Mon Jun 15, 2009 12:28 pm EDT
Everything was coming together. John Wall signed. Patrick Patterson
returned. That recruiting class was, even without Wall, one of the best
in the country. The "return to glory" motif that's followed John
Calipari since he resigned at Memphis -- that comes with any new
coaching hire at a legendary program, but especially in a pressure
cooker like Kentucky -- was reaching a fever pitch. All the Wildcats
needed now was Jodie Meeks, and surely he would return, and surely UK
would be the preseason favorite, yes?
Not so fast. Perhaps suprisingly, Meeks decided in the past few hours that he is going to take his chances in the NBA draft. That's according to CatsPause, as well as John Calipari, who was diplomatic via Twitter this morning, saying he was "excited for him" and that he "wished he got a chance to coach him." So that's nice.
For Meeks, the decision is a slightly bold one. There had to be plenty of pressure from plenty of different people for him to return to Kentucky and for a deadly squad, pressure which probably increased after Patterson dropped out of the draft. Meeks's draft status is slightly questionable. Draft Express has Meeks in the low end of the second round at No. 17, and NBADraft.net doesn't even have him on the board. Meeks is an excellent shooter and scorer who struggles athletically, but he might be a little underrated there. Either way, it was a ballsy decision for someone without a draft guarantee, especially given what Meeks will be leaving behind.
Exactly what Meeks is leaving behind varies greatly based on his decision. With Meeks, Kentucky was terrifying and whole; they'd be coupling new point guard John Wall with perhaps the country's best shooter and one of its best big men, not to mention backup point guard Eric Bledsoe and Kentucky's bevy of young former Memphis recruits. Without Meeks, the Wildcats still have all that talent, but they lack outside shooting. They will look like so many other Calipari teams: athletic, fast, and mostly shaky from the three point line.
That formula worked just fine at Memphis, and it will work again this year at Kentucky. (And in perpetuity.) But it's hard not to think of what could have been -- what unique heights the Wildcats could have scaled in Calipari's firstyear -- if Meeks had chosen differently.
(Update: USC's Taj Gibson is joining him. More later as needed.)
The Dagger is a college basketball blog edited by Jeff Eisenberg. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.

Posted Jan 28 2010
Posted Jan 28 2010
Posted Jan 28 2010
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GO BIG BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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BTW, 6 years ago UK was a NCAA number 1 seed while making an Elite Eight appearance just 5 years ago. Ancient history, , I DON'T THINK SO!
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At to the "fair weather" comments, where were we in March?? We we're breaking NIT attendance records you stupid SOBs. We were driving to South Bend to have more fans at Notre Dame than their own fans. I've got an idea, how about you try to think of an original thought that actually has some validity to it before you spout out tired put downs that aren't even true.
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You ever heard of Phil Fulmer and Lane Kiffin? All you UT fans are running around acting like they're going to stomp FL now and win the SEC because they got a new coach... who has done NOTHING!! LMAO!
the same can be said about Criminalipari.........he's done NOTHING yet.......but have final fours vacated.
you shouldn't blog and smoke crack. typical UK hypocrite.
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