National basketball writer Krysten Peek on perception of UK basketball, recruiting and Shaedon Sharpe

The national perception of coach John Calipari's Kentucky basketball today is more disbelief than anything after the loss to Saint Peter's. (Vicky Graff Photo)

Krysten Peek is a national basketball/recruiting writer for both Yahoo Sports and Rivals. She has great contacts nationally and covers a lot of the nation’s top basketball events each year. That’s why I reached out to her to get a feel for what the national perception is of coach John Calipari’s Kentucky basketball program after the unexpected loss to 15th-seed Saint Peter’s in the NCAA.

“The national perception of Kentucky is a little bit of disbelief and also probably questioning coach Cal as a dominant coach in college basketball,” she said.

Again, she’s not a Kentucky media member. She’s not a fan. Peek is an objective observer of high school and college basketball as well as the NBA.

“There’s a lot of pressure to do something next year with the class coming in with the way the last two seasons ended,” Peek said.

However, she does not see the last two seasons significantly impacting Kentucky basketball recruiting.

“The fact remains the same; coach Cal gets players to the NBA,” Peek said. “Most high-level recruits have dreams of playing at the highest level and Calipari has an incredible track record getting players there.”

Calipari does and that’s why many UK fans still believe freshmen Shaedon Sharpe will leave for the NBA rather than finally playing at Kentucky next season. Peek feels the same way.

“I don’t see any way Shaedon Sharpe stays to play next year. He’s a top 10 (NBA) prospect in this year’s class and there’s no guarantee he’ll go No. 1 next year (in the draft), so I can’t see him staying and risking injury or possibly falling in the draft after playing a year in college,” Peek said.