Shaedon Sharpe - Kentucky

[wegotthabeet]

Miles Bridges, Harrison Barnes, and McAdoo are the two most recent that come to mind.

Just from a draft perspective, Barnes dropped the least. He went from looking like a top 3-5 pick to dropping to 7th the next year. Bridges was looking like he was in that 6th-8th pick range after his freshman year, dropped to 12th the next year. McAdoo is basically the worst case scenario. Was viewed as a late top 10 pick after his freshman year, ended up staying 3 years and went undrafted.

Blake Griffin is probably the last guy that I can recall (I'm sure there is another one), who was considered an elite recruit coming out of high school (top 15, 5 star), was considered a lotto pick after his freshman year. Then came back and drastically improved his draft stock.

Most of the time the guys usually drop or stay within the same range and that ends up being a waste because they just push back a year of getting an NBA salary and push back getting to that 2nd contract by a year.

So ya in other words, I see no positives for Sharpe to come back and that is why he wont come back. Cal and everyone are only saying this so the UK fan base doesnt turn on him at the moment. Again I think this was no doubt a mutual agreement between Cal and Sharpe.

Sharpe gets to cash in on some NIL cash, gets to workout at a top tier training facility, practice against other high end players. Then for Cal he gets to go out on the recruiting trail talking about the UK recruiting momentum on how he landed the #1 recruit and gets to include Sharpe in his "UK players that went top 5-10 in the draft".

Jay Williams in 2001 as well.

Ya but we're going way pre OAD era at that point. Even Blake was before the huge OAD wave which really began to take off around 2010 when Cal went to UK.

Joakim Noah was another one, albeit also pre OAD. He would've gone top 5 in 2006 and maybe even 1st overall.

Players don't usually and shouldn't pass on going top 10. Sharpe seems like a top 10 lock. I wouldn't expect him to play at Kentucky next year either.

[Big J]

Kid reminds me of OJ Mayo.

[Duke4life831]

Talk about worst case scenario for Cal. You already have a big chunk of UK fans that have grown tired of him. But now losing to a 15 seed with a top 3 recruit sitting on your bench never playing a game. Once Sharpe officially declares, UK fans are going to be so pissed.

[Skybox]

I really don't like this stuff...IMO, Cal may have way overplayed his hand with Sharpe. I felt that way BEFORE UK got eliminated by a high school team. Having a top-rated recruit class guarantees nothing these days...college basketball shouldn't be this complicated. If I was a UK fan (or sponsor now) I would not be happy with this "chess-playing". Put your best guys out there because they won't be sticking around-you've basically branded your school as an NBA farm team, so live with the reality that nobody stays and use all your resources to win today. If Sharpe stays (why? for Calipari's benefit?), he's doing himself a disservice...the standard big picture thought (unless you're from a wealthy family) has to be to sign that contract and figure out the basketball later. If Sharpe is a top 10 pick, he's gone and Cal's back to announcing his next AAU draft.

[MemphisX]

I really don't like this stuff...IMO, Cal may have way overplayed his hand with Sharpe. I felt that way BEFORE UK got eliminated by a high school team. Having a top-rated recruit class guarantees nothing these days...college basketball shouldn't be this complicated. If I was a UK fan (or sponsor now) I would not be happy with this "chess-playing". Put your best guys out there because they won't be sticking around-you've basically branded your school as an NBA farm team, so live with the reality that nobody stays and use all your resources to win today. If Sharpe stays (why? for Calipari's benefit?), he's doing himself a disservice...the standard big picture thought (unless you're from a wealthy family) has to be to sign that contract and figure out the basketball later. If Sharpe is a top 10 pick, he's gone and Cal's back to announcing his next AAU draft.

You make it seem like Cal had a choice. No way anyone who had Sharpe's best interest in mind would tell him to play. If he is allowed to enter the 2022 draft, he will be a top 10 pick on HS rep alone. If not, he does not enter the next season with any negative feedback from starting in the middle of a college season.

[SeattleJazzFan]

I really don't like this stuff...IMO, Cal may have way overplayed his hand with Sharpe. I felt that way BEFORE UK got eliminated by a high school team. Having a top-rated recruit class guarantees nothing these days...college basketball shouldn't be this complicated. If I was a UK fan (or sponsor now) I would not be happy with this "chess-playing". Put your best guys out there because they won't be sticking around-you've basically branded your school as an NBA farm team, so live with the reality that nobody stays and use all your resources to win today. If Sharpe stays (why? for Calipari's benefit?), he's doing himself a disservice...the standard big picture thought (unless you're from a wealthy family) has to be to sign that contract and figure out the basketball later. If Sharpe is a top 10 pick, he's gone and Cal's back to announcing his next AAU draft.

You make it seem like Cal had a choice. No way anyone who had Sharpe's best interest in mind would tell him to play. If he is allowed to enter the 2022 draft, he will be a top 10 pick on HS rep alone. If not, he does not enter the next season with any negative feedback from starting in the middle of a college season.

yep. nobody knows for sure, but occam's razor would suggest this is the right answer.

[Duke4life831]

I really don't like this stuff...IMO, Cal may have way overplayed his hand with Sharpe. I felt that way BEFORE UK got eliminated by a high school team. Having a top-rated recruit class guarantees nothing these days...college basketball shouldn't be this complicated. If I was a UK fan (or sponsor now) I would not be happy with this "chess-playing". Put your best guys out there because they won't be sticking around-you've basically branded your school as an NBA farm team, so live with the reality that nobody stays and use all your resources to win today. If Sharpe stays (why? for Calipari's benefit?), he's doing himself a disservice...the standard big picture thought (unless you're from a wealthy family) has to be to sign that contract and figure out the basketball later. If Sharpe is a top 10 pick, he's gone and Cal's back to announcing his next AAU draft.

You make it seem like Cal had a choice. No way anyone who had Sharpe's best interest in mind would tell him to play. If he is allowed to enter the 2022 draft, he will be a top 10 pick on HS rep alone. If not, he does not enter the next season with any negative feedback from starting in the middle of a college season.

Cal definitely had a choice in this. No doubt this was all agreed upon when Sharpe decided to "go" to UK. Again I think without a doubt there was a mutual agreement from both sides on this.

Sharpe:
Gets to train at a top tier training facility
Got paid very well for his short stint there

Cal:
Gets to claim he landed the #1 recruit
Gets to claim Sharpe as another top 5-10 UK draft pick in his recruiting pitches.

It's just last night was literally the worst case scenario for Cal. If the team sucked then no one would've cared if he played or not. If they would've made a deep run in the tourney no one would've cared if he played or not. But being a high seed and losing opening night with a top recruit sitting on the bench healthy, then him booking it to the NBA without ever playing is going to be very very hard to sell to the fanbase.

But ya no doubt this was a mutual decision between the two of them.

[Skybox]

Maybe NCAA programs stop playing make-believe and just tell them "come here to play or go to Australia or the G-League"...I miss college hoops, when you could follow a team developing, now it's just a pass-through for the best players and the coaches get paid for recruiting above all...Even Coach K had to bend the knee. I'm not commenting on human rights or freedoms...just what's best for the NCAA product (and the NBA, IMO). I remember when you could draft a guy and actually have some idea of what you're getting and not having to pay for 3 years of "development".

I know this is old man "Get off my lawn" stuff, but I really do miss legit rivalries that were more than just jerseys.

[SeattleJazzFan]

I really don't like this stuff...IMO, Cal may have way overplayed his hand with Sharpe. I felt that way BEFORE UK got eliminated by a high school team. Having a top-rated recruit class guarantees nothing these days...college basketball shouldn't be this complicated. If I was a UK fan (or sponsor now) I would not be happy with this "chess-playing". Put your best guys out there because they won't be sticking around-you've basically branded your school as an NBA farm team, so live with the reality that nobody stays and use all your resources to win today. If Sharpe stays (why? for Calipari's benefit?), he's doing himself a disservice...the standard big picture thought (unless you're from a wealthy family) has to be to sign that contract and figure out the basketball later. If Sharpe is a top 10 pick, he's gone and Cal's back to announcing his next AAU draft.

You make it seem like Cal had a choice. No way anyone who had Sharpe's best interest in mind would tell him to play. If he is allowed to enter the 2022 draft, he will be a top 10 pick on HS rep alone. If not, he does not enter the next season with any negative feedback from starting in the middle of a college season.

Cal definitely had a choice in this. No doubt this was all agreed upon when Sharpe decided to "go" to UK. Again I think without a doubt there was a mutual agreement from both sides on this.

Sharpe:
Gets to train at a top tier training facility
Got paid very well for his short stint there

Cal:
Gets to claim he landed the #1 recruit
Gets to claim Sharpe as another top 5-10 UK draft pick in his recruiting pitches.

It's just last night was literally the worst case scenario for Cal. If the team sucked then no one would've cared if he played or not. If they would've made a deep run in the tourney no one would've cared if he played or not. But being a high seed and losing opening night with a top recruit sitting on the bench healthy, then him booking it to the NBA without ever playing is going to be very very hard to sell to the fanbase.

But ya no doubt this was a mutual decision between the two of them.

cal may have been on board with the decision, but that doesn't mean he had a choice in the matter. if sharpe and his camp didn't want him to play, cal couldn't make him play even if he (Calipari) had preferred he play.

[Duke4life831]

You make it seem like Cal had a choice. No way anyone who had Sharpe's best interest in mind would tell him to play. If he is allowed to enter the 2022 draft, he will be a top 10 pick on HS rep alone. If not, he does not enter the next season with any negative feedback from starting in the middle of a college season.

Cal definitely had a choice in this. No doubt this was all agreed upon when Sharpe decided to "go" to UK. Again I think without a doubt there was a mutual agreement from both sides on this.

Sharpe:
Gets to train at a top tier training facility
Got paid very well for his short stint there

Cal:
Gets to claim he landed the #1 recruit
Gets to claim Sharpe as another top 5-10 UK draft pick in his recruiting pitches.

It's just last night was literally the worst case scenario for Cal. If the team sucked then no one would've cared if he played or not. If they would've made a deep run in the tourney no one would've cared if he played or not. But being a high seed and losing opening night with a top recruit sitting on the bench healthy, then him booking it to the NBA without ever playing is going to be very very hard to sell to the fanbase.

But ya no doubt this was a mutual decision between the two of them.

cal may have been on board with the decision, but that doesn't mean he had a choice in the matter. if sharpe and his camp didn't want him to play, cal couldn't make him play.

Of course he did. Dont sign him if he had no plan on playing. Sharpe not planning on playing this year was the plan from the beginning. Its not like a month or so after him getting there did Sharpe decide he wasn't going to play. Cal agreed to bring on Sharpe with knowing he wasn't going to play this year and that he was going to go to the draft. If Cal didn't like that, he didnt have to agree to sign Sharpe.

[Duke4life831]

Maybe NCAA programs stop playing make-believe and just tell them "come here to play or go to Australia or the G-League"...I miss college hoops, when you could follow a team developing, now it's just a pass-through for the best players and the coaches get paid for recruiting above all...Even Coach K had to bend the knee. I'm not commenting on human rights or freedoms...just what's best for the NCAA product (and the NBA, IMO). I remember when you could draft a guy and actually have some idea of what you're getting and not having to pay for 3 years of "development".

I know this is old man "Get off my lawn" stuff, but I really do miss legit rivalries that were more than just jerseys.

I think with each passing year, a bigger and bigger chunk of both UK and Duke fanbases agree with what youre saying. Because I think both fanbases are seeing that the results of loading up on OADs hasnt really led to an outlier of good results.

Duke or UK haven't been in the Final Four since 2015. And when you see the amount of talent that has gone through both schools in that time frame, that is pretty pathetic.

I honestly think what Gonzaga has done the last 2 seasons is probably the ideal situation talking from a college team view point. A team filled with 3-4 year players with 1 elite OAD.

[MemphisX]

Maybe NCAA programs stop playing make-believe and just tell them "come here to play or go to Australia or the G-League"...I miss college hoops, when you could follow a team developing, now it's just a pass-through for the best players and the coaches get paid for recruiting above all...Even Coach K had to bend the knee. I'm not commenting on human rights or freedoms...just what's best for the NCAA product (and the NBA, IMO). I remember when you could draft a guy and actually have some idea of what you're getting and not having to pay for 3 years of "development".

I know this is old man "Get off my lawn" stuff, but I really do miss legit rivalries that were more than just jerseys.

I think with each passing year, a bigger and bigger chunk of both UK and Duke fanbases agree with what youre saying. Because I think both fanbases are seeing that the results of loading up on OADs hasnt really led to an outlier of good results.

Duke or UK haven't been in the Final Four since 2015. And when you see the amount of talent that has gone through both schools in that time frame, that is pretty pathetic.

I honestly think what Gonzaga has done the last 2 seasons is probably the ideal situation talking from a college team view point. A team filled with 3-4 year players with 1 elite OAD.

As opposed to what other outcome? The OADs have brought in a TON of money from alumni. TV money. Sponsorship money. Are we on this board going to act like the purpose of college basketball is more than money.

[Duke4life831]

Maybe NCAA programs stop playing make-believe and just tell them "come here to play or go to Australia or the G-League"...I miss college hoops, when you could follow a team developing, now it's just a pass-through for the best players and the coaches get paid for recruiting above all...Even Coach K had to bend the knee. I'm not commenting on human rights or freedoms...just what's best for the NCAA product (and the NBA, IMO). I remember when you could draft a guy and actually have some idea of what you're getting and not having to pay for 3 years of "development".

I know this is old man "Get off my lawn" stuff, but I really do miss legit rivalries that were more than just jerseys.

I think with each passing year, a bigger and bigger chunk of both UK and Duke fanbases agree with what youre saying. Because I think both fanbases are seeing that the results of loading up on OADs hasnt really led to an outlier of good results.

Duke or UK haven't been in the Final Four since 2015. And when you see the amount of talent that has gone through both schools in that time frame, that is pretty pathetic.

I honestly think what Gonzaga has done the last 2 seasons is probably the ideal situation talking from a college team view point. A team filled with 3-4 year players with 1 elite OAD.

As opposed to what other outcome? The OADs have brought in a TON of money from alumni. TV money. Sponsorship money. Are we on this board going to act like the purpose of college basketball is more than money.

I'm not against OADs. I'm strictly talking as a fan on what I think makes the most successful college basketball team.

Loading up on OADs and doing a complete refresh every year isn't working when it comes to success in March.

[jezzerinho]

Watch on YouTube

[SeattleJazzFan]

Watch on YouTube

Ouch. That was brick city. Though I really like his stroke - just wish there were more data on him.

[Madhouse]

Kid reminds me of OJ Mayo.

Agreed. I wouldn't risk picking this kid in the top 5. He is a wild card.

[Hal14]

I really don't like this stuff...IMO, Cal may have way overplayed his hand with Sharpe. I felt that way BEFORE UK got eliminated by a high school team. Having a top-rated recruit class guarantees nothing these days...college basketball shouldn't be this complicated. If I was a UK fan (or sponsor now) I would not be happy with this "chess-playing". Put your best guys out there because they won't be sticking around-you've basically branded your school as an NBA farm team, so live with the reality that nobody stays and use all your resources to win today. If Sharpe stays (why? for Calipari's benefit?), he's doing himself a disservice...the standard big picture thought (unless you're from a wealthy family) has to be to sign that contract and figure out the basketball later. If Sharpe is a top 10 pick, he's gone and Cal's back to announcing his next AAU draft.

You make it seem like Cal had a choice. No way anyone who had Sharpe's best interest in mind would tell him to play. If he is allowed to enter the 2022 draft, he will be a top 10 pick on HS rep alone. If not, he does not enter the next season with any negative feedback from starting in the middle of a college season.

If you're a competitor, you play. If you want to win, you play.

If you're truly a "number 1 pick" talent as Calipari says he is...if you're that good, then you play. If you're that good, you shouldn't sit out the season because you're scared it'll hurt your draft stock.

A true competitor would have showed up on campus on January 2, gotten a few practices under his belt and made his debut in the Vanderbilt game on January 11, or at the very latest, vs Tennessee on 1/15.

[MemphisX]

I really don't like this stuff...IMO, Cal may have way overplayed his hand with Sharpe. I felt that way BEFORE UK got eliminated by a high school team. Having a top-rated recruit class guarantees nothing these days...college basketball shouldn't be this complicated. If I was a UK fan (or sponsor now) I would not be happy with this "chess-playing". Put your best guys out there because they won't be sticking around-you've basically branded your school as an NBA farm team, so live with the reality that nobody stays and use all your resources to win today. If Sharpe stays (why? for Calipari's benefit?), he's doing himself a disservice...the standard big picture thought (unless you're from a wealthy family) has to be to sign that contract and figure out the basketball later. If Sharpe is a top 10 pick, he's gone and Cal's back to announcing his next AAU draft.

You make it seem like Cal had a choice. No way anyone who had Sharpe's best interest in mind would tell him to play. If he is allowed to enter the 2022 draft, he will be a top 10 pick on HS rep alone. If not, he does not enter the next season with any negative feedback from starting in the middle of a college season.

If you're a competitor, you play. If you want to win, you play.

If you're truly a "number 1 pick" talent as Calipari says he is...if you're that good, then you play. If you're that good, you shouldn't sit out the season because you're scared it'll hurt your draft stock.

A true competitor would have showed up on campus on January 2, gotten a few practices under his belt and made his debut in the Vanderbilt game on January 11, or at the very latest, vs Tennessee on 1/15.

This is ignorance. I am guessing you are a Kentucky fan. Definitely not a parent. Anyone who had this kid's best interest in mind would not have such an attitude. Being a NBA player is not about competition. Being a NBA player is a business. Smart players make smart business decisions.

Even knowing you can play and thinking you are the #1 pick, coming into THIS college season in the middle of it without a preseason or tuneup games would have been insanity in a environment full of 5 and 6 year Seniors. Being smart trumps being brave to me.

[clyde21]

Kid reminds me of OJ Mayo.

Agreed. I wouldn't risk picking this kid in the top 5. He is a wild card.

this is the draft to do that

[DirtyDez]

The tourney got cancelled the year they had the Maxey/Quickley. That was probably Cal’s best backcourt since Fox/Monk.