Exactly. I mean Calipari is selling the same thing Jeff Capel is. He's selling kids on himself, his system, that he will get them to where they want to be which is the NBA. They are selling the exact same thing. The delivery is just different. I don't like Calipari either but I can see where he/his program is appealing.
We've all bought something from a salesperson that turned out sleazy. We didn't know at the time or wanted the product bad enough that we bought it anyways....right?
And to a 17 year old kid Calipari is probably a cool dude. Probably about as cool as a guy/coach gets to some of these kids.
Great convo...I suspected there would be some well said posts that disagreed with me. Like I said, I know my feelings on it are likely in the minority. But I sincerely, 100% do not believe he is selling kids the same things Jeff Capel is. In fact, given his track record and his associations I wouldn't be surprised if he is actually buying, not selling. The guy is slime...period. If anyone disagrees with me on that, you are certainly entitled to your opinion but please don't argue with me about it. I feel very strongly about it and don't honestly care to debate it (just being honest).
And as far as his track record, how is it that good? Seriously, what has he really accomplished that is worth all the hype. If you count the vacating of wins due to major infractions, he's never been to a Final Four. He's never coached at a high major. For all the time he was at Memphis, and for all the great recruiting classes he put together, I can think of 5 guys who played for him who are in the league (Derrick Rose, Chris Douglas-Roberts, Shawne Williams, Rodney Carney and Joey Dorsey) and one from UMass (Camby). Of those guys, how many improved while they were at Memphis? I'll give him CDR (even though I think he shouldn't get credit for that. The rest of them left as pretty much the exact same player they were when they arrived. He always allows shady associations within his program (if he doesn't flat out encourage it). I honestly just don't see what there is about the guy that would be impressive to any kid that I would pull for. Its sort of like a guy choosing Drew Rosenhaus for an agent. Sure its a good decision for them personally, and I can't fault them for that, but it still kind of tells me something about that guy...you know?
And as far as UK goes, I can see the tradition and passion for hoops being appealing to just about anyone. But that place has an enormous amount of bad associations with it, both historically and recently. From Adolph Rupp's racism, to them being slow to integrate, from Sutton's "Bills for Mills" fiasco, to them a two time cheater and slime ball in Calipari, from the joke that was the entire rise and demise of Billy Clyde, to the way the classiest coach they've ever had (and a damn fine, CHAMPIONSHIP WINNING coach) was run out of town (Tubby Smith, there is a long, long line of UK displaying the ugly side of collegiate sports.
So anyway, I say all that just to say that as far as I'm concerned whether it means a kid is just a rotten kid or whether a kid just can't see through what Coach Cal is selling doesn't really matter to me. If they make the biggest decision of their life and decide to side with that guy and that program, then I don't think they are the type of kid that I really want to get behind anyway. That doesn't mean that there haven't been players at OU that I've really liked that are exactly the same as those kids. But I only have a limited number of ways to decide what I think of these kids. In fact (and I don't want to derail this too badly), the two years that we had Taj and Everett were two of the bleakest years of my OU fandom. I absolutely hated those teams and never felt good about those guys (no need to get into all of that, lets just say its my opinion), so I don't limit these things to just Cal and UK. Anyway, I don't wish kids ill just because they go to UK. But if Jones or Lamb went to UK over OU, I swear to you that I would exhale and breath a sigh of relief and think, "Man, I sure did want them but it feels like we dodged a bullet there."
We all attribute things to sports we love that make the sport more significant and legitimate, and less like a game played by teenagers. One of mine is that I don't ever want to value players just because of their talent, or coaches just because of their win-loss record, or teams just because of their tradition or profile. I know that I need to feel a degree of pride in things about the players, coaches and admin that have nothing to do with going out and winning. Its just part of my hard-wiring. I am originally from San Diego and I'm a huge Chargers fan, but I have absolutely hated them for years because they are gutless punks (most of them, that is).
Anyway, I don't blame Jones or Lamb for visiting UK and having them on their final list. But if they were to choose them, my disappointment would be in them and not in them not being Sooners.
Hope that made a tiny bit of sense.
