Isaiah Jackson is returning UK basketball to its early-Calipari-era roots
Fast-break points from the bracketology lab:
21. Isaiah Jackson. During Kentucky’s current three-game win streak, the 6-foot-10, 206-pound freshman has emerged as UK’s best player, averaging 16.3 points, nine rebounds and two blocks.
20. A throwback to John Calipari’s early days at UK. In the first five seasons of the Calipari era, the Wildcats’ top player was always a freshman — John Wall (2009-10), Brandon Knight (2010-11), Anthony Davis (2011-12), Nerlens Noel (2012-13) and Julius Randle (2013-14).
19. Vets have been Cats’ best in recent seasons. However, in the six Kentucky hoops seasons that immediately preceded this one, UK’s best player has NOT been a freshman four times — junior Willie Cauley-Stein (2014-15) and sophomores Tyler Ulis (2015-16), PJ Washington (2018-19) and Immanuel Quickley (2019-20).
(Freshmen point guards De’Aaron Fox (2016-17) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2017-18) were the “best player” exceptions to the recent trend).
18. Key for the Cats. If Jackson keeps playing at the level of the past three games, Kentucky’s aspirations of playing its way into the NCAA Tournament by winning the SEC tourney become a lot more realistic.
17. A NBA Draft “riser?” Jackson’s recent play has not gone unnoticed by NBA mock drafters. “Very much one to watch in the coming months as a potential late-season riser,” Kyle Boone of CBSSports.com wrote.
16. “The Year of the Freshman” in Kentucky college hoops. Jackson’s emergence as the top Cat aligns UK with what has been a major story line in the 2020-21 men’s college hoops season in our state — freshmen playing at a star-level.
15. Johni Broome. The 6-10, 235-pound freshman has been the key cog in the basketball revival at Morehead State. A Plant City, Fla., product, Broome (13.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.9 blocked shots) has been OVC Freshman of the Week eight times.
14. Wendell Green. After turning down scholarship offers from DePaul and TCU, the 5-11, 170-pound freshman point guard runs the show for the hot-paced offense at Eastern Kentucky. A Detroit native, Green (14.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 5.2 assists) is a four-time OVC Freshman of the Week.
13. Marques Warrick. The Horizon League has already named the Northern Kentucky guard (15.9 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.7 assists) its 2020-21 Freshman of the Year. In six February contests, the former Henry Clay High School star has averaged 19.3 ppg.
12. The “Mr. Basketball” season. Hoops history is being made this winter in the commonwealth with five winners of the Kentucky Mr. Basketball Award all playing at the same time for in-state schools.
11. Kentucky’s 2016 Mr. Basketball. Going into Western Kentucky’s Thursday night game at No. 12 Houston, former Owen County star Carson Williams is averaging 7.2 points and 5.5 rebounds for the Hilltoppers.
10. Kentucky’s 2017 Mr. Basketball. Ex-Paul Laurence Dunbar star Taveion Hollingsworth averages 13.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg and 2.3 assists for WKU.
9. Kentucky’s 2018 Mr. Basketball. Former Mercer County star Trevon Faulkner (16.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.5 assists, 1.5 steals) is the leading scorer for Northern Kentucky.
8. Kentucky’s 2019 Mr. Basketball. Ex-Pendleton County sharpshooter Dontaie Allen (5.2 ppg, 41.7 percent three-point shooting) has three double-figure scoring games for UK this year.
7. Kentucky’s 2020 Mr. Basketball. As a Western Kentucky freshman, former Collins High School star Dayvion McKnight (5.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.8 assists) has started the past eight games at point guard.
6. Mark Pope. It seems all but certain that the ex-Kentucky big man will coach in the NCAA Tournament in 2021. Pope’s BYU Cougars (16-5) were No. 22 in the NET rankings entering Thursday’s play. ESPN.com bracketologist Joe Lunardi has BYU as a seven seed.
5. Travis Ford. The former Kentucky point guard has some work to do if he is going to lead Saint Louis (11-5) to the NCAA Tournament for a second time. Lunardi presently has the Billikens as the fifth team out of the NCAA tourney.
4. Belmont. Going into Thursday night’s game at Eastern Kentucky, the Bruins stood 24-1, 18-0 in the OVC. Yet Belmont would seem to have all but no chance at an NCAA Tournament at-large bid if it does not win the OVC Tournament. Of the Bruins’ 24 victories, none are considered Quadrant One or Quadrant Two by the NCAA.
3. Quadrant One wins. As spotty a season as Kentucky (8-13, 7-7 SEC) has had in 2020-21, the Wildcats (3-9) began Thursday with more Quadrant One victories than Duke (2-3), Villanova (2-2), UCLA (2-3), North Carolina (1-6) or Louisville (0-4).
2. Indiana. At 12-11 overall, the Hoosiers have clinched their 22nd double-digit loss season in the past 27 years.
1. Archie Miller. Speculation is ramping up over whether Miller (67-54 in his fourth season at IU) can survive as Indiana head coach. What should be obvious by now is that the problems that have mired the Hoosiers program in such continuous mediocrity run far deeper than any one head coach.
