Kentucky basketball roster tracker 2.0: Bryce Hopkins reveals transfer destination
The Kentucky basketball offseason is now a few weeks old, and there has already been plenty of movement regarding the roster for the 2022-23 campaign.
There have been NBA Draft declarations and transfer portal announcements, though some Wildcats have not yet revealed anything about their future plans. Kellan Grady and Davion Mintz are the only players from the 2021-22 team that are out of college eligibility, while five-star recruits Chris Livingston and Cason Wallace are the program’s only high school signees in the 2022 class.
More clarity on Kentucky’s roster for next season will be coming soon. Here’s what each UK scholarship player from this past season’s team has decided, with the latest information on the Cats whose college basketball future is still up in the air.
Oscar Tshiebwe
Status: Will remain at Kentucky for the 2022-23 season.
Season stats: 17.4 points, 15.1 rebounds, 1.8 steals, 1.6 blocks, 31.9 minutes.
What’s next? Kentucky’s consensus national player of the year announced on April 20 that he will remain a Wildcat for one more season. Tshiebwe has little left to prove at the college level, though he’s also not in a position to be a guaranteed first-round draft pick this year. ESPN has him at No. 44 overall on its latest list of the top 100 prospects for the NBA Draft.
A big part of his decision this offseason was tied to name, image and likeness possibilities. As an international student on an F1 visa, Tshiebwe was unable to make any considerable money last season despite being one of the most visible and successful college athletes in the country. There has been plenty of work behind the scenes to get the Kentucky star in a position to profit off of NIL, and — despite a snag a few weeks ago — there’s now confidence in UK circles that Tshiebwe will be eligible to make money as a college athlete next season, and the projected earnings amount reaches into the seven figures.
Tshiebwe’s return is a major offseason victory for the Wildcats and probably makes them one of the early favorites for the 2023 national championship.
TyTy Washington
Status: Plans to stay in the NBA Draft.
Season stats: 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 29.2 minutes, 35.0% threes.
What’s next? The only question mark surrounding Washington’s future now is what pick he’ll end up being in the NBA Draft. UK’s leading backcourt scorer from last season is signing with an agent and will not return to college no matter what happens with the pre-draft process. He’s generally projected as a lottery pick, and ESPN has him at No. 14 overall on its latest list.
Keion Brooks
Status: Going through NBA Draft process.
Season stats: 10.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 24.5 minutes, 23.3% threes.
What’s next? Brooks announced last week that he was entering his name in the NBA Draft pool but would leave open the possibility of a return to college for next season. Going into the spring, he is not on ESPN’s list of the top 100 NBA Draft prospects, and it seems unlikely that he would be picked this year. What he does next will be one of the most interesting decisions of this UK offseason, and if he does return to college basketball there’s still a chance he could enter his name in the transfer portal and get a fresh start elsewhere. A former five-star recruit, Brooks emerged as a starter for the Wildcats this past season, though he was still inconsistent in his third year with the program. If he does come back, he would join Alex Poythress as just the second scholarship player in the John Calipari era to spend four seasons with the Wildcats.
Sahvir Wheeler
Status: Will remain at Kentucky for the 2022-23 season.
Season stats: 10.1 points, 6.9 assists, 31.2 minutes, 30.8% threes.
What’s next? Wheeler entered his name in the NBA Draft last year before deciding to return to college, ultimately transferring from Georgia to Kentucky. Wheeler decided not to enter the draft this year, announcing April 24 his intention to return next season. In his first season as a Wildcat, he led the Southeastern Conference in assists for the second consecutive season, but his frenetic style at the point guard spot sometimes got UK into trouble offensively, and the loss to Saint Peter’s was an example of that. While Kentucky wanted Wheeler back for another season, the starting point guard spot is not guaranteed. Star recruit Cason Wallace will be given an opportunity to compete for that position, and the Cats are also looking at potential point and combo guard options in the transfer portal.
Shaedon Sharpe
Status: Going through NBA Draft process.
Season stats: Did not play this past season.
What’s next? Sharpe came to Kentucky in January with the plan to sit out the rest of the season as a practice player only, then make his debut for the Wildcats in the 2022-23 campaign. Following rampant speculation that the former No. 1-ranked recruit might play right away, Calipari finally made it clear that it wouldn’t happen, while also saying that he fully expected Sharpe to be part of next season’s team. On April 21, Sharpe announced he would enter the 2022 NBA Draft but maintain his college eligibility. He has until June 1 to withdraw from the draft if he wants to play at Kentucky. Sharpe is currently projected as a top-10 draft pick. If that status remains unchanged, expect Sharpe to stay in the draft, a move that would obviously be a big blow to Calipari’s plans for next season.
CJ Fredrick
Status: Expected to return to Kentucky.
Season stats: Did not play this past season.
What’s next? Fredrick was a two-year starter at Iowa — and a 46.6-percent three-point shooter during that time — before transferring to Kentucky last offseason. He was forced to sit out the entire 2021-22 campaign due to injury, but he joined the team on the court during pregame warm-ups toward the end of the season. Frederick tweeted a video April 16 implying that he will return to Lexington and make his debut as a Wildcat next season. He should be a major addition to UK’s backcourt and projects as one of the program’s best outside shooters in recent years.
Jacob Toppin
Status: Going through NBA Draft process.
Season stats: 6.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 17.7 minutes.
What’s next? Toppin announced on April 12 that he was entering his name in the NBA Draft pool but would leave open the possibility of a return to college for next season. Toppin continued to develop his game during his second season with the Wildcats, emerging as the team’s top frontcourt option off the bench and positioning himself to be a key player on the 2022-23 roster. The highly athletic, high-motor forward earned Calipari’s trust as a versatile defender, and he showed flashes of the talent that could make him an NBA Draft pick down the road. He is not projected as a player of NBA interest this offseason, however, and he’s expected to return to Kentucky for another season.
Daimion Collins
Status: Will remain at Kentucky for the 2022-23 season.
Season stats: 2.9 points, 2.0 rebounds, 7.5 minutes.
What’s next? “Let’s run it back!!” Collins posted on social media April 23. 247Sports analyst Travis Branham, who keeps a close eye on everything related to the transfer portal, had reported shortly after Kentucky’s season ended that Collins would return to Kentucky for his sophomore year. The former McDonald’s All-American never played more than nine minutes in any game after Dec. 31, but he was billed coming in as a high-upside player that would need time to adjust to the college game. Calipari said on his final radio show of the season that he had spoken to Collins and his parents in the days after UK’s loss to Saint Peter’s. The Kentucky coach didn’t explicitly confirm the report then that Collins would be back, but he did praise his patience and understanding amid a freshman year with limited playing time, and he spoke highly of the 6-9 forward’s future with the Wildcats’ program.
“I think he becomes one of the best players in the country,” Calipari said of Collins’ place on the 2022-23 roster. “I think the things he does, normal players can’t do. … I look at him as one of the cornerstones of what will be this team.”
Lance Ware
Status: No announcement yet.
Season stats: 1.5 points, 1.9 rebounds, 6.3 minutes.
What’s next? Ware saw limited playing time as a sophomore, primarily because Tshiebwe was so good at the “5” spot and managed to play major minutes while largely staying out of foul trouble. Still, Ware earned constant praise from Calipari, who often went out of his way to talk about his young player’s high basketball IQ and willingness to do whatever was asked of him on the court. Ware could surely get more playing time elsewhere, but he also came to Kentucky with realistic expectations and, by all accounts, has enjoyed his time with the program so far. There have been rumblings of a possible transfer in recent weeks, but Ware hasn’t made any announcements yet, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if he was back in Lexington for another season.
Bryce Hopkins
Status: Transferred to Providence.
Season stats: 2.1 points, 1.4 rebounds, 6.4 minutes.
What’s next? Hopkins announced April 7 that he would enter the transfer portal and play his second season of college basketball somewhere else. On April 25, he revealed his new home would be Providence, of the Big East Conference. The No. 39 overall recruit in the 2021 class, Hopkins played limited minutes down the stretch last season, despite continuous, unprompted praise from Calipari, who clearly wanted him to stick around with the Kentucky program. The Chicago-area native’s highlight as a Wildcat will be his out-of-nowhere performance against Louisiana State, tallying 13 points and four rebounds in 16 minutes of play to help the short-handed Wildcats defeat the Tigers. That was the only game over the last two months of the season in which Hopkins played more than five minutes.
Dontaie Allen
Status: Transferred to Western Kentucky.
Season stats: 2.2 points, 1.2 rebounds, 6.4 minutes.
What’s next? Allen announced March 24 that he would enter the transfer portal and finish his college basketball career elsewhere after three years in the UK program. Allen made his choice on April 13 when he announced he had committed to Western Kentucky University. The former Kentucky Mr. Basketball sat out his first season with the team due to injury and had a few high-scoring games as a redshirt freshman. This past season, Allen was largely relegated to the bench and played more than three minutes in just one game after Dec. 31. In addition to WKU, West Virginia, Xavier and Cincinnati were among the many programs that contacted Allen after he entered the transfer portal.
This story was originally published April 11, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
