Duke, Kentucky locked in old school recruiting battle for top 2026 talent
It'll be a tough fight to the finish in a heated recruiting battle between Duke and Kentucky for Deron Rippey.
balldurham.com
Duke article on battle for Rippey
- Thread starter akaukswoosh
- Start date
balldurham.com
Neither do I, but if there's anyone I trust to do less with more (besides Cal), it's Scheyer.
I think the jury is still out on Scheyer's coaching but he's the best recruiter in the game.
I don't know if he is Cal level bad coaching, but he does show how hard it is to win with stacked Freshman teams.
Didn't Cal just come into Rupp and ravage UK a few months back, and end up advancing as far as UK in the big dance?
At this point, he's definitely nearing prime Cal level. No doubt about it.
Now, that said, even with elite freshmen talent under Cal, we still got demolished by teams like the one Pope put together this year. Experience and skill has started winning out more often over youth and talent. Hopefully that trend sticks and Pope can continue to widen the W/L gap against the dukies.
I think its 100% the Duke name and the money. Dont think scheyer is anything more than a decent recruiter. They got the protypical Duke player in Cooper flagg and then banked on a past player to get his two kids.
Flagg, and Kon would still come to Duke if the head coach was other guy like Jeff Capel (who currently sucks at pitt, and was K's appointment future head coach before)
Agreed 100%.
I think Rippey will go to a school that he can play PG1
Kentucky can not provide this
I will be "shocked" if he comes here
Kentucky can not provide this
I will be "shocked" if he comes here
Not sure who plays PG for Duke. Maybe Foster, Sarr and Boozer? They are all underclassmen. They should have at least 2 of them coming back next year. Kentucky has Lowe that may very well go pro after next year. Rippey probably can more playing time at UK.
I think it is more likely Lowe will return
And even lowe leaves, we may see a veteran pg transfer or even Jasper/Chandler play starting one than Rippey being PG1.
This is my thought.
I would have to think a senior Lowe is better than a freshman Rippey.
I love Rippey but think he is more likely to go to a lesser school to be PG1. There will be multiple P5 programs willing to give him pg1 spot like Miami, NC State, Texas...
If he wants to be PG2 here, I will be very happy. I like his game a lot.
But do not think we have PG1 spot open for him. And could see he chooses other programs because of playing time
Cal did what Cal does. Recruited extremely high level talent (he had double what UK had) and in revenge games, does all the things he should do every game. Cal in a horrendous coach. The worst in division 1.
If
If Dickinson did not choke the game away, Cal would lost in first round again...
Rippey is more than likely going to an Adidas school...Branham said Miami NC State and Tennessee are the leaders... Don't get your hopes up
Worst coach in D1, yet he recruits really well and wins revenge games. Not to mention the NC, 6 F4s and 2x Runner up.
Yup. I think re-recruiting him to play as a senior is more Important than bringing in a frosh PG.
it’s Nike and the machine behind the scenes. Scheyer has absolutely nothing to do with it and neither did K. Coach K had a horrible reputation with young players until Cal got to Kentucky. Elton Brand always told the story of having to hide under his bed from K because he wanted to leave early. No OAD wanted coach K and it’s not a light switch you can turn on and off. But Duke did just that, turned it on, and suddenly his reputation as a recruiter wasn’t bad.
Hello Nike, and back door money.
Worst coach in D1, yet he recruits really well and wins revenge games. Not to mention the NC, 6 F4s and 2x Runner up.
Leadbelly if you think Cal is a good coach, then I’m not surprised by your reputation here.
downright pitiful coach on the floor. Undisputed worst of the HOF.
Except he’s not. The recruiting at Duke has nothing to do with a 1st year coach who had little recruiting reputation when he came on board. Duke is all Nike / Money behind the scenes. Until coach K is firmly out of the way and Nike decides to stop steering players there over elsewhere it’s not going to stop.
Cals career mistake #1 is thinking players wouldn’t go to coach K and Duke over him. He went at it with Nike and got beat bad. His recruiting was never the same and never will be again.
Agreed. The only thing is, as long as its a name brand that people like (which is beyond me as to why), Duke will make the revenue and be the popular team. And Nike will continue to fund them on top of that, their NIL reported offerings is one of the highest in the nation. Which makes sense when you look at their rich alumni base. I hope youre right in their future.. but idk. Its all about money now and revenue. Which schools can buy a team and which cant. Its why BYU is making waves. Obviously you still need a coach..
Yeah and you only need to go back over a decade to see him win.Worst coach in D1, yet he recruits really well and wins revenge games. Not to mention the NC, 6 F4s and 2x Runner up.
You guys are a riot!
In Cal's last 3 years, wasn't UK a 2 seed twice? Granted... they went out way too early, but you really don't get a #2 by sucking all year.
He literally went to Arky, kept most of the same team, dealt with injuries just like UK, even shorter roster, came into UK and beat the **** out of us, while we set records for top 25 wins. So he actually beat the **** out of a historically good UK team at UK where UK eas heavily favored. Went the exact same distance in the NCAA tournament, beating higher ranked teams than us in the process.
If Cal beats UK again this year, does that mean Pope is even worse?
yea I’m not reading a troll job about Calipari being a good coach. It’s universally understood the guy is trash.
Good to see you.
Is it 2012? I thought that was like 15 years ago or sum? Cal hasn’t won anything of significance since 2015, and has had the best talent every year. But he is responsible for a losing record at Kentucky which is literally unheard of, he’s also responsible for multiple missed tourney’s, which is also unheard of, and he’s also responsible for the worst 5 year stretch in program history. So yeah, what a great coachWorst coach in D1, yet he recruits really well and wins revenge games. Not to mention the NC, 6 F4s and 2x Runner up.
Well, using that logic, what has Pope won?Is it 2012? I thought that was like 15 years ago or sum? Cal hasn’t won anything of significance since 2015, and has had the best talent every year. But he is responsible for a losing record at Kentucky which is literally unheard of, he’s also responsible for multiple missed tourney’s, which is also unheard of, and he’s also responsible for the worst 5 year stretch in program history. So yeah, what a great coach
Oh, no. He had a losing record during a shortened and half cancelled Covid year that no one gives a **** about? OMG...the horror.
I mean, we were a 2 seed or better multiple of those years since 2013, 2015 and the covid year, so he was clearly winning at a decent clip, except in the post season.
Pretty sure Hall, Rupp missed multiple tournaments. Rupp also had a .500 season late in his career. Sutton missed the tournament and had a losing record in his last year.
Really Pitino and Smith were the only UK coaches to never to miss a tournament or have a losing record.
If 2 bad seasons, both having major impact players injured, along with a NC, NC runner-up, 2 other F4's, a couple additional E8's, 6 SEC tournaments, 6 regular season SEC titles, just at UK, while also having F4s at 2 other schools outside of a P5, makes him that bad of a coach, there sure aren't many good ones.
What's Pope won again?
None of those coaches you mentioned ever had half the talent that Cal had.
Hes done less with more talent than any other coach in the history of college basketball .
Your the riot. You try to dismiss getting spanked in first round every year as a small disclaimer of granted “he went out early”. That’s the only thing we hang banners for. Not one seasonal banner hangs for we sucked come March but we enjoyed the year. Get that sh$t outta here.
He went as far as your lord and savior Cal did in last 10 year in his first year with only a few weeks to recruit. Does that count?
Gonna have to get that stomach pumped for all that Kal j!zz you've sucked down..
Rupp, Hall, Sutton, Pitino and Smith didn't have an abundance of talented players?
Wow, I must have been watching a different UK for decades. I seem to remember those UK teams I was watching as some one the most talented in the country. Weird.
I think you meant you're*.
Getting spanked in the first rd. Didn’t we just advance past the first round Cal's 2nd to last year at UK?
Did he only go out in the first rd of the tournament twice in his time here? But you say it was every year...
Petty sure RUPP has at least 4 banners from the Cal era. That seems pretty high. You never been or something?
So, he and Cal are the same level then? And what is his record against Cal?
Did Cal not have roughly the same amount of time at Arky to build a roster?
Only a few weeks to recruit...was he not allowed to bring players he had already been recruiting or coaching at BYU?
Bet you got smooth soft hair..
Why not just stay in their forums then? You’re not worth talking to here.