Thanks for sharing that story, sir. I appreciate it. Very cool stuff.
I know people talk about Larry Bird being the "one who got away", but his mental disposition at that time was one that I think would have made it hard to play for a program like Kentucky or Indiana. He needed to grow into the limelight, and he did; rapidly, in fact.
That being said, I think Iverson and Ray Allen were really the ones "who got away" for Kentucky. There was no interference with either of them like there was for McGrady (Adidas $10 million offer) or Nowitzki (straight to NBA from Europe and high school).
All it would have taken for Iverson and Allen to be at UK was Pitino. I loved Rick when he was here, but he dropped the ball on Ray Allen. Pitino could have had the kid if he just showed a bit more humility and made Allen a priority.
Iverson was a bit of a different story. UK pulled the scholarship offer after the fight, but I think Pitino was shortsighted there. Iverson was the top guard in high school. Do you show mercy to a kid in that case, especially when it was clear he wasn't going to be in jail for the full sentence? I think so. I know Pitino was trying to make UK the #1 program at the time, but you've got to roll the dice and take a risk when it comes to guys like Iverson. Worse case, he serves his 3 month stint and never plays college ball again. Best case, you land the kid and he's your point guard on a team that needed one (1995).