So here we find ourselves on June 8, talking about the pro prosepects of two popular players and we wish we were not having this conversation. Both are considering going pro for different reasons, one out of necessity and the other to make the best decision for himself.
In a perfect world, Jeremy Jarmon would be getting ready to suit up against Miami of Ohio and to be the heart and soul of the UK defense. Alas, that is not happening and now Jarmon is taking the next step. From all indications, Jeremy Jarmon will be entering the NFL Supplemental Draft.
Forget all the fanfare of the 2010 NFL draft that Jarmon had hoped to participate in after a stellar 4 year career at UK. Things can’t get much lower key than the NFL supplemental draft. In a little over a month, all 32 teams will participate in the draft via email and it is a blind auction of sorts. If a team wants to pick up Jarmon, they email the commissioner and say “We want to pick Jeremy Jarmon in the 4th round”.
The trick is, that that team would then give up their fourth round pick in the 2010 draft if they did get Jarmon.
There is a weighting system involved, so if two teams both say they would pick Jarmon in say the 3rd round, the team with the worst record would get him. It’s not a sexy process and no players were selected at all in last years supplemental draft but Jarmon has a very good chance at ending up on a team. He is off this week to Philadelphia and the Eagles and I am sure other visits will follow.
Another conversation we did not want to be having is the ongoing Jodie Meeks saga. The deadline for him to pull out of the draft and return to UK is June 15 and I was really hoping that we would get some good news from him this week. But Meeks is making the most of the situation and getting all the information that he needs. He is scheduled to be one of 22 players the Bulls are looking at in Chicago this week and his workout is scheduled for Thursday.
Meeks has not updated his personal website since June 2 and his last message there was saying well, he was undecided. The pre-draft “experts” are certainly not being kind to Meeks and still show him late first round at best, but most show him right in the 40-45 range pick.
The Bulls are another team to be concerned with as they have two first round picks, yet have no pressing needs. So anyone they pick would be a “project” and would not look to have immediate impact. Who knows if they are willing to give Meeks the guarantee he wants if they don’t expect their picks to be an immediate impact.
However, now may be the time to leave. There are several freshman in college basketball that are considered to be “one and doners” and they would be drafted ahead of Meeks next year, pushing his draft position down. It is safe to say that is Meeks can get a first round slot this year, he may not be able to do better next year even if he improves his game at UK. Just the sheer numbers of players entering next years draft and the perceived talent level is going to be much higher in next years draft.
Other news to look forward to this week is Cal’s return from China and any other roster moves. I still doubt any roster moves will be made until the Meeks situation is resolved. So in other words, expect another slow week.
I did miss one piece of news. It is official that Landon Slone is going to play ball at Morehead State. This was expected, but from what I hear, it is still in question if he is immediately eligible. Since he was a walkon at UK, I would assume this would get sorted out and Slone will be in the lineup at Rupp arena on November 13th.
It’s going to be a busy week of work for me, but I will try to be on top of any other breaking news. Amoung the things I want to discuss this week are the Billy G selling his UK stuff “story” and a look at UK’s football recruiting thus far. And we are still on the lookout for the first 2010 basketball recruit to sign.
It may not be such a slow week after all….
Have a great Monday and welcome to any new readers I picked up over the weekend…
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