College Basketball Preview Day 1: The Hype Train is to Much

So this is how it goes in college basketball today.

1)      Have an over hyped and under talented recruiting class.

2)      Lost top player to injury.

3)      Miss the NCAA Tournament.

4)      Lose in the first round of the NIT to Robert Morris.

5)      Have previously mentioned top player go pro. (Why? We are still trying to figure that out.)

6)      Bring in new, possibly equally over hyped recruiting class.

7)      Be ranked #1 in the preseason.

Moral of the story: yesterday’s Anthony Davis and Nerlens Noel is today’s Julius Randle. Welcome to the wonderful world of Kentucky Wildcat basketball.

Nerlens Noel's plight last season is part of a sad trend of over hyping freshmen

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 John Calipari is a talented coach and a solid recruiter. But why is it that we continue to kid ourselves with thinking that these freshman talents, or super teams, are going to actually be so dominant when all evidence is to the contrary. No, the 2013-2014 Kentucky Wildcats are not going to be the next (or better) Fab Five. And no, Julius Randle is not going to be the next Michael Jordan (or Lebron, or Kobe, or whatever today’s skewed standard of “greatest player” is.)

We have been doing this to ourselves for years. The last three “stud” freshmen have all been riddled by unrealistic standards. I swear, I am not just picking on Kentucky. But, for the last four seasons (including the upcoming one), Kentucky has supposedly had “that guy” for three of them.

Kyrie Irving. Duke. 2010-2011. Injured. Missed most of college career. Left School. All-Star caliber NBA career.

Anthony Davis. Kentucky. 2011-2012. Great college career. Left School. Injured. Mediocre/Underachieving rookie season.

Nerlens Noel. Kentucky. 2012-2013. Injured. Left School.

Julius Randle. Kentucky. 2013-2014. TBD.

Let’s just say, that immediate history does not bode well for Mr. Randle. Injuries? Missing most of his season? Going pro because…well why not? Maybe missing some time in that rookie year? A bench spot next to Darko Milicic?

And I know, we can all say it, Andrew Wiggins is supposed to the best player in this class (or is it Jabari Parker? I get lost in the whipping and winding crazy hype train.) But it has been recently that people (including ESPN) have been comparing Randle to Lebron. I assume they mean it as a good thing. If I said it, I would mean it as he is a crybaby underachiever who can’t win on his own and is afraid of pressure.

The fact of the matter is this: I cannot honestly see Kentucky being that good. Six All-Americans? Great. Your real “veteran” players are both sophomores. There is this thing called growing pains and I expect a lot for a team who couldn’t get by Robert Morris last season with arguably comparable talent.

So who is, in my humble opinion, the team with the best shot to win it all in March (slash April)? Stay tuned this week to find out!