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Around SBN: Which Players Will Join The 3,000-Hit Club?

SEC COY V2.0

I think it is safe to say that the SEC Coach of the Year race is likely down to essentially one candidate with a second in tow for consideration.  Sure, Calipari won the conference with 14 total wins, but name one respected media analyst that picked Kentucky to finish worse than first during the preseason media days?  Anyone?  Even Vegas thought Kentucky was a slam dunk – here was the prospect bet on November 12 for the SEC East champion:

Kentucky

1-8

Tennessee

5-1

Florida

8-1

South Carolina

10-1

Vanderbilt

15-1

Georgia

30-1


By default, the coach of the conference champion is normally the coach of the year winner.  But because Kentucky was a clear frontrunner from the beginning, I would encourage the voters to take a closer look. (hold your “but he can recruit” BS)

Kentucky

Class

Rivals Rank

Wall

2009

1

Bledsoe

2009

23

Miller

2008

42

Patterson

2007

17

Cousins

2009

2

Vanderbilt

 

 

Beal

2006

87

Tinsley

2008

94

Taylor

2008

52

Walker

2007

150

Ogilvy

2007

41


Going back to the original COY analysis, you will find that the starting five for Kentucky includes four 5-star recruits while Vanderbilt starts four 4-star recruits.  The predictive player effectiveness calculations based on actual results shows that Kevin Stallings (+3.19) got more production out of his players than John Calipari (+.76)

Star-divide

Do you want to talk recruiting now?  Ok.  How many of Vanderbilt’s starting five would get accepted to UK?  All five.  How about UK’s starting five getting accepted to Vanderbilt?  And I am talking with true standardized test scores, not some phony GPA boosted by taking beginners math as a Senior in high school.  I don’t know this answer because ACT’s aren’t published for recruits that don’t achieve high marks.  So if you truly want to compare apples to apples in recruiting, Stallings did a great job getting students who play ball while Calipari did an excellent job getting ballers into school.  Don’t believe me, flop admission standards for Stallings and Calipari to see what recruits land where.  Recruiting is not everything, just ask Gillespie.  Here is a look at Gillespie’s recruits:

Last

Class

Rivals Rank

Jasper

2006

38

Meeks

2006

39

Stevenson

2006

63

Patterson

2007

17

Liggins

2007

28

Miller

2008

42

Legion

2008

44

Orton

2009

22

Hood

2009

40


Each of his recruiting classes were better than Stallings’ but Gillespie was run from town.  Calipari brought in two recruits that far outpace anyone on this list.  However, most of these players are still on the team making the bench talent that much better and Calipari didn’t even recruit them.  Hey UK fan, if you take the recruiting argument as to why Cal should win COY, then explain why you lost a single game in conference when this talent (Gillespie’s and Calipari’s) far exceeds any other team in the league. 

Sadly, most voters will go with the default choice of league champion and select Calipari as COY when he got outcoached by others with less talent.

What about…

Bruce Pearl:  He motivated through his depth issues during conference play.  But, UT still started two 5-star athletes all year to achieve 10 conference victories – admirable work Bruce (+1.35).   

Billy Donovan:  Donovan’s 9 wins starting two 5- and 4-star recruits underperformed the likes of UT and Vandy. (-1.97)  Donovan is a great coach but his numbers haven’t shown it.  Are the recruits more interested in the scenery of Gainesville?

Trent Johnson:  Tasmin Mitchell’s production (and 20th rank in the 2005 class) wasn’t enough for LSU.  (-5.11)

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Great post

But the comparison of Gillespie to Calipari actually favors the argument for JC. Gillespie sent a team full of 5-star guys to the NIT. Coach Cal added two guys that wouldn’t have gone to UK without him and turned them into a top 5 team. I think Stallings is getting more out of his players and is the better pure coach, but it’s tough to discount what Calipari has done.

A solid argument for Stallings, just tough that it won’t gain any momentum.

by Train Island on Mar 8, 2010 4:10 PM EST reply actions  

Elementary arguement from Rivals

As Rivals writer says, ‘Recruiting is the single most important aspect of any college basketball coach’s job description’. Ok, shouldn’t you give some credit to Gillespie’s remarkably talented classes (Patterson, Miller, etc) and the fact that Kentucky has a legendary program that attracts recruits beyond the coach? You must give credit to the “Kentucky” brand that is already established. If you don’t give credit to the program, that is like saying Brad Stevens at Bulter sucks as a coach because he didn’t recruit a five-star athlete. This was the most elementary arguement ever printed on Rivals. The other flaw with the Rivals article is including total wins which would assume that OOC competition is exactly the same for both teams. What a rookie. The only legitimate argument is that Cal beat Stallings twice. Will he get a chance at a third in the SEC title?

by vanalyst on Mar 10, 2010 3:20 PM EST up reply actions  

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