To Recruit Or Not To Recruit?

Kentucky lost. I'm glad. (Sorry, Daisy!) Even if it meant that my bracket was busted for good. I was so tired of hearing about John Wall and how Roy didn't recruit him and his reasons for not doing so. If they had continued winning and eventually won the Title, we would've never heard the end of it. I'm sure of it.

In doing my research, I've come across different things about John Wall that lead me to believe Roy was right in not recruiting him. Getting kicked out of schools for fighting, not doing well academically which resulted in getting kicked off a team, and various other things, led him to hop between different high schools in Raleigh before settling at a private Christian school where he was allowed to play basketball. Roy simply said he wasn't a "good fit" for Carolina when responding to questions about his lack of effort in recruiting Wall. I agree. Especially if these things I've uncovered while doing my research are true. Why bring negative publicity to Carolina? Yes, people can change. And I'm certainly one who believes in second chances. But these behaviors occurred over years, not a month or two or even three, which leads me to believe the behavior would be harder to correct.

Has everyone forgotten the many headlines involving college athletes that have been scattered across the past couple of seasons? Let's talk about the three Tennessee football players who robbed a convenient store. Yep, that seemed like the straw that broke the camel's back to send Lane running to USC. And Ty Lawson's DUI a couple of years ago? We heard about that briefly and then it "went away". And Blount punching the other player after being taunted after a close football game, which led debates on whether he should be suspended for an entire season or face an alternative consequence. I'm not so naive to think that other things don't happen and get swept under the rug that we never hear about. Any Google search will show you long histories of athletes' behaviors at any given school. I was disappointed in what I found on UNC! Disappointed, but not surprised. It's politics. But what I'm more interested in is the history of these players' behaviors before being recruited.

Several people I've talked with have had good arguments for recruiting a player with a questionable background, but none have won me over so far. Throughout the season, it was clear that Kentucky had just as good of a shot at the National Title as Kansas did as they flip-flopped between 1 and 2 in the polls each week. I admit I was more than a little nervous. No way did I want a team with a player many people expected Carolina to recruit to go on to win the most coveted title in college basketball. And each week when the polls came out, I'd have to hear someone remind me that we didn't recruit Wall. Everyone wants a National Title, but at what cost? Is it worth it to recruit a player who could potentially continue previous behaviors, bring negative publicity to the school, and then leave after only playing one year? Am I the only one who seems like this is selling our soul to the devil for a chance at a National Title?! That's exactly what it seems like to me.

Of course Kentucky coach John Calipari probably wouldn't quite see it this way. Especially not when controversy seems to follow him from school to school. When he was at UMass, star player Marcus Camby accepted gifts and prostitutes from an agent, which Calipari knew about. This violation required them to vacate their 1996 NCAA Tournament record. Then when he moved on to Memphis, he was successful at recruiting Dajuan Wagner after hiring his father as Coordinator of Basketball Operations. Calipari was also successful in securing Tyreke Evans' commitment when he hired Evans' strength coach as his administrative assistant. But nope, it doesn't stop there. Derrick Rose had his brother travel to all away games for free, as well as had someone else take his SAT's for him in order to meet Kentucky's minimum requirements for athletes to be admitted. These violations required Kentucky to vacate their entire 2007-2008 season. And that's just the things that have surfaced! Who knows what else we will never know. And yet Kentucky chose to pursue him as their coach, even after all of this controversy. I have yet to hear about any controversy swirling around Wall's recruitment process, but that kind of stuff usually comes out after a player has gone, so I'm sure it's only a matter of time. Then I will take the pleasure in writing a new post about why I'm still happy Roy didn't recruit him.

So if you ask me if it's worth it to recruit top players who may not have the pristine behavior to match their athletic abilities, I'd say no. I'm not expecting a player to never get into trouble. That's not what I'm saying at all. There has to be some evidence that a player has learned from past mistakes, and years of the same behaviors doesn't show growth and progress. And the risk of taking a player like this who could do more damage in negative publicity and morale in one year than can be repaired in a few years is far too great. I know my view is probably an unpopular one, but I don't care. I'll take a less than alright season (like this year) before taking a player who is great on the court but unpredictable off the court any day of the week.

And I'm willing to admit that part of the reason could be that I just don't like John Wall. I don't. He's a great basketball player with incredible ability. Coupled with DeMarcus Cousins, you have a lethal pair. But there is power in being humble. And humble is definitely not an adjective I would use to describe Wall. The opposite, actually. John Wall is so arrogant and self-centered, I can't stand it. The sound of his name makes me turn the channel and the sight of him irritates me. It annoys me that people at UK refer to him as "God" and that ridiculous dance he does makes him look foolish. And is that sleeve really medically necessary? I seriously doubt it. When players come a place of being on a pedestal and go to a place of being put on an even higher pedestal with a coach who does little to control these antics, it's difficult to be humble. Difficult, but not impossible. So congratulations, John, you succeeded at recruiting one of the most arrogant and deviant players in college basketball. Later, we'll find out what you did to get him in blue.

So yes, I took joy in seeing Kentucky lose. Even though I had them in the Championship game losing to Kansas and my bracket had long been busted. I didn't care. I was satisfied that I could hear less and less about how Roy didn't recruit Wall and get ready to move on to next season when our amazing recruits can, hopefully, get us out of this rut we're in. I hope Wall heads to the NBA and disappears into the sunset, never to be seen or heard again in college basketball. Yep, that's my hope.

When it comes to recruiting, it's all about who is a "good fit" for a particular school and the lengths a coach is willing to go to obtain these all-star players. Some coaches make decisions based on what will propel them forward personally and professionally without bothering to evaluate how their decisions will ripple throughout a team, a school, a community, a sport. And it's all about what allows you to go to sleep at night. I would like to think that Calipari is sleeping on a bed of gravel with a pillow made of stone for all the corruption that swirls around his name. But hey, you almost made it to the Final Four, so it was all worth it, right? Nope. Almost doesn't count.