LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With just five months until the University of Kentucky basketball season, preparations are underway for the Wildcats.
While head coach John Calipari said he wasn’t worried, there was a large portion of the fanbase that was very concerned about the Cats roster makeup.
The team leaves for a trip to Toronto in two weeks, and it wasn't that long ago Kentucky had seven players on scholarship with five of those being freshmen.
Calipari said with where college basketball is right now, rosters are going to take some time to fill out for everybody, and listed a couple of factors:
- Waiting on players to go through the NBA Draft process.
- Dealing with the transfer portal
This year, Kentucky had three players who entered the NBA Draft and left open the option to return.
"If you have the number one recruiting class and five are projected to be in the first round, would that affect you? Yeah, that's all stuff that would affect a team," Calipari said. "What I like, we were always in a strong position; I was never panicked about anything."
Calipari also provided an update on Aaron Bradshaw. He had surgery on his foot and will return to campus this weekend.
Bradshaw had two options, either get the surgery or let it heal on its own. He chose the surgery so could guarantee to play in college.
They aren't going to rush him back to the court either.
"It's unfortunate for him but we've had guys who couldn't be there in the summer and came back and played great," Calipari said. "All I can tell you is every time he grabs me he says 'I love you coach;' this kid is so excited about being here and wants to help us win."
Calipari said he wants the relationship he has with his players and recruits to be transformational, not transactional.
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