DJ Wagner (McDonald’s All-American Games Photo)
If you ask Kentucky basketball fans if they are excited about next season despite UK’s lack of NCAA Tournament success the last three years, most are probably going to quickly answer yes because of the No. 1-ranked recruiting class that John Calipari has signed.
However, note that in this year’s Elite Eight, out of the 40 starters, there was only one true freshman compared to 16 seniors and 16 more transfers. In the Final Four, there was not a single McDonald’s All-American participating this year.
Yet before this year’s NCAA Tournament was ever over, ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi already had forecast the Wildcats to be a No. 1 seed in next year’s NCAA Tournament along with Kansas, Arizona and Connecticut, this year’s national champion. The counter comes from basketball analyst David Sisk of Rivals.com who wrote “next season is not a slam dunk” for Kentucky basketball and maybe Lunardi agrees because he has now lowered his way too early prediction about UK.
Kentucky is going to count on freshmen DJ Wagner, Justin Edwards, Aaron Bradshaw, Rob Dillingham and Reed Sheppard to wipe out memories of no NCAA Tournament berth in 2021, a first-round NCAA loss in 2022 and just one win in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Wagner and Edwards are two of the top players in their recruiting class and McDonald’s All-Americans like Bradshaw and Sheppard. Dillingham is considered an elite shot maker and passer.
“Each player has great things about their games that we could all use and match and play together (with) each other,” Wagner said. “The main thing I know is that we all want to win. Just from having conversations with them and talking about next year, we all just want to win. That’s our main goal. Just winning as much as we can.”
Not just win but win the national championship that has eluded UK since 2012 and get back to the Final Four for the first time since 2015.
“I think we can accomplish a lot. I think we can win a national championship and Cal can go back to playing a lot of freshmen,” Edwards said.
Wagner also understands pressure. His grandfather played on a national championship team at Louisville. His father played for Calipari at Memphis. The incoming Wildcat has been a national phenomenon for years.
Wagner is thankful he has other talented players coming to UK with him.
“I feel like we’re all confident in each other and the way to prepare for that is to stay in the gym and keep working hard every day,” Wagner said. “We all feel like we can rely on each other in games. We’re all excited.”
No player understands the potential pressure on UK players next year more than Sheppard. His father, Jeff, played on national championship teams in 1996 and 1998 at Kentucky. He’s been around Kentucky basketball all his life and is a fan favorite in the Bluegrass.
“Anyone knows it’s going to be hard to play at Kentucky. They’re one of the greatest college basketball programs in history,” Reed Sheppard said. “Going to Kentucky you know you’re going to have a lot of pressure knowing they’ve struggled a little bit the past few postseasons and the fans are getting a little impatient.
“It is kind of a lot of pressure, but it’s something you work for. It’s something you look forward to, playing with great players and great coaches to make a run (at a national title).”
Kentucky now annually has a roster in flux with Calipari having to balance players leaving the program for various reasons with new players he’s signed to players he must bring in from the transfer portal to balance the roster.
Today he’s waiting on a decision from Michigan All-American Hunter Dickinson on a possible transfer to Kentucky while two-time All-American Oscar Tshiebwe continues to contemplate if he’ll go pro or return to college for another season.
Yet at the Final Four, Calipari put his best spin on what lies ahead despite having just one NCAA Tournament win in the last three years.
“When you go through some seasons at Kentucky, the thing I’ve got to tell you is, if I’m ever feeling sorry for myself, what? I’ve been blessed to be able to coach at Kentucky, even in the bad times,” Calipari said. “I know other guys say, ‘I want to coach at Kentucky, I don’t care,’ so I am blessed to be able to do what I’m doing.
“The reason is Kentucky is a stage where I can really help kids compete for national titles. You can really help kids. Our kids in the NBA, what they’ve been able to do with their lives, they’ve made over $3 billion.”
The NBA salaries are nice for former UK players but Big Blue fans are eager to believe Calipari will have a team next year that can once again compete for a national championship.
6 Responses
Lunard can say all he wants, last season everybody pick N.Carolina was the team to win it all they didn’t make the tournament. That just shows the experts doesn’t know everything.
Amen 79. Go Cats!!!
As long as Calipari is coaching UK will not be a national contender again.
Hopefully next season is his last.
In 2018 he couldn’t make it past the sweet 16 with 7 NBA players on that team.
Calipari is a fraud, and there will be no national contender at UK again until he leaves, and the longer he stays, the longer it will take to return this program to the national stage.
“The reason is Kentucky is a stage where I can really help kids compete for national titles. You can really help kids. Our kids in the NBA, what they’ve been able to do with their lives, they’ve made over $3 billion.”
This says it all about his priorities, and the part about helping "kids compete for national titles" is a lie because he does not care if UK actually does this or not, and the "over $3 billion" that pulls his wagon is all he cares about.
Wait until next year is all that you hear from the Calipari lovers despite a solid track record of severely underachieving over the past 7 years. There are 8,500,001 reasons why Calipari stays here…his outrageous salary and no other school will have him.
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