Monday Quickies: Best in the SEC Edition

What do your top-14 rankings look like for SEC basketball?

By John Morgan Francis@MonJorgan Aug 3, 2020, 6:40am EDT

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Keion Brooks. That’s the only returning player who saw rotational minutes for the Kentucky Wildcats last season. So despite a complete turnover as far as UK’s roster, Sports Illustrated is still tabbing the Wildcats as the “team to beat” in the SEC.

Six freshmen and three transfers will join Brooks in wearing the Kentucky uniform this season. With COVID-19 likely to limit the amount of interaction these new faces can have together, it’s a wonder how long it might take Kentucky to reach their peak.

As to Kentucky’s pieces specifically fitting together, Jeremy Woo had the following to say.

John Calipari reeled in yet another big-time recruiting class, but it’s been a while since he dealt with this type of roster turnover, and his two most promising freshmen—B.J. Boston and Terrence Clarke—are both scorers used to having the ball in their hands. Much was made of adding grad transfers Davion Mintz and Olivier Sarr, but it’s not like either player was dominant at his previous stop, and both have more to prove. If Devin Askew hits the ground running, his playmaking could do a lot for this group. The other freshmen—Isaiah Jackson, Lance Ware and Cam’Ron Fletcher—are further off from making serious contributions. At a glance, it’s unclear what this will look like, beyond Boston and Clarke taking turns hoisting jumpers. But it’s also hard to see this group totally falling flat.

Woo goes on to note he expects both BJ Boston and Terrance Clarke to make a more immediate impact, but also makes it clear (in regards to the SEC title) “this may be a race that fluctuates heavily all season.” No one is disputing that. But it’s also clear that Kentucky has both a coaching and talent advantage over the rest of the conference.

Woo’s official pre-season rankings are as follows.

Kentucky
Florida
Tennessee
LSU
Arkansas
Alabama
South Carolina
Ole Miss
Auburn
Missouri
Texas A&M
Mississippi State
Georgia
Vanderbilt

Tweet of the Day

The Rockets were outrebounded by 29. That's the worst reb diff in a win since the Warriors on Feb. 27, 2016 against the Thunder (-30) #bangbang

Meanwhile, the Rockets became the first team ever to make 20 threes, record 15 steals and turn it over 10 times or fewer in a game. pic.twitter.com/DLrjMKywsx
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 3, 2020