the wildcats and the what if game.

last night i found myself wondering what would have happened if the stars at kentucky would have stayed. could you imagine? the dominance would be overwhelming. now, please, don't get me wrong, i love having rondo as a celtic, and i'm bummed that morris isn't getting any playing time in ny. rondo's well on his way to a long and amazing nba career. he's on track to become one of the best point guards in the league. and he's 22! so much promise so young, it's amazing, and kind of weird to think that a lot of uk fans have been watching him for years now. but as a wildcats fan, think of it this way. if rondo and morris had stayed at least 3 years, they would have been legends at uk. they would have been in a great spot to win the big dance. they would have become a squad like the one florida had (horford, noah, green and brewer) with rondo, bradley, morris and crawford (ha, yeah right, i mean patterson, obviously. crawford "lets the ball die in his hands." thanks, cbs). but how would that have affected the UK landscape. would tubby still be there, now? would his recruiting situation be better if he'd had a jaw dropping team in his pocket, at least in the eye of the uk basketball masses? there's no denying that the guys who went to the nba had a massive amount of talent, but instead of being remembered fondly when they return to their alma mater as they are now, they would have been legends, if they'd kept performing. there are a ton of factors that go into this, obviously, and i'm thinking idealistically, but what's the worst that would happen? how could college talent derail an nba career? it could potentially shorten it, but it could also add to their value. the younger guys have the argument that it extends their nba careers, and it possibly was the best decision for them at the time, i don't rule that out, but think about it - you only have 4 years to become a college legend. you have the rest of your career to become an nba one. if you think about it, how many stand out nba players can you think about who went through all 4 years of college and were included in the last few drafts? is the nba skewing to 19 years old? somewhere, dikembe mutumbo is shaking his finger. i'm still proud of what the cats did this year after being so shaken up with changes. they clawed (pardon the wordplay) their way back into contention after some painful losses. but i find myself missing the feeling that i get when i have the championship on my bracket, with uk's name on it.