Jerry Meyer doesn't know crap. Slater does though. If Jerry changed his pick it's because of info he got from someone actually well connected in the recruiting circuit, like Slater. Doesn't mean their right but don't think Slater changed his pick without a reason.
who will be UKs next commit....
- Thread starter KWilt43atbuzz
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Jerry Meyer doesn't know crap. Slater does though. If Jerry changed his pick it's because of info he got from someone actually well connected in the recruiting circuit, like Slater. Doesn't mean their right but don't think Slater changed his pick without a reason.
Just because he is great doesn't mean he can't have a disappointing class. This class overall appears weak and having a top recruiting class doesn't mean it will translate to success. Not a lot of quality guards are available that we likely can get and we need 4 of them. Might have to take some lesser talented multi year players. Nothing wrong with an occasional down year when you constantly rely on freshmen. Maybe there will be some late bloomers or a graduate transfer that can help us out. Might also be some players who don't sign and change their commitment in the Spring. Coach Cal has a way with salvaging a class late so we will see what happens.
Isn't this what we were discussing, the possibility of missing out on these guys?
I'm just wondering what Cal does if he misses on all these guys.
I think it will work out, but I am wondering how it will work out.
No one saw Murray coming in '15. At this point in the process, we were all in with Newman and Brown at the wing. Murray was unknown to 99% of this board. So, it's clear that Cal can find more than adequate replacements when he misses on a player or two.
Still, it's hard to imagine another gem like Murray just dropping into our laps again.
I am not concerned, no doom and gloom, merely curious about how it will work out.
Regardless, even if we get Young and Alexander we still need another guard or two. I am good with a couple of grad transfers. We will have no Seniors on the squad, so a little experience would be welcomed.
Here is another scenario that could play out, Young, Alexander, and Knox. Everyone will say that there is no way Knox plays the 2, but Cal preaches positionless ball. On offense, Knox creates a mismatch at the 2 with his size. On defense, Cal wants to switch everything, so his bigs have to defend guards anyway.
Imagine this lineup:
G Young(6'2)
G Knox(6'8)
F Washington(6'8)
F Killeya-Jones(6'10)
F Bamba(6'11)
With Alexander(6'4), Richards(6'11), Humphries(7'0), and Wynyard(6'10) off the bench.
That's unreal length. They would dominate the boards. Shooting could be an issue, though.
Just thinking outside the box a little.
Andrew Slater said last week Immanuel Quickley was a reclass possibility but he also hinted that Green was coming to UK and has now flipped back to Green being done to Syracuse.
I really gotta stop spending money on these clowns. 9/10 they know as much as we do.
I really gotta stop spending money on these clowns. 9/10 they know as much as we do.
The same Jerry Meyer who picked DeAaron Fox to Texas? LOL Fox didn't even put Texas in his final five. Not sure how Slater would have any insight on Young.
I guess the good news is that we will know on Green soon and then can figure out our options accordingly. No way we can go into the spring with only one option(Young)
I like your thoughts on Knox at the 2. Not from a spacing standpoint, but from a gutsy, innovatively “that’s something Cal might actually try” approach. Cal has been selling Washington on being used similarly in the way Lyles/MKG were used. Both of those guys played almost exclusively at the 3 spot. I think Cal is perhaps envisioning something similar for next season, and might make a pitch at Knox that tries to sell him on playing on the perimeter.
How that would look strategically is another matter, but I feel like the main point for Cal is simply getting the most talented kids to Lexington, then figuring it all out later.
Anybody know of anywhere that ranks Junior College players??? We aren't there yet but i'd been interested in knowing who the top ranked guards project to be.
Let's hope it doesn't come to that. Much rather Cal go the grad transfer route.
He'd be a fun addition.Would love to see Knox at UK...I see Young and Green coming to UK, unless they change their minds at the last minute. I think Calipari will get the guards he needs for next yearkay::sunglasses:
LOL. Those damn insiders.
It's kind of funny when members of this board openly converse about how fluid recruiting can be, but then ridicule an insider because they hear and then share new information.
To each his own.
Uhmm, isn't it pretty obvious why anyone following recruiting would be concerned about guards in this class, especially as the most experienced and productive guard returning next season will be Brad Calipari? Outside of Young, who's waiting til the Spring and is in no way a lock for UK at this point, what other guard outside of Alexander is an obvious UK lean? Additionally, are those guards you're thinking of obvious "difference makers" that can come in and start from day one with reasonable productivity? You're correct that Calipari has had excellent success, but the backcourt situation is unlike other years where we either had sufficient role players returning or had a minimum of two to three productive guards already lined up ... maybe not committed, but obviously favoring UK.
I live 20 minutes north of Chattanooga so my dad and I may go to Alexanders game on Friday night dressed in our UK gear to show our support. I wonder if that would be perceived as weird given I am a grown man going to a High School basketball game to support a kid that I have absolutely no connection with. Anyways, I would love to see his game. If he doesn't commit to Kentucky on Monday then plans will change. I am pretty sure that showing up in UK gear with him committing elsewhere definitely moves into the weird category.
You can never blame a kid for staying home and playing for his home school. I mean, he's from freakin Norman, Oklahoma. He's got to be a Sooner fan and I can understand that, just like a kid from Lexington being a Cats fan. If that's what ends up happening then Oh well! Nothing a coach can do or say to trump the urge to stay home.
Also, you can never predict what these kids are thinking and nothing surprises me anymore. Why does it shock you that Texas may lead for Bamba? They've got a hip up and coming coach at a very big school. It doesn't surprise me at all. Some kids just want the spotlight and don't want to share the ball. That's just how some are built. If Green is tight with Bamba and Walker wants to play with him, sign him up and move on.
Young will be a Cat.
Cal will land a premier shooting guard.
What worries me is our depth or lack there of at the guard position next yr.
Cal will land a premier shooting guard.
What worries me is our depth or lack there of at the guard position next yr.
I agree. Young may be waiting for his high school basketball team to finish their season, so he doesn't have to listen to OK. Fans put him down for picking UK. My reference for this opinion is Monk and the AK fans.
Prolly not. If you're showing up at T-Ball game to watch 8 yr olds and you're supporting a UK shirt, then yeah, you may have a few parents look at you weird.
I'm sure you're not the only person.
What I fear is a backcourt of 4 stars, and maybe a Juco or 5th year senior. That's a recipe for a 2013 type year. Cal has had a 5 star PG every year at UK though so I'll keep hoping!
You make some good points and the concern, I think, is relatively justified; but we’ve had episodes like this before in recruiting. There seems to be a lot of credence placed on the idea of a kid “favoring” UK in such a way as to make a UK pick somewhat predictable for fans, as if the predictable quality is normative. The reality is, none of us saw Bam coming (early on), or Gabriel, or SKJ, or Briscoe, or Murray, or Ulis, or Skal. Monk was a coin flip; so was Booker. Ulis came out of nowhere in a short period of time following Mudiay’s flip. The rumor mill was not kind to the idea of Randle playing with the twins and up until a few weeks before he selected UK in the spring, few of us saw him as realistically UK-bound. In fact, of UK’s last thirteen five star recruits – dating back to spring of ’13 and excluding the guys UK landed this fall – only Towns, Lyles, and Fox fit the criteria of being a UK lean for extended periods of time. Three of the remaining ten were coin flips: Randle, Booker and Monk; and seven of the remaining ten came out of nowhere following semi-short recruitments or recruitments that were not considered UK leanings: SKJ, Gabriel, Briscoe, Bam, Ulis, Murray, Labissiere.
Young is as much a UK-lean as Knight was (Florida, UConn) or Wall (Baylor) or the Harrison twins (Maryland). There was doubt in all of those recruitments and two of those guys picked UK very late in the process (Wall, Knight). If UK lands Young and Alexander, Calipari is essentially one semi-surprise commitment away from alleviating all the concern your post is exhibiting. All it would take is for one of Knox, Diallo, Walker to change direction (not unheard of when one considers the aforementioned list of players) or for UK to surprise some folks with a Green commitment and/ or establishing winter inroads with wings like M.J. Walker, Brian Bowen, Kris Wilkes, etc. to supplement Young. Really, landing a guy like Knox changes everything from a concern level. You surround him with Young, Alexander, a grad transfer or two, and the wing positions (Knox/Washington) and the interior (Humphries, SKJ, Richards, possibly Bamba) become UK’s strength next season. The guards would just have to be adequate.
I would agree that losing Young in the spring would be enormously detrimental, but one could have said the same about losing Knight in the spring of '10 from a guard level or Jones in the same period from a frontcourt level of impact (or Noel in '11, as well as a dozen other guys who decided late).
These kind of posts are what makes me LOL. I love the arguing on here ![sick]
Everyone agrees our current guards will graduate or leave for the NBA after this season, meaning Calipari must sign 4 new guards in this class. Scholarship offers have been made to Petty, Waters, Alexander, Diallo, Walker, Green, Young. This week, Petty signed with Alabama. Earlier, Waters committed to Georgetown. It is believed can that Alexander will sign with Kentucky tomorrow. I don't know what the others will decide, and I am not especially optimistic about any of them right now. Green is spending a lot of time at Syracuse. Although some Kentucky fans keep drawing analogies between Green and Damien Harris, the chances are that Green's attention to Syracuse probably means something. I doubt Young knows what he will decide yet, but there is a pretty good chance he will stay home and play for Lon Kruger. Walker and Diallo don't seem to be leaning to Kentucky. But Calipari has demonstrated a tendency to produce 1 significant recruiting surprise every year. So I would guess that 1 guard out of Young, Green, Walker, Diallo will end up in Kentucky's class. If that is the case, Calipari will still need to sign 2 other guards in the spring. It may mean something that Calipari didn't make an offer to Lexingtonian Traveion Hollingswirth before Hollingsworth signed with WKU. This suggests Calipari is confident about getting commitments from other guards. Could be a graduate transfer, international signing, or reclassification in the spring. Jamal Murray was a reclassification. Julius Mays was a graduate transfer. However it works out, the OAD movement at Kentucky may take a short hiatus next year. Unless Bamba or Knox ends up at Kentucky, it's getting hard to see any OADs coming in this next class. And that may end up being a good thing in the long run.
Youre right, very well may end up being a good thing for 2018. I personally think it's much much harder to win a title when we reload EVERYONE every year and that's what it's come to now. Cal has been SO successful doing what he does that he seems to put too many players in the league too quickly. It easy to win games this way but much more difficult to win title this way. I think our best chance to win it all is going to come off a slightly "down" year when we have some borderline guys come back for that 2nd year. Cause we know that most of the guys who come here are looking to get to the league ASAP and many will make rash decisions because they think theyve failed if they play here and are not a OAD. Sadly, it's gotten to that point but you have to take the good with the bad. So, it is what it is but I think yoyre right that it may be a good thing if we don't sign many OADs.
Im with ya. Get Green and focus on the other two. If Young wants to wait let him see the opportunity pass him by. We don't need them they need UK-Cal.
Despite the Crystal Ball showing UA, I'm going with Lonnie Walker. I don't want ya'll to get that type of shooter but I can't see how he turns down a great chance to start @ SG next year.