John Wall Hoopmixtape Vol.1; BEST Player In The Nation. (via Hoopmixtape)

It means that John Calipari is immediately living up to the hype in Lexington. It means that UK fans should be thrilled at the prospects of their 2009-2010 basketball team, and it means that college basketball has gotten some of its swagger back with an elite program returning to prominence.

Last week we heard that Wall had narrowed his choices down to the Wildcats, Duke and Miami, but we knew what was up.  Today, Andy Katz reported that Wall had actually given the Hurricanes a verbal commitment, but had his heart set on playing for Coach Cal.  The Blue Devils, of course, never really go for these presumed one-and-done players, and you have to think Coach K lost much of his interest after the alleged breaking and entering incident.

But all that aside, Wall is the piece of the puzzle that makes Kentucky a certain title contender. It's undoubtedly the best choice for him; just two seasons ago it was Derrick Rose who was groomed by Calipari into the top college point guard.  They fell one game short of winning it all with much of the blame being placed on poor free throw shooting.  Wall apparently does not have such a fear from the charity stripe.

As of now, Kentucky is a top five team -- and the most intriguing. Sans Jodie Meeks, who isn't about to show his hand just yet, and I still have to give the edge to Kansas.  If Meeks returns though, the backcourt (with Eric Bledsoe too) will be as exicting as any in college basketball