I so enjoy Cal's recruiting

[UK_fan_41102]

I know some on here ridicule Cal for taking Diallo or not getting certain recruits, but ask yourself one important question, would his predecessors have even been in the conversation? People should realize that not one top level coach gets every prospect they want, and nobody tops Cal in regard to getting them either. Cal's recruiting is akin to Ted Williams batting, yes they may strikeout every once in a while, but their batting average isn't to be topped in landing recruits/hitting either, and you wouldn't call Ted Williams a slouch, would you?

Now I remember the days of hoping that we would sign players like Verdell Jones, Maurice Sutton, Konner Tucker, etc to fill out our roster. I also remember watching players such as Michael Porter, Mark Coury, Sheray Thomas, etc struggle to make plays for UK. Now I'm not bashing these players as people, but the fact was none of them were remotely UK level players (not their fault I know). I also never watched the McDonald's or Jordan Brand games before Cal either, because it pained me seeing other blue bloods with multiple 5 stars in the game and seeing UK with one(if we were lucky that year). Also, for those that criticize Cal for the one title, do you really think his predecessors would have done any better with the recruits they were bringing in? Do you think UK would have been in as many Final 4's as they've enjoyed under Cal?

Btw, when Cal finally decides to retire from here(hopefully years down the road), UK will still reap the benefits of his coaching here, because future recruits will turn on the t.v. and see numerous UK players in the NBA. Just think how UNC is still benefitting from some guy wearing #23 even to this day.

 

[willievic]

I know some on here ridicule Cal for taking Diallo or not getting certain recruits, but ask yourself one important question, would his predecessors have even been in the conversation? People should realize that not one top level coach gets every prospect they want, and nobody tops Cal in regard to getting them either. Cal's recruiting is akin to Ted Williams batting, yes they may strikeout every once in a while, but their batting average isn't to be topped in landing recruits/hitting either, and you wouldn't call Ted Williams a slouch, would you?

Now I remember the days of hoping that we would sign players like Verdell Jones, Maurice Sutton, Konner Tucker, etc to fill out our roster. I also remember watching players such as Michael Porter, Mark Coury, Sheray Thomas, etc struggle to make plays for UK. Now I'm not bashing these players as people, but the fact was none of them were remotely UK level players (not their fault I know). I also never watched the McDonald's or Jordan Brand games before Cal either, because it pained me seeing other blue bloods with multiple 5 stars in the game and seeing UK with one(if we were lucky that year). Also, for those that criticize Cal for the one title, do you really think his predecessors would have done any better with the recruits they were bringing in? Do you think UK would have been in as many Final 4's as they've enjoyed under Cal?

Btw, when Cal finally decides to retire from here(hopefully years down the road), UK will still reap the benefits of his coaching here, because future recruits will turn on the t.v. and see numerous UK players in the NBA. Just think how UNC is still benefitting from some guy wearing #23 even to this day.

Kentucky is Kentucky! As Al McGuire once said, UK had it before, they had it during, and they will have it after your gone. This isn't the exact words he said, but the point is, no one man will be at UK forever, and we will still be good in basketball. If a coach doesn't get the job done, he will be gone. Just ask BCG, and we kept Tubby around to long.

OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!

 

[GonzoCat90]

There's no place for this kind of well-reasoned and historically accurate perspective. You have to cheer for Cal to fail or you love him more than UK.

 

[caneintally]

Kentucky is Kentucky! As Al McGuire once said, UK had it before, they had it during, and they will have it after your gone. This isn't the exact words he said, but the point is, no one man will be at UK forever, and we will still be good in basketball. If a coach doesn't get the job done, he will be gone. Just ask BCG, and we kept Tubby around to long.

OLD STOLL FIELD GUY!

I disagree with some what. We will struggle IMO when we lose Cal for a while . Hell I think Duke will never be Duke again once they lose K . But in 5-10 years after we lose Cal I bet we are back in a final 4 .

 

[rhstoess]

Anyone upset with the current situation of the UK basketball program is a nutjob.

 

[UKWildcats#8]

I agree that having all these guys in the NBA will help UK recruit at an extremely high level even after Cal leaves...if UK hires the right man for the job.

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

Good thread, OP.

One could argue that Cal has brought more legitimate talent to UK in the last four years alone - class of '13 through class of '16 (not counting Quade's class, Wall's class, Davis' class, or Noel's) than Gillispie and Tubby brought in combined.

For comparison:

Best 12 of BCG/Tubby Smith combined eras:

Rondo/ C. Hawkins
Meeks/Bogans/Crawford/ Fitch
Prince/Azubuike
Patterson/Hayes/
Morris/ Estill


vs.

Fox/ Ulis/ And. Harrison
Monk/ Murray
Booker/ Young
Randle/ Lyles/ Skal
Towns/ Bam

I love the Tubby-era and BCG-era guys, but I only aim to point out how prolific Cal is as a recruiter. If he remains at UK another 6 to 10 years, the collective NBA-collection of players will probably never be matched by another coach.

 

[kghighroller]

I agree that having all these guys in the NBA will help UK recruit at an extremely high level even after Cal leaves...if UK hires the right man for the job.

Agree

 

[Son_Of_Saul]

BTW, I think next year's class could be Cal's best (the Zion Williamson group). I think he steals Reddish from Duke, lands Bagley and Zion, and makes a serious run at Langford. Probably snags Smart too if it looks like Quade is a OAD. It's only going to get better for UK the longer Cal stays. He's proving that he's the one coach who has consistently put players first, and it will pay off more and more now that he's taking over the USA under 19 team.

 

[Jbapp1978]

I know some on here ridicule Cal for taking Diallo or not getting certain recruits, but ask yourself one important question, would his predecessors have even been in the conversation? People should realize that not one top level coach gets every prospect they want, and nobody tops Cal in regard to getting them either. Cal's recruiting is akin to Ted Williams batting, yes they may strikeout every once in a while, but their batting average isn't to be topped in landing recruits/hitting either, and you wouldn't call Ted Williams a slouch, would you?

Now I remember the days of hoping that we would sign players like Verdell Jones, Maurice Sutton, Konner Tucker, etc to fill out our roster. I also remember watching players such as Michael Porter, Mark Coury, Sheray Thomas, etc struggle to make plays for UK. Now I'm not bashing these players as people, but the fact was none of them were remotely UK level players (not their fault I know). I also never watched the McDonald's or Jordan Brand games before Cal either, because it pained me seeing other blue bloods with multiple 5 stars in the game and seeing UK with one(if we were lucky that year). Also, for those that criticize Cal for the one title, do you really think his predecessors would have done any better with the recruits they were bringing in? Do you think UK would have been in as many Final 4's as they've enjoyed under Cal?

Btw, when Cal finally decides to retire from here(hopefully years down the road), UK will still reap the benefits of his coaching here, because future recruits will turn on the t.v. and see numerous UK players in the NBA. Just think how UNC is still benefitting from some guy wearing #23 even to this day.

everything sounded great until you said when we lose Cal we will get great recruiting because UK puts kids in the NBA.....That is THE biggest misconception going around. Cal is The only reason UK is putting kids in the NBA, no Cal, no good times like they are now, depending on who are next coach is wich i dont even wanna think about, in truth it does not matter who the next coach is at all, kids come here because Cal, and staff.

The kids know to come here because of our coach, not because our school, heck you even mentioned kids wernt coming before Cal. The recruits do love BBN, but that isnt what is really important to them, just like knox, and countless other kids have all said we chose UK because Calapari developes me best and gets me ready for NBA, and life. Please never leave coach.

I know somebody will disagree but its common sense wherever Cal goes top recruits will follow because of HIS player first philosophy, playing on tv is important and would come even if he went to a low tier div 1 school because of his num 1 recruiting classes, but more importantly they wouldnt care because every game there would be multiple NBA scouts in the stands.

 

[UK_fan_41102]

I agree that having all these guys in the NBA will help UK recruit at an extremely high level even after Cal leaves...if UK hires the right man for the job.

I totally agree with what you said. I've often wondered where UK would be in regards to UCLA in titles, had they hired Donovan instead of Tubby or Cal instead of BCG.

 

[KMKAT]

Donovan never recruited like Cal has recruited. We may not have #8 had Billy come here, so had he come here and not won, where would you have looked for a coach? Few? Miller, who hasn't made a F4? Shaka? No one would have chosen Alford.

So fortunate that Cal saw us as the elite program he always wanted. No one can tell me he isn't still the best man for this job in this era. Any other coach today would not have us at this level Cal has us at.

Does anyone really cap Cal's abilities? He has continued to evolve and amaze his fan base. The haters will always hate, find faults, but they will continue to get beat by Cal, who has not let anyone dominate us. The closest team: UCLA.

Cal has simply put Pitino on page 2 in every way possible.

 

[Ocornett]

And we are not done BBN.

 

[UK_fan_41102]

Donovan never recruited like Cal has recruited. We may not have #8 had Billy come here, so had he come here and not won, where would you have looked for a coach? Few? Miller, who hasn't made a F4? Shaka? No one would have chosen Alford.

So fortunate that Cal saw us as the elite program he always wanted. No one can tell me he isn't still the best man for this job in this era. Any other coach today would not have us at this level Cal has us at.

Does anyone really cap Cal's abilities? He has continued to evolve and amaze his fan base. The haters will always hate, find faults, but they will continue to get beat by Cal, who has not let anyone dominate us. The closest team: UCLA.

Cal has simply put Pitino on page 2 in every way possible.

I'm just saying Donovan would have probably done better than Tubby.

 

[KMKAT]

Someone said earlier that we let Tubby stay around too long. My first thought was, what year would you have fired Tubby and his mega contract at the time? I was going back and couldn't only recall the last 2 years weren't so contending as they were the years he went 9-7 in the SEC, so in reality Tubby may have only hung around 1 year longer than allowed by UK winning standards.

Could you imagine today had Cal's 2013-14 team followed up his NIT appearance with another NIT appearance? After all, we squeaked in as a 8 seed that tournament season. FYI, Cal has been on the cusp of 10 loss seasons 4 out of his 8 years. That 2013-14 team keeps him from major scrutiny IMO for his recruiting system.

Still excited that Cal is our coach, and hope he goes 16 years, and I appreciate all the terrific players he has brought here. Whomever is coaching Kentucky, that is who I am pulling for.

 

[rhstoess]

Someone said earlier that we let Tubby stay around too long. My first thought was, what year would you have fired Tubby and his mega contract at the time? I was going back and couldn't only recall the last 2 years weren't so contending as they were the years he went 9-7 in the SEC, so in reality Tubby may have only hung around 1 year longer than allowed by UK winning standards.

Could you imagine today had Cal's 2013-14 team followed up his NIT appearance with another NIT appearance? After all, we squeaked in as a 8 seed that tournament season. FYI, Cal has been on the cusp of 10 loss seasons 4 out of his 8 years. That 2013-14 team keeps him from major scrutiny IMO for his recruiting system.

Still excited that Cal is our coach, and hope he goes 16 years, and I appreciate all the terrific players he has brought here. Whomever is coaching Kentucky, that is who I am pulling for.

getting into the NCAAT in 2014 wasn't ever in question. Our team was ready to go at the end of season, just as Cal has them pretty much every year, and our SEC tournament performance showed it.

 

[bthaunert]

Donovan never recruited like Cal has recruited. We may not have #8 had Billy come here, so had he come here and not won, where would you have looked for a coach? Few? Miller, who hasn't made a F4? Shaka? No one would have chosen Alford.

So fortunate that Cal saw us as the elite program he always wanted. No one can tell me he isn't still the best man for this job in this era. Any other coach today would not have us at this level Cal has us at.

Does anyone really cap Cal's abilities? He has continued to evolve and amaze his fan base. The haters will always hate, find faults, but they will continue to get beat by Cal, who has not let anyone dominate us. The closest team: UCLA.

Cal has simply put Pitino on page 2 in every way possible.

Recruiting is a part of the process though. If a guy can win back to back titles at Florida, he can win here.

 

[kev69]

I don't know, sometimes I still long for the days wondering what Tubby would come up with.

I still get goose bumps when I learned that he had received a commitment from Shagari, who's two final schools were UK and Manhattan .

We stuck it right up the Jasper's asses!

 

[KMKAT]

Recruiting is a part of the process though. If a guy can win back to back titles at Florida, he can win here.

Again, Donovan's recruiting never will rival the guys Cal has brought in to Lexington. Cal's recruiting at Memphis was better than Billy.

Billy's 2 championship teams had a ranking of 12 when Tubby had the Rondo/Morris class. Kentucky has always out-recruited Billy.

IMO, Billy's recruiting is similar to Rick.

Perhaps Billy would have won a NC here, but he does not bring the optimism that Cal brings each year.

 

[bthaunert]

Again, Donovan's recruiting never will rival the guys Cal has brought in to Lexington. Cal's recruiting at Memphis was better than Billy.

Billy's 2 championship teams had a ranking of 12 when Tubby had the Rondo/Morris class. Kentucky has always out-recruited Billy.

IMO, Billy's recruiting is similar to Rick.

Perhaps Billy would have won a NC here, but he does not bring the optimism that Cal brings each year.

I don't care how we recruit, as long as we win. Cal's secret to success has been being the king of the 1 and done. Billy's was bringing in solid 3 and 4 year players. Both were very successful at what they do.

 

[floatingyou]

I don't care how we recruit, as long as we win. Cal's secret to success has been being the king of the 1 and done. Billy's was bringing in solid 3 and 4 year players. Both were very successful at what they do.

Huh??

 

[bthaunert]

Huh??

I don't care if we bring in 5, 4 or 3 stars, as long as we win. Cal's success here has been tied to his ability to recruit the elite one and done. It's been super successful. Donovan's success was tied to bringing in 3 and 4 year players and it was super successful. It's a reply to a few posts about Cal's ability to recruit better than Donovan.

 

[floatingyou]

I don't care if we bring in 5, 4 or 3 stars, as long as we win. Cal's success here has been tied to his ability to recruit the elite one and done. It's been super successful. Donovan's success was tied to bringing in 3 and 4 year players and it was super successful. It's a reply to a few posts about Cal's ability to recruit better than Donovan.

I totally apologize. I read Billy in your post and my mind went to Gillispie, not Donovan. I can see your point now clearly.

My bad

 

[railroadkat_1]

It's very intriguing to see all the top kids have interest ever year with Cal and UK. I love it. We might still add to this class and that would be awesome. I think Diallo will stay in the draft witch is a huge disappointment to me. I think Cal will bring in possibly two more! Next years class might go all the way back when Bowie ,Sampson, Worthy, Kellogg, and other greats, that came out in the Seventies. Next years class is awesome and has tremendous talent at every position! Cal most likely has been on this group for 2 or 3 years already!