I've been informed that I have not been up to standard here today on ASoB from a news standpoint, so I'll set about trying to rectify that situation at once.
Obviously, there is tons of stuff out there on the Patterson commitment, but we at ASoB are determined not to bring in the same old repetitive stuff you may find elsewhere. We like the cool, the original, or the outrageous.
So first, we will go with the cool. John Clay of the Herald-Leader has linked us from within his blog post for the first time I can remember, so we link him right back. John has a parade of Patterson links on his blog, so give him a visit and check them out. He also notes that Tates Creek native and former Duke player Vince Taylor has joined Tubby Smith's staff at Minnesota.
The Kentucky Wildcat Report has an excellent post he entitles the Report Radar, which lists the status of every single UK recruit he knows of in convenient table format. Well done.
Aaron's blog is busy as usual, and links an article from the Washington Times-Herald advising us that Tyler Zeller has cut his list. Did UK make it? Check it out and see .
Wildcats Thunder covers the Billy Gillispie press conference about the 2007 recruiting class. You can find more coverage at the UK athletics site.
NCAA Hoops Today looks at some contract extensions for a few coaches you just might have heard of. The salaries are interesting, don't you think? Meanwhile, Recruiting Wars links FireBilly.com's "Media Wars" post, along with their usual assortment of recruiting updates and links.
Now to the mainstream media. CBS reports that Patterson kept Gillispie in the dark all the way up to the bitter end. Wow. Gillispie also gives former coach Tubby Smith most of the credit for recruiting Patterson. When asked by the Louisville Courier-Journal if recruiting was complete, Gillispie had this to say:
I like this Gillispie guy's attitude.
Jeff Goodman says the Florida Gators aren't just rebuilding, they are starting over. Then, on his blog, Goodman scolds Patterson for making everyone wait so long:
Because neither coach was informed by anyone from the Patterson family prior to the rest of the world finding out. There's a good chance Coach K and Donovan had to watch the Internet viewing on WKYT 27.
I know it wasn't the first - and won't be the last time that a kid makes a huge announcement without informing the coaches that have recruited him for years. However, that doesn't make it the right thing to do.
Well. My nickname for Jeff is the "loathsome troll", and that is for good reason. In the first place, Jeff's sense of ethics is ... well, senseless. He told me in an email once that despite all the evidence to the contrary and Tubby's own word, Tubby Smith had basically committed fraud in the "immaculate fax" affair. Now, Tubby Smith is a lot of things, but a felon he isn't. Goodman didn't care about reality then, and he doesn't now -- all he cares about are generating hits, but he does it the wrong way.
In the instant case, he is basically calling Patterson a liar. He doesn't believe Patrick was really undecided, and he thinks that the family just did it for attention. He may be right, for all I know, but unfortunately, he offers no proof other than the sequence of events.
And why, pray tell, is Patterson obligated to inform the coaches of his decision at any time prior to his announcement? I can think of absolutely no reason -- do coaches inform recruits in advance when they are about to withdraw scholarship offers when scholarships become suddenly unavailable? Do coaches inform recruits that they are likely to be recruited over if they are just filling out the roster, or that they really are likely to leave for the NBA? Not, not and not.
So to Jeff Goodman, I say this -- it's free enterprise, buddy, and something else -- where is your criticism of Jai Lucas, who did exactly the same thing? Kind of makes you wonder what's really on ol' Jeff's mind, doesn't it? Before you become an ethics scold, Jeff, you need to demonstrate that you actually know what the word "ethics" means.
Since I am all about trashing mainstream sportswriters at the moment, why stop with the loathsome troll Jeff Goodman? Let's move over to a competitor, say, Luke Winn at CBS Sportsline. Luke opines today that Patterson's commitment doesn't guarantee Kentucky is a contender, and lots of highly touted recruits don't live up to expectations.
Well, Luke, thanks for raining on our parade by belaboring something so obvious even the lint in my belly button knew it. For God's sake, son, can't you please provide CBS with some kind of return on investment? In my life, I have seen very few columns of 1500+ words with so little useful information as this particular one. I know you're young (or that picture of you was taken when you were 15), but for heaven's sake -- get a clue from somewhere and stop writing vapid, juvenile dreck like that. Who is your audience, Martians? I bet even the Dalai Lama doesn't need to be told this.
Finally, we have some genuine journalism from a an actual journalist. The New York Times has this article looking at a proposal by Billy Donovan and others to modify the NLOI program to include a clause to automatically void the letter if the coach leaves before the recruit enrolls in college. Personally, I think this is a fine idea, and it will help avoid recruits getting themselves into ethical dilemmas like DeAndre Jordan, on which I commented extensively, and generally clean up the mess. Well done.