2012-13 Kentucky Wildcats Basketball Season Review: Save Our Season

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 hijacking of the Kentucky basketball season

Kentucky fans expecting some type of redemption would be disappointed.  Due to a scheduling situation, Kentucky travelled to Moon Township, Pennsylvania to face Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT .  John Calipari had defied expectations in capturing a national title in just his third season, but in his fourth year at the helm, he also had his “Gardner-Webb” moment.  Kentucky was blitzed 12-0 by Robert Morris to start the game, and even though they did mount a comeback, it was not enough.  Kentucky rallied and went in at halftime down 28-27, but promptly fell behind 40-31 just six minutes into the second half.

Robert Morris stretched the lead to 49-36 before Kentucky later rallied and tied the game at 57 on a Archie Goodwin lay-up with just :47 left.  Willie Cauley-Stein blocked a lay-up attempt, but the will to win of Robert Morris showed as they grabbed the rebound off the block and were fouled.  They sank two free throws and Kyle Wiltjer got off an awkward last shot but it was not even close.  The defending national champs were one and done in the NIT to Robert Morris by the score of 59-57.

There were not too many heroes in the locker room.  Archie Goodwin had 18 points and hit all 8 of his FT attempts, but that just pointed out how inconsistent the season was for him.  Ryan Harrow played just nine minutes.  Poythress had six points and two rebounds.  And after seemingly holding his tongue all year, Calipari uttered one of the most damning statements I have ever heard a Kentucky coach utter:

"“The stuff I had to accept this year, the program almost got hijacked.”"

As cryptic as the quote was, it probably could have been applied to almost every player on the team except for Noel, Polson, and Mays.  The internet chatter focused on Harrow and Poythress, but even Archie Goodwin’s out of control play at times could have been the culprit.  After the game, none of the players seemed too eager to leave Camp Calipari as almost every play said they were not ready for the NBA and that they would be back.  Archie Goodwin was the most adamant about his intentions saying:

"“If any of us were saying we think we should leave, then we’d all be delusional.”"

Too a man, every player promised a part in returning Kentucky to glory, but with Calipari’s comments, you knew that not everyone would be back.

A New Hope

While the book was closed on the 2012-13 season, it did not take long for John Calipari to start writing the next chapter in the Kentucky Basketball history.  The day after the Robert Morris loss, Kentucky added Julius Randle to it’s best ever recruiting class of 2013-14.  And the top prospect overall, Andrew Wiggins, is still considering Kentucky and may join the historic class.  All in all, Calipari has compiled six McDonald’s All Americans for the 2013-14 roster.

Shortly after the addition of Randle, we began to learn the future of the previous team.  It was revealed that Ryan Harrow’s father had a stroke and was in poor health.  This was given as the reason for this missing four games and seventeen days away from his Wildcat teammates.   The news of a sick father made sense for the poor play of Harrow as that would weigh heavily on anyone’s mind and burden them, much less a college student dealing with heavy fan base expectations.  Harrow was granted a release from Kentucky and is transferring to Georgia State to be near his father.

Archie Goodwin announced that he would be entering the NBA Draft, despite his previous words.  And as of now, those are the only two players voluntarily leaving the Wildcats.  Julius Mays graduated and is moving on.  And Nerlens Noel is expected to announce he is going to the NBA as most projections have him as a top three pick.  There were rumors that Kyle Wiltjer would transfer, but he, along with Willie Cauley-Stein and Alex Poythress are returning to the team.  I have to admit that I was a but surprised by the Poythress decision as he was one of the most inconsistent Cats, but the fact that he is returning and is willing to fight for minutes next year make me feel better about him.

Still up in the air are the futures of Jon Hood and Jarrod Polson.  Both are on pace to graduate and to return would need to enroll in a graduate program.  Jon Hood has said he expects to return but Polson has been quiet on his future.  The fact that Kentucky may add PG Dominique Hawkins, the current Kentucky “Mr. Basketball” to the team yet may affect Polson’s decision.  Regardless of what other personnel changes are made, John Calipari is motivated to restore the roar to his program and Kentucky is expected to enter next season as a preseason number one team.

Critics will point out that this team was ranked number one and failed to live up to expectations but Calipari has some words for those that may think the Kentucky basketball program is in decline:

"“They’ll say, ‘Well, maybe you can’t do it with young guys.’ And I come back to: We did it last year, won a national title with young players. But that’ll be out there. So we’ll have something to prove,” he said. “If there’s any doubters, have at it. You can doubt all you want. This program’s in great shape.”"