Kentucky came into 2024 with a dazzling array of 5-star freshmen, a returning all-SEC caliber guard, a well-regarded transfer forward, a budding international star, and a hall of fame coach in his 15th year.
Kentucky began 2025 with a team hastily assembled beginning in late April with zero returning players, no celebrated incoming freshmen, with a new coach and facing a daunting OOC schedule and probably the toughest conference line-up in NCAA history.
And after all that, the Cats have the same NCAA seed after all that, and have already won one more SEC game. This team can't do worse than last year's in the NCAA Tournament, and may yet do some good things.
Calipari's disastrous final years aren't the standard. The Cats need to get back to national title contenders as soon as next year for Pope to be successful.
But anyone who is saying this year has not been a success is nuts.
Kentucky began 2025 with a team hastily assembled beginning in late April with zero returning players, no celebrated incoming freshmen, with a new coach and facing a daunting OOC schedule and probably the toughest conference line-up in NCAA history.
And after all that, the Cats have the same NCAA seed after all that, and have already won one more SEC game. This team can't do worse than last year's in the NCAA Tournament, and may yet do some good things.
Calipari's disastrous final years aren't the standard. The Cats need to get back to national title contenders as soon as next year for Pope to be successful.
But anyone who is saying this year has not been a success is nuts.
