Richard Mackson-US PRESSWIRE
Although the announcement made yesterday by Aaron and Andrew Harrison earlier was exciting, it was not exactly surprising. I mean, if a gun were put to your head and you had to guess where they were going, Kentucky would have been the predictable answer.
This is because Kentucky has absolutely dominated college basketball recruiting since John Calipari came to Lexington. That has become painfully obvious to fans from other teams around the country, which brings up a serious question. Is Kentucky’s dominance in recruiting bad for college basketball?
As if you needed any further evidence that Calipari can recruit, he has gotten two top ten recruits four out of the last five years. He has had arguably the best recruiting class each of the last four years and will probably have it for a fifth consecutive season when it is all said and done.
The issue with this kind of success is that it limits parity in the college game. One of the aspects people love about college basketball is how a Cinderella story can come out of the NCAA tournament or pull an upset on any given day.
I have no quarrels with Kentucky or Calipari and I try to stay unbiased as a sports writer, but I couldn’t help myself from rooting for Maryland and Southern Methodist just because it was so anticlimactic hearing another future pro choose Lexington.
The Wildcats may have a down season in 2012-13. And by down I mean not make the Final Four. Of course, they may be just fine after having another incredible recruiting class. However, Calipari will undoubtedly have his team ready to contend again by the 2013-14 season. This is especially true considering how many more of the nation’s best prospects in the class of 2013 are strongly considering committing to Kentucky.
Realistically, the Cats will probably be contenders for as long as Calipari is in coaching. He is only 53 years old. Therefore, the only hope for fans who are bored of Kentucky’s success is that Calipari will get bored of it too. Yeah, not likely.
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