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How did we Lose Imani Cross!!?

  • vhcat1970 said...

    Unless the number of players at each star level remains essentially constant, a higher average today vs. 5 years ago may not be as big a difference as it looks on the surface. Has there been "grade inflation" in the last 5 years?

    There has been an inflation, but while other teams have remained relatively constant our "avg star rating" has steadily grown. It wasn't like we went from 2.45 to 2.96 in one yr. This suggests that perhaps there was more to it than just inflation.

    Also, the other sites have reported a similar incline in our ratings.

    Also, our offer lists have gone through the roof. I spent a Saturday last yr going through the offer lists (since it always remains a hot topic) over each of the recruiting classes over the recent yrs. I can't remember the exact numbers, but I'll try to sum it up. I basically counted the overall offers from the entire class and then separated out the number of offers from schools in the larger conferences (Big12, BigTEN, SEC, ACC, Pac). In the mid 2000's we were pulling in around 5 offers from larger conferences.....out of 20-30 kids in an entire class......ouch! The last 2-3 yrs that number has skyrocketed to 25-30.

    So taking into account all data it seems that we have improved in recruiting. It clearly could be better. I would be crazy pleased if it was, but you really can't deny that it hasn't.....even with the inflation. Of course recruiting without winning makes all this moot.

    BlueRaider22 ●

  • CarlLexington said...

    Would you rather play football at Nebraska or Kentucky? Pretty simple choice if you ask me. It would be like asking why a kid would choose to play basketball at Kentucky rather than Nebraska. It's a no brainer.

    ^This. We're forutnate we got as close as we did to signing him.

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    spotter34

  • vhcat1970 said...

    Unless the number of players at each star level remains essentially constant, a higher average today vs. 5 years ago may not be as big a difference as it looks on the surface. Has there been "grade inflation" in the last 5 years?

    ...which is something every team in America benefits from in their rankings, not just UK. If you look at the national rankings of UK over the last several years, its gone from the 60's to the 30's or low 40's. That is a HUGE jump. While it is still only good for 11th or 12th in the SEC, it is narrowing the gap between us and our conference opponents in a big way.

    You can finish 20th in the country in class ranking and still not even be in the top half of the SEC. Hell, that may not get you top 8 or 9. Anyone expecting us to suddenly jump to top 6 in the SEC is being unrealistic. If we can narrow the gap like we have been doing, to the point where the difference between us and the teams finishing 6-10 in the SEC class rankings is a couple of hundredths of a point (0.01 to 0.05), then I consider it a class essentially on par with those others in the 6-10 range and gives us a good chance to win more ballgames and get more upsets than when we are finishing 40 spots behind those teams in the class rankings.

    mjdotson

  • He got a message from a burning bush outlining 10 reasons he should go to Nebraska.

    C1180

  • princeuk21 said...

    If you don't think recruiting has not improved over the last couple of years I have no idea what to tell you. Go look at the 2008 and 2009 recruiting classes and then come back on here and say everything is still the same.

    Definitely different-looking kids that had been brought in previously.

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  • C1180 said...

    He got a message from a burning bush outlining 10 reasons he should go to Nebraska.

    Nice... thumbsup

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    JawJacker

  • Based on the history of who this staff has and hasn't been able to close down the stretch in their tenure at uk, how and why would anyone expect uk to have been the choice for cross? Simply too much empirical evidence to suggest otherwise. Uk RARELY closes kids of that caliber late in the game. That's why we don't win many conference games, because our conference peers do close guys of that level. Pretty simple, actually.

    MinterWonderlnd

  • MinterWonderlnd said...

    Based on the history of who this staff has and hasn't been able to close down the stretch in their tenure at uk, how and why would anyone expect uk to have been the choice for cross? Simply too much empirical evidence to suggest otherwise. Uk RARELY closes kids of that caliber late in the game. That's why we don't win many conference games, because our conference peers do close guys of that level. Pretty simple, actually.

    Yeah, we all know what your opinion is, it's the same for any topic brought up regarding UK football. . .

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    BG631

  • MinterWonderlnd said...

    Based on the history of who this staff has and hasn't been able to close down the stretch in their tenure at uk, how and why would anyone expect uk to have been the choice for cross? Simply too much empirical evidence to suggest otherwise. Uk RARELY closes kids of that caliber late in the game. That's why we don't win many conference games, because our conference peers do close guys of that level. Pretty simple, actually.

    I have a gut feeling, that even if WE DID close the deal on Cross (down the stretch), you would have STILL found a reason to chime in and put your negative spin on it... explaining (and complaining) why he is not good enough or why Joker can't recruit any players with more talent... or how we are having to settle for the caliber of Cross, while other universities like Bama, LSU... or even Louisville, are so far ahead of us in the recruiting game... and how much it sucks to be a UK football fan... and blah

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    JawJacker

  • Uh, has he signed his letter? We will see.

    dubcat

  • It's so funny to see the 8 or 9 of you who NEVER post unless something negative happens. Then, you expect to come on here every time we lose a player and have credability.... Take your pitch forks somewhere else folks lol.

    Anyway, is this a let down? Yes. However, this is Nebraska we are talking about, which is a prestigious program that wanted him as bad as we did and this staff did everything they could to get him here. It went down to the wire, and we lost, get over it.

    MossCat15

  • Real Deal 2 said...

    Think it is indicative of this staff. This has been a very disappointing staff to say the least when it comes to improving recruiting. I was pushing for CIW to be earlier than later because I thought Joker could recruit to a higher level. Nope, pretty much the same. Try to get on kids late, over sign some 3-4 guys who will never make it to campus to keep your recruiting ranking in the top 60's and than tell everyone at signing day press conference "Trust US" on these kids.

    Let's see the kid was committed to UT for a long time, can sell the fact that we need bigger running back, play at least 3-4 teams very other year or year that is 2-3 hour drive from your house. Play in SEC, get back at UT every year for pulling scholly, less than a days drive to Lexington, direct flight to Atl. etc.. We are just not a very good recruiting staff and haven't been for some time, until they want to get serious than you can expect stuff like this.

    Heard from a birdie that GA Bulldogs are on verge of offering top OL recruit of UK's scholly. GA is desperate and are looking for OL, maybe happened last night, GA TECh commit is contemplating switching to GA, it would be good for UK if this happens or they will snag the OL commit.

    UK just does not recruit as an SEC school should. Make all the excuses you want but evidence is in rankings, standings in recruiting, and play on field. IMO

    Ga.Tech just offered and Watson told them he is 100% committed to UK. Nice try though.

    Whitaker568

  • MossCat15 said...

    It's so funny to see the 8 or 9 of you who NEVER post unless something negative happens. Then, you expect to come on here every time we lose a player and have credability.... Take your pitch forks somewhere else folks lol.

    Anyway, is this a let down? Yes. However, this is Nebraska we are talking about, which is a prestigious program that wanted him as bad as we did and this staff did everything they could to get him here. It went down to the wire, and we lost, get over it.

    Moss, not to mention the fact that as great a pickup as Cross would have been...It isnt a major need for us. We have a ton of depth at the position and Mobley on the way. I really REALLLLLLY wanted Cross, but I would still much rather have Madaris and Core...and Henderson.

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    tommy

  • And to answer the OP's original question as to how did we lose Cross? God dislikes the LOD.

    Whitaker568

  • tommy said...

    Moss, not to mention the fact that as great a pickup as Cross would have been...It isnt a major need for us. We have a ton of depth at the position and Mobley on the way. I really REALLLLLLY wanted Cross, but I would still much rather have Madaris and Core...and Henderson.

    Bingo! We need LB's, we need OT, we need DT, we need playmakers at Wr, another RB would have been a luxury but it's not a need.

    Whitaker568

  • Real Deal 2 said...

    Think it is indicative of this staff. This has been a very disappointing staff to say the least when it comes to improving recruiting. I was pushing for CIW to be earlier than later because I thought Joker could recruit to a higher level. Nope, pretty much the same. Try to get on kids late, over sign some 3-4 guys who will never make it to campus to keep your recruiting ranking in the top 60's and than tell everyone at signing day press conference "Trust US" on these kids.

    Let's see the kid was committed to UT for a long time, can sell the fact that we need bigger running back, play at least 3-4 teams very other year or year that is 2-3 hour drive from your house. Play in SEC, get back at UT every year for pulling scholly, less than a days drive to Lexington, direct flight to Atl. etc.. We are just not a very good recruiting staff and haven't been for some time, until they want to get serious than you can expect stuff like this.

    Heard from a birdie that GA Bulldogs are on verge of offering top OL recruit of UK's scholly. GA is desperate and are looking for OL, maybe happened last night, GA TECh commit is contemplating switching to GA, it would be good for UK if this happens or they will snag the OL commit.

    UK just does not recruit as an SEC school should. Make all the excuses you want but evidence is in rankings, standings in recruiting, and play on field. IMO

    Glad you added "IMO" even though it should have been at the beginning rather than the end. Now that you've offered your opinion I'll give you mine...your view of UK as a "destination of choice" for any majorly talented athlete living outside the state of KY (and even many who live here) shows a lack of understanding of the high school football player mindset. Let me put it this way - if you had the chance to live in Hawaii or Canada which would you choose? Unless you were an avid ice fisherman, snowboarder, etc. you would likely choose Hawaii because it offers many more "perks" (weather, bikinis, beaches, etc.) than Canada. In the mind of high school footballers, guess which we are???

    jimlowe7

  • Amazing how when things looked pretty good with Imani, there were quite a few folks in this thread that weren't posting at all.

    Jared Bonshire

  • Jared Bonshire said...

    Amazing how when things looked pretty good with Imani, there were quite a few folks in this thread that weren't posting at all.

    True that my friend. True that!!!!

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    alphacat93 ●

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    tommy

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    MinterWonderlnd

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    alphacat93 ●

  • BlueRaider22 said...

    Nebraska is a top program. They have LOADS of good football history. They have a reputation of being a running team. They have history of producing crazy running backs. Their facilitiies are stellar. They've been winning much more than we have recently. This was easily a David and Goliath senario......and our rock didn't hit the mark.

    People less we forget that in basketball we get the best kids WHY because we are UK a basketball program
    Neb is a football program period. A KID HAS TO PICK BETWEEN UK OR NEBRASKA IN BASKETBALL WHERE WOULD YOU GO. A KID HAS THE SAME CHOICE IN FOOTBALL MOST WILL PICK NEBRASKA.
    ITS JUST THAT SIMPLE...
    Nothing against UK football, however it will take yrs of getting kids to know about UK from out of state.
    And I don't care who the coaching staff is.

    dvillepro1

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    BG631

  • dvillepro1 said...

    BlueRaider22 said...

    Nebraska is a top program. They have LOADS of good football history. They have a reputation of being a running team. They have history of producing crazy running backs. Their facilitiies are stellar. They've been winning much more than we have recently. This was easily a David and Goliath senario......and our rock didn't hit the mark.

    People less we forget that in basketball we get the best kids WHY because we are UK a basketball program Neb is a football program period. A KID HAS TO PICK BETWEEN UK OR NEBRASKA IN BASKETBALL WHERE WOULD YOU GO. A KID HAS THE SAME CHOICE IN FOOTBALL MOST WILL PICK NEBRASKA. ITS JUST THAT SIMPLE... Nothing against UK football, however it will take yrs of getting kids to know about UK from out of state. And I don't care who the coaching staff is.

    The quote feature is your friend. Use it, please.

    Keep Calm & Stoops On..

    _Mike_

  • I stop posting as much because I'm not dumb enough to try and reason with those who come to the website to vent their life frustration on a bunch of 18-22 year old kids busting their ass to try to live up to the expectations placed upon them.

    Jared Bonshire

Kentucky
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