You really can't overstate just how stale the one-and-done, "Players First" philosophy has grown, or how quickly. Ten years ago, Cal was way ahead of his time -- embracing those superstars when everyone else shied away from them. He could practically hand pick his class. Nowadays, everyone recruits one-and-dones. With that much competition, he can only do so much. It would be impossible to land the same caliber of class now that he did in his first season with Wall/Cousins/Bledsoe/etc. And to pile on an already struggling concept, we're pushing kids to move up a year in class and get here unprepared to contribute even earlier? WTF? Looking at you, Juzang.
The game has changed in the last decade, but Calipari's recruiting hasn't changed with it. That's painfully obvious with the lack of talent we see on the floor. Don't get me wrong, we clearly need to go after the best players every year, but you may want to zig when everyone else zags. Find JUCOs. Grad transfers. Maybe redshirt for once. Euros. Convince the 4-star guys to stick around until they graduate.
This team just isn't very talented, and it's all because of the way Calipari has built it.