A note on the impending commitment of UK recruit Tobias Harris-
Five Star UK recruit Tobias Harris of Half Hollow Hills H.S. West (NY) is expected to sign his letter of intent later today, which is the last day of the early signing period. He will announce his decision live on ESPNU at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Tobias is officially considering the following seven schools: Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, Syracuse, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
College basketball reporter Adam Zagoria says conventional wisdom means Harris will likely choose between Louisville, Syracuse, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
Dan Lyons of Bleacherreport.com says Syracuse and Tennessee seem to lead the pack for the services of Tobias.
GoVolsxtra.com says Harris is believed to have narrowed his choices to Syracuse and Tennessee.
Jeff Goodman from FoxSports.com tweeted that most coaching staffs in the hunt for Harris feel he will end up choosing Tennessee.
I cannot find any credible articles or reports that say Tobias will pick UK or that Kentucky is currently in the lead for his services. If Harris goes elsewhere, that will leave UK with only one early commitment- Stacey Poole. This would also make Tobias the third recruit who attended Big Blue Madness but went elsewhere, the other two being Kyrie Irving and Achraf Yacoubou.
Late on Tuesday evening, news broke that Harris traveled to Knoxville after concluding his visit to Georgia Tech to watch Tennessee dismantle UNC-Asheville. Harris told AllKYHoops.com “he just felt like watching them play and it was only two hours from Georgia Tech”.
Despite rumors to the contrary, he further explained to AllKYHoops.com that he was in Knoxville, but hadn’t committed to Tennessee. He claimed there was still no favorite and all seven schools were still being considered. Finally, he said the things about Kentucky that most stood out to him were the fans and atmosphere.
The reports about his last minute visit to Knoxville are a little reminiscent of the Kyrie Irving recruitment saga. Tobias may have committed to Tennessee tonight, but just doesn’t want to publicly announce it until Thursday on ESPNU.
There is one glimmer of hope that Harris to Tennessee might not be a done deal. The New York Daily News reported the Volunteers were expected to receive a commitment from four star forward Jayvaughn Pinkston of Bishop Loughlin (NY) sometime on Wednesday. Adam Zagoria quoted a Division 1 assistant basketball coach as saying "there was no way Harris and Pinkston are going to the same school". News concerning this potential complication unexpectedly changed today when Pinkston announced he was delaying his commitment until the late signing period. It's unclear if this decision was influenced by the impending commitment of Harris.
Even if Tobias doesn’t end up committing to Tennessee because Pinkston may eventually end up there, this isn’t necessarily good news for UK. Dan Lyons of Bleacherreport.com concluded his article by saying Pinkston's recent commitment to Bruce Pearl and the Volunteers seems to indicate that Harris may be a Syracuse commit in the near future.
While Harris’s final destination is still unclear, it’s probably safe to assume that it won’t be Maryland or West Virginia. The Terrapins recently gained a commitment from 2010 forward prospect Ashton Pankey and West Virginia just got a commitment from 2010 center David Nyarsuk.
I think it's fair to say most UK fans and recruiting analysts would be surprised if Tobias Harris commits to and announces for Kentucky. If conventional wisdom holds true, Calipari and the UK staff will be under tremendous pressure to deliver in the late signing period (April 14-May 19).
Aaron
9 comments:
How many 2009 commitments did we have last year at this time? Orton committed late in the Fall. Things will work out.
I agree with you Aaron. The list of 5 star recruits is shrinking and UK is not the only school still in the running for the remaining recruits on UK's list. We're not going to get them all. Circumstances vis-a-vis last year's eventual class were much different than what is playing out this year. Much of what became UK's class had already given verbals to Cal at Memphis and followed him to UK. It's a proven fact that in order to win championships on the highest level you need great players. If UK does not sustain the pace of getting top level recruits championships will not be forthcoming. Carolina, Kansas, Connecticut etc. just reload every year. We need to do the same. Like you I am concerned and justifiably so given the classes already lined up by Carolina, Michigan State, Syracuse, Duke, Memphis and Tennessee if Harris signs there. The pressure on UK's staff will be immense and I only hope that UK will not go home relatively empty handed when the smoke has eventually cleared. With half the team graduating or expected to leave early for the NBA we need a very solid recruiting class to build on what is being established after such a long drought.
We do not need a big time class this year. Cal has already stated many times he goes with 9 players only or less.
We lose the seniors, Wall and probably Patterson. Everyone else will be back, along with Poole and one new point guard to back up Bledsoe and new big man.
Top 5 team next year only getting 2 5 star recruits.
If you aren't worried now, you aren't paying attention. There are few big-time players left, and we are not the leader for any of them. The problem with one-and-dones is they they don't come back. If we don't reload, and it looks like we will not (and UNC, Duke, Kansas and Tenn have already and may do some more), then we will not be in the FF discussion next year unless all our 1ndones come back (unexpected to say the least).
Jack
Well, I am not worried, and I like to think I am paying attention. I feel very confident that UK gets Selby or Knight, and either Jones or Leslie. I will take a class of Poole, Selby/Knight and Jones/Leslie and be very happy. Then we have plenty of rides left for the 2011 class.
Cousins and Wall were both recruited heavily by Kentucky. they wanted absolutely nothing to do with us until Cal was here. Leslie had no interest in Kentucky (whatsoever) until Wall was here. Kentucky's name alone played no part in these fine player's decisions.
A part of the culture that exists within the borders of Kentucky is viewed as a culture of ignorance (to be polite) by the rank and file citizen within black community across America. Indeed within most cultures there too.
We thought we could simply buy Cal and our problems would all be over. We are finding out that no man is bigger than a cultural divide.
Cal may very well be able to fight through the backlash he is now facing. If he can't do it nobody can.
The best thing we can do as fans is watch our comments on these blogs and forums, and let the coaching staff work.
Interjecting statements that Obama is a socialist Marxists and anti American into threads about basketball isn't helping our image one little bit.
Patterson, Wall, Harris, Stevenson, Krebs and probably Cousins are gone after this year. If my math is correct that would leave us with 7 scholarship players next year plus Poole. A huge chunk of our team will have left. In reading article after article from newspapers and blogs across the country UK is not leading for the services of any of the remaining 5 star recruits. There is no factual reason or even rumor to suggest or to be so sure that UK will land any of them. Roy Williams, Bill Self, Jim Calhoun, Tom Izzo and other top coaches know that you have to constantly reload with top talent every year if you’re going to seriously be in the national championship discussion. No school can take anything for granted in recruiting. Today’s young athletes don’t know anything about Kentucky’s storied history. If they know anything it’s that Kentucky hasn’t been in the recent championship discussion. For them it’s a question of what have you done lately. One great recruiting class after so many down years is not going to get UK to the top of the mountain and ensure residence there. It’s going to take top 5 class after top 5 class year in and year out. As we have seen a Final Four this year is no slam dunk even with the one great class that Cal signed. We need another top class next year. There is reason to be concerned about the future especially when one looks at the classes other top schools have already signed.
If you all had any faith or any brains you would re-read your comments. Some good points were noted and some bad ones as well, but i want to address the whole "recruits not coming to KY b/c of KY's name....If they followed Cal here, and he can land the most desired recruit in the country in 6 weeks, he has the ability to do it again, and he will. The may not come to KY b/c of Ky but they will come because of Coach Cal. He got 5 star recruits at Memphis and that is a task in itself. Coach Cal will bring UK back, and he will do it by getting top talent...Wait and see. Its early and there is plenty of time left. Keep the faith, bleed blue, and relax! Let the man do his job without being bashed by hater/ wanna be UK fans. if you are a true blue fan then you back your CATS no matter what.
You guys are so lame. Harris is coming to Tennessee and we are going to kick the $hit out of you with next year just like we are going to kick the $hit out of you without him this year.
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