Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
[Moderated by Matt Jones, Drew Franklin and Tyler Thompson]
Eloy Vargas was recently listed by HoopsWorld.com as one of the “Seniors under the radar” heading into June’s NBA Draft. Vargas, who struggled to find playing time behind Terrence Jones and Anthony Davis, hopes to showcase his talent for teams and show that he belongs on an NBA roster. He’s got a tough road ahead of him to accomplish that goal, but he was a Top-100 recruit coming out of high school and along with his rare size, teams will have no choice but to keep an eye on him.
Since John Calipari took over at Kentucky three years ago, the school has produced more NBA players than any program in the country. This year is going to be no different, as they have six players who are assured to get drafted, four of which are locks to go in the first round. The other two will almost certainly be selected early on in the second round.
Backup center Eloy Vargas is also pursuing his dreams of playing in the NBA. If you don’t remember seeing him play for Kentucky this year, you’re not in the minority. Vargas played just six minutes a contest, averaging one point and nearly two rebounds per game. At 6’11 and 244 lbs, though, he clearly has the size to play in the league.
And Vargas, a former top 100 recruit out of high school, actually has a lot of skills that he hasn’t been able to showcase yet. Just because he wasn’t able to earn minutes over Anthony Davis, Terrence Jones and Kyle Wiltjer doesn’t mean he can’t play.
“I’m not a selfish player,” Vargas said to HOOPSWORLD. “I’ll bring a lot of energy. A lot of people haven’t seen me play like I used to before, so they’ll be interested to see what I can do. Before, I used to play the four. Now I can go back to being who I was.”
Vargas has also played on the Dominican National Team. He thinks that experience has strengthened his game in preparation for the NBA.
At Kentucky he’s gone up against lottery picks every day in practice and he also actually spent time working with the Dominican National Team, as well.
“It helped me a lot to see how hard they worked,” Vargas said. “Al Horford, I learned a lot from him. We had a great team, great guys, so I learned a lot.”
Over the next few weeks Vargas will have the opportunity to fully showcase all he’s learned from the incredibly talented players he’s been going up against behind the scenes. Don’t be shocked if a seventh Wildcat finds his way into the NBA for the 2012-2013 season, whether you hear his name on draft night or not.
Good luck, Eloy.
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May 11th, 2012 at 6:08 pm
Is this a joke?
May 11th, 2012 at 6:12 pm
Good Luck Eloy!!!! Wish you all the best!
May 11th, 2012 at 6:13 pm
He would have lost playing time behind Orbzut and Alleyne.
May 11th, 2012 at 6:16 pm
Oh come on….I’m all for cheering on the home team guys after their careers are over….but Eloy in the NBA?…Are you f-ing serious??
Now, he could be a 15-18 minute a game guy coming off the bench for an upper tier Israeli or Portuguese-type team. And it would be a great experience for Eloy!….Lucky Bastard….One all us couch jockeys could only dream of…especially with all those hot European & Middle Eastern honeys out there….mmmmmmm
May 11th, 2012 at 6:32 pm
Fork you little retardees. Quite making fun of one of our own. How would you like it if I made fun of you ugly wife’s saggy breasts? Or, if I laughed at your own saggy tits?
May 11th, 2012 at 6:36 pm
I swear to God,if he makes an NBA team I’m going to go try out.
May 11th, 2012 at 6:39 pm
#5 has it right. The rest of you are Losers. Looking forward to YOUR NBA tryouts. Go back to your holes, all of you…
May 11th, 2012 at 6:45 pm
I doubt it..but it would be cool. I could see him being signed as a free agent. Doubt he will actually here his name called. This draft is so deep, even 2nd round picks are fairly valuable. Although I would have said the same thing about Jorts last year.
May 11th, 2012 at 6:57 pm
Lets see, he wasn’t good enough to play college ball but he is good enough to play in the NBA? That would be like me not being good enough to start in high school but get a scholly from UK. I love the Cats and its players as much as anyone, but come on guys lets get real.
May 11th, 2012 at 7:10 pm
Eloy’s skills have been overlooked. He could come in as a reserve player in the NBA. Have you seen some of the bigs playing nowadays? And most of them can’t even shoot as well as Eloy. Good Luck Big Fella!
May 11th, 2012 at 7:17 pm
Eloy could very well play oversees. You see flashes of what he could be. Hell, how many of us thought we’d ever see Josh in the NBA…much less CONTRIBUTING and putting up decent numbers a few times this year. If that can happen, Ill not doubt Eloy either.
May 11th, 2012 at 7:31 pm
I love Eloy (as a person) but he was awful during his time at Kentucky. Not trying to be mean, just being honest. If he couldn’t do anything at the college level, how the hell would he make it in the NBA?? Zero chance, but I hope he has a career overseas where he can still make some good money.
May 11th, 2012 at 7:37 pm
Good luck, Eloy?!
May 11th, 2012 at 8:12 pm
Sorry Eloy….You cannot play the ’4′ in our league
May 11th, 2012 at 9:25 pm
like Josh and Perry before him, Eloy was under-utilized and never really given a chance to shine. A lot of the games he was in last year he gave quality minutes. He has a good chance to get drafted.
May 11th, 2012 at 9:36 pm
15, i agree. the more he played, the better he got. i think big E is about to turn on. I hope he does great!
May 11th, 2012 at 9:44 pm
C’mon 15/16, he had plenty of opportunities to prove that he can play…and failed to do so everytime. And he had the chance to prove himself everyday in practice, and obviously didn’t do that either. Last year he gave quality minutes, as in what making a layup here and there? Take the blue shades off guys, he’s Mark Coury part 2.
May 11th, 2012 at 10:06 pm
15) You cannot compare Harrellson and Vargas. Harrellson started his senior season and proved that he could play. I don’t know if you mean Perry Stevenson if so I don’t know what NBA team he is on please advise. Vargas sat on the bench for 2 years. Don’t you think that if he was good enough to play in the NBA Cal would have utilized those talents? If he was good enough to play in the NBA don’t you think he could have made a Dominican Republic team that wasn’t even good enough to qualify for the Olympics? Come on guys get those blue shades off.
May 11th, 2012 at 10:32 pm
Calipari thinks Vargas is good enough to play in the NBA for a long time. I think I’ll go with Calipari’s opinion over you folks.
May 11th, 2012 at 10:50 pm
I like that he said he learned a lot from Al Horford, former Gator and back to back NCAA Champion.
May 11th, 2012 at 11:34 pm
I wish you all the best, Eloy. But,if you COULD bring it, why didnt you?
May 12th, 2012 at 4:33 am
Wish him all the best!!!!
May 12th, 2012 at 2:39 pm
Eloy does not have the “it” factor to make it in the NBA. Are you kidding me? He is a big dude, thats about it. His confidence seemed to lack as well