One of the most popular refrains of the John Calipari era in Lexington has been Kentucky will eat first.
The original context here was simple: Regardless of what rule changes would come (when the comment was made in 2017, the questions surrounded the one-and-done rule), Kentucky would get its pick of the litter in recruiting.
This year Kentucky has eaten, well, last. It faced a near-unprecedented roster dilemma for a program of its caliber, having just seven scholarship players (all freshmen and sophomores) fully committed on June 1 for the upcoming season. But Calipari and the Wildcats have stuck the landing, making multiple important, late moves to position Kentucky to at least be back in the national contender conversation. The latest addition: Kentucky’s taking advantage of coaching uncertainty at West Virginia to land Mountaineers big man Tre Mitchell, who averaged 11.7 points and 5.5 rebounds on an NCAA tournament team a season ago.
Next chapter 💙 pic.twitter.com/bqZSpNdcc5
— Tre Mitchell (@tre_mitch33) June 26, 2023
This recruitment, for all intents and purposes, seemed done the moment Mitchell went into the portal. Kentucky desperately needed more veterans, and Mitchell will help solidify a frontcourt facing new uncertainty after a reported foot injury to five-star freshman Aaron Bradshaw. Mitchell’s also a gifted outside shooter, which will help answer any lingering floor-spacing questions for the Wildcats. This is an extremely late move (the team starts its international trip in Canada in a little over two weeks), but Kentucky will always eventually get fed.
Four players have been added to the mix since the calamitous draft deadline that left them with a half-empty roster. Freshmen Jordan Burks and Joey Hart aren’t the traditional McDonald’s All-American types we’re used to seeing matriculate in Lexington, but both were highly accomplished high school players—and filled spots that needed filling. Burks (originally committed to OIe Miss) put up huge scoring numbers in the Overtime Elite League this year, while Hart (once a UCF pledge) was considered one of the best shooters in the class.
More important though was the experience Mitchell and Antonio Reeves provide: Kentucky already had the No. 1 high school recruiting class, and talent wasn’t likely to be an issue. Reeves never officially entered the portal, but Kentucky certainly had to re-recruit him after he enrolled at Illinois State this summer to attempt to graduate and transfer to another high-major. His staying at Kentucky gives the backcourt a veteran presence, just as Mitchell’s coming fortifies a young frontcourt. The Wildcats may not be done adding, but Calipari’s rosteri has gotten sufficiently older (Reeves and Mitchell) and deeper (Burks and Hart) in the last month.
Kentucky’s 2023 class, which features three of the top six players in the nation, per 247Sports, is the best the program has had in several years, but that comes with two headwinds. First, the ’23 high school class as a whole is considered to be among the worst since ’00. On paper, there aren’t any Anthony Davises or John Walls or Karl-Anthony Townses in this class, coming to Kentucky or otherwise. Combine that with the fact that college teams are older than ever, thanks to the transfer portal and extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19, and Calipari was taking a big risk being so freshmen-reliant. Top SEC contender Tennessee has four players who were entering college when these Kentucky freshmen were starting ninth grade. Having veterans like Mitchell and Reeves to rotate in means far more than their production alone for Kentucky’s hopes of competing for an SEC title and national championship.
Jeff Faughender/Courier Journal/USA Today Network
It’s no secret this is a critical season for the long-term outlook of Kentucky under Calipari. The Wildcats had their worst season in nearly a century in 2020–21, took one of their most embarrassing losses ever in the first round of the NCAA tournament against Saint Peter’s the same year and then had an uneven ’22–23 season that ended in a second-round NCAA tournament defeat. A fourth straight season missing the second weekend of March Madness might not get Calipari fired, but it would only up the toxicity in Lexington with a fan base decidedly split on the longtime Wildcats coach. After some high-profile misses like Hunter Dickinson earlier this offseason, Calipari had to nail these final roster additions—and he did.
We’re in a different world in recruiting right now than when Calipari proclaimed Kentucky would always eat first. But this June run of commitments, topped off by Mitchell, is proof that even if the Wildcats aren’t always first to the table, they’ll always be well fed. Such is the way of one of the sport’s biggest brands and its best recruiting coach.
