Matt Jones and 247's Jerry Meyer says Cal may go O-fer

[Joneslab]

Evan Daniels ‏@EvanDaniels
All the buzz in Malik Newman's (http://foxs.pt/1yM5QcQ) recruitment has centered around Ben Howland & Mississippi State lately.

Note that all Daniels is doing there is running a search on Fox Sports' site. A couple of links it picked up simply mentioned Howland's hiring.

That said, Kentucky seems to've cut off contact with these guys. Jumped back on Diallo late, had the visit with Ingram, but there was a strange lack of movement.

Could mean one of two things. One is that the staff had a good idea the players aren't coming to UK. Or it could mean the opposite and they didn't feel they needed any sort of late push. (A third option is that there's behind the scenes stuff being done that we don't know about, and that's the case more often than we'd like to think.)

My gut says it's the first and that these remaining guys were just entrenched in other situations so that Cal couldn't pull them out. But there could be a last-second magic act.

[JFCats22]

Jerry Meyer says he believes Newman is picking Miss St

[BBNalldayeveryday]

If Newman picks Miss St. then that just tells me his thought process is along the lines of "I'm going pro next year regardless, so this way I get to showcase myself and be the main option, and I get to stay at home pay homage to my Dad and make the local folks happy."

I would be thinking "I'm going pro next year, and Kentucky's track record is the best at getting players ready for that process and while I'm at it I want to win too and possibly play for a National Title."

Miss St. is going nowhere next season.

[J.Jennings]

If Cal misses out, then what? Do we depend on pure X's and O's coaching next year? Point is, what happens if Cal loses his niche to pull in top recruits year in and year out? If we have to rely on schemes to win basketball games, the ride could get a little rough............

[BBNalldayeveryday]

ESPN Hot Board still predicting Kentucky will land Malik Newman.

[JFCats22]

ESPN Hot Board still predicting Kentucky will land Malik Newman.

Ignore anything and everything ESPN has/says about recruiting. They are the worst at it.

[BBNalldayeveryday]

Ignore anything and everything ESPN has/says about recruiting. They are the worst at it.

Oh ok, will do, thanks.

[JFCats22]

If Cal misses out, then what? Do we depend on pure X's and O's coaching next year? Point is, what happens if Cal loses his niche to pull in top recruits year in and year out? If we have to rely on schemes to win basketball games, the ride could get a little rough............

If (maybe still an if) the roster is:

Poythress
Ulis
Lee
Willis
Hawkins
+
Skal
Briscoe
Matthews
Mulder

Then....ugh, next year could be tough. I don't know where scoring comes from and there is virtually ZERO bench.

Maybe, hopefully, Cal still has some magic left somewhere. It is absolutely shocking to me that these kids watched the run UK went on, saw 7 guys go to the NBA, and still say, "no thanks". I don't get it at all.....

[Joneslab]

If Cal misses out, then what? Do we depend on pure X's and O's coaching next year? Point is, what happens if Cal loses his niche to pull in top recruits year in and year out? If we have to rely on schemes to win basketball games, the ride could get a little rough............

One thing that has to happen regardless of whether we sign anybody else or not: Alex Poythress has to become a consistent player.

Poythress has always showed bursts of being a star. But only bursts. Has to be able to sustain something.

Best-case scenario is that Poythress is the Poythress we saw against Duke his freshman year. Skal is the Skal everybody is suggesting he might be. And Ulis is as good as he was at times last year. And all those guys are healthy and able to play 30+ minutes.

Worst-case scenario is that Poythress is the old Poythress, Skal isn't ready or is ineligible, and Ulis is too small to play the minutes he's going to have to play.

It's not the greatest thing in the world, but we can't cancel the season if it turns out we don't get anybody else. Gonna have to roll the dice. Cal has had to rely on "X's and O's" before. The Brandon Knight team had six guys who could play and went to the Final Four.

[BBNalldayeveryday]

If (maybe still an if) the roster is:

Poythress
Ulis
Lee
Willis
Hawkins
+
Skal
Briscoe
Matthews
Mulder

Then....ugh, next year could be tough. I don't know where scoring comes from and there is virtually ZERO bench.

Maybe, hopefully, Cal still has some magic left somewhere. It is absolutely shocking to me that these kids watched the run UK went on, saw 7 guys go to the NBA, and still say, "no thanks". I don't get it at all.....

Yeah, I keep thinking the same thing. You want to feel like ok, there's something in the works that we just don't know about yet. Starting to look like wishful thinking at this present time though.

[JFCats22]

Malik Newman is announcing Friday at noon at a closed press conference that will be streamed online.

Could be a sign that it's Mississippi State. Kentucky's propensity for having its media show up at even the most far-flung announcements might be part of the thought process there.

• Chris Fisher ‏@ChrisFisher247 2m2 minutes ago
  Don't think Newman announcing in a 'closed' setting is indicative of his decision. Think it says more about his personality than anything.
  
• Jerry Meyer ‏@jerrymeyer247 47s47 seconds ago
  @ChrisFisher247 exclusive to reporter for clario-ledger who has shot a documentary of him for over 2 years.

[Joneslab]

Jerry Meyer says the fact that Newman is announcing at a closed setting is a favor to a Clarion-Ledger reporter who's been making a documentary of Newman for two years and not indicative that he's leaning either way.

[J.Jennings]

If the season started today, I am not as freaked out as others may be. My biggest concern is not another guard or forward, but another quality big to play the post.

[Joneslab]

If the season started today, I am not as freaked out as others may be. My biggest concern is not another guard or forward, but another quality big to play the post.

Need both perimeter scoring and interior depth.

[Matt Dillon]

Not sure how long it's been since anybody's been in to see Newman. The last movement I heard on him was his father talking about Ben Howland's hiring, and those quotes didn't sound too good for UK.

I remember the quotes to which you are referring, Will. In fact, I posted, on here just a few days afterward, that I would not be surprised if Newman chose Miss. St.