TSN talks to Calipari about lack of 2012 commits

At the Peach Jam, John Calipari brushed off concerns about UK’s lack of 2012 commitments to Mike DeCourcy.

“We’ll be fine,” Calipari told Sporting News on Thursday. “We’re not getting every kid we want. No one does. … The way it’s going now, kids want to wait,” Calipari said. “I’m fine with that. I don’t know why. It might be NBA—who’s leaving, who’s staying. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. Obviously, I’d rather have guys sign early, so I know who I’m getting.

“I know who I like. The funny one right now is, people will tell kids what I’m thinking: ‘He thinks you’re the fourth-best guard or fifth-best guard.’ Do I? Then commit to us, and I’ll take you.”

Calipari did note he would need more than two or three players to ultimately sign for that class because of the possibility of losing multiple players — Calipari said seven — after this coming year. But Calipari also said he was daydreaming at the Peach Jam about how to make this year work out, and that was is his primary goal right now.

Read the full story here.

And to address the concerns: well, this article points out good examples from both sides. It was only two years ago that Calipari was signing Terrence Jones, Brandon Knight and Doron Lamb in the spring. But he had barely established how successful his tenure at UK could be with one-and-dones, a possible factor in why he had to wait for late commitments — and why he didn’t have to for the Class of 2011.

And while it’s easy to trust Calipari to bring in a top recruiting class, DeCourcy did point this out: In 2008, Duke only brought in “future transfers Olek Czyz and Elliot Williams and backup big man Miles Plumlee.” Duke isn’t on par with the level of recruiting Calipari is currently doing, but Duke was by no means a push-over in the recruiting world at that time.

Still, it’s not like UK is getting left behind. Most of the top targets are still unsigned, and almost all of them list UK as a potential destination. It’s just up to Calipari to bring them in.

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