The freshman 5 stars that plan on coming here and staying one year and then going to the NBA, or the transfer portal guys that weren't good enough out of high school to get recruited by UK, but now say "I've got a year left and I've always wanted to wear that UK jersey" knowing that playing for us will help their draft stock? I'm not criticizing either, but I know there has been tons of discussion about players "using" UK. Aren't they all?
Who is using UK more?
- Thread starter BBBLazing
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It just tears you to pieces that most of us on the board are happy, getting along, and are excited about the future of the program… doesn’t it?
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Difference is alot of the 5 year players could play for anyone else. It's sorta a give and receive situation. Dunno if this is a bait post or what. If it is smh...
I think a lot of these transfer portal guys know that realistically, they don’t have much of a chance in getting drafted. They want to spend their last year making as much money as they can, while also trying to win as much as they can in their last year. They have more motivation to win than the freshmen do.
You're just not handling Cal leaving well at all, are you?
Players are getting paid and university is gaining their services.
Upperclassmen with only one year of eligibility left are coming to UK in hopes of having a great year at a championship program to hopefully improve their chances at making it to the NBA while possibly playing for a NCAA championship.
These 5 star freshmen who have already been identified as bona-fide NBA draft picks are just passing through to gain how ever much NIL money they can grab on their way out the door to the league, ONLY because the league won't let them come sooner.
Give me the experienced guys that want to be here all day over a team filled with those Prima Donnas.
Players are getting paid and university is gaining their services.
Upperclassmen with only one year of eligibility left are coming to UK in hopes of having a great year at a championship program to hopefully improve their chances at making it to the NBA while possibly playing for a NCAA championship.
These 5 star freshmen who have already been identified as bona-fide NBA draft picks are just passing through to gain how ever much NIL money they can grab on their way out the door to the league, ONLY because the league won't let them come sooner.
Give me the experienced guys that want to be here all day over a team filled with those Prima Donnas.
Oh brother 😕
Experienced guys who chose to be here in their last year isn't what id call using
They worked their way into position to be able to finish at a place like UK. You could say UK is using them too. Double edged sword but like any other issues whichever one wins games is fine by me.
Experienced guys who chose to be here in their last year isn't what id call using
They worked their way into position to be able to finish at a place like UK. You could say UK is using them too. Double edged sword but like any other issues whichever one wins games is fine by me.
no, I'm actually extremely excited about the future of our program. Discouraged by the current state of college sports and how recruiting works, but to answer your question, no.
I love this program, I love our transfers, I’m happy they’re here, they’re happy they’re here. They obviously could play anywhere at any program in this country as many of them have had other blue bloods on their preliminary lists.
You’re the only miserable bastard in the whole room that’s complaining.
Go be an Arkansas fan if all you care about is high end, high school talent and following their one year and one weekend in the NCAA Tournament.
You’re the only miserable bastard in the whole room that’s complaining.
Go be an Arkansas fan if all you care about is high end, high school talent and following their one year and one weekend in the NCAA Tournament.
I agree with most of that. But the "they want to make as much money as they can and win as much as they can" is what prompted my question. Aren't they using UK too? I don't mind either, but other people seem to hate freshman doing it, why don't they care if 24 year olds do it?
I like the older guys too. But aren't they using us the same? Maybe this discussion is too much for some. I'm just pointing out that all college athletes, whether it is here or elsewhere, are merely using the school to make money, so we should not all be fooled by the concept of them being here because they like us or UK.
If you want to view everything as transactional then yes every player is “using” the school they go to. The difference is older players are more likely to understand and fulfill their end of the transaction ie. perform on the court and win game. Some young guys can do that but it is less likely because they aren’t as mature
I care. But it’s the state of college basketball now, unfortunately. Call it the lesser of two evils maybe?
and it’s definitely necessary this year; we’re rebuilding an entire team with no continuity.
I think what people hated was how those freshmen were used. They got preferred treatment based on the number of stars. If they weren’t a draft pick tough..they’d get recruited over.
When you think about it, in any type of relationship the two parties involved are "using" each other for something. What's important is that the relationship is mutually beneficial. Cal recruiting 5 star freshmen wasn't the problem. It was the type of 5 stars he recruited. Guys that ONLY cared about the NBA. Believe it or not, there are really great players that yes, want to get to the NBA but also want to win some college championships along the way, and appreciate the university and fans who help them achieve their goals. So in that case, the relationship is beneficial to everyone. I believe Pope is bringing those type of players here. Whether they be freshmen or 5th year seniors. They want to win while here. So they may be using us to advance but they are giving us all they got on the court in the meantime. It's a win win.
I'm gonna post Carr's quote from when when he committed tonight.
“Excited to announce I am transferring to the University of Kentucky for my graduate season,” he said. “I know what it means to wear Kentucky across my chest and couldn’t be more ready to get to work!! Go Cats!”
Now, can you post me anything that our "players first" recruits ever posted about what it means to play for The University of KY??
They thought they were playing for themselves and Cal.
Which do you prefer, by the way???
As Bob Seger sang “I used her, she used me but neither one cared, we were gettin’ our share.”
Personally *just speaking for me*.... We've seen year after year after year that topped ranked freshman are no longer getting it done and we were getting whipped in games against older more developed players, so if your freshman keep getting whipped by the older players it would only make sense to gravitate to the older players that have proven it.
You're going to have to spend some NIL to have a competitive team anymore and we're happy to be going after the ones that have proven capable instead of relying on freshman that obviously no longer works as evidenced by having the best recruiter in CBB and not accomplishing anything with top class after top class because they fold like a piece of paper against veteran savvy teams.
Why willingly buy the second best option?
Now there are obvious exceptions. I would've taken reed and Perry. And of course of you can get a John Wall, Cousins, Maxey, ect then by all means do it but I'd rather have a 5th year proven player than a Daniel Orton, Skal, Sacha Killeya-Jones, Vanderbilt , Quade Green, EJ Montgomery, Kahlil Whitney, Brooks, BJ Boston, Devin askew, ware, Fletcher, Sharpe, Collins, and probably others who did very little for the UK program besides trying to get out of dodge asap ...id take a 5th year proven player over most of that list anyday.
Welk, of course they could be seen as using UK to get paid. They will get more NIL money here, most likely. The transfer portal guys need the exposure they'll get from UK in order to make scouts and NBA teams know who they are and what they can do.
But here's your mistake and assumption- you think the primary issue for UK fans is found in players using UK for the exposure they'll get. But that's not the real issue. The real problem is that we never see the potential of those players realized, yet they leave before they get a chance to win for UK, and if they don't win the lottery, they'll be pushed out and then transfer down the road. But ideally, the players do well, get better, win big, and then leave for the NBA when the time comes.
But look at the 6 players we have right now. Are these guys all certain to only play ONE season at UK?
Andrew Carr- grad
Collin Chandler- freshman
Travis Perry- freshman
Amari Williams- senior
Lamont Butler- senior
Otega Oweh- junior
So, 3 of these guys will be one and done. 1 has 2 years possibly remaining and the other 2 have 4 years remaining. Will they all use all of their eligibility? Unlikely. Will they be pushed out the door, whether they win or lose? No.
So, I don't mind helping these players have an NBA career. I do mind guys who walk in with one eye on their own performance and the other eye on the NBA, and having little concern, if any, about the University of the Kentucky. The system that pushes guys out after 1 season to make room for the next crop is what irritates me.
Thanks for a remotely responsive answer instead of cursing me. I appreciate it.
I won't curse you, call you a bitch or bastard, but . . . .
I'm going with a third choice on who used whom the most: I think the current Coach at Arkansas used UK to the tune of about 40-45 million dollars without an NCAA tourney Sweet 16 in about half-a-decade.
That is all.
We agree on what type of players we want, and actually, Carr's quote is what prompted my question. It can be taken several ways. I know that players that wear this jersey do it because of the fans and the state, or I know that players do it because they get drafted higher after wearing that jersey. Obviously, what I thought would be a decent discussion about why in this day and age any kid goes to any school despite knowing nothing about the tradition, didn't work and has caused me to be cussed and called a cal nut hugger, bastard, etc. I appreciate those that understood what I was asking and were willing to discuss it.
I think the negativity you caught was based upon your very poor choice of words and inartful presentation.
Had you asked, instead, which players would ultimately have stronger ties to the program, or to the State, or which players were justifiably more proud of wearing the Kentucky jersey, you would have centered attention on Carr's very positive remark.
Instead, you went dark, asking who was using whom the most??
That's like being the backbencher at a wedding and asking the respective parent's-in-law which of the married couple "was settling."
Nobody cares if they are seniors who know how to play college basketball before they get here
Don't really think it was inartful or poorly worded, just stated plain and against some people's beliefs, which is fine. I think the negatively is more likely caused by defensiveness of people that are unable to see things from the other side of the coin and admit that in this day and age, no one is coming here to play for Kentucky's basketball team because of the reasons we all love Kentucky's basketball team.
So, your dark approach is based upon a dark perspective.
Did Dan Issel come for "the reasons we all love Kentucky's basketball team?"
The Runts in '66?
The Fab Five in 48/49?
Sure, Richie and many home state products dreamed of wearing Kentucky Blue from near birth . . . and they still do . . . but there has been an element of self-interest for all players since at least the back-to-back titles in '48-'49.
I assume you know that we put a lot of players into pro ball before your birth, and that Cliff Hagen and others lost the opportunity for the NBA because of a point shaving scandal in 52/53. Those Golden/Olden days are pretty much myth, if you know anything about our past.
A perspective that "no one" measures up to the past is a very incomplete/whitewashed knowledge of the past, and a flawed view of our current recruits, including a current Kentucky recruit who likely wore Big Blue diapers.
Bad enough you're openly mourning Cal's departure, but now you want to try to rehabilitate the Sharpe debacle too? You are a piece of work.
Most here just want to win and you need grown men now to win….so most finally see hope.
Good luck holding on to your beloved Cal. Can you see him sitting down to dinner with Sarah Huckabee? LoL! What a hoot.
Neither is using the other. There was only one player who used UK and we all know who he was. In this era of NIL and until it is settled, which it will be, NCAA bb and ff is in a revolving door due to no fault of players or institutions.
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I think some can understand it. Speaking just for myself, I don't mind the mutual benefit at all. The issue is the system Cal has been running- top recruits, young and talented but physically immature, showing off their wares on the biggest stage, recruited over by the next class, and pushed out after 1 season whether an NBA lottery pick or transfer portal, rinse and repeat. And honestly, I knew that was the scheme for many years and I was ok with it when it led to SEC championships, SEC-T titles, Final Fours, and legit chances to win titles, but that ended 5 years ago. And how would it end it 2024-25? It would have been the same ending, most likely. And in addition to all this, the players seemed to care very little about Kentucky.
I have never seen such a drastic example of ratio-ing on a message board.
This. They are all mercenaries but experienced mercenaries will win more in March. All I care about is winning. Just like all the other sports teams I root for.
Look up Cason Wallace’s quote about what him and Chris Livingston were looking forward to in their first year at Kentucky to answer your question OP, and then feel free to move on.
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