bugatti

Assuming Sheppard goes top 10, that’s at least $4M in the bank. He would have to be one of if not the top college earner to make that amount.

Maybe you’re right. We will see. Filipowski was not a lock lottery pick. Even if he was, the point is still the same. I do believe NIL allows for those fringe players a suitable avenue to return to school.

This is not a knock on him, but I’m not sure his draft stock is as high as we believe. He has not gone through the draft process where his measurables probably won’t be the best. But yes, he should go. When was the last time a lottery pick returned to play college?

Now wouldn’t that be some kind of poetic justice.

He has to go to UL as the ultimate heel move. Do it for the love of college basketball, Cal! At that point, I would advocate for a UK press conference and over the loud speakers blares “I am a real American…” and Pitino comes out of the tunnel.

I assume he has some feelers out there. How many jobs are available that he would even consider?

So awesome! Thanks for the updates, BGP team.

More than I thought. Seriously.

Let’s gooooo!

I am not defending the behavior, but what exactly is breaking news here? Maybe the relationship with the donors and media members, but I’m not sure what that really means. On a somewhat personal story side, my wife’s friend’s dad in Frankfort was recently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. I can’t think these people are big donors, but maybe fans. Anyways, he received a letter on Monday from Calipari wishing him well with his battle. He passed a couple days ago. I get he probably didn’t write the letter and probably just signed it, but that’s really cool.

I know you’ve said this before, but I’m not seeing the parallel and think you’re discounting the travel demands of the coach and staff. Coaches are not GMs. College is now filled with a lot more uncertainty.

What's ironic is that Jay Wright was the poster child for early flameouts in the NCAA tournament until he finally broke through. Bill Self before him. Now, Calipari is on the front cover of "Early Flameout" magazine.

Assuming Cal will be back, but I would go off the radar and ask Dawn Staley. There just isn't a large pool of up-and-coming coaching talent, so swing for the fences.

Nailed it. Two things can be true: Calipari coached these guys well, but his coaching is not meant for this era. Procuring talent (a MAJOR part of coaching college basketball), looks differently than what it was even five years ago. You still take the Cooper Flaggs and high caliber guys, but you have to be much more strategic in how you build a roster today. UK does look poised with their new collective setup to (maybe) make this happen, but a new person leading the charge is probably necessary.

I mean, the numbers are correct (and are bad), but cherry picked info like this always drives me insane. Each year you show all of what happened in the postseason, except 2019, when you show only the final game when UK lost in the Elite 8 (believe it was OT), They also lost in the quarters of the SEC tournament that season. 8 of their last 13 is more accurate. Not saying that is good, btw. RE: 2020. UK would have had a shot and probably come up short like 66 other teams, it’s just irritating when people cite 2020 as a bad season or hold it against the resume when the truth is UK won the SEC by three games and was locked into a #2 seed. And this isn’t a defense of Calipari, it’s in defense of intellectual honesty.

I believe universities, in general, are in a weird spot. You have a diminishing product (college bball) with some ridiculous salaries. Who knows what college hoops will look like in five years, or if it will even exist as we know it today?

Interesting. Wonder if he tweaked something in the off week. This game was made for him.

Correct. And as I’ve said, he and Dillingham being projected as high as they are is not about how great they are, but how terrible this draft is. Especially for American born players. It’s real bad, people.

Tried telling y’all. - Zero evidence any type of defensive stop could be made when it counted most down the stretch. Teams like that don’t win in big moments which is why UK going down isn’t a total shock. - I nearly puked when I saw Mitchell was starting. Yeah, I know his numbers looked good in the end and he tried, but I just haven’t been a fan of the chemistry with him on the court. Maybe had Thiero started alongside of him I’d been more pleased. The 7 footers did not belong in this game. - Not a good night for the Sheppardites. - Ironically, I thought UK defended ok in the first half. You’re being dishonest with yourself if you simply can’t give it up for Goehlke going next level nuclear. More than half of his makes were highly contested. All you can do is shake his hand and play on. - UK had a good thing going on offense, but the lack of interior skill didn’t allow a high enough conversion rate. - Did Theiro kick Calipari’s dog or something? Almost like he was dog housed for this game. - Cal can go on into his emeritus role.

Now THAT would open up the field.

Izzo is always good for a game like this. It has become the norm. His team underperforms all year, wins a mild-upset game in the tournament, and people convince themselves he is one of the greatest coaches to ever live. "You never count out Izzo in March." We generally can, actually.

It is always refreshing to bring Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, and the rest of the TNT NBA folks to discuss teams in the tournament when it is obvious they have not watched more than five minutes of college basketball collectively all season.

I'll admit. I am not feeling good about this one. Mostly it is because I do not like how UK is constructed, but I am holding out hope that NBA talent (albeit, not great NBA talent) will rise and carry UK for as long as this goes.

"Bizarre story indeed." - Pete Rose

I hear you. As much as I rail on the poor play of college basketball and the tournament being an inverted pyramid of excitement, I am a sucker each year for these first four days of the tournament.