A rant on Pitino

[Dawson Rental]

Disclaimer: I've faced it, my biggest problem with Pitino is jealousy over how many good players he gets when he oversigns, even when these kids must know that Pitino is going to have to cut someone to make room for them, and that if they thought about it, the same fate could be theirs some day.  Yes, I know MU under Buzz is also, at a minimum, dipping its toe into this behavior, although except for Mbao, I believe that Buzz has limited himself to saying; "Maybe we were a bit hasty" to guys who signed, but hadn't yet become a part of the program (Newbill, Durley).  So, yeah I'm saying that the way I see it, Eric Williams, Smith, Jones and TJ Taylor all left of their own accord.

Joel Embiid worked out for Pitino at his HS on September 9th.  Afterwards, Embiid quoted Pitino thusly.

"He said, 'I have three more scholarships, and I give you two.' That's how he offered me," Embiid said with a laugh. "... I think it means how much he wants me."

Very nice, Rick, but how many schollys do you really have?  Louisville is using all its scholarships this year. At one point this summer Louisville had pushed out three players to make room for new players before Stephan Van Treese's transfer was called off when Rakeem Buckles who wouldn't be able to play this year due to injury was persuaded to sit out his RS year at FIU, so that he could play there the following year instead of probably looking around for a new school next spring after getting cut by Louisville.  Louisville has two players who will graduate or use up their eligibility this year.  So where does that third scholarship come from?  Almost certainly, Van Treese who got lucky this summer will have his number come up again next summer.  While Van Treese has junior eligibility this year, he was RS'd for an injury last year, this will be his fourth year at Louisville, and he's not projected to start next year, so......

At the time that Pitino was offering "two" of his scholarships to Embiid, he had promised two schollys to 2 guards at Hargrave Military Academy, Terry Rozier a 2012 top 100 guard who had to reclassify to 2013 and Anton Gill, ESPN's #38 ranked HS senior.  Eight days later, the "third" scholly was accepted by Chris Jones, the PG from Florida Northwestern CC.  Two days after that, Pitino took a fourth commitment from Akoy Agau, a 6'9'', 240 lbs. power forward from Omaha Central HS. So, Pitino has two more commitments than he has scholarships available and is still pursuing Embiid.

So, MU which is now fully committed for next year is pursuing Embiid and reportedly is having JaJuan Johnson in for Midnight Madness.  This is the world of high major college basketball, and nobody does it better than Mr. Pitino.

[bilsu]

When you have as many talented players as Louisville does, you have to consider the possibility of players leaving early for NBA.

[Dawson Rental]

When you have as many talented players as Louisville does, you half to consider the possibility of players leaving early for NBA.

Good point.  Chane Behanan and Georgi Dieng are the two most likely to go pro.

[Dawson Rental]

As brewcity77 points out in the JaJuan Johnson thread;
"We aren't out of scholarships for 2013 because Otule has yet to be granted a 6th year."