Most hated coach is...Calipari

[jmag21]

3. I chuckle at how little people actually know about the recruiting process and what goes on. How the media creates and manipulates perception and popular opinion. Calipari is the devil, William Wesley is a bagman and Roy Williams or Coach K are saints beating back the "evils" that have infected college basketball. Recruiting is a cutthroat game and things go on everywhere (yes, even at Minnesota) that the NCAA deems "improper" but these grand conspiracies where hundreds of thousands of dollars in paper bags change hands are kind of rare these days.

I don't know many people who dislike Calipari but think Williams or Coach K are saints (besides UNC or Duke fans). As you can see from my list, Calipari's number 1 with a bullet on my least favorite coaches, but Roy Williams is Top 5, and Coach K almost made the five slot.

 

[Friend Of Tubby]

The rule itself is stupid but it is what it is. You can cite "well, baseball does it better!. It really is about what's best for the student-athlete!" No, it's not. Baseball players go through their draft process and 99% of them that are drafted but enter college do so for one reason: They didn't like their draft position and their first contract. These kids are not going to play for higher education or the pageantry of college baseball, they're going in the hopes of improving that draft status and getting a better deal.

What difference does it really make if a kid stays one, two, three or four years? It makes no difference in the end if they exhaust their eligibility without finishing their education. So a kid stays an extra year and leaves early as a sophomore (like Gordon Hayward) that's okay but we have to act all indignant when a kid wants to trade on his marketable skills after his freshman year? The best interests of these kids should come first and for many of them entering the Draft and playing in the NBA is their dream. For some of them it's also a matter of financial security for their families. If you came from poverty and after one year of playing basketball or studying computer science in college someone offered you millions of dollars in compensation for your skills what would you do?

I don't want to listen to any arguments about the "sanctity of college athletics." Minnesota doesn't build 300 million dollar football palaces to crank out Rhodes Scholars and Kentucky doesn't pay John Calipari 4 million dollars a year to teach HIST 105. At the end of the day, the only thing anyone can do is hope that these institutions do right (and vice versa) by the athletes. If any of this "purity" I keep seeing folks harping about ever existed it ended the day when Harvard and Yale started rounding up shell shocked World War I vets to bash each other's brains in because they realized they could make a killing selling out Yankee Stadium in New York.

As far as the issues directly related to Kentucky here's what I know:

1. No one around that program or during the recruiting process expected all these declarations when all these guys showed up on campus last summer. They didn't expect the rapid progress of Cousins and Bledsoe either. Calipari told Demarcus' mother when he was recruiting him at Memphis that he needed at least two years in college. NBA GM's and scouts said the same thing. No one saw the rapid progress in maturation and skill development of Cousins coming but he worked extremely hard. If you saw him playing AAU in high school you saw a kid with tremendous size and potential that wanted to be a guard.

Bledsoe's issues are directly related to money (terrible, terrible situation for him) but he wasn't on anyone's radar until GM's and scout started coming in to watch him workout. He's worked as hard as anyone on the team to improve. Orton is a trickier situation that I really don't feel comfortable talking about on a message board. Wish him nothing but the best though.

2. All those kids have/are finishing their classwork this semester. I'm not going sit here and say that they're all studying rocket science but they're doing right by the University and the basketball program. It's part of what the coaching staff expects of them: We'll get you ready for your futures but don't take advantage of the situation. John has stated that he's going to come back in the summers to complete a promise to his father and mother and get his degree (like Durant is doing at Texas) but it's going to be tough with how crazy his life is going to be.

3. I chuckle at how little people actually know about the recruiting process and what goes on. How the media creates and manipulates perception and popular opinion. Calipari is the devil, William Wesley is a bagman and Roy Williams or Coach K are saints beating back the "evils" that have infected college basketball. Recruiting is a cutthroat game and things go on everywhere (yes, even at Minnesota) that the NCAA deems "improper" but these grand conspiracies where hundreds of thousands of dollars in paper bags change hands are kind of rare these days.

UK had NCAA sanctions under Rupp (1953), Hall (1976), and Sutton (1989). Calipari has never had NCAA sanctions pinned on him. But he certainly tiptoes along the edge of the fine line.

The potential NBA lockout in 2011 is driving more players into the 2010 draft.

 

[Friend Of Tubby]

Go mention Kyle Okposo's name (or Kris Chucko or Jake Taylor) to a Gopher hockey fan and see what you get.

What does your baseball example have to do with anything? They are going from HS to the Pros without a stop in college. Why would they be criticized? Also, if they go to college they have to wait three years to be drafted again. Why would anyone criticize someone leaving after their junior year?

My point is that the basketball players (mostly African-American, not all) who go pro early get an unfair amount of criticism for doing it, compared to other (mostly white, not all) sports where players go pro early, too.

 

[Friend Of Tubby]

My top five most disliked coaches are:

1. Calipari
2. Ryan
3. Thad
4. Roy Williams
5. Whoever's coaching against the Gophers.

Also, FOT's theory is absolutely ludicrous.

Nope. Baseball, hockey, tennis, golf - all take teenagers into pro ranks.

Basketball - teenagers are prohibited from taking the early jump to pros.

 

[Maximus]

My point is that the basketball players (mostly African-American, not all) who go pro early get an unfair amount of criticism for doing it, compared to other (mostly white, not all) sports where players go pro early, too.

And your point is ridiculous.

College hockey players that leave early are criticized as I stated above. It's just not as well publicized because hockey is a regional sport....but people with passion for the game criticize as harshly as college hoops fans.

Tennis players and golfers aren't criticized because no one gives a sh**. Fans aren't doling out thousands of dollars to watch them play for their team or spending hours and hours on message boards breaking down their next match.

Baseball players aren't criticized because if they enroll in college, they have to wait three years before they can get drafted again.

Basketball players are criticized because college basketball fans are selfish and they want those players to be in the college game for more than one year. They're also jealous of the schools that routinely get the one and dones.

Race has ZERO to do with it.

 

[jmag21]

Nope. Baseball, hockey, tennis, golf - all take teenagers into pro ranks.

Basketball - teenagers are prohibited from taking the early jump to pros.

The reasons people don't care about it in other sports is pretty simple. People don't, by and large, care about college baseball, golf, tennis, or hockey. The ones who do hate the fact that the best players bypass college and jump straight to the pros. The Okposo point was a great one. I'm a huge Gopher hockey fan, and I think the rush to the pros is killing the college game. Also, people don't notice players going from high school to the pros, because young players are generally not successful in baseball, hockey, tennis, or golf. Usually, the young folks play in the minors, or on some lesser tour while they improve. In other words, the idea that this is about race is misguided, in my opinion. Is there racial prejudice in our culture today? I think so. Does that prejudice impact our sports landscape? Probably. Do some people categorize the NBA as a "thug league" out of some racial animus? Maybe. But do people object to one and dones and high school draftees because of racism? Almost without exception, no. The people who like the current rule, including myself, have other, less heinous reasons for their support.

 

[Friend Of Tubby]

And your point is ridiculous.

College hockey players that leave early are criticized as I stated above. It's just not as well publicized because hockey is a regional sport....but people with passion for the game criticize as harshly as college hoops fans.

Tennis players and golfers aren't criticized because no one gives a sh**. Fans aren't doling out thousands of dollars to watch them play for their team or spending hours and hours on message boards breaking down their next match.

Baseball players aren't criticized because if they enroll in college, they have to wait three years before they can get drafted again.

Basketball players are criticized because college basketball fans are selfish and they want those players to be in the college game for more than one year. They're also jealous of the schools that routinely get the one and dones.

Race has ZERO to do with it.

Not at all (ridiculous). Fans do pay LOTS of $ to watch them play their sports.

Most of the criticism is directed toward(s) basketball. Most of the players are black. They should have the same opportunity as (mostly) white kids in baseball, tennis, golf, or hockey. HS-to-pros if they choose to do so.

 

[Friend Of Tubby]

The reasons people don't care about it in other sports is pretty simple. People don't, by and large, care about college baseball, golf, tennis, or hockey. The ones who do hate the fact that the best players bypass college and jump straight to the pros. The Okposo point was a great one. I'm a huge Gopher hockey fan, and I think the rush to the pros is killing the college game. Also, people don't notice players going from high school to the pros, because young players are generally not successful in baseball, hockey, tennis, or golf. Usually, the young folks play in the minors, or on some lesser tour while they improve. In other words, the idea that this is about race is misguided, in my opinion. Is there racial prejudice in our culture today? I think so. Does that prejudice impact our sports landscape? Probably. Do some people categorize the NBA as a "thug league" out of some racial animus? Maybe. But do people object to one and dones and high school draftees because of racism? Almost without exception, no. The people who like the current rule, including myself, have other, less heinous reasons for their support.

I think any 18 year old should be able to go after any job he / she wants IF they are qualified for it. NBA basketball is a JOB after all.

 

[Section201]

fot

It's factual. Baseball players (leaving HS for pro baseball) are mostly white.

I've never heard criticism of those 4 sports in that regard. Hockey, tennis, golf, or baseball.

I do not think it has to do with the race of the player leaving.

Respectfully, the level of interest and fan passion is close to zero in those other sports you list when compared to NCAA hoops. More fans care about NCAA hoops so more folks complain about one and dones in it than college tennis for example. Thanks for reminding me college tennis exists.

 

[JDGopher]

I do not think it has to do with the race of the player leaving.

Respectfully, the level of interest and fan passion is close to zero in those other sports you list when compared to NCAA hoops. More fans care about NCAA hoops so more folks complain about one and dones in it than college tennis for example. Thanks for reminding me college tennis exists.

I agree 100%.

NCAA Basketball is definitely the most popular of the sports mentioned, and it's not very close, at all. That is why you hear the most about it, not because the majority of departures are minorities.