Will Barton commits to Memphis
Guy | Jun 05, 2009 | Comments 7
According to Evan Daniels of Scout.com, 5 star 2010 shooting guard Will Barton and his brother, point guard Antonio, have committed to play for Josh Pastner and the Memphis Tigers.
This is really a little bit of a surprise to UK fans following recruiting closely. First of all because Coach Calipari actually lost out on a main target, which I wasn’t sure was possible. Second, because UK was perceived to be the leader in the clubhouse. A commitment was expected soon, but not to Memphis.
I think the main reason Pastner won out in this case was because he was willing to offer a scholarship right now to Antonio, something that I don’t think Calipari was willing to do. Additionally, it couldn’t hurt that Pastner gave Barton the impression that this NCAA investigation surrounding Memphis was more about its former coach, Calipari, than the school itself. This kind of stuff happens on the recruiting trail all the time, but not typically between a boss and former employee.
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Oh yeah, and he’s a dead ringer for Stephen Jackson of the Warriors.
I take it that is a slap at the kid?
That’s nothing other than my habit of comparing appearances of people. By the way, I really like Captain Jack. He’s a great player and has developed into a good leader for the Warriors, a team I really like.
Also, I think people are taking what Barton said about John Calipari the wrong way. Judging from the small amount I have seen about Josh Pastner I doubt he tried to push the allegations off on John Calipari. I’m guessing he meant to say that this was more of an issue that happened unde Calipari’s watch or tenure rather than John Calipari perpetuated these events. You have to remember these are 16, 17, and 18 year old kids who are not the greatest speakers in the world and was put on the spot. Kentucky fans also need to understand that there are rumors flying around Kansas, Memphis, Kentucky and many other recruiting boards that the main reason Bledsoe ended up at UK rather than Memphis was the Calipari told him Memphis was facing violations… Do we know for a fact this is true, no. However, we also don’t know if it’s true or not Pastner tried to convince the Barton’s about Calipari’s indiscretions. So I do not think it’s real fair to make allegations like your article makes.
So KY fans are surprised Calipari lost. Get used to it. His reputation will be your downfall.
personally, i agree with southfloridatiger
[...] Will Barton proved to us with his commitment to Memphis last week that it is not too early to start thinking about the 2010 recruiting class and as good as next year’s team is shaping up to be, UK 2010-2011 isn’t going to just form itself. [...]