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Caleb Wilson on live with Finkelstein at 1 ET today: "update on his recruitment đź‘€"

I imagine that once a player gets into the program here and is under the tutelage of Pope, they start to have an understanding of what the program means. Not just to us but to the coach himself. That will be an important part to some guys returning instead of running to the association.
 
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So I’m a sheep because I don’t freak out every time an 18 year old kid doesn’t make a decision I like? Try and at least make sense If you’re going to insult me. And also maybe stop pretending to be a girl, morgz. It’s pretty cringe.
 
Landing the best dude doesn't always equal success. Ask IU about how that's going with Ballo. or Washington with Osobor.

Washington is 1-6 in conference. IU is 4-3 in conference and just took an ass kicking from the Illini.

Landing the best dude doesn't always mean you'll be good.
 
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Landing the best dude doesn't always equal success. Ask IU about how that's going with Ballo. or Washington with Osobor.

Washington is 1-6 in conference. IU is 4-3 in conference and just took an ass kicking from the Illini.

Landing the best dude doesn't always mean you'll be good.

I’ve never seen an untalented national championship team
 
Landing the best dude doesn't always equal success. Ask IU about how that's going with Ballo. or Washington with Osobor.

Washington is 1-6 in conference. IU is 4-3 in conference and just took an ass kicking from the Illini.

Landing the best dude doesn't always mean you'll be good.
IU has taken back to back shelackings: they had a 25 pt road loss right before Illinois punked them at home by 25
 
But these guys mostly are all high nba draft picks. Many guys do not care about winning in NCAA and just want to go to NBA asap.

If wilson is this kind of guy, he will go to UNC, otherwise it will be us. We are all guessing because we are not sure what type of guy he is. He will go to nba in one year no matter which school he will choose

All players want to get to the NBA asap. Most just aren't good enough to do so. All of our experienced current players wouldn't be on this year's roster if the NBA was an option.
 
I quit following recruiting for the most part several years ago. I will check out who is interested and then quit until close to time of commitment and signing. Too much information for and against to know what's true. Feint heart? Maybe, or just tired of the B.S. attached to it.

That’s the way to do it.

Something tells me feint of heart has never been used to describe you. I hear you on the BS.
 
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No, but you also don't see them as all the top recruits either. Chemistry matters a whole lot.

Yeah, it's a mix. But UK hasn't ever won a title without at least a couple first round picks on its roster. Same with making the final four. Do we have that this season?

Next season too early to tell.
 
Either way Pope will be making the decision on whether the kid comes here. Mark is all about chemistry and if he senses something off anytime between now and the commitment, he'll call it off.
"Mark" as you call him, like you are family or close friend to him, wants Wilson really bad. He knows he can't depend solely on the portal every year, he has to have a blend of portal guys, returning players, and solid top tier high school guys. The last thing he wants to do is be known as a coach who doesn't recruit top talent. By the way, nothing has been even remotely suggested that Wilson is a bad guy or big ego, or selfish.
 
Wilson cut list to 3. UK, Carolina and Ohio St. His commitment date is January 23rd.
If Wilson has OSU in his final three, that tells us it is ALL about the $$$$. What in heck would a kid from Atlanta even think about Columbus, OH as a destination to advance his basketball career. Maybe OSU was included more as a joke. I truly don't think they, (OSU), really is in play to get Wilson to play basketball for them. I think we have Wilson with a silent commit.
 
AFAIK, every eligible player in the country may be in the portal at season's end. I mean...what's stopping them and why do we truly believe that we won't lose a bunch to the portal. I certainly hope not and I think a lot of guys would like to play for UK AND for Pope. But as written, the rules let players go wherever the money is, if they choose to.
Sad but true,
That said, I don't think we lose many, if anyone to the portal and that between NIL and guys wanting to both stay and come here, we're better off than most, regardless of what Wilson decides. I'm really curious to see what the portal becomes by April or whatever it is.
 
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I know right, like the next season doesn’t start for awhile so whenever he decides means little to me. Most of our class is set so whenever he decides we either have everyone or need one more portal guy which will be a long ways away too.
I'm not a bit stressed over recruiting these days. I feel very confident Pope will get the guys he needs for his system and the program. I feel so much better about where our program is and where it's heading than I have in years. I agree with you Fox2Monk, let's enjoy this season and next season will be taken care of in one way or another. If Wilson wants to join the party at UK, great, if not, we'll be just fine.
 
I'm not a bit stressed over recruiting these days. I feel very confident Pope will get the guys he needs for his system and the program. I feel so much better about where our program is and where it's heading than I have in years. I agree with you Fox2Monk, let's enjoy this season and next season will be taken care of in one way or another. If Wilson wants to join the party at UK, great, if not, we'll be just fine.
I have to pretty much agree. I do think we are about to see the wild, wild west with the portal, though. We ain't seen nothin yet, is my guess.
 
I’m worried about games again because I genuinely care about the team again. It feels like a Kentucky team. I am so happy though.
Funny, last few years I would not get excited about the games. I would watch but if we were getting destroyed, turn it over to something else. Did not worry much about it when we got behind by half time because it generally meant it was over.
 
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I wish Pope would come out and announce that he is no longer recruiting Wilson.

I pray he does not do this lol.

Not because specifically I'm all that torn up over getting Wilson or not getting Wilson, we'll be fine either way.

At the end of the day, u still need top talent to win national titles. Pope will have to ring in some of these guys to combine with the transfer/4 year type players.

I don't think you want to send any negative message here.
 
Funny, last few years I would not get excited about the games. I would watch but if we were getting destroyed, turn it over to something else. Did not worry much about it when we got behind by half time because it generally meant it was over.
I know how you felt. I would record most games and watch if we win. I always watch with my mom when I can but we both got tired of Cal.
 
I'm kinda lucky I'm that I really don't know much about any player until after they get here. That's probably one reason I get so frustrated with the guys that are one season and see ya...even though I can't blame a guy that's first round and especially lottery for grabbing that gold ring while they can.

I'm gonna have to fall back on of the coaches believe they can build a team.
 
As I said before, we will be fine either way.

This is not Calipari we are talking about.

This is not a make or break recruit situation like we saw so many times before with Cal.

If Pope misses on Wilson, I am confident he will find a good option in the portal, maybe a better option. Maybe a player that fits better.

I just know that Pope has a strategy for if we whiff with this kid. Pope, unlike Cal, will have a plan B, C, and D if Wilson goes elsewhere.

Cal was so arrogant and clueless (a dangerous combination) that he had no idea what to do when a kid went elsewhere. Cal was and is a good recruiter, but when he missed on his top target, he was in scramble mode the rest of the way.

Pope loves to play chess, so he knows the importance of thinking ahead and having a strategy in place and being able to look at all possible outcomes and planning for each.

Meanwhile, Cal is playing checkers. He’s great at it, but it’s still checkers.
 
The whole "come be the man" sales pitch has never made any sense to me.

You're basically telling the player, "Yeah, we can't seem to be able to land anyone else at your talent level, so if you come here you'll definitely be the best player"

That, to me, wouldn't excite me. Why is NOBODY ELSE on my talent-level willing to go there? So I am going to play with a bunch of scrubs and get double-teamed and have the fans blame me for every loss? Where is the appeal?

OR, go play with some other studs at Kentucky, have less pressure, win a bunch and still put up numbers, and have other great players open up more opportunities for you to succeed.

I know which one I'd pick.

That argument has just NEVER made any sense to me, and that's what happens when you see the results of guys like Ben Simmons at LSU, Cade Cunningham at Oklahoma State, Michael Porter Jr. at Mizzou, Darius Garland at Vanderbilt, now Ace Bailey at Rutgers, etc., the list goes ON and ON - a bunch of good players who won't even sniff the NCAA Tournament because they wanted to be "THE MAN".

On top of all these great points.. its not like the NBA can't parse through the data and see that a player's stats are helped/hindered by the team they are on. It's not like scouts look at Caleb having like 3 less ppg at UK and not see that his shooting percentages are the same (if not better) as opposed to simply having more touches st UNC.

Reed Sheppard, 12pts per game in college.
Anthony Davis, shoe in #1 pick that year, 14pts per game. There are probably 100 players in D1 who averaged more points than either of them.. and none of them were drafted higher.

The NBA can sniff out pretty easily who is a great player, and who is just a chucker on a bad team.
 
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