John Calipari Asks the NBA Players Association to Help End One-and-Done

[Joneslab]

He still wants them to be able to leave when they want to leave if they come to college.

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/john-calipari-asks-the-nba-players-association-to-help-bring-an-end-to-the-one-and-done-era/

[J.Jennings]

Good and bad at the same time. Cal is asking for the top players to be able to move straight into the NBA and bypass college which is good but then that would leave him with not so talented players that he would have to coach and make sure he has a precise gameplan each and every game to go with the strength and weaknesses of those kind of players, basically he going to have to coach a perfected X's and O's gameplan. One thing i know for sure is Cal is great with great players, not so great with not so great players......................


DONT BITE THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU

[Blue Heaven]

Yeah but that would also hamper the other top programs like dUKe, UNC and Kansas.

[J.Jennings]

Yeah but that would also hamper the other top programs like dUKe, UNC and Kansas.

Point is, they have better X's and O's coaches lol lol lol lol

[J.Jennings]

Poor ol Rick Pitino, always a year late. Was kicked out of the NBA the season before the new rule changes that led to basketball as we know in the NBA, kicked out of college with the possibility of the great players going to straight to the pro's once again. Who develops 3 to 4 year players better than Rick?

[Joneslab]

Point is, they have better X's and O's coaches lol lol lol lol

I think they're all pretty good X's and O's coaches or they wouldn't be at this level. Cal coached for years without elite players.

Duke has been loaded up with five star studs for the entirety of my life.

The guys who can really coach the game, and I mean the maestros, are probably on the mid-major level. But there's so much more to the game: motivation being a critical one.

[Lighthouse]

I think they're all pretty good X's and O's coaches or they wouldn't be at this level. Cal coached for years without elite players.

Duke has been loaded up with five star studs for the entirety of my life.

The guys who can really coach the game, and I mean the maestros, are probably on the mid-major level. But there's so much more to the game: motivation being a critical one.

Or below. One that comes to mind is Scotty Davenport.

[J.Jennings]

I think they're all pretty good X's and O's coaches or they wouldn't be at this level. Cal coached for years without elite players.

Duke has been loaded up with five star studs for the entirety of my life.

The guys who can really coach the game, and I mean the maestros, are probably on the mid-major level. But there's so much more to the game: motivation being a critical one.

Cal is one helluva coach no doubt but i feel if he doesn't get the best of the best, it shows. Can still motivate like no other but i still question his decision making sometimes...

[KevinHall]

I think they're all pretty good X's and O's coaches or they wouldn't be at this level. Cal coached for years without elite players.

Duke has been loaded up with five star studs for the entirety of my life.

The guys who can really coach the game, and I mean the maestros, are probably on the mid-major level. But there's so much more to the game: motivation being a critical one.

When I was in college there were some really good coaches at the NAIA level. Randy Vernon at Cumberland,Jim Reid at Georgetown who was succeeded by Happy Osborne. Roland Weirwillie at Berea did a good job for them too. I'm sure there were others I have forgotten. A lot is based on an opportunity they get or never get and sometimes they are just happy at where they are at. I think many just don't want to get into the sleazy recruiting game in major college basketball.

[Joneslab]

When I was in college there were some really good coaches at the NAIA level. Randy Vernon at Cumberland,Jim Reid at Georgetown who was succeeded by Happy Osborne. Roland Weirwillie at Berea did a good job for them too. I'm sure there were others I have forgotten. A lot is based on an opportunity they get or never get and sometimes they are just happy at where they are at. I think many just don't want to get into the sleazy recruiting game in major college basketball.

I have some great stories about Wierwille. My friend growing up played at Berea under him, my best friend's uncle played under him, and my middle school coach went there and was an avid fan. Watched a lot of Berea basketball over the years. In fact when my friend played there I pretty much went to every home game; used to drive from Centre through Crab Orchard and on back roads to Berea. Saw some epic games, including one they played against Indiana University Southeast that remains maybe the best game I've ever seen live.

Wierwille for years had a drinking problem. Then he got sober but he was still a fiery guy. He scared me to death and I was just sitting in the stands. I read once that he had a huge disdain for EKU because he badly wanted to coach there (Wierwille was an alum) but they would never give him a serious look. I drove to Richmond when my friend played and watched them take on EKU in Richmond. Berea routed them. After the game Wierwille almost tore the locker room apart he was so fired up.

[Joneslab]

Berea had a really flashy guy at one point who drew a ten-second call on him just from dribbling the ball up the court and there was no defense on him..

Wierwelle admonished him for doing that ridiculous "herky jive."

Herky jive is a term I still use when I see a UK player doing something unnecessarily absurd. Hami Diallo had a lot of herky jive in his game.

[KevinHall]

I have some great stories about Wierwille. My friend growing up played at Berea under him, my best friend's uncle played under him, and my middle school coach went there and was an avid fan. Watched a lot of Berea basketball over the years. In fact when my friend played there I pretty much went to every home game; used to drive from Centre through Crab Orchard and on back roads to Berea. Saw some epic games, including one they played against Indiana University Southeast that remains maybe the best game I've ever seen live.

Wierwille for years had a drinking problem. Then he got sober but he was still a fiery guy. He scared me to death and I was just sitting in the stands. I read once that he had a huge disdain for EKU because he badly wanted to coach there (Wierwille was an alum) but they would never give him a serious look. I drove to Richmond when my friend played and watched them take on EKU in Richmond. Berea routed them. After the game Wierwille almost tore the locker room apart he was so fired up.

My first year at Cumberland, Berea upset them in an NAIA playoff game that ended Cumberland's season. It was a huge upset. I don't remember his reaction but I'm sure he probably tore the locker room up after that game.

[Catatonic]

It's not like there wouldn't still be great college players. The big danger for UK (and other elite programs) would be in investing time and attention recruiting 5-star HS kids, only to have them decide to jump to the NBA when their draft stock rises. Of course recruiting misses already happen to everyone, except they wouldn't end up playing for our competition.

[Joneslab]

If they don't put a two- or three-year rule into college basketball then I'm not sure what's fixed, really.

One thing that's dismissed a lot of times is this transfer epidemic that's started to happen. If you have that going on and you bring in these second-tier players to college and let them leave when they want to leave, I think the problem might just keep getting worse.

Plus you don't have those freshmen stars that have been good for the game--and this program.

I don't like putting people into indentured servitude, but it seems like to me a way to fix it would be to let the stars go right out of high school, make college players stay at least two years, and give them all a stipend from the astronomical NCAA coffers.

But I do love Cal's idea of testing out high school players to see where they are. The NCAA's "never the twain shall meet" philosophy toward the NBA has always been ridiculous. The NBA is stitched in to the college game and has been for decades; all these kids want to play professionally. The NCAA should acknowledge that and let the NBA get hard looks at these kids so they make good decisions.

[KCKUKFan]

How to determine the "stars" versus the "college players"? There is a always a group of fringe dudes in every class.