Terrence Clarke declares

Cats192

Heisman
Apr 22, 2011
14,851
17,673
93
What does it say of our coach that he keeps bringing these players to UK? Matthews, Juzang, Gabriel, Diallo, Vanderbilt, Clarke, Fletcher, Whitney, SKJ, Baker, Wynyard, Green, etc.

He doesn't understand the self-eating monster he created.

Everyone sees UK as the "get me to the NBA" school. Terrence Clarke and BJ Boston came here to go to the NBA. Olivier Sarr thought we would help with his pro prospects. So did Jackson. So they come here and they...go pro. If you aren't good enough to go pro after 1 year--a lot of them think it's because Kentucky is using them wrong. And maybe to some degree they Cal has used guys wrong. But a lot of these guys needed more time to grow into good basketball players.

And the problem is Cal recruits these guys citing our NBA success--which just reaffirms the NBA narrative.

I think Cal thought he'd start going after 4 star guys, and they'd stay longer. The problem is: these lower ranked guys think "Kentucky is recruiting me because they think I'm good enough for the NBA." So it becomes the same thing. Power to Herro and SGA for exceeding expectations. But other guys think we've failed them when they're not a 1 and done. So they transfer.

If you're good, you leave. If you're not good, you leave. This is the machine.
 

BBNinSC_rivals62411

All-American
Jan 2, 2015
2,788
5,695
0
What does it say of our coach that he keeps bringing these players to UK? Matthews, Juzang, Gabriel, Diallo, Vanderbilt, Clarke, Fletcher, Whitney, SKJ, Baker, Wynyard, Green, etc.
I believe some of these kids are ruined before they come here. They have had nothing but people telling them how great they are for years.
If we can somehow end entitlement, we would have world peace.
 

RunninRichie

Heisman
Sep 5, 2019
28,535
68,053
113
He doesn't understand the self-eating monster he created.

Everyone sees UK as the "get me to the NBA" school. Terrence Clarke and BJ Boston came here to go to the NBA. Olivier Sarr thought we would help with his pro prospects. So did Jackson. So they come here and they...go pro. If you aren't good enough to go pro after 1 year--a lot of them think it's because Kentucky is using them wrong. And maybe to some degree they Cal has used guys wrong. But a lot of these guys needed more time to grow into good basketball players.

And the problem is Cal recruits these guys citing our NBA success--which just reaffirms the NBA narrative.

I think Cal thought he'd start going after 4 star guys, and they'd stay longer. The problem is: these lower ranked guys think "Kentucky is recruiting me because they think I'm good enough for the NBA." So it becomes the same thing. Power to Herro and SGA for exceeding expectations. But other guys think we've failed them when they're not a 1 and done. So they transfer.

If you're good, you leave. If you're not good, you leave. This is the machine.
Cal on instagram cheering on Clarke and says he’s “gonna be rooting for him like crazy and I know our fans will too”.
 

SmedMoley

All-American
Nov 14, 2020
3,690
7,959
0
Let's not forget he did take part in that huge win in the pre-conference. The only win in pre-conference...
 

kl40504_rivals

Heisman
Oct 5, 2018
15,258
11,184
0
Wish he had gone overseas or to the G League. Took a scholly from someone else. What a mistake by Cal.
Sure that scholly made a huge difference especially at the end of the year when Cal usually only plays 7 to 8 players. I guess he could have been a cheerleader.
 

logiUK

Sophomore
Jan 6, 2016
65
126
0
He left before he got here.

I'll be shocked if Boston doesn't declare as well, he's another that left before he got here.

That's part of the problem with Calipari's recruiting. He only goes after guys that have left the program before they step foot on campus.

Recruiting one or two of these guys a year (which Clarke and Boston would be for this year) might be fine, if he had a foundation to depend on. Now... maybe, just maybe, he's building that foundation with Askew, Allen, Ware, Brooks.

Jackson I'm iffy on as to whether he left before he stepped foot on campus. He certainly didn't look ready to leave at the beginning of the season. But near the end, he rose to his potential.

I just hope Calipari is watching the NCAA tournament and seeing these teams that inbound the ball, run the ball up the court, shoot, score. They don't try to make circus shots. They don't try to drive in for a layup or dunk all the time, they put up shots, that go in the basket. Kentucky has lacked that for a few years now. You don't have to have 5 stars next to your name in order to make shots.
 

Susan2361

All-Conference
Apr 22, 2015
1,747
3,247
0
The frustration isn't that he's a bad player. It's that he came here with the mindset that he's going pro no matter what.

I used to think it was a social contract. You come to UK. You become the best version of yourself. You give UK all that you've got, help us win games and go as far as we can go.

And in return we help you get to the league.

Instead, he barely played. He was never the special player he was supposed to be. We got nothing out of him. And it's great to say "stop being entitled, they don't owe us anything." But we're never going to be great again if we continue to be a stepping stone for kids--and they just suck the entire time they're here.

This is similar to Vanderbilt, Khalil Whitney and other guys who did little to nothing while they were here. Clarke would massively improve his draft stock by coming back. He might actually benefit the school/team.

But he'll be a speck on the wall of time in UK history. A completely irrelavent one.
Great post!!
 

Basscat1987

All-Conference
Jan 2, 2021
1,016
2,357
0
Obviously Cal hasn’t learned ONE single thing from this past season. We sucked and have been going down hill as a program over the last few seasons because of this exact reason right here. Players leaving early who aren’t ready because they think since it’s kentucky they’re a failure if they don’t leave after 1 year. What a joke. Boston is next to declare. Notice how cal Doesent mention in his statements about players declaring that these guys are ready for the draft.
 

TBCat

Heisman
Mar 30, 2007
14,317
10,332
0
I'm not happy about using our program as a training camp for the NBA either but let's not bash these kids. They didn't create this mess. Clarke was recruited here for just this reason. That's a problem but it wasn't his design. Hopefully he won't be out of the league and working at Walmart in a couple of years but that's what you get when you jump into a situation that you were never prepared for.
 

mcwildcats04

Heisman
Jul 19, 2003
9,157
12,655
93
Cal on instagram cheering on Clarke and says he’s “gonna be rooting for him like crazy and I know our fans will too”.