Caleb Wilson picks Cheats
- Thread starter Rideordiewildcat
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Read where there has been a grand total of ONE top 10 freshman on a national championship team since 2015 .
you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot force them to make rational decisions.
I see your point but I’d counter with……The Kentucky brand was at the top well before Cal and his NBA farm team came along. I feel like UCONN’s brand is as high as anyones right now and coming into this year Hurley had signed ONE top thirty kid.
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From the sound of things, this wasn’t about NIL. It came down to role. Wilson didn’t trust that Pope will play him enough and/or feature him enough…and you know, Caleb could be right about that. He would have played a ton but I don’t know this offensive game would have him being a feature player if you have guys like Oweh and Johnson on the roster. I have no hate for the kid. Good luck at UNC where you may or may not make the tournament.
That's every recruitment though. Even the players we get. There will always be fanbases left upset.
I slept just fine after seeing this announcement. There are more seasoned fish in the sea, those that can actually stretch the floor.
Recent?
Maybe to me and you but how old was Wilson when this was news.
I guarantee you he would have no idea if asked about it.
For reference when Cal was introduced as UK coach, Wilson had yet to turn 3.
With Pope, I have no issues when we miss. His style of play will be entertaining for a lot of transfer portal players. Plus I really don’t want to go back to the Cal days of having 4/5 freshmen starting.
What I don’t want is the #1 ON PAPER recruiting class. These rankings reflect NBA ceiling more than current game impact. We all saw how these freshmen are rough around the edges half the time. I want the #1 ON THE COURT recruiting class. I want a recruiting class that has more wins and final fours and championships than any other class.
If we get a 1-and-done every year or two that is about as much as we would need and as much as I would want. If we have 1 freshman starter on a team every couple years I think that’s fine, but otherwise we need upperclassmen starting and leading the program.
I want guys who stay 2-4 years. I want guys who are NBA talents but aren’t ready in year 1 or who would make more money in NIL as sophomores and juniors than they would their first year in the league. I want guys who want to win every game they play as much as they want to make money and get famous.
It sucks. But he seemingly dropped his verbal to us, drug his commitment along, then went to the highest bidder.
It will be a loss numbers wise, but culture wise? We may have dodged a bullet.
Don’t really think that would make a difference to him. He’ll have a bag and all the minutes he wants, then moving on.
That had to be the earliest announcement I ever seen. You don’t see a lot of guys commit at the crack of dawn, ready to take that 💰
LOL at the fans who bring up "drama". This is a talented guy, was transparent from day one about what he was looking for and I shared that with the board in my surprise that Kentucky was going after him so intensely and why I was initially told they had 0 chance. Didn't think they'd even enter that type of battle for a player-they did. It's okay to support and like Coach Pope and admit that this recruitment was poorly handled. Reason I say that is if you want to flinch at the last second for a guy you chose to invest the time you did while passing up opportunities to recruit others over $$$ which the player/his family made clear were going to be #1 factor-then its on the HC/Staff. Now you hear of Ament-well Top 5 players don't get cheaper in the Spring.....so if they want to invest in this--better be prepared to come with a big number or don't waste time.
I'm fine with the approach where you spread the wealth and go after deeper roster with payroll being more evenly balanced but to call this guy out for doing what he said he was going to do from Day 1 is just sour grapes. You either win/lose in recruiting, no building for the future or gaining off a loss-so onto the next player(s).
Wilson will be fine at UNC-they play open court/free flowing basketball like UK does--and he's a very versatile player who will make an impact. Just because he picked another program having a down year, doesn't mean he'll suck or they'll suck. I mean they have a HC who has been in a NCG in the last 3 yrs too. I don't think Pope/UK need any boost from tearing other programs/coaches down and oddest thing in the entire recruitment was hearing about the NIL $ being a factor late--I mean it was as clear as can be regarding what was going to matter to Wilson in his decision.
I'm fine with the approach where you spread the wealth and go after deeper roster with payroll being more evenly balanced but to call this guy out for doing what he said he was going to do from Day 1 is just sour grapes. You either win/lose in recruiting, no building for the future or gaining off a loss-so onto the next player(s).
Wilson will be fine at UNC-they play open court/free flowing basketball like UK does--and he's a very versatile player who will make an impact. Just because he picked another program having a down year, doesn't mean he'll suck or they'll suck. I mean they have a HC who has been in a NCG in the last 3 yrs too. I don't think Pope/UK need any boost from tearing other programs/coaches down and oddest thing in the entire recruitment was hearing about the NIL $ being a factor late--I mean it was as clear as can be regarding what was going to matter to Wilson in his decision.
Point taken about staying in on Wilson instead of shifting to others but PF is pretty thin in this class once you drop out of the top 10.
No sweat! Davis had to “outbid” UK for Wilson to save his ass after whiffing on the field, and having an abysmal ‘25 season!
He grossly overpaid in my estimation, as was Pope potentially, but Pope dodged an expensive bullet here with this one!
I promise, whoever Pope gets in his spot from the portal, will be way more valuable for next season than this 18 year old OAD “pre-Madonna”🤣
He grossly overpaid in my estimation, as was Pope potentially, but Pope dodged an expensive bullet here with this one!
I promise, whoever Pope gets in his spot from the portal, will be way more valuable for next season than this 18 year old OAD “pre-Madonna”🤣
That's just recruiting.
He's far from the first to do that.
If that wasn't the case there would never be "hats on the table"
My thoughts on losing Wilson...meh. Of course we want guys like Flagg when they come along but that's one or two guys every few years; Cal only got 3 comparable freshmen in 16 years(Wall, Boogie, AD), imo. Most of them, Wilson included, are not going to be as good as freshmen as the top senior players. I don't see this as a big loss, but more one of those "you can't win them all" things.
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I heard we offered 2.7 million. So UNC at least offered that because you know it was about the money.
Man that seems high.
I guess Dybanasta set the rate this year.
You wouldn't think Bailey and Harper both got that kind of money from Rutgers.
I thought so too but it seems like prices are skyrocketing. We will see but for that kinda money we could get 2 portal studs I’d think.
