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Today marks another milestone day in this college basketball off-season. Emmanuel Mudiay joined SMU Head Coach Larry Brown, Keith Frazier, and junior college big man transfer Yanick Moriera and automatically vaulted SMU into the Pre-Season Top 25 of college basketball and quite possibly this season's NCAA tournament.
Mudiay chose SMU over our beloved Kentucky Wildcats and the posh Lexington, Kentucky surroundings for a home in his own hometown of Dallas, Texas. Was it concern over playing time that kept young Emmanuel from making the journey to the Bluegrass, or was Larry Brown and the chance to become the greatest player in the history of the SMU program too much for the phenom to resist?
Either way, Mudiay may very well be a one and done wherever he goes, but joining Brown & Co. in Dallas may have been a shot in the dark for the Rivals #3 ranked PG.
Will this hurt Kentucky? Well, losing a top rated player never helps you, unless there are issues that just cannot be overcome. That was not perceived to be the case with Emmanuel Mudiay, as he was considered to be a perfect fit for John Calipari's DDMO. Then again, the DDMO has been seen frequently at times at UK, and then disappears at times when the personnel situation calls for it. Calipari will overcome, and won't miss a minute's sleep.
It is rumored that Calipari might have been looking heavier in the last few weeks at Chicago's Tyler Ulis, a 5'8" PG with lightning speed and an eye to pass. Will he become the next Calipari PG to bring another National Championship to Kentucky? We shall see.