Karl Towns (Potential) Commitment Highlights Another Banner Day For John Calipari
By Jason Marcum
Even when he loses, John Calipari seems to win. Coming off of a frustrating loss to the Duke Blue Devils, Coach Cal took a page from his boo, “Bounce Back“, and not only secured another #1 overall recruiting class by receiving national letters-of-intent from the Harrison twins, Marcus Lee, Derek Willis, and James Young for the 2013 class, but Karl Towns, the top sophomore center in high school basketball, has reportedly decided to play his college ball at UK. The big man out of New Jersey is expected to make an announcement on December 4th as to what school he’ll attend, but all indications are that he’s Calipari’s to lose now, as the two formed a strong bond while Cal was coaching Towns, a native of the Dominican Republic, during his two-year commitment to coach the Dominican National Team.
Former Wildcat point guard Rajon Rondo (ankle) did not play against the Brooklyn Nets as he recovers from a sprained ankle he suffered during yesterday’s win over the Utah Jazz, though the injury is not concerned serious.
Kentucky Football Head Coach doesn’t know what to expect Saturday night in what will be his last game at Commonwealth Stadium, but did reflect on his time at UK:
"You know what? Nah, I haven’t really. I haven’t had a chance to do all that. Again, I’ve been through it here before. Not to this extent: being the head coach. I’ve been through it. I try to remember how it was then, It was kind of just, hey ‘Time to move on. Time to move on.’ That’s the type of attitude I’ll take with this one.Again, I think it’s time to move on. Very seldom do you get and opportunity to be at a place nine years as a coach, then 10 years. I’ll take that. Very seldom do you get that. I had an opportunity to be here 10 years, five of them bowl games. Five of them as a coordinator and three as a head coach. I just feel fortunate to be able to do that."
While all of the latest recruiting news has been centered around the potential commitment of 2015 big man Karl Towns, the UK Women’s Hoops team secured a top-10 recruiting class, as 2013 recruits Makayla Epps, Kyvin Goodin-Rogers, and Linnae Harper have signed national letters of intent to play for Matthew Mitchell and his lady cats. The class is ranked #5 by the All-Star Girls Report, #8 by Collegiate Girls Basketball Report and #10 by Blue Star Basketball. Here is what UK Athletics had on the three players:
"Epps, a 5-foot-11 guard from Marion County High School in Lebanon, Ky., is rated as the 15th-best overall player by All-Star Girls Report and No. 21 by Blue Star Basketball. ESPN.com lists her as the 10th-best point guard and the 32nd-best senior in the country. Epps, who averaged 17.3 points, 4.1 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 2.4 steals per game last season, chose Kentucky over Louisville.Goodin-Rogers, also a native of Lebanon, Ky., is a 6-1 power forward and teammate of Epps at Marion County High School. She averaged 13.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.4 steals and 1.7 assists for the 5th Region champs as a junior.Blue Star Basketball lists her as the nation’s 59th-best player, All-Star Girls Report has her at No. 67 and ESPN.com ranks her as the 19th-best forward and No. 72 prospect in the 2013 class. Goodin-Rogers chose Kentucky over Louisville.Harper is a 5-8 guard from Chicago and a former teammate of current Wildcat Janee Thompson at Whitney Young High School. She is the nation’s No. 5 prospect and No. 2 guard according to ESPN.com. She is the highest-ranked recruit in UK Hoops history.Harper was named to the Tribune All-State first team last spring after averaging 18.7 points, 13.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals for Class 4A champion Young (34-0). She had 30 points and 20 rebounds in two state tournament games as a junior. Harper has represented USA Basketball the last two years, winning gold medals with the U-17 and U-16 teams. She was named to the all-tournament team this past year after averaging 7.9 points and 4.3 steals off the bench. She also was named to the Preseason American Family Insurance All-USA Girls Basketball team by USA Today Sports. Harper chose Kentucky over Tennessee, Miami, Ohio State and UCLA."