Kentucky Basketball: Are Wildcats falling behind on and off the court?

Mar 12, 2022; Tampa, FL, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari huddles up with forward Lance Ware (55), guard Sahvir Wheeler (2), guard TyTy Washington Jr. (3), forward Oscar Tshiebwe (34) and teammates during the second half at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports /

4 of 5

Kentucky Basketball Oscar Tshiebwe Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports /

It has taken a couple of years to get a handle on the transfer portal

Over the last few years, the offseason trend that has absolutely exploded across college basketball has been the use of the transfer portal. Not only has the number of players that have decided to transfer skyrocketed, but the way teams have approached the portal has changed, as they now use it as a way to quickly retool a roster instead of going for a full-blown rebuild with young players.

In the last three seasons, Kentucky has become more active and more successful when it comes to the transfer portal. It began in 2019 when grad transfer Nate Sestina arrived in Lexington after averaging nearly 16 points and 8.5 rebounds as a senior at Bucknell. In his lone year at Kentucky, he had a minimal impact, putting up about six points and four rebounds per game.

The following year Calipari added three more transfers, Olivier Sarr from Wake Forest, Davion Mintz, a guard from Creighton, and Rhode Island’s Jacob Toppin. Unfortunately for a team that struggled, those three didn’t make much of an improvement on their final seasons at their old schools. In fact, Sarr in particular pulled down only half the rebounds he did the year before at Wake Forest.

This year Calipari hit gold in the portal when he brought in Sahvir Wheeler to run the point, Kellan Grady, and CJ Frederick to improve the team’s long-distance shooting and while Frederick missed the season due to injury, Grady helped bump their three-point shooting to nearly 35%. The Hope Diamond of the class was Oscar Tshiebwe who went from eight points and eight rebounds at West Virginia to the sport’s most dominant player, winning National Player of the Year honors after averaging 17 points and 15 rebounds.

The Wildcats have yet to hit the portal so far but that is likely because they are waiting to see who decides to return to Lexington. After a slow start, it looks like Calipari is starting to figure out how to make the portal work best for the Wildcats.

Home/Kentucky Wildcats