July 21st, 2009 | 
Author: 
If you watched Kentucky Basketball last season the first word that comes to mind when you hear the name Deandre Liggins is BUST, that could all change now. Coming out of high school in the Windy City, Deandre Liggins was highly touted, rated as high as a 5* in some rankings, the expectations among the UK faithful were through the roof, but then came the odd substitution patterns of Billy Clyde, mixed with limited playing time and the erratic behavior of Liggins, his talent never shined through, and he was written off by most fans as a over hyped dud, but we may have been wrong.
During pickup games last month one of the main things to stick out in my mind, was the vast improvement of Liggins, he looked like a different player than the out of control PG from last season, but I wrote it off as a lack of evaluation skills on my part, but then last week in a interview on ESPN radio Coach Calipari said that Deandre Liggins would surprise everyone this season, so once again my genius was confirmed (sarcasm), but obviously coach can see signs of the potential that Liggins showed in high school.
Deandre Liggins may have seen his last days as a point guard with the talented John Wall and Eric Bledsoe in the fold, and Cal recruiting every PG in the known universe, but with Deandre’s speed and ball handling skills, he could create a multitude of match up problems for defenders on the wing, and with UK’s lack of a true SG, minutes could be earned at the 2 guard spot. If you watch tape on Liggins from high school you see a player loaded with confidence, that will be the main factor if he is to turn his UK career around, and Cal is a master of motivation and instilling confidence in young players.
Whether we see a new Deandre Liggins emerge this year remains to be seen, but it is one more intriguing possibility in this new era of UK hoops.
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Posted in 09 Team Preview, Kentucky Wildcats | 
Tags: John Calipari, Kentucky sports, Kentucky Wildcats
If he plays more than 8 players significant minutes while games are still up for grabs, I will be surprised. When he looks up and down the bench, he looks 8 deep. That is why he has said repeatedly that some of the returning players may return so long as they understand that they won't be playing. That is also why there was no room for Pilgrim, even though there is an available scholarship and most agree Pilgrim would have played ahead of Stevenson, Harris, Harrellson, and probably Liggins. <div style="margin: 6px 0pt 0pt; display: block;"><a class="a2a_dd" href="http://www.addtoany.com/share_save"><img style="border-width: 0pt;" src="http://static.addtoany.com/buttons/share_save_171_16.png" alt="Share/Save/Bookmark" width="171" border="0" height="16">
Great points professor but with all due respect Cal has never had a team as deep and talented as he has this year or will ever have while he and UK have the knot tied. Yeah, he's brought great talent to Mass and Memphis but the only class that might come close would be his 2nd place team in Memphis lead be D Rose. I don't think you can look down that bench and see near the talent that we'll enjoy this year.
Yep, Gillispie really screwed up Liggins, a kid who pouted about his playing time. A kid who refused to go into a game when his coach called his name. A kid who could not make an outside shot with any consistency or penetrate without turning it over.
The reason the team did not go dancing in March was the total collapse of the team. When that collapse started has been widely debated, and some place the beginning of the collapse as the game in which Liggins remained on the team after his public defiance of his coach. Others say the collapse began later, in December. It is clear that fans did not see outward signs of the collapse until after this team, with Porter, Harris, Stevenson, Meeks and Patterson getting most minutes started 16-4, 5-0 in the SEC including 3 tough SEC road wins.
The collapse of this team is the reason the team did not dance. Lay the Collapse at Gillispie's feet if you want, and a significant part of that blame may well belong there, but not nearly all of the blame belongs to Gillispie. Barnhart played a role, some players played a role, including Mr. Liggins, and some parents played a role.
Liggins may surprise me this season, but frankly I doubt that he cracks into the 6 to 8 player rotation for games in the balance. I don't believe he will outplay Wall, Bledsoe, Dodson, or Miller for PT at the 1, 2, or 3 positions. Add into the rotation Patterson, Orton, and Cousins, and Liggins becomes #8 at best, if he can beat out Hood for significant minutes at one of the guard spots.
Yes, I read Calipari's comments about Liggins surprising some people, and I may be one of those most surprised. If so, that is fine with me, but give my Hood, sight unseen, any day to Liggins.
Calipari's game rotations will not extend any deeper than 8 players. Never has, and there is no reason to expect him to make that change now.
Highly skilled and touted recruit that still has loads o potential. Just like kids do at times he got mixed up with the wrong crowd (leader). Liggins still has star quality in him and just needs the right coach to bring it out of him. It might not all happen next year with all the talent we have but I could love seeing a senior lead class by Liggins and Miller.
I think the same is true with liggins and galloway, their confidence was crushed, before they ever got a chance.
I just think Gillispie screwed the pooch with Liggins. I bet Calipari does wonders with DeAndre. Gillispie saw Porter as the answer at the point. That had to screw up Liggins thinking. We didnt make the NCAA so its obvious what we were doing wasnt working. I think had we played DeAndre all year we may have been able to make some kind of late season push.