Washington basketball fans were in an uproar after John Calipari convinced two Husky basketball recruits to renege on their verbal commitments to come play at Kentucky.
Enes Kanter, a talented seven foot center, verabally committed to Washington early last year before re-opening his commitment when Kentucky showed interest. Then, in the most high-profile flip-flop of the last year, Terrence Jones announced his commitment to Washington at a press conference before changing his mind and signing with Kentucky at the last minute.
Naturally, both of these events sent Husky fans into a rage and left Romar wondering what happened.
With word coming down yesterday that Washington was targeting Jernard Jarreau as a replacement for Tyrese Breshers, it appears Romar did the same thing many were angry at Calipari for.
Jarreau had his mind made up and gave a verbal pledge to Virginia Commonwealth earlier this week. A few days later, Breshers announced his retirement, leaving a void in the low post and an extra scholarship for Romar to use. Just days after Jarreau verballed, he decided to reopen his recruitment and take a visit to Washington.
We don't know what goes on behind the scenes in recruiting. Did Romar call Jarreau and convince him to give the Huskies another shot? Did Jarreau, seeing the opportunity for early playing time, decide the Huskies may be a better fit? We'll probably never know. What we do know is that high school recruits leave coaches sweat up until the day their letters of intent arrive.
I call it "pulling a Calipari" because his efforts to sway recruits are so successful, yet frowned upon by scorned fans. Every college coach in the nation does the same thing. If a coach wants a kid, they will stop at nothing to get them, even if that means breaking the unwritten rule about not recruiting a player that has verballed.
I get the feeling most wouldn't like what they saw if they really knew what went on behind the scenes in recruiting.
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