It was me, or I was one of them who immediately noticed. Today I told my husband that Pope wants to see what guys are like when they're out of their element. How teachable are they? Do they embrace being part of something bigger than themselves? Can he get their attention?
They have 4 players, let’s cool it with the being a killer squad. We play them so let’s beat their brains in and show Lamar what’s up.
Yup, every single time. Nobody knows anything from this staff.
Watkins may be a better player but he doesn’t shoot all that well right? I don’t think we can afford to have a SG who can’t shoot because Jalamd and Oweh who are both streaky.
He’s not going to “shoot the ball” all he wants. DeVries son is on the team and is a much higher usage player. Wilkerson is 23 years old. If his goal is to one day play in the NBA, excelling at being the lead 2 guard is going to be the route that gets him there. IU could offer that, Kentucky couldn’t. Pretty simple. That, and he’s getting almost $3 million next year.
He just has to get through the next year. Going to the NIT at Indiana probably isn’t the most fun.
Not sure there is such a thing as a rebuild in this climate. Wilkerson and Tucker DeVries give IU two of the better shooters in the entire country. That’s a great team to build around, especially considering IU has another $5-6 mil in NIL they haven’t used.
Have any of our players currently and upcoming said they want to be “the guy?” I can’t recall any…
I get it and at the end of the day I only want players that want to be at UK.
But who are they gonna spend it on? You need more than 2 guys to win. You have to admit a lot of quality transfers are off the board. I’m sure more will enter soon but he’s got a huge rebuild to do. Yes it can be done but we will see.
I totally get it and he got paid big time and he gets to be the man versus just a piece of our puzzle. His words not mine. I'm glad we didn't over pay for him or promise him the world. I get why IU did it because they need a big splash to keep the fan base interested since the last time they won anything Reagan was president.
There’s 1700 kids still in the portal and there will be another 500-600 in there before it closes next week. Your guess is as good as mine, but it’s all about fit and roster construction. I think DeVries is much more adept at finding and evaluating talent than his predecessor Woodson. Florida just won the national title with a bunch of 3* recruits and a mid-major backcourt who weren’t highly sought out as transfers.
Wilkerson was from Sam Houston St. Good ball player but doesn’t necessarily make him a stud. Why isn’t Oweh a stud or JQ a stud? Or even Williams? We don’t know yet.
Yeah but like half those kids in the portal won’t even be playing D1 ball next year. I forgot the percentages but a large portion won’t even make a team. There may be more spots with 15 on a team now but who knows how many will make it. Edit: looks like on average 10-15% of the portal end up with no scholarship and about 40% end up going to a lower level like D2. Almost 400 players are committed as of now. Many in the top 100 players. Now international prospects, NBA returnees, and late entrants should help fill up a roster if a school can’t find many good prospects in the remaining pool.
3 million couldn’t get me to Indiana, I want to win and stay relevant. By the way Kentucky has quite a few guards in the NBA, have you checked the rosters lately.
Screw him. If it just came down to the highest bidder, then good riddance. I’m not opposed to kids getting paid, but I’d rather the whole sport go away than it turn into going into straight bidding wars for players. We’ll take the guys who want to be here. If that ain’t good enough, just shut the whole thing down.
With the scouting of the NBA, a kid can get to the NBA from any school. The NBA can find talent if it is in a rat hole. Where a kid chooses to go to school will have little to no affect if he is drafted. We have more kids in the NBA not because they chose UK but because we have had more talent in the pat 10 years than any other school. We have been under (poorly) coached and that is the reason we are stuck on 8 championships. Now that talent is being more dispersed, it will be more difficult to win number 9. Kids know more than our fans that they can get to the NBA from anywhere that is willing to give them the most $$$$. It is plain and simple. If a kid is recruited right then some will go to a school that offered less. I doubt anyone really has a clue what IU is paying or what we offered. Most likely 90+% of the NIL numbers thrown out are either guess or flat out BS.
Calipari has a ton of guards in the NBA, he’s been doing it for years and well before he got to Kentucky, just as he’ll continue to do at Arkansas. Who specifically has Mark Pope put in the NBA? This idea that he has no chance to play in the NBA if he doesn’t play for Mark Pope (who hasn’t put anybody in the NBA) is nonsense.
There have been kids drafted precisely because they played for Kentucky + Calipari, who would not have been drafted if they played at a podunk school.
Is there not an IU board where you can talk about your recent portal signing?
Who? 75% of the kids Calipari put in the NBA were only at Kentucky because the NBA said they couldn’t come straight from high school. Shaedon Sharpe didn’t play his senior year of high school and didn’t play a single minute at Kentucky yet still went 7th. You think he got drafted because he went to Kentucky? Really?
There is and you could read more of my thoughts there if you’d like. All are welcome.
Had to peak to see what he said.. I already got that dumb prk on ignore.. UK has the #1 portal haul in the SEC without Wilkerson,, #3 in college..
I think a lot of guys played here and improved, now go back to your board.
It’s funny how IU has already has top 10 portal class, with $$$$ to spend. IU is being deliberate on who they are getting.
in the world of NIL, you rebuild in 1 year. You all did it last year. Did you forget???
Yep,, 50% of the 1800 last year never played a min of college ball..
When you keep one username long enough to generate 20 posts, maybe you will become relevant. Lol
