DeAngelo Russell is a perfect example of this. If folks were paying attention during the post season a story ran about him. In that story they covered why he chose to leave the state instead of playing for UK or UL. The bottom line was he was looking for a promise of a starting spot and X amount of minutes. Neither Cal nor Rick were willing to offer that so the kid headed to OSU. Minutes are earned not promised. Now Cal may very well tell him that we have 40 minutes available at his spot, 200 minutes available total. Then explain that we have X amount of kids returning, X amount of kids signed at your spot. So he knows that X amount of minutes are up for grabs if he is willing to go get them. But no guarantees.
Shocked that UK is not looking to close well in recruiting
- Thread starter ukwild#41
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Calipari is a good coach but Calipari is not UK basketball. I believe UK had won 7 NC when he showed up on campus. He has won one to make it 8. UK was one of the all time greats in college basketball before Calipari and will still be one of the top teams in college basketball after he leaves. Five different coaches have won NCs at UK. Calipari had never won a NC before he became the UK coach. The question is did UK make Calipari or did Calipari make UK? I think any reasonable person would know the answer to that question. They are no doubt a good combination.
Yes but if you look back at the post-Rupp years, there's been a lot of good-but-not-great from UK except in a handful of the Hall years, Pitino's post-probation years, and the Calipari era.
Joe B. had some powerful teams. Tubby had two or three and then a couple of other dangerous teams. Sutton and Gillispie were mostly disasters.
That's 45 years of history and the only consistency you can really find are some isolated patches of Hall, the '90s, and today.
So Kentucky definitely has a hand in "making" the coach, but history proves that having the right coach in place is monumentally important.
Only in Kentucky would you have the number 1 recruiting class in a thread like this...lol. But I understand the concerns for more players also.
FWIW...it sounds like things are A LOT better than we were thinking this time yesterday.
This post was edited on 4/15 3:39 PM by gracetoyou
FWIW...it sounds like things are A LOT better than we were thinking this time yesterday.
This post was edited on 4/15 3:39 PM by gracetoyou
The thing that makes zero sense is why would Cal pass on Bragg if he wasn't sure hed land anybody else? Bragg was practically begging to come to UK. He has to know he has somebody in the bag.
I think Ingram is the key now.
Miss him, and we miss the dominant wing we need so badly.
Then Cal cobbles together a new team with transfers/Juco to fill the roster, and we will still be very good. Maybe not elite, but we'd have to wait on March to determine what we've become. There will never be a "guarantee" like we thought we had, so just let it play.
Miss him, and we miss the dominant wing we need so badly.
Then Cal cobbles together a new team with transfers/Juco to fill the roster, and we will still be very good. Maybe not elite, but we'd have to wait on March to determine what we've become. There will never be a "guarantee" like we thought we had, so just let it play.
Come on dude don't kid yourself. Compared to all other programs we are the standard of consistency. No question.
