The House of Blue

Dereks' coach said he had to play out of positiona lot last year and he made that sacrifice for the benefit of his teammates and school. That should tell you what kind of kid he is and since his fall in the recruiting services rankings some people have forgotten about him since the other 4 guys are ranked so high. I think you will see Derek rise in the rankings since he will be back to his compfortable position on the floor, the perimeter. I think he will be much like Kyle Wiltjer but may be a little better handling the ball.

A) A high school coach playing a kid that tall out of position should be fired immediately.

B) I'm not putting the kid down but blaming the recruiting services forgetting about him isn't right. The kid plain tanked and played awful after UK picked him up. He's bordering on not even being ranked at all he played so bad. But he has a chance coming up to right the ship and climb back up the rankings. Let's see how he progresses this year.

Carl your absolutelt correct Willis did play terribly durin g the sspring and summer but he must have talent enough because Cal recruited him and then let him sign. So like you and I both agree upon that he can improve his play his senior year and I believe he will and how much he will climb in the recruiting services rankings is up in the air but I think he will at least be on everyones rankings lists.

I agree. He has the potential or he wouldn't have been ranked so high in the 1st place and Cal wouldn't have offered him so fast. We'll see how it turns out.

I really think Willis has to improve greatly to even sniff the floor at UK. I love Kentucky boys but I see Willis as more of a Jon Hood player who hasn't been able to get on the floor since he arrived at UK. I know Willis is tall but the guy's Cal gets year in and year out I just don't see Willis getting much PT at UK. Again Hood was a better player ranked higher and he can shoot, jump but he can't seem to find the floor at UK so unless Willis gets a ton better he probably won't get much playing time at UK either. I like Willis and I hope he turns into this great player but I just don't see it happening mainly because Cal has always had good wings everywhere he's been just and I think there is another young guy in Kentucky playing at Johnson Central that is going to be good enough to play he too reminds me of Wiltjer just better in the post.

Hood is not a good shooter or a great jumper. Also, he's not a good defender and doesn't play with much confidence so that's why he doesn't play. Wiltjer can at least shoot and usually makes the right decision; has more charisma to his game. Hood is more athletic than Wiltjer (not saying a whole lot), but Wiltjer is better at "playing" basketball.