Cal Says Every Player on Team, Including Walk-Ons, Will Submit Name for the Draft

[Joneslab]

He definitely doesn't have a problem with the rule. He pushed for the rule.

I think he's genuinely glad they all have a chance. Realistically only two or three do have a chance; he knows that, the players know that, but now the process is much more transparent than it has been.

Cal has been trying to get the NBA more involved in the college game for years. Here again we're in a realm where he's so much different than us. We're much more concerned about tradition, the history of UK basketball, what we're going to have next year, etc.

Cal is all about the players and the pipeline.

I don't care for it in some ways...but then I remember that we tried it the other way. Somebody said above that they wish Cal would go out and get a project...well, we did that in the Tubby years. We constantly lamented having no NBA-caliber players back then.

These are the risks you run with Cal. He's just so different than us. But there is one major similarity: I think in the larger scope of things the main reason he does this is to bring talent to Lexington. To grease the pipeline.

That's where we as fans see the rewards, because seeing some of these great players--from Murray to Ulis to Towns to Davis to Wall and so on--is a lot of fun and, at least for me, makes all the other stuff worth it.

[justafan]

This is one of those instances I just shake my head at Cal.

He could have been doing the same damn thing in previous years, they'd just have to pull their names sooner. Its just needless noise from Cal.

[Joneslab]

This is one of those instances I just shake my head at Cal.

He could have been doing the same damn thing in previous years, they'd just have to pull their names sooner. Its just needless noise from Cal.

They could have but the rule change basically opens up lines of communication between teams and players that didn't exist before.

The last few years there's been no "testing the waters" at all. You either were in or out because the timeframe was so tight.

Now you can talk to NBA teams, get a feel, work out if they invite you...most coaches, not just Cal, have been major proponents of this rule for years. It basically makes it a much, much longer process of looking around and getting a feel.

Skal and Ulis can really benefit from this. Skal particularly. In the end it will only be the three we all knew about anyway, with Skal the only one who could go either way. This process is totally necessary for a player like him. I wish Dakari would've had a chance to do this last year.

[justafan]

Yes, but Cal held his "UK combine" each year and had a bunch of NBA people here. So the players can't/couldn't talk to an NBA team but Cal sure as hell could/did. He'd then pass the information on to the players/their families. The NBA teams are going to give the players the same information, some good, some bad. Enough to get the players interested if the team is truly interested, but not enough to tip their hand to other teams.

No this is just going to piss off some blue-collar people in the NBA that have to deal with all the extraneous paperwork from walk-ons and such.

Does Cal really need this marketing ploy to recruit more players?
Does he really need to poke the NCAA/NBA bear?

What good does it do for some walk-on to get a "why the hell are you wasting our time?" letter from the NBA?

[lilproUK98]

They could have but the rule change basically opens up lines of communication between teams and players that didn't exist before.

The last few years there's been no "testing the waters" at all. You either were in or out because the timeframe was so tight.

Now you can talk to NBA teams, get a feel, work out if they invite you...most coaches, not just Cal, have been major proponents of this rule for years. It basically makes it a much, much longer process of looking around and getting a feel.

Skal and Ulis can really benefit from this. Skal particularly. In the end it will only be the three we all knew about anyway, with Skal the only one who could go either way. This process is totally necessary for a player like him. I wish Dakari would've had a chance to do this last year.

Exactly. Cal was pretty much already doing this with his preseason Kentucky combine he did the last two years and will likely do it every year from here on....

Some people are either not understanding the rule or just choosing to let there sourness on Cal shine through. There are countless benefits for the players and the program with this new setup and process.

Will some bash UK for just wanting to get kids to the NBA and pushing them out the door? Sure. But they were already doing that....

[Joneslab]

The combine is held before the season. So much has changed by this point. With Skal and Ulis in particular you're talking a world of movement.

Ulis may have played himself into the first round and Skal probably played himself out of the lottery. There's so much good for those two if you let them have a dialogue with the people who may end up hiring them in three months' time.

The NCAA has always shut down a dialogue. In its pursuit of this weird sort of "amateurism" that it pretends to exist on, it's always scorned the NBA. Really the NBA, at the highest levels of college basketball, should be a part of the college game because a decent percentage of these guys have real dreams of being professional basketball players. The more mystery there is to the process, the more you're going to get bad decisions.

[justafan]

The combine is held before the season. So much has changed by this point. With Skal and Ulis in particular you're talking a world of movement.
....

I don't think anyone is disputing the usefulness of Ulis/Skal testing the waters.

Having the whole team is Cal/Ringling Brothers nonsense.

[UKtimefor9]

I am not sure what to think on this. Cal helped pushed for the rule but it does seem like he is kind of mocking it now.

I think if this rule would have existed previously it would have really helped guys like Teague and Dakari. I think those two return to UK under this new system. However, I think this year it may hurt with Briscoe. He should definitely return but all it may take is for one team to tell them they will take him. I have seen a lot of people say he doesn't like school (ala Orton and Dakari).

[Joneslab]

I don't think anyone is disputing the usefulness of Ulis/Skal testing the waters.

Having the whole team is Cal/Ringling Brothers nonsense.

The reason he mentioned the entire team is so he didn't have to isolate the few who are actually going to test the waters.

Because Kentucky fans tend to not react well when this stuff is brought up, as we see in this thread. Remember Archie? Remember Jodie Meeks, whose own father had to come to this board to talk UK fans down?

We get our feelings hurt a lot with this kind of thing. So when it's announced that Skal or Briscoe or Lee are going to test, there's going to be a backlash. It's not going to be pretty, particularly with a guy like Skal. So Cal lumps all the players together to make sure the few who may be interested in going don't get hit with that backlash.

[lilproUK98]

Do.people.understand Cal's whole opinion and excitement for this new process???

Cal himself has said, I love this rule because it lets the kids hear DIRECTLY FROM NBA personnel that I either have a chance or I need to go back to college. Players HAVE TO BE INVITED to go to the combine. If they don't get invited they have their answer. If they go and the NBA personnel say you need to go back to college son, they again have their answer. This takes all the noise out of the process. No.matter what an uncle, parent, old coach, friend, cousin etc. says, the kids get the real honest truth straight from the nba's mouth. What could be better??? Sure, there are gonna be kids that.leave no.matter what but do you really want those guys here anyway???

[justford]

I think high school seniors should have the same option. If they get invited great and if not, they enroll in college and try again at the end of their freshman year.

[Joneslab]

I think high school seniors should have the same option. If they get invited great and if not, they enroll in college and try again at the end of their freshman year.

I agree...but I'm glad that they don't.

The rule has given of Anthony Davis, Wall, MKG, Towns, and all these other guys. If not for that rule we wouldn't have had those players, and even though they were just here a year that's a trade-off that I'm comfortable living with.

I have a ton of good memories over the last seven years.

[George]

I think I'm most annoyed by the unabashed level of BS at the heart of all this. Convincing walk-ons to submit their names to the draft is so ridiculous. So pointless. So laughable. Who does Cal think he's fooling?

The whole thing is just eye-roll inducing and makes us look stupid. It'll help the guys who actually have business being there, but otherwise, to everyone else, we're just the annoying team who's arrogant enough to believe its walk-ons stand a chance in the draft.

[justafan]

The reason he mentioned the entire team is so he didn't have to isolate the few who are actually going to test the waters.

Because Kentucky fans tend to not react well when this stuff is brought up, as we see in this thread. Remember Archie? Remember Jodie Meeks, whose own father had to come to this board to talk UK fans down?

We get our feelings hurt a lot with this kind of thing. So when it's announced that Skal or Briscoe or Lee are going to test, there's going to be a backlash. It's not going to be pretty, particularly with a guy like Skal. So Cal lumps all the players together to make sure the few who may be interested in going don't get hit with that backlash.

I guess I don't understand [first, let me say I don't care one way or another who declares]. So fans don't react well, surprise! Those same fans aren't going to react well when the "final list" comes out after the invitations/conservsations are complete. In other words, the same way it has been the past 7 years.

Having walk-ons declare doesn't hide the fact that some of the NBA-potential players are going to test the waters.

Ringling Brothers.

Nonsense.

Cal.

[Joneslab]

Those same fans aren't going to react well when the "final list" comes out after the invitations/conservsations are complete.

You might have Skal not on any list at all, as he might not get the information he wants. Briscoe and Lee definitely should test it out but it's hard to imagine them getting positive feedback.

Fans are going to be pretty brutal to Skal if he decides to go. There's this feeling that it's undeserved--same as Archie. I actually think it might be worse if Briscoe goes simply because we need him a lot more.

I see this move the same as getting them all in a room and having the press conference together when they decide to go to the NBA. The only times this didn't happen that I recall are Orton and Archie--two players who more than likely went their own direction and didn't get much feedback from Cal. UK protects these players quite a bit.