Monday Headlines: Kentucky Basketball Game Week

What are you looking to see from the Wildcats this week?

By John Morgan Francis@MonJorgan Jul 10, 2023, 6:40am EDT

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

NCAA Basketball: NCAA Tournament Second Round-Kentucky vs Kansas State

For the second straight summer, Kentucky Wildcats Basketball fans will get to see their team in action well before the start of the regular season. Head coach John Calipari and his revamped team of Wildcats will travel to Canada this week for four exhibition games.

Kentucky is scheduled to play on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday this week with all four games set to air on the CBS Sports Network. Kentucky will represent the United State in games against Germany, Canada, and Africa.

The exact schedule is below.

Wednesday, July 12: Team USA vs. Team Germany, 1:30 p.m. ET live on CBS Sports Network
Thursday, July 13: Team USA vs. Team Canada, 8:00 p.m. ET (tape delay July 14 at 12:00 a.m. ET on CBS Sports Network)
Saturday, July 15: Team USA vs. Team Africa, 1:30 p.m. ET live on CBS Sports Network
Sunday, July 16: Gold Medal Game (if Team USA is playing), 8:00 p.m. ET live on CBS Sports Network

As mentioned before, Calipari has turned over nearly the entire roster from last season. In fact, only Antonio Reeves played significant minutes on last year’s team. Everyone else from the “main” rotation entered the NBA Draft or the transfer portal.

While Kentucky lost more players than they likely would have preferred, the Wildcats were also able to retain both Adou Thiero and Ugonna Onyenso — both players with incredible opportunities for a year-two jump. Calipari also brought in arguably his best recruiting class during his time at Kentucky (which is really saying something), and their collective talent is off the charts.

Granted, Kentucky looked like a juggernaut last summer in the Bahamas before an underwhelming regular season followed by a disappointing postseason finish. So take these games in Canada with a grain of salt, but that doesn’t mean fans can’t enjoy them. This could very well be a chance for some fans to see some of the freshmen in action for the first time. We’ll also see just how much chemistry the team has built over the last month.

It all starts on Wednesday against Germany at 1:30 PM ET on the CBS Sports Network.