Is a point of view. The debate has been hashed and rehashed around here ever since the end of the season practically. In the end, I agree with Tru’s general stance… its risky for the school, but there’s no downside for the kid.

Vitale isn’t wrong because of his stance on the issue… he is wrong because we, as fans who’ve read his articles, don’t honestly know what his stance is.

What a quaint notion. ;-)

... it is utterly irrelevant what Doc Rivers knows. Situational ethics arguments will get you nowhere here.

Paris it doesnt matter where Rivers ends up going or that he want to go to UF or that he has a relationship with Billy d. No one here is saying he isnt a D1 prospect or that he shouldnt go to UF. I think you missed the point of the article.

the point of the article and the outrage most UK fans are feeling isn’t the fact that Billy Donovan and UF took a verbal from a 15 year old kid, it’s the fact that they have done so and are getting a free pass on it despite the NABC asking coaches to refrain from going down this road. To make matters worse, people around the country crucified UK just a couple of months ago PRIOR to the NABC making any statements on the matter.

Next, enter a known loud mouth like DICK vitale blasting BCG for taking a verbal from Avery, going so far as to say “this is not good for basketball” and accusing the Cats of basically just seeking highlights and press time and it gets to be way to much. It’s unthinkable for most that just 60 days later this same man is praising another coach/program for doing the EXACT same thing with zero accountability.

I don’t think anyone is even thinking about questioning Doc Rivers basketball IQ in all this, I would go so far to say that he is completely 100% involved in the situation as it should be and by all accounts as Avery’s parents are. This is completely irrelevent to the subject at hand. The point of all this is that there has to by an even playing field, no way should one school be beat up while another school receives accolades for doing the same thing. It is not right, no matter if it’s UK, uf, or some middle of no where DIII school.

Of a lack of reading comprehension.

I’ve seen you come in here and take digs at Gillispie and make generally disparaging comments about the direction of the program in the past (and in honest and open discussion those opinions are certainly valid and up for discussion) but this is just a blatant example of someone trying to “troll” a message board for the sake of starting an argument. You have ignored the entire point of the current conversation and attempted to turn it in your own direction.

... do you explain the fact that no mention was made of the NABC’s comments, or that Donovan ignored their guidance?

At the very least, after all the hoopla surrounding the NABC’s highly public comments about accepting commitments from players who haven’t reached June 15th after their sophomore year, Vitale should have addressed the fact that Donovan ignored that much-ballyhooed counsel.

But in reality, you’ve imputed to Vitale a distinction without a difference. Both coaches are either qualified to evaluate talent or they aren’t, and the length of time Donovan has known Rivers is clearly irrelevant to the entire affair. The argument is that 15 year olds are to young to make a commitment. That is either objectively true, or it isn’t. Having people come in after the fact and use subjective excuses to defend one case and not the other is not fair to either the coaches or the recruits.

The actual recruitment of Avery and Rivers has never really been a point of contention. In fact, I daresay the Rivers signing wouldn’t even have garnered a blip of recognition on this site had it not been for the collision of contrasting views from the mainstream media.

Kentucky was not competing with Florida for this kid’s services. If the NABC had not made their “request” and if the mainstream media had not lambasted Gillispie for his earlier recruitment of Avery, I actually see no angle to this story that would merit any attention on a University of Kentucky blog.

He can try to shrug it off, but he can’t deny that the tone of the two posts was entirely different and the factual content was vastly different.

And it is more than just “one or two people” that he got riled up here.

Other than being on espn and bob knight lobbying for him, what exactly has vitale done to be placed in th HOF? I know he enjoyed some sucess as a coach but his numbers are hardly hall worthy. And trust me, I do not doubt that he has a real passion for the sport of college basketball and to his credit he does good things for the Jimmy V foundation but again these things (passion and good deeds) do not make some one a hall of famer.

Believe me, this is not in respone to the latest uproar, I have from the day it was anounced he got the nod felt that his getting in was completely bogus and done merely because he and a few big name coaches campaigned to get him in. Personally I feel it is completely undeserving.

I believe that honor goes to the kids!!!

... Vitale or ESPN are any bigger reasons than the increased network visibility. ESPN can certainly claim some credit, Vitale, not so much. He is just a color commentator.

espn is saying their analyst is the best! 40, you scooped us all!

Either you love or hate Dick Vitale. As pointed out, he’s a color commentator, and his job isn’t necessarily to provide unbiased opinions about basketball to the nation. He has been around the game for a long time, has been an ambassador for the game, and made significant contributions. I can’t argue with you there. But, if you want to prove your point, I wouldn’t necessarily go to his employer’s website or his own website, you couldn’t have picked more biased sites.

Vitale makes it very easy for Kentucky fans to hate him, and he clearly shows favoritism to certain schools. Even in his “rebuttal” to critics, he clearly does not address this issue in which he’s being called out on. I was almost as if he was pretending he never said anything about Rivers. It is indefensible—he made a statement, contradicted it, then contradicted his contradiction! And to dismiss the complaints as being from only one or two people (even if that is metaphorically) really underestimates the college basketball fanbase and I personally feel like that is a slap in the face of the BBN.

I am sure “one or two people” will be more than happy to show Dick Vitale how they feel if/when he makes a trip to Rupp Arena. I have never really been a fan of his obnoxious style, nor his favoritism for the ACC, but I think this really crosses the line. How can you publicly decry UK but praise UF for doing the same thing? That is a simple question, and I’m still waiting for an answer!