My Anti-Knight, Anti-Gilchrist Post

Alright, so I've been here for quite awhile now and I feel like I know most of you guys pretty well, at least as a whole. If I don't comment on Brandon Knight or Mike Gilchrist, I'll get torched in the comments. If I do, I only get singed in the comments. So here you go...I can't find a source that will tell me anything other than Brandon Knight will announce to UK. Some believe that Villanova did have a horse in the race for Gilchrist but most believe that UK pretty much ran a one horse race since Calipari came over. That's all I got and I think that's pretty much all you're gonna get until the ESPN show. Now, I'm also receiving quite a bit of interest in a new player on the scene for UK, Marcus Thornton, so let's take our little look at Thornton and familiarize ourselves with the former Clemson commitment. Here's a few notes about Mr. Thornton:

- First, don't confuse him with LSU's Marcus Thornton if you go Youtubing him. Keep that in mind.

- Secondly, you should know that Thornton plays for Westlake HS, who won the GA State Championship and Thornton won the GA Mr. Basketball in a state with PLENTY of talent.

- Thornton has had a great senior season, averaging 24 and 12, and probably could have improved his national rankings if not for the fact that he was, at the time, a committed player who generally gets less scout attention than uncommitted players.

- Here's what his father had to say about meeting our beloved (at least for today) Coach Cal: “He is a very impressive. He talked to us about what has transpired at Kentucky, and that he has eight people leaving (five underclassmen declaring for the NBA Draft, and three graduating seniors). He has some definite personnel needs. (Calipari) said he has to be able to recruit people who can hit the floor right away. He was using the term ‘He can’t hide them (any incoming recruits)’ because anyone that comes there is going to have to be a contributor. But he has a lot of people to choose from, I’m sure.”

- UK may compete with Cornell again next year for highest GPA in the NCAA's if they get both Thornton and Knight. Knight, as I've said before, has a ridiculous above 4.0 GPA and Thornton has a 3.7, according to the AJC's article.

- Here's his school list: Kentucky, Tennessee, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Georgia Tech, Texas, Michigan, Auburn, UTEP

- Here's his rankings: Scout (3 star, #34 SF), Rivals (Unranked 3 Star)

- Let's face it, Calipari needs players...badly. From looking at the above, most recent, performance by Thornton, he'd be a nice big bodied athlete to add to the roster. He also has some length, is a proven winner, and the obvious ability to get to the basket. With a pretty nice school list already, I'd take the coaches opinions over any rankings any day.