Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
Well, he’s out. Derrick Jasper is officially no longer a member of the UK basketball team. According to the official story on the UK Athletics page, here is what Jasper had to say:
“The decision to transfer is in no way an indication of my experience playing for UK,” Jasper said. “I feel at this point in my life, it is important for me to be close to my family, and I intend to transfer to a school closer to the west coast where I can see my family more often, and they can see me play.
“It was not an easy decision for me to make, since the fans have been so wonderful and very supportive of my teammates and me. I want to thank Coach Gillispie and the entire UK coaching staff for their guidance and support they have given me these past two years. I have grown a tremendous amount as a basketball player, and most importantly a person and feel it is largely due to the people involved with the UK basketball program.”
And a few words from Coach Clyde:
“It’s a disappointment to lose Derrick, who was fantastic for us both as a person and a basketball player,” UK Head Coach Billy Gillispie said. “He had to battle through some injuries, but he was always willing to sacrifice for the good of the team.
“I appreciate that Derrick was patient and took his time to make certain that this decision was what he felt was best for his future. We wish him all the best. Where ever he decides to attend will be getting an outstanding player who takes his academics very seriously.”
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May 31st, 2008 at 3:14 pm
At least we know for sure now. We’ll miss you Derrick! Time to move on and fly another banner in Rupp!
May 31st, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Another yr of strugglin to make the tourney. Thanks DJ.
May 31st, 2008 at 3:19 pm
Hate to lose a quality player and person but time to move on for him and us. Best of luck Derrick.
May 31st, 2008 at 3:23 pm
It’s better to know for sure. Now some important decisions can be made for the team — like taking more commits for 2008. Thanks and good luck to Jasper.
May 31st, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Good luck Jasper! Class act he was and still is, best of luck to him.
May 31st, 2008 at 3:50 pm
I guess the old saying is true, winners always win and quitters always quit.
May 31st, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Goodbye Jasper you will be missed.
Time to hope for Liggins. Guards have been our strength for the last few years, could be our weakness this year.
If Patterson, Stevenson, Harrelson can control the paint all we will need is some good ball handling and a few perimeter shots from Meeks and Miller. I am hoping Slone and Delph can contribute at the guard spot.
May 31st, 2008 at 4:01 pm
Who’s Jasper?
May 31st, 2008 at 4:07 pm
We still have some options for the 08 class…
May 31st, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Jasper is not a bad loss he sucked at shooting and i thought he was too slow with the ball I don’t like slow pace live fast.
May 31st, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Thank God it’s over!!!!! Now bring on McClintock or someone else who can score more than 4 points per game and shoot better than 35% from the free throw line!!!!!! Japser won’t be missed, TRUST ME.
May 31st, 2008 at 4:16 pm
What if he made it to the NBA what is he going to do then. He will be all over the place and probably never close to home.
May 31st, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Very true #11 and #12
May 31st, 2008 at 4:21 pm
Whos this jasper guy any way i never heard of him ha ha ha just joking Good Luck Jasper
May 31st, 2008 at 4:27 pm
12: If he makes the NBA then homesickness won’t be an issue because he’ll be getting paid big bucks and his family can travel with him.
May 31st, 2008 at 4:29 pm
I am sad. But I am glad this one is over. I’ll bet Coach Clyde has another recruit signed before he week is over to replace him. You know he already has Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, etc. already working…
Any news about Lucas and Patterson?
May 31st, 2008 at 4:32 pm
I just found this through a friend and I must say, this guy is really good. Go to http://www.youtube.com/roostergooster and watch this video called “Wildcat Nation.” It’s flipping great.
May 31st, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Lucas & Patterson?
May 31st, 2008 at 4:39 pm
uk baseball team just defeated emu
May 31st, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Great news #19.
Anyone bashing Jasper does not understand basketball. He wasn’t the best of shooters but he was essential to the success in the second half of the year or maybe you all enjoyed our run of games in December without him?
I wish Jasper good luck, the only way I would be upset with him is if he left and said bad things about the Players, fans or coaches. He didn’t so I respect his decision whatever the reasons may be and I honestly do not believe homesickness had anything to do with it.
The main focus now should be establishing a point guard for this team. Some sort of rotation of Galloway, Liggins, Porter or a player to be named later but this team needs to cut down on the turnovers and get the ball down low to Harrelson, patterson, and Stevenson and we will be fine.
No Jasper bashing please, lets just move on.
May 31st, 2008 at 5:14 pm
i don’t think we should sign anyone else for ‘08. esp. McClintock, because that will give us a great chance at Wall in ‘09.
As for next year. Hope Liggins can qualify, if not Galloway will be the man at lead guard spot. As for Porter, if Liggins doesn’t qualify, it’s his time to show his worth. Sink or swim.
I think we’ll end up being pretty solid at the lead guard spot this year. I think Liggins will qualify, we’ll also have Galloway. And i think Porter will improve a lot this year.
May 31st, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Derrick WAHHHHHHHHHSPER. 20 years old and cant stand to be away from home. What a baby.
May 31st, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Going to be real hard to replace that 2ppg, 5rpg, 3apg.
May 31st, 2008 at 5:32 pm
I wish him well. I may feel a little different if he goes to UCLA and avg. 20 pts. and they hang a banner or 2.
May 31st, 2008 at 5:41 pm
Guys Jaspers worth is not in his stats. With that being said I don’t think we will miss him too much. I don’t think the second half of the year was better because of Jasper. I think we improved because Joe and Ramel finally matured and bought into Gillispies system. With Liggins and Galloway we have two guys that will replace Jasper. They are basically the same type of players from what I have heard except they are quicker with the ball because they both have two good knees. Lets face it Jasper wasn’t the future of Kentucky basketball. Deandre Liggins might be if he qualifies which I expect him to do. Galloway should be a really good point. I heard that coming out of High School he was the best point guard at a big time basketball camp out west. I hope we can rely on him and hopefully Porter will get a whole whole whole lot better. I also think we should recruit McClintock. Even if he doesn’t help at the point he can play the two guard and give us a three when we need it or he can play point and we can rely on Porter to knock down some threes at the two spot. No matter what though it’s going to be a tough year. Hopefully we can continue to develop players and have everyone ready plus a huge recruiting class for 2009.
May 31st, 2008 at 5:54 pm
It sucks lossing the stability in knowing what we already had in Jasper
but athletically and talent Liggins and Galloway are both better. But there just not experienced and we have know way of knowing how they will work out, with Jasper we already knew we had a SEC caliber PG
with that said - Jasper wasn’t one of those players that all is lost if he doesn’t return.
Lossing Jasper sucks but I can’t believe so many Wildcat Fans, who should know, don’t see how much more talent we are going to be next year than we were last season. So much more athletic, talented, bigger, stronger, depth, etc
May 31st, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Hate to lose DJ. He will be missed. It creates a opportunity for others and they will need to step up.
May 31st, 2008 at 6:01 pm
We still are going to be good next year.
Look at us compared to UT (whom everyone believes will be the best in the SEC)
UT UK
PG Maze Liggins or Galloway /advantage UK either option
SG Hopson Meeks /advantage Meeks bc Hopson will only be a
freshman
SF - Tyler Miller /advantage Tyler but Miller is no slush
PF - Chism Patterson /advantage Patterson
C - That freshman, pretty decent Stevenson or Harrellson
advantage Stevenson or Harrelson UK
Bench
UT - west, prince, jurick (lol,lol,lol he isn’t very good), whatever else they have
UK - Stevenson or Harrellson, Liggins or Gallowy, Harris, Stewart, Porter
Bench - advantage UK
So if UT is suppose to be one of the best teams in the SEC and we have them beat at PG, SG, PF, C, and Bench, and they have us beat at SF (thats it)
I think we will be better than most think
May 31st, 2008 at 6:27 pm
good lord, big deal!! frigg’n jasper lovers..unbelievable. he wasn’t that good guys..NBA?? are you out of your frigg’n mind? he’s not even close to NBA talent…not even on the radar and wont be. couldn’t shoot, couldn’t shoot free throws and wasn’t quick!?!?
yea, huge loss there guys…jesus.
May 31st, 2008 at 6:53 pm
26) i agree, we’ll have tons more talent and athletisism..i don’t know why some people think this is going to be a bad year.
Just imagine us playing like we did in January-March, only for an entire season and with a better team. In my opinion we will be a very dangerous team that causes lots of match-up problems with all our length and athletisism. I also think we get a good seed in the tourney (6 or above)
May 31st, 2008 at 6:59 pm
I can’t believe people would actually dog on Jasper for leaving and saying hes completely replaceable. I agree his numbers weren’t the greatest for us but without him we don’t make the NCAA tourney this past year. He did all the little things that helped keep this team together and make a run to the tourney. I personally didn’t think he shot the ball enough but wherever he goes he will do great and I hope this year off will help heal he’s knee heal up. Points can be replaceable but leadership will be greatly missed.
May 31st, 2008 at 7:05 pm
#30 I agree, but it will hurt losing our two best offensive threats from last season. No matter what anyone says we won’t know what this team will be like until we see them play some games. This is one of those seasons where i could see us being really good or really bad. Its just to hard to tell at this point. The only thing we know for sure is that we have a great coach who will get the most out of his players. We also have a All American big man. WHo knows what Meeks will be like. He could be fantastic, but he also could be hurt all year again and never be what we thought he was going to be. I think Perry will continue to develop and the same for Harris. Hopefully Miller will be able to step in and play like a Junior, same for Liggins if he qualifies. I hope this team gels together like last years team did in the SEC. If that happens I look for good things out of them.
May 31st, 2008 at 7:06 pm
8 im wit u
May 31st, 2008 at 7:09 pm
#31 We wouldn’t have made the tournament without Perry, Harris, Patterson, Joe or Ramel. All these guys played their part in getting us to the tournament. Seeing as how we went about 6 deep we wouldn’t have made the tournament without any of those 6 players. Jasper was not the reason for the turnaround. It was Joe and Ramel, their maturity, and willingness to buy into BCG.
May 31st, 2008 at 7:12 pm
I agree with 32 that we’re having to take a wait-and-see approach with this team more than any other I can remember. Like he said, the only certainties seem to be BCG and Patterson; everything else is yet to be determined - how the team gels, how Meeks takes to being looked to for a lot of offense, how the newcomers contribute, etc. That said, we do have some great pieces and I’m excited that we have a coach who’s known for getting great effort from everyone.
May 31st, 2008 at 7:12 pm
#30 How will we have tons more athleticism and talent. We just signed three guys that will for sure play and we lost three guys that we know can play. I agree that we will be better, but we won’t be that much more athletic. Miller, Galloway, and Harrelson aren’t any more athletic that Bradley, Crawford, and Jasper. If Liggins qualifies I guess we will be a little more athletic. Now in ‘09 we should be a ton more athletic and 2010 that much more athletic than ‘09. Don’t get your hopes up to high for this year because honestly it could go either way.
May 31st, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Good luck DJ you’ll definitely be missed! Anyone who thinks otherwise doesn’t have a clue what they are talking about.
May 31st, 2008 at 8:29 pm
#37 Care to elaborate on why Jasper will be missed. I hate it when people say somebody doesn’t know what they’re talking about yet give no reasons why that person doesn’t know what they are talking about.
May 31st, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Best of luck to DJasper.
I hope to hell we don’t take McClintock - UK should not be desperate enough to take a player like that.
May 31st, 2008 at 10:15 pm
#38
The games we lost when Jasper wasn’t playing were much worse than the ones when he was. When he was out with the surgery we lost to Gardner-Webb, Houston, UAB….bad losses in my opinion
When he played the only question mark team that we lost to was San Diego and they showed at the end of the year that they were indeed legit.
May 31st, 2008 at 10:30 pm
He’s a great player, one of my favorites that we have (had), but… WHATEVER!
Let’s move on and get ready for next season.
You can’t waste time worrying about the players you don’t have, you gotta worry about the ones you do have and make it happen!
GO CATS!
May 31st, 2008 at 10:36 pm
#31 what most of the jerks on here that are bashing him don’t realize is, that he was playing at below 70% health wise. And was in constant pain. And that is STRAIGHT from one of his teammates….Former teammate that is.
May 31st, 2008 at 10:57 pm
#40 No doubt it helped having him in the line up. I just think the turnaround in the SEC was due more to Joe and Ramel coming of age then it was Jasper being back. Like I said earlier Jasper’s worth will not be found on a stat sheet, but I still think we can and will move on from his loss. It will hurt much much more not having Joe and Ramel than it will hurt losing Jasper. Gillispie basically replace Jasper when he recruited Deandre Liggins and Kevin Galloway because they are the same type player. Obviously Gillispie loved Jaspers game and saw his worth. You can tell that from his quotes and the fact that he recruited two more guys with basically the same kind of game. It will be much harder to replace senior leadership and offense with Joe and Ramel than it will be to replace Jaspers ball handling and passing ability. I will miss the kid and I wish him well wherever he goes. As long as it on the WEST COAST since that is the reason he stated for leaving although I don’t buy it.
May 31st, 2008 at 11:11 pm
I read this blog everyday and I cannot remenber that ever happening before. Am I wrong?
June 1st, 2008 at 12:04 am
43 - he may not be the future, like you said above, but no matter what he could play great and contribute for 20 minutes a game. I am all about depth, and this team needs depth, not only at point but all positions. He is “key” to this team and “key” to our future. If you think he would not make this team better, then you need to step back and re-read some of your posts. You dog Porter, but do not realize that Jaser could either start or play 6 - 8 man, eating up Porter minutes. If he was willing to stay, Jasper would be an awesome 6 - 8 man off the bench.
Good luck Jasper and your role on UKs team will be greatly missed!
June 1st, 2008 at 12:07 am
How can some of you think Jasper is a god? He is going to be replaced with NO PROBLEM. Galloway is the same type of player + he has TONS more athleticism than Waaaahhsper did. Jaspers not the reason we got better, we got better because our players were FINALLY starting to BUY INTO BCGs system and play the way he wanted them to.
Liggings>Jasper
Galloway>Jasper
June 1st, 2008 at 12:12 am
46 - How can you think we have someone else better coming in? Jasper > Porter…..depth?
June 1st, 2008 at 12:15 am
Also, Jasper can play if the following does not happen….
Liggins doesn’t qualify
Galloway get injured, tired or fouls out
DEPTH, DEPTH, DEPTH….why get on people for thinking that an experienced, hard working player leave?
June 1st, 2008 at 12:18 am
Am I the only one that noticed that?
June 1st, 2008 at 12:20 am
well i just want to know where these missing 40 points per game are gonna come from? i hope you all are right and this is a more talented, better team, but 40 ppg is hard to replace from 2 guys, and no matter how good miller is, i have trouble seeing him scoring 20 ppg, i hope he does, but i doubt it.
June 1st, 2008 at 12:39 am
47) 2ppg, 5rpg, 3apg Almost any freshman can get that. And THATS from a SOPHMORE!
June 1st, 2008 at 12:58 am
He will be missed! Hope him all the best…
UK will move forward, with a little luck Liggins will make it.
Galloway, I think he will be better than many realize.
Maybe UK still pulls in a quality PG?
Who knows, guys like Slone and Delph, they have the potential to be impact players, but I impression is they are more SGs.
June 1st, 2008 at 1:35 am
Anyone see Kimbo Slice fight tonight? If I had to fight him get me some ear muffs.
June 1st, 2008 at 1:50 am
#50 you must not be very smart
1st - we don’t have to replace 40 pts. We have to replace about 35pts
2nd - No reason not to think that Meeks won’t avg 15 at the very least, Miller 10, Harrellson 10, Liggins 6, Galloway 6 - that is very realistic
Well that would be 47 extra points
not to mention Patterson will probably avg more. Harris can’t get worse so he will score more, Stevenson is a 10ppg at the very least.
Plus we will have 10 less turnovers per game that Joe and Ramel had.
June 1st, 2008 at 6:40 am
#38, I think coach G has explained numerous times why DJ is so important to us. The most important of which being steady at the point, you may have noticed that teams didn’t press us much when he was on the floor. He doesn’t turn the ball over… I can go on all day… to put it simply he was a guy who did everything and anything he possibly could.
June 1st, 2008 at 7:50 am
hold the scholarship. Everyone talks about Wall in 09, but how about Orton and Favors?
June 1st, 2008 at 10:01 am
Good Luck Derrick!! We only wish the best for you!
June 1st, 2008 at 10:23 am
28…are you stupid, you did not justify any of your claims. if meeks is better than hopson bc hopson is a fresh, then how do you say tyler smith is barely better than miller. what an idiot homer who cannot be realistic. this is a bad thing to happen and quit spinning it like it isnt a big deal
June 1st, 2008 at 10:30 am
The heading says it best: Finally some closure. Jasper will be missed. If for nothing more than security - we know what we were going to get from DJ. And, he did a lot of little things that didn’t always translate to pts in the box score for himself. Can we say the same about Galloway? We’ll see, and we all should be praying Liggins finds a few points before the next test. You remember the Michael Porter experiment right? It wasn’t pretty. Regardless, good luck to DJ wherever he ends up.
June 1st, 2008 at 10:38 am
By the way, if BCG really thought Galloway was a lock at PG, do you think we would be this interested in McClintock? To me, it smacks of desperation. We already have a PG in ‘10, we are in the running for Wall, and we may have Liggins, and there is always Porter (cough, cough). So why the huge concern at PG ig Galloway is going to come and take control?
Also, don’t everyone forget that DJ came back EARLY from his knee surgery. To me it was obvious he was not 100%. So to knock a guy that gutted it out for ol’ Big Blue, is … unfortunate.