Jermaine Lawrence asks for release

[Bearcat22]

True....not a single player in 8 seasons. Can't give him credit for Lance since he was only here 1 year and he was "Born Ready" for the NBA.

Along those lines, would you give John Calipari credit for all the one and done players he's had a Memphis and UK?

 

[L-T]

Along those lines, would you give John Calipari credit for all the one and done players he's had a Memphis and UK?

Not really. Those players would have been drafted, but because of the one year rule, Kentucky got to rent them for a season. They were going to the NBA with or without Calipari.

When I see a guy like Kenyon Martin go No.1, or someone like Steve Logan gets drafted, those are great examples where a coach makes a huge difference. SK might be Mick's first, but he's not a lock by any means.

 

[Robert]

True....not a single player in 8 seasons. Can't give him credit for Lance since he was only here 1 year and he was "Born Ready" for the NBA.

That's something people don't seem to want to talk about. Mick does more with less and brings in under-the-radar, blue-collar recruits that we all love. But to get to the level of contending for national titles, you need NBA talent. I hope we have some on this team.

 

[Bearcat22]

Not really. Those players would have been drafted, but because of the one year rule, Kentucky got to rent them for a season. They were going to the NBA with or without Calipari.

When I see a guy like Kenyon Martin go No.1, or someone like Steve Logan gets drafted, those are great examples where a coach makes a huge difference. SK might be Mick's first, but he's not a lock by any means.

I think that's a fair standard to go by. The next few recruiting classes (2014 and forward) might represent Mick's best chance to have players drafted.

 

[L-T]

That's something people don't seem to want to talk about. Mick does more with less and brings in under-the-radar, blue-collar recruits that we all love. But to get to the level of contending for national titles, you need NBA talent. I hope we have some on this team.

It's a great attribute to be able to do something with inferior talent, and this year's team was a prime example of that. But, Mick's reputation when we hired him was as a "great" recruiter. What we got was someone that is definitely not a great recruiter, but is actually a pretty good coach, because he wins with lesser talent. Wouldn't you love to see what he could do with great talent? But, I definitely have a huge concern going forward if he is unable to convince great players to come here. We'll have some nice seasons like this past one, but we'll have a lot of mediocre ones as well. That's not what I expected when we hired him.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

True....not a single player in 8 seasons. Can't give him credit for Lance since he was only here 1 year and he was "Born Ready" for the NBA.

Why can't he get credit for Lance? Does Calipari get credit for all his one and doners? It doesn't seem like you have noticed skilled players who go on to play professionally don't play but a couple of years of college ball. Mick has taken kids and graduated them and in some cases sent them to play professionally overseas. I'm good with that. To insinuate he doesn't improve players is not accurate. If Mick was able to land the same talent that Calipari does his results would be the same or better then his. But because they only stay a year or two he wouldn't get credit for developing them.The Question is could Calipari get the same results Mick does with his talent and resources?

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

It's a great attribute to be able to do something with inferior talent, and this year's team was a prime example of that. But, Mick's reputation when we hired him was as a "great" recruiter. What we got was someone that is definitely not a great recruiter, but is actually a pretty good coach, because he wins with lesser talent. Wouldn't you love to see what he could do with great talent? But, I definitely have a huge concern going forward if he is unable to convince great players to come here. We'll have some nice seasons like this past one, but we'll have a lot of mediocre ones as well. That's not what I expected when we hired him.

Nothing wrong with Micks recruiting. He brings in good kids develop's and graduates them. He has rebuilt this program and gotten good results. Very pleased to be a fan of this program.

 

[L-T]

Why can't he get credit for Lance? Does Calipari get credit for all his one and doners? It doesn't seem like you have noticed skilled players who go on to play professionally don't play but a couple of years of college ball. Mick has taken kids and graduated them and in some cases sent them to play professionally overseas. I'm good with that. To insinuate he doesn't improve players is not accurate. If Mick was able to land the same talent that Calipari does his results would be the same or better then his. But because they only stay a year or two he wouldn't get credit for developing them.The Question is could Calipari get the same results Mick does with his talent and resources?

I give Mick credit for landing Lance and getting him to come here. 98% of his players have stayed here 4 years and some of them came here with 4 and 5 stars next to their name, and none of them made the NBA, and none of the 3 star guys did either. That would be a huge question mark if I was thinking about coming here as a recruit. I don't think a lot of the great coaches could do better than he has with lesser talent....including Calipari. But, they can certainly out-recruit him. I think it's a lot more than resources. Over the last 5-6 years, we've watched these low and mid major teams do great in the tournament with talent that is far better than we watch here. They don't have resources, and they don't play in as good of a conference, yet they get very good talent on their roster.

There are coaches out there at all levels with a dynamic personality, that have a salesman mentality, and they land good players. I don't think Mick is very dynamic in his how he projects himself, nor do I sense tremendous self confidence. I do sence a bulldog mentality and toughness and that is the kind of player he likes to recruit and he coaches that kind of player up very well. If everyone is happy with that, then there's no issue. I just would love to see how he would do with a highly talented roster, but we'll never get to see that until his recruiting improves.

 

[Robert]

Nothing wrong with Micks recruiting. He brings in good kids develop's and graduates them. He has rebuilt this program and gotten good results. Very pleased to be a fan of this program.

There's nothing wrong with it if you don't mind having good, but not great teams. But, to Mick's credit, he knows we need to land more talented recruits, which is why he is pushing so hard for a renovated arena. It will also help if we are able to get an invite to a power 5 conference. Mick will always get the blue-collar guys who do the dirty work, but to win a championship, he has to find more guys who can put the ball in the bucket.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

If UC had legit offensive talent, they'd be as successful as Louisville.

 

[jacobkdoyle]

For Lawrence specifically, which elite programs/coaches would have been able to make him more successful THIS PAST season?

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

I give Mick credit for landing Lance and getting him to come here. 98% of his players have stayed here 4 years and some of them came here with 4 and 5 stars next to their name, and none of them made the NBA, and none of the 3 star guys did either. That would be a huge question mark if I was thinking about coming here as a recruit. I don't think a lot of the great coaches could do better than he has with lesser talent....including Calipari. But, they can certainly out-recruit him. I think it's a lot more than resources. Over the last 5-6 years, we've watched these low and mid major teams do great in the tournament with talent that is far better than we watch here. They don't have resources, and they don't play in as good of a conference, yet they get very good talent on their roster.

There are coaches out there at all levels with a dynamic personality, that have a salesman mentality, and they land good players. I don't think Mick is very dynamic in his how he projects himself, nor do I sense tremendous self confidence. I do sence a bulldog mentality and toughness and that is the kind of player he likes to recruit and he coaches that kind of player up very well. If everyone is happy with that, then there's no issue. I just would love to see how he would do with a highly talented roster, but we'll never get to see that until his recruiting improves.

who are these other 4 and 5 star recruits. I can only think of 2. Yancy and Lawrence. Maybe Cash but injuries hurt him. You want to cherry pick a mid major doing well in tournament as a means to judge him. You have to look at the whole body of work. He has built this into a very good program that will last. It improves every year. He graduates guys,makes the Dance. It's time the resource improve and the administration help him take the next step. Give him something to sell.

 

[Bcatfollower]

There's nothing wrong with it if you don't mind having good, but not great teams. But, to Mick's credit, he knows we need to land more talented recruits, which is why he is pushing so hard for a renovated arena. It will also help if we are able to get an invite to a power 5 conference. Mick will always get the blue-collar guys who do the dirty work, but to win a championship, he has to find more guys who can put the ball in the bucket.

We were in one of the best conferences in the country and that didn't seem to help. I agree that an arena would help but he really needs to get some more guys to the nba to increase the visibility and brand of u.c. especially because there isn't a ton of local talent that gross up as u.c. fans.

 

[Bcatfollower]

who are these other 4 and 5 star recruits. I can only think of 2. Yancy and Lawrence. Maybe Cash but injuries hurt him. You want to cherry pick a mid major doing well in tournament as a means to judge him. You have to look at the whole body of work. He has built this into a very good program that will last. It improves every year. He graduates guys,makes the Dance. It's time the resource improve and the administration help him take the next step. Give him something to sell.

Shaq was a 4

 

[L-T]

who are these other 4 and 5 star recruits. I can only think of 2. Yancy and Lawrence. Maybe Cash but injuries hurt him. You want to cherry pick a mid major doing well in tournament as a means to judge him. You have to look at the whole body of work. He has built this into a very good program that will last. It improves every year. He graduates guys,makes the Dance. It's time the resource improve and the administration help him take the next step. Give him something to sell.

Yancy was a 5, Darnell Wilks and Biggie McClain were 4s, just off the top of my head. Darnell and Biggie did make the Globetrotters, so they at least made a living with their UC training.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

We were in one of the best conferences in the country and that didn't seem to help. I agree that an arena would help but he really needs to get some more guys to the nba to increase the visibility and brand of u.c. especially because there isn't a ton of local talent that gross up as u.c. fans.

I could careless if he gets guys to the NBA. I want a competitive team, that graduates it players,with a nice Arena to watch them in. I don't want a Kentucky program.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Yancy was a 5, Darnell Wilks and Biggie McClain were 4s, just off the top of my head. Darnell and Biggie did make the Globetrotters, so they at least made a living with their UC training.

after watching Biggie and Wilks play are you really going to tell me they were 4 star recruits.

 

[Bearcat_NTS]

Yancy was a 5, Darnell Wilks and Biggie McClain were 4s, just off the top of my head. Darnell and Biggie did make the Globetrotters, so they at least made a living with their UC training.

Alvin Mitchell was a 4 star as well...

 

[Bearcat04]

I could careless if he gets guys to the NBA. I want a competitive team, that graduates it players,with a nice Arena to watch them in. I don't want a Kentucky program.

If you aren't getting guys to the the NBA then it's going to be a struggle to land top 50 players, which makes it that much more difficult to advance in March. You should definitely care if the coach can recruit or develop NBA-level players.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Shaq was a 4

Shaq is still her and unless he makes a effort to get him self right physically he will never realize his full potential. He gets coaching and minutes and has not done a lot with either. Does the player bear any responsibility. Not every player responds to coaching. They didn't under Huggins and they won't under Mick. I had a guide line I used for my kids, if I want you to do well more then you want it for yourself, we will never be successful and our relationship will suffer. I can apply that to Yancy and Shaq.