And then they act like they accomplished something great when they win games… 
Hannah’s needs to get tougher, if they play him physical he goes away. Obviously they were way more athletic, it wasn’t even close. Like watching Kentucky Derby horses go against 5 donkeys at Oaklawn. The intensity and desire faded in the 2nd half, not sure why, if they had upset them, everyone would remember them. There’s a reason why Calipari over coaches against us, he views Arkansas as a threat to the status quo. 1-2 (5) star athletes pick Arkansas instead of KY, and the status quo is suddenly threatened. The officials were ridiculous last night, I know they’re a minor league NBA team, but this is still college basketball, and teams are allowed to play tight defense in CBB. And Kentucky repeatedly walked and got away with it also. Barford played a tough game, if we had 5 more like him, we would have competed for 40 mins.
I don’t think it was lack of intensity. Our boys played hard all night, but Anderson had to realign the defense constantly and put in players that he normally wouldn’t put in together because of foul issues. Because of this, Kentucky, especially Fox, stuck it to us.
The NCAA and the NBA should in my opinion, immediately allow high school kids over 18 go immediately from high school to the NBA, it worked fine for Moses Malone and Bryant and others. Let’s face it, the one and done’s do not ever even think of a college degree, they see dollars and fame. Frankly I fail to see why the courts have not ruled the limits illegal. I see no difference in a young man going to the NBA out of high school and one going to work at Alcoa or joining the military. It should be their choice. I doubt if very many would be signed by the NBA anyway as there are not that many kids good enough to jump from high school to he pros.
I think you need to blame the NCAA and NBA, not Kentucky. Calipari didn’t make the rule. He just exploits it very successfully. Let’s face it, Arkansas, and almost every other college team, is not in the position to exploit the one-and-done rule like Kentucky and, say, Duke. I agree that it has made college basketball too much a sport of the haves vs. the have-nots. The same schools, for the most part, get almost all the five star players out of high school year after year.
Its called recruiting successfully. UK (who I hate, hate, hate) has the same rules we do. They get the better players because the recruit them more successfully. (I didn’t say they recruit harder, not accusing anyone of not working hard). I have thought for years that Cal cheats. Well, if he does at UK, no one is catching him at it. I can’t stand him, but what ever he is doing is working.
I agree with OP that it is ruining college basketball. But what is to be done? The rest of us have to catch up.
I understand the thought of the OP but Kentucky is not the equivalent of Saban’s Mama teams. They are simply a collection of talented freshman who are looking to jump to the NBA. They also have tradition and rich history behind it. The best players want to go to Duke and Kentucky because they are always good and always in the news.
Kentucky is not winning national championships every year, but they are always going to be good regardless of the rules. We just have to get better.
If they allowed H.S. kids go directly into the NBA, it still wouldn’t make a difference because NBA teams for the most part would like to see the kid play against tougher competition. So they either go to the D league or Kentucky which is basically the same.
StillGregHog wrote:
"Its called recruiting successfully. UK (who I hate, hate, hate) has the same rules we do. They get the better players because the recruit them more successfully. (I didn’t say they recruit harder, not accusing anyone of not working hard). I have thought for years that Cal cheats. Well, if he does at UK, no one is catching him at it. I can’t stand him, but what ever he is doing is working.
I agree with OP that it is ruining college basketball. But what is to be done? The rest of us have to catch up."
Yep. It’s called recruiting successfully, but the advantage a school like Kentucky has is that it can promise lots of national exposure, maybe a final four or championship team for that one year the kid is there. Look at Ben Simmons last year. I wouldn’t say he was toiling in obscurity at LSU, but Kentucky would have been a much bigger stage for him to show his stuff. LSU didn’t even make the tourney, despite having the best player in college basketball. Arkansas is not the national stage Kentucky is, nor, in basketball, is any other SEC school. Florida is probably now considered the second most prestigious SEC basketball program. (You can ask Kevaughn Allen.) Arkansas is now perhaps a distant third, but our glory days were long ago, and in college sports success is self-reinforcing. Success breeds more success. Few top players can be convinced to go spend their one year of college somewhere where there’s little recent tradition of competing at the top level. Once you drop out of the elite, it’s not so easy to get back. We’re one of the better SEC teams, I think, but there’s a lot of separation between us and Kentucky.
Yep. It’s called recruiting successfully, but the advantage a school like Kentucky has is that it can promise lots of national exposure, maybe a final four or championship team for that one year the kid is there. Look at Ben Simmons last year. I wouldn’t say he was toiling in obscurity at LSU, but Kentucky would have been a much bigger stage for him to show his stuff. LSU didn’t even make the tourney, despite having the best player in college basketball. Arkansas is not the national stage Kentucky is, nor, in basketball, is any other SEC school. Florida is probably now considered the second most prestigious SEC basketball program. (You can ask Kevaughn Allen.) Arkansas is now perhaps a distant third, but our glory days were long ago, and in college sports success is self-reinforcing. Success breeds more success. Few top players can be convinced to go spend their one year of college somewhere where there’s little recent tradition of competing at the top level. Once you drop out of the elite, it’s not so easy to get back. We’re one of the better SEC teams, I think, but there’s a lot of separation between us and Kentucky.
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All true except people of Arkansas expect their instate kids to look at a bit differently. Can you blame them?
If Kentucky was Arkansas they would make another rule to keep them from winning like they did against Nolan. A rule might be to lose scholarships if below a certain graduation rate. Below a 25% graduation rate lose all scholarships but players could be walk-ons. Let’s see if Kentucky can win with walk-ons.
Even more I would like for student/athlete to have meaning. Don’t allow scholarships to players with an ACT less than 22. That would eliminate almost all the players that quit college after less than three years. For all the outstanding athletes that are not interested in college let the pros pay for a development league.
I wish we could ruin college basketball like Kentucky has.
Nice. Good stuff.
You would be okay with basically being a minor league NBA team every year? 5 in, 5 out?? ((((((College)))))) should be more than just a bump in the road on your way to the NBA or NFL. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t blame the kids, I would go get paid also, and then go to the University of Phoenix or wherever for my degree in my off time. You’re not going to get that kind of money with just a college degree. But it creates a ridiculous competitive mismatch. The NBA and NFL etc should allow kids straight out of high school to enter the draft. Why, if you know you have the skill do you need to spend 1 or 2 yrs in college before going pro? Many kids with NFL talent get injured in college and never even make it to the NFL. Poor Marcus Lattimore had his career ruined in CFB just a few yrs back. It’s not fair to the kids either.
All that sounds great. But honestly, if Arkansas was the one doing the one and dones, would you make a similar post?
Theyve ruined the NBA as well.