss freshman teams that aren't good till the end

Unlike some others, I get what you are trying to say. The collection of talent coming in isn’t talented enough to overcome Cal’s lack of coaching ability, thus, don’t expect next season to be any different, just because those guys have 5* as their rankings.

See, not everyone is a contrarian. Personally, I don’t believe Califailure will be UK’s HC next season, so some of that class probably won’t be as well. We shall see in a couple/ few months.

 

[Wildcat-in-STL]

The average fan reading this, dont get your hopes up for next year, Wagner and Dill are both in the 20 %'s range of 3pt shooting, cant even break 30% in their career's . Now imagine how bad it will be in Cal's system where 3pt %'s get worse for players.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

Ehh, I don't know about this. I do agree that they aren't the elite of the elites we are used to.. but we also really don't know how they will pan out. For example, I don't think it will be THAT big of a challenge for DIllingham to produce to the same level as Bledsoe did for his 1 year here.

We just have to wait and see.

 

[UK90]

Dj Wagner is no where near John Wall/Brandon Knight or Fox.

Rob Dillingham isn't even close to Eric Bledsoe IMO

And A. Bradshaw is definitely no Boogie Cousins, Towns, Julius Randle or Bam Adebayo.

Justin Edwards may be the only one that would actually be top ten in other previous recruiting classes.

2023 is a down year, possibly from 2 years of covid restrictions on athletic development on those young players.


really hope I'm wrong... used to love Cal, have no confidence in him anymore and this class next year is one of his slow start 10 loss freshman teams that aren't good till the end

They’re not competing against players from the past. It doesn’t matter how they measure up against Wall or Boogie, it only matters how they measure up against their competition next year.

And nobody else has a group of players next year that appears nearly as talented as what we should have.

 

[Zjstep01]

It’s been stated this overall class is not good, so OP is right.

 

[ukfan1622]

Not many of us are happy with Cal but the op is reaching here. They don't have to be as good as other classes because they won't be playing against the best of those other classes. What matters is being better than their competition.

 

[CUJO_1970]

Next year will be a 10-loss regular season at best. We aren't winning the SEC or SECT either.

I legit feel sorry for anyone that has higher hopes.

 

[CatPhight]

Not many of us are happy with Cal but the op is reaching here. They don't have to be as good as other classes because they won't be playing against the best of those other classes. What matters is being better than their competition.

They have to be good enough to overcome the ineptitude of their coach...

 

[Padsfs07]

Every class from here on out will be relatively weak bc of Gleague, and reclassifications

That's a good point with regards to this years class. They had Bates, Sharpe, and Duren reclassify into 2021. There wasn't any 2023 kids that re-classified into 2022, except for Onyenso.

Buzelis is the only 2023 kid going the pro route also. The class will get stronger too when Ian Jackson re-classifies into it from 2024.

 

[YardCat]

No big deal. Cal's superior coaching and development will have them in top form by mid-February.....or March.

That’s what Cal is telling these guys, telling the recruits that this years team won’t listen or learn.

 

[MidseasonTweak]

The average fan reading this, dont get your hopes up for next year, Wagner and Dill are both in the 20 %'s range of 3pt shooting, cant even break 30% in their career's . Now imagine how bad it will be in Cal's system where 3pt %'s get worse for players.

I've been pointing that out as well. Next year's class is going to be brutal shooting-wise.

 

[Wildcat-in-STL]

When Boston Clarke, and Jackson were top 10 recruits and then went on to be lottery picks.......... and only 9 wins.

 

[ukfan1622]

They have to be good enough to overcome the ineptitude of their coach...

Well, I said nothing relating to coaching, just that the op's reasoning about next year's class isn't sound. I certainly don't believe Cal will get the best out of them but I think a great coach would have a championship contender with them.

 

[DreadLox]

The odd thing for me is Calipari used to like brawlers. His Memphis team could have just come from the football team. They were just big muscular guys. Most of our team are skinny guys. (Obvious exceptions) All of next year's recruits are skinny guys. The UK team with the twins, Cauley-Stein, etc -- they were all big muscular players. They repeatedly imposed their will on other teams. We didn't win it all, because ... well, I'm not sure why. But I think it was a mistake for Calipari, at his stage in life, to start recruiting a kind of player who isn't a good fit for the kind of ball Calipari's DNA wants to play.

 

[St.PatterSoN-54-]

They have to be good enough to overcome the ineptitude of their coach...

I don't think a reincarnation of AD and MKG could overcome him in his current state.

 

[Padsfs07]

The average fan reading this, dont get your hopes up for next year, Wagner and Dill are both in the 20 %'s range of 3pt shooting, cant even break 30% in their career's . Now imagine how bad it will be in Cal's system where 3pt %'s get worse for players.

That's not true of Dillingham. He had 38% in EYBL, 31% in U16, 31% in Grind....Wagner has a nice looking shot, I think his issues are shot selection. Plus they should have CJ Fredrick back and Reed Sheppard as well.

 

[BlueSince92]

I imagine if Cal suddenly retired at the end of this season, his replacement would tell these “not top 10” stragglers to find another school.🤦‍♀️

Two completely different questions:

—Whether they’re stragglers

—Whether they’re so good they can win even in Cal’s soul-killing system.

 

[CatPhight]

Well, I said nothing relating to coaching, just that the op's reasoning about next year's class isn't sound. I certainly don't believe Cal will get the best out of them but I think a great coach would have a championship contender with them.

Next year will live in infamy...

 

[Padsfs07]

When Boston Clarke, and Jackson were top 10 recruits and then went on to be lottery picks.......... and only 9 wins.

Boston was #5 and Clarke was #8 (but a reclassify from 2021), while Jackson was 30th. Also, none of them were lottery picks. Jackson was picked 22nd and Boston was 51st.

 

[Padsfs07]

I've been pointing that out as well. Next year's class is going to be brutal shooting-wise.

Along with the numbers for Dillingham not being true, Edwards has been well above 30% on 3s in several leagues throughout his high school career.

 

[BlueSince92]

And nobody else has a group of players next year that appears nearly as talented as what we should have.

Practically everyone else has players that are mature and very seasoned in their own coach’s system, something that Cal used to need transcendent talent in his very young classes to overcome even before the game largely passed him by. No transcendent talent here = no overcoming the maturity and experience of the more conventional teams utterly without regard to whether or not anyone else has transcendent talent. Show us where any of the past nine champion teams had a group of players that appeared nearly as talented as what we should have had.

 

[ConbonBBN]

Dj Wagner is no where near John Wall/Brandon Knight or Fox.

Rob Dillingham isn't even close to Eric Bledsoe IMO

And A. Bradshaw is definitely no Boogie Cousins, Towns, Julius Randle or Bam Adebayo.

Justin Edwards may be the only one that would actually be top ten in other previous recruiting classes.

2023 is a down year, possibly from 2 years of covid restrictions on athletic development on those young players.


really hope I'm wrong... used to love Cal, have no confidence in him anymore and this class next year is one of his slow start 10 loss freshman teams that aren't good till the end

Just wait till you see the 2024 class...one of the worst in the last decade. There isn't a "cant miss" guy but Cats still got the best of the class regardless.

And just bc they aren't hyped up like those recruits doesn't mean they can't turn into those kind of players.

Temper expectations with them but this class is still better than anything UK has had in a while.

 

[thebluestripes]

But are they anygood at dodgeball?

 

[bnewt]

No big deal. Cal's superior coaching and development will have them in top form by mid-February.....or March.

of what year?

 

[W_Heisenberg]

I totally agree with OP, for those of you who think this class is loaded with lottery picks you are dreaming. Wagner is really solid but isn't athletic and can't shoot (I think he's at under 30% from 3pt and in HS that's awful for an elite guard). Bradshaw is very raw still, needs some work. Edwards is the only legit first round lock (similar to what Wallace is on this years team). Dillingham is very good, not great.

It depends on who comes back, next years team will be better (can't get worse) but it's not like we are instant championship material.

 

[sluggercatfan]

No big deal. Cal's superior coaching and development will have them in top form by mid-February.....or March.

Or if not, there's next year.

 

[qwesley]

Every single year we hear how the shooting will be better next year. Next year will be a driving team, they will not shoot or make many threes. The only one of the group that will be ready to really be a factor is Edwards. He has skill and athleticism and plays hard. The other three will show flashes but will struggle with physicality and shot selection. Reed will get buried if CJ or Reeves comes back.

 

[bigblueinsanity]

Saw nothing of Wagner but highlights. However I know at least two schools hired and/or took on basically every member of his family to better their odds at getting him.

So I think it's to say he's good

 

[yes_takeaside]

Not many of us are happy with Cal but the op is reaching here. They don't have to be as good as other classes because they won't be playing against the best of those other classes. What matters is being better than their competition.

No they will be competing against the last 3 classes. UK is the only school that will be playing mostly freshmen.

 

[bucsrule8872]

I don’t care if they are not Wall, Cousins, Fox, MKG, AD, etc. level, I just hope they are better than Tshiebwe, Wallace, Wheeler, Toppin, Fredrick, Reeves, etc. That’s not asking for much, really.