Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
Tomorrow is the last day of the AAU Nationals in Orlando but today is the last day for me. To say that I am burnt out would be a major understatement. I enjoy watching basketball as much as the next guy, but anything gets old after awhile and to be away from family and friends all summer only adds to the anticipation of seeing it all come to an end. With my whining out of the way, we’ll get to the juicy stuff, which isn’t all that juicy to be honest. Today I was able to watch the quarter- and semi-finals with Adreian Payne and Doron Lamb and also the consolation games of Kyrie Irving, Stacey Poole, Fab Melo and Damien Leonard. Here’s the updates:
- The NY Gauchos took on the Houston Hoops, Hal Pastner’s AAU organization, and Doron Lamb’s scoring abilities took over. The guards of Houston Hoops were a bit undersized for Doron and he took advantage, scoring 26 points. Other than knocking down shots, Doron’s main highlight was a floater in the lane where he hung in the air and adjusted under two defenders while finishing high off the glass.
- The All-Ohio Red team of Adreian Payne, Jared Sullinger, Aaron Craft and Juwan Staten didn’t have the easiest time with Youth Interlock Society. YIS had a couple good guards, Andre Strickland and Maurice Nelson. Maurice is the younger brother of Jameer but isn’t built much like his brother. Maurice seems to have gotten more length while Jameer obviously ate his spinach but didn’t get the height gene. Payne had a great put back dunk and was constantly looking to advance the ball in transition. Payne remains a little raw offensively but his athleticism and length make him a great prospect. If he does land at UK, don’t expect a major offensive impact right away if he doesn’t further develop his offensive game. He’ll score the majority of his points in transition and on put backs. In the end, All-Ohio was a little too much for a fiesty YIS team and advanced to the semifinals to meet the Gauchos.
- The semifinals between the Gauchos and All-Ohio remained close for a time but the guards from Ohio started penetrating late and dishing down low to Payne and Sullinger for easy finishes. Lamb had a couple drives and finishes but wasn’t the same scorer that he was against the Houston Hoops. What was a tie ball game in the third quarter, ended in an easy All-Ohio victory. All-Ohio will face Boo Williams tomorrow at 1 pm in the 17U championship. If All-Ohio was to win, which should be no easy task against the loaded Boo roster, it would mean that teams from Ohio have won the 15s, 16s and 17s national titles.
- Kyrie Irving played a consolation game against Stacey Poole’s Jacksonville Lee Bulls. Irving seemed to have ran out of gas and his NJ Roadrunners were eliminated. Damien Leonard and Fab Melo’s Florida Rams moved on to the next round of play in the consolation bracket. Melo sat out the match and may not play anymore. No word on what the exact problem was, although he didn’t seem to be hurt or anything along those lines. Word on the street is that his final decision will come next week. Billy Donovan and assistants from Louisville, Syracuse and Miami were at the game today. Damien Leonard still hasn’t shown me the knock down shooting that he is reported to have. He did show some spot on passing and good handles in transition. Leonard, who is a two but could grow into a three at the next level, loves to lead the break or finish it off with a lay in. He constantly has his eyes down the floor, looking for a way to move the ball forward.
So, that’s all for the AAU coverage this summer. Of course, I’ll stick around to keep you guys updated on the recruiting scene but you won’t get any more trips out of me unless it involves laying on the beach and absolutely zero reporting. The Nike Global Games, which is an invite camp and are not AAU related, are coming up and I’ll provide a little “coverage from afar” for that as well. With the evaluation period over, now comes the fun part…getting the commitments.
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July 31st, 2009 at 10:45 pm
Kick ass big blue!
July 31st, 2009 at 10:46 pm
Is any one else on here excited as hell about basketball season as I am?
July 31st, 2009 at 10:50 pm
were gonna get both payne and lamb prolly so we are goin to have another insane recruiting class
July 31st, 2009 at 10:54 pm
2) hell yes!
July 31st, 2009 at 11:18 pm
#3 I think there is a great chance Lamb is a Wildcat one day but don’t rest on Barton be a done deal for Memphis just yet
July 31st, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Were going to have a ridiculous amount of shooters next year but I’m keeping an eye out for Barton. It is between him vs. Lamb and Knight vs. Selby imo plus Payne. Not to mention Bledsoe and Ortom will be back.
July 31st, 2009 at 11:32 pm
I meant to say that between those kids, the ones who decide first are we will have. Cal and his staff are playing their cards well becausr many players have UK on their list and they know who they will be after.
July 31st, 2009 at 11:43 pm
save what about the Jones kid that commited to baylor.
is that a done deal or do we have a shot
August 1st, 2009 at 12:02 am
#6 Don’t forget CJ Leslie. I think he will be a Wildcat. As of right now I am more confident about him being a Wildcat then anyone else in the 2010 class.
#8 I have no clue. I have gotten very little info about him. So assuming I have gotten very little leads me to believe he is either solid on Baylor or someone UK isn’t considering right now.
I have gained some new contacts through my buddy that works with UK. Now I got to them most of the time, now that I’ve gotten to know them a lot better. My buddy still doesn’t give me names or anything. So I just rather go through these other guys now.
I want everyone to realize that when I get information from these guys, they are really connected to UK basketball in a big way. However, the down side is many of things I get from them are probably from UK’s point of view. Although the information is good be cautious that it doesn’t tell the whole story or what a recruit might be really thinking. Just take it for what it is. It is information from really connected UK people but also from the view point of what UK thinks. Remember that UK’s view of a recruit or what they think is just one side of the whole truth. I learned that the hard way recently.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:07 am
#9 who is the football recruit u heard about? u mentioned a few threads ago
August 1st, 2009 at 12:22 am
#11 I been hinting around several. Can you just give me a little bit of what the post might have said you are referring too?
August 1st, 2009 at 12:29 am
I been giving updates a couple of times a week for over a month about who I feel “at the moment” UK will land in the 2010 class. I don’t know if anyone has been following those post (probably not, lol) but as of Right Now
I feel confident that UK will land:
CJ Leslie
Now just because that is only one name and I been saying about 3-5 names doesn’t mean I don’t think UK is losing ground on recruits. It could be that they are losing ground but I’m taking it as a possible good thing that I’m not as confident in more players as I have been. Why? because I took some kids off the “confident” list because things have gotten real quiet from UK’s side. It isn’t that I have heard bad things on a lot of kids (in fact I have heard very little bad news lately), it’s that I haven’t heard nearly as much as I been hearing.
Things are getting very quiet on UK’s side. That could be a bad thing but I believe it may be more of a good thing. I’m taking it that there must be some serious moves being made and that we could lock some kids in sooner than later.
As of right now I feel confident on:
CJ Leslie
that’s it but when I say confident, I mean really confident
August 1st, 2009 at 12:30 am
u said that there was one that u heard that u thought might be too good to be true, or something along those lines.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:32 am
i also read on allyhoops.com that selby may already be commited to play for us that they havent made it public yet. ur thoughts?
August 1st, 2009 at 12:40 am
#13 It’s O.C Brown, which would be a huge get, but I’m not confident he will end up at UK as some other insiders (closer to UK than you think) are about him ending up at UK.
#14 I don’t know. I would say in my opinion that isn’t true at all. I believe, from what I been told, that Knight is the #1 pg target. Which isn’t news to anyone, I think every fan who follows recruiting feels that way.
Nevertheless, you never know. Things on UK’s side have gotten very quiet with regard to Selby. Remember that the Selby de-commitment really isn’t a surprise. I been hearing for months now as well as everyone else that Selby is going to de-commit. Then when it happens, things on UK’s side gets really quiet all of a sudden.
So maybe there is something there but I don’t know anything at all if the rumors are true or not.
Sorry, I know that isn’t much help to you
August 1st, 2009 at 12:44 am
no thats plenty, and i do remember a long time ago when u were saying that a player would decommit and the later went on to say it was selby. i read it right before it got deleted. lol. thanks for all the info
August 1st, 2009 at 12:47 am
#14 I will say this. I feel that Bledsoe will be around at least 3 years, probably 4. Which is great because he has NBA written all over him. With that said, I been told by everyone I know who has information, that UK is going after Marquise Teague very hard. He is a 2011 pg recruit. It would be hard to get Teague if Bledsoe and Selby are around. So Knight would not only give UK the best player in the 2010 class but also Knight would be one and done, and open the door to get Teague to Kentucky.
The staff has to consider if having Selby as a soph is better than having Teague as a freshman. I haven’t gotten the answer on that, I don’t even know if the staff has really answered it themself. However, I would think that if it came down to answering that one question rather or not UK took Selby, they would pass on him.
Now this is just my opinion
August 1st, 2009 at 12:50 am
#16 I know I said that about Selby but don’t get it confused with more recently, before Selby de-committed, I been talking about a possible de-commitment from a stud player, to come to UK.
I wasn’t talking about Selby but I won’t mention the guys name because steam is really picking up big time and a de-commitment from this player to go to UK is looking more and more like it just might happen.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:52 am
i would like to have teague also but from all that i have head i thought he was a lock for loserville.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:53 am
Plus consider that Cal wants the best of the best. Well ask yourself, is Selby ever going to start over Bledsoe? If you think the answer is no, then taking Selby wouldn’t be getting the best of the best.
In fact I don’t know if there is anyone in the 2010 class, except Knight, that would even seriously contend with Bledsoe for the starting pg spot considering that Bledsoe himself is an elite talent and would have the experience factor on his side.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:54 am
#16 aw man u wnt say? any hints or do we just got to wait? i think u said something bout this a while back, and that he was better in your opinion than will barton, rite?
August 1st, 2009 at 12:55 am
#20 thats was what i was bout to say. dnt think a guy like selby would wanna be a back up
August 1st, 2009 at 12:56 am
#19 Don’t take this the wrong way because UL is more than in the hunt for Teague. They are right in there and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he picked UL.
However, I wouldn’t be so sure that UL is even in the lead for Teague anymore, much less a lock.
Good news: If UL is indeed not in the lead anymore, which I’m not sure if they are or aren’t, then UK would be the only school above them.
In other words, “Game On” between UL and UK for Teague. I was about to say this is going to be a battle but the truth is, it has been a battle already.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:57 am
#23 this is exaclty y ricky p didnt want cal in lexington
August 1st, 2009 at 1:00 am
#21 I personally think he is better than Barton but seriously, there is no way to really tell. They are both high caliber elite athletes.
#22 Me neither but again Calipari can be a lot like Pitino in that he will take the elite player, still recruit over him, let the two fight it out for a starting position, and if the loser doesn’t like it they can transfer. Which in most cases a transfer doesn’t happen.
So who knows? Things are sure quiet around Selby and UK right now.
August 1st, 2009 at 1:03 am
maybe they wanna keep it quiet because of the whole decommitment from tenn? i wouldnt kno any other reason.
August 1st, 2009 at 1:04 am
#24 You got that right. Heck, even Gillispie was starting to out recruit Pitino. If Gillispie could out recruit Pitino you know Ricky P didn’t want Calipari at UK.
He did everything he could to keep Donovan away from Lexington. Only thing is, Pitino might have been in better shape letting Donovan come to UK now that Calipari is here.
I really think Ricky P wanted two things. He didn’t want Donovan at UK and he wants Donovan at UL when he leaves.
What they neither Ricky P or Donovan ever thought would happen is that UK would go after Calipari. Now it has back fired on both of them. It back fired on Ricky P because Calipari is more of a threat to Pitino than Donovan would have been. It back fired on Donovan because no way he would want the UL job if Calipari still there. He can’t compete with Calipari, who would be established at UK by the time Donovan got there.
August 1st, 2009 at 1:11 am
#26 Naw! We UK fans and other college bball fans might be making a big deal out of it. Like we do everything.
However, Calipari has been hearing this kind of stuff aimed at him for years now and nothing is ever proven. He is immune to the “hater” talk. It doesn’t bother him one bit.
Calipari doesn’t care about the bad PR, just like Pitino didn’t when he was at UK, just like Gillipsie didn’t when he was at UK, just like Hall didn’t when he was at UK, and just like Rupp wasn’t when he was at UK.
What I find funny is that Memphis fans and other college basketball fans “UK haters” really think that the NCAA is about to bring down the hammer on Calipari sooner than later.
What they fail to realize is that the NCAA has already spent a lot of money and time trying to do that for many years. They came up with nothing and I doubt they are about to spend the money and time again to only come up with nothing.
What the haters fail to realize is that the NCAA is probably way past the point of worring about what Cal is doing.
So while every hater is waiting for the NCAA start investigating Cal and bringing the hammer down on him - The NCAA has probably already past that point a long time ago and isn’t about to go down that road again.
August 1st, 2009 at 1:24 am
#28 yea i didnt think we did anything wrong but just thought it was the bad pr part.
August 1st, 2009 at 1:28 am
I think if Rick Pitino led Donovan to UL, Pitino and all of his proteges will be black listed for life in Lexington, KY. Right or wrong, it would happen.
August 1st, 2009 at 1:34 am
#29 I been told that there is a gentleman’s agreement to an extent but that college coaches, not just Calipari, are after Pearl for what he did to MSU by recruiting Hopson will he was still committed to Miss St. However, it doesn’t end there. Apparently Pearl has been contacting lots of recruits after they have given their verbal to another school, and this has been going on for sometime now.
I have it from so really good sources that college coaches, especially in the SEC are going after Pearl and it’s personal.
I have been hearing names pop up from different sources of names of head coaches that the NCAA is after. Guess who is on that “list” (assuming it is true)? Bruce Pearl. However, if this is true I have a major problem with it. They are not going after Pearl because some evidence has come up. From what I understand it has to do with that over the last several years many of the new faces in the NCAA head office are former Big 10 ADs, Presidents, and former Big 10 employees; and they are still mad over Pearl rating people out when he was an assistant in the Big 10.
I don’t know if it is true but if it is, I don’t think it is right for them to go after Pearl over personal reasons.
I still will enjoy it if they do bring him down.
August 1st, 2009 at 1:38 am
#30 True. You know what would really suck if Donovan came to UL? Donovan is, from what I understand, untouchable by the NCAA. I have heard, despite the clean look, clean attitude, and acting squeaky clean; that Donovan is about as dirty as they come.
If Donovan came to UL it would suck if those things are true, watching him get away with it at our rival school. Especially knowing that a UK basketball coach can’t even wipe his butt without someone from the NCAA watching over to make sure it’s clean.
August 1st, 2009 at 3:01 am
#32 what makes Donovan untouchalbe by the NCAA?
August 1st, 2009 at 5:33 am
He is held to a higher standard for owning 2 National Championships. How many Championship coaches have ever been brought down while still coaching.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Anytime Pearl can get caught eating out of the dumpster I’m all for it