John Wall To Kentucky

It's official. This isn't a huge surprise, as I said just last night that Kentucky seemed to be the best option for him. This is a huge signing for two obvious reasons. The first is that it will continue to increase the chances of Jodie Meeks coming back. I talked about this issue a couple of weeks ago, when Patrick Patterson announced that he'd return. Meeks is generally rated as a mid-second round NBA Draft pick. If that's all he can do then it makes sense to want to come back if Kentucky is a serious Final Four contender, which is what they appear to be with the signing of Wall.

The second reason that this is big is that it might make Kentucky a serious Final Four contender even if Meeks doesn't come back. If Jodie Meeks leaves Kentucky still has a starting lineup of John Wall, Michael Porter, Perry Stevenson, Patrick Patterson and DeMarcus Cousins. Their bench will potentially feature Eric Bledsoe, DeAndre Liggins, Jon Hood, Darnell Dodson, Michael Porter, Ramon Harris, Darius Miller and Daniel Orton (there's a possibility that one or more of the Freshmen will redshirt). That's a really talented and really deep lineup. The only question will be if they can jell in time to make that Final Four run in 2010.

It's not as easy as it seems to try to win with a whole bunch of Freshmen and a new team. If John Calipari can meet expectations with this team next season then he'll have earned every cent of his otherwise extravagent salary.