Randle to Kentucky

Basketball Recruiting Editor's Picks42

Julius Randle has committed to Kentucky. This is an influx of talent that has never been seen before and Wiggins might choose them as well. Should we change their name to the Heat?

That means Kentucky will have the No. 2 (Randle), No. 3 (Aaron Harrison), No. 4 Andrew Harrison), No. 9 (Lee), No. 11 (Young) and No. 13 (Johnson) prospects in the Class of 2013.

Cal has figured out how to manipulate the one year NBA rule and has essentially become the NBA minor league. Depending on who leaves he will have a two deep of top twenty players at every position. I feel this rule is really not good for college basketball but it is hard to fault him for taking advantage of the rules. I wonder how many championships Kentucky will end up vacating before Cal is finished.

About Rick

1992 and 2002 graduate from NCSU. Born and raised an NCSU fan. I remember the good ol' days and they weren't in the last 20 years.

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42 Responses to Randle to Kentucky

  1. Rochester 03/20/2013 at 7:02 PM #

    wilmwolf, I wonder that as well. If UConn gets a ban for poor academic progress, how can a school that never graduates anyone stay on the right side of the law? Doesn’t make sense. Of course, this is the NCAA, so it probably can’t make sense.

  2. Wulfpack 03/20/2013 at 7:27 PM #

    Cal is amazing, and I mean that. He gets em in. Those kids that lost at Robert Morris last night don’t have much of a shot at seeing the floor. You could just tell by his post game comments he is moving in without them.

  3. MrPlywood 03/20/2013 at 7:37 PM #

    Yeah, I don’t want to somehow legislate parity. I was just making a comparison to the thought process of these guys, running with your boys and all that. After all, the point of recruiting is to assemble the best team possible.

  4. redcanine 03/20/2013 at 7:55 PM #

    The way I see it is that these prime recruits were stars their junior and senior years in high school. They already have the national exposure. Then they come to school for a year or two, not to make a name, but to live up to the loftiest of expectations. The latter seems much more difficult, IMO. After one season, they’ve played under more scrutiny than most upperclassmen. Imagine how difficult it was for JJ Hickson playing with less talented teammates (and under a lesser coach). I don’t blame these Kentucky kids for forming such an alliance.

    End of soap box rant.

  5. Wulfpack 03/20/2013 at 8:08 PM #

    You have to strike when the iron is hot. Look at how far Leslie’s and McAdoo’s stock has dropped. When you have a chance, go. I know I would.

  6. vtpackfan 03/20/2013 at 8:55 PM #

    He had a blog about himself. It wasn’t even a work of “how my life looks” – it was just a “take a long look at me and all the attention I get”. If they was ever a recruit more picture perfect for the UK program

    It’s not to sound bitter- he couldn’t have possibly landed anywhere better suited for his ability to play and his affinity to stand out. As long as his teams win, he will let his guys play street ball one on one all day and hustle on defense. If it all goes to crap like this years dumpster fire then next year is Groundhog Day of recruit signings.

  7. Master 03/20/2013 at 9:06 PM #

    Gene made the comment:

    “It just really begs the question, why high school to the NBA has become so prevalent lately…….. Something’s changed and it’s not solely the money.”

    No, it’s not the money, it’s the demand for these young superstars. These kids can’t just “go pro” unless someone is willing to hire them and pay them very nice money.

    From the late 70’s until the late 90’s, the NBA took very few underclassmen (compared with today) and hardly any high school players. There were a few outlier years, but the floodgates flew open in the early 00’s with Lebron and more teams feared being left at the alter if they did not capitalize on getting the younger players earlier.

    If NBA agents are not wispering in these players ears, they would not be quiting college. They generally know what their prospects are in the League, even if its a tryout for the D-league. If the demand is there, the players will go.

    Ralph Sampson is the outlier example of a #1 pick who wanted to go to college.

  8. backnine 03/20/2013 at 10:12 PM #

    I had the same thought as someone above. And that’s how kentucky can remain eligible to participate in the Tournament long-term.

    The APR rule got UCONN for this year. The goal of that rule is to ensure that programs are graduating a certain percentage of players – and by that is has to be more than two out of 12. Don’t have the exact formula handy.

    But the point is, with elite talent coming into the program almost exclusively on a 1 to 2 year rotation, virtually no one is staying long enough to graduate….EVER. They either go pro or they transfer out because they were recruited over (Harrow’s fate?).

    And you have to wonder about the academic performance of these kids for the year or two they are on campus. I’m thinking they MUST have some UNC’esque systems in place to keep these kids eligible. No way the majority of these types of kids are simply eager to hit the books during their short-term stay in lexington. I’m just not buying that. They’ve got “something” set up for this……

  9. tjfoose1 03/20/2013 at 10:48 PM #

    Calipari cheats, Calipari cheats…

    So we’re going with a variation of the “everybody does it” cry?

    Some of you are starting to sound like low information Walmart Hole fans.

    Does Cal cheat? I don’t know, his past is certainly not squeaky clean.

    But that doesn’t mean we should automatically assume he is cheating at Kentucky, even with his current success in recruiting.

    Cal doesn’t have to cheat at Kentucky.

    Show me the better destination for a top recruit looking for a one year stop on the way to the NBA… One that provides maximum exposure to showcase his skills and prep him to be NBA first rounder.

    A place with a successful, proven, and repeated track record of doing just that.

    Name one, just one… anyone?

    And besides, can you think of another coach the NCAA would love to hammer more? Tark, in his day, maybe?

  10. fullmoon1 03/20/2013 at 11:03 PM #

    Cal has a mcmanager approach. He promises every new hire they are going to be the Mcmanager. Suoosedly he able to reload every year and run the table, but, that didnt work out so well for him this year. I feel like his experiment may be about to backfire. I suppose next season will tell.

  11. elvislives 03/20/2013 at 11:41 PM #

    Kentucky’s ESPN class recruiting rankings for past 5 years:

    2013 – #1
    2012 – #2
    2011 – #1
    2010 – #1
    2009 – #1

    Sick. But I’m most impressed with the fact that they’ve signed 6 players.

    Would be nice to see Gottfried build depth on his teams. They don’t all have to be 5* prospects coach!

  12. bluelena69 03/21/2013 at 12:16 AM #

    I can’t see how the APR rules have any teeth anymore, in light of the Ncaa’s lack of concern with UNC…or rules against agents on staff, or any other rules they have, for that matter. They should just go ahead and admit that, as long as kids aren’t smoking weed, all is fine…

  13. PackerInRussia 03/21/2013 at 4:23 AM #

    Texpack, I think that is a nice analogy and if it were just a kid (and his parents) making a decision, it wouldn’t be so bad. The aspect I don’t like is all the hangers-on who try to influence these guys for their own personal gain.
    Imagine that same business whiz was identified for his potential by his high school economics teacher. Additionally, he’s a part of some finance club in school in which the guys around him also see his potential for success as their road to glory. The high school teacher follows him to college and starts looking out for big-time opportunities in the business world. The finance club guys follow him and maintain the relationship, also trying to push him in different prosperous directions hoping to join the ride. Everyone seems to have the kid’s best interest in mind, but if he flops, their future is also shot.
    Maybe it’s not a bad thing if your success is based on the success of another. You’re forced to try your best to make another person succeed. In the end, everyone wins (unless he fails and then the facade falls apart).
    The only difference is that bball is an entertainment product and the millions of people who make that product go have to be considered. If the money is still flowing in, why change. That’s, of course, based on the assumption that profit is the number one goal and not just a byproduct of some other value and I see no reason to think otherwise.

  14. tuckerdorm1983 03/21/2013 at 8:41 AM #

    I bet they change the rules. If one team gets all the best players year after year (even if they leave after one year), then competitiveness is harmed. Why watch march madness if we pretty much know the outcome. Why go to games where the opposing team really has very little chance.

    The NBA/NFL/NHL/MLB understands that the games must be competitive to some degree and therefore have the lottery system where the worst teams get the first picks.

    I think the rules will be changed to let a high school player go to the NBA directly and if he decides to go to college, then he stays three years.

    How many of Calamari’s players next year would go directly to the NBA?

  15. Rick 03/21/2013 at 9:01 AM #

    “Some of you are starting to sound like low information Walmart Hole fans.”

    Can you make a point without insulting people? If you cannot act more civil then I will start addressing the problem.

    He has left not one but TWO programs with vacated final fours. He may be finally following the rules but history says he is not. So stop acting like people are making stuff up.

  16. ncsu74-83 03/21/2013 at 11:37 AM #

    If NC State would have paid him 3.5 mil back in 2006, there would be at worst at least 1 Final Four banner in the RBC/PNC arena

  17. JasonP 03/21/2013 at 2:35 PM #

    Cal is now at the perfect school to pull this off; the flagship of a school that expects to win. No one in KY is going to be out looking to take him down, and they have plenty of resources – money and political clout – to sue the NCAA should they try anything.

    The precedents set by UNC and Miami have exposed the NCAA as toothless. Boeheim was being interviewed at halftime during the Mich St/Valpo game and just laughed off the NCAA questions. They’ve got nothing to worry about.

    Congrats to Cal and KY. There’s no one better right now at exposing the farce that men’s college basketball is.

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