Was Knowles really a surprise at the end of the year?

[FANOFTHE11th]

Sundays C-J's College Basketball Notebook reported that U of L signed Preston Knowles without Rick pitino ever seeing him play. Says he went only on the word of his assistant coaches and current players who matched up with Knowles in pick up games. Pitino was quoted as saying Knowles "caught everybody by surprise and came on strong at the end of the year, and that happens in alot of cases"

 

I am totally at a loss. I thought the kid was stong all year long. When I watched him play in the 5th/3rd against Male (who was then at full strength) I knew for sure he was the real deal as he had an outstanding game against Male's lightning fast Doug Beaumont.

 

Hopefully Billy G will not take our in State talent for granted.

[Log Mountain Boy]

I hope you are right about Billy G. While he needs to get the best players he can across the country, players right here in the state who ARE GOOD ENOUGH would pay huge dividends IMO.

[Log Mountain Boy]

Sundays C-J's College Basketball Notebook reported that U of L signed Preston Knowles without Rick pitino ever seeing him play. Says he went only on the word of his assistant coaches and current players who matched up with Knowles in pick up games. Pitino was quoted as saying Knowles "caught everybody by surprise and came on strong at the end of the year, and that happens in alot of cases"

 

I am totally at a loss. I thought the kid was stong all year long. When I watched him play in the 5th/3rd against Male (who was then at full strength) I knew for sure he was the real deal as he had an outstanding game against Male's lightning fast Doug Beaumont.

 

Hopefully Billy G will not take our in State talent for granted.

 

I watched him play 5 or 6 times during the season. The 2 most impressive games that I got to watch were the Male game and the Mason County regional final game. But I also watched him 3 or 4 times when he was not very impressive. In the Toyota Classic he did not fair very well IMO. Also at the Sweet 16 he did well, but did not light it up. I think he showed he was very talented, but did not show consitency this season. I am very happy for him and wish him the best at UL.

[gold sunrise]

Sundays C-J's College Basketball Notebook reported that U of L signed Preston Knowles without Rick pitino ever seeing him play. Says he went only on the word of his assistant coaches and current players who matched up with Knowles in pick up games. Pitino was quoted as saying Knowles "caught everybody by surprise and came on strong at the end of the year, and that happens in alot of cases"

 

I am totally at a loss. I thought the kid was stong all year long. When I watched him play in the 5th/3rd against Male (who was then at full strength) I knew for sure he was the real deal as he had an outstanding game against Male's lightning fast Doug Beaumont.

 

Hopefully Billy G will not take our in State talent for granted.

 

He has been a starter for GRC for the last 4 years. Of course no suprise to me. Where alot of kids get recogination is at summer all star camps. To my knowledge Preston did not attend any of these. He did play AAU last summer and that started to get his name out some. Also a big help this year was when GRC won the 10th region and played in the State Tourney. Several more schools started recuiting him then.

[Philip Hay]

He has been a starter for GRC for the last 4 years. Of course no suprise to me. Where alot of kids get recogination is at summer all star camps. To my knowledge Preston did not attend any of these. He did play AAU last summer and that started to get his name out some. Also a big help this year was when GRC won the 10th region and played in the State Tourney. Several more schools started recuiting him then.

 

You hit the nail on the head with these two statements. The summer events are the ones that really get the recruiters attention. Then after that it is the state tournament.

 

If you can be in both of these events more than likely you have hit the daily double.

 

PK was a good player last year as a junior, but, I think he really came around to the type of player he could be this season.

[HOMELESS CAMEL]

As I have said, I heard A LOT about him and then when I finally saw him play against Scott in the 10th semi-finals, I was just blown away. Course it goes without saying what he did against my Royals the next day. lol

[hchs]

He has been a starter for GRC for the last 4 years. Of course no suprise to me. Where alot of kids get recogination is at summer all star camps. To my knowledge Preston did not attend any of these. He did play AAU last summer and that started to get his name out some. Also a big help this year was when GRC won the 10th region and played in the State Tourney. Several more schools started recuiting him then.

 

 

Are you sure about him starting for GRC for the past four years? I was under the impression that he didn't play at least one of those years for disciplinary/academic reasons. Just looking for a clarification. Knowles is unquestionably a talented player. Very unselfish player who has the unique ability to be the dominant player on the floor, but who also includes his teammates and makes them better. BUT, he is far from a choirboy as he had a few "problems" along the way off the floor.

 

Had the Cards not won the region this past year, would Coach Humphrey have been criticized for his handling of Mr. Knowles?

 

In retrospect, I think he (Humphrey) did the right thing, as Knowles apparently has seen the light and hopefully will be a real success story...overcoming many obstacles on the road to success. If high schools give up on kids and don't give them second, third, or even fourth chances...who will?

[gold sunrise]

Are you sure about him starting for GRC for the past four years? I was under the impression that he didn't play at least one of those years for disciplinary/academic reasons. Just looking for a clarification. Knowles is unquestionably a talented player. Very unselfish player who has the unique ability to be the dominant player on the floor, but who also includes his teammates and makes them better. BUT, he is far from a choirboy as he had a few "problems" along the way off the floor.

 

Had the Cards not won the region this past year, would Coach Humphrey have been criticized for his handling of Mr. Knowles?

 

In retrospect, I think he (Humphrey) did the right thing, as Knowles apparently has seen the light and hopefully will be a real success story...overcoming many obstacles on the road to success. If high schools give up on kids and don't give them second, third, or even fourth chances...who will?

 

Yes I am possitive he started all four years. You may be thinking of another player, Bo Harris. He didn't play till his senior year, ended up making the Ky all star team and now is having a very successful career at Pikeville under Kelly Wells. Also very successful in the classroom. Very proud of this young man.

To answer your question about would coach Humphrey be criticized, No. He has done a wonderful job with all his players. Coaching is just like being a parent...you must show "tuff love" sometimes in the best interest of the child and for the family. Another thing I love so much about our GRC program is we are a family....through thick and thin, the support is there:thumb:

[gold sunrise]

You hit the nail on the head with these two statements. The summer events are the ones that really get the recruiters attention. Then after that it is the state tournament.

 

If you can be in both of these events more than likely you have hit the daily double.

 

PK was a good player last year as a junior, but, I think he really came around to the type of player he could be this season.

 

PH this is one of the reasons I wanted us to win the region so much this year. Preston is really a great kid, who has great tallent and now given the opportunity to use that tallent to further his education and, and be a real success story. As a parent and a teacher it is what I want for all "my kids".

[FANOFTHE11th]

You hit the nail on the head with these two statements. The summer events are the ones that really get the recruiters attention. Then after that it is the state tournament.

 

If you can be in both of these events more than likely you have hit the daily double.

 

PK was a good player last year as a junior, but, I think he really came around to the type of player he could be this season.

I agree with the summer venues.

 

The problem with the State Tournament is that the Sweet 16 does not have the best 16 teams . Don't get me wroing, I love the Sweet 16, but some regions are weak while others are very strong.

 

There are other venues during the year that recruiters should be paying attention to.

[98NCCalum]

VCU was on him all year.

[Log Mountain Boy]

Are you sure about him starting for GRC for the past four years? I was under the impression that he didn't play at least one of those years for disciplinary/academic reasons. Just looking for a clarification. Knowles is unquestionably a talented player. Very unselfish player who has the unique ability to be the dominant player on the floor, but who also includes his teammates and makes them better. BUT, he is far from a choirboy as he had a few "problems" along the way off the floor.

 

Had the Cards not won the region this past year, would Coach Humphrey have been criticized for his handling of Mr. Knowles?

 

In retrospect, I think he (Humphrey) did the right thing, as Knowles apparently has seen the light and hopefully will be a real success story...overcoming many obstacles on the road to success. If high schools give up on kids and don't give them second, third, or even fourth chances...who will?

 

I thought Humphrey did a great job coaching this year. He benched Knowles at times in big games, which shows a lot of guts. But he proved his point to Knowles and he is a much better player because of it.

[gold sunrise]

I thought Humphrey did a great job coaching this year. He benched Knowles at times in big games, which shows a lot of guts. But he proved his point to Knowles and he is a much better player because of it.

 

:thumb: This is what I ment by "Tuff Love".

[Log Mountain Boy]

:thumb: This is what I ment by "Tuff Love".

 

Yeap. I think the job Humphrey did was amazing with Knowles. I thought that he really grew up and by the comments he made after the regional finals and in the Sweet 16 showed a lot of maturity IMO.

[train3399]

Knowles had a good year...Louisville level? I guess so!