Okay, P.J. Haggerty isn’t going to solve Kentucky’s inexperience either. He’s been in college basketball for two seasons, redshirted one at TCU and played the other at Tulsa, but he would be the best player on Kentucky’s roster immediately, so whether he’s won in March or not, John Calipari needs to make a push for him and beat out Penny Hardaway and Memphis.
Haggerty, as a 6-foot-3 redshirt freshman, averaged 21.2 points a game at Tulsa while only shooting 28.9% from three. He went 49.3% from the field, but the best part of his game is the ability to get to the foul line. He shot 10.0 free throws a game, only behind 7-foot-4 two-time National Player of the Year Zach Edey who shot 11.5 a game. He converted on 76.7% of his attempts and that ability to draw fouls will translate to the SEC.
Kentucky needs an offensive focal point, one who can control the pace of the game and get the team a bucket in crunch time, Haggerty would become that player, and there’s quite a bit of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in his game.
Calipari has to trust that Haggerty’s three-point shooting will improve or just surround him with better shooters, because if the choice is between putting Haggerty or Wagner on the floor, Haggerty is unquestionably the better player.