Last man standing: Vinny Zollo still “cautiously committed” to UK

John Calipari wasted no time clearing out commitments from recruits he didn’t want. His first couple days on the job were a cascade of decommitments from Billy Gillispie recruits.

GJ Vilarino-out (and now headed to Gonzaga). KC Ross-Miller-gone. Dakotah Euton-hit the road. Michael Avery-we barely knew ya. Dominique Ferguson-reopened (and still being targeted by Coach Cal).

Calipari knows that scholarships are precious, especially considering that rising seniors are calling Calipari to inquire about UK. By the way, once this John Wall madness plays out in the next few weeks, we’re going to be taking an early look at Kentucky’s targets for 2010 and their chances with each. Names like Harrison Barnes, Doron Lamb, Joe Jackson, and Brandon Knight aren’t part of your everyday vocabulary yet, but they will be.

It’s no longer going to be a rarity to be involved in these high stakes recruiting battles, it’s going to be the norm. I know I certainly can get used to it. I used to dabble in following UK recruiting…now I’m an all out junkie, and what I write is the product of my addiction.

Anyway, the one Gillispie commitment who still remains, albeit in a state of flux, is current sophomore Vinny Zollo. The Lexington Herald-Leader has an article about him today and his status with UK, complete with quotes from Vinny. Zollo and his family uprooted to play for Clark County, KY, leaving Ohio, in order to be close to Lexington and to be a part of a very talented class of 2011.

Zollo is the one kid who is being given a chance that he has what it takes to play for UK and to play for John Calipari. Zollo has had minimal contact with Calipari, but has been assured of the fact that he will have the opportunity to prove himself as he plays AAU ball this summer. There is uncertainty on the part of Zollo as well as Calipari: “Neither one of us, I’d say, really knows what’s going to happen at this point,” Zollo said.

Zollo was treated to a trial by fire in his first year living in the Bluegrass, gaining insight into the fervor and critical nature of Kentucky fans.

Early this past season, Zollo was recovering from a leg he had broken in AAU summer basketball. He was adjusting to a new town, a new school, a new team. He did not play well early in the year.

Many UK fans took to radio talk shows and Internet message boards to declare him not a ‘Kentucky level recruit’ before Christmas of his sophomore year of high school.

That Zollo closed this past season reliably posting double-doubles never quite seemed to catch up with the harsh early season appraisals.

“I sort of walked in blind when I moved down here,” Zollo said. “They warned me what it would be like, but you don’t really know what it is like until you live here. When you commit to an elite program, anything short of being great is always scrutinized. But there was good from that. I learned to use it as motivation.”

The fact that he already has adopted this sort of attitude shows that he may be cut out to play for UK. Add this to the fact that he’s already 6-9 with size 19 feet. His growth plates suggest he could 7 feet before he’s done growing, and with an already solid outside shot, he could be a potent weapon.

However, neither Zollo nor Calipari is convinced he fits into the vaunted dribble-drive motion offense that Calipari has brought with him to Lexington: “It’s not really my style,” Zollo said. “You have two contrasting systems that are very different. My AAU team (Indiana Elite) plays a similar style to what Calipari plays. In some ways, I think I could play it; in some ways, I think I can’t.”

That quote right there makes me think that the kid won’t end up wearing Kentucky blue. If he’s not sure he can play in the DDM, I don’t see any way that Calipari will think he’ll be able to.

Coach Cal, though, is at least intrigued with his potential that he hasn’t been politely shown the door. We’ll see how he plays this summer. By July or August, I would guess that both Zollo and Calipari will have a common understanding of what his future (or lackthere of) with UK will hold.