[Cactus Jack]

^^^I don't disagree with much you said but there are plenty of excellent big men out there and we need one badly and should get one ASAP. We just can't get a good big man to me is another excuse (of many) that I don't buy.

I'll preface by saying that this isn't to make excuses for Calipari.

We had some talented bigs. For whatever reason: injuries, eligibility, poor roster construction, poor evaluations/not playing up to potential, lack of development, etc., that hasn't translated.

My best guess: Calipari's roster construction hasn't been ideal. Combine this year's team into one player and they're amazing, but any line-up you could come up with has some major holes.

Lack of chemistry due to injuries (Bradshaw & Onyenso) and eligibility (Ivisic) didn't help, but there were either an extraordinary number of recruits that UK and others missed on (Bradshaw, Edwards, Wagner) and/or the talent was there but wasn't cultivated. I'd guess the latter, but Welch's skill was supposed to be player development and he'd been in the NBA for years, so I'm hoping that this was an anomaly.


Whatever the case may be, I'm not sure that a sixteen year old Quaintance and/or a grown but still-raw Somto Cyril being added to whatever we bring back is the answer.

What really worries me is that with a large number of newcomers/potential returnees, the image of UK and Calipari being so beat-up, and a weak draft that will draw names who wouldn't otherwise go, this year's transfer portal could be rough.

I'll be expecting a mass exodus of returnees in the next 2-3 weeks and hope that we're able to navigate the portal better than we've ever been able.