by Paul Jordan
OK, I know that John Calipari just pulled in the greatest single day recruiting haul in the history of the University of Kentucky (if anyone can think of a better day, let me know) and it appears that this week can get even better as three other UK recruits: C.J. Leslie, Doron Lamb, and Josh Selby were scheduled to make their decisions made on Saturday Night during the Jordan Brand Classic.
When Brandon Knight announced, it was widely assumed this would cause all the other dominoes to fall. That is still the case but in some situations, it appears those dominoes may be falling later rather than sooner. Let’s take a look at some of the latest developments regarding the expected Saturday decision.
C.J. LESLIE – To be honest, I have no clue what is going on with C.J. Due to his friendship with John Wall, some Kentucky fans have pegged him as a future Wildcat. Talk to his buddy Ryan Harrow and NC State fans, C.J is a lock to re-commit to the Wolfpack. And yesterday, it all seemed to come together as Adam Zagoria’s source made comments that C.J. wanted to go to the same school with Brandon Knight and would even go to UConn if Brandon went there. So all this seemed like great news for UK fans when Brandon Knight committed to Kentucky today. So that means, we can count on C.J. Leslie committing Saturday night, Right?
Right?
Um no. Latest on the Leslie front is that he will not be making a decision this weekend and that he will now go to visit Florida early next week and may make a decision after that visit. Apparently, after seeing PG’s Brandon Knight and Ray McCallum slip through his fingers today, he decided to go after a PF rather than give his 5’8 PG some help. Leslie is currently looking at Kentucky, UConn, Florida, and NC State.
DORON LAMB – As with Leslie, all the recruiting dominoes appeared ready to throw Doron Lamb to John Calipari and his DDMO. Lamb has had a very long and confusing recruitment with Kentucky, Kansas, and Arizona taking turn as the supposed leaders. But now, this had boiled down to a Bill Self/John Calipari battle and seemingly the tide had changed towards Kentucky. So at least, we can look forward to a Lamb commitment on Saturday night, right?
Right?
*sigh* I don’t know. Maybe he will still announce. Word is new St. John’s coach Steve Lavin thinks that Doron Lamb is the piece that he and his team of nine seniors needs to get over the hump. They are expected to travel to Oak Hill on Friday to meet with Lamb and there is speculation that Lamb may delay his announcement on Saturday to give St. Johns time for a proper presentation. Most think that this is a case of far too little, way too late, but it may result in delaying Lambs Saturday decision.
JOSH SELBY – From all indications, Selby is prepared to make an announcement on Saturday, and despite being singled out by Brandon Knight in his press conference, this may not be a decision Wildcat fans will like. Some pundits think that Knight to Kentucky delivered Selby to Kansas (You’re welcome, Bill Self) and very few see the prospect of a Knight/Selby backcourt. But hey, no one saw a Wall/Bledsoe backcourt either. Or a Cousins/Orton frontcourt.
Never the less, Vols fans, who once claimed Selby as their own, can’t stomach the thought of Josh possibly becoming a Wildcat. GoVolsxtra seems to be in a serious case of denial saying that Selby is still considering Tennessee, Kansas, Connecticut, and Arizona and refusing to list Kentucky among the suitors. It’s true, it does not look like Kentucky will get Selby, but neither will the dirty Vols.
But despite the reality of no commitments being made on Saturday Night, things are still looking very, very bright for Kentucky’s 2010 class. We have a top five class already and expect much more news in the next few weeks. Jeff Goodman of Fox Sports has made predictions that UK will land Knight, C.J Leslie, Doron Lamb, and Terrence Jones (he will decide the 23rd or 30th). So we can wait and bask in the afterglow of Knight/Gilchrist for awhile.
This is gonnna be a fun month or so.
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