Just a friendly FYI, if you prefer, assume that I am making this all entirely up...
LaGerald Vick has ELITE level athleticism and has a superb knack for the "intangibles" that coaches love.
What everyone needs to understand though, is that he is ranked #61 on 247 and #137 on Rivals, instead of a 5 star player, for the CLASS OF 2016 for a reason.
We have become so spoiled by Cal's out of this world recruiting, that we assume if a player is coming to UK, he is going to be an instant star.
That is NOT the case with Vick.
Basically, here is the story with LaGerald Vick. Larry Brown recruited him extremely hard, offered him a scholarship, and advised him that he needed a year of prep school to improve the "fluidity" in his game.
He is certainly not a bad player. He just seems to be "clumsy" with his game at times. Almost like he is still growing into his body. He will not be able to rely on his athleticism alone in the college game and will need to be taught how to play defense at a high level.
Up until a month ago, Vick was heading to prep school and happy as hell to be going to SMU in 2016.
Suddenly at a tournament, a couple coaches thought that he may be worth taking a flyer on in the 2015 class. This THRILLED LaGerald.
2 of the schools that liked him were Kansas and Kentucky. Vick was not only shocked, but star struck. From Prep School and SMU in 2016 to Kansas or Kentucky in 2015!
Self is selling him on what he was able to do with Ben McClemore, a somewhat similar player in his eyes. Taking a player with ELITE athleticism but not much else as an incoming FR, working with him as he sat out for the year, and getting him drafted 7th. Self is hoping to develop him in a similar way and have Vick ready in time to replace Seldon when he leaves after this season (Most likely)
Cal is giving his normal "UK is not for everyone", be prepared to play the best players day in and day out, speach. Vick seems to be connecting more with Cal and would have probably already committed if his re-classification documentation was good to go. He has an offer on the table once he get's 100% good to go for the 2015 class.
Cal and the other coaches do not see Vick supplanting Briscoe, Mulder, Matthews, or even Willis for minutes. Vick is more than fine with that situation. In his mindset he was about to attend PREP SCHOOL for a year. He is ready to work his butt off to improve his game and get on the court ASAP, but will not be disappointed sitting on the bench . Cal has him convinced that practicing against ELITE COLLEGE players like Briscoe, Mulder, and Matthews will help his development IMMENSELY more than attending prep school.
Cal thinks that after working out his kinks this year he will be a force to be reckoned with on the wing next season. Especially in the dribble drive. You cannot teach athleticism like Vick possesses. He has the potential to be able to take ANYONE straight off the dribble to the hoop 1 on 1. This makes him a really intriguing recruit to Cal and TONS of other coaches out there, but none of them expect him to come out and start as a FR.
After explaining all of that, let me ASSURE YOU 100% that his recruitment has absolutely NOTHING to do with Jamal Murray's.
If Jamal Murray reclassifies and ends up at UK (Somewhat of a long shot on both matters), he will be inserted into our rotation from day one and play 25-30 minutes a game along with Ullis, Briscoe, Matthews, and Mulder at the 1, 2, and 3.
Murray knows this and has been re assured of it MULTIPLE times.
LaGerald Vick will NOT suddenly go from heading to prep school to taking minutes away from 1 of the top 10 players in all of high school. Vick knows this and so does Murray.
It'd be similar to the commitment of Derek Willis scaring off Julius Randle. No offense to Willis, obviously.
The recruitment of LaGerald Vick and Jamal Murray will not affect each other AT ALL.
Kentucky/Cal is still hoping to sign TWO players to help improve the competition in practice at the very least. Vick would be a PERFECT player in that capacity and that is why he is being recruited. For that competition and a great chance for a future "reward" in an elite caliber wing, something which is REALLY rare to come by in today's game.
I apologize if this post came off too "windy". I just wanted to explain to you guys exactly what I know. Felt that I should after reading posts stating it is an either/or situation, when that is certainly not the case here.
It is REALLY RARE for me to have a connection to a recruit UK is after, but I lucked out in that regard when it comes to LaGerald due to reasons I cannot mention.
I hope that you enjoy reading my explanation and it is informative enough to answer any questions you might have had.
Again though, please feel free to assume that everything I am saying is a complete fabrication in my mind. Put a big fat ALLEGEDLY in front of every sentence, HA HA!
GO BIG BLUE!
