Cousins to…Memphis…Kentucky (Updated 6pm)

Basketball Recruiting109

ESPN Radio just reported that Demarcus Cousins has de-committed from Memphis and will follow John Calipari to the University of Kentucky.

National Sports Review

It would actually surprise me if John Wall and eventually C. J. Leslie don’t follow.

Deadspin has more on John Calipari’s dismantling of Memphis.

DeMarcus Cousins, one of the coach’s prize commitments when he was still working for the Tigers, has changed that commitment and now says he will attend Kentucky. Well, ain’t that a kick a pants. Their other top recruit, Xavier Henry, has also “reopened” his recruiting even though—unlike Cousins—he had already signed a letter of intent to play at Memphis. Kids are so crafty these days. He may not follow Calipari to Lexington, but rumor has it that the only way Memphis holds on to him is if new coach Josh Pastner gives Henry’s dad a job in the basketball program, which believe it or not, is totally allowed under NCAA rules. I believe the word you’re looking for is “integrity.”

Calipari is making his presence felt in other ways as well. (Link)

Now that the 2008-09 season has come to an end, the focus turns to 2009-10. RJ Bell of Pregame.com has posted the odds on teams to win next season’s championship, and Kentucky has already zoomed to the top of the list after the hiring of John Calipari.

The Wildcats are listed at 14 to 1 (7%) to win the title, the same odds given to defending champion North Carolina. Then comes Duke and Louisville at 21-1 (5%), Alabama, Kansas and UCLA at 25-1 (4%) and Georgetown and Michigan State at 30-1 (3.5%)

Connecticut, Florida and Texas complete the posted odds at 37-1 (2.5%).

The odds, of course, are likely to be impacted players who leave early for a shot at NBA riches.

Related: The Calipari daughters

Basketball Recruiting

109 Responses to Cousins to…Memphis…Kentucky (Updated 6pm)

  1. VaWolf82 04/10/2009 at 9:06 PM #

    I can’t wrap it up neatly and just hand it to you

    Fair enough….but quit making vague references to past posts on each and every new thread that comes up. When you think that someone has stepped beyond the line, quote them and call them out or refute them on that thread….not every one that is put up here.

    Let me ask you this, how many people do you think that we could embarass by going back through the game threads from the last FB season during the BC, FSU, or UMD games? How many people were calling out Archer, Bible, and TOB? Sometimes you just need to let things go.

    There are plenty of people who think that Sidney is a bad coach and things will get worse instead of better. Unfortunately, there is not alot of evidence to contradict them. That scenario will obviously lead to alot of “negative implications”.

  2. redfred2 04/10/2009 at 9:22 PM #

    OK, my problem is that stuff is on a very personal level, AND ALL IT STARTED BEFORE Lowe ever set foot back on the campus, but if it’s true, so be it, I just need proof when someone is trashing another human being on that level.

    It looks like no one else has a problem with it though, at least not enough to back me up on what I’ve said so far, so WTH.

    Anyway, THANK YOU!!! very much, for taking YOUR time to hear me out. I’ll try to screw a smile back on my face around here.

  3. ThomYorkepack 04/10/2009 at 9:41 PM #

    “chaos” could be the inability to convince players that they need to play with maximum effort and consistent focus–the most basic tenet of player and team development…especially for a team that lacks ‘talent’.

    “chaos” could be the team coherence issues that have been at or just beneath the surface the last 2 years

    “chaos” could be the ignorance of basic defensive principles–stopping the ball, defensive rotations, allowing lane penetration at will, allowing unchallenged shots

    “chaos” could be substitution and player use patterns that boggle the mind….

    or, “chaos” could simply be that our basketball program has a coach going into his fourth year that is 15-33 in ACC games, and has yet to establish any kind of identity that fans can count on in regard to consistent effort and basic intensity needed to win games…

    I see Noah’s points, and agree with many of them. I wouldn’t say the Sidney Lowe era is a failure yet, but if I was a betting man….The TOB football program, and the Sidney Lowe basketball program are trains going in vastly different directions–so it seems. You have to realize that in order for Lowe and Co. to succeed, they are going to have to establish effective coaching methods that they are yet to do in 3 years on the job. The best indication of future performance is past performance….what you will do is mostly likely in the ballpark of what you HAVE DONE.

    I’m not saying Sid CAN’T succeed, but to do so, he is going to have to exceed the projected improvement curve by quite a bit. I am very confident that he knows the game of basketball–so it’s possible. I’ve said for a long time that if I thought recruiting talent was State’s only problem–and Sid’s only coaching need–I would feel a whole lot better about his eventual fate. Unfortunately, there are a bunch of negative indicators I’ve seen through watching his teams play–things that have nothing to do with accumulating talent and wins/losses–that alarm me.

  4. redfred2 04/10/2009 at 10:14 PM #

    “No one claimed that Lowe couldn’t do better…but alot of people seem to be forgetting the horrible mess he walked into. In this back and forth, let’s also not forget that my original response was to the ridiculous claim that Lowe has had “plenty of time to bring in the bodies we need”. That “plenty of time” is alot closer to six months than the three years that was implied.”

    I may have said it differently, and over-worded it just SLIGHTLY, but I have stated something very similar to that statement about a thousand times already around here. The problem around here now is, neither you or I are attempting to “defend” Sidney Lowe by saying that, it just simply the the way it was/is. But instead of taking an honest look at events and what really happened, people want to draw a line in the sand, and call some of us “defenders”, along with a few other names of course.

  5. VaWolf82 04/11/2009 at 8:38 AM #

    OK, my problem is that stuff is on a very personal level, AND ALL IT STARTED BEFORE Lowe ever set foot back on the campus, but if it’s true, so be it, I just need proof when someone is trashing another human being on that level.

    All right, once again I have no clue what you are talking about. And if I don’t know, then you can be sure that there are alot of other people that don’t know either. But let’s set that issue aside since you obviously are not going to quote whatever it is that got you upset.

    You need to accept the fact that there are a number of people who are convinced that Lowe is a bad coach. If someone had that opinion before Lowe came on campus…..so what? If next season plays out as expected by many, then you can be sure that there were be alot more people that reach the same conclusion.

    To be honest, I haven’t seen many comments about Sidney that reached the levels that some made about Herb. Hopefully, this “coaching discussion” won’t turn as virulent as some of the Great Herb Debates….but that looks to be where we are headed. So just like the last round of debates, discuss the CURRENT statements and not the posters. (Vague references to past comments isn’t a very strong line of debate.)

  6. redfred2 04/11/2009 at 10:57 AM #

    “I haven’t seen many comments about Sidney that reached the levels…”

    Excuse me VaWolf, but with all due respect, calling a coach “a piece of crap”, and “Mr Fake Diploma”, making false statements about his intentions, and false and unsubstantiated claims that he is lessening the focus on academics while at the same time bringing less desireable kids into the program, maybe that’s OK with you, not me though.

    Now, if OTOH, if there were some FACTS offered on occassion to substantiate these continuous comments and claims, then I would be fine and dandy with them, but there never are.

  7. VaWolf82 04/11/2009 at 11:34 AM #

    See, using quotes is not that difficult. I knew you could do it. 🙂

    Note that I said “not many” and I never said that those types of comments were “OK”. They are just not significantly different than what was thrown around about Herb.

    All I’m saying is that if you want your posts here taken seriously, then you need to think about how you are responding to posts that you don’t like. Rambling and bringing up “stuff” from some indeterminate time in the past does not make your posts look like something worth reading.

    making false statements about his intentions

    This is a perfect example of a meaningless comment from some indeterminate time in the past. It’s doubtful that anyone knows what you are talking about.

  8. redfred2 04/11/2009 at 12:11 PM #

    Sorry VaWolf, I’m done with this topic for now.

    But then again, maybe not.

    “To be honest, I haven’t seen many comments about Sidney that reached the levels that some made about Herb. Hopefully, this “coaching discussion” won’t turn as virulent as some of the Great Herb Debates….but that looks to be where we are headed. So just like the last round of debates, discuss the CURRENT statements and not the posters. (Vague references to past comments isn’t a very strong line of debate.)”

    Uh, I would probably have to say that I was right at the top of the list among the most vocal folks who wanted Herb gone from Raleigh. If not at the top, in the top five anyway. With that said, I called him names like “milktoast”, said he was a “dear in the headlights”, said that he ignored NC State’s tradition, and many other things like that. I think the reasons for those comments could be SEEN, and witnessed by everyone. But I never used an unsubstantiated source in order to try to get others to agree with me. And, believe it or not, I do have some of those sources close by, and I did hear things, I continue hear things now, but they aren’t definite, and I am not going to add my own personal slant onto to them, then pass them off as fact to sway people, or in order to convince others that I REALLY know all that’s going on in Raleigh.

    I don’t, and Noah surely doesn’t either, so drop the charade, along with all of the unsubstantiated embellishments, on what amounts to nothing more than hearsay to begin with.

  9. Techno_Wolfpacker 04/27/2009 at 8:11 PM #

    New recruit!!!

    Jordan Vandenberg 7-0/230 Australia

    http://northcarolinastate.scout.com/a.z?s=178&p=9&cfg=bb&c=4&yr=2009

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