SURPRISE!!! 2 of the countries top 5 recruits choose same school giving them the new #1 ranked class of 2013 recruits

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John Calipari has a reputation around college basketball as a smooth, big time recruiter, a players coach who doesn't have a problem recruiting the high profile "1 and done" college basketball players that are looking for someone to get their game ready for the next level. While some coaches shy away from players that are in the spotlight regularly before even stepping on campus, garnering national attention sometimes before even becoming a teenager.

Whether they reason that its more detrimental to their program to bring guys in for only a year and then have to go through a constant rebuilding process year after year, teaching their system to a whole group of newcomers year after year as opposed to just filling in a few holes after graduation. Graduation is something that they can easily plan for, knowing the # of scholarships they will have open to make offers, with players that are teenagers having to make life altering decisions, pushing it off until the last minute possible, it makes recruiting that much more difficult. 

A job that is already time consuming, often frustrating, complicated, and difficult in general becomes something equivalent to guessing what your girlfriend heard about after the weekend bachelor party in Las Vegas. Coaches want an honest answer just as badly as that girlfriend, but players are young men, forced to choose where to possibly spend the next 4 years of their life, usually on their own for the first time, it's confusing.

Here are a few facts that are pretty straightforward and if your someone who follows sports, is being recruited by the top college basketball programs not only in the country today but also the most wins and championships in the history of college basketball, and have aspirations of lacing em up against the likes of Lebron James, there are very few programs that can compete with powerhouse recruiter/coach John Calipari and Kentucky.

Who Am I?

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I was diagnosed with testicular cancer during my career and instead of "giving up", "throwing in the towel" and feeling sorry for myself I fought Cancer like it was an Ali vs. Frasior fight. In the end I had the resources, doctors with the skills, knowledge and expertise to come out not only alive but gaining a new mindset and focus. I was able to push myself through a near death experience and lived to tell the story of how I beat a deadly disease that kills thousands and thousands of people across the world every year. There was a cost though...

I didn't tell the doctors, nurses, kids, or even my parents that I had in fact made a deal with the devil right before I went in to get my first treatment. I sacrificed a few not so important things in order to survive and be all I could be.....the rewards far outweighed the consequences though. Who really needs BOTH of their testicles? Think about how many children, men, and women were motivated and inspired to fight because of the story....whether he used steroids, HGH, cream, clear, cocaine or Heroine, the fact of the matter is that he survived CANCER. HE WON THE BATTLE AGAINST THE BIG C. 

DO I LIKE HIM AS A PERSON? NO. DO I RESPECT HIM AS A MAN? NO! HE LIED TO ME TOO MANY TIMES. MUCH MUCH TOO OFTEN. AM I IMPRESSED WITH HIS RESILIENCE AND DETERMINATION? YES

Can you guess where Peyton Manning wants to make his next financial investment??

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When Peyton Manning stepped onto the Tennessee campus it was not just a cameo appearance. It was not just one of many stops on the often confusing and complicated path young men face between earning that starting job on a high school football team, gaining region wide, statewide or even nationwide recognition, choosing between transferring to another school with a higher profile football program or maintaining loyalty to not only the teammates and coaches that helped get you to where you are today, and in a position to have to make those decisions but also the school district that will only benefit more and more as your reputation grows.

Manning was a high profile recruit for Tennessee and looking back I'd say that everyone involved got their "moneys worth". Peyton ended up being drafted #1 by the Indianapolis Colts after entering the draft once he finished up 4 solid seasons at the University of Tennessee. While he never brought a national title to the Volunteer faithful and coach Fulmer, he was the leader of a team that competed year after year in the tough SEC and piled up wins with regularity.

Since leaving for the NFL Peyton has still managed to show his allegiance to the Volunteers with a combination of donations of money, time and even passing on his knowledge of the game to young players. In his most recent showing of support and love for the state of Tennessee, Manning has opted to become part of an ownership group that made a proposal to purchase the Memphis Grizzlies, an up and coming NBA franchise.

Per NFL rules players are not allowed to own any part of teams in the league so as a professional with such a drive and love for competition that is nearing the end of his own playing career, this could be the next best thing....a la Michael Jordan(similar but different obviously as he didn't purchase his stake in the Bobcats till after his playing days)