John Calipari with freshmen Aaron Bradshaw and DJ Wagner, two of his current seven scholarship players. (Twitter Photo)
So far Kentucky has lost eight players off last year’s basketball team after Oscar Tshiebwe and Chris Livingston kept their names in the NBA Draft along with Cason Wallace and Jacob Toppin.
Four other players — Lance Ware, Daimion Collins, Sahvir Wheeler and CJ Fredrick — have all transferred.
Antonio Reeves, last season’s second leading scorer, pulled his name out of the draft but has not yet committed to returning to Kentucky since he could have the option to change schools as a graduate transfer.
That leaves UK with two returning players — Adou Thiero and Uno Onyenso — along with five incoming freshmen who make up the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class.
Since NIL money hit the marketplace, Kentucky has added one transfer — Reeves — and now UK coach John Calipari desperately needs to find a way to attract more players. However, the coach isn’t worried based on his social media posts Thursday.
“I woke up this morning thinking about our team now that the NBA deadline has passed,” Calipari tweeted. “We support all of our players as they weigh their options and pursue their dreams and it’s my job to make sure these kids are making informed decisions. It may not be what you think or I think – but it’s informed.”
Informed or not, UK has lost eight players and could easily lose Reeves, too. That roster uncertainty due to the NBA dreams has been an issue.
“That also makes it hard to move until you really know what your roster is going to be. We’ve prepared for all scenarios and now we can move forward,” Calipari posted.
“There’s so much misinformation out there and most of it we can’t address publicly. Numbers being thrown around just aren’t accurate, who we are in contact with or who we are not in contact with, we don’t make it public.”
Actually, who UK is in contact with normally does become public and there is no misinformation about Kentucky only having seven scholarship players on June 1.
But Calipari said fans should not panic as he finalizes the 2023-24 roster.
“We want players who want this culture, who care about winning, understand what it means to play at Kentucky – both how hard and how rewarding it is – and have the ultimate drive to win and succeed on the biggest stage, which helps everyone,” Calipari posted.
“We have a talented group right now which isn’t finished yet, but when it’s done we will have a talented team who will chase the ultimate goal together and make #BBN proud.”
3 Responses
I really think that it is crucial to retain Reeves for this new team. He is the connection to the past and the new players will look up to him. I trust the coaches to form the team as a whole, that is their job. I am looking forward to a great new season! As they say in the south "git ‘er done!" And GO BIG BLUE!!!
Calipari does not place the success of the program at the top of his priorities despite the fact that the program’s success is his job, his responsibility. The program butters his bread, and the reason it does so to the tune of $10 mil/year is to maintain the program as the gold standard. The Gold Standard was earned over many decades by wins that matter, hanging banners at Rupp, and bringing home the hardware. For the naysayers, no one expects or demands that UK’s coach bring home the hardware every year, but the UK coach must have this program in position to at least compete on that level nearly every year.
Yet, this program is not competing on the national stage any longer. Calipari does not build teams that display synergy, that achieves more than the players ever dreamed possible. Calipari has a ready-made excuse for every loss, and he trots them out even before the loss occurs. Winning, competing for championships, and winning championships is not what motivates him, and does not define his priorities.
His priority, as he has stated since he arrived, is players first, but how has that worked out for the program?
His players first priority is inconsistent with the team first, much less program first. Team first is right behind the program first in the proper order of things and the two are essentially synonymous.
However, Calipari has turned this program on its head. Calipari cannot distinguish up from down and this program is down and falling faster today than it was 1 year ago.
Synergy: The interaction of two or more agents or forces (read: players and coaches) so that their combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects.
A coach’s primary job is to build a team that has synergy. This is how a group of players, from all walks of life, achieve more than any single one of them dreamed possible. This is how a group of players compete for and win championships. That is how a group of players become life long soul mates based on that common experience that no one of them could have enjoyed without the synergistic contributions of all others.
This coach’s emphasis on getting individual players moving as fast as possible from high school to the NBA draft is not just incompatible with a coach’s job, it cannot build synergy.
But, as with every other June since he arrived, Calipari will get to be in the Green Room in a couple of weeks and tell the world once again that NBA draft day is the most important day in the year for UK basketball.
Wrong again!!! The first Monday night in April is the most important day of the basketball year for UK fans.
Cal says a lot of things. Problem is very little of it is the truth.