Chris Mullin and John Calipari

[JIMSOULS]

Both meeting with Chieck Diallo this weekend. It Is supposedly down to St. John's and Kentucky for Diallo's services. Mullin met with him on Saturday. Tonight (Sunday) is Calipari's turn. Oh to be a fly on the wall during that second meeting. I wonder what Diallo is being told, I wonder what he is being shown.

Who do you think wins? It is probably more important for St. John's and the new Big East than it is for Kentucky, who's in the running for these types of players regularly I(and who already has projected 2016 #1 pick Skal Labissiere signed to be their next starting center). If Mullin can somehow beat Calipari in a head-to-head showdown for a five-star player, it would do wonders for the Red Storm's momentum and the conference as a whole.

One more note: While Calipari is meeting with Diallo, Mullin and his staff are in Louisiana paying a visit to Brandon Sampson. The Johnnies are really working it.

 

[shu09]

Absolutely more important for St. John's.

 

[JIMSOULS]

It would be interesting if Kansas were to land Diallo, as none other than Norm Roberts is in charge of his Jayhawks recruitment. Check out the Roberts references in the linked story.

Diallo to Kansas?

 

[Vegas pj]

Calamari to CD during his in home - "got a call for you from my buddy WWWes, take it you'll find it very interesting". As Calamari leaves the home CD's mom says to her son "there's some vitamin juice guy on the phone for you C". Come on Jayhawks.

 

[Hall91]

Calipari only needs to show a kid his track record at developing 1st Round/Lottery Pick draft choices over the last several years. If you're a kid who think you're a year or two away from the NBA, hard not to go with a coach with a proven track record like Calipari.

 

[JIMSOULS]

St. John's loses out on Sampson. LSU has a fine incoming class.

St. John's loses Brandon Sampson to LSU

 

[Seton75]

The record is impressive with Cal and draft picks. But it is also fact that he gets the kids most likely to play a year and get drafted high. And they usually reach that expectation.

 

[cernjSHU]

LSU becoming a real player. They are building quite a program there.

 

[JIMSOULS]

Originally posted by cernjSHU:
LSU becoming a real player. They are building quite a program there.

They'll really have something if Malik Newman commits to them. It's a shame they couldn't keep one of their two big men. I can understand Martin leaving because he's a probably first-rounder, but Mickey could use another year.

What sucks for St. John's is that Sampson held his press conference Monday morning. Mullin and his staff flew to Louisiana to meet with him on Sunday, and the kid meets with the press the following morning. So Sampson likely had his mind made up before they got there. Wasted flight expense for the Johnnies. At least they were in it, I suppose.