The 5 veterans from the NCAA Tournament who could transfer to save John Calipari’s job at Kentucky

The only player who kept Kentucky’s head above water against Oakland was Antonio Reeves. A fifth-year senior, Reeves wasn’t rattled by the moment as Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham so obviously were. He finished with a team-high 27 points on 11-18 shooting and 5-9 from three, but his collegiate career ended in the Round of 64 in Pittsburgh. 

So, it’s time for Calipari to do what he did when he brought Reeves to Kentucky from Illinois State, and poach from a mid-major. Terrence Edwards Jr. just had his breakout season at James Madison, but after JMU’s head coach Mark Byington took the head job at Vanderbilt, Edwards may want to finish out his final year of eligibility at Kentucky with a chance to play for a national championship. 

The 6-foot-6 Atlanta native led the Dukes in scoring, averaging 17.2 points a game and he scored in double-digits in each of JMU’s NCAA Tournament games. Edwards got into foul trouble early against Duke, a major reason why that game got away from JMU. 

If Reed and Rob do leave for the NBA, even if D.J. Wagner and Justin Edwards return, the Wildcats will need a wing-scorer on next season’s roster. Edwards is the perfect fit and now he has the NCAA Tournament experience, both good and bad, to be a leader for the Wildcats next March. Maybe Coach Cal should put in a call to see if Edwards will hop into the portal as a grad transfer.