I hope everyone had a nice weekend. Weather is beautiful and basketball recruiting is hot and heavy. It's a great time of the year.
Joel Justus: I'm starting out the notes with the news of his promotion to full-time assistant. First off, what a rise and dream for Justus. Joins UK as the director of analytics two years ago, promoted to special assistant and now he's an assistant coach. And Kentucky is smart to make this happen. Ever since Justus arrived on UK's campus he's made an impression on folks close to the program. And since John Robic's absence and he's been on the road recruiting and analyzing, I've heard nothing but great things, too.
Robic is important to UK's staff. He does the bulk of scouting opponents and game planning, obviously along with Calipari and other coaches. If you ask anyone close to the program or players that have played at UK since 2010, they'll tell you how great of a coach Robic is and how much he's helped their development as a player both on and off the court.
I look at this as a having your cake and eating it too situation. If Robic had a weakness it was probably recruiting and I think Justus will be great at building relationships and being able to relate with younger kids. But, the Cats will still get Robic's coaching and game prep experience.
Big news for UK and I wouldn't expect Justus to be going anywhere soon, so the more staff stability the better as there may be another shakeup after this year.
Nick Richards: He visited Kentucky this weekend and I'm scheduled to talk to a coach to get his side of things, but on the other side it seems the visit went very well. I've always said on here that it's of my opinion that Richards is an impressionable kid. I don't think he would drag out a recruitment for attention and truly just wants to go to the place that he feels most comfortable and won't wait an insanely long time to make it official.
All that being said, and I'm paraphrasing a bit here, I was told that if someone else leads for Richards, then he's stringing UK along and Kentucky doesn't get the sense that's the case. So, it's a roundabout way of saying that Kentucky leads.
As for a commitment or possible decision soon? I don't know and I haven't heard. But hopefully I can get in touch with Richards or a coach to see their side of things.
Other visitors: Besides having Richards on campus it was a busy weekend. The Cats were expecting Kobe Brown 2019, Quentin Grimes 2018, Grant Sherfield 2019 and Khavon Moore 2018. Obviously a ton of time with all of those recruitments but the Moore visit on Sunday was the most significant in my opinion. He already has major offers and is an extremely versatile player. I wouldn't be surprised if UK offered in the near future.
Other other visitors: It was made public over the weekend that Big Blue Madness will be even bigger. Evan Daniels broke the news that Kevin Knox will visit unofficially and Zagoria is reporting Quade Green will be there, too.
We already knew that Trae Young and P.J. Washington will be in the house from the class of 2018 and I wouldn't be too surprised if we heard of another name or two. Big news to get Knox there. I know UK was hoping he would and he never told Kentucky no, but looks like he was talked into it.
Guards: As many of you all know, UK wants two point guards and Trae Young is expected to be one of the two. Is it a race between Tremont Waters and Quade Green to commit? It seems like it. The Cats are still actively recruiting both. As of today it seems like they're in a better spot for Waters but that can obviously change.
John Petty: Continue to hear he'll end up at Kentucky.
Joel Justus: I'm starting out the notes with the news of his promotion to full-time assistant. First off, what a rise and dream for Justus. Joins UK as the director of analytics two years ago, promoted to special assistant and now he's an assistant coach. And Kentucky is smart to make this happen. Ever since Justus arrived on UK's campus he's made an impression on folks close to the program. And since John Robic's absence and he's been on the road recruiting and analyzing, I've heard nothing but great things, too.
Robic is important to UK's staff. He does the bulk of scouting opponents and game planning, obviously along with Calipari and other coaches. If you ask anyone close to the program or players that have played at UK since 2010, they'll tell you how great of a coach Robic is and how much he's helped their development as a player both on and off the court.
I look at this as a having your cake and eating it too situation. If Robic had a weakness it was probably recruiting and I think Justus will be great at building relationships and being able to relate with younger kids. But, the Cats will still get Robic's coaching and game prep experience.
Big news for UK and I wouldn't expect Justus to be going anywhere soon, so the more staff stability the better as there may be another shakeup after this year.
Nick Richards: He visited Kentucky this weekend and I'm scheduled to talk to a coach to get his side of things, but on the other side it seems the visit went very well. I've always said on here that it's of my opinion that Richards is an impressionable kid. I don't think he would drag out a recruitment for attention and truly just wants to go to the place that he feels most comfortable and won't wait an insanely long time to make it official.
All that being said, and I'm paraphrasing a bit here, I was told that if someone else leads for Richards, then he's stringing UK along and Kentucky doesn't get the sense that's the case. So, it's a roundabout way of saying that Kentucky leads.
As for a commitment or possible decision soon? I don't know and I haven't heard. But hopefully I can get in touch with Richards or a coach to see their side of things.
Other visitors: Besides having Richards on campus it was a busy weekend. The Cats were expecting Kobe Brown 2019, Quentin Grimes 2018, Grant Sherfield 2019 and Khavon Moore 2018. Obviously a ton of time with all of those recruitments but the Moore visit on Sunday was the most significant in my opinion. He already has major offers and is an extremely versatile player. I wouldn't be surprised if UK offered in the near future.
Other other visitors: It was made public over the weekend that Big Blue Madness will be even bigger. Evan Daniels broke the news that Kevin Knox will visit unofficially and Zagoria is reporting Quade Green will be there, too.
We already knew that Trae Young and P.J. Washington will be in the house from the class of 2018 and I wouldn't be too surprised if we heard of another name or two. Big news to get Knox there. I know UK was hoping he would and he never told Kentucky no, but looks like he was talked into it.
Guards: As many of you all know, UK wants two point guards and Trae Young is expected to be one of the two. Is it a race between Tremont Waters and Quade Green to commit? It seems like it. The Cats are still actively recruiting both. As of today it seems like they're in a better spot for Waters but that can obviously change.
John Petty: Continue to hear he'll end up at Kentucky.
