Kentucky Wildcats Basketball

Kentucky coach John Calipari acknowledged being white has helped him throughout his coaching career, despite not growing up with wealth.

"I'm white-privileged, even though I grew up the way I grew up," Calipari told reporters Wednesday. "I was still white, which means I had an advantage. ... I had one pair of tennis shoes. But that didn't matter."

Calipari was born and raised in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, a small city just outside of Pittsburgh, to a working-class family. He went on to play college basketball at UNC-Wilmington and Clarion University before beginning his coaching career in 1982.

Calipari said he's spoken to players about how to make a difference at Kentucky amid the racial unrest in the country. 

"I ended [a recent team meeting] with, 'I want to know—opinions, talks, speaking, showing—what action can you take as a group to make a difference in maybe one person's life,'" he said. "What can we do that you can do together, or individually, that we can make a difference with people?"

Nationwide protests against police violence and systemic racism have been ongoing for nearly three months since the killing of George Floyd in police custody on Memorial Day. Protests broke out this week in Kenosha, Wisconsin this week after a police offer shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, multiple times in the back after he reportedly attempted to break up a domestic dispute.

The shooting of Blake, who may be paralyzed for the rest of his life, led players to refuse to play Wednesday's NBA playoff games in protest.

The faculty of the African American and Africana Studies program at the University of Kentucky has requested that the school rename Rupp Arena, its basketball facility. 

In a letter to school president Eli Capilouto, the faculty wrote the following:

"The University should rename Rupp Arena. The Adolph Rupp name has come to stand for racism and exclusion in UK athletics and alienates Black students, fans, and attendees. The rebuilding of the arena and the convention center offer an opportunity to change the name to a far more inclusive one, such as Wildcat Arena. In addition, the University should survey all campus buildings and remove all names of enslavers, Confederate sympathizers (such as William C.P. Breckinridge), and other white supremacists."

Rupp served as Kentucky's basketball coach from the 1930-31 to 1971-72 seasons, and he won 876 games (seventh-most all-time) and led the Wildcats to the NCAA tournament 20 times, including four national championships. 

But according to ESPN's Mark Schlabach, Rupp didn't sign his first Black player, Tom Payne, until 1969. His detractors have also claimed that he was a racist, pointing to evidence like a newspaper clipping in which he used the N-word. 

The Rupp Arena at the Central Bank Center is in the process of a $275 million renovation project that is set to be completed before the 2021-22 season.

Tyrese Maxey is a potential lottery pick in the 2020 NBA draft, but one head coach doesn't get the hype around the University of Kentucky star. 

Speaking to The Athletic's Sam Vecenie, an anonymous Division I coach said he thinks Maxey is "overrated":

"One of the more overrated guys in the draft. Personally, I don't think he can shoot. I'd also question his basketball IQ. I think he's more of a one dimensional player. It's probably just a product of being brought up through AAU. He's always been a prolific scorer with the ball in his hands, I just think the NBA is way more than that. And I don't think think it's a consistent jump shot. He's a great athlete. Right-hand dominant more than anything in my opinion. But I didn't fear him. He wasn't the guy I feared."

Maxey committed to Kentucky in June 2019 and was regarded as one of the nation's top players coming out of high school. He was rated as a 5-star prospect and the No. 3 combo guard in the 2019 recruiting class by 247Sports composite rankings. 

The Wildcats landed three 5-star recruits for the 2019-20 season, with Maxey being the highest-rated (No. 10 overall) in a group that also included Kahlil Whitney (No. 11) and Keion Brooks Jr. (No. 24). 

After Maxey declared for the NBA draft in April, Wildcats head coach John Calipari tweeted about the 19-year-old's ability and potential:   

I was harder on @TyreseMaxey than any player this season, and there’s a reason. One, he’s a great kid with a confidence in his ability that does not waver. Two, he has a potential that he has only begun to realize. And three, Tyrese needed to be challenged to take that next step. https://t.co/4sM2JMGL0N

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 6, 2020

B/R's Jonathan Wasserman wrote in early July that he was "overlooking the inefficient percentages and buying the eye-test results" by ranking Maxey as the No. 7 overall prospect in this year's draft class.

Maxey had an inconsistent freshman campaign, averaging 14.0 points, 3.2 assists and 4.3 rebounds across 31 games. He shot 42.7 percent overall and 29.2 percent from three-point range. 

The 2020 NBA draft will be held Oct. 16, with early entrants having until Aug. 17 to withdraw if they wish to return to school.

The Kentucky Wildcats filled an open spot on their 2020-21 basketball schedule by adding a home game against Notre Dame.  

Per an official announcement from the school, Kentucky and Notre Dame agreed to a three-year series with the first matchup at Rupp Arena on Dec. 12. The Fighting Irish will host Kentucky in 2022, with a neutral-site game between the two programs in 2021. 

Kentucky head coach John Calipari issued a statement about adding Notre Dame to the schedule for the next three seasons:

"If our previous games are any indication, this is going to be a great series. I can remember playing Notre Dame in 2010 in Freedom Hall and Ben Hansbrough going crazy in the first half and Terrence Jones willing us to victory in the second half. We went to South Bend a couple years later and that place was nuts. The football team was there and they thumped us. And then the game in 2015 in the Elite Eight was one of the best all-around games I've been a part of. Elite play from both teams."

The Wildcats had to cancel a Dec. 6 game against Michigan that was going to be held in London due to the coronavirus pandemic. Those two teams will play at the O2 Arena in December 2022 as part of a three-game series that also includes matchups at the Crisler Center (Dec. 4, 2021) and Rupp Arena (Dec. 2, 2023). 

Kentucky and Notre Dame aren't traditional basketball rivals, though the two schools have played a total of 62 times. The Wildcats have dominated the series with 43 victories, including a 68-66 win in their last meeting in the Elite Eight round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament. 

The Fighting Irish are 0-8 all-time at Rupp Arena, but they are a respectable 6-10 on their home court against the Wildcats. 

John Wall will forever be tied to the University of Kentucky. 

In one season with the Wildcats, the point guard was a consensus first-team All American, SEC Player of the Year and helped reboot a program that had fallen below its own enormous standards. He just never would've landed in Lexington had head coach John Calipari not jumped there first. 

In an interview with 247Sports.com's Evan Daniels, Wall said he was ready to commit to Calipari at Memphis before the coach let him know he was taking the job at Kentucky:

“He called me and told me he was about to change and I was like, ‘That’s fine, I like Kentucky anyway, I loved everything about their fanbase when I took a visit there.' I took a visit there when Billy Gillispie was there, I loved everything about it. I just didn’t want to play with coach Gillispie so I’m like, ‘I’m going to go play at Memphis where Cal is.’ And he called me and I was like, ‘perfect, I don’t even have to take a visit, I already know the atmosphere, I already know how it goes.’”

Wall had a fair reason to be skeptical of Gillispie. In two seasons with Kentucky, he'd taken the program from the NCAA Tournament to the NIT. It was clearly a bad fit for all sides of the equation. 

Enter Calipari, Wall and DeMarcus Cousins. 

After the team's new coach locked up the No. 1 point guard in the country in Wall and the No. 1 forward in Cousins, Kentucky was back in a big way. 

The team went 35-3 in Calipari's first season, making it all the way to the Elite Eight before falling to West Virginia. 

Calipari has remained one of Wall's most ardent defenders, famously going on Colin Cowherd's ESPN radio show to reprimand the host for his continued criticism of the guard's personality.  

Similarly, Wall continues to spread Calipari's gospel, singing the praises of his former coach to Daniels: 

“I think he’s just real. I think he’s just being real. He came to my house, he will go anywhere to go visit you, he doesn’t care if you live in the hood, not in the hood, he’s not scared, he’s pulling up and he probably talked about basketball for like two questions. Do you want to be great? Do you want to make the NBA? That’s it. Everything else is like, ‘how is your life going?’ what do you see yourself doing for your mom and doing for your family?

“He’s really like a father figure to people. He takes you in and he preaches to you about what he thinks you need to do to prepare yourself for where you want to get to.”

It's hard to imagine the two wouldn't have a similar relationship if they had joined forces in Memphis.

Brandon Boston feels like the plot of his life could make for a good movie one day.

The 6'7" forward wants to be a filmmaker one day, and he often thinks about ideas for movies and television shows, which he writes down or types up. And there may not be a better place for him to start than his own story: A promising, hard-working player moves with his family from his childhood home in Georgia to Los Angeles, where he emerges from a star-studded roster of celebrity teammates to become a top-10 national prospect only to see his crowning moment—a journey to the California state championship—taken from him by forces beyond his control.

In this case, a global pandemic.

Casting his part wouldn't be hard. He'd tap his little cousin for the role. But he would have to find others to play his teammates at Sierra Canyon.

"They would have to be bulky," he says about who would play teammate Shy Odom. "Shy is a big dude. Bronny, they'd have to be funny, have a lot of energy and always want to play."

It's April, and Boston has been sheltering in place at his house in Los Angeles for the past two months after his senior season ended abruptly because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a Zoom virtual meeting, he swivels back and forth in an office chair, wearing a bright blue Kentucky long-sleeve shirt, the kind he might be wearing when he arrives on campus at some point this fall. He's talking about how much he looks up to LeBron James, Bronny's dad, and about the experience of playing last season on a team with a who's who of NBA progeny, from Bronny James to Zaire Wade, top-five-ranked Stanford commit Ziaire Williams and Amari Bailey, who's ranked eighth in the class of 2022.

Sierra Canyon's games were televised on ESPN, and he and his teammates traveled the country (and the world) to play in front of packed arenas. Cameras followed them everywhere.  

His mind circles back to the movie of his life and how his last game against Etiwanda High School had felt like a heroic climax. The crowd, the energy, stepped up when the game was on the line.

Down 13 points in the final three minutes, Sierra Canyon clawed its way back any way it could. Bronny was diving on the floor. Odom was snagging rebounds and taking elbows to the face. Bailey was running through the lane and straight to the basket like a freight train.

And then Brandon had his moment.

With 1:29 left, he unleashed a crossover move with a hesitation jab step to get his defender off-balance. Then he pulled up from the three-point line for a game-tying jumper to bring the score to 61-61.

BJ Boston 3 ball ties it up for @SCanyonSports 61-61. 11-0 run for Blazers @CIFSS regional final pic.twitter.com/xWNU14Y6OO

— DSPN. (@ncaarecruits) March 11, 2020

A mid-range jumper from Williams a little more than a minute later secured the comeback victory, along with a place in Brandon's memory. In the locker room afterward, he watched his teammates celebrate and cry tears of relief and joy. It's a moment he wishes he could relive. 

"We practiced all year for a game like that, and to come out with wins like that, I was speechless," he said. "I couldn't believe that happened.

"I play to win, play to put on a show," he said later. "I want fans to know that I was the best player when they leave the building."

In big-time moments, Boston says something comes over him, a feeling.

Every hooper has his or her own antics, whether it's Steph Curry's three-finger gesture when he nails a three or Lance Stephenson's dance moves.

Boston has his, too.

And after falling to the ground following his game-tying three versus Etiwanda, Boston stayed on the floor and celebrated by extending his right arm out while keeping his left elbow bent inward. Placing his fingers on imaginary strings, he began strumming his own electric guitar.

With the game on the line, Boston looked like a rock star in the making.

---

It was Brandon Sr. who put the ball in his son's hands when BJ, as most know him, was only three years old. Some days, early in the morning, he'd take his young son to their local YMCA, or outside to go shoot around in their front driveway. He would have him run through dribbling drills in the basement, where Brandon Sr. would make BJ wear anti-grip gloves to control the ball. He'd show him figure eights, looping the ball around and through each of his small legs.

BJ grew up in Atlanta, specifically the north side (or Nawf, for those familiar with Migos lexicon), in an upwardly mobile neighborhood. Brandon Sr., who is originally from Pittsburgh, came from a tough upbringing and wanted more for his son. When he noticed BJ's attraction to basketball, he dedicated himself to helping his son develop his game. Midway through BJ's freshman year at Norcross High School in Georgia, he took BJ to his first workout with Chuck and Michael Pack, twin brothers who run Double Trouble Training and have been working with BJ for the past four years.

It was on a Saturday at a local Lifetime Fitness gym in Atlanta. Chuck remembers meeting Brandon Sr. and liking his vibe right away, how he radiated energy. Meanwhile, BJ, who was an unranked prospect his freshman year, was on the shy side and a little quiet at first. Chuck had heard his name around the ATL, but he wasn't a top-notch player yet.

https://twitter.com/brandonboston5/status/909524503306358784

"I knew who he was a little bit; he definitely wasn't a high-profile player by any means at the time," Chuck said in a phone interview.

To get a feel for him and see where he was at athletically, Chuck tested his strengths and weaknesses during the workout. They ran through ball-handling drills, wearing the same grip gloves Brandon Sr. made BJ wear as a kid, as well as full-court transition layups and shooting. Chuck saw a lanky kid, still growing into his size. He couldn't even dunk at the time.

But what stood out to Chuck was how BJ came to their next workouts having retained what he was learning. He paid attention, focused on the feedback and applied it quickly. By their fifth workout, Chuck wanted to see what kind of player BJ wanted to be.

"Yo, what's your goals or whatever?" Chuck asked him during warm-ups. What he heard back was that BJ wanted to be more, a lot more.

"He said he wanted to be McDonald's All-American," Chuck recalled. "He had three years left at Norcross, so he wanted to win three state championships, and to definitely be the NBA's top player. ... He told me by 25-26, he should be the best player in the world."

So they all pushed him, both his father and his trainers. Sometimes to the point where he'd cry, or refuse to work out at all. It wasn't a sign of defeat, but a frustration with the process, with understanding that potential takes time to develop. But the workouts began to pay off, and by his sophomore year, ESPN ranked him No. 15 overall and the No. 6 shooting guard in the country.

As the attention grew, his trainers felt that humbling him was just as important within his training.

"He got so much praise from everyone else, so my brother and I, we never told him 'good job,'" Chuck admitted. "If he had 35 points or something, we would say, 'Bro, you had two turnovers, you missed this rebound, you missed this from the passing lane.' He understood it came from a good spot."

Brandon Sr. kept him just as accountable, not allowing his son to go to work out if his room wasn't clean or his homework wasn't done. Brandon Sr. declined to be interviewed for this story because he wanted his son to speak for himself.

"His dad came from a more tough area," Chuck said. "I think through that, his dad just tried to put BJ in the best situation to learn and have a good life. I think he set him on the right track and just pushed him.

"Some people are like, 'Let me talk to B,' but BJ always says, 'Go talk to my dad. My dad will handle it.' His dad oversees everything, makes sure no one is out to hurt him or do anything bad. ... I hope one day when I have a son, I'm something like that." 

His mother, Alissa, also played a big role in BJ's development. She greeted him with breakfast and a smile when he'd return home from a workout at 7 a.m. BJ grew to appreciate her energy, how she supported him when he was unranked and felt like everyone was doubting him. When he was 16, he convinced a local tattoo artist to give him his first ink. BJ chose his mom's favorite bible scripture, Jeremiah 29:11.

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

In time, Chuck started to see a turning point in BJ's maturity and how he conducted himself around other people. He was always laughing and joking around, and as he became more notable, he didn't shy away from the attention.

During one of their workouts, a group of people playing on the other end of the court noticed him. Rather than ignore them or brush them off, BJ stopped the workout to talk to them.

"They all just came over, 'Oh my God, that's BJ!'" Chuck said. "He could have been, like, 'No, I'm not taking a picture,' but he just stopped and talked to them. That probably made their day. BJ is really people-oriented. People love being around him."

---

It was BJ's energy that caught the eye of Kentucky head coach John Calipari.

"When I'm watching young people play, I'm watching how they impact the game in a positive way, their body language, their spirit about them on the court," Calipari said in a phone interview. "How they dominate the game before three or four minutes of a game, I'm watching. I want to know if they can dominate well. BJ, he ends up being able to dominate both defensively, blocking shots, making plays, and then he can dominate the game offensively, too."

By his junior year at Norcross, BJ had established himself as a top-10 prospect with offers from almost every premier program in the country, including Duke, Kansas and Ohio State. But BJ wanted a program that would keep it real with him and his family. That's what he got from the Kentucky coaching staff when he visited in July.

"They told me ... what I was going to expect when I come to the campus," BJ said. "Just come in, be prepared for Coach Cal to be yelling and for me every day in practice, be prepared to work hard."

Calipari was intrigued with how BJ carried himself during his visit, a maturity that he felt was a reflection of his upbringing. He laughed with Brandon Sr. about their Pittsburgh connection, how the city has a certain way about it, the "ins and downtowns and the crick." 

"I think [BJ] wanted what we're about," Calipari said. "He didn't need anything handed to him. He didn't need to be promised, to say, 'You're going to take this many shots, and here's everything we're going to do.' ... I don't think he wanted that. I think that's [why], at the end of the day, everybody wanted him."

BJ committed to Kentucky on the spot.

"I want him to teach me how to be a pro," he said. "What things I need to do and what I need to get there."

---

BJ soon decided his first steps couldn't wait for Lexington. For his senior season, he hatched a plan to leave Norcross and head to McEachern High School, a public school about 35 miles west in Powder Springs, Georgia, to team up with Auburn commit Sharife Cooper.

"Sharife, that's my brother," Boston said. "It would have been crazy."

The two had joined forces on the AAU circuit the prior summer, playing on the AOT Running Rebels. Together, they were an eyebrow-raising offensive threat, dishing lobs and no-look passes to each other so in sync, it was as though they were always on the same wavelength. Boston saw them selling out gyms at every game.

"I was gonna go there at first, honestly. But I don't think that would have benefited my whole family."

During a visit to Los Angeles with his father, BJ checked out Sierra Canyon, a private school in the nearby suburb of Chatsworth. He immediately liked the outdoorsy vibe of the campus, but he also felt the school would benefit his sister, Brandi.

He knew she looked up to him and that a private school like Sierra Canyon could have her around successful people who knew not only what they wanted to do, but how to get there. Visions of past alumni were hard to ignore, names like Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Willow Smith, Ireland Baldwin—all celebrities with brands, platforms and their own businesses.

"I really came for my family," he said. "Growing up with the kids that go to Sierra Canyon, it's just a different environment and better schooling. I think it was good for them to come out here." 

BJ also would get the benefit of added exposure while growing accustomed to the larger arenas he will experience at the next level and playing alongside other stars.

The next year, he and his entire family moved with him to Los Angeles, a change that the family appears to have embraced. His sister, as BJ hoped, has made new friends and adopted new hobbies, like volleyball and dance. And BJ has gotten used to the West Coast vibe.

"It reminds me of High School Musical," he said about the school. "It's just like a movie 'cause it's different than where I came from."

Before the season started, BJ found himself on a 23-hour flight to China with his newest teammates. They went to five different cities, tried new types of cuisine and visited outdoor hot tubs and huge malls. BJ didn't speak Mandarin, so at times, it felt like all he had were his new teammates to talk to.

They brought that connection to the court. BJ found himself becoming a vocal leader and holding his younger teammates accountable. They came to take practice as though it was a game.

"We're all competitive," Boston said. "We all want to win, we all talk trash and we're all pretty good. ... Playing with those good guys, I feel like competing every day in practice made me a better player, made me want to work hard and play with other good players.

While Boston admits he misses home at times—his friends, the food, the NAWFside vibes—he also recognized that Sierra Canyon was putting him in a position to deal with a new circumstance and make the best of it.

"Coming in here, I really got my mental health strong," Boston said. "[That's] a big part on the court. You gotta, like, stay in control and keep your emotions controlled. ... I think I handled it really well. I'm used to cameras being in your face. But here, they came all at once. Everybody was at every game, every game was sold out. It was crazy."

That mindset will help him deal with the incoming attention—and doubts—that are set to come his way at Kentucky. The Wildcats' entire starting five declared for the 2020 NBA draft, leaving Kentucky's incoming recruiting class with a sizable vacuum to fill.

"That class is a really strong class," Calipari said of a group that also includes top-60 prospects Terrence Clarke, Devin Askew, Isaiah Jackson and Cam'Ron Fletcher, who together comprise what is considered the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, per 247Sports. "We may not be the best team early, but if these kids come together, we have the talent, the length and the experience in some of the older kids [that] by the end of the year, this will be one of those teams."

Boston is confident his class can handle the quick transition.

"I feel like we're gonna shock a whole lot of people," Boston said. "A lot of people don't think we can do it, but I think we're going to shock a lot of people by winning games. I feel like the talent--our talent--is unmatched. And we all get along well, so I think we're going to jell ... when we get out there."

He can see himself bonding with his incoming teammates, just like he did at Sierra Canyon.

"I really think it's going to be like how this year was, times five," he said about the bonds he hopes to form with his new teammates at UK. "We're going to have a lot of fun."

While other top recruits such as Jalen Green and Isaiah Todd have opted to skip out on college and join the G League, Boston is committed to his decision, one he feels is another step in his journey toward what he hopes lies ahead.

"When you talk over a five-year period, he's going to be one of those kids that we talk about," Calipari said.

While Boston thinks that conversation will center around his similarity to New Orleans forward Brandon Ingram ("just because we look alike"), he adds, "I gained a lot from Kevin Durant's game, too, [as well as] Jamal Crawford. I can really handle the ball."

Don't be mistaken: BJ has his own vibe. He's the type to hand himself the auxiliary cord to play music, still rocks skinny jeans and doesn't just think he could beat Durant; he knows he can.

"I could learn some things," he said about the chance to compete against Durant. "But I think I could take him."

That doesn't mean he wants to be the next KD, though.

"[I want] to be the next Brandon Boston, that's all I can ask for," he adds. "A player that's going to get after it, a player that is versatile, can do anything a coach asks me. Becoming the best player on the court."

To get there will be no small feat. He will have to roll with whatever punches the COVID-19 pandemic brings, will have to get to know yet another new team and have to fit into Kentucky's system. But he hasn't shown any sides of faltering or stumbling yet.

This is how a rock star makes it from one curtain call to the next show—from the stage at Sierra Canyon to Rupp Arena at Kentucky.

   

Deyscha Smith is a sportswriter based in Boston who writes for Boston.com and the Boston Globe. She can be reached via Twitter, @deyschasmith.

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Longtime Sports Illustrated writer, author and host of The Dream Team Tapes podcast, Jack McCallum, joins The Full 48 with Howard Beck to discuss the final episodes of “The Last Dance,” Karl Malone, the Bryon Russell push-off, MJ and the Dream Team and more.

Less than one week after announcing he entered the transfer portal, Olivier Sarr has found a new home at the University of Kentucky. 

Speaking to ESPN's Jeff Borzello and Jonathan Givony, Sarr announced Wednesday that he is leaving Wake Forest to join the Wildcats. 

"I felt that was the best fit and the best opportunity for me," he said. "Being able to play for that great program and showcase my winning drive on that stage. Coach Cal made me understand that I was needed over there."

Sarr told Borzello on May 1 he was entering the transfer portal after Wake Forest's decision to fire Danny Manning last month and replace him with Steve Forbes:

"I wanted to test the [NBA draft] waters. I requested the UAC [Undergraduate Advisory Committee]. I tried to test the waters, then I had a conversation with Coach and he convinced me to stay and get my degree. He had plans for me, I was going to do great things in the ACC, with the team and individually, of course. It was late April, Coach was going to stay. Then, 24-48 hours before the [draft] deadline, Coach got fired. I didn't get the chance to put my name in and change my mind."

Announcing his decision to transfer on Twitter, Sarr wrote Manning and the previous coaching staff "were family" and he "didn't feel like I could be at my best by returning to Wake Forest."   

New beginnings @KentuckyMBB @UKCoachCalipari #LaFamilia 🔵⚪️ pic.twitter.com/CBRsXsGgsP

— Olivier Sarr (@sarr_olivier) May 6, 2020

Per Borzello and Givony, Sarr noted his decision came down to Kentucky and Wake Forest, even though more than a dozen schools contacted him after he went into the transfer portal. 

The next step for Sarr will be applying for a waiver that would allow him to play immediately. Borzello and Givony noted the French center has too many credits remaining to graduate before transferring. 

Kentucky head coach John Calipari entered the offseason needing to rebuild and reload his roster. All five Wildcats starters from the 2019-20 season declared for this year's NBA Draft. 

Per 247Sports composite rankings, the Wildcats had the top 2020 recruiting class even before Sarr's decision. Six players signed a letter of intent to play for Calipari, including two of the top 10 recruits in BJ Boston (No. 4) and Terrence Clarke (No. 7).

Sarr will join that group after being named to the All-ACC third team last season. He averaged 13.7 and nine rebounds per game as a junior for the Demon Deacons. 

  

Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball coach John Calipari doesn't seem to be a fan of the NBA's new G League path, which players have as an alternative to college basketball.  

"My issue with the G League trying to entice players by giving them more money is not the kids that you're getting," Calipari said Monday on his Coffee with Cal web show (h/t Jon Hale of the Louisville Courier Journal). "It's the thousands of ninth and 10th graders that think that's how they're going to make it when you and I know it's going to be 2 percent. We're not talking 50. It will be thousands and thousands and thousands."

Calipari and guest Charles Barkley pointed to educational concerns for players who stop preparing for college during their high school career, especially if they end up not being talented enough to make the limited G League.

While Hale noted the Kentucky coach has long supported the right for players to enter the NBA draft right out of high school, it would also be in his best interest if the G League weren't an option for top recruits.

After all, few programs recruit on the level of the Wildcats, and he and the G League will likely be looking at the same pool of players. Kentucky is widely known as a one-and-done juggernaut in the era of college players leaving for the NBA after a single season, and the G League could become an option that fills the identical role.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported top prospect Jalen Green is expected to make approximately $500,000 in the new G League. ESPN reported Isaiah Todd, who was initially committed to Michigan before exploring this route, will make around $250,000 if he reaches the bonuses available to him.

Green and Todd are no longer the only recruits headed to the G League, either. Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times reported on Tuesday former UCLA commit Daishen Nix will join them. Charania reported he is expected to make around $300,000.

According to 247Sports' composite rankings, Nix was a 5-star prospect and the No. 1 point guard in the 2020 recruiting class.

"Playing in G-League is ... basically getting me ready for the NBA draft," Nix said. "It's just one step below the NBA."

Jeff Goodman of Stadium talked to an NBA general manager who said Nix's mindset could be a "problem" because "these kids think [this] gets them closer to the NBA. We'll see, but I don't think that's the case at all."

Calipari would likely echo those concerns given his comments.

Kentucky Wildcats freshman guard Tyrese Maxey is signing with Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN on Thursday. 

Maxey declared for the 2020 NBA draft on April 6.  

"My thoughts were that we would be playing for a national championship [today]," he told Malika Andrews of ESPN after his announcement. "Although we're unable to do that due to what our country is experiencing, I felt like this was the day to declare for the draft to make it as special as I thought today would be."

Kentucky head coach John Calipari praised Maxey after the prospect made his announcement, saying he pushed the freshman harder than any of his teammates:

I was harder on @TyreseMaxey than any player this season, and there’s a reason. One, he’s a great kid with a confidence in his ability that does not waver. Two, he has a potential that he has only begun to realize. And three, Tyrese needed to be challenged to take that next step. https://t.co/4sM2JMGL0N

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 6, 2020

Maxey responded by averaging 14.0 points and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 42.7 percent from the field—though just 29.2 percent from three. But he showed enough potential to be a projected lottery pick in the 2020 draft. 

The Athletic's Sam Vecenie had him as the No. 12 player on his April 2 big board, and B/R's Jonathan Wasserman projected him to be the No. 12 selection, to the Sacramento Kings, in his most recent mock draft. 

Wasserman noted Maxey has "clear shot-making skills" and added "previous Kentucky guards have blossomed with more NBA space." He also noted that his "lack of explosiveness and playmaking lower his perceived ceiling, but his pull-up game, floater, advanced finishing and NBA body hint at a high floor."

As for Kentucky, his departure was just one of many in an offseason exodus that few teams could recover from easily:

• Immanuel Quickley: NBA
• Tyrese Maxey: NBA
• Nick Richards: NBA
• Ashton Hagans: NBA
• EJ Montgomery: Entered NBA draft
• Nate Sestina: No more eligibility
• Johnny Juzang: Transferred to UCLA
• Kahlil Whitney: Left school in January, entered NBA draft https://t.co/x3cDNP8Tvs

— Jeff Borzello (@jeffborzello) April 15, 2020

But the Wildcats also have an incoming class that features three 5-star recruits (Terrence Clarke, BJ Boston and Devin Askew) and three 4-star prospects (Isaiah Jackson, Lance Ware, Cam'Ron Fletcher), per 247Sports' composite rankings. 

Never underestimate Calipari on the recruiting trail. 

Jacob Toppin, the younger brother of Dayton star Obi Toppin, has committed to the Kentucky Wildcats. 

https://twitter.com/Jtoppin21/status/1250901634194030593

The 6'8", 190-pound forward, who spent his freshman year at Rhode Island, decided to transfer to UK over Oregon and Iowa State. 

The Brooklyn native played 30 games last season, starting three, while averaging 5.1 points on 42.6 percent shooting from the field and 3.9 rebounds per game. 

Per 247Sports, Toppin was unranked out of high school last offseason when he signed with Rhode Island, which was the only school to offer him.

He's since nabbed a roster spot with a blue blood program, but Toppin isn't the first person in his family to go from anonymity to the national stage. His brother, Obi, was an unranked prospect when he signed with Dayton over the likes of Illinois, Mississippi State and Rhode Island as part of the 2017 class. Now he's destined to become a lottery pick in this year's draft. 

Jacob is trying to forge a similar path, albeit in a vastly different way. Where his brother took Dayton from a tournament-hopeful mid-major to title contender, the younger Toppin is joining a school that vies for championships on a yearly basis. 

Last season, his biggest performances came against St. Joseph's (12 points), Richmond (12 points, eight rebounds), LSU (10 points, three rebounds), Alabama (11 points, three rebounds) and Long Island (11 points, seven rebounds).

Toppin noted of the move, via Instagram: "This decision has nothing to do with anyone on the coaching staff. I feel moving forward, this is what is best for me. I wish everyone nothing but the best moving forward. Love you Rhody Nation."