College Basketball Recruiting

[sjsj2448]

Matt Jones (Kentucky) is just beside himself. Every 2nd sentence from him has the word "Duke" in it. One would think he would spend his time/energy on the UK program, as there is much to discuss about their 2018/19 season. Sad!

I believe Matt thought Kentucky was going to land each of Reddish, Barrett, and Zion at one point.

 

[torontoduke]

Matt Jones (Kentucky) is just beside himself. Every 2nd sentence from him has the word "Duke" in it. One would think he would spend his time/energy on the UK program, as there is much to discuss about their 2018/19 season. Sad!

I believe Matt thought Kentucky was going to land each of Reddish, Barrett, and Zion at one point.

That guy is a sad homer. The Art Chansky of the SEC

 

[physicsfactor]

Cal with a Trumpian play to his base.

I really doubt Duke pitches “our state will take care of you.”

 

[deepdarkblue]

Cal with a Trumpian play to his base.

I really doubt Duke pitches “our state will take care of you.”

Yeah, that's typical Cal, take a truth and mix in a lie and assume no one will notice. It's not like Cal doesn't know that Duke is a private school. It's also not like Cal doesn't use virtually the exact same pitch himself about UK.

Cal needs Orlando Antigua back in the worst way. I don't know who their designated bagman is now, but whoever it is sucks.

 

[StopThePumpFakesShav]

I kind of think if Cal wasn't so stubborn in 2015 and sat the Harrison twins in favor of Booker/Ulis, he probably gets to 40-0 with a title game win over Duke and the Duke recruiting momentum doesn't reach its current peak. Booker and Ulis were each 120+ Kenpom players that got bench minutes while the Harrisons were 111/112 players.

 

[Devilsforlife]

He was too loyal to the Harrisons after they nearly led Kentucky to a theft of a title in 2014. Oh well, our gain, Cal's loss. I think the combination of losing the possible 40-0 season and Duke winning the title in 2015 broke Cal and the UK program.

 

[rome8180]

He also could have game-planned for Wisconsin. That might have helped.

 

[DukeNukem05]

He also could have game-planned for Wisconsin. That might have helped.

I love it when posts here make me laugh like an idiot.

 

[LastHearth]

He also could have game-planned for Wisconsin. That might have helped.

Didn't Cal say in 2015 they don't watch tape of their upcoming opponents because all his teams needs to do is focus on what they do themselves.

 

[rome8180]

Something like that. You know, all you need to do is focus to beat the most efficient offense ever. No biggie.

 

[deepdarkblue]

Cal lost his not-so-secret weapon in 2014. If you look at his signees since then, it's very clear how valuable Antigua was to him. It seems to all be coming to a head in 2018, with a class consisting of:

PG Immanuel Ouickley (ranked 13 overall on 247)

SG Keldon Johnson (ranked 12 on 247)

SG Tyler Herro (ranked 33 on 247)

That's it. No outstanding offers still out there, that's the entirety of Cal's incoming 2018 class. He's going to have to grab some transfers this season or his son, Brad, is going to be in UK's starting lineup.

Btw, some UK fans already believe Cal plans to leave when Brad, now a sophomore, graduates. That seems about right.

 

[sjsj2448]

Cal lost his not-so-secret weapon in 2014. If you look at his signees since then, it's very clear how valuable Antigua was to him. It seems to all be coming to a head in 2018, with a class consisting of:

PG Immanuel Ouickley (ranked 13 overall on 247)

SG Keldon Johnson (ranked 12 on 247)

SG Tyler Herro (ranked 33 on 247)

That's it. No outstanding offers still out there, that's the entirety of Cal's incoming 2018 class. He's going to have to grab some transfers this season or his son, Brad, is going to be in UK's starting lineup.

Btw, some UK fans already believe Cal plans to leave when Brad, now a sophomore, graduates. That seems about right.

And they will be losing Diallo and Knox at least. Hopefully SGA and Vanderbilt are gone, too. And maybe we get some surprise departures like Washington or Richards or Gabriel.

 

[rome8180]

At least half those guys you mentioned will stay. I expect them to be very good next year due to continuity.

 

[deepdarkblue]

It will be interesting to see how it shakes out, particularly given that most of Cal's playable roster was recruited and signed with OAD expectations. When players (and their families) believe themselves to be OAD, they can get angry and start assigning blame elsewhere when it begins to look unlikely.
There again, this is a place where Antigua was valuable - the players and their families loved him, and he was good at soothing ruffled feathers and keeping all those alpha personalities happy. Cal, as we've witnessed in some of his interviews this year, is only good at throwing gasoline on fires or throwing players under buses.

 

[torontoduke]

Maybe one of UK's post players will transfer to Duke.

Matt Jones (Kentucky) would have a hell of a time accepting that one.

 

[deeyoukayeee]

Cal lost his not-so-secret weapon in 2014. If you look at his signees since then, it's very clear how valuable Antigua was to him. It seems to all be coming to a head in 2018, with a class consisting of:

PG Immanuel Ouickley (ranked 13 overall on 247)

SG Keldon Johnson (ranked 12 on 247)

SG Tyler Herro (ranked 33 on 247)

That's it. No outstanding offers still out there, that's the entirety of Cal's incoming 2018 class. He's going to have to grab some transfers this season or his son, Brad, is going to be in UK's starting lineup.

Btw, some UK fans already believe Cal plans to leave when Brad, now a sophomore, graduates. That seems about right.

And they will be losing Diallo and Knox at least. Hopefully SGA and Vanderbilt are gone, too. And maybe we get some surprise departures like Washington or Richards or Gabriel.

I think Diallo, Knox, SGA and Vanderbilt are definitely gone. Diallo almost never played for them and left last year and they hate him, Knox is lotto, SGA is borderline lotto and will be affected by Quickley. Vanderbilt will probably be lotto, and I think his relationship isn't the best with Cal.

I'd guess Washington, Richards, Gabriel, SKJ and Green will join the freshmen. Not an bad team at all, and certainly a lot more experienced than most of Cal's. Athletic and good defensively, if not particularly skilled offensively.

If Richards and/or Washington leave - which is certainly possible - it starts to get a little weak.

 

[CMon85]

I'm with you dee, pretty much across the board.

Green
Quickley
Washington
Gabriel
Richards

That's my prediction. The bench will be pretty short. No big offensive threat. Washington will probably be the leading scorer at around 15 a game. I don't see them being any better than they are this year. We shouldn't have any issue beating them in Indy.

 

[torontoduke]

Like @rome8180 said, I think they can get better by virtue of the continuity and player development. Depends on who sticks around, as you guys mentioned.

 

[rome8180]

I'm with you dee, pretty much across the board.

Green
Quickley
Washington
Gabriel
Richards

That's my prediction. The bench will be pretty short. No big offensive threat. Washington will probably be the leading scorer at around 15 a game. I don't see them being any better than they are this year. We shouldn't have any issue beating them in Indy.

How many other teams are going to be returning multiple top 25 prospects coached by a Hall of Famer? Chances are we'd assume most of those teams would be very good. Just because you live in Kentucky doesn't mean you have to suspend all objectivity.

 

[StopThePumpFakesShav]

I think sophomore Quade Green is going to be a top 5 ish point guard nationally. That alone will raise their floor significantly. They’ll have enough talent and will likely have enough experience (relatively speaking to their recent standard) to be a top 10 team. And you don’t know what kind of pieces they can add through transfer or late commits. Florida, typically their main competition, is also likely to be losing some significant pieces.

I think Kentucky will be fine.