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Kentucky Basketball: Analyzing the Wildcats’ rotation for 2018-19

By Tristan Freeman

BOISE, ID - MARCH 15: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts against the Davidson Wildcats during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 15, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
BOISE, ID - MARCH 15: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts against the Davidson Wildcats during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 15, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
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BOISE, ID – MARCH 15: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts against the Davidson Wildcats during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 15, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
BOISE, ID – MARCH 15: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts against the Davidson Wildcats during the first round of the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Taco Bell Arena on March 15, 2018 in Boise, Idaho. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Once again Kentucky Basketball has a loaded roster for the 2018-19 season. Here’s how the Wildcats projected rotation will look when it comes to minutes.

No head coach in NCAA Basketball has a tougher time when it comes to giving out minutes than John Calipari of Kentucky Basketball. It’s a double-edged sword due to his excellent recruiting ability, with a double-digit number of four and five-star players looking to play right away.

This upcoming season will be more of the same, with a combination of new prospects, somewhat surprising returns and even a grad transfer. The roster will be much more experienced compared to the 2017-18 team, which was filled with nothing but underclassmen.

Seven players are gone from last season’s Sweet Sixteen squad. That includes 2018 NBA Draft lottery picks Kevin Knox and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, fellow picks Hamidou Diallo and Jarred Vanderbilt, while Wenyen Gabriel opted to go pro. Tai Wynyard left the program and Sacha Killeya-Jones transferred to the NC State Wolfpack.

Among the returnees are Quade Green, PJ Washington, Nick Richards, and Jamarl Baker, who redshirted last year after undergoing knee surgery. Reid Travis was a later addition, coming from Stanford after withdrawing from the NBA Draft. Throw in the 2nd-ranked recruiting class of 2018 and you have 10 quality players who’ll need minutes.

For this piece, I’ll be taking a look at the projected rotations for each Wildcat, using the traditional rotations. I’m not redshirting any freshman on this team, which makes this even harder to do. Nevertheless, here’s how I see Kentucky Basketball looking for next season.

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