Shots From the Dome

Insert your own “The Sky is Falling” anecdote here…

Well, top PG recruit John Wall has added his name to the oh-so-impressive list of recruits that John Calipari has added at Kentucky in just a few months on the job. And, despite the more “impassioned” Gator fans who cry CHEATER at the drop of a hat, it’s surprising but not shocking.

In the last year, Calipari has coached the NBA number one pick in a national championship game and made the high profile move to one of college basketball’s flagship institutions in a conference that will begin its first season in a huge ESPN TV contract this year. Calipari had the makings of the top class nationally at Memphis, and was able to bring 2 of those players with him in Wall and Cousins, added PG Eric Bledsoe, and kept the best players that had already signed with the team earlier. Not particularly far-fetched, after one gets over the shock of it all.

Suddenly the entire conference is looking at a different playing field. All this publicity is good for the SEC overall in its first year truly in the ESPN family, and having a possible elite team is a far cry from last year, which was simply its worst showing in 20 years.

With both of the point guards that the Gators were publicly pursuing managing to sign with Kentucky, and assist record holder Nick Calathes continuing to improve his stock in a thin draft (the latest DraftExpress mock Draft after the 5/19 lottery has him listed as the #23 prospect, and he seems confident in an interview with them), the 2010 backcourt look of UF is alarming, to put things mildly.

A starting backcourt of the 5-8 Erving Walker and incoming recruit 6-3 Kenny Boynton actually sounds like something which will perform well in the SEC next year, but behind them is perhaps only 6-5 SG Ray Shipman and no other point guard at all. Pat Cassidy of DimeMag.com sent along this article, by Jason Jordan, where Boynton is quoted as eager and willing to play some point guard, but even if that’s the case, more bodies are needed.

Nothing concrete seems available on the subject, but it seems that Donovan isn’t done just yet, and may add one or even two more backcourt players. Where will they come from, since it seems that all recruitable players have signed or committed?

The speculation is that they could come from a player who unexpectedly is going to qualify, a player asking out of his signed letter-of-intent, a transfer immediately eligible due to hardship status, or a JUCO player. For the record, I don’t want to seem like these are options I’ve come up with — those are from forum conversation, so take them with the pillar of salt required.

For UF to be relying on maybes and hope-sos while Kentucky bags a shiny new class and has players take their names out of the draft is hard to swallow only a few years removed from dual championships — I’ll be waiting with baited breath to see the final outcome in the next few weeks…