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Acaden Lewis Commits to UK!!

Definitely a big grab for Pope and UK. He beat out Hurley and Scheyer that’s pretty good and lets everyone know with or without Calipari UK will always be UK no matter what!!!!
Maybe people will start to realize that Cal's recruiting classes were more about Kentucky than Cal. I am not suggesting that Cal can't recruit, but his recruiting class rankings certainly skyrocketed after coming to Kentucky.
 
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I’ve never got to say I told you so before, but I told you so. Caleb is next.


Welcome aboard Lewis!
 
So what is 2025 roster look like

Pg…Lewis and Perry…or do we add portal here
Sg…Oweh and Jasper
Sf…chandler and Noah..I’m guessing portal
Pf….Caleb Wilson and surely portal
C…Gatrison and Moreno

I’m not sold we don’t add portal PG

PG - Portal starter / Lewis / Perry

SG - Oweh / Johnson

SF - Chandler / portal reserve / Noah

PF - Portal starter / Wilson

C - Garrison / Moreno / portal reserve
 
Can we chalk this up to we actually beat Duke for a recruit?? When's the last time that happened?
Ehhhh not really though. Everyone casts a wide net. Look at Dukes recruits. Every single guy in their class is rated higher than Lewis
 
PG - Portal starter / Lewis / Perry

SG - Oweh / Johnson

SF - Chandler / portal reserve / Noah

PF - Portal starter / Wilson

C - Garrison / Moreno / portal reserve

So Wilson and JJ get over a million each to not start? Interesting.
 
Glad to get Lewis. Can’t wait to see how he and Jasper work together in this offense. Not to mention, of the 3 who have committed so far, he definitely seems the most poised down to earth kid yet. His interview with Jack Pilgrim was refreshing. He listens to questions and gives very thoughtful answers.

Now, if we can get Wilson on board, we can swing for the fences in the spring. Would love to see an athletic 3 and D at SF. With Chandler and Owen back next year, I think we could go either portal or HS for it.
 
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Glad to get Lewis. Can’t wait to see how he and Jasper work together in this offense. Not to mention, of the 3 who have committed so far, he definitely seems the most poised down to earth kid yet. His interview with Jack Pilgrim was refreshing. He listens to questions and gives very thoughtful answers.

Now, if we can get Wilson on board, we can swing for the fences in the spring. Would love to see an athletic 3 and D at SF. With Chandler and Owen back next year, I think we could go either portal or HS for it.
I think Ament is a possibility, just a guess nothing more.
 
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You ever get Mitch's personal phone number for having the audacity to hire Pope? I thought you were going to burn the internet down that night.

a man in a suit and tie is sitting at a desk with the words  it 's outrageous  above him's outrageous  above him






😂
Season 9 Lol GIF by The Office
 
He reminds me of a left handed Dillingham the way he plays. I love his game.
His running hook and floater with left hand are a beauty! I think I saw a wrap around pass with the right hand (weak hand) which Robert Dillingham could not due. He is smart player , needs to work on getting stronger and finishing with the right hand and he will be golden.
 
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His running hook and floater with left hand are a beauty! I think I saw a wrap around pass with the right hand (weak hand) which Robert Dillingham could not due. He is smart player , needs to work on getting stronger and finishing with the right hand and he will be golden.
He personally said he was up to 195 lbs now and much stronger.
 
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Maybe people will start to realize that Cal's recruiting classes were more about Kentucky than Cal. I am not suggesting that Cal can't recruit, but his recruiting class rankings certainly skyrocketed after coming to Kentucky.
Didn't Acuff commit to Arkansas and isn't he more highly rated than any of our recruits currently? What am I missing? I'm still glad we moved on from Calipari because recruiting doesn't equal program success but I think if we start comparing our recruits to one of the best recruiters ever we are asking to be disappointed.
 
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PG - Portal starter / Lewis / Perry

SG - Oweh / Johnson

SF - Chandler / portal reserve / Noah

PF - Portal starter / Wilson

C - Garrison / Moreno / portal reserve
IMO

PG - Veteran portal starter / Lewis
SG - Johnson / Chandler (Chandler may start) / Perry
SF - Oweh / Chandler or Johnson (whichever one doesn't start) / Noah
PF - Wilson / Portal reserve
C - Garrison / Moreno

I think we'll play 5 guards the majority of the minutes at the 1-3 (Portal PG, Lewis, Johnson, Chandler, and Oweh), with Perry and Noah sprinkling in. I don't love the idea of starting 3 freshmen, so I'm hoping we get a starting level, veteran PG.
 
IMO

PG - Veteran portal starter / Lewis
SG - Johnson / Chandler (Chandler may start) / Perry
SF - Oweh / Chandler or Johnson (whichever one doesn't start) / Noah
PF - Wilson / Portal reserve
C - Garrison / Moreno

I think we'll play 5 guards the majority of the minutes at the 1-3 (Portal PG, Lewis, Johnson, Chandler, and Oweh), with Perry and Noah sprinkling in. I don't love the idea of starting 3 freshmen, so I'm hoping we get a starting level, veteran PG.
Problem is that Lewis is really good. Going to be hard not to hav him starting
 
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Didn't Acuff commit to Arkansas and isn't he more highly rated than any of our recruits currently? What am I missing? I'm still glad we moved on from Calipari because recruiting doesn't equal program success but I think if we start comparing our recruits to one of the best recruiters ever we are asking to be disappointed.
I noticed how you were sure to add currently to your argument, lol. Will you be back to make a correction if Pope signs Caleb as some think he will? However, so, what that he signed one player higher than Pope has currently!! One higher recruit means nothing. Recruiting wars aren't won because of one recruit. Currently, Pope has the better recruiting class. How many top recruiting classes did Cal win before coming to Kentucky?
 
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IMO

PG - Veteran portal starter / Lewis
SG - Johnson / Chandler (Chandler may start) / Perry
SF - Oweh / Chandler or Johnson (whichever one doesn't start) / Noah
PF - Wilson / Portal reserve
C - Garrison / Moreno

I think we'll play 5 guards the majority of the minutes at the 1-3 (Portal PG, Lewis, Johnson, Chandler, and Oweh), with Perry and Noah sprinkling in. I don't love the idea of starting 3 freshmen, so I'm hoping we get a starting level, veteran PG.
Lewis said that Pope wanted four Freshmen (Moreno, Johnson, Lewis, Wilson- hopefully), five guys back (Oweh, Garrison, Chandler, Perry, Noah), and three from the portal.

So what you listed is about right, plus add another portal guy. A veteran shooter would probably make the most sense.
 
Is Pope willing to invest $1.1-$1.5 million in Wilson to come off the bench?

If we land Wilson, he's starting.
Maybe Wilson would be the starting PF next season, but I wonder how you could be so sure about that now. Based on recent history there will be over 1,600 Div. I players in the portal after the season? All the best PFs in CBB with eligibility are likely to enter?

So, if UK can get the top PF (or one of the very top PFs) from the portal is Pope going to say “no” because he signed Wilson? I do think that was the way Calipari operated, and maybe we’re conditioned to that, but do you think Pope will do the same? And if you do think that, is it because of the amount of NIL money spent or because no proven experienced PF from the portal could outperform a projected draft pick freshman still developing his body, skills and game?

Personally, I think UK will bring in one of the top PFs from the portal regardless of whether they sign Wilson or any other freshman PF. Based on the way/speed that Pope plays, at least two PFs almost have to play major minutes. I think a very talented freshman with high upside potential is great to pair with a proven highly productive veteran. And I believe we would agree that determining which one starts should be based on their impact on the team winning games, not recruiting rankings or preseason draft pick projections, right?
 
So what is 2025 roster look like

Pg…Lewis and Perry…or do we add portal here
Sg…Oweh and Jasper
Sf…chandler and Noah..I’m guessing portal
Pf….Caleb Wilson and surely portal
C…Gatrison and Moreno

I’m not sold we don’t add portal PG
I think we I’ll add another PG through the portal. Probably be another vet defensive oriented player. As we have seen in the past it’s hard to trust a freshman perimeter players on defense.
 
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I noticed how you were sure to add currently to your argument, lol. Will you be back to make a correction if Pope signs Caleb as some think he will? However, so, what that he signed one player higher than Pope has currently!! One higher recruit means nothing. Recruiting wars aren't won because of one recruit. Currently, Pope has the better recruiting class. How many top recruiting classes did Cal win before coming to Kentucky?
Absolutely, would love for Pope to beat Calipari at recruiting. That's the one thing Calipari is good at and it would be awesome if Pope beat him at it.
 
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Is Pope willing to invest $1.1-$1.5 million in Wilson to come off the bench?

If we land Wilson, he's starting.

Investments sometimes have payoff periods longer than 1 year. I hope Pope can get some of these guys to stick around longer than 1 season. And it might be worth it to the team to have an elite talent in a 15-20 minute role off the bench. Could be the difference between an elite 8 and a championship. I prefer to have proven commodities starting and playing as many minutes as they can. I think Pope will too. If Wilson were to be the only freshman to start I think we might be able to make do, depending on his talent and how he acclimates. But I think Pope’s system will work best with guys who have multiple years of experience, especially in his system.

But, I’ve been wrong before. And there are no guarantees that we will get whoever we want in the portal. So we might be stuck with freshman starters anyway. I just hope not, because I think the experience would yield superior results.
 
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Maybe Wilson would be the starting PF next season, but I wonder how you could be so sure about that now. Based on recent history there will be over 1,600 Div. I players in the portal after the season? All the best PFs in CBB with eligibility are likely to enter?

So, if UK can get the top PF (or one of the very top PFs) from the portal is Pope going to say “no” because he signed Wilson? I do think that was the way Calipari operated, and maybe we’re conditioned to that, but do you think Pope will do the same? And if you do think that, is it because of the amount of NIL money spent or because no proven experienced PF from the portal could outperform a projected draft pick freshman still developing his body, skills and game?

Personally, I think UK will bring in one of the top PFs from the portal regardless of whether they sign Wilson or any other freshman PF. Based on the way/speed that Pope plays, at least two PFs almost have to play major minutes. I think a very talented freshman with high upside potential is great to pair with a proven highly productive veteran. And I believe we would agree that determining which one starts should be based on their impact on the team winning games, not recruiting rankings or preseason draft pick projections, right?
If we get Wilson, we probably won’t have the money to invest in a superstar level guy at PF.

Are we paying Wilson a million plus and then another 4 man a million (remember Osobor reportedly brought in 2 mill) and have them split time at that position?

Wouldn’t that be money better spent at a different position?

Even at this level, money is finite. Can’t just buy whoever you want. And other teams have money too, so they can outbid us.

If we don’t get Wilson, we have the money to get a quality vet at the 4. But with Wilson, it’s going to be a backup level guy like Almonor.

I’m sure the staff has a budget and knows how much to spend on each position.
 
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