BREAKING NEWS: John Wall To Kentucky
Re-rank the college Top 25 right now. John Wall has single-handedly altered the landscape today, committing to John Calipari‘s Kentucky Wildcats. Though his camp was supposedly divided, the last we heard was that both John and his mother were leaning towards UK. With his commitment, Kentucky has the single greatest recruiting class in about 20 years – perhaps ever.
Greg Oden, Daequan Cook, Mike Conley and David Lighty at Ohio State in 2006 don’t even compare to this. They were ranked No. 1, No. 13, No. 18, and No. 36 respectively. Here’s UK’s haul according to Rivals’ rankings: No. 1 John Wall, No. 2 DeMarcus Cousins, No. 22 Daniel Orton, No. 23 Eric Bledsoe, and No. 30 Jon Hood. Bledsoe is another five-star point guard whose biggest assignment this year will be to make Wall better in practice. And maybe Calipari can use Bledsoe and Wall at the same time together.
With Patrick Patterson and Darius Miller returning to school, and perhaps Jodie Meeks coming back for the lure of a national championship, the Wildcats could legitimately go eight superstars deep.
Where do you rank UK now? Do they vault Kansas for No. 1?
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May 19th, 2009 at 9:47 am
.me says:
.i still believe kennesaw state is the #1 class…people sleep on them, but they’ll be at least finalfour bound
May 19th, 2009 at 9:48 am
doc says:
Hell yeah they numbert 1 if the other 2 come back.Thats 96 UK deep.
May 19th, 2009 at 10:28 am
Carmikal says:
Does Bledsoe stay? I think he’ll transfer if he doesn’t get enough burn this year.
May 19th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Andrew Katz says:
Carmikal,
I read something earlier this week with Bledsoe saying that he’s eager to play for UK and even wanted Wall to come because it would help make him a better player.
It seems like Bledsoe is a great player, but he’s not a one-and-done guy like Wall. So if he plays intermittently this year, he’ll get better and hopefully be ready to lead UK when he’s a sophomore.
May 19th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Lakers Nation says:
umm . . . that’s just sick . . . the wildcats are going to challenge every major team record next year . . . too bad it’s just for 1 year . . .
May 19th, 2009 at 11:23 am
Brandon says:
Yes, they are number 1 now. kansas is right there, but Kentucky will be better than them 6-8 even if 1 -5 are even. Kentucky is number 1. Vitale said it when he said if UK gets Wall they will be competing with the Atlanta Hawks for an NBA title. that is obviously overstating things, but it makes the point.
May 19th, 2009 at 11:25 am
Gregory says:
But what a year it will be…welcome back to the dance Kentucky!!!
May 19th, 2009 at 11:30 am
Sixx says:
Better than the Fab 5? Oh wow that WAS 20 years ago!
Plus what about the Duke Class of ’99? Brand, Battier, Avery, and Burgess?
May 19th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
lifep says:
All that talent, but I think UNC still gets the nod..
May 19th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Aaron says:
That team is stacked! It won’t really matter where Wall goes unless he has serious difficulties at Kentucky. We have him number one on our 2010 big board at http://www.nbadraftdaycountdown.com .
May 19th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
aberton says:
John Wall, a 6-foot-4 senior point guard from Word of God Academy in Raleigh, N.C., ended a long and dramatic recruiting process late Monday night, picking Kentucky over Florida, Duke and Miami.
The scandal video about:John Wall-video
May 19th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Khalvin says:
Big Big pickup..best recruiting ever though, Dime showing a little too much love.. interesting to see how they do next year..
May 19th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
chaos says:
Bledsoe will be the man after wall goes one and done. Kentucky will be thoroughly nasty this year
May 19th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
saggywheels says:
feels great to have a good team again, we have struggled for so long. Cats fans are pumped! True bball fans should make a trip to rupp, its a crazy place to catch a game.
May 19th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
bone0315 says:
I literally yelled in the middle of my office today when I read the news, I was so extatic as a UK die-hard.
That being said, I think #3 is about right for them if Meeks comes back, behind Kansas and Michigan State, and maybe even Villanova if Scottie Reynolds comes back. Hard to top that experience those three earned last year.
But what a year this could be. Just think how scary good this team could be in January, then how much better they will be come March.
This tops the Thad Five, can’t put them ahead of the Fab Five – yet.
And for all the deserved hype about the above four players, don’t sleep on Darnell Dodson, a four-star JC transfer coming in to play the wing.
UK’s Rotation:
PG Wall
SG Meeks (fingers crossed)
SF Dodson
PF Patterson
C Cousins
6th Orton
7th Bledsoe
8th Perry Stevenson (started all season)
9th Darius Miller (McDonald’s AA in ’08)
10th Ramon Harris (started all season)
11th Jon Hood (Kentucky Mr. Basketball
12th DeAndre Liggins (McDonald’s AA in ’08)
SICK!!
May 19th, 2009 at 2:11 pm
Russ says:
The problem is kentucky has given out 3 more scholarship players on their roster than ncaa regulations permit…some people have to go.
May 19th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
Let's Go Hawks says:
Is this even legal to be that stacked?
May 19th, 2009 at 4:45 pm
Beckultd says:
15, u sure you are a die hard UK fan? Miller & Liggins were not McDonald’s AA. Miller Will either be the first wing coming off the bench if he’s not starting. The only way he doesn’t start is if Cal starts Wall & Bledsoe at the 1 & 2, Jodie at the 3 or Cal pushes Bledsoe to the bench, puts Meeks at the 2 & moves patterson at the 3 which has been talked about as well. One thing I will I agree with you is.. SICK!!
May 20th, 2009 at 1:28 am
Eddie says:
Miller will start his floater is made for the DDM. Galloway and harrelson and Stewart are gone. They are good players but pieces of the puzzle that don’t fit. If I was one of them i’d stay for the ring
May 20th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Dean says:
You are clueless if you think this class is even close to the Oden, Conley class. Let’s see how many will be lottery & 1st round after their freshman year. Please some perspective!!
May 20th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Patrick says:
agree with Dean… To add to that lets see if that class will make it to the NCAA finals with a win. Then maybe it could be considered the best class, until Buckeyes 2010 class comes along….