Marcus Lee, a highly regarded basketball recruit out of California, verbally committed Wednesday to play for Kentucky beginning in the fall of 2013.
The commitment itself was no big deal; high school seniors regularly commit to play for their school of choice during this early-fall period. In fact, you can expect peppered announcements from the nation’s top players between now and Nov. 21, the final day of the early signing period.
However, Lee’s commitment is a very big deal when I tell you he was the fifth high-profile recruit Kentucky head coach John Calipari has raked into his 2013 class.
The Wildcats have already hauled in brothers Aaron Harrison (No. 3 recruit in 2013 class, according to Rivals’ rankings) and Andrew Harrison (No. 4), James Young (No. 9) and local product Derek Willis (No. 127). Lee checks in at No. 16, giving UK the nation’s unequivocal top recruiting class for next season.
They aren’t done, either. The Wildcats are still in the running to nab top talents Julius Randle (No. 1) and Aaron Gordon (No. 5).
As impressive as coach Cal’s recruiting efforts may be, they truly aren’t that surprising.
This is what Calipari has done at Kentucky. He has consistently brought in three or four sure-fire first-round NBA talents and waived them away after just a year or two in Lexington. His 2013 class should be no different.
I hate so much about this strategy, but it’s somehow also become one of my favorite storylines to watch during the college basketball season, for a number of reasons.
I hate the rule that requires these high school studs to make a pit stop at college for just one season; many of them are NBA-ready as 18 year olds, and I think they should be allowed to jump straight to the league if they don’t want to toy around with college.
As Ohio State third-string quarterback Cardale Jones would say, some of these guys simply “ain’t come to play SCHOOL.” You tell ‘em, Cardale.
Stupid rule aside, I won’t sit here and tell you how much I enjoyed watching John Wall streak end-to-end and throw down an emphatic left-handed slam. And I won’t pretend Anthony Davis’ out-of-nowhere blocking ability wasn’t one of college basketball’s most entertaining elements of surprise in recent memory. Simply put, these one-and-done players are a boatload of fun to watch.
On that note, I hate how successfully Calipari has handled the one-and-done rule. I cringe at the thought of other programs adopting a similar approach to Calipari, where rosters full of two-year-maximum players becomes a “thing” in college hoops.
However, I’ll certainly pull for Kentucky to be in the national title conversation every year it carries out that approach. It adds such a unique element to the season, but I think that’s only the case because it’s UK alone who implements the strategy.
I so badly want to despise Calipari’s recruiting tactics and underclassmen-heavy rosters, but they’re ultimately cause for excitement in college hoops. Keep doing your thing, coach Cal.
