[McDunkin]

http://seattle.sbnation.com/washington-huskies/2010/10/6/1734486/tony-wroten-john-calipari-kentucky-wildcat-basketball-recruiting

 

When Tony Wroten released his final top-5, Kentucky, long thought to be his favorite, was conspicuously absent. There were plenty of rumblings indicating Kentucky head coach John Calipari had slowed his recruitment of Wroten, never offering the talented guard a scholarship.

Wroten took to Twitter Monday night and seemingly confirmed those rumors, asking Calipari why he stopped recruiting him.

@UKCoachCalipari aye coach. I just wanna know why u stopped recruiting me?less than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®Tony Wroten
ToneTone13

Who knows why Calipari gave up on Wroten. With a stacked 2011 recruiting class filled with some of the top talent in the nation, maybe Kentucky had no need for Wroten. After an ACL injury and a lightened summer AAU schedule, Wroten has seen his national ranking fall lately.

His tweet suggests that Wroten wanted Kentucky more than the Wildcats needed him. If Kentucky had stayed on him, one has to wonder if he wouldn’t have already committed to Calipari’s Cats.

With Kentucky out of the picture, local program Seattle U entered the fold for Wroten. Cameron Dollar’s been coming on strong with the Garfield product, even scheduling a late in-home visit a week ago.

With the Wildcats out of the picture, and Wroten left puzzled as to why, his recruitment comes down to Louisville and Washington. He said he’s about 50/50 between the two and will announce his decision tomorrow at 3 p.m.

Stay tuned for more on Wroten as he heads towards his announcement tomorrow.

 

McDunkins opinion? I suggest he and LeroyJenkins rent "She’s Just Not That Into You"

[Rock_Cat78Participant]

He has always wanted Kentucky way more than Kentucky wanted him.  Cal has always said he wants "givers" and not "takers" and Wroten is a kid that is the king of self promotion.  When Cal first got the UK job, Lance Stevenson wanted to come to UK but Cal wouldn’t take him.  Cal does take highly rated kids and has taken some with various question marks, but he knows what he is looking for and knows what type of kid can be a star, but as a part of the overall framework of the team.  Those that are me-first type players, Cal has no interest in.

[canesboy6Participant]

Nobody wanted to take him. FIU didn’t even want him.

[McDunkin]

This makes me wonder How Romar(we already know Cal had him pretty pissed about Kanter and Jones) and Pitino feel about getting a recruit that will probably play a major role on their team, but at the same time doesnt want to be there?

I think he probably will choose UW, but at the same time, i dont know if i would be too surprised about some one who seems to love attention like he does choosing Seattle U.

[JNixonParticipant]

Wroten would fit best at Louisville, given that he needs the ball and freedom to be effective, and the pace Louisville plays at would benefit him. Also, a Wroten and Peyton Siva backcourt would be INSANE offensively, especially since Siva can function a good bit without the ball. They would be able to play off of each other very effective I’d imagine.

With that said, I think he’s going to go to Washington. I don’t really know why or have concrete points, besides the fact that he’s from Washington and the fact that Romar gets most of the top Seattle-area talent that he goes there. I think his production would be relatively modest playing with Abdul Gaddy and potentially Isaiah Thomas (if he returns for a Senior season, which is probably likely), similar to the production Lance Stephenson got at Cincy. Both Gaddy and Thomas need the ball to be truly effective, and Wroten is ball-dominant himself. I’d really like it more if Wroten went to Louisville.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 I’ve long followed Coach Cal’s career from his time at Umass when he had Camby and they use to have epic battles against my "Nova Wildcats featuing Alvin Williams, Kerry Kittles, and Jason Lawon.  

Then he became the Sixers assistant coach at the prime of the A.I. era.  He was our assistant when Iverson was arguably the best player in the world and I always wondered if that had any impact on his future success and coaching philosphy.

Because when he went to Memphis his first huge recruit was local hero and Camdem Messiah Dejuan Wagner.  

Wagner was the first of his one and done combo guard experiments.  Wagner averaged 20 a game but only lead Memphis to the NIT.

Then we all know the story from there on starting with D.Rose.

But I never knew he didn’t take player who were self promoting.  Makes it all the more curious as to where Demarcus Cousins got a bad reputation from.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

Did somebody not agree with what I said, this is a forum and you are more then welcome to share your opinion on the situation. 

[Rock_Cat78Participant]

Disagree completely that UofL is the best spot for Wroten and I’m not just saying that because I’m a UK fan.  If a kid like Wroten, who I’m sure will want to try to be a one and done, really wants to pursue that, Pitino is not the guy to accomplish that.  He holds his younger players back.  Why do you think Cal is cleaning his clock in recruiting right now and putting young guys on a fast track to the league?  He gives them the freedom to play their game and play through mistakes.  Pitino doesn’t allow for that.  Cal has put more players in the first round of the draft last year alone than Pitino has done in his NINE years at UofL.  Think about that for a second.

[Im Your FatherParticipant]

 Rock Cat78, that is such an annoying argument.

John Calipari has had 1st round picks because he is a great recruiter and gotten 5-star players. Pitino doesn’t give his freshmen as much freedom because his freshmen aren’t as good. 

I absolutely hate it that there is this perception that Calipari molds players into NBA stars. His recent one and dones have been NBA successes not because they played for Calipari, but because they were already really good. Rose, Evans Wall, Cousins, etc would have succeeded in the NBA no matter where they went to school for one year.

If you think that those players wouldn’t be as good now if they had gone to say Louisville, rather than UK, than you are kidding yourself.

The thing is that Calipari is such a good recruiter that it has become a self-fulfilling prophesy. The best high school players come to UK for one year and then are successful NBA players. Other 5-stars see this and also want to come to play for Cal because of his past success.

 

 

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 I agree Pitino’s style of coaching and player development is aging before his eyes in an era of one and done prospects.

 

[lalailaParticipant]

maybe a little offtopic

 

but do someone still believe he will be a star? 

[JNixonParticipant]

Exactly Im Your Father. Calipari didn’t really develop any of those players. The only adjustments he did that were smart is move Evans into a pseudo-PG role and make DeMarcus Cousins play down low instead of being the drifter he was in HS sometimes. And it can be argued that most coaches would make those adjustments. I don’t know what RockCat78’s point is, but it seems like he’s making a case that Wroten should attend Kentucky, and that would be a bad fit too, given that Marquis Teague is already committed.

Rick Pitino hasn’t had the luxury of having a legit 1-and-done prospect like Calipari has in the past 2 or 3 years. I think Wroten would be given a longer leash than most of the other Louisville prospects if he goes there. Who would on Louisville’s team take his minutes or slow his development to the point that it’d be a hindrance in his development? Mike Marra? Justin Coleman? This isn’t a Earl Clark, Terrence Williams, Samardo Samuels and Edgar Sosa UL roster. Wroten would no doubt be given freedom with all the role-players that would surround him, and would fit very well next to Peyton Siva, who would potentially compliment him extremely well.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 Tony should just go to Memphis and show out for a year.  I think he still got a ton of talent and could develop into a flashy guard.  His game is best suited for an uptempo offense that will highlight his strengths.

John Cal’s Dribble Drive Motion Offense is a huge reason why one and done prospects excel, he don’t slow the game down for them like a lot of schools do.  Instead he hands his players the keys and allows them to run.  That is a huge reason why his prospects get the stats and experience.  It gives them the poise and introduces them to the pressure of being a franchise talent.

[Im Your FatherParticipant]

Right, and I hate how people are saying "Cal will make ____a star, or so and so an NBA success." If a player is really good, he will do well under Calipari, just like any other coach, and become an NBA success. I would argue that a college coach has little effect on the NBA success of a player and almost no effect when they are only in college for 1 year.

Also, the reason Calipari is able to showcase freshmen talent, is BECAUSE he has so many 1 and dones. Since he has so few returning players, incoming talent is able to shine, which might not be the case if there are more experienced players on the team.

Being a duke fan it is incredibly irritating to say that Mike Krzyzewski doesn’t play freshmen, and he will make them sit behind a more experienced player no matter what. Bottom-line, Coach K like every other coach plays the best player the most. If a freshman is talented he will play. It’s just that Duke usually returns a sizeable portion of their roster, so that there are more people for a freshmen to play behind.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 Im Your Father playing for a different coach can affect your draft stock just look at Ben Howland.  I have no doubt that if Jrue Holiday would of went somewhere else and was able to play PG in an untempo offense he would of been a top ten pick.  He could of probably snuck into the top 5 because the Kings, Wolves, and Knicks all took hard looks at him despite a disapointing freshman year.  Some coaches do a better job at showcasing talents, and other coaches focus more on the player playing the way :"They Want Them To Play"

[Im Your FatherParticipant]

Mr 1934

I do agree that Ben Howland does limit his players stats because of the slow tempo. But I don’t think Holiday was really held back by Howland, I think it had more to do with the fact that Collison was there. And that’s exactly my point, Calipari is able to showcase talent, because of his one and dones. Since so many players leave, there are open spots for the taking, while Holiday had to be integrated into a team that already had good players.

[Rock_Cat78Participant]

Guys, we will just have to agree to disagree here.  Sure some of Cal’s guys have been really talented, but if you think they would have had the same amount of freedom under Pitino, that’s just flat wrong.  BTW, myself, nor any other UK fans wanted Wroten after everyone found out what a clown he is.  He’ll be a chemistry killer.  Wait and see.

[McDunkin]

I just saw that he did commit to Washington

[billykParticipant]

The Dribble Drive Offense makes recuriting point guards real easy…

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