NCAA Basketball: 5 takeaways from Nolan Hickman committing to Gonzaga

2. Kentucky will live without Nolan Hickman

What made Hickman’s decision to leave Kentucky so interesting is that at the time, he was the only point guard on the projected roster for next season. Former five-star freshman Devin Askew transferred to Texas, while leading scorer and passer Davion Mintz entered the NBA Draft, still yet with a decision to make on whether or not to return or not. And with class of 2022 commit Skyy Clark not reclassifying, Hickman’s departure left them with no one.

Of course, there was plenty of rumors and talk concerning a number of other point guards, either via the transfer portal or high school. They weren’t able to land any for a while until last week when top-20 class of 2021 point guard and former Creighton commit TyTy Washington picked Kentucky over Arizona, Oregon, and Kansas. Technically, he’s an “upgrade” over Hickman if the discussion is about who can start on Day 1. But as we saw with Askew, it’s not a sure bet that incoming freshmen point guards can lead teams to victory.

There’s also the talk that Georgia transfer could be picking the Wildcats soon enough too. They’re one of his four finalists and if Mintz returns too, the backcourt will be in strong shape. The more negative point to make of Kentucky is that this is the second time they have lost to Gonzaga in a recruiting battle, having lost out on Sallis earlier.

The Wildcats may be showing a chink in the armor on the recruiting trail but they’ve been working on the transfer portal. And the reality is that as long as head coach John Calipari is around, they’ll remain formidable on the national level. Kentucky will just have to now worry about Gonzaga out west too.