Ever since John Wall stepped to the mic and announced his intentions to attend the University of Kentucky from the Word of God Academy press table, most believed that teammate and schoolmate CJ Leslie would be doing the same the following year. Leslie, a 6'8'' freakish athletically gifted forward, had already gave his verbal to attend North Carolina State University, a verbal he later retracted when re opening his recruitment. NC State, located nicely in Raleigh North Carolina, the home of Word of God Academy (also the home of Wall and Leslie), provided a safe haven for CJ to play ACC basketball, all the while not having to leave the confines of what he has felt comfortable with, his home. However, after another season of AAU ball last summer, it became clear Leslie was about to be stepping into the national spotlight as he cemented himself firmly as one of the nations best. Calls started to come in from premiere colleges throughout basketball, you know the John Calipari's, the Jim Calhoun's, and the Roy Williams' of the world. At this time last year, it was starting to be the beginning of the CJ Leslie hype, not to mention the start of the enormous hype that would become Kentucky Basketball in the John Calipari era.
As friend and former teammate John Wall flourished at Kentucky, CJ did the same at Word of God. Entertaining the country via youtube videos showcasing his insanely athletic game, it was looking more and more like he was going to be following the same path as Wall did. I mean once a recruit decommits from a school, rarely does he ever recommit to the same school. In the world of recruiting, it is under a one percent odd of actually happening. With schools like Kentucky, UCONN, Florida, among others knocking on the door, who would want to even think about suiting up for NC State? While Kentucky has the likes of Lebron, Magic, Drake, Mike Tomlin, among other whos who in Rupp Arena showing up for games, the Wolfpack of NC State was just trying to sale out over half of their seats. While Kentucky was being shown on National TV basically every game, NC State was just trying to get on National TV. While Kentucky was competing for a National Championship, NC State was just trying to keep its mid level ACC status, and not drop to bottom dweller status, ala Boston College. While Kentucky players and coaches were living a somewhat celebrity status (you know, like getting calls from the President, and having hundreds of thousands idolizing your signature dance moves) the NC State players were walking around unnoticed on campus, unless they were wearing their Wolfpack gear. While Cal ended up putting four frosh straight into the NBA, Sydney Lowe and NC State is still working on sending more than one every five or more years (Thank You JJ Hickson).
So why wouldn't CJ Leslie follow John Wall and come to Kentucky? Obviously Wall had kept him informed during the entirety of the season, keeping him up to date on whatever madness may be going on at the time. You have basically everyone in the recruiting world saying he is Kentucky's to lose, and even had one such recruiting source go the distance and say don't expect anything but a decision to come to UK, its going to happen (hmmm hmmm ESPN Rise), only for him to make his decision in the two days to follow.
The answer may not be as hard or as puzzling as what you think. Just know that in order to understand the present, you must be able to learn from the past.
Not only were John Wall and CJ Leslie high school teammates, they also played along side one another for Brain Clifton's D-One Sports AAU team. Wall, who had lost his father in his pre-teens, looked to Clifton as some what of a father figure. During the Wall recruitment, many relationships became divided. Clifton, was more so pushing John towards Coach K and Duke. Why you ask? Well it wasn't because Duke was closer to home, and it wasn't because Clifton felt Coach K could better develop Wall and get him league ready faster than Calipari. It wasn't even that Clifton and Wall's family felt closer to K and Duke. However, it basically fell back tongue in cheek to the shady part of business that is AAU basketball and high school basketball recruiting. In Clifton's (and others who were surrounding Wall) head, he knew that if John went to Duke, then he would be better suited to stay with Wall throughout the process, ultimately into the NBA and those NBA paychecks (endorsements included). At Kentucky, Clifton foresaw losing his grip on Wall to the alliances that Calipari has aligned himself strongly with via his NBA connections. In the end it appears that hunch is correct, as Wall now seems set to join forces with Lebron James and team up for a monster apparel deal. Behind that more than likely lies another Calipari/James connection in William Wesley. AKA Worldwide Wes, AKA the most powerful man in basketball.
Which brings us back to Leslie. Again, same high school team, same AAU team as Wall. Pretty much same community. Wall and Leslie's people, well they know each other. It is pretty evident Leslie's people saw how the John Wall situation panned out, and realized they to could get cut out of a good paycheck if not being able to ride CJ's coat tails to the promise land. Many sources indicated CJ wanted to come to Kentucky. So much so it reminded all of us eerily of the Ralph Sampson situation in which Sampson longed for Kentucky, but was pressured into staying closer to home, ultimately deciding for Virginia instead. Many sources also included though that Leslie was getting immense pressure from family and friends to stay home and play ball. Hmmmmmm. Wonder why?
But not to sound like a complete and total jerk, and total conspiracy theorist that CJ Leslie not ending up at Kentucky was based on things other than just an 18 year old kid making a decision, CJ did form an extremely tight bond with Sydney Lowe and his NC State staff. Many times throughout the season, Leslie made the cross town trip to campus to hangout with Lowe, and his team. Also adding to the bond was long time friend Ryan Harrow pledging his commitment to play with the Wolfpack this upcoming season. So although Leslie had to have been enamoured with the fame of playing at Kentucky, he also felt super comfortable suiting up for the Wolfpack.
Like anything though, basketball recruiting will always be filled with enough conspiracy theories to make 911 conspiracy theorists blush. In the end CJ Leslie broke the mold, and gave his commitment back to the school he had previously removed it from. While that left countless numbers of those following the recruitment shocked, maybe it shouldn't have. Once you look at it, there are plenty of reasons as to why this made sense, even if it wasn't directly related to Leslie, but perhaps maybe those around him instead.
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