Storyline: Senior Darius Miller was the “It Factor” on UK’s 2012 championship team. Lexington wasn’t a pit stop for Miller’s dream; Lexington WAS his dream. Kentucky needs more players like Miller, fewer One-and-Done players.
This is, without a doubt, my favorite time of the year as far as sports goes. The MLB playoffs are in full swing, the college football playoff picture is tightening, and another exciting season of college basketball is just around the corner.
Courtesy: lakerholicz.com
The Kentucky Wildcats kick off the season this Friday with Big Blue Madness and the excitement and anticipation couldn’t be higher across The Bluegrass State. As usual, Wildcat fans (like myself) are anxious to see the new crop of recruits John Calipari has brought in to replenish the talented prospects he lost to the NBA Draft.
This season UK has the #1 ranked recruiting class in the land, yet again, highlighted by Bam Adebayo, De’Aaron Fox and Malik Monk. These “Diaper Dandies” have the potential to move on to the NBA.
But that’s the problem. For all the players that have come and gone in the Calipari Era, Lexington was just a pit stop to the NBA. They go to UK knowing that one season–their freshman year–will probably will be their only season in a Wildcat uniform. Many of them could have won national championships, saw their jerseys retired and hung in the rafters with the other Wildcat greats, and could have become immortals in Wildcat basketball history.
But, instead, they chose to sell themselves out after one season in the NCAA. The price they pay? Many go from star to role player. Anybody who has played sports realizes that’s a tough transition.
But the larger issue is this: this “one-and-done” system is not a recipe for success. The system has failed three times during Calipari’s tenure at UK. Let’s see what happened.
Courtesy: washingtonpost.com
The 2009-2010 team: This Wildcat team had a star-studded lineup, including John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, Demarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson, and Daniel Orton. These players would all go on to be Lottery Picks in the NBA draft–tying the record for most players taken from one school in the first round in one year. UK entered the 2010 NCAA tournament as the #1 overall seed and the favorite to win. The Wildcats faced off against #2-seeded West Virginia in the Elite Eight. Destiny seemed to be taking Big Blue towards an eighth national championship. But the Mountaineers manhandled the ‘Cats. Kentucky could not hit a three-pointer to save its life. Instead of looking for other ways to score, the young and inexperienced ‘Cats kept chucking it up from downtown. By the time it was over UK had shot a terrible 4-of-32 from long range and “Huggy Bear” and the Mountaineers punched their ticket to the Final Four, 73-66.
The 2012-2013 team: Kentucky followed up a national championship in 2012 by missing the dance altogether in 2013. The Wildcats received an invitation to the NIT, but lowly Robert Morris scored a major upset and showed the ‘Cats the door in the first round. The reason? The Cats lost playmaker and shot-blocker Nerlens Noel in the middle of the season. Point guard Archie Goodwin hogged the ball more than Kobe Bryant. UK basically mailed in their season halfway through the year. Why play for real if you’re on your way to the NBA?
Courtesy: Boston Herald
The 2013-2014 team: It may be hard to imagine this team as a “failure.” Led by the superstar freshman twins, Aaron and Andrew Harrison, the Wildcats made an appearance in an unusual national championship game: the #8-seeded Cats playing #7-seeded UConn, making it the highest combined-number seeds in NCAA championship game history. But the young Wildcats simply couldn’t match the Huskies’ experience in the backcourt. Seniors Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright had 22 and 14 points, respectively, and the duo shot an impressive 59% from the field and 100% from the line, leading their team to a 60-54 win. How did Harrison twins perform? They combined for just 15 points, shot an abysmal 37.5% from the field, and only attempted one free throw the whole night. Some say that experience in the backcourt is the most important asset to have in basketball. The 2014 NCAA championship is evidence.
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John Calipari has won one national championship during his career at Kentucky (in 2012). When people think about that team they probably think the reason the ‘Cats won was because of “Diaper Dandies.” like Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Glichrist, and Marquis Teague. But that wasn’t the reason why.
Courtesy: zimbio.com
While those guys were very valuable, the reason they won was guys like Doron Lamb and Terrence Jones–sophomores with experience who possessed valuable leadership skills. And senior Darius Miller was definitely the “it factor” on that team.
Miller, a product out of Maysville, Kentucky, could do everything well. Although not blessed with top-chart athleticism, Miller was a decent ball-handler, a good passer, and a great shooter. He was also a great non-vocal leader and did everything that was expected of him … and then some.
And most importantly Miller enjoyed every moment as a Kentucky Wildcat. Lexington wasn’t a pit stop to his dream; Lexington WAS his dream.
Bottom line: Calipari needs to recruit more guys like Miller.
So, as another season of UK basketball begins, I’m trying to hurry up and learn the names of all the players before they bolt town to the NBA … only to have forgotten their names five years down the road.
The one-and-done system. I guess it’s love it or not. For me, it’s not.
