UK makes the cut in final lists from basketball, football recruits
By Staff
Jodie Meeks inks a contract and new unis may be on the way for the basketball Cats, but first a trio of top notch players are making some recruiting decisions.
When it rains, it seems to pour in good news for UK these days when it comes to top notch recruits putting UK at the top of their possible school destination. We all know that Calipari has invigorated the UK brand and Lexington is seeing an influx of top players making UK a “must see” destination on their college tours. Let’s look at how a couple of key recruits are cutting their lists lately.
QUINCY MILLER (pictured)
PF Miller, one of the Top 30 recruits overall in the 2011 class recently named UK as the of his final 5 teams. Miller has listed, in no particular order, UK, Oklahoma, Baylor, Wake Forest, and Duke as his leading schools. Miller has seen his stock rise lately and he has cracked the top 50 in most major recruiting lists. His quickness has been described as “startling” and he is a tremendous shot blocker and rebounder as well.
HARRISON BARNES
I had written this kid off a long time ago and had heard various reports that he was not happy with how Calipari had been cutting scholarships and such. But today, apparently, Barnes put some of that to rest and announced that Kentucky was still in the running. This information comes from Matt Jones at http://www.kentuckysportsradio.com/. Barnes would be a tremendous pickup and is highly regarded as the number 1 or number 2 prospect in 2010. UK tongues are wagging already at a possible haul of Barnes, Brandon Knight, and Doron Lamb. I love Harrison Barnes as a person and he seems to be so much more than a typical basketball player. I know Calipari has made Barnes a priority and Barnes was one of the first player Cal visited after landing the UK job. I don’t know how seriously Barnes is interested in UK… he seems to be a Duke lean, but once again, it’s good to be back in the chase.
DYJUAN LEWIS
Rich Brooks and company are making some inroads with top national talent as well. WR Lewis, out of Indianapolis cut his list to 7 schools and UK is listed along with Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State, Oregon, and Tennessee. Lewis would be a huge add as he is a top 150 player and is a playmaker and has the ability to create mismatches.
Former Cat Jodie Meeks, drafted 41st by the Milwaukee Bucks has signed a three year deal with Milwaukee. Terms of the deal were not reached, but some accounts are saying the deal is in the $2M range. Reports are that the first two years are guaranteed. If this is true, it looks that Meeks will be making slightly less than the first round guarantee he was seeking. Under the 2008 rookie pay scale, the 30th draft pick would have had a 3 year deal of around $2.4M with yearly payouts of $797,600, $857,400, and $917,200. Regardless, Jodie followed his heart and appears to have a chance at getting real PT with the Bucks next year. We definitely wish him luck.
And finally, according to Calipari’s tweets, UK may be getting new uniforms next year. He said they are “creative and classy” and pictures may be on the way soon. Calipari has been meeting with Michael Smith and Eric Lautenbech of Nike and discussing uniform designs. To be honest, I really had fallen in love with the current UK uni’s (especially the black “Mr Wildcat” design). Memphis has sported black uniforms with blue the last few years so here is hoping that UK can sport the black and blue a few times this year. I do think that the “checkerboard” with the NC years is a must to be incorporated in future uniforms though. That 8th spot has to be filled in. it can’t be left empty. It’s just bad karma.
Not much else going on but look for the official UK schedule to be released next week.
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