Is there a John Calipari – Tom Crean recruiting battle brewing over Trey Lyles?

Cue the obligatory Tom Crean drama and break out the whine and cheese. Seems that Tom Arnold Crean is not that happy at the news that 2014 recruit Trey Lyles has decommitted from the Indiana Hoosiers.  To tell you the truth, its not a big shock.  Lyles originally committed to the Hoosiers when he was a freshmen in high school two years ago in September 2010.  Now a top ten player, Lyles has decommitted.  The two years that Lyles has been a Hoosier commit is an eternity in the life of a high school superstar and Lyles wanted to be recruited and check out the other schools.  Since he is a top 10 player, the scuttlebutt is that John Calipari and Kentucky will get involved.

Players decommitting and wanting to test the waters is not unusual when a player commits as a freshmen.  In a predictable move, Tom Crean took to Twitter to whine:

Tom Crean‏@TomCrean

I told my staff today that my football coaching friends think fb recruiting is like mbb recruiting because you have to deal with so many

Tom Crean‏@TomCrean

People that get involved. We think that more and more people never stop recruiting other school’s pledges. We are both right. Way of life

To be honest, I don’t see why Crean is whining.  You can’t keep top 10 players stashed away like the zombies in Herschel’s barn on “The Walking Dead”.  The 2014 class seems a million years away and Lyles still likes Indiana.  To be honest, it’s better he decommit now and test the waters than bolt when it gets closer to the 2014 signing period.

There is another theory to Lyles decommitment that is probably all mine.  Maybe Lyles was the “recruit” Crean sent the infamously creepy “I’ve been thinking about you.  A whole lot” text too and just decided the whole Crean creepiness factor was too much.

Theories are all over the place about the future of Andrew Wiggins and whether or not he will reclassify into the 2013 class. Ultimately, the final decision will come down to his family and they are said to be sitting down over the next couple of weeks and deciding what they will do. Rob Fulford, Wiggins HS coach is pretty opinionated on the matter and has decided that Wiggins will be wasting his time hanging out in high school:

“I was in Toronto last week and have already had a conversation with the family,” said Fulford. “They are going to meet before he comes back to school. But until I hear one way or the other out of Mitchell Wiggins’ mouth, nothing else means anything. They are still discussing it as a family and figuring out what direction they want to go.

“My view on all of it, he was wasting time going to college. An extra year of high school is throwing away money (from the NBA). There are too many risks (of injury) involved. He does not need to be in high school another year. He could use it to get stronger and work on his skills, but he is just prolonging not getting the money. He grew an inch last year to 6-8. He’s not finished growing. He’s 17 and looks 12. This is not a normal situation. I can’t say what his decision will be, but from our end he does not need to go to high school (for two more years).”

Wiggins AAU and HS team mate Xavier Rathan – Mayes was slated to visit Kentucky on Friday, but had an unexpected issue at the US/Canada border.  That resolved, Rathan – Mayes has made getting to Lexington a priority and does not seem that bothered that Kentucky has not offered him yet:

“I really want to get over to UK in the next couple weeks,” Rathan-Mayes said. “I think that I’ll be heading down there for an unofficial in the next couple of weeks. Soon after that I’m going to decide which schools that I’ll officially visit, so I may be back again shortly after for an official.”

“Kentucky is recruiting me as hard as any school on the list,” he said. “I don’t mind that they haven’t offered because they’re recruiting me as if they have offered. I think that at the right time they’ll go ahead and offer me.”