Jessie Almon

The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary...

[MeManBoy @MeManBoy0]

College basketball recruiting isn't what it used to be and fans haven't fully caught up to that reality yet. The old model was simple...... a coach builds a relationship, a kid picks the school he loves, everybody shakes hands on signing day. That world is gone.

What we have now is a negotiation. A kid, his family, and almost always an agent are evaluating a financial package alongside everything else. The history, the tradition, the relationship with the coaching staff...... all of that still matters, but it now has to clear a financial bar that didn't exist five years ago. And that bar is different for every single player.

Which brings me to the thing that drives me crazy. Fans see a recruit pick another school and immediately call it a "whiff." Like the coaching staff got outworked or lost a relationship battle. That's not what happened in most cases. What happened is the numbers didn't match.

One program was willing to pay X and another was willing to pay Y, and the player made a business decision. That's it. Calling it a whiff implies the staff failed at something they could have controlled...... when the reality is they may have made a completely rational financial decision that just didn't align with what the player's market value was at another school.

Recruiting in 2025 is half relationship business and half financial negotiation. The coaches who win in this era aren't just great relationship builders...... they're the ones who can operate inside a system that looks more like a front office than a locker room. Fans who still evaluate it like it's 2010 are going to misread almost every recruitment that doesn't go their way.

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@TheInfamousChee @JohnSan1981 @ky__update The whole game was rough. My dream is to one day be known as a "tough physical defensive team" so we can reach smack grab hold and push all we want with no consequences.

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@JohnSan1981 @ky__update Kentucky did not come close to deserving to win that game. But if the Iowa native, who is great friends with John Higgins (if you dont know. Google why thats significant) called the game in a way that could be seen as biased, that would be decent grounds for cats fans to gripe.

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@chrispeak5280 Hes an Iowa native and good friends with John Higgins. So much so that in an interview with Omaha Magazine Higgins claims he got baldy into officiating. Not claiming anything just stating what ive learned today. Do with that information what you will.

[Matt Dearmond @mpdear24]

@KySportsRadio The ref’s name is Kip Kissinger and he’s friends with your boy Higgins: https://t.co/rtlFBmEHIY

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@AdamStrattonKSR Refs can they just wont. Its insane if the refs call the game by the book either a team adjusts or they all foul out. It would be miserable to watch but is what should happen. You shouldn't get rewarded for breaking the rules "too much for them to call it all" should be opposite

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@SportsCenter @espn continues to be an absolute joke. Refuses to employ anyone competent from social media statisticians all the way to color commentary.

Push the fake news agenda all you want, people who know ball know this is wrong.

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@luke__859 Goes further than that. 2010 ice cold vs WV, 2013 Nerlens injury, 2014 WCS injury that I think stopped us from winning that title. To quote a guy who was in the midst of it. Aside from 2012, we have had buzzard luck the last 16 years

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@gatorsszn I get why you say this rn But I can promise you the bad luck far outweighs the good. 2010 ice cold vs WV, 2013 nerlens injury, 2014 WCS injury, 2015 poythress injury & Wisc. shot clock violation, 2017 Luke Maye, 2022 Doug Edert, 2024 Jack Gohlke. 25&26 injuries. Weren't we due 1?

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@TimBrando Soft ass mentality. Go back to wherever you are and lobby for more participation trophies and leagues that dont keep score because it might hurt someones feelings.

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@BanteredB_ The hilarious part to me is all the media being butthurt about this just confirms that they think they should be able to write anything, everyone believe it blindly, and never be criticized for it. Just confirming what he said in their own way lol

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@PapawWashington If only we had a case study on how Calipari has done when the bracket opens up like this for him... nothing will surprise me with them tbh.

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@ESPNMcGee Pretty weird that Arkansas wins the schools 2nd ever SEC tournament and all anyone wants to do is talk about Kentucky. Genuinely wild to me that nobody can just be happy for their school/another school and feels like they have to take a shot at #BBN bunch of absolute weirdos

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@DagnyTaggart81 @Spencer_Smith10 Lol. Congrats. Hang the banners. Go to night school. Or don't. Whatever makes you feel like a big boy.

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@BillyHo_Golf @GatorsMBK Hang the banner.

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@DagnyTaggart81 @Spencer_Smith10 Would be impressive if you could at least spell correctly. I have friends who live here in the commonwealth who are Florida fans. They aren't insufferable and CAN spell correctly certainly seems like they have the upper hand for some reason...

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@DagnyTaggart81 @Spencer_Smith10 Intelligent response. But good to know that Florida fans are mental midgets because they had success. Ill keep that in mind moving forward. Enjoy!

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@DagnyTaggart81 @Spencer_Smith10 UF does have a better team than UK this year. Thats true. Doesnt negate the fact that the officiating was really bad today. Both ways. Not sure why all you Gators are so sensitive that you cant accept that your players get away with some stuff that gets called out. The insecurity

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

@DylanBallard_UK Extremely professional action right there.

[Jessie Almon @JAlmon2134]

I dont know what Hell is like. But you could convince me there's a room where you are forced to sit and listen to Jimmy Dykes for 24 hours.