When John Calipari was hired as the Kentucky Wildcats basketball coach in April 2009, shirts were printed with the following phrase: Envy Our Past, Fear Our Future.
Apr 7, 2014; Arlington, TX, USA; Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari talks to forward Julius Randle (30) and center Dakari Johnson (44) and guard Andrew Harrison (5) and guard/forward James Young (1) in the second half against the Connecticut Huskies during the championship game of the Final Four in the 2014 NCAA Mens Division I Championship tournament at AT&T Stadium. Image Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Whoever came up with that phrase had some great foresight as the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team, minus the 2012-13 season, have gone on to make some magic with the 2011-12 NCAA Championship to go along with 2 other Final Four appearances, including the runner-up this past season.
When Aaron and Andrew Harrison announced on Friday that they would return for their second season, it marked the first time since Calipari was hired that the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team would return a majority of the McDonald’s All-Americans in their freshman class.
It also means that, for the first time in forever, Calipari will be able to use a deep rotation as there are at least 10 NBA players on the Kentucky Wildcats basketball roster and the number potentially increases to 11 or 12 should Dominique Hawkins or Derek Willis eventually get drafted. That said, the Cats will enter the season as the preseason #1 with this absurd amount of talent. When a team has that many players that will see time in the NBA, it says something about the talent and their potential for a season of greatness.
With the Harrison twins staying, the Kentucky Wildcats basketball team could look strangely like the 1995-96 championship team which saw a total of 11 players seeing time in the NBA at one point or another (Derek Anderson, Tony Delk, Jamaal Magloire, Walter McCarty, Ron Mercer, Nazr Mohammed, Scott Padgett, Mark Pope, Jeff Sheppard, Wayne Turner, and Antoine Walker).
To really have a season of greatness, it will really come down to point guard play so having the Harrisons come back is a good move as the backcourt would have been way to thin to make the run that the Cats and Big Blue Nation would like to see. The frontcourt is loaded but having the Harrison twins return places less pressure on both Tyler Ulis and Devin Booker.