College basketball season kicks off tomorrow night with a bevy of games sprawled across several sports networks, including the #3 ranked and defending national champion Kentucky Wildcats taking on the Maryland Terrapins at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
When asked about his squad’s high expectations and #3 ranking Coach Calipari had this to say:
“Now, I could start four freshmen tomorrow night,” he said. “And you goofballs are saying we’re in the top five in the country. Are you crazy? We don’t know what we’re going to be. I like my team. We just don’t know what we’re going to be right now. They work hard, they’re good kids, they do well in school, they know they need to focus in practice every day.”
I completely understand what Calipari is doing here. After losing 6 players to the NBA from last year’s championship team and possibly having to start 4 freshman, there is an unknown element here, but Calipari knows he would not be starting any ordinary freshman. 3 of those 4 freshman he’s speaking of are McDonald’s All-Americans, including the nation’s top recruit in Nerlen Noel, who at 6’10 is already drawing comparisons to #1 pick Anthony Davis. Calipari has become a master at not only recruiting the top basketball talent, but perfectly blending that young talent into championship caliber teams. I expect the Wildcats to be right there at the end of March and I think Calipari does too, he just can’t let us know that yet.