Kentucky, in the wake of adding Zoom Diallo by way of the transfer portal, has officially started putting the pieces together for next year's roster. With the point guard spot now taken care of (unless the Cats add an extra measure of depth), Mark Pope is pivoting to playmakers to fill out the rest of his lineup.
While Donnie Freeman and Sebastian Rancik appear to be the go-to preferences at power forward for Kentucky - both of which are still on the board and have visited Lexington - the shooting guard spot is a different story.
It seemed that, among other, less serious candidates (for now), Pope had honed in on Alex Wilkins and Cruz Davis as comparable options at the position, with both set to take a visit and, eventually, spur a choice. Now, though, Pope's choice may have been made for him.
Cruz Davis Commits Elsewhere
Davis skipped out on his planned Kentucky visit in favor of a late-night commitment to Texas Tech, meaning one of the best two-guards in the portal is now officially unavailable. The move came on the same day as the aforementioned Wilkins' visit to Kentucky, and that may have been extremely fortunate timing.
Pope and his staff, without the addition of any thus far unmentioned options, now have no other obvious option outside of pushing their chips in on Wilkins. Thankfully, he's an ideal fit next to Diallo, and is arguably one of the most compelling prospects still in the portal.
The length combo guard, formerly a Furman Paladin, put up 18 points per game in his freshman campaign. Averaging just under five assists nearly a steal per contest, too, Wilkins' size and speed look like the sort that should translate well to the SEC.
It helps that he put up 21 points on 53% shooting in Furman's first round NCAA Tournament loss to the UConn Huskies this March. From all angles, Wilkins is ready for the leap.
Wilkins Can Compete in the SEC
The truth of the matter is that, mostl likely, Davis could have made the same jump. But having your options limited isn't always a bad thing, especially in Kentucky's current case.
By going all-in on Rob Wright at point guard, Kentucky seriously risked missing Diallo after putting him on the apparent backburner for a few days. In the case of Wilkins and Cruz, Pope may benefit from a difficult decision being made for him.
If Kentucky pushes for Wilkins and ends up pairing him with Diallo, the Cats may boast one of the most intriguing backcourt's in all of college basketball.
Add us as a preferred source on Google