Despite Pitino's best efforts, Calipari still in the hunt for Marquis Teague
By Staff
For some weird reason, I picture Rick Pitino and Ralph Williard hunched over a computer monitor watching youtube videos of Marquis Teague, and rubbing their hands lustily and muttering “My precious: ala Gollum from “Lord of the Rings“. Not that Pitino has gotten as shady and creepy as Gollum (yet), but it is painfully obvious that Teague is the cornerstone of the Cardinals 2011 class.
And to be honest, the commitment of Teague should really be a slam dunk for Pitino. Teague’s father Shawn played for Pitino when Pitino was coach at Boston University. His uncle John also laced up the sneakers for Team Pitino. And from some reports, Teague is a big Cardinals fan. And from those same reports, Teague was supposed to have already committed by now. Yet, he has not. And while this is perfectly normal for a 2011 recruit to not commit this early, some Cardinal brows are sweating at the news that Teague made an unofficial visit to UK last month. And apparently he wants to take another visit to Kentucky soon. And now North Carolina is smelling blood in the water and stepping up their recruitment of Teague. It appears that Teague is anything but a slam dunk right now.
Jody Demling talked to Teague’s father Shawn shortly after the
Karen Sypher
Porcini relevations came out and had this quote:
“It hasn’t changed a thing for us. Of course, I want to see some things fall out a little bit more. Things happen and things can change – even with this situation – and we still have to look to see if anything is going to happen as a result of what did happen. But in terms of who Rick Pitino is and how I feel about him and how my family and Marquis feel about him, there’s no change in that whatsoever.”
While it appears to be an endorsement of Pitino, it is not a glowing endorsement and a revelation that his son was ready to wear the red and white. Sensing that ‘his precious’ may be slipping away, Pitino stepped up his game, and hired Teague’s high school assistant coach Shabaka Lands to a “special assistant” position at UL. And yes, I am fully aware of Rick Pitino’s “special position” for Simeon Mars when Jamal Magloire arrived at UK. Or for Milt Wagner and Arthur Barclay when Dejuan Wagner landed at Memphis in 2001. The big difference here is that Teague is just a junior in high school and a full two years away from lacing it up for the Cards.
Well played, Pitino. Your desperation is showing. It is obvious that “Teague is the recruit that Pitino can not lose, especially not to John Calipari and Kentucky”.
All of the posturing by Calipari does not seem to have much of a difference on Teague. On Friday, Teague was quoted as saying that Land’s hiring “won’t affect where I am going to go“. He elaborated on that statement some in the interview with the Indy Star:
“That’s for him (Lands). That doesn’t have anything to do with me. I still need to find the place where I’m most comfortable.”
And the quotes that will make Pitino cringe even more continue as Teague talked a little about Kentucky and getting to play with John Wall.
“I like their school. The facilities are great and I like (coach John Calipari). I got to play a little with the team and got to go against John Wall. He was just so fast. People think I’m fast, but man. I thought I did pretty good, though. I was scoring a little bit on him, but had a hard time keeping him out of the lane.”
Pure speculation here, but you have to think that Teague and his family will be watching Wall’s development at UK very closely as both are similarly high rated prospects. And you have to figure that if Wall makes that successful leap to the NBA as a top two or 3 draft pick, that would be very appealing for Teague. And hard to not give Kentucky a good, hard look.
Even if you are a “legacy” recruit.
Keep following www.http://wildcatbluenation.com for the best in Kentucky basketball and football news, rumors, and opinions. By Kentucky fans for Kentucky fans