Kentucky Basketball: Way-too-early look at Wildcats 2022-23 roster

Out of Eligibility

Kellan Grady

Grady started all 34 games for Kentucky this season, averaging 11.5 PPG as the team’s best 3-point shooter. The Davidson College transfer struggled with his shot down the stretch but was still a key piece to Kentucky’s success this season and will be a significant loss.

Davion Mintz

Mintz’s college career comes to an end after four seasons with Creighton and two with Kentucky — a six-year, redshirt super senior career that dates back to 2016. Mintz was UK’s sixth man this season, starting just six of 31 total games but ranking fifth on the team in MPG and sixth in PPG.

NBA Draft

TyTy Washington

Washington was a consensus 5-star recruit in the class of 2021 who will likely be a lottery pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. The 6-3 point guard averaged 12.8 PPG and 4.0 APG this season — second on Kentucky in both categories.

His decision feels pretty open-and-shut. I’d be genuinely shocked if he returns to Lexington for another season.

Shaedon Sharpe

Sharpe was the No. 1 prospect in the class of 2022 before reclassifying and joining Kentucky for this spring semester, although he never actually suited up for the Wildcats this season. Sharpe would likely be a lottery pick if he decides to enter the NBA Draft, but people close to Kentucky seem to think there’s legitimate hope he returns to Lexington next season.

The basic arguments for his return would be to actually play for Kentucky and develop under Calipari while collecting what would be presumably significant name, image, and likeness money. The arguments against him returning would be the risk of an injury that could hurt his NBA Draft stock, which is already excellent. Also, even if name, image, and likeness money is significant as a star at Kentucky, it hardly matches the money of an NBA contract and the endorsements that come as a potential lottery pick.

Oscar Tshiebwe

Tshiebwe still has two years of eligibility remaining, so this decision comes down to his personal choice. He would get drafted if he decides to leave — likely either towards the end of the first round or early in the second round. He could return, but it’s hard to imagine what the likely National Player of the Year who averaged 17.0 PPG and 15.1 RPG this season could do to help boost his current draft stock. If anything, the extra year would likely hurt his draft stock.

For the purpose of this piece, let’s assume both Sharpe and Tshiebwe enter the NBA Draft, although it’s not totally unrealistic to imagine either returning to Kentucky this fall.