July 20th, 2009 | 
Author: When I go out to dinner I like to have plenty of choices on the menu , and apparently so does our coach. John Calipari has made it completely obvious that he wants the top point guards on his team in each and every class, it doesn’t matter if he will most likely still have the #3 pg in the 2009 class in the stable for the 2010 season, he still pursues the best, and not just one or two, try four, count em four of the top PGs in the nation are in Cal’s sights #1 Brandon Knight, #7 Josh Selby, #14 Kyrie Irving, and #18 Joe Jackson, now we know we wont get all of these studs, but when you are high on the list of this many stars you are sure to land at least one. For a recruiting junkie like me this is heaven, for so long we suffered with the lackluster recruiting of Tubby Smith, and under Gillispie the effort was there, but it was still a rarity for UK to be strongly considered by the top players, but now we are not only considered ,we are THE hot program, Calipari has put us in the position where we can tell top 20 recruits “first come, first serve” that’s not been the case at UK in many a moon.
Take a look at this 5* buffet of talent.
#1 Brandon Knight
#7 Josh Selby
#14 Kyrie Irving
#18 Joe Jackson
The years of waiting for scraps are over, UK has the seat at the head of the table.
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Marion, Tubby had some great recruits just couldn't do a thing with them. Then for his last 3 or 4 years he'd just as soon take a dump or go fishing than to do anything to make Kentucky great again. The result was he drove UK into a turd pile and then ran off like a chicken shit beaten down and to scared to get up. There's not a need to HOPE for Calipari for he has done more for the University and the basketball program in 3+ months than Tubby did in 10 years.
Jodie Meeks was a Tubby Smith recruit. It is time people get off of Tubbys case. He ran a UK program that was never questioned by the NCAA. I am a long time UK fan and I hope that Calipari can do the same.
awsome comment Prof, that should have been a blog entry about the changing perceptions of UK under the new regime(Hint Hint)
It's about time we got back to being a desired place for the best of the best to be. Great blog and even better reply Professor.
There was a time when the best of the best figuratively "hung by the phone" in hopes of a call from the UK Basketball coach, for an expression of interest in their basketball skills, for an offer of a basketball scholarship to UK, for a chance to wear the greatest uniform in the game. Rupp once said that if he brought a boy to Memorial Coliseum, and he left without a commitment, he was not smart enough to play at UK.
Then, for a decade, there was virtually no interest in UK by the best of the best, and as fans, we were left with a feeling of desperation, a sense that UK was the one now sitting by that proverbial phone waiting, hoping just one top recruit would express an interest in UK, hoping just one top recruit would offer to come to UK and grace us with his presence in that uniform. There was very little value in the market in the UK name, tradition or reputation. This past spring, after Coach Calipari moved his Great American Marketing Energy [GAME} from Memphis to Lexington, X Henry said that he really did not know anything about Kentucky. How sad, but so true, and this is the biggest impact of all that the decade of Tubby Smith inflicted upon this program.
Calipari is changing it back, and rightfully so. He has positioned himself and now he is positioning the UK name, in a way that the top recruits not only know all they need to know about Kentucky, but they are again dreaming of an opportunity to play for Calipari, to wear that great uniform, and to play basketball for the greatest program in the history of the game. Coach Calipari understands that the value of any product is a function of its value, within the structure of the supply and demand. Coach Calipari has altered the fundamental supply and demand equation as it relates to UK basketball scholarships. He has made it very clear that he will not use all 13 in a given year, simply because he has another one available. He will only bring in the best of the best, based on HIS evaluation of the available talent. To get an offer from UK is now A RARE and SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY for these recruits, as it should be. For those like X Henry who don't understand or appreciate how RARE and SPECIAL such an OPPORTUNITY is, that kid is not smart enough to play for UK or Coach Calipari.
Coach Calipari has increased the demand for the limited supply of UK basketball scholarships. Coach Calipari is not only a master of marketing, his is a master of sales, he is a master of closing the deal, and he is a master of increasing prices by increasing demand by creating the perception of a diminishing supply.
This is why the marriage of Coach Calipari to UK Basketball is a perfect fit, and has the rest of the basketball nation, whether high school, college, or pro, looking toward Lexington again.
yeah the I cant stand pearl, anything to piss him off is good with me
I hope we get the former UT commit Selby so it pisses off UT.