According to Adam Zagoria of Zags Blog, power forward Tony Trocha is still on track to start college in the spring of 2013, making him eligible for the second semester of this season. Trocha reportedly holds an offer from Kentucky. His mentor, Jamie Ibanez, told Zagoria that Trocha also has offers from UCLA, Florida, Texas A&M and Rice, with all four schools currently possessing available scholarships for the 2012-13 school year.
Trocha, a native of Colombia, played briefly at the Reebok Breakout Challenge and Adidas Nations grassroots events during the summer to mixed reviews. Previously ranked as a top 50 prospect in the 2013 class, Trocha is long and projectable, and does posses actual basketball skills in addition to his athleticism. He is also intelligent--an assumption validated by the Rice offer--and has enough credits to graduate high school. Last spring, Trocha tried to reclassify to the 2012 class but did not get a high enough qualifying SAT score. He is currently taking English classes and preparing to retake the SAT.
The Wildcats are not particularly deep in the frontcourt, though head coach John Calipari generally prefers a short bench and small rotation. Incoming freshman Nerlens Noel and sophomore Kyle Wiltjer are penciled in as the starters, with Willie Cauley-Stein the first reserve off the bench. Alex Poythress is slated to start at small forward but could also play power forward as well.
If the Wildcats were to add Trocha, he would add depth to the frontcourt while also serving as a hedge against a potential injury to one of Kentucky's current players. Wildcats fans should be familiar with this scenario. In 2006, Tubby Smith added Ramon Harris to the roster at midseason after Harris graduated early from high school, though Harris played sparingly that year. Also, last year Kentucky tried to add early graduate Jarnell Stokes. He ultimately chose Tennessee.