5-star recruit chooses Kentucky because he thinks Derrick Rose went there

By Will Osgood | Apr 3, 2015

Feb 20, 2015; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Chicago Bulls guard Derrick Rose (1) during the fourth quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports /

5-star basketball recruit, Isaiah Briscoe, chose Kentucky because of Derrick Rose

Here’s a little more food for the fodder of the Kentucky basketball haters club, specifically the one which questions whether coach John Calipari is ethical about his recruiting practices. He just nabbed 5-star recruit Isaiah Briscoe–a 6’3″ guard from Union, New Jersey who happens to be the No. 13 player in the ESPN 100 recruiting rankings.

Briscoe played in Wednesday’s McDonald’s All-American Game and was interviewed during the game. His interview, like those with many other prospects was a bit odd. None, though, sounded as immediately ignorant as Briscoe’s based on this comment:

"Growing up watching Kentucky, seeing what he did at Memphis with Tyreke Evans, at Kentucky with Derrick Rose…"

This answer came when Briscoe was asked why he chose Kentucky.

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The Roselle Catholic product is obviously very talented. To be ranked 13th in the nation by a national recruiting service ought to prove that. So, too, should the fact that Calipari and his staff singled him out to join their program–the one-and-one factory of the ever-increasing one-and-done faction that is men’s college basketball.

Briscoe obviously sees himself in the same line, as a player who can help Kentucky defend what is today an undefeated season before moving onto the professional ranks.

According to MaxPreps, Briscoe averaged 20.8 points per game, 4.0 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game for Roselle Catholic in 2014-15. Some consider him the best point guard in this recruiting class.

Some even say that he’s a can’t-miss point guard prospect and one of the most exciting players in the nation. Sounds a lot like Tyreke Evans and Derrick Rose coming out of high school, doesn’t it?

It is possible that Briscoe could match the excitement and production of Evans at Memphis and Rose at Kentucky. Wait, the last clause in that statement is patently false.

Derrick Rose also played for John Calipari at Memphis. Not Kentucky, not UMass, but Memphis.

And herein lies the problem with today’s young athletes. They do not know their history. Sure the average teenager today probably cannot name all 44 U.S. presidents. That’s a whole other issue.

But being a star collegiate athlete used to mean something. It used to mean having an appreciation for those who came before. Part of that appreciation is at least knowing where they went to school.

It shouldn’t be that difficult to figure out. Calipari may have questionable ethics (which nothing has been definitely proven of) but it’s highly unlikely he told Briscoe that Rose played at Kentucky.

Of course, there’s also the possibility–perhaps even probability–that Briscoe was nervous speaking on national television and merely made an honest mistake by making a verbal typo.

We can give the kid the benefit of the doubt. But even that is a bit disconcerting, that Kentucky will have a player on its roster next season not poised enough in a casual interview to get a simple fact like Rose playing at Memphis correct.

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