Gator Country

UFG8rGuy3283 · 12-04-2012, 10:16 AM

Just watched the presser from his high school...Towns to UK as expected.

Too bad the Horford influence wasn't greater. Cal benefits from coaching the Dominican team. Hopefully Billy's US team experience will pay off with Randle in the same way.

Towns is a great talent...6'11 guy who can hit the 3. Sophmore currently, but will reclass to 2014.

GO GATORS!

InstiGATOR1 · 12-04-2012, 11:42 AM

I can not say I blame him, if Cal is still there.

**BigIgator25** · 12-04-2012, 11:45 AM

yes, how could he pass up the payments? This will keep happening until the NCAA grows some balls.

gatordd · 12-04-2012, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigIgator25

yes, how could he pass up the payments? This will keep happening until the NCAA grows some balls.

i could see the dollar signs in his moms eyes when he announced

UFG8rGuy3283 · 12-04-2012, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigIgator25

yes, how could he pass up the payments? This will keep happening until the NCAA grows some balls.

I can honestly say that if anyone was in the drivers seat here it should have been UF. From what I've read all over the place and have heard from other recruitniks, he idolized Al Horford growing up and was a huge UF fan. Obviously playing for Cal on the DR team was a factor and I'm sure Billy tried as we were one of his top 3 along with UK and Duke, but this is probably just one of those situations where with the recent success of another 6'11 guy with some perimeter skills made it big in the NBA

**BigIgator25** · 12-04-2012, 01:04 PM

We probably have more successful bigs then any other school in the NBA right now, Anthony Davis has awhile to go before he can be considered a success. We will get good players, transfers looks like a new phase in the evolution of UF basketball.

kygator · 12-04-2012, 01:54 PM

There doesn't seem to be any reason to think he was bought. UK is coming off a national championship season and he was coached by Cal over the summer. Not every mother is like Brandon Knight's mom.

108 · 12-04-2012, 02:24 PM

i wonder if that was the reason Cal took the HC position for the Dominican team

not gonna put it past him

SwampFox · 12-04-2012, 02:29 PM

How is this kid 17 and a sophomore in HS? I was in my first year of college at that age.

UFG8rGuy3283 · 12-04-2012, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwampFox

How is this kid 17 and a sophomore in HS? I was in my first year of college at that age.

Great question. Interesting part is it can't be grades. Duke was trying to get him to reclass to 2013 so maybe someone else can chime in on what the story is on his age/grade.

bleedorangeblue · 12-04-2012, 03:38 PM

With the way the current Cats are playing, don't see the mass exodus of players to the NBA this year. They already have 5 for the 2013 class. Will be interesting to watch how Cal will work the scholarships.

**jeffphillips21** · 12-04-2012, 03:46 PM

man i would love to see UK continue to struggle and their freshmen model get exposed. Unless they have uber-ridiculous talent AND some good leftover upperclassmen (last season) they're vulnerable to seasons like this one. Hopefully kids start seeing that and/or Calipari keeps losing and gets the ax.

Unlikely, but here's to hoping. I hate that he steals half the top 10's in every class.

RD_gator · 12-04-2012, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 108

i wonder if that was the reason Cal took the HC position for the Dominican team

not gonna put it past him

Cal is such a benevolent fellow. Next he will take the Venezuela job or Haiti or some other!

**MJGator8104** · 12-04-2012, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bleedorangeblue

With the way the current Cats are playing, don't see the mass exodus of players to the NBA this year. They already have 5 for the 2013 class. Will be interesting to watch how Cal will work the scholarships.

Just checking, they currently have 13 scholarship players of which they have 2 jrs and 1 sr. Which underclassmen should legitimately be expected to leave? 2 (Poythress and Noel)? He's going to have to start kicking "underperformers, i.e., developmental players" off the team.

madgator · 12-04-2012, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bleedorangeblue

With the way the current Cats are playing, don't see the mass exodus of players to the NBA this year. They already have 5 for the 2013 class. Will be interesting to watch how Cal will work the scholarships.

Poythress, noel and goodwin already have one foot out the door.

philnotfil · 12-04-2012, 04:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SwampFox

How is this kid 17 and a sophomore in HS? I was in my first year of college at that age.

Many parents are now holding their kids back in earlier grades so that they are a year older than their competition when they get to high school. Makes them look good for the college recruiters, but then they get exposed in college (but hey, you got your degree paid for).

Jimmy Clausen at Notre Dame is the textbook example of this. Was 19 when he graduated high school, so he was playing against kids two years younger than him, and in small school football (div 3 high school football), so his competition was not so great (plus his high school teams were stacked).

themistocles · 12-04-2012, 06:09 PM

Good point about keeping students back.

We held our youngest son back, largely because he was a second language learner from Peru we adopted, but he later jumped ahead a year to be in the same class with the kids he had done preschool stuff with.

Regarding Cali and scholarships, that will be interesting.

**jeffphillips21** · 12-04-2012, 06:55 PM

I would have loved to have been held back a year for sports. I graduated at 17 and to this day always felt that was a disadvantage, mainly because I didn't stop growing until 19. There's a huge difference between a growing (skinny) 17-yr old and a more developed, filled-out 19-yr old. It makes a world of difference in recruiting, smart for parents that think their kid has a shot at an athletic scholarship

InstiGATOR1 · 12-04-2012, 07:34 PM

Well,

1. I posted a link a while back about him having a 4.5 GPA, being class president and an honor student. So clearly if he stayed back at any time it was likely due to health problems or for athletic reasons.

2. I said earlier in this thread, I could not blame him. By that I mean for going to UK to play for a guy he already has played for who runs a successful program. That said Towns did not have the success playing for DR that Randle did playing for USA under Donovan. So Randle has more of a reason in my view to pick UF than Towns did for picking UK.

3. It will be interesting to see if UK can put together a good 2014 class. I do not see their 2013 class being very balanced yet. I think they need a PG and a big in that class assuming say Cauley come back.

REM08 · 12-04-2012, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MJGator8104

Just checking, they currently have 13 scholarship players of which they have 2 jrs and 1 sr. Which underclassmen should legitimately be expected to leave? 2 (Poythress and Noel)? He's going to have to start kicking "underperformers, i.e., developmental players" off the team.

There are two seniors on the team (Mays, Beckam). Also, there are only twelve players on scholarship (Lanter is a walk-on, a recent addition). Another also, 3 of the 12 are walk-ons who are given a scholarship if one is available (Polson, Long, Malone). The conditions of their scholarships were made public and its been acknowledged that they have walk-on status should their scholarships become needed by a scholarship-intended player.

Noel, Poythress and Goodwin will have to pass up lottery picks if they want to return. Harrow and Cauley have made appearances in 1st round mock-drafts but who knows.

Quick math shows that if 2 graduate, 3 are conditional, and another 3 leave early in addition to the 1 currently unused scholarship - there will be 9 available for next year (assuming 3 leave).