Kentucky Wildcat Basketball: Calipari has some tinkering to do with 2011-2012 squad
By Paul Jordan
Well, at least Darius Miller is staying next year.
No, this isn’t going to be a Chicken Little “the sky is falling” post because if we learned anything at all this year, it is that John Calipari can totally rebuild a team after NBA defections and guide them to the Final Four.
So where do the Wildcats stand right now? Don’t worry. We still have a loaded team coming back. So let’s take a quick look at where this team stands.
When the season ended in the Final Four, Kentucky had three scholarships available. Josh Harrellson graduated will graduate leaving Kentucky with four available sport. Enter Marquis Teague, Michael Gilchrist, Kyle Wiltjer, and Anthony Davis and Kentucky was back at 13 scholarships headed into today.
Then came the announcements that Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones, and DeAndre Liggins will declare for the NBA Draft and at least test the waters. To be honest, Brandon Knight is projected to be a top five pick. I really do not see him coming back if he can get a NBA team to commit to drafting him with a top five spot. Let’s give Knight a 15% chance of returning to Lexington.
Next we have Terrence Jones. Call me crazy, but I really think that Jones knows that he could benefit from another year at Kentucky. He is currently projected in the 10-13 range, which is roughly the end of the lottery picks. Now since the NBA drafts on potential, I am sure that Jones will hear that he is a top 7-8 pick. For some reason, I still do not think Jone’s mind is made up yet. Let’s put him at 50/50.
Finally we have DeAndre Liggins. In all reality, Liggins should be returning to school. But he is engaged and starting a family soon. I think that if he can get a few teams to tell him he is a first rounder, he will stay. As of now, Liggins is not even on the draft board and there are some players like Scotty Hopson being projected at 60 or so. To be honest, I don’t see Liggins getting that first round guarantee. But like Daniel Orton, he can be somewhat a wildcard and put him at 50/50.
Let’s assume that Kentucky loses two of the three players to the draft. That will give Kentucky two available scholarships and let’s assume that everyone else returns to the team. What to do, what to do?
Keep in mind that Kentucky has already added transfer Twany Beckham and I would think that Jarrod Polson would return as well. Now Polson was added to Kentucky as a walkon and later given a scholarship. I would assume that it was a one year scholarship and that Polson will walk on next year. I do not know if Twany Beckham has a scholarship offer or not. He could take one of the two scholarships or be a walkon. Either way, Kentucky may have a scholarship to play with. Let’s see where we stand now:
GUARDS
Marquis Teague
Doron Lamb
Jon Hood
Stacey Poole
Twany Beckham
Jarrod Polson
Brandon Knight – NBA?
DeAndre Liggins – NBA?
FORWARDS
Darius Miller
Eloy Vargas
Michael Gilchrist
Anthony Davis
Kyle Wiltjer
Terrence Jones – NBA?
If both Knight and Liggins depart, I am a bit concerned about the backcourt. Teague and Lamb will probably start, but after that, we have a very inexperienced backup situation. Hood, Poole, and Polson got minimal minutes last year and Beckham will not play until December. Trevor Lacey definitely makes sense here. Lamb can play point some and back up Teague but that would mean that Hood or Poole have to step up at the two. Lacey would help a lot here, but I think it is pretty important that DeAndre Liggins returns. If not, we may see Miller move over and play the two some since Gilchrist can step in at SF.
Losing Jones would also hurt some as well. Gilchrist, Wiltjer, and Davis would make a very young but imposing frontcourt. Throw in Vargas and Miller and you have a little depth, but I would feel better with another body there. Jones returning would solve everything. If not, maybe Kentucky needs to pursue Joseph Ochebo.
Let’s play devil’s advocate and say that all three NBA players depart. Kentucky would still be a championship contender by adding Lacey and Ochebo, and then still have a scholarship available for either Polson or Beckham.
Do keep in mind that if Ryan Harrow does transfer from NC State, this could open up another can of worms, but it is manageable. Harrow could take a 2011 scholarship and be eligible in 2011. Regardless of how you look at it, John Calipari has a lot of tinkering to do the next month or so … and somehow I think he relishes the challenge of finetuning this team into a championship team.
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