Is it really some kind of “move” though, bucs? It’s coaching and always has been. You know that. Coaches on every level bring in players they think give them the best chance to win the most - even when last season’s “star” player might see a reduced role or usage. Calipari says he doesn’t promise starting roles or minutes. I have to take him at his word. So, what’s the problem with recruiting the best players at the top program in CBB? Iron sharpens iron. And if a player isn’t willing or good enough to compete then they don’t belong at UK, right? And let’s not forget that transfers count as recruits too. As pundits and college coaches have said, if you’re not competing in the transfer portal then you’re operating with one hand tied behind your back.
And I won’t gripe a bit if UK starts landing much less OAD “talent,” and stops trying to build rosters annually with 4-5 OAD freshmen. UK is one of the top, if not the top, CBB powers. They can build rosters with more stability and chance of success year-in-and-year-out by relying much more on a core of 4-5 returning players, 4-6 freshmen role players with maybe 1-2 OADs, and a couple of top transfers. I mean all we have to do is look at the teams that have been to the Final Four since 2018 to see that Freshman are not very impactful to success.
Of the 100 starters on the 20 teams in the Final Four from 2018 through 2022, only seven were true freshmen. In fact, nearly three-quarters of those players (74 out of 100) were fifth-years, seniors, juniors or redshirt sophomores (two more were redshirted freshmen.). Moreover, 5 of those 7 freshmen that started were no more than role players for those teams, not stars. The exceptions would have been Jalen Suggs (Gonzaga 2021) and Paolo Banchero (Duke 2022). And in 2023, I think 18 of the 20 Final Four starters had been in college for at least three years. The outliers being UConn’s Alex Karaban (a redshirt freshman) and Jordan Hawkins (a sophomore).
