Let’s face it
Memphis fans, if it weren’t for the NBA’s
One-Year rule Memphis would have never seen the likes of
Tyreke Evans,
Derrick Rose, Dajuan Wagner, Darius Washington, or Shawne Williams. All 5 star recruits according to
Rivals.com. Recruiting the one-year-warranty players is just one of
John Calpari’s tricks of the trade that he’ll teach you at his $200 a plate “A Night with
Coach Cal” dinners. Who knows, had this rule always been in place
Kendrick Perkins and
Amare Stoudemire would have worn
Memphis blue.
But just as Cal put the dribble-drive offence on the map in college hoops, he has also created a new field of study for future NBAers: One and Doneology; using your one year in college not to study fine arts or get a Facebook page, but to hone your craft to fit perfectly into an NBA style offence. Smart. Effective. Sneaky. It’s a trade off. You give me one year on my team and a championship scare, and I’ll make you a top draft pick, Mr. Rose.
In a time when the NCAA is literally making billions off of “amateur” athletes, who aren’t allowed to accept gifts or endorsements, who’s to say that Cal isn’t just beating them at their own game. As proven by this week’s events, contracts mean nothing anymore; Letters of Intent are just that, intent. “Ok, coach, you can go to Kentucky, even though you signed a new contract last year making you the second highest paid coach in NCAA basketball, behind a man that actually won a National Championship, make that two.” What are contracts these days besides pay stubs? LOI are just hype to talk about in the pre-season. College basketball recruiting this year is more like the NBA draft: speculation, chatter, rumors, repeat.
And Cal played us all, holding his cards close to his chest, and always looking for that step up. He sold himself this time. He did what he could to follow his dream: to coach at Kentucky. Turns out Memphis was just his one and done stop as well. Just like D-Rose, Cal just went number one in the draft.
sources: rivals.com, nba.com, wikipedia.com, my brain
JHob
11 comments:
Wow. It's time to start moving on.
And there are plenty of other One and Doners out there. Ohio State's had three (at least) the past three years. Kevin Durant, Michael Beasley, etc, etc.
And 9 years isn't one and done by the way. It's a lot longer than a lot of coaches stay somewhere.
I think it feels like one and done because we have just recently reached an elite level and were on the verge of having the NCAA's best team of all time.
Anyway I hope we can get a coach in here that is able to offer the NBA connection for this One and Doners.
Avery Johnson anyone?
It's a mataphor, or a simile. I can never tell which, and an observation at that. And we would move on if there were any chatter about who the new coach will be, but it seems everyone else is shutting the door. Also, as it says in the article: Cal's made a name recruiting these guys. The past 5 years or so. Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley are the exceptions, you'll find one for every rule. And yeah Grant, we need someone who's going to continue this trend and grab some of the recruits back quick.
One and Doneology is the ONLY major some of these guys could have declared. Without Cal's springboard to the NBA a lot of these guys would be working at Mickey D's. He has done them a service and in the process given the given UofM basketball fans entertainment. Does it make sense to stay for a second year if you are a lottery pick? I'm all for getting an education but if you are one of the best in the world at something (NBA players are just that) Ancient Civilizations 101 doesn't do me a whole lot of good.
Cal is no different. Staying at Memphis is the "Feel Good Story of the Year", "Two Thumbs Up" by RC and Shirley, but if Coaching at UK truly is his dream then he should take the job. period.
and so will Scott Drew!
Grammar Police:
Furture=Future
Offence=Offense
If you're going to publish on the internet, at least make it intelligible.
Change one and done to 9 and done.
Douche Police:
Anonymous=no balls.
Two mistakes?! You're really this anal?
Wagner, Shawne Williams and Darius Washington were in Memphis well before the NBA's one year rule. Get your facts straight
Hey JHob,
Yes, I am anal, because one of the typos was in the TITLE of your blog entry. And it wasn't just two typos. You wrote offence twice, which totals three typographical errors.
And to the post above: JHob wasn't saying that Cal recruited Wagner, Williams, and Washington for per the NBA rule (although Darius stayed for two), he was just saying that Cal recruited them even though he figured they would leave early. Get your reading comprehension straight.
Guess I learned my lesson for typing this on my iPod... No proper spell check to appease the masses or the massively anal. Which use of mass is correct here?
It's a hard knock life right now as a Tiger fan.
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