I think it helps a lot more for 18/19 year olds when they come in. I think that attention can be a big help. I don't think it's a huge deal for a grad transfer. The attention that Blackshear would get here at UK isn't worth millions, which was the comment I originally replied to. I'm not buying that a grad transfer from Va Tech is going to have his draft stock improved by millions of dollars because of the attention he'd get here. The NBA teams obviously didn't love him or he would have stayed in the draft.
KB a Gator
- Thread starter HICATFAN
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Felt good about him early on, but gave up a week or so ago. At least he was smart enough to not go to TN, yet not smart enough to know his best shot at the NBA and exposure plus scouts was UK. Oh well, he isn't the first. Onto the reclass.
I don’t know how much it would have helped we only know that in fact it can. In his position, you need all the extra push you can get. I could easily see where he could have been a second round pick at UK. It’s not happening at Florida. Cal has crazy connections and my God, not only scouts but the president of the Heat just made comments about how much he likes drafting Uk guys under Cal.
These things just cannot be discredited. If he wanted an edge on a pro career and a shot at a title he made the worst decision he could have.
I hear you. I think the Kentucky effect is much better for freshmen than it is for a grad transfer. If I were advising an 18 year old I would tell him to go to UK. To me, that's an easy decision because of a lot of what you mentioned. In that case, the attention is probably a good thing.
I'm saying for a guy who has already played 4 years of college basketball in the ACC, I don't think the benefits that guys like Herro or our other pros get are going to be felt by Blackshear. We don't really know how it would help a grad transfer. It didn't really help Travis last year. He was what he was in terms of his draft stock. Blackshear is going to be more like Travis than he would one of our freshmen that come in projected in the 2nd round and then after 1 year they're a lottery pick. I'm just not buying that in Blackshear's case him coming to UK is worth millions of dollars compared to going to UF.
I think, IMO, the actually will he get that much better argument is simple. Probably not. Maybe playing against EJ and Nick in practice would be better than the Florida reserves, but I think his talent probably isn’t improving much. But there is no doubt a “ Kentucky effect that can help for sure. The connections in the league, the exposure we get(yes Florida is on tv too, but you can’t doubt we have more/bigger televised games), that practicing against better players, all of it gives u a slight/better advantage than Florida. So whether or not he actually improves his talent this year I honestly believe on a national title team being a key component would possibly boost him into the draft even if based on perception of being “better”.
Its mine boggling if you really think about how many bigs we have missed out on this year.
