JON CALLS JOHN- Hood to Wall

As gifted as Jon Hood is, he knows it would be great if UK could garner even more talent to go with the recent signing of John Calapari as his new head coach…That is why Jon called John Wall about coming to UK…. The Raleigh, N.C., senior is rated by Rivals.com as the No. 1 point guard in the class of 2009”. Wall listed Memphis, formerly coached by Calipari, as his top collegiate choice even after visiting Duke last weekend. He’s also considering Baylor, North Carolina State, Kansas and Miami.

“Me and John were real close over the summer. We played against each other a few times, exchanged phone numbers, kept up with each other,” Hood said. “I talked to him some, not a lot. But I kind of urged him. … I said, ‘Hey, buddy, why don’t you come over to the Bluegrass and play with us?’

“He said, ‘I don’t know. We’ll have to see. I’m still going to look, see what happens.”

Hood, a 6-foot-7 Madisonville guard, will be presented with the award as the state’s Mr. Basketball, and the No. 1 jersey, as the top player in the state, at a news conference in Madisonville at 2:30 p.m on Wednesday afternoon.

JON HOOD

Status: Signed with Kentucky

Position: Guard/Forward

Rivals: No. 32 overall, No. 7 SG

Scout: No. 36 overall, No. 8 SF

Last school: Madisonville (Madisonville, Ky.)

Height, weight: 6-6, 185

2008-09 stats: 29 ppg, 13 rpg

UK GETS THEIR MAN

The “highest profile” coach in the country finally met up with the school with the greatest need, at least in our fans minds. This only happens every decade or so nationally, and has every reason to be called a “Grand Slam”. Most of us will tell you that the last great basketball era we had here at UK was during Rick Pitino’s heyday, and we are headed back in that direction in my humble opinion.

Yes, John Calipari is every bit the coach Rick Pitino is, and the fact that he changed his offensive philosophy recently, shows he is flexible as well. He is a great recruiter securing what is being called the number #1 class this year…He plays with the best, and he will be able to get the best at UK. He did it at Memphis and he will do it here and do it better. UK goes from now being an NIT calibre team this year, to a potential final four next; such will be the stockpile of talent here once “CAL” gets settled in.

“ You can now put Kentucky with NC, Kansas, Duke, all the elite from this point forward” Andy Katz ESPN.com

UK called a news conference for 9:30 a.m. Wednesday to formally introduce Calipari, who has been with Memphis for 9 seasons. Calipari also becomes the highest-paid coach in college basketball.

Now, maybe UK fans can rest easy this summer, knowing that next year when basketball season starts, UK will once again be AT THE PULSE of COLLEGE BASKETBALL, the head and not the tale, if you will, and the only back seat we take in college basketball will be the one we ride in to the FINAL FOUR…

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