Kentucky picks up their 8th commitment for the 2013 class

[Orangezoo]

connections is how- is it not a little interesting how www was innocently allowed around uk.. and jay-z was in the locker room and now www cant get into a tourney game and jayz is gonna be an agent? watch the cal to jay z connection flow like a river for uk players being represented without a sniff from the nba..

 

[longtimefan]

How do the UConn women get all the best players? Sometimes kids just want to go where the best talent goes.

Now that's a bad analogy. Women's hoop talent has been concentrated in very few schools (~5?) for at least 25 years. From a recruiting perspective, men's and women's college hoops might as well be different sports.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Was just thinking the same thing.. even with teams like Indiana they get good home grown talent. Of course isn't Michigan somewhat similar in that a lot of their talent comes from Ohio, PA, etc?

Yeah, the Big 10 recruiting scenarios are interesting to me. Michigan St. and Illinois seem to do the best job with their in state players although Chicago has been good to Louisville and Kentucky as well.

Trey Burke was a 3 star guy from Columbus. DeShaun Thomas is from Fort Wayne, IN and OSU does well in Indy also.

 

[FireballPhil]

I have no doubt that Syracuse does sketchy things to get recruits. I am sure every elite program does. I am just saying how does one land 7 or 8 top 20 recruits without doing something shady and the NCAA doesn't even bat an eye. There isn't any real money in women's basketball so I doubt it's shady but I see your point. I am just saying the NCAA is a joke.

Duke did this same thing for years. Still does get a large number of high profile recruits. Kids believe Dukie V and other ESPN analysts.

 

[AirForceOrange]

You all don't understand how the NCAA works...They are going after Syracuse because they are tired of kensucky getting away with these type of things and are getting pissed off at PayPalCal...so they are going after Boeheim...Geez...makes sense to me...

 

[Knicks411]

I have no doubt that Syracuse does sketchy things to get recruits. I am sure every elite program does. I am just saying how does one land 7 or 8 top 20 recruits without doing something shady and the NCAA doesn't even bat an eye. There isn't any real money in women's basketball so I doubt it's shady but I see your point. I am just saying the NCAA is a joke.

Hate to repeat myself, but this kid isn't a top 20 recruit. They have 6 top 20 recruits, which is still ridiculous, of course. But just for the sake of accuracy.

 

[Capt. Tuttle]

SU opened its own can of worms when it A) Had a drug policy, B) Ignored said drug policy, C) Self-reported those two facts to the NCAA and D) Played Fab Melo last year.

Kentucky just says F&% off NCAA.

 

[Alsacs]

Does Kentucky have the cap space to sign Andrew Wiggins to a max contract or are they going to have amnesty Kyle Witjner or Alex Poythress like they did Ryan Harrow and Archie Goodwin?

 

[Old hank]

I heard he signed for the league minimum to stay under their 15 million salary cap.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

Now that's a bad analogy. Women's hoop talent has been concentrated in very few schools (~5?) for at least 25 years. From a recruiting perspective, men's and women's college hoops might as well be different sports.

I think you're looking at it from the wrong angle. It's not 8 great players deciding to go to Kentucky. It's ONE player deciding Kentucky is the best situation for HIM. And, then repeated, many times.

Their players are getting drafted, with record frequency. Those players are pretty successful in the NBA. The college teams are ranked highly. Featured on tv regularly. They get good coaching. What else would you be looking for if you were 17 and had the benefit of choice?

By the way, I don't like Kentucky. I don't want to defend them. I'm really just discussing the idea of it.

 

[SBU72]

And the #1 recruit, Andrew Wiggins has UK on his list.

Also, this years roster had 13 guys listed. 2 Sr., 2 Jr and nine Fr and Soph. There has to be more than 5 guys from that group who want to come back. Where are they getting the scholarships? Except for Noels, none of the kids looked that good to leave early.

 

[Ghost]

Really makes you wonder why Cal's giving him a 'ship...

Eh, when you pay off enough ppl they probably have some say in whether or not you take Mr. Kentucky Basketball.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

We may have to revisit this dialog in a year or two. Hopefully, there won't be a valid 'glass houses' rejoinder.

 

[swish7]

I think you're looking at it from the wrong angle. It's not 8 great players deciding to go to Kentucky. It's ONE player deciding Kentucky is the best situation for HIM. And, then repeated, many times.

Their players are getting drafted, with record frequency. Those players are pretty successful in the NBA. The college teams are ranked highly. Featured on tv regularly. They get good coaching. What else would you be looking for if you were 17 and had the benefit of choice?

By the way, I don't like Kentucky. I don't want to defend them. I'm really just discussing the idea of it.

There is no way to explain why 8 top players would go to one school, unless football is the sport. Although yours is one of the best explanations.

 

[PoppyHart]

If the Duke team plane crashed tomorrow (and only the players were on board), I'd have to think that several top players would sign on the following season. The situation at Kentucky is really no different: A Blue Blood which repeatedly has many many openings.

 

[Alsacs]

I heard he signed for the league minimum to stay under their 15 million salary cap.

Kentucky has no problem paying the luxury tax though.

 

[reedny]

I think you're looking at it from the wrong angle. It's not 8 great players deciding to go to Kentucky. It's ONE player deciding Kentucky is the best situation for HIM. And, then repeated, many times.

Their players are getting drafted, with record frequency. Those players are pretty successful in the NBA. The college teams are ranked highly. Featured on tv regularly. They get good coaching. What else would you be looking for if you were 17 and had the benefit of choice?

By the way, I don't like Kentucky. I don't want to defend them. I'm really just discussing the idea of it.

1- The "best situation" process is probably not as innocent as you imply;
2- Ky kids are being drafted, but the 'frequency' has little relationship to Ky's program -- they're mostly top-level recruits anyway -- just looking for a pass-through with minimal (academic) interference;
3- The likelihood that 6 or 8 of the country's top 20 recruits would miraculously 'choose' one school (every year since Cal's been there) without added "incentives" seems about zero ("Pay-Pal Cal").

If you want to see the real "decision-making" process in action, follow college hoops recruiting ... Every fall, you'll see the nation's top players fashion a list of schools, based on reputation, style of play, playing time, and other information provided by their HS coaches, parental input, etc... Then, a few weeks before they announce, a new posse shows up, "UK" appears on the "list" and SHAZZAM the kid is signing with Pay-Pal. We can all pretend that this is because of "facilities" or "coaching", but obviously there's something else (more sinister) going on.

If you don't want to defend Ky, don't.

 

[longtimefan]

If the Duke team plane crashed tomorrow (and only the players were on board), I'd have to think that several top players would sign on the following season. The situation at Kentucky is really no different: A Blue Blood which repeatedly has many many openings.

Except, it doesn't look like they'll have room for 8 newbies next year. Until they start encouraging more guys to move on.