John Calipari, UK Staff Adjusting to College Basketball's New Landscape
The landscape of college basketball is changing. Between the transfer portal, players opting for the G-League and the changes in the game on the court, very little is the same as it has been before.
Kentucky head coach John Calipari is adapting to these new changes. He knows how important each of these items can be.
Calipari is using the transfer portal to fill out his roster this season but he’s not sure if it will always be that way for Kentucky.
“If we go out and we get the kids that we want to recruit and we take a Reid (Travis), we take a Nate (Sestina), we take that kind of player to do this and fill in,” Calipari said. “This year was different. This year we had injuries, we had shortages, we had a couple of transfers. All of a sudden, thank goodness we could tap in to that market, but it’s not something we’re saying that we’re just going to live by it.”
The Cats appeared to be lacking in guards when the offseason began. However, since that time, Calipari has added transfers C.J. Fredrick, Kellan Grady and Sahvir Wheeler and has signed Tyty Washington. Those four go along with Dontaie Allen and, perhaps, Davion Mintz, who is still evaluating the option to stay in the NBA Draft. Calipari likes the versatility of this group.
“We had no point guard. Then TyTy (Washington), who is where the league is going right now – the NBA – they have point guards who are not setup point guards,” Calipari said. “They are players that happen to have the ball a lot who can score and do a lot more than get them into offense. TyTy and Sahvir (Wheeler), you look at these guys, and he is more of a, you know, I am going to get everybody involved in this and speed the game up and throw the ball ahead.
“But Kellan (Grady) also played point guard. But he also is a scorer, averaging 17 over four years,” Calipari said. “Then CJ (Fredrick) is a scorer and has a shot that you must have nowadays, which is that floater, runner. Because he shoots nearly 50% from 3, he spreads the court, and it is like he can create that way too. Then you have Davion (Mintz), who at the end of the year we looked at and said, ‘Wow, you know, his numbers as a point guard with assist-to-turnover ratio and other things weren’t bad either.’ “
Just after Calipari’s media opportunity, it was announced that forward Isaiah Jackson was opting to stay in the NBA Draft. That leaves Mintz as a player who still must make a decision about his return. Everyone else expected to be on the roster appears to be coming back, according to Calipari.
The UK head coach also spoke about having to recruit players who might also be weighing the option to skip college and play in the G-League.
“If kids want to do that or families are set, I have no problem. That’s fine,” Calipari said. “We need kids here that aren’t coming here that, ‘I’ve got to play 35 minutes and take 35 shots, and I’ve got to be the only guy on the team.’ That’s not our culture here and never will be. You’ve got to come here and fight for what you want. When I see Immanuel Quickley playing and doing the things he’s doing, you think about that kid’s fight, what he did. The kids that fight through this end up making it and their brand is built over time. So, I don’t really think we’re competing.”
As for the game on the court, Calipari is ready to adjust there as well.
“I want to play faster with this group, I want to shoot more threes with this group, I want to play four out with this group,” Calipari said. “But we’re going to have to see, when we get them here, how we’ll do it.”
The bottom line, according to the UK head coach, is to get back to playing Kentucky basketball.
“Let’s get back to who we are, what we’re about.”
