Or one year of Malik? Which would you rather have? I have to admit that Malik is even better than I thought he was. At this point, I can only hope that he plays well enough to be gone after one year. However, his loss is partly mitigated by the very underrated Daaaarrrr uhl Macon and the even more underrated CJ. By the time he leaves here, CJ Jones may be just a good as Malik. This is a no brainer for me. I’ll take CJ for four Alex!
I would agree. We weren’t winning a National Championship this year with or without Malik, and after seeing him last night he’s gone for sure next year. So, from that standpoint, would rather have CJ for 3-4 years.
On the other side, we’re losing some marketing potential by not having Malik on the roster. Which, the more I think about his decision, the less I can blame him. Being a Hog loyalist, it’s hard for me to accept. But, he will definitely gain more exposure at Kentucky, and he obviously has visions of being a brand like Jordan and thought Kentucky would help get him there more than we could. He’s probably not wrong, like it or not (and I don’t like it one bit).
Hopefully these next few years get us back on that stage.
It’s not that easy. What incoming player would take Monk’s scholarship once he was gone? He would be replaced by another incoming freshman.
But your point remains. CJ was obviously underrated and look forward to seeing his career
Response
I don’t torture myself anymore concerning the lost of Malik. When I look back at the energy and creativity Mike used to recruit Malik and he still said no I write it off by saying see ya. As it turns out Mike should have used that energy on big brother Marcus, after all he needed a job, but not just any job it had to be a special position that can be groomed by that masters in business he earned. Also a divide was created when the UA selected Scottie as the broadcast analyst on the Razorback Network Radio Broadcast show over Marcus. It’s my understanding he was rubbed raw over the selection and I was told he said they selected an outsider over one of their own. Regardless, I believe Malik would have selected the hawgs if that Agent offer hadn’t come through for Marcus to work as Sports Agent in Cal’s firm. I agree with everyone else regarding CJ he is a welcome shot in the arm, he has the skills set to be a Star in college basketball we define then as 5stars. The coolest thing about CJ is when the lights come on he shines the brightest, he reminds me of Todd Day on game night. Yeah it won’t be long before we all say Malik who? My last thought what makes CJ that positive antidote, he is a find in someone else’s backyard that everyone else looked over even pushed aside to take a look at something else perceived as value except the hawgs leader and staff.
So you still taking 4 years of CJ Jones over 1 year of Monk and whomever we recruited to replace him?
Monk is a Star. What makes anyone think that Jones will ever shine…No one has seen him play enough to have any idea of what kind of player he will be. I still like our team without Monk…No doubt he puts a lot of points on the board but we got kids that can do that. He is not the player type we really need.
CJ Jones seems a strange choice for comparative purposes. We know virutally nothing about what CJ’s contributions will be the next 3 years. This year, CJ has averaged just 7 minutes a game in only 17 of our total 28 games thus far. He’s seen even less playing time in SEC play at 2.9 min pg in 7 of of our 15 SEC games.
CJ will have to make huge strides in all phases of his game to see considerable playing time next year. I hope he does because he seems to have a nice stroke, considerable shooting ability, and some athleticism. The unknown is if that ability will translate into game situations against good competition.
Are we assuming he will get more playing time than Garland? Personally, I would be a little surprised if that happened. He will assuredly still be behind Barford, Macon, and Beard. He should get some more minutes just through the guard attrition with the loss of Hannahs and Manny.
Knowing what I do now, at this stage of CJ’s career, I would certainly take one year of Malik over 4 years of CJ. As previously pointed out in this thread, Malik would potentially be bringing more to the Hogs than just his one year. It could have had added a big boost to the Hogs recruiting efforts down the road.
LOL! Someone broke out an oldie. I posted that back in November when the hype on CJ was pretty heavy and Malik had yet to dazzle the college basketball world. Still, MM will not be plying his trade for us or Kentucky after a few more weeks. Hopefully CJ will still be around next year. Anything he gives us next year, will be more than Monk would have given us. How many of our 7 losses would the presence of Malik have spared us? I would say not that many. When we’ve lost, it’s usually been a pretty good beat down. Maybe Mizzou and Miss Steak would be in the win column. Possibly even Florida. How far could he take us this year? I dunno, but he never delivered a championship to Bentonville High. Too early to say if CJ for 4 is a better deal than Malik for 1.
Hopefully we get to find that out.
A bird in the hand is worth…!WPS
That’s pretty funny. I didn’t even look at the date on the OP. I’ll have to admit, my response would almost certainly have been different last November.
For a young man from Arkansas he should have enough loyalty to tell MA he was not coming to the hill! Malik could have had just as much exposure on the hill. Probably more because he would have been more important to the team. Let’s see how loyal Camp Cal is to him when he leaves Kentucky. The difference between the 2 players is CJ wanted to be a Hog! Malik did not.
I honestly stopped my “what if” thoughts about Monk when the season started and I refuse to watch Kentucky unless we’re playing them. I feel confident Kentucky is not winning a NC and if Monk jumps into the draft this year the pain/loss is minimal. If Monk does the unthinkable and comes back next year I will discover a very bad taste in my mouth because the way they recruit he could win a NC and leave with a ring.
Can’t be butt hurt…Monk is arguably the best player in college basketball today. We don’t know what we will get out of CJ at the moment. Monk has tremendous upside and I believe he will be a star. He is a lot better than I expected.
I’m an idiot and will not be tuning into Middle Tennessee games to watch CJ finish his career
I think I meant to say I’d rather have 3 years of Mason Jones than one year of The Brand. I just got my Joneses mixed up. Common name, it happens. 
CJ don’t hang around! I’m proud we have Mason Jones. I won’t watch CJ at Middle Tenn either.
Now don’t jinx us again