Tag: John Calipari (Page 3 of 4)

      Did Patrick Patterson really declare for the draft?

      April 8, 2010 /

      According to his mother, Tywanna Patterson, he hasn’t made up his mind. Thanks to Vaught’s Views for the quotes.

      “I found out UK released a statement saying Patrick and the four freshmen are leaving for the NBA and will declare for the draft,” said Tywanna Patterson Wednesday night. “I said, ‘Really, nobody told me.”

      “I have a problem with it going out and not being official. It is his decision. He has not declared for the draft and once he does he can’t back out because he declared for the draft last year.”

      “Me personally, I think it is Cal’s way to get recruits to commit and wants to make sure they know John (Wall), DeMarcus (Cousins), Daniel (Orton) and Eric (Bledsoe) are gone along with Patrick,” Tywanna Patterson said. “Pat didn’t know they were sending that statement out tonight.”

      This doesn’t make much sense to me. If Patterson was still thinking about staying at Kentucky for another season, wouldn’t it serve Calipari’s best interests if he played another year? The only way I see this helping him is if he was pretty sure that Patterson was leaving and he wanted to get that news out there so he could land an extra recruit.

      Either way, it’s a pretty slimy thing to do.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Basketball, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Draft

      Kentucky 5 declare for NBA Draft

      April 8, 2010 /

      Five Kentucky Wildcats — John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson, Eric Bledsoe and Daniel Orton — declared for the NBA Draft on Wednesday.

      I’ve referred to these freshmen as “John Calipari’s band of mercenary one-and-doners,” but it’s not their fault. They’re just doing what they can under the current (broken) rules that the NBA has in place. Patterson is the only player to spend more than a season at Kentucky — he’s a junior.

      It’s this kind of exodus that makes a mockery of the college ranks. After failing to make the Final Four despite being a #1 seed entering the tournament, Calipari now has to try to reload as five guys that played nearly two-thirds of his minutes are headed to the NBA. I’m assuming these players attended class regularly and got good grades, otherwise the term student-athlete really wouldn’t fit, right?

      NBADraft.net projects all five players to go in the first round, with John Wall being the best bet to be the top overall pick. DeMarcus Cousins is very talented but has character questions, while Patrick Patterson played his way into the lottery with a very nice season. I think he’s going to make some team in the #8-#12 range very happy.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Basketball, Fantasy Basketball, NBA, NBA Draft

      Bobby Knight calls out John Calipari

      December 18, 2009 /

      Speaking at a fundraiser at the Indiana Hall of Fame, Coach Knight had this to say (via ESPN)…

      “We’ve gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking and that’s why I’m glad I’m not coaching. You see we’ve got a coach at Kentucky who put two schools on probation and he’s still coaching. I really don’t understand that.”

      Finally. Someone of note calls out John Calipari for his long history of shenanigans at the college level. He has had two Final Four appearances vacated by the NCAA after scandals at UMass (Marcus Camby accepted gifts from an agent — probably not Calipari’s fault) and Memphis (Derrick Rose’s SAT — partly Calipari’s fault). He hired Dajuan Wagner’s father as his Coordinator of Basketball Operations, hired Tyreke Evans’s personal strength coach as his administrative assistant, and allowed Rose’s brother to travel with the team for free (another NCAA violation that would have vacated the team’s Final Four appearance even if Rose’s SAT came back clean).

      Knight wasn’t done…

      “Very few people know this, but a kid can play the first semester as a freshman, pass six hours of anything and play in the NCAA tournament without ever attending a class in the second semester. I don’t think that’s right.”

      This is the unseen drawback to the NBA’s one-and-done rule. Freshman that know that they’re going pro the next year have no incentive to go to class during their second semester. This is a great reason why the NBA rule should be altered so that players can come out straight from high school, but if they do enter college, they need to attend for a minimum of two years. That way, there’s at least a chance that they’ll have enough credits to eventually graduate.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      College Basketball, News

      Memphis stripped of 38-win season

      August 20, 2009 /

      Wowsers.

      Per ESPN…

      The NCAA has forced Memphis to give up every victory in its 38-win season under coach John Calipari that ended in the national title game in 2007-08, saying the school used an ineligible player.

      The NCAA did not identify the player by name, though earlier descriptions of him lead to the conclusion it could only be current Chicago Bulls star Derrick Rose, the 2008 No. 1 draft pick who went on to win the NBA rookie of the year award.

      The player was accused of having another person take his SAT exam so he would be eligible as a freshman. Memphis argued it did not have enough information to substantiate the allegations in November 2007 and cleared him to play.

      However, the SAT officials later conducted their own investigation and notified the player, the university and the NCAA’s eligibility center that they were canceling his test in May 2008.

      The agency said it sent letters to the player in March and April 2008; the latter letter was sent three days after Rose and the Tigers lost to the Jayhawks. The player did not respond to either letter.

      I guess that terrific Kansas/Memphis OT title game never really happened…

      Obviously, this is a big deal, but it would have been monstrous if the Tigers had held on and beat the Jayhawks in regulation.

      This is another example of why the NBA should do away with its age-limit rule. Without it, Rose would have likely gone straight to the pros, and the college ranks wouldn’t have to deal with his (allegedly) trying to cheat on his SAT in order to get into college.

      John Calipari strikes again! (His 1996 UMass team was stripped of its Final Four berth.)

      College Basketball

      John Wall picks Kentucky

      May 19, 2009 /

      After a long dance, top high school recruit John Wall is headed to Kentucky to play for John Calipari.

      Wall, ranked the No. 1 point guard, No. 5 overall, on the ESPNU 100, informed Miami coach Frank Haith Tuesday morning that he had committed to Kentucky. The reasoning, according to a source, was because he just wanted to play for Calipari.

      If Calipari had stayed as coach at Memphis, there would have been no drama in Wall’s commitment. Privately, Calipari was convinced Wall would have chosen the Tigers, but the coach’s departure to Kentucky created a soap opera in the renewed recruiting chase.

      Wall teased Duke, and actually gave Miami an informal commitment last week, according to a source close to the situation. But ultimately, the Word of God Christian Academy playmaker out of Raleigh, N.C., didn’t stray from his original plan: He chose to play for Calipari, except the pursuit for a national title will be out of Lexington instead of Memphis.

      According to sources, this had been an issue for Wall’s adviser, Brian Clifton, who likely will be the one to represent Wall when the player eventually declares for the NBA draft.

      A source close to the situation at Duke said multiple times that if Clifton were making the call, Duke would have been selected. But Wall, according to sources, made the decision.

      Dajuan Wagner, Derrick Rose, Tyreke Evans…It’s clear that Wall sees Calipari as a conduit to the NBA, not that he’d have much problem becoming a lottery pick at Duke or Miami. It will be interesting to see how Calipari uses both Wall and Eric Bledsoe, who also recently committed to Kentucky.

      College Basketball, High School Sports, NBA, NBA Draft, News

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