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What John Calipari and Kentucky Players Are Saying Ahead of NCAA Tournament

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John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats' comments as they prepare for the NCAA Tournament.
Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports

One of the best events in all of sports is here, March Madness, as the First Four has already kicked off in Dayton. On Thursday, the Kentucky Wildcats will tip off against Oakland Golden Grizzlies, with the hopes of making a deep tournament run.

How are John Calipari and the Wildcats feeling? Confident. Let’s take a look a what they’ve had to say heading into Thursday’s game.

John Calipari

“I think I have a good team, but they’re going to have to go and perform,” Calipari said after seeing Kentucky’s draw on Sunday. That said, he is confident that this season will end on a good note. “Normally, when I have teams like this, the outcome is pretty good.”

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This year’s team is a group that enjoys one another, and is adored by the staff and fans. His message to his team, extend that. “You may never, in all of your basketball career, play on a team like this. Where everyone is for you. Everyone is trying to help you, and you’re trying to help them. Let’s extend it.”

To help extend the season, Calipari has a few “tweaks” in mind, a word he has almost used annually since the surprising run to the total game in the 2013-14 season. “We may have a couple tweaks,” Calipari said, speaking on the defensive end. “I got some things I think I’m gonna have to try and do. So I gotta couple tweaks in mind if a team has guards that just break us down. How about if I put both 7-footers in?”

Calipari also believes there could be a breakout in the NCAA Tournament by Aaron Bradshaw and Zvonimir Ivisic, and have a “couple” good games. “I don’t know when it will be, but you guys will look at me and say, ‘Why wasn’t Cal playing this kid? The same thing with Z.”

Players

For many of the players, this will be the first NCAA Tournament that they play in, something they envisioned growing up. “My favorite memory was definitely that UConn team with Kemba Walker,” Rob Dillingham said, likely not remembering that they beat Kentucky in the Final Four. “That’s similar to what we could do.”

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Coming off an upset loss to Texas A&M, the players sound refocused before they head to Pittsburgh.”We feel confident, honestly,” Dillingham said. “Every time we’ve lost we have come back with a vain. The only thing we should feel is confidence.”

The sentiment was echoed by Antonio Reeves, who has one thing on his mind. “Just coming back with revenge.”

According to Dillingham, the key for the Kentucky Wildcats is to play their own game

“We can’t worry about other teams. We worry about us,” Dillingham said. We watch our highlights. When we play our game, there’s not a lot of teams that can play as good as us. When we play our game, we rarely lose.”

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Sounding confident, Kentucky will open the first round against Oakland on Thursday in Pittsburgh. The game is set for 7:10 p.m. ET and can be seen on CBS.

Men's Basketball

Otega Oweh Declares for NBA Draft, Maintains College Eligibility

Arguably the centerpiece of last year’s team, Otega Oweh has declared for the NBA Draft… but that doesn’t mean he’s officially gone.

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Otega Oweh declares for the NBA Draft whilst maintaining his college eligibility.
Chet White | UK Athletics

Few players have taken the Big Blue Nation by storm like Otega Oweh did with his arrival this past season. A lot was new in Lexington last year, but #00 stuck out for a number of reasons; namely, his infectious energy on the court and the high odds that he was going to put an opponent on a poster on any given night.

Now, Oweh has declared for the NBA Draft. He made the announcement on social media, calling Kentucky fans the “best fans in the world.”

While this may seem dire for folks keeping tabs on next year’s roster, that last line in Oweh’s announcement is crucial: “…while maintaining my NCAA eligibility.” Essentially, Otega’s time in Lexington is far from over, at least for the time being.

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Whether or not “Tegatron” returns to Rupp will likely depend on what he hears during the draft process, and where exactly he wants to land. In the modern college basketball landscape, it’s become common practice for players to “test the waters” in the draft, just to get an idea as to where they stand with the league, before returning to college for another year of development.

Take, for example, Jaxson Robinson just last season. Before his eventual transfer to Kentucky, Robinson declared for the draft out of BYU, maintaining his eligibility, before pulling from the process in order to spend his senior year at Kentucky. It happens all the time.

While that doesn’t necessarily set Oweh’s return in stone, it at least gives the Big Blue Nation to take a breather and keep calm, as his departure is far from official. Either way, #00 is a Lexington legend whose first go-around in Kentucky blue was as memorable as anyone’s could be. The “Oweh, Oweh, Oweh” chants will go on regardless.

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Men's Basketball

Four Star Forward Visiting Kentucky Amidst Recruitment Rumors

Mark Pope is looking to close out a strong sophomore effort in the transfer portal, and this freshman guard may be the final piece.

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Four star guard Braydon Hawthorne is on a visit to Kentucky.
Braydon Hawthorne | WVU Athletics

As the transfer portal trucks on (and the NCAA races to find ways to regulate it), Mark Pope is looking to tie a bow on his already highly-ranked 2025-26′ roster. The latest potential addition becomes in the form of a freshman who, after pulling his commitment from West Virginia, will be on an official visit to Kentucky today, Wednesday, April 16.

Braydon Hawthorne, the 6’8″ forward at hand, is a lengthy, scoring wing with high upside on the offensive end. His 7’3″ wingspan opens opportunities for development on the defensive end, too – he’s an investment opportunity of the highest order. On3 currently has him at 48th on their ranking of 2025 recruits.

In addition to Kentucky and West Virginia (where Hawthorne is from), schools such as Virginia Tech, Arizona State, Marquette, Dayton, Old Dominion, Mount St. Mary’s, and more have thrown their hats into the ring, although the general consensus seems to be that Kentucky has the strongest pull/interest in the prospect for the time being.

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Whether or not that actually means he’ll be in blue and white is unfortunately unsure – as that’s how the transfer portal operates – but an in-person visit is a good indicator of mutual interest. Plus, with Kentucky “losing out” on Lamar Wilkerson, who committed to Indiana, a scoring spot in the back court remains open… and Hawthorne is a compelling candidate to fill it.

While Wildcats fans wait patiently for a potential commitment, all eyes are on Coach Cody Fueger’s X account for a trademark “boom” post.

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Men's Basketball

Brandon Garrison Announces Return To Kentucky For The 2025-26 Season

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Chet White | UK Athletics

Brandon Garrison isn’t going anywhere. 

The 6-foot-10 forward will be returning to the Kentucky Wildcats for his junior season in the 2025-26 campaign. 

Garrison took to social media first, posting a story on his personal Instagram that showed a simple graphic reading the words “I’m back.”

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Speculation and rumors have swirled around the Oklahoma native all offseason, and with the addition of Andrija Jelavic, Big Blue Nation worried that Garrison would be hitting the portal sooner than later. 

Now, with his returning announcement public, Garrison will look to assert himself in the offseason as a dominant force that deserves the starting role.

Last season, he backed up Amari Williams, coming off of the bench and averaging 5.9 points per game and 3.9 rebounds per game in just 17.3 minutes a night. 

It’s unclear if he’s guaranteed anything in regards to a starting spot. However, having played a year already in Mark Pope’s system, Garrison may get a nod for the role over one of the transfer pickups. 

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Pope and the coaching staff have been publicly confident in the development of “BG” and see him as a vocal leader on and off the court. 

With a full offseason ahead where he’ll be harnessing his skill set and bettering his game in any way possible, Kentucky fans will be glad that Garrison chose to stick around another year. 

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