Calipari cleans up ... again

Yesterday was the first day of the spring signing period, and as everyone expected, John Calipari cleaned up.

For starters, he signed 6'10", 240 lb Turkish big man Enes Kanter. Kanter is a bit on a controversial recruit. A coveted prospect in Europe, Kanter wanted to play basketball and get an education at an american school, turning down multi-million dollar deals. The issue, however, is not whether or not he played with professionals, however (the rule that got fellow Turk Deniz Kilicli suspended for West Virginia's first 20 games is going to be changed). The question is whether or not Kanter himself is a professional. He is only 17 years old, and FIBA rules state that you must be 18 to sign a contract, but there are rumors that Kanter has been getting paid under the table.

Kanter put 34 points and 14 boards on the USA in the Nike Hoop Summit.
(photo credit: Sporting News)

Kanter has been cleared academically, but so was Renardo Sidney. It will be interesting to follow this process over the coming months.

Kanter's signing was just a start. Later in the day, Coach Cal landed the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2010 in Brandon Knight, the fourth straight star point guard recruit he has signed. Kentucky already has 6'5" Stacey Poole signed, a four star recruit, which means Cal has already landed one of the best recruiting classes in the country, and he still could get a couple more five-star recruits, specifically 6'9" CJ Leslie, a former HS teammate of John Wall.

Brandon Knight is Coach Cal's next star point guard.
(photo credit: Lexington Herald)

The day wasn't yet over, as the No. 1 recruit in the class of 2011, Michael Gilchrist, a 6'7" small forward that has drawn comparisons to a guy like Scottie Pippen, committed to Kentucky (he can't sign yet).

Other signing day news:

• Both Ray McCallum, Jr., and Trey Zeigler were highly touted back court recruits. Both players had fathers coaching at mid-major programs in Michigan -- McCallum, Sr., is the head coach at Detroit while Ernie Zeigler is the coach at Central Michigan. Surprising no one, both players decided to stay at home and play for their fathers. Detroit should be pretty good next season, as they return their three top scorers, none of whom play the point, leaving McCallum room to come in and start right away. If Gordon Hayward stays in the draft, its possible that Detroit becomes the favorite in the Horizon. Zeigler is in a different position. Central Michigan loses three of their top four scorers from a team that went just 15-15. He will be counted on for a lot of scoring early in his career.


• Marquette got an early start at replacing Lazar Hayward when they signed JuCo player of the year Jae Crowder. Crowder averaged 19 and 9 for the NJCAA national title winners at Howard College while also knocking down 54 threes. At 6'6", 225 lb, he's about the same size as Hayward as well. But Hayward's shoes will be big ones to fill.
  


• The next big day in recruiting is Saturday, as quite a few players -- including CJ Leslie and Josh Selby -- are expected to declare at some point during the Jordan Brand all-american game.