2009 Kentucky Wildcats Men's Basketball - 4th edition

[cumberlandreds]

You're wrong. If he goes undrafted and doesn't hire an agent he retains his status as an amateur.

This was in todays LHL. I thought the NCAA had closed that loophole too but apparetnly they haven't. I really doubt that Meeks goes undrafted and if he did I don't expect him to come back.


It's still possible for Meeks to return to UK next season. If he is not drafted, he must submit a letter to UK Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart within 30 days asking to re-join the team. Meeks would not be eligible for reinstatement if he retained the services of an agent, which he has not.


http://www.kentucky.com/818/story/831465.html

[dabvu2498]

Rules aside, he ain't coming back. The kid's heart is not in college basketball any more. If there had been a smidge of doubt in his mind, don't you think he would have stayed?

[macro]

It has been mentioned in this thread that they were ranked preseason #1 by someone and top five by many others. Does Meeks decision change all that?

[WMR]

I'd say they will get 'knocked' for this quite a bit by the experts and early-season I think we'll miss Jodie quite a bit. They're still definitely top 10, IMO, and more likely top 5. The presence of John Wall cannot be understated.

I do think midway through the season we will have sufficiently replaced what Jodie provides. Jodie is a knock-down dead-eye shooter but the team CAN, ultimately, achieve the same goals they had pre-JM. Other players who will take Jodie's minutes can do OTHER things better than JM. We will definitely miss his ability to knock down shots, however, and it becomes incumbent upon Darnell Dodson to show that his 3 pt shooting percentage numbers were not a fluke (not that I think they were, just that he's gotta show it)

[jmac]

It has been mentioned in this thread that they were ranked preseason #1 by someone and top five by many others. Does Meeks decision change all that?

My gut says they will be ranked by most anywhere from the 8-15 range and probably a publication or two may have them higher.
I also have heard some on local talk radio saying they go from Final Four to Elite Eight projections.

[Scrap Irony]

I'd say they will get 'knocked' for this quite a bit by the experts and early-season I think we'll miss Jodie quite a bit. They're still definitely top 10, IMO, and more likely top 5. The presence of John Wall cannot be understated.

I do think midway through the season we will have sufficiently replaced what Jodie provides. Jodie is a knock-down dead-eye shooter but the team CAN, ultimately, achieve the same goals they had pre-JM. Other players who will take Jodie's minutes can do OTHER things better than JM. We will definitely miss his ability to knock down shots, however, and it becomes incumbent upon Darnell Dodson to show that his 3 pt shooting percentage numbers were not a fluke (not that I think they were, just that he's gotta show it)

Every player in the erstwhile starting lineup (Wall, Dodson, Miller, Patterson, Cousins) has questions about his outside shooting. And, though Dodson or Hood or any number of players may be the answer, yet another possibility (and one that's been the answer more often than not, for UK over the past 10-15 years) could be that they won't.

Again, UK could be the Team that Can't Shoot Straight.

Meeks leaving kills Kentucky's National Contender hopes. Unless, of course, three to five newcomers come through as good as hyped.

How often does that happen?

I can think of twice in the history of the game.

[WMR]

The proof will be in the pudding. I'm predicting that Wall will have as big an impact on this squad as Derrick Rose did on the team at Memphis his year there.

Lots of folks with things to prove. I'm expecting some motivated basketball.

[BRM]

Does that mean we will later find out that John Wall had someone else take his SAT for him?

[dabvu2498]

Does that mean we will later find out that John Wall had someone else take his SAT for him?

That would be impactful.

[BRM]

That would be impactful.

Rose's impact went beyond the basketball court, as we are now finding out.

[George Foster]

Pre-season polls don't mean anything. It's RPI, and the rankings the 1st Tuesday in April.

[Scrap Irony]

Don't kid yourself, pre-season polls mean plenty. That's one way seedings are figured. Of course, any top 15 spot isn't a bad spot to be in.

[joshnky]

Don't kid yourself, pre-season polls mean plenty. That's one way seedings are figured. Of course, any top 15 spot isn't a bad spot to be in.

Are you serious?

I remember the year after Louisville's final four run they started the season ranked in the top five. They had a young team with a highly touted recruiting class and one key veteran (Taquan Dean). Those polls certainly helped a lot when it came to their seeding for the NIT.

[jmac]

Polls in basketball vs football are certainly different.
Football, one loss and you may drop out of Top Ten and any National Title hopes are out. Basketball , you have plenty of time to recover.
They dont exactly go by that on seedings. That is why some times, you will see a team ranked # 15 get a 3 seed when a 3 seed is saying " that team" is in the 9-12 group.

[IslandRed]

Don't kid yourself, pre-season polls mean plenty. That's one way seedings are figured. Of course, any top 15 spot isn't a bad spot to be in.

I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone say that pre-season ranking is considered at all, much less being a significant factor, when the NCAA selection committee sits down at the end of the season to decide who's in the tournament and seeded where.