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Skyy Clark

Skyy Clark is very impressive. Think Sharife Cooper but a better shooter. That guy can start eventually. Way better than Askew. Askew was meant to be a 4 year guy. He was the obvious backup to Cade. Cal wanting him to reclass, and knowing how the Askew reclass went tells me he is confident he can come in and Produce.
 
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Age doesn't matter for a reclass. Not sure why people put so much stock in that. Skill development and actual time at honing skill development is what matters. Some of these guys could use that extra year of high school basketball.
 
Age doesn't matter for a reclass. Not sure why people put so much stock in that. Skill development and actual time at honing skill development is what matters. Some of these guys could use that extra year of high school basketball.
Exactly. A reclass means you missed a year in high school. He's now only effectively played two years of high school ball. He didn't play the last season.
 
Age doesn't matter for a reclass. Not sure why people put so much stock in that. Skill development and actual time at honing skill development is what matters. Some of these guys could use that extra year of high school basketball.
Age usually determines if you're physically ready to play at the next level. There are outliers when it comes to this obviously.
 
Clark said that during games the competitor in him doesn’t allow for him to concentrate on anything but dominating, but afterward he often questioned whether him playing was putting his family in danger.

“The gyms are packed and out here it’s kinda like living normal life,” Clark said. “There are not a lot of restrictions. It was really tough, and we went back and forth with it, trust me. I just want to do my part in the pandemic. The sooner we can get out of this, the sooner it’s better and back to normal living.”
 
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Not gonna blame a kid for not wanting to be in packed gyms with strangers and risk family members’ lives. Re the CA vacation.... You can take a vacation with family and implement precautions to ensure you still social distance. Actually not particularly difficult. Much less control over who gets allowed in gyms, who you come into contact with on the court, etc.
 
Skyy Clark is very impressive. Think Sharife Cooper but a better shooter. That guy can start eventually. Way better than Askew. Askew was meant to be a 4 year guy. He was the obvious backup to Cade. Cal wanting him to reclass, and knowing how the Askew reclass went tells me he is confident he can come in and Produce.
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Not gonna blame a kid for not wanting to be in packed gyms with strangers and risk family members’ lives. Re the CA vacation.... You can take a vacation with family and implement precautions to ensure you still social distance. Actually not particularly difficult. Much less control over who gets allowed in gyms, who you come into contact with on the court, etc.

His California vacation was him going back to where he lived previously...
 
By all means, if Clark reclassifies he should get whatever minutes he "earns" - but lets hope UK has multiple good 2Gs (as any top program should annually have) so that he, in fact, has to earn those minutes and not play because he's the only option (e.g., Askew). Freshmen, and especially reclassified freshmen, are not good bets to rely on for shooting or consistent offense in general. But, if a reclassified freshman is just coming in as an expected backup to learn and get comfortable with the college game, I think it might be a good idea - otherwise I'm not a fan of it at all.

By the way, my name is not Conner - but I am from Possum Trot.
I am from Mayfield. My great-grandparents were married in Possum Trot. Small world
 
Askew is the same age as Hardy, and many others in the 2021 recruiting class. Maybe a lot of them hold back a year in elementary school - as they often do in the state of Kentucky also - I don't know. But, the fact is that Askew only played 3 year of high school basketball. He wasn't ready for big time college basketball played by grown men; and while anything is possible, I believe it would be foolish to bet that Clark would be either.
You are right that Askew wasnt ready for big time basketball. Hardy will be 19 years old when classes start, if he goes to college. His age may be one reason why he is more than likely going the G league route.
As you know I'm not nearly as high on him as everyone else. I just want to see more and don't think he's a player who has earned this pass as a top ranked guy in his class-which is loaded with top guards that I personally prefer. That said, the other reasons which are facts I don't like idea of a reclass:

1. He's not played a lot of actual game competition. Played 1 AAU event last Summer and was outplayed despite being on loaded headlining team of event. (Jabari Smith Jr, Matthew Cleveland, and JD Davison were teammates--believe all 3 were McDonald's AA this year). Believe it's between 15-20 games in competitive environment and AAU event being lone one in last calendar year against peers you'll see in SEC/High Major D1 CBB.

2. He quit on his HS team. Can shape it anyway you want, but he quit. Also was his 3rd HS in less than calendar year.

3. Clark and his family have repeatedly said they prefer to stay in the class of '22. Nothing wrong with a guy wanting to be in his own class. This isn't the wink wink stuff either-it's UK being pushy because they are coming off a rancid season which is desperate on their end. If you have a plan, stick to it.

Those are 3 areas that just have me wanting to see him play AAU this Spring/Summer and then follow it up with a full HS season--prefer to see it at a place against high level competition if possible. Say that because of what I mentioned above-'22 has some tremendous PG options in it. Nothing wrong with earning/proving yourself if you are that guy. He does--I'll be first to admit I was wrong and give him praise and if he plays at UK, rather do that than see a negative evaluation come true. But I'm not taking this route after this past season was a mess due to bringing in a guy who shouldn't have reclassified and in Askew's case he faced top competition in CA/Nationally at Mater Dei compared to the weaker league Clark was in CA, then at 2nd school in TN.

Also and this may be more important aspect is that UK is coming off the worst season in school history.

Do you want to take that risk/repeat with a guy who has that resume and is a true HS Jr at the PG spot? I don't. I want to see him grow, compete and show that he's that guy or that he's not and you can part ways before making a mistake. Either way, it comes down to wanting to see him compete against top level players and proving it. He does that, then you know '22 class is in good hands. But '22 team? No way I'm taking that risk. To me it wreaks of a staff member trying to keep his job (Justus) and once again pushing a player to do something they've repeatedly said they don't prefer to do.
You seem to know a bit about the situation. You are saying that Cal is actually pushing Clark to reclass to 2021?
 
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Not gonna blame a kid for not wanting to be in packed gyms with strangers and risk family members’ lives. Re the CA vacation.... You can take a vacation with family and implement precautions to ensure you still social distance. Actually not particularly difficult. Much less control over who gets allowed in gyms, who you come into contact with on the court, etc.

As I stated he and family can do what they choose to do. But if you are going to talk of fear of Covid and effect it's had on family in fear of playing HS basketball, cross country travel isn't necessarily the #1 thing advised--not as much for your family's safety as it is on it's effect possibly on other people who they came across. You deal with people on any trip no matter what mode of transportation you take.

As for basketball angle, players find ways to play, quitters find reasons to make quitting sound like it's reasonable. Doesn't make anyone bad, but this kid hasn't played a lot of basketball in the last year. So in relation to this topic, I'm not excited about the prospect of a guy who has not played a lot of ball, coming a year early to run the show at UK when the only competition against players he'd face at the level he'd be playing he laid an egg with deck stacked in his favor and UK is coming off the worst season in school history. That's pressure that isn't needed to be added for a player, let alone a guy who could be staying in HS with original class.

It's not hating anyone or being unreasonable to say I'd like to see him play against good HS competition this Spring/Summer and stay in the class he was supposed to graduate in. It's just making sure about an investment, specifically when you have some other options available who are having big seasons in '22 class at the guard position.
 
By all means, if Clark reclassifies he should get whatever minutes he "earns" - but lets hope UK has multiple good 2Gs (as any top program should annually have) so that he, in fact, has to earn those minutes and not play because he's the only option (e.g., Askew). Freshmen, and especially reclassified freshmen, are not good bets to rely on for shooting or consistent offense in general. But, if a reclassified freshman is just coming in as an expected backup to learn and get comfortable with the college game, I think it might be a good idea - otherwise I'm not a fan of it at all.

By the way, my name is not Conner - but I am from Possum Trot.
Went through Possum Trot many times on way to Paducah.
 
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@ralphdaltonfan Any insight on Tyty Washington? Assuming Boston is gone, I'd love to wrap up the backcourt with a transfer PG, Washington and Powell. Washington and Hickman both shoot well enough to play off the ball a little and we need all the ball-handlers and creators we can get.

Washington is getting a ton of offers now and will probably get a guaranteed starting PG position from someone but he'd be a great fit as a combo guard here.
 
90% of the time even in the US the player was held back at a young age anyway so they are also the correct age

Correct, like that KY kid (don't remember his name, but at one point he transfered to Bowling Green, I think he will be freakin 20 when he walks onto campus in the fall as a FR.
 
Reclassified bigs can work as frosh. Reclassified guards are iffy. If Cal takes Skyy after taking reclassified Askew, it tells me he’s learned nothing,
Very well said. High school juniors aren't going to come in and run this the way Cal needs it to be run and if he was that good, he wouldn't be going to college.
 
Then proceeded to travel cross country to California for a trip. People can do what they want and that's not the issue, but for someone terrified of Covid, I don't think traveling as a family from TN to CA is the #1 thing on your list when you were so scared to play basketball due to threat of the virus.

Quitting is quitting. Doesn't mean he won't be a great player. Kid just hasn't played a lot of games against actual competition. It's just reality, and coming off this year, when things were rough, I'm not doing cartwheels over idea of a guard who bailed on his team, and hasn't played much in the last year. Cal's talking how playing is how you improve and he's 100% correct. So the answer to what ails UK is to bring in a guy who has played less than some kids did in 3 weeks during a Pandemic?
Good take. There are certainly a lot of red flags with Skyy.
I absolutely hate having a reclass kid come in and be a main piece of the starting lineup, especially after the season UK just had.
 
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Pizzed Cal is clearly going for the jugular next season.

Be Afraid haters be very Afraid!
Bwah ha ha ha ha..

We will be a Buzz Baker’s Dozen deep!
Our 2nd five will be top 20!

Lets Gooooooooooooooooo!!!!
We say this every year after the season over. It's turned into the boy that cried WOLF.
 
We ( UK ) are acting like a woman that's been dumped by 2 dozen men , desperate to be loved . Wanting attention and affection when there's none to be found . Its sad , and obvious as the nose on your face .
 
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They are throwing everything at everyone possible. So you always have a chance, but I'd place their chances as very unlikely. Hope that they breakthrough and a miracle takes place. But I'd not put $ down on it happening.
What do you think the staff said amongst themselves after this season?
 
That team was a big man from being unstoppable, we had that horrible matchup with Indians who did have a big man and just ripped us inside.
I agree that Murray was good enough even as a freshman. Probably the most ready freshman 2G UK has had (of course, he still wasn't near what he has become now). But that's pretty rare, and more an exception to the rule. Monk is another one that I think was good enough offensively to man the 2G spot on a college contender even as a freshman. Monk was a beautiful scorer, but deficient in most every other way (by choice, not ability).
 
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