ADVERTISEMENT

Diallo to Kentucky?

S

Sean Miller Fan

Lair Hall of Famer
Oct 30, 2001
69,495
22,593
113
Some of us predicted this would happen when Slice left for UK and his quote from this article seems to think he'd like to go to Kentucky and is just waiting to see how much playing time he'll get depending on who leaves:



A native of Mali, Diallo played at Our Savior New American in Centereach, averaging 19 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks per game. He is down to his final five college choices, with St. John's, Pittsburgh, Kansas, Kentucky and Iowa State in the running. Diallo said his college decision is coming soon, but he is waiting on a few other choices to be made before he determines where he wants to go. "I'm just thinking about it, but I'm not 100 percent now. Not sure yet," he said. "I'm waiting to know which players are going to the NBA or which players are staying. So that's what I'm waiting for."

Some have wondered why its taking so long for Diallo to make up his mind? Is he waiting to see what Hoiberg does? Isn't the most likely scenario that he's waiting to see who goes pro from Kentucky? That's what this quote sounds like. I guess if the UK guys come back, we have a better shot but there's simply no way we'll beat out Calipari if Diallo is going to get major minutes there.
 
Even if Slice were at Pitt, it would matter not. That point was irrelevant. Given the choice between any school and UK, most kids who think tey would get time at UK are going to UK.
 
The truth is, we don't get these kinds of players. It's one thing to elevate our recruitibg by signing kids in the 40-100 range-and we could solve a a lot of problems with those guys.

The top 20 players? Not likely. Never has been, never will be. I have never put any stock in our chances with this kid, and I would hope our coaches were just as realistic as well.

Hope we have a strong Plan B-that's where we have really dropped the ball the past couple of years.
 
If Slice was still here, then we probably would have signed him in the fall signing period. Also, Heron became interested in Pitt because of Slice. Stop sugar coating it - losing him hurt the program.
 
You are living in la-la land. You mean the same Slice that locked up Haughton? Yeah, nice. This kid can go anywhere he wants, no assistant coach would keep him away from UK.
 
Pay him more than Calipari is paying!

We have a new admin and the ACC money, let's join the party!
 
Originally posted by KiwiJeff:

You are living in la-la land. You mean the same Slice that locked up Haughton? Yeah, nice. This kid can go anywhere he wants, no assistant coach would keep him away from UK.
Click to expand...
Kentucky wasn't on his list before Slice went there. So, while I agree Calipari gets almost anybody he wants no matter who his assistants are or who is recruiting the player, there's no guarantee Calipari would have "selected" Diallo if Slice didn't go there. I'm sure Slice told him, "I know Diallo, we can get him here." Then, all of a sudden he's considering Kentucky. Calipari can only take a limited amount of players and there are many top players that he can't offer or spend a great deal of time recruiting. So, its not some foregone conclusion that Cal could have landed Diallo without Slice. If he stayed here, there's also no guarantee we get him but there surely would have been a much better chance.

As for Haughton, yea, a really bad recruit but he was hired late in the recruiting cycle with no relationships built with any decent recruits. At a school like Pitt, you need a 2-3 year relationship. Nobody expected him to bring great players last year. Though there's little excuse to give Haughton a free 2 semesters. Slice played an instrumental role in our rise by landing Fields, Ramon, Krauser, Taft, and Benjamin plus a few non-NYC kids.
 
Even I could recruit for Kentucky and I haven't played or coached a game in over 50 years, so let's get off of this bs about Slice. Just for the record, I would have missed on Haughton.
 
Give me a break. Every McD's player has UK on their radar, and vice versa, no matter who the assistants are. If Slice were at Pitt, and I was an assistant at UK, pretty sure I could beat out Slice to get the MVP of the McD's game, especially if UK wins the NC and has 3 centers go to the NBA.

You guys really have delusions of someone else's grandeur.
 
Originally posted by KiwiJeff:

Give me a break. Every McD's player has UK on their radar, and vice versa, no matter who the assistants are. If Slice were at Pitt, and I was an assistant at UK, pretty sure I could beat out Slice to get the MVP of the McD's game, especially if UK wins the NC and has 3 centers go to the NBA.

You guys really have delusions of someone else's grandeur.
Click to expand...
They didn't start recruiting him till Slice got there. So, think what you want, but that's a fact. Could Calipari have started recruiting him at some point anyway? Could he have come in late in April and "selected" him without ever really recruiting him? Yea but its not a guarantee. Not every McD AA goes to UK. Its impossible. DeAngelo Russell, who is from KENTUCKY, went to a non-blue blood Ohio State. It happens.
 
He was a heavy Pitt lean when Slice was here. He probably would have signed in the Fall signing period. UK was lukewarm on him at that point. Heron is a verbal to us because of Slice - Fact. Slice is also a good big man coach.

Slice is not the be all end all, but he was a good recruiter and coach for us.
 
Originally posted by Piranha:
He was a heavy Pitt lean when Slice was here. He probably would have signed in the Fall signing period. UK was lukewarm on him at that point. Heron is a verbal to us because of Slice - Fact. Slice is also a good big man coach.

Slice is not the be all end all, but he was a good recruiter and coach for us.
Click to expand...
I know this.....given the choice between Bill Barton and Slice, I know what the answer is.
 
Cal didn't need Slice to tell him Diallo can play and he didn't need Slice to get UK involved with him. Not bashing Slice but guys like Diallo are no brainers to teams like UK.
 
as Ive said before we DONT get those guys...we don't cheat or pay enuff $$....so time to move on.
 
Originally posted by pittizit:
as Ive said before we DONT get those guys...we don't cheat or pay enuff $$....so time to move on.
Click to expand...
You think Kentucky has to pay money to get these guys?

If a recruit even hints at something shady, Cal can just move along to the next McD's All-American recruit.

These kids would probably pay Cal for the way he'll get them to the NBA.

There's no incentive for UK and Cal to cheat. It's not worth it. Getting sanctions over the #5 player in the class when they can just move on and accept the commitment from the #6 player? That's a no brainer.
 
Right, because Cal would never be involved in anything shady...

and I don't think Diallo was ever a heavy Pitt lean.
 
Calipari has little or nothing to do with getting McDonalds AAs to the NBA. As long as they are NBA talent they will get there anyway. It won't really matter who is their one or two and done college coach. The kids are simply naive (teens usually are naive) in believing Calipari makes that difference.

But it is what it is. He is a great salesman with a great line of BS to sell. Kentucky and a shot at the championship puts the cherry on top of the pile of BS to make the pitch almost irresistible and that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy!
 
Diallo isn't even signing a LOI, but if Slice was here he'd have done so in the fall? Get out of here.
 
Reply

Which is precisely why he is a good recruiter/salesman. Hype and fluff works. Hail to Pitt!
 
Reply

So is a coach "shady" because an agent gave money to one of his players? Hail to Pitt!
 
Re: Reply

Originally posted by PITTLAW:
So is a coach "shady" because an agent gave money to one of his players? Hail to Pitt!
Click to expand...
Nothing has ever been proven against Calipari. An agent gave Camby stuff. Rose cheated on his SAT's. It would seem likely that Calipari knew about that stuff but it couldn't be proven. All people have against Calipari is he "probably" cheated, but that's it. At this point, whether he did in the past or not, he doesn't have to anymore. He's a legend. And in my dream scenario he rides back into Pittsburgh on a white horse to lead the Panthers to multiple National Championships to get his face sculpted on Mount Washington along with Mario Lemieux, Roberto Clemente, Tony Dorsett, Dan Marino, Art Rooney, Terry Bradshaw, Ben Roethlisberger, etc. Maybe he wants to be a Pittsburgh legend.
 
Originally posted by GENAC:

If a recruit even hints at something shady, Cal can just move along to the next McD's All-American recruit.
Click to expand...
Theoretically yes, but it doesn't seem as though he has. 2 of the more publicly shady recruitments in recent years resulted in kids going to Kentucky (Skal Labissiere and Anthony Davis).

Who knows, maybe Anthony Davis' family decided to waive their six-figure asking price just because he's John Calipari and maybe Gerald Hamilton, who specifically asked people how to profit off of HS basketball players, decided he'd make an exception for Calipari, but I'd doubt it.
 
"Heavy Pitt lean?" B.S. Let's discuss the real issue here......

since getting a guy like Diallo to Pitt would be a historic departure from our norm, and therefore is highly unlikely to occur, what other irons does our staff have in the fire? Where is the strong Plan B? Or are we headed for another last second grab at the next Haughton? That is what has led us to where we are today.

this is the problem--it's OK to chase a dream like Diallo--but you'd better be putting some real time and energy into a viable fallback--and take that fallback without hesitation if you should be so lucky to get him, even if you feel like holding a ship in long odds hopes that Diallo will choose you over the rest of the world.

My biggest issue is I just don't see a clear strategy or plan for recruiting and roster building. If there is one, it sure isn't discernible from the recruiting info we have access to.
 
GENAC posted on 4/2/2015...
There's no incentive for UK and Cal to cheat.


Yes there is. Kentucky can always get some of the best players, but Calipari still has to battle Duke, NC, Kansas etc. for the very best. He now has to get the very best every year now to maintain the image he has built at Kentucky.
 
Reply


And as mentioned by SM, there is no evidence that Calipari knew. All there ever needs to be is plausible deniability...and everyone takes the off ramp. Hail to Pitt!
 
FWIW, an NBA scout expects 7 Kentucky players to declare for the NBA. Towns, Cauley-Stein, Harrison twins, Lyles, Booker, and Dakari Johnson. 4 post players.

Skal Labissiere's eligibility is also in question and there's some belief he may wind up needing to play overseas due to amateurism issues. Same deal as Emmanuel Mudiay last year.
 
There's no way Cal pays these guys anything to come to UK.

Now the vast UK booster system?? There's another story all together.
 
The whole "Kentucky doesn't need to cheat because they are Kentucky" is rather silly. You think a school that cares as much about basketball success as Kentucky does would put itself at a competitive disadvantage on the recruiting trail? And of course Calipari doesn't cheat. Others do it for him.

Incoming Keyser Soze post in 3, 2, 1...
 
The poster who mentioned that these kids should be paying Kentucky to go there has a good point. They are no longer a college basketball team, but more of an upper end Triple-A franchise. What is the sense of offering these kids say 100k to go to Kentucky, when you can tell them come here, stay one year and you will be a 1st rounder and get millions in guaranteed money.

As far as Diallo goes it matters little to Kentucky if they get him or not. If not they will land Stephen Zimmerman, who is just as good or better. Or maybe they end up with both of them. They will always get enough talent that cares not so much about their college careers, but about getting to the NBA as fast as possible. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
 
Originally posted by BFo8:
The poster who mentioned that these kids should be paying Kentucky to go there has a good point. They are no longer a college basketball team, but more of an upper end Triple-A franchise. What is the sense of offering these kids say 100k to go to Kentucky, when you can tell them come here, stay one year and you will be a 1st rounder and get millions in guaranteed money.

As far as Diallo goes it matters little to Kentucky if they get him or not. If not they will land Stephen Zimmerman, who is just as good or better. Or maybe they end up with both of them. They will always get enough talent that cares not so much about their college careers, but about getting to the NBA as fast as possible. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Click to expand...
Because some other school will pay him 200k and still get him to he NBA.
 
@BFo8--"They will always get enough talent that cares not so much about their
college careers, but about getting to the NBA as fast as possible."

True. Until the NCAA does what it should do to prevent any single individual school from hoarding too much talent while making a complete mockery of the term "student athlete" by signing an excessive number of obvious one-and-done's and two-and-done's (as well as very poor academic risks). IMHO, the NCAA does that by making the school lose a ship for each early departee until that departee's class has graduated. The only exception would be for transfers who continue their education at another school on athletic scholarship.
 
Originally posted by DC_Area_Panther:
@BFo8--"They will always get enough talent that cares not so much about their
college careers, but about getting to the NBA as fast as possible."

True. Until the NCAA does what it should do to prevent any single individual school from hoarding too much talent while making a complete mockery of the term "student athlete" by signing an excessive number of obvious one-and-done's and two-and-done's (as well as very poor academic risks). IMHO, the NCAA does that by making the school lose a ship for each early departee until that departee's class has graduated. The only exception would be for transfers who continue their education at another school on athletic scholarship.
Click to expand...
Nope. The NCAA has already addressed this by instituting the Academic Progress Rate standard. As long as these players have made sufficient progress towards a degree, they can leave at any time. If a UK freshman has passed 8 classes with a 2.0 or better (making that up, not sure the exact standard), why should UK be penalized. He did what he needed to do academically.

What this rule addresses are the 1 and dones who dont go to school the 2nd semester because they know they are declaring. Now they have to and if they pass, the school will never be penalized.

Talk to the NBAPA with your concerns. The NBA wants them 2 years removed from HS, the NBAPA wants them to only have a HS diploma. They'll meet in the middle again with the 1 year requirement.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

DT_PITT

Eastern Kentucky Game & Other Dribbles ...

Replies
23
Views
2K
Basketball Board
Pittisit4me
P
DT_PITT

Eastern Kentucky Game & Other Dribbles ...

Replies
64
Views
3K
Center Court at the Pete
BurghB
BurghB
Chris Peak

Article Breakdown: Cummings breaks out and Pitt uses a big second-half run to throttle EKU by 40

Replies
3
Views
897
Center Court at the Pete
smenges
smenges
jlazinger

Lazinger's Lists - Away VT bball win

Replies
9
Views
1K
Center Court at the Pete
pittchagg
pittchagg
Chris Peak

Recruiting Update Transfer rundown: Top targets, weekend visits and more

Replies
199
Views
20K
Between Fifth And Forbes
BurghB
BurghB
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest posts

ADVERTISEMENT
Top Bottom
Back