Posts Tagged “kyrie irving”
More thoughts on the John Wall eligibility issues
By: Guy | October 22nd, 2009 | Category: Cats
OK, so some time has passed since the initial shock of seeing the ESPN headline “UK’s Wall battling eligibility”. I think it’s deep breath time. Let’s look at the facts.
First of all, Mike Slive confirmed that Wall is not yet eligible, not that he is ineligible. The issues that stand in the way of him being cleared to play for UK have to do with John Wall’s AAU coach, Brian Clifton.
Clifton, as you’ll remember, was a prominent figure in John Wall’s recruitment, and actually would have preferred for Wall to attend Miami instead of Kentucky. Clifton was a registered agent with FIBA for a year, so any expenses paid for by Clifton on Wall’s behalf during that time could be considered improper benefits. John Wall would be responsible for refunding Clifton for any such expense and potentially serving a suspension of “at least 10%” of UK’s games.
During the time period that Clifton was an agent, Wall took two unofficial visits to Kentucky while Billy Gillispie was coach. If Clifton paid for his travel or any other expenses, that would be exactly the kind of thing Wall would have to repay.
I think we all know what the worst case scenario is here, and I don’t even want to think about it. John Wall is a player that I am more excited to watch than any I could ever imagine. Losing him would deflate a bunch of the excitement that has been built up over the past few months.
However, John Calipari is a savvy guy. He knows that these issues exist and he and UK have known about them for at least a few weeks. I cannot envision a situation where Calipari touts Wall’s talent like he is and makes him as public a part of this year’s team and its aspirations if he thought there was a chance that he would not be a part of it in the long term.
In an effort to assauge the concerns of our faithful readers, let’s take a look at the opinions of three people with much better access to information than I on the John Wall issue:
Larry Vaught – Vaught makes the same point as I just did: that Calipari would not be talking as much about Wall as he is if he thought his career at Kentucky were in danger.
John Clay – Clay opens things by saying “I don’t think this is a huge deal” and reminds us that this doens’t entirely come as a surprise. He also says that he expects a suspension of a few games, but does say that the NCAA could choose to go after Wall to set an example. Finally, he astutely points out that this is a Wall/Clifton issue, not a Wall/Calipari. Whatever school landed Wall would be dealing with this situation, including Billy Gillispie if he were still at UK (what a ridiculous thought that is, by the way, that Billy G could have gotten Wall).
Matt Jones - As much fun as it is making fun of Jones and Marc Maggard for their mudslinging and as little as I want to say good things about a competitor, Matt Jones has good information a lot of the time. Jones does not see this as a major problem. He says he doesn’t expect anything more than for Wall to have to repay Clifton.
The bottom line is that this is not good, but it’s also not nearly as bad as it seems at first glance. When most who do not follow these kinds of things closely hear the highlights (highly touted recruit, eligibility questions, AAU coach, agent), people will jump to some pretty ugly conclusions.
The official statement from UK is this: “The University of Kentucky will not comment on the academic or eligibility status of any UK student-athlete. We will continue to respect the privacy of all our student-athletes in regards to personal information. All University of Kentucky student-athletes are considered eligible unless it is noted otherwise.”
UK’s compliance officer, Sandy Bell, is all over this, and I think that Wall is in good hands. I wouldn’t rule out anything with the NCAA involved, but I believe that the worst case scenario is that Wall will be suspended for a few games to begin the season and that Wall will have to pay a sum of money.
-In another bit of bad news, Kyrie Irving officially announced on ESPNU that he would attend Duke. It wasn’t surprising, but I think we were all hoping for a last minute shocker. Nonetheless, Irving seems like a great kid and I wish him the best, even though I would have loved to see him wearing blue. Let’s hope we get a chance to play and beat him sometime during his career!
-In a piece of good news today, Rich Brooks called running back Derrick Locke “probable” against Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday. This is really a pleasant surprise. Locke came down with a sprained MCL toward the end of the Auburn win and was reported to be out on Monday, then doubtful on Tuesday, questionable on Wednesday, and probable today.
After his stellar performance last weekend, I’m very happy to know he will have a chance to build on that momentum. It’s also a good sign that he is likely to play, because Brooks would not be playing him if he weren’t close to 100%.
-Finally, UK football picked up a commitment today from Alvin Davis, a 6-4 225 pound defensive end from Wayne County, Georgia. Davis sported offers from Kentucky, Mississippi State, Southern Miss, Valdosta State and Western Kentucky and said that Georgia, Florida, and LSU had also expressed interest. There’s not much info out there on the kid, but this is UK’s 13th commit in the class of 2010.
2011 wing Achraf Yacoubou commits to Villanova
By: Guy | October 21st, 2009 | Category: Cats
It’s usually a good thing when two of your major recruiting targets are set to make a college decision in a 24 hour span just days after making visits.
In this case, it may not be such a good thing for UK.
We all know by now that Kyrie Irving is set to announce his college decision on ESPNU tomorrow at 5:30, and almost assuredly, he will announce his commitment to Duke.
On top of that, it appears that Irving’s fellow Big Blue Madness visitor, 2011 sharpshooter Achraf Yacoubou will opt for Villanova. News broke on Tobias Harris’ Twitter account with the following message:
My boy Ash commited to Villanova ! congrats boy
Putting pieces together, it makes sense that the “Ash” Tobias refers to is fellow Long Islander Yacoubou.
Newsday confirms the report.
Kyrie Irving saga continues, ZagsBlog sounds second apparent false alarm
By: Guy | October 21st, 2009 | Category: Cats
A few weeks ago, Kyrie Irving wrapped up a visit to Duke that met and exceeded all of his expectations. Word started to circulate then that Irving would publicly commit to Duke very shortly.
Well, it’s been a few weeks and Kyrie has since made two good visits to Texas A&M and most recently to Kentucky for Big Blue Madness. Nothing more has materialized about a commitment and Coach Cal and his staff continued to plug along.
It remained that way until just before midnight last night when ZagsBlog produced a source report that had Irving committing to Duke on Wednesday or Thursday. The timing made sense and it looked like Kentucky would have to move on with Josh Selby and Brandon Knight as point guard targets for 2010.
Then, getting wind of all the rumors, Kyrie Irving, one of the more technologically savvy recruits ever, twice denied those reports via Twitter just after midnight:
I have not commited to duke!!!
I don’t know what’s going on with all these supposed sources but I have not commited to duke
ZagsBlog is one of the best sources out there for reliable recruiting news, especially about kids from the Northeast like Kyrie Irving, so my guess is that the information that Adam Zagoria reported is (or now maybe was) at least partially accurate.
Duke is the favorite for Irving and it would shock everyone, myself included, if he committed anywhere else. However, I think that Kyrie Irving does care about breaking the news of his decision on his Twitter account. His recruiting process has been well managed and well thought out, so he deserves to make his own decision public.
With that said, my guess is that the ZagsBlog source report will at least push back his commitment. He very well may have intended to commit today or tomorrow, but I don’t think he will any longer.
At this point, only Kyrie Irving, his inner circle, and MAYBE the coaches recruiting him know what is going on, so this is something we will continue to watch closely.
For now I’ll just enjoy the fact that Duke fans are being slightly strung along, although Irving is a player worth waiting for.
**UPDATE**Kyrie Irving says on Twitter that he will announce his college decision on ESPNU on Thursday:
I will be deciding between Texas a and m duke and Kentucky.. I have not commited to duke..I will be announcing on espn u
Duke Basketball presents Greatest Moments in Cinematic History
By: Guy | October 20th, 2009 | Category: Sports - VideosOdds are you’ve seen this embarrassment from Duke’s Midnight Madness by now. If not, prepare to gag yourself.
Check it out, Kyrie Irving.
Tobias Harris, Kyrie Irving enjoy visit to UK and they aren’t afraid to Tweet it
By: Guy | October 19th, 2009 | Category: Cats
Photo courtesy of ZagsBlog
It’s been a long time in the making, but I think I have officially come around on Twitter. Before, we had to wait until a Monday after a recruit’s visit to hear how thing are going on campus. Now, we get to hear direct from the source in real time.
This weekend was a prime example, duing which we heard about the visits of Tobias Harris (@tobias31) and Kyrie Irving (@kyrieirving) from the kids as they happened. Here’s what they had to say:
Tobias Harris
packing for my vist to kentucky tomorrow (9:41 pm Thursday)
On my way to Kentucky … (Friday 2:02 pm)
Big blue madness in a few (Friday 5:41 pm)
Kentucky big blue madness was crazy .. Chillen right now with the guys (Friday 9:33 pm)
Chillen with @kyrieirving making jokes (Saturday 12:13 am)
We been laughing like crazy tonight …. (Saturday 12:14 am)
Watching the team practice … They go hard (Saturday 10:02 am)
Out and about with @pdpatt (Saturday 11 pm)
Vist is done had a great time …. Back to ny now (Sunday 12 pm)
Kyrie Irving
Kentucky visit (Friday 12:57 pm)
Chillin at Kentucky with my man @tobias31 (Saturday 12:11 am)
Just got fjnsished with my Kentucky visit…enjoyed it alot had a great time…back to the the lab Now! H&H (Saturday 4:49 pm)
In the airport and see the rapper redman…hmm good weekend so far (Saturday 5:32 pm)
You can see from their Tweets that they both enjoyed the visit and it’s clear they enjoyed eachother’s company as well. Adam Zagoria caught up with both, and mentions the possibility of the two playing together. Georgia Tech is the only other school recruiting both, but UK would seem to be the most likely common destination.
Dustin Rumbaugh also caught up Kyrie Irving as well as Torrel Harris, Tobias’ father and reports that the two were very impressed.
Coach Cal, Orlando Antigua, and company did a good job of making up ground on Duke, the widely assumed leader for Kyrie. It’s still an uphill battle, but UK is definitely in the discussion.
Torrel Harris, in his conversation with Rumbaugh, was particularly glowing:
The fans stood out. I mean, they were just UN-BE-LIEVE-ABLE. And then just the teaching techniques of the staff, of Coach Cal and of just his whole staff, for me, that stood out . That stood out for Tobias too. You can tell the fans are unbelievable. I videotaped the whole thing and you can tell man, they LOVE their UK basketball. 24 or 22…24,000 fans up there for Madness, man that is unbelievable. So, I mean, it was great man, it was great.
Again, UK is a battle here, but I like their position. Syracuse is in good standing and neither UofL nor West Virginia can be forgotten about.
UK/Louisville Recruiting Updates: Post-Madness Edition
By: Miller | October 17th, 2009 | Category: Cards - CatsLouisville:
- As expected, Louisville assistant Walter McCarty made a trip to Pike County last week and observed Shelby Valley’s Elisha Justice in open gym. The Cardinals are considering Justice as a first-season walk-on with the opportunity to earn a scholarship in the second season.
- The rumor is still out there that Louisville is interested in bringing in Scott County’s Ge’lawn Guyn. The interesting side note is that the Cardinals supposedly want Guyn in the 2011 class, which would mean he would have to reclassify.
- 2010 forward J.J. Moore is currently on an official visit to Louisville; Moore is a 6-6, 3-star forward that is described by Rivals.com as an “athletic swing man.” Moore ranks #107 on the Rivals150 List for 2010 and is also considering Florida, Pittsburgh and St. John’s. In addition, he has picked up offers from UConn, Marquette, Providence and Rutgers.
- Jesse “The Takeover” Morgan has verbally committed to Seton Hall. The 6-foot-4, 180-pound combo guard from Philly committed after a weekend visit to campus. Louisville had an offer out to Morgan, but the Cardinals were late in the game on his recruitment.
Kentucky:
- The basketball portion of the John Calipari era is officially underway as Kentucky launched the season with Big Blue Madness at Rupp Arena last night. The event was one of the more explosive UK events in recent memory (despite what Jerry Tipton might tell you).
- Several recruits that were present at Big Blue Madness were 2010 forward Tobias Harris, 2010 point guard Kyrie Irving, 2011 forward Achraf Yacoubou and 2011 junior Michael Gilchrist.
- 2010 forward C.J. Leslie was expected at the event, but was not there; I have been told from an unverified source that there is more to this story and I am working hard to find out more. Let me say this – if this rumor is indeed true, the Big Blue Nation will be very surprised when they find out were Leslie was last night.
- The aforementioned Ge’lawn Guyn was in the crowd at Big Blue Madness last night according to post on Twitter by Peegs.com (Indiana site). Guyn was expected at Indiana’s madness, which has to be disappointing for Hoosier fans.
- There was a rumor that 2010 big man Adreian Payne had narrowed his list to Kentucky and West Virginia but I am now told that this is false and his recruitment is still wide open.
UK sets stage for Big Blue Madness with a buzzing Media Day
By: Guy | October 15th, 2009 | Category: CatsI don’t think I’m alone in saying that I have spent most of my day since getting home from work catching up on what I missed at UK Media Day today. There is more information out there than I could ever sift through in one evening, but I’m doing what I can to comb through it, all the while with a goofy smile on my face.
Let’s take a quick look at some of hot spots for good info that I have run across:
-John Clay’s Blog – Our friend John Clay has been updating his blog all day long with great videos. Clay spoke with most of the UK players and has posted interviews with them. If you are like me and you didn’t get to go to Media Day, this is probably the next best thing.
-UKAthletics.com – Here you can find transcipt of quotes from each UK player, video interviews with the 5 projected starters, and a video of Coach Cal’s media session.
-USA Today – Ed Reinke talks about the high expectations for the team and how they are facing them.
-Jerry Tipton writes about the Big Blue Madness show promised ‘Cats fans by Coach Cal at Media Day.
And a show it will be. I don’t think every Big Blue Madness is going to be like tomorrow, but this one is going to be fun, and I’m not sure if anything would surprise me.
Coach Cal has talked about famous performers, guest coaches, dunk contests, and special videotaped messages, so there’s plenty to look forward to. Regarding the performers and guest coaches, some word has emerged today regarding who could fit the bill. According to Larry Vaught, Rajon Rondo and Tayshaun Prince are candidates for those guest coaching roles. Also, Vaught puts in print the name that has been widely rumored to be the performer making an appearance: Drake.
The one thing Coach Cal has not mentioned about Big Blue Madness, simply because he can’t according to NCAA rules, is the massive positive it will be for recruits in attendance. Obviously, nothing replaces seeing a group of talented players playing a style that prepares them for the next level for a coach that every one of them loves. UK has that covered, but when you add in the fact that UK is the hottest name in the game, associated with musicians like Drake and NBA stars like LeBron James, that’s just another plus.
So, who are the guys who will be in attendance to see the spectacle?
2010
Kyrie Irving – PG
Tobias Harris – PF
CJ Leslie – PF/C (although his visit is not yet set in stone)
2011
Michael Gilchrist – SF
Quincy Miller – PF
Achcraf Yacoubou – SG
This is a phenomenal group. 5 of these 6 are currently rated as 5 star players by Scout and the only one who isn’t (Yacoubou) is a fast rising sharpshooter.
Tomorrow night is going to be a fun night, whether you are one of the lucky 18,000 to make the pilgrimage to Rupp, watching it on TV, or reading about it after the fact. I am one of the lucky ones, so make sure you are following the Pinkie on Twitter for real time updates. I’ll also have extended thoughts late tomorrow night or early Saturday morning, so keep an eye out for that.
Big Blue Madness 5 days away: Top 10 reasons why this will be a long week
By: Guy | October 11th, 2009 | Category: CatsDon’t get me wrong, I love UK football. Even though this season hasn’t gone exactly as planned, I have still enjoyed watching and supporting Rich Brooks and the ‘Cats, and I will continue to do so.
However, it’s just not UK basketball. Nothing approaches UK basketball.
For my money, the debut of UK basketball on Big Blue Madness is a holiday eclipsed in magnitude by only Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter…and the Final Four if UK is playing. I know that much of madness is just pomp and circumstance with little substance and too much women’s basketball, but there’s just something about the anticipation of the beginning of basketball season that I can’t quite describe.
…and that’s in a normal year.
In case you haven’t been paying attention the past 5 and a half months, this is no normal year for UK basketball. John Calipari has created an excitement around the program that I would call unmatched since the late 1990’s, without even taking the court.
That excitement is going to come to a head just a few days from now when UK takes Rupp by storm for its first official practice. In case I haven’t made it clear enough, I’m kind of looking forward to Friday night, so much so that I’m struggling to figure out how I’m going to pass the time between now and then.
I have, however, figured out the first way I’m going to spend some of that time: I’m going to list the top 10 things that I just can’t wait to see at Big Blue Madness on Friday:
10 – The Dancin’ Dude Darren Moscoe
I know it’s not a regular game with TV timeouts, but if the people organizing Big Blue Madness remember anything about last season, they will play “Mony, Mony” so that Rupp Arena fan favorite Darren Moscoe can do his thing.
You see, since Calipari has arrived at UK, one of his constant messages has been that his team and the fans will have fun. Fun was missing in a big way from the last couple seasons and the one thing that was always dun about watching UK games in Rupp was the first or second TV timeout of the second half when we got to watch the Dancin’ Dude make us forget about what we were watching on the court.
9 – The Dunk Contest
In theory, the dunk contest should be awesome. Every year I get excited about it and convince myself how good it’s going to be. This year I’m going to temper my expectations.
The dunk contest always ends up being kind of clunky and flat even though there is a good dunk from time to time.
There is reason to think it could be different this season between rumored guest judges and a certain player who has been known for his fair share of YouTube moments (he’ll remain unnamed for now…I’ll get to him later).
8 – Battle of the Bigs
Arguably the best competition that UK post players will face most of the season will come on the practice court. They are already learning each other’s tendencies, strengths, and weaknesses in pick-up games and workouts, but the intensity is about to be turned up a notch.
Playing time is not going to be handed to DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton, Josh Harrellson, Perry Stevenson, and even Patrick Patterson. Every one of those guys is going to have earn their keep to earn time and for the first time, we will get to see how they stack up with one another.
The distribution of playing time among the bigs will be a topic to watch all season. It begins on Friday.
7 – Seeing why the capacity of Rupp for Madness is only 18,000
Only 18,000 tickets were distributed to UK fans for Friday because of a stage that is to be set-up for the event. I’m guessing that the fans that are there will more than make up for the 6,000 missing from the normal capacity.
The question on my mind is “what are they going to do with that stage?”. Coach Cal has said that Madness will be about the players and about basketball, but I’m pretty sure that the stage won’t be used for basketball. Will there be a performer? What kind of theatrics are going to take place? You know that UK Athletics is going to do everything possible to make Madness memorable, so anything is possible.
6 – KY-rie IR-ving
We’ve spent a lot of time over the past couple weeks obsessing over the ridiculous group of recruits slated to attend UK’s Big Blue Madness. Coach Cal knows exactly what kind of recruiting opportunity Madness will be, so he’s done everything he can to turn the seats behind the bench into a who’s who of top 2009 and 2010 recruits.
What I was getting at with the title of this one was the chants that UK fans have been to known to start for recruits in attendance. There are going to be plenty of options for chants, but I mention Kyrie Irving specifically because of the nature of his recruitment. Irving is a well publicized Duke lean and if he sways in UK’s direction after seeing the craziness of Big Blue Madness, it will be a perfect representation of the power of the combination of Coach Cal, the dribble drive, and everything that UK is all about.
Irving confirmed to ZagsBlog that he will make the trip along with teammate Michael Gilchrist. We will be discussing more about the recruits in attendance as the week goes on, but for now just know that the list will be long.
5 – Coach Cal
Coach Cal has already proved to us all that he loves everything about the UK job that Billy Gillispie hated. I can think of no better embodiment of that “everything” than the craziness of Big Blue Madness.
Coach Cal has also said that he doesn’t typically like to speak at these things and take the focus away from the players, but that won’t fly for his first. He’s going to talk and he’s going to have us eating out of the palm of his hand.
4 – Patrick Patterson
Patrick Patterson has played a constant level of effory and enthusiasm over the past 2 years when he’s had every reason to do anything but play with effort and enthusiasm has been a pleasure to watch. Now, Patterson has every reason TO play the way he always has.
This is going to be Patrick Patterson’s team and the ovation reserved for him by UK fans is going to be unbelievable. As great as the UK freshmen will be, they won’t be Patrick Patterson. This is going to be the season where Patterson goes from a great player to one of the all time UK greats. It begins on Friday.
3 – The Crowd
In the past, Rupp Arena has been called a “basketball cathedral”. Part of that description is reverential, but part of that also speaks to the fact that the crowd at times has not been as intimidating as some other home crowds.
I think that changes this year. UK fans have an appetite for some great basketball and they have an appetite to be a part of a great season. UK fans always take ownership of the ‘Cats, but I think we will take it to another level this season. It begins on Friday.
2 – Seeing the interaction of the team
We’ve heard about intense, yet fun pick-up games. We’ve heard about the Three Amigos. We’ve seen pictures of the ‘Cats delivering breakfast to fans waiting for Big Blue Madness tickets. Every indication thus far is that the ‘Cats have embraced what it means to play for UK, and what it means to play for this UK team.
The talent of this team is beyond question, but there are obstacles to this season being a great one, foremost among which are outside shooting, how quickly this team picks up the dribble drive, and team chemistry. One glorified practice won’t tell us much about the first two, but we can definitely begin to gain an idea of how this team will interact, how the newcomers are mixing with the veterans, and who the leaders will be.
1 – John Wall
I know there are probably things I should be more excited about than watching John Wall for the first time, but I couldn’t even begin to quantify the amount of time I have spent thinking about seeing John Wall play for UK. UK has never had a player like him before, a player that will make any basketball fan stop on a dime and watch when he has the ball or is featured on the SportsCenter Top 10.
I know UK fans have missed being the center of gravity of college basketball over the past few years. Jodie Meeks brought UK into the spotlight with his explosive scoring, but that was fleeting. John Calipari will bring UK into the spotlight in the long term at UK, but this UK team will take some time to get ready for prime time.
John Wall will take no time to get ready for prime time. John Wall is going to have some highlight reel plays during Big Blue Madness, which will be featured on ESPNU. Casual college basketball fans don’t know his name right now, but that is going to change very quickly. It begins on Friday.
The event itself of Big Blue Madness will likely fall short of everything we have built it up to be, but it will be something we always remember, because we are about to witness the start of something special. And it begins on Friday.
UK’s point guard prospects: No shortage of targets, no shortage of drama
By: Guy | September 30th, 2009 | Category: CatsJohn Calipari set the tone pretty quickly that the point guard position would be a focus of his recruiting strategy at Kentucky. UK fans spent the entire 2008-2009 season pining for A point guard, any point guard, to step into the position and succeed. When the season closed, attention shifted bringing in a newcomer who could fill the position.
John Calipari’s arrival convinced most UK fans that the ‘Cats would land one of the top remaining uncommitted point guards in the 2009 class, so basically John Wall or Eric Bledsoe. Calipari would have none of that. He got both.
The signing of both Wall and Bledsoe proved two things to me about point guard recruiting under Calipari: 1) pretty much any point guard that John Calipari wants to be interested in UK, will be interested in UK and 2) Calipari is probably going to sign a bunch of top players at the position, but it is not going to be without some serious drama to go along with it.
During the months of April and May, how much time did you spend thinking about and seeking out information about Wall and Bledsoe? I couldn’t post two articles here on the Pinkie without mentioning one of their names, because that’s all I was thinking about.
The three week period that culminated in Wall’s commitment was absolutely ridiculous. One day we heard he had softly committed to Miami. The next we heard he was thinking about the NBA. The next we heard that UNC was getting involved.
I’m sorry for bringing up that stressful time, but folks, I have some news for you: that kind of drama is going to be the rule going forward, not the exception. These are the days of later and later decisions and those decisions are only going to be delayed longer due to upcoming rule changes that will force college underclassmen to make earlier decisions about their draft status. With these rules, the spring signing period will end about 2 weeks after the deadline to withdraw from the Draft.
Top 2010 point guards Brandon Knight and Josh Selby are perfect examples. What reason does a potential one and done player like Knight or Selby have to make a decision in November when they can wait until May to see exactly who will be staying in school and who will head for the Draft? Why risk signing with Kentucky in November and getting stuck behind John Wall if something strange happens and he stays another season?
UK is a major player for both Knight and Selby, but don’t fool yourself…their decisions will stretch out into spring. Some feel that UK leads for Knight and/or Selby, but I see no way that we will avoid waiting until March, April, or May for a commitment from either.
There will obviously be a lot of intrigue around the drawn decisions of the two top ranked point guard in the class of 2010, but ironically the decisions of two point guards who intend to make a college decision much, much earlier could be surrounded by even more drama.
Kyrie Irving has been long assumed to be headed for Duke or Indiana. Then, Irving, out of nowhere, dropped IU. This past weekend, Irving had a visit to Duke on which he saw basically everything he wanted to, loving every minute. Word circulated on Sunday afternoon after the visit that a commitment was forthcoming with in the next day.
However, it’s late Wednesday night, and the Dookies are still waiting, but less and less patiently every day. I’m not sure what to make of that, but I do know that Coach K has had some high profile misses on the trail in recent years, many times attributed to a failure to close.
I’m guessing that the patience of Duke fans is frayed even more by this excerpt from an Indianapolis Star recruiting update on Kyrie:
“It’s been rumored for a while Irving’s dad is pushing to get him to Kentucky where Kyrie’s godfather, Rod Strickland, is an assistant.”
Kyrie has been quick to say at every juncture that his decision would not be impacted by his family’s relationship Rod Strickland. However, this would suggest that his family may feel otherwise.
It appears that, at the very least, the relationship with Strickland will cause him to make his official visit to UK for Big Blue Madness as planned, even though he may be a heavy Duke lean. With the craziness that will be Big Blue Madness, anything can happen.
Marquis Teague is a rising junior who has targeted a decision before the beginning of this season all along. UofL has looked to be very strong for Teague all along, particularly with the planned early decision. The common thought has been that the longer he stretches a decision out, the worse it looks for UofL, the perceived favorite.
Today, we learned that the plan to make an early fall decision was out the window for Teague. Teague wants to be able to see how the teams on his list (UofL, UK, Indiana, Purdue, Cincinnati, Wake Forest, and Ohio State with UNC potentially getting involved) play over the course of the season.
Teague is clearly concerned that he could make a decision he regrets, so he needs to gather more information to make a sound decision. All I know is that, as a UK fan, I really like the idea of having Teague watch UK play with Wall and Bledsoe all season on TV all the time. If things go as planned, it’s hard to imagine any top point guard not being at least intrigued by the possibilities.
Oh, and Marquis Teague will visit UK for Big Blue Madness.
Busy recruiting weekend headlined by Payne, Harris, Selby, and Irving
By: Guy | September 27th, 2009 | Category: CatsIt’s been all Tim Tebow and all NFL all the time this weekend, but quietly, it’s been a news worthy weekend in Kentucky basketball recruiting.
First off, big man Adreian Payne made his official visit to UK this weekend, and here’s hoping that something happened and he stayed away from the shellacking at Commonwealth. Even if he did, I can guarantee he gained an understanding of how much it is all about basketball at UK.
You walk around Commonwealth and you see as many pieces of UK basketball apparel as football. Also, I saw a couple UK blue t-shirts that said “Dribble Drive Motion” and something witty. What other fan base on the face of this earth wears stuff with the name of their offensive scheme? That would be like a Ravens fan wearing a hat that said “3-4 Defense” or a Utah Jazz fan wearing a “Pick and Roll” sweatshirt. I love it.
Anyway, Payne is a quiet kid when it comes to the media, so no word on how the visit was has yet emerged.
The other news of the weekend was that two major UK targets have narrowed their lists. Tobias Harris will now select from Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, West Virginia, Syracuse, Tennessee, and Georgia Tech. Also, Josh Selby is down to 6: UK, Kansas, Syracuse, Indiana, Baylor, and Miami. UConn is notably excluded from both players’ lists and it’s also a bit of surprise that Oregon was cut by Selby.
Tobias made his official visit to Syracuse this weekend and he had a good time. At this point, my guess is that it will be either UK, UofL, West Virginia, or Syracuse for Tobias, and hopefully UK will make quite an impression when he visits Big Blue Madness.
It appears that there will be one fewer visitor to Big Blue Madness than previously thought. Kyrie Irving fell in love with Duke on his official visit this weekend, saying “Duke official was great! I enjoyed every single second…everything there fits me and is right for me…you never know what will happen”. That last comment was a little curious and it appears now that he was hinting that a commitment is soon to come. Justin Young of the National Hoops Report is reporting he is hearing that a commitment will come by tomorrow.
Kyrie has seemed like a quality kid throughout his recruitment, and I’m disappointed UK won’t have the chance to wow him. It’s a bit questionable on his part that he could fall in love with Duke, but I wish him the best regardless.
**UPDATE**Evan Daniels of Scout.com reported early this morning that “combo forward” Terrence Jones has cut his list to 7 schools and UK, along with Kansas, Oklahoma, Washington, Arizona, UCLA, and Oregon, has made the cut. Jones is a very logical fit for the Dribble Drive and is one of four main big man targets of UK with Harris, Payne, and CJ Leslie. It may be tough to pluck Jones from the West Coast, but UK is a player here.
