With nine McDonald’s All-Americans, the Kentucky Wildcats are the obvious choice for the preseason #1 ranked team and the most likely to cut down the nets at the Final Four. The biggest challenge for John Calipari is finding a balance among his wealth of riches and keep everyone happy.
Kentucky Wildcats
Last Season: T-2nd,12-6 in SEC, 29-11 overall
Predicted SEC Finish: 1st
Projected Depth Chart
C: Dakari Johnson (So)/Willie Cauley-Stein (Jr)
PF: Karl-Anthony Towns (Fr)/Trey Lyles (Fr)/Marcus Lee (So)
F: Alex Poythress (Jr)/Derek Willis (So)
SG: Aaron Harrison (So)/Devin Booker (Fr)
PG: Andrew Harrison (So)/Tyler Ulis (Fr)/Dominique Hawkins (So)
Gone: PF-Julius Randle, SG-James Young, G/F-Jon Hood, PG-Jarrod Polson
2014-2015 Outlook:
One luxury that Coach Cal has with this team that he hasn’t had in years past is this group’s experience. Whereas most Wildcats are one-and-done’s, this crop of UK talent has numerous returning players.
That includes the Harrison twins.
Andrew and Aaron were highly criticized as freshmen for their inconsistent play but they did show maturation during Kentucky’s run to the National Championship game. Their continued development is important for UK to live up to their potential; but it’s the top priority since Kentucky also brings in a talented duo of freshmen guards.
Tyler Ulis provides Calipari with a true distributor and floor general; something that Andrew Harrison is not.
Ulis is undersized but he’s quick as lightning and a tremendous decision-maker. Booker helps replace what the team lost in James Young and should immediately become UK’s most dangerous perimeter shooter.
Managing the minutes of the frontcourt is a more challenging task for Calipari.
The Kentucky Wildcats return their center duo of Willie Cauley-Stein and Dakari Johnson. Johnson replaced WC-S in the starting lineup midway through last season and is a more skilled and physical low post offensive presence. Cauley-Stein plays with a high motor and makes his biggest impact as a rebounder and shot blocker. He’s still very much a work in progress offensively.
There is quite the logjam at power forward with Karl-Anthony Towns and Trey Lyles joining Marcus Lee. Towns is the most talented of that trio as he is an inside/outside threat who brings a different dimension to the Kentucky Wildcats offense. Lyles is more of a prototypical power forward due to his size and physicality in the paint. He does have a nice mid-range game as well.
Lee barely saw the floor last year as a freshman and that could be the case again this year. His athleticism is off the charts and he makes his biggest impact on the glass but he will hard pressed to steal minutes from Towns or Lyle at the four. Figuring out a rotation among these three is going to keep Coach Cal up at nights.
Alex Poythress is another rare returning Wildcat. After starting his freshman year, Poythress came off the bench as a sophomore and was used as more of a glue guy. With all the depth up-front, Poythress should prolifically play the three. Booker should see some minutes at small forward as well and Calipari could slide Lee to that position as well if needed.
There has been discussion of Kentucky using a hockey-like approach this season: utilizing two rotating five-man units. However Cal ends up working all the talent together, the expectations are through the roof this season and anything less than another Kentucky Wildcats National Title will be a disappointment.
Kentucky Wildcats Key Non-Conference Games:
11/18 vs. Kansas (Champions Classic in Indianapolis)
11/30 vs. Providence
12/5 vs. Texas
12/13 vs. North Carolina
12/20 vs. UCLA (in Chicago)
12/27 at Louisville
OTHER SEC PREVIEWS:
BIG 12 PREVIEWS:
#1 KANSAS JAYHAWKS
#2 TEXAS LONGHORNS
PAC-12 PREVIEWS:
#1 ARIZONA WILDCATS
#4 UCLA BRUINS
David Kay is a senior feature NBA Draft, NBA, and college basketball writer for the Sports Bank. He also heads up the NBA and college basketball material at Walter Football.com and is a former contributor at The Washington Times Communities. David has appeared on numerous national radio programs spanning from Cleveland to New Orleans to Milwaukee to Honolulu. He also had the most accurate 2011 NBA Mock Draft and the most accurate 2012 NBA Mock Draft on the internet (Yup, repeat champ… #humblebrag), and finished with the second most accurate 2013 NBA Mock Draft (nearly a three-peat.) You can follow him on Twitter at David_Kmiecik.