The baseball team won this past Saturday but sadly, they don't qualify for the SEC tournament. I don't know the chances of them making the NCAA tournament but I would like them too.
We didn't get Jai Lucas (Florida), Beas Hamga (UNLV), or Michael Sanchez (Arkansas) but we sure got a great player in Patrick Patterson of Huntington, WV.
UK had an available scholarship at the end of the signing period.
Ranking-wise, the Cats will likely rise into the top 30 and will definitely now be a contender when it comes to the preseason voting for the polls.
Before the Huntington, W. Va., standout signed a letter-of-intent today, a three-man UK recruiting class had been ranked in the No. 80 or 90 range.Gillispie was in the dark when it came to Patrick Patterson's decision.
But the addition of Patterson – a consensus top-15 player nationally – gave the Wildcats class “some pop,” according to Scout.com national analyst Dave Telep.
Telep said UK would now be a top-25 class in the Scout rankings, while Hoop Scoop editor Clark Francis said the signing lifts UK from No. 98 to No. 36.
Rivals.com national analyst Jerry Meyer said the signing “put UK in the discussion” for a top-25 ranking. Rivals only ranks the top 25 signing classes and Meyer said the Wildcats “wouldn’t have even been in the discussion” without Patterson.
New Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie said he wasn't surprised that coveted power forward Patrick Patterson picked the Wildcats. What surprised him was that Patterson kept it a surprise.Dakotah Euton has UK in his top 3 choices.
When the recruit from Huntington High School in West Virginia announced his collegiate choice Wednesday from a short list that also included Florida and Duke, even his new coach remained in the dark until the news conference.
"I've been involved in a few recruiting situations," Gillispie said Thursday. "You always know before the announcement is made. This is like being a bubble team and seeing your name appear on the screen on Selection Sunday. We didn't know. We had no idea until he put his hat on."
The hat - beige with the blue letters UK - marked the first major recruiting coup for Gillispie, just six weeks after taking the reins of college basketball's winningest program.
Gillispie gave former coach Tubby Smith and his staff much of the credit for landing Patterson, who fills a glaring need on a guard-heavy team. The 6-foot-8 Patterson led his high school to three straight Class AAA championships, last year with the help of O.J. Mayo.
"When you draw up a power forward for me, he possesses everything you need to have," Gillispie said. "He has great size and athletic ability, extremely long arms. He has really good hands. He's tougher than anything."
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