Jay Bilas says Ben Simmons is now a cautionary tale that shows elite recruits should just "go to Kentucky"

Ben Simmons has been a hot topic in college basketball this week. On Saturday, Johnny Jones told ESPN that Simmons wasn’t eligible for the Wooden Award because of academic reason, and later that day, Simmons drew the ire of Kentucky fans for some less-than-generous comments about Tyler Ulis (even if they were taken slightly out of context).

Jay Bilas went on “Mike & Mike” this morning to discuss Simmons, and interestingly, said the LSU star’s issues this season make him a cautionary tale that shows elite recruits should just go to Kentucky, where winning will never be an issue.

“The funny part about this is it’s fair to ask of Ben Simmons, why doesn’t he win more? Why wasn’t he able to take his team to the NCAA Tournament? I don’t put all the blame on him, all the responsibility on him,” Bilas said, pointing out that Simmons is averaging over 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 assists, which are unprecedented numbers.

“I think some of what this is doing, if you want to call it the Ben Simmons bashing a little bit, some of what this is doing is really signaling to the next Ben Simmons-type talent, you know, go to Kentucky. Because then you don’t have to listen to people questioning your character and whether you’re a winner. They’re just going to talk about your talent and how good you are because winning isn’t going to be the issue.”

He’s got a point. Listen to Bilas’ comments for yourself around the four-minute mark.