Kentucky is the #2 all-time NCAA leader in National Titles with 7
Kentucky is the all-time NCAA leader in conference titles with 43
"Really, UCLA's a great place as well, but they don't have the kind of environment they have here. The fans here have a passion." - Dick Vitale on Kentucky fans, December 23, 1999.
"Apparently the University of Kentucky basketball dynasty is to continue forever." - Philadelphia Inquirer, December 23 1954.
"Turner ... Burner .... and one" - Jim Nantz
"Kentucky has found the secret of basketball, that it's five guys playing together." - former University North Carolina coach Frank McGuire
"I see no reason to end the basketball season in February just so some of these schools can start spring football practice early... Someday they are going to wake up and realize that basketball is here to stay." - Adolph Rupp on his Southeastern Conference brethren in 1934.
"I'd just as soon freeze to death." - Actress Ashley Judd relating a story of being offered a University North Carolina - Chapel Hill jacket on a chilly movie set. - Lexington Herald Leader, August 15, 1996.
"It's not wise to come to Kentucky and try to run them off their court. Not too many teams have ever done that." - Mississippi State Coach Babe McCarthy in 1962.
"When you see Kentucky's fans, you just wonder. You think how wonderful it would be to go to their school. You wish you could trade places for a day, just so you could experience that feeling." - UCLA player Kris Johnson
"They had it before you, they had it during you, they'll have it when you're gone"...." - Al McGuire on Kentucky Basketball Tradition
"In the next four or five years, Kentucky will be at its best. It has taken a lot of hard labor, but down the road we will be at our best." - Rick Pitino in 1995
* Jon Hood, the latest commit for the UK wildcats out of the 2009 class, moved up to #19 in the latest recruiting rankings by Rivals.com. Hood had previously been #39 but many people suspected him to jump up the rankings after lead recruiting analyst Jerry Meyer said that Hood was looking like he belonged in the 5-star category with his play so far this year.
* GJ Vilarino, the first player in the 2009 class to commit to the Cats over one year ago, missed the cut as far as players in the updated rankings go. He was not listed among the top 150 today but kept his same 3-star rating. Vilarino needs a “Good improvement” on all parts of his game to be thrown around in the discussion according to Jerry Meyer.
* Because the rankings have come out we felt it necessary to update the list of players that UK is currently recruiting. We posted a RECRUITING OVERVIEW last week with all the targets as far as recruiting goes and now we will re-post the same overview just with the updated rankings and stars on them.
* Obviously there was a lot of movement in the new top 150 that came out and it was interesting to see how many players that UK is scouting moved drasitcally. For example, Deshawn Painter moved from #22 all the way down to #110! That was the second largest drop by any player in the top 150
* John Wall, a player UK should basically be stalking, moved from #9 in the nation to the top spot overall based on his play in the Arizona Cactus Classic and tournaments prior to it. Wall is the first poinr guard in years to top Rivals top 150 list. Obviously there are going to be a couple more updates to the list but he apparently has a strong hold on the #1 spot right now.
* Avery Bradley, who I said in the Arizona Cactus Classic updates would move into the 5-star category, did just that by moving from #55 all the way up to #17 ahead of UK targets Peyton Siva (Who is not really looking at UK apparently) and Shawn Kemp Jr.
* And speaking of Shawn Kemp Jr. He moved from the mid 70’s to #25, the very last 5-star player. The point is Billy Gillispie must be a great scouting recruiter because he has been recruiting many of these guys since he got the job at UK and before many of them had made a name for themselves. When Gillispie started recruiting Kemp Jr. he was not on anyone’s rankings lists and now he has been dubbed to have possibly the best upside of any player in the 2009.
* The last thing I will go over is who UK has a chance of getting realistically for the 2009 class. I do not think UK will get John Wall, Derrick Favors, Daniel Orton, or Peyton Siva but there are a few players that I think have UK in their top 5 or so. I believe in the end UK will land Shawn Kemp Jr. His dad probably is saying good things about UK because, even though he got kicked out, he realizes it was his fault and he actually liked the school and facilities and what not but he just made a dumb choice.
-The other player that I think UK has a great shot at is Shawn Williams. Williams’ mother is from the Louisville area so even though he lives in Texas, going to UK would not be that far away from his family. Williams was the very first recruit that UK fans heard about once Billy Gillispie took over so the fact that we have been recruiting him through his growing process has to give us some good looks from Williams and his family.
-There are a couple players that I am not really sure about that I think UK might have a shot at and they are Avery Bradley and Mfon Udofia. Bradley was the player that I raved about in my Arizona Cactus Classic updates that played stellar throughout the whole tournament and got rewarded with a huge jump in the rankings that ultimately led to him getting a 5-star rating. Bradley is a great team player and a flat out phenomenal defender, he has a blue collar style but also has some flash, he can throw it down on you. Udofia is the player who played in the Prather Classic outside of Atlanta this past weekend and was pretty impressive. I have not seen a concrete list from Udofia regarding schools but I have to assume UK stands a pretty good chance amongst the likes of Georgia and Alabama.
* According to Kentuckyink.com, Christian Watford visited the UK campus this past weekend after he played in the Adidas May Classic on the Indiana campus. Watford is considered a four-star prospect and the #47 player overall, and is considered a slashing small forward, the type of player that coach Billy Gillispie seems to be going after. Watford also visited Louisville in his Bluegrass trip, it is thought that this recruit may come down to UK and UofL. He is considering UK, UofL, Alabama, Memphis, and Missouri. Check out his video on the bottom of the page.
* The rumor around the web is that UK is still looking to add a player for the 2008 class and that a committment will be coming in the next 7 days, at least that is what Marc Maggard is saying. Maggard has a lot of credibility in recruiting, he broke the Vinny Zollo committment and has been correct on all commits in the past couple of months so I will believe it if he says it. Maggard said on his latest podcast that UK is adding a player for the ‘08 class AND possibly a transfer. The transfer is intriuging because I have no idea who it could be.
* After following the Arizona Cactus Classic I just want to discuss a couple players that UK needs to be all over. The first is Avery Bradley, Bradley was probably the best player at the tournament and he was playing against the likes of Renardo Sidney (The #1 player in the nation for 2009), John Wall, and John Henson. Bradley was second in the event in scoring and locked down just about every player he was guarding in the event. Bradley is looking to jump in the rankings and Rivals.com’s Jerry Meyer has said that he is poised for a nice jump in the rankings, maybe even to five-star status.
The other player that should already be a given is John Wall. Wall was the only player that played well against the defense of Avery Bradley and really he made him look silly. Wall struggled in his second game but other than that he had at least 21 points in every game, including a 28 point effort. That did not prevent him from being a team player either, he was third in the event in assists, with over 7 per game. Wall is the next Derrick Rose and whoever gets him will get a great player.
* Apparently Billy Gillispie does not listen to the criticism because he has offered another freshman a scholarship. Jeremiah Davis, a member of the 2011 class, has been offered accoring to this newspaper blog. He is getting some early college interest but you have to wonder why UK is offering a kid who only averaged 7 points and 4 rebounds per game last season.
From two fridays ago until today we have had the voting for the four best UK teams of the 1940’s and now the voting has closed. The top four vote getters were the 1945 team, 1946 team, 1948 team, and the 1949 team. Those four teams will be added to the bracket and now you can vote on the four best teams of the 1950’s. PLEASE VOTE AND VOTE FOR A MAXIMUM OF FOUR TEAMS!!
– Michael Avery was far below impressive in the Arizona Cactus Classic (ACC) this weekend. Avery only played in the first four games this weekend and the reason I believe why that is is that he just was not producing. Avery finished the tournament with 4 points and 3 rebounds overall and shot 40% from the field and missed his only free throw. It makes you wonder why Gillispie would give this kid a scholarship and not spend more time recruiting older guys that would help our program sooner. I understand you want to recruit younger guys but these kids have not developed at all so there is absolutely no way to tell how good they are going to be unless they are flat out dominating competition which Avery is not. Gillispie should be spending more time recruiting guys like Avery’s teammate Darius Morris, who had 15+ points in every tournament game but one. Morris is an unsigned junior and if he continues to play this way could really turn some heads at some more events. Morris was one of the best players for Belmont Shores (AAU team) all weekend and helped lead them to a 4-2 record in the event.
– Another player that UK is currently targeting that had a phenomenal weekend is 2009 guard Avery Bradley. Bradley does everything on the floor and is a coaches dream because he does everything with 100% effort and does not let an off shooting day or a couple turnovers affect him, he just works THAT much harder on the other parts of his game during the course of game/day. Bradley finished second in scoring at the ACC among all scorers with 24.7 points per game over the whole weekend. Bradley is not a great outside shooter so he found ways to score inside the arc. He has a pretty good mid range game but really excels near and in the paint with little floaters and layups, he is very good at finishing with contact. Bradley was one of the premiere defenders in the event, his length allowed him to shut every player he defended down except for John Wall, who can not be shut down. If Bradley is not playing well offensively he is going to make sure his man does not play well either, which is the attitude a player needs to have going into his college career. Gillispie needs to get on guys like Morris and Bradley and try to sign them.
– And then there is John Wall, easily the best player at the event all weekend. Wall is, in my opinion, the second best player in the nation behind Derrick Favors and Billy Gillispie needs to find as much free time as possible to go visit Wall and have him tour the campus. Wall is lightning quick with the ball and no one at the event could take it from him or prevent him from getting into the lane. Wall uses his speed and quickness to his upmost advantage by squeezing through defenders for layups and floaters, like Bradley, Wall can finish with contact very well. Wall finished the event fourth overall in scoring with 21.3 points per game and third in assists with 7.3 per game. Wall had at least 21 points in three games and 9 or more assists in two of their four total games. Wall should be the main target of Wildcat coaches for the next year, or whenever he decides on a college.
-The reason I did not make any updates on Peyton Siva is that a poster at Catspause.com found an article from the Louisville Courie-Journal in which Siva said he had no interest.
-Just to let everyone know the Houston Hoops won the event over the Compton Magic. Yay.
Here are the upcoming games for each of UK’s targets in the tournament:
Avery Bradley - Northwest Panthers
- Plays Pump N Run Power (0-3-1) in the first round of the Championship Bracket. Pump N Run Power really has no notable players on their squad. Easily the most famous player on Pump N Run Power is Malcolm Washington, son of Academy Award Winner Denzel Washington, although he is not as good at basketball as his dad is at acting. If the Northwest Panthers wins that game, which they most likely will, they will play the winner of the Houston Hoops (2-1) vs. Texas D-1 Ambassador (1-2) matchup. The key player for Houston Hoops is Tommy Mason-Griffin. Mason-Griffin is averaging 14.3 points and 3.3 assists per game in the ACC so far, although he is capable of going off for nearly 20 points as he did in his final two games of pool play (17, 18 points). The key player for Texas D-1 Ambassador is Cory Jefferson, who is rated as the #41 player in the 2009 class and is committed to Baylor. Jefferson is averaging nearly 13 points and 8 rebounds per game in the tournament thus far.
Darius Morris and Michael Avery - Belmont Shores
- Plays Colorado Chaos (1-2) in the first round of the Championship Bracket. Colorado Chaos has one key player and that is Kameron Wilhite. Wilhite is averaging just 5 points and 2 assists per game in the ACC so since their #1 player is not performing it looks like Northwest Panthers are probably going to win. If they were to win they would face the Pump N Run Elite (3-0) vs. Portland Legends (0-3) winner. Pump N Run Elite features a few very good players, one of the reasons they have not lost a game in the tournament yet. Elijah Johnson is the best player on the team though, he is a 6′2″ guard from the 2009 class and is ranked #38 in the nation. Pump N Run Elite is very young too, they feature two players from the 2010 class and one from the 2011 class. The Portland Legends AAU team does not really have a key player, one of the reasons why they are 0-3.
John Wall - D-One Sports
- Plays Inland (2-1) in the first round of the Championship Bracket. Inland has one very talented kid named Michael Snaer. Snaer is rated #71 in the 2009 class and is a 6′4″ shooting guard. Snaer has had a very good tournament scoring wise averaging 19.0 points per game so far in the tournament. If he continues that success they may be able to upset D-One Sports. If John Wall and Co. can win their first round game they will face the winner of LA Dream Team (3-0) vs. REACH Legends (3-0). LA Dream Team has one great player and he is very great (Does that sound right?) at that. Renardo Sidney, the #1 player in the 2009 class, has lead the LA Dream to a perfect record so far. Although he is not posting eye popping numbers Sidney has still been one of the best players in the tournament. He is averaging 13.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game so far in the ACC including 16-11 in his last game. The REACH LEGENDS on the other hand do not have a 6′10″ center to control the middle like LA Dream Team does, but they do have two pretty solid Michigan boys. Derrick Nix, a Michigan State signee, controls the middle for REACH while Dion Sims plays the 2-guard. Sims has offers from Iowa, Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue.
– Well Michael Avery did not really improve his play at all in his third game of the tournament. Avery came into his final game of pool play with 2 points and 1 rebound total in the first two games and did almost nothing to improve upon those numbers. Avery did grab 2 more rebounds but that was his only contribution to the third game of the tournament for the Belmont Shores AAU squad. Belmont Shores did manage to win their third game over Abdul Gaddy (#2 PG of 2009) and the Northwest Panthers 73-70.
– Belmont Shores got a nice contribution from fellow UK target Darius Morris who added 16 points and 2 rebounds even though he was being defended by Avery Bradley, yet another Kentucky priority and lock down defender, and Abdul Gaddy. Morris has really impressed me with his scoring ability in this tournament, he is shooting nearly 50% from the field and he is 16-19 from the free throw line in only 3 games. There are only two noticeable knocks to his game and those are his three point shooting and his decision making at times. Morris has only shot 1-9 from three in the tourney and if he ever develops a consistent long range jumper he will become one of the 20 best players in the country. The other knock that I mentioned, his decision making, needs improvement as I said. He has the same amount of turnovers as assists in the Arizona Cactus Classic (ACC). Because of his lack of great decision making he becomes more of a tweener kind of guard. He has the body of a point guard, 6′3″ 175 lbs, but the skill set of a shooting guard, if he can become the total package his ceiling is very high.
– OK it is official, John Wall needs to become priority numero uno (#1) for the Wildcats. He is flat out unstoppable when he has the ball in his hands and in the open court. As alot of people have said he is almost an exact replica of lottery pick to-be Derrick Rose. Like Rose, Wall has unbelievable quickness with the ball in his hands, finishes around the rim very well, and is a cyclone in the open court. Wall has superb court vision, seemingly making every play at the right time, and can do pretty much anything on the floor thanks to his speed and basketball IQ. Wall finished his third and final game of pool play with 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists and led his D-One Sports AAU club to their second win in three games at the ACC. Wall has shown all the facets of his game in this tournament. In the first game he showed off his lightning quick first step and tight handle on the ball going for 21 points and completely changed it up in the second game by going for 12 points and 11 assists and getting his teammates involved in the game more. The third game seemed like the first encore for him where he just brought all of the tools together into one game. The only knock on him in the third game he played is not even really on him, the opposing team in Wall’s third game was the FBC Perris AAU team, which was one of only seven teams to finish pool play winless. In Wall’s fourth game he exploded for 28 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists in a loss. He firmly established the fact that no one player can defend him alone and he is the quickest player in the country regardless of class and he has uncanny control of the ball. No one can just lock him up and take the ball from him.
Coming up a little later I will have a preview of the Championship Bracket, which begins tomorrow, I will be breaking down each UK target and who their possible opponents will be.
– I am sorry to report this but Michael Avery is not having a great tournament through two games in Arizona. Avery, the kid out of the 2012 class that committed to the Cats last week, has only 2 points and 1 rebound total through 2 games in which his team is 1-1. Avery did not register anything in the first game, a 10 point win, and followed that up with 2 points and a board in a 24 point blowout loss to the D-One Sports AAU team.
– John Wall (above), a UK target, plays for the D-One Sports team and finished with 12 points and 11 assists against Avery’s Belmont Shores team. Wall has firmly established himself as the #1 point guard in the nation and according to Jerry Meyer he is knocking on the door of the #1 overall player in the 2009 class. Meyer said of Wall “…the speedster is also staking a claim as the top overall player in the country. With a tight handle, blazing speed, top level court vision and uncanny body control around the rim…”. Wall lists UK, NC State, Oklahoma State, and Memphis as teams recruiting him among others.
– Another UK target that is playing well in the Arizona Cactus Classic (We’ll call it the ACC for now) is Michael Avery’s teammate Darius Morris (above), a player that has been in contact with Kentucky heavily over the past few weeks. Morris scored 20 points against the D-One Sports AAU club after having 14 points and 6 rebounds in his first game of the tournament. If he continues his hot play he could get some more national attention and UK will have to compete with a few more teams for his services.
– Anthony Wroten Jr. (above), one of the top 5 freshmen (2011) in the country, is a flat out beast. UK is not recruiting this guy but they should get right on it. Wroten is out of Seattle, Washington and a scoring machine who can score in bunches, he is already 6′3″ 175 lbs. and is a left handed kid. In three games out in Arizona he has scored 15 points, 17 points, and 18 points respectively. He does everything on the court, he can shoot from three and can finish around the rim, he is long and athletic so he is a very good defender and athlete, and he is a very good passer for a kid who projects to be a small forward. If you did not know he was only a freshman in high school you would assume this kid was a junior or senior because of his ability and his confidence on the court. The only knock on Wroten’s game is that he does not give 100% effort all of the time and that can be fixed by any good coach. He has already been offered by Washington and lists Washington, Tennessee, Louisville, Memphis, and North Carolina among others in his top schools on Rivals.com
Here are a couple videos of Wroten in action during this past high school season (He wears #22):
UK’s most notable recruit as of now, Michael Avery, is competing in the Arizona Cactus Classic this weekend. He is playing for the Belmont Shores AAU team out of California. They have three total pool play games:
* Friday, 9:30 PM vs. FBC Perris
* Saturday, 11:20 AM vs. D-One Sports (Featuring John Wall, #1 PG of 2009 and J.T. Terrell, Top 20 player of 2010)
* Saturday, 1:40 PM vs. Northwest Panthers (Featuring Abdul Gaddy, #2 PG of 2009 and Avery Bradley, #11 SG of 2009)
-All game times are local time, since the tournament is in Arizona they are on Pacific time which is 3 hours behind us on the east coast.
-I will try to update is his progress through each game and will update on the tournament as much as I can.
-Follow THIS LINK to view the Official Program of the tournament.
According to Billy Gillispie, Derrick Jasper will likely be transfering. After finals ended at UK last week he returned home to California and is not likely to return. UK will use his scholarship for the 2009 class most likely. As for Jasper’s #5, Josh Harrellson might wear it now that Jasper is leaving.
With all of the recruiting news that has been circulating around the UK program about scholarship offers, unofficial visits, and other things of the sort, I feel like I should catch everybody up on the players that Kentucky is after (Or players that are after Kentucky) for the 2009 class, and believe me folks there are a lot of them.
That is alot of players to be scouting for one recruiting year. The gem of this group is obviously Derrick Favors, in my opinion, is the best player in the nation regardless of year. Favors is a beast on the boards along with in the post offensively and can block shots with the best of them. Realistically if I had to pick two players that I think we can land and are very good players they would be Shawn Kemp Jr. and Shawne Williams. Both will be in the top 50 most likely in the newest Rivals.com 2009 rankings and I think we are the leader for both players. Williams, in my opinion could become a 5-Star by this summer if not by the end of this year.
