BREAKING: Cats nab another young-un
Various internet sources now reporting Kentucky has secured a verbal commitment from ... wait for it ... AN EIGHTH-GRADER.
Michael Avery, a 6'4" combo guard out of Southern California, joins the nascent UK Class of 2012.
Seriously.
Clark Francis, the infamous recruiting guru, has Avery ranked as his No. 8 player in the class, No. 2 at his position, inexplicably listed as power forward.
A brief writeup from an AAU event in which his team went undefeated among strong competition...
Marc Maggard spoke to Michael's father about the commitment on his latest podcast, which I recommend. Great way of hearing how some of this stuff goes.
Avery recently spent time playing with Indiana Elite, the top flight AAU team which brought the world Greg Oden and Mike Conley, among others, and which currently boasts Stephen Van Treese, another UK target.
Avery also has played a level "up" on teams with players such as Duke commit Mason Plumlee and Treese, meaning this kid is getting into some very heady company recruit-wise.
More as it comes...
[ED NOTE]...
For all of those folks talking about how sad this is, or how somehow we've crossed a line, what did you expect?
I'll address this in a future post, but you can't have it both ways. If you want elite talent a la UNC, Duke and Kansas, you have to be willing to play the game. We had a coach who was "above" such tactics. And it landed us more Mike Williamses and Sheray Thomases of late than it did Tywon Lawsons.
It's admittedly new ground for the program, but Billy Gillispie has a crack staff who is extremely visible on the AAU circuit. This trend, at least for now, of taking super early commitments is ahead of the curve. Maybe eventually, the game will change. But for now, I'd rather have a coach willing to play the game, short of cheating or shady street agents, than one who is above it and slowly fading into the woodwork.
End of brief rant...
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I can't help
Hell in 8th grade, my big decision was which type of cheerios to eat, not what school I'd be attending.
by piketaylor on May 1, 2008 1:26 PM EDT 0 recs
Hanging my head
by chirop1 on May 1, 2008 1:31 PM EDT 0 recs
In a way ...
Well, you gotta keep up with the Jones', and the Floyd's, and the Williams' ...
by Truzenzuzex on
May 1, 2008 1:38 PM EDT
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Over the top...
These kids are playing AAU events 300 days a year against high school juniors and seniors.
The Online home of Big Blue Nation ...
by JL Blue on
May 1, 2008 1:39 PM EDT
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Heh...
The Online home of Big Blue Nation ...
by JL Blue on
May 1, 2008 1:42 PM EDT
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Soon ...
Just reality. Still seems ... a bit ... err... unctuous, I guess is the word I'm looking for. Not at any one coach or anything. Just in general.
by Truzenzuzex on
May 1, 2008 1:46 PM EDT
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Yikes!
by CW on May 1, 2008 1:36 PM EDT 0 recs
Being in 8th grade
Welcome to out first commit from the class of 2016! Wow!
by Thomas Hunt Morgan on
May 1, 2008 1:58 PM EDT
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Very smart
by EEWildcat on May 1, 2008 1:47 PM EDT 0 recs
But...
The Online home of Big Blue Nation ...
by JL Blue on
May 1, 2008 1:57 PM EDT
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You shouldn't ...
Oops -- Hi Ken!
Just kidding. :-)
by Truzenzuzex on
May 1, 2008 2:01 PM EDT
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I'm only 8 hours late in reading this ...
Sleep with one eye open :)
by Ken Howlett on
May 1, 2008 11:45 PM EDT
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Derby Draw
by blbskue on May 1, 2008 1:58 PM EDT 0 recs
Also
I do agree with MJ on not interviewing the kid about it. I think a few years are in order before that takes place. A lot could change in 4+ years, like the commitment.
by blbskue on May 1, 2008 2:01 PM EDT 0 recs
Agreed...
The Online home of Big Blue Nation ...
by JL Blue on
May 1, 2008 2:06 PM EDT
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Only 1 year younger than Zollo
I don't remember there being a big difference between an 8th and 9th grader when I was that age. I expect the difference would narrow especially for an 8th grader who is spending time playing basketball with older kids.
by EEWildcat on
May 1, 2008 4:57 PM EDT
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Look up: Mr. Show - HBO
One skit was of two low level college "scouts" watching 4 and 5 year olds play at day care and offering scholarships. They didn't have the money of big schools so they had to get in earlier and earlier.
Very funny stuff! And from 10-15 years ago.
by wilson452 on May 1, 2008 2:06 PM EDT 0 recs
LITERALLLY
The Online home of Big Blue Nation ...
by JL Blue on
May 1, 2008 2:07 PM EDT
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That is just freaky!
NOT KIDDING! 100% True.
All in one freaky day.
by wilson452 on
May 1, 2008 2:19 PM EDT
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Don't
by blbskue on
May 1, 2008 3:47 PM EDT
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No no...
Let's just say the fact that any of the kids we played shows for at Centre could actually REMEMBER that we played would be surprising, if not impossible.
Those kids sure know how to get wasted...or at least they did back in '95.
The Online home of Big Blue Nation ...
by JL Blue on
May 1, 2008 3:57 PM EDT
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Still do
by blbskue on
May 1, 2008 5:52 PM EDT
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Well...
JL and I watched the UK-UMass FF game there before a show. I was sick and had no voice, we had been paid too much, lots of drinking and throwing of bottles from the couch out a window every time UK did something bad. I prayed so hard we would win. If not I felt we would be run out of town. All was fine!
by wilson452 on
May 1, 2008 11:42 PM EDT
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Ha
Hope your daughter ends up there. It's definitely not a place for everyone, considering the average high school is larger, but you get a great education and have a lot of fun.
by blbskue on
May 2, 2008 8:09 AM EDT
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Bottle smashing in the basement
The basement always made a good place for that sort of destruction. For a while there, we went through an unfortunate phase of releasing fire extinguishers down there too. That got expensive though and we had to put a stop to it!
by chirop1 on
May 2, 2008 8:54 AM EDT
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Lynagh's
by olddoc on
May 2, 2008 1:41 PM EDT
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So...
by kentuckygirl0724 on May 1, 2008 2:19 PM EDT 0 recs
Non-binding
by Acdixon on
May 1, 2008 5:04 PM EDT
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Let the names keep rolling...
If the kid has been scouted..."Clark Francis, the infamous recruiting guru, has Avery ranked as his No. 8 player in the class, No. 2 at his position, inexplicably listed as power forward".....then he is good for a verbal commitment.
One last thing this tells me is that Gillespie is sending the message that he is going to be here for a time. "Sure kid, I know you just finished seventh grade but I'm gonna be at UK when you graduate. Hey, do really good in school, take summer courses and you could be playing in college when you are 17! Get three years of college and finish with a degree and a good draft pick! I've got it all planned out for you. Here is the shot sheet I've mapped out......"
Keep blazing the trail Coach G!! Laying waste to rival coaches's dreams! :)
by bluecrip on May 1, 2008 3:17 PM EDT 0 recs
Would one of you Lexington residents please...
Thanks.
by tooblue on May 1, 2008 3:44 PM EDT 0 recs
LOL!
by kentuckygirl0724 on
May 1, 2008 3:51 PM EDT
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Financial Planning
Gotta go now, it's time to work on Carson's crossover dribble.
by tooblue on
May 1, 2008 3:58 PM EDT
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Not Complaining
by KingKentucky on May 1, 2008 3:58 PM EDT 0 recs
Unbelievable!
I'm an old guy, living in Florida and still have my season tickets for UK basketball. Ain't going to give them up because there is always a chance that Barnhart will quit and someone will actually bring in coaches who can raise us to the 'next' level. Isn't it a shame to say that Kentucky basketball needs to get to the next level?
A football question to ponder. What if the wheels fall off this year in football and we go 3-9 or 4-8. Brooks decides he's had enough. Do we still get Joker? If so, do we have to wait 4 years to have a winning season or will the faithful see how stupid that move was. Did we not think that maybe some coach with head coaching experience might be available? Sorry, Urban, we've already committed. There's that word again.
Seeing as how Tubby averaged 27 wins a season, Trooper only needs to win 36 next year to average the same.
by Paris10 on May 1, 2008 4:02 PM EDT 0 recs
Wow.
You seem to have a lot of the same charater traits as that guy.
Dont come with the negative waves man
by KingKentucky on
May 1, 2008 4:07 PM EDT
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Going against the top programs
The Tubby comment at the end of your post was deliberately inflammatory and you know that you put it in there with all the maturity of the 8th grader we're recruiting just to get a rise out of some people. Shame on you.
by chirop1 on
May 1, 2008 4:08 PM EDT
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If
by blbskue on
May 1, 2008 5:55 PM EDT
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Average W Per Season
Was Rupp UK's worst coach until lately?
Of course NOT.
by FortyYearCatFan on
May 1, 2008 6:18 PM EDT
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I'm an old guy too ...
To each his own, I guess. We certainly don't require anyone here to like the current head coach, or the AD.
by Truzenzuzex on
May 1, 2008 7:19 PM EDT
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The problem with early commitments.
After the offer, I never played the same way, and by the time I was a senior I had lost all interest in playing, mainly because I had become such a rock star in my own head that I was too good to practice and too nervous to play well. My Freshman numbers were 21 and 8, and my Sophomore numbers were 27 and 6 but fell to 19 and 5 by the end of the season. My junior year I was 13 and 5, and my senior year numbers were an apalling 4.3 and 4.
I went from being a good player to thinking my own crap didnt stink, and so i ended up forcing myself to try and play out of my comfort zone. I tell all of this to say that an early commitment is hard on a young player and I hope that the same doesnt happen to them.
by KingKentucky on May 1, 2008 4:05 PM EDT 0 recs
Not just your fault?
by TheFakeGimelMartinez on
May 1, 2008 4:08 PM EDT
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Well...
I kill in the church leagues now though
by KingKentucky on
May 1, 2008 4:14 PM EDT
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Sorry I Offended
If I'm commenting on a site full of glad handers, we see no wrong, and the next Final Four is just around the corner people, than good luck and I hope the Easter Bunny gave you all the candy you wanted.
by Paris10 on May 1, 2008 4:31 PM EDT 0 recs
Glad handers?
There's plenty of room for dissonance and reasonable concern (the pre-hiring phenomenom in general bothers me) with many decisions. Its all in how you phrase it.
Internet forums get awfully boring if everyone agrees, but they become awfully annoying when they are filled with empty rhetoric wrapped in a sarcastic covering.
PS Yes the Easter Bunny brought me lots of chocolate. Did you get enough?
by chirop1 on
May 1, 2008 4:35 PM EDT
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The Easter Bunny
Oh, and don't apologize for having an opinion, even a stupid one. I won't apologize for calling it what it is.
The Online home of Big Blue Nation ...
by JL Blue on
May 1, 2008 4:36 PM EDT
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To Quote Jim Rome
"This shows that your no longer KENTUCKY, your just kentucky."
Dude, Adolph Rupp isnt walking through that door, and besides your whole argument against Coach Brooks is totally hypothetical. Who gets this upset over a hypothetical situation?
We tried for who we thought would be a homerun coach, turns out that Donovan would have been a bad fit because he likes to bad mouth his players, we tried for who we thought would be good and we got a man who works 24 hours a day to make kentucky, KENTUCKY again.
By the way, Santa Clause said hi.
by KingKentucky on
May 1, 2008 4:37 PM EDT
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I can't really ...
And Gillispie has only had the head job at UK for 1 year. I think even an unreasonable person would give him more than that.
And the Easter Bunny was very kind to me this year, thank you. I was a very good boy this year.
:-)
by Truzenzuzex on
May 1, 2008 7:22 PM EDT
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Easter Bunny...
by TheFakeGimelMartinez on
May 1, 2008 7:23 PM EDT
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I am in awe
With Tru's post today about USC...I really thought that was way too young! Well Shwit, what do I know? LOL
by kykat51 on May 1, 2008 4:36 PM EDT 0 recs
You can't ...
:-)
by Truzenzuzex on
May 1, 2008 7:23 PM EDT
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Tubby Smith
If you think what we got now anyway compares to Tubby tell me where.
by Paris10 on May 1, 2008 4:37 PM EDT 0 recs
ROFL
Most people around here don't consider themselves Tubby fans or Gillispie fans... we are KENTUCKY fans. You can trade in your blue and white for maroon and yellow at any time.
by chirop1 on
May 1, 2008 4:39 PM EDT
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Your a tubby fan?
This site doesnt need any more people coming on here for a week to start an argument about the Tubbs. You will find that 95% of everybody on here liked tubby and are still fairly strong supporters. What you need to do is adjust your panties that seem to be in a wad, and calm down, and understand that Tubby started with a lot more talent than did Billy.
Does that make either of them a bad coach? No.
by KingKentucky on
May 1, 2008 4:39 PM EDT
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I think ...
Gillispie has done fine so far by any reasonable measure. Next year should give us a better read, and I do see more consistency in recruiting.
I just didn't expect to be committing 2012 recruits in 2008.
by Truzenzuzex on
May 1, 2008 7:25 PM EDT
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I thought it was a joke
Needless the say, BCG has UK on track to be back in the elite status again. Keep up the good work, Coach.
by bevcat on May 1, 2008 4:39 PM EDT 0 recs
Giving up?
/end sarcasm
by chirop1 on
May 1, 2008 4:42 PM EDT
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Haw!
:-)
by Truzenzuzex on
May 1, 2008 7:26 PM EDT
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UK Early Commitments Before 2007 And 2008
Chris Harrison committed just before his Jr HS season. He was rated Top 100 then. He was NR as HS Sr.
Dominique Ferguson will be Top 5-10 as HS Sr.
KC Ross-Miller will remain Top 25. Dakotah Euton will drop to Top 50. GJ Vilarino has already dropped out of Top 100.
by FortyYearCatFan on May 1, 2008 4:47 PM EDT 0 recs
Paul McCoy
by SevenRings on May 1, 2008 4:58 PM EDT 0 recs
He was always ...
I wonder if Kentucky actually offered him. I don't think so.
by Truzenzuzex on
May 1, 2008 7:27 PM EDT
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Give me your comments
2.Tearing up the Coliseum floor and throwing it on the trash heap.
It will be good to hear what real UK fans say about this.
by Paris10 on May 1, 2008 4:59 PM EDT 0 recs
RE your comments
- Was discussed at length a year ago. Generally seen as a bush league move. In retrospect, it would have been just one more loss on the pile.
- Don't recall any real discussion about it around here, nor did the local news outlets in E-town pick up on it. If as you say it was just trashed, my view is that it was a huge revenue loss. People would have paid good money to have a piece of the floor framed and hanging on their wall.
by chirop1 on
May 1, 2008 5:18 PM EDT
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Floor sales
- they didn't trash the whole thing, they kept the important bits
- It wasn't a modular floor....that thing was NAILED DOWN. not feasible to spend the money to pull it up intact because...
- when they tried to sell off the Rupp floor they failed horribly...most of it is STILL in storage.
- Since so much of it was just sitting there MANY more fans got to take home a piece of it that ever would have if it had been sold.
by sylvar on
May 2, 2008 9:36 AM EDT
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UMass, et al.
In fact, in my opinion, Tru and FortyYear are amongst the most ardent Tubby defenders, but being a Tubby defender doesn't mean you have to bash Coach G. I happen to like them both. I happen to believe that Coach G. is moving the program in the right direction. Did he have a tough first year? Yep. But we are poised to be better in the coming years. One need only look at the marked in-season improvement this year to see that. They don't just throw around SEC Coach of the Year trophies for nothing.
by Acdixon on
May 1, 2008 5:18 PM EDT
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UK Has A Very Good Coach
Tubby's happy where he is. Gillispie too.
The rest is visible with eyes on the back of your head. God put them on the front of it for a good reason.
Look forward.
by FortyYearCatFan on May 1, 2008 5:04 PM EDT 0 recs
Just let him recruit...
But I trust our coach. I train professional caddies for a living. I've done it many years and have trained hundreds. Not only that, I work with them by observing them to help them get better at what they do. With my experience, I can watch a caddie from 100 yards away and tell you if he is doing a good job or not in about 5 minutes. Is it possible that my opinion is wrong? Sure. Maybe the caddie is doing a terrible job but has made a special connection with his player that cannot be seen from that far away. But I would say 97% of the time


