Tubby shrugs off recruiting analyses

[Spam Hate]

Kentucky basketball is not broke. It doesn't need fixing.

That was Coach Tubby Smith's response to those who question the star-quality of this fall's recruits, which UK announced yesterday.

They lack a player rated among the nation's top 34 by Rivals.com. Another recruiting service, Prep Stars, did not rate a UK signee among its top 56.

Brick Oettinger, an analyst for Prep Stars, said Kentucky had signed "good role players" but will eventually need to supplement these signees with a star.

"If that's what you end up putting on the floor, you're not on top of the (Southeastern Conference)," he said of UK's four fall recruits. "You're not at the bottom, that's for sure. But you're close to the middle."

Smith scoffed at such a comment.

"I guess they know more than me," he said, sarcastically. "If what we're doing is working, I'm not going to change it much."



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[The Bubba]

Thanks for the article Spam. In response to it, I think Tubby would like to have better ranked players but is fairly satisfied with the ones he's able to get. UK has a pretty decent class coming in next year and will turn some people's heads with how well they turn out. Who would have thought Sims and Carter would play like they do. Williams isn't any slouch either.

[teamweaver]

OK, so it remains to be seen how good/successful both the current crop of Cats guards and any future ones, too, will be, but Tubby -- the coach who "couldn't recruit" guards -- had the golden touch this year.

The list of November signees is an interesting one. It contains several rising star combo guards, a sturdy former quarterback point guard and a wild card defensive big man, all of whom have the rough edges and big upside that Tubby likes and has had success with. Rivals.com rates the class as is #11 overall, certainly short of some fans' expectations, and definitely lower than it would have been had Reggie Hanson and Co. landed their big fish: Brandan Wright or Thaddeus Young. There is little compensation for being in the final three.

>>Click Here For The Entire Article<<

Here's a welcome break from the Brick Oettingers of the world. Oettinger's statement that this recruiting class was a bunch of role players that would produce a team destined for the middle of the SEC is pure gas. Such a comment is just not well thought out on his part...Like a lot of the commentary surrounding all recruiting, not just Tubby's.

Lets be clear, we have the SECOND highest ranked class in the SEC. Aside from the incredible talents of Chef Tubby to mix and elevate the results of these recruiting ingredients, that alone would indicate the 'Cats wouldn't be a middle of the road SEC team. :rolleye: Add in the last and next classes and you have a roster that will be challenging for FFs and championships.

Yeah, we want a FF and then an NCAA Championship which we haven't seen since '98 but I see significant changes in the make up of Tubby's recruiting classes of the last few years. Remember, Tubby is a smart man, with a genius basketball IQ both on and off the court, he knows you can't expect different results if you keep doing the same things. Assuming Morris comes back (A problem Tubby didn't cause.), tell me you are not excited about the prospect of this team playing in the up-coming FF.

[The Bubba]

Nice post Teamweaver, nice.