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Why are we losing so many 5-Star big men to lesser programs?

TopCatCal

TopCatCal

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Dec 10, 2012
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James Wiseman, N'Faly Dante, Vernon Carey, Moussa Cisse, Dereck Lively, Adem Bona, Jalen Duren. You would think that these big guys would be beating the doors down at UK to get to play for Cal, considering the number of big men that has played for Calipari that has become NBA all-stars Marcus Camby, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Karl- Anthony Towns & Bam Adebayo. I mean what in the heck is going on here? I guess cheating is legal for everyone but UK.
 
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MrHotDice said:
UCLA is not a lesser program. UK will never again be the straw that stirs the drink when kids play for NIL instead of championships. The internet has ruined life.
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BS.

Cronin literally has one F4 and that it. And it took a pandemic, Juzang playing out of his mind, and parity to get that. UCLA of the 70s isn’t a lesser program. They haven’t been truly relevant since.
 
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MrHotDice said:
UCLA is not a lesser program. UK will never again be the straw that stirs the drink when kids play for NIL instead of championships. The internet has ruined life.
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Regardless of this being true or not, Duke is certainly not a "lesser" program - Carey and Lively listed here.
 
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They want to actually be under the basket to rebound and not be told to go play defense on the PG at the top of the key.
 
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Some see through Cals corny ass canned speeches
They watch game tape as he yells like a psychopath on the sidelines
UK ain’t for everyone
Transfer Portal is better option and bigs play very little part in winning a National title
Set picks rebound & put backs
We got that guy
 
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I've thought the same thing about Dante and Kepnang. They also added Kel'el Ware for 2022. Gonna be really crowded at the center position.
 
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I mean losing players to Duke & UCLA is not the same as losing them to other schools. Those two schools are legit programs.

I know UCLA hasn't won a title in 26 years and has only 1 title like the last 45 years but they have made some Final Fours this century at various times.

Duke's history the past 35 years or so speaks for itself with 5 titles and all those Final Fours. I am disappointed we could not close down Lively with a rookie no-name coach coming into Duke in 2022-2023.
 
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UKWildcats1987 said:
I mean losing players to Duke & UCLA is not the same as losing them to other schools. Those two schools are legit programs.

I know UCLA hasn't won a title in 26 years and has only 1 title like the last 45 years but they have made some Final Fours this century at various times.

Duke's history the past 35 years or so speaks for itself with 5 titles and all those Final Fours. I am disappointed we could not close down Lively with a rookie no-name coach coming into Duke in 2022-2023.
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Duke sells itself. UCLA with an unproven coach does not. K has five titles. Cronin has a big fat zero.

both are better academic schools than UK but let’s be real. Very few athletes prioritize that.
 
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JwUKFan11 said:
For every 1 we have “lost” we have gotten one as well. We literally have the #1 overall player who is a SF coming in. Remember when it seemed like we couldn’t land a SF? Every class is different
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He's not a big man. Look at the bigs we've got since Towns. 6'10" or bigger. Sasha Killeya-Jones, Bam, Humphries, Skal, Lee, Richards, Wynyard, Montgomery. Not exactly the level of the guys we are missing out on are they? Outside of Bam.
 
silentsaregolden2.0 said:
He's not a big man. Look at the bigs we've got since Towns. 6'10" or bigger. Sasha Killeya-Jones, Bam, Humphries, Skal, Lee, Richards, Wynyard, Montgomery. Not exactly the level of the guys we are missing out on are they? Outside of Bam.
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Richards was here 3 years so we weren’t desperate for another big and we also got PJ and Collins. PJ was the perfect college 4 and was awesome.
 
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silentsaregolden2.0 said:
He's not a big man. Look at the bigs we've got since Towns. 6'10" or bigger. Sasha Killeya-Jones, Bam, Humphries, Skal, Lee, Richards, Wynyard, Montgomery. Not exactly the level of the guys we are missing out on are they? Outside of Bam.
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Well, it’s not like there’s a ton of stud “6’10” or bigger” options to choose from every year.

Honestly, how many All American caliber players have there been in that size range during that “since 2015” period? I can only think of around three …Luke Garza last season, and Bagley/Ayton a few years ago ….none of whom we even tried to recruit (at least to my knowledge), so it ain’t like they rejected us.

Yeah, we have been missing on some big man targets in recent years. But you can take solace in knowing that none of those misses ended up being difference makers in college basketball.
 
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UK90 said:
Well, it’s not like there’s a ton of stud “6’10” or bigger” stars to choose from every year.

Honestly, how many All American caliber players have there been in that size range during that “since 2015” period? I can only think of around three or so …Luke Garza last season, and Bagley/Ayton a few years ago ….none of whom we even tried to recruit (at least to my knowledge).

Yeah, we have been missing on some big man targets in recent years. But you can take solace in knowing that none of those misses really ended up being difference makers in college basketball.
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Yeah I was thinking that. Who have we missed on that really just hurt us?

Zion was the only one I could think of and well, he didn’t make much of a difference for Duke in the long run either.
 
bbncal02 said:
Yeah I was thinking that. Who have we missed on that really just hurt us?

Zion was the only one I could think of and well, he didn’t make much of a difference for Duke in the long run either.
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I feel like Calipari would not have wasted Zion's one season at UK. I think Calipari wins it all with him like he did with AD. Call me crazy and I know we will never know but just my opinion.
 
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UKWildcats1987 said:
I feel like Calipari would not have wasted Zion's one season at UK. I think Calipari wins it all with him like he did with AD. Call me crazy and I know we will never know but just my opinion.
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We will never know. But dang. Duke had what three top ten picks that year and did nothing with it, had to have ref help to beat Taco and UCF.

Good God. Mitch’s phone would explode the next day if that was here.
 
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TopCatCal said:
James Wiseman, N'Faly Dante, Vernon Carey, Moussa Cisse, Dereck Lively, Adem Bona, Jalen Duren. You would think that these big guys would be beating the doors down at UK to get to play for Cal, considering the number of big men that has played for Calipari that has become NBA all-stars Marcus Camby, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Karl- Anthony Towns & Bam Adebayo. I mean what in the heck is going on here? I guess cheating is legal for everyone but UK.
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The problem after many years of this is Cal. If you can’t sign the elite bigs now, you adopt a new recruiting strategy. Go after good solid 4-stars that will be here for a few years. Of course with the contract Cal has there is no incentive to change. You just say I did my best and I’ll find a big on the transfer market.
 
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TopCatCal said:
James Wiseman, N'Faly Dante, Vernon Carey, Moussa Cisse, Dereck Lively, Adem Bona, Jalen Duren. You would think that these big guys would be beating the doors down at UK to get to play for Cal, considering the number of big men that has played for Calipari that has become NBA all-stars Marcus Camby, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Karl- Anthony Towns & Bam Adebayo. I mean what in the heck is going on here? I guess cheating is legal for everyone but UK.
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Most of it is how we use big men in our offense. That's not a secret.
Another reason is $$$ schools were paying recruits to come their.
 
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JwUKFan11 said:
For every 1 we have “lost” we have gotten one as well. We literally have the #1 overall player who is a SF coming in. Remember when it seemed like we couldn’t land a SF? Every class is different
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Way Kentucky is at least showing they will play--rather have Sharpe/Livingston/Wallace and then get a big who can defend/board and finish around rim.
 
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bookerfan66 said:
Have you heard anything about the rumor that Sharpe comes and plays this season?
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Like everyone else you hear things on this. But I don't personally know anything from friend who would know-he's not talked about it. I'd love it personally but know most are against it. Still think UK cuts nets down if Diallo would've played on '17 team when he joined. Again, not because of him alone but he'd have been awesome in transition with Fox/Monk and just needed to run court, be athletic and defend a bit at 6'6. But what we wish and what happens often don't mesh.
 
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bbncal02 said:
BS.

Cronin literally has one F4 and that it. And it took a pandemic, Juzang playing out of his mind, and parity to get that. UCLA of the 70s isn’t a lesser program. They haven’t been truly relevant since.
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They did go to three final fours in a row 2006-2008. Also won a natty in 95
 
Padsfs07 said:
Speaking of Dante, I could see him or Kepnang looking back to UK as transfers at some point. With 5-star C Nathan Bittle and Syracuse-transfer Quincy Guerrier, Oregon's frontcourt is pretty crowded.
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Oregon’s roster is insane. Four 6’ 11”+ centers😲😄
 
Call me insane. But I've liked traore over both bigs we put stock in. A mix of both and we saw no chance of getting. Seems like a bigger miss than bona and lively imho. To be connected to sharpe and wallace due to circuit ball. And zero chance. Ridiculous
 
Well, some of those bigs were clearly bought and paid for, even the courts and FBI think so.

Ayton- his salary is part of what doomed Ariz in the FBI probe

Zion - His parents house and job almost got into court in Fla/NC. Duke made sure it didn't.

If you put any stock in the Zion stories, all the Duke bigs come into question.

Clearly Cal needs a bigger pot of gold or to invest more in bigs, less in wings if he wants to keep up with these other guys. LOL
 
TopCatCal said:
James Wiseman, N'Faly Dante, Vernon Carey, Moussa Cisse, Dereck Lively, Adem Bona, Jalen Duren. You would think that these big guys would be beating the doors down at UK to get to play for Cal, considering the number of big men that has played for Calipari that has become NBA all-stars Marcus Camby, DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Karl- Anthony Towns & Bam Adebayo. I mean what in the heck is going on here? I guess cheating is legal for everyone but UK.
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That’s a stupid question. They are picking other schools. You should’ve known that man.
 
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