I think it's over. The model has under achieved in the last few years - at UK and Duke. I don't think you can have 4 or 5 freshmen in your top 7 rotation no matter how good they are. The transfer portal has allowed teams to build experienced lineups. That is the problem at UK. 

Recruiting freshman is almost a waste of time now.   You can get 5 in, but you are lucky if 1 is left in 3 seasons.  Transfer portal is the way to build a team now.

13 minutes ago, Tranquility Base said:

Recruiting freshman is almost a waste of time now.   You can get 5 in, but you are lucky if 1 is left in 3 seasons.  Transfer portal is the way to build a team now.

Recruit 2 or 3 studs. Get the rest from the portal.

This is how the team looked preseason. Sheppard, Dillingham, Burks, Hart and probably even Big Z were initially recruited with the expectation that they would all return. 

Reeves 5th year transfer

Mitchell 5th year transfer

Thiero Soph recruit

Onyenso Soph recruit

Bradshaw Freshman recruit 1&D

Wagner Freshman recruit 1&D

Edwards Freshman recruit 1&D

Dillingham Freshman recruit 

Burks Freshman recruit

Shephard Freshman recruit 

Hart Freshman late recruit

Ivisic Freshman late recruit 

Who do to not recruit???

 

You can't blame a kid for leaving if there is high level interest in him. You also can't ask a coach to hold a kid back for "team sake."

Collins, Ware and Frederick were all older players that decided to transfer. They could have added older depth but we probably don't get Mitchell and Thiero may have left if Ware and Collins had stayed.

I get that people want to point fingers after every loss, but I'm not sure what coach or team in America would have turned down any of the top 8 or 9 players on this team.

On 2/10/2024 at 6:40 PM, Voice of Reason said:

I think it's over. The model has under achieved in the last few years - at UK and Duke. I don't think you can have 4 or 5 freshmen in your top 7 rotation no matter how good they are. The transfer portal has allowed teams to build experienced lineups. That is the problem at UK. 

Honestly Cal seemed to lean into having more experience players the last few years IMO and didn’t accomplish much with it. I think he went back more to what he has had success with on this team. Which even though it’s been a struggle the last few weeks, I think this team definitely is very capable of making a run. Every year we see teams make runs that you wouldn’t think at this point.
 

So I don’t think it’s done, because I think this team will show it’s not once the tournament starts. 

It doesn't help that there is a negative vibe towards players who stay for 3 or 4 years in one place, even if they know going in they are 3-4 year guys. 

Teams will always take blue-chip prospects. It is coaching malpractice if you do not and do not fall for the trap that these programs pretend they do not go after these guys. The transfer portal climate allows a coach to be more intentional with immediate roster building. Had UK landed Dickinson, for example, that probably would have changed the entire season. He is not a world-beater, but he fills a void we suspected there might be with this roster; hence, why UK was going hard for his services.

 

Until this year's class, Kentucky has not been landing elite high school recruits for several years. That is a misconception. UK has had players that have over-performed and worked their way into the draft as freshmen (Wallace, Livington, SGA, Herro, etc.).

The elite this year are not very good, unfortunately. The fact Reed Sheppard and Dillingham (both guys I LOVE) are potentially going early-to-mid-lottery, tells you all you need to know about this draft class. The last Ringer mock I saw had Sheppard being the first collegiate player taken, Dillingham the fourth.

I wasn’t sure when I posted this a few minutes ago in the Kentucky basketball thread, but it is probably more fitting here since I believe all of them were one and done. 

9 minutes ago, 16thBBall Fan said:

I wasn’t sure when I posted this a few minutes ago in the Kentucky basketball thread, but it is probably more fitting here since I believe all of them were one and done. 

That picture is awesome on so many levels.

2 hours ago, bugatti said:

That picture is awesome on so many levels.

I would think that it will also continue to help in recruiting.

I am looking at the teams in the Elite 8. I checked minutes played for each of the Elite 8 teams and checked the class of their top 6 players in minutes played. That gives us 48 players. How many freshmen are in the top 6 of these 8 teams? ........ 3, and two of them are on Duke's team who benefited from Houston's best player being injured in the first half. If Houston wins that game, there would be one freshman (Castle, U Conn) in the top 6 players of the Elite 8. 

Here is the breakdown of the class of the Elite 8 top 6:

Seniors ...... 26

Juniors ....... 7

Sophomores ... 12

Freshmen ...... 3

More than half the players are seniors. Two thirds of the players are seniors or juniors.

One and done is dead. Experience wins. In his opening press conference UL coach Pat Kelsey said your roster needs to get old and stay old. I think he is right. I think if I looked at the 8 teams from the sweet sixteen that lost, the numbers would be similar.

UK had 4 freshmen in their top 6 in minutes played. They are loaded up with freshmen again with 6 incoming in 2024-25. Not good. UK needs Sheppard, Wagner, Edwards and Bradshaw to return 

On 2/11/2024 at 7:33 PM, futurecoach said:

Honestly Cal seemed to lean into having more experience players the last few years IMO and didn’t accomplish much with it. I think he went back more to what he has had success with on this team. Which even though it’s been a struggle the last few weeks, I think this team definitely is very capable of making a run. Every year we see teams make runs that you wouldn’t think at this point.
 

So I don’t think it’s done, because I think this team will show it’s not once the tournament starts. 

Follow futurecoach for more team-building advice. 

1 hour ago, mcpapa said:

Follow futurecoach for more team-building advice. 

Ha yeah that didn’t work out to well. ??

On 2/13/2024 at 9:35 AM, bugatti said:

Until this year's class, Kentucky has not been landing elite high school recruits for several years. That is a misconception. UK has had players that have over-performed and worked their way into the draft as freshmen (Wallace, Livington, SGA, Herro, etc.).

The elite this year are not very good, unfortunately. The fact Reed Sheppard and Dillingham (both guys I LOVE) are potentially going early-to-mid-lottery, tells you all you need to know about this draft class. The last Ringer mock I saw had Sheppard being the first collegiate player taken, Dillingham the fourth.

If what you say is true that tells me how weak the NBA really is.