Coming off a gut-punch of a 9-16 season that was impacted heavily by the Covid-19 pandemic, one could not fault John Calipari too much if he sounded a little reserved or apprehensive as he fielded questions Wednesday during Kentucky's annual basketball media day.
In classic Calipari fashion, he was neither of those things.
Entering his 13th season as head coach of the Wildcats, Calipari appeared relaxed and renewed leading up to the new season, thanks in large part to a new-look roster that figures to put UK back in the national spotlight for more accustomed reasons.
"I am having a ball every day I walk in because I've got a bunch of guys that want to be coached, that want to challenge each other, that are engaged," he said. "We've got veterans. When you have veterans, they're on time... Without even saying anything, they lead. That's been fun."
Thanks to the NCAA transfer portal, Kentucky was able to quickly reforge its roster. The Cats have added four high-profile Division I transfers, including point guard Sahvir Wheeler (an All-SEC selection from Georgia), guard Kellan Grady (a 2,000-point career scorer at Davidson), wing C.J. Fredrick (a 3-point specialist from Iowa), and center/forward Oscar Tshiebwe (a physical presence from West Virginia).
Beyond the raw talent that they bring to the table, the transfers also join players like grad senior guard Davion Mintz, junior forwards Keion Brooks Jr. and Jacob Toppin, sophomore forward Lance Ware, and sophomore guard Dontaie Allen to give Calipari the most experienced roster he's ever coached during his time in Lexington.
"I haven't had many teams with veteran kind of players on it, so I kind of forget that it takes one thing off your plate," the UK boss said.
Calipari noted that this team reminds him of the 2018-19 squad that featured another high-profile transfer, veteran big man Reid Travis from Stanford, to go along with eventual NBA Draft picks P.J. Washington and Nick Richards, who each had significant experience at the college level.
Kentucky not only targeted experience in the transfer portal. The Cats wanted to upgrade their skill level on the perimeter after shooting 41.7% as a team and just 33.5% from beyond the 3-point arc. Fredrick shot 47.9% from deep during his two years at Iowa; Grady was a 38.2% shooter from the arc last season at Davidson.
They'll team with returnees Allen (39.7%) and Mintz (37.8%) to form what should be a much more formidable offensive club, especially considering they also added the SEC's leading assist man in the form of Wheeler (14.0 ppg, 7.4 apg).
"It's good. They're shooting the ball," Calipari said of his new team. "They're playing. They're competing."
In other words, it feels more like the start of a typical Kentucky season.
"We have not had a bad practice yet," Calipari said. "... Last year was a blip. That's so far behind me, what we went through, and I learned from it, and you move on."
Fans will get their first good look at the new-look Cats, who open the season ranked No. 10 in the AP Top 25 Poll, when they play the annual Blue-White Game on Friday at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m. ET on the SEC Network.
