High Point: Shagari's low point?

"We got good play out of Lukasz [Obrzut] tonight. Our post players have been much maligned, but they’re very capable of doing a good job inside. Even though Jared [Carter] didn’t really score, he did some good things inside, so I was happy with our frontcourt. Shagari [Alleyne] didn’t play because he didn’t do what he was supposed to do academically. He’s not going to play until he learns to do what he’s supposed to do." -- Coach Tubby Smith, after Tuesday's win over High Point

It was about a year ago next week that Gregg Doyel wrote a glowing article about the emergence of UK's next dominant big man, Shagari Alleyne. Shag was coming off a terrific performance against Indiana on national television in which he looked for the first time like a starting-caliber center with skills and NBA potential. Soon thereafter, Alleyne's name popped up on several web draft sites as a possible draft pick. The rest of the season looked limitless, and the tag team of Alleyne and freshman Randolph Morris seemed more than enough to put the Cats in position for the Final Four.


But then things changed. Instead of seeing more minutes, Alleyne started seeing mostly fewer. After a three-game stretch of double-digit minutes in mid-January, Shag played more than 9 minutes only three times the rest of the year, and many of his minutes were trying to dunk Preston Lemaster misses at garbage time. Was this what was expected of the next great big man at UK? There had to be a reason for the backward slide in Alleyne's game and status. Turns out, it was academics.

Ignoring the cacophony from that vocal, albeit minority, group of fans who favor PT over discipline -- those same fans who called for Tubby's head when he refused to cave to a brash freshman named Carruth a few years back -- Tubby told Shagari, and made it clear through the media, that if the classroom performance did not improve, he simply wouldn't see the floor in games. Something tells me the minutes Shagari did see were often as a result of Morris' karate practice, not because Alleyne deserved them. But that was last year ...

Now, with Morris in street clothes and awaiting word on his appeals to return, the center spot was up for grabs. No hot shot freshman competition, just Shag vs. Woo, with a probable redshirt for gangly newcomer Jared Carter. And yet the pair of juniors left their big man games at home over the summer break. Orbzut started the first two games, but quickly played his way into pine time. Shagari didn't fair much better. Soon, it wasn't just fans calling for Carter to play more, it was teammates and coaches praising his hustle and determination. It got so bad that following a 5-minute, 1-rebound game in a loss to Iowa, Smith didn't let his two junior seven-footers off the bench vs. West Virginia. And while assistant coaches rightly noted that WVU's outside-in game and 6'11" three-point shooting center were a bad matchup for immobile big men, it was not hard to read more into the statement. Witness: the 7'2" Carter set career highs in points (5) and minutes (10).

In Tuesday's 75-55 blowout of Tubby's alma mater High Point, Alleyne got the DNP, not because of inneffectiveness, but rather more problems in the classroom. While Woo shook off his early troubles to score a season-high 9 points and 4 rebounds and Carter got his coaches' praise with his 4 boards and a block, Alleyne sat on the bench.

Now, some fans are beginning to wonder if that immense promise shown against the Hoosiers, and the adoration that followed it -- some of the zealous Big Blue Nation even began a fan club -- will ever be realized. Would Shagari have been better off at Rutgers, his original verbal commit, where he could have been (a) closer to home and (b) further from the bright lights? Or would the big fella even be better off transferring, and thus clearing the slate?

Any true Cats fan knows that neither of these statements are correct, and, further, that one big game return from Shagari would erase such thoughts completely. However, there is equally no doubt Alleyne is wasting an opportunity sent from heaven. Tubby Smith is a known developer of big men. Despite a few whiffs (ahem, Marvin Stone, I'm looking in your direction), Smith's track record -- the names Magloire, Estill, Daniels and Hayes all fly off the tongue -- says he can turn raw attributes into future pro dollars. And furthermore, the name recognition and spotlight that UK offers is almost second to none. In other words, a competent Kentucky big man has to practically play his way out of the draft. Just ask the scouts who watched Morris loaf his way through workouts, and they'll tell you the same thing. Morris wasted his shot as well; he may get another. But Alleyne is running out of time, and chances. It would be grand shame, for both Shag and his many well-wishers, if his four-year career ended up a footnote as the tallest player ever to play at Kentucky instead of one of its greatest success stories.

A few game notes

A game after earning accolades from these pages and others, Bobby Perry blew too many layups in a 2-10 shooting performance against a weak opponent. There is no excuse for that. Perry took as many shots as Rekalin Sims (4), Sheray Thomas (4) and Ravi Moss (2) combined and had little to show for it. With Joe Crawford sitting out again to rest his aches for Saturday's national broadcast of the North Carolina game, Perry may have again delayed his opportunity to win over some fans and to prove he deserves the minutes. Then again, play some good D and hit a clutch three and all is forgotten. Just ask Patrick Sparks.

Rajon Rondo continued his unreal rebounding (I told ya so!), grabbing a team-high 10, and marking the sixth straight time (yes, that's all the games so far) that he has either led the team or tied for the lead in rebounding. Again, I ask you, humble reader: so long as someone is grabbing the rebounds and the big men are playing defense and hitting layups, does it matter who gets the boards? I understand that Orbzut and Thomas et al. should be playing with more ferocity, that much is clear, but quit worrying about Rondo. he clearly has a good idea what the heck he's doing out there.

For the year, Rondo's stats: 13.8 points, 10.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 2.5 steals. Momma!