John Calipari being pre-judged on 2013-14 Kentucky Wildcat Basketball scholarship situation

Feb 20, 2013; Lexington, KY, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari before the game against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Rupp Arena. Kentucky defeated Vanderbilt 74-70. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

"The thing about scholarships is that they aren’t four-year deals, they are annually renewed. Calipari could call in Goodwin, Poythress, Cauley-Stein and Harrow and tell them he won’t have a spot on next year’s team and should either transfer or test the NBA Draft waters. He revoked Dajuan Wagner‘s scholarship back 2002 when Calipari was still with Memphis. Wagner had a terrific freshman season and Calipari tore up his scholarship, forcing him to go pro so Wagner could benefit from the money he’d make as a first rounder."

Sure, it can make Calipari look like a villain..  But it’s simply not true.  Not every scholarship is year to year and Kentucky is committed to scholarships for most of the players on the team for next year.  And as of now, no player has made it official that they are returning to Kentucky for next year.  Too many people are taking the comments of Willie Cauley-Stein, Archie Goodwin and Alex Poythress  that they would return to Kentucky as fact when as of now, they were comments made by teenagers after a crushing loss.  Almost every player, after a  season like this, says they will return next year, but it does not always happen.  Obviously all these players will sit down with their families and decide what is best for themselves, so to take these statements as fact already is way immature.

Fact is, this is  a very weak NBA draft and I fully expect one of those three players to take their chances with the NBA this year rather than wait for next year in which if they stay, there could be seven to eight first round picks on the UK roster.

Luckily not all pundits have an obsession with Calipari and Andy Katz summed up the scholarship situation last week:

"Kentucky cleared up its scholarship issue for 2013-14. As of now, the Wildcats don’t have one with players who are promised scholarships for next season. If everyone returns and no one else arrives (see: Andrew Wiggins), then Kentucky is set at 13. There are six returning players on scholarship in Nerlens Noel, Archie Goodwin, Alex Poythress, Ryan Harrow, Willie Cauley-Stein and Kyle Wiltjer. There are seven incoming freshmen — five are signed in Andrew and Aaron Harrison, James Young, Marcus Lee and Derek Willis — and two are committed in Julius Randle and Dakari Johnson. The odds of Noel returning are slim, even with the torn ACL, freeing up at least one scholarship. There is always the chance someone else will transfer or decide to declare for the draft even with the prospects of making a team slim. This could actually work out for the Wildcats if the returning players accept roles and become mentors to the star-studded freshmen as rotation players in a year."

I know that a lot of people are confused about the status of Jon Hood and Jarrod Polson and that is up in the air as of now.  As both players are scheduled to graduate soon, this year was a “one year” scholarship for them and they are not figured in the scholarship numbers as graduating players.  I know it’s confusing and maybe Kentucky could have made this more public around Senior Day, but there are still options.  As far as I know, one or both of the players could get a scholarship if they enrolled in graduate school, the same way that Julius Mays did with Kentucky this year.  And to be honest, no one but Polson and Hood knows if they even want to go to Grad School.  Once again, I wish that with this scenario, they could have been recognized at Senior Day, but it appears their tenure may be over.  There is also a possibility that Polson return in his original walk on role.

There are also the annual transfer rumors.  Kyle Wiltjer seems to be the popular target and is rumored to be headed to Gonzaga.  Now that the Zags have flamed out of the NCAA, maybe there will be more news on that.  As of now, it is too early to speculate.

But  Kentucky players are not “being pushed out the door” to make room for the “one and dones”    Nor is Kentucky oversigning players.  Both Rick Pitino and Tom Crean have made oversigning players an art and you hardly hear any national outrage.  Google them.  You will see,  But as for Kentucky running people off or cutting scholarships unfairly?  It’s not happening.  Yet everyone has their opinion and is charging John Calipari with crimes that have not been committed.

It’s become an annual thing for Kentucky fans — the annual roster freak out and uncertainty — and like always, it will sort itself out.  No need to jump to wild conclusions or rampant speculation.  Calipari is a master at this by now.  Just let the man do his job, and let decisions be made by the players on their terms.  Calipari has it under control.