He can make a lot of cash in Lexington next year?? Maybe more than a second round pick!

I am hoping Cason Wallace will be able to play the point and have Wheeler as a serviceable backup, which is what he should be. 

Chris Livingston should give some much-needed help at the 3.

So much depends on what Oscar does.  I don't see Sharpe returning.  He's going to be a lottery pick.

I'm not sure it matters about the rest.  Toppin has talent, but he has a lot of improvement to make.

One thing about the UK faithful.....12 hours after bowing out of the tournament they are figuring out the "reload". St. John of Calipari is no dummy...ask UMass and Memphis. He will hit the transfer portal BIG with some aid from World Wide Wes. NIL and fewer one and escapes(done) will be the next norm.

3 minutes ago, 9068 said:

One thing about the UK faithful.....12 hours after bowing out of the tournament they are figuring out the "reload". St. John of Calipari is no dummy...ask UMass and Memphis. He will hit the transfer portal BIG with some aid from World Wide Wes. NIL and fewer one and escapes(done) will be the next norm.

We have now seen what the transfer portal gets you - mostly role players and players with shortcomings. The transfer portal will not produce a national title. You need at least 2 NBA first rounders to win a title and those players are not in the portal. The next frontier for talent - overseas? More and more NBA first round picks are coming from overseas. Is there a way to tap into that talent pipeline?

20 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

The transfer portal will not produce a national title. You need at least 2 NBA first rounders to win a title and those players are not in the portal.

Pretty sure Baylor had several transfers on their championship team. 

I also don't think you have to have two NBA first rounders to win a title.

15 minutes ago, TheDeuce said:

Pretty sure Baylor had several transfers on their championship team. 

I also don't think you have to have two NBA first rounders to win a title.

I researched that a few years ago. At that time, every NCAA champion from 1988 to 2015(?) maybe had at least 2 first rounders with just a couple exceptions. That included players drafted in round 1 any year, not just the year they won the title. I need to look at that again though to update it.

Just now, Voice of Reason said:

I researched that a few years ago. At that time, every NCAA champion from 1988 to 2015(?) maybe had at least 2 first rounders with just a couple exceptions. That included players drafted in round 1 any year, not just the year they won the title. I need to look at that again though to update it.

I just meant that I think it's possible. Obviously more difficult with less talent, though. 

2 hours ago, TheDeuce said:

Pretty sure Baylor had several transfers on their championship team. 

I also don't think you have to have two NBA first rounders to win a title.

 

1 hour ago, TheDeuce said:

I just meant that I think it's possible. Obviously more difficult with less talent, though. 

With the transfer portal like it is, I think the mix you need to win a title is 2 NBA draft picks and one of those must be an NBA first rounder. No one is winning an NCAA title without at least one first rounder. For every additional first rounder a team has, the odds of winning go up. If only one first rounder, two second rounders with talented, experienced players from the portal to fill the holes or develop your own experienced players.

I guess everyone is a forgone conclusion Tyty gone? 

Can I be a little optimistic? 

Other than being a UK player and the expectation of him leaving after 1 year once he committed to UK is the only reason why he leaves. I know he was hurt a lot but would love to see a full healthy year and he could be a Top 5 guy. 

His lottery stock is probably the biggest impacted by the early tourney exit.

Will he leave? 99.9% probably but I'm that .1% guy holding my breath.

Interesting info as I look at the history of NCAA champions and their rosters.

1. If Cal didn't win with UK in 2012, he probably should have been fired. Four 1st rounders including #1 Davis and #2 Kidd-Gilchrist plus 2 second round picks. On the talent side, that is the most talented team I have seen. That said, UNC also had four 1st rounders on their roster in 2012 and they didn't win a title.
2. Bill Self has been at Kansas since 2003 and he has one title. Hmmmm ... If we talk about talent and titles and slam Cal for only having one, then I think Self needs to get slammed just as hard if not more so.
3. Adding to the above, Duke has one title since 2010 and two since 2001. Coach K, two titles in 20 years with all that talent. 

Bottom line on that, people who think UK should have 3, 4 even 5 titles under Cal just aren't being realistic. Even with a lot of talent, you need some luck here and there to win a title.

1 minute ago, Voice of Reason said:

Interesting info as I look at the history of NCAA champions and their rosters.

1. If Cal didn't win with UK in 2012, he probably should have been fired. Four 1st rounders including #1 Davis and #2 Kidd-Gilchrist plus 2 second round picks. On the talent side, that is the most talented team I have seen. That said, UNC also had four 1st rounders on their roster in 2012 and they didn't win a title.
2. Bill Self has been at Kansas since 2003 and he has one title. Hmmmm ... If we talk about talent and titles and slam Cal for only having one, then I think Self needs to get slammed just as hard if not more so.
3. Adding to the above, Duke has one title since 2010 and two since 2001. Coach K, two titles in 20 years with all that talent. 

 

Totally agree. In Cals tenure at UK out of all those blue bloods who has the most tourney wins and final fours?? And thats still being on like a 4 year slump. Can we just blame Covid? Lets take this year what it was, it was a nice rebound from last year but we couldnt have expected a full 180....

I think we have a good foundation to build something bigger and better for 22-23.

16 minutes ago, FrankNicodemus said:

I guess everyone is a forgone conclusion Tyty gone? 

Can I be a little optimistic? 

Other than being a UK player and the expectation of him leaving after 1 year once he committed to UK is the only reason why he leaves. I know he was hurt a lot but would love to see a full healthy year and he could be a Top 5 guy. 

His lottery stock is probably the biggest impacted by the early tourney exit.

Will he leave? 99.9% probably but I'm that .1% guy holding my breath.

I haven't seen a mock draft without TyTy being a lottery pick. He is gone.

Oscar, on the other hand, I haven't seen a mock draft with him in the first round. He is listed on most as in the first few picks of round 2. If he doesn't boost his stock in the pre-draft workouts, he might be back.

33 minutes ago, Voice of Reason said:

Interesting info as I look at the history of NCAA champions and their rosters.

1. If Cal didn't win with UK in 2012, he probably should have been fired. Four 1st rounders including #1 Davis and #2 Kidd-Gilchrist plus 2 second round picks. On the talent side, that is the most talented team I have seen. That said, UNC also had four 1st rounders on their roster in 2012 and they didn't win a title.
2. Bill Self has been at Kansas since 2003 and he has one title. Hmmmm ... If we talk about talent and titles and slam Cal for only having one, then I think Self needs to get slammed just as hard if not more so.
3. Adding to the above, Duke has one title since 2010 and two since 2001. Coach K, two titles in 20 years with all that talent. 

Bottom line on that, people who think UK should have 3, 4 even 5 titles under Cal just aren't being realistic. Even with a lot of talent, you need some luck here and there to win a title.

That’s why my argument with Cal is that in the aggregate, he probably should have two titles, but there’s not a single year - even 2015 - that I point to and say THAT’S the year he should have done it. He’s had enough talent to win two, but it’s single elimination, not best of seven. Anything can happen. If these were series, I think he’d have three titles by this point. 

2 hours ago, Voice of Reason said:

Interesting info as I look at the history of NCAA champions and their rosters.

1. If Cal didn't win with UK in 2012, he probably should have been fired. Four 1st rounders including #1 Davis and #2 Kidd-Gilchrist plus 2 second round picks. On the talent side, that is the most talented team I have seen. That said, UNC also had four 1st rounders on their roster in 2012 and they didn't win a title.
2. Bill Self has been at Kansas since 2003 and he has one title. Hmmmm ... If we talk about talent and titles and slam Cal for only having one, then I think Self needs to get slammed just as hard if not more so.
3. Adding to the above, Duke has one title since 2010 and two since 2001. Coach K, two titles in 20 years with all that talent. 

Bottom line on that, people who think UK should have 3, 4 even 5 titles under Cal just aren't being realistic. Even with a lot of talent, you need some luck here and there to win a title.

Many UK fans are unrealistic. As my friend the late Carl Wenderoth said many years ago..."a good draw, a good call, and a good bounce of the ball" is what you need to win championships. As I learned sometimes it's better to be lucky than good lol.

@All State Baseball says Collins is coming back.