Team preview: Kentucky
Blue Ribbon Yearbook previews the 2009-10 season, exclusively on Insider
Editor's Note: ESPN Insider has teamed with Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook to provide a comprehensive look at all 334 Division I teams. To order the complete 2009-10 edition of Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, visit www.blueribbonyearbookonline.com or call 1-877-807-4857.
(Information in this team report is as of Oct. 1.)
COACH AND PROGRAM
As a head coach, Billy Gillispie was at his best taking over down-on-their-luck programs at remote Division I outposts -- UTEP, Texas A&M -- and building them into NCAA Tournament teams.
Ironically, when given the controls of the winningest program in history, Gillispie's magic didn't work. He had every advantage a coach could want or need at Kentucky, but those advantages also came attached to a white-hot spotlight, and accompanied by intense fan and media scrutiny that dared to challenge decisions like substitution patterns, gaining commitments from eighth graders and protocol with ESPN sideline reporters.
Gillispie couldn't hang.
But in his defense, he's a quiet guy from Texas who would rather kick back on his couch with a beer and a game on TV than hobnob with well-wishers.
Given that, it wasn't so surprising when Kentucky administrators realized after two seasons -- the second of which ended in an NIT bid, thus breaking a 17-year NCAA Tournament streak -- things weren't going to improve under Gillispie's watch.
So a drastic decision was reached. Gillispie was sent packing, and the search was on for a coach who was a proven winner but who wouldn't recoil at the public relations responsibilities that go along with Kentucky job.
Athletic director Mitch Barnhart's search to replace Gillispie was a pretty short one. There aren't many coaches in the country who can handle this gig, and one of those had it before and wouldn't have been welcomed back. Thus, Kentucky literally worked from a short list, a list that might have had one name on it.
John Calipari.
Calipari had built Memphis into a power and came within two minutes of winning the national championship in 2008. Over the last four seasons, he racked up 137 victories, the most in any four-year stretch in college basketball history.
Just as important, Calipari doesn't squint in the spotlight, loves to meet the good old boys for morning breakfasts and hoops chat, doesn't mind the media, is hip to social networking innovations such as Twitter and Facebook, and has his own website, www.coachcal.com, which he wants to be the best coach's site in the country.
In short, he's got the whole package.
That package comes with a dark side, too. Critics often point to Calipari's habit of associating with fringe-level characters from the hoops world and the 1996 Final Four appearance when he was coaching at Massachusetts that was vacated after it was discovered star center Marcus Camby had signed with an agent. Few recall, though, that the NCAA concluded there was no way Calipari could have known about Camby's relationship with the agent.
Cal's critics gained even more fuel after he took the Kentucky job when news broke that former Memphis guard Derrick Rose, the man who led the Tigers to that brush with the national championship, didn't actually take the standardized test that allowed him to become eligible for his only college season. Though Rose had passed through the NCAA's Clearinghouse, he was retroactively declared ineligible and yet another Final Four appearance under Calipari's watch never happened -- officially, that is.
If Kentucky fans care a whit about those two abandoned Final Fours or think the same thing could happen to their beloved Wildcats under Calipari's watch, it wasn't obvious during his late-summer book tour across the state, during which the smallest crowd of autograph seekers was 300 and the largest more than 1,000.
And what an appropriate title for his latest literary endeavor: Bounce Back: Overcoming Setbacks to Succeed in Business and Life.
PLAYERS
PG-JOHN WALL (6-4, 195 lbs., FR, #11, 22.1 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 5.5 apg, 2.0 spg, Word of God HS/Raleigh, N.C.). Calipari has made a tidy living recruiting talented freshmen point guards, riding them to lengthy regular-season winning streaks and deep NCAA Tournament runs and then encouraging them to bolt for the NBA after one season. (See Rose, Derek and Evans, Tyreke). So how does Wall -- rated by most recruiting analysts as the top point guard and by at least one as the top player, period, in the class of 2009 -- compare?
We had to ask, and we might have expected Calipari to sidestep the question. He did, and then he didn't.
"I don't know yet, because I haven't coached him," Calipari said. "What I do know is that both Derrick and Tyreke had people saying they couldn't do this, or that, that maybe they were overrated [coming out of high school]."
Wall has no such detractors. So is Calipari saying he might be better than Rose or Evans? Not exactly.
"It makes a statement how we're preparing these kids," Calipari said. "Not just that we're taking them. It's what happening to them once they get here. That's what exciting, and John will be the same."
Calipari might not have coached Wall yet, but he had a chance to observe the freshman during every day life in summer school. Even off the court, Wall demonstrated leadership ability.
"He took on a leadership role with the other freshmen," Calipari said. "He dragged them to things they needed to be at. He had the energy to multi-task and not be overwhelmed. He started showing me the basis you have to have for mental toughness."
Wall is perfectly suited for the dribble-drive motion offense. He's extremely athletic and fast on the drib-ble -- recruiting analyst Brick Oettinger called him "Carl Lewis with a basketball" -- and is just about impossible to keep out of the lane, where he can finish or find open teammates. Wall is a crafty passer on the break and a good enough jump shooter to keep defenses honest.
Calipari and his staff will have to tighten up Wall's defense and decision-making a bit, but their work with Rose and Evans would suggest they know how to do that.
"When the game was on the line, Derrick and Tyreke played for their team, not for themselves," Calipari said. "Whether it was a pass, a rebound, a steal, a block, those guys would make plays to win games. It wasn't just offense. That's where we've got to train John. But he's so coachable.
"And he wants to be coached by me. He had people in his life that didn't want him to come with me. But the kid said, 'I'm playing for coach Cal. It doesn't matter what anybody else wants me to do.' You've got to want me as badly as I want you. If not, it doesn't work."
PG-ERIC BLEDSOE (6-1, 190 lbs., FR, #24, 20.3 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 11.5 apg, Parker HS/Birmingham, Ala.). It didn't take Calipari long to start to alter the balance of power in the SEC.
Had Calipari stayed at Memphis, Bledsoe would have signed with Florida, which was in urgent need of a point guard after the departure of sophomore Nick Calathes. But Calipari was hired April 1, and by May 6, Bledsoe was a Wildcat.
Three weeks on the job, one key recruit steered away from an Eastern Division rival.
And Bledsoe -- who was rated among the top five point guards and top 30 players in the nation -- is no ordinary recruit. We can say that with certainty, for this reason. Bledsoe knew Calipari was also recruiting John Wall. That didn't bother Bledsoe a bit, because he's got tons of confidence in his own game. Besides, chances are good Wall and Bledsoe will be on the floor together more often than not.
"[Bledsoe] is good," Calipari said. "He can play the point, he can play combo, which means he and John can play together. I'm no different than any other coach in the country. If two of your better players are at the same position, you just play them both. And the thing is, Eric and John really like each other."
Bledsoe is a rugged competitor who loves to push the ball up the floor on the break. He'll be a killer in Calipari's offense, because he's strong and can bull his way into the paint and either score or pass out to the perimeter for open threes. He understands the game as well as any point guard in his class, and he's a leader.
Bledsoe's only real weakness is shooting, but he finds ways to get the ball in the hole.
It's interesting to note that Bledsoe was rated the No. 1 recruit in Alabama in the Birmingham News' Super Seniors list, two notches ahead of fellow Kentucky freshman DeMarcus Cousins, who was rated among the top two players in the country by most recruiting analysts.
The newspaper calls on several long-time observers of Alabama high school basketball to help rank the Super Seniors, and the consensus of that brain trust was that Bledsoe is more a finished product to Cousins' work in progress.
Perhaps many of those experts saw the Alabama Class 5A state semifinal game last February between Bledsoe's Parker team and Cousins' LeFlore team, which was ranked No. 5 in the nation. Cousins fouled out with about 3:30 to play, having scored seven points on 2-of-12 shooting. He did little to hide his frustration.
Bledsoe, meanwhile, delivered a fine overall floor game -- 17 points, nine boards, five assists, two blocked shots, two steals. And his team won.
SF-DARIUS MILLER (6-7, 223 lbs., SO, #1, 5.3 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.0 apg, 0.8 spg, .413 FG, .327 3PT, .804 FT, Mason County HS/Maysville, Ky.). It didn't take Calipari too long to size up Miller, who gave glimpses of his talent during his freshman season and was apparently prepared to impress his new coach.
"Darius was the biggest surprise to me in the stuff we did when I first got the job," Calipari said. "He was the most impressive player on the team."
Miller impressed another big-hitter from the D-I coaching ranks during the summer. In June Miller tried out for United States U-19 team that would compete in the FIBA World Championships in New Zealand and be coached by Jamie Dixon of Pittsburgh. He earned a spot and averaged 5.0 points and 3.1 rebounds as the U.S. won the gold medal for the first time since 1991.
"I can't really put into words how I felt when we won the gold medal; it was a great experience," Miller said. "Just to even be a part of the USA team was overwhelming. I was honored to even make the team, and then we go and win the gold medal. Everything together and being able to be in New Zealand, which is not somewhere that most people get a chance to go to, I feel blessed to be a part of it."
Miller's role on the U.S. team wasn't unlike the role he'll have at Kentucky. The Wildcats have size, quickness, scoring ability and depth. What they need is a blender, a guy who can make sure stuff gets done.
"I was just trying to do a little bit of everything," Miller said of his role on the U.S. team. "We had a lot of guys that can score and others that can do other things like pass. I was just trying to bring energy every time I stepped on the court and help the team get going offensively and defensively."
Miller's got a solid overall game, as he proved many times during his rookie season. One particular stat sheet-stuffer game came against Miami, when he scored just five points but contributed 10 rebounds, five assists, two blocked shots and a steal.
Miller is more than just a handyman, though. He can score. His three-point shot could be a bit more consistent, but he's got an effective midrange game that will plug right into Calipari's system.
"He's able to get by people," Calipari said. "He can make the tough runners and layups, that middle game that sets kids apart in this offense. He's got great touch. When Darius shoots a runner, it's death."
PF-PATRICK PATTERSON (6-9, 235 lbs., JR, #54, 17.9 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 1.9 apg, 2.0 bpg, 33.7 mpg, .603 FG, .000 3PT, .768 FT, Huntington HS/Huntington, W.Va.). Patterson wisely decided to stay in school for his junior season rather than test his NBA draft potential. He'll get a chance to expand his game at Kentucky, for even though he's the best low-post player in the SEC, Calipari plans to let Patterson demonstrate his face-up skills. That speaks to a part of Patterson's considerable game he hasn't shown the general public yet, but it also speaks to the interesting array of options Calipari has in his frontcourt.
"Here's what we're going to do for Patrick," Calipari said. "In the dribble-drive, we're going to have him on a perimeter position, like [Memphis forwards] Robert Dozier and Shawne Williams. What he adds that those two didn't have is toughness around the basket. He can slide in and post [his opponent] up. But he can also pass, put it on the floor and shoot the three.
"I want him to play like a two guard, but when the game's on the line, his butt's going to be next to the basket."
That's a good idea, because in the SEC, no team has yet proven it can stop Patterson, or even slow him down appreciably. The reason Patterson didn't average a double-double -- and he came within a whisker of doing so -- or lead the SEC in scoring and rebounding was that he played too many minutes, nearly 35 a game over his first two seasons. Throw in Gillispie's full-on game-day practices, and that's a lot of pounding on a man so large. There were times he looked exhausted, and there were other times where his teammates forgot he was in the paint, capable of scoring about any time he wanted.
Patterson will get more done in fewer minutes this season. With his passing ability and three-point range, he'll be the biggest small forward in the country as Calipari experiments with putting a gigantic lineup on the floor.
Patterson embodies all that is good about college basketball. He's a solid person who comes from a supportive family, he works hard and does what he's told without complaint, and he gets the job done in the classroom. He'll graduate in three years, meaning this season will be his last in Lexington.
"He's done at the end of the year," Calipari said. "But we're glad he came back for one last season. He gives us that man you've got to have. You've got to have a toughness, a viciousness of play. Patrick brings that every night."
C-DEMARCUS COUSINS (6-11, 260 lbs., FR, #15, 24.1 ppg, 13.2 rpg, 4.6 apg, 5.1 spg, 3.2 bpg, LeFlore HS/Mobile, Ala.). LeBron James paid a visit to the Kentucky campus over the summer and watched the Wildcats play a pickup game or two. Afterward, he couldn't resist giving some advice to Cousins, the statement-making first recruit signed by Calipari after he arrived at Kentucky.
"LeBron told me, 'Hey, I went up to your big man,' " Calipari said. "And he told him, 'You've got to go inside kid. Why are you trying to be a point guard?' "
We'll take a stab at that one: Because he can, or at least, because he could -- in high school. But those days are long gone.
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Another interested observer with considerable NBA credentials, basketball hall of famer Charles Barkley, drove from Atlanta to Birmingham to see Cousins play in the semifinals of the Alabama Class 5A state tournament last February. After Cousins fouled out with less than four minutes to play having scored just seven points, Barkley, ever candid, told the Birmingham News, "Very disappointing. I'd never seen him play in person. I was excited to see him. But he didn't do anything to dominate the game in any way. He's big. But big don't work in college or the pros."
Calipari will try to drive home that point, while at the same time allowing Cousins to use his unique skill set.
"He has unbelievable skills," Calipiari said. "He can pass. He can shoot. He can dribble. He's got nimble feet, great hands. And he's 260 pounds with a wingspan of 7-6."
That last sentence should be the tip off as to the role the big man will play at Kentucky. What a shame to waste that shot-altering length, rebounding might and low-post scoring power. Cousins will get a chance to show his face-up game and passing skills, but he's not going to be a perimeter drifter on Calipari's watch.
It will all start with conditioning.
"He's never been in great condition," Calipari said of the Parade and McDonald's All-American who was rated the No. 2 prospect in the country by Rivals. "Ever. If he doesn't get in great shape, that will take away from how he plays.
"It's going to be a painful first two months for him, but [conditioning is] a process he must go through to break the barrier that's held him back physically."
G-DARNELL DODSON (6-7, 215 lbs., SO, #3, 15.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 1.5 spg, .341 3PT, .767 FT, Eleanor Roosevelt HS/Greenbelt, Md./Miami-Dade CC/Miami, Fla.). Dodson took a circuitous route to Lexington, with stop offs in the Big East, junior college and Conference USA before he finally settled in SEC country.
Signed by Pittsburgh in 2007, Dodson didn't make it through the NCAA Clearinghouse and enrolled at Miami-Dade, where he redshirted in 2007-08. He intended to return to Pitt but was surprised to learn he couldn't -- a Big East rule prohibits any conference recruit who's a non-qualifier to sign with a junior college and then return to the league.
It didn't take Dodson long to find a home, because when Calipari was at Memphis, he hired former Pitt assistant Orlando Antigua, who had recruited Dodson for the Panthers. Dodson signed with the Tigers and went on to produce solid numbers last season playing for a loaded Miami-Dade team that featured six other Division I signees.
When Calipari left for Kentucky and took Antigua with him, it wasn't surprising Dodson followed them. Dodson plugs right into Calipari's system because he's got the requisite skills to be effective in the dribble-drive motion -- shooting range past the three-point line and the ability to get to the rim.
"He's exactly what we look for," Calipari said. "The Thing that he does we needed at Memphis, and we need here. If he's open, everybody knows it's down. We need that here desperately because we don't have the finishers that we had at Memphis. We will, but right now shooting will be more of a premium."
G-JON HOOD (6-6, 195 lbs., FR, #4, 29.4 ppg, 12.9 rpg, 3.3 apg, 3.1 bpg, North Hopkins HS/Madisonville, Ky.). Hood cleaned house in the major awards in Kentucky high school hoops last year, earning Mr. Basketball and Gatorade State Player-of-the-Year honors. So many young boys in Kentucky grow up wanting to become Mr. Basketball and play for the mighty Wildcats, and not many get to do either. Hood carries the banner for every in-state high school phenom who was just a tad too short or too slow to be recruited by Kentucky.
Hood is neither short nor slow. He's got great size for his position and he's athletic -- just check out some of his dunks on YouTube. Hood can also shoot -- what self-respecting Kentucky boy can't? -- and he's not afraid to mix things up in the lane.
Hood will have to get stronger and learn how to play with maximum intensity all the time. But he's got a place in Calipari's system.
"He's a good shooter, he's good with the ball, a gym rat, a good student, a good kid," Calipari said. "All the things you want. He's a major college player, no question, but physically he may be behind [some of Kentucky's other freshmen]. It's just a maturation process for Jon."
G/F-RAMON HARRIS (6-7, 218 lbs., SR, #5, 5.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 22.0 mpg, .526 FG, .240 3PT, .623 FT, West Anchorage HS/Anchorage, Alaska). Last year was a rough one for Harris, even though he started 28 games and was a key piece in Gillispie's rotation.
It all started in a game against Lamar on Dec. 3, when, scrambling for a loose rebound, he bumped heads violently with teammate Michael Porter.
Porter, who needed 10 stitches to close a gash on his face, got up right away, but Harris was on the deck for several minutes and was carried off on a stretcher. He missed three games with back and neck injuries, returned for a game, then missed two of the next three games with back stiffness.
Later in the year, at halftime of a game against Alabama, Harris passed out and was taken to the hospital.
Through it all, Harris persevered, and he scored nine or more points in four of the Wildcats' last seven games. He even notched his career high of 10 boards against UNLV in the NIT.
Whether he'll find any serious playing time with all the new talent brought in by Calipari remains to be seen, but Calipari does like to use a nine- or 10-man rotation.
F-PERRY STEVENSON (6-9, 207 lbs., SR, #21, 7.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.86 bpg, 0.8 spg, 28.1 mpg, .543 FG, .300 3PT, .681 FT, Northside HS/Lafayette, La.). He's suddenly got a lot of competition for minutes, but Stevenson, who started 34 games last year, will not give up his job easily. Stevenson has some skills that Calipari can put to good use, notably his shot blocking. He's eighth all time at Kentucky with 139 career blocks. Last season he turned back 67, second on the team to Patrick Patterson and fourth in the SEC.
Stevenson is also crafty around the basket and can dunk in a flash. He was second to Patterson in field-goal percentage.
Stevenson put together some excellent performances, notably a 20-point, 14-rebound, four-blocked shot game against VMI, setting career highs in points and boards. Stevenson had another nifty double-double against Alabama (16 points, 12 rebounds) and turned in an efficient outing against Indiana with 10 points, nine boards, six blocks and 5-of-5 shooting.
Whatever role Stevenson plays, he'll be a handy guy to have around, if for no other reason than his defense.
C-DANIEL ORTON (6-10, 255 lbs., FR, #33, 14.0 ppg, 11.0 rpg, 5.0 bpg in 2007-08, Bishop McGuiness HS/Oklahoma City, Okla.). Some Kentucky fans wondered whether Orton, who signed when Gillispie was coach, would hang around after Calipari took over, but they needn't have worried. Orton took one look at the studs Calipari was rounding up in a monster spring recruiting class and he wanted in.
Calipari is seriously considering putting Orton on the floor along with Cousins, which would shift Patterson to small forward and give the Wildcats a skyline, not a front line. All three players have face-up skills that would make such a lineup possible.
"[Orton] is in the same mold and has the same skill set DeMarcus has," Calipari said. "He's a big guy that can score around the goal and has a toughness about him. He can also shoot jump shots and has the skill to pass and has great hands."
Anyone who doubts whether Orton is skilled -- and powerful -- would be advised to search YouTube for the video that shows Orton claiming a defensive rebound in a high school game, dribbling the length of the floor and throwing down a dunk that smashed the backboard. The rim nearly bludgeoned him to death as it fell to the floor, and the crowd went berserk.
Orton suffered a knee injury and missed the entire regular season of his senior year, but he got back in time for the Oklahoma state tournament and led Bishop McGuinness to the finals, where it was beaten by Star-Spencer.
"Our only challenge with Daniel will be getting him up to speed after taking basically a year off," Calipari said.
G-DEANDRE LIGGINS (6-6, 202 lbs., SO, #34, 4.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.8 apg, 16.6 mpg, .362 FG, .235 3PT, .673 FT, Chicago, Ill./Findlay Prep/Las Vegas, Nev.). Liggins had a difficult time adjusting to college basketball and his former coach. But he's got the skills and the body type Calipari loves. Just don't expect him to play point guard.
"He's not a point guard," Calipari said. "He's probably a two or three. He's not a great shooter. But my other guys [at Memphis] weren't great shooters. They just knew what shots they could take and they were good drivers."
Liggins was a little amped up in off-season workouts, as he no doubt tried to impress Calipari.
"He was a little bit out of control," Calipari said. "Excited. When I first got here, he turned the ball over quite a bit."
F-JOSH HARRELLSON (6-10, 265 lbs., JR, #55, 3.6 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 9.3 mpg, .447 FG, .333 3PT, .722 FT, St. Charles, Mo./Southwest Illinois College). Harrellson is a very serviceable big man who has a legitimate in-side-outside game; he's just as capable of blocking a shot as he is draining a three-pointer. Like so many of his teammates last year, his playing time fluctuated wildly, and he ended up averaging less than 10 minutes a game.
When he got time to break a sweat, Harrellson usually delivered. He came off the bench and scored a career-high 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds against Indiana in 18 minutes. He scored 12 points four times, including a double-double against West Virginia in which he grabbed 10 boards and played 25 minutes. His 12-point, sev-en-rebound game against Lamar showed his versatility because the effort included 2-of-3 three-point shooting and two blocks. Harrellson delivered 12 points, seven boards and three blocks against Longwood in 16 minutes.
Calipari says of Harrellson that "he can really shoot it," which means the coach already envisions a role so many of his four men in Memphis filled. He'll get some shots in the dribble-drive motion, though playing time could once again be tough to come up by given the Wildcats' five-man post rotation.
G-MARK KREBS (6-5, 208 lbs., SR, #12, 0.2 ppg, 0.3 rpg, 1.9 mpg, Newport Central Catholic HS/Newport, Ky.). Calipari had a scholarship left over after all his roster machinations were complete, so he gave a break to a Krebs, a former walk-on who works hard in practice but played in just 13 games, for a total of 25 minutes last season.
"And after I met with him and heard him say, 'Coach, all I want is to be a part of the Kentucky basketball program,' I knew what we had to do," Calipari said.
BLUE RIBBON ANALYSIS
BACKCOURT: A
BENCH/DEPTH: A
FRONTCOURT: A
INTANGIBLES: A
After the failed Billy Gillispie experiment, Kentucky needed to find a coach that could deal with the inherent pressure of working at the winningest program in history. It isn't easy being the head coach of the Wildcats, and there aren't but a handful of coaches who could combine the X and O ability with a willingness to press the flesh and the toughness to ignore critics. John Calipari is one of those coaches.
After last year's banishment to the NIT, the Wildcats, newly stocked with a great spring recruiting class, will take quickly to Calipari's dribble-drive motion, win the SEC's Eastern Division and enter the NCAA Tournament ready to rumble. If young point guards John Wall and Eric Bledsoe have matured by then and young big men DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton stick to their roles and help veteran Patrick Patterson with the dirty work down low, this team has a deep NCAA run in store.
For the most comprehensive previews available on all 334 Division I teams, order the "Bible" of college basketball, the 2009-10 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, at www.blueribbonyearbookonline.com or call 1-877-807-4857.
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