I completley disagree with Will Lavender

[BigBlueAngus]

Re. Pettigrew

Will I totally respect your post and assesment of talent, But I really think the Cats miss out if this guy gets away! You just can't measure desire. He wants to Play for KENTUCKY! Remember Chuck Hayes is still too small, and Chris Lofton still can't create his own shot.
Gillispie must not think it's a homerun either, He is certainly taking his time. But my 2¢ He is a solid four year player with intangables.

[JohnJ]

I have wanted to get excited about the idea of a player that might be kind of a cross between Jack Givens and James Lee, however what very little I have seen of Stephon Pettigrew has not sold me on him yet; I agree with Will Lavender.

[bret1555]

I don't think Will's point has been that Stephon is not a good player. . . I think he shares my belief that Stephon would be a fine "backup" plan, should we not score another PF. The problem is Pettigrew doesn't seem to share that belief and seems to think he should be a prized recruit. If we don't get PP or Jordan, I think Pettigrew would be fine, but I am not sure he will wait that long.

[modernsportscar]

I wish my name was used in a post to generate response and/or add significance. Talk about a sign of respect.

What a compliment, Will. :)

[crazzedcats22]

BigBlueAngus wrote: Re. Pettigrew

Will I totally respect your post and assesment of talent, But I really think the Cats miss out if this guy gets away! You just can't measure desire. He wants to Play for KENTUCKY! Remember Chuck Hayes is still too small, and Chris Lofton still can't create his own shot.
Gillispie must not think it's a homerun either, He is certainly taking his time. But my 2¢ He is a solid four year player with intangables.

How do you know he's going to be Chuck Hayes or Chris Lofton? There are only a very few, select examples of that happening. On the other hand, there are a million examples of players turning out like Brandon Stockton, Todd Tackett, Josh Carrier, etc... I agree with Will, it's great that he wants to go to UK however he hasn't done enough to deserve a scholarship over Lucas, Patterson, etc... Great back up plan, but you have to wait to hear what Lucas and Patterson decide before offering him a scholly. Sorry!

[BigBlueAngus]

modernsportscar wrote: I wish my name was used in a post to generate response and/or add significance. Talk about a sign of respect.

What a compliment, Will. :)
that was not unintentional :thumbup

[Will Lavender]

As I told the guy beside me at the game last night:

I'm the same person who saw Chris Lofton in high school and came away wondering how he was going to play D1.

So take my opinion with one of those blocks of salt that horses eat.

Still: Pettigrew is about Joe's and Jodie's size. If we're just looking at NEEDS, I would rather see Gillispie use that scholarship on someone who's 6'7" or bigger.

[BigBlueAngus]

crazzedcats22 wrote: BigBlueAngus wrote: Re. Pettigrew

Will I totally respect your post and assesment of talent, But I really think the Cats miss out if this guy gets away! You just can't measure desire. He wants to Play for KENTUCKY! Remember Chuck Hayes is still too small, and Chris Lofton still can't create his own shot.
Gillispie must not think it's a homerun either, He is certainly taking his time. But my 2¢ He is a solid four year player with intangables.

How do you know he's going to be Chuck Hayes or Chris Lofton? There are only a very few, select examples of that happening. On the other hand, there are a million examples of players turning out like Brandon Stockton, Todd Tackett, Josh Carrier, etc... I agree with Will, it's great that he wants to go to UK however he hasn't done enough to deserve a scholarship over Lucas, Patterson, etc... Great back up plan, but you have to wait to hear what Lucas and Patterson decide before offering him a scholly. Sorry!i was counting him as our third scholly. Lucas, Jordan/Patterson, then Pettigrew.

[crazzedcats22]

BigBlueAngus wrote: crazzedcats22 wrote: BigBlueAngus wrote: Re. Pettigrew

Will I totally respect your post and assesment of talent, But I really think the Cats miss out if this guy gets away! You just can't measure desire. He wants to Play for KENTUCKY! Remember Chuck Hayes is still too small, and Chris Lofton still can't create his own shot.
Gillispie must not think it's a homerun either, He is certainly taking his time. But my 2¢ He is a solid four year player with intangables.

How do you know he's going to be Chuck Hayes or Chris Lofton? There are only a very few, select examples of that happening. On the other hand, there are a million examples of players turning out like Brandon Stockton, Todd Tackett, Josh Carrier, etc... I agree with Will, it's great that he wants to go to UK however he hasn't done enough to deserve a scholarship over Lucas, Patterson, etc... Great back up plan, but you have to wait to hear what Lucas and Patterson decide before offering him a scholly. Sorry!i was counting him as our third scholly. Lucas, Jordan/Patterson, then Pettigrew.
fair enough!

[JOHN BLUEBLOOD]

It's a shame we have guys like Ramon Harris on a scholorship right now. Nothing against Ramon and he may become a decent player, but we need to give Pettigrew a shot BUT we need big guys too.

Would be nice if someone would cut out and we could sign 6 players.

[Gunsmoke]

Does anybody actually know if Coach has any other players he is assessing for a scholarship for this year? Thanks.

PS - My wife is cooking a big meal for Coach G who should be arriving from E-town High any minute.:lol:

[catfan043]

UK's next Kentucky boy should be Darius Miller. Small D-1's are all that is offering Pettigrewand he's only a 3 star and not in the Top 150. We are trying to fill this team with more talent, not more projects. If he ends up at UK, i will support him all the way, but at this point, i don't see the need for him.

[BigBlueAngus]

Yeah it looks like I am in the minority in my wanting Pettigrew.

[Will Lavender]

BigBlueAngus wrote: Yeah it looks like I am in the minority in my wanting Pettigrew.

I don't know. They took an informal poll on the Rivals pay board, and it was about 50/50.

[Littlemeyer]

BigBlueAngus wrote: Yeah it looks like I am in the minority in my wanting Pettigrew.

I wouldn't be too upset if we get him. I've never seen him play, and can base my opinion solely on what I've read on this board and other sites on the web.

Scoring prowess is a nice trait to possess. Unless I'm mistaken, Azubuike is the last recruit we brought in that averaged 30+ ppg. Now, I'm not trying to say that Pettigrew, if he came to Kentucky, would be as good as KA. But if a player can come in with the mindset of a scorer, and have some athletic ability to boot, there are minutes to be had on the floor next season.

At the same time, though, its hard to go against the word of people who've seen him play in person; people I've come to trust, no less. He looks good as a series of binary digits on a computer monitor, but I'm inclined to believe those who have seen him play not only in the all-star games, but regular season games as well.

In the end, BCG will make the right decision....and whatever that might be, Kentucky, and Pettigrew, will be fine in the long haul.

IMO.

[BigBlueAngus]

It is my opinion there should always be room for Kentucky Mr. Basketball I know as of late we have had Brandon Stockton, Carrier and the State has produced such players as J.R. Vanhoose.

But when its a guy like Rex Chapman, Winston Bennett, Chris Lofton etc. Out of 12 scholly's I think we should always Kentucky Mr. Basketball.

And I'm not of those old school mountain guys, I want to recruit nationally the best talent in the country But 12 scholly's and a 15 man roster. I think there should be room for Pettigrew.
You never know I surely don't know but it is possible this guy is the next Hersey Hawkins.

[JohnJ]

I think that Tubby pretty much already made the decision whenRamon Harris got the scholarship that was available for that position.

[HillbillyCat]

I'm not so sure we should be so worried about filling out all the scholarships (3) anyway. Of course it all depends on how the Jordan, Patterson, Lucas saga works out. If we don't get Jordan or Patterson, then I think we should save at least one of those remaining 3 tickets for next years class because we will only have 2 to offer after Bradley and Crawford leave, and there's a sea of talent for 2008 out there. If we somehow end up with the 3 big names I mentioned above, then by all means yes, we should fill all 3 tickets.........but, filling them just to fill them is not very smart in my opinion. I think the McClain kid might be the answer if we can get him---if we don't end up with Jordan and/or Patterson......If we get Lucas out of the three big names, then I think we should try for McClain and save a ticket for next year............just my thoughts........

[DCWildcat]

I think the chances of Pettigrew getting an offer rise tremendously with Jordan staying at A&M.

[crazzedcats22]

BigBlueAngus wrote: It is my opinion there should always be room for Kentucky Mr. Basketball I know as of late we have had Brandon Stockton, Carrier and the State has produced such players as J.R. Vanhoose.

But when its a guy like Rex Chapman, Winston Bennett, Chris Lofton etc. Out of 12 scholly's I think we should always Kentucky Mr. Basketball.

And I'm not of those old school mountain guys, I want to recruit nationally the best talent in the country But 12 scholly's and a 15 man roster. I think there should be room for Pettigrew.
You never know I surely don't know but it is possible this guy is the next Hersey Hawkins.

WHY?? Just because they are Kentucky Mr. Basketball?? That reasoning makes no sense. Everyone is always saying that we should have the best of the best talent wise, why would we settle for someone less talented just because they are from Kentucky??? Maybe crappy schools would settle but that shouldn't be the case at UK.I don't care if every player we get is from Wyoming or South Dakota or Hawaii, if they are the best of the best I could care less if anyone on the team if from KY!!

[BigBlueAngus]

crazzedcats22 wrote: BigBlueAngus wrote: It is my opinion there should always be room for Kentucky Mr. Basketball I know as of late we have had Brandon Stockton, Carrier and the State has produced such players as J.R. Vanhoose.

But when its a guy like Rex Chapman, Winston Bennett, Chris Lofton etc. Out of 12 scholly's I think we should always Kentucky Mr. Basketball.

And I'm not of those old school mountain guys, I want to recruit nationally the best talent in the country But 12 scholly's and a 15 man roster. I think there should be room for Pettigrew.
You never know I surely don't know but it is possible this guy is the next Hersey Hawkins.

WHY?? Just because they are Kentucky Mr. Basketball?? That reasoning makes no sense. Everyone is always saying that we should have the best of the best talent wise, why would we settle for someone less talented just because they are from Kentucky??? Maybe crappy schools would settle but that shouldn't be the case at UK.I don't care if every player we get is from Wyoming or South Dakota or Hawaii, if they are the best of the best I could care less if anyone on the team if from KY!!Because IMO these are the guys that know what it means to play for Kentucky. I just think these guys are more likely to dive after a loose ball in practice and work their tails off everyday...EVERYDAY! I want 4 and 5 star player Really Bad, But I also want the kid from Texas to understand what it is all about to be here. And maybe my plan would investing in a role player or hell even a scout squad player, But I think it is an investment that should be made.

[boomdaddy]

It would be nice to have more Ky boys on the team. But, only if they measure up against the top talent, which Darious Miller from Mason County obviously does. As for Pettigrew, the fans shluld leave that decision up to the coaching staff. Does anybody remember Alvin Simms, who played for Paris? The kid had loads of talent and was passed over by Pitino for Jeff Sheppard. Simms went to UL and torched UK for 24 point in a game where they had nothing else to match up against the Wildcats. I still love Shep, but I still think that Simms would have been the better pick and was a Ky boy. I have not seen Pettigrew play, so I don't have an opinion on ascholly offer for him.

[dj4cats]

but sometimes it is not all about talent, it is about heart, drive and love for the UK program. does the names phelfrey, farmer, woods and fieldhaus mean anything to you naysayers that dont think we should recruit any Ky high school player because he is not on a top 50 list. i dont think any of these 4 were on any top 50 list but they sure did work out find. others in this list would be dickie beil, larry stamper, derek anderson, scott padgett, freddie cowan, mike casey, ronnie lyons, and on and on. but i doubt any of these were top 50 in the country when they graduated but they sure did work out nicely. put a good KY boy in that uniform and he automaticallly improves 15 to 25 %. take pettigrew now and miller next year and dont lose any player that UK wants anytime from within the state. we should have also looked at the brooks kid from doss that is going to penn state, nice inside outside player in the padgett mode.

charles hurt, jimmy dan conner, cameron mills, anothy epps,

[Wildcatcrazy11]

Some of you make mention to the Chris Lofton's of the world whocome back to bite us in the rear. You all need to realize that it isextremely atypical fora borderline D1 player to stike it hugeat a big name program. It doesn'thappen often,enough in the last 10 years to count ontwo hands. You need to evaluate the talent in the present. If Pettigrew doesn'tplay up to what Billy G. feels is the standard for a UK player than i gotta support him regardless of whatPettigrew MAY become some day.

With that said. I think too many people are searching for answers to NEXT years team. A solid team (such as FL the last two years and UNC this year) are built over the course of 2-3 years of great recruiting. Just because Pettigrew might not have the immediate impact like a PP or Jai might have doesn't necessarily mean we should attomatically stop looking at him.

I think Billy G. will make the right move here and offer him later (if still available) if we don't get PP. I don't want to here anyone playing "told ya so" if he does become a good player because RIGHT NOW he does not live up to the playing ability of people UK should be signing. Its very hard, if not impossible to predict how a player will perform 3 years from now. The fact that he isn't a 4/5 star recruit makes this even harder.

[Grub]

boomdaddy wrote: Does anybody remember Alvin Simms, who played for Paris? The kid had loads of talent and was passed over by Pitino for Jeff Sheppard. Simms went to UL and torched UK for 24 point in a game where they had nothing else to match up against the Wildcats. I still love Shep, but I still think that Simms would have been the better pick and was a Ky boy.

I remember Alvin Simms...he scored 23 against UK in a game in which his team lostby 23 to the 96 National Championship team. To say that he would have been a better choice than Jeff Sheppard is difficult in the least. Sheppard was an Academic & Parade All American.He put his teammates on his back and carried them to an NCAA championship after one of the worst ankle sprains I've ever seen. Jeff Shepperd was named the NCAA Final Four Most OutstandingPlayer.I'm not saying Simms couldn't have done it, but I don't think we would have #7 if not for Sheppard.

[bleedbluelady]

Grub wrote: boomdaddy wrote: Does anybody remember Alvin Simms, who played for Paris? The kid had loads of talent and was passed over by Pitino for Jeff Sheppard. Simms went to UL and torched UK for 24 point in a game where they had nothing else to match up against the Wildcats. I still love Shep, but I still think that Simms would have been the better pick and was a Ky boy.

I remember Alvin Simms...he scored 23 against UK in a game in which his team lostby 23 to the 96 National Championship team. To say that he would have been a better choice than Jeff Sheppard is difficult in the least. Sheppard was an Academic & Parade All American.He put his teammates on his back and carried them to an NCAA championship after one of the worst ankle sprains I've ever seen. Jeff Shepperd was named the NCAA Final Four Most OutstandingPlayer.I'm not saying Simms couldn't have done it, but I don't think we would have #7 if not for Sheppard.
Agree. And, if I remember correctly, Jeff grew up wanting to play for UK. A kid does not have to be born or grow up in KY to have the desire and love to play for the blue and white.

[bleedbluelady]

Littlemeyer wrote:
In the end, BCG will make the right decision....and whatever that might be, Kentucky, and Pettigrew, will be fine in the long haul.

IMO.

:thumbup IMHO, as well.

[poodoo]

bleedbluelady wrote: Littlemeyer wrote:
In the end, BCG will make the right decision....and whatever that might be, Kentucky, and Pettigrew, will be fine in the long haul.

IMO.

:thumbup IMHO, as well.
Count me in, Littlemeyer and bleedbluelady. I SO agree. :)

[Catligula]

I won't be upset or anything if Coach signs Pettigrew, but I don't think he should. Nothing personal, but just wanting to play here isn't enough. Maybe if we can't get Lucas, Patterson or Legion. I'd rather keep that scholarship free for next year's class.

The Lofton comparisons don't really add up to me. Yeah he scored a lot of points against weak competition, but there's no one on the level of Tennessee recruiting him. Ideally he would just walk on, but I guess he's already ruled that out.

[WildcatinNC]

Good point, I was thinking the same thing about we wouldn't have # 7 without Shep. I don't really remember Simms but Shep played with a lot of heart and a lot of talent.

[cnice11]

How can you down Ramon, when he's barely played? The coaching staff really messed up last year by not redshirting him. He looks like a tremendous athlete with some skills, he just didnt play enough. Give him a chance and I think he could be a solid player; maybe not NBA caliber, but I think he will make an impact.