#21 
Kentucky Wildcats
One national championship and three other Elite Eights in 10 seasons are not enough at the University of Kentucky. Not at all. Tubby Smith realized that, and shocked the basketball world by bolting for the University of Minnesota, not long after his team exited the NCAA Tournament in the second round.
And Billy Gillispie, Smith’s replacement, realizes that, too. Gillispie has done remarkable work as Mr. Fix-It at UTEP and Texas A&M. But this isn’t a job for Mr. Fix-It. This is a job for Mr. Win-It-All. Gillispie understands that.
“You’ll probably never hear me say my roster’s complete, until we have 13 McDonald’s All-Americans and they’ve played for two or three years, and we have 13 more coming in,” Gillispie says. Gillispie does not have 13 McDonald’s All-Americans, yet. But he’s got a group with multiple working parts.
Frontcourt:
There’s work to do here. Randolph Morris was supposed to be the team’s senior center and leading scorer, but he left Lexington as quick as Smith, signing with the Knicks in March. That’s going to force Gillispie to use his thinking cap, and utilize young players. Only one returning player with true frontcourt size started as many as five games last season, and that was Perry Stevenson, whose five starts came early in the year.
Stevenson will have to deliver this season. To play effectively, he has to be more than a shot-blocker. He’s good at that, swatting 26 in only 10 minutes per game. But he needs more bulk in his upper body and more confidence in his ability to score around the basket.
At center,the Wildcats need big help from their medical and training staffs. Jared Carter missed all but three games last season with a separated shoulder. He then re-injured the shoulder last spring and underwent surgery. He is expected to be healthy by November, but the Wildcats are depending on a guy who did not make a field goal and played only 20 minutes last season.
No wonder Gillispie celebrated the signing of Patrick Patterson, a powerful 6′9” forward who picked UK over Florida and Duke during the last week of the recruiting season. Look for Patterson to start, and soon.
Backcourt:
Don’t be surprised if Gillispie utilizes a three-guard attack, because the backcourt is certainly this team’s strength.
Joe Crawford has always believed he is a player who can do it all, and he’s going to have to do it all on the wing. Not only is Crawford the team’s leading returning scorer (14.0 ppg), but he is also the top returning rebounder with 4.0 per game. Crawford will get his shots. He has to learn to take better ones. He launched 401 last season and made only 44.4 percent.
Senior Ramel Bradley is another guy who’ll get a lecture from Gillispie about shot selection, because he made only 42.0 percent of his attempts, a number that won’t work with an undersized team. Bradley was pushed to point guard with the absence of Rajon Rondo last season, but he’s a more natural shooting guard.
The star could be Jodie Meeks. Don’t be deceived by the fact that Meeks only started once last season. He was the first sub off the bench and averaged more minutes than any freshman.
Derrick Jasper, another sophomore, might have delivered the most puzzling stat line in college basketball last season. Although Jasper started 27 games and averaged better than 20 minutes, he took only 80 shots. By the end of the season, Jasper rarely looked at the basket. He’s a solid playmaker and ball-handler, but he will have a difficult time contributing until opponents have to fear his ability to score.
Ditto for Michael Porter. He’s more of a playmaker and could fill the role of backup point guard.
If Jasper and Porter don’t improve their offense, they’ll lose minutes to freshman Alex Legion, who signed with UK after originally committing to Michigan. He’s a big-time scorer.
Final Analysis:
Gillispie has solid veteran pieces in Crawford and Bradley, solid potential pieces in Meeks and Jasper and solid rookies in Patterson and Legion.
But this team has too many flaws in the frontline to play consistently with Top 25 teams. Points in the paint won’t come easily. Gillispie will need at least one or two more recruiting classes to remedy that.
- Steve
