Mike DeCourcy says Cats have chance to be great if Oscar Tshiebwe returns

National player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe will decide soon between turning pro or playing another season for Kentucky. (Photo by Vicky Graff)

Should Kentucky basketball fans feel better because the way too early polls for the 2022-23 college season have the Wildcats ranked so highly?

The Sporting News’ Mike DeCourcy has Kentucky in the No. 1 spot. ESPN has Arkansas No. 1 in its early rankings with Kentucky at No. 7. The 247Sports rankings have Arkansas No. 1 with Kentucky No. 2 — the same prediction that Sports Illustrated has. CBS Sports has John Calipari’s team No. 3 behind UCLA and North Carolina.

What about the Las Vegas oddsmakers? The Caesars Sports book has UK tied for the third-shortest odds to win the 2023 national championship behind Kansas and Gonzaga.

All that seems so positive for a program that has not won a postseason game the last two seasons. However, maybe it is way too early to even pay attention to the polls.

Kentucky has so many roster questions — starting with Oscar Tshiebwe and Shaedon Sharpe. High projections for Kentucky definitely include Tshiebwe, the national player of the year, returning for another season instead of starting a professional career. Having Sharpe on the roster seems more unlikely even to those making the predictions but if Tshiebwe and Sharpe are both on the roster it certainly makes a case for UK being preseason No. 1 a lot easier to understand.

“Having Oscar is the difference between Kentucky being preseason No. 1 and a team that will still be very, very good,” DeCourcy said. “With Oscar in the lineup, Kentucky is as good a pick as anyone to win the national championship with what we know about rosters now.”

That’s a big if because roster turmoil in college basketball will be full speed ahead for the next two months. Players can test the NBA market and either staying in the draft or return to school. Players can transfer at any time.

Think about last season’s Kentucky team that won 26 games and was a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Cats did not add CJ Fredrick from Iowa until May 5 or Sahvir Wheeler from Georgia until May 17. Kentucky did get Kellan Grady from Davidson on March 29 — and some transfers have already made college choices already this season — but plenty of the top players wait. This weekend Antonio Reeves of Illinois State, the top scoring player in the transfer portal, is visiting UK.

Also don’t forget that Kentucky didn’t get a commitment from TyTy Washington until mid-May, so there could still be a high school senior out there Calipari might opt to sign for next season. Five-star forward Leonard Miller is also visiting UK this weekend and he’s deciding between UK, Arizona and the G-League for where he’ll play next season.

It’s hard to keep up with all the potential transfers that Kentucky has been in contact with ranging from Morehead center John Broome to Arkansas State power forward Norchad Omier to Texas Tech small forward Terrence Shannon to Texas guard Courtney Ramey to LSU guard Adam Miller. There are more names connected to UK and more likely could still surface.

“There are a lot of unknowns,” DeCourcy said. “If you put Oscar with Sahvir, you have your point guard-post intact for next season. You have young wings (Cason Wallace, Chris Livingston) coming in. Daimion Collins says he is coming back. There is a lot of opportunity there to field a terrific team.”

“What was missing last year for Kentucky were great wings, guys who can guard on the perimeter and also shoot and make shots. (National champion) Kansas has two NBA wings. Kentucky had no one like they did. Next year’s group is supposed to be better and add Oscar to that and Kentucky will not miss a beat. I think they will be good next year even if Oscar is not back, but Kentucky has a chance to be great if Oscar is in the middle.”