by Paul Jordan
The latest episode of “Who wants to be Calipari’s #4” continues to play out with no news from Terrence Jones in the Northwest. At this point, I am about ready to concede Jones to the Huskies and any news to the contrary, we can call a very pleasant surprise and chalk it up to the overwhelming genius of Calipari and the overwhelming lure of Kentucky.
That said, Kentucky can take a very big step towards replacing the hole left by Patrick Patterson by snagging Eloy Vargas. I have been a fan of Vargas for a while and have seen him as a substitute for Jones in the lineup.
And now it appears that Vargas will be making a visit to Kentucky in the next couple of weeks. According to Rivals, Vargas has a final three of Kentucky, Arizona, and Seattle. If Kentucky can snag Vargas, he would be the second recruit this year, we out-recruited Arizona from (Doron Lamb) and we can expect the same venom and cries of “Calipari cheats” that we have gotten from Washington and Memphis fans. Yes, this guy is still continuing his single handed obsession of Terrence Jones … and people call Kentucky fans classless.
I feel pretty good about UK’s chances with Vargas. If you recall, he paid a visit to Kentucky almost right after he de-committed from Florida last year, and he is part of a very solid “Coach O pipeline” in South Florida.
Rick Pitino’s bad news can become part of John Calipari’s uber recruiting class in 2011. As you can recall, Michael Chandler, the number #3 center in the 2011 class recently de-committed from the Louisville Cardinals and now is interested in ………. Kentucky.
John Calipari, along with Kentucky’s stooges Bruce Pearl and Tom Crean, were among the coaches that were evaluating Chandler during last months evaluation period and Chandler has said that he is looking at “Connecticut, Georgetown, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio State and Purdue“. Granted, it is very early in the process and Chandler has said he will not decide on a school until the late signing period next year, but it feels good to see Kentucky’s name atop the leaders. ESPN also shows Duke and Kansas listed as a possibility for the big man. Here is what the worldwide leader has to say about Mr. Chandler, scouting wise:
Mike is a big, developing low post presence. He is very effective on the low block. He can score in a variety of ways inside. He is a rarity, a young kid that is good with his back to the basket. He has a developing jump hook, a solid drop step and can turn and face with spin moves inside 10 feet. Mike is a very good rebounder when motivated. He can take plays off but has learned to keep his motor running a lot more consistently this summer. Defensively Chandler is an eraser in the lane. He has become adept at blocking shots both on the ball and off the ball in help position. Mike has improved but still has room for further development. His upside is still tremendous.
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