I've thought about this for a bit....I think Kenny's exit from UK was orchestrated by Kenny to get out of Lexington before his name got tainted.
Kentucky refused to play in the Phil Knight Classic 2017. Phil Knight was not happy and many think UKs recruiting "struggles" started there.
UKs recruiting started taking a hit immediately. Not necessarily from a 5 star standpoint but from a NBA lottery standpoint. They stopped getting "can't miss" kids almost immediately. In that 2018 class was 4 star Tyler Herro, and then 5 stars Quickely, Hagans, Montgomery, and Keldon Johnson. Quickly came back and turned into a pretty good player at UK and Herro was good but not considered a can't miss prospect but Johnson, Montgomery and Hagans were all disappointments.
2019 was Keion Brooks, Khalil Whitney, Dontaie Allen, Tyrese Maxey and Johnny Juzang. None have had/had an amazing career at UK and two of those guys transferred.
2020 - Isiah Jackson, Devin Askew, BJ Boston, Terrence Clarke, Lance Ware, Cam'ron Fletcher - none have done or did much at UK.
Tyler Herro is the only lottery pick UK has had since they pissed off Phil Knight.
SEASON RESULTS POST SKIPPING PHIL KNIGHT CLASSIC:
2017-18 - 26-11 - Sweet 16 Loss
2018-19 - 30-7 Elite 8 Loss
William Wesley is more involved with the Knicks
2019-20 - 25-6 - No post season
William Wesley officially joins the Knicks
Kenny Payne leaves
2020-21 - 9-16 - No post season
2021-22 - 26-8 - First round upset
Does anyone think that Kenny saw what had happened the first season or so post-Phil Knight and the trends that were happening with Kentucky and decided to get out of there before the ship started fully sinking? I've thought about this a lot lately and the timeline just works - Cals pieces started coming off the board - Nike...then WWW and then obviously his recruiting took a hit, his seasons started taking a hit...the portal became more and more powerful. I think Kenny decided to get out of UK while the getting was good and before his name and brand got tainted by the storm thats going to be around UK if Cal doesn't fix things this year.
Kentucky refused to play in the Phil Knight Classic 2017. Phil Knight was not happy and many think UKs recruiting "struggles" started there.
UKs recruiting started taking a hit immediately. Not necessarily from a 5 star standpoint but from a NBA lottery standpoint. They stopped getting "can't miss" kids almost immediately. In that 2018 class was 4 star Tyler Herro, and then 5 stars Quickely, Hagans, Montgomery, and Keldon Johnson. Quickly came back and turned into a pretty good player at UK and Herro was good but not considered a can't miss prospect but Johnson, Montgomery and Hagans were all disappointments.
2019 was Keion Brooks, Khalil Whitney, Dontaie Allen, Tyrese Maxey and Johnny Juzang. None have had/had an amazing career at UK and two of those guys transferred.
2020 - Isiah Jackson, Devin Askew, BJ Boston, Terrence Clarke, Lance Ware, Cam'ron Fletcher - none have done or did much at UK.
Tyler Herro is the only lottery pick UK has had since they pissed off Phil Knight.
SEASON RESULTS POST SKIPPING PHIL KNIGHT CLASSIC:
2017-18 - 26-11 - Sweet 16 Loss
2018-19 - 30-7 Elite 8 Loss
William Wesley is more involved with the Knicks
2019-20 - 25-6 - No post season
William Wesley officially joins the Knicks
Kenny Payne leaves
2020-21 - 9-16 - No post season
2021-22 - 26-8 - First round upset
Does anyone think that Kenny saw what had happened the first season or so post-Phil Knight and the trends that were happening with Kentucky and decided to get out of there before the ship started fully sinking? I've thought about this a lot lately and the timeline just works - Cals pieces started coming off the board - Nike...then WWW and then obviously his recruiting took a hit, his seasons started taking a hit...the portal became more and more powerful. I think Kenny decided to get out of UK while the getting was good and before his name and brand got tainted by the storm thats going to be around UK if Cal doesn't fix things this year.
