B1G Basketball News: Kentucky expected to hire assistants Orlando Antigua and Chin Coleman from Illinois
https://twitter.com/KySportsRadio/status/1385007490325270531
This is huge B1G news as it is a severe coaching and recruiting hit to Illinois. Antigua was a great recruiter and Illinois' connection to many Caribbean players (Andre Curbelo, Ramses Melendez, Alfonso Plummer) and Coleman was Illinois' connection to Chicago. Rumor is also that Adam Miller will follow them to Kentucky and there is now concern about Curbelo potentially being a flight risk as well. Another potential consequence that applies to us is that one of the coaches being replaced at Kentucky, Joel Justus, was the lead recruiter for current Kentucky commit and Michigan target Skyy Clark and he may decommit as well and become an option for 2022.
Lots of moving parts and I hope I explained it well, but overall pretty big news for the B1G and college basketball landscape
April 21st, 2021 at 11:52 PM ^
That is interesting news, I would love for Curbelo to leave Illinois as he was really annoying.
April 22nd, 2021 at 12:12 AM ^
Sucks that Kentucky can ruin a program completely damn
April 22nd, 2021 at 12:55 AM ^
Nice to see our biggest rival and co-B1G champion torn apart.
Karma....don’t make false claims.
I mean, Calipari already did it to UMass and Memphis so why not try it again this time not in his wake.
Its hard for known cheats to take a mediocre season lying down. If anything they double down. This year since the one and dones didn’t work he seems to be workin the poaching angle. Not a coach in the business that does less with more, in my mind.
It’s tough to argue against Calipari for being the king of doing less with more. But I think Bill Self would give him a run for his money.
West Virginia basketball and football say "Hello, Ann Arbor."
April 22nd, 2021 at 12:25 PM ^
WVU managed to weather that storm pretty well. In basketball they replaced Beilein with Huggins, who is still there 14 years later. In football they haven't been as good as in 2005-07, but that might not have been sustainable in any event. They've still been generally competitive and managed to upgrade their conference. Not too bad for a school in a state of 1.8 million people.
April 22nd, 2021 at 11:01 AM ^
What's all this talk of the evil Calipari picking on the innocent lamb Underwood?
Underwood is dirty as hell. His two previous schools (Stephen F. Austin and Oklahoma State) have gotten nailed by the NCAA. I have no sympathy for him at all.
Bull crap.
Why? Antigua has worked for Calipari before. It's not that shocking that he'd come back.
Wow, that's quite a development.
Guess they wanted a banner not written in crayon ??♂️
I don't remember hearing the name Skyy Clark in any recruiting news. Did he visit?
I did not remember him being mentioned so looked him up. We made his Top 8 list but he was always expect to commit to Kentucky. I'm not sure if the OP is just speculating that he could decommit but seems pretty unlikely he signs with us IMO.
He's originally from California (USC and UCLA were in his final 8, as was Oregon) but has been playing at Brentwood Academy in Tenn (Memphis and Tenn St also in his final 8). UNC is directly east of Tenn, so that makes geographic sense. Michigan is the one schools (aside from Oregon, kind of) that isn't that close geographically to his original or current home. The 2022 class has a lot of top 50 kids with warm interest in UM, but few of them with on-ball potential. That could be a selling point for him.
I can't fault the two coaches for wanting to bail on Underwood. Bruce strikes me as ill-mannered and unpleasant to work for.
Edit: I meant Brad Underwood. I apologize to Bruce Underwood, whomever you may be.
His twin Brad is the exact opposite.
To be fair, he does give off more Bruce vibes than brad.
Why do names stick in your head? Bruce? I knew it was Brad, but was dislodged from reality. Bruce Wayne? Bruce Lee? Bruce Springsteen? Who? I'll never tell!
This is why I find it harder and harder to believe Tim Izzo can sustain any success in today's college basketball. He seems so unpleasant to be around and with the the one-time transfer rule and portal, you have so many non-Izzo options.
I have thought that for years about Izzo yet he just keeps it going. Cassius’s ability on the floor and in the locker room really saved his ass the past few years.
I do think he is running out of runway. Players want to win and will put up with some bullshit if they think they will. How this years class comes together for him could be pivotal after last year.
Beilein and Howard are the anti-Izzo. We are fortunate.
Underwood deserves bad things but I am not particularly pleased with the benefits Kentucky seems to be receiving here.
I remain thrilled that we have Juwan heading up the BB program.
Discontent in Urbana-Champaign? Or the Adolf Rupp money cannon?
April 22nd, 2021 at 11:26 AM ^
The former is a precursor to the move, you need some discontent before any of this happens. The level of discontent in Lexington is what trained their money cannon, too. But the money and landing spot in Kentucky was just a matter of where they were going to land.
Illinois AD open letter claiming rights to Kentucky success in future years in 3...2...1...
Maybe the Illinois AD can write a letter crying about how other programs should not be able to hire their coaches.
Doesn't Illinois athletic department make a decent amount more than Kentucky's? How does this happen? Can't Illinois simply open their wallet?
I mean brad seems highly unpleasant to work with. Also, Kentucky is a far more prestigious program to work for in bball. Neither of those reasons have anything to do with $.
Maybe we should’ve shared our banner, from this year. It was their,”Last Dance!”
If Underwood wasn't a giant douche, I might feel bad for their program. But all's fair in Power 5 sports.
I don't have a speck of sympathy for Illinois. They're their own worst enemy and always have been. Players and coaches wouldn't bolt so much if the athletic department wasn't such a dumpster fire.
The only thing out of this I don’t like is the Coleman part where he has Chicago connections. You put his connections with UK prestige and they might pull some high end talent out of that area and that’s one area where I’m hoping Juwan can capitalize with his connections.
April 22nd, 2021 at 10:29 AM ^
Even before this hire Kentucky had success in Chicago (Anthony Davis, Chares Matthews etc). There are certain guys who just want to play for Kentucky no matter where they are from. Like Alabama in football. I have no doubt Juwan's Chicago roots will pay off at some point, no matter what Kentucky does.
As long as he doesn’t land AJ Casey I’m fine with it. He’s the only one for next year out of Illinois thats in the top 150
April 22nd, 2021 at 11:03 AM ^
Orlando Antigua is a good recruiter, but watch out for his replacement, Jacksonville Trinidad.
April 22nd, 2021 at 11:05 AM ^
that would be a huge blow to the "real" B1G champions....
could not happen to a more deserving fanbase however
April 22nd, 2021 at 11:29 AM ^
He was with Calipari at Memphis and Kentucky from 2008-2014. Must be putting the band back together.
To watch their program implode after all the trash talking is the most karma thing ever. Irrelevant for over a decade, it's like they couldn't wait to have something to be complete douche canoes about.
Sounds like Antigua leaving is not a done deal. Illinois reportedly offered him $1.2 million per year. Waiting to see if Kentucky will counter. That is crazy money for an assistant.