2024 Roster (Enter Antonio Reeves & Tre Mitchell)

[KCKUKFan]

The Best Program In College Basketball In A Given Year and The Best Program Of All Time aren't even close to the same thing. Kentucky still has a hold on the latter, in my opinion, although UCLA and Kansas could both make claims. The former changes constantly, sometimes in the span of a single season.

There was a two month period just two years ago that I would argue we were the Best Program In College Basketball. Obviously that didn't last, but we had that title back.

[KCKUKFan]

Tre Mitchell is officially a Cat.

[Joneslab]

Really good pick-up. It's weird but had Kentucky landed Hunter Dickinson they would've been the #1 team in America going in.

Without Dickinson or any proven center I think Ugo is the most important player on the roster. If he's a different player than he was last year Kentucky could contend. If not then we're going to need the freshmen to be otherworldly.

[KCKUKFan]

Really good pick-up. It's weird but had Kentucky landed Hunter Dickinson they would've been the #1 team in America going in.

Without Dickinson or any proven center I think Ugo is the most important player on the roster. If he's a different player than he was last year Kentucky could contend. If not then we're going to need the freshmen to be otherworldly.

I don't know about that, actually. Dickinson is the better player, but I think Mitchell might actually be the better fit for this particular roster. He's not as skilled as HD and he definitely won't get you as many buckets, but he's quicker and more mobile and he's a better defensive player.

Mitchell > Reeves > Wagner > Edwards > Bradshaw > Dillingham is a genuinely excellent six man core, and should be able to compete with anyone. If Thiero, Hart, Burks, Onyenso, Sheppard, and (yes) Somto are able to provide anything there is no reason to believe Kentucky can't be there at the end.

The basketball program still has a lot of question marks, and things were very bad in the offices for awhile (still not great), but this is the start of a solid bounce-back that Cal absolutely had to make. Certainly a much better roster than I was expecting just a month ago.

[lilproUK98]

The roster has been somewhat salvaged, but the hype over Hart and now Mitchell is funny to me. I am not buying into ANY hype about this team. Results will tell the story. And I'm withholding any hope until I see what they're capable of with my own eyes. Bradshaw is still an unknown and there is still a huge weight on the shoulders of guys who have done little to nothing in major CBB.

[Joneslab]

I don't think anybody knows enough about Hart, Burks, or Somto to say *anything* about them good or bad.

You can look at history and say the five-star kids should pan out (maybe not as John Wall/Anthony Davis stars) just based on the law of averages, but with lower-ranked players you go in with the expectation that they won't play a lot and be pleasantly surprised if they do.

Burks is intriguing because of his OTE stuff but in the back of your head you have to think there's a reason why he was so average in hs in terms of ranking.

[KentuckyWild2020]

Glad we landed a extra body now go get a big....

[KentuckyWild2020]

Happy we landed Burks Hart Mitchell but on the same note, crazy you have to sit here with your fingers crossed praying to basketball Gods that a couple of 3 stars and a transfer said yes just because we barely had enough to even field a team. Another day another year no rhyme or reason for Cal's method to his madness but man i hope Cal gets back to early Kentucky Memphis Umass Cal, Cal been winning to long to go out like this...


Anyways, Not sure about Mitchell or Burks but Hart I hard something on Hart today from someone who was at a practice or event the past few days with the new kids. They say Hart jumps like Jeff Sheppard, looks more like Jeff than Reed lol..

I am actually okay with not getting Five 5 stars year in and year out as long as we get what we need to blend, i still think we are missing a big (Ware and Collins why o why?) but like these under the radar pickups who may be playing with a chip on the shoulder trying to prove everyone wrong, you never know...

[George]

Glad we landed an extra body now go get a big....

Mitchell is a big.

[Joneslab]

Seems to play more like a stretch, which is good because that's where the game is going (duh).

Would be nice if Cal would let the 5's stretch but as we all know he's not gonna do that, and anyway it's pretty obvious Ugo's value to the team is going to be more defensively. If he can get you 6 or 7 points a game that will probably be a win with the shots he should be able to block.

[Catsrock]

Seems to play more like a stretch, which is good because that's where the game is going (duh).

Would be nice if Cal would let the 5's stretch but as we all know he's not gonna do that, and anyway it's pretty obvious Ugo's value to the team is going to be more defensively. If he can get you 6 or 7 points a game that will probably be a win with the shots he should be able to block.

With 2 five star PGs I’d think Ugonna could give us 6-7/game finishing lobs and garbage buckets. The blocks should be a given. My hope is defensive positioning is clicking more for him. He could have contributed last season if he didn’t get lost so often. Experience, film study, lots of coaching and understanding what’s expected from the staff and he could thrive. If so, we could be onto something.

[Lighthouse]

Wait, when did Kentucky cease being the best program of all time?

To me, and most folks on here, Kentucky will always be the greatest program of all time. The last few seasons has damaged that for others.

[lilproUK98]

The roster has been somewhat salvaged, but the hype over Hart and now Mitchell is funny to me. I am not buying into ANY hype about this team. Results will tell the story. And I'm withholding any hope until I see what they're capable of with my own eyes. Bradshaw is still an unknown and there is still a huge weight on the shoulders of guys who have done little to nothing in major CBB.

Not to mention the fact that it's still up to Cal to actually manage the team on and off the court properly, and figure out how they play their best and figure out a rotation that works and put the pieces in their proper position, and motivate them to excel, etc... And he's had an extremely hard time doing that as of late lol

[KentuckyWild2020]

Mitchell is a big.

Not that kind of big, still need muscle in my opinion...

[KentuckyWild2020]

Seems to play more like a stretch, which is good because that's where the game is going (duh).

Would be nice if Cal would let the 5's stretch but as we all know he's not gonna do that, and anyway it's pretty obvious Ugo's value to the team is going to be more defensively. If he can get you 6 or 7 points a game that will probably be a win with the shots he should be able to block.

We have had a few bigs with the ability to stretch the floor,. Crazy how Cal refuses to let them play yet he ushers them to the NBA where bigs stretch the floor, blows my mind