going to be nothing but positive because we don’t concern ourselves with other programs. What these kids see when they visit here is exactly what they get when they come to play basketball and study at the University of Kentucky.
We don’t guarantee anybody a spot or make any outlandish promises. This is a player-first program built on the foundation of helping these players reach their dreams, but the only way they get there is by working hard and taking advantage of opportunities. Nothing is given here. You earn what you deserve.
Let me leave you with this: If it sounds too good to be true, it’s probably too good to be true. If it sounds too outrageous to be true, it’s probably too outrageous to be true.
Let’s pick this apart, because, well…we’re Kentucky fans. That’s what we do.
Cal is an expert in the art of spin. In this message (which is intended for recruits, not for the fans), he essentially accuses other coaches of dirty recruiting tactics. Cal knows he has all of college basketball on the ropes when it comes to recruiting. When he took over as coach, everyone knew he would be able to bring the talent back to Kentucky. He’s exceeded that expectation. After two years on the job, Cal has dominated the recruiting scene, taking the #1 class in back-to-back-to-back. He doesn’t just bring talent to Kentucky, he brings the best talent. Recruits now consider a visit or an offer from Cal the brass ring. Whether or not he brings in the #1 recruiting class in this year remains unseen (come on, Shabazz!), but he has restored Kentucky to its elite status.
So, it’s no surprise that, in typical Cal fashion, he straddles the line on the high road, saying that when asked, he always speaks positively of other schools/coaches because he doesn’t need to rake their name through the mud to get a player; we’re Kentucky, that’s enough. Other coaches are “desperate” and have resorted to saying “outlandish, ridiculous, and crazy” things in order to steer players away from Kentucky. Not only does Cal make Kentucky’s recruiting practices seem snowy white, he leaves you wondering which coaches are grasping at dirty straws to stay in the game. All those “too good to be true” and “outlandish” promises those other guys are making? Don’t believe it. Come here and through hard work and “the Kentucky effect,” we’ll help you reach your dreams.
If you were one of the recruits Cal is going after in the 2012 class, what would you take from this message?
[Comments (34)] [link] The Friday Hootenanny: Get to Know the SEC! (Part Deux)
by C.M. Tomlin @ 1:00 pm. Filed under Need-to-Know Wednesday
Hello, friends. I hope your Friday’s going swimmingly. I just wanted to swing in on this last workday of the week to drop off the second installment of Get to Know the SEC, a process which began on Wednesday. I hope you’ll find all in order, have a great weekend, and enjoy the following.
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Florida
Coach: Billy Donovan
What You Should Know: Some think Florida’s going to be a top ten team, and with Erving Walker and Kenny Boynton returning — alongside hyped freshman Brad Beal — they have the potential to be tough. Keep an eye on Walter Pitchford V, who will be the forward in the top hat and monocle, and French sophomore Will Yeguete, who will be the smelly one in the beret giving up the ball.
Interesting Fact: Medical professionals are currently racing against time to battle the medical mystery that is Billy Donovan’s widow’s peak before it creeps so far down on his face that it pokes his eye out.
Georgia
Coach: Mark Fox
What You Should Know: Two things you can count on with Georgia: a middle-of-the road performance, and the fact that they’ll trot out that nasty drooling dog before every game. Georgia had a perfectly acceptable SEC record with 9-7 last year, but losing Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie threatens to knock them down a peg or two. They’ll certainly be hoping from big things from five-star freshman Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, which you should all know I will be changing my name to as well once the appropriate paperwork goes through.
Interesting Fact: Georgia unfortunately lost several players to fire ants in this 2011 off-season.
UK
Coach: John Calipari
What You Should Know: If you need to know anything about the Wildcats at this point, this is either your first time on this website or your reading comprehension skills are sorely lacking. Tell you what, why don’t you just scroll up or down right this second to learn anything you want to know.
Interesting Fact: John Calipari is doing everything in his power to give you an opportunity to tell that one person you work with who keeps bagging on Kentucky to shut the hell up. Trust him on that.
South Carolina
Coach: Darrin Horn
What You Should Know: Scoring threat Ramon Galloway is gone this year, but point guard Bruce Ellington remains. The problem is that he’s playing football until the end of the season, so he may not join his brethren there until January. Horn’s crew will have to, in the meantime, rely on Malik Cooke and Lakeem Jackson. This won’t dampen Gamecocks fans from rooting on their team at all costs to realize their potential and grab that constantly-sought South Carolina brass ring: a bid into the N.I.T. So watch your backs, University of Vermont!
Interesting Fact: Steve Spurrier borrowed Darrin Horn’s copy of Inception and hasn’t given it back in months, but Horn doesn’t ever say anything about it because he’s afraid Spurrier will yell at him.
Tennessee
Coach: Cuonzo Martin
What You Should Know: With Harris and Hopson gone,Tennessee’s hopes are reliant on senior Cameron Tatum, who only scored 8.8 ppg last season — so this is clearly a rebuilding year for the Vols. It’s also, incidentally, a “rebuilding year” for Pearl’s former office, which still smells like sweat and Barbecue Fritos and will likely require a professional steam-cleaning.
Interesting Fact: Many Tennesseans will tell you their head coach’s name is “Gonzo.” This is because Tennesseans are having a very hard time learning how to pronounce “Cuonzo.”
Vanderbilt
Coach: Kevin Stallings
What You Should Know: Stallings has a stable of strong players coming back in the 2011-12 season, which will keep them competitive. But they’ll have to play the first six games without center Festus Ezeli, who is suspended for accepting a free meal and hotel room from a Vandy alumnus he met while visiting friends on a trip this summer. Because, you know, whenever you meet a guy who goes to your alma mater and plays basketball there, the only cordial thing to do is buy him a meal and a hotel room, right? It’s called being polite, people, and you should try it sometime.
Interesting Fact: Kevin Stallings once ate seventeen pies to win a contest at Nashville’s Davidson County Fair, despite the fact that he had not entered the competition but rather was mistaken for a contestant while eating breakfast at a table adjacent to the festivities.
[Comments (4)] [link] Not Jerry Tipton’s Friday Basketball Notebook
by Not Jerry Tipton @ 12:00 pm. Filed under Blue Blooded Opinions
We’re almost ready for a new season, during the course of which we’ll see whether John Calipari will finally be able to do what he’s being paid to do: Win an NCAA Championship. The stakes are high, but so are the pressure and expectations. Will the team flame out of the 2012 NCAA Tournament the way it did the prior two years? Will it suffer (almost) double-digit losses like it did last year? Will Coach Cal once again produce fewer NCAA Championships than first round draft picks? (h/t: Rick Bozich.) Stay tuned. In the meantime, to stay apprised and educated, follow me on Twitter @NotJerryTipton. Here’s the weekly notebook:
*Paint It Black: While the NBA lockout continues, there has been some discussion of possibly doing away with the “one and done” rule in favor of a “two and done” or perhaps even a “three and done” rule. This does not bode well for Kentucky. John Calipari has made his living at UK by convincing players that playing for him at Kentucky would be their quickest and surest route to becoming millionaires in the NBA. However, this selling point is done away with if the “one and done” rule goes the way of the Dodo bird. If that happens, other schools will use it to recruit against Kentucky, and point out the fact that if Cal’s prized freshmen are forced by law to return to campus (which seems to be the only way they would do so), then there would be no playing time available for the next batch of talented frosh. In that case, they would want to ply their trade at other schools, such as North Carolina, Duke, Kansas, etc. Under such a doomsday scenario, in just a couple of years, all of Kentucky’s 5 star recruits would be gone, and because of the new rule, none would be willing to come in and take their place. It’s simple logic, frankly. The kind of logic which keeps UK fans awake at night.
*Stray Cat Blues: Earlier this week, 4 star big man Willie Cauley committed to the Cats. This does not bode well for Kentucky. Cauley had been considering Kansas State, which is involved in a recruiting scandal dealing with improper benefits that were given to former star Michael Beasley. The timing of these events is quite curious. Two weeks ago, Cauley has KSU as a front-runner for his services. Last week, the story involving Beasley broke. This week, Cauley commits to UK. Could it be that once the KSU scandal broke, they decided to start playing it straight, thus putting them at a disadvantage against any other school not playing it straight? In other words, as soon as Kansas State starts playing by the rules, Cauley immediately starts favoring Kentucky, which of course leads to the only reasonable conclusion, which is that the Cats aren’t playing by the rules. While UK fans will predictably argue that this is no more than wild speculation, consider: In an informal survey conducted among 7 Kansas State fans, 5 Louisville fans and Pete Thamel, 100% of the respondents agreed that the only logical conclusion is that Kentucky is cheating.
*Satisfaction: Earlier this week, rumors began to surface that sophomore Stacey Poole, Jr. is mulling a transfer. This does not bode well for Kentucky. Poole’s father cited a lack of playing time as the reason that his son may decide to leave Lexington. What this seems to say about Calipari is that he is unfairly prejudiced against players who aren’t all that highly ranked and who don’t really “try hard.” It seems to be a random and inequitable standard to apply. Just because a player wasn’t ranked as high as most of his teammates, and just because he doesn’t suck up to the coach by hustling, does this mean he isn’t worthy of playing as much as he wants? I’m not the coach, but if that’s how you do things, well, then good luck in the future recruiting moderately talented guys who don’t put forth maximum effort is all I’m saying.
* On this date: On this date in 1997, Kentucky was about to kick off Tubby Smith’s inaugural season in Lexington. That UK squad was best known for losing by 18 to Louisville.
[Comments (26)] [link] Soccer team disqualified for moving it like Bernie
by Drew Franklin @ 11:15 am. Filed under Blue Blooded Opinions
It’s no secret around these parts that we like to hit our Bernie from time to time. Moving it like Bernie never hurt anyone, right? Well, not quite. Perry Hall High School in Baltimore just lost hope of a state soccer championship over the dance. Perry Hall was forced to forfeit the remainder of the season after moving it like Bernie following a quarterfinal playoff win. The Gators were set to play in the regional semifinals today.
The decision came from Perry Hall’s principal after he received emails from parents of the opposing team saying the dance was lewd and showed absolutely no respect or sportsmanship. Perry Hall’s students boycotted the cancellation of the season outside the school on Tuesday but were unsuccessful in their attempts to bring Gators soccer back.
It’s an unfortunate and unfair way for a season to come to an end.
Perry Hall soccer, today, we Bernie for you.
Now hold your head back like a nose bleed comin’ through…
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