One Memphis commitment, DeMarcus Cousins, is of particular interest. Cousins, who stands at 6'9 and weighs in at 250 lbs, is one of the top players in the class of 2009 according to nearly every major recruiting database, ranked the #2 overall player by Rivals and the #2 center in the class by Scout. He is a force on the low block offensively, extremely tough to score over on the defensive side of the ball due to his length and athleticism, and has a nice handle with the ball for a big man.
Cousins is big #0 in white
Also of interest is Memphis signee, Xavier Henry, another highly touted prospect in the 2009 class, rated as the #3 overall player by Rivals and the top shooting guard by both Rivals and Scout. A lefty and a prolific scorer from anywhere within 22 feet, the 6'6, 210 lb. wing out of Putnam City, Oklahoma has a pure jump shot with textbook form. Henry excels at slashing and finishing at the rim, using great body control and tremendous athleticism to impose his will.
Xavier Henry is #1 in white for Putnam City(OK)
One more player to keep an eye on is the top overall prospect by both Rivals and Scout, 6'4 point guard John Wall, who has Memphis high on his list and could add Kentucky to that list if Calipari is hired. Freakishly long and gifted, this guy can flat out play. See for yourself:
John Wall - Nasty
DeMarcus Cousins is the most likely to make the move, as he has not yet signed his letter of intent to Memphis, and will be able to freely join Calipari at UK. The NCAA has a history of being lenient with signees wanting to get out of a letter of intent due to coaching changes, so Xavier Henry joining the Wildcats next year as well is not out of the question. Calipari still has some recruiting to do if he plans to land John Wall over the likes of Duke, Baylor, Kansas, Miami, and N.C. State, and Kentucky may be just the thing to sway him one way or another.
So in the event that two of these three (or even all three) players join Calipari at Kentucky, and he can convince current UK signee Daniel Orton to stick around, next year's Kentucky line-up could look something like this: (This is also assuming that Kentucky loses none of their current key players. In other words, this is a best-case scenario for UK fans)
Assuming all three players join the Wildcats
1) John Wall/ DeAndre Liggins/ Michael Porter/ Kevin Galloway
2) Jodie Meeks/ Xavier Henry/ John Wall
3) Xavier Henry/ Darius Miller/ Ramon Harris/
4) Patrick Patterson/ DeMarcus Cousins/ Perry Stevenson
5) Daniel Orton/ DeMarcus Cousins/ Patrick Patterson
Every position could potentially be filled with a future NBA player. Everything working out exactly this way is a long shot. It would require losing a few current players on the roster for this to take place, but it would immediately put Kentucky back into the championship picture, which would be a phenomenal turnaround over a period of just one off-season. Dream big Kentucky fans.
Additional Note:
Louisville signee Peyton Siva made #6 on tonight's "SportsCenter Top Plays" with his performance in the McDonald's All-American Dunk Competition.
Here is Peyton's dunk competition warm-up video:
Update:
Xavier Henry has just stated that should Memphis coach John Calipari leave for any reason, he would be able to get out of his LOI and re-open his recruitment.
Great videos. Interesting possibilities. Who will Ky have to let go to make room? Doesn't a kid like Porter deserve having the promises made to him kept? Doesn't his commitment to Ky work both ways? I don't follow them that closely. Who else would they have to throw overboard if all these guys come and they keep all their current signees? Anything for the wins?
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