Derek Willis is a talented power forward in the 2013 class and his recruitment has supposedly opened up after a possible decommitment from Purdue. His father stated to Brian Nubert of GoldandBlack.com “Nothing’s changed as of yet. He’s had a little bit of second thoughts, but nothing’s changed and I don’t know if it will. We’re going to sit down here the next couple days and really talk this out, the pros and cons of everything.” These kind of statements are usually the kiss of death. If the kid was truly happy and wanted to stay then why would his dad say something like that? Aside from those type of life-long questions, another interesting tidbit his father said was [B]“I don’t know if I can trust a Coach (Rick) Pitino or Coach (John) Calipari. Their agenda is more for their benefit than the kid’s. They’re more worried about themselves” [/B]Oh really, sir?
I truly understand this sentiment, I really do. This world is dog eat dog, cut throat, every man for himself, the whole—ok that’s all I got, but you get the point. Everyone, when it comes down to it has some kind of agenda. We all strive to be hard workers, brilliant twitterers, loving parents, or whatever. These “agendas” usually get us rewarded or promoted or simply recognized with a hug and a kiss. With that said, does Derek’s dad have a valid point here?
Can you trust this John Calipari? I mean he has been around the block and he does know how to play the game (literal and figurative). Do I trust Calipari to stay the length of his contract? No. Do I Trust Calipari to never make a mistake? No. But if you ask me if I trust him to take care of the kids that play basketball for the University of Kentucky, I absolutely do.
Calipari is an extremely smart man. He can market anything. He could even sell ice to an Eskimo (for $19.99 but wait Eskimos, there’s more). And has he used his marketing skills to advance? Sure he has. He used his success at Umass to propel himself to the NBA. Much as he used his success at Memphis to jump to Lexington. But while at those schools, he took care of his players. He helped talented players become elite and helped average players become good to great. He also gave players 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] and sometimes 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] chances. Whether it was letting Robert Dozier stay on the team after all his troubles or Daniel Orton walking out on his team in the middle of a game, he didn’t give up on his players. Not to mention he gets players to the league, 9 players drafted in 2 years or something like that.
Can you trust Rick Pitino with your kid? You may be thinking of a couple of jokes here, but answer as honestly as you can. I feel Pitino only has 3 years left of coaching and I sincerely believe he will try to do anything possible to get one last title. Jared Swopshire was injured throughout the entire season last year, did he get a redshirt? No sir, he lost an entire year of eligibility to make room for future recruits. Elisha Justice suffered a concussion against Gardner-Webb (hmm, team sounds familiar). When asked about it, Pitino stated “If you walk out and slightly brush the door, you have a concussion. That’s the way it is today”. Elisha got it hit a little harder than brushing a door. In the UK game he was on the sidelines facing the crowd for the entire first half, that may not be entirely true, but it did seem he came back earlier than he should have.
As far as Pitino getting kids to the league, well it’s less than impressive. Edgar Sosa, Derrick Character, Samardo Samuels and Earl Clark came in with so much promise and NBA aspirations. Earl Clark was the only one drafted as a non-Senior. And he’s been bouncing up and down from the D-league like a ball in the hands of John Wall or Eric Bledsoe. Pitino doesn’t develop players, he has a system that they play in. If they get better great, if not next year is another year.
However Willis’ recruitment ends, we can all assume that it will be highly entertaining because his dad seems to be an outspoken man. And as far as him feeling he can’t trust Coach Cal and Coach Pitino, he may change his mind or at least half of it anyway.
