Has Calipari found a hidden edge for Kentucky basketball in 2023-24?

Fast-break points from college hoops “opening day”:

21. John Welch. Hearing good things about the impact that the new Kentucky men’s basketball assistant and former longtime NBA aide is having for UK in the player development realm.

20. Joey Hart. At Kentucky’s recent men’s hoops media day, the UK freshman guard shared how Welch had done some “shot doctoring” on the former Indiana high school star’s jumper.

19. Altered mechanics. Hart says Welch encouraged him to modulate how high he jumps on each shot and instructed the guard to move his release point forward.

18. The old jumper. “Initially, I jumped, like, really high (on every shot),” says Hart, who won the slam dunk contest at this year’s Big Blue Madness. “And I kind of pulled the ball back behind my head” to shoot.

17. The new jumper. “Now, I’m not jumping as high and shooting the ball out in front of me,” Hart says. “It’s definitely been way more consistent.”

16. Antonio Reeves. Even as Kentucky opens its regular season this week with games vs. New Mexico State (Monday) and Texas A&M-Commerce (Friday), the Wildcats’ super-senior guard, a Chicago native, is excited about UK’s scheduled venture to his hometown Nov. 14 to play Kansas in the State Farm Champions Classic. “That will be a thrill,” Reeves says. “A dream come true.”

15. Playing in the United Center. As a little boy, Reeves said he played in what was essentially a little league hoops game in the home of the NBA’s Chicago Bulls. “It was nothing major, when I was a baby,” Reeves says.

14. The home folks. “I definitely can’t wait for all of my family to come out, all of my supporters to come out,” Reeves says of his return to Chicago. “That’s a game I’m looking forward to.”

13. Not a Bulls backer. As a child in Chicago, Reeves says his family sometimes took him to Bulls games but he looked farther west for his NBA fandom. “I was a Golden State Warriors guy,” Reeves says. “I really liked Steph Curry and Klay Thompson. They are some shooters out there like I am.”

12. Reed Sheppard. Growing up in Laurel County, the UK freshman guard says one of his early favorite Wildcats players was point guard Tyler Ulis (2014 through 2016).

11. Playing for your hero. With Ulis now in his second season as a student assistant coach at Kentucky, Sheppard says “it’s really, really cool ... being able to learn from him every day.”

10. UK women’s basketball. When Kyra Elzy’s Wildcats officially open their season Tuesday night against East Tennessee State at Transylvania’s Clive M. Beck Center, UK will debut a roster that features three prior winners of the Kentucky Miss Basketball award.

9. Maddie Scherr (2020 Miss Basketball). “We don’t have a secret handshake,” the former Ryle High School star jokes of UK’s Miss Basketball sorority. “But it’s definitely neat for the three of us to be here at the University of Kentucky — our home state.”

8. Brooklynn Miles (2021 Miss Basketball). “It’s great being home,” says the former Franklin County star, who transferred to UK this offseason from Tennessee. “The support has been great.”

7. Amiya Jenkins (2022 Miss Basketball). “Being from Kentucky, wearing the Kentucky jersey hits a little harder for some of us,” the former Anderson County star says. “Wearing ‘Kentucky’ (on your uniform) is still a great honor.”

6. Emma King. The ex-Lincoln County star is using the “free COVID-19 season” the NCAA granted to all athletes who were enrolled in school in 2020-21 and will be playing for a fifth year for UK in 2023-24.

5. Why play five? “There’s a lot of reasons,” says King, a 5-foot-10 guard. “We didn’t have the best season (12-19, 2-14 SEC) last year. I feel like there is so much more I can end my career on. I love this program. I have loved this program since I was a little girl.”

4. Finding her shot. King scored 2,545 career points at Lincoln County but, as a collegian, she enters this season as a 27.4 percent career shooter. Of “finding her shot” as a super-senior, King says, “There is nothing I would love more than for that to happen.”

3. Janae Walker. It is unclear how much “string music” UK’s 6-3 freshman post player will make in 2023-24. But the Tyrone, Georgia, product can be counted on to make music.

2. A “four-tool player.” Walker plays the piano, the oboe, the guitar and the violin. “My mom put me in piano from a young age,” Walker says. “I kind of just branched out myself into other instruments.”

1. Music and basketball. Of the four instruments she plays, Walker says playing piano is most like playing hoops. “Just because there is a lot going on at once (in both),” Walker said.

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