Early Look - next year's roster

[BlueNotes]

I may have a couple of guys out of position - but based on forecast NBA moves this is how I think it shakes out. If I'm not mistaken, I think Alex Poythress still has one more year of eligibility left, right? Also, we're so deep at PF - does it makes sense to move Willis to Small Forward of will he be the ultimate backup? As it shakes out - it looks like small forward or big guard is where we need some more help


Point Guard

De'Aaron Fox PG Fr 6'3" 170

#25 Dominique Hawkins G Sr. 6-0 190


2G

Malik Monk SG Fr 6'4" 185

#11 Mychal Mulder G Sr. 6-4

#10 Jonny David G Fr. 6-2 175

#24 E.J. Floreal F G Jr. 6-4 203

#32 Dillon Pulliam G Jr 6-3 180


SF

#35 Derek Willis F Sr. 6-9 220

#4 Charles Matthews G So. 6-6 189


C

#14 Tai Wynyard F Fr 6-10 255

#15 Isaac Humphries C So. 7-0 260

#00 Marcus Lee F Sr. 6-9 224


PF

Sacha Killeya-Jones PF Fr 6'10" 207

Bam Adebayo PF Fr 6'9" 230

Wenyen Gabriel PF Fr 6'9" 210

#22 Alex Poythress F Sr. 6-8 230

 

[Sithlyone]

Can't even think about next year's roster at this point.

WAY to many unknowns

However Alex will not be here, that is for certain.

 

[DCFseattle]

If Ulis comes back for another season, it's over.

 

[bucsrule8872]

Unless we add Bolden, I suspect we look like this:

Starters
G Fox
G Monk
F Gabriel
F Adebayo
F Killeya-Jones

Reserves(in order by minutes played)
F Willis
G Matthews
G Hawkins
F Humphries
G Mulder
F Wynyard
G Floreal

 

[BlueNotes]

Is Lee gone - do you think?

 

[musrat59]

When one gets older like myself, I just look forward to the next day or week instead of a year from now.

 

[Hoskins91_rivals]

Murray and Poythress are the only obvious departures. Ulis, Lee, Briscoe, and Skal aren't in great position to leave, but they see playing time could be an issue next year, and that doesn't help their situation. As of now I don't see us losing all of those guys.

 

[musrat59]

If Ulis keeps playing like he has lately, he will be gone.

 

[Bill - Shy Cat]

When one gets older like myself, I just look forward to the next day or week instead of a year from now.

I hear ya. At my age, an "all-nighter" means I didn't have to get up to pee. However, it's good to know the Cats are going to be in great shape next year.

 

[KA4Prez_rivals78700]

Poythress and Murray are gone. No question. Skal is probably gone, just because there will be pressure on him to go and he will still be drafted in the 1st round.

Tyler Ulis, Isaiah Briscoe and Marcus Lee are the most possible players to return. With varying likelihood.

 

[CatCall]

Only way Ulis stays is if he walks into Cal's office and says "I'm staying for a championship next year, period!" and walks out. Otherwise he is as hot a commodity as he will be and will go. Hell, I'd draft him.

 

[DelkBowl]

Unless we add Bolden, I suspect we look like this:

Starters
G Fox
G Monk
F Gabriel
F Adebayo
F Killeya-Jones

Reserves(in order by minutes played)
F Willis
G Matthews
G Hawkins
F Humphries
G Mulder
F Wynyard
G Floreal

100%. I'm guessing we get Bolden to start at center.

 

[caneintally]

Gabriel is a SF but the break down is pretty much right. As we are now I think the starters would be

Fox/Monk/Gabriel/Willis/Bam but I think in the end Gabriel will be replaced by Bolden in the line up when he commits as Bam is more of a pf .

 

[Stretch98_rivals101536]

Murray and Poythress are the only obvious departures. Ulis, Lee, Briscoe, and Skal aren't in great position to leave, but they see playing time could be an issue next year, and that doesn't help their situation. As of now I don't see us losing all of those guys.

Playing time will never be an issue for Tyler Ulis at Kentucky.

 

[seccats04]

Briscoe is gone either way. Much like Archie, the only reason he came here was to be a One and Done no matter what. Skal will get drafted in the Top 20 based on potential (which I think is nuts but I've never understood the NBA). Poythress is already a senior with a degree in hand, so he is definately gone. Lee and Ulis are the only unknowns at this point.

 

[railroadkat_1]

I may have a couple of guys out of position - but based on forecast NBA moves this is how I think it shakes out. If I'm not mistaken, I think Alex Poythress still has one more year of eligibility left, right? Also, we're so deep at PF - does it makes sense to move Willis to Small Forward of will he be the ultimate backup? As it shakes out - it looks like small forward or big guard is where we need some more help


Point Guard

De'Aaron Fox PG Fr 6'3" 170

#25 Dominique Hawkins G Sr. 6-0 190


2G

Malik Monk SG Fr 6'4" 185

#11 Mychal Mulder G Sr. 6-4

#10 Jonny David G Fr. 6-2 175

#24 E.J. Floreal F G Jr. 6-4 203

#32 Dillon Pulliam G Jr 6-3 180


SF

#35 Derek Willis F Sr. 6-9 220

#4 Charles Matthews G So. 6-6 189


C

#14 Tai Wynyard F Fr 6-10 255

#15 Isaac Humphries C So. 7-0 260

#00 Marcus Lee F Sr. 6-9 224


PF

Sacha Killeya-Jones PF Fr 6'10" 207

Bam Adebayo PF Fr 6'9" 230

Wenyen Gabriel PF Fr 6'9" 210

#22 Alex Poythress F Sr. 6-8 230

#22 Alex Poythress F Sr. 6-8 230 has already graduated and is already in grad school. UK would have to apply for a medical redshirt for him and this is not going to happen. What ever Alex does from here will not involve UK . Best of luck Alex!

 

[KnowsAllTellsAll]

Gabriel is a SF but the break down is pretty much right. As we are now I think the starters would be

Fox/Monk/Gabriel/Willis/Bam but I think in the end Gabriel will be replaced by Bolden in the line up when he commits as Bam is more of a pf .

Gabriel has never played SF, but I think I read where Calipari is going to play him at SF like he did that one kid last year (from Indiana?). Think you'll see Willis or Matthews start there next year or Calipari go with a three guard line-up in the beginning of the season.

 

[Blue Decade]

I may have a couple of guys out of position - but based on forecast NBA moves this is how I think it shakes out. If I'm not mistaken, I think Alex Poythress still has one more year of eligibility left, right? Also, we're so deep at PF - does it makes sense to move Willis to Small Forward of will he be the ultimate backup? As it shakes out - it looks like small forward or big guard is where we need some more help


Point Guard

De'Aaron Fox PG Fr 6'3" 170

#25 Dominique Hawkins G Sr. 6-0 190


2G

Malik Monk SG Fr 6'4" 185

#11 Mychal Mulder G Sr. 6-4

#10 Jonny David G Fr. 6-2 175

#24 E.J. Floreal F G Jr. 6-4 203

#32 Dillon Pulliam G Jr 6-3 180


SF

#35 Derek Willis F Sr. 6-9 220

#4 Charles Matthews G So. 6-6 189


C

#14 Tai Wynyard F Fr 6-10 255

#15 Isaac Humphries C So. 7-0 260

#00 Marcus Lee F Sr. 6-9 224


PF

Sacha Killeya-Jones PF Fr 6'10" 207

Bam Adebayo PF Fr 6'9" 230

Wenyen Gabriel PF Fr 6'9" 210

#22 Alex Poythress F Sr. 6-8 230

Next year's roster: Seniors Marcus Lee, Derek Willis, Michael Mulder, Dominique Hawkins. No Juniors. Sophomores Skal Labissiere, Isaac Humphries, Isaiah Briscoe, Charles Matthews. Redshirt Freshman Tai Wynyard. True Freshmen Edrice Adebayo, De'Aaron Fox, Wenyen Gabriel, Sacha Killeya-Jones, Malik Monk. That's 14 players, which means Mulder has to go or else 1 of the Kentuckians would need to pay his own way. Someone will say Lee or Labissiere will leave for the NBA, but both are playing decreasing minutes right now and I don't see it happening in either case.

 

[sa_hunt]

Next year's roster: Seniors Marcus Lee, Derek Willis, Michael Mulder, Dominique Hawkins. No Juniors. Sophomores Skal Labissiere, Isaac Humphries, Isaiah Briscoe, Charles Matthews. Redshirt Freshman Tai Wynyard. True Freshmen Edrice Adebayo, De'Aaron Fox, Wenyen Gabriel, Sacha Killeya-Jones, Malik Monk. That's 14 players, which means Mulder has to go or else 1 of the Kentuckians would need to pay his own way. Someone will say Lee or Labissiere will leave for the NBA, but both are playing decreasing minutes right now and I don't see it happening in either case.

You forgot EJ and Bolden will commit.

 

[Dakota25]

I don't start thinking about next year's roster until May. At that point you know officially who is coming in and who is leaving. Sometimes you can get a late summer pickup as the case with Murray but that's rare. Murray is going pro and Poythress will be gone as well. Ulis, Briscoe, and Lee are unknowns. All in all I'm sure from mid April to May talking about next year's roster will be the hot topic as it is every year during that time.

 

[Hoskins91_rivals]

Playing time will never be an issue for Tyler Ulis at Kentucky.

He's not playing as much as he is this year if he comes back. That's a guarantee. You're not bringing Fox in and only playing him five minutes at point guard.

 

[emmcat]

He's not playing as much as he is this year if he comes back. That's a guarantee. You're not bringing Fox in and only playing him five minutes at point guard.

Poythress, Skal, Ulis and Murray are gone.Lee will graduate and leave for playing time else where. Biscoe will stay to improve his draft status. Plenty of playing time for him.We get Bolden who sees playing time.

Ulis will be drafted by some good team later in the first round or one with multiple first round picks. He's to good to pass in a guard dominated league.

 

[kentucky_wildcat_#1]

He's not playing as much as he is this year if he comes back. That's a guarantee. You're not bringing Fox in and only playing him five minutes at point guard.

Obviously Fox will play more than 5 minutes per game even if Ulis does decide to come back for another year. I guess if this happens and Ulis is on next year's roster, we are going to at times place the smallest backcourt in the nation with Ulis and Fox playing together. Normally that would be something i would be scared to do, but with Fox being 6 ft and can jump out of the gym, i think we will be okay if we decide to do that and play them together. Regardless of what happens, we will have plenty of minutes at guard to play fox and Ulis. Without a sf on the entire roster, at times we may even see Monk playing minutes at the Sf spot. We are loaded anyway you look at it.

 

[brianpoe]

Obviously Fox will play more than 5 minutes per game even if Ulis does decide to come back for another year. I guess if this happens and Ulis is on next year's roster, we are going to at times place the smallest backcourt in the nation with Ulis and Fox playing together. Normally that would be something i would be scared to do, but with Fox being 6 ft and can jump out of the gym, i think we will be okay if we decide to do that and play them together. Regardless of what happens, we will have plenty of minutes at guard to play fox and Ulis. Without a sf on the entire roster, at times we may even see Monk playing minutes at the Sf spot. We are loaded anyway you look at it.

When did Fox lose 3-4 inches?

He is listed as 6'3 or 6'4 everywhere....

 

[HenryMuto]

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Tyler-Ulis-70116/

Currently projected as pick 47 as of right now. Being 5'9" is going to be a huge problem in the NBA especially on defense. He would be wise to stay 2 more years.

 

[bucsrule8872]

From listening to Cal, it's seems pretty clear that Ulis is planning to leave and the Wayne is playing, there is no need for him to stay.

If Lee comes back, we don't get Bolden, IMHO.

But I don't think Lee plans to come back, or Cal would not be actively recruiting another big.

 

[kyjeff1]

The class coming in is awesome, but if Ulis and Lee don't return you can expect more growing pains similar to this year and 2014. We really need some key veterans to return.

 

[_NewWorldOrder_]

Here's my guess. I think Ulis comes back to be a part of something special.

Ulis
Fox
Monk
Bam
Bolden

Gabriel
Killeya Jones
Willis
Mathews
Hawkins
Humphries
Wynyrd
Mulder

 

[_NewWorldOrder_]

Don't be surprised to see one of Tai of Hump transfer.

 

[_NewWorldOrder_]

Ulis know he has a chance to stay and go down as one of, if not the best point guard ever at UK. And he's not some stupid kid who don't care about his university or winning. Ulis is the exact type of kid to come back because he wants to be part of another juggernaut and win it all.

 

[bigc45157]

The class coming in is awesome, but if Ulis and Lee don't return you can expect more growing pains similar to this year and 2014. We really need some key veterans to return.

I think who returns is KEY for us to be truly special. Mich St, KU, and Duke are all going to have returners making up potentially epic teams.

 

[jaknfo90]

When one gets older like myself, I just look forward to the next day or week instead of a year from now.

I'm happy when I remember what I did yesterday and in doing so, hope I didn't do anything incredibly stupid; then, I can look forward to a peaceful tomorrow.

 

[jaknfo90]

I may have a couple of guys out of position - but based on forecast NBA moves this is how I think it shakes out. If I'm not mistaken, I think Alex Poythress still has one more year of eligibility left, right? Also, we're so deep at PF - does it makes sense to move Willis to Small Forward of will he be the ultimate backup? As it shakes out - it looks like small forward or big guard is where we need some more help


Point Guard

De'Aaron Fox PG Fr 6'3" 170

#25 Dominique Hawkins G Sr. 6-0 190


2G

Malik Monk SG Fr 6'4" 185

#11 Mychal Mulder G Sr. 6-4

#10 Jonny David G Fr. 6-2 175

#24 E.J. Floreal F G Jr. 6-4 203

#32 Dillon Pulliam G Jr 6-3 180


SF

#35 Derek Willis F Sr. 6-9 220

#4 Charles Matthews G So. 6-6 189


C

#14 Tai Wynyard F Fr 6-10 255

#15 Isaac Humphries C So. 7-0 260

#00 Marcus Lee F Sr. 6-9 224


PF

Sacha Killeya-Jones PF Fr 6'10" 207

Bam Adebayo PF Fr 6'9" 230

Wenyen Gabriel PF Fr 6'9" 210

#22 Alex Poythress F Sr. 6-8 230

Poythress will not be back and I think we've got a decent shot at adding Bolden from all the noise going on about that in the rumor mill.

 

[brianpoe]

Ulis know he has a chance to stay and go down as one of, if not the best point guard ever at UK. And he's not some stupid kid who don't care about his university or winning. Ulis is the exact type of kid to come back because he wants to be part of another juggernaut and win it all.

This is brought up every year but has zero consequence.

The older a kid is the less value is perceived. (One of Skal's personal issues if he decides to stay.)

Being a hero at a college that will have a new group of heroes every year versus the chance of a millionaire in the NBA is not a difficult choice.

 

[wildcatsboston1984_rivals]

If a team gives Ulis a draft guarantee, there isn't much professional reason to return. His stock is only going to lower in 2017 because of the amount of talent there will be, that would mean sticking around until he is a senior and at 5'9" there isn't going to be much of anything he can do to improve his stock in two more years.

It would be like someone offering to give you a guaranteed 1 million today from a 98 year old man, but you have the option to turn it down and in one or two years the option of accepting 2 million might be available, but you have to count on the 98 year old man still being alive to receive the 2 million.

 

[brianpoe]

From listening to Cal, it's seems pretty clear that Ulis is planning to leave and the Wayne is playing, there is no need for him to stay.

If Lee comes back, we don't get Bolden, IMHO.

But I don't think Lee plans to come back, or Cal would not be actively recruiting another big.

Bolden doesn't come because of Lee or because Lee took the last remaining scholarship?

If Bolden is worried about Marcus then Bolden isn't our guy.

 

[poppycat]

Here's my guess. I think Ulis comes back to be a part of something special.

Ulis
Fox
Monk
Bam
Bolden

Gabriel
Killeya Jones
Willis
Mathews
Hawkins
Humphries
Wynyrd
Mulder

Ulis (Jr), Fox, Monk > Ulis (S), Briscoe, Murray...

 

[poppycat]

Don't be surprised to see one of Tai of Hump transfer.

I will.

 

[lkc1021]

#22 Alex Poythress F Sr. 6-8 230 has already graduated and is already in grad school. UK would have to apply for a medical redshirt for him and this is not going to happen. What ever Alex does from here will not involve UK . Best of luck Alex!

I don't think you have any idea what Alex will do?

 

[Primedfor9]

Alex has said he wants to move on after this year. He's gone, and it wont hurt us because we're going to be loaded up front.