Hickman was measured this fall at 6-3.5 (in shoes) with a 6-6.5 wingspan. He averaged 17.3 points, 3.4 assists, 3.7 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game as a high school junior, making 38 percent of his three-point attempts. For his senior season, he’s moved to Utah to play for Wasatch Academy, a high school team that plays a national schedule. Last summer, he had a 2.4-1 assist-to-turnover ratio on the highly competitive Nike circuit, where he was teammates with Banchero and other high-level players.
We need to grab an elite point guard, now.
- Thread starter FirewithFire
- Start date
His demeanor reminds me of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Nothing SGA or Nolan does looks difficult. Neither guy gets sped up — they force others to adapt to their pace. You always feel like something good is about to happen when the ball is in their hands.” — Pro Insight analyst Matt McKay
I think Toppin will be back. He's really improved through out the year and looks like he has a lot of potential. I think he can be really good for us. But poor PG play will really limit him and the rest of the team.
An elite PG for next year would be really nice but I don't know where we will find one. I don't think we have to have an elite PG to be a good team, as long as we have a team and not a collection of players. This years team seems to have no cohesiveness as well as poor PG play. Hopefully Mintz and Askew come back. Those two plus Hickman would be a good start at PG. Mintz has been good lately and there's no reason to think he can't get better. Askew can be a good player and a good PG but he sure isn't right now. He needs time and coaching and who knows whether that will be here.
But Cal is going to have to change his offensive philosophy to something any PG can run. When your entire offense is predicated on someone breaking down the defense to create offense, it's a disaster when you don't have that player. If he could actually run some offensive sets that create an advantage for our players instead of a bunch wasted movement (like the weave out top), we wouldn't have to have a Wall or Fox type talent. But if Cal isn't going to realize his offense is part of the problem and we don't get a elite PG, it will be a continued disaster.
I figure he could be a slight step up from Jackson, but he'll also have Oscar in the frontcourt with him. Jackson doesn't have that advantage.
But yeah, Collins can't be our best player, that distinction needs to go to the point guard. Hopefully Cal lands a good one.
Hickman is a 4* kid, he's not going to come in here and beat seasoned college guards. You're certainly a sane individual, but you're also very oblivious.
I'd be willing to bet that there will be several really good point guards in the transfer portal. If Pippen goes to the portal, Cal needs to get him.
Heck, louisville grabbed a kid out of the portal, Carlik Jones. He can get the the rim at will. He single handedly beat Duke last week. Kid was a 2* pg out of hs, but after 4 years at mid major level, he turned into a damn good guard. A guy like him would have changed our 20/21 team tremendously
Same thought process. If you can't get that guy from high school then attack the portal and find a proven guard. Hickman may be great but you can't roll the dice. Also competition never hurt anybody and this team needs guards for next year.
We need four portal transfers to complete class
No way I take anymore high schoolers unless top 5 talents
No way I take anymore high schoolers unless top 5 talents
There will be a transfer/grad transfer PG out there that will be better than Sallis, Hickman and for sure Askew, Cal and staff just have to do their homework and find him. The only question I have at this point is do they have a hard time getting a top PG because Hickman and Askew are already here. I think Cal needs to have a long talk with Askew, just not sure it’s gonna work out for him here.
They are def out there, the PG for UL is a perfect example, he will prob be ACC player of the year.
Regardless of how Askew develops as a PG going forward (I happen to think he'll be a solid college PG in the future), I don't see any reason he couldn't play 2G, or be more of a combo guard. He has the frame and was a good shooter in high school, and given his reported work ethic, why couldn't he develop into a fine college combo guard (playing PG or 2G as the situation arises)? 2Gs no more athletic, or even less athletic, than Askew show up as big contributors for top college teams every year - heck, if he was at Iowa he might have been the most athletic guard they have. The difference is they're afforded the patience to develop into upperclassmen.
Well, guess we need to load up and head to Point Guards R Us. It’s apparently time to start shopping.
Yeah, he’s very good but why on earth would he leave UL to come to this (current) dumpster fire?
Is Mack a better evaluator of Talent than John Calipari these days?
At one time Calipari was great but lately it just seems like he casts a wide net out of offers and scoops up as many 2nd tier 5 stars and 4 stars as he can. Basically whoever will sign without really trying to build a cohesive team based on needs, longevity, to run an offense etc. Now granted, John Calipari doesn’t actually run an offense- he is more of a “go make a play” but still.
Agreed- but with the inevitable mass exodus yet again I just can’t see a seasoned and polished PG wanting to come here especially coming off the worst season in Kentucky basketball history. To come in and try and lead an entirely brand new team of 2nd tier freshman? While not really running or playing any type of actual offense?
We should remember that the three point guards who returned... Harrison, Ulis and Hagans... all got better in some regard.
Harrison was more poised, not as many mistakes. Helped the team to 38-0.
Ulis proved his value, played about as best you can for an undersized sophomore PG.
Hagans, while a head case, was a lot better his sophomore year, and he had us in the top10 to finish out the season.
Hard to say if Askew can take that big step forward.. but I definitely think it's possible. Look at his issues this year.. it wasn't REALLY a lack of elite athleticism... it was mental lapses. Wonky passes. bad decisions. These are the things that normally get fixed in the off season.
Harrison was more poised, not as many mistakes. Helped the team to 38-0.
Ulis proved his value, played about as best you can for an undersized sophomore PG.
Hagans, while a head case, was a lot better his sophomore year, and he had us in the top10 to finish out the season.
Hard to say if Askew can take that big step forward.. but I definitely think it's possible. Look at his issues this year.. it wasn't REALLY a lack of elite athleticism... it was mental lapses. Wonky passes. bad decisions. These are the things that normally get fixed in the off season.
Last edited:
I was being facetious. I was making fun of people that seem to think we can just pluck up a difference making PG out of the blue. And I agree that there’s no reason for a great point guard to transfer here at this point. We had a historically bad season and there’s nothing that guarantees next year will be any better at this point. A top notch player at any position usually wants to transfer to a program that’s in contention for the title. Right now that isn’t us.
I wasn't saying he would come to UK, just an example of a mid major transfer that was an immediate impact player. I am sure you are gonna see guys in the NCAA Tournament that fit this mold.
Yeah, somebody needs to tell Cal to stop recruiting PG’s, Hickman is the answer.
I'm just going off what a lot of others have been saying.
Pippen really wanted to come to UK and things really aren't working out too well at Vanderbilt, do my guess is, some people think he might just transfer out.
Plus, isn't there talk about Stackhouse being on the hot-seat at Vandy? If there's any truth to that, and Stackhouse is fired shortly, then I really start taking seriously the possibility of a Pippen Jr. transfer.
My question is why didn’t we go after Carlik Jones? Cal needs a backup at every position and refuses to do it as he fears one of these backups may be better than the precious 5 stars that he promised playing time to.
To be honest, I can't blame him for not going after Jones, the kid doesn't have great measurables, he's not very athletic and he was a 2* kid just a few years ago.
Plus, if Cal thought Askew was going to be good enough to run point this season, maybe his player evaluation skills have diminished… .I kid.
Careful. The “guy coming next year” is always popular around here. Askew was ranked ahead of Hickman....
Askew is a multi-year player, and he will be a solid PG next year.
The kid works hard, and is slowly getting better. This is NORMAL. We need to quit running these kids off, or stop demanding we recruit over them because they aren't John Wall. KIDS CAN GET BETTER AFTER THEIR FIRST YEAR. Askew will, because It appears he has a good work ethic. Also wouldn't surprise me if he continues to grow several more inches.
The kid works hard, and is slowly getting better. This is NORMAL. We need to quit running these kids off, or stop demanding we recruit over them because they aren't John Wall. KIDS CAN GET BETTER AFTER THEIR FIRST YEAR. Askew will, because It appears he has a good work ethic. Also wouldn't surprise me if he continues to grow several more inches.
U could put Magic Johnson on this team. They would still be a bad team. Askew can be good but it isn’t his fault he was handed the keys to a hoopty when he wasn’t ready.
Individually the players have potential, but if your plan is to throw a group together with no experience you are asking for trouble.
100% of this year’s train wreck is on the Coach. Give him a chance to fix it. If he doesn’t, give someone else a chance.
Individually the players have potential, but if your plan is to throw a group together with no experience you are asking for trouble.
100% of this year’s train wreck is on the Coach. Give him a chance to fix it. If he doesn’t, give someone else a chance.
we have had one elite point guard sense world wide wes and cal parted ways and that was fox.
What $ is luring Mintz? He has been on record as being in a 2 year graduate degree program and would like to finish that. So he may return to do just that. It's still unknown if he will or not, but I wouldn't be shocked if he does. I think he's preparing himself for life after basketball.
Hmmm, not sure about that, that SGA guy is doing pretty good in the league!
Thanks to you and Cal there is no shortage of comic relief surrounding this program.
Similar threads
