Kentucky Wildcats Basketball

The University of Kentucky will be well represented in the 2020 NBA draft with EJ Montgomery the latest Wildcats player to announce he will turn pro.

Montgomery declared for the draft Wednesday in an official statement released by the school:

.@EJMontgomery23 X #SucceedAndProceed pic.twitter.com/nxRRBFF50R

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) April 15, 2020

Montgomery is the fifth Kentucky starter from the 2019-20 season to declare for the NBA draft. Immanuel Quickley, Nick Richards, Tyrese Maxey and Ashton Hagans have already announced they are leaving school early.

Now that Montgomery has made his intentions known, the focus will turn to where he might be selected in this year's draft.

B/R's Jonathan Wasserman doesn't have the forward ranked among the top 50 players on his most recent big board. ESPN's top 100 prospects list also doesn't include the Florida native.

Montgomery committed to Kentucky in 2018 as one of the most hyped recruits in the country. Coming out of Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia, he was a 5-star prospect and the No. 9 overall player in 247Sports' composite rankings.

In 28 games with the Wildcats this season, Montgomery averaged 6.1 points and 5.4 rebounds with a 51.8 field-goal percentage.

Former Kentucky Wildcats forward Kahlil Whitney is headed to the 2020 NBA draft. 

"I have decided to declare for the 2020 NBA draft," Whitney told Jonathan Givony of ESPN.com. "I truly believe in my development and grind. I want to thank my coaches, fans, trainers and family for ongoing support. My journey will be inspiring to kids and athletes all over the globe."

Givony noted Whitney, who will hire an agent as he moves on to the next level, arrived at Kentucky as a highly regarded prospect but withdrew from the school in January.

Whitney was a 5-star prospect and the No. 11 overall player in the class of 2019, per 247Sports' composite rankings, and figured to be next in the long line of one-and-done Kentucky superstars who thrived in their one collegiate season before joining the professional ranks.

However, he played a mere 12.8 minutes per game and averaged 3.3 points and 1.7 rebounds a night while shooting 37.1 percent from the field and 25 percent from three-point range.

He didn't look the part of an NBA prospect, although Givony pointed out the 19-year-old impressed before joining the Wildcats on the AAU circuit and playing against NBA and top college players during August's Nike Basketball Academy.

"During the pre-draft process I'm hoping to show every NBA team what so many others know I'm already capable of," Whitney said, per Givony. "These past few months, I've been really focused on my individual development and refining many of my skills: tightening up my shot mechanics, ball handling, pick and roll reads, passing, and understanding NBA terminology."

That pre-draft process is up in the air at this point given the delays and cancellations across the sporting world because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Whitney is someone who would stand to benefit greatly from it since he did not put together much impressive tape in college.

Whitney was not on Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman's Top 50 big board in March.

While he still has plenty of room for improvement, those strides will not take place in the collegiate game.

Former Creighton guard Davion Mintz will play next season at the University of Kentucky.  

Mintz announced on Twitter that he is transferring to the Wildcats after spending three seasons at Creighton: 

BBN !!! I’M READY - LETS GOOO 🕺🏽💙 pic.twitter.com/zTrVRgqndt

— Davion Mintz (@deemintz1) April 10, 2020

Mintz announced on April 3 that he was transferring from the Bluejays after redshirting during the 2019-20 season due to an ankle injury. 

As a graduate transfer, Mintz will be immediately eligible to play for Kentucky in the 2020-21 season. The North Carolina native was considered a solid recruit coming out of high school in 2016. He was a 3-star prospect and No. 401 prospect by 247Sports composite rankings. 

After being a role player during his freshman year at Creighton, Mintz moved into the starting lineup starting with the 2017-18 season. 

The 2018-19 campaign was a breakout for Mintz. He set career highs with 35 starts, 9.7 points per game and shot 34.7 percent from three-point range on 3.5 attempts per contest. 

Mintz will give Wildcats head coach John Calipari a versatile combo guard to use in his rotation next season. 

John Calipari has extra time on his hands because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the University of Kentucky men's basketball head coach will be spending at least some of it on Facebook. 

Calipari announced a 20-week Facebook series titled Coffee with Cal to raise money for No Kid Hungry and other initiatives which provide food for children who normally depend on school meals:

Starting next week, we'll be launching "Coffee with Cal" on @Facebook Live to support No Kid Hungry and other child-focused COVID-19 relief initiatives, which will be administered by the @CalipariFund.

➡️ https://t.co/WFYOb790WI pic.twitter.com/n7dDEZpF8n

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 7, 2020

We started this process by teaming up with @FCPSKY and were able to feed kids and families from 37 elementary schools across the Lexington area. This new platform allows us to expand the initiative nationally.

➡️ https://t.co/WFYOb790WI pic.twitter.com/E1zJGxoFVw

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 7, 2020

The first episode is scheduled for April 13 at 10 a.m. EST and will feature Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban as Calipari's guest.

The 2019-20 college basketball season was abruptly ended on March 12 in an effort to prevent the spread of COVI-19. Calipari's eighth-ranked Wildcats were the No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament with a 25-6 record when the remainder of the event and the NCAA tournament were canceled.

Kentucky Wildcats forward Keion Brooks Jr. will not be a one-and-done player at the SEC program.

On Tuesday, he announced he will "run it back" during the 2020-21 campaign as a sophomore:

Let’s run it back BBN💙 https://t.co/OgVM55uLcr

— Keion Brooks Jr. (@KeionB_12) April 8, 2020

Brooks arrived at Kentucky as a 5-star prospect and the No. 24 overall player in the class of 2019, per 247Sports' composite rankings. He was more of a secondary contributor during his first collegiate season, though, and averaged 4.5 points and 3.2 rebounds per game.

Kentucky is known for cycling through freshmen before they head to the draft after one season, but Brooks never found a significant role in an offense featuring Immanuel Quickley, Nick Richards, Tyrese Maxey and Ashton Hagans.

He flashed his potential with 10 points in his final game of the season against Florida, drilling both of his three-point attempts and attacking the basket a handful of times. He also scored in double figures during a conference win over Arkansas but didn't quite live up to the early hype that accompanied his recruiting ranking.

Brooks will have an opportunity to change that with more experience under his belt on a Wildcats team that figures to challenge for an SEC title next season.

Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports recently ranked Kentucky No. 9 on his Top 45 rankings for next season, and it could be even better if Brooks continues to improve as head coach John Calipari expects.

"Keion improved as much as anyone on our team," Calipari said, per WKYT in Lexington, Kentucky. "This season was great for him. He learned about himself, he learned about the game and he learned about what it takes to be special. And let me say this: I truly believe Keion Brooks is going to be special."

If he is special next season, it will be in a Wildcats uniform.

Former 5-star point guard Tyrese Maxey will leave Kentucky to enter the 2020 NBA draft, he confirmed to ESPN's Malika Andrews. 

Maxey played just one season at Kentucky. The Garland, Texas, native averaged 14.0 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists in 34.5 minutes across 31 games (28 starts) for the 25-6 Wildcats in 2019-20. The college basketball season was cut short by the coronavirus pandemic, with the NCAA announcing the cancellation of the men's and women's Division I NCAA tournaments on March 12.

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

.@TyreseMaxey can handle the ball, he can shoot, he’s got great athleticism and he really defended as the season went on. In a lot of ways, he reminds me of what @BeMore27 was able to do and we know how well he’s done in the @NBA. I’m so happy for Tyrese and his family.

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 6, 2020

Maxey had to split his time on the floor with Immanuel Quickley and Ashton Hagans. Quickley was the team's leading scorer at 16.1 points per game, and Hagans was the leading distributor with 6.4 assists per game.

Hagans announced Sunday he's moving on to the NBA:

Always a Wildcat. #BBN thank you for everything these last two seasons. 💙 pic.twitter.com/zsbtYYgzQX

— ashton hagans (@H23Ash) April 5, 2020

It was Maxey who led the Wildcats back from a 14-point deficit to beat Vanderbilt 78-64 on Feb. 11, however, and head coach John Calipari saw Maxey's 25 points, four rebounds, two steals and two blocks as a pivotal step in his overall growth.

"The best thing that happened is for the first time this year, Tyrese Maxey played with a toughness to win, vs. just playing basketball," Calipari told reporters. "Now you have to understand I've been all over this and all over him and not settling. That was a good sign."

Calipari added: "Another thing he did, he had six deflections in the second half with 10 minutes to go. Where's that guy been? He told on himself. You mean you can play that way? 'Yeah, but it’s really hard. Can I just get more shots?' Trying to get these guys to do what the hardest thing is has been the challenge this year."

Bleacher Report's Jonathan Wasserman projected Maxey to go 12th overall to the New Orleans Pelicans in his Feb. 7 mock draft: 

"He's become a more likely option in the late lottery for a team that values his shot-making versatility, secondary playmaking and defensive toughness, even if he lacks the size (6'3", 198 lbs) and athleticism to dominate in any one area.

[...]

"And from Devin Booker to Tyler Herro, there have been recent Kentucky guards who've been able to flash more in NBA space."

Maxey could become the 15th Wildcat to go in the first round since 2015.

Famous college basketball coaches, they're just like us. 

With severely limited options when it comes to live sports during the coronavirus pandemic, Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari did what so many other fans have done during this time and turned to replays of old games.

Calipari live-tweeted his team's 67-59 victory over the Kansas Jayhawks in the 2012 NCAA tournament championship game, which CBS aired Sunday:

OK, you talked me into it #BBN.

Game is at 4 p.m. on @CBSSports. I'll post my comments on here as I'm watching.

Will be my first time watching the game in about seven years. https://t.co/nDWHcwv6tv

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

Why am I still getting fired up watching this?!? I already know what happens! Can't help it!!!

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

Helps knowing the result -- but I had to remind myself a couple of times LOL.

Hope #BBN had a little fun following along with that.

All-time group. Great kids -- every single one of them. Special.

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

This team was truly positionless, but let me remind everyone that the experts said it couldn’t be done. “You’re not winning a national championship with young kids,” they said.

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

That Kentucky team went 38-2 during the 2011-12 season and won all six of its tournament games by at least eight points in dominant fashion. It defeated in-state rival Louisville in the Final Four to set up the showdown with the Jayhawks and was loaded with talent across the board.

Anthony Davis is the name who stands out, but Doron Lamb, Michael-Kidd Gilchrist, Terrence Jones, Marquis Teague, Darius Miller and Kyle Wiltjer all made the NBA as well.

Perhaps the most incredible part of the win over Kansas was the fact that Davis scored just six points and was an ugly 1-of-10 from the field. While that might suggest the Jayhawks would have come away with the win, the big man made up for it with 16 rebounds, six blocks, five assists, three steals and plenty of leadership, as Calipari pointed out:

This may have been where the game was won -- when @AntDavis23 walked into that locker room at halftime and said, “I can’t make a shot. I’ll get every rebound, defend and block shots. You guys do all the scoring.” Showed what he was about and continues to be about.

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

There are two things that stand out to me so far: One was how this team created good shots for each other. And two, how @AntDavis23 was guarding and helping on all five men on defense.

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

Can you see the impact @AntDavis23 has on the game? It’s not just what he does offensively. And I forgot how much @marquisteague25 improved from the beginning of the year to the end.

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

It was Lamb to the rescue on the offensive side with a game-high 22 points, but Calipari highlighted the efforts of many in the supporting cast:

The physical presence of @TerrenceJones1 to be able to be tough on Thomas Robinson made it so we could free up @AntDavis23 to go block shots. And I love the way @MKG14 was shooting free throws.

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

Wow, what an effort by @MKG14!!! What a fighter.

We had five scorers on the floor at all times, which made it hard to double team. And we had guys that accepted roles and how they had to play for our team.

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

.@DmillerKY was such a big reason that we were able to win because of his ability to make baskets, make free throws and his toughness in situations that we needed.

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

When you watch his ankle turn, you understand how tough @TerrenceJones1 is. And he popped right back up! Unbelievable!!!

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

With all the pressure our kids were feeling at that point, @marquisteague25 makes that shot! Crazy!!! He had a great game.

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

While the scoring was needed, it was Kentucky's defense that set the tone throughout the game. It held Kansas to a mere 35.5 percent shooting as the Jayhawks struggled to string together enough makes to significantly cut into the 14-point halftime deficit until it was largely too late.

Our shot-blocking ability was incredible. We made everything hard for the opponent. Even if we didn’t block it, we affected shots. We did it one through five.

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

Perhaps the most revealing part of Calipari's live-tweeting was his explanation for why he switched to a slower, "grind-it-out" mode on the offensive end.

He explained he didn't like where the game was headed in the second half and that the switch would put more pressure on Kansas. He also noted his team was so effective on the offensive boards and protecting the rim that he still believed it was well positioned to come away with the win even in a slower game:

Coach Hall asked me after the game, “Why did you slow it down so early in the game?!” I thought more guys needed to touch the ball, we needed to move it around, and we needed to put it back on Kansas and make them guard.

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

Usually I wait until five or six minutes but this game I said, "Nope, not this game." We needed to catch our breath and we still had the plays to score baskets.

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

My thought was, the less possessions they had, the better for us. If they didn’t have a lot of opportunities it was going to be hard for them to beat us. Let's see if it works!!!

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

Again, pressure back on Kansas. If we weren’t such a great offensive rebounding team and a great shot-blocking team, I probably wouldn’t have gone to the grind-it-out so soon, but I had a lot of faith in our ability to win a close game if it came down to it.

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) April 5, 2020

The strategy worked, as Kentucky held off all of Kansas' potential surges during the final stretch.

While Calipari is a four-time SEC Coach of the Year who has been to six Final Fours during his career, the 2012 win over Kansas remains the lone national championship on his resume.

University of Kentucky guard Johnny Juzang announced Friday that he is entering the NCAA transfer portal ahead of the 2020-21 season:

🖤 pic.twitter.com/nl5EQZsygG

— Johnny Juzang (@JohnnyJuzang) March 27, 2020

Kentucky head coach John Calipari took to Twitter to praise Juzang and welcome him back to the team should he decide to stay:

I talked to @JohnnyJuzang last night along with his family and let him know if he wants to come back here that this option is always open to him. Johnny had a great year and really got better as the season went on. https://t.co/Z79rUsd0ic

— John Calipari (@CoachCalArk) March 27, 2020

As a freshman in 2019-20, Juzang averaged 2.9 points and 1.9 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game, while appearing in 28 contests. He also shot 37.7 percent from the field and 32.6 percent from beyond the arc.

The 6'6", 214-pounder from Los Angeles was usually the eighth or ninth man deep in Kentucky's rotation last season, and he struggled to gain playing time over other guards such as Immanuel Quickley, Tyrese Maxey and Ashton Hagans.

Juzang's best performance came in a 77-64 road win over Tennessee in February when he scored a career-high 13 points on 4-of-4 shooting in 24 minutes.

When Juzang committed to play at Kentucky, 247Sports rated him as a 4-star prospect and ranked him as the No. 33 overall player and No. 9 small forward in the 2020 class.

While Juzang was primarily used at guard with the Wildcats, he is a versatile player with the frame needed to swing between shooting guard and small forward.

Juzang named Kentucky, Kansas, Oregon and Virginia as his final four choices before committing to Kentucky, which suggests the aforementioned schools could be in the running for him on the transfer market.

Kentucky men's basketball head coach John Calipari didn't let social distancing stop him from holding a press conference Tuesday. He held a virtual call to discuss the state of the program, the impact of the coronavirus on college basketball and touched on the upcoming NBA draft. 

From his home office in Lexington, the coach said he and his wife, Ellen, have been ordering takeout at least once per day to help small, local businesses survive during a time of uncertainty, and he has donated to the university's student emergency fund.

Additionally, the Caliparis have worked with Kroger grocery stores to provide meals for 400 families. 

"We are all responsible for ourselves," Calipari said to kick off the call. "Stay in your house. Wash your hands. If you go out, which you should, walking around, exercising a little bit, six feet from everyone."

Turning his attention to basketball, Calipari noted he's been working with the National Association of Basketball Coaches to get more clarity on the upcoming NBA draft and how players should be preparing for it.

Specifically, the coach wants the June 15 early-entrant withdrawal deadline pushed back so prospects have more time to decide whether to turn pro. The draft is currently slated for June 25, but that is looking increasingly like it will be postponed. 

"Shouldn't we move the decision date back for the kids to go to college or not?" Calipari said. "The date was always based on when the draft and combine are. Well, that's all moving. So now I think these kids should have more time making that decision."

The coach said he's concerned that players who are only able to train by themselves for two months won't be able to fully show out when NBA teams come calling to scout them. 

Without naming players, Calipari said he expects four to five of his players to test the NBA waters.

Unfortunately, the 2019-20 Wildcats have joined the ranks of teams who will never know just what they could have accomplished in March. After a 25-6 season in which UK finished atop the SEC, the cancellation of March Madness brought all too sudden an end for a team that had found a way to gel at the right time.

"This was really difficult because of how this team came together and the vibe this team had." Calipari said. "I felt this was a vibe that my best teams have had." 

At one point toward the end of the season, Calipari told his staff he felt like they could win the whole thing. In the end, they never got the chance. 

Following the bus ride back from the cancelled SEC tournament, Calipari got a text that the NCAA tournament was canceled as well. While the coach went back to his home, the team went back to their facilities and, not knowing what else to do, played a pickup game against each other.

Afterwards, Calipari was later told, is when reality hit and players began crying as they accepted their run was over.

"My hope," he said, "is that this becomes one of the favorite teams in at least my era here."

Kentucky Wildcats men's basketball coach John Calipari believes not enough thought has been put into a proposed NCAA rule change that would let players transfer and retain immediate eligibility.

"We're going to be handing out, in the handshake line, business cards, when the games end," he told reporters during a Monday teleconference. "I mean ... people don't know the unintended consequences, and they haven't talked to coaches enough."

Calipari went on to call the proposed rule "crazy" and suggested it will negatively impact the coaches at non-powerhouse schools the most.

"This—if they go with it, which I hear they are—it doesn't hurt Kentucky, it helps us," he said. "We're going to have all kinds of calls, kids wanting to join our program. ... OK. But what does it do to all the mid-majors, low majors, or even the bottom half of the Power Fives?"

In February, Sam Cooper of Yahoo Sports noted the NCAA's Division I Transfer Waiver Working Group hoped to implement the proposed rule by the 2020-21 academic year.

It would allow athletes in football, men's basketball, women's basketball, baseball and hockey the ability to be immediately eligible following a transfer in a consistent matter with other sports, although they would need to "receive a transfer release from their previous school, leave their previous school academically eligible, maintain their academic progress at the new school and leave under no disciplinary suspension."

Calipari's suggestion that powerhouses would be at a significant advantage because they could handpick players who outperformed expectations in smaller programs isn't that difficult to envision, but a clear power balance between programs already exists under the current system.

His Wildcats are on the short list of the most prestigious programs in college basketball and are once again well positioned to make a deep run in the NCAA men's tournament with a 25-6 regular-season record.