LEXINGTON, Ky. — The college basketball offseason went from bad to worse for the Kentucky Wildcats when two-time All-American center Oscar Tshiebwe kept his name in the 2023 NBA draft process, forgoing a return to Lexington for his final year of eligibility.
Shooting guard Antonio Reeves did withdraw from the draft, but his status as a grad student means he is able to add his name to the transfer portal at any time, which would leave coach John Calipari's team with only seven scholarship players - five who are incoming freshmen.
Locked on College Basketball host Andy Patton spoke with Lance Dawe of Locked on Kentucky about coach Cal's conundrum and whether he is capable of winning with a roster of inexperienced players, or if he needs to hit what's left of the portal hard over the coming weeks.
"It's not 2012 anymore," Dawe said. "We aren't living in that day and age of college basketball. It is so much more important now that you are able to grab experienced veteran players and are able to operate with a blend of youth and experience...in order to have success in March, which is what this fanbase is starving for, you need to have older players."
Kentucky's incoming recruiting class is ranked No. 1 in the country, per 247Sports, but the class overall is considered weak thanks in part to a lot of missed time due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Calipari's track record with transfers has been inconsistent, with Tshiebwe and Reeves representing solid additions while players like Sahvir Wheeler and CJ Fredrick didn't pan out and ended up leaving again for Washington and Cincinnati, respectively.
Kentucky's only known connection currently in the transfer portal is Arthur Kaluma, a wing out of Creighton, and as more and more talented players commit elsewhere the situation gets even trickier for the Wildcats.
There is still plenty of time to make multiple additions and add some experience to this roster, but until that happens the prognosis for this team is underwhelming next season.