SEC threats to Kentucky are real and plentiful in 2019-20 season
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2019-20 College Basketball Preview
The Lexington Herald-Leader and Kentucky.com preview the 2019-20 college basketball season. Access all of the content in one place here. Check back for new stories and videos each day leading up to the start of the season on Nov. 5.
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The Southeastern Conference placed seven teams in the NCAA Tournament last season and sent one (Auburn) to the Final Four. What’s in store for 2019-20? Here’s a look:
Perceived threats to Kentucky
Florida. Kerry Blackshear, an All-ACC player for Virginia Tech, transferred to the Gators. That elevated Florida into the preseason top 10 rankings by Lindy’s (No. 7) and Blue Ribbon (No. 5). UK is third and second, respectively, in those rankings. Florida beat UK and North Carolina for freshmen Scottie Lewis and Tre Mann, respectively. With veteran guards Andrew Nembhard and Noah Locke returning, the Gators are a threat.
LSU. Losing last season’s top two scorers, Naz Reid and Tremont Waters, plus Kavell Bigby-Williams hurts. Veteran guards Skylar Mays and Javonte Smart ease the pain. The Tigers will be much smaller, but can validate Lindy’s No. 18 ranking if freshman forward Trendon Watford lives up to his billing.
Auburn: At No. 18 in Blue Ribbon’s ranking, Auburn is something of the reverse of LSU. The Tigers had arguably the best perimeter play in the SEC last season with Jared Harper, Bryce Brown and Chuma Okeke. Auburn figures to go inside more to senior “bigs” Austin Wiley and Danjel Purifoy.
Top veterans not playing for UK
Kerry Blackshear, Florida. Transfer from Virginia Tech is considered Florida’s best “big” since Al Horford. He was voted SEC Player of the Year in preseason balloting by the media.
Isaiah Joe, Arkansas. His 3.32 three-pointers per game last season was a record for an SEC freshman. And he led Arkansas with 51 steals and 27 charges taken.
Reggie Perry, Mississippi State. Lindy’s named him its preseason SEC Player of the Year. He made the league’s all-freshman team last season.
Skylar Mays, LSU. He ranked second among SEC players in steals per game (1.9) and free-throw accuracy (86 percent) last season. He also averaged a career-high 13.4 points. And he made CoSIDA’s Academic All-America first team.
Breein Tyree, Ole Miss. He is the SEC’s leading returning scorer (17.9 points).
Top freshmen not playing for UK
Anthony Edwards, Georgia. Highest-rated Georgia recruit ever. Oh, and he has a 42-inch vertical leap.
Josiah-Jordan James, Tennessee. He is the highest-rated recruit in Rick Barnes’ four years as UT coach.
Scottie Lewis and Tre Mann, Florida. The Gators’ first McDonald’s All-Americans since Kasey Hill and Chris Walker in 2013.
Isaac Okoro, Auburn. A four-star 6-6 guard billed as a willing defender and capable scorer around the basket and from the perimeter.
Trendon Watford, LSU. He was the leading scorer on an August trip to Spain.
Sorry to see you leave
▪ LSU’s tandem of “bigs”: Naz Reid and Kavell Bigby-Williams.
▪ Auburn’s trio of leading lights: point guard Jared Harper, shooting guard Bryce Brown and forward Chuma Okeke.
▪ Arkansas “big” Daniel Gafford.
▪ Tennessee forward Grant Williams. Besides being productive, he was all-world in an interview. How many players are secure enough to admit an opponent got in their head, as he said of PJ Washington.
▪ Three regulars — Tevin Mack, Daniel Giddons and Dazon Ingram — transferred from Alabama.
▪ Chris Silva, South Carolina. He led team in scoring, rebounding and blocks.
Happy to see you return
▪ Four of the six LSU players who entered the 2019 NBA Draft returned for another college season. The four are guards Skylar Mays, Javonte Smart and Marlon Taylor, plus forward Emmitt Williams.
▪ Reggie Perry, Mississippi State. He entered his name in the 2019 NBA Draft, then decided to withdraw.
▪ Savion Flagg, Texas A&M. He entered his name in the 2019 NBA Draft, then decided to return to the Aggies.
New to the scene
Eric Musselman, Arkansas. A former NBA coach, he brings what he calls a “pace and space” approach. He inherited a Nevada team that had a 9-22 record the previous season. Nevada won 110 games the next four seasons.
Nate Oats, Alabama. He led Buffalo to the NCAA Tournament in three of the last four years. That includes a 59-13 record the last two seasons. Buffalo played fast. Possessions last season averaged 14.4 seconds.
Jerry Stackhouse, Vanderbilt. Vandy’s first-year athletics director, Malcolm Turner, was president of the NBA’s G League the same season as Stackhouse was its Coach of the Year.
Buzz Williams, Texas A&M. Return to home state leads to assumption he can hit the ground running as a recruiter.
Best shooters
Isaiah Joe, Arkansas. As a freshman last season, he made a program-record 113 three-point shots. He made five of seven three-point shots against Kentucky.
Mark Smith, Missouri. He made 45 percent of his three-point shots last season.
Samir Doughty, Auburn. He made 43.6 percent of his three-point shots last season.
Relatively speaking
Scotty Pippen Jr., Vanderbilt. He is the son of former Chicago Bulls standout Scottie Pippen.
Trendon Watford, LSU. Five-star forward is the younger brother of Christian Watford, who made the shot that gave Indiana a 73-72 victory over Kentucky in the 2011-12 season.
Cashius McNeilly, Texas A&M. The freshman guard is the nephew of A&M assistant coach Jamie McNeilly.
Did you know?
▪ A.J. Lawson is considered a possible first-round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. If that happens, he’ll be South Carolina’s first opening-round pick since Renaldo Balkman in 2006.
▪ Desi Sills began his college career at Arkansas, transferred to SMU and now he’s back at Arkansas as a graduate transfer.
▪ Tennessee goes into the season having won 26 straight home games. That ties the Vols with Buffalo for the longest active streak of home victories.
▪ Ten of Missouri’s 13 non-conference games are in the state of Missouri.
▪ There are no freshmen on the Arkansas team.
▪ Vanderbilt is coming off the SEC’s first winless season (0-18) since Georgia Tech was 0-14 in 1953-54 (coincidentally the same season that saw Kentucky’s only undefeated team: 25-0). The Commodores go into this season on a program-record 20-game losing streak.
▪ Seven of the 24 McDonald’s All-Americans in the class of 2019 signed with SEC teams.
▪ LSU has won nine straight “true” road games. That equals the longest active streak. North Carolina, Houston and Wofford have also won their last nine “true” road games.
▪ As he begins his 11th season at Kentucky, John Calipari is the dean of SEC coaches.
Careers resuscitated
Bruce Pearl, Auburn. He had a 16-38 SEC record in his first three seasons at Auburn. Then the Tigers became embroiled in an FBI investigation of corruption in college basketball recruiting. After leading Auburn to the 2019 Final Four, he received a contract extension through 2023-24.
Rick Barnes, Tennessee. After coming close to bolting for UCLA, Barnes received a new five-year, $26 million deal to remain Tennessee coach.
Kermit Davis, Ole Miss. He had an 8-21 record in his one season (1990-91) season as Texas A&M coach. To make matters worse, rules violations led to a two-year show-cause penalty from the NCAA. He was SEC Coach of the Year last season, and received a contract extension.
Quotable
Georgia Coach Tom Crean: “I still love the newspaper. But everything you read has already been on Twitter. Except columnists.”
Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl: “If you hear a color commentator say a team lives and dies by threes, turn the sound off and listen to somebody else.”
Kerry Blackshear on playing in the ACC and now the SEC: “I’m excited. I think my experience in another high-level league will help me in this one.”
Arkansas guard Isaiah Joe on his shooting ability: “I’ve been working on my shot since I was little. Four or five years old. My dad’s been my shooting coach. He was an AAU coach. I’ve been traveling since I came out of the womb.”
LSU Coach Will Wade on being suspended as his team played in the 2019 NCAA Tournament: “I watched on TV. I’m not a very good fan. I was yelling at the TV and all that stuff.”
First-year Alabama Coach Nate Oats noted how the Tide beat Kentucky 77-75 in its opening SEC game last season: “You beat Kentucky in the opener, you should finish a little better than we did.” Alabama finished tied for ninth place with an 8-10 league record.
This story was originally published October 31, 2019 at 8:33 AM.
