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Reed Sheppard committing Saturday

Herro backed out of his Wisconsin verbal and played his senior year in front of hostile crowds and thrived on it
He admitted it bothered him at times though and was pretty rough. If Reed commits elsewhere Saturday, he likely has to deal with that for 2 years, on top of losing out on a lot of NIL opportunities. And then of course there's the whole playing at UK thing.
 
Hasn't UK been also? Cal rarely gets involved and offers kids 2 years out. I mean it is 2021 Reed is in the 2023 class and has had a UK offer since this summer.
My impression when it happened was that they had to get involved. All the other schools that are always cited and others all offered him before UK did. If Reed Sheppard was from anywhere other than Ky. I have my doubts that he would have a UK offer. I hope I am entirely wrong...have read the whole situation wrong.
 
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Sure wasn't, & how much did he play except when the others in front of him were injured

He played 19mpg as a Senior. 9 as a Freshman, 7 as a Sophomore and 9 as a Junior.

He also played on a FF team in '14 with Twins...'15 with Twins + Ulis/Booker...'16 with Ulis/Murray/Brisoce. Some would argue he should have gotten more of Briscoe's minutes, I guess?

Hawk was a hell of a role player by his Senior year but played with some of the best guards Cal had at UK. As a Senior he had Monk/Fox/Briscoe too.

Where are you playing him? It is easy to look at Hawk as a Senior and say as a Junior he should have taken some of Briscoe's minutes, but his stats would suggest otherwise.
 
My impression when it happened was that they had to get involved. All the other schools that are always cited and others all offered him before UK did. If Reed Sheppard was from anywhere other than London, Ky. I have my doubts that he would have a UK offer. I hope I am entirely wrong...have read the whole situation wrong.
yea have to agree
seems like he was forced to pay attention to the young man, not sure he really wanted too
 
Me: I know someone is going to point out the rare times the whole internet gets it wrong, but when everyone agrees it almost always happens

You: Well this one time they got it wrong.

Everytime the internet thinks we're not getting a player--there's always one guy that says "Yeah, we weren't getting Kevin Knox either!" And then the kids goes on to do what most of the internet thought.

For every one of those times the kid surprises us---there are dozens if not hundreds of times they got it right.

Could they be wrong? Sure. But when everyone is in agreement, they're right 99+% of the time.
Me: You don’t want this smoke crybaby.

You: You damn right I don’t.
 
A shooter like he is does not want to play for a team that averages 60 points a game. He just saw what he could do at UK and he made the decision.
That’s not true in this instance. He really likes Virginia. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t like UK more though.
 
If he comes to UK its either going to be great or its going to end bitterly

There is no in between. Cal will not have the option to treat him like Dante Allen or recruit over him.

Sheppard has no option but to play like fire and carry the team

Maybe UVa is in the mix because Dad understands that.


Dontaie Allen was the composite #111 recruit in the country, barely a 4-star. Reed Sheppard is 22nd, a 5-star.

That's a big difference. Maybe Sheppard gets the Immanuel Quickley (#22) or Johnny Juzang (#33) treatment his freshman year, maybe he gets the Tyler Herro (#37) treatment. Either way, he will get plenty of minutes in either his freshman or sophomore year.
 
A shooter like he is does not want to play for a team that averages 60 points a game. He just saw what he could do at UK and he made the decision.
Shooters like Kyle Guy, Joe Harris and Ty Jerome might beg to differ. Quite a few players who look and play a lot like Reed have chosen Virginia and found fantastic success there.
 
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yea have to agree
seems like he was forced to pay attention to the young man, not sure he really wanted too
I don’t think Cal would be overly upset if he commits elsewhere. Cal doesn’t like the pressure of Ky kids unless they are great or walk ons. JMO.
 
Not much interested in following recruiting too closely.

However, in this case, I have a hard time believing it would be anyone other than UK. One, if that were true, they would likely wait to make an official announcement after his high school playing days are over, and two, with both athletic parents attending UK, this has all the makings of a "legacy" type situation. Virginia and lots of others are great schools, but we're talking a continuing legacy in the making. Finally, parents can easily see him play. It's a package of three, not one, and for my money, I'm betting UK.
 
What makes you say that?
I say it because being a KY boy and a legacy, you would think that would carry a ton of weight. IF he chooses UVa, it tells me it was not a tough, agonizing decision. If UK were even a hint of a destination, I would think he would have announced much closer to signing day. Won't really bother me one way or the other, he should go where he wants. Talentwise, I don't think he's a make or break, must have recruit. Just reading the signs.

Don't get me wrong. He could very well choose Kentucky and that would tell me he's all-in and I;'ll be thrilled. It would go a long way in saying the Cal/Jeff stuff was way-overblown.
 
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Hawkins was the #192 (3-star) recruit. Much, much lower than Sheppard.
I feel like Hawkins got a fair shake. Cal brought him along and by the time he was a senior, he was one of the guys that you could feel completely at ease with on the court. I had the opportunity to meet Hawkins at a big blue madness camp out and he is one of the most standup cats I’ve ever met.
 
I was gonna say, I see the opposite criticism on here all the time - Brooks is "one of Cal's guys" and he's gonna play him over better newcomers. Just like how Cal "just rolls the balls out" and "micromanages the offense" at the same time. There are plenty of valid criticisms to be made but people are just incoherent with it.

Its because people looking to defend Calipari at all costs will conflate everything intentionally to the point where it doesn’t make sense.

Calipari is not a micromanager of coaching during the games per se, he’s a micromanager of mistakes with players that aren’t really part of his NBA club. That’s just the truth and there’s plenty of tape to watch and see it’s true.

As far as rolling the balls out, if our offense actually makes sense as the best option to win big in this game, then man some of you wouldn’t know what to do with a real clipboard coach.
 
I guess I’m missing something because I have no idea what your meaning with your last sentence.

Many here were obsessed with the notion that Jeff and Cal don’t like each other and he’s a Pitino guy.

I’ve talked with Jeff personally about this and he told me and my father he competed against Cal and has mad respect for him. Said none of its true and he thinks Cal is right for the job. He talked about Kentucky and how much the program has meant to him since he was a little kid.

Now he’s sending his son to play for Cal Lol.

So it’s total bullshit. Jeff played at UK for Pitino. That’s the best era of UK basketball since Rupp. I hope like hell he’s loyal to us and Pitino or Jeff wouldn’t be the guy we know he is. But that’s got nothing to do with 2021 and the current staff. We all would have loved it had Pitino stayed, won a crap load of titles, and been here for Reed to play for the family. But it didn’t happen and no one can help it. I hated that sht every time I saw someone say it but it just never died. The worst part of the Pitino situation is our own fans helping drive wedges between those teams and UK. Pitino made that sht hard enough, we didn’t need to help it.
 
Its because people looking to defend Calipari at all costs will conflate everything intentionally to the point where it doesn’t make sense.

Calipari is not a micromanager of coaching during the games per se, he’s a micromanager of mistakes with players that aren’t really part of his NBA club. That’s just the truth and there’s plenty of tape to watch and see it’s true.

As far as rolling the balls out, if our offense actually makes sense as the best option to win big in this game, then man some of you wouldn’t know what to do with a real clipboard coach.

Rent free
 
I feel like Hawkins got a fair shake. Cal brought him along and by the time he was a senior, he was one of the guys that you could feel completely at ease with on the court. I had the opportunity to meet Hawkins at a big blue madness camp out and he is one of the most standup cats I’ve ever met.

Yes. He was brought along just about perfect. He probably could have red-shirted in 14/15 and played a big role in 17/18, but that's would've been up to him. Plus we though we'd have Quade as the backup guard for the year, but he bolted.
 
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Sure wasn't, & how much did he play except when the others in front of him were injured
I think Hawkins was used as he was told he'd be a spot/role player his FR/Soph seasons, and then have a role his JR/SR years. Everything was true. I mean who had Dom Hawkins playing in Sweet 16, Elite 8, and Final Four games in '14 out of that class? '15 team was so stacked, nobody would take issue with his playing time, and '16/'17 he was a key player (huge 3 to help beat Cards in Rupp in '16), to the point in '17 he was a better player then Briscoe.
 
I get it, bash everything your own, but can't even begin to imagine the hate being spewed if Cal was first coach to lose to a 16 seed, then follows up a NC with next NCAA game getting bounced in first round again--know UK had NIT but Noel tore ACL, then the very next game loses at home to Navy to open season by 8 pts.

Also how many of you good minded/fair people think Kentucky gets away with a double dribble in Final Four Semifinal against Auburn? I mean we've seen how whistle against Auburn goes in same tournament--their dwarf like guards driving/leaping into defenders and getting a friendly whistle, but you see TyTy or Sahvir Wheeler getting a double dribble and then a foul call on shooter in corner in Final Four like Jerome/Guy did in '19? If you say that would happen in UK's favor, then god bless your optimism.
 
Dontaie Allen was the composite #111 recruit in the country, barely a 4-star. Reed Sheppard is 22nd, a 5-star.

That's a big difference. Maybe Sheppard gets the Immanuel Quickley (#22) or Johnny Juzang (#33) treatment his freshman year, maybe he gets the Tyler Herro (#37) treatment. Either way, he will get plenty of minutes in either his freshman or sophomore year.
My point is still valid, Cal buries him on the bench or plays favorites with other 5 stars and the fans will be disruptive. He will not be given the benefit of the doubt
 
He’s 16 or 17 years old. He’s not thinking about the money. I’d be surprised he commits to UVA this early, but it’s a great school, with a great Coach. He might not want to pressure of playing at UK. I think this would be a huge loss for Kentucky.
The fact that he just got back from UVA yesterday, sure looks like he spurns Kentucky, and picks Virginia. This sucks.
Some still have a hard time gathering that some kids are looking for more of a laid back college atmosphere than the "big time" for their COLLEGE experience. UVA and their nice buy coach certainl fit that if that's what he's looking for. They want to enjoy that experience knowing they'll get their money later. But it would still be hard to turn down a double legacy situation with some many folks counting on you so there's that.
 
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