Wall's departure is rare loss for local ACC powers
Word of God's John Wall, (11) dribbles the ball on Wednesday night, February 4, 2009 at Ravenscroft High School in Raleigh. Word of God won 82-64. (Photo by C.F.Ward)
May 20, 2009
John Wall is leaving the Holy Rams for a team that’s worshiped, and the only surprise is it took this long for Wall to announce for Kentucky.
Wall obviously wanted to play for John Calipari, and Calipari’s move from Memphis to Kentucky didn’t change the mind of the Word of God star.
What’s fascinating is how unusual it is for the state of North Carolina to lose a player to the Wildcats. Kentucky is one of college basketball’s elite programs, but the Wildcats have rarely stolen players from the ACC powers here.
West Charlotte forward Jason Parker signed with UNC but was denied admission. Kentucky said UNC had read his transcript improperly and he wound up playing for the Wildcats.
Durham Hillside forward Bobby Perry, from the high school class of 2003, committed to Kentucky and was a steady contributor in a career that concluded in 2007.
But other than that? Kentucky hasn’t hit North Carolina hard at all.
Overall, the North Carolina programs rarely lose a home-grown player they want.
Pete Maravich of Raleigh’s Broughton High would have signed with N.C. State, but didn’t qualify and went to LSU. Dominique Wilkins of Washington, N.C., left for Georgia.
And Danny Manning bolted to Kansas after leading Greensboro Page to the state basketball championship, but that was after Kansas coach Larry Brown hired his father, then a truck driver, as an assistant coach.
Most of the players who left North Carolina and became stars – players like David West (Garner) of Xavier and P.J. Tucker (Enloe) of Texas – were overlooked by the local powers out of high school.
Of course, it’s also true that Kentucky rarely loses its top players to the schools here. Jeff Mullins left Lexington, of all places, for Duke in the 1960s, and Vince Taylor did the same in the 1970s. But other than that, you don’t see many players from the Bluegrass State wearing light or dark blue.
So Wall’s announcement is an anomaly. His exit might be the North Carolina’s most celebrated departure for Kentucky since Daniel Boone bolted in 1773.
Then again, Boone didn’t take a basketball with him. And not many have in the two centuries since.
