(03-20-2023, 12:03 PM)HURRICANE!!! Wrote:

(03-19-2023, 06:10 PM)The Real Marty Wrote: Is KY still doing that one-and-done stuff?  Where players come for one year and go pro?

KY is doing what everyone else is doing.  Trying to recruit the best players in HS and the Transfer Portal.  If they so happen to depart after 1 year then it's pretty much common with other elite blue bloods.  The problem with KY is that some top HS players are going to the NBA developmental league AND a lot of NCAA teams have enhanced recruiting with NIL and simply visibility of the Big12 and such so KY, Duke, and UNC don't control the recruiting.  KY did hit it big in the portal with Oscar Tshiebwe from WVU, otherwise, they would have been a lot worse and likely not made the tourney this year.

It should be noted that Calipari has only won 1 title at KY and that was in 2012 so as successful as he has been it just demonstrates the level of difficulty it takes to win the tourney multiple times since the NBA allowed players to declare for the draft after 1 year.

Tshiebwe was definitely a blessing. 

College sports, especially basketball, has changed drastically over the last 10 years with one and done, transfer portals and NIL. In essence, it is openly embracing its historical purpose which is to groom prospective professional athletes. Student athletes who use their scholarships for actual scholastic achievement still make up a major portion of team rosters, but the prospective pros are being utilized for school branding and financial gain. 

I was initially opposed to all of this but it has grown on me. As long as most of the kids who have no opportunity to make the pros but have enough talent to get a scholarship and leverage that for academic achievement, I’m ok with it. It seems like a win-win.

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