SEC Basketball: 5 key questions and storylines for 2021-22 season

3. Who leads Kentucky in scoring this season?

Hightower

This is a question that I pondered for quite a while, but after evaluating each Kentucky player that has the potential to lead the way in the scoring department this season, I think that I like Davion Mintz’s chances the most.

While he isn’t the only Kentucky returner who averaged more than 10 points last year (he averaged 11.5 points while Keion Brooks Jr. averaged 10.3), he is a player that showed how effective he can be in Kentucky’s offense toward the end of the 2020-21 season (he finished with 6 straight 10+ point performances). Kellan Grady is certainly a talented offensive player, but I’m not 100% confident that he’ll continue his elite scoring ways at a much higher level.

Additionally, I see Sahvir Wheeler taking on more of a distributing role this season, and I’m not quite sure how Oscar Tshiebwe will fare in Kentucky’s offense. If Mintz gets himself going early and often in a system that he is fairly familiar with, he should be the Wildcats’ leading scorer in 2021-22.

Beard

TyTy Washington, in my opinion, will lead the team in scoring. I got a chance to see TyTy in Kentucky’s NIL event in September, and he stood out by far, more than any other player. His leadership, his attitude, and his personality are going to make him a fan favorite in Lexington. They had a 3 point shootout and he got 26/30 possible points in the final round. Trust me when I say “TyTy Washington is going to be a STAR”.

Melton

Kellan Grady. While there are obviously other options, Grady is a bonafide scorer having averaged 17.4 PPG the last four seasons at Davidson where he scored over 2,000 points.

Zacher

Davion Mintz is the logical answer here, considering he, with Brandon Boston Jr., led the Wildcats in scoring last season at 11.5 points, but the graduate student struggled shooting the ball inside the arc with a sluggish 42.6% clip – despite a solid 37.8% mark from outside.  Until he proves that he can improve that, then Kellan Grady has to be the safe answer.

Sahvir Wheeler may be handling too much responsibility in controlling Kentucky’s offense at point to be relied upon to score as much as he did at Georgia, while Oscar Tshiebwe must prove himself after a lackluster, shortened season at West Virginia, leaving Grady as the best, proven option.

Grady’s coming off a season where he averaged nearly 28 points for a really good Davidson team – and, although he may not be able to replicate those numbers at Kentucky given the talent surrounding him, he should still be able to average around 14-15 points a night.