Wednesday’s column about UK losing recruit Dan Werner to Florida prompted plenty of e-mail.
Samples:
"it will stay this way as long as tubby smith is coach at
uk. he is a nice person i am sure but that does not make him a good fit at
uk. considering the sorry state of uk basketball i do not blame kids for going
elsewhere. uk slows the game down and bores recruits to death .no publicity no
recruits it is simple. tubby won the only ncaa title he will ever win with
pitino recruits. considering our record in football there is not to much to
like at uk."
Response: There’s UK Hoops, baseball, volleyball, tennis, men’s golf, etc.
"Didn’t Ky. sign Meeks who was recruited by Fl.? Was this
mentioned in your article or would it have not supported your position of what
have you done lately. Isn’t Meeks suppose to be a better player than Werner?
Werner may have been influenced by the fact Fl. is the defending champion. If
Florida doesn’t make the Final Four next year wouldn’t that edge be lessened?
Who did the best job of recruiting this year, Ky. or Fl.? I suppose that will
be know over the next couple of years. Who will do the best job of recruiting
next year? You have been around enough to know that no one gets every recruit
that they want and that one year a team may have the top recruits and the next
it may be someone else. I am sure two years ago you would have probably have
said that Ky. with Rondo, Morris, Crawford, etc. was a better class than that
recruited by Fl. but it was the Fl. sophomores last year that won the NCAA
although they probably weren’t the best team in the nation.
Like I said in two years we should know who has the best 2005-2006 recruits.
You article says Fl. but lets see if that holds up. Ky.’s class of two years
ago didn’t achieve as much as many thought. Maybe you are wrong about Fl.’s
incoming class."
Response: Yes, Kentucky did sign Meeks, who had considered Florida. And yes, I could be wrong about Florida’s class. I didn’t say that Kentucky had signed a poor class for next year. It’s just bothersome when a kid would rather sit the bench at Florida than play at Kentucky.
"Excellent article on Wednesday. I suppose your
implication is that these shift’s of power are somehow cyclical. No doubt, they
do occur in the sports world. My point would be that you look at these shift’s
in power, they occur because of bad decisions, inept management, arrogance.etc.
. . . The life blood
of any college basketball program is recruiting. Tubby is an inept recruiter.
His recruiting missteps over nine years and the culture, final caught up with
him last year. When you are so arrogant that you think you can take second tier
players and compete for a national title, then you have a problem. Just look at
all his late spring signings, some of these work out, some don’t, you are
rolling the dice and this is not the way to run a national program. In you
article, you indicate, Kentucky attempted more three pointers than Florida.
While that is an important statistic, the most important statistic is they
average taking less than 60 shots a game last year. Kentucky basketball down
through the years has also been about entertainment. This is Tubby’s second
biggest problem, style of play. "
Response: Agree about the idea of taking late players. Good stat on the shots per game.
"I feel as if Kentucky’s tradition and legacy is at this
point becoming a thorn in our side. We have moved away from celebrating our
excellence to now wallowing in sky-high expectations that place inordinate
pressure on the boys and on Tubby Smith. It’s one thing to be a part of
tradition, but its entirely another thing to continuously hear about how the
current team does not live up to the legacy that they walked into. Who wants
this on their shoulders? You walk into Florida at this point, and guess what,
you are the legacy for them. You walk into Kentucky and you immediately hear
that you are required to win a national championship or you are thus unworthy
of said legacy."
Response: While all that is true, it’s also what keeps top programs at the top. Expectations can be a good thing, too.
"Florida has signed some excellent recruits in the Billy
Donovan era (1997-2006) there. How many picked UF over Kentucky? Several – here
are some of them.
1998 – Mike Miller did. UK got Tayshaun Prince instead. I like Tay better. He
has an NBA championship ring and was 2-time A-A and 3-time All-SEC at UK.
1999 – Donnell Harvey did. UK got Marquis Estill instead. Harvey played 1 year
in college. Estill played 3 and finished as the all-time best FG (%) shooter in
UK history.
2001 – David Lee did. UK got Chuck Hayes instead. Both had fine SEC careers.
Hayes wound up as 7th best on UK career rebounding list and is a Houston
Rocket. I’ll take Hayes over Lee, then or now.
2002 – Mohammed Abukar did. He saw little PT at Florida and wound up
transferring to San Diego State. He wanted to get to the NBA faster. I’m not
sure but I don’t expect the Aztecs to be awarded an expansion franchise anytime
soon.
2005 – Jimmie Sutton did. He transferred after seeing no PT at Florida this
past season. I’m sure that just got overlooked when you touted the Werner
signing.
2006 – Dan Werner did. I like his potential. Best of luck to him. UK landed
Perry Stevenson instead. He was named Adidas HS A-A this year. Werner was named
EA Sports HS A-A by Student Sports website and magazine, just like UK recruit
Jodie Meeks.
Oh yeah, Meeks chose UK over Florida and Alabama.
UK has a 12-8 advantage over Florida in the Billy Donovan/Tubby Smith era
(1998-2006). It seems to me that UK recruits fare pretty well against UF
players on the court, if not in newspaper articles. UK has won or shared 5 SEC
titles and 5 SEC tournaments in that timeframe. Florida has shared 2 SEC titles
and won 2 SEC tournaments in that period of time. Must be the (better) coaching
(at UK) then?"
Response: I would quibble that UK got Perry Stevenson instead of Werner. Could have had both. But you win a dual prize. The best Tubby defense. And the best researched e-mail of the day.
