Where the Hell Do You Think You’re Going, Jodie Meeks?

I’ll be talking about the NBA Draft in the upcoming days. The event this year has a small amount more of special meaning to me because UCF is set to have its first ever basketball draft pick in forward/guard Jermaine Taylor.

Soon, I plan to talk about some of the early entry players who are making a mistake and would be better off going back to school. But, while I may be stepping on that future piece’s metaphorical toes with this post, I just have to mention the news I saw today:

“Kentucky guard Jodie Meeks will remain in the NBA Draft.”

Eh-hem … without any further ado …

Jodie Meeks is a fantastic shooter. He has NBA range from 3-point land, easy. He’s pretty athletic and has an NBA body. But there’s really nothing special about Meeks other than the fact that he can shoot from Bangor to Santa Monica.

He’s leaving Kentucky, a program that has Patrick Patterson coming back, stole Memphis’ coach, owned the land in signing top prospects, and has a legitimate chance at a run to the Final Four in about nine months.

Say what you want about John Calipari and the illegal ways he gets good players to come to play for him, but he turns those teams into winners — even if the records of those teams will be erased in the future due to NCAA violations.

Some of the impact players on the 2009-10 Kentucky team will be freshmen, but that hasn’t stopped a lot of teams from reaching the Final Four recently. Players such as Derrick Rose, Greg Oden and Carmelo Anthony are just a few names that come to me of players who fit the description of collegiate newcomers leading their teams to the Final Four (and a championship in Carmelo’s case).

Barring injury and/or a first-year let down by some of Kentucky’s top-rated recruits, can you imagine what Patterson and Meeks could do in the SEC with newcomers such as John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton? And with Calipari guiding the charge? The Wildcats would be a severe disappointment if they didn’t bull rush the SEC.

But no, that scenario is not one that sits well with Jodie, apparently. He is turning down the shot at an NCAA championship to be in the highly regarded position of a potential second-round NBA draft pick. Meeks is not going to be a first-round pick. Not even close!

Maybe he needs the money. Maybe he is worried that a catastrophic injury could crush his pro stock. Maybe he’s worried that stock can’t get any higher than it is right now.

I’m pretty sure that Meeks’ decision to go pro after his junior season was determined well before today. As soon as he put up 54 points in Tennessee on Jan. 13, Meeks was as good as gone.

I hope he enjoys his career in the NBA as an off-the-bench spark player, told to just spot up and shoot all day long. He is missing out on what could be quite a year for his Wildcats.

Unfortunately, because Meeks will be missing, maybe the Wildcats will be missing as well come early April. Without Meeks, the Wildcats suddenly don’t have that dependable go-to perimeter scorer that they will need in the NCAA Tournament.

Sure, maybe one of those great prospects will fill the role (I mean, they have five of the top 15 recruits in the nation … one of them has to pan out, right?), but the Wildcats will be greatly handicapped with Meeks’ services.

He needs them as much as they need him. And, unless it’s all about getting whatever money you can, there’s no reason why Jodie Meeks needs the NBA this year.

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