Will 2023-24 be the year Kentucky college basketball gets its mojo back?

So far, the 2020s have been barren terrain for Kentucky’s NCAA Division I men’s basketball programs.

Since the NCAA Tournament began in 1939, there have been 29 different years in which the commonwealth has sent at least three teams to the tourney.

However, for the 2020s to date, the state of Kentucky has sent only five teams total to the NCAA Tournament. Not one of those five teams has even advanced as far as the sweet 16, either.

One of the predominant narratives to monitor in 2023-24 will be whether our state can get its men’s college basketball mojo back.

Below are 10 key storylines in Kentucky college hoops, men’s and women’s, to watch in the coming season.

10. The all-time wins race. Kansas passed the Kentucky Wildcats for the most all-time wins in men’s college hoops history during the 2022 NCAA Tournament and ended the 2021-22 season four games up (2,357 to 2,353) on UK.

Last season, the Jayhawks added six wins to their advantage over Kentucky and led the all-time wins race 2,385 to 2,375 at year’s end.

This offseason, however, the NCAA ordered KU to vacate 15 victories from the 2017-18 season after a KU player was retroactively found to be ineligible.

Those vacated wins returned the all-time wins lead to Kentucky and mean John Calipari’s Wildcats will enter 2023-24 with a 2,375 to 2,370 advantage over Bill Self and the Jayhawks.

Placed back atop the all-time wins standings by the NCAA, can Kentucky avoid being passed by Kansas again?

9. The best player you don’t know. Last year, during Antwainette Walker’s first season at Eastern Kentucky after transferring from Marquette, the 5-foot-11 guard became a star.

Walker, a Lisle, Illinois, product, averaged 21.0 points, 9.4 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.1 steals and put up 15 double-doubles to lead coach Greg Todd’s squad to an 18-14 record.

Entering 2023-24, Walker now faces raised expectations. She’s been tabbed as the preseason ASUN Player of the Year and is on the watch list for the Becky Hammon Mid-Major Player of the Year Award.

8. Can Morehead finish the job? When traditional Ohio Valley Conference men’s basketball kingpins Murray State and Belmont departed for the Missouri Valley Conference after the 2021-22 school year, it opened up a chance for Morehead State to become the OVC’s new top dog.

Coach Preston Spradlin’s Eagles took care of business last year in the regular season, claiming the league title. However, in the OVC Tournament, MSU (22-12, 14-4 OVC) was upset by Southeast Missouri State in the semifinals.

That loss kept Morehead out of the NCAA tourney, though the Eagles went on to upset ACC member Clemson in the NIT’s first round.

This year, Morehead is again the preseason pick to win the OVC. The Eagles will try again to advance to the NCAA Tournament for what would be the second time (2021) in four seasons.

7. A new day on the Hill. A lot went right for Western Kentucky men’s basketball during Rick Stansbury’s tenure (2016 through 2023) running the program. The Hilltoppers knocked off 11 Power Five conference teams and signed five winners of the Kentucky Mr. Basketball Award.

What Western did not do under Stansbury was play in the NCAA Tournament. In fact, every NCAA tourney-eligible Division I men’s team in the commonwealth has played in the Dance more recently than has WKU (2013).

Fresh off leading Texas A&M-Corpus Christi to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2022 and 2023, Steve Lutz has been hired to get Western Kentucky back onto college basketball’s biggest stage.

Former Kentucky Wildcat and ex-Pendleton County star Dontaie Allen figures to be a cornerstone of Lutz’s first WKU team.

6. A national championship repeat? One Kentucky college basketball program for whom the 2020s have not been unproductive is the Transylvania women.

Over the past two seasons, coach Juli Fulks’ Pioneers have gone 60-1. Last year, Transylvania produced an undefeated NCAA Division III national championship, finishing 33-0 after beating Christopher Newport University 57-52 in the national title contest.

In the bid to go back-to-back, Transylvania returns four starters but will be without standout point guard Maddie Kellione, who “transferred up” to Tennessee Tech.

5. A Norse first in March Madness? Last season, ex-Tates Creek star Darrin Horn coached and former Henry Clay star Marquis Warrick helped play Northern Kentucky University to its third NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017.

As a No. 16 seed, the Norse (22-13) threw a scare into No. 1 seed Houston, tying the game in the second half, before falling 62-53 in the round of 64.

This year, Warrick (18.8 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.6 apg) is back for his senior season. He will combine with ex-Fort Thomas Highlands star Sam Vinson (11.8 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2.4 steals), a junior, to give Northern Kentucky the kind of veteran backcourt that can be dangerous in March Madness.

In a one-bid conference such as the Horizon League, NKU will have to win its conference tourney before it can dream of pulling the first NCAA Tournament upset in the university’s Division I history.

4. A bounce-back for Elzy’s Cats? A season ago, the Kentucky women’s basketball team (12-19, 2-14 SEC) finished last in the SEC.

With star guards Robyn Benton (expired eligibility) and Jada Walker (transferred to Baylor) having departed from that team, UK is less talented on paper this year than last.

UK coach Kyra Elzy will try to coax star turns from ex-Ryle High School star Maddie Scherr and returning post player Ajae Petty and then hope improved team chemistry and defensive grit can help the Cats produce a resurgence.

3. Can EKU continue thrill ride? Last March, the Eastern Kentucky men’s basketball team (23-14, 12-6 ASUN) unleashed a drama-packed run to the finals of the College Basketball Invitational. Coach A.W. Hamilton’s Colonels won successive CBI games in overtime, overtime and double-overtime before falling by three points, 71-68, to Charlotte in a tense battle in the finals.

With most of the major roster pieces returning in 2023-24, Hamilton is banking on the tourney experience EKU gained a season ago to help the Colonels conquer this season’s ASUN Tournament and make what would be Eastern’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014.

2. Walz’s streak. There has not been an NCAA Tournament held in which the Louisville women’s team failed to make at least the round of eight since 2017.

To extend U of L’s streak to six straight Elite Eights, Cardinals coach Jeff Walz must surmount the challenge of meshing a roster with eight newcomers — including six transfers.

1. Big names, hot seats? To varying degrees and for differing reasons, the two coaches who hold our state’s most-visible men’s college basketball coaching positions each need bountiful seasons in 2023-24.

For Louisville’s Kenny Payne, a 4-28 season last year in his debut as head man at his alma mater removed much of the goodwill and a lot of the patience in a frustrated U of L fan base.

Payne very much needs his second Louisville team to take a substantial step forward.

For Kentucky’s John Calipari, an eight-season Final Four drought (in which there was no NCAA Tournament one of the years) and having gone the past six seasons with UK only winning one SEC regular season and one league tournament title respectively, has ginned up some Big Blue Nation restlessness.

To restore good feeling in a restive UK fan base, Calipari very much needs to “win something” in 2023-24.

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