Cousins to…Memphis…Kentucky (Updated 6pm)

ESPN Radio just reported that Demarcus Cousins has de-committed from Memphis and will follow John Calipari to the University of Kentucky.

National Sports Review

It would actually surprise me if John Wall and eventually C. J. Leslie don’t follow.

Deadspin has more on John Calipari’s dismantling of Memphis.

DeMarcus Cousins, one of the coach’s prize commitments when he was still working for the Tigers, has changed that commitment and now says he will attend Kentucky. Well, ain’t that a kick a pants. Their other top recruit, Xavier Henry, has also “reopened” his recruiting even though—unlike Cousins—he had already signed a letter of intent to play at Memphis. Kids are so crafty these days. He may not follow Calipari to Lexington, but rumor has it that the only way Memphis holds on to him is if new coach Josh Pastner gives Henry’s dad a job in the basketball program, which believe it or not, is totally allowed under NCAA rules. I believe the word you’re looking for is “integrity.”

Calipari is making his presence felt in other ways as well. (Link)

Now that the 2008-09 season has come to an end, the focus turns to 2009-10. RJ Bell of Pregame.com has posted the odds on teams to win next season’s championship, and Kentucky has already zoomed to the top of the list after the hiring of John Calipari.

The Wildcats are listed at 14 to 1 (7%) to win the title, the same odds given to defending champion North Carolina. Then comes Duke and Louisville at 21-1 (5%), Alabama, Kansas and UCLA at 25-1 (4%) and Georgetown and Michigan State at 30-1 (3.5%)

Connecticut, Florida and Texas complete the posted odds at 37-1 (2.5%).

The odds, of course, are likely to be impacted players who leave early for a shot at NBA riches.

Related: The Calipari daughters

Basketball Recruiting

109 Responses to Cousins to…Memphis…Kentucky (Updated 6pm)

  1. turfpack 04/08/2009 at 10:23 PM #

    61 packer- LOL-I agree 100%- you’re the man-funny sh&*.
    A friend of mine said- S_tate
    U_sely
    C_an’t
    K_ick anyone’s ass at anything!

  2. Greywolf 04/08/2009 at 11:27 PM #

    Here’s what we are saying today about our bb program:
    “Our Basketball team is slowly disappearing into a black hole and I really don’t think it will ever get better.”
    &
    When your basketball program is in the toilet, these things happen. It’s going to be a strange, hodgepodge roster that the next coach inherits.

    Hopefully we won’t f*** around much longer so that it gets any worse. But I have a feeling it will only get worse.
    `
    Here’s what some of the mods were saying a couple of months ago:
    Alpha Wolf,”Julius Mays sank a three-pointer from the top of the key with 2.8 ticks left on the clock to give NC State a three point win in OT. Sidney Lowe moved to 5-0 in overtime games, and he did so with a combination of solid coaching moves, tenacity by his team on the floor and some good luck at key moments down the stretch of the extra period.”
    `
    ‘This morning (Feb. 27th) Giglio offers some fantastic insight’ according to StateFans. Giglio says, “The bright side is better athletes usually make better defenders (save for the anomaly that is Wayne Ellington) and Lowe’s next recruiting class upgrades the program’s talent level.”
    `
    “Carolina was too much for NC State to handle last night (February 18th, 2009)in Chapel Hill last night, and they handed the Wolfpack an 89-80 loss. The Wolfpack played well in the first half of the game, holding the #3 Heels to only a three-point 39-36 lead at the halfway mark, but in the second stanza, Carolina’s multiple threats were able to out-gun State.”
    `
    We played the National Champion at home and lost by 9. This is as good if not better than any of the Tourney teams did. Definite progress was happening. According to insight praised as fantastic, JP Giglio states that our incoming recruits upgrade the talent level.
    `
    Let’s all take a deep breath, enjoy the exciting news coming out of Spring Practice and see just who far TOB has brought the football team. Judging from what I’m reading, TOB and his staff actually have better talent to work with than he had at BC. We just might have a very good football team and with any luck at all, stomp the living crap out of Carowhiner.
    `
    IMNSHO Whipping Caloriner’s ass in fb regularly has got to help with bb recruiting. Even bb players don’t like to hear how their fb team is getting ripped a new a-hole.

  3. Greywolf 04/08/2009 at 11:40 PM #

    A friend of mine said- S_tate
    U_sely
    C_an’t
    K_ick anyone’s ass at anything!
    `
    Ask your friend who laid claim to the State Football Championship (If UNX can invent a regular season bb championship, we can invent a State football Championship.) Gotta hand it to you, that phonetic spelling of usually is pretty cool.

  4. mafpack 04/09/2009 at 6:11 AM #

    Rescind the scholarships already.

    Greywolf, I like you man, I’m with you. Take a deep breath, enjoy our top 20 bb recruiting class, our solid 2009 football recruiting class, the great news coming out of spring practice from TOB and company, and the fantastic recruiting news already coming out for NEXT season just one blog post below this whine fest.

  5. Alpha Wolf 04/09/2009 at 6:50 AM #

    Greywolf, I agree with you in principle. Let’s take a wait-and-see attitude, because nothing about next year can possibly be decided now, save for a top-flight recruit deciding to come here…and I don’t see that happening.

    Thing is, next year, Lowe will be walking a knife’s edge with the fans, generally speaking. The ’09/’10 edition of NC State needs to play tenaciously, play good defense, smarter with the rock on O and not swoon for five minutes at key moments of the second half — at least on a regular basis.

    If that happens, Lowe will be in a Johnny Majors-style situation: the fanbase will have turned on him, and no matter what he does it won’t be good enough.

    I hope it doesn’t come to that, because I like Lowe and think that he has it in him to be a good coach in the ACC. He cannot, however, afford to be another Leonard Hamilton.

  6. Wulfpack 04/09/2009 at 6:58 AM #

    Starting to sound like Carowhiner up in here… bunch of babies.

    Failing to qualify for the NIT for the 2nd straight year when your rival is cutting down the nets tends to yield that sort of reaction from fan bases.

    I’m sensing that the football programs and basketball programs are going in completely opposite directions. One coach is methodically building his program and inspiring confidence in his players while the other is trying to plug huge holes in the roster with scotch tape. Only time will tell, but it’s pretty darn obvious to me who knows what he’s doing and who doesn’t.

    Thank goodness for Wolfpack football!

  7. GAWolf 04/09/2009 at 7:11 AM #

    Wall’s cell phone also gets way too hot. Dangerously hot, apparently.

  8. JimValvano 04/09/2009 at 7:22 AM #

    Ellington is going pro.

    As soon as Roy offers Ellington’s scholarship to Wall, he is going to accept.

    Last night someone told me Wall is banging on the doors at the Smith Center begging to be let in. Sometimes this person is just being a Tarhole though.

    I will say that Ellington is definitely gone.

  9. wufpup76 04/09/2009 at 7:54 AM #

    “I will say that Ellington is definitely gone.”

    ^I’ve never seen him as NBA material. Italy material, sure … Now watch him be an All Star.

    Since I mentioned the “Association”, this is obligatory: I hate the NBA.

  10. Bubba 04/09/2009 at 7:55 AM #
  11. Thinkpack17 04/09/2009 at 8:38 AM #

    “Starting to sound like Carowhiner up in here… bunch of babies.”

    Indeed.

  12. Greywolf 04/09/2009 at 9:22 AM #

    “Failing to qualify for the NIT for the 2nd straight year when your rival is cutting down the nets tends to yield that sort of reaction from fan bases.”
    `
    Wrong. “Failing to qualify for the NIT for the 2nd straight year when your rival is cutting down the nets” has some fans who can only evaluate the progress of a program based on the end result of a season, poor-mouth a work-in-progress. Just like how a team reacts to adversity shows it’s strength of character, how its fans react also shows strength of character. Look out of the front of your face, not the back.

    “I’m sensing that the football programs and basketball programs are going in completely opposite directions.”
    `
    Why is that? One team finished in the bottom half of a weak football conference and the other in the bottom half of a very strong basketball conference.
    `
    “One coach is methodically building his program and inspiring confidence in his players while the other is trying to plug huge holes in the roster with scotch tape.”
    `
    If by “plugging holes in the roster with scotch tape” you mean a top 20 recruiting class, I suppose so. Based on recruiting class rankings, if I didn’t know your “feelings” bias, I would think you meant the football team was “plugging holes in the roster with scotch tape”.
    `
    Nearly everyone is upset by not being in the NCAAT. If this team is only 10% better after adding a good incoming class, the Pack will be well back on the road to basketball relevance. I just don’t see how the failure to be in the NIT this year is evidence to predict the future.
    `
    “Only time will tell, but it’s pretty darn obvious to me who knows what he’s doing and who doesn’t.”
    `
    Do you honestly think the fan base continuing to express a strong belief that Lowe is a failure and the basketball program is in the shitter, is helping? Even if it is all that bad, and outside opinion (JP Giglio) is that it’s not, is pissing and moaning on into the summer going to be of any help? However if the intent is to help relegate NCSU basketball to NCAA purgatory, regular expressions of lack of faith will be very helpful.
    `
    Sid did a very good job of coaching his first team to the finals of the ACC tournament with a decent point guard. He and the staff did a decent job of developing Tracy and Javi. I am going to be cautiously optimistic that the 09-10 team will show that we are moving in the right direction.
    `
    “Thank goodness for Wolfpack football!”
    `
    Amen, brother, amen.

    `

  13. wufpup76 04/09/2009 at 9:26 AM #

    ^^Good for Justin. Good luck in your coaching career.

    Maybe we’ll see you back on the sidelines at N.C. State one day …

    The upcoming hire will be our 3rd Director of Ops in 3 years. That’s Amato-esque turnover.

  14. old13 04/09/2009 at 9:35 AM #

    Not quite the same as was the case under Amato IMO, wufpup76. This to me is a career move for JG. Most of the Amato turnovers seemed to be escapes. The first DO was just an obviously bad choice. I don’t see a trend here that parallels the Amato years.

  15. wufpup76 04/09/2009 at 9:52 AM #

    ^old13, I agree. This is a clear move for Justin.

    I was merely saying that much turnover in general at one position is reminiscent of of the defections/changes under Amato. Each case is seperate.

    I wasn’t trying to draw any parallels … not yet, anyway.

  16. Mike 04/09/2009 at 9:55 AM #

    My only comment is to Alpha – Silence! I Kill You! When you laugh at me, I go all bug eyed on you.

  17. Wulfpack 04/09/2009 at 10:00 AM #

    Greywolf, I see your argument. You are entitled to your opinion just as I am.

    We will see what next year holds for both programs. However, I am very firm in my convictions that 1 is moving up while the other is moving downward. If I am wrong on those counts, I will gladly admit to it in a year’s time.

  18. old13 04/09/2009 at 10:01 AM #

    ^^^ One thing we have experienced with Lowe is a relatively stable coaching staff IMO. But I suppose things can always change.

  19. Noah 04/09/2009 at 10:06 AM #

    I look at Tom O’Brien and Sidney Lowe and I see the order and I see chaos.

    How anyone can draw parallels between those two…

  20. mafpack 04/09/2009 at 10:21 AM #

    “Do you honestly think the fan base continuing to express a strong belief that Lowe is a failure and the basketball program is in the shitter, is helping? Even if it is all that bad, and outside opinion (JP Giglio) is that it’s not, is pissing and moaning on into the summer going to be of any help? However if the intent is to help relegate NCSU basketball to NCAA purgatory, regular expressions of lack of faith will be very helpful.”

    ^^ This.

    For those of us (and a lot of us here on SFN did this) that expressed the desire to let Sid have his 4-5 years to ‘rebuild’ a program when he was hired on, I’d like to think that we’ll be true to our written word and let him have that time – with our support in the interim. I do use ‘rebuild’ thoughtfully in saying so; the cupboards weren’t totally empty, but they certainly weren’t on schedule to be restocked either.

    If after that time, and by after, I don’t mean whenever we start to doubt and wonder along the way, AFTER that time has elapsed, then I feel it would be appropriate to take a serious evaluation of the program. And a VAWolf style evaluation at that, not a temper tantrum “I feel sad and hate the Heels” style that seems so prevalent among our fan base. I won’t proclaim Sid to be a coaching genius, but I am humble enough to admit that I might not know everything going on in and around our program well enough to question his every decision.

    If anything, what success he may (and still might) have had here at NCSU can only be hindered by the constant second guessing, outbursts of criticism, and lack of faith by the most ardent members of the fan base. The fans at UNX hold Roy up like a God, and go figure, the young men that he’s calling up to recruit do too… see any correlation there?

    Perhaps you don’t, but at least consider the possibility that your harsh words, written here on SFN, could actually have an adverse affect on the program – a self fulfilling prophecy if you will.

  21. Alpha Wolf 04/09/2009 at 11:52 AM #

    “If anything, what success he may (and still might) have had here at NCSU can only be hindered by the constant second guessing, outbursts of criticism, and lack of faith by the most ardent members of the fan base.”

    Success or its lack is determined on scoreboards, not message boards.

    Negativity on a message board is the Siamese Twin of failure on the scoreboard. Period. If Lowe was 20-7, and had earned an at-large big to the NCAAs, do you think the criticism would be as severe?

  22. Noah 04/09/2009 at 11:55 AM #

    Do you honestly think the fan base continuing to express a strong belief that Lowe is a failure and the basketball program is in the shitter, is helping?

    Sidney Lowe IS a failure. I didn’t make him a failure. He IS one. I can’t help you if you don’t believe that. By every single metric known to modern man, he_IS_A_FAILURE.

    The basketball program isn’t in the shitter. It’s outside the shitter. The shittee couldn’t even make it to the toilet and dropped the turd on the nice, white carpet of the ACC.

    Again…can’t help you if you don’t believe that.

    If it takes you FIVE effing years to evaluate something, that’s a you-problem. I’d love to see try and figure out if milk has turned or not. That’s got to be a hoot.

    We’re coming up on the NFL draft. People inevitably will talk about “biggest draft busts.” My personal opinion is that you have to seperate those into two groups. There’s the “you should’ve known better” busts and the “no one saw that coming” busts. The first one ought to get you fired as a GM. The second one is just bad luck.

    Kelly Stoufer was the first kind. He was projected as a very late, day-two pick and the Cardinals owner didn’t want to spend a lot of money on a signing bonus. So rather than trade the pick, he drafted a seventh rounder thinking that he’d sign for the league minimum. He didn’t. He ended up with the Seahawks and sucked. The Cardinal had the sixth pick overall and got nothing for it. Jerome Brown and Rod Woodson were taken a couple of picks later.

    Ryan Leaf is the latter. EVERYONE thought he was going to be a good QB. There were heated debates about who should go first, Leaf or Peyton Manning. That was just bad luck for the Chargers.

    Les Robinson was a Ryan Leaf-kind of bust. Sidney Lowe was a Kelly Stoufer kind of bust. Neither has any business coaching in the ACC. But Robinson’s failure caught a lot of people by surprise. Everyone on the planet knew that Sidney Lowe was a failure.

    So just STOP with the “you’re hurting the program!” jibberish.

  23. Thinkpack17 04/09/2009 at 12:03 PM #

    “If Lowe was 20-7, and had earned an at-large big to the NCAAs, do you think the criticism would be as severe?”

    Ask Herb.

  24. choppack1 04/09/2009 at 12:21 PM #

    Noah – while I think the decision making was similar to the busts you outlined – I still hold out some hope for Lowe.

    I’ve never dealt w/ Lowe in a professional setting – so I have no idea about how he runs his practices. I really don’t have an idea of what kind of coach can be w/ his guys – and quite frankly, neither do you.

    I’ve seen some mixed things from him on the bench. I really don’t know if HWSBN would have done any better w/ a similar lineup in Lowe’s 1st year. His 2nd year was awful. This year, IMHO, his team did OK.

    Your level of venom seems on the personal side toward Lowe – so I’m assuming something else is going there. Me, I’m hoping that 2009-2010 surprises us all and we see something positive on the court. It will be interesting to see if you’re right and the man is as much of a buffoon as you say.

  25. old13 04/09/2009 at 12:25 PM #

    “If Lowe was 20-7, and had earned an at-large big to the NCAAs, do you think the criticism would be as severe?”

    Ask Herb.

    Not apples-to-apples. It was only after Herb did it 4-5 times without further improvement and having consistently VERY weak OOC schedules to boot.

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