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The start of the 2021-22 regular season is just a couple of weeks away, and the BBN is going to see a very different Kentucky Wildcats team take the floor.
Since John Calipari became the head coach, we have all got used to seeing a bunch of elite freshmen take the floor each season. They almost always have early growing pains, but by the time March rolls around, they are one of the better teams in the country.
In recent years, the common complaint has been about the makeup of the rosters and a growing call for more experienced players increased.
After going 9-16 last season, Calipari knew it was time to change and that is exactly what he did.
While he still brought in three very talented freshmen in TyTy Washington, Damion Collins, and Bryce Hopkins, the rest of the roster is made up of older and very experienced players.
In fact, this is by far the oldest team Kentucky has had since the late 1950s.
The Twitter account Big Blue History shared an interesting stat. The 2021-22 Wildcats are the oldest Kentucky team since the 1957-58 National Championship team with an average age of 21.85.
The oldest team in Kentucky history was the 1948-49 National Championship team who had an average age of 22.34.
On top of being older, Calipari took to the transfer market to go get the right pieces for his revamped roster vision.
This team has six total transfers including Jacob Toppin, Oscar Tshiebwe, Sahvir Wheeler, C.J. Fredrick, Kellan Grady, and Davion Mintz.
That is the most transfers on a single team in Kentucky history. The second most was the 2008-09 team that had 5 transfers.
In addition this UK team has more transfers (6) than any other.
— bigbluehistory (@bigbluehistory) October 23, 2021
J. Toppin - Rhode Island
O. Tshiebwe - WVU
S. Wheeler - Georgia
C.J. Fredrick - Iowa
K. Grady - Davidson
D. Mintz - Creighton
Next most is 2008-09 (5) & 2020-21, 1992-93 and 1950-51 with (4).
Calipari knew the changes that were necessary after last season, and he went and delivered. Now it is time to go show that last season was in fact a blip and that Kentucky is officially back.
The Cats will be in action this Friday night when they play Kentucky Wesleyan in their first exhibition game of the preseason. That game is scheduled for a 7:00 pm ET tip and will air on the SEC Network.
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