Could Cal Up the Ante Again in 2011?

It's hard to believe that less than a year ago we were studying NIT brackets and talking about recruits barely cracking the top 100. Calipari rushed in and set a new standard in college basketball recruiting by landing the #1, #2 and #23 recruits, while also reaffirming the commitments of the #22 and #40 prospects (not to mention JUCO stud Darnell Dodson). But greedy greedy UK fans, myself included, are now salivating at the prospect of Calipari upping the ante again in 2011. By now, most of you have probably read or heard about Jerry Meyer's mailbag answer proclaiming that UK's chances of landing the top 3 prospects in the 2011 class are "pretty good." Meyer is exactly right and also does a good job of outlining just why UK could land each prospect. MICHAEL GILCHRIST With the #1 guy, Mike Gilchrist, the story remains the same. UK is the favorite. Villanova is attracting a bit of Gilchrist's attention and a few other schools are involved as well but, if you're laying your money down, how can you bet against Calipari in a situation where he is already the favorite? I'm not sure how confident I would be in betting against him if he was trailing. Myself, along with 99.9% of the other recruiting people I talk to, would be extremely shocked if Gilchrist's butt ends up anywhere other than on a folding chair in Rupp Arena. MARQUIS TEAGUE Meyer points out that Marquis Teague, the #2 prospect, was thought to be a UL lean until he didn't pull the trigger multiple times over the Summer. He also makes note of the bump and grindin' in the road that Pitino ran into around that same time. While those problems may have had a little to do with Teague's decision to hold off on his commitment, I'm thinking that Calipari's arrival at UK was the main factor. Also, I think most would agree that things have only gotten worse in Cardinal land with Pitino's boys falling to subpar opponents and former top prospects not playing up to their former billing. Like I've always said in regards to Teague: the longer he waits, the better it is for the Cats. Kentucky is currently working with Teague in order to get him on campus for another visit so, despite the lack of information on Teague lately, you should know that the wheels are still in motion in that area. QUINCY MILLER Lastly, you have Quincy Miller, the #3 man. Miller had a great time on his visit to Kentucky and I'm sure it helped that he got to see the Cats beat the defending national champions. Miller hasn't exactly been trying to keep his affection for UK a secret either, tweeting numerous times about watching the Cats on television, rooting for John Wall and being impressed by Kentucky's play on the court. Probably the best tweet for UK fans though was this one: "Texting my main guy Gilchrist...we talking about the future! ;)" If you want to continue to try to read tea leaves, consider also that Quincy recently tweeted about hanging with Stacey Poole at the Kreul Classic and watching Brandon Knight play. He added that he and Poole "had a good convo." At the same tournament, Evan Daniels reported that Miller was decked out from head to toe in UK gear. Sounds about as good for UK as it could be at this point. If UK does land all three and no other prospects, is it the best recruiting class of all-time? Some rankings systems look at the net effect that the class will have on the particular team they are joining and how many needs they feel. Other's take the rank of each prospect, add them together and average them out. Although I feel like this question won't ever become real because UK would probably add other prospects in the 2011 class on top of those three, on a lazy Sunday in the bluegrass, I'd like to know what you think. If you land just the top 3 prospects, does it beat the Fab 5, Thad's 5 or Cal's 6? Discuss. (To help you out, the Fab 5 consisted of the #'s 1, 5, 8, 18 and 48 prospects, while Thad's class had the #'s 1, 8, 21, 24 and 33 prospects)