Kentucky Basketball: 3 ways Tre Mitchell will help the Wildcats next season

Filling a void on the frontline

When a player makes the decision to transfer to a new school, there are ultimately two questions that are first and foremost on his mind: “How much playing time will I get,” and “What will be my role on the new team?” For Tre Mitchell, a big portion of those questions are answered not by who is presently on the roster, but instead by who recently departed.

Oscar Tshiebwe, the 2022 National Player of The Year recently decided to forego his remaining college eligibility and play in the NBA. That leaves the door open for Mitchell to become the team’s primary frontcourt player and the number one option when they are looking for a basket on the inside. Coach Calipari is notorious for his recruiting acumen, meaning Mitchell cannot reasonably expect to become the team’s offensive focal point, but he will certainly be one of the leaders of the team from the moment he steps on campus.

During his freshman and sophomore seasons, Mitchell got an opportunity to experience what it feels like to be one of the go-to guys on offense. In those first two seasons, he averaged 17.7 and 18.8 points per game respectively. At 6’9″ and 225 lbs. Mitchell runs the floor exceptionally well and has active hands-on defense. Many of his points came from getting deflections and then racing down the court to beat everyone else to the other side of halfcourt. That determination to turn the game into a track meet resulted in a lot of layups and dunks. Kentucky Wildcat fans are looking forward to seeing a lot of that out of Tre Mitchell next season.