Mike DeCourcy says no way playing at UK would have hurt Shaedon Sharpe’s draft status

No one knows exactly why Shaedon Sharpe, front left, did not play at UK this year. (Photo by UK Athletics)

Sporting News college basketball columnist Mike DeCourcy is not sure anyone other than John Calipari, Shaedon Sharpe and Sharpe’s family really knows the reason he did not play at Kentucky this season after joining the Cats in midseason.

However, DeCourcy is convinced that playing Sharpe would not have hurt his NBA Draft status if that was the reason for holding the top-ranked recruit in the 2022 class out of action in January, February and March.

“A player who comes into college basketball, even a terrific one, who has no preseason, it’s tough,” DeCourcy said.

He used an auto racing comparison about how a car in the Indy 500 comes in for a pit stop and the jacks come out to change tires. He said Sharpe playing would not have been the same as jumping in a car on the track at the Indy 500 but would have been like jumping in the car during a pit stop.

“That’s not easy to do,” DeCourcy said. “But once he got to Kentucky, I am not sure what the downside was of him trying to help the team.  By the time you got to March, he had been there for two months. It’s an absolute myth that he could have hurt his potential as a draft prospect by playing.”

DeCourcy used Alabama’s Josh Primo as an example of how playing does not hurt draft status. He was the 12th pick at age 18 in the 2021 draft by San Antonio. He averaged 8.1 points and 3.4 rebounds per game for Alabama, which made the Sweet Sixteen. He started 19 of 30 games and scored in double figures 12 times.

“I saw UCLA-Alabama in the (NCAA) Sweet 16 and when I left that gym I had no recollection of seeing Primo play,” DeCourcy said. “People at UCLA had very little recollection of him being on the floor. He had almost no impact in 45 minutes of play (UCLA won 88-78 in overtime).”

Primo was 2-for-6 from the field, including 0-for-4 from 3, and had two rebounds in 16 minutes in his final collegiate game.

“Did that prevent him from being selected 12th overall by Spurs? No. It didn’t matter. They took him anyway,” DeCourcy said on WLAP Sunday Morning Sports Talk.

“Shaedon Sharpe sitting there and not playing did not help him. Probably it helped a little bit in practice but it would not have hurt him to play.

“Would it have saved Kentucky’s season? Probably not but it would have given you an option. If he had played in games, it would not have hurt his chances in the draft. That’s why I always suspected it (not playing) came from the Sharpe group. I don’t think that was good for Kentucky.”