Not Jerry Tipton's Friday Basketball Notebook

The 2013-14 season is quickly approaching, and Big Blue Nation holds its collective breath. John Calipari’s Kentucky team will go to war this year relying only on what a few “experts” are calling “the greatest recruiting class ever assembled,” a couple of sophomores, and a few older guys. Is this a recipe for success? We shall see. But probably not. Unfortunately for Kentucky, only one team has ever won the national championship using this formula, and this happened way back in 2012. To stay apprised and educated, follow me on Twitter @NotJerryTipton. Here’s the weekly notebook: *So Far...: It’s been a terrible week for Kentucky on the recruiting trail, as 4 star SG James Blackmon, Jr. committed to Indiana last Thursday night. In fact, of the thousands of basketball players in the class of 2014, over 99% of them will not play for Kentucky next year. Even more troubling for the Big Blue is that some of these players — Blackmon included — will opt to play for Kentucky’s rivals. To make matters worse, he was not the first high schooler who spurned the once-mighty Wildcats this year. Emmanuel Mudiay picked SMU over UK. Kelly Oubre picked Kansas over UK. And so on. To be sure, some players have chosen Kentucky, but given the number of high school seniors in the country, this is a mathematical inevitability. From a big picture standpoint, it is surely depressing for UK fans to realize that the last 5 star player who picked Kentucky was Julius Randle, back in March.* *Not including Trey Lyles *The Monster: Earlier this week, the mother of prep star Trey Lyles said that she and her family were “attacked” by Indiana fans when the youngster decommitted from IU. This just goes to show the passion and love that Indiana fans have for their beloved Hoosiers. While UK likes to bill itself as the “Greatest Tradition in the History of College Basketball,” one would be hard-pressed to find a group of fans as dedicated and intense as Hoosier fans are. Case in point: When Indiana knocked off then #1 Kentucky in December 2011, jubilant Indiana fans celebrated by rushing the court, pouring beer on people’s heads, cursing out grandmothers, breaking people's arms, etc. You simply don’t see that kind of love for the sport in other programs. Kentucky fans, famously, have never rushed the court. Hoosier backers were also quick to snatch up t-shirts celebrating IU’s Sweet 16 appearance, which is yet something else you would never see Kentucky fans do. And while some may criticize Indiana fans for their exuberance, James Blackmon, Jr. obviously found it appealing. *So Much Better: On Tuesday, Trey Lyles committed to UK over Louisville. This does not bode well for Kentucky. The fact that UofL was right there in Lyles’ recruitment, and that he almost picked the Cards over the Cats is surely a harbinger of things to come. For years, John Calipari had his pick of elite recruits across the country, while Rick Pitino had to settle on 3 stars, overlooked diamonds in the rough and whatever happened to still be in the bargain bin. But now that he’s going head to head with the alleged best recruiter in America, prospects around the country are bound to notice. UK fans should have seen this coming when Marquis Teague almost picked UofL, but now they know. Watch out for Ricky P on the recruiting trail. His record against Calipari at UK may be 1-4 now, but that won’t be the case for long. * On this date: On this date in (pick a year), Tom Crean was creepy.