SEC Basketball: Early grades for each teams 2023 offseason moves

Georgia Bulldogs – Grade: C

Georgia had a great season last year considering the amount of question marks they had heading into the season with new head coach Mike White and a roster that didn’t have a ton of talent. The Bulldogs are one of those teams who are going to have to build their roster through the transfer portal. It is always the easiest for teams to get quick talent via the transfer portal that can come and step right in. The Bulldogs did lose their best player to the transfer portal when Kario Oquendo decided to transfer.

The Bulldogs added a lot of talent but there are still some question marks with those additions. Jalen DeLoach from VCU is proven and will provide a big upside for the Bulldogs on the defensive end of the floor. DeLoach could be a force in the paint given the right situation and while he is undersized he is extremely athletic.

Noah Thomasson was a star at Niagara, but how will his game translate to the SEC. It is not every day that you have the opportunity to add a 20-point-per-game scorer though. RJ Melendez is extremely talented and the game of basketball comes easy to him or so they say. He didn’t live up to his lofty expectations at Illinois. The next player has a chance to be one of the best players in the SEC next year but he could also have a hard time adjusting. RJ Sunahara was the Division II player of the year at Nova Southeastern and was an elite scorer at that level. This grade has a chance to go to an A pretty quickly.

Kentucky Wildcats – Grade: F

Head coach John Calipari has been on the Big Blue Nation hot seat for awhile. I know they keep making the NCAA tournament but the Wildcats are nowhere near living up to the expectations that are placed on them every season by their fan base and given how the early part of the offseason has gone there is a lot more to be restless about. Kentucky was better last year and they do return Antonio Reeves but that is about it. The Wildcats lost Sahvir Wheeler, CJ Fredrick, Damian Collins, and backup big man Lance Ware.

Depth is a question for Kentucky and while coach Calipari was able to get Ugonna Kingsley Onyenso to withdraw from the transfer portal there is so much more left to do. The Wildcats missed out on Hunter Dickinson and have not been in on many others. Right now Kentucky gets an F. Hopefully after the dead period and the NBA early draft entrants come back to school the roster will start to look a little better.