Matt Jones is getting the hammer..

[UKBOO]

thrown at him for is latest "work". He, in essence, says that getting these early recruits just isn't interesting enough for him.


http://blog.kentuckysportsradio.com/?p=5997

http://blog.kentuckysportsradio.com/?p=5997#comments


I think many UK fans are becoming very Tipton like, and Matt is leading the Charge. I can't figure out why?? Are UK fans impossible to please?

[Dwight Schrute]

Well yes we are hard to please, but Matt has a point. Part of the fun of recruiting is trying to imagine how the players will fit in with current teammates. All the current players will be gone by the time Zollo and Avery get here. Also, with so many immediate needs to fill, it's hard to get excited about players that can't fill those needs.

[UKBOO]

It's even harder to get excited about getting Avery and Zollo when they have committed to someone else.

[Mark Blueblood]

I certainly do not see Matt's comments as "Tipton-like". I think he makes a very valid point. On the one hand, I'm glad to see the interest these players have in the Kentucky program, on the other, I'm not real keen on recruiting 8th graders. And, since virtually all our scholarships are spoken for, it does take some of the mystery out of it.

Matt, unlike Tipton, is a HUGE (and positive) supporter of the program. Anyway, his comments don't bother me any.

[Catligula]

I can see how from his perspective this could be a blow to his site's popularity, especially if the recruiting is all but wrapped up three or four years in advance.

[Dwight Schrute]

Originally Posted by UKBOO

It's even harder to get excited about getting Avery and Zollo when they have committed to someone else.

Nobody's saying it's a bad idea, just that it takes the excitement out of it because you don't know who they're going to be playing with, and most people have never heard of these kids.

[UKBOO]

Originally Posted by Catligula

I can see how from his perspective this could be a blow to his site's popularity, especially if the recruiting is all but wrapped up three or four years in advance.

Exactly
Or, they change focus and start actually finding out about these kids. This site may need to adjust its focus a little as well, to keep up with the times. It might not be as interested as when we were biting our nails wondering if we would sign a project or not, but it can be just as exciting following these guys as they develop.

I thought not putting a sticky up for Avery is a bad idea. The kid committed. Lets follow him.

[crazzedcats22]

Originally Posted by Mark Blueblood

I certainly do not see Matt's comments as "Tipton-like". I think he makes a very valid point. On the one hand, I'm glad to see the interest these players have in the Kentucky program, on the other, I'm not real keen on recruiting 8th graders. And, since virtually all our scholarships are spoken for, it does take some of the mystery out of it.

Matt, unlike Tipton, is a HUGE (and positive) supporter of the program. Anyway, his comments don't bother me any.

Good post, I agree....I am still unsure how I feel about recruiting 8th graders and freshman in high school.

I think it's great there is interest by top level (at this point) players in UK but what happens if Vilarino, Miller, Euton, Avery, and/or Zollo don't develop any more in high school? Do we still honor the scholarship and we are stuck with a not very good player or do we rescind the offer and look really bad to a lot of potential recruits? It could put UK and BCG in a really tough situtation in the future but I guess that's the chance you take and figure it out later.

[Will Lavender]

As I pointed out in another thread, there's a reason Gillispie is recruiting young kids. It's extremely difficult to recruit '08's and '09's because the recruiting well at UK was dried up.

He's having to build something two and three years down the road -- and really it makes sense on a lot of levels. It garners interest in the school. It sends a message to young players that there's a place for them if the want it.

But most importantly, it sends a message that UK is on the way back.

[Catligula]

Originally Posted by UKBOO

I thought not putting a sticky up for Avery is a bad idea. The kid committed. Lets follow him.

I agree with you that I'd like to see him up there, but I also respect whatever Coldstream decides.

The times-they-are-a-changin' for UK basketball. We really need to enjoy this explosion of commitments, we may not see one of this magnitude again for a long time.

[UKBOO]

Originally Posted by Will Lavender

As I pointed out in another thread, there's a reason Gillispie is recruiting young kids. It's extremely difficult to recruit '08's and '09's because the recruiting well at UK was dried up.

He's having to build something two and three years down the road -- and really it makes sense on a lot of levels. It garners interest in the school. It sends a message to young players that there's a place for them if the want it.

But most importantly, it sends a message that UK is on the way back.

6 of the top 10 for 2010 are already committed to a school. Coach can sign them now, or maybe wait for them to de-commit?

[Will Lavender]

Originally Posted by UKBOO

6 of the top 10 for 2010 are already committed to a school. Coach can sign them now, or maybe wait for them to de-commit?

I say Gillispie waits until the spring of their senior years, then scrambles like a madman to get in touch with them, then waits and sees what happens. Makes all kinds of sense.

Or, you know, we can see what Tyrone Nash is up to.

[kentuckykid]

Hasnt this been going on for a long time but Tubby and others havent gone public with it. I have to believe if a coach wants "in" with a kid that they have to start early in the process, since nothing is signed what harm is there.

If someone went to former college players and asked, we might be surprised at the number that told a coach he would attend his school early in his career, it may be why so many want to change their minds when the coach moves on to another school.

[UKBOO]

Originally Posted by Will Lavender

I say Gillispie waits until the spring of their senior years, then scrambles like a madman to get in touch with them, then waits and sees what happens. Makes all kinds of sense.

Or, you know, we can see what Tyrone Nash is up to.

Sounds like a plan! Or, we could lock them up, then keep recruiting our committed players until they sign, while going ahead locking op the next class as well?? Hummm.... tough choice...

And as you said, these kids are not chopped liver. These are some of the best in the class. And with their college choice wrapped up, they can now focus on their game instead of taking calls and answering mail.

[leroybyrd]

I totally agree with UKBOO and disagree with Matt's sentiment on this. I am frankly disappointed that Matt is taking such a negative, semi-defeatist attitude toward this.

It seems a smart young entrepreneur would see the opportunity to start following these kids closely for the next 4 or 5 years and provide information on them that may be hard to get elsewhere, or just consistently provide stats, updates, etc on them. He's got years worth of material that UK fans will eat up. He clearly has not thought his through.

Matt, if you are reading, be an innovator, see the future. Innovators are eternally positive, always looking for the next big thing. The next big thing has arrived and may be yours for the taking if only you would embrace it.

Michael Avery, no sticky?? Ridiculous. We need to start treating this kid like a Cat right now!! It can never be to early for him to start feeling the UK love. If he grows only one more inch, we still have a 6'5'' guard with skills apparently. But if he grows to be 6'11'' with guard skills?? We may have to fight to keep him, so why not start now.

[jkeller]

I think its the whole defeatist attitude that some of us have. If we aren't pulling out our hair in a state of perpetual nervous worry, then we think something is wrong. Trust me, there's still plenty of scholarships for '10 to fret about over the next 2 years (unless coach fills them all early )

I think its a good thing to get a recruiting class wrapped up early so we won't be scrambling to fill spots the spring and summer before they are to set foot on campus. That way instead of spending all his time sweating out a senior making his decision, Coach can be spending his time leisurely evaluating younger players to get ready for upcoming classes.

Believe me, people. Billy Gillispie wouldn't have the job he does now if he did not know what he was doing. And just because you haven't read anything about a kid on the internet does not means that he's not a quality player.

[Mark Blueblood]

Originally Posted by Will Lavender

As I pointed out in another thread, there's a reason Gillispie is recruiting young kids. It's extremely difficult to recruit '08's and '09's because the recruiting well at UK was dried up.

He's having to build something two and three years down the road -- and really it makes sense on a lot of levels. It garners interest in the school. It sends a message to young players that there's a place for them if the want it.

But most importantly, it sends a message that UK is on the way back.

I totally agree that, because of the AAU/shoe camp/Etc. meat market, that recruiting is certainly different from my day. And hey - I wanna win in the worst way. I'm just not nuts about the recruiting of 14 year old kids. It ain't just us - it's the trend I'm not crazy about.

But hey - I grew up on Roy Rogers and the Lone Ranger. It's a different world today, although not necessarily a better one.

I just hope these kids develop and we don't have to face rescinding our commitments to these kids. However, in some cases, it's bound to happen.

[UKfaninCO]

I don't get Matt's attitude either. On one hand we complain that we've been scrambling to get kids the last few years and now we're starting to lock them up early and we complain that it's too early. So if I have this correctly, we want the top kids in each of the classes but we don't want them until they are juniors/seniors.? That about sum it up? Or maybe this early recruitment is taking the entertainment value out of the recruiting industry? I'm with leroy, BOO and Will, get 'em while they are committing.

If they don't commit to us because we think they are too young, they commit elsewhere and become All-Americans, who are we going to blame, certainly not the fans that were up in arms 2 or 3 years ago that we shouldn't take them so young. Those same fans will be blaming the coach for not getting them. Can't have it both ways. Just can't.

I'll just say, "You go, Coach, get 'em". Make sure you keep them developing, make sure they're working hard. Use the commitment as an incentive to keep improving, keep getting better, do well in school.

[sardiscat]

I guess it came as a really hard blow to Matt to learn that it's not Gillispie's object in recruiting to make things interesting for Matt Jones. Personally, I never get particularly interested in any high school player until he says he is coming to Kentucky, and I will be far more interested in watching these guys now for them having said so. I played against guys who were sensations as 8th graders who didn't become stars even in high school, much less college. One was Rick Bolus, who now runs a recruiting service but who many years ago torched my 8th grade team for about 35. In high school, he started for Male, but was about the fifth-best player on his team. My high school had an 8th grade prodigy a year behind me who never made the varsity. The problem for those guys was that they didn't grow and got passed up by later developers. The guys Gillispie is getting verbal committments from are big enough to play major college basketball if they never grow another inch.

[chworld22]

Originally Posted by Will Lavender

As I pointed out in another thread, there's a reason Gillispie is recruiting young kids. It's extremely difficult to recruit '08's and '09's because the recruiting well at UK was dried up.

He's having to build something two and three years down the road -- and really it makes sense on a lot of levels. It garners interest in the school. It sends a message to young players that there's a place for them if the want it.

But most importantly, it sends a message that UK is on the way back.

This is exactly how I look at it as well. But the problem is there are too many fans that are overly concerned with improvment NOW and winning NOW. Instead of looking at the long run and building UK back up to where it was with a long term plan of getting the best guys. They want coach to come in and get the 08 and 09 guys without almost any interest from UK before he got here. Basically there are a lot of factors working against him in recruiting. So he looked at getting on kids early and forming the bonds. This is what all coachs do just most of them dont get the kids to committ so early.