Calipari, UK players anxious for Wynyards arrival
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John Calipari is still trying to figure out his team and what works and what doesn't.
And with all the questions surrounding this Kentucky team, once answer may not be on UK's campus.
"We have Tai coming in," Calipari said. "He's 6-10, 260. Could he be the answer to the toughness? Then the other guys got to take a back seat? I don't know until we get him here and we let him get in there and mix it up."
That's right. Kentucky's 2015-2016 isn't even complete yet. New Zealander Tai Wynyard will arrive in Lexington next week, and his first game eligible will be the following Saturday against Ohio State.
Wynyard is known for his size and rebounding. The Cats have size on this year's team but the rebounding has been an issue.
But to rely on Wynyard to solve all of UK's toughness and rebounding issues seems risky. Even Calipari is unsure what he will bring to the table.
"I don't know, I don't have any idea," Calipari said. "I'll see him. I watched him on tape, but I haven't seen him in person. Haven't seen him against our guys. We'll see what he is and what he's not and whether he's going to be able to help us this first year."
When Wynyard committed to UK back in January, it was unclear when exactly he'd arrive on campus and whether or not he'd redshirt.
The former has been answered, but the latter still isn't 100 percent. All signs point to Wynyard playing this year, but as Calipari said, no one is sure.
When asked what Wynyard shows on tape Calipari wasn't too descriptive.
"He looks like he's 6-10 and about 260, 250," he estimated.
Later he went into more detail on what Wynyard will bring to the table.
"He could redshirt, but the plan is, let's slide him in there and go," Calipari said. "But again, OK, we play on the 19th. He gets here only on the 18th. Then we go on Christmas break. And he's going to come back here and I've got to have the staff working with him over Christmas. Then we have two practice days and we play Louisville. Not probably ideal game to shove him in, with two days practice.
"But then let's just see where he is and let's, we'll figure it out."
And the UK players spoke similar sentiments. Kentucky allowed Charles Matthews, Alex Poythress and Marcus Lee speak with the media after the game Wednesday evening.
Matthews' knowledge of Wynyard began and ended with him knowing a new player was coming on campus.
Poythress and Lee knew a little more, but not much.
"I actually haven't (watched tape) but I'm really excited because it's another big," Lee said. "It's someone that we can go against in practice. I heard he's a bigger guy and I'm really excited to have him here."
Poythress was also excited because he's hoping Wynyard can help push some of the players with his physicality.
"It's another big body," Poythress said. "He's going to push us in practice, he's going to push us in games and help us in games."
But whether or not he's able to contribute in the games doesn't matter to Lee. He's excited to welcome a new Wildcat to Lexington.
"It's a new member to the family," Lee said. "It's a challenge of bringing in new a player, we have to adjust to how he plays. It's just a new learning system and that's how we do it here."
