Saturday, April 11, 2009

John Calipari Makes Another Pitch to John Wall And Xavier Henry

I just returned to the Nike Hoop Summit team hotel after dinner with some of the crew from tonight's broadcast, and guess who I see working his recruiting magic near the lobby. That's right, John Calipari.

As I mentioned earlier, Coach Cal and other coaches were not allowed to attend tonight's game between Team USA and the World Team, but he was allowed to contact the players after the game away from the arena. A stupid rule in my opinion, but nonetheless, Cal was there doing what he does best. One would assume that he left a great impression, if only because he was first. I didn't see any other top level coaches at the hotel waiting to talk to these kids shortly before midnight.

The two players hearing Calipari's latest pitch were, of course, John Wall and Xavier Henry. Not only are they two of the top five players in the country, they were also the only players on the USA Junior National Select Team that have yet to announce where they would be attending school next fall. Both players confirmed to me during the game, however, that Kentucky was definitely a leading contender on their respective short lists.

Coincidentally, Wall and Henry were the two brightest stars for Team USA despite its 97-89 loss to the World Team. The X-Man led all U.S. scorers with 22 points, including 6-of-11 shooting from 3-point range, which tied the U.S. Hoop Summit individual record for both 3-point makes and attempts. While Wall finished with 13 points, a U.S. Hoop Summit record 11 assists and tied the steals mark with five.

UK fans can only hope Calipari's recruiting magic works on these two future NBA standouts.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Go get 'em Werepecker!
Kentucky is back.

Unknown said...

Thanks Michael. Great coverage on Wall and Henry. Nice story also about bumping into Cal and his staff at the Nike Store. Keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

Loving the UK stuff Mike. You are a very good journalist. Just wanted to point out the typo of John Hall there though. Otherwise A+ stuff, Keep up the good work.

Michael Eaves said...

sorry about the Wall/Hall typo.. i was writing after the end of a long day and it was late..

Anonymous said...

Michael Eaves has a man crush on John Calipari.. He is every where John seems to be.. what a stalker.

Anonymous said...

great coverage. i also really liked your last post talking about bumping into Coach Cal. just thought i would say awesome job.

Unknown said...

Great news, enjoyed the game last night, Free throws killed USA team, I hope Cal gets both Henry and Wall. UK needs both. Thank you so much for reporting un-biased news. Most reporters can't do that.

Anonymous said...

Michael, did you get the feeling that Cal was confident about landing either player at UK?

Anonymous said...

Please let us know what your feeling is on these guys! UK!

JaredUK7 said...

Love your blog michael...keep up the good work.

oldkentucky said...

Thank you for the really good information about future Kentucky players!!!

Anonymous said...

Werepecker is howlin at the blue moon of kentucky. Calipaaariiii...Calipari!!!!

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for the updates! They are greatly appreciated....you are definitely a good journalist.
Jason

Lisa said...

Mike,

Your blog is fantastic! Keep up the great work! Glad you are a UK fan!!!

Anonymous said...

Guy come on it Calipari all you write about? You have got one big man crush on that guy...let it go he is married. . .

Anonymous said...

Any news on when John Wall or Xavier Henry will make their decision

Anonymous said...

It seems Xavier is now saying that Eaves is making things up regarding his plans to visit to Kentucky...

G Adams said...

Good article Mike. Glad to see you are doing well. If you ever get to Louisville, look me up. I am in my ninth year practicing law and would love to catch up sometime.

Garry R. Adams
Louisville, KY