2021 Transfer Portal Thread

[Joneslab]

And also, I'm convinced Skyy Clark is the next great one at UK. I'm as high on him as I've been on anybody we've signed in a long time.

De'Aaron Fox type of talent. He could be someone who singlehandedly re-brands Kentucky if we can get him here.

[Joneslab]

Also, Disu is transferring from Vandy. Would be a nice replacement for Brooks 😁....

Saw this yesterday. Interesting situation. I would probably rather have Disu. Plays harder. Fits in a role better. Obviously kills Kentucky.

Brooks just has never been a good fit for whatever reason. One of those "a lot of things good, nothing great" sort of players.

Now he might come back as a junior and be transformed. But if the choice is out there to be made, I'm taking Disu.

[George]

And also, I'm convinced Skyy Clark is the next great one at UK. I'm as high on him as I've been on anybody we've signed in a long time.

De'Aaron Fox type of talent. He could be someone who singlehandedly re-brands Kentucky if we can get him here.

You’re much higher on Clark than I am.

[Joneslab]

You’re much higher on Clark than I am.

Probably because I saw a write-up about him from last summer where he was reportedly the best player in the gym against NBA players...as a 16-year-old.

All I've seen from Clark are highlight videos but he has something special. You can see it right there on tape. One of those truly special, unearthly players who could really take Kentucky to the level that players like Wall did.

I know nothing about the Bradley guy and they might be on the same level, but I wouldn't read too much into those rankings. The idea for instance that Paolo Banchero is behind anybody in this year's class is insanely stupid. The idea that B.J. Boston was six spots ahead of Jalen Suggs is even stupider.

The rankings are meant to drive talk more than anything, particularly at the elite levels. That said, that doesn't mean that Bradley isn't an elite player. In some classes there are obviously several.

[JFCats22]

There were rumblings of Clark going to the G League before all of this stuff started. If you remember he was a 1000% lock to UK for a long time and then things got quite and others got involved (UNC) before he came back and committed to UK. I'm not sure he ends up at UK regardless of what happens with Justus. It's (IMO) a big reason he didn't reclassify.

Also, I don't think Justus is leaving. Just my opinion based on what I have heard. I would not be surprised if he does but I think Flint is more likely to take an admin role at UK or go to another school.

[DA#23]

When you go in on players of that caliber it's often a two- or three-year ordeal to get them. Losing guys and then deciding at the last minute you'll just grab this other blue chipper has not worked for Kentucky.

Definitely worth keeping in, particularly because there's supposed to be an assessment that the recruit is a good fit for the program beyond simply being able to play for us on the court. With an increase of poor fits over the last few years, it's imperative that we land the right targets because seeing the Terrence Clarke and Brandon Boston's of the world fail here can quickly destroy our reputation as a premier destination.

Hate to be a Negative Nancy here, but that is also a big reason why I'm still fuming over having missed on James Wiseman. How did we not do a better job of gauging that situation and then manage to miss not only on him, but all 4 of the top tier bigs at that time???? And then allow it to cascade into the second tier of guys (Oscar).

If Clark is the number one target, then you can't let him go to another college after he's given us a verbal commitment. At this point for UK there's some damage control that needs to be done for our image, and I'm hoping Orlando Antigua is the man to come back and do just that. We need to get mean again.

[Joneslab]

I don't want to defend Kentucky too much because God knows we've seen some troubling things, but Wiseman was a really unique situation.

Hometown school hiring the hometown hero? Then Penny throwing God knows what at Wiseman and his family?

It's similar to the Cade Cunningham situation. And it brings up this whole problem of putting your eggs in the basket of only these handful of elite players.

Kentucky kept recruiting like it was 2007 even as the landscape changed. Back then schools like Oklahoma and Oklahoma St. wouldn't dare get involved with those blue chippers. Now everybody is vying for all of them, and they're not only vying--they're hiring relatives, they're throwing perks at them, they're doing everything they can. Meanwhile, Cal has for some reason continued to target five to seven players.

It's the weirdest thing and its suggests one thing more than any other: ego. Cal's ego got in the way as he was passed up by more clever, younger, and tbh probably more underhanded coaches.

[DA#23]

^ I seem to remember Beasley, OJ Mayo, Bill Walker, Derrick Rose, and others going to some non-blue chip programs at the time (2007).

My point here is that early on our involvement and scouting was dead-on whereas now we seem to be markedly worse at identifying the right personalities, situations, and complicating factors when we target guys.

We weren't getting surprised very often at first. With the Wiseman example UK should have understood the whole picture much better than they did, however they did a poor job with it and then allowed themselves to strike out with several other guys. We were caught with our pants down.

Cal's ego definitely helped to temper his appetite though, and when you're satisfied you become stale in this business.

[Joneslab]

^ I seem to remember Beasley, OJ Mayo, Bill Walker, Derrick Rose, and others going to some non-blue chip programs at the time (2007).

Right but it didn't happen nearly as commonly. Now you've got the whole world vying for every single one of these guys--and probably, honestly, paying for them. It's just a much more brutal landscape.

Cal kind of created it by de-mystifying one-and-dones, and then Duke/Coach K jumped on. This opened the floodgates. Kentucky started to get passed by when this happened.

Gonzaga has suddenly entered into this game and I predict that it will possibly net them a championship, but it will eventually sink them. It's like a pyramid scheme. You can have super success with it for awhile but then the field adjusts and they steal your tricks.

Cal didn't adjust and so here we are. Coach K, oddly, is in a similar boat. Both jumped on to the same scheme and it didn't have staying power.

This coming season though we caught a break with the transfer thing. If not for that, we'd be in serious, almost ludicrous trouble.

[DA#23]

Cal didn't adjust and so here we are.

He also allowed the staff to deteriorate over the last few years, which in turn has amplified the issues that I've mentioned. You have to do your homework with recruiting especially when you're living on the edge like we have, and you have to have a staff that provides a reason for multi year guys to stay here and develop. Instead, we've had a rash of transfers.

Rehiring Orlando Antigua should be a much needed boost.

[GOCAT15]

Wiseman is the only recruit that I feel Cal cannot be blamed for losing, he was ours 100%. But a when Penny was hired, it was over, can't foresee things like that.
My concern moving forward is that the staff feels real confident and puts in a lot of time on guys like Clark and Hardy and then they end up going the pro route. Of course we aren't the only ones going to have this problem but I don't see how you don't get to a point of asking these kids bluntly if they will go pro if they get the chance. I know minds can be changed and talent progresses but I'm not sure there is much point spending time on any of the studs unless you are real confident they want that one year of college experience.

[Dwight Schrute]

Rehiring Orlando Antigua should be a much needed boost.

Agreed. More than anything else, he and Jai Lucas ought to be a boon to recruiting.

[Dwight Schrute]

^^
We dodged a bullet with losing Wiseman, though.

[DA#23]

^^
We dodged a bullet with losing Wiseman, though.

Definitely. Unfortunately though we also missed on literally every other big man in that class.

[Joneslab]

We did get the Dragon though.