that's still is a BS move. Remember the days when you had a kid come in and you gave him a chance to develop, to improve each season, to learn the system? That has happened under Cal to an extent that the potential to go pro was there and he had a spot for the kid, but this idea that Cal is going to sit down with multiple players, not an individual , and "be honest" with them - which we all know is implying the " I can't play you here because you suck" is just so far off what a coach does. Cal should be completely invested in the development of each player, he recruited them, he sold them on the idea of coming here, he told their parents whatever bs stuff he tells parents about taking care of their son and then after a bad season he is going to clean house, and worse, he tells a TV announcer knowing the TV announcer will go on national television and serve notice to fans, the players families and to future recruits there is an revolving door at Wildcat Lodge.
Thats not being players first, that is being Cal first. IMO, its a low class self serving move. I understood it when Cal first came here, I wasn't thrilled with it but him wanting to get his own players and move on from Gillispie's chaos was kinda understandable. Now he wants to move on from his own self created chaos, and worse, according to your take, his solution is to do the exact same thing that trashed the program and put him in this position in the first place. Cycle out players and replace them with new younger versions, only in this case , them leaving is his idea. Cal is big on protecting players when he thinks they may be on his NBA mural one day, not so much when they turn out to just be regular ole college athletes.
These are students who chose the University of Kentucky as their college. They were asked to come here, play basketball and graduate from here - regardless of how we package it , that is the overriding concept we adhere to in college athletics. Unless they did something to disrespect the University of Kentucky (and sucking at basketball is not that) then they should be welcomed back, encouraged to develop and expected to grow with our coaching staff setting that as a priority for this program.
That is players first. Any other variation is just rationalizing Cal's priorities over the players.
Any discussion about the coach discouraging a returning player from coming back or the notion he is going to sit down and tell them he is going to actively work to marginalize their participation on the team is a dirtbag move and no way to run a college program.
he'll kneel with them for woke points but he won't think twice about chasing them off because they didn't live up to his expectations in the 9 months they were on campus.
