For the coaches in the college recruiting race to land Julius Randle, play time is officially over. Check out how Roy Williams showed up John Calipari on Tuesday night.
Former Dime and HighSchoolHoop writer Jason Jordan (who now does his thing for USA TodayHigh School Sports), oversees an exclusive-access diary with Randle (F, Plano, Texas), arguably the best player in all of high school basketball.
Tuesday night, Williams followed up Calipari’s Sunday-evening visit to Randle’s home – and he brought the big guns with him. From Jason’s article last night:
MCKINNEY, Texas – Kentucky coach John Calipari brought the “wow” factor on the first day of Prestonwood Christian (Plano, Texas) forward Julius Randle’s in-home visits, whipping out his 2012 national championship ring.
Well, after our report of Randle and his mother Carolyn Kyles being wildly impressed with Calipari’s bling, North Carolina coach Roy Williams came prepared to one-up Calipari.
“More like 31-up,” Randle said.
During his presentation Tuesday night, Williams opened a case of 30 rings — everything from conference titles to Final Four berths to national titles — that he’d collected over the years.
“When coach Williams opened the case you almost couldn’t look directly in it for fear of going blind,” Randle joked. “It was crazy.”
Added Kyles: “Yeah, coach Williams was ready for coach Cal with those rings. He got him there.”
Once he’d achieved the wide-eyed reaction he hoped for, Williams added the exclamation point, reaching into his pocket and pulling out Michael Jordan‘s 1992 NBA championship ring he won with the Chicago Bulls.
“He said Jordan gave it to him to show his players what they could achieve with hard work and determination,” Randle said. “I was just shocked. I couldn’t believe I was holding Jordan’s ring.”
When asked if Jordan’s ring was better than Calipari’s, Randle frowned up, did a double-take and said, “Come on now. It’s Jordan. No comparison.”
Your move, Cal.
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