Cal is at a crossroads, which path will he choose?

[TFCats11]

Cal has found himself in a very unique situation, and how he handles the situation will determine his future.

Currently, he has 6 freshman coming in who most likely expect one of the 5 starting positions. Each returning player (Sheppard, and Dillingham will not be one of those) will be expecting one of those starting positions as well!

No high impact transfers will consider UK, or any other program, without a starting role and guaranteed NIL promised up front, and the same can be said for potential returning players from this past season, and he knows this.

So, we can safely assume that he has about 4 scholarships to play with between returning players and transfers, because he never uses the entire 13.

Every returnee takes a starting position away from a freshman, and every player who decides not to return, and every transfer who chooses elsewhere, puts a freshman in a starting position, which we know doesn’t work anymore.

So, how does Cal use those 4 scholarships to put an experienced, more mature team on the court next season, while keeping the 6 freshman happy that he has no doubtedly made “promises” to?

We will know which path he chooses to take very soon.

 

[6andahalf]

Red pill I think

 

[BluPappi81]

The path of least resistance. It's what lazy people do.

 

[FilsonCat]

Cal will start the freshmen, roll the balls out, and the results will speak for themselves. I only see one way that this scenario realistically shakes out.

 

[BlueWorldOrder74]

Red pill I think

Blue pill bro. Get it up and keep it up.

 

[UKGrad24]

I don’t believe anything will change at all, because I believe he’s riding out for the money as long as he can and helping his circle get as much money as they can before he’s done. If we look at his past coaching stops, he never leaves on good terms. I don’t see why that would be any different now. He will probably not get any marquee portal players because of the promises he’s already made. I think this is Calipari’s last season and after this coming year he’ll take a smaller buyout and go. So nothing will change this year, it’ll more than likely be one more slap in our faces before the bolt.

I personally hold the opinion that Cal was gone to the NBA and the contract and full control kept him here. He hasn’t wanted to coach at UK for a long time and this is purely about money now. We just have to ride it out and never, ever, give a coach this kind of money and control again unless they win to a level that deserves it. Especially one that has a reputation like Cal, it was just was a very stupid thing to do. Cal isn’t the type of guy you ever put that kind of trust into. I also agree with many here, I don’t see how Barnhart can keep his job. When Cal goes the natural thing is for him to go too.

 

[TFCats11]

The path of least resistance. It's what lazy people do.

Like I said, we’ll know very soon if that’s the case, and BTW, I expect nothing different from him, even though he knows it will be to his detriment.

 

[TFCats11]

I don’t believe anything will change at all, because I believe he’s riding out for the money as long as he can and helping his circle get as much money as they can before he’s done. If we look at his past coaching stops, he never leaves on good terms. I don’t see why that would be any different now.

I personally hold the opinion that Cal was gone to the NBA and the contract and full control kept him here. He hasn’t wanted to coach at UK for a long time and this is purely about money now. We just have to ride it out and never, ever, give a coach this kind of money and control again unless they win to a level that deserves it. Especially one that has a reputation like Cal. It was a very stupid thing to do.

I agree 100%! It’s just going to be funny when he doesn’t even pretend to care to make the right changes to his own philosophy.

 

[Catfanlou]

Good analysis . I think we may see soon what the answer is as he is still recruiting a seventh freshman . If he secures that commitment we have our answer .

His only way out of this is to publicly announce we are no longer a one and done school . That no one is promised playing time . That he will hit the portal hard and the players who perform best in practice will start and each player will only play the minutes he earns.

Won’t happen. I fear that Rupp arena will get very ugly next year if we have an obvious display of favoritism to the detriment of the team as we did this year .

MB is a wus and a fool if he permits this to happen again.

He also needs to announce that as players enter the draft he is going to assume they are gone and recruit as best he can to build a winning team. If they opt out and want to come back we will take them back only if we have scholarships left as we have to think of UK and our fans first ,

We will see but judging from the same old boring say nothing platitudes we have heard from Cal and MB since this debacle I doubt anything will change .

 

[chroix]

Two forks in a road and our dumb SOB is gonna try to just plow straight on through

 

[chroix]

Cal has found himself in a very unique situation, and how he handles the situation will determine his future.

Currently, he has 6 freshman coming in who most likely expect one of the 5 starting positions. Each returning player (Sheppard, and Dillingham will not be one of those) will be expecting one of those starting positions as well!

No high impact transfers will consider UK, or any other program, without a starting role and guaranteed NIL promised up front, and the same can be said for potential returning players from this past season, and he knows this.

So, we can safely assume that he has about 4 scholarships to play with between returning players and transfers, because he never uses the entire 13.

Every returnee takes a starting position away from a freshman, and every player who decides not to return, and every transfer who chooses elsewhere, puts a freshman in a starting position, which we know doesn’t work anymore.

So, how does Cal use those 4 scholarships to put an experienced, more mature team on the court next season, while keeping the 6 freshman happy that he has no doubtedly made “promises” to?

We will know which path he chooses to take very soon.

Great analysis of the current situation.

 

[mcnicKY91]

To be honest, Cal's teams have been at their best when he had a a rotation of 6-7 guys (2015 season platoon season aside, as that was a very unique season) that he could only play. It removes all his stupid substitution patterns, playing "his guys," or who should be starting. When he has a roster of 10-11 guys that could all make a case to start at some point in the season, he becomes clueless with roster mgt.

Look at Cal's most successful seasons. 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2017, 2019, 2020.

Everybody knew who the guys were that needed to play, and they played. There were no other alternatives for Cal from a playing standpoint.

When he has too many guys, he seemingly doesn't know what to do.

 

[YardCat]

I think we all know what road or pill Cal is going to take. It is what it is, a dog can’t change his spots.

 

[WeWant9]

He has said he doesn’t think he’ll change his approach of having a young team, and only expects to add maybe 2 portal guys. We haven’t heard anything of a staff shakeup since the season ended. I wouldn’t expect much change going into next year.

 

[UKGrad24]

He has said he doesn’t think he’ll change his approach of having a young team, and only expects to add maybe 2 portal guys. We haven’t heard anything of a staff shakeup since the season ended. I wouldn’t expect much change going into next year.

Cal worked a con on the university. He’s not changing anything, totally agree. He’s riding this out is what it appears to be. I also think Cal thinks he did enough for the program by bringing his system in and winning early, while keeping us out of the gutter completely today.

If he does make a change, it will be the odd man out like maybe Chin who he’s not overly close to. But other than that we’re not going to see anything different. He’s going to ride this wave as long as he can, get rich, give lip service, and continue to throw as many into the league as he can.

I’m still convinced he’s going to begin some kind of agency when he’s done. There is something unique on his mind because he doesn’t care about his records or having reputation / legacy at UK. It’s strictly about rich players, so it very well could be a new agency that his family will run. He’s only concerned with constantly promoting his players and the money he’s helped them create. Seems way beyond a recruiting pitch now.

So it Sounds like an agent right? And look at how many clients he might have. It would be as lucrative or more than coaching. And if so, he’s using UK strictly to build clientele. His family could run it for generations down the line.

 

[WeWant9]

Cal worked a con on the university. He’s not changing anything, totally agree. He’s riding this out is what it appears to be.

If he does make a change, it will be the odd man out like maybe Chin who he’s not overly close to. But other than that we’re not going to see anything different. He’s going to ride this wave as long as he can, get rich, give lip service, and continue to throw as many into the league as he can.

I’m still convinced he’s going to begin some kind of agency when he’s done. There is something unique on his mind because he doesn’t care about his records or having reputation / legacy at UK. It’s strictly about rich players, so it very well could be a new agency that his family will run. He’s only concerned with constantly promoting his players and the money he’s helped them create. Seems way beyond a recruiting pitch now.

So it Sounds like an agent right? And look at how many clients he might have. It would be as lucrative or more than coaching. And if so, he’s using UK strictly to build clientele. His family could run it for generations down the line.

Replace Chin with Brad, start 4 freshman next year.

I agree it’s not a recruiting pitch. Listen to him, take him at face value, and you’ll see his priorities don’t align with 98% of us. I don’t think he cares about a second title. I’m not even mad anymore, I’ll just twiddle my thumbs until this mess passes.

 

[uk78]

Cal's ego has been his downfall. He won't hire better than him (or ambitious) assistant coaches, he wants it his way and to be in charge, he thinks he knows better, and has a tunnel vision belief in dribble drive offense and man switching defense. He has never really encouraged a full court press despite the depth advantage several of his teams could have had, he evidently doesn't prepare inbounds plays or defense of them, zone what's that, on court performance doesn't necessarily equal playing time or starting, and he has no fear of losing his job from a monetary situation.

So, his motivation will be his pride and ego. Therefore, I expect he will go after some portal talent but otherwise expecting him to change is simply not going to occur. I am sure he thinks; why should he? He knows better than us! So, his path will remain the same.

 

[SkyPrince1]

What would we consider Adou?
A returning player or a portal addition?

 

[BigBlueManSouthCentralKY]

Cal has found himself in a very unique situation, and how he handles the situation will determine his future.

Currently, he has 6 freshman coming in who most likely expect one of the 5 starting positions. Each returning player (Sheppard, and Dillingham will not be one of those) will be expecting one of those starting positions as well!

No high impact transfers will consider UK, or any other program, without a starting role and guaranteed NIL promised up front, and the same can be said for potential returning players from this past season, and he knows this.

So, we can safely assume that he has about 4 scholarships to play with between returning players and transfers, because he never uses the entire 13.

Every returnee takes a starting position away from a freshman, and every player who decides not to return, and every transfer who chooses elsewhere, puts a freshman in a starting position, which we know doesn’t work anymore.

So, how does Cal use those 4 scholarships to put an experienced, more mature team on the court next season, while keeping the 6 freshman happy that he has no doubtedly made “promises” to?

We will know which path he chooses to take very soon.

I kind of have a feeling, because of his comments, that he wanted to be here for the new recruiting class. Would not be surprised if he is planning on quitting after this year. IF that is his plans, IMO he will continue working to make his five stars one and done ahead of a championship. If he brings in three or four can't miss portal guys I think he could be changing his top priority. So what he does in the portal could be a hint at if he is planning on changing or not. If he only brings in a couple or portal guys like normal may not be a good sign of changing.

 

[TFCats11]

Good analysis . I think we may see soon what the answer is as he is still recruiting a seventh freshman . If he secures that commitment we have our answer .

His only way out of this is to publicly announce we are no longer a one and done school . That no one is promised playing time . That he will hit the portal hard and the players who perform best in practice will start and each player will only play the minutes he earns.

Won’t happen. I fear that Rupp arena will get very ugly next year if we have an obvious display of favoritism to the detriment of the team as we did this year .

MB is a wus and a fool if he permits this to happen again.

He also needs to announce that as players enter the draft he is going to assume they are gone and recruit as best he can to build a winning team. If they opt out and want to come back we will take them back only if we have scholarships left as we have to think of UK and our fans first ,

We will see but judging from the same old boring say nothing platitudes we have heard from Cal and MB since this debacle I doubt anything will change .

I didn’t know about a 7th freshman! For F’s sake😩

 

[Mariner7]

I don’t believe anything will change at all, because I believe he’s riding out for the money as long as he can and helping his circle get as much money as they can before he’s done. If we look at his past coaching stops, he never leaves on good terms. I don’t see why that would be any different now. He will probably not get any marquee portal players because of the promises he’s already made. I think this is Calipari’s last season and after this coming year he’ll take a smaller buyout and go. So nothing will change this year, it’ll more than likely be one more slap in our faces before the bolt.

I personally hold the opinion that Cal was gone to the NBA and the contract and full control kept him here. He hasn’t wanted to coach at UK for a long time and this is purely about money now. We just have to ride it out and never, ever, give a coach this kind of money and control again unless they win to a level that deserves it. Especially one that has a reputation like Cal, it was just was a very stupid thing to do. Cal isn’t the type of guy you ever put that kind of trust into. I also agree with many here, I don’t see how Barnhart can keep his job. When Cal goes the natural thing is for him to go too.

I totally agree about Cal was gone to the NBA & the AD panicked & gave him that ridiculous contract! I was a huge Cal supporter but the college basketball climate has obviously changed and you need to hit the portal for veterans, grab some program type kids, & be selective in the 5-4* types to win in the college landscape now! I don’t think Cal can do that or wants to do that!!

 

[BlueSince92]

I like your thinking but I think you may be underestimating Cal’s sales skills. The only area where he hasn’t regressed.

Look at all the people here (I should probably say all the accounts) who know our 120-year history and traditions well and still believe Cal is the only man for this job. That’s some serious brainwashing power.

He’ll be cornering kids who’ve only ever heard of Kentucky as a far-off blue blood and probably only ever heard of Cal as a titan when they were quite young and as someone possibly on the hot seat now. All he really needs to do with all that brainwashing power is convince a few of those kids he’s still the titan he ever was, but he got taken advantage of for a while by evil assistants who are gone now. And now he wants to clear his name. And they are the kids who can help him do it.

Many kids in that position will be way too star struck to bargain hard about playing time guarantees. Against Cal? This is the guy we’ve always said could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman wearing white gloves. I think there’s a really strong chance he’ll just do that five times and then cue up the lazy tunes with no changes at all.

But I hope you’re right and I’m wrong.

 

[TFCats11]

What would we consider Adou?
A returning player or a portal addition?

Adou would be a returning player who would be expecting to start, as he should! Same with Wagner, Edwards, Z, and Ugo. The only one who might be a returning reserve would be Bradshaw, but he’s almost 100% transferring along with Ugo. I really hope Z returns, however.

 

[BlueBomb]

Cal created a monster. And it's been eating him for about five years now. And there ain't much left to chew on.

 

[mc140]

I'll never get why he doesn't use 1-2 scholarships on low level D1 prospects who would simply be happy to wear the uniform and not have delusions of starting or playing a lot.. Plus there is always the chance someone could develop into a decent role player.

 

[EliteBlue]

The path of least resistance. It's what lazy people do.

This. He will start at least 3 freshmen. Nothing is going to change. We just have to hope the results click for a season

 

[moses1uk]

Cal has found himself in a very unique situation, and how he handles the situation will determine his future.

Currently, he has 6 freshman coming in who most likely expect one of the 5 starting positions. Each returning player (Sheppard, and Dillingham will not be one of those) will be expecting one of those starting positions as well!

No high impact transfers will consider UK, or any other program, without a starting role and guaranteed NIL promised up front, and the same can be said for potential returning players from this past season, and he knows this.

So, we can safely assume that he has about 4 scholarships to play with between returning players and transfers, because he never uses the entire 13.

Every returnee takes a starting position away from a freshman, and every player who decides not to return, and every transfer who chooses elsewhere, puts a freshman in a starting position, which we know doesn’t work anymore.

So, how does Cal use those 4 scholarships to put an experienced, more mature team on the court next season, while keeping the 6 freshman happy that he has no doubtedly made “promises” to?

We will know which path he chooses to take very soon.

youre one of the frauds that posted Cal had to start Bradshaw and never bench him

 

[rick64]

A dramatic culture and leadership change is needed. There's just no other way around it. Cal is pretty much a lame duck coach if he doesn't have an improved regular season and more importantly post season. He didn't recognize the changing landscape of college basketball and adapt. He's continued doing it 'his' way, and sadly that way doesn't really work anymore.

If MB had a crystal ball in 2019 when allegedly UCLA offered Cal $8M/yr and could look into the future and see the outcome of the next few seasons, I'd like to think he would've told Cal to go. But at the time he was probably the hottest coach in college bball. The fan base would've absolutely gone crazy that he let him go. Probably even worse than they are now. So I can kinda understand why he upped his contract and made the buyout so high thinking he wouldn't have to worry about another school or NBA team coming after Cal again. Sadly this has bitten MB, the program and fan base in the back side.

MB is just prolonging the inevitable I believe. Reports were, depending on whom you believe, that the money was there should he want to remove Cal If that's true then my only conclusion is that the coaches he would want to replace him were either not interested/available, or their buyouts were so high that coupled with the Cal buyout the cost was just too much to justify.

 

[cats2010]

Adou would be a returning player who would be expecting to start, as he should! Same with Wagner, Edwards, Z, and Ugo. The only one who might be a returning reserve would be Bradshaw, but he’s almost 100% transferring along with Ugo. I really hope Z returns, however.

Love to see Z back cal has zero clue how to use him and Z will not flourish under cal as he will lot be allowed to play to his skill set. Z will look much better after he gets away from cal.

 

[ace on the river]

I think he's made it well known which path he will choose

 

[gojvc]

Like I said, we’ll know very soon if that’s the case, and BTW, I expect nothing different from him, even though he knows it will be to his detriment.

I’m not sure all six freshman plus Hart/Burks will be on this team in October. Based on nothing but my gut feeling. It does appear we are active in the portal right now. We’re in contact with some interesting players early, unlike last year, including a couple with multiple years of eligibility remaining. So we’ll see where this goes.

 

[Fox2monk]

Cal has found himself in a very unique situation, and how he handles the situation will determine his future.

Currently, he has 6 freshman coming in who most likely expect one of the 5 starting positions. Each returning player (Sheppard, and Dillingham will not be one of those) will be expecting one of those starting positions as well!

No high impact transfers will consider UK, or any other program, without a starting role and guaranteed NIL promised up front, and the same can be said for potential returning players from this past season, and he knows this.

So, we can safely assume that he has about 4 scholarships to play with between returning players and transfers, because he never uses the entire 13.

Every returnee takes a starting position away from a freshman, and every player who decides not to return, and every transfer who chooses elsewhere, puts a freshman in a starting position, which we know doesn’t work anymore.

So, how does Cal use those 4 scholarships to put an experienced, more mature team on the court next season, while keeping the 6 freshman happy that he has no doubtedly made “promises” to?

We will know which path he chooses to take very soon.

He’s gonna build the team the same way he always does, 1 or 2 key players short. Either not enough shooting or defense. He will get them to paper Tiger status and then choke in the first games of every tournament we play in.

 

[TFCats11]

Love to see Z back cal has zero clue how to use him and Z will not flourish under cal as he will lot be allowed to play to his skill set. Z will look much better after he gets away from cal.

I absolutely agree! Cal sees a 7 footer and automatically assumes they belong in the post banging around 🤣

 

[FrankUnderwood2.0]

What would we consider Adou?
A returning player or a portal addition?

At this point, a returning player.

I wish he put as much emphasis and importance on getting guys like Adou back (and portal players) as he does mid tier 5 stars.

For whatever reason he hasn’t been able to nab the elite Of the elite guys for awhile (Zion, Anthony Edwards, Cooper Flag etc)

 

[FrankUnderwood2.0]

I didn’t know about a 7th freshman! For F’s sake😩

It’s about these kids.

 

[sluggercatfan]

I don’t believe anything will change at all, because I believe he’s riding out for the money as long as he can and helping his circle get as much money as they can before he’s done. If we look at his past coaching stops, he never leaves on good terms. I don’t see why that would be any different now. He will probably not get any marquee portal players because of the promises he’s already made. I think this is Calipari’s last season and after this coming year he’ll take a smaller buyout and go. So nothing will change this year, it’ll more than likely be one more slap in our faces before the bolt.

I personally hold the opinion that Cal was gone to the NBA and the contract and full control kept him here. He hasn’t wanted to coach at UK for a long time and this is purely about money now. We just have to ride it out and never, ever, give a coach this kind of money and control again unless they win to a level that deserves it. Especially one that has a reputation like Cal, it was ust was a very stupid thing to do. Cal isn’t the type of guy you ever put that kind of trust into. I also agree with many here, I don’t see how Barnhart can keep his job. When Cal goes the natural thing is for him to go too.

Good post and I agree with everything, but he won't leave for one penny less than his contract calls for. He's pissed at the fanbase and will not walk away to appease us in any way!!! He BELIEVES he is the greatest thing thats ever happened to UK.

 

[bucsrule8872]

He’ll probably get Wagner and Burks back and sign one transfer, then sign the McNeely kid from the McD’s AA game and call it good.

Cal will say he got Wagner to return and signed a transfer, so he is trying to get older. LOL!

 

[Bluesbrother]

Cal's ego has been his downfall. He won't hire better than him (or ambitious) assistant coaches, he wants it his way and to be in charge, he thinks he knows better, and has a tunnel vision belief in dribble drive offense and man switching defense. He has never really encouraged a full court press despite the depth advantage several of his teams could have had, he evidently doesn't prepare inbounds plays or defense of them, zone what's that, on court performance doesn't necessarily equal playing time or starting, and he has no fear of losing his job from a monetary situation.

So, his motivation will be his pride and ego. Therefore, I expect he will go after some portal talent but otherwise expecting him to change is simply not going to occur. I am sure he thinks; why should he? He knows better than us! So, his path will remain the same.

... it's why he doesn't have a coaching tree.

 

[Ky-troutbum]

Two forks in a road and our dumb SOB is gonna try to just plow straight on through

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
- Yogi Berra

 

[Fox2monk]

I absolutely agree! Cal sees a 7 footer and automatically assumes they belong in the post banging around 🤣

After he debuts running all over the court throwing passes behind his back and raining 3’s. Never had that freedom again.