12 Bold Kentucky Basketball Recruiting Predictions for 2012
by jc25 on Jan 4, 2012 8:00 AM EST
in Kentucky Wildcats Basketball
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Inspired by this post from ESPNers Jason Jordan and Ronnie Flores, below are my 12 bold predictions pertaining to Kentucky basketball recruiting. By the way, Jordan and Flores predict that Kentucky targets Julius Randle and Shabazz Muhammad will pick Duke and UNLV, respectively. They also think North Carolina will cut down the nets and that Harrison Barnes will be the tournament's Most Outstanding Player. Blasphemy, all of it!
Without further ado, my 12 bold predictions for the new year.
1. As Jordan and Flores posit, uncommitted 2012 forward Anthony Bennett wins MVP honors at the 2012 McDonald's All-American Game on March 28. Further, during the post-game ceremony, he announces he will sign with Kentucky, garnering both the strongest boos and strongest cheers of the day from the crowd. Bennett joins the already signed Archie Goodwin, Willie Cauley and Alex Poythress in the 2012 class.
2. A day after Kentucky cuts down the nets on April 2 (take that, North Carolina!), John Calipari receives a phone call from the Harrison twins--Andrew Harrison and Aaron Harrison--calling to congratulate the coach and offer a verbal commitment. They become the second duo to commit to Calipari's Kentucky program prior to their high school senior season, following the footsteps of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague.
3. After winning the tournament's MOP award (take that, Harrison Barnes!), Kidd-Gilchrist is faced with a Brandon Knight-esque decision. The heart of Kentucky's team really wants to stay, but ultimately decides that his draft stock will never get higher and leaves after an incredible year. Likewise, Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb, and Anthony Davis capitalize on their optimal draft stocks and declare as well.
4. The Wildcats do get a piece of good news: Marquis Teague goes on to have a solid season but pulls a Terrence Jones-like shocker by deciding to stay for his sophomore year. Teague teams with Ryan Harrow to form a formidable--and experienced--point guard combination in the 2012-13 season.
5. Following the draft exodus, Kentucky doesn't rebuild--it reloads. The top 2012 prospect in the country, Shabazz Muhammad, chooses the Wildcats on April 11 (the first day of the Regular Signing Period) and inks his Letter of Intent later that day. He's followed the next day by sleeper forward Christopher Obekpa, who garners some stealthy late interest from Kentucky and is inspired to don Kentucky blue due to the awesome play of Josh Harrellson for the Knicks. The commitments of Muhammad and Obekpa cement Kentucky's recruiting class as #1 overall in the nation. Again.
6. On June 28, Anthony Davis goes #1 overall in the NBA Draft...to the Houston Rockets, who make a surprise jump to the first pick when the lottery balls bounce their way. "Browdown" finally gives General Manager Daryl Morey a star to build around in Clutch City. Kidd-Gilchrist, Jones, and Lamb all go in the first round along with Davis.
7. The end of the lockout be darned! The Kentucky Pros circuit makes a second appearance in Rupp Arena, giving even more credence to Calipari as the "King of Recruiting". NBA Finals MVP LeBron James headlines, as he's given a special exemption to represent the Blue & White. However, DeMarcus Cousins, reinvigorated after the midseason firing of Paul Westphal, is the exhibition game's MVP.
8. Over the summer, Kentucky secures its third commit in the 2013 class when small forward Troy Williams decides to take his talents to Lexington. Troy, the nephew of AAU legend Boo Williams, brings even more recruiting cred to Calipari's name--oh, and he's also good at the basketballs, too.
9. Unfortunately, the Wildcats miss out on two of the top prospects in the country. Both Jabari Parker and Julius Randle decide to stay local. Parker, a Chicago product, ends up pledging to Illinois. Randle, from the greater Dallas area, pops for Texas. Can't get 'em all, Cal.
10. One guy Calipari does get is center Nerlens Noel, who picks the Wildcats in November right before the Early Signing Period. Noel cites the spectacular defensive play of Anthony Davis as the reason he picks the 'Cats. Immediately, speculation begins that Noel's teammate at The Tilton School, class of 2014's Wayne Selden, will eventually commit to Kentucky.
11. Kentucky ends the 2012 calendar year with four signed recruits for the class of 2013. Just like the 2012 class, the Wildcats have filled every starting position except power forward. But not to worry, intriguing names like Johnathan Williams III and Kuran Iverson remain on the board for the spring.
12. As Kentucky recruitniks look ahead to 2014, a few names start to arise. Most notable is Dakari Johnson, a precocious big man who was a former teammate of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist at St. Patrick Academy. Not coincidentally, scouts rave about Johnson's well-rounded game and compare him to...Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. A way in advance 2013 prediction: Johnson becomes the first player to commit to Kentucky in the class of 2014.
Happy New Year, everyone! Hopefully, some of these predictions end up coming true.
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All are plausible
What is your prediction success rate historically?
Teague & Harrow
With Teague’s poor play, I have been thinking a lot about Teague being forced to return. Harrow has surely been assuming the starting PG role is all his next year. How will they coexist?
Fair point
Although they came in together and knew what to expect very early on. Right now no one knows what next year will bring.
I hope Teague goes in the draft. That’ll mean his play greatly improved in the second half!
No one ever knows what next year or for that point, the next moment will bring.
This morning I am sitting here, drinking my coffee and reading the concerns of the BBN for something as trivial as unfulfilled expectations of point guard performance when I run across the news of the unexpected passing of Gatewood Galbraith. Such moments always place things in perspective. There are bigger concerns afoot than the failure of a young man to be performing at expected levels so early in his career. A couple of really good performances from Teague and everyone will be singing his praises. If all we focus on is the destination, then we miss the experiences of the journey.
Making waves in a sea of blue.
Respectfully disagree...
Hypothesizing about the future of our program at the point guard position is definitely the biggest concern facing the world today.
IF Teague were to return
Would be interesting, that’s for sure. Harrow is a former 5*, but his freshman season at NC St was pretty mediocre. He’s also on the small side (listed as 6’2"/175 by UK but just 5’11"/155 going into college), and Teague’s a stringbean as well. Both Wall and Bledsoe were built and taller than a Harrow/Teague backcourt. Nonetheless, it’s just pure, fun speculation at this point.
I hope your right!
I have been thinking the same thing about Teague. But he can still make a big name for himself winning and playing better in the SEC. Another factor is if we do get #8 he will have an inflated draft stock by default. Basically the NC will override his shaky play in the first half of the season making him a lottery pick and he will be gone.
From your mouth, err, fingers to God's ears jc
I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday about the possibility of Teague returning next season. Ultimately, I think the legacy of Cal’s one-and-done point guards is going to be too much for him to say no to and he’ll go pro.
1/x doesn't die, it just fades away.
I think there will be a lot of pressure on Teague to turn pro as well
But if his draft stock is late first to 2nd round, you gotta think he needs to weigh his options and consider returning. He has lottery talent; he just needs to display it.
More Fantasy Than Fact I Fear
But then:
"Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can. Of course, I could be wrong."
"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act." - George Orwell
After that crazy game last night,
I’m not looking past South Carolina on Saturday. Would anyone have predicted we would be down to Arkansas-Little Rock? I doubt it! I have a feeling our boys were looking right past that “little” team and got a HUGE surprise last night. Lets focus on NOW and worry about the rest as it comes.
Davis!
Only thing I see wrong with the predictions is the “inevitable” enent of Anthony Davis declaring he had a blast in is freshman year of college and wants to get stronger and get the REPEAT for #BBN… Therefore returning for another year! (:
by ANGx01 on Jan 4, 2012 12:52 PM EST via mobile reply actions
No
Obekpa’s latest interview says he’s still interested in Kentucky, but there’s no public interest from UK to Obekpa.
That said, Kentucky returns only Kyle Wiltjer next year (I’m assuming MKG + Davis + Jones bolt, and Miller + Vargas are graduating). Cal will absolutely need to search for frontcourt depth, and the commitments from Cauley and Poythress is simply not enough.
Oh, you're absolutely correct there.
It’s also interesting that you mention Wiltjer in this context. Unless I’m mistaken, Wiltjer wasn’t really recruited by UK and gave his surprise verbal several months prior to his visit. Maybe we’ll see that with Obekpa.
Also, although I love the Harrisons, #10 is the prediction that I am most hopeful will come true. I’ve only been following recruiting since 2002 (the year before I enrolled at UK), but in those ~10 years, I’ve never been more enamored of a big man than I am with Noel. Did the last part of that sentence sound weird?
As always, thanks for your posts.
I'm intrigued by Noel also
I don’t follow recruiting except for what I read from jc, but Noel is a guy I have actually read a few things about and he sounds like a very good defender – I’d love to see what Cal could do with him defensively.
1/x doesn't die, it just fades away.
I saw Noel at the Peach Jam this year ... he is shot blocking machine ...
if there is one person who can break Anthony Davis’ single season shot block record … (you might as well just concede it to him – you know he is rewriting the record book) …. it is Noel …. really long and runs the floor well – and may well have a tennis racket made on the the end of each hand …. J/K …. :)
I am just like you.
I follow recruiting quite a bit and Outside of Shabazz, Noel is the guy I would like to see commit the most. He is a literal beast on the defensive end and won’t be lacking much on the offensive end either.
Teague
Is playing like a freshman point guard. A freshman point guard for one of the best teams in the nation, not to mention the most storied program in the nation, coached by a man that gets the best point guard in the nation every year. Under all of this pressure he is scoring 10pts a game and almost 5 assist a game. I will admit that I find myself yelling at the TV when he shoots the ball, and I will never trust him from the free throw line. He just can’t shoot. And he does turn the ball over too much. But I think we should stop comparing him to Wall, Knight, and Rose. Let’s compare him to other freshman pg’s that are running some of the better programs in the nation. Wait, is there any? If there is any, let me know if they have wins against teams like UNC, Kansas, and UL. Doubt it. He can play better, but as far as freshman pg’s go, he is doing ok.
Let's Do That
There are literally dozens of point guards who are performing better than Teague at this time in the season but let’s limit the comparison to only those first-year players. I would suggest that the following have better performances: Travis Trice (Michigan State), Myck Kabongo (Texas), Anthony Collins (Southern Florida), Trey Burke (Michigan), Myles Mack (Rutgers), and should I take the time to go through the NCAA rosters I could find more. I have by no means given up on Marcus Teague and believe he has the physical talent to be a quality point guard but at this juncture he is a disappointment. Calipari has a challenge but he has history in his corner, plus that’s why the $4 million is worth it.
"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act." - George Orwell
It is dangerous to jump to conclusions
of this sort since the only fair comparison of performance would be to see what these other guards would be doing in Coach Cal’s system.
Making waves in a sea of blue.
I think these are fair comparisons to a degree
Those PG’s don’t play for UK, John Calipari, and don’t have the same pressure put on them. They just don’t. That being said, they are playing better than Teague. I accept Teague’s performance so far because he is a freshman. I refuse to expect a John Wall type point guard every year. It just isn’t going to happen. So far Teague has contributed 10pts a game and 4.5 assist. So he has his hand in about 20pts agame. That is pretty good for a freshman. Now he has some obvious flaws. He can’t shoot, at all, from anywhere. If it isn’t a layup, and he misses some of them, he isn’t making the shot. And he makes some very poor decisions. But he isn’t the main reason UK isn’t playing as good as they should be playing. I would say that Lamb, Jones, and Miller haven’t played as well as I thought they would, and they have more experience in Cal’s system. I would think we would all agree that Davis and the Kidd have been the two best players on the team so far.
I would also think that everybody would agree that if the older guys stepped it up, Teague’s play wouldn’t be so obvious and UK would not of lost to Indiana. I think UK’s chances of winning #8 depend more on the play of Lamb, Miller, and Jones than it does Teague’s play.
More Teague Critique
KSR’s Matt Jones has these comments on play of Marcus Teague:
– Coming off possibly the worst first-half performance of the Calipari era, much of Wednesday was spent picking apart the Cats’ flaws, the most glaring of which may be the play of Marquis Teague. After seeming to put things back together in the second half of the Indiana game, Teague has regressed into his former self, a passive point guard prone to silly errors. I’ll admit, I expected big things from Teague. After watching him in the preseason, I considered him to be one of the most impressive athletes on the floor in terms of speed and explosiveness; he still is, and you can see it in flashes, like his brilliant drive to the basket in the second half against Arkansas-Little Rock. News also came Wednesday afternoon that Teague was not selected as one of the twenty finalists for the Bob Cousy Award, given to the nation’s best point guard each season. Have we, as Kentucky fans, been spoiled by the outstanding play of John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, and Brandon Knight? Yes. Does that mean our criticism of Teague is unfair? Perhaps. Like your best friend with the loser boyfriend, Teague’s play is frustrating because you know he can do better. Yes, I know Brandon Knight has similar struggles last season, and there is no bigger supporter of Teague than I, but the simple fact is, right now, this team moves more smoothly with Doron Lamb or Darius Miller at point guard. If Teague wants to continue leading this team, he needs to evolve with the rest of his fellow freshmen, fast.
"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth will be a revolutionary act." - George Orwell
Quoting Matt Jones
is sort of like scraping the bottom of the barrel. He is either not very basketball knowledgeable or dumbs down to the level of his audience.
Making waves in a sea of blue.
respectfully disagree
Although we may not like the person, the content is almost accurate. I would be more happy to see either miller or lamb at PG position. I’m a die-hard cat fan and cannot wait for #8, but with Teague at PG position it’s going to be very difficult. Either he has grow up within the next two months or Cal has to use Miller/Lamb effectively.
GO CATS
My son was acceted today to UK
Please comment on why he should go – he reads this all the time.
It's a great school
There are some schools where you don’t have a quality faculty, resources and a good environment to better yourself. But in UK, you get all of the above. Every single day that I spent there on campus was worth it. You have a very short time (4 yrs for UG, 2 yrs for PG), use it very wisely and you’ll be very glad on your graduation day. You can have fun and learn. I could not have gone to any other school and have learned more than what I did at UK. For that, I’m forever grateful.
Most importantly, you will become a part of BBN, a family that exists world-wide. I come from half-way across the world and proudly wear my UK cap back home where I do meet other cats who proudly say , Go Big Blue.
Wishing you the best, however you decide.
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