One NCAA Tournament win over the last three seasons is far from acceptable by Kentucky basketball standards. For that reason, tension and expectations are high going into what many believe is a make-or-break season for John Calipari.

While the Wildcats do have the No. 1 recruiting class coming in – which includes five freshmen – they have only returned only two players that played at least five minutes per game last season – Adou Thiero and Ugonna Onyenso – and have lost at least four to the NBA Draft or to the portal.

As the roster stands, only eight scholarships of the thirteen the NCAA allows are taken. With the draft withdrawal deadline on May 31st, that number could change as Chris Livingston, Oscar Tshiebwe, and/or Antonio must make their final decisions. However, it is highly unlikely they all decide to return.

With that said, the staff has made their bed. They didn’t express a lot of interest in the transfer portal, but lost out on the two prospects they did want, Hunter Dickinson and Keshad Johnson. Now this late in the portal, there aren’t currently many options that can replace the production or level of player that Kentucky has lost and are expected to lose.

For these reasons, 247Sports’ Travis Branham named Kentucky one of the biggest losers of the transfer portal.

“They do have the No. 1 recruiting class in 2023 incoming but this is a team that has been at the mercy of Oscar Tshiebwe and Antonio Reeves. There is so much riding on these two and they have not landed a single transfer as of yet. Even if one of those guys opts to go to the draft and not return, that’s an extremely big hit to the Kentucky program, especially this late into the portal,” Branham said.

“There’s not many more that we’re anticipating to go in there. Will still be a couple, but not many that can move the needle and they will be in line trying to advocate to get these kids on campus. As of today, there’s only seven scholarship players for the 2023-24 season for Kentucky and that can really be a big, big miss if Antonio Reeves and Oscar Tshiebwe opt to stay in the draft.”

Kentucky is recruiting all three players to stay, but realistically hoping for the return of Reeves and Tshiebwe. John Calipari is planning to visit Tshiebwe this weekend in Charlotte to gauge where he stands in his final decision.

At the start of the offseason, Reeves and Tshiebwe would have been two of Kentucky’s best options regardless of who was in the portal, therefore if Calipari is able to retain them, the outlook will become much more optimistic. While Livingston could have an All-SEC caliber ceiling as a sophomore, Calipari could find a capable wing player (i.e. David Jones) to fill that role.

Either way, the roster picture will become much clearer in just a matter of days, but depending on what those decisions are the panic meter will certainly rise for the Wildcats.

Kentucky has had several players leave this offseason, with more expected to depart as they make their final decisions by the May 31st NBA Draft withdrawal deadline. However, they have yet to add anyone to the roster. With only eight scholarships taken, of the thirteen the NCAA allows, there are spots to be filled.

This has been greeted by plenty of fan frustration. With Kentucky’s freshmen anticipated to arrive on campus at the beginning of June, and the Wildcats set to play in GLBL Jam in Canada in mid-July, things must pick up soon.

With that said, on Wednesday, Kentucky reached out to St. John’s transfer David Jones, who is one of the better wing options remaining in the transfer portal. Other schools that have reached out include Arkansas (obviously), Memphis, UConn, and Xavier.

Despite being the second leading scorer for the Red Storm (13.2 ppg), Jones entered the portal following the news that Rick Pitino would be taking the head coaching job. Interestingly enough, this is not the first time that Jones has entered the portal or that Kentucky has expressed interest in Jones.

Prior to his time at St. John’s, Kentucky recruited Jones out of high school as a four-star recruit, even bringing him in for an unofficial visit to Lexington back in February 2020. However, Jones ultimately committed to Depaul, where he played for two seasons and averaged 12.5 points and 7.3 rebounds his last season there.

Then last April, Jones entered the portal for the first time and Kentucky again expressed early interest before deciding it wasn’t a fit given the significant roles that Oscar Tshiebwe, Jacob Toppin, Daimion Collins, and Chris Livingston were going to have.

As Kentucky reaches out this time, they do so with roles to be filled on the roster, and the Wildcats could certainly use a 6-foot-6, 210-pound wing with a career average of 12.6 points and 6.5 rebounds.

It has been an interesting off-season for Kentucky basketball. Of course, the players that were expected to leave – Cason Wallace, Jacob Toppin, Daimion Collins- have announced they are leaving. There have also been some surprises such as Lance Ware who transferred to Villanova, and Ugonna Onyenso who put his name in the transfer portal before withdrawing.

While a number of players have left, Kentucky has yet to add a player to the roster. That includes missing out on Hunter Dickinson (Kansas) and Keshad Johnson (Arizona) in the transfer portal.

As we enter late May, the decisions of Chris Livingston, Oscar Tshiebwe, and Antonio Reeves have taken precedence and must be made by the withdrawal deadline on the 31st.

While Kentucky could and likely will explore options with potential grad transfers and reclassifications, the best options are the three players just mentioned. Unfortunately, Kentucky could miss out on all three.

Livingston and Tshiebwe have been trending toward staying in the NBA Draft, but the Kentucky staff have been recruiting them for a return. As for Reeves, he was expected to go through the draft process but ultimately return to Kentucky at the beginning of the offseason.

When he finished the G-League Elite camp (May 13-14) with little impact on his draft stock, a decision was expected to come soon, but that has yet to come. Reeves has had NBA workouts since and is exploring his professional options til the end, including the G-League, as he will soon turn 23 years old.

With that said, Reeves has also been contacted through “backchannels” by other schools with NIL proposals. It needs to be noted that Reeves has not graduated, and for him to transfer and play next year would have to apply for a waiver (which he likely would not receive) or graduate through summer classes and become a graduate transfer.

Last season, Reeves did earn six figures in NIL at Kentucky but started in just over a third of the games. With one season to increase his draft stock, he may be looking for the green light and role that he had to close out the season. Given the roster’s current construction, Reeves would be the only proven shooter, therefore Kentucky can certainly offer that role and should.

Following the loss to Kansas State, Reeves was asked about a return to Kentucky. He responded with, “I’d love to be back. I love the school. I love the fans. I love everybody here.”

If he is confident in his NIL valuation and role, a return to Kentucky is still certainly on the table, but, it is not the expectation as it once was.