Big Blue Links for Thursday:
(Miami Herald photo)
Big Blue Links for Thursday:
Jerry Tipton and Ben Roberts of the Herald-Leader on UK’s one-day recruiting haul:
As recruiting analysts saw it, Kentucky sent a message to college basketball on Wednesday. Two messages, actually, when arguably the best prospects in the high school junior and senior classes committed to the Cats. “Sort of a display of strength,” analyst Jerry Meyer of Rivals.com called the commitments by senior point guard Brandon Knight and junior forward Michael Gilchrist.
My column saying UK fans are willing to settle . . . for every top recruit:
Well, Michael Gilchrist is the No. 1 player in the Class of 2011, and Kentucky already has him. Gilchrist made his choice Wednesday, as well. Did it on ESPNU. Knight opened the show by choosing Kentucky. Gilchrist closed it by committing to Kentucky. OK, Cal, so how come no one for 2012 yet? What’s taking so long?
Fabian Lyon of the Miami Herald on the now blue Knight:
On the same stage where he accepted back-to-back national Gatorade Player of the Year trophies, Knight paused for effect in front of a national TV audience and then announced: “The place I plan on playing my basketball career is at the University of Kentucky.”
Ethan J. Skolnick of Ft. Lauderdale’s Sun Sentinel on what UK got in Brandon Knight:
Yet this is what colleges got, if they cared to read it. They got an English Honors III teacher raving about “Brandon’s perfect articulation in reading Shakespeare,” and describing “the stillness of the room as his peers listened in rapt attention” to his “Macbeth” soliloquy. They got an Advanced Placement statistics teacher recalling all the times he would stay for extra help, even it meant missing dinner before a game. They got his college counselor gushing, “A finer Pine Crest student I cannot imagine.”
Christy Chirinos of the Sun Sentinel on Knight picking the Cats:
Knight, the highly touted recruit who was twice named the Gatorade National Player of the Year, also considered offers from Connecticut, Florida, Kansas and Syracuse. “I was real comfortable with the situation at Kentucky,” Knight said. “That was my main factor, where I felt I could be comfortable and where I could get better. I felt I could get better at Kentucky.”
Sun Sentinel video of Brandon Knight talking about Kentucky:
Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer on Michael Gilchrist:
In selecting Kentucky, the 16-year-old broke the hearts of Villanova fans. He had listed Kentucky and Villanova as the front-runners in his recruiting. Oregon was a distant third. Gilchrist said he made his announcement Wednesday as a way to honor his late father, Michael “Gil” Gilchrist. Gilchrist, who played at Camden High and Benedict College in South Carolina, was killed 14 years ago in a violent crime. He would have been 44 years old Wednesday.
(H-L photo/Matt Barton)
Jennifer Smith of the Herald-Leader on Rebecca Gray’s transfer:
“This was definitely my decision,” Gray said. “I was not asked to leave at all. Actually, everyone was pretty shocked by my decision.” Gray said of the move to Union, where she will be able to live out her dream of playing basketball and golf at the college level. “This will give me the time and opportunity to relax and enjoy both sports,” she said. “I’m looking for ultimate happiness in the end. I’m really excited to go to Union, where I think I can find that.”
Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News on Enes Kanter:
Coach John Calipari contends the last item will not be an issue. “You can’t have a contract before 18. You can’t be professional – you’re not allowed to be unless they’re violating FIBA rules,” Calipari said. “We know that, as in any other club, he received apparel. But there was no money, from what we’re seeing, what the kid is saying and the family, and what Nike is saying. There’s a lot of misinformation out there. You’ve got people talking about it that don’t know, just heard a rumor.”
Ray Melick of the Birmingham News writes that Calipari is making early signing period obsolete:
But the mercenary nature of college basketball is a tired story. Instead, what’s fascinating about this basketball signing period is how many top players still were available as of Wednesday morning. There were at least five high school players rated among the top 25 in the country uncommitted going into the late signing period: Knight, Josh Selby, Terrance Jones, C.J. Leslie and Doron Lamb.
Tim Stevens of the Raleigh News and Observer on C.J. Leslie:
Leslie, a 6-foot-8 forward at Raleigh Word of God, has narrowed his list of colleges to Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky and N.C. State, and at one point, he thought he might be ready to announce his decision soon. He now plans to make an official visit to Florida next week. “I’m really not leaning toward to a school right now,” Leslie said. “I’m still making my decision.”
Eamonn Brennan of espn.com on Brandon Knight:
This has become par for the course for Calipari. Wall was last spring’s major recruiting coup. This year’s is Knight, the best remaining uncommitted player in the late signing period. The major implication is obvious: Kentucky fans will hope Knight can step into the backcourt role recently vacated by the NBA-bound Wall and fellow guard Eric Bledsoe. That might be a bit of a stretch — Knight is a very good point guard, but Wall was a once-in-every-five-years kind of player. Asking Knight to replace Wall is like asking Matt Santos to replace Josiah Bartlet. Both guys are great, but come on. (West Wing reference, anyone? No?)
(Star-Ledger photo)
Jim Haley of USA Today on UK picking up top players for two different years:
Kentucky snared commitments from two top basketball recruits – one for next season and another for the one after that – on the first day of the regular signing period Wednesday.
Josh Rosenfeld of the Newark Star-Ledger on Michael Gilchrist:
When Michael Gilchrist showed up for the Union County Tournament semifinals wearing a blue Kentucky hoodie he made it known, with a smile, that there was no special significance to his choice of wardrobe. There is now.
Jody Demling of the Courier-Journal on UK picking up Brandon Knight:
As a senior, Knight averaged 31.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4 assists as Pine Crest lost in the state tournament final after winning the previous two state titles. He finished his career as Broward County’s all-time leading scorer with 3,515 points (second all-time in Florida).
C. Ray Hall of Courier-Journal reports that Calipari is not after one-and-dones:
Appearing at the Boy Scout Leadership Luncheon, Calipari spoke mainly on the virtues of teamwork and perspective. But he used part of his 13-minute talk to challenge the notion that he sets out to recruit “one-and-done” players. For a moment he adopted a tone both conspiratorial and comic, inspiring chuckles, as he quoted the refrain: “Cal recruits all one-and-dones.”
Tom Leach has some post-practice videos from UK football.
Metz Camfield of the Kentucky Kernel on the Knight/Gilchrist daily double:
Gilchrist, the first player from the 2011 class to verbally commit to UK, won’t be able to sign a National Letter of Intent with the Cats until November during the early signing period. He credited Calipari’s attitude toward the game of basketball, his staff and the Big Blue Nation as his reasons for committing to the Cats. He also said he committed Wednesday because it is his father’s birthday, who passed away when he was 2 years old.
Camfield also writes on UK receiver LaRod King:
It wasn’t until the fifth game of the season that King registered his first catch, but he then collected all 10 of his receptions on the season in a five-game stretch. King’s last catch, a one-handed reception over the middle against Georgia went for 21 yards and a touchdown and pulled the Cats within one possession on the road against the Bulldogs. UK went on to win that game 34-27.
Mike Miller of msnbc.com says prize class awaits UK again:
John Calipari’s initial recruiting class at Kentucky was an all-timer. This year’s may not be far behind.
Bluegrass State Basketball talks to a pro scout about Patrick Patterson:
The main concern for Patrick, and possibly the reason why he was never considered an elite talent, is his limited athleticism. Over the last decade, power forwards in the league have become longer, leaner, and increasingly more athletic. A typical “4″ in the NBA is just as likely to play on the perimeter as battle underneath. And it’s that dual threat that allows the Rashard Lewis and Lamar Odoms of the world to take advantage of mismatches by posting smaller players or pulling out larger, slower opponents.
Nation of Blue says Calipari isn’t done yet:
A very good question was brought up in the live chat during the ESPNU Big Blue Marathon that I haven’t really thought about. Why haven’t we heard anything about recruiting another center? As you know, Enes Kanter signed his letter of intent today to play for the Cats and you can almost guarantee he is the Cats next starting center. The chances of Daniel Orton coming back are looking like slim and none. So what does all of this mean? Is Patrick Patterson really going to come back and play his senior year? Not likely.
Ryan Clark of the Kentucky Enquirer says Calipari and Kentucky are a powerful combo:
Whether you love him, loathe him, hate him or want to hug him, one thing is for certain: When Coach Cal came to UK, it created a recruiting force so powerful it sent shockwaves throughout college basketball. Again – I’m not stating anything other than facts here. Even if you hate Cal, you cannot argue the recruiting success he has brought to the Big Blue. You can question his methods, and you can question his relationship with other basketball luminaries like Lebron James or Worldwide Wes, but the facts are Cal took a few weeks and brought in a No. 1 rated class to UK last spring.
Eric Lindsey of Cat Scratches says none of this is a surprise:
Over the last six seasons, Calipari has signed some of the nation’s best recruiting classes. No class over the last six years has ranked worse than 23rd in the Rivals.com team rankings, and one — last year’s star-studded class of John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins — ranked No. 1 in the nation. Overall, Calipari’s last six classes have averaged a team rank of ninth.
Wildcat Blue Blog wonders what’s next:
To be honest, I have no clue what is going on with C.J. Due to his friendship with John Wall, some Kentucky fans have pegged him as a future Wildcat. Talk to his buddy Ryan Harrow and NC State fans, C.J is a lock to re-commit to the Wolfpack. And yesterday, it all seemed to come together as Adam Zagoria’s source made comments that C.J. wanted to go to the same school with Brandon Knight and would even go to UConn if Brandon went there.
Although Knight is, and will continue to be, the signee that the media focuses on, I am most excited by our Turkish signee, Kanter. He is still only 17 yrs old and his game appears to be improving by leaps and bounds (pardon the pun). His body looks mature beyond its years and he is clearly a pivot man that can take his game out on the floor, if needed. I think he is going to be a beast…potentially a bull, if you will. Therefore, let me be the first to provide Enes his UK moniker….”The Istan Bull”.
Here is an angle I’m not seeing: It is good that Knight is a special kid, because he’ll be under more pressure than any other player in college basketball next year.