More Thoughts on Lance's Decision
by Ben Broman on Mar 31, 2009 3:05 PM EDT
in Basketball Recruiting
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PrintBy now you know that Lance has indefinitely delayed his announcement date, which probably pisses you off to no end. Not me, though: if anything, this is a good sign.
The thing that makes the most sense is that he was headed to Kansas, and the announcement would come today. There's a problem now, though: Calipari is leaving Memphis and heading to Kentucky. It seems like a total nonsequiter, but his top recruit, Xavier Henry, was considered to be a Kansas lock a few months ago. Kansas was his #2 school after Memphis.
If Calipari leaves, which seems near certain at this point, Henry would probably end up at Kansas. He could automatically get out his LOI, and he'd reopen his recruitment. Says Henry:
In my Letter of Intent it is written that if Coach Calipari leaves, I can go anywhere.
I'll consider everybody. I'll reopen everything.
Sounds like the only reason he went to Memphis was because of Cal.
If that does happen, I see almost no way Lance goes to KU. There's no way he would share the spotlight with another top five recruit. If anything, Lance would be in Henry's shadow on campus. Henry's parents were both athletes at Kansas, and I'd have to imagine Henry would be the big man on campus, not Lance. Many people believe that Maryland is his #2 right now, which would make College Park the logical landing spot.
Of course, the entire logic train could be wrong. He could just be looking for more stardom and a longer time in the limelight. That doesn't make sense to me: there's not going to be a bigger place than the McD's game to announce his decision. Yes, it could be also be negative: if the above is correct, it means he was definitely picking Kansas from the start. But I feel some positive vibes on this.
I want the entire thing to be over so everyone can move on, and I'm not glad I'll be tugged around by two high school athletes, but this actually seems like a good sign. I expect there to be a lot of clarification within the next few days. Remember, Lance will be playing in the McD's game at 8 on Wednesday on ESPN.
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Your logic makes sense,
But could this scenrio mean that if he dosnt end up at the University of Maryland, then Terrell Vinson could go elsewhere because we seem to be focused so much on Lance? I cant help but feel like Terrell Vinson wants to go to MD and be a Terrapin but he probably won’t wait around forever to see if our program saver (Lance Stephenson) decides to come here or not! What do you think? And this may be out of the blue, but say someone transfers and Born Ready and Terrell Vinson go elsewhere, who would MD go after then?…….just a question that popped into my head, and just wondering if there’s another name i’m not aware of.
Vinsons seems low on the priority list right now
There are a few guys that Maryland would turn to, and I’m not sure Vinson would be the first. I’m not sure, but someone like Tristan Spurlock, who’s decommitting from UVA since Leitao left, or Darnell Dodson, a highly regarded JUCO committed to Memphis (or, he was before Cal left), could end up being the fallback option. A JUCO big could even find his way into the mix (Gary Flowers, maybe?). There are a lot of possible options should Lance go somewhere else.
I agree...and i used to be a vinson fan...
but the more i think about it….it makes no sense
plus vinson has had ample opportunity to commit to us…doubt he is really that interested…
by tiimbitz4786 on Mar 31, 2009 6:28 PM EDT up reply actions
As a Kansas alum, I don’t necessarily agree with any statement that Stephenson would feel trumped on campus because of another top 10 recruit. And really if that’s what he’s worried about Kansas wouldn’t be a good fit anyway. If anything he’d be in the shadow of Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich who both appear to be coming back next year. He’d be on totally level footing with Xavier Henry until one of them showed dominance on the court.
The real story with Lance if Henry comes to KU is that we’re out of scholarships. This could have everything to do with him delaying the announcement. If Sherron and Cole return we’ve already got 1 scholarship player too many, before adding either Stephenson or Henry. Bill Self has said he won’t ask anyone to leave but will oversign if it looks like someone will leave on their own (and people will absolutely leave when they realize there’s no chance they’ll play.) Another X-factor with Kansas is John Wall who potentially (though I don’t think it’s likely) could swallow a roster spot.
Either way, it’s all probably good news for Maryland, though Henry, Cousins and Wall could all end up at Kentucky, making this moot.
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