Cal Needs To Drop Out Of This Labissiere "Complex" Recruiting Battle...Sounds Bad

[Darryl]

Kid may play overseas; handlers everywhere according to multiple UK fans that live in Memphis; and IMO he "ain't" that great.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24636390/skal-labissiere-is-in-the-middle-of-a-really-complex-recruiting-battle

Darryl

[Hoss]

He's not going to get near what Mudiay got, even he he tries that route.

[Darryl]

He's not going to get near what Mudiay got, even he he tries that route.

That is not as much of a concern to me; that handler/host family is trouble "a-brewin" and the NCAA probably has this recruitment on the front burner, especially if he picks UK.

Darryl

[Hoss]

If I know Cal, he was probably drawn to this kid because of what happened to him and his family in Haiti. He does have a good skill set for his size, but not off the charts either. Out of country recruiting is always messy.

[Padukacat]

Like the rest of them....he needs us more than we need him. Tell the handlers they've waited 18 years, they can wait one or two more for a real payday or go somewhere else and cash their 5000 check now. What a joke "handlers" are at the level of a KY recruit, im sure Cal laughs about it honestly.

[JPScott]

Kid may play overseas; handlers everywhere according to multiple UK fans that live in Memphis; and IMO he "ain't" that great.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24636390/skal-labissiere-is-in-the-middle-of-a-really-complex-recruiting-battle

Darryl

I'd actually like to see him try to play overseas. For some reason my guess is that if he's expecting a payday on the order of Emmanuel Mudiay ($1.2 million reportedly, which I still doubt is accurate), then he will be in for a letdown.

Maybe if you're talking Mudiay who was a legitimate top 3 player with a pro-ready body.

But for Labissiere we're talking about a top 15 player in a weak class, at a position where he's going to need to develop his skills and body just to compete on the collegiate level.

I just don't see a professional team investing anywhere near that much money into such a player knowing that he intends to leave after one season.

[Doc]

Kid may play overseas; handlers everywhere according to multiple UK fans that live in Memphis; and IMO he "ain't" that great.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24636390/skal-labissiere-is-in-the-middle-of-a-really-complex-recruiting-battle

Darryl

Emphasis mine

Nothing I've seen or heard suggests the kid is dirty or on the take. Too often that accusation is thrown around without support and I'm not sure why it is in this thread.

[Philly Cat]

Do you think that it's so different in kind -- maybe degree, I'll grant you -- from the kind of recruiting battles that UK wins? Behind almost every HS superstar there are parents and coaches who are hoping to ride his coattails. It may not require hiring a guy as a coach to land the recruit at UK. That's the only way that Andy Kennedy can even be in the running here. But I don't think it's so "complex" -- typical over-hyped, lame journalism by Parish-- that the kid has a coach who promises to exert influence in keeping the kid near home and that a poor kid would think twice about playing pro ball overseas in the WEEK AFTER Emmanuel Mudiay signed a $1.2M contract. The top recruits would be lying (and stupid) if they DIDN'T at least think about it.

[Darrell KSR]

Just have to be cautious about kids in Memphis. I guess you have to be cautious about kids everywhere, but it's well known that Memphis high schools have hanger-ons and handlers, moreso than many other places.

I don't know all of the places, but I do know Memphis pretty well from the football days of Claude Basset, as well as Logan Young and Alabama. Dirty as dirty can be in many ways. I'm sure "clean" kids come out of there, too--but just be careful. Extra careful. If it's my ship, I steer to other waters every time and take my chances elsewhere.

[Darryl]

Just have to be cautious about kids in Memphis. I guess you have to be cautious about kids everywhere, but it's well known that Memphis high schools have hanger-ons and handlers, moreso than many other places.

I don't know all of the places, but I do know Memphis pretty well from the football days of Claude Basset, as well as Logan Young and Alabama. Dirty as dirty can be in many ways. I'm sure "clean" kids come out of there, too--but just be careful. Extra careful. If it's my ship, I steer to other waters every time and take my chances elsewhere.

Great post. Mick and I were talking one day about this and he said that historically the 2 dirtiest overall programs since the mid 1950s are UL and Memphis. I believe it.

Darryl

[blueboss]

I love being a member on this board and provides a wealth of info usually with great insight including projections.

I always chuckle though when I see a thread that starts with what Cal "needs" to do in regards to anything that has to do with recruiting, especially with Sandy Bell and Co behind his already stellar recruiting ability.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Darryl]

I love being a member on this board and provides a wealth of info usually with great insight including projections.

I always chuckle though when I see a thread that starts with what Cal "needs" to do in regards to anything that has to do with recruiting, especially with Sandy Bell and Co behind his already stellar recruiting ability.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A leader is better when there are some surrounding him that have the courage to tell him no. I am unsure if that exists with Cal. Cal thinks
he can help any kid out there and that is admirable. It can cause him problems.

2009 Bledsoe was very borderline. Multiple schools backed off. UK did not. It nearly cost us 35 wins and a whole season.

2010 Kanter: not a single national guy that I remember thought he would ever be eligible

2012 Shabazz: had UK signed him (and the father was absolutely for sale) we are on probation and possibly a season vacated

2014 Mudiay..the story is unfolding exactly as multiple recruiting guys predicted

Not every recruiting saga is dirty; but some are.

I personally would NEVER recruit any kid from Memphis

Darryl

[MTcatfan]

If you listened to Matt Jones today he discussed this "hanger on" issue. Basically he said that Cal tells that players that if you commit to UK, you come to UK by yourself, no entourage, no posse, no AAU coach, no hangers on. He then said that this year there are multiple schools that have basically banded together and told the kids that they have no issue with the hangers on, so if you go to their school your hangers can come with you. So this is appealing to the hangers who are now trying to steer kids away from UK so that they don't lose their influence because they are scared of Jay-Z, Drake, World Wide Wes, etc, so if they are away from their meal ticket for a year or two they will lose their million dollar payday.

[KeithKSR]

Cal is recruiting the kid, but he isn't putting all his eggs in that basket.

[Genuine Realist]

I think there is more than a little back seat driving going on here. Cal knows what he's doing.

[JPScott]

Emphasis mine

Nothing I've seen or heard suggests the kid is dirty or on the take. Too often that accusation is thrown around without support and I'm not sure why it is in this thread.

The way I read the "He ain't that great" part which you emphasized was that he's not so uber-talented that it's worth the risk of dealing with all the handlers etc., when there's other kids out there just as talented but without as many hassles. Which to me is perfectly logical and understandable.

I didn't take it to mean that the kid was necessarily dirty or on the take.

But I guess Darryl can explain what he meant by the remark.

[Darrell KSR]

I think there is more than a little back seat driving going on here. Cal knows what he's doing.

He's not infallible. Better than us, but it doesn't mean we're not right ;).

[blueboss]

A leader is better when there are some surrounding him that have the courage to tell him no. I am unsure if that exists with Cal. Cal thinks
he can help any kid out there and that is admirable. It can cause him problems.

2009 Bledsoe was very borderline. Multiple schools backed off. UK did not. It nearly cost us 35 wins and a whole season.

2010 Kanter: not a single national guy that I remember thought he would ever be eligible

2012 Shabazz: had UK signed him (and the father was absolutely for sale) we are on probation and possibly a season vacated

2014 Mudiay..the story is unfolding exactly as multiple recruiting guys predicted

Not every recruiting saga is dirty; but some are.

I personally would NEVER recruit any kid from Memphis

Darryl



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[blueboss]

A leader is better when there are some surrounding him that have the courage to tell him no. I am unsure if that exists with Cal. Cal thinks
he can help any kid out there and that is admirable. It can cause him problems.

2009 Bledsoe was very borderline. Multiple schools backed off. UK did not. It nearly cost us 35 wins and a whole season.

2010 Kanter: not a single national guy that I remember thought he would ever be eligible

2012 Shabazz: had UK signed him (and the father was absolutely for sale) we are on probation and possibly a season vacated

2014 Mudiay..the story is unfolding exactly as multiple recruiting guys predicted

Not every recruiting saga is dirty; but some are.

I personally would NEVER recruit any kid from Memphis

Darryl

Point taken however IMO Sandy Bell had something to do with Shabazz, and Mudiay, and gave the green light on Bledsoe and Kanter. Enis had the mis fortune and poor timing on Emmerts rise at the NCAA



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[CitizenBBN]

Out of country recruiting is always messy.

As is recruiting in Memphis, in any sport.

[Doc]

The way I read the "He ain't that great" part which you emphasized was that he's not so uber-talented that it's worth the risk of dealing with all the handlers etc., when there's other kids out there just as talented but without as many hassles. Which to me is perfectly logical and understandable.

I didn't take it to mean that the kid was necessarily dirty or on the take.

But I guess Darryl can explain what he meant by the remark.

You read it correct. There are kids in the class as or more talented

[JPScott]

2010 Kanter: not a single national guy that I remember thought he would ever be eligible


I don't remember whether he expected the NCAA to rule in Kanter's favor, but Mike Decourcy certainly believed that Kanter should have been ruled eligible to play at UK.

Of course Decourcy was one of the few (perhaps the only ?) national writer who really studied and learned about Kanter's case in detail.

For those who didn't take the time to do so, who really cares what they thought ?

[KeithKSR]

I don't remember whether he expected the NCAA to rule in Kanter's favor, but Mike Decourcy certainly believed that Kanter should have been ruled eligible to play at UK.

Of course Decourcy was one of the few (perhaps the only ?) national writer who really studied and learned about Kanter's case in detail.

For those who didn't take the time to do so, who really cares what they thought ?

At the time it was expected Kanter would be eligible after serving a short suspension. Leading up to the final appeal ruling in January it was still thought the NCAA would penalize him at most with a one game suspension.

Of course, the NCAA used Kanter in Kentucky's APR calculations and would have penalized the Cats had he not finished coursework.

[blueboss]

Sadly Enis was the one that suffered the most with Emmerts agenda against Cal/Cats


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk