Calipari to Kentucky.

[wildkycat]

Originally Posted by Al3xis

Could see him going finding more of a role, not being a star. Can he accustom himself to that?

Only kid at the 2 spot he had like that was Wagner, and Meeks can't hold his jock talent wise.

ima peep the last few pages of this thread, but real quick, i wanted to hit on this....Allen, I agree. but Meeks shouldn't goanywhere...dudes going to be a senior, and he's been thru a lot since he's been here. for one, Cal is going to be his 3rd HC...and he basically wastedlast season (by last season, i mean his soph year.) he had to be the "star" so to speak on this past team. but he's a great, greatshooter...who can go off at anytime and rip 4-5 three's right in a row in a matter of minutes, did it plenty of times this season with teams playing a boxand 1, and with dudes being in his jersey the minute he took his warm-up off.

 

[ddot7]

What are NCAA limits? Max of 5 enrolled per recruiting class? I'm gonna guess that transfers are separate.

 

[gottagitdemjs]

Originally Posted by Bigmike23

Kentucky had some funny math even before the flirtation with John Calipari. The Wildcats had one scholarship open but signed three players under Billy Gillispie, meaning there had to be attrition either through the NBA draft, transfers or scholarships not being renewed. Whoever is the new coach is likely going to have roster-upheaval privileges. Remember, scholarships are technically renewable every season.

John Wall's handlers will not let him go to KU.
if i remember right world wide wes is walls handlers? y wouldnt they let him go to KU

I have a premium membership to Rivals and that's what I keep hearing on there. I really don't understand it, but recruiting insiders havereiterated over and over that Wall's "people" will not let him pick Kansas.

 

[jville819]

Ok this is probably a stupid ? cause y'all always talk about it but who the hell is World Wide Wes

 

[wildkycat]

Originally Posted by ddot7

What are NCAA limits? Max of 5 enrolled per recruiting class? I'm gonna guess that transfers are separate.

it's 13 scholarships a season...scholarships are now basically year-to-year contracts.

 

[airmaxpenny1]

I hope Xavier commits to KU.




Domino effect than of Lance going to Saint John's.

 

[ddot7]

Originally Posted by wildKYcat

Originally Posted by ddot7

What are NCAA limits? Max of 5 enrolled per recruiting class? I'm gonna guess that transfers are separate.

it's 13 scholarships a season...scholarships are now basically year-to-year contracts.

They did away with a max # per class? Wow.

 

[jdcurt2]

Andy Katz said somethin in the line of this:
Just said some of the schollys are a year to year type. Also said Calipari can refuse to renew some of them to make room for his incomingplayers. I say alot might move to a walk-on status.

 

[ddot7]

Originally Posted by jdcurt2

Andy Katz said somethin in the line of this:
Just said some of the schollys are a year to year type. Also said Calipari can refuse to renew some of them to make room for his incoming players. I say alot might move to a walk-on status.

And have to pay for school? Pshaw! Not likely.

 

[tmukg21]

Originally Posted by jville819

Ok this is probably a stupid ? cause y'all always talk about it but who the hell is World Wide Wes

google his GQ article

your perspective on things will change i swear to everything

His one vote probably made Barack president

, (I'm obviously reaching but you'll get the idea)

 

[wildkycat]

it won't be easy telling a kid that you want to take his scholly. if anything, i would imagine Cal advising guys like AJ Stewart and DonaldWilliams that if they want to play more, it might be in their best interest to transfer.

and i know Ska just loves the idea of a press conference to make it officially offical for him being on April Fool's Day.

 

[wildkycat]

Originally Posted by jdcurt2

Originally Posted by wildKYcat

"Cal-i-PAR-i" or "Cal-i-PEAR-i" ???

I've always said PAR but I believe it's PEAR and did you see the hate on this thread http://niketalk.com/topic/164937 ? dude said he would rather commit suicide then live in KY.

yeah, i seen that stupid #@%+. it's nothing new from him...i don't pay any kind of attention to something so ignorant.

 

[wildkycat]

Originally Posted by ddot7

Originally Posted by wildKYcat

Originally Posted by ddot7

What are NCAA limits? Max of 5 enrolled per recruiting class? I'm gonna guess that transfers are separate.

it's 13 scholarships a season...scholarships are now basically year-to-year contracts.

They did away with a max # per class? Wow.

i'd have to look it up tho...i think it used to be something about 10 in two years??? like you can't sign 6 players one year, and 5 the next. maybeit's still like that, i don't know. Pitino signed like 6 guys either last year or the year before. maybe someone could help.

 

[antoekneeo]

Congrats to Kentucky, I have been a fan of JC since the "refuse to lose" Umass days. I am really interested in seeing how everything pans out withthe top recruits (Cousins, Wall, Henry) as well as what Daniel Orton does.

 

[ballinboykz]

Originally Posted by wildKYcat

and i know Ska just loves the idea of a press conference to make it officially offical for him being on April Fool's Day.

I can just see it tomorrow

"April Fools UK".

If that were to happen, I dont think we would ever see SKA on this board again...

 

[darthska]

wildKYcat:

---

i know Ska just loves the idea of a press conference to make it officially offical for him being on April Fool's Day.

SONUVA...

I didn't even think about that.

 

[jdcurt2]

 

[mr jordan04]

Originally Posted by JPZx

If Calipari brings some/all of his recruits with him that would put Kentucky over the limit of scholarships they can give out....what will happen with that?

They'll find a way somehow. Maybe a scholastic scholarship? Extra financial aid?

 

[tmay407]

Originally Posted by wildKYcat

i'd have to look it up tho...i think it used to be something about 10 in two years??? like you can't sign 6 players one year, and 5 the next. maybe it's still like that, i don't know. Pitino signed like 6 guys either last year or the year before. maybe someone could help.

They had 8 signed in 2005, but not all of 'em made it. JaJuan Spillman ended up playing football, and Amir Johnson went straight to theNBA...I think there might be one more of those that didn't make it...I can't remember off the top of my head.

They signed 6 in 2004 as well, but Telfair went to the NBA.

 

[clutchshooter]

Originally Posted by gottagitdemjs

Originally Posted by jville819

John Wall to KU

John Wall's handlers will not let him go to KU.

KU will get one or the other; Lance or Henry, whomever commits first. There's a chance they could get both, but I doubt it.

if they had a real chance at both, they'd make it happen.

but if it just isnt possible and they can only have one i'll laugh my +#+ off if xavier slides into lawrence before stephenson's announcement delayingpunkass.

 

[sylvestermcgrizzly]

Jay Will gassed talkin the wildcats would be a nat'l title contender next yr....he already got the memphis recruiting class registered in lexington...pumpbrakes...great hire for my wildcats tho....for a sec. it looked like he was gonna stunt...wouldn't have blamed him with that class coming in even if evansdipped

 

[kal ripped ken]

about time UK was relevant again

 

[wildkycat]

i've read back over this thread...

Originally Posted by Al3xis

I mean...i don't see how yall try to discredit what he's done

From being in the area, I can't even really begin to explain what he did at Umass

this may be an interesting read to you (tho your crazy @*+ prolly done read it

): http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=4031804

Josh Pastner is $%%#!*! crazy.

DoubleJs, you get ahold of your cuz? he coming to UK?

Originally Posted by dreClark

Originally Posted by Seymore CAKE

Leave Capel alone, I need him to become seasoned so he can take over when K leaves.

Exactly.

Let Jeff run OU for the next 5-7 years, then it's time to come on home

that's why i didn't want Travis Ford. let Cal give us 8-10 years, whatever, give Ford time to prove himself and grow as a coach, then bring himhome as our HC when Cal leaves.

Originally Posted by Nowitness41Dirk

is that it?

Originally Posted by memphisboi55

Hope they make Memphis v Kentucky in the season.

jdcurt - props, and thanks for helping with the info...it's been a crazy 72 hours.

 

[wildkycat]

[h2]Will the joke end up being on Barnhart?[/h2]
By Pat Forde
ESPN.com
Archive

And on April Fool's Day, Mitch Barnhart will introduce John Calipari as the basketball coach at Kentucky.

This is the show-stopping conclusion to a two-year running prank Barnhart has been playing on the populace, showing what a wacky jokester the publicly bland athletic director really is.

Seriously, see if this isn't short-sheet-the-bed hilarious: In two years, Kentucky has gone from paying national championship-winning coach Tubby Smith $2.1 million a year to reportedly forking over $31.65 million plus incentives over eight years for a coach with less bling on his finger and more bones in his closet.

With a Billy Gillispie train wreck in between.

Mitch, you're killing us! Enough with the tomfoolery!

But seriously, Mitch, given the embarrassing failure of the Gillispie era, let's hope this one goes better. At least you got what you most needed: a big name who actually said yes, and quickly.

Of course, the quick part didn't really play to your favor last time, did it? Hopefully, the exhaustive "fit" check on Calipari in the vast expanse of time between Friday afternoon (when Gillispie was fired) and Sunday morning (when word first got out of your impending meeting with Calipari) came back to your liking.

I know in your research you came across many people who love Cal -- they love the success, the coaching acumen, the energy, the charisma, the community generosity, the battler's spirit, the dreamer's ambition. I've heard those things myself from many people I respect in college basketball.

But I've heard a lot of other things, too. So before you two ride off to restore the glory of Big Blue Nation, a few questions for the AD:

Why didn't you hire Calipari two years ago, or even entertain him as a serious candidate? Surely it wasn't because Gillispie had a better coaching record -- he didn't. Surely it wasn't because Gillispie is a better people person -- few can match Calipari's outgoing personality and zeal to sell his program on every platform.

So if Calipari was interested -- and plenty of basketball insiders said he was at the time -- what was the problem? Was there something else that made you leery?

Would the apparent change in your perception of Calipari as a UK coaching candidate have anything to do with the fact that your own six-figure job is very much on the line after the Gillispie fiasco? And maybe now it's time to play ball with the boosters who see Cal's excellent record in Memphis and want to win big again? No matter what baggage he brings to Lexington?

Look, we all know Calipari brings plenty of wins with him. Over the past four seasons, he racked up 137 of them --- the most wins of any four-year stretch in college basketball history. That included four Sweet 16s, three Elite Eights and a national title game appearance. Compare that to Kentucky, which in the same four-year span won only 84 games, didn't win an SEC title, didn't make a Sweet 16 appearance and failed to make the NCAA tournament this season for the first time in 18 years.

But let's also examine some of the carry-on luggage Cal brought with him on that private plane to the Bluegrass State on Tuesday night.

When you introduce Calipari on Wednesday in Lexington, will you make mention of his taking two teams to Final Fours? Or just one? Because the first one, with Massachusetts in 1996, was officially vacated from the NCAA record books after an agent hooked up star center Marcus Camby with cash and prostitutes. Calipari said he knew nothing about it and the NCAA did not charge the school with major infractions, but it happened on his watch.

That puts him in select company: one of two active coaches with vacated Final Fours on their résumés. (The other is Steve Fisher.) Will that be noted in the bio?

That leads me to another historical footnote: You're aware that Kentucky has gone through the NCAA judicial system six times for major infractions cases, right, Mitch? The NCAA set up shop in the 1950s, and UK has had a major infractions case in every decade but the '90s -- with two in the '80s for good measure.

Calipari has no major NCAA violations on his record -- not at Memphis, not at UMass. So I'm not suggesting he's going to come to Lexington and land the Wildcats on probation, Mitch. But I am saying that you, as the custodian of a historically checkered athletic program, have hired a guy who lives in the gray area, works every angle, pushes every corner of the envelope.

That's all fine, as long as the envelope never busts the way that Emery Air Freight one did, spilling $1,000 from the Kentucky basketball office to recruit Chris Mills and sparking a scandal that leveled the program 20 years ago.

But why linger in the past, Mitch? Let's talk about the future.

How do you feel about sharing office space? Because you might walk in one day and find Worldwide Wes sitting in your chair with his feet on your desk.

You know about Wes, right? Of course you do. Everyone in basketball knows William Wesley, aka Wes, even if nobody knows exactly what the loosely defined but tightly connected power broker does. But the important thing isn't his job description -- it's his results. Wes helped hook up Memphis with some of its best players under Calipari: Dajuan Wagner, Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Tyreke Evans.

With those guys under his wing, Wes went wherever Wes pleased in Memphis -- locker room, practice facility, good seats at the FedEx Forum, too. Heck, I even ate with him once at the Tigers' training table. He's a charming guy, has a lot of charisma -- just don't ask him too much about his business.

With Wes, your job is to accommodate. Not interrogate.

What's your outlook on package deals, Mitch? You cool with them? If not, I suggest a change of attitude. When Calipari goes after big fish, the net tends to bring in some sucker fish, too.

When he signed Juanny Wagner, he also got his dad as a staff member (Milt Wagner, even without a college degree) and his best friend (Arthur Barclay, despite limited ability). A positive side effect: Milt stayed several years after Juanny left and got his degree.

When he signed Evans, he got his personal strength coach, Lamont Peterson, too. But really, what high school kid doesn't come with his own strength coach these days?

And there even have been some prepackaging efforts. C.J. Henry, who hadn't played basketball in years after trying his hand at professional baseball, enrolled at Memphis this past August to play hoops. Surprisingly enough, his brother, Xavier -- considered by many the No. 1 high-school senior in America -- signed with the Tigers in November.

What about an occasional scrape with the law, Mitch? Guys such as Sean Banks, Andre Allen and Kareem Cooper got multiple chances to stay on the Memphis team and still couldn't do it.

Any opinion on prep schools, Mitch? Some of them have gotten a lot of negative publicity as academically sketchy diploma mills in recent years from the likes of The New York Times and Washington Post, but be prepared to deal with them. Calipari has relocated many an academic reclamation project to prep school. Among them: Joey Dorsey, Shawne Williams, Antonio Anderson, Robert Dozier and the aforementioned Cooper.

Hey, you and I both know Memphis is hardly the only place that works package deals. Or has players who get into trouble. Or goes the prep school route. These days, that's accepted as the price of doing business in the big leagues, isn't it?

Well, Calipari manages to stuff that stat sheet on all those fronts.

But with him, you also get 30-plus victories a season for the past four seasons. You get the big-time recruits your new head coach will inevitably bring in. You get renewed dreams of winning an eighth national championship.

That's why you're hiring John Calipari, Mitch. We all get it.

Happy April Fool's Day.

Hopefully, the joke won't end up on you.

*#@# it.

 

[trillipinotrapstar]

maybe Bob Knight can be summoned to Memphis, have him name his price, and save the Tigers.....

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I kid, I kid...