Today is the day that point guard Brandon Knight (hopefully) signs with Kentucky. I know Brandon is reading this so I figured that I would outline Coach Cal's recent track records with elite point guards.
Here are their college stats under Calipari:
Derek Rose: Memphis Tigers
Minutes per game: 29.2
Points per game: 14.9
Assists per game: 4.7
Rebounds per game: 4.5
Turnovers per game: 2.7
Field Goal percentage: 48%
Three Point percentage: 38%
Free Throw Percentage: 71%
Draft Pick: #1 overall to the Chicago Bulls
Tyreke Evans: Memphis Tigers
Minutes per game: 29
Points per game: 17.1
Assists per game: 3.9
Rebounds per game: 5.4
Turnovers per game: 3.6
Field Goal percentage: 46%
Three point percentage: 27%
Free throw percentage: 71%
Draft Pick: #4 to the Sacramento Kings
John Wall: Kentucky Wildcats
Minutes per game: 34.8
Points per game: 16.6
Assists per game: 6.5
Rebounds per game: 4.3
Turnovers per game: 4
Field Goal percentage: 46%
Three point percentage: 33%
Free Throw percentage: 75%
Draft Pick: Likely #1 overall but TBD
Rose also received Rookie of the Year honors and Tyreke Evans is the favorite to win the ROY honors this year. Both of the ex-Memphis players are excelling in the NBA and Wall is expected to do the same.
Brandon Knight would be smart to add to the Calipari/point guard legacy and continue the greatness. Stay tuned to Sportsthat for the Knight announcement as well as the Michael Gilchrist announcement. It's an exciting day to be a Kentucky fan as long as it all goes our way. Go Cats.
Calipari's only been coaching for 3 years? He was at Memphis for about 8 years, so where's the data on those other PG's he recruited and coached?
ReplyDeleteAlso, Rose, Evans, and Wall were all very talented before they stepped foot on a campus, so did Calipari make them better or just help maintain their ability before moving on?
Where's the data on a player who wasn't highly ranked that he turned into NBA lottery pick? THAT would be the more interesting story.
I made it clear to say recent track records in the article.
ReplyDeleteYou have a point with some of your comments but I think that Calipari's offensive scheme is condusive with the point guards that he recruits and helps them showcase their ablilities more than an offense under Tubby Smith, Bo Ryan, Billy Donovan or even Pitino.
Other coaches that have had success with point guards are Jay Wright, Jim Calhoun, Tom Izzo, and Jim Boeheim. I'm not giving Cal all of the credit but I do think his style and phliosophy does well to prepare players for the next step.