Things have been very exciting over the last few months in the state of Kentucky, but that all came crashing down Saturday night when the Wildcats were upset by West Virginia. Yes, DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall both made first team All-American, but they are off to the NBA along with Patrick Patterson and freshman shooting guard Eric Bledsoe. Many NBA general managers think all four could end up as a lottery pick with Wall and Cousins going in the first and second picks of the 2010 NBA draft. Couple the potential loss of these four phenomenal starters along with the possibility of losing 6-10 forward Daniel Orton to the pros and there is a major depletion of talent in Lexington. Calipari is one whale of a recruiter and I don’t doubt he will land some big names (C.J Leslie, Josh Selby, Brandon Knight, etc.) before it’s all said and done, but can he reload in one year? Unless for some reason Bledsoe and Orton do return I predict the Wildcats will not be in the AP preseason top 10, but will make some noise in the weak SEC and then flame out in the NCAA tournament because they will even be less experienced than this year.
John Wall to Kentucky
After weeks and weeks of speculation the word is the number one point guard coming out of high school will play for the Kentucky Wildcats next year. Before Calipari left Memphis for Kentucky it was pretty clear Wall was headed to Memphis, but once Calipari bolted it left Wall reconsidering his options. Wall was courted by Duke, Florida and Miami in a big way along with Memphis and Kentucky, but in the end Wall went with his initial notion of wanting to play for Calipari. This latest signing for the Kentucky Wildcats is another huge notch in the belt for the program. Less than two weeks ago stud forward Patrick Patterson pulled his name out of the of the NBA draft after averaging almost 18 points a game last year as a Sophomore. Throw in the signing of highly touted newcomers like Daniel Orton, Darnell Dodson and DeMarcus Cousins and you immediately have a team that could contend for a National Championship this coming season. Finally, let’s not forget there is a possibility that scoring machine Jodie Meeks could return to the program as well. Meeks averaged over 27 points a game last year and is currently determining if he can be a first round pick this year or if he should return to college. I got a strong feeling Meeks is going to return to Kentucky due to the potential the team has to win a title. We will find out very soon if Meeks will be back and if he returns I think the Wildcats are immediately the best team in the country. I’m sure Michigan State, Kansas, Duke and other solid programs will feel differently, but Kentucky could be back and stronger than ever folks.