After another solid season in 2016, Coach John Calipari has another great group of freshmen coming in to lead the Kentucky basketball program in 2017.
Many would say that 2016 was a success for the Kentucky basketball program, but to Kentucky fans, it was another season that ended too soon. Last year’s team had high hopes and aspirations of a national championship, but it was abruptly shut down in March.
Kentucky went 32-6 last season, and won yet another SEC title. Despite a tough bracket in the NCAA tournament, the Wildcats fought through and made it all the way to the elite 8. Actually they made it all the way until the end of the elite 8, before the season came to a disastrous end on a buzzer shot by North Carolina’s Luke Maye.
North Carolina ended up winning the National Championship, while Kentucky fans sat at home saltier than ever. Despite the heart-breaking finish, Wildcats’ fans should have a lot of hope heading into the 2017 season.
The 2017 Season
Despite losing almost their entire 2016 team, Calipari has brought in another talented squad. The team will be headlined by Hamidou Diallo. Diallo is a 6’5″ freak athlete that many have compared to Latrell Sprewell.
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The Cats have brought in another group of talented freshmen, as well. Kevin Knox, who surprised the nation when picking Kentucky on May 6, will lead the group. Quade Green, PJ Washington and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will be the freshmen along side him.
While each of these kids will help the Kentucky basketball team have another successful year, it will be hard to replace everything John Calipari lost to the draft last year. It took some time for those players to mesh, and it could be expected that’ll happen again this year.
While Kentucky has another top recruiting class in 2017, many questions remain. Their shooting ability seems to be the main one, despite the beautiful jump shot of Kevin Knox. But, as we saw last year, one great shooter can free open a lot of other players.
In conclusion, I expect the Kentucky basketball program to have another great team this year. Although the talent may not be up to par with the 2016 team, the field remains skewed. With Duke seemingly a head better than the rest of the nation, Kentucky will have a lot of improvements to make to win the championship.
Next: Keys to Victory vs Florida
Kentucky should win another SEC championship in 2017. A Final Four appearance is definitely not out of question. But if the Cats want to win a National Championship, Kentucky will need some role players to step up big.