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Braxton Beverly from hazard

I hate when we lose out on in-state talent, but it happens.

And it's not a Cal thing.

Fishback with Pitino, Lofton with Tubby, Hopson and Mack with BCG. The list goes on and on.
 
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I'm not saying this is the case with Beverly because i don't know, but i know in the past we have missed or more correctly passed on in state kids because of the way Cal recruits them if he does recruit them at all. All these kids have egos and not all of them want to play at UK for their ultimate dream so when Cal says to a kid if I miss on every single guy I recruit and there is a spot for you at the end in the spring then maybe you can have the scholarship. I mean it's hard to fault a kid for being prideful and saying you know what West Virginia is dying to have me or Ohio St really wants me why should i wait for you to miss on every target then give me a pity spot.
 
I am going to their game Wednesday against Penn state in Raleigh with a NC State friend....I also went with him to see NC State vs Presbyterian and Beverly did not play that well, but he has played better since....

I hope he has a good game Wednesday....
 
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Rondo, Crawford, Bradley. Which one would you have looked at and said 'No thanks, I'm taking this unranked kid because he's close to home."
One of few top notch recruiting classes for Tubby, had it been any other year, Lofton would've been one of our top recruits.
 
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Rondo, Crawford, Bradley. Which one would you have looked at and said 'No thanks, I'm taking this unranked kid because he's close to home."

And Sparks was already on the roster red shirting that year.
 
there are few guys looking UK worthy. Bolden at WVU, Holingsworth at WKU. Hard to complain about anything Cal does and some will cry and cry around about not having Kentucky boys.I Dont care how we do it as long as we win.
 
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Lofton would not have manned up to Bogut like Smooth did.

I hate to sound like I'm crapping on Lofton, but a lot of people around here have selective memories and didn't understand the ate of the roster at that time.

Kentuckians are sometimes blinded by the 3-pointer. That's pretty much all Lofton could do. Seemed liked a nice kid and he was a good player, but he couldn't put the ball on the floor until his senior year and was a poor defender most of his career. Anyone who watched us from 1998-2007 knew OTS wasn't going to let him do nothing but hoist 3s if he couldn't guard his own shadow.

We were stacked at guard during Chris' recruitment. Yes, Lofton had a great career at UT, but he was still only 3-6 vs UK in a time we were "down" and UT was at its all-time peak.
 
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Rondo, Crawford, Bradley. Which one would you have looked at and said 'No thanks, I'm taking this unranked kid because he's close to home."

Furthermore, do you think it's possible Lofton became what he became because of feeling slighted? Who knows if he's the same player if UK offers.
 
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Rondo, Crawford, Bradley. Which one would you have looked at and said 'No thanks, I'm taking this unranked kid because he's close to home."

Not the reason imo and I was a TSF. But Loftons team beat Tubbys youngest in the state championship game. I think that was the reason.
 
Lofton was a huge miss on our part.

which player should we not have taken to recruit Lofton #146 3 star
#9 Crawford 5 star
#25 Rondo 5 star
#91 Bradley 3 star

revisionist recruiting is never wrong, but at the time all three of our guards were better prospects
 
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I think we should take the best players. But we aren't getting 13 5* players in every class. I think we should have at least 1 scholarship player from the state of Kentucky. This is probably the first year in history we haven't had one (Brad doesn't count).
 
which player should we not have taken to recruit Lofton #146 3 star
#9 Crawford 5 star
#25 Rondo 5 star
#91 Bradley 3 star

revisionist recruiting is never wrong, but at the time all three of our guards were better prospects
Agree about hindsight recruiting after the recruit proves the rating system wrong. The kid could get his shot off against almost any defender. Would take a keen eye to see his potential to shoot better than 42% from three point range with defenses targeting him. Crawford and Bradley each shot 35% with a much better surrounding cast than Lofton. Unfortunately we didn’t have a crystal ball to recruit with.
 
there are few guys looking UK worthy. Bolden at WVU, Holingsworth at WKU. Hard to complain about anything Cal does and some will cry and cry around about not having Kentucky boys.I Dont care how we do it as long as we win.
When we win a national title without an in-state kid contributing, significantly, it will be a first. 8
 
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Lofton was a huge miss on our part.
nobody would have known he was a huge miss...because he wouldn't have been given the same opportunities here due to the ridiculous notion that Kentucky high school basketball players arent talented. He would have been another Brandon Stockton, Josh Carrier ect.....not saying Lofton wasnt more talented...just saying he would have been more than likely been viewed the same. Even by the fans...
 
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I went to high school with Braxton, played against him growing up in middle school and was friends with him until I graduated and went on to college...he has always been a special talent, but was supposed to have graduated in 2016. Do you take him over Fox? No way, and I would take Quade over him right now. He is a great kid and a good player, but me and one of his former teammates were talking the other night...without prep school, there's no way he sniffs a D-1 offer and by the time he had left Kentucky, Cal had already moved on to the classes behind him. Now, I think he will make a good player at NC State, but not sure he would ever be UK material. If he happens to transfer here, I'll be proven wrong and hope he does well. But it's definitely not a miss on Cal's behalf at the moment.
 
I think we should take the best players. But we aren't getting 13 5* players in every class. I think we should have at least 1 scholarship player from the state of Kentucky. This is probably the first year in history we haven't had one (Brad doesn't count).
No we shouldn’t. Then what happens when none of those guys are good enough to contribute but after a handful of years are comprising about half of our roster? Give the scholarships to the guys Cal thinks fit our team. Period.
 
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