by Paul Jordan
Call me
Ishmael
Calipari.
Ok, Moby Dick it’s not. But John Calipari’s search for that elusive power forward for his 2010 class is certainly Melvillian at best. Imagine Cal as the grizzled Captain Ahab, scouring the vast seas of college basketball recruiting for the missing piece of a 2010 championship run. And after the commitment of C.J. Leslie to the Wolfpack, landing the PF is about as elusive as the great white whale.
If we learned anything today, we learned that John Calipari was human. C.J. Leslie was a name that was on the tip of every UK fan’s tongue since , well Calipari arrived in Lexington. Cal seemed to have the “John Wall advantage” built in and in his visit to Lexington, C.J. had the UK fans in his hand and UK fans thought they had C.J. in their fold, ready to embrace him as the next great Blue and White member.
Instead, C.J. Leslie becomes the one that got away. And to be honest, it is a big loss. To say that it’s not is asinine. And to be honest, I am a bit surprised by the reaction of some UK fans about Leslie’s decision. To question his motives and work ethic after being spurned is just bad sportmanship. If Calipari saw enough in C.J. to desperately want him, that is good enough for me. I wish C.J well as a member of the Wolfpack and hope he made the right decision for himself.
But C.J. is not the only fish left in the sea.
All the eyes of the Commonwealth turn to the Northwest on Friday afternoon when Terrence Jones makes his decision known. The sea of tranquility that Wildcat fans swam in last week are starting to churn with the air of uneasiness. Kansas is coming on strong for Jones and the Wildcat frontcourt desperately needs a transfusion after the loss of Orton, Patterson, and Cousins. I think the Wildcat fans have reasons to be optimistic.
All throughout this recruiting period, it has been that C.J Leslie would be the last player to make his commitment known. Most pundits thought that Leslie was waiting to see where Terence Jones was headed before making his college decision. Then, earlier this day, a decision was expected on Friday. And then, all of a sudden, C.J. committed to NC State.
The timing was certainly unexpected and you have to wonder whether C.J. may have learned that Terrence Jones was coming to Kentucky and decided he did not need to wait anymore. Could C.J. have gotten a call from Calipari and was told that Jones would be a Wildcat? I am sure that Cal wanted both of the players but perhaps the players were in a race to see who would commit first and C.J. blinked and Terrence scored.
It’s all speculation, but in a year of following Cal, I have found that when he really wants a player, he usually gets him. Hopefully this is the case, but even if the skies in the Northwest are not Kentucky Blue on Friday afternoon, it’s too early to panic. There are still other fish available and you can count on Calipari filling his frontcourt with the likes of Eloy Vargas or Marcus Thornton should Terrence slip off the hook.
Call him Calipari.
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