On the heels of the news that Eric Bledsoe will be the most recent jewel in John Calipari's recruiting class (has a coach ever had the #1 recruiting class in the nation with two different teams in the same season?), Kentucky now gets even more good news with the return of Patrick Patterson. They are still waiting on Jodie Meeks, of course, but I argued all last season that Patterson was Kentucky's most important player. Meeks is the more electric scorer, but Patterson is a glue guy who does all of the little things well and does a great job of leading the team with his effort and attitude. Having him around should speed up the maturity process for Kentucky's Freshmen class. No matter how good a group of Freshmen are, they need older and more experienced players to keep them straight. Besides, the fact that Patterson will be there next season, along with Calipari and his Band Of Bluechips will surely play a role in the decision that Jodie Meeks will make on his own NBA future.
I'll analyze Kentucky in more depth when Meeks gives us an official decision, but Kentucky will be the favorite (in my opinion) to win what will be a much improved SEC next season regardless of whether Meeks comes back or not. Patterson's return locks them a step ahead of their main competition (Tennessee, Florida and Mississippi State) in my opinion. But I think Meeks needs to come back if they're going to be a legitimate Final Four and National Championship contender.
But again, I will go more in-depth on Kentucky when Meeks has settled on his decision. Besides, John Calipari might not be done recruiting. I'm not sure where they are going to find an additional scholarship, but supposedly they are still in the John Wall picture. I'll wait until Kentucky's 2009-10 roster is completely locked in before doing a total roster analysis like this or this.
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