First off, we have to send a “Congratulations” out to Ramon Harris and his wife today on the birth of their daughter yesterday. From Ramon’s twitter, she was 8 pounds and 11 ounces and Ramon added that ” Seeing my daughter being born is the closest I ever been to Heaven!” Congrats again Ramon! Now on to today’s news…
On a weekend when Bruce Pearl was off leading Team USA to a 112-13 drubbing of Team Mexico in the Jewish Olympics, karma reacts and delivers a well timed kick to Tennessee’s butt. Seems that Josh Selby, the 10th rated player in the 201o class and a top PG, has decided to re-open his recruitment. Jeff Goodman over at Fox Sports has already said that his “source” has said that “Kentucky immediately becomes the front runner” for Selby.
The fact that Selby is interested in Kentucky only cements Kentucky’s reputation as “Point Guard U”. In short order last year, Calipari snagged Eric Bledsoe and number 1 recruit overall John Wall in less than two full months on the job. Now the number 1 (Brandon Knight), number 2 (Josh Selby) and number 3 (Kyrie Irving) point guard prospects have Kentucky high on their list. John Wall is already tabbed as the number one draft pick in the NBA Draft next year and if that is true, this would mark three years in a row that a Calipari PH was drafted in the Top 5 (Rose, Evans, and Wall).
Is it any wonder that the top recruits are swarming into Lexington?
Now a lot of Wildcat fans have starting posting on boards that this may mean that Selby’s cousin, Will Barton, could follow Selby to UK if Selby comes. I don’t put much credence into this as as far as I know, bringing Barton would also mean taking his brother as well, as as you may have noticed lately, UK is OUT of the recruiting *** players business.
I do expect Memphis to give UK a run for the money for Selby, but eventually wunderkid Josh Pastner will have to win a few games to keep the ***** train rolling. Now I know my Memphis friends would take offense at that as they obviously think Pastner is the second coming and would have out recruited JC (the original JC) for 7 of the 12 apostles.
Some UK websites are now saying that Selby may be the first recruit of the 2010 season because it appears that Doron Lamb, still a UK lean, is going to take his time and visit Kansas and Oklahoma, probably. That’s fine with me. UK fans saw that patience was rewarded with John Wall. But what can this do to the other point guards UK is looking at?
I am thinking that this may become a waiting game for the point guards involved. While the recruits may be familiar with Cal and the DDMO, they may want to wait and see how it is run with John Wall and Eric Bledsoe. If playing with Bledsoe can even improve Wall’s game, expect the PG recruits to consistently beat a path to UK’s door. Neither Brandon Knight or Kyrie Irving appear to be close to naming a school so if offered, Selby could be the big early prize for Calipari. And face it. This addition would mean a subtraction from Bruce Pearl and the Vols so that makes it so much sweeter.
But since he is obviously a player in the Wildcat’s recruiting plans for 2010 now, it’s probably time that we meet Josh Selby. Here is the write up from ESPN’s evaluation of him:
July, 2009: One of the most aggressive and attacking scoring point guards in the country is Josh Selby he finished above the rim with authority in transition, got in the lane at will to score with on acrobatic layups or hand off an assist to a wide open post. He competes and plays with toughness and never allows his defender to relax. He can knock down the deep three’s and when he gets into a flow he could rip off four or five baskets in a row all in different ways. He tends to over penetrate at times that leads to a turnover but this young guard has the talent and potential to be a major factor for the
Vols
um, Wildcats right away.
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