Cal visiting Bona again today.

RalphDaltonFan

Heisman
Apr 3, 2002
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Who gives a **** where a player is individually ranked as long as they can actually play. I'd rather have Shaedon Sharpe if he was ranked 10th, then some of past recruits UK signed who were top 5. Talent is talent. Eye doesn't lie. Sharpe, Livingston duo is big time and adding Cason Wallace and Adem Bona would be a fantastic foursome with who will be returning to the program.

So the point is if a rankings committee wants to rank Sharpe 100....if you watch him play he can play. He's #1 now--NBA scouts viewed him #1 prospect in entire Peach Jam and that included everyone who is committed to UK, Duke, etc.......so that holds more weight with me but let's focus on paranoia of Duke getting a very talented guy who will be a great player being ranked high. Unlike a lot of Duke recruits, this class has some really good guys who were underrated and we knew that teams would get big time classes in this '22 class due to the depth of talent it provided.
 

akaukswoosh

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Jan 14, 2006
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While Bona’s interest in the Kentucky program remains strong, sources tell KSR that he wants to feel prioritized in the same way Lively was prior to his commitment to Duke. At times, Bona felt like the secondary option to Lively – UK, on the other hand, wanted both and felt the two could play together – and didn’t want to be a rebound target for the program.


 

tmuck

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While Bona’s interest in the Kentucky program remains strong, sources tell KSR that he wants to feel prioritized in the same way Lively was prior to his commitment to Duke. At times, Bona felt like the secondary option to Lively – UK, on the other hand, wanted both and felt the two could play together – and didn’t want to be a rebound target for the program.



LOL of course. Dumbass Pilgrim said Bona would commit this week to UK if Lively went to Duke. He said it on last weeks podcast.
 

jgraf1

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Feb 2, 2006
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While Bona’s interest in the Kentucky program remains strong, sources tell KSR that he wants to feel prioritized in the same way Lively was prior to his commitment to Duke. At times, Bona felt like the secondary option to Lively – UK, on the other hand, wanted both and felt the two could play together – and didn’t want to be a rebound target for the program.



...great
 

JAC71

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While Bona’s interest in the Kentucky program remains strong, sources tell KSR that he wants to feel prioritized in the same way Lively was prior to his commitment to Duke. At times, Bona felt like the secondary option to Lively – UK, on the other hand, wanted both and felt the two could play together – and didn’t want to be a rebound target for the program.



Pilgrim thinks just as soon UK offers a player they are automatically the favorites and that’s part of the problem. It gets the fans hopes up when actually if you do a little digging you would find out that isn’t always the case
 

bucsrule8872

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May 30, 2005
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Cal’s best bet might be to convince Collins to stay for two years. Maybe lean on Tshiebwe inside and have Ware as the backup 5 this season and have Collins concentrate on bulking up. I would be fine with that.
 

TomTraubertsBlues

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Oct 13, 2014
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Article on KSR says UK still has work to do to get Bona. Main point was Bona hasn't felt he was high enough of a priority in comparison to Lively. If we lose him as well, Cal may need to change his approach. Yes, this class is already good, but if we lose out on Bona and Lively it is going to be a major failure, and we've had a lot of those the last few years. Sorry, didn't see the article posted earlier.
 

ArtLaibsGhost_rivals

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I personally believe he should have been from the get go, how many guys could we have gotten the year we waited on Wiseman only to get nobody, Zion, or I could name about a half dozen more over the las few years. This is a recruiting style that has not proved successful of late.From what I am reading we were NEVER going to get Lively apparently Nike told him he could get the biggest endorsement deal playing at Duke, and we are talking millions of dollars here. A bird in the hand seems the better call here. With all that said it is a great , fabulous class without him but we need a center, hope we get one.
 

TomTraubertsBlues

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I forget, what was the nature of Cal's beef with Nike a while back? Wasn't it something about Cal deciding not to attend an event or something minor like that?
 

bluegrasshickory

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Oct 28, 2017
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2 people who seem to know stuff, if you pay attention, both side this visit has nothing to do with Lively. So I'm still hoping for him tomorrow. This recruitment of his has a coach O stealth job all over it I tell ya. Remember he is a silent assassin with the big recruits. Never here a peep, no one really knows and bang, they're a CAT.
So true
 

CrazyCat74

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Nov 7, 2018
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Got enough kids get the best transfer big you can find - get a grown *** man
Hard to argue with this idea.

Transfer bigs know how to play the game and are just physically more mature like you stated.

They are usually unselfish and more often than not put winning ahead of personal stats.

I like the idea of Bona because of what he brings athletically but I wouldnt lose sleep if we dont get him because the staff didnt love him as much as another recruit.
 
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AllBall

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I forget, what was the nature of Cal's beef with Nike a while back? Wasn't it something about Cal deciding not to attend an event or something minor like that?
Yep. PKI- Phil Knight Invitational in Oregon. Cal refused to participate bc it was early in the season with a young team. Apparently, he didn't think it was beneficial to attend an event located on the west coast given the circumstances.
 

bnewt

Heisman
May 29, 2001
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Article on KSR says UK still has work to do to get Bona. Main point was Bona hasn't felt he was high enough of a priority in comparison to Lively. If we lose him as well, Cal may need to change his approach. Yes, this class is already good, but if we lose out on Bona and Lively it is going to be a major failure, and we've had a lot of those the last few years. Sorry, didn't see the article posted earlier.
I wondered about this too. How does he feel about being 2nd choice to Lively
Would be nice if he would commit quickly to ease the Duke disaster
 
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JAC71

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I wondered about this too. How does he feel about being 2nd choice to Lively
Would be nice if he would commit quickly to ease the Duke disaster
From what I understand he wanted both
 

Sparkaces

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Sep 19, 2012
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First thing,

I don't think we ever lead for Lively. If you look at his recruiting Timeline, Duke was one of the first big brand schools to offer him. Kentucky offered him a little over a month later. Cal likes to offer late in the process, for them to "prove" they deserve a scholarship.

This is just one of those times where we were late to the party. Let's not forget that we have the number one overall recruit on EVERY ranking site locked down. This is a huge get. IMO, a high level elite of the elite backcourt is more important with what Cal is trying to do with the 4 out 1 in concept. Yes, Lively is a Unicorn and I would have loved to have him, but you throw a high profile transfer big or Bona in there and I think we don't skip a beat. Plus, we might even have Collins back. Year 2 Collins could be similar to Freshman Lively, minus the jumpshot.

All i'm saying is, We good.
Guards are much more important and generally more ready to play in their one year of college as well. Duke has really good recruits but 2 are centers, I think our class will still end up being better in their one year of college easily.
 

JRS_SC

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Jan 2, 2003
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Article on KSR says UK still has work to do to get Bona. Main point was Bona hasn't felt he was high enough of a priority in comparison to Lively. If we lose him as well, Cal may need to change his approach. Yes, this class is already good, but if we lose out on Bona and Lively it is going to be a major failure, and we've had a lot of those the last few years. Sorry, didn't see the article posted earlier.
This class isn’t going to be “a major failure” even if we don’t get Bona. So many drama queens on here.
 

JAC71

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My goodness! Someone may want to check in on Pilgrim if UK doesn’t land Bona. After listening to his latest podcast Jack and his partner are taking the Lively commitment to Duke hard lol
These guys are to gullible to cover recruiting, they believe every little thing they hear on the recruiting trail and you can’t do that. You have to be able to sift through the BS. I honestly don’t believe UK is even close to leading for Bona but I believe they will be ok in the end.
 

Paulyv94

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Jan 21, 2020
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Let's not forget that 2023, number 1 overall is likely the lockest of locks to UK. I have a feeling that class will be Cal's big FU to Duke.
 

Padsfs07

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Jan 19, 2013
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Article on KSR says UK still has work to do to get Bona. Main point was Bona hasn't felt he was high enough of a priority in comparison to Lively. If we lose him as well, Cal may need to change his approach. Yes, this class is already good, but if we lose out on Bona and Lively it is going to be a major failure, and we've had a lot of those the last few years. Sorry, didn't see the article posted earlier.

It would not be a major failure imo. We didn't land Wiseman, Stewart, or Carey from the 2019 class, but returned Jr Nick Richards, which worked out great in the end. Same thing in 2018 with Marques Bolden, leading to Reid Travis. If we don't land Bona, then there are other options such as a So. Collins or a Sr. Tshiebwe. You never know.
 

Gromcat_rivals

Heisman
Jun 28, 2021
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I'd really like for us to get a hard commit from Bona today.

To get it out of the way on my end.

On serious note If Bona is as straight up as they say I think his presence will be felt - and as hard as it is, I think we picked the right person to go with.

It’s always a long haul to glory road. He could have the missing piece to an incredible ending.

This thing reminds of Wenyen. To me he felt the same at the time but for whatever reason it ended soft and he still gave us the shaft. I think I’d prefer a Bona to a Wenyen any day.
 
Jul 11, 2007
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To get it out of the way on my end.

On serious note If Bona is as straight up as they say I think his presence will be felt - and as hard as it is, I think we picked the right person to go with.

It’s always a long haul to glory road. He could have the missing piece to an incredible ending.

This thing reminds of Wenyen. To me he felt the same at the time but for whatever reason it ended soft and he still gave us the shaft. I think I’d prefer a Bona to a Wenyen any day.
 

*Fox2Monk*

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Jun 10, 2009
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My goodness! Someone may want to check in on Pilgrim if UK doesn’t land Bona. After listening to his latest podcast Jack and his partner are taking the Lively commitment to Duke hard lol
These guys are to gullible to cover recruiting, they believe every little thing they hear on the recruiting trail and you can’t do that. You have to be able to sift through the BS. I honestly don’t believe UK is even close to leading for Bona but I believe they will be ok in the end.
Pilgrim doesn’t know sh@t, after his Lively analysis I think Bona comes.