If The Rumors Are True

The past few months, for UK fans, have been exhausting. The sudden departure of Tubby Smith left us in frenzy, and the anticipation of UK’s next coaching move was the talk of the town. It single handedly disrupted the Final Four games, and was the main topic on every sports show. When Billy Donovan forwent Kentucky’s offer, UK went and hired Billy Gillispie. A relief? Of course! UK fans, however, haven’t skipped a beat. The Lucas-Patterson, Sanchez-Hamga fiasco has us as anxious as the coaching hire. Let’s just hope we end up as happy with our incoming freshman as we were with Billy Clyde. In only a few days, all of Big Blue Nation can be at peace, and everyone can move forward. That is, if we get what we are wishing for. Gillispie has given us new hope with the strong recruitment of two standout talents, Jai Lucas and Patrick Patterson. Gillispie already signed four-star recruit Alex Legion, and by the end of this coming Wednesday, we might have two more top recruits.

If you listen to the rumors, which are scattered everywhere from message boards to blogs, everyone has a different opinion. When it comes to Jai Lucas, Florida fans think they have him, Kentucky fans think UK might have him, and OK State people, well they don’t know much of anything. Patrick Patterson is a UK favorite, Duke fans say he’s going to UK, Florida people say he’s going to UK, and UK fans, well we don’t want to jinx ourselves now do we? After scanning through several outlets of talk and chatter, the overall consensus is Lucas to Florida, and Patterson to Kentucky.

I’m not saying this is true, because you could easily argue it. Lucas has a strong connection at UK in Coach Cyprien, Cyprien is a family friend of the Lucas’ and a UK decision would seem likely to me. Patterson has said before that he would like to stay close to home, which would seemingly knock Florida out of the picture. Duke is only a few hours away, and Coach Gillispie hasn’t had enough time to really create a strong relationship with Patterson. With this in mind, Patterson to Duke seems likely to me. So their it is, only a few more days. Lucas possibly announces tomorrow at 2:30 p.m., and Patterson announces on Wednesday, let the games begin.