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Kentucky Basketball NBA Mock Draft Round-Up

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UK Athletics

The halfway point of the college basketball season is almost here and that means one of John Calipari’s favorite days of the year is getting closer, NBA Draft day.

Coming into the season, several Kentucky Wildcats had hopes of getting drafted. However, there are currently just two Wildcats that are projected to be drafted, Oscar Tshiebwe and Cason Wallace.

Up to this point, Tshiebwe and Wallace have been Kentucky’s most valuable players, so it is no surprise to see they are projects to make their dreams a reality. Let’s take a look and see where they stand.

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Cason Wallace

The Athletic: 8th
CBS Sports: 6th (Oklahoma City Thunder)
ESPN: 9th (Orlando Magic)
NBA.com: 11th (Indiana Pacers)
Yahoo Sports: 13th (Utah Jazz)

Coming in as a top-10 prospect and McDonald’s All-American, Cason Wallace was sure to make an impact. Yet, it is safe to say he has been better than advertised.

Through the first half of the season, Cason Wallace has arguably proved himself to be the best all-around freshman in the country and the stats prove it. Amongst freshmen, Wallace is the only one to be ranked in the top 20 in points (12.9), assists (3.9), and steals (2.3), while shooting 50% FG and 40% 3P.

Coming in, Wallace’s on-ball defense was heralded, and he has proven that he can be an NBA team’s best on-ball defender. What has impressed scouts the most is his three-point shooting ability and playmaking

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For Wallace, the ceiling is very high and he could continue to move up draft boards as the season continues.

Oscar Tshiebwe

The Athletic: 58th
ESPN: 54th (Phoenix Suns)
NBA.com: 54th (Brooklyn Nets)

Despite sweeping all of the National Player of the Year awards last season, Oscar Tshiebwe was projected as a fringe first-round to mid-second-round pick. With his feedback from the NBA, Tshiebwe made the decision to return to Lexington.

Looking at a deeper 2023 draft, Tshiebwe is on the edge of the second round in almost all mock drafts. Tshiebwe did have minor knee surgery back in October and has only recently started to match last season’s numbers. With that said, there is still room to improve his draft stock.

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Proven as an elite rebounder and with his improved footwork, an NBA team will draft Tshiebwe in the later half of the draft. To improve his draft stock, Tshiebwe must tighten up on defense and display some perimeter skills as the season progresses.


There are some notable absences from the draft projections, including Damion Collins, Chris Livingston, and Jacob Toppin.

Collins and Toppin have the physical tools to be drafted, but have just not consistently put it together. However, Toppin is coming off back-to-back 20+ point performances and looks to be turning the corner, and could play his way into the draft conversation.

Young freshman Chris Livingston is also on the outside looking in right now but is steadily improving every game, showing a lot of promise, and looking to rise in the ranks throughout the rest of the season.

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With the five freshman coming in that will likely play a lot of minutes, several Wildcats will have tough decisions to make at the end of the season.

BB Recruiting

Chin Coleman Talks About Kentucky’s 2024 Recruiting Class

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Kentucky Wildcats assistant coach Chin Coleman goes into detail about the 2024 recruiting class.
© Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports

Kentucky basketball assistant coach Chin Coleman recently spoke with the media. While talking about the game, Coleman was asked about Kentucky’s current signees in the 2024 class, which now sits No. 2 overall, all of whom signed this in the early signing period.

Somto Cyril

“A freak of nature, Coleman says. He says he has to get better with his skill-set, but that he does things that no one else in the world can do: “He’s a freak of nature. Obviously, he’s gotta get better with his skill set, right, but he does things that no one in the world could do, not even guys in the NBA could do some of the stuff that he does in terms of pure shot-blocker, pure vertical spacer. He gets way over the rim, and that gives you something that a lot of teams don’t have.”

Boogie Fland

With Boogie Fland, he says he’s the best point guard in the country, and that he is expecting to give the keys to him when he arrives: “You talk about Boogie, who’s the best point guard in the country,” Coleman said. “We got the best, in Boogie, and we’re expecting Boogie to come in here and have the keys to the Lamborghini and drive it the right way.”

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Jayden Quaintance

Talking about Jayden Quaintance, Coleman calls him a “prodigy”: “You have a prodigy, who is probably–arguably one of the best players in the country regardless of class. ’24, ’25, it doesn’t matter,” Coleman said. “He too has some force and some physicality, but he’s very, very, very, skilled. He’s 6-10 245-250, and he plays like a guard,” Coleman said. “The crazy thing about it is, two years, think about that. Jayden Quaintance for two years, that’s unheard of.”

Travis Perry

Coleman also dove in on Travis Perry, saying, “Hometown kid. His parents obviously share some relationships with the university. All he knows is blue. He wanted to go here no matter how many people recruited him. This is where he wanted to be.”


On the recruiting class as a whole, he calls it a “unique” class that is different in its own way. Kentucky is on a hot streak in the 2024 class and beyond, and doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon.

Check out Coleman’s answer in the video below!

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BB Recruiting

Kentucky Targets Play In Made Hoops Derek Smith Invitational

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Kentucky basketball recruiting prospect AJ Dybantsa going up for a dunk,
NBC Boston

The city of Louisville had some of the nation’s top high school prospects in town this weekend at Saint Xavier High School for the Made Hoops Derek Smith Invitational. A few of the nation’s top high school teams were there as well, and they featured some very notable names.

Headlined by 2024 Kentucky signee Jayden Quaintance, who did not play in the event, there were a few major Kentucky targets in Louisville this weekend. The top player of 2025, AJ Dybantsa, who is a generational talent, put up a great game against Link Academy on Saturday, which features 2026 Texas signee Tre Johnson and 2025 Top-15 prospect Jasper Johnson.

Dybantsa finished with 25 points, and his teammate, 2026 Top prospect Tyran Stokes, is another major Kentucky target. He had 12 points. Jasper Johnson ended with 10 points for Link Academy, coming up short in the loss to Prolific Prep.

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Sunday featured Prolific Prep vs. St. Xavier, where Dybantsa struggled, but Tyran Stokes made up for it. Dybantsa is known as an athletic finisher, who is long and can really score. That wasn’t clicking on Sunday. Instead, it was Stokes who was playing very aggressively attacking the basket. He even threw down a few monster dunks. Stokes had a full head of steam attacking the rim all day. Kentucky’s staff was in attendance.

Dybantsa spoke after the game on Sunday to talk about Kentucky and what it means to him to be offered by Kentucky.

“It’s a blessing,” he said. “High-major school, you know, multiple NBA players, a lot of college championships.” He spoke about playing with other elite talent right now, and eventually at the next level, “I know how to blend well. I know how to get my teammates involved.”

Dybantsa also went on to about what he is looking for his role to be at the next level: “Like a point forward or just play shooting guard at my height.” He then talked about things he has to do to be his best at the next level: “Get all my ball-handling right, limit turnovers, and just making the right passes.”

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Dybantsa is a generational talent, and there was a lot of talent this weekend in Louisville. A notable win from the weekend was Fredrick Douglass’ close win against St. Frances, who is a nationally known team. A lot to like about this weekend in Louisville.

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Men's Basketball

Recap And Takeaways From Kentucky’s Stunning Loss To UNC Wilmington

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Kentucky Forward Justin Edwards reacts to an foul call at Rupp Arena.
© Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports

Kentucky looked like a totally different team on Saturday when they faced UNC Wilmington at Rupp Arena, losing to a score of 80-73.

Kentucky played a very sloppy game, putting up a season-high 14 turnovers, also as a result of very good defense from UNC Wilmington.

Let’s dive into the takeaways from the game.

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Kentucky Ties A Season-High 14 Turnovers

Kentucky did not look like the team we have watched to start the season. Playing very sloppy, and making questionable passes, Kentucky ended up with 14 turnovers, which ties a season-high.

The Cats had 9 turnovers in the first half alone, cleaning them up a little bit in the second half. Kentucky’s assist-to-turnover ratio took a big hit tonight, with only dishing out 14 assists.

Kentucky Struggles From Three-Point Range

Kentucky’s offense had struggles all night, with turnovers a big part of it from making questionable passes. But, Kentucky also struggled from deep. Not putting up as much threes as usual, Kentucky only attempted 17, and hit 5 of them.

Besides Reed Sheppard, no one else could get it going from behind the arc. Sheppard was the team’s leading scorer, finishing with 25 points on 3 of 6 from deep, 9 rebounds, 6 assists, and added 2 steals.

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Kentucky Looked Out Of Control

Kentucky had a lot of silly turnovers, especially in the first half, and played a very sloppy game on the offensive end, which ended up affecting the defensive side too.

There were times were Kentucky was forcing passes, which ended up in turnovers, but cleaned those up in the second half.

Overall, Kentucky looked like a much different team tonight, but will look to get their bearings after a week off, when they face Penn in Philadelphia on December 9th. No need to fret, BBN, we’ve got a good team.

Box Score

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