Todd Golden, the young up and coming coach at Florida said the same thing a couple weeks ago. No clue why you would try to build around freshmen this day and age.
Pitino no longer going to recruit high school players.
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Balance balance balance and more balance.
Watch this create a scenario where college freshman start to go to lesser programs, basically as a form of "minor league" development before the Dukes and Kentucky's of the world pluck them from these mid majors, if they are so deserving.
I tend to agree with him, especially if you're not at an elite school and trying to compete.
I personally would go after a few genuine impact freshmen, but my next tier down would be elite transfers.
For UK specifically I would definitely take the top in state kids as long as they understand their role off the bench early. Always need depth.
I personally would go after a few genuine impact freshmen, but my next tier down would be elite transfers.
For UK specifically I would definitely take the top in state kids as long as they understand their role off the bench early. Always need depth.
Football is in the same boat.
Why develop a player or recruit a freshman for another team to poach.
And that kind of hints at the mess
The NCAA didn't publish rules for NIL
They published guidelines THEN tried enforcing them like rules with UT, UF and others
One sticking point I remember was the NCAA saying that NIL money wasn't intended influence students deciding which school to commit to (??)
So they shouldn't be receiving official university letterhead/monetary offers -- rather, an impartial assessment of their NIL value should be extended without any initial direct link to the University ---
That was apparently part of their beef with UT which ended up in court -- then State AGs jumped in claiming anti-trust violations
I believe the NCAA went to the Supreme Court TWICE -- losing badly and unanimously both times AND was ordered to pay some restitution
So - there were never any actual RULES or policies
NCAA outlined guidelines for administering NIL payments then peed themselves in shock when schools actually started paying players
They're still trying to figure out how to deal with the situation they've created here
What does the NCAA infractions committee actually DO now?
PS - what about foreign players now?
UT seems to be very good at pulling angry Slavs , sly Bolivians & crafty Croats every year
No more "Free Enis / Big-Z" campaigns needed I assume
but to the original topic - yeah, I agree that recruiting freshmen classes is now secondary to obtaining free agents
I'm just curious to see what the scope of eligible free agents ends up being -
Not sure if an age restriction has been applied on the NCAA side or not -- seems awfully unfair if there IS one
UT seems to be very good at pulling angry Slavs , sly Bolivians & crafty Croats every year
No more "Free Enis / Big-Z" campaigns needed I assume
but to the original topic - yeah, I agree that recruiting freshmen classes is now secondary to obtaining free agents
I'm just curious to see what the scope of eligible free agents ends up being -
Not sure if an age restriction has been applied on the NCAA side or not -- seems awfully unfair if there IS one
Do you really think having Pitino on the bench would elevate our team or Pope to final four or championship status. Rick is a good coach but not a magician. I think he would be a huge distraction for Coach Pope and would set our program back. Can you imagine the fan's reactions every time we lost a game? Half of our fans would be screaming, "if Rick was in charge"' or confusion in a time out would be the blame. Let Rick retire at USJ and Coach Pope lead us to become great again. We are not there yet, but in time Pope can and will be the perfect fit for UK.
Sounds like he's going for more experience and physical maturity. Not a bad plan actually.
Presumably they sit quietly allowing schools to do whatever they want for a few years, then pick a school they don't like and attempt to hammer them for the same stuff everyone else is doing.
but he actually recruits
He just says he does not want to recruit hs players who comes to florida because of other factors. He would only recruit hs players who just want to be gators
Actually, Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh are his three star recruits and now become main factors in florida team.
Some recent NCAA news links
AP News - NCAA Asks Congress for Help in Paying Penalties
^^ ironic huh?
Yahoo News - Power Conferences Seek Control of Tournaments
AP News - NCAA Asks Congress for Help in Paying Penalties
^^ ironic huh?
Yahoo News - Power Conferences Seek Control of Tournaments
Given the current landscape of NIL$$$ and immediately-eligible Portal candidates, I can certainly see the logic in deciding to strongly de-emphasize the recruitment of high school talent. Considering the time, expense and uncertainty of performance, it makes sense. With the immediate eligibility of portal transfer talent, all players have a much higher potential to be a one-and-done. That's simply because they can leave your program after a year and go anywhere ... not just the NBA or other pro leagues.
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A little off topic.
But, imo, if a player is being paid NIL money they should be paying for their own education and not on scholarship.
But, imo, if a player is being paid NIL money they should be paying for their own education and not on scholarship.
Agreed.
Get 1-2 elite HS recruits.
Get 1-2 multi year HS recruits.
Get 1-2 multi year Portal players (guys with 2-3 years left).
Get 1-2 Senior Portal players (if that).
The rest of the roster should be guys coming back to the program.
Hadn't thought of that
Kind of makes sense
Seems to fall into the "make them employees of the university" discussion?
That idea was just rejected by the National Labour Relations Board yesterday - not sure of long term implications though
National Review - Student Athletes Aren't Employees
True. First year Pope has to rebuild a roster from 0
Yes, we need to have the continuity of a system.
Hopefully Chandler, Perry, Noah and Oweh return and all four make progress next year. I think Johnson will be OAD and Lewis Moreno will play at least two years. Then we bring 5 more transfers, 3 are senior and 2 are multi year players
You can build continuity and still lean heavily on the portal. Not counting our 3 freshmen, UK can potentially have Oweh, Garrison, and Almanor back next year. Add in our 3 freshmen and that’s 6 potential returners. Granted, players have the option of leaving and teams usually have a surprise departure.
I think Pitino is saying he cannot get freshmen that impact the game in year 1 and will probably transfer out. Better for those teams to focus on incoming transfers, but still bring in some younger transfers to build continuity.
UK and other programs CAN get freshmen who can make impact their freshman year based off skill and size, or others who simply fit your scheme. I’m guessing Pope will go after top tier recruits AND some lower recruits that fit his scheme. At same time, he’ll go after top portal players who fill needs and fit scheme.
I think Pitino is saying he cannot get freshmen that impact the game in year 1 and will probably transfer out. Better for those teams to focus on incoming transfers, but still bring in some younger transfers to build continuity.
UK and other programs CAN get freshmen who can make impact their freshman year based off skill and size, or others who simply fit your scheme. I’m guessing Pope will go after top tier recruits AND some lower recruits that fit his scheme. At same time, he’ll go after top portal players who fill needs and fit scheme.
For us next season, I would like to see Pope concentrate on getting all five or six guys back that can come back and then get 3-4 top notch Portal guys to fill in the blanks.
That’s 8-10 guys with college experience.
We already have three Freshmen, so we would have 11-13 players at that point.
The last 2-4 spots should be long term investments, either Freshmen or guys from the Portal with multiple years left. Maybe some Kentucky kids like the Walker kid. Players 13-15 aren’t going to play much unless there are major injuries, so it would be hard to have impact transfers in those spots. Get guys who will stick around a while in those spots.
That’s 8-10 guys with college experience.
We already have three Freshmen, so we would have 11-13 players at that point.
The last 2-4 spots should be long term investments, either Freshmen or guys from the Portal with multiple years left. Maybe some Kentucky kids like the Walker kid. Players 13-15 aren’t going to play much unless there are major injuries, so it would be hard to have impact transfers in those spots. Get guys who will stick around a while in those spots.
I would skew this more toward the Portal players than you have it. I'd shoot for one elite HS and 1 multi-year HS and the rest proven portal players with 1 or more years of eligibility plus any returning players that performed up to expectations.
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Well... Pitino is known for his wise decision making, so yeah....everyone follow his lead (except Kentucky)!
Something like this:
Returning- Oweh, Garrison, Chandler, Perry, Noah (5).
Impact Recruits- Johnson, Moreno, Lewis (3).
Portal- starting PG, starting PF, backup PF/C, backup Wing (4).
Long term investments- two HS kids (likely Ky kids), one multi year Portal kid (Freshman or Sophomore in college this year) that know they might not play much this season, but are in for the long haul (3).
That’s 15 players.
Roster would look something like this:
G Portal/Lewis/Perry
G Johnson/Portal/Recruit
G Oweh/Chandler/Noah
F Portal/Portal/Recruit
F Garrison/Moreno/Portal
Let’s see how boy wonder plays against the SEC in the tournament if they allow us to be physical. My guess he pouts and wilts when he leaves the soft as Charmin ACC.
This is perfect roster building and this is how I hope Pope builds UK's roster!
Pitino was ahead of the transfer game at Louisville with Lee and Lewis as grad transfers. It sparked quite the controversy back then if I remember correctly. I don't blame him for going full bore with this now. You can cherry pick proven systems and styles to gel together, instead of guessing if they have what it takes as freshmen.
Off Topic: Ipso Facto would be a cool name for a 7'2" big from Europe or Africa !!
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