catmandoo
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Member # 1284
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posted 06-14-2017 04:33 PM
Now that Hamidou Diallo has pulled out of the 2017 NBA Draft and announced plans to return to Kentucky, it’s time to start thinking about what the Wildcats will look like next season.
They’ll be tall (seven players at least 6-foot-8), talented (eight former 5-star recruits) and young (eight freshmen, three sophomores). The front court will be crowded, as Kevin Knox, P.J. Washington, Jarred Vanderbilt, Wenyen Gabriel, Sacha Killeya-Jones and Nick Richards were all consensus top-25 recruits.
The back court has questions, namely: Is there a reliable 3-point threat? None who is proven at the college level, but there are options.
Point guard Quade Green shot nearly 50 percent from 3-point range in high school, while combo guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit almost 40 percent and 4-star shooting guard Jemarl Baker sank 94 3-point shots as a high school senior after leading the Under Armour AAU circuit in that category last summer.
In other words, John Calipari is probably going to have fun mixing and matching this roster. So who ultimately starts for Kentucky next season? Diallo and Knox seem absolute locks, but while most have penciled in Green at point guard, sources tell SEC Country not to sleep on Gilgeous-Alexander.
If ever the 6-foot-6 freshman is on the ball, the Wildcats lineup will be huge. Most everyone on the roster except Green has a wingspan of 6-10 or longer. Good luck scoring and rebounding against that kind of size. We’re also told that Killeya-Jones, a sophomore who didn’t play in UK’s final 19 games this season, has a real chance to start at the 5 spot over 5-star freshman 7-footer Richards — although both will almost certainly play. Killeya-Jones’ trainer says he’s a man on a mission this offseason.
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