Kentucky Basketball: Impact of Ashton Hagans’ return to Wildcats for 2019-20
By Alex Weber
Kentucky Basketball freshman point guard Ashton Hagans announced his intentions to return to school for another season, prompting questions regarding his future role and potential
Tuesday evening, Kentucky starting point guard announced his intentions to return to Lexington for his sophomore season. The decision was likely unsurprising to the casual fan, as his 7.7 points per game and turnover-laden ballhandling abilities suggest he’s far from ready to make an impact at the next level.
Here in Bluegrass state, however, the swift choice to deny the professional ranks (for at least one more season) was somewhat shocking, considering the various rumors around campus that, since his breakout stretch in January, Hagans’ plan was the usual one-and-done route. Either way, the Kentucky Wildcats will have a second-year point guard for just the third time in the Calipari era, and I have some thoughts.
The Significance of the Decision
Hagans’ return has bountiful basketball pluses for the Wildcats, but it also serves as a frictional statement about the Kentucky basketball program: that it is OK to come back for a sophomore season and not be considered a failure. John Calipari has earned his pedigree at the University of Kentucky as the one-and-done maestro.
Point guards John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, Marquis Teague, De’Aaron Fox, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were each drafted in the first round of the NBA draft after impressing during their freshman campaigns. Traditionally, this is what Kentucky point guards are supposed to do. Other than Andrew Harrison (who returned to form an impenetrable regular season team) and Tyler Ulis (at 5’8, never had serious NBA potential), every other Calipari point guard has chased professional glory after one year. Hagans breaks the trend.
P.J. Washington braved this front last offseason when he elected to return despite his surefire second-round stock. And that was a brilliant decision. Washington earned consensus third team All-American accolades and sling-shot himself into the lottery on most mock drafts. I’m sure Ashton took P.J.’s robust second year into consideration during his deliberation. Now, with Hagans (who I’m sure will take a step forward) and Washington, the trend of one-and-done dominance is being bucked, when it comes to those on the fringe.