How are former John Calipari players, recruits from UK doing as conference play arrives?

As the calendar shifts from 2024 to 2025, the college basketball world is also about to enter a new stage of the season.

Around the country, programs are gearing up for the start of conference play. For the most part, buy games are now done and dusted. The true journey toward qualification for this year’s NCAA Tournament begins now.

And that means that a whole host of former Kentucky players and recruits from the 2023-24 season are prepping for the start of conference play at their new schools.

In total, 12 former UK players or recruits from last season — the final season of the John Calipari coaching era — are now at new programs.

All 12 have played for their new schools this season, and all are getting ready for the start of conference play, if it hasn’t started for them already.

Here’s a look at how each of the former Wildcats from last season have fared with their new teams as conference play looms.

Players listed in alphabetical order by last name.

Aaron Bradshaw

Team (record): Ohio State (9-4 overall, 1-1 in Big Ten).

Per-game stats: 9.2 points, 4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 21.8 minutes (six games played, four starts).

Notable: Bradshaw, a 7-foot-1 big man who played one season at Kentucky, has had a notable few months with the Buckeyes.

After playing in Ohio State’s Nov. 19 home win over Evansville, Bradshaw was kept away from team activities while the school investigated a possible domestic incident at his off-campus apartment, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

In early December, Ohio State head coach Jake Diebler said Bradshaw was back with the Buckeyes, but a return to play timeline for Bradshaw was never publicly stated.

After a month away from game action, Bradshaw returned in a big way during Ohio State’s 20-point upset win over then-No. 4 Kentucky on Dec. 21 in New York City.

Bradshaw came off the bench to record 11 points, two rebounds and two steals in that game. Bradshaw then had 13 points on Dec. 29 as Ohio State closed nonconference play with a 20-point win over Indiana State.

The Buckeyes have already played a pair of Big Ten Conference games, losing handily at Maryland and defeating Rutgers at home. Bradshaw wasn’t with the team for either of those contests.

Jordan Burks

Team (record): Georgetown (11-2 overall, 2-0 in Big East).

Per-game stats: 5.1 points and 3.2 rebounds in 16.4 minutes (13 games played, two starts).

Notable: Burks, a 6-foot-9 forward who played one season at Kentucky, has scored in double figures in two of his 13 games for Georgetown this season.

Burks, who was a late addition to Kentucky’s top-ranked 2023 recruiting class, had one of his best games in college basketball in Georgetown’s first conference win of the season. He went for seven points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal in 22 minutes on Dec. 18 as Georgetown trounced Creighton, which beat then-No. 1 Kansas earlier this season.

Somto Cyril

Team (record): Georgia (12-1 overall).

Per-game stats: 5.9 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2 blocks in 15.6 minutes (13 games played, zero starts).

Notable: Cyril, a 6-foot-11 center who was Calipari’s first Kentucky commit in the 2024 recruiting class, has settled in nicely as a bench option for the Bulldogs, whose only loss this season came to Marquette in November in The Bahamas.

Cyril has scored in double figures for Georgia on four occasions this season, including in two of his last four games. Cyril’s first career college double-double came on Dec. 19 against Buffalo: Cyril had 10 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks against the Bulls.

UK’s first road game in SEC play will be at Georgia on Tuesday night.

Boogie Fland

Team (record): Arkansas (11-2 overall).

Per-game stats: 15.9 points, 6.2 assists and 40.3% 3-point shooting in 33.5 minutes (13 games played, 13 starts).

Notable: Fland, a 6-foot-2 guard from just outside New York City, has been a standout star for Calipari’s first team at Arkansas.

Fland has scored in double figures in 11 of the Razorbacks’ 13 games. The New York City native is the second-leading scorer for Arkansas, and the team’s runaway assist leader.

A 2024 McDonald’s All-American, Fland had a 12-point, 11-assist double-double for Arkansas in a Dec. 21 home win over North Carolina A&T.

Something to monitor over the course of SEC play will be Fland’s durability for Arkansas, given his heavy minutes workload to this point: Fland has played 32 or more minutes in 10 of Arkansas’ 13 games.

Joey Hart

Team (record): Ball State (6-6 overall).

Per-game stats: 1.2 points and 1.5 rebounds in 10.2 minutes (11 games played, one start).

Notable: Hart, a 6-foot-5 guard who was also a late addition to Kentucky’s 2023 recruiting class, hasn’t made much of an impact since transferring home to the Hoosier State to play at Ball State this season.

Hart has scored in only three games that he’s appeared in this season. Hart’s season-high in points (six) and minutes played (18) both came in Ball State’s second game of the season, a 27-point home win over Franklin College, an NCAA Division III school.

Zvonimir Ivisic

Team (record): Arkansas (11-2 overall).

Per-game stats: 8.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2 blocks and 45.5% 3-point shooting in 18.3 minutes (12 games played, six starts).

Notable: This time last year, “Big Z” and his pending eligibility were perhaps the hottest topics surrounding the Kentucky basketball program.

The 7-foot-2 big man from Croatia eventually was cleared to play by the NCAA and appeared in 15 games for UK last season. After following Calipari to Arkansas during the offseason, Ivisic is making a noticeable impact for the Razorbacks.

Ivisic, who was the first former UK player to announce he would be following Calipari to Arkansas, went on a scoring tear earlier this season that saw him record seven games of double-digit scoring by early December.

The scoring has cooled off of late, and Ivisic hasn’t made a 3-pointer in nearly a month. But, Ivisic is still Arkansas’ top 3-point shooter in terms of percentage.

Ivisic is also making his presence felt defensively, with eight multi-block games this season.

Karter Knox

Team (record): Arkansas (11-2 overall).

Per-game stats: 6.9 points and 3 rebounds in 16.9 minutes (13 games played, two starts).

Notable: Knox, a 6-foot-6 forward, followed Calipari to Fayetteville this offseason. He was the final member of Kentucky’s 2024 recruiting class to commit to the Wildcats, doing so last March, on the same day Calipari recorded his final win with the Cats (a March 9 victory at Tennessee).

Like Fland, Knox was a 2024 McDonald’s All-American. Knox was the first former UK recruit to announce he was joining Calipari at Arkansas.

Knox had a strong early-season scoring performance when he went for 21 points in a blowout home win over Maryland Eastern Shore.

And the younger brother of former Kentucky player Kevin Knox II has regained his scoring touch of late. Knox has scored 11 or more points in each of Arkansas’ last three games against Central Arkansas, North Carolina A&T and Oakland.

Ugonna Onyenso

Team (record): Kansas State (7-5 overall, 1-0 in Big 12).

Per-game stats: 3.1 points and 2.7 rebounds in 7.4 minutes (seven games played, zero starts).

Notable: Things haven’t gone according to plan this season for Onyenso, the 7-foot center who entered the transfer portal following both of his seasons at Kentucky.

In his final season at UK, Onyenso became Kentucky’s starting center down the stretch and had averages of 3.6 points and 4.8 rebounds in 18.6 minutes per game. He also owns the UK record for the most blocks in a game at Rupp Arena.

This season, the Nigerian has played in only seven of Kansas State’s 12 games and he’s only played double-digit minutes in two of those contests. Onyenso has missed several games for K-State with an eye injury.

Earlier this season, Onyenso recorded a career-high 16 points in a K-State home win over Mississippi Valley State.

But since that scoring outburst on Nov. 19, Onyenso has scored only two points across three appearances for the Wildcats.

Onyenso didn’t play for Kansas State in the Wildcats’ Big 12 Conference opener Monday, a home win over No. 16 Cincinnati.

Jayden Quaintance

Team (record): Arizona State (9-3 overall, 0-1 in Big 12).

Per-game stats: 9.3 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.2 blocks and 1.9 assists in 30 minutes (12 games played, 12 starts).

Notable: Quaintance — a 6-foot-9 forward who isn’t eligible for the NBA draft until 2026 because of his age — has hit the ground running with the Sun Devils this season.

Another 2024 McDonald’s All-American who moved on from Kentucky after Calipari’s departure as head coach, Quaintance has been a penciled-in starter for Bobby Hurley’s team.

In his college debut, Quaintance had six blocks against Idaho State, which marked the most rejections in one game by an Arizona State player since 2017.

Quaintance — who was the top-ranked prospect among the six recruits that Calipari had lined up to come to Lexington — is Arizona State’s leader in blocks and rebounds.

Quaintance is also second on the Sun Devils in average minutes played and he’s scored in double digits in four of Arizona State’s last five games. He’s also accounted for three double-doubles this season against St. Thomas, Cal Poly and Massachusetts.

Billy Richmond

Team (record): Arkansas (11-2 overall).

Per-game stats: 6.1 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 17.2 minutes (13 games played, zero starts).

Notable: Richmond, a 6-foot-5 forward, was the final player from UK’s 2024 recruiting class to decommit from the Wildcats following the offseason coaching change.

He’s been used exclusively in a bench role this season by Calipari at Arkansas.

Richmond has cracked double-digit scoring on three occasions for the Razorbacks.

His best college performance to date came in a Nov. 28 loss to Illinois when Richmond had 12 points, four rebounds and two steals in 32 minutes.

Adou Thiero

Team (record): Arkansas (11-2 overall).

Per-game stats: 17.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2 steals in 28.5 minutes (12 games played, 12 starts).

Notable: Thiero, a 6-foot-8 junior, has blossomed into a full-fledged scorer for the Razorbacks in his third college season.

Thiero was the first UK basketball player to enter the transfer portal during the offseason, doing so before Calipari announced he would also be leaving Lexington.

But Calipari is indeed coaching Thiero for a third straight season, and the junior is now an all-around star in Fayetteville.

Thiero has scored 20 or more points six times for Arkansas this season, and he leads the Razorbacks in scoring. In Arkansas’ most recent game against Oakland — the team that eliminated Thiero and UK from the 2024 NCAA Tournament — Thiero had 20 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Thiero also leads Arkansas in rebounding and he’s third on the Razorbacks in assists.

Defensively, Thiero’s average of 2 steals per game leads Arkansas.

Across the SEC, Thiero is ranked in the top 10 in both scoring and steals, and in the top 30 in rebounding.

D.J. Wagner

Team (record): Arkansas (11-2 overall).

Per-game stats: 9.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 41.3% 3-point shooting in 33.9 minutes (13 games played, 13 starts).

Notable: Wagner, a 6-foot-4 guard, was the centerpiece of Calipari’s final 2023 recruiting class at Kentucky.

After underwhelming, relative to preseason expectations, during his freshman season at Kentucky, Wagner opted to run things back in college with Calipari at Arkansas.

While Wagner’s scoring and offensive distribution remain similar this season to what he did last season as a Wildcat, Wagner has boosted his rebounding and steals totals with the Razorbacks and is shooting more than 12% better from 3-point range.

Wagner is also shooting about 5% better overall from the field and is averaging more than eight minutes played more per game this season, compared to his time at UK.

Wagner — who is currently not considered a likely 2025 NBA draft prospect — has scored 10 or more points in three of Arkansas’ last four games.

This story was originally published January 2, 2025 at 6:30 AM.

Cameron Drummond

Lexington Herald-Leader

859-242-5257

Cameron Drummond works as a sports reporter for the Lexington Herald-Leader with a focus on Kentucky men’s basketball recruiting and the UK men’s basketball team, horse racing, soccer and other sports in Central Kentucky. Drummond is a second-generation American who was born and raised in Texas, before graduating from Indiana University. He is a fluent Spanish speaker who previously worked as a community news reporter in Austin, Texas. Support my work with a digital subscription