The man who once entertained the thought of taking the head coaching job at our very own University is finally on the move. John Calipari is leaving Memphis for greener...or should i say "blue-er" pastures in Kentucky. Year after year Calipari has teased the notion of moving to a bigger conference, then has accepted the bonus money Memphis would throw at him. This time, a downtrodden economy and the realization that someday it's all going to have to come to an end, has caused Memphis to finally step aside and bid Calipari farewell.
Here's where the story gets sticky. Demarcus Cousins and John Wall are two of the top recruits in the nation, and both named NC State in their final lists. The problem is, both of them also listed Memphis. Wall has yet to make his decision, but Cousins went ahead and verballed. Calipari bolting to Kentucky is the little wrinkle that Sidney Lowe and the Pack may need to attempt a pretty big heist. There will be a small window of time, and that time may be occurring soon, where Cousins and Wall are questioning what to do, or what the situation is. This will give the Wolfpack, or any other program for that matter, the chance to get in and sway these kids based on the question marks that this move presents.
- Do the recruits simply follow Calipari? They likely do not know the returning players, the area, the campus. -Who are the returning players? Are Jodi Meeks and Patrick Patterson both going pro? How will playing time shape up?
-Kentucky has inked the #3 center in the nation. Does he de-commit or does he stay with Kentucky? If he stays, where does this leave Cousins? Would Cousins think about sharing minutes?
- What is the scholarship situation? Are there enough scholarships to go around at Kentucky with the expected exodus from Memphis?
- When reached for comment, Cousins stated "Coach (Cal) is not leaving, I talked with him as soon as I heard the rumor and he told me it's 100% false." Obviously he lied to a kid that trusted him with this college career. How will this play out? Will Cousins feel betrayed?
- And lastly and most importantly. If Calipari and Memphis ARE out of the picture, is NC State the next school on their list?
These are all questions that will be asked, and questions that need to be answered. To get them all answered will take time and that's something these recruits are running out of. With signing day right around the corner players are feeling the pressure to make their pick. Calipari will surely go after Wall and Cousins, but are they committed to Cal and buying whatever he's selling? Or are they ready to be recruited again to a more stable, sure situation? Some will surely want to follow, but there will be a window of time where these recruits begin to question if they are making the right move. That is when a coach needs to step in a make contact, (and get a visit lined up)...and we think Sidney Lowe is preparing to do just that.
** Our goal as a site is to encourage you as NC State fans to think objectively. We want you to be able to think logically, come to your own conclusion and connect the dots. A fan base that thinks objectively tends to take a more stable stance in their opinions. This post is rooted in fact and possibility, yes, but it is purely speculative. We're not trying to play on emotions or become a hype machine, we just feel our job is to report on every story that could affect NC State Basketball, and this one certainly does. Tell us what you think about Cal to Kentucky!
March 31, 2009
comments
34 Responses to "Calipari to Kentucky: How Could This Affect the Pack's Chances With Wall and Cousins?"I like how the media assumes that Calipari will take all his recruits with him. Kind of direpectful to them I think. Maybe they can think for themselves and realize they will make a bigger difference at NC State than UK.
Now if only Coach K will bolt to the NBA, we may could get a player for Wall by default. ;)
Hey WPH,
What do you think about this video?
http://rivals.yahoo.com/video/amp-basketball/ncstate/AMP-Henry-and-Cousins-on-Calipari-situation-48546
Cousins only mentions K-state and Washington at the end as his other alternatives. What happened to State?
Wolfpack Hoops,
Great breakdown of the entire situation and maybe somehow we can get Cousins to come to N.C. State since Calapari flat out lied to him and chose to go to Kentucky to better HIMSELF instead of staying true to his word with a fellow recruit. There is simply not enough room for all of these players to go to Kentucky and I hope Cousins choses a father figure and NBA connection person in Sidney Lowe instead of John Sleeeeezpari. John Wall was not affected by this at all because I feel he is Duke bound from all of the sources and everyone saying how well his visit went with Coach K and that would be a mistake because he will not make any kind of big impact like he would if he came to the NC State red and white.
However in saying all of that I believe if we could somehow get Mr.Cousins to come here then he could persuade Wall to come with him and then we would be very very good next year and bridge the cap from wall to harrow. that would be great.
Ryan Harrow & Josh Davis are 2 character guys and we have fallen in love with these guys and please remember you will always have a place in NC State tradition because you guys stayed true to yourselves and came to a place where you love and we will love you back from day 1 !!! God Bless your family Mr.Harrow and also yours Mr.Davis. Here is my starting 5 for next year in a perfect world !!!
PG-John Wall
SG-Lorenzo Brown
SF-C.J. Williams
PF-Tracy Smith
C- DeMarcus Cousins
Richard Howell,Scott Wood,Dennis Horner,Julius Mays, Josh Davis Javi Gonzalez coming off the bench WOW!!! IMPRESSIVE
I will leave you guys with a Jimmy V Quote.
"I asked a ref if he could give me a technical foul for thinking bad things about him. He said, of course not. I said, well, I think you stink. And he gave me a technical. You can't trust em."
All I can say is that if D-Marc is re-opening his recruitment then that is nothing but good news. That doesn't mean we are going to get him, but we were on his final list so obviously we have built a pretty solid relationship with the young man. Many close to the situation believed that it was between the Pack and Memphis before he committed. We also know that his mom was surprised when he committed to Memphis b/c she thought it was down to State and Washington. When he cut his list to 4 he listed: Memphis, NC State, Kansas State, and Missouri. Obviously I think all parties involved are unsure of what D-Marc will do, even himself. As long as he has not signed we are still players in this thing. We'll just have to wait and see.
Getting Cousins at NCSU would be an unexpected bonus. I certainly hope that Sid takes this opportunity to try and land him, however, I'm not getting my hopes up. For some reason I see Cousins following Calipari to KU. I hope I am wrong.
Need to get Cousins on campus for a visit and coincide it with an unofficial from Wall. Lowe needs to be hopping a plane to Mobile to show Cousins a TON of love.
^ I agree. I think Lowe is definitely going to be all over Cousins. Today Cousins is still in Miami for the McD's AA game.
I think we've got an exciting class already but wouldn't be shocked now if Sid can pull off getting one of them. The consensus seems to be that Cousins is more likely but I think Wall is like me, kinda perverse. He doesn't like for anyone to assume anything and has already said he may surprise everyone. Oh, and either way, I can't wait for Sid to shut up the prejudiced mob.
Wolfpack Hoops,
1. Why are we not being mentioned at all on ESPN or any any of the reports I read about John Wall list and none of them even mention the word NC State? Are we completely out of it or what.. insight please?
2. DeMarcus Cousins- what do you have on this? is he going to follow the jackass to Kentucky who lied to all of his players or is he going to come here maybe? Are we going after him? insight please?
I love coming here to ask these questions because you guys go out and get us factual work instead of just bs rumors. thanks guys for all of your hard work and donation is on the way !!
My gut feeling here is that Memphis is out of the picture now. There is just too much distraction without a coach in place. UK is not going to be a good fit either as they have too many players and only one basketball on the court at one time. I believe NC State and Duke are the two finalist now, and if he goes to Duke it will be another chapter in the futility of Wolfpack Basketball to beat anything that wears BLUE! I hope John realizes he's good enough with the "average" cast of players to make the tourney and we all know that's the stage he needs to jolt to a top 3 NBA lottery pick. I just hope this factor alone is not what K is shoving to lure him over our faithful "red and white". Make us relevant John, we'd love to see you in RED!
I say watch Mizzou in this as the darkhorse. Mike Anderson is a hot name right now off the elite 8 success.
^ We are not being mentioned because we are NC State and NC State never gets mentioned on ESPN. But really here is what we've got.
We're still in it with Wall. He's supposedly cutting his list at the Jordan Brand All Star Game. As of now we're one of about 5 schools he's listing. From a good source about a week ago we were told the final 3 are were Memphis, Duke and State. You can most likely change that to Kentucky, Duke and State. We'll see what happens when they cut he cuts his list. The media doesn't mention us b/c they don't think we have a shot. Same thing happened with Hickson...we weren't even mentioned until the very end.
It looks like Cousins is going to start over and open up his recruitment. Might he follow Cal to Kentucky. Yeah he might, but he also might end up with playing time issues. We were 100% in the mix before he committed to Memphis so don't let any interviews or media outlets say otherwise, and you can bet Sidney is already all over the situation.
can you please make a forum section SOON wolfpackhoops pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
We're planning on it. It cost money do do that, so the more donations we receive the more we'll be able to add to the site.
But forums are in the plans.
I think if Sid could convince these two guys to team up next year for State they could be really good.What better way for them to prove themselves than taking State deep in the tourney next year.That would be sweeeet.
if wall is intrigued by the gold medal coach k has, he should check out the one that coach lowe won back in '81.
as far as cousins is concerned, i don't see why we wouldn't still be in the mix. just like it's been said, we were in very good shape with him before the surprise visit/commitment to memphis and now his trust has been tested by someone he committed to on a whim. as a big man, i'd be very intrigued with nc state's offense. tracy smith was very successful this year despite being so undersized. we make it a point to continue to work the ball inside, something that should be very appealing to a big man looking to go pro after a year. his shot blocking could put a huge spark in what we're trying to do as a running team as well and him and john wall could be deadly editions to an already stellar class.
i think we're still very much in it with both these guys despite the reports. either way, i'm excited about who we got coming in already and i think we could be a major sleeper next year.
^Lowe won a gold medal in '81?
Maybe a NCAA Championship in '83.
^yes, lowe was on team USA for the world university games in Romania back in 81.
Nice write-up WPH. This is a tipping point time period in the recruitment of two of the most gifted ballers at their position in several years (With DC only Favors and Love last year from UCLA can compare to the varity of ways a big man can impact a team on the court IMO).
Especially appreciate the way you try and drop a dime here and empower posters to speak what they see as the lay of the landscape. Too often as Die Hard State fans we have let the media or the impulsive and hypercritical portion of our great fanbase to lead the Pack (Time to get a new breed of Alpha's up there, and thats a shout out to the females aswell!)
Lets use this web site as a grass roots origin of positive and progressive sports following- enough of the fantasy world that many simualar themed sites revolve around. It being hosted via internet is no excuse to comprehend and communicate things as if your anoymous and somehow removed from reasonable discourse.
And BTW...rest assure that we have an Ace up our sleeve concerning the opportunity for DC, and that would be none other then Coach Harris. He is the MAN.
-Jose
I don't think you need forums on your site because we don't need the insane rantings of some of our "so called fans" spouting negative garbage. I love your site and plan on making a donation. Your positive and objective, let's keep it that way.
Cousins would be great and Sid will be all over him, but I am against these "one and done" guys that end up wrecking the team and short changing the program. Let's get good stable, talented recruits that want to come to NC State for all the right reasons and will end up getting a degree. I don't want us to turn into a basketball "pass through" like Scalipari had at Memphis, but I want us to return to the program we had when I was in school from 84-88, elite eights and making the NCAA was a given.
Keep up the great work Wolfpack Hoops and Go Pack!
as far as forums go, we are going to talk about ways we can make that work. Maybe we can't but our number #1 goal is to make this site not only the best source for all things NC State Basketball but also to make it a positive place where you can be an NC State fan but still be sane.
We will talk about a forum, but it would be heavily moderated and it would not allow free reign to just say whatever you want. We don't want negativity seeping into this website and we will not allow it. If you want to criticize you can do so in a constructive manner. We appreciate all the positive comments and the atmosphere you all are creating around here. We hope this is the start of a movement, a positive/exciting culture that hasn't been seen in this fan base in a long long time. What are your thoughts on having a heavily moderated forum or something of the sort. We want your ideas!
WPH, you guys do a great job! I no longer visit the other two sites b/c of the amount of negativity and agendas. There are quite a few people on those boards who would love to see Coach Lowe fail just so they could say I told you so, which I find mind-boggling that they still call themselves NC State fans. Please keep up the great work and insight. This will be one hell of an end to the recruiting year with Cousins and Wall about to make a decision. I really like the current class w/o Wall and Cousins. We have a nice mix of real deal players and guys who can go from role players to bona fide stars by their junior or senior years.
Do you guys have any idea of what the coaches think about next year's team as far as potential and possibility of making the NCAAs? Do they believe the team will be stronger as a result of having more of Sidney's players?
^
Have we talked to the coaching staff about this topic? No. But the general consensus is that next year will be a case of addition by subtraction.
Nothing against the graduating players, but many feel a "culture of losing" had crept into the program and once that happens there is no turning back.
If you pay attention Sidney is recruiting players that are "winners" ...and Scott Wood echoed that fact when we talked with him yesterday. The players coming in are very confident, very smart and very talented and although at the moment the frontcourt seems to be a bit thin, this is a team that will really believe that they can compete for an ACC title. Thats what this program needs, a fresh start, some confident youth that doesn't know any better and says "why not us" ....Sometimes nievety has it's perks.
i love the idea of a heavily moderated forum. it can definitely work. i think we need to continue to establish a culture of stomping out negativity as a fan base. we're not going to put up with it anymore, it does nothing but damage the program. misery loves company, but on the flip side, positive energy can cut through the bad vibes if our sword is sharp enough. if you need additional mods, i'm in.
we need to get back to understanding that nc state is a family, and you stick up for your family and support them no matter what. when coach lowe first came here, that family atmosphere was back and we need to continue to build on that.
J Sol,
You've been posting here for longer than most anybody and you've always been very insightful and you always bring that positive energy. If we decide to go with the forum we'd love to have you as a mod!
Wolfpack Hoops,
I am proud of Scott Wood and also Josh David and Richard Howell and Lorenzo Brown. True Wolfpackers!!
I have several questions I will ask below.
1. Will Lorenzo be playing for NC State next year or will he miss next year because he has to prep for a year?
2. Have you received any updates from your good source about what John Wall is thinking about the whole Calapari to Kentucky deal and if he is leaning towards NC State or what is going on?
3. DeMarcus Cousins- Do you have any information on if we have contacted him or are we flying to Mcdonalds all star game to make a pitch or are we going after him hard what updates on that?
4. Your overall view on our chances to land Wall and Cousins or atleast 1 of them
LAST COMMENT:
I just want to say that I would accept Sidney Lowe over John Calapari anyday. I played high school basketball in a small town in a private school and scored 34ppg and 13rpg and I had a scholorship to play basketball for East Carolina however I tore my knee up very bad and have never been able to really play basketball again at a high level. If I were to have to choose between playing for Calapari or Lowe I would much rather play for Sidney Lowe. Some people will take the glamour and the money over a good fashioned old school basketball coach but I would not.
If you look at the win/loss record and Calapari recruits well and you would say you are a fool.... however these are KIDS that need a positive influence and a positive role model in life as well as on the basketball court. Sidney Lowe is a honest,hard-working,respectable,loving human being who cares about his players and cares about this university and bleeds NC State red like all of us. John Calapari cares about HIMSELF,HIMSELF,HIMSELF. When weighing in on the decision to stay or leave he said it came hard because of the support he and his family receive while being in Memphis. HE NEVER once said It is hard because I LOVE MEMPHIS and I LOVE MY KIDS which to me is terrible influence and I would not want my Kid to play for him. I am not a big NC State fan I just came across this site because my best friend is a NC State fan. I am actually a Duke University fan but I think Sidney Lowe is a special person and he WILL bring back the great times at NC State very soon.
I watched NC State alot this year with my best friend and I saw drastic improvements from day 1 to the last game, sure they lost in acc tourney early but the main thing is the foundation is alot more solid that it was last year and the year before. Sidney Lowe is a fine man and a fine basketball coach just give him time guys!! Me being a Duke fan sure I would love to see John Wall at Duke but however I feel he should really go to N.C. State because he would be loved and cherished and be the savior so to speak at N.C. State to help them win. He would also have a GREAT coach and father figure in Sidney Lowe to help him grow as a human being and respect his mom's wished of playing in the red and white!!
So John Wall coming straight from a Duke fan please choose N.C. State because you will mean more to their tradition and their team and leave a legacy there instead of just being another talented player at Duke.
DeMarcus Cousins and family if you are reading this you need to go up to N.C. State and have a well respective and loving coach take your son into his program and love DeMarcus for him. Sidney Lowe would coach him on and off the basketball court and be the same family figure for him as well. Sidney Lowe cares about his program and most importantly each player he has on his team and each player he recruits!! That should mean more than going to play for John Calapari who cares about himself and money for him. DeMarcus you and John Wall go up to NC State and represent and you will be remembered for MANY MANY years instead of being just another follower of Calapari and DeMarcus we all know you have NBA on your mind take a close look at what Sidney got J.J. Hickson playing with Lebron and making that money . Thanks guys for letting me write on your site and good luck for the NC State Wolfpack
^
1. As far as we've heard Lorenzo should be ok and should be in red and white next season. There was a few questions floating around but the staff and Zo's coaches both say he should be a go to run with the Pack next year. Let's hope they're right!
2. All is quiet on Wall. We, like everyone else are in the dark right now as far as where Wall will end up.
3. Sid is taking the steps he needs to be taking and that is all we can say on that.
4. I don't want to give any numbers on this b/c there are so many factors that could turn these situation on a dime. I'll say 100% that Sid and Larry are doing everything in their power (and within the rules) to land both of these guys.
**sorry we don't have concrete answers on this stuff. I speak honestly when I say this type of stuff really is never "concrete" until a press conference is held(or even better.....until a letter is signed)
I'm with Black Mtn Pack in thinking you're fine now without a forum. I like where our program is and I'm just stoked there is a place like this to maybe encourage the players as well as us.
I'm sure WPH are going to consider all the angles here.
Forums are a plenty covering everything under the sun. Wouldn't know the first thing about some of the new technologies conversation but I would have to guess that some new styles are coming along.
Re-read a quote from about a month ago that JW said.
"To see a big man go there is important because I want to play with a dominant big man."
The only time I felt really, really good about the prospect of John in Red & White was when he sat with Favors at practice. Now it's time to get on the same page with DC and quite possibly wrap this whole thing up fast. A pound of perseverance + an ounce of good timing could equal the nations #1 class.
Hey WPH,
I've seen two interviews via YouTube and one was as recent as today in which DC is asked who else was in the picture before Cal went to UK and he says "Kansas State and Washington". No mention of us. Do you think sid is really making a play for this guy?
As I said yesterday, I strongly feel Wall is going to Duke now. I had to listen to "the Rat" on Xm this morning yap on and on. Burns me up!
I like our class but I hope Leslie doesn't get a big head and still picks us. It's too bad these kids don't have any loyalty to teams that give them such a good look early on. We gotta put together some winning seasons so kids will take us seriously.
DC, if you could read this, come visit, talk with Sid, see the faciltites, talk to JJ, become a Packman!
Cousins to Kentucky
Wall to Duke
________________________________
That will be made official in the next 48-72 hours. Lets move on guys!! We have Lo Brown, Scotty To Hotty Wood, and Richard Howell, and Josh Davis coming in and they are not about the glitz that Wall and Cousins are trying to milk out of the situation. Thanks for being true wolfpackers and lets go win some ball games next year and show people that we can win at NC STATE
One question to Wolfpack Hoops though who else are we recruiting to come here? any JUCO'S or who do we have our eyes on?
if Pearl goes to memphis watch out for KEnny Hall, 6'9, 220 UT commit. georgia stars aau....Also Trey Thompkns curent uga player and Will Coleman 6'9, 240 JUCO Miami Dade, memphis commit...these uys "could" become available.
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