Kentucky’s newly arrived No. 1-rated recruit ‘a ways away’ from playing in a game
Shaedon Sharpe, the No. 1-rated prospect in his recruiting class, has arrived. The Big Blue Nation should not expect instant gratification, Kentucky Coach John Calipari said Friday.
“He’s a ways away from playing games,” Calipari said. “And it may be a year from now. . . . We don’t have a plan for him to play this year. Maybe he does, but that’s not the plan, and never has been.”
Kentucky had a similar plan with Hamidou Diallo. He practiced but did not play during the 2016-17 season. Then he averaged 10.0 points the following season as a (one-plus) one-and-done UK player.
“My guess is he won’t play,” Calipari said of Sharpe. “But you know what happens. We’ve had injury after injury. This happened. That happened. We’re down to six (or) seven guys, I may tell him, look, man, you may go in seven minutes a game. You’ve got to play some.
“But my hope is we’re never there.”
When asked if Sharpe might play in blowout victories if only to gain experience, Calipari said, “not if he’s not ready. If I don’t think he’s ready to be put in a game, I’m not going to do that to him.”
Sharpe still must get in “unbelievable shape,” the UK coach said. “He’s not even close to that.” The player also needs to adapt to Kentucky’s system and expectations.
Calipari also noted that Sharpe must blend in with his UK teammates.
“Shaedon is not a guy who says a lot,” Calipari said. “. . . The only way you create relationships is by you speak. You listen. You talk.”
Shape is sharing a suite in the Wildcat Coal Lodge with Keion Brooks, who had a late start to last season because of injury.
“I told him, anytime he has a question or needs something answered, I’ll be there,” Brooks said.
Late-game
Not for the first time this season — and sounding like a throwback to last season — Kentucky talked Friday about the need to play better in the final minutes of ultra-competitive games.
“We’ve got stuff we’ve got to clean up,” UK Coach John Calipari said. “Make it a little clearer for these guys so there’s no confusion.”
The 65-60 loss at LSU on Tuesday made Kentucky 0-3 in games with a final margin of eight or fewer points.
Kentucky’s 11 victories have come by an average margin of 28.8 points with the closest final score being 76-64 over Southern.
That echoed last season when Kentucky had a 4-10 record in games decided by eight points or less.
“We’ve got to play to win, not play the game not to lose,” Oscar Tshiebwe said.
A common thread might be the point guard position.
Last season, UK did not settle on a point guard until February.
In the 66-62 loss at Notre Dame this season, Sahvir Wheeler did not shoot well and was on the bench in the final minutes. At LSU this week, he injured his neck running into a screen inside the first four minutes and did not return.
“Sahvir is special in the things he can do,” Keion Brooks said. “We have no one on the team that can replicate what he does. I know a lot of attention is paid to how he controls pace and passes the ball.
“The thing I really love is he’s nasty on defense as well. He makes it hard for the other team’s point guard. He gets them rattled and forces turnovers.”
That said, Brooks added, “late-game is something we’ve got to all hash out as a team.”
‘A great kid’
LSU Coach Will Wade said that the LSU program has a history with Sahvir Wheeler and his family.
“He’s a kid we recruited,” the LSU coach said. “I know his family and his dad, Teddy, very well. One of our managers was with him at Houston Christian, where he played and they’re great, great people.”
This familiarity led to a light-hearted exchange before Tuesday’s game, Wade said.
“I was actually joking with him in the layup lines when I got out there, and he joked that his dad was up in the 300s (top level of the Pete Maravich Athletic Center),” the LSU coach said. “I told him he should have called me and I would have gotten him a little better tickets.
“I mean, he’s a great kid.”
Georgia
Georgia has a 5-9 record. The Bulldogs have lost home games against Wofford (68-65), George Mason (80-67), East Tennessee State (86-84) and Gardner-Webb (77-60).
Georgia, which opened SEC play with an 81-79 home loss to Texas A&M, has consistently been the lowest ranked league team in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET).
Etc.
Kevin Fitzgerald and Dane Bradshaw are scheduled to call Saturday’s game for the SEC Network.
