LEXINGTON, Ky. — The fall recruiting period for college basketball coaches is only a couple of weeks away, and Kentucky coach John Calipari made it clear Thursday that he’s already planning another one of his whirlwind trips as the 2017 cycle enters the next stage.
“We go out to recruit on (Sept.) the 9th. I’ll be gone for at least five straight days,†he said. “Probably in five straight days hit 12 different states, get done what I gotta get done, because if I’m not in the first week, what do you think these other schools are saying? ‘Well, if you were important to him, he’d have been here already.’ So I gotta go and just hit three states in one day. We’re not recruiting that many kids. I think it’s eight or nine kids. But I gotta hit ’em all within the first four or five days.â€
Calipari is exactly right about the optics of these fall recruiting visits. If he really likes a player and doesn’t get in his home or high school right away, other college coaches who do will start the “you’re not a really a priority for Kentucky†line of negative recruiting.
That happens every year, and — with the near certainty that Calipari will have more spots than usual to fill in this cycle — he must be proactive in making his top guys feel like, well, top guys.
So who are those top guys?
There are 14 players in the Class of 2017 who have received confirmed scholarship offers over the course of this cycle. Calipari basically said Thursday that he’s locked in on eight or nine of those players.
Here’s a look at who’s probably a priority and who’s probably not.
“We go out to recruit on (Sept.) the 9th. I’ll be gone for at least five straight days,†he said. “Probably in five straight days hit 12 different states, get done what I gotta get done, because if I’m not in the first week, what do you think these other schools are saying? ‘Well, if you were important to him, he’d have been here already.’ So I gotta go and just hit three states in one day. We’re not recruiting that many kids. I think it’s eight or nine kids. But I gotta hit ’em all within the first four or five days.â€
Calipari is exactly right about the optics of these fall recruiting visits. If he really likes a player and doesn’t get in his home or high school right away, other college coaches who do will start the “you’re not a really a priority for Kentucky†line of negative recruiting.
That happens every year, and — with the near certainty that Calipari will have more spots than usual to fill in this cycle — he must be proactive in making his top guys feel like, well, top guys.
So who are those top guys?
There are 14 players in the Class of 2017 who have received confirmed scholarship offers over the course of this cycle. Calipari basically said Thursday that he’s locked in on eight or nine of those players.
Here’s a look at who’s probably a priority and who’s probably not.
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