Sorting through transfer buzz as this wild Kentucky offseason is just getting started
The offseason roster churn continues for Kentucky basketball, and things aren’t expected to settle down anytime soon.
UK announced Monday that point guard Devin Askew would be leaving the program after just one season and multiple public declarations that he wouldn’t be going anywhere. Though the Wildcats are expected to return Dontaie Allen, Jacob Toppin and Lance Ware from this past season’s team, UK has not officially announced anything on their futures (and Askew’s case underscores the need to hold off on any assumptions until a return or departure is officially confirmed by the program).
Meanwhile, Kentucky is still waiting on decisions from Keion Brooks and Davion Mintz, who could both return to Lexington for another season. Getting back one or both of those players would go a long way toward making the Cats a national contender again in the 2021-22 season.
So, several roster-related issues remain in flux.
What is clear from the behind-the-scenes recruiting chatter is that Kentucky will add at least one more player from the transfer portal, and it might be more likely than not that the Cats will bring in a couple of additional players between now and next season.
Even if Brooks and Mintz both return — and Allen, Toppin and Ware all come back — that would leave John Calipari with 10 scholarship players. He’ll want at least one more heading into next season. And arguably the two biggest names in the transfer portal are still on UK’s radar.
Walker Kessler
The two weeks that Walker Kessler has had his name in the NCAA transfer portal have provided one of the best examples of just how wild this offseason will be and how quickly the narrative — and credible information — can change.
Shortly after Kessler — a 7-foot-1 center who played this past season at North Carolina — put his name in the portal, Kentucky was floated as a possible landing spot, even though the Cats were already seemingly loaded in the frontcourt. This time last week, it looked like Kentucky was on the outside looking in for Kessler, the No. 1 player in the 247Sports transfer rankings and a former five-star recruit.
And then, by Monday night, it appeared that the Cats’ chances to land the highly skilled post player from Georgia were being undersold. Rivals.com analyst Dan McDonald was the first prominent name to re-float Kessler as a Kentucky possibility — tweeting that the Cats were “firmly in the mix” for his commitment — and the Herald-Leader confirmed Tuesday morning that UK was, in fact, still pursuing Kessler and did indeed have a realistic shot to land the promising center.
Just a few hours later, there were rumblings that Kessler might not leave UNC at all. That he was in contact with new coach Hubert Davis, who wanted him back for his sophomore year. Sure enough, in his introductory press conference later that day, Davis confirmed that he had already texted with Kessler and that he planned to have a phone conversation with him Tuesday night. Recruiting priority No. 1 for the new UNC coach would be keeping Kessler in Chapel Hill.
“I want Walker here,” he said. “He’s a Carolina guy.”
Respected college basketball insider Andrew Slater tweeted shortly after those words were spoken that he expected Kessler’s decision would ultimately come down to offers from Auburn and Gonzaga, with no mention of Kentucky.
So, in less than 24 hours, UK went from being on the outside looking in, to being “firmly in the mix,” to possibly being on the outside looking in once again, with the possibility that Kessler wouldn’t even transfer at all.
Kessler averaged just 4.4 points and 3.2 rebounds in 8.7 minutes per game at North Carolina as a freshman, but he projects as a game-changing talent wherever he ends up next season. He was the No. 22 overall recruit in the 2020 class and brought a reputation to college as a skilled big who could excel playing away from the basket. For the most part, he was pegged into a more traditional post player role in UNC’s crowded frontcourt, and the presence of other established veterans — and fellow freshman Day’Ron Sharpe — limited his minutes.
It’s difficult to figure how Calipari would divvy up the minutes if Kessler does come to UK, with the Cats’ frontcourt already featuring star transfer Oscar Tshiebwe and highly touted freshman Daimion Collins, along with Lance Ware, Jacob Toppin, incoming freshman Bryce Hopkins and possibly Keion Brooks. (And, technically, there’s still a chance that projected NBA Draft pick Isaiah Jackson could be back for next season).
Marcus Carr
The biggest question mark on Kentucky’s roster — just like this past season — is at point guard.
Incoming freshman Nolan Hickman is expected to bring more perimeter burst than Askew displayed in his first season, but the fact remains that we’ve yet to see Hickman compete against college players. Mintz proved toward the end of the season that he could play effective point guard minutes, but — if he does indeed return — that’s not expected to be his primary position. With Askew gone, no one else on the projected roster is a point guard.
Don’t expect Calipari to get caught shorthanded at this spot for a second consecutive season.
The most-discussed option for Kentucky in college basketball circles, by far — both inside and outside the state — is former Minnesota point guard Marcus Carr, who is exploring his NBA Draft prospects at the moment but will transfer if he decides to return to college.
Carr would be a home-run addition for Kentucky, the type of player and established veteran presence at such an important position that could vault the Cats even higher in the national discussion for next season.
The 6-2, 195-pound guard from Toronto averaged 19.4 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 35.8 minutes per game this past season. He shot just 31.7 percent from three-point range, but he was 36.1 percent from deep as a sophomore the previous season. He was also a 79.9 percent free-throw shooter this past season and got to the line 194 times in 29 games.
Carr hasn’t laid out a specific timetable for his upcoming decisions. The NBA Combine is scheduled for late June, and the NCAA has confirmed that players will have a July 7 deadline for withdrawing their names from the NBA Draft and retaining their college eligibility.
ESPN’s most recent draft rankings place Carr at No. 90 overall, putting him 30 spots outside of draft range.
If Carr does return to college, it’s sounding like Kentucky will be one of the schools at the very top of his list, and he checks all of the boxes for what the Cats need to bolster their backcourt heading into next season.
The addition of Carr to the roster could also — in one scenario — give Calipari the ability to play three senior guards together: Carr, Mintz and star transfer Kellan Grady, making for the type of lineup the UK coach has never had in his decade-plus tenure here. Carr’s presence would also give Hickman — projected as a multi-year college player — some cover from the overwhelming expectations that come with being Kentucky’s starting point guard, while also allowing him to play meaningful minutes as a freshman.
It’s also worth reiterating — amid all this transfer speculation — that there are still expected to be hundreds of additional names entered into the NCAA portal in the coming weeks, and it sounds like there’s a good chance that a future Kentucky Wildcat might not even be on that list yet.
It probably already seems like a whirlwind, but this wild offseason is only just beginning.
Skyy Clark’s decision
One point guard who won’t be on Kentucky’s roster next season is five-star playmaker Skyy Clark, who tweeted Tuesday afternoon that he will stay in the 2022 class.
Clark committed to UK last fall and had been considering a reclassification to 2021 even before that pledge, but his announcement this week that he’s sticking with the 2022 class was not a surprise. Clark’s father made it clear in a recent interview with the Herald-Leader that his son was strongly leaning in that direction, and all of UK’s roster maneuverings so far this offseason have been made as if Clark would indeed stay in the 2022 class and join the Cats as a freshman for the ’22-23 season.
Clark is the No. 12 overall player in the 2022 class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings. He played this past high school season in the Nashville area before opting out of the final few weeks due to COVID-19, and an announcement on where he’ll play his final season of high school ball is expected to come soon.
More recruits for Kentucky?
Alabama landed a commitment from star center Charles Bediako — the No. 26 player in the 2021 class — on Tuesday, and that moved the Tide to the No. 3 spot in the 247Sports class rankings for next season, pushing Kentucky down one position to No. 6 on the list.
The Cats have just three commitments — Daimion Collins, Nolan Hickman and Bryce Hopkins — and, if that number stands, it would be John Calipari’s smallest recruiting class at Kentucky. Obviously, times are changing, and UK already has two high-profile transfers in Kellan Grady and Oscar Tshiebwe, with more players likely coming in via that route soon.
Still, it’s odd not to see Kentucky in one of the top two spots in the recruiting rankings. Can the Cats still get there? It’s possible.
UK has been mentioned as an option for borderline five-star point guard TyTy Washington, but he is not expected to end up in Lexington. Longtime UK target Jaden Hardy — the No. 2 player in the class — is still uncommitted, but he’s expected to go pro straight out of high school.
The most likely addition to UK’s roster from the high school ranks, at this time, looks to be former Texas commitment Tamar “Scoop” Bates, who asked for a release from his letter of intent with the Longhorns following the departure of head coach Shaka Smart. The 6-5 shooting guard from the Kansas City area is still expected to end up with another school even after Texas hired Chris Beard last week.
UK assistant coach Jai Lucas was Bates’ primary recruiter in Austin, a connection that could be huge for the Wildcats if they do make Bates a major priority.
Bates is currently the No. 56 overall player in the 2021 class, according to the 247Sports composite rankings, but he’s expected to rise up that list once the rankings are finalized later this spring.
With his current ranking — if he were to pick Kentucky — Bates would give the Wildcats the No. 2 class in the country, moving them in front of every team except for Michigan, which has a six-player class featuring two top-20 recruits.
