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Kentucky Basketball: Projecting Wildcats’ starters and bench for 2017-18

By Taylor Sturm

KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 24: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts in the first half of the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 24, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - JANUARY 24: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts in the first half of the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 24, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
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KNOXVILLE, TN – JANUARY 24: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts in the first half of the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 24, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN – JANUARY 24: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts in the first half of the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Thompson-Boling Arena on January 24, 2017 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

The Kentucky Wildcats head into 2017-18 with a plethora of talent on their roster, but what will their starting lineup end up looking like?

As usual, the Kentucky Wildcats will head into next basketball season with a massive roster turnover, as a huge portion of their team from the previous season heads of to the NBA.

Fortunately, as usual, John Calipari and the Wildcats have rebuilt with one of the most talented recruiting classes in the country.

Boasting five five-star recruits (six if you count Hamidou Diallo) and two four-star recruits, Kentucky boasts the No. 2 recruiting class in college basketball. Along with Diallo, the Wildcats earned commitments from point guard Quade Green, shooting guards Jemari Baker and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, small forwards Kevin Knox and Jarred Vanderbilt, and center Nick Richards – all of whom should end up playing in the NBA fairly soon.

That being said, the starting five for the Wildcats next season is going to be extremely difficult to figure out, as most of these players could start for any team in the country and there are a couple of fairly underrated returners on this Kentucky roster as well.

Coach Cal has always been one of the best ever when it comes to splitting up playing time in order to keep his players happy and win games. The 2017-18 season will be no different, and we should expect big things from one of the most potentially top to bottom talented Wildcat rosters of the last few seasons.

Here is the projected starting lineup and bench for the Kentucky Wildcats heading into the 2017-18 college basketball season.

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