Read where there has been a grand total of ONE top 10 freshman on a national championship team since 2015 .
Caleb Wilson picks Cheats
- Thread starter Rideordiewildcat
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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.
There are no Knecht's in the portal this year or in most years. TN lucked into Knecht and the guy they got this year is not a Knecht either. There are shooters but to find what we need, a guy that you can give the ball to and get out of his way. Very few can create on their own to get open and make a high volume of shots.
We were??? Maybe you don’t remember that we were the laughing stock of college basketball with BCG here.
In the current state of college basketball, unless a freshman is the likes of an Anthony Davis, Boogie Cousins, Cooper Flagg then I think you are better building a roster completely of transfers. Most freshman are not ready to be a dominant college player. Most transfers are more physically developed men
It wasn't if you didn't plan on going after him. A kid like Cenac was available and interested. There's always options. You have fans who want to dump on the guy after the fact-the point is the recruitment was poorly handled by Kentucky. That's fine. It's over now. I like Pope/happy he's the coach and think he's doing a great job overall. This was oddly handled and it happens. Just hope if someone is going to highest bidder and making that clear, they realize he's going to go to the highest bidder and either commit all in or move on to someone who has a lower price/meets their asking price.
I said LONG before. We’ve had a blip or two but the Kentucky “brand” has always at or near the top . When we went 9-16 or missed the tournament in 2013 did our “brand” go away? No .
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How Duke has the money to get 4-5 five stars each year, each requires 1M NIL at least.
Did Cenac already preferred Houston and LSU back in Sep or Oct so we back off on him?
Also, this is the first time that Pope handles this big recruitment so he also has to learn. He did bad in this recruitment
how many national titles did we get out of that formula? From my take you need more than one, and the ones you get have to be clearly head and shoulders above all other talent. Its a formula that I think is impossible to recreate now, and was pretty damn hard before.
Look at Duke with Williamson - then look at teams that got multiple titles during that span when UK and Duke were trying to build 5 star teams.
I think we need to break away from that mindset. The portal gives you the opportunity to build a team around tested athletes who see a program like Kentucky in a different light. They don't come in thinking they are entitled to be there and they come to play every day because they know there are no guarantees. They are coachable and they are hungry.
I didn't always think like this and I hope UK never goes after a Hunter Dickenson type but I'm convinced you can build a championship team without having a freshmen who goes deer in the headlights if you ask him to run an offensive play
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Well, with a competent coach through those first 6-7 years.. four final4s, two titles appearances, a title, and I think only 1 or 2 missed Elite 8s. It was working, and that was even with Cal who we know wasn't the best Xs and Os guy.
I certainly don't want a team full of 1AD freshman. That likely won't work, especially in this era of college basketball that is more predicated on the system and not just bully ball. But I still think you need SOME elite talent.
If you look at all the recent title teams and F4 teams.. almost all of them have at least 1 projected 1st round pick. So you need somewhat of a balance of experience and skill, but also some overwhelming talent at times that you can trust can get you points, bully the paint, make precise NBA passes, etc. Now, we could get that talent in the transfer portal for sure. But it's more so to say that I think a roster like this years UK team, just doesn't have the firepower to go far in March. I think this team needs a little more.
A first round pick is one thing. A top 10 player coming out of high school is another thing . Again, there has been ONE top ten freshman on a National Championship team since 2015 .
But that's not really what I'm asking for. I dont think we need a top10 freshman or even necessarily a 5-star. But the problem we're having is this team is really just a bunch of 3*s with maybe a could 4*s sprinkled in. I'd have to look again, but I don't think this team has a single top60 player, nor does it have a projected draft pick for this coming draft. And IMO that's probably asking too much of this team to win something in March.
How many 1 and doners started for the uconn back to back champions? None!
Give us the best 4th and 5th year seniors in college basketball, full grown, mature men over 18 year old 1 and doners all day.
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