An early Christmas recruiting list for St. Nick Calipari
By Staff
It’s beginning to feel like a “Christmas is September” in the Bluegrass with the thrilling UK win over Louisville being an early present. Then with all the top notch recruits visiting UK this weekend, I got kind of greedy and starting to compile a list of which recruits I wanted to see wearing UK stockings by Christmas.
Two recruits were in the house at Saturday’s football game, one being Stacey Poole and the other being Brandon Knight, both players being in the top-35 of the 2010 class. Out of all the names being tossed around with the recruitment at UK, these two are ones that I would like to see sign immediately. That probably won’t be the case, but let me tell you why I want these players.
There are three seniors on the ’09-’10 Kentucky Wildcats basketball team: Perry Stevenson, Mark Krebs and Ramon Harris. Do the math and you can see there will be three guaranteed spots open come next season. Here are three guys that I’d like to fill their place.
I’ll start first with Poole. Poole looks like he could very well be the first to sign with the Cats based on indications from this weekend. If reports are on point, then we know that Poole loves UK and loves UK fans (good work fans!) because of their energy and enthusiasm. The high school senior from Jacksonville, Florida is a tremendous force at the shooting guard position something UK has lacked since the days of Kelenna Azuibuike and Joe Crawford. Sure, they had Jodie Meeks last year, but he wasn’t as ferocious in getting to the basket as Azuibuike or Crawford.
That’s where Poole steps in. At 6’5” and 200 lbs, he’s got a Joe Crawford frame and scoring ability to boot. UK has lacked the ability to find several scoring guards, not just one (Meeks in ’08), thus finding it difficult to put up high point totals in games. His ability to get to the rim is probably his strongest asset, with his shooting being something to continually work on during his college career. The 27th ranked prospect in the class of 2010 is expected to be nearing a decision and it looks like UK is number one.
As I said earlier, I also would like the second player who visited this past weekend, Brandon Knight. If you aren’t up to date with the recruiting world, then you should do it soon as Knight is a very special player for any class. The 6’3” point guard, also hailing from the state of Florida is being recruited by just about every major college program in the nation and for good reason.
Reports are that Knight had a great time in Lexington this weekend, but he has yet to do an interview with anyone to confirm. Word on the street is that Knight has long been a UK lean since Calipari took over head coaching duties for the Wildcats and this doesn’t surprise me.
Calipari has been able to bring in some of the best guards in the nation the last three years. In Memphis, he was able to bring in Derrick Rose who helped lead the Tigers to a National Championship appearance in 2007 and then brought in uber-talented Tyreke Evans, who wound up taking over point guard duties for Calipari.
Now that he is at Kentucky Calipari hasn’t slowed down, getting #1 player John Wall to commit to the Cats. Knight is no different and if Calipari wants Knight, I think he can go get him. Calipari has a reputation of running an offense that gives his point guard the freedom to create for his teammates, but also score when it is necessary. Knight can do both of those things and much more, and would give UK a point guard they would need for the 2010 season. Eric Bledsoe is expected to stick around for his sophomore season, but if Knight signs it would be a duplication of this year with Wall and Bledsoe seeing floor time together. Because recruits like Rose and Evans are drafted so highly, I believe Knight will want to play for a coach who can give him the best experience to thrive in the NBA. Calipari’s dribble-drive offense creates this opportunity and hopefully Calipari and the Cats can cash in and get Knight to commit in the near future.
There are two prospects, so that leaves one spot left with the three seniors graduating in May. The third prospect I’d like to see sign with the Cats is Adreian Payne, a big man out of Ohio. At 6’10” he would provide depth at a position UK is expected to see dwindle come the end of the season. If everything goes according to plan, both Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins will be testing the NBA waters. If this does occur, then the need for a big man will become ever more apparent. He isn’t the proto-typica
l power forward/center who can eat up a lot of space. His skill set however, is unquestionable.
What I like most about Payne is his ability to play both inside and outside. He’s got a good touch from outside, being able to hit three pointers. That certainly is something Calipari will be looking for, not just because of the offense he runs but because UK doesn’t currently have a lot of three point shooters. Another bonus is his ability to get to the rim from the wing or outside the paint and finish. Like I said, he doesn’t seem like the typical big man that posts up in the paint, so it will be interesting to see how Calipari wants this to play out. He had that type of player at Memphis in Joey Dorsey, but since then he has had more hybrid big men play for him in recent years.
If the Big Blue Nation is lucky, then Christmas will be coming early for the Cats and John Calipari. Even when those three spots are filled, more are thought to come with the likely departures of John Wall, Patrick Patterson, and DeMarcus Cousins to the NBA. Now, none of those names are certain to leave and things can happen, but that’s the forecast at this point.
If Calipari were to get the three players named it would certainly be a top-5 class, something Calipari is used to by now.
Here’s a look according the Rivals.com rankings for my three dream players: Brandon Knight (#1), Adreian Payne (#20), Stacey Poole (#27). From what I can tell by the 2010 team recruiting ranks, UK would be somewhere in the top-2 with these players. Ohio State is rated as the number one class, but UK could very well have the ability to sign more players because of roster spots.
The most important thing for me is that this class would provide depth and balance, something I think Calipari needs to focus on year in and year out. With so much turnover expected with the roster because of players leaving early for the NBA, Calipari needs to find the right balance of guys leaving early and guys staying longer than a year or two. I’m certainly not worried with the track record Calipari has with recruiting and it should be a very exciting couple of weeks.
Andrew Hardison is a recent UK alum and a frequent contributor to Wildcat Blue Blog
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