Letter Grade for Every UK Coach

[DA#23]

^ good points

[KCKUKFan]

We all figured that NIL would give Kentucky a boost, but it actually has evened the playing field and created more (I hate this word) parity. Every team in this NCAA tournament has at least one guy who could play anywhere in America, even the 16 seeds.

I think that's a big part of our recent woes, mixed with Cal's stubbornness and obvious burnout.

[Joneslab]

If you go down the list of all Calipari's recruits then you'll find that he has a pretty incredible hit rate.

We remember the duds of course, of which there are obviously a few: Stacey Poole, Sacha Killeya-Jones (ranked in the 20s per Rivals), Skal, E.J. Montgomery, B.J. Boston, Terrence Clarke, Devin Askew, Quade Greene.

However if you look at that list, those players are far outweighed by these recruits who were way better than their rankings: Bledsoe, Ulis, Booker, and even guys like Terrence Jones (outside the top 10 per Rivals) and P.J. Washington.

Just eyeballing it it looks like Calipari has a hit rate in recruiting at about 80% in terms of players living up to/exceeding expectations. I'd have to say that's far better than the national average. And that's even with the disastrous 2020 class.

I think the problem is with getting those players here. When they get here they shake out more often than not.

[Spiritof96]

Because they weren't talented enough to do it. Plus, the locker room fracturing or whatever.

That's not letting Cal off the hook but when you bore down into what's going on here, it starts in recruiting. He let go of the rope on the recruiting trail, either because other programs caught up or he just didn't have the energy he once had (I suspect a little of both).

Next year, different story. I'm not saying I expect a contender or anything; I have no expectations at all. I'm just saying that we saw nothing like what we're going to see next year at the tail end of Tubby's tenure (assuming they come). Tubby just left. Cal found a way to cobble together a team (again, on paper) reminiscent of what he was doing early on.

Umm...

To those who feel John Calipari has lost his recruiting touch, ESPN is here to tell you otherwise.

ESPN has finalized their college basketball recruiting ranks for 2020, and Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats rank No. 1 in the nation.

The Cats have signed six of ESPN’s 100 prospects in B.J. Boston (6), Terrance Clarke (9), Devin Askew (24) Isaiah Jackson (31), Lance Ware (43) and Cam’Ron Fletcher (57).

UK is the only team to earn commitments from more than one top 10 prospects and are the only ‘Blue Blood’ program to land a top-10 player.
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[Joneslab]

^ Yeah, that class was definitely an exception to this rule.

But in that class he missed his top target and the guy the class was supposed to be built around in Cade Cunningham. Which is my broader point: Cal whiffing on guys who were supposed to be the lynchpins of the class.

That class definitely had duds in it though, no question. Really the only class where you saw multiple players who didn't live up to their billing, a couple of them not even close. I do think Jackson was a stud though and on a better team would've been fantastic.

[Jody Porter]

These last few teams have lacked that dynamic (freshman) PG that the good Cal teams have had before. Question: did anyone land that type of PG in these last two classes? Did one even exist?

I'd argue there wasn't one.

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[KCKUKFan]

These last few teams have lacked that dynamic (freshman) PG that the good Cal teams have had before. Question: did anyone land that type of PG in these last two classes? Did one even exist?

I'd argue there wasn't one.

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I'd argue that Cason Wallace was a dynamic freshman PG. What he lacked in Fox/Wall speed, he made up for with defense and dog.

He will be a fine pro.

This, of course, depends on if you consider Wallace a true point.

[George]

These last few teams have lacked that dynamic (freshman) PG that the good Cal teams have had before. Question: did anyone land that type of PG in these last two classes? Did one even exist?

I'd argue there wasn't one.

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There wasn’t. Lots of “combo” guards, of which Cason was ranked second. Highest-ranked PG was Anthony Black.

[Catsrock]

I'd argue that Cason Wallace was a dynamic freshman PG. What he lacked in Fox/Wall speed, he made up for with defense and dog.

He will be a fine pro.

This, of course, depends on if you consider Wallace a true point.

I loved this guy but very much feel he was point guard out of need—we had no better option. Functional ball handler, all around talent but not a natural facilitator or leader. May have helped his overall development that Sharpe didn’t show up, but won’t be his role at the next level.

[Jody Porter]

I'd argue that Cason Wallace was a dynamic freshman PG. What he lacked in Fox/Wall speed, he made up for with defense and dog.

He will be a fine pro.

This, of course, depends on if you consider Wallace a true point.

I agree that Wallace is great. But I don't think he fits the mold of a "Cal PG" in that traditional sense. But yeah, he'll be good at the next level. Fantastic defender.

[Spiritof96]

There wasn’t. Lots of “combo” guards, of which Cason was ranked second. Highest-ranked PG was Anthony Black.

It's almost like if one had a system that demanded the type of player one didn't have, an adjustment would be necessary...

[abroo588]

Rupp A++
Hall A
Sutton B
Pitino A
Tubby F
BCG C
Cal A

I can understand some of this. But Sutton who put us on probation at a B and Tubby who won us a championship at an F, and yet BCG who was terrible at a C? Come on, man. I call foul.

[Joneslab]

It's almost like if one had a system that demanded the type of player one didn't have, an adjustment would be necessary...

I don't think anybody thought Sahvir Wheeler would be as atrocious as he was this season. Probably not even Ratt.

When that fell apart and Wallace slid over, then you've pretty much got to have Reeves, Fredrick, and Livingston step up. Reeves did, Livingston did sometimes, Fredrick did not.

I'll stick up for Cal just a little: that's tough.

And it goes back to my point above that what we're seeing Kentucky is mostly (not all) about his inability to grab those can't-miss, blue chip players with the same frequency he was getting them five years ago. This team was basically a portal team. You can win by hitting the portal but you have to be on point in how you pick those players. The margin for error is tight, just like it is when you build teams mostly on the backs of star freshmen.

Kentucky missed a helluva opportunity when it had Marcus Carr right there.

[40bill]

Hard for me to be impartial:
Rupp A
Hall A-
Sutton D-
Pitino A-
Smith B+
Gillespie F
Calipari.......gotta go with incomplete myself. Each season deserves its own grade and those have ran the gamut from A to F.

[Jody Porter]

Hindsight: I should probably have had Cal as an incomplete also. Weird, but true: his overall letter grade could change drastically with just the results from next season. (Between A and C, easily, probably).

I gave Sutton an incomplete originally because I do think he was a great coach and would have done great things (not Pitino type stuff though, so I'm glad it worked out, in hindsight) but of course the ending was as bad as it can get short of the death penalty. But he would be able to do those things today (or rather, wouldn't have to do those things). Not like point shaving, which is illegal in any era. And of course there's still the whole "how much did he actually do" and "how much did he know" conversation to be had, not unlike Cal at UMass or Memphis.

But I still want to change his I to a D. Just can't leave a program in that shape and get anything better than that. Make it an F, in fact. Perhaps unfairly.