They are in a totally different echelon
Unless you are going to play the AAU game (cheat) that is not possible. One think I will say about Frank the man does have integrity. That is why realistically its not possible to get there. You would have to hold more kids like 7 woods home...which I understand is tough. Just going and grabbing McDonalds all americans, well, thats a tough sell when you have not won an NCAA tournament game since Richard Nixon was president
We are in a very major conference, have had some success in basketball, are heavily invested in athletics, and play in one of the better on-campus arena in the country. Our goal should be to compete at the top level.
Coach K is more of a "2 and out" kind of guy...
2 years makes a little more sense. Then kids would have to take at lease one full year of college courses... and hey, they might actually learn something.
I agree that it makes more sense, but we have to play with the system as it currently is. K said he prefers that, but currently he has no problem with bringing in 1 and dones nor do the other blue bloods: unc, uk, Kansas. All of them stack their rosters with those guys.
every other team in the sec can make that same statement, you have to do better than that
I think "some success" is the proper historical perspective, and only a couple of SEC arenas could be deemed better than ours. And I didn't bother to mention that we are situated in an area that regularly turns out multiple players that the Big Boys want - more so than any other conference locality I can think of except maybe LSU due to its proximity to New Orleans. So, no, I really didn't NEED to do better, but I did anyhow. We realistically should be striving to play at the highest level.
Yeah, UK was definitely rolling. That said, the tone was set before the game even started.
But what you do not seem to get that this program is missing... Is SUCCESS. None of these kids care what Happened here in the 1960s. If we had managed to sustain some measure of success since then, our program would be viewed in a more acceptable light by current recruits. We have instead gone on a 30+ year NCAA tournament win DROUGHT. Until we make a run in the NCAA tournament that gets attention and makes these kids think "I can win there", we are selling the same slow that all the other crappy teams out there sell! "Free education" YIPEEE... EARLY PLAYING TIME? Yeahhhhh... I can get that anywhere... These kids can got to KENTUCKY and play as freshmen BECAUSE zoo the one and done environs,ten so why chose us? The answer is they WILL NOT. Until we prove we have the ability to win big. Cannot win big without them (easily), cannot get them until you win big.., catch 22. That is why it is so hard to pull yourself out of the mess we are in and why THIS SEASON when we have seniors and Juniors who are competing at a high level (most nights) is so important! We need to make the dance and win enoh games to turn some heads when we get there. I don't think anybody believe this Is a National championship team, but we could get hot and get some attention and we desperately need THAT.
I've been watching this program since the early 1960s - since I was about 10, so I'm probably as much a "lifer" as you are. We have proven in two different non-contiguous regimes that we can ascend to the top of the college basketball landscape, given the right coach and enough players. Now, we haven't had success in the NCAA tournament and that is a barrier we have to break through. But if we can get in the national conversation twice, then we certainly have the resources now to do it again. And that should be our goal, with higher attainment as part of it. I would believe a coach of Martin's ability, given enough time to establish continuity, can get us there. But if he ultimately proves unable, then our leadership should aim even higher in their selection of the next coach. All the great programs started somewhere.
There's a difference between "take" and "actively recruit." I'm not saying Frank doesn't look at the best players first, but whether or not a kid is willing to come in and learn his system plays a much bigger factor than for a guy like Calipari.
