Tyler Ullis
- Thread starter T_Levine
- Start date
I thought there was some smoke about his Dad working for Nike and that ruling out any non-Nike schools...not that he would have eventually picked NU anyway, most likely.
From what I have read, Ullis' cousin is Travis Walton who was a former star player for MSU and he was leaning towards MSU until John Calipari came in and swooped in and convinced Ullis to commit in his magical ways (insert whatever your imagination feels appropriate here). Not sure where Iowa fit in, but they seem to offer 50 players with the hope that 4-5 will say yes.
As for Ullis, he is also very close friends with Trevor Booker who is another McDonald's All-American and star UK player who will be a first round NBA draft pick, but is between the 6th-9th player on UK's squad of 9 or 10 high school McDonald's All-Americans and maybe they convinced each other to go to UK together, but I am leaning towards Calipari's special brand of marketing and benefits package influencing him more to go to Lexington.
As for Ullis, he is also very close friends with Trevor Booker who is another McDonald's All-American and star UK player who will be a first round NBA draft pick, but is between the 6th-9th player on UK's squad of 9 or 10 high school McDonald's All-Americans and maybe they convinced each other to go to UK together, but I am leaning towards Calipari's special brand of marketing and benefits package influencing him more to go to Lexington.
Say what you will about Calipari's "special brand of marketing", but who could blame a player for wanting to play on the best team in the NCAA is a program with almost unmatched home fan support? Very few programs carry the cachet of Kentucky. Couple that with Calipari's communication skills and you have a pretty attractive proposition.
And for all the talk about 1-and-done at UK, not that this season the key plays include 3rd year Cauley-Stein and returning second year players the Harrison twins, Johnson and Lee. Now I don't for a moment mean to suggest any of these kids are there for the academics or will come anywhere close to earning a degree. But somehow he seems to have managed to keep some of his kids around.
And for all the talk about 1-and-done at UK, not that this season the key plays include 3rd year Cauley-Stein and returning second year players the Harrison twins, Johnson and Lee. Now I don't for a moment mean to suggest any of these kids are there for the academics or will come anywhere close to earning a degree. But somehow he seems to have managed to keep some of his kids around.
Yes, NJ Cat, you might have a point that UK also has an unmatched fan support and I enjoy yours posts. UK also has an unmatched tradition of breaking the NCAA rules. See how the tradition started with Rupp in the 1950s and vacating titles and seasons and continued through the Eddie Sutton Era and the fed ex envelope filled with cash being sent to Chris Mills. I was reading a Dan Wetzel book on Tarkanian where even he said he knew that it was impossible to recruit against UK (in the Joe B. Hall Era) after losing a battle for Sam Bowie where UK reserved a hotel room for the entire year in a Lebanon, Pennsylvania for their use and for Sam Bowie's use whenever he wanted and Bowie's high school coach noted that Sam was driving around in a Cadillac at the time he committed to UK. Also, there are the Anthony Davis' stories which were reported in the Chicago Sun Times which were futher detailed by a poster on this site. So yes, UK has unmatched fan support, but there are other factors at play and sometimes the unmatched fan support leads to other benefits.
As for this season, freshmen Karl Anthony Towns is projected as no. 1 or 2 pick in the upcoming NBA draft and had 25 points against ND, Trey Lyles and Trevor Booker are also projected as the top NBA picks of this year's team along with Cauley-Stein so they freshmen along with Ullis are making key contributions to this undefeated team.
But you do have a good point that Calipari has done a great job of perpetrating the fantasy that if you go to UK, you have a quicker and easier ticket to the first round of the NBA.
As for this season, freshmen Karl Anthony Towns is projected as no. 1 or 2 pick in the upcoming NBA draft and had 25 points against ND, Trey Lyles and Trevor Booker are also projected as the top NBA picks of this year's team along with Cauley-Stein so they freshmen along with Ullis are making key contributions to this undefeated team.
But you do have a good point that Calipari has done a great job of perpetrating the fantasy that if you go to UK, you have a quicker and easier ticket to the first round of the NBA.
That's not entirely fair, and I doubt you know the details on academics and potential graduation for all of the Kentucky basketball players. It is possible to go to Kentucky and graduate. Patrick Patterson, a lottery pick for the Houston Rockets in 2010, graduated from Kentucky in three years. The Harrison twins seem like good kids, and they carry themselves well. They come from a stable, two-parent family in the Houston suburbs, and I'm sure they would prioritize graduating from college if the alternative (making millions in the NBA) weren't so lucrative. Can't blame them for that.
Same thing with Justise Winslow at Duke. He went to my alma mater (St. John's) here in Houston, which sends 100% of its kids to college, many to top-ranked schools - Ivies, Stanford, Duke, Rice, Northwestern, etc. Somewhat ironically, he might end up being the only one from his high school class not to graduate from college in 4-5 years....because he'll likely leave early to go to the NBA, making more than the rest of them combined. Again, can't blame him for that. Take the big money now, and finish your degree later. It's the smart move, and for many of these players at Kentucky and Duke, that's an option they have.
This post was edited on 3/31 12:57 PM by NU Houston
Unfortunately, Willy, you and I both know that UK will do any paperwork shuffling that's necessary to technically keep afloat the illusion that these kids are actually progressing toward any sort of meaningful degree.
Not the case at all. Ulis resented Izzo being late to the party in prioritizing him as a recruit. As others have mentioned, Ulis would have gone to Iowa if it weren't for the Kentucky offer.
"Take the big money now, and finish your degree later. It's the smart move, and for many of these players at Kentucky and Duke, that's an option they have."
Yep. And you can bet that, should NU ever recruit a one-and-done type player, suddenly these same fans sneering at other schools will be tying themselves in knots as they race to explain how it's okay when NU does it.
Yep. And you can bet that, should NU ever recruit a one-and-done type player, suddenly these same fans sneering at other schools will be tying themselves in knots as they race to explain how it's okay when NU does it.
Come on Styre, do you really, really think that NU will ever, ever have NINE "one and done' players" on it's roster? Guess I would be OK with it if a "one and done" kid came to NU, actually took his own SAT, went to class, passed the class and then hopefully came back for his/her degree. This could all end if the NBA again allowed kids to play right out of high school.
This post was edited on 4/1 10:25 AM by willycat
This post was edited on 4/1 10:25 AM by willycat
No, obviously we won't.
And yes, it's the NBA causing this problem by artificially restricting its labor pool. If you actually look back at the list of high school players drafted directly into the league, the vast majority had solid NBA careers, even if they weren't all LeBron or Kobe or KG. People think Leon Smith was the norm when in fact he was an outlier.
And yes, it's the NBA causing this problem by artificially restricting its labor pool. If you actually look back at the list of high school players drafted directly into the league, the vast majority had solid NBA careers, even if they weren't all LeBron or Kobe or KG. People think Leon Smith was the norm when in fact he was an outlier.
Calipari wasn't late to Tyler's recruitment at all. He came to Tyler with an offer a good four months before Rivals, Scout and Illinoishoops knew about it. Iowa was earlier and he really liked them. I took a lot of crap with people saying I was talking out my ass when I broke his Kentucky offer on this board. Then I took a lot of crap on here when I released his top 5 well before anyone had it. I also broke that his dad was a regional sales rep for Nike (for years). Ultimately, everything I said was the reality of the situation. It was Kentucky then the others (USC was probably his next choice at the end). And as Evanstoncat finally figured out, I got all my info from his mother who I work with. And, yes, she was and is fully engaged in Tyler's college choice and performance. You can see her at every one of his games. He and his family are top notch people.
This post was edited on 4/2 5:19 AM by Pulmocat
This post was edited on 4/2 5:19 AM by Pulmocat
Very different situations with MSU and Kentucky. The Spartans had Ulis's cousin and former MSU star Travis Walton trying to talk Izzo into offering Ulis for years. That wasn't the situation with Kentucky.
Here's what Ulis told Chicago high school hoops guru Michael O'Brien:
"Everything changed when Kentucky offered," Ulis said. "That's just where my heart was. If they hadn't have come into the picture I might have ended up at Iowa."
willycat, I'm not the NCAA, I'm just passing on information from the NCAA.
I was able to find that as of the most recent semester, fall 2014, Kentucky men's basketball had a grade point average of 3.12 (as opposed to Kentucky football at 2.43). 13 of the 16 rostered basketball players had a gpa of 3.0 or better.
To the Kentucky bashers, sometimes the truth hurts.
I was able to find that as of the most recent semester, fall 2014, Kentucky men's basketball had a grade point average of 3.12 (as opposed to Kentucky football at 2.43). 13 of the 16 rostered basketball players had a gpa of 3.0 or better.
To the Kentucky bashers, sometimes the truth hurts.
APR is calculated as follows:
Every semester, each scholarship player in a given sport can earn two possible points: one for remaining in school for the entire semester, and one for staying academically eligible for the entire semester. For example, men's basketball teams have 13 scholarship players, so each semester there are 26 possible points to be earned. The score is calculated over four years: total points earned divided by total points possible, multiplied by 1000.
If a player leaves early for the NBA, the team will lose the "stayed in school" point for that semester. Because this can negatively impact schools like Kentucky that might lose multiple players to the pros in one semester, the NCAA can, at its discretion, give back the "stayed in school" point for a player that went pro but maintained his academic eligibility.
Every semester, each scholarship player in a given sport can earn two possible points: one for remaining in school for the entire semester, and one for staying academically eligible for the entire semester. For example, men's basketball teams have 13 scholarship players, so each semester there are 26 possible points to be earned. The score is calculated over four years: total points earned divided by total points possible, multiplied by 1000.
If a player leaves early for the NBA, the team will lose the "stayed in school" point for that semester. Because this can negatively impact schools like Kentucky that might lose multiple players to the pros in one semester, the NCAA can, at its discretion, give back the "stayed in school" point for a player that went pro but maintained his academic eligibility.
The point here is few people would deny that UK professors are under heavy pressure for the basketball players in their class to do "very well".....
Virginia, fair enough.
Here's some verifiable information that might help sway your perception. Arguably Kentucky's best player this year is Alex Poythress, who tore his ACL 8 games into the season. Alex is a junior on schedule to get his degree this May. Alex finished his freshman year with a 4.0 gpa. Since Calipari has been at Kentucky 3 players have graduated in 3 years. Patrick Patterson and Jarred Polson are the other two, and both of them played their 4th year as graduate students. Whether Poythress will do that remains to be seen. Another player, Brandon Knight, played one year before being offered millions of dollars from a prospective employer (read NBA). After one year Knight was half way through his sophomore year AND had a 4.0 gpa.
To me, saying that Kentucky professors are pressured to make players look good is a bit disrespectful to the kids that work hard in the classroom.
Here's some verifiable information that might help sway your perception. Arguably Kentucky's best player this year is Alex Poythress, who tore his ACL 8 games into the season. Alex is a junior on schedule to get his degree this May. Alex finished his freshman year with a 4.0 gpa. Since Calipari has been at Kentucky 3 players have graduated in 3 years. Patrick Patterson and Jarred Polson are the other two, and both of them played their 4th year as graduate students. Whether Poythress will do that remains to be seen. Another player, Brandon Knight, played one year before being offered millions of dollars from a prospective employer (read NBA). After one year Knight was half way through his sophomore year AND had a 4.0 gpa.
To me, saying that Kentucky professors are pressured to make players look good is a bit disrespectful to the kids that work hard in the classroom.
Cat Fan, it's hard to believe that the NCAA just ignores the influence that these shoe companies have on the landing places for some of the top flight high school kids. Then again maybe not. Heck I just saw a photo of a high school player just after the McDonald's All-Star Game in Chicago preparing to toss his sneakers into the crowd. Just think a 17 year old throwing away $100 plus shoes. Got to wonder where the money is coming from.
I'll say this...there is no reason to assume that Kentucky doesn't have bright players just because many of them are McDAA, one-and-done players. They seem like great kids and intelligent kids who handle themselves with class from what I've seen.
