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

Tyler Kolek is a senior at Marquette this season and appears to love everything about playing for Shaka Smart. He’ll likely be an All-American again this year after taking home All-American and Big East Player of the Year honors in 2023. 

With a 21-point 11 assist performance against Colorado, the 6-foot-3 point guard just guided Marquette to its first Sweet 16 since 2013, and his NBA draft stock has never been higher. Kolek could almost certainly be a first-round pick in the league, so he’ll likely forgo his remaining year of Covid-eligibility from his freshman year at George Mason and head for the pros, but a quick pit-stop in Lexington on the way couldn’t hurt. 

The Kentucky boosters would certainly need to pony up with some big NIL deals to make it happen, but it’d be cheaper than paying Calipari’s $33 million buyout. If Coach Cal is truly making a change in his roster construction then a move for a veteran point guard like Kolek would signal it loud and clear. Ironically, the old one-and-done era would end in Kentucky with this move to get one year of Kolek before sending him to the league, and the new one-and-done era would be born. 

College basketball is too old to compete with freshmen, but 23-year-old grad transfers getting some final NBA seasoning before making the jump, now that could be a winning formula.