#1ukfan Wrote:The kid has talent but to UK's caliber? He is very good and I could see him having real sucess at Morhead or Eastern. No disrespect whatsoever, I just don't know if he is athletic enough to play at such an elite level as UK however, if Perry Stevenson can play there then Josh should be able to play there because he's more talented than Stevenson. I could see both sides of this.
He is only a sophomore. And if you read the first sentence you will see that Billy G told him IF he CONTINUES to progress and work hard, he could see him at UK. Not tryin to single you out or anything.
I'm a bulldog fan, but I don't see Whitaker playing at a major D1 school. I think he is too small and and no where near the athelete it takes to play at that level. I think he does have the talent to play for a small D1 or upper level NAIA. Good luck and congrats to Whitaker on a great sweet 16.
This is a true statement. Josh Whitaker told me about it himself, right after he talked to Gillispie.
and yes. he was very excited to have this happen.
ballboy1 Wrote:This is a true statement. Josh Whitaker told me about it himself, right after he talked to Gillispie.
and yes. he was very excited to have this happen.
I thought this was relayed to him through one of his coaches? See now the stories are getting contradicted. Which one is accurate?
He told more than just his coaches.
If gillispie talked to you about something like this, would you only tell your coaches?
and no. Gillispie talked to whitaker himself. Whitaker told his coaches about it after they finished talking.
I would tell all my friends but not the coaches, why do they need to know?
To clear up my story, I was referring to after the All-A State tournament. Coach G was there watching the championship game and afterwards talked to Coach Holland about Josh. I would have mentioned him speaking of Josh earlier in the year but figured it would be more appropriate to wait after the season was over. Sorry for the confusion!
I have heard however that Coach G saw Josh in the hallway during the championship game of the state tournament and spoke to him at that time.
Well as far as i'm concerned this is all hearsay because i've yet to hear it confirmed and I can't believe the administrators are letting this go on. Usually you jump on stuff like this, but I haven't seen it yet.
it might be true since he has 2 years left untill he goes to college.
You have to be really good to play college ball at any level including NAIA...Now with that said you have to be really special and get some breaks and some good PR to get to play D1. I think it is yet to be seen how good Whitaker will be. He might improve alot or he may not improve any. He like all young kids would have to get much stronger and maybe he will. Can you imagine him trying to guard a strong 6'5" Jasper in practice. I wish him the best but I have seen some really good guards come out of East Ky and find a hard time finding a niche in a tough market.
RavenBoy Wrote:it might be true since he has 2 years left untill he goes to college.
Why does that make it true? You know what could have happened? BG could have seen him after the game and said, "good game" and now it has spiraled out of control to this. My bet is that's what really happened.
uk96 Wrote:You have to be really good to play college ball at any level including NAIA...Now with that said you have to be really special and get some breaks and some good PR to get to play D1. I think it is yet to be seen how good Whitaker will be. He might improve alot or he may not improve any. He like all young kids would have to get much stronger and maybe he will. Can you imagine him trying to guard a strong 6'5" Jasper in practice. I wish him the best but I have seen some really good guards come out of East Ky and find a hard time finding a niche in a tough market.
Thats true. If Landon Slone, Clark Stepp, and Justin Hicks would have got their name out when they were all younger, I say all 3 of them would be playing D1.
RavenBoy Wrote:it might be true since he has 2 years left untill he goes to college.
.
RavenBoy Wrote:Thats true. If Landon Slone, Clark Stepp, and Justin Hicks would have got their name out when they were all younger, I say all 3 of them would be playing D1.
Slone Hicks and Stepp just didnt *shine* until their later years. Its a lot easier to be seen when you go to state. Landon Clark or Justin didnt go till their junior and senior years.
and about whitaker.
coach G. talked to him. then he went to tell his coach about it becuase he was excited that it even happened.
and y would he not tell his friends AND coach about it?
i sure would.
how many people does that happen to?
even if he isnt good enough to play for UK. its good to know that someone from the mountains is even getting regonized.
RavenBoy Wrote:Stevenson might suck on Offense but he is actually pretty good on Defense.
I think Stevenson has been quite well on both sides of the boards. He has came up with the points when Patterson got hurt and Joe and Ramel weren't able to produce the numbers like they did the past few games.
Congrats...Gillispie sure works hard on looking for players around the state.....
uk96 Wrote:You have to be really good to play college ball at any level including NAIA...Now with that said you have to be really special and get some breaks and some good PR to get to play D1. I think it is yet to be seen how good Whitaker will be. He might improve alot or he may not improve any. He like all young kids would have to get much stronger and maybe he will. Can you imagine him trying to guard a strong 6'5" Jasper in practice. I wish him the best but I have seen some really good guards come out of East Ky and find a hard time finding a niche in a tough market.
I've finally come to the conclusion that you're the smartest peron ever!!
Straight up being honest. He is not that good.
He was good enough to get MVP of the 14th region tourney and to play 2 good games at Rupp Arena. I think that's pretty good for a sophomore.
Blue-N-Gold Wrote:He was good enough to get MVP of the 14th region tourney and to play 2 good games at Rupp Arena. I think that's pretty good for a sophomore.
Dont get me wrong, next season he will most likely be the best player in the region, def top 3. But no one has cam through the 14th and been good enough to go to UK since Ben Bowling, and well we all know what happened there.
liveordie20 Wrote:Dont get me wrong, next season he will most likely be the best player in the region, def top 3. But no one has cam through the 14th and been good enough to go to UK since Ben Bowling, and well we all know what happened there.
True.
I personally believe he was one of the best shooters in the mountains this year as a sophomore.
I haven't seen Whitaker play, but I hope he continues his progress into a better player so he could get a good shot at playing for the Cats. It would be nice to see someone from the 14th dressing out in a wildcats uniform.Good Luck Josh, Make us all proud!!!
Gillispie saw Josh Whitaker play in the finals of the All A and I know then he was impressed with the way he played!!!Even thought he didnt see him play in the Sweet 16 I am sure he had people there watching all the games. Hazard had a great season, All A Runner up and Elite 8 in the Sweet 16!! GOOD JOB DAWGS !! I'm a very proud alumni of Hazard High School !! WAY-TO-GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RavenBoy Wrote:I would tell all my friends but not the coaches, why do they need to know?
if you know anything about recruiting then you would know that the coaches play the biggest part in it. The coaches talk bout the type of worker you are in practice, the way u prepare yourself and what caliber of a player they think you are. Thats why the coaches would need to know first. Why do your friends need to know? so you can be more popular, i think not.
liveordie20 Wrote:Straight up being honest. He is not that good.
well man, i haven't seen him play either, BUT he was runner-up at the state all "A"
and led his team to a regional championship and also went to the second round at state and BILLY G went and talked to him hisself, so i think you are jealous or something because obviously this kid can play.
Is Whitaker that good?? I know he handles the ball well but is his shooting a question Mark??
crazyfan4 Wrote:well man, i haven't seen him play either, BUT he was runner-up at the state all "A"
and led his team to a regional championship and also went to the second round at state and BILLY G went and talked to him hisself, so i think you are jealous or something because obviously this kid can play.
Why would i be jealous when i didnt play high school basketball. I Made it to college on a soccer scholarship so i have nothing to be jealous of. But i have seen the kid play maybe 10 times now. And he is not good enough to play at UK.
RavenBoy Wrote:Stevenson might suck on Offense but he is actually pretty good on Defense.
Ok...some1 tell me how u can compare perry stevenson and josh whitaker..this is crazy...and if josh wonts to play any where it does matter if it id alc...he better be lifting some weights.
