During Cal's time here at UK, which recruit that we didn't get, that you thought was going to be a great star but they never really made much noise after turning down UK. I thought C.J.Leslie in 2010 was going to be great but it never happened.
The ones that got away
- Thread starter Big Blue Beast
- Start date
Wiiggins and Markelle Fultz are two kids UK devoted a whole lot of energy recruiting and both have been disappointments in the NBA.
I wanted Quincy Miller over Anthony Davis for a while. Whoops.
I will go the other way, I think a recruit that cal messed up with and likely cost a title was Jarrett Allen. Thought I read on here that due to getting in a pissing war with shiteshefski over Bolden it cost us Allen.
Imagine Allen (who was a lottery pick) teamed up with Bam.
Imagine Allen (who was a lottery pick) teamed up with Bam.
Wiggins without a doubt was the last recruitment I actually invested myself in. After that i said “never again”. I still keep track but nowhere near to that extent.
Bolden.
Lol remember how crazy UK and Duke fans were about his recruitment? Didn't do squat. Probable playing in the Turkmenistan basketball league right now
Lol remember how crazy UK and Duke fans were about his recruitment? Didn't do squat. Probable playing in the Turkmenistan basketball league right now
Aside from your point but..
I actually watched that elite eight game just last night and it struck me that it was Derek Willis at fault for Maye’s shot? Anyone else recall this?
I don’t remember being upset at Willis at the time but watching the tape it really disappointed me.
He kinda played off him and was too busy watching the ball he dribbled up the court, no?
the entire team basically ran to joel berry and by the time briscoe realized maye was in shooting range it was too late
I thought we were a lock for Will Barton. Mind you that would have been great. But in retrospect, if they’d gotten him, he probably wouldn’t have stayed 2 years and they probably wouldn’t have gotten Doron Lamb and that would have been a huge missing piece in 2012.
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I like to watch Denver play when i watch NBA. Barton is on the team and he gets about 15 a game. Like to watch him play too.
Jodie Meeks. If Cal is able to keep him---I think UK wins the title in 2010.
Newsome
he was down to Miss. ST. and UK
he made a huge mistake and transferred to KU
he was down to Miss. ST. and UK
he made a huge mistake and transferred to KU
That kid seemed toubled. Not sure he would have lasted under Cal.
Who was that guard that went to Mississippi State then transferred to Kansas? Of course this recruiting class Cade Cunningham.
EDIT: Was a bit late on seeing this:
EDIT: Was a bit late on seeing this:
I always figured in Xavier Henry from his class that moved on from Memphis. Loved his game but didn’t do anything at Kansas ohh what could’ve been
Without a doubt. And probably 40-0 for Cal's first season.
Josh Selby. After he de-commited from UT people that he was on his way to UK and it was only a matter of weeks before Selby would commit. Selby held off on committing and UK ended up with Brandon Knight.
During the Jordan Brand Classic that year Selby committed to Kansas and UK recieved a commitment from Doron Lamb. Lamb would star at UK for two years while Selby would be suspended for part of the year for Kansas and would declare for the draft after one disappointing season and would never get close the player people thought he would be.
During the Jordan Brand Classic that year Selby committed to Kansas and UK recieved a commitment from Doron Lamb. Lamb would star at UK for two years while Selby would be suspended for part of the year for Kansas and would declare for the draft after one disappointing season and would never get close the player people thought he would be.
Tried to think of a player no one mentioned. How about DeAndre Daniels? He thought about mid season reclassing during the 2010-11 season. Probably wouldn’t have provided much as he only averaged 3ppg as a Freshman in 2011-12 at UConn. Ended up being a key player on their ‘14 Championship team. Never heard from him after that. He was drafted 2nd round, never made it to the NBA and currently plays in Finland.
He reminded me of another near midseason reclass, Jarnell Stokes. He did end up reclassing and playing at UT our championship year. That kid was a load in college, and I remember we all wanted him bad, but Cal knew what we had and looking back I’m glad it wasn’t disrupted of course. Another 2nd round pick, flames out the league pretty quick, and now plays in China.
A third guy who I think would’ve been really good here was Arnett Moultrie. He transferred to Miss St. from UTEP after the 09-10 season. His name was getting thrown around after we “lost out” on Terrence Jones. That was a wild time! I remember new names popping up just about everyday. Kadeem Jack, Luke Cothron, and even a dude name Chris Hill who claimed UK was recruiting him, but the dude never even ended up playing D1 basketball. I guess since Moultrie wasn’t immediately eligible he may not have been looked at very hard, but he averaged 16ppg for Miss St. in 2011-12. I don’t know who else remembers the hand wringing after the Terrence Jones to Washington ordeal, but the fans were desperate for a big, we were ready to sign just about anyone up. But behind the scenes Cal knew we were all good. Moultrie was a late 1st round pick, played in the league briefly, and most recently played in Italy.
He reminded me of another near midseason reclass, Jarnell Stokes. He did end up reclassing and playing at UT our championship year. That kid was a load in college, and I remember we all wanted him bad, but Cal knew what we had and looking back I’m glad it wasn’t disrupted of course. Another 2nd round pick, flames out the league pretty quick, and now plays in China.
A third guy who I think would’ve been really good here was Arnett Moultrie. He transferred to Miss St. from UTEP after the 09-10 season. His name was getting thrown around after we “lost out” on Terrence Jones. That was a wild time! I remember new names popping up just about everyday. Kadeem Jack, Luke Cothron, and even a dude name Chris Hill who claimed UK was recruiting him, but the dude never even ended up playing D1 basketball. I guess since Moultrie wasn’t immediately eligible he may not have been looked at very hard, but he averaged 16ppg for Miss St. in 2011-12. I don’t know who else remembers the hand wringing after the Terrence Jones to Washington ordeal, but the fans were desperate for a big, we were ready to sign just about anyone up. But behind the scenes Cal knew we were all good. Moultrie was a late 1st round pick, played in the league briefly, and most recently played in Italy.
Not gonna lie, Zion. I really thought we had him, and honestly never thought Duke was a big option. I was heartbroken, and as much as I wanted to hate him for his choice, I still like the kid.
I don't know how yall do this. I try and play the what if game and it just sickens me. As great as this program is man we have some misses... whether its players not staying an extra year or a recruit going to a diff program to be the #1 guy.
You can't have it all I guess that's what makes winning the chip that much harder.
You can't have it all I guess that's what makes winning the chip that much harder.
Wiggins and Henry are the only 2 names in this thread I even remember. I guess those other guys clearly didn't pan out if I dont even recognize the names.
watched his commitment on TV soon as he said “brother” I turned the channel at least his family got a nice house out of it
You are 100% correct.
I blasted Willis after the game that day. He is jogging back on defense in an Elite 8 game tied that his team just capped off a 9 pt comeback in 54 secs. Briscoe was cross matched and 6'8 over 6'2 is going to happen no matter what he does.
Zion was a big "miss," but that dude is tearing it up right now. He doesn't satisfy the OP's query.
-Xavier Henry is one for sure. He had a solid freshman season at KU but failed to stick in the NBA.
-We went hard after Adreian Payne. He committed to MSU and had a good 4 year career in spite of a diagnosis of a lung condition.
-I remember recruiting Wroten. I think he was a guy more interested in UK than UK was in him iirc. He would have been a part of the title team in 2012. Missing didn't hurt us too bad.
-Zimmerman was a frustrating miss. We needed size especially to replenish the depleted roster after the 2015 season. He ended up having 1 mediocre year at UNLV.
-There was lots of salt over the Bolden recruitment. Reveling in his rather unimpressive career at Duke became a fixture on this board.
-Bamba was one a good number of folks were convinced that his commitment to UK were imminent. He had a decent year at UT, but he has failed to make an imprint at the NBA level just yet.
I'm sure there are more, but those are a few I can think of off the top of my head.
-Xavier Henry is one for sure. He had a solid freshman season at KU but failed to stick in the NBA.
-We went hard after Adreian Payne. He committed to MSU and had a good 4 year career in spite of a diagnosis of a lung condition.
-I remember recruiting Wroten. I think he was a guy more interested in UK than UK was in him iirc. He would have been a part of the title team in 2012. Missing didn't hurt us too bad.
-Zimmerman was a frustrating miss. We needed size especially to replenish the depleted roster after the 2015 season. He ended up having 1 mediocre year at UNLV.
-There was lots of salt over the Bolden recruitment. Reveling in his rather unimpressive career at Duke became a fixture on this board.
-Bamba was one a good number of folks were convinced that his commitment to UK were imminent. He had a decent year at UT, but he has failed to make an imprint at the NBA level just yet.
I'm sure there are more, but those are a few I can think of off the top of my head.
Remember the Zimmerman kid who was going to be our salvation at center? He went to UNLV and as I recall, never amounted to very much. Same year we were spurned by Diallo who never played at KU or the NBA ( I believe). Then there was Malik Newman who sucked at MSU and was pretty good at KU, but what's he done thus far in the NBA? There was also Jalen Brown who also spurned us that year and went to Cal Berkeley. He's a decent NBA player, but that year we struck out on so many recruits. There might be a couple others. Those are just the ones I recall.
It’s easy to look back at the what if’s. Even if some of these guys didn’t amount to much beyond college, a lot would have been very impactful at U.K and maybe helped lead us to a title. But for nearly each, there are guys that another program looks at as a what if that ended up at U.K. that helped us out in a big way. Take Terrance Jones away and we don’t win it in 12. What about all the guys that were locks for Memphis before Cal came here. Cousins and Dotson were already committed. Wall was a lock there. Georgetown thought they were getting Noel, Wisconsin was getting Herro, Shai was going to Florida, Bam to N.C. State, and EJ to Duke. Difference with the guys that ended up here when we thought they would go elsewhere and most of the guys that went elsewhere is that the ones who came here have actually amounted to something. Maybe that should be a lesson for future recruit.
I really wanted James Blackman jr., primarily because his dad was one of my favorite UK players. I was pissed when Booker signed, thinking it would end our chances for JBJ. Probably did, but it ended well for us.
Yah man it’s kind of hard to watch. Briscoe is forced to help at the end but was completely Willis’ man and he just like was too caught up in who had the ball, thinking they’d just shoot.
It’s funny, how the game ended, I completely forgot that shot Monk got to tie the game in the first place.
He might be our second most clutch closer behind Aaron Harrison since Cal’s been here? That was an incredible shot Monk hit, over 2 ppl..
A lot of great responses. I'll add one to the list, Jarrett Allen. (I know that doesn't satisfy all the criteria).. But that was not only a miss, but it was one of Cal's few mistakes in recruiting.
Allen wanted to come here, or was at least close to making the call.. but we got wrapped up in Bolden, and in a recruiting battle with Duke.
In retrospect, Bam turned out to be fine for us as a big.. but I think Allen would have provided a true center role from the start, and we probably roll to a 1-seed. Would have been the difference between a Final 4 and an Elite 8.
... and also, Bolden himself. I think Cal would have gotten more out of him, and having Bolden for 2016 and 2017 (and maybe a Junior year) would have been a HUGE help.
Allen wanted to come here, or was at least close to making the call.. but we got wrapped up in Bolden, and in a recruiting battle with Duke.
In retrospect, Bam turned out to be fine for us as a big.. but I think Allen would have provided a true center role from the start, and we probably roll to a 1-seed. Would have been the difference between a Final 4 and an Elite 8.
... and also, Bolden himself. I think Cal would have gotten more out of him, and having Bolden for 2016 and 2017 (and maybe a Junior year) would have been a HUGE help.
And he was fouled too. I still think Monk was fouled. For all the talk of Fox getting screwed by other posters and they aren't wrong, that non call on Monk's tying 3 still pisses me off. Would've been in exact scenario they were in Las Vegas up 1, having to get a stop to get W.
In that furious onslaught, remember thinking "need them to split FT's" after Fox make. Then Monk makes it, then Monk again...and just thought there was no way they'd be denied and then the shot.......but seeing the replay of guys getting back....yeah...that hurts.
Thought that was Willis mistake and Briscoe was trying to save his ***?
That’s funny - I had the exact opposite reaction while watching the replay. All these years, I’ve thought we were either lackadaisical or got lost in transition, and probably that meant specifically Willis. I replayed those seven seconds several times yesterday. Now, from the dispassionate perspective of 3 years later, I think we did about as well as we could do. It was a fire drill. Everyone instinctively runs to the basket to prevent an easy layup, we were in relatively good coverage......We we’re facing probably the one program in all of college hoops that is best at getting the ball down the court, even after a made basket. Horrible opponent for that scenario, likely the worst. This is the one time I disagree with Cal’s “better to let them play than call a timeout” philosophy. Although I’m not sure what the rule was at the time about the bench calling a TO in a live ball situation.
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