You beat me to it, WVRed...it sounds like we visit the same library branch:
According to our friend Bomani Jones (who is based in Raleigh), North Carolina is now actively pursuing John Wall, as of last night. So that means that the four best programs in the land in my view (UNC, UK, Duke, Kansas) are all still going after the star PG. Quite a battle…..
Calipari, Kentucky form scary union
By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports Mar 31, 11:53 pm EDT
So now here comes Cal, not from some school off the beaten path where he needs to kick down doors and do the impossible, but right there from the mountaintop in Lexington, right there from the inner circle.
The Roman Empire of college basketball, Rick Pitino once called Kentucky basketball. The Notre Dame of college basketball, John Calipari supposedly described it to his Memphis players on Monday. They meant the glory days of each.
And now Kentucky chose Calipari; an establishment, Cadillac program ended what appeared to be a career-long freeze-out of one of the game’s most proven winners. Just when it seemed like Cal was going to have to try and win it all from Memphis, Kentucky threw in the towel of bowing to innuendo and got real.
It’s about winning in college basketball; nothing more, nothing less.
Calipari is no worse than most of the game’s top coaches. No better either. Does he take kids of questionable character? Of course, how many don’t? Does he use his friendship with William Wesley to land star recruits? Yes, and he doesn’t apologize for it.
“Recruiting is about relationships and I’ve known William Wesley for 20 years,” he said.
You think he’s the only one working that angle?
This scared schools when it came to Cal. It didn’t when it came to other coaches. Perception was reality, though.
Pitino had NCAA violations in his past as an assistant and Kentucky gladly hired him to clean up after a scandal, which he did. Roy Williams left Kansas to deal with major violations and everyone thought he was right for North Carolina, which he was.
It’s all a big shade of gray; one that the Big Blue finally embraced.
They missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1991 and haven’t been to a Final Four since 1998. Tubby Smith was a good man but he had too many team turmoils and not enough deep NCAA runs. Billy Gillispie worked like a mad man but never looked comfortable in Lexington.
Calipari will suffer neither problem. The guy was born to coach at a place like Kentucky. He’ll win. He’ll win games; he’ll win over the fans; he’ll win championships.
He could win one next season if some of his star recruits bail on Memphis and follow him to UK where Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks await. Seriously, it could be that quick.
And that’s why he’s here.
Calipari was torn, his assistants and confidants say. He spent two gut-wrenching days trying to find a reason to turn down his dream job. He’d come to love Memphis, come to love being the big-mouth spokesman for a team and a city that the powers that be would love to forget. He’d rant about state funding and politics as much as the RPI and bracketology. It was a role he played well.
He’ll do some of the same in Kentucky – becoming a spokesperson for the school and the state – only now he won’t have to worry about getting media attention or respect or top recruits. They’ll come because they’ve always come. This is the program with the most passionate fan base, with top-tier facilities, with a magical tradition.
That’s what he couldn’t say no to. Not to mention the $31 million, of course.
All of a sudden college basketball’s ultimate outsider is an insider; Coach Cal has the keys to the castle. It’s a marriage that has to send fear across college basketball. When Kentucky is rolling, nothing rolls quite like it. Pitino had it that way in the 1990s and the Wildcats went to three consecutive national title games, winning twice (1996, 1998).
Since then though, something’s been missing. Smith kept a low profile and while he had a number of good clubs, after Pitino’s players left he had no great ones. Entire seasons were plagued by off-court issues. Gillispie’s brief era will be better forgotten than remembered.
Now here comes Cal and you wonder what will happen down the road at Louisville. Pitino, who once helped get his alma mater, UMass, to hire Cal, has no interest in this. He was pushing Travis Ford and John Pelphrey in the media for a reason, and not just loyalty to former players.
Pitino doesn’t fear Calipari, but he dreads him. He dreads the comments, dreads the rivalry, dreads the fact that he isn’t going to be able to push the Wildcats around anymore.
Mostly he just dreads having to deal with this guy. No one wants to be Calipari’s rival. John Chaney, who now swears by the guy, once tried to fight him at a news conference.
“You just pull that little cord, and the same [comments] come out,” a flustered Pitino said after one of their many dust-ups when U of L was in Conference USA.
You wonder if Calipari’s presence down I-64 is enough to make that Arizona job a bit more appealing for Pitino.
No matter, the landscape of the game has changed. Suddenly there is stable leadership at each of the nation’s six biggest powers – Duke, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina and UCLA.
Soon enough all six will be firing again on all cylinders, making it that much tougher for the upstart programs, the interlopers without the historic pedigree.
With Calipari, Kentucky has to like its chances. Calipari, for once, has to like his, too.
North Carolina is not going after Wall from anything I heard. I did hear CJ Leslie though.
And Wily Mo - again, what does what UNC is doing have anything to do with what I am saying? Do you understand I don't work for UNC? I don't want Wall. I hope this is not true. If he signs there I'll root for him just like McCants. Doesn't mean I can't have an opinion.
"I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum... and I'm all out of bubble gum."
- - Rowdy Roddy Piper
"It takes a big man to admit when he is wrong. I am not a big man"
- - Fletch
He isn't good enough for UNC
Not directed at anybody, but concerning Pilgrim, it seems like everyone think he's going step in and become Jamal Mashburn (ok maybe not that bad). Huge difference between practice and playing UNC, UL, etc. Really, any decent player could look good in practice compared to most of the team this year. It sounds like he's being setup to be the next Josh Carrier or Antwain Barbour.
The Big 10 Network is replaying the 2005 loss to Mich. St. In the Regional Finals. So painful. So painful. Lots of "what ifs" on that squad. Pretty fun team to watch overall though.
When all is said and done more is said than done.
It's on Scout Premium.
And then there is this to contradict it:
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/prepsn...recruiting-him
University of North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams called top-ranked point guard John Wall on Thursday night, but Wall said the Tar Heels are not recruiting him.
"It wasn't anything major," Wall said. "He just called to check in, see how I was doing, what was going on. It's nothing big.
"North Carolina is not recruiting me right now."
Asked would he be interested in North Carolina if it began recruiting him, Wall said, "That's something we'd just have to wait and see."
Wall said earlier this week that Memphis was his leader, but that was before Coach John Calipari left for Kentucky. After Calipari's exit, Wall said Memphis was no longer his leader and
that he had added Kentucky to his list. He was emphatic that Kentucky
was not his leader and that he has no leader anymore.
Also on his list are Duke, N.C. State, Baylor, Kansas, Memphis, Miami and Kentucky.
Friday, the Raleigh Word of God senior said he is still considering Memphis and is waiting to see who it names as head coach.
Wall is a 6-foot-4 point guard and the No. 1-ranked player in the country by rivals.com.
He has scheduled an official visit to Miami.
I was just about to post that - thanks WV.
"I came here to kick ass and chew bubble gum... and I'm all out of bubble gum."
- - Rowdy Roddy Piper
"It takes a big man to admit when he is wrong. I am not a big man"
- - Fletch
My guess is it comes down to three teams and factors:
1. Do you want to go to a school in Texas that you would be the star attraction, where your AAU coach is an assistant, and make a name for yourself the way Michael Beasley did? (Baylor)
2. Do you want to go to a school that is 25 miles from your hometown of Raleigh, get much national exposure from ESPN and Dookie V, but at the same time likely have to fight for playing time with Nolan Smith, Gerald Henderson, and Jon Scheyer? (Duke)
3. Do you want to come to a school where the coach runs an offense that glorifies point guards, where this coach had recruited you before, and would likely offer the playing time and potential supporting cast necessary to make a title run, even if it is farther from home? (Kentucky)
Apparently there was a radio station in NC today that interviewed Wall and he said that Kentucky was his leader at the moment, but he was going to wait a couple of weeks before announcing for sure. He also discredited the UNC rumors and that Roy Williams was not recruiting him.
Methinks young Mr. Wall quite enjoys the cat & mouse games of the recruiting process.
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