North Carolina getting another pair of 5 star recruits

Bleacher Report Justin Jackson article


I probably, most likely, think that I am pretty straightforward in my alliances to North Carolina Tar Heel basketball. My feelings and love for UNC will never change, players, coaches, wins, loses and championships can only make my love grow stronger(If that's possible). It is a nice feeling whenever I read about another top recruit making an early commitment to the Tar Heels though. Those early commitments make a coach's job so so so much easier when it comes time to make decisions on scholarship offers, which other players to scout and where to spend that ever so important face time with possible recruits. With so little time available for a head coach to physically go and watch a possible recruit relative to the number of players that they would typically want to see in person, it's a HUGE bonus when North Carolina now has two players rated in the top 15 for the class of 2014 committed. 

Coaches have the responsibility to balance the number of players on a current roster, number of scholarships available currently, along with balancing the different scenarios of losing players through taking their talents to the NBA/overseas professional basketball, academic ineligibility, transfers or any other situation. While the commitments are not "binding" per se, it's a rarity for a school such as North Carolina to have players have a change of heart after making that early commitment. With the signing of two 5 star recruits such as Berry(PG) and Jackson(SF) North Carolina is now looking extremely strong with nice depth at the PG position for years to come. They already had a 4 star PG Nate Britt signed who is coming in for next years class along with Isiah Hicks who himself is a 5-star PF and Kennedy Meeks who is a 4-star C. 

It looks like good ol coach Roy is probably going to lose James Michael McAdoo to the NBA which in my opinion isn't going to be much of a loss. He's played weak in big games, showed poor leadership, and really has been a huge disappointment in my opinion. For a guy that came into Chapel Hill with SO MUCH HYPE it's been beyond disappointing to see such a lack of emotion from someone who is supposed to be the leader on this team. Conversely  I think PJ Hairston has really started to show why he was a highly rated recruit coming out of high school, stepping up and hitting some big shots since being inserted into the starting lineup. When Roy went with this smaller starting group is really when UNC started playing their best basketball and I just hope it carries over to the big dance.


ESPN.COM Joel Berry article

How important is a player rated #1 in the 2013 class when your a team like UNC that already has several top recruits committed in the next 2 years???

Bleacher Report.com-UNC selling points for Wiggins article

Bleacher Report.com- Big time recruit, Big time visit article



Some would say that no one player can truly dominate the game in the way that it really doesn't take a so called "team" to win. At schools like UNC, Duke, Kentucky, Indiana and the other top caliber collegiate basketball powerhouses most years recruiting classes include more then 1 Mcdonalds all-american. You'd think that with so many highly touted players flooding in, mixed with the other so called "veteran" players that no one player could be greater then the sum of its parts as they say.

The NCAA and their "expert" commentators like to talk about this so called parity that exists in the 2013 world of college basketball. They point to the number of #1 ranked teams that have been knocked off week after week throughout the regular season. Here's the thing....there has not been a team that won the national title and finished with less then 30 wins since 1997. That's 16 years. When we really look at what teams are going the distance and cutting down the nets yes of course there are always a few feel good Cinderella moments, many upsets and unknowns making a name for themselves now that they are in the national spotlight, but in reality, Goliath usually does beat David.

As for that question about the value of landing that #1 player coming into college who often spends less time worrying about homework then my 3 year old nephew during their 1 year detour on the expressway to "The League"....ask Kentucky coach John Calipari about what that #1 recruit means. The wildcats had the best recruiting class in the country coming off a national championship and STILL have been on the ESPN first 4 teams out list until their win over Florida last night put them into the projected field and into the last 4 in category. They struggled throughout the season but managed to lose in a embarrassing fashion in the first game without superstar Nerlens Noel(#1 rated recruit). They have played more like a team without an identity then any other team I can think of since losing Noel to that season ending injury.

Kentucky highly touted freshmen may be the most talented team EVER TO MISS THE BIG DANCE

ESPN.com link

John Calipari is something of a recruiting genius. Since arriving at Kentucky he has managed to bring in the #1 class in the country 4 out of 5 years. The problem that Kentucky has continually had to overcome is the fact that many of those high profile top recruits, only are coming to college because of the NBA rule against entering the draft directly out of high school. This leaves the Wildcats in the position of having to re-tool their entire starting lineup and replace almost every player in the rotation, YEARLY. It's a situation that is both incredibly fortunate and incredibly frustrating for Coach Calipari at various times throughout the year.

While he continues to cherry pick EXTREMELY heralded and talented recruits that would most likely be starting no matter what team they played on, they are still freshmen. Depending on such young players at every position is risky no matter how talented they are and they are still developing in terms of strength and mental ability in terms of decision making. Many of them have never experienced adversity on the basketball court, these are the players that could roll out of bed and drop 50 back in high school but playing together as a team and winning isn't quite that easy. Just because you have the most talented roster does not guarantee the ultimate success of an NCAA Championship. Just as the Yankees found out they could not buy a championship, throwing hundreds of millions at the top free agents year after year got them many wins, just not when it counted most. Calipari is a savant when it comes to recruiting. He's done it everywhere he's been and while rivals cry foul, coach Cal gets many of the so called "one and done" phenoms just passing through college.

When Nerlens Noel went down with his season ending injury the Wildcats fell apart even though they still had 3 other freshmen rated a 95, 97 and 97 out of 100 by ESPN recruiting. The backup center when Noel was playing was Willie Cauley, himself a 4 star recruit. I don't understand why Kentucky, Calipari or these players for that matter are getting a pass just because they lost Noel. 95% of college teams could only dream of having two four/five star recruits, let alone 4 just in last years incoming class. While Nerlens Noel was no doubt a huge piece of what Kentucky was doing and had the ability to change the game with his incredible shot blocking ability(2nd in the country at the time of his injury I believe) and rebounding. With a team full of Mcdonalds All-Americans and even guys that don't need to bother to wear a jersey beneath that Wildcat warm up that could not only play at numerous D-1 schools but start they should be able to fight their way into this watered down/expanded field that is the NCAA tournament.

http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/78513/thursday-observations