Here's What I Think
Cheston 5/21/2009
Kentucky Basketball is back. A program that has seven national championships, the most NCAA tournament wins, and the most wins all time has almost made it all the way back. Tubby Smith coached for 10 years, got to one Final Four and won it. That wasn’t enough and he was run out of town. Billy Gillispie was seen as the savior but he was nothing but a disappointment. In back to back seasons he lost games at home to Gardener Webb and then Virginia Military Institute. Finally after Athletic Director Mitch Barnhardt fired Gillispie he was stuck with a program that had lost its luster as one of the best programs in the country and team that no one seemed to want to coach. In April it seemed like Kentucky was headed for a UNC type digression when they had Matt Doherty instead of Roy Williams, but out of the shadows came John Calipari.
Calipari came riding into Lexington with high hopes and a high salary. Quickly there were talks and comparisons to another fast talking New Yorker, Rick Pitino, and Calipari seemed to work well with that. Right away DeMarcus Cousins had signed to play for Kentucky, and on top of that Calipari was able to keep what good recruits Gillispie did get in John Hood and Daniel Orton. There was still work to be done in Big Blue Nation, but finally people were happy and truly excited. Then, a week ago he was able to land a solid point guard in Eric Bledsoe to help guide a team that had no true guidance last season. Then two days ago came some of the best news of all, John Wall committed to play for Kentucky. Throw in all these recruits and the news of Patrick Patterson’s return makes me happy to be a fan.
This fall begins the new era of Kentucky Basketball. They will pad their win records and come ever closer to the elusive John Wooden and UCLA in Championships. Of course Kansas returns a great team and got former Calipari recruit Xavier Henry, and Michigan State made it to the Finals this year and return a strong team this coming year, but a preseason favorite has to be Kentucky. So sit back and watch this programs return to power.
Kentucky Basketball is back. A program that has seven national championships, the most NCAA tournament wins, and the most wins all time has almost made it all the way back. Tubby Smith coached for 10 years, got to one Final Four and won it. That wasn’t enough and he was run out of town. Billy Gillispie was seen as the savior but he was nothing but a disappointment. In back to back seasons he lost games at home to Gardener Webb and then Virginia Military Institute. Finally after Athletic Director Mitch Barnhardt fired Gillispie he was stuck with a program that had lost its luster as one of the best programs in the country and team that no one seemed to want to coach. In April it seemed like Kentucky was headed for a UNC type digression when they had Matt Doherty instead of Roy Williams, but out of the shadows came John Calipari.
Calipari came riding into Lexington with high hopes and a high salary. Quickly there were talks and comparisons to another fast talking New Yorker, Rick Pitino, and Calipari seemed to work well with that. Right away DeMarcus Cousins had signed to play for Kentucky, and on top of that Calipari was able to keep what good recruits Gillispie did get in John Hood and Daniel Orton. There was still work to be done in Big Blue Nation, but finally people were happy and truly excited. Then, a week ago he was able to land a solid point guard in Eric Bledsoe to help guide a team that had no true guidance last season. Then two days ago came some of the best news of all, John Wall committed to play for Kentucky. Throw in all these recruits and the news of Patrick Patterson’s return makes me happy to be a fan.
This fall begins the new era of Kentucky Basketball. They will pad their win records and come ever closer to the elusive John Wooden and UCLA in Championships. Of course Kansas returns a great team and got former Calipari recruit Xavier Henry, and Michigan State made it to the Finals this year and return a strong team this coming year, but a preseason favorite has to be Kentucky. So sit back and watch this programs return to power.