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Kentucky Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for Wildcats

Photo Credit: Andy Lyons - Getty Images
Photo Credit: Andy Lyons - Getty Images
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KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – MARCH 28: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats speaks with the media at a press conference during a practice session ahead of the 2019 NCAA Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at Sprint Center on March 28, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI – MARCH 28: Head coach John Calipari of the Kentucky Wildcats speaks with the media at a press conference during a practice session ahead of the 2019 NCAA Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional at Sprint Center on March 28, 2019 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Tim Bradbury/Getty Images)

Kentucky Basketball is coming off a 30 win season in which they made the Elite Eight, but still, it felt like a disappointment. How will they “rebound” this year as they welcome a bunch of new faces?

Kentucky Basketball’s early-season projections seem like rinse and repeat every single year. Underclassmen have declared for the NBA draft and five-star recruits come in and must get familiar with each other before taking off and being one of the best teams in the country.

This year, guess what? It is no different. Gone are leading scorers PJ Washington, Tyler Herro, and Keldon Johnson who all left for the NBA. They did also lose Quade Green as he transferred to Washington and Coach Calipari’s son Brad who transferred to Detroit Mercy (although he wasn’t much of a loss on the court).

In are highly touted recruits Kahlil Whitney, Tyrese Maxey, Johnny Juzang, Dontaie Allen, and Keion Brooks Jr. They also add Bucknell transfer Nate Sestina who will look to fit in also.

Kentucky season ended last year in overtime against conference rival Auburn who they beat a month earlier by 27. It was a disappointing way to end the season, one in which the Wildcats thought they had a great shot at winning the whole thing based on how they were playing at the end of the year.

This year they have their sights set high again, but with the SEC getting better and four very tough non-conference games can the Wildcats reach the top of college basketball?

We are a little over a month away from getting it all started as we break down the Kentucky roster, their key non-conference games and go over their outlook for the season.