WCS says Cal drew recruits not UK.

[BarefootBeach]

How many #1 classes has Pitino had in his career? How many did Cal have at UK?

Again, a coach can fill a team at UK with good players but nobody has proven to recruit like Cal. I’m not saying Cal killed it in other areas, but you cannot argue the fact the man can recruit.

And exactly how has that helped UK, especially the last six years or so? It is analogous to having a great looking car but the AC is not working while driving in a Florida summer. I think pitino's first year we were like 14-14 but you knew we were in for more to come. It feels like those days again, thankfully

 

[RondoBaller21]

Pitino never came close. No one except K came close. It is what it is.

I mean Pitino did have 11 NBA players on one roster, so he came close.

 

[NoDef]

Who gives a crap how Cal recruits at Arkansas? I assume Cal will bring in top shelf players. I also assume Cal will continue to coach the way he has for many years. Ugly in Arkansas is not nearly the same as at UK so Cal will actually feel relief. If Cal loses 10-15 games per year at Arky then the fans will simply sing their pig-suey chants and be fine.

The question I worry about is can you win without ever being able to get top level recruits. Pope is a good coach, but it does take great talent to beat other top talent whether the kid is 18 year olds or 24.

 

[jwphelps]

Cauley-Stein Explains Why It's Calipari, Not Kentucky That Drew Recruits

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A one-on-one interview with former Kentucky star Willie Cauley-Stein shows exactly why Wildcats fans were wrong when...

www.si.com

Like Willy but he is crazy, I guess he never saw some of the greats from UK's past play any. I know Billy took the roster down but even Tubby who hated to recruit the big time players because of all the hype etc, brought in NBA talent here and there.

 

[Slowwalker]

And exactly how has that helped UK, especially the last six years or so? It is analogous to having a great looking car but the AC is not working while driving in a Florida summer. I think pitino's first year we were like 14-14 but you knew we were in for more to come. It feels like those days again, thankfully

I never said it did, but quite frankly, it helped a ton as we were in the crapper when he got here. Let’s not act like we all weren’t singing his praises the first 7-9 years and whether we agree with the one and done model or not, having a ton of kids in the nba never hurt. All I said is that there is nobody that can recruit better, which isn’t a shot at anyone and it honestly isn’t calling Cal a great coach. Some years that method killed it, some sucked really badly.

Again, nobody has ever brought so many high profile recruits in here on a consistent basis. Others have had a sporadic highly ranked recruit or two. Cal brought 3-6 in yearly for a decade and a half. Recruiting is the only thing that I praised him for and if Pope can win on a high level, I don’t care if he has the #1 class or nothing but walk-ons. I love what he has done in his short time here. Hopefully we are as high on him in the next 5-6 years as we were on Cal and he has hung a few banners in that timeframe like his predecessor.

 

[BarefootBeach]

I never said it did, but quite frankly, it helped a ton as we were in the crapper when he got here. Let’s not act like we all weren’t singing his praises the first 7-9 years and whether we agree with the one and done model or not, having a ton of kids in the nba never hurt. All I said is that there is nobody that can recruit better, which isn’t a shot at anyone and it honestly isn’t calling Cal a great coach. Some years that method killed it, some sucked really badly.

Again, nobody has ever brought so many high profile recruits in here on a consistent basis. Others have had a sporadic highly ranked recruit or two. Cal brought 3-6 in yearly for a decade and a half. Recruiting is the only thing that I praised him for and if Pope can win on a high level, I don’t care if he has the #1 class or nothing but walk-ons. I love what he has done in his short time here. Hopefully we are as high on him in the next 5-6 years as we were on Cal and he has hung a few banners in that timeframe like his predecessor.

A few things. After the first 7-9 years I was plenty unhappy. With the amount of talent Cal brought in and only 1 national title? We had a lot of losses that were simply shocking, and as the years went by things simply got worse as coaches adjusted around the 3 pt line etc, but Cal never did. Even as Cal nudged a little as far as getting a few more experienced players he was enamored with athletes instead of skill and played his inexperienced players at the expense of losses, and he could not even try more defenses, making us easy to prepare for. And he still stuck to man to man on opponent out of bound plays, which put us in a 6 or 8 point hole every game almost. He also had way too few quality players so any injuries simply crippled us. You mention nobody can recruit like Cal, hell, I want the type of recruits Connecticut is getting. That is turning out pretty good.

 

[KYCAT78]

Cauley-Stein Explains Why It's Calipari, Not Kentucky That Drew Recruits

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – A one-on-one interview with former Kentucky star Willie Cauley-Stein shows exactly why Wildcats fans were wrong when...

www.si.com

Of course players came to UK so they could leave after 1 year to go to NBA. UK just gave them the stage and Cal was the cook that destroyed the traditions of our program.

 

[Deli owl]

I mean Pitino did have 11 NBA players on one roster, so he came close.

Not to argue but you aren’t counting guys who sniffed the NBA vs multiple all stars are you?