Kentucky's Latest Recruiting Haul Strong, But ...

By BEN JACKEY
One Great Season

Chicago, 2006. Bachelor Party. Thirteen of my closest friends travelled to the Windy City for a weekend of, well, whatever was allowable by law. We all came in on separate flights. Some of the guys didn't really know each other. Nobody was quite sure what to expect. It turned out to be a night I'd never forget. We saw a great band at the House of Blues. We travelled on to another bar and made fun of ugly people. Magic in a bottle. It was like this group had been together for years.

Then, there was Saturday night. We rocked out to a great 80s cover band. Then, we went to an "establishment" that didn't meet our expectations. We stood in line for an hour and never got into the next bar. Eventually, we all went our separate ways.

For the Kentucky Wildcats, the 2009-10 season was Friday night. A group of superstars (much like us) got together and created something special that just couldn't be duplicated. Big Blue Nation is still delirious with excitement from Wednesday's recruiting haul. The top prep point guard in America donned a blue UK hat over his braids. The No. 1 high school junior also committed to Kentucky for 2011-12. Including a Turkish man-child and other possible top-10 signings, Wildcat fans already are looking toward the future as if the West Virginia debacle is a distant memory. I've heard -- and used -- the term "reload" so much  in the last 24 hours that I'm about to unload my lunch. Saturday will not be Friday.

Brandon Knight is amazing. 31.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and 4 assists per game. A 4.0 GPA.

Enes Kanter is a man among boys. Did anyone catch the Nike Hoops Summit where he broke the game's scoring record held by Dirk Nowitzki?

And, some are comparing young Michael Gilchrist to Kobe Bryant.

But -- channeling Rick Pitino -- "John Wall is not walking through that door." Wall was a once-in-a-decade freshman. See also DeMarcus Cousins. We're talking about two All-Americans who were freshmen on the same team. The No. 2 point guard on the team might be the No. 2 point guard taken in the NBA Draft. The back-up center, Daniel Orton, who averaged 4 points per game, may have enough talent to go in the first round. It won't be fair, but this new class of 'Cats will be compared to last year's group as soon as 24,000 people pack Rupp Arena for a practice in October. The expectations will be as lofty as the banners which hang high from Rupp's rafters. Perspective is a four-letter word in Catland.

This Kentucky boy always has wanted to live in Chicago. It's a city with great history, great energy. And it would be great to travel to Wrigley Field routinely to watch the most annoying franchise in history fail miserably year after year after year. One day, I will get back to Chicago, but there will never be another Friday night.

Jackey is an Emmy Award-winning former television reporter and a die-hard Kentucky fan living in Louisville.