Kentucky basketball recruiting update: Fortson to Arkansas, Hood gets an offer

by Glenn Logan on Oct 8, 2007 7:15 AM EDT in Kentucky Wildcats Basketball

John Pelphrey is already flexing his muscles, and has shown Kentucky that he can take our new coach on head-to-head and win. Courtney Fortson, the 4-star point guard out of the Patterson School in North Carolina has eschewed the Wildcats to become a Razorback.

The Courier-Journal (via Aaron's blog) gives us word that John Hood, the rising Madisonville High junior, has been offered a scholarship by UK.

It's hard to be too concerned about Fortson's decision, as UK is simply flush with guards. Hood is one of those late-blooming players that seem to show up in Kentucky all the time, and of course, the sweaty guy in the orange blazer from 200 miles south of Lexington offered him a scholarship back in September. Obviously, Gillispie was paying attention to the wolves baying at Tubby Smith's door when Tennessee stole Lofton from Kentucky, and doesn't intend to let another such situation develop.

Concern about another Lofton is not really a good thing -- we could wind up letting Pearl dictate our scholarships to some extent, and he doesn't seem the type to be beyond such gamesmanship. However, if Gillispie is as successful as we all hope he'll be, that lingering disconnect won't last too long. But it is a bit disconcerting that we seem to be reacting to Pearl's offers in Kentucky, even if it's only perception and not reality. The Lofton angst still swirls around a lot in the Big Blue Nation, and it has shown the potential to be a destructive force.

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Odd...

...but it was something I had felt for a while about Tubby and how late we would get in on a kid and sometimes the ones that seemed to come here after someone else "looked at him" and they end up not up to the task. Tubby often recruited like a music fan staying at the forefront of music by his monthly BMG Automatic CD Selection.

I think BG has a HUGE PR task that he is working very well so far and he won't let Bruce dictate much in the near future. Not even the pace of games. I wish JP great success and it is easy to see his pitch, we have like 60 guards. Nice player but you can't have them all.

***Days away from the start of B-ball and the Pig Cats are a legit top 20. I am SOOOOOO Happy!!

When was the last time basketball started with UK in the pre-season top 20 AND the football cats in the top 20? 1977 again?

by wilson452 on Oct 8, 2007 9:10 AM EDT reply actions

Yep.

1977 would have to be it.

by Glenn Logan on Oct 8, 2007 9:38 AM EDT up reply actions

Lofton angst

It is important to remember that the Lofton story gained huge momentum after he "grew" as a player. Keep in mind the number of offers he had in high school and what schools offered. It is really hard to be in at the right time on any of these high school players. BCG seems to have his methods and we can only hope his crystal ball shows more than the room upside down.

by CAWebb on Oct 8, 2007 10:15 AM EDT reply actions

100% Agreement

I was actually getting ready to post the exact same comment about Lofton. If Tubby had offered him a scholarship back in high school, all of the fans would have groaned and expected another Josh Carrier, JP Blevins, or Brandon Stockton.

Heck, I'm convinced that if he had come to Kentucky, that's exactly what he'd be. Tubby never would have let him off the bench, his reasons would be that he was too slow and couldn't play defense. The anger over Lofton really has always confused me. He would have sat behind Rondo, Sparks, Bradley, and Crawford at UK under Tubby.

by chirop1 on Oct 8, 2007 11:10 AM EDT up reply actions

Tubby

I always thought Tubby couldn't recruit his way out of a paper bag, but I'm not one of those that puts blame on him for Lofton. Considering who we had at guard at the time and Lofton in high school, I think it was a fluke that he turned out like he did.

by GregJ on Oct 8, 2007 11:51 AM EDT up reply actions

I don't know about a fluke ...

but he wasn't all that highly recruited in high school. Lofton was one of those rare under-the-radar recruits that turned out a lot better in college than expected.

by Glenn Logan on Oct 8, 2007 12:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Gillespie chasing Pearl?

I don't think so. From all that I have seen from Gillespie's reactions to the media, fans, and press, I don't think Billy G is marching to anyone's drum but his own. I have seen no evidence of him being swayed or manipulated by anyone thus far. I think that Gillespie knows exactly what his actions will look like to everyone concerned. Therefore, if his actions give certain impressions, I would bet that he intends them to give those impressions, or at least he is aware of the repercussions of said impressions. BCG is one of the sharpest crayons in the box, even if he may turn out to be a different color than KY Blue eventually.

GO BIG BLUE!!

by bluebloodtoo on Oct 8, 2007 3:10 PM EDT reply actions