I have to admit, I have steered away from the whole Rick Pitino/Karen Sypher trial mess this week. In my eyes, it’s not about Kentucky basketball …. and I’d rather take my shots at our rivals in athletic matters only. It’s one thing if Pitino were being charged for a crime … I would see more of the interest to cover it. But the details leaking from the trial are tabloidish at best and ….I don’t see the point in covering it in a blow ….. er by blow fashion.
That said, I did find an article by Gary Parrish in which he made the assertion that John Calipari … not Karen Sypher, is doing the most damage to Pitino’s recruiting and career. I thought it made a very good point and made the situation Kentucky relevant by giving our guy Cal props. I did also find this very interesting also because according to Parrish, Louisville is the favorite to land Quincy Miller. I’m not so sure on that part yet.
Regardless, here is what Parrish had to say:
"4. Is this affecting recruiting? I think we’ll all agree, when we look back in 10 years, that Kentucky’s John Calipari did more to hurt Rick Pitino’s recruiting than Karen Sypher ever dreamed. Sypher is the worst thing to happen to Pitino’s personal life, but Calipari is the worst thing to happen to Pitino’s career because having to work 80 miles from Coach One-and-Done is damn-near impossible. Calipari is at the bigger program, he has all the momentum, and elite prospects with a desire to get to the NBA quickly — i.e., the overwhelming majority of elite prospects — genuinely do want to play for him. Calipari can secure commitments from top prospects early. Or he can lure somebody else’s recruits late. Doesn’t matter. For proof consider that Calipari will enter his second season at UK with his second straight top-ranked recruiting class, and Pitino simply won’t be able to keep up because it doesn’t seem like anybody other than maybe Duke, North Carolina and Kansas will be able to keep up. Calipari isn’t a big problem to Michigan State’s Tom Izzo or UCLA’s Ben Howland because they operate in different worlds. Pitino, on the other hand, not only operates in the same world as Calipari, he operates in the same state, point being that the bar for Pitino at Louisville will be set wherever Calipari sets it at Kentucky. And that’s a tough gig. I’d be more optimistic if Pitino were coaching at Arizona. Or St. John’s. Almost anywhere other than 80 miles from Calipari. 5. So are you saying Pitino can no longer recruit? That’s not what I’m saying at all. Truth be told, I spent much of this month on the recruiting circuit, and there’s not one bit of evidence that suggests Sypher’s trial is harming Pitino with prospects. I’m sure they know about the trial and what’s being said, but nobody seems to care. I bounced this opinion off Scout.com recruiting analyst Evan Daniels and Rivals.com recruiting analyst Eric Bossi just to make sure I wasn’t misreading things. Daniels agreed the trial has had no real effect. Bossi echoed that thought. “I’ve not heard a word about the Pitino stuff making a difference on any recruit,” Bossi said. “Not a word.” On that note, understand that Louisville already has three Class of 2011 prospects committed — most notably Wayne Blackshear (ranked No. 4 in the Class of 2011 by MaxPreps.com). Beyond that, industry sources are calling the Cards the leader to land AAU teammates Quincy Miller (ranked No. 9 in the Class of 2011 by MaxPreps.com) and Deuce Bello (ranked No. 75 in the Class of 2011 by MaxPreps.com) thanks to the hiring of assistant Tim Fuller. So Pitino can still recruit, clearly, but that’s not my point. My point is that even if Pitino hauls in what would be a remarkable class all things considered, it’ll likely still be trumped by the class Calipari assembles at UK — a class that already includes Mike Gilchrist (ranked No. 1 in the Class of 2011 by MaxPreps.com) and Marquis Teague (ranked No. 11 in the Class of 2011 by MaxPreps.com), and could ultimately feature at least two other consensus top 10 prospects. Fair or not, that’s an issue for Pitino because he’ll forever be compared to Calipari."
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