By Keith Taylor
KyForward senior sports writer
DES MOINES — Who’s staying? Who’s going? At this point, no decisions have been made, but let the speculation begin.
“We really don’t know what anybody is going to do, to be honest,” Kentucky guard Dominique Hawkins said.
As has been the case during the past seven seasons, a roster makeover will unfold during the offseason for Kentucky, which finished the season with a 73-67 loss to Indiana in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday night at Wells Fargo Arena.
NCAA Tournament: ‘Great season’ comes to an end
The Wildcats finished the season with a 27-9 mark and a second straight Southeastern Conference Tournament title. Kentucky tied Texas A&M for the regular-season SEC crown and earned a No. 4 seed in the East Region.
Kentucky will likely lose its backcourt duo of Tyler Ulis and Jamal Murray. Both players are expected to declare for the NBA Draft within the next two weeks. Ulis, the conference defensive and player of the year, finished the season with 246 assists, a single-season record at Kentucky. Murray sank a freshman school and conference record 113 shots from long range and hit a trey in each of his 36 games with the Wildcats.
Ulis, who has yet to announce his future plans, said although the Wildcats fell short of making a third straight appearance in the Final Four, the season was a success.
“We had a lot of fun this year,” Ulis said. “Everybody was close, we got along on and off the court. I don’t want to end the season with these guys, but it’s over. Everybody came out and played hard every night. Guys got better as a team.”
Murray took the loss to the Hoosiers hard and wasn’t ready to bid farewell to his collegiate teammates.
“I want to be with this team, (but) I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about that,” he said Saturday night. “I hadn’t planned on being out this early. This wasn’t my plan, you know. But I have to work around it and see what happens from here. But I would love to play with these group of guys again.”
With the expected departure of Ulis and Murray, incoming freshmen De’Andre Fox and Malik Monk will be counted on to fill the void in the backcourt, while returnees Hawkins, Isaiah Briscoe and Derek Willis will provide much-needed backup for Fox and Monk, who are expected to contribute on arrival. Fox will likely take over at point guard and Monk will slide into the role expected to be vacated by Murray.
Skal Labissiere will likely opt for the draft and the departure of senior Alex Poythress creates an opening in the post for newcomers Edrice “Bam” Adebayo, Wenyen Gabriel and Sacha Killeya-Jones, all of whom will provide a boost for the Wildcats in the post, an area of consistent concern for Kentucky this season.
Like Murray, however, Labissiere wasn’t ready to make a decision on his future plans.
“I’m just focusing – what just happened (in the NCAA Tournament) now I’m pretty disappointed,” he said. “That’s what I’m thinking about right now.”
Marcus Lee and Charles Matthews also are expected to be back, while Lee likely settling into a sixth-man role off the bench in a backup role for Adebayo, Gabriel and Killeya-Jones in the frontcourt.
John Calipari’s eighth recruiting class has been ranked among the top classes in the nation and the Kentucky coach is optimistic about the future.
“We’ve got a heck of a group coming in, maybe the best (recruiting class) that I’ve had coming in that group,” Calipari said following his team’s loss to the Hoosiers. “The big picture for us, is we’re fine.”
Keith Taylor is a columnist and senior sports writer who covers University of Kentucky athletics for KyForward.com