Vilarino's dad says Calipari will regret not keeping his son

By Jerry Tipton / Herald-Leader Staff Writer

When speaking to inherited signee G.J. Vilarino this spring, new Kentucky coach John Calipari noted how he preferred big guards. Vilarino, who has been listed at 5-foot-11, got the hint. He looked for another school and, fortunately at such a late date, landed at Gonzaga.

Then last week, Kentucky signed Eric Bledsoe, who was listed at 6-foot when he played in the Derby Festival Basketball Classic.

Huh?

"The bottom line is somebody tells you basically, in a nice way, you're not good enough, frankly," said Gerry Vilarino, the player's father. "You can sugarcoat it all you want. That's basically what he was saying. ... It's never good to hear that or feel that."

To continue what diplomats call a frank exchange of views, the elder Vilarino did not like his son being discarded, albeit in a sensitive way.

"I am upset," Gerry Vilarino said. "But I understand how the business works."

Vilarino knows big-time college basketball is a multi-billion-dollar business. The leafy campus settings, classrooms and sis-boom-bah make for nice window dressing.

There's precious little sentiment where the baseline meets the bottom line. Any day now we'll be reminded of that when a few holdover UK players depart to make room for prospects judged more talented.

"I always told my son: This is a business," Gerry Vilarino said. "This is big business, especially at Kentucky. I understand that. From that perspective, there's no hard feelings whatsoever."

Being dismissed as a Kentucky prospect is nothing new for Vilarino. Almost as soon as he became the first player to commit to then-coach Billy Gillispie, he heard recruiting analysts question whether he was good enough to ever play for UK.

Noting Gonzaga's top-level schedule (games next season against Duke in Madison Square Garden, Michigan State and Memphis), the elder Vilarino saw a chance for his son to show what he can do.

"He's going to get an opportunity to show (if the doubters) are right or wrong," Gerry Vilarino said. "That's what we want. ... I got a feeling he's going to prove a lot of the assessments wrong."

His son has speed and quickness, qualities that can't be taught, Gerry Vilarino said. Now 6-1, G.J. Vilarino can put muscle on his 170-pound frame as he matures.

It's touching to hear a father defend his son.

"When it's all said and done, it's going to be one of the biggest regrets Cal's going to have," Gerry Vilarino said. "Not giving him an opportunity."

Rules changes

The NCAA announced proposed rules changes for next season. Two will significantly alter college basketball.

The first is an attempt to limit the block-charge call. Secondary defenders will now be discouraged from attempting to take charges while standing under the basket.

If such contact occurs, it will automatically be called a block.

The NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Rules Committees considered using an arc in the lane like the NBA does. A defender standing inside the arc cannot get a charging call.

But the coaches did not want such an arc, said Ed Bilik, the man who interprets college basketball rules. The coaches could not agree on where the arc should be placed, he said.

Bilik suggested that such an arc might be coming in the future, but for now the area directly under the basket can serve as a first step.

Another proposed change involved what to do when "injury" prevents a fouled player from shooting free throws. We put quote marks around the word injury because of the frequency with which much better free-throw shooters substitute for the injured teammate.

If the new rule is adopted, the opposing coach will choose which player takes the free throws. The only exceptions would be for an intentional or flagrant foul. In those cases, the coach of the team fouled would pick the free-throw shooter.

NCAA spokesman Ty Halpin, coincidentally a 1996 UK graduate, said the committee considered and then rejected several options. One was the NBA rule, which does not allow the injured player to return to the game. Another option was to allow the opposing coach to pick any player from the bench. However, that could include having a player that had never played suddenly shooting critical free throws. Additionally, there could have been eligibility complications. For example, what if the player chosen to shoot free throws had been a candidate to sit out the season as a redshirt.