Lexington, Kentucky
21:00 H
Inside the University of Kentucky, in one of the offices, the light of a lamp could be seen turned on with a person inside who had his gaze fixed on his computer screen, watching attentively what it showed him.
It was a video in which a player could be seen in possession of the ball while the opposing team had him completely surrounded, seeking to prevent the player from penetrating to the rim and scoring the basket with a dunk.
With calm, the player who had the ball began to approach slowly with the ball and, before the players could react, he threw the ball to his side without turning his face or his vision.
The ball was immediately caught by another player on his team who, before the rival team could react and redirect their defense, penetrated without complications to finish scoring the ball cleanly.
While that was happening, the person in the office took the mouse and began to rewind the video to be able to see the play again, repeating it thousands of times almost as if it were a loop, while his gaze remained fixed on the player in question almost as if he were hypnotized.
Such was his concentration that he did not hear the footsteps of the person approaching his office, not even when that person stood in the frame of the door and stayed there watching him.
Suddenly, the lights of the entire office turned on all at once, causing the person who until then was sitting and concentrated to bring his hand to his face while covering his eyes, which were not prepared for the blinding brightness of the lights.
"If you keep this up, you'll end up blind," said the voice from the doorframe, which had been responsible for turning on the office lights.
"When did you arrive, Orlando?" said the voice from the chair, recognizing the person's voice while his eyes slowly focused on the individual in question. "Five minutes ago," he responded with a shrug.
"And what are you doing here so late?" asked the voice with a slight tone of reproach in his voice at being interrupted.
"I could ask you the same question," Orlando told him, who already knew his friend and colleague's personality to a T. "Does Ellen not get upset with you when you return home very late?" he asked with a smile.
At that, Coach Calipari let out a sigh thinking about the discussion he would have with his wife once he got home and probably returning to sleep on the sofa for a few days.
"I'm working," was the only thing Coach Calipari could think to say with a doubtful tone of voice, trying to convince himself more than his right hand.
"Then what is it that has you so intrigued to still be here in your office at these hours of the night?" Orlando asked him while taking a seat in one of the chairs in front of his friend's desk.
"This," said Coach Calipari to show him the video of the play he had been watching several times and for which he had lost track of time.
"Aaron Reed," murmured Orlando, who had heard that name not once but hundreds of times this year, as he was possibly the most sought-after recruit of this class and the one who still had not signed any letter of acceptance or agreed to go play for any team, as far as he understood.
"One has to admit that I've never seen someone who plays center have such fine ball control," Orlando finished saying, still surprised by the way Aaron played.
"It's not just that," said Coach Calipari while rewinding the recording again and pausing it at a particular moment of the recording. "Look here," he said, pointing to Aaron at the moment he was in the middle of making a pass to his teammate.
"What makes him so special is not just his shooting capacity and ball handling, but his vision of the game on the court," Coach Calipari told Orlando while opening another video file from the collection he had.
On this occasion, Aaron was under the post having two players in front of him preventing him from turning and making a layup against the basket, but instead of showing himself anxious and desperate, Aaron only reflected calm on his face while, without even turning or looking around, he threw the ball behind his back where the small forward of his team got the ball and scored it.
In that play, Aaron also acted as a screen, preventing the two players from being able to approach and interfere with his teammate's dunk.
After that video, Coach Calipari began to show him more videos, as in these last few months he had dedicated himself to gathering information on Aaron as well as his plays and skills throughout his high school career.
"I see what you mean," Orlando finally said upon finally understanding the reason why his friend was so interested in Aaron, just like probably the rest of the NCAA coaches.
"I also noticed that he, together with the shooting guard of his team, makes a great duo," he added quickly while showing an analysis in which it was seen how most of Aaron's plays ended up being finished by Drew.
"Deluca," said Orlando, recognizing the player, as he was a player the university's scouting team had kept an eye on and he had seen the report they gave him about him on his desk.
"Are there chances that he comes?" Coach Calipari asked, curious to know the specific situation of Drew, to which he was disappointed to see how Orlando shook his head.
"Too late, I understand he will sign a letter with Villanova," responded Orlando, who had also shown interest in him. "Besides, if we bring him, there will be problems with Aaron Harrison, and one of the conditions for which the twins agreed to come was that they could play together," Orlando finished adding, who had been involved in the entire process.
That in itself was quite a mess because the team's only objective was to sign Aaron Harrison, but he wanted to continue playing with his brother in college, and seeing the potential and that his brother did not play all that badly, the Wildcats decided to sign both as a single package.
"I suppose Wright had better vision than I did," said Coach Calipari, referring to Jay Wright, the head coach of the Villanova Wildcats.
Jay Wright, who has been at the helm of the Villanova team since the year 2001, is a good coach, although he has certain inconsistent seasons, having only a single Big East conference title from the 2005 season, but always among the top 10 best teams.
"Maybe, but through all this, why so obsessed with Reed?" Orlando asked, curious to think why his friend was in his office watching videos of a player who was not even on the team.
At that question from his assistant, Coach Calipari remained silent while weighing whether or not he should tell him about the call he had received a few days ago, which generated this obsession.
Since he heard Aaron agree to come play under his command, John Calipari had spent the last few days watching his best plays while analyzing his style of play and thinking of thousands of possibilities and ways to take advantage of a player like Aaron.
Taking a deep breath, he knew he could not keep this secret for any longer; besides, sooner or later everyone was going to find out anyway. "I received a call a few days ago," Coach Calipari said, causing Orlando to give him his full attention.
"The next thing I'm going to say cannot leave this room yet, understand?" Coach Calipari said with a completely serious look on his face, one that Orlando was accustomed to since it was the kind of look he gave him every time he talked about serious matters.
"Aaron Reed is coming to Kentucky."
As soon as he heard those words come out of Coach Calipari's mouth, Orlando's brain went briefly blank, as if he still could not fully process the words his friend had said.
"Sorry, what?" was the only thing he could say at that moment, as if what he had just heard had been his own imagination.
"That Aaron Reed is coming to Kentucky," Coach Calipari repeated again, slower this time, fearing that his friend might not understand what he had just said.
Upon confirming that he had indeed not misheard, a smile began to appear slowly on Orlando's face in a clear sign of excitement and euphoria knowing they had the number one high school prospect.
"That's it," he could not help but say clearly, still excited imagining Aaron with the white and blue jersey of the Wildcats team in Rupp Arena.
"That explains your behavior in the last few days," Orlando finally said, calmer, thinking about why Coach Calipari had been looking at several recordings of Aaron's game in the last few days.
"Then why don't you want anyone to know yet?" was Orlando's next question, since if he were the team's coach and found out that the best high school basketball player had agreed to come to his team, he would immediately call a press conference to tell everyone that they had the number 1 in their ranks.
"Reed wants to finish his last year in peace, but there is already a verbal agreement and he will sign his letter of intent before the deadline," Coach Calipari explained to him with patience, respecting Aaron's wishes regarding that.
"Well," Orlando said, slightly disappointed at that. "But do you already know what the lineup for next season will be?" he asked him seriously this time, moving to a very important topic, which was defining the 5 starters next season.
"It's still too early for that," Coach Calipari said, leaning back in his chair. "But I won't deny that I have an idea," he finished saying before showing him the provisional list of the possible 5 starters next season.
Upon reading the list his partner was showing him, Orlando whistled low, impressed. "Are you sure about that?" he asked him as if he believed that all that was nothing more than a joke. "The potential is there, we just have to exploit it," Coach Calipari told him seriously, demonstrating that it was not any kind of joke or anything like that.
"Aligning 5 freshmen as starters," Orlando said, impressed. "I don't know if it's something very crazy or reckless," he could not help but add while reviewing each of the 5 names carefully.
"Or maybe it's the beginning of a youth storm," Coach Calipari interrupted him, excited, because although the idea of 5 freshmen as starters sounded far-fetched, he firmly believed they could give a surprise.
After all, all of them were in the top 20 of the best players of their generation, highlighting in particular Aaron and Julius who were number 1 and 3 respectively.
"Well, I think the best thing will be to continue talking about that another day," Orlando added quickly while letting out a yawn and standing up, ready to return home to his wife.
"You'd better leave too before it's too late," he didn't forget to add while his finger pointed directly at the clock that was embedded in the wall behind Coach Calipari's desk.
Turning around, a look of horror crossed the coach's face upon seeing the time, 23:00, on the hands of the clock.
"Shit, I'm a dead man," Coach Calipari thought, imagining his wife's reaction due to how late it was.
"If you survive, I'll see you tomorrow then," Orlando could not help but joke while he was already heading out the door, leaving his friend to his fate.
"I suppose I'll go back to the sofa," Coach Calipari said resignedly.
Nonetheless, that did not make the excitement he felt diminish; on the contrary, while he was driving toward his house, his head continued thinking of ideas and strategies for the next season, which he anxiously hoped would start soon.
Authors thought's
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