Kentucky Sports Radio
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
[Moderated by Matt Jones]
Scout.com today reports a very interesting piece of news that could help put the final pieces on the 2008 recruiting class. Malik Story, a former early commit to USC, is looking around again at schools and has Kentucky towards the top of his list. The 6′5″ guard dropped off the national radar a bit when he dropped out of Oak Hill just before his Senior year, but his talent is high and lots of schools are now chasing after him. According to Scout.com, Kentucky and Marquette are asking him to come take a visit and schools such as Arizona, Georgetown and Minnesota are inquiring. Story is a guy with a lot of talent, some questionable attitude issues and a sweet jumper….the perfect threesome for modern college basketball! But seriously, this could be a big late pickup for the Cats and we will have more as information becomes available.
Here is his ESPN evaluation….
Story has one of the most polished jump shots in the country. He doesn’t get great lift on his shot, but it has tremendous arc on it and it’s quite feathery in its landing. In the past he was strictly just a shooter - and more or less still is - however he is beginning to add more skill to his game, including a pull-up off of the drive. He is not an explosive leaper and not overly quick, but he’s extremely strong (physically mature player) and a solid rebounder. His post game is a work-in-progress as he now possesses a strong drop-step move. Defensively, he could become a liability because of his lack of lateral quickness, but his overall competitive nature should help him in that department. Overall, we don’t see him getting any bigger. This USC verbal needs to work on his mid-range game if he’s expecting to play at the Pac Ten level.
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May 23rd, 2008 at 11:27 am
Sounds good to me!
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:29 am
Maybe a Robert(?) Vaden type?
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:34 am
Is it just me, or does this guy sound EXACTLY like Legion? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice …
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:35 am
#3, that is what I was thinking… Too similar…
We should check on his mom…
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:38 am
Are there any people we aren’t recruiting?
I know a kid who plays a teh Blue Courts a lot, and he’s pretty good……
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:42 am
We should sign one of those guys you play with at the blue courts or Shilito Park–you know those 40 yr old guys that are 5′10″ 180 lbs but somehow they dominate? I’m sure we can get one that still has eligibility left….
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:43 am
#4, good call!
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:48 am
I guess if there is one thing our team is lacking, its a pure shooter. Meeks is a great athlete who can shoot but we definitely could use someone who can hit the jumper coming off screens.
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:49 am
The last 5 guys with questionable attitude issues transfered. Sign this guy up!
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:51 am
I don’t know. This guy sounds like the last thing BCG could want. ANOTHER wing, He can’t play defense and has an attitude problem. I am not trying to be negative, but attitude guys seem to have a problem working hard. Then they just take a scholarship from a Kid who want it, and put it to maximum use. Just a thought.
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:58 am
this guy’s jumper is fantastic, consistently can knock down NBA range three’s.
so what is the attitude issue? any one know the details?
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Why are attitude problems so prevelant within the guys BCG keeps targeting? I would think that would be an automatic turn-off for BCG.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:15 pm
why would we want someone Tubby’s looking at, I thought he couldn’t recruit?
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:29 pm
#12 it is not BCG it is the time of the year. Xfers are what’s available and they often have more baggage than a kid out of high school. Often not always.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:30 pm
It will be interesting to see if this recruiting strategy of throwing a wide net works.. mixed results so far
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:42 pm
#15, how so? The only Gillispie recruit we’ve seen play so far is Patterson. That turned out pretty good. We should probably wait until there are actual results to see before we call them “mixed.”
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:43 pm
It said that Minnesota was inquiring….yeah that is enough to let me know what type of player this kid is.
Carruth the 2nd I presume!
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:49 pm
I don’t know about this guy. Sounds risky. I think I’m just gonna wait till the season starts and cheer for whoever we get. This recruiting is making my head spin.
May 23rd, 2008 at 12:58 pm
you had me at “most polished jump shots in the country.” Attitude can be adjusted….talent, shot, athleticism…not so much.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Is anyone scared that a former USC recruit may already have an agent?
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:10 pm
That evaluation sounds like what an evaluation of Chris Lofton would have been his senior year: great shot, strictly a shooter, no quickness, no hops, defensive liability, highly competitive nature. With the right attitude, he could probably be pretty good under Billy G.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:25 pm
Matt, are you going to shut the blog down this weekend to force some of these guys to spend time with there families?
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:26 pm
i love all you people who immediately go to the negative side of things. pitino lost players, tubby lost players, everyone does. recruiting is a gamble, some players are big recruits and turn out to be horrible in college, some quit, some are great. maybe this kid comes to uk and is awesome, maybe he goes to minnesota and quits or gets kicked off the team. my point is, if he is talented and wants to play for billy g. then we should welcome him with open arms the way we did legion
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:26 pm
21) Touche, you Vol loving tree humper.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:35 pm
The most surprising part of this whole story is that Tubby Smith is inquiring about a pure shooter. I didn’t think he knew they existed.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:46 pm
25.) HAHAHAH Keith Bogans, Tayshaun Prince, Gerald Fitch, Ramel Bradley, and Joe Crawford are all top 10 all time 3 point leaders at UK. Not to mention Rashad Carruth was sposed to be the best thing since slice bread at shooting the three.
Good try though!
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:47 pm
25…Azabuike was Oklahoma’s all time leading scorer in high school…
Bogans is 4th all time on the UK list of scoring
I could go on…but, you’ve already made up your mind
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:50 pm
This is good stuff Matt.
We need to solidify a PG for 2008.
Has anyone checked with the BBall staff to see if Rich Brooks & Joker Phillips might be hiding a potential PG over at Nutter to help bail us out for a year? (I’m serious folks).
Matt, could you guys see if BCG would consider that option or if he already has to get us through next season?
Sometimes good enough talent is right under your nose when Plan A & B are expired. Hell, all we need is someone who can break a Florida press, drive and dish. I’m pretty confident if worst comes to worst we have 3-5 guys on the fball team over 6′ who can do that at div 1 level.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:51 pm
First off, everyone shut up about Tubby.
He is a good man and did some great things for this program.
Second, we have known about this kid for how long….45 minutes?
And all you arm chair psychiatrists already have him figured out and
know the content of his psyche? The truth is, there are not more than 3 or 4
people who read this blog who know JACK SQUAT about recruiting-and I am not one of those
3 or 4 either. That is why we are here is to learn something about it.
Can we assess talent on some level? Yes. But as far as recruiting most of you do not know what you are talking about. I have about 1 ounce recruiting experience in my whole life and that was getting kids from middle school to commit to playing in high school. How many of the rest of you have even done that?
We are not professional recruiters. If we were BCG would have already asked every one of us to help him comb the gyms and bring in a number one class.
I come here to hear news and share ideas and day after day
I read the gospel about of recruiting according to Joe Public.
I challenge you omnipotent ballers; go out and use your skill to
put the best talent in America in Rupp. You go get these kids here
and I will tell you I was wrong and praise you for being the next
swami of hardwood. Until you do that just know that no one on here or else where
takes your verbal spew-age seriously.
May 23rd, 2008 at 1:55 pm
Another day, another name. Anyone know what the deadline is for putting a ribbon on the 2008 class?
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:03 pm
# 30 gvillecat - As far as I know Wednesday 5/21/2008 was the last day to sign a LOI for the 2008 class. From here on out a kid would just apply to UK like any other student and show up the first day of class.
So it would be UK’s official registration deadline for the fall semester. I don’t know if sports programs can slide on that deadline or not. I’m sure they could if they wanted to.
Anyone know different? Please correct this if it’s wrong.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:19 pm
I guess the official deadline would be:
August 1 - Friday - Final deadline for submission of all required documents to the Office of Admissions for undergraduate admission, for the 2008 Fall Semester, excluding freshmen who will be considered on a space-available basis
http://www.uky.edu/Registrar/cal-FA08.htm
I wonder if this is an NCAA deadlines with student and/or athlete paperwork or if this is a UK decision. I’m sure the Freshmen space-available hurdle would be a tough one lol.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:29 pm
I wonder if he knows how to block a free throw?
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:33 pm
A short Mailk Story video:
http://uschoops.tv/storytv.html
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
33. we already have a guy who can do that.
Perry is BGC’s “go-to” guy when it comes to blocking free throws.
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:48 pm
who would you rather have, a PG in McClintock or a SG who, by ESPN evaluations, has attitude problems and can’t play defense?
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:49 pm
This kid can shoot the lights out
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
36)
Tough call there.
We have not had a “pure shooter” in years
and the last great passing PG we had was Rondo.
Tough call, but both would be ideal.
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:15 pm
#28, how bout Derrick Locke, he can do everything else, I’m sure he can dribble. If not we can get him a summer class with McClintock.
May 23rd, 2008 at 5:09 pm
39 MoBettaBlue - LOL Locke! That’s it!
If he could dribble my god, his first step would be better than Wayne Turner.
Wasn’t Locke 3rd in the SEC Track & Field 100 meter this year? LMAO
May 23rd, 2008 at 7:06 pm
26 & 27) First of all, I made that statement with my tongue firmly implanted in my cheek. It was a sarcastic poke at Tubby overlooking Lofton. Secondly none of those guys mentioned, with the exception of Carruth, can be considered “pure shooters.” I really didn’t intend to start a Tubby debate, just surprised to see Tubby looking at a pure shooter. He usually prefers long athletic types.
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:23 pm
i’d rather have Malik Story by a long shot over McClintock!!
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:28 pm
#38 We haven’t had a pure shooter since 2006. Do you not remember Patrick Sparks? If he isn’t a pure shooter then nobody is.