Mar 31, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; (From left to right) Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari and forward Anthony Davis speak to the media after defeating the Louisville Cardinals 69-61 in the semifinals of the 2012 NCAA men
While waiting for the Marcus Lee decision yesterday, it occurred to me that sandwiched in between the 2012 National Championship and the greatest recruiting class in history, 2013, is this 2012 team that seems to have left the forefront of people’s minds. Example: I was messaging with Andre Riddick today and we talked about Marcus Lee’s decision to come to UK and his quote that stuck out to me is,
"“Oh ok that’s great. Man I can’t wait for next season.”"
When I read that I just laughed. Out loud. Laughed because this #1/#2 (depending who’s ranking) 2012 class is currently ranked #3 in the USA Today Preseason Poll. #3! Now rankings don’t matter much to us because we know how good we are…or do we? Are we disrespecting the current team by focusing all our attention on NEXT year’s team? Sure, we landed 4 Top 5/15 recruits in the past three weeks with Julius Randle still in the mix, as well as Andre Wiggins should he decide to reclassify. (Though reports indicate that he will not reclassify.) Of course, that works out better for Kentucky in 2014 because we will likely be guard heavy in 2013.
How did we reach the point of being able to seemingly classify the 2012 as pedestrian compared to the 2013 class? How did we forget that Rivals.com has Nerlens Noel as the #2 recruit in the 2012 class or that Alex Poythress is #8, or that Archie Goodwin #14 and Willie Cauley-Stein #40?
The truth is that I have no EFFING idea how we did it or how we still seem to be doing it.
What Calipari has done in recruiting is transformative to the process. Has to be. Never has there been assembled a more quality, out of this world, talented class as what is being put together in 2013. EVER! Now before you Michigan fans start screaming Fab 5, just shut up. As good as they were, they are not this good. Just shut up. Most teams are satisfied if they can score a McDonald’s AA or Parade AA, but here at Kentucky, some of us lamented getting Marcus Lee (15) because he and Julius Randle (1) play the same position. Are you kidding me? What the hell is wrong with us?! We just signed a player that Head Coaches in any program would sell their children for and some of us are concerned how we now get the #1 player in 2013? Give me a break!
What John Calipari has done here at Kentucky is transformative to the game and the Big Blue Nation is, though many never thought possible, SATISFIED with this year’s team because we are already SPOILED with next year’s team. Unbelievable!
And yes I think “spoiled” is the appropriate term for the Big Blue Nation because our already ridiculous lust for National Championships is actually getting worse. I never thought I would be able to say that but John Calipari has raised the bar so incredibly high that College Basketball will never be the same. UK is leading a Transformation of the landscape of College Basketball.
Transformation, though a largely biological and chemical term, is simply “the operation of changing” and it’s completely appropriate here.