Dear Big Blue: A response to Kentucky's love letter to UNC, Duke

Dear Kentucky,

First, we’d like to extend our warmest welcome to Louisville to the ACC, and to what is, undoubtedly, the conference with the best collection of basketball programs ever assembled. It has to be difficult for Kentucky – the school in Lexington, that is, and not the red part of the state – to watch from a distance while the party goes on without them but, by now, Wildcats fans should be used to this.

The center of the college basketball world has for a while always included that eight-mile stretch of pine trees that has UNC on one end, Duke on the other. Oh, sure. The Tar Heels and Blue Devils have to be a bit envious of what Kentucky has had going recently. That Final Four sure was nice last season, and who can forget the 2012 national championship?

What an unforgettable team. Anthony Davis. That other guy who was on campus for a little while. Oh, yes: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. And then, uh, that other really good freshman, too. Marquis Teague? Marquis Teague! We all remember him. Says right here he averaged 10 points a game before bolting for the NBA.

And the experience. Who can forget the leadership provided by grizzled, gray-bearded sophomores Doron Lamb and Terrence Jones? Generations from now, many a Kentuckian will speak in hushed tones about the days when a bunch of guys stopped through Lexington for a little while and were kind enough to leave a national championship behind on their way to NBA riches. Makes you misty-eyed.

Those of us who love college basketball in this part of the world can’t pretend that one-and-dones are a Kentucky phenomenon. Why, UNC had one all the way back in 2005. Marvin Williams. And another in Brandan Wright in 2007. And Duke has had its share recently, and could have a couple more this season. But Kentucky? Kentucky has made this an art form. Or a mockery.

It’s working, though. Since 2000 Kentucky has won one national championship. That’s right on par with Louisville. And it’s only one fewer national championship than both UNC and Duke have won in the same span. Kentucky deserves credit for trying something different, too. It’s a challenge nowadays, building an actual team that will stick around for a while and develop.

So why bother? Just do what John Calipari does. Round up the best collection of AAU players in the country. Show off the recent NBA draft success and some bling – a 2012 championship ring will suffice – and, presto, sit back and watch while all the best players who have no interest in spending more than a semester and a half on a college campus come flocking. It’s a beautiful system.

Oh, we’re aware of the irony here. A writer from North Carolina – who covers UNC – taking shots at Kentucky? UNC has indeed become a national punchline amid the revelation of a long-running scheme of phony classes that helped keep athletes eligible. Here’s the thing, though: If everyone did it like Kentucky, there wouldn’t even be a need for eligibility beyond one semester. It’s genius.

We appreciate good college basketball around here. Which is why it’s so difficult to appreciate what has happened in Lexington in recent years – because the whole thing seems cheap, taking advantage of a rule that shouldn’t exist. College basketball needs to adopt the baseball rule: Go pro out of high school, but if you’re coming to college, you’re sticking around for a while.

Instead we have the CDL: Calipari Developmental League. Replete now with some sort of scouting combine. Credit Kentucky for taking complete advantage of a system so ridiculous that it could only exist in American college sports. But hey: At least this Kentucky team does have some guys who have stuck around for a bit. The Harrison twins. Alex Poythress. It’s almost like a real college team over there, instead of the barnstorming troupe of AAU All Stars.

Jokes aside, this Kentucky team might just be college basketball’s best since ... UNC’s 2009 national title team. Remember that one? With Tyler Hansbrough? What a concept – building a team around a senior.

Include N.C. State, and the three schools in the Triangle have combined to win 11 national championships – all of them with players who were actually around long enough to become a part of their campus culture and community. When UNC players come back for the summer, they hang out at old campus haunts and familiar Franklin Street eateries.

I can’t help but wonder what happens when Kentucky’s recent departures come back. What do they do? Ask for directions? But you can’t knock the Wildcats this season, what with their platoons and their “reinforcements” off the bench, as Calapari has described it, and their early season dominance so clear it has led to talk of an undefeated season.

Bravo, Kentucky. But, you know, you can have all that.

We’re enjoying life just fine in these parts, with two of the ACC’s four Hall of Fame coaches right in our backyard. We might not have platoons, Drake, World Wide Wes and, this season, at least, all the hype. But that’s OK.

We still have the best rivalry in the sport, two of the most respected coaches in the game and two programs that both have twice the number of national titles as Kentucky during the past 15 years. But good job on all those draft picks.

This story was originally published December 6, 2014 at 6:23 PM with the headline "Dear Big Blue: A response to Kentucky's love letter to UNC, Duke."