Kentucky Wildcats Will Have A New Look Next Season

In the midst of the 2015 NCAA Basketball Tournament, the Kentucky Wildcats are looking to make history. Currently, they are 38-0 and in the Final Four, looking to beat Wisconsin this Saturday for a shot at 40-0 and their 9th National Championship. With the win on Saturday, they’d make history as is, as their 39th win would set a record for the most in a single season. However, this is not what we’re here to talk about today. Instead, we’re going to take a little look ahead to what the 2015-2016 Kentucky Wildcats roster might look like. To determine this, it’s imperative to look at the losses off of this team first.

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The Kentucky Wildcats will be losing three players to graduation, as Tod Lanter, Brian Long, and Sam Malone will all be walking the stage in May. After this, things get a little dicey, as it’s impossible to know exactly who is going to leave early after the season is over. Looking at the major NBA draft projections, it is safe to say that Devin Booker, Willie Cauley-Stein, Trey Lyles, and Karl-Anthony Towns will all be gone. Nearly everyone has all four of these players going in the first round of the 2015 NBA Draft, none of them going below the 19th pick in the draft. If these are the only players to leave, then Kentucky should be pretty much set for next year and the roster would look something like what is below.

PG: Isaiah Briscoe, Andrew Harrison, Tyler Ulis
SG: EJ Floreal, Aaron Harrison, Dominique Hawkins
SF: Charles Matthews, Alex Poythress
PF: Marcus Lee, Derek Willis
C: Dakari Johnson, Skal Labissiere

With the roster shown above, the 2015-2016 Kentucky Wildcats roster would be pretty much set. They’d have one more scholarship spot open if they wanted to fill it, and may also take a few walk-ons, but for the most part the roster would be set. The starting lineup here would most likely be Andrew Harrison, Aaron Harrison, Alex Poythress, Marcus Lee, and Skal Labissiere. That would leave Isaiah Briscoe, Tyler Ulis, Charles Matthews, and Dakari Johnson coming off the bench. Not a bad team at all, as Cal could chose to platoon again if he wanted to. However, this might not be the lineup at all, as there are three more players on this year’s team that are projected to go in the second round across the board.

If they choose to go, then Calipari might be left to get some more recruits on board for next season, as the Harrison twins and Dakari Johnson would all also leave in this case. Here, the roster would be majorly altered, as there would it would force some of the younger players into the starting lineup, much like things were in Cal’s first five seasons at Kentucky. While it’s not something new for the head coach, it’s certainly not something he would want. His starting lineup would be Tyler Ulis, Isaiah Briscoe, Alex Poythress, Marcus Lee, and Skal Labissiere with EJ Floreal, Dominique Hawkins, Charles Matthews, and Derek Willis coming off the bench.

In this scenario, John Calipari would most likely take two to four more players, either through recruits or transfers, before the season started. He would need to get numbers up so next year’s Kentucky Wildcats don’t repeat the depth-lacking disaster that was the 2012-2013 season. And with Coach Cal at the helm, don’t look for a repeat of the at all. Whether it’s seven players, four players, or no players at all, it is safe to say that Calipari will have his team ready to play once again. And after his first six seasons here, there is absolutely no reason to doubt the man in charge of college basketball’s most storied program.

Next: What We Learned from the Second Weekend of the NCAA Basketball Tournament

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