JJ Traynor likely picking Louisville this week
- Thread starter bkingUK
- Start date
there's another thread here where a UK fan was bragging about not losing a recruit to UL. I'm too lazy to find it. I think it was just yesterday.
He wasn't an All-American per se, but Darius Miller was a key member of our last Championship team.
....haven't heard of this kid either, don't remember seeing his name under UK recruiting targets.
An All-American in college that's a native of Kentucky. Lofton is the last one that I know of, perhaps I'm missing someone. For being a basketball state, Kentucky hasn't produced a whole lot of talent in the last 10 years or so.
Kentucky is a bball state in the terms of fandom. Kentucky doesn't produce many top tier athletes in any sport. bball/football.
We just don’t have a huge population. More numbers = better chance to produce talent. We’ve never been known to produce a lot of sports talent
There's been some good ones in the past like Wes Unseld, Dave Cowens, Cliff Hagan, Allan Houston, Darrell Griffith, and Derek Anderson.
But in recent memory? Not so much. Chris Lofton, Rajon Rondo, Darius Miller, Shelvin Mack, and Scotty Hopson. Lofton was the only All-American. The best Kentucky players this year are probably Quentin Goodin, James Bolden, and Dwayne Sutton (maybe Terry Taylor of Austin Peay). Good players, but not quite All-American caliber. Just seems like there would be a few more quality players coming from Kentucky.
Rondo and D’Angelo Russell are from Louisville while Shelven Mack is from Lexington
Louisville and Lexington will pop out a star every once in a while but if you’re expecting us to produce like a New York, Georgia, Texas, California, you’re going to be disappointed
Dangelo Russell was probly the closest, most recent. But he played his high school ball at one of those academies in Florida, well his senior year for sure, maybe longer than that idk.
Ah, forgot about Russell. Good catch. He's a legit star.
Yeah, I'm not expecting the same results as New York and California. Just feel like other SEC states like Louisiana and Alabama are doing a little better - and maybe even less-populated like Oklahoma, Iowa, Mississippi, and Utah.
We are right on par with those other states it looks like. Here’s a fun little article, gives a nice breakdown of the demographics of prospects
https://www.google.com/amp/s/watchs...ketball-prospects-it-produces-06-24-2019/amp/
And I’m very intrigued with Traynor. He plays center for his high school team bc well he’s the biggest guy, but he jumped in the rankings from UR to top 75 over the summer bc he got to play the 4 on his aau team where he could show case his versatility, shooting skills, and handle. I’m not expecting him to be a heavy contributor right away, but he has a nice upside and will hopefully develop into a nice player. He’s also Jason Osborne’s (former louisville player) son, if any of y’all remember osbourne (sp?)
Hopefully he picks us we’ve had quite a few whiffs this recruiting cycle.
Hopefully he picks us we’ve had quite a few whiffs this recruiting cycle.
Good stats to examine. Just wish they would take into consideration the actual home state of the players. New Hampshire obviously hasn't had 13 top-100 recruits in the last 5 years. I'm guessing just about everyone one of those 13 kids was at a prep school. Florida certainly benefits from Montverde and IMG, so those numbers are somewhat inflated. Kind of interested in putting together starting lineups of the top 30-40 states for current college basketball players.
Who's your starting 5 for Kentucky? I might go with this lineup...
James Bolden, Alabama
Quentin Goodin, Xavier
Camron Justice, Western Kentucky
Terry Taylor, Austin Peay
Dwayne Sutton, Louisville
I grew up in Campbellsville, I went to city school, the wife went to Taylor Co. Anyway, one of my oldest friends was a guy named Tyrone Jackson, he's the uncle to Quentin Goodin. I've followed his game since he was in middle school @ Taylor Co.
Yeesh, I won’t argue with it but on paper that team is getting smacked by quite a few states
I might be missing someone. I completely overlooked D'Angelo Russell. Maybe one of the incoming freshmen would be more deserving to be on that starting five.
I didn’t know he was Osborne’s son. Remember my dad taking me to see Osborne play vs Scott Padgett In high school I was a kid. Guy was a beast.
With UK players,that goes without saying. They've been paid since the 50's.
I'd take a contract over a title of "All-American" too.
Really think UK should have offered the kid instead of slow playing him. He wasn't gonna scare off any other recruits.
I wonder how much Donatie Allen played a part. We know he's going to be around 3-4 years. I understand one's a SF the other is PF, but 6-6 to 6-8 and 10lbs difference.
I'm just tossing out thoughts.
*note; when Calipari was in Memphis, he constantly got bashed by locals for not prioritizing locals. He recruits from all over.
I could possibly see him not wanting "too many" 4 year players, doesn't seem like too crazy of a theory on your part. If that is his thought, I disagree. Then again, there is a reason I don't make $10mil a year to make these decisions.
That really doesn't say to much. State of Kentucky just doesn't produce that much talent. I mean, that's crazy when you think of it.
With that being said---I have no idea how good Traynor is or is not.
I’ve always wondered how Indiana produces so much more talent than Kentucky. Right across the river, similar population, just as much love for basketball. Never made sense to me but Indiana high school ball is on another level
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