A first look at the 2012-13 Kentucky Wildcats Basketball Roster
By Paul Jordan
As I mentioned in the story on Friday, Maquis Teague may be the one player that may stick around Lexington another year. I very well could be wrong, but for the sake of argument and to keep this interesting, let’s assume Marquis Teague stays. Here is how the Wildcat roster stands with the current commitments added to it.
PG – MARQUIS TEAGUE (SO)
PG – RYAN HARROW (SO)
PG – TWANY BECKHAM (JR)
PG – JARROD POLSON (JR)
SG – ARCHIE GOODWIN (FR)
SG – JON HOOD (JR)
SF – ALEX POYTHRESS (F)
PF – KYLE WILTJER (SO)
C – WILLIE CAULEY (FR)
Obviously, this roster needs some work . With Teague still in this scenario, there are three available scholarships for this class. According to Rivals, there are four top 10 caliber recruits still on the board and Kentucky is involved with all of them. While Rivals has not moved Nerlens Noel into their rankings yet, ESPN has made him the number one player in the 2012 class. There is also (SF) Shabazz Muhammad, (PF) Anthony Bennett, and (SF) Devonta Pollard available. John Calipari could pull the hat trick and make move heard around the recruiting world by pulling the number one SF, PF, and C in the class (Muhammad, Bennett, Noel). With this haul, Kentucky would have to be considered the favorite for the 2013 national Title as well. What are the odds of this happening? I say about 60% as of right now.
Kentucky is obviously very involved in both Bennett and Muhammad as Calipari was in Las Vegas last week to visit them. There are also rumors that Muhammad will go to UCLA or that both Muhammad and Bennett may stay home at UNLV. Until there is a LOI in, these are just rumors. Kentucky is also very heavily involved with Noel and the fact is, Kentucky is probably the only school with the scholarships to land all three. There are reports that Syracuse may not even have a scholarship unless Fab Melo leaves. Noel can avoid the indecision of the Syracuse roster situation and have a scholarship waiting for him in Lexington today. I say that Kentucky get at least one of these three, but more than likely two, and I have not closed the book on all three. For the sake of argument, let’s say Kentucky lands Noel and Muhammad, but loses Bennett to someone else. Kentucky has another top rated class, but still has one more scholarship to fill. Who will it be?
We have not heard much about SF Devonta Pollard, but he is still a top #10 prospect. Pollard is scheduled to visit Missouri soon, but you would have to think that Kentucky jumps to near the top of his list again if Calipari got more involved. #33 Tony Parker is the best remaining center after Noel and there has been pretty positive buzz surrounding him and Kentucky as well. If Kentucky strikes out on those and still needs a big, you get the feeling that Amile Jefferson is ready to step right in as well. I think that Kentucky could fill their class with one or two of these players if needed. If Teague does go to the NBA, twice committed to North Carolina State Torian Graham is a possibility for another SG and he has the size (6’4) that Calipari likes. So even if the unlikely scenario of Kentucky not hitting the mother load between now and May does not occur, there are still plenty of quality players to be had.
So in keeping with the above scenario, and assuming that Teague does stay and Kentucky lands Noel and Muhammad, here is what the 2012-2013 roster may look like:
PG – MARQUIS TEAGUE (SO)
PG – RYAN HARROW (SO)
PG – TWANY BECKHAM (JR)
PG – JARROD POLSON (JR)
SG – ARCHIE GOODWIN (FR)
SG – JON HOOD (JR)
SF – SHABAZZ MUHAMMAD (FR)
SF – ALEX POYTHRESS (FR)
PF – KYLE WILTJER (SO)
PF – AMILE JEFFERSON (FR)
C- NERLENS NOEL (FR)
C – WILLIE CAULEY (FR)
I think it’s a roster loaded with a ton of possibilities. We could see a Teague/Harrow set up ala Wall/Bledsoe at times and Poythress could see time at three positions. I know it is unlikely that Teague stays but I really like the PG depth on this roster. I think that there are a lot of solid players on this team that may stick around a couple of years as well. From this roster, I see Teague, Muhammad, and Noel as the only surefire NBA departures (once again, I realize Teague is likely gone, but keeping him here is good for debate). NBADraft.net has Shabazz going #2 and Nerlens Noel going #3 overall in the 2013 class. But after that, there is some dropoff. Ryan Harrow is listed at #30. As of now, Poythress, Goodwin, and the others are not listed.
So that leaves three spots for 2013 class. I’m not going to go into a lengthy conjecture, but let’s say that Derek Will and that Harrison twins sound pretty good to me. So, what do you think? Feel free to tell me how dead on or way off base I am in the comments. Let’s see who who want to see in next years class.