Hear me out -
This kind of stuff has been talked about here pretty much as nauseam, but not sure this angle has been considered as much.
To me, where Calipari killed the competition from a recruiting standpoint 5-10 years ago was he was selling a unique product. Cal crushed the recruiting trail because he sold playing for him, he sold playing his style, he sold his brand of basketball. We can argue about whether or not the “dribble drive” was just a marketing gimmick, but nonetheless it was a gimmick unique to Cal and his style and he sold it that way. And the recruits bought it. Dudes wanted to play for Cal.
Then he went all in on this “I’m helping solve generational poverty and I’m the program to get you to the NBA” angle. It suddenly became all about the NBA. Which I do understand the strategy, these high profile guys are looking at the NBA, I’ll sell them the NBA. Easy Peasy. The players first, I’m going to help you achieve your dreams pitch. UK players pictures in their NBA jerseys all over the facility.
This strategy has a fatal flaw, though. It made Calipari much easier to recruit against. Once you see a few guys out there killing it regardless of where they went to college, how much easier is it for rival recruiters to say “why do you need Calipari to get you to the NBA? You don’t. You can go anywhere and get the exposure you need these days, if you’re good enough.”
As opposed to, “I want to play for Coach Cal because he’s a great coach and he plays a great style that will highlight my abilities and set me up for success.” It’s much more difficult to sell against a product that has unique features and benefits. When all of a sudden the sales pitch is into “I’ll get you to the NBA,” it’s easier for rivals to mitigate that pitch.
just an early Sunday morning thought. I’ll take my slings and arrows now
