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Calipari Era: Small Forwards

By Austin Sutcliffe

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Freshmen have dominated the Calipari era. Most fan bases are happy to hear about the signing of a recruit. The Big Blue Nation knows where they are from, who they are being recruited by, and what they had for lunch that day.

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One position that the fan base has not had to worry about over the years is small forward. The three spot has stayed stagnant so much that I had to scratch my brain all the way back to the first season with Calipari to find the 5th best small forward last week. Juco “sharpshooter” Darnell Dodson fell to number 5 in the rankings.

"Things did not end on a great note for Dodson. He ended his career at Kentucky after an elite eight loss and would not dress in a Kentucky uniform again. Shortly after his departure from the Wildcats, Darnell was arrested in Lexington not helping his image with the fans."

Coming in at number four this week is a player who the fan base does remember, largely impart to him still being on the team. Welcome to the four spot, number 22 Alex Poythress.

Going into his fourth season as a Kentucky Wildcat, Poythress has faced more adversity than any player under John Calipari. In his first season, he played with a discombobulated team who would eventually find themselves in the N.I.T. In year two, there was plenty of hype that surrounded the team, but until a magical March run, almost found themselves out of the tournament as well. For the Icing on the cake, Poythress tore his ACL in year three missing out on what could have been an undefeated season with his defensive help.

"“My own son, Brad, tore his ACL last year,” Calipari said. “All I can tell you is I was physically sick when it happened to him. I feel exactly the same way now that it’s happened to Alex.”Poythress suffered the torn ACL in Thursday’s practice.“It was a breakaway layup and no one bumped him,” Calipari said in an open letter posted at CoachCal.com. “He stepped with his left foot and just went down.”"

The stat book is not where you are going to find high praise for Alex Poythress. Although shooting a career field goal percentage of .529 is nothing to be ashamed of. His true game shines through he defensive and hustle that he gives game in and game out. Not a happy ending to this game, but these Kentucky versus Duke highlights remind us of just what Poythress can do when he is at his best.

Next season will be his last, but if he can play like this every game next season, there will be a happy ending to his unfortunate story so far at Kentucky. Expect him to be the leader on another championship contender this season. Make sure to stop by next week to see who comes in at number three.

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