Kentucky Basketball: Way-too-early look at Wildcats 2022-23 roster
Kentucky Basketball’s season ended in disappointing fashion on Thursday night, getting upset by 15-seed Saint Peter’s in the round of 64 — the biggest upset of the 2022 NCAA Tournament so far.
The Wildcats’ failure to win the SEC regular-season or tournament title followed by a first-round loss to a 15-seed in the NCAA Tournament will make for a long offseason for Head Coach John Calipari and Big Blue Nation, but there are reasons for hope.
After all, the era of the transfer portal has treated the Wildcats kindly so far, bringing in potential National Player of the Year winner Oscar Tshiebwe as well as starters Sahvir Wheeler and Kellan Grady. Calipari will likely look back to the portal this offseason to fill out a strong but incomplete projected roster for the 2022-23 season.
At the end of the day, projecting any team’s roster seven months in advance in the era of the transfer portal and the one-and-done is nearly impossible. The process involves assumptions about who leaves and who stays with regard to the NBA Draft and the transfer portal.
Kentucky has two scholarship players who are out of eligibility, three more who could reasonably enter the NBA Draft, and eight who seem likely to return. That said, it’s nearly impossible to predict who will transfer so that eight could drop down to five or six if a couple of role players decide to leave in search of increased playing time.
That said, this is where being Kentucky helps. Calipari has excelled at bringing in star freshmen over his tenure and has quickly found his groove with the transfer portal.
As arguably the greatest men’s college basketball program of all time and a top 2-3 brand in the sport today, bringing in quality players to fill out a competitive roster shouldn’t be a concern. The concern is whether or not those players mesh — whether they have championship potential. At the end of the day, that’s what Kentucky expects to compete for.
Here is a complete breakdown of Kentucky’s current roster situation heading into the offseason.