[Sly Fox]

Polson follows his heart, picks UK
By Mike Fields / mfields@herald-leader.com



Give me Liberty or give me ... a chance to be a Cat.

West Jessamine basketball star Jarrod Polson, who had a scholarship offer from Liberty University, instead will accept John Calipari's invitation to walk on at Kentucky next season.
Polson, a 6-foot-3 point guard who averaged 18 points and six rebounds this season, announced his decision Tuesday in his high school library in front of teammates, students, teachers and fans.

Here's what is of interest to us ...

Polson visited Liberty's Lynchburg, Va., campus last week, "and I really loved it. But I couldn't turn down this opportunity" to go to UK. "Of course, I probably would've played more at Liberty, but I'll work hard and see if I can play at UK."

George Polson, Jarrod's dad, said he always wanted his son to play for UK, "and now it's a reality. "It's just incredible, absolutely incredible."

Liberty wasn't the only Division I school to make a late pitch for Polson. Eastern Kentucky and Morehead State also expressed interest. George Polson said they talked about redshirting Jarrod next fall, then giving him a scholarship for the 2011-12 season.

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[flamesbball84]

It wouldn't surprise me if he ends up on scholarship eventually, calipari apparently doesn't normally carry 15 scholarship players (or whatever the max is) and will throw a bone to a walk-on in his last year and put him on a scholarship, similar to what he did with mark krebs this year.

[PatrickKelly]

Not to speak negative of this kid, but he's not a game changer. KY always signs the token white player from the state so he can come in the last 45 seconds and the fans can cheer if he hits a 3. ?He was only offered to walk on when another white kid picked Louisville over KY. Louisville offered him a ride and KY wanted him to walk on. This kid plays about 5 minutes from me and even the local small schools haven't offered. Sounds harsh, but it's true....

[jenkins]

Patrick,

well said, we don't need this guy at all. I'd rather sign another big or slasher seems like we have enough guards on the roster already with Sanders (2), Gordon, Anderson, and the 2 new combo guards coming in. Though I'm sure we will go small sometimes and play 3 or 4 on the floor at the same time

[olldflame]

I don't think anybody here is terribly upset about not signing this kid. It sure does appear that our staff liked him a lot though. Doesn't look like they're going to offer that last schollie to anyone else, which is fine by me.

[olldflame]

Patrick,

well said, we don't need this guy at all. I'd rather sign another big or slasher seems like we have enough guards on the roster already with Sanders (2), Gordon, Anderson, and the 2 new combo guards coming in. Though I'm sure we will go small sometimes and play 3 or 4 on the floor at the same time

The only combo guard coming in is JC Sanders. A combo guard plays either the point or the 2. Brown and Johnson are swing players who can play the 2 or the 3, (although I doubt if Brown will play any guard at all, and may even see some time at the 4 like Konan did.) Jesse is a Junior next year. It's really not too early to start looking for someone to be the heir apparent at the point. Evan and JC are both possibilities, but Evan struggled at times when he had to run the point last year and JC's role so far in his career has always been more of a scorer than a distributor.

[sporter]

Bump

Looked at the Kentucky roster while watching their game tonight and saw this name from the past year. Interesting words from Calipari - he's only played three minutes so far but the scholarship has to feel good.

"Jarrod joined our program as a walk-on but earned a scholarship this season. He might be the most talented walk-on I've ever coached. His quickness and shooting ability will be valuable in adding depth to our backcourt."
- John Calipari

[LUconn]

so that was a good decision

[olldflame]

so that was a good decision

He ended up with a scholarship (for this year at least) and he has a national championship ring. He may or may not have deluded himself into thinking he contributed to that championship, but the fact is he was practice cannon fodder for the future pros, and that's about it. He may be the best cannon fodder Calipari has ever had, but it still is what it is.

[bballfan84]

so that was a good decision

He ended up with a scholarship (for this year at least) and he has a national championship ring. He may or may not have deluded himself into thinking he contributed to that championship, but the fact is he was practice cannon fodder for the future pros, and that's about it. He may be the best cannon fodder Calipari has ever had, but it still is what it is.

He absolutely contributed to that national championship. He practiced day in and day out and hit the weight room and court just like all those starters. He challeneged them every day in practice and got those guys ready to play against other teams every day. Dont underestimate the hard work it takes for ALL players on a team no matter what their playing time. They have all dedicated just as much time as the "future pros"

[R i]

I dont give him any credit for the national championship.

[bballfan84]

I dont give him any credit for the national championship.

Then I would assume you never played sports..the bench players sacrifice just as much as anyone else and probably even more.

[R i]

the bench players sacrifice just as much as anyone else and probably even more.

He gets a ring, he was on the team. But to come out and say that he had a huge part, and that bench players that just practice are such a factor.....

Then I would assume you..... wait, I dont know anything about you so I wont assume.

[4everfsu]

I dont give him any credit for the national championship.

Then I would assume you never played sports..the bench players sacrifice just as much as anyone else and probably even more.

+1

[Cider Jim]

As much as it hurts me to ask this, didn't SC get a National Championship RING at Duke for the year he had to sit out?

[Sly Fox]

Yes

[R i]

I dont give him any credit for the national championship.

Then I would assume you never played sports..the bench players sacrifice just as much as anyone else and probably even more.

+1

If Going to college at a school you love, playin hoops with some NBA prospects for a few hours a day, getting all kinds of free meals and clothing, traveling around all year and sitting on the front row for a national championship team (that is your favorite childhood team) is SACRIFICE. Sign me up to Sacrifice the rest of my life.

[bballfan84]

Once again I will assume you have never been through offseason workouts of a D1 program (ill give you a hint..they are far from a dream). I can assure you "playing hoops" is a far cry from what actually happens in college practices. It takes an extreme amount of mental toughness and discipline to get through a whole year of college basketball. Its a year committment, as soon as the season stops the offseason starts. Just because it was a dream or goal doesnt mean it didnt come with a lot of sacrifice. I am sure there are a ton of Hall of Famers that would attest to that.

[kingaling42]

If Going to college at a school you love, playin hoops with some NBA prospects for a few hours a day, getting all kinds of free meals and clothing, traveling around all year and sitting on the front row for a national championship team (that is your favorite childhood team) is SACRIFICE. Sign me up to Sacrifice the rest of my life.

Anyone here ever seen the movie 'Rudy'? Yeah- a walk-on's life is just a dream and just as easy as can be.. It's a great privilege to be on a D1 roster but it certainly carries with it a price of blood, sweat, and tears that is no different from the all-conference performers to the bench warmers.. this isn't high school athletics, D1 programs aren't easy especially when taking a full load of classes in addition to the 25+ hours of practice and you can't just phone it in.. Some of you are just full of hatred for no real reason.. Carry on..

[bballfan84]

If Going to college at a school you love, playin hoops with some NBA prospects for a few hours a day, getting all kinds of free meals and clothing, traveling around all year and sitting on the front row for a national championship team (that is your favorite childhood team) is SACRIFICE. Sign me up to Sacrifice the rest of my life.

Anyone here ever seen the movie 'Rudy'? Yeah- a walk-on's life is just a dream and just as easy as can be.. It's a great privilege to be on a D1 roster but it certainly carries with it a price of blood, sweat, and tears that is no different from the all-conference performers to the bench warmers.. this isn't high school athletics, D1 programs aren't easy especially when taking a full load of classes in addition to the 25+ hours of practice and you can't just phone it in.. Some of you are just full of hatred for no real reason.. Carry on..

Thank you for reinforcing my point

[lynchburgwildcats]

Polson contributed to that Championship run. Sure he didn't get any time during the games, but he isn't just sitting on his butt every day in practice doing nothing all day long. That team doesn't win the championship if the bench warmers aren't pushing them to be better every single day.

[lynchburgwildcats]

As much as it hurts me to ask this, didn't SC get a National Championship RING at Duke for the year he had to sit out?

ANd you can practice the year you sit out, so he helped better that team in practice.

[FlamesFan7]

I dont give him any credit for the national championship.

This is one of the most ignorant things I have ever heard.

[LUconn]

Can you guys imagine being a walk on at LU, the school you love, earning a scholarship despite riding the bench, and then winning the national championship while still on the bench? Or you could have been a primary player, maybe even starter for Coker College. As a UK fan, that's what it was like for him. This basically made his life. He can wear that ring to job interviews and he will be the most memorable person interviewed. He'll never have to pay for a drink in the state of Kentucky with that thing on. He'll tell his kids and grand kids about it.


On a side note, I hope he's planning on majoring in business law or going into contract law or something. He could easily get into managing NBA players since he bonds with 3 or 4 every year.

[Sly Fox]

LUconn - Bingo!

Of course, some kids desperately want to play. But I can't blame a kid like Jarrod.