Coach Cal writes a piece for his website (yeah, he’s a world class journalist on top of everything else) addressing the perception of UK as a ‘One n Done’ school, and offers a response of sorts to the gauntlet thrown down by Michael Kidd-Gilchrist insisting he will stay at school until he graduates.
Here’s an excerpt.
[I][COLOR=#444444][FONT=Arial]I tell every player that we recruit that I don’t have a magic wand. At the end of the year, we’ll see where everything is, we’ll give you the information, and you and your family make a choice to stay or come back. I would love to coach all of these guys for four years and have them earn a college degree in four years, but if they have an opportunity to reach their dreams, I will not be the person to hold them back, nor will I let anybody at this university or in my program do it…
…[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#444444][FONT=Arial]If you want to know why I told one of my kids he needed to give me a good reason to come back to school, look at Patrick Patterson. I told Patrick, “Give me three good reasons you want to come back because right now you’re going to be picked anywhere from 18 to 25. Patrick said, “I’m going to get my degree, I need to improve my game and move it more on the perimeter, and I’ve never played in an NCAA Tournament game and I want to do that.” He gave me three great answers and I said let’s get after this…
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[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#444444][FONT=Arial] …I don’t chase kids out, but I make them think through why they want to do what they want to do. They’re not just going to say I’m leaving or I’m staying. They’ve got to talk to me about it. I don’t hold kids back just so I can win more games or so our fan base can enjoy more wins. It’s not about that…[/FONT][/COLOR][COLOR=#444444][FONT=Arial]
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…[COLOR=#444444][FONT=Arial]Again, the current rule is not my rule and it’s certainly not a good rule. There is only one way to change it: Get with Billy Hunter and the NBA Players Association. They have the ability to change it. No one else does. Meeting with the NBA or the NCAA or the coaches does nothing. Billy Hunter is the only person who can represent the college players and can get it done.[/FONT][/COLOR][/I][COLOR=#444444][FONT=Arial][I]And if I was at the table negotiating, here is what I would say:[/I][/FONT][/COLOR][LIST=1]
[*][I]These kids get a stipend – and more than $2,000.[/I]
[*][I]Their insurance, which they have to pay for right now, would be covered by either the universities or the NCAA.[/I]
[*][I]If they do stay in school, their families get to tap into a loan program after the first year that is capped.[/I]
[*][I]Lastly, on the NBA side, if a young man stays in school, he can renegotiate his rookie deal faster than someone who comes out sooner, plus the pay scale goes up the longer he stays in school.[/I]
[/LIST][COLOR=#444444][FONT=Arial][I]Now you’re negotiating instead of just telling a kid to do what’s right for us and forget about what you want to do.[/I][/FONT][/COLOR]
[COLOR=#444444][FONT=Arial][I]But until that happens, if you want these kids to be about this team, this program and this university while they’re playing here, then we’ve got to give them time to think about it when the season is over. If one of our kids wants to say he’s coming back next year and the year after that and even the year after that, that’s fine – I’m not going to stop him. But I am going to make sure he’s thought about the reasons. Right now, our focus is on getting better and trying to win a national title. We’ll focus on individuals once our season is complete.[/I]
Sounds pretty clear cut to me. The ‘One n Done’ is the rule. Coach Cal has had players who may not have other wise gone that he has gotten their and he’s had players who could have gone which he supported in staying. Its a case by case sort of thing.
I do believe that it is not likely that Michael Kidd-Gilchrist will come back, regardless of what he says. It depends on how the rest year plays out, what roll he plays in the rest of the season, and what the NBA Scouts are saying about him in the beginning of April.
I do believe that Cal is going to push MKG in the direction that is best for MKG, and as special of a talent as Gillie is, Cal will bring in other players that are of his caliber. Conversly, much like Patrick Patterson, if Kidd-Gilchrist can make a solid case for why he wants to stay at UK, then why wouldn’t Cal want him to stay.
Reasons I could see that MKG would want to stay; he is the youngest player on this team and may feel he needs to mature before he is ready to go to the league. He may feel (especially if he is projected around #11 in the draft) that he can improve his draft stock to the top of the lottery. He may feel he needs to add some pieces to his game (not much he could, imo, but…) like driving more effectively without fouling and well, thats about it.
For the rest of Cal’s treatise, click [URL=”http://www.coachcal.com/11471/2012/02/the-great-myth-of-our-program/”]here[/URL].[/FONT][/COLOR]
