UK recruit Teague not moved by Calipari criticism
Words. Jason Jordan
Pike High (Ind.) star guard Marquis Teague said that he “wasn’t moved at all” by Bobby Knight’s comments about Kentucky head coach John Calipari during a fundraiser for the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame last week.
Teague, a Top-10 player in the Class of 2011, is UK’s top target in recruiting as they look for John Wall‘s eventual replacement.
Knight sparked a lot of controversy when he said the following: “We’ve gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking, and that’s why I’m glad I’m not coaching. You see we’ve got a coach at Kentucky who put two schools on probation, and he’s still coaching. I really don’t understand that.”
To be fair, Knight’s statement wasn’t completely accurate. Though the NCAA forced both Memphis (’08) and Massachusetts (’96) to vacate their Final Four appearances for infractions made on Calipari’s watch, he was not implicated in either case. Memphis is appealing the penalty.
“I’ve never looked at Coach Cal negatively,” said Teague, whose older brother Jeff Teague plays for the Atlanta Hawks. “I just look at him as a great coach who sends his players to the NBA. There’s nothing negative about him in my eyes.”
Teague conceded to being aware of the negative assumptions and speculation surrounding Calipari, and said that Knight’s comments “wasn’t something I’ve never heard before.”
“I mean of course I heard all about the Derrick Rose stuff, but he (Calipari) didn’t have anything to do with that,” said Teague. “I definitely respect Coach Knight, but I can only go off of what my experience has been. And everything has been fine.”
In addition to Kentucky, Teague is also considering Louisville, Wake Forest, Indiana, Purdue, Cincinnati and Ohio State.
Got a burning question for Jason? Email him: JasonJ@DimeMag.com
Teague is one of the top two targets…but I know target #1 is Michael Gilchrist – no question about it…
We’d love to have you Marquis…..Go Big Blue!
[...] High School Hoop reports Knight’s comments didn’t bother Marquis Teague: “Pike High (Ind.) star guard Marquis Teague said that he “wasn’t moved at all” by Bobby Knight’s comments about Kentucky head coach John Calipari during a fundraiser for the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame last week.” (Hat tip Bluegrass State Basketball.) [...]
Of course Marquis Teague wasn’t impressed by Bob Knights comments, most of the top players in the country that are making a circus out of the recruiting process are interested only in basketball. If they are interested in Coach Calipari and Kentucky you know that academics are not at the top of their list.
Knight is such a bloated idiot. I couldn’t believe that his unfounded, untrue remarks would have any effect at all on a top rung ball player. Easy to see that Knight and Calipari are on opposite ends of the continuum in terms of Class.