By: Raashaan Myers
In the final
portion of my conversation speaking with Grassroots hoops guru Clay Dade I
decided to talk about something that is near and dear to those who love round
ball in the Bluegrass state. That is the stark differences in the recruiting
tactics and differences between the two Mega-Star head coaches in the state in
UofL’s Rick Pitino and UK’s John Calipari. That’s right people the battle of
L1C4 versus the Player’s first factory.
Clay also provided me with some insight on his good friend and UofL
assistant Kenny Johnson and V.J. King whom he has a very close relationship.
So as everyone
locally and nationally knows the two Bluegrass rivals UofL with their L1C4
initiative and UK and their seemingly endless pipeline of uber-talented
One-And-Done player’s first superstars. I wanted to know Clay’s thoughts on how
both Pitino and Calipari went about their business and does he prefer one style
over the other. “I don’t personally
prefer one way of doing things over the other when it comes to (Pitino or
Calipari),” said Dade. “They both get how to build a program and their track
record speaks for itself. Do they do it different ways? Why yes their
methodology is different and how to run a program. Do they both know the game of basketball?
Yes. I have the upmost respect for Coach
Pitino and I respect John Calipari as well.” Clay continued about Pitino “I do have the
upmost respect for Coach Pitino as he is a little bit older and been in the
game a little bit longer. He has been coached and trained by some of the best
coaches like Jim Boeheim as well as under Hubie Brown as well and their
relationship has been oft discussed,” said Dade. “And (Pitino) is one of the
few top college coaches that has been able to do more with less. He doesn’t get
the 4 or 5 McDonald’s All Americans in every recruiting class, but he does and
outstanding job of winning and winning consistently. His legacy has been
cemented and he deserves everything he gets.”
Growing up as a baller in the Washington D.C.
area Clay is a part of a very tight knit basketball community and as a part of
that heritage he knows very well UofL assistant coach Kenny Johnson. To say he
has a glowing opinion of Johnson would be an understatement. “Kenny’s a star.
He’s an up and coming star in the coaching profession. He came out of the Nike Team Takeover program
which I am intimately familiar with,” said Dade. “He’s a guy who work’s hard at
what he does and you can see the change physically. He a man of integrity and a
great family man and there was no mistake that he had the recruiting success he
had at Indiana. That was his audition and why he is now enjoying the success and
of course great paycheck that comes with it,” Dade said laughing. “He is a guy
who will probably be a head coach in the next 2 or 3 years and he deserves it
because he is a guy who works on improving himself as a coach and believes in
professional development. And what better guy to learn under than Rick Pitino if
you want to be a head coach.”
Lastly I wanted
to get the inside scoop on D.C. area commit 5-star wing V.J. King as well from
Clay and what type of player the Cards will be bringing in, “V.J. King is a
smooth wing player that may come across as laid back and has a different kind
of intensity to his game. He is very efficient and a super skilled player and I
know his dad who played professionally overseas for 15 years or so trained him
up very well and is very professional in how he carries himself as far has his
work ethic,” said Dade. “And he is not just skilled he is also super talented,
6’6” or 6’7” with great length and he is a great teammate. And he is a winner
and he has always played on winning teams so he has a pedigree of winning. He’s
a real talent who can make shots from anywhere on the basketball court though
he still needs to become more consistent with his 3 point shot, but from 19’9”
and in he is pretty much automatic.”
Dade continued, “In the last year he has become much better at driving
the ball getting by his man and getting to the basket and to the foul line. “
A special thank you to Clay Dade for going in depth and legitimately keeping
it all the way real with us here at the
Main Event Sport Show. His input was welcome and his candidness was quite
refreshing in this world of rehearsed and PC answers.
If you like this
story look for more great content from the Main Event Sports crew on our
app! Just go to the Google Play Store or iPhone App Store and search keyword
"Main Event Sports Radio" and you will have tons of blogs, videos,
pics, and more!
For
Android users simply click on the link below to download the Main Event Sports
app today!
For
iPhone users simply click on the link below to download the Main Event Sports
app today!https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/main-event-sports-radio/id989058411?mt=8
No comments:
Post a Comment