Despite his inherent advantages being associated with WWW, UK, and the AAU system, you have to give Cal credit where credit is due, he is a phenomenal motivator and communicator. I think that has to play into his recruiting history.
I live in Memphis, and generally hate all things U of M related, especially their basketball fans. However, I found myself buying into what he was selling in his local interviews and post-game commentary while he was the Tigers coach. I almost caught myself rooting for Memphis, just because of the way he sold his players and the school. The guy says all the right things and says them perfectly. Unless you have some preconceived biased hatred for the guy (not saying that's not merited in college athletics, I hate him now simply because he coaches UK), he can easily sell you on whatever message he's trying to communicate. If he wasn't a good bball coach, I guarantee he would be very successful at something else - he just has one of those unique personalities that can sell anything. Hell, he got that fat *** Pierre Niles to sign a contract saying he would drop a set amount of weight before even getting a jersey. That same guy quit mid-year on Pastner this season. He can get his players to do anything he wants them to do.
No doubt he has the previously mentioned advantages, but I'd still put my money on Cal getting a commitment out of a prime time recruit heads up against virtually any other head coach, even assuming the playing field was equal.
