Guys we won't see in the 2011 NCAA Tourney -- AKA the dudes leaving school early

Crawford was head and shoulders better than Harris – and he only played a handful of games his frosh year before getting suspended by the NCAA I think for some sort of agent situation.
Not exactly sure, but I know he didn't finish the season.

 

Improper benefits or something. But I thought he was a sophomore when he left?

 

I was pretty sure it was like a handful of games into his frosh season. I could be wrong, but I think he was there with Blanchard and that crappy Groniger kid – and Kevin 'Go-Go' Gaines.
I remember they played Duke tough once – and then two weeks later or so, Crawford was kicked and Gaines later transferred.

 

I have never seen him in person, but if I owned a NBA team, and my GM, Cousins and I were in a room together, there is no way in hell my GM could tell me that we were not drafting this freeking beast if we had the chance.

 

Great skills and strong as hell but for some reason I can see him eating his way out of the league.

 

When he wants to bring it he's a monster. Folks questioned his motor a lot and his maturity – but he really did settle down quite a bit from the maturity standpoint I think as the season went on.

Probably still has some work to do – but I'd have to think he's very much worth the risk in the top three.

 

Why? He's not fat, just huge. He's not the second coming of Dinner Bell Mel Turpin or Oliver Miller.

And for everyone — me included — who thought he'd somehow lose it at the wrong moment and cost UK because of his reputation, it never happened. He became one of the most endearing (sp?) players at UK in quite a while. He was a lot more than I expected, as a player and person. Free throws were an issue at the end of the season, but you can say that for the whole team.

If I was GM, I would have to think hard about taking him over Wall. Real hard. He plays hard most of the time, especially when he's motivated. He's still 19 and growing up. So I'm sure throwing a few million at him will help that process. But even so, he's a stud and and half.

BTW, I'm not a UK fanboi at but a UL one, just expressing my opinion after watching him all year and reading about him.

Wall is going to incredible though. I think he's just starting to scratch the surface of his talent.

Bledsoe and Orton need experience, but I really like Orton. I think he's smart, talented and mature enough to get a lot better.

 

As an aside, the talk about fatties like John "Hot Plate" Williams reminds me of a story Pacers announcer Mark Boyle loves to tell. When the Pacers tried out Ladell Eackles for his last shot at a comeback, Eackles of course showed up obese, and got cut at training camp, at the time held at Purdue. Eackles, for his 70-mile trip to the Indianapolis airport, got the addresses of every KFC along the way and stopped at each and every one.

 

Re: Guys we won't see in the 2011 NCAA Tourney -- AKA the dudes leaving school e

For what it's worth, I don't see Cousins turning down this road:



But hey, you never know I suppose.

 

Calipari's "hired guns" reputation is a little misleading. In nine years at Memphis, he had four guys leave after one year. That's a lot, but considering he's got four who might be one-and-done this year, well, that's just insane. And it won't happen every year. It's rare you get one talent like Wall or Cousins, and he had two. It's really rare that guys as talented as Bledsoe and Orton are the third and fourth best players in their school's recruiting class.

Kentucky's class may be similar next year, but after that, I'd expect it to calm down. Calipari's best Memphis team had a one-and-done kid (Rose), but it was built around two very good four-year players in Douglas-Roberts and Joey Dorsey.

I think Bledsoe, if he came back, could be a top five pick next year. If he improved his jumpshot and his ballhandling, he'd be a monster. He's shown flashes of brilliance this season, but he's also shown flashes of ignorance, which is expected of a freshman. Orton, while potentially a lottery pick, doesn't seem anywhere near ready to be a pro.

As mentioned before, I also look forward to seeing Herb Pope and Manny Harris doing battle in the NBDL next year.

 

Fixed

 

Other than being shot when he was 18, did Pope have any other legal issues? I'm not being a smart ass here. I really don't know.